Chapter 246
Chapter 246
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Chapter 246 - 245. 주술사(3)
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Translator: crow
Chapter 246: Sorceress (3)
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Dozens of plates piled up in the kitchen.
A slender-handed woman was washing them all by herself.
Splash―――.
Her hair was in twin tails like the Empire's 3rd Imperial Princess, but much shorter.
The woman, just turned twenty and dressed in a black dress, silently scrubbed the plates.
“Phew….”
Finally done with the dishes, she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand.
Then she roughly pressed the moisture from her hands against her dress.
After the housework, she headed to a small door.
Stepping inside revealed a mysterious witch's workshop, a stark contrast to the beautiful kitchen.
――――――.
Even though she could afford to hire a maid, Mago insisted on handling the orphanage chores alone.
She wanted to take care of the children herself, like an older sister.
However, Mago wasn't just busy for the kids' sake.
She also wanted to forget someone who kept popping into her thoughts.
The best way to forget 'him,' who made her heart ache just thinking about him, was to keep herself constantly busy.
But such measures were merely painkillers.
Like building tolerance with overuse, making the pain worse, Mago grew increasingly lonely as her body tired.
“Ugh…. My shoulders hurt.”
Mago tapped her stiff shoulders and bent her knees.
She picked up the glass jars she'd meant to move earlier but had put off due to busyness.
The jars contained various liquors steeped in herbs.
With her delicate, fern-like hands, she lifted the large jars to carry them outside where it was cooler.
“Ungh….”
Her bound hair swayed each time she grunted and shuffled the jars.
As she set one down on the table for a break from the strain….
Crash―――!!
“Aaah…!!”
Perhaps from the water she'd wiped sloppily on her dress.
Her fingers slipped as she lowered the jar.
The glass shattered on the table, spilling everywhere.
The workshop filled with the fresh scent of herbs and peaches.
“Why am I like this…. I don't usually make mistakes like that….”
Mago sighed deeply.
Her twin tails drooped, wilted like her mood.
“I need to clean this up before the scent spreads.”
Scent was crucial when crafting shamanic tools.
The great witch hurriedly reached for the herbs on the table.
But as her fingers stretched out.
“Ah…!”
A shard of broken glass hidden among the herbs pierced her finger.
A red blood droplet welled up on her soft skin.
Mago stared blankly at the drop.
“He used to take care of me when this happened…. Calling me careless….”
Her eyes turned wistful, lost in memories of someone.
She let out a faint sigh and gathered her thoughts.
As she moved to lick the blood from her finger….
“You're the one hurt, so why are you sucking on my finger?”
A much thicker finger than hers suddenly slipped into her mouth, startling her.
I'd grabbed her injured finger from behind to check it, but she ended up sucking on my index finger instead.
“Eek…!! Veil…?”
Mago jumped, her neatly tied twin tails bouncing wildly.
I tilted my head calmly at her reaction.
“What? You used to notice me sneaking up all the time.”
At my question, my childhood friend clutched her startled chest.
She glanced up at me, her face a mix of joy and relief.
“Ever since you became a Grand Master, I can't sense you at all.”
Mago lightly pressed my shoulder with her fist.
She winced at the sharp pain from her cut.
“Let me see your finger. I'll take care of it.”
I smiled with mischievous eyes and gently took her cut finger.
I unwound some bandage common in the witch's workshop and wrapped it carefully.
“Careless as ever. You always cut your fingers, then and now.”
As if it were familiar, she relaxed into my care.
Just like when we were kids and I'd always tended her fingers.
“I-it's dark at night, so I can't see well….”
But soon she realized how different this was from back then.
My hands used to be slim like hers; now they were thick and manly, veins twitching.
“…”
Mago's gaze toward me had changed from the old days.
More feminine now, feeling an odd flutter and embarrassment in this familiar situation.
Wanting to hide it, she abruptly changed the subject.
“Anyway, what brings you here?”
I hummed a tune and brushed off her question with a laugh.
As if there was no special reason.
“Why does someone need a reason to visit home?”
The bandage was tied neatly.
Mago flexed her stiffened index finger and continued nonchalantly.
“You only show up when you need something.”
My eyes flashed at her quiet mutter.
“What was that?”
“Nothing…. Nothing at all….”
Unlike her usual self, my childhood friend shook her head, claiming it was nothing.
She undid her twin tails, letting her long hair cascade over her shoulders.
As if to hide her expression.
“…”
An awkward silence settled.
Maybe because I'd arrived late at night, being with Mago felt strangely off from before.
“The orphanage looks a lot better now.”
I scratched the back of my neck to lighten the mood.
Glancing around her workshop, I muttered.
“It's not an orphanage anymore. We changed it to a private academy.”
“Academy?”
When I asked back, Mago pulled a business card from her cute leather pouch.
It read 'Hans Mago Private Academy,' with school details.
“A standalone school with dorms inside the building.”
“Wow…. Got anyone to teach?”
I took the card and looked down at it with childlike wonder.
Then, like a curious wild fox, I glanced at Mago and asked.
“We have our mercenary band kids. The Empire sent guards, so we handed over patrols.”
With Cornell becoming a metropolis, the imperial family had allocated more manpower.
Thanks to that, Mago's mercenaries could drop the tedious work.
“So now we're teaching kids who want to become knights.”
“Makes sense. They look rough, but most retired or got in trouble drunk.”
I looked proudly at Mago, who hadn't abandoned her now-jobless subordinates but found them fitting roles.
She'd always been mature, managing her father and the orphanage well.
“You're so smart every time I see you. I have zero head for this stuff.”
Neighbors often called her a great marriage prospect.
But Mago always reacted like a startled cat, saying there were no good men around.
The playful neighbors would tease, pointing at me—right there beside her.
My ten-year childhood friend would grumble that she hated slick types like me.
“Now you just need to marry well.”
“What…? Marriage?!”
Just like back then, she bared her teeth.
Her lips parted, revealing sharp cat-like fangs.
“Who in the Empire would marry a witch….”
She fiddled with her bandaged index finger.
Rubbing so much that faint bloodstains seeped onto the white cloth.
“No, anyone who knows your warm heart would love you.”
Mago slowly looked up at my words.
She smiled wistfully, wondering if such a man existed.
“You think so?”
Muttering to herself, she stared at me.
Then she noticed my neater-than-usual attire.
“You could get married too, looking like that.”
My bangs parted and slicked back with pomade, like someone had styled it.
Clean dress shirt, polished shoes.
“You're really doing well these days. Got servants now? You look sharp.”
“Ah, this…?”
I grinned sheepishly and tapped my fixed bangs.
“My secretary-senpai Miya says I look like a wild fox and styles my hair herself.”
I brushed off my shirt.
“The clothes and shoes? The princesses got them for the marquis's restoration celebration. Told them I didn't need them….”
Maybe because I preferred my old boots.
I tapped the unfamiliar shoe heels on the floor.
“I see…?”
Mago smiled brightly at my appearance.
“Nice. Guess you don't need someone nagging by your side like me anymore.”
Her beautiful eyes narrowed like crescent moons.
Golden irises shimmered faintly within.
“…”
I stared blankly at her smile under the full moon.
Noticing my gaze, Mago touched her eyes with her bandaged finger.
“The conversation veered off strangely.”
She turned her head casually to look out the window.
Then asked calmly again.
“So, what do you need my help with?”
I silently watched my childhood friend's slender back.
With a short sigh, I stated my purpose.
“Rumor is the southern coalition sneaked court sorcerers into the Empire amid the skirmishes.”
“Court sorcerers…?”
Mago echoed softly, as if she knew of them.
“Yeah. They reportedly talked with the demoted crown prince. Sneaking from the south to Cornell without detection means they're plotting something.”
Mago pondered, hand on her chin.
True to a great witch, she focused on the sorcerers.
“Of all times….”
“You didn't know either? Thought you'd sense it right away.”
Mago glanced back at me.
Her intense golden eyes blinked in the shadows.
“Yeah, my mercenaries detect sorcery, but we handed patrols to the knights.”
Regular knights have little resistance to sorcery.
There are dedicated knight orders for sorcerers, but not enough to patrol all of Cornell.
If they wanted to hide, they could operate undetected easily.
“Any way to find their location?”
Mago sighed deeply at my question.
Resolved, she stood and reached out.
At that moment.
――――――.
An old staff in the corner of the workshop floated up on its own.
It swiftly settled into her palm.
“Come out for a bit?”
I followed my childhood friend to the backyard of the orphanage—no, the academy.
Newly bought land made the meadow much wider than before.
Standing in the center, Mago glanced back at me.
“Remember when we were kids and tried to find the end of that wasteland?”
I followed her words, gazing at the vast meadow and horizon.
Nodding as the memory sharpened.
“Yeah. We were about twelve? I ditched you and ran ahead, leaving you alone.”
“Right. It was late like now, out too long.”
Mago breathed deeply, looking up at the night sky.
“Dark, cold, scary…. I fell and hurt my knee.”
The great witch met my eyes slowly again.
In the darkness, her golden eyes seemed mystically moonlit.
“Yeah, so I came back after a while and carried you.”
“You insisted on going to the end together, even when I said let's go home, and kept going.”
I wondered why she brought this up.
As if answering, the great witch Mago Kiflay gripped her staff reverently with both hands.
“Thanks to that, I could finish it.”
The twenty-year-old with long loose black hair closed her clear eyelids.
At that moment.
「――――――.」
An eerie energy slowly rose from the ground.
The aura solidified, rustling the fine weeds on the floor.
Soon, even the great witch's black hair fluttered brilliantly.
“…!!”
Even I was shocked as a soft light surged long from the ground.
Like a massive magic circle drawn on the floor.
“The light stretches like a guide….”
The beam crossed the academy backyard, heading toward the horizon we'd chased as kids.
From wasteland to metropolis—toward Cornell's skyline.
“This enchantment array.”
The home that took us in, Cornell.
To protect it, she'd wandered the city alone.
Now sensing something through the finally completed array.
Its profound mana left my lips agape.
“…”
About three minutes passed like that.
The magic circle's light faded, and Mago slowly opened her eyes.
“Found them.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, the sorcerers' alley in the metropolis.”
Mago approached calmly.
“Couldn't pinpoint exactly—their mana is impressive even for me.”
Mana so great even the great witch called it impressive.
Impressed myself, I focused.
“It reacted fast just detecting unusual auras in Cornell.”
“Got it. That's enough.”
I nodded gratefully to my childhood friend.
Eager to head to the sorcerers' alley.
But just then.
“Veil.”
Mago gently grabbed my sleeve.
Her voice serious and womanly, unlike her usual friendly tone.
“The southern sorcerers, especially court ones, are particularly strong.”
Crickets chirped softly in the meadow.
In the greened former wasteland, my ten-year friend worried for me.
“They're from the heart of sorcery; might have forbidden arts I don't know.”
The familiar situation made me swallow hard.
To reassure my old friend, I forced a bright voice.
“Worried about me?”
“No…. Well….”
Thinking about it….
Mago was showing the same face as the people I loved.
And for the first time, I realized my feelings for her were the same.
“…”
Understanding my heart, I pinched her soft cheek gently.
But it felt too casual, so I whispered softly.
“I'll be back before dawn.”
With those words, I strolled alone toward the city.
“Veil!”
Her urgent call halted my steps.
Turning back that instant.
――――――.
Mago approached and kissed me.
“I'm not a kid anymore.”
Under the full moon, the witch's ecstatic golden eyes sparkled.
They soon curved into a wistful smile.
“So….”
Holding her staff behind her back, she stepped away slowly.
Then shouted with a choked voice.
“So look at me differently!!”
I recalled the soft touch she left.
Touching my lips absently, I watched her retreating figure.
“Yeah.”
Understanding her intent, I nodded plainly.
With my promise to return safely….
I moved forward.