The Third Companion: As Always, the Moment of Choice Arrives (3)
“Hurry! They couldn’t have gone far! Find her no matter what!”
In the banquet hall, the Black Crow Knights moved with frantic purpose, searching for Saten. Lennon Sicilia, head of the Sicilia family, was more irritated that his carefully arranged party had been ruined than he was worried about his daughter. He barked at the knights with absolute authority.
“Move! The kidnapper couldn’t have gotten far. Find Saten immediately. This is an order from the commander of the Black Crow Knights.”
“Y-yes, sir! Understood, my lord!”
The knights scattered to begin their search. Lenen, sensing something odd in his father’s words, spoke up.
“...Father. There’s something I don’t understand.”
Lennon regarded his son with a flat, half-lidded stare. A question at a time like this? His tone dripped with annoyance.
“We don’t have time. Speak quickly.”
“...Why are you so certain Saten was kidnapped? Couldn’t that devil simply have run away? She never showed any gratitude for how we raised her.”
“Do you truly believe Saten ran away, Lenen? If so, you still don’t understand that devil at all.”
“What do you…?”
“That devil would never run. Tools do not know freedom.”
Tool. That was the name reserved for Saten, the family’s living magic warehouse. Lennon was convinced that a girl who had never tasted freedom would never flee on her own.
“In that sense, Lenen. Do you consider a magic golem to be a person?”
“...No. A magic golem is merely a tool powered by mana stones. It is not human.”
“Then Saten is the same. She is nothing but a tool that cannot feel emotion. She is no different from a magic golem.”
“...”
If feeling emotion made one human, then Saten—who felt nothing—was not human. The hatred in Lennon Sicilia’s eyes as he spoke was unmistakable.
“She was a useful tool, so we kept her. I hope she returns quickly. I don’t know who managed to pique that devil’s curiosity, but when the time comes, the child will return.”
“...You are correct, Father.”
Lenen agreed without hesitation. The girl would return without fail. Saten had never known freedom, and her home was the Sicilia family estate. A tool that had left the house would experience the cruelty of the outside world and come crawling back. They believed this with absolute certainty.
“When she returns, we should give her a proper punishment.”
And neither of them even considered that they would come to regret this moment for the rest of their lives.
Sicilia Saten, the mage of the hero party. That was the name of the girl currently nestled in my arms. I didn’t know the details of her past, but there was one thing I could say with absolute certainty.
“Sicilia Saten.”
“Yes.”
“Are you not afraid of me?”
“Should I be afraid of you?”
She was clearly insane. Something fundamental was missing. A kidnapper stood right in front of her, yet she didn’t tremble. Even Runa had shaken like a leaf when I kidnapped her, but this mage showed no sign of fear. She simply lay in my arms, enjoying the breeze as if we were on a casual stroll, even tapping my arm to urge me to move faster.
What kind of past does this girl have?
Runa had been a village girl. Hare had been a back-alley thief. Just what kind of life had this mage lived to develop a personality like this?
I decided to ask. “You have a good family, beauty, and talent. There’s nothing about your life that anyone would envy. Did you still want to run away?”
“Hmm. Do I look like someone who lived a happy life?”
“Most people raised in wealthy households grow up to be decent human beings. Am I wrong?”
“That is a prejudice. A very terrible prejudice.”
Saten said this and returned her gaze to the passing scenery. Her face remained completely expressionless. She was an utterly inscrutable woman.
Still, I learned two things.
The first was that she had not lived a happy life. The way she called it a “prejudice” told me everything. And the second...
Emotion. Saten had none.
It’s certain. Saten has no emotions.
It might be more accurate to say her soul was empty. In the short time I’d carried her, I hadn’t sensed a single negative emotion—no fear, terror, rage, or sorrow. The same went for positive emotions like joy or happiness. Even when she smiled, it looked like she was forcibly moving facial muscles. It was an unnatural performance, like she was wearing a mask.
That aside.
“This should be far enough.”
I canceled my transparency spell and stopped moving. Saten tilted her head up at me, looking puzzled.
“What are you doing, Mr. Kidnapper? You’re supposed to be kidnapping me. Do you remember my face? If you want to avoid any future trouble, you’ll have to kill me, you know?”
“No, that’s not it.”
“Pardon?”
“There are people following us.”
Tailers. At first I thought they were pursuit knights from the order. But the subtle aura they gave off was different from proper knights. From my experience, people with this kind of atmosphere were...
Grimoire.
They were definitely followers of the Demon Kings.
“That gloomy, unpleasant presence has always belonged to you people.”
“Whoa, you noticed? You’re pretty sharp, aren’t you?”
“...I dislike sharp people.”
Two men dropped from the roof to the ground. One was scrawny with a frivolous voice. The other was massive with a serious tone. I’d heard of them before.
Was it Tubby and Skinny?
That was how I roughly remembered them.
“I’ve heard the rumors. A Grimoire duo operating recently. First-grade believers, right?”
“...You know quite a lot. Then you must also know we have this, yes?”
The frivolous man pulled a book from his coat. A black grimoire. The book shared the same name as their organization. Using it allowed them to wield power granted by the Demon Kings. It was a sinister tome filled with that kind of wicked strength.
“First-grade believers. Even the Apostles above them. I’ve known for a while that you carry Grimoires.”
“Kukuk, how annoying that you know so much. Can’t be helped. You have to die. We’ll take the kid beside you real nice and gentle~”
“I never said I wanted to go with you. You don’t spark even the slightest bit of curiosity in me.”
Saten delivered the cutting words with a perfectly blank face. The frivolous man, who seemed mentally fragile, reacted immediately.
“Fuck. I was going to take it easy since you’re from the hero party, but you’ve got quite the mouth. Are you too young to understand the situation?”
Wait. Hero party?
“...Hold on. Did you just say hero party?”
“Kukuk, since you’re about to die anyway, I’ll tell you as a special favor. That girl you’re carrying? She’s actually the mage of the hero party in the distant future~ But our Demon King says the hero party will kill him. So we believers have to either kill her or send her far away. Our Demon King is our god.”
“...Swoo. Stop leaking information.”
“What does it matter? We’re going to kill him with our own hands anyway. Isn’t it better to die knowing than to die ignorant? Kukuk.”
They think they can kill me.
The frivolous man grinned. His name was Swoo. A pretty name that didn’t suit his vulgar face. From their perspective, I must have looked like an easy target.
“Being treated like this actually pisses me off a little.”
“What are you going to do about it if you’re pissed~? Fight us~?”
The two men drew weapons from their Grimoires. The frivolous one held a long rapier, while the massive one wielded a huge greatsword. Yeah, definitely Tubby and Skinny. At least their concept was consistent.
“You really do play the part your faces suggest.”
“...This bastard. I’ll send you to the Demon King in pieces.”
“Before that, let me ask. Which Demon King do you worship?”
“We worship the Demon King of Greed, Lord Grid. He’s also the one you’ll be meeting soon.”
...So they weren’t worshippers of the traitor. Disappointing, but they served a different Demon King. In that case, there was nothing useful to extract from them even if I kept them alive.
Out of the five Demon Kings, it’s the Demon King of Greed... How annoying. They already know about the hero party.
The Demon Kings didn’t get along, so information wasn’t shared between them. I spoke arrogantly to the two men charging at me with rapier and greatsword raised.
“I understand that you’re looking for the hero party. However, it seems you didn’t read the revelation carefully. Do you remember what was written on the back pages of the Grimoire?”
“Like I’d know that shit!!”
Of course they wouldn’t remember. That revelation was an inferior version of Minerva’s ability, and people rarely read to the very end of a book. It only told them that the mage was here. It couldn’t divine their future.
As the tips of their blades entered my vision, I checked Minerva’s prompt.
The two Grimoire members targeting the hero party's mage, Saten. Even Goddess Minerva dislikes these two~ What will Lee Junwoo do?
[1. Defeat them with a sword.]
[2. Defeat them with magic.]
Perhaps because Minerva hated them, the question was refreshingly simple. I put the answer sheet aside and selected number two. The reason was obvious—for the sake of Saten behind me. I wanted to show her magic, and honestly, I was far more confident in my spellcasting than my swordsmanship.
“Sicilia Saten. You said you were a genius mage, correct?”
“Yes. That is what people call me.”
“Really? The genius I knew was far greater than you.”
She. The woman who had taught me magic was a true genius. The remnants of her spells still lingered in my memory, slowly rising to the surface. Free-spirited magic circles that transcended conventional lines and pursued perfect efficiency. They drew themselves on the canvas of my mind and floated into the air.
Right now, I was replicating the same level of magical skill as her in my memories.
You must survive, Jun. I... you...
Her final moments, blue hair fluttering as she tried to speak. Along with that faint emotion, mana coiled around my fingertips and gently transferred into the magic circle in the air. A gentle breeze brushed my hand, and the circle activated.
“Disappear without a trace, you lonely specks of dust.”
Shaaaaaah—
The wind unleashed from the magic circle brushed past the two men. They didn’t realize it, but the parts of their bodies touched by the breeze were turning to powder, disintegrating into dust without leaving even a speck behind. The final moments of the Grimoire members, who never even noticed their own deaths.
The mage Saten simply stared at the scene in a daze.
“This is how you use magic.”
It took five seconds for their bodies to completely disintegrate. But the time Saten spent staring at the empty space where they had been stretched well beyond five minutes. Motionless. Whether she was analyzing it or reminiscing, she simply stood there, staring.
Eventually, unable to find an answer, she turned to me.
“Earlier, you said there was a genius greater than me.”
“Yeah.”
“Where is that person now?”
“She’s dead.”
“I see.”
Saten showed no particular reaction to the word “dead.” My own heart ached slightly after saying it out loud. Still.
I extended my hand toward her.
“If you’re curious about that magic, I can teach you.”
“You will teach me magic? Why?”
“Just because.”
“...Pardon?”
“Because you’re a mage.”
A sentence heavy with meaning. Because she was the mage of the hero party. Because she could perfectly inherit that woman’s legacy. Because that magic was the last trace she had left in this world...
Saten, who didn’t understand any of that meaning, looked at my hand with suspicious eyes before finally taking it.
“If you’re going to teach me, then I’ll learn.”
It was the moment the hero party’s third companion joined us.
“Uncle must be having fun at the party, right...? There are probably tons of nobles prettier than me there, and Uncle might forget about us... What should I do...? What if Uncle abandons us, Runa...? What do I do...? What do I do...?”
-S-stop it!! Let me sleep, Hare..!! What time do you think it is..!!
“It’s 12:56. It’s been four hours and thirty-four minutes since Uncle left... He still hasn’t come back...”
-I said it’s time to sleep…! Uncle doesn’t care, so stop..! Stop it..!!
“...So Runa isn’t interested in Uncle. Then never be interested for the rest of your life. Runa is a rude child who doesn’t know gratitude.”
Hmph, I’m not playing with you anymore.
After three hours of nonstop delusions about Lee Junwoo, Runa finally regained her freedom when Hare left the room.
“When is Uncle coming back...?”
To wait for Junwoo, Hare headed to the living room—his nest. The entire space was filled with his scent, which gave her a strange sense of comfort.
“My heart feels at ease… It feels good…”
While he was gone, Hare had cleaned in her own way, so the living room was relatively tidy. She lay down on the sofa where Junwoo usually slept, feeling its warmth and savoring his scent.
“Hehe…”
It would be nice to live this happily forever… The happiness she was feeling for the first time made her think she wouldn’t mind dying right now.
Hare was passing the time by looking at an old photo of Junwoo in a frame on the desk when—
Creak—
The sound of the door opening rang out.
“Oh? Uncle must be back..!”
Reacting to the sound, an excited Hare hopped and skipped toward the entrance. To welcome Junwoo home from the party!
“Uncle..! You’re back..!”
However.
“...Uncle? Who is that girl next to you…?”
Thud—
Hare felt as if a massive boulder had crushed her heart. The two people holding hands. Junwoo, returning from the party, was not alone.