The Millennium Capital (9)
I poked the fallen thief guild members on the floor with my finger. No reaction. They must be dead.
“Ugh.”
Guess not. I stood up and spoke to Tasia’s attendant.
“This way we won’t get any information at all. You should have gone easier on them.”
“Why are you here?”
Tasia’s attendant asked, still on guard. That was genuinely what I wanted to ask, but there was something more important to do first.
“I’m Ruina. Nice to meet you.”
“I know.”
“I’m Ruina. Nice to meet you.”
“…Haze.”
Haze answered in a reluctant voice. He really didn’t want to greet me. I wondered why. Was it because he didn’t want to show this sorry state in front of me, the popular Evil God’s priest slayer, Ruina?
“That can’t be it.”
Or maybe it was. Haze grabbed a thief guild member by the collar and spoke.
“Answer me. Why did you come here?”
“I had business. Actually, I’d like to ask you the same. They had an appointment with me—did they also make one with you, Sir Haze?”
If so, this was double-booking. I’d thought they were decent, but they were playing both sides? That wasn’t right.
“……”
Haze crossed his arms, lost in thought for a moment. Right after, one of the thief guild members who had been pretending to be unconscious sprang up. Without so much as a “Die!”, he charged at Haze from behind with a dagger raised.
However, Haze stood still with his arms crossed, as if he hadn’t noticed. At that defenseless sight, just as I was about to cast a spell—
One of the two swords at Haze’s waist flew out on its own and sliced the thief guild member’s neck. Haze remained with his arms crossed the entire time. I stared wide-eyed at the sword that had drawn itself, cut down the enemy, and returned to its scabbard all by itself.
“It’s magic!”
“What kind of reaction is that, like you’ve never seen magic before? You’re a mage too, aren’t you?”
Jerry muttered beside me, clearly not understanding. Ignoring him, I approached Haze.
“Is it wind-attribute magic?”
“……”
“You’re using wind to create a telekinesis-like effect. Does the magic activate automatically without you having to consciously trigger it? Or are you casting it yourself while pretending you’re not, with your arms crossed?”
“What do you want?”
“That magic. Can you give it to me? I’ll pay the price.”
Haze gave me a strange look at my words. He didn’t understand what I meant.
“You’re asking me to teach you the magic?”
“No. I don’t have wind affinity. I’m suggesting a trade, literally.”
“A trade? Do you think magic is some kind of object? How do you trade it?”
“I can. Just answer me. I’ll meet whatever conditions you want as much as possible.”
“Not interested.”
I was disappointed. It looked like such a good magic, yet he refused to trade it. Left with no choice, I gave Haze one final request.
“If you change your mind later, you have to tell me, okay?”
“Not happening. Anyway, what business do you have with these guys?”
“They stole something of mine.”
“Something? Don’t tell me you were the owner of that ridiculously large block of Star Silver?”
Huh?
“How did you know about that, Sir Haze?”
“There are ways to know everything.”
“No, that’s strange. Star Silver is valuable enough that news of it being stolen shouldn’t have reached a third party’s ears so quickly. Especially when there hasn’t even been any real rumor spreading yet.”
The Alchemist Guild had sent people out discreetly. They hadn’t advertised it widely, so originally, only three parties should have known about the Star Silver: me, the Alchemist Guild, and the thieves who stole it. But look at Haze—he’d rushed over as if he had someone planted in the thief guild.
“It was a coincidence.”
“Hmm.”
“Anyway, if you’re the owner, this makes things easier. The Red Moon guys took the Star Silver. Think of the Red Moon as their boss. I’ll help you, so go get it back.”
“Why?”
Receiving help from someone was nice—it made things easier. But getting help wasn’t always good. If the intention wasn’t clear, it was often better for my well-being to reject the helping hand. When had he ever seen me and decided to help? Haze didn’t even like me. He’d even radiated killing intent at our first meeting, yet now he wanted to help kindly? Accepting this kind of favor for free would only bring trouble.
“Don’t want help? Then forget it.”
“Explain. Why are you trying to help me?”
“I’m doing what I was going to do anyway, regardless of you. Why bother?”
Haze smirked and wiped the blood on his face with his thumb before walking away. It was clearly a move to meet the Red Moon, so I stepped in front of him. Haze frowned.
“What?”
“Explain.”
“No. Didn’t you hear me? The Red Moon took your Star Silver.”
“I heard.”
“Then why are you doing this? Don’t you want it back?”
“But I want an explanation.”
I couldn’t take a single step until I knew who was behind these sticky, sinister hands reaching for my Star Silver. Because that was the safest path.
“No. You weren’t listening. I said what I’m doing won’t change regardless of you. Ah, forget it. I’ll bring the Star Silver myself, so just wait quietly and take it.”
“That’s what I was going to say.”
I understood Haze’s words perfectly. That was why I blocked his path. And Haze failed to realize what that meant. It was Haze who had no intention of listening to me.
“Star Silver or whatever, I’m going to block you until I hear an explanation, Sir Haze. Do you understand?”
“Is this crazy woman for real? No, those guys stole your Star Silver, right?”
“What does that have to do with anything right now? It’s not that important.”
Right now, there was only one thing that mattered: whether I could hear the truth of the incident from Haze or not. Nothing else mattered.
Thud. Wooden soldiers rose from the ground. Haze sighed and drew his sword.
“So you want to try?”
“I’m just going to get in your way.”
“That’s the same thing…!”
Haze lightly cut down the charging wooden soldiers. His movements were fluid and restrained, a sight I was very familiar with. Movements similar to Leon’s. It meant Haze was an excellent swordsman.
“Silent Shadow.”
At Haze’s low whisper, his second sword flew out and floated in the air. Haze gripped the first sword with both hands, raising it to the side of his head and pointing the tip at me. The floating sword in the air also leveled toward me. With both swords aimed at me, Haze spoke.
“I have no intention of going easy on you, so surrender now.”
Without answering, I stoked the flame inside the lantern. Haze clicked his tongue and cast another spell. A green magic shimmered over the swords. It was Refinement magic. But it was different from the Refinement magic I knew and had used many times. Haze’s brown eyes turned green. Power overflowed from his body. The first stage of Refinement magic, physical enhancement, had activated. In response, eight red lines cut across the air. Just before the red lines struck Haze—
Shhhk—!
With the sound of the air tearing, Haze’s swords sliced through the red lines almost simultaneously. Crack. The wooden floor Haze stepped on caved in and shattered, and his body shot forward like an arrow. I threw the prepared Devouring Flame, but his second sword cleanly cut through it without wavering. Haze reached right in front of me, and his sword flipped. He intended to strike me with the flat of the blade. Anyone watching would think Haze had already won. Not a chance.
Thud. A small wooden giant that had burst out from behind me struck Haze downward. Boom! The wooden giant’s fists began pummeling relentlessly. Under the merciless barrage, Haze leaped backward. I shook the lantern. Inside, a condensed flame ready to burst out burned quietly. I murmured softly.
“Check.”
“Shooting that won’t do anything. It’ll be blocked easily.”
“You want to go all the way, huh?”
I had money. If he thought of it as compensation for getting beaten up, I was going to go all out. I gathered mana to prepare my trump card magic.
“Roaring Wheel.”
At the voice that came from beside me, I turned my head. Haze did the same. A noise similar to a motor filled the building, and Jerry parted his lips.
“It’s two against one. Are you still going to continue?”
“Yeah. I lost. I’ll explain.”
Haze raised both arms in surrender. I also dispelled my magic.
“Sir Jerry, you’re surprisingly helpful.”
“Exactly. If you thought I wasn’t helpful, why did you drag me along in the first place?”
“We’re a team, after all.”
Jerry sighed. Haze also sighed as he sheathed his sword. I held out my hand. Haze narrowed his eyes.
“What’s this?”
“The loser was supposed to hand over the magic.”
“Now you’re even distorting memories?”
“Doesn’t work on you, huh.”
“I’ll say this in advance—I clearly had no intention of telling you. Any problems that arise from hearing it are your responsibility.”
“You’re making such a fuss. There are extremely few things in this world that cause problems just from hearing about them.”
“Is that so?”
At my reaction, Haze spoke as if to say “whatever happens, happens.”
“The one trying to take your Star Silver is the Second Prince. More precisely, it’s his right-hand man, but anyway, I’m helping you to interfere with that Second Prince. Got it?”
“It really wasn’t a big deal. You should have explained earlier.”
By the way, why was the Second Prince coveting someone else’s Star Silver? Or was it not the Second Prince? The Second Prince wasn’t currently in the capital. He was returning from the southern empire, so this was entirely orchestrated by his subordinate. Of course, it was the Second Prince who had given the orders to his subordinate, but why were these people coveting someone else’s Star Silver? The Holy Grail, Star Silver, eternal life. The rumors Chris had heard about all sorts of items that extend human lifespan gathering in the imperial capital… Hmm. I couldn’t figure it out. I stared at Haze. He was clearly hiding more, but he was the type who wouldn’t reveal what he was hiding even in this situation. Pressing him further wouldn’t change anything. In that case, there was no choice. I shook the lantern and turned around.
“Guide me to the Red Moon’s hideout. I need to get my Star Silver back.”
“You decide pretty quickly.”
*
“Lady Ruina? So what happened?”
“You can tell just by seeing me drinking in broad daylight.”
“You always do that. Did they already take it?”
“Yes.”
We’d thoroughly raided the Red Moon’s hideout with Haze, but we hadn’t found the Star Silver. There wasn’t even a trace. Circumstantially, it had already been handed over to the Second Prince, but without evidence, it was hard to confront him. Even with evidence, it would have been difficult.
“I told you, why did you have to fight at night?”
“How much time could that have delayed us? Judging by the lack of traces, it was handed over a long time ago. The result would have been the same even if we hadn’t fought.”
“What are you going to do now?”
What to do, huh.
“Is there any clever way? I’ll just have to move on.”
“That must be frustrating.”
“It’s because I lack power. I’ll remember this and make him pay the price after I become a great mage later.”
Second Prince, I remember you. I’ll see you later.
“You’re seeing him now, not later.”
“It’s a figure of speech. I need to remember his face so I can make him pay later.”
I scolded Chris and looked up. Waaah—! Amid the pouring cheers, soldiers formed ranks and crossed the street. At the very front of the formation, a man on a pure white horse waved his hand. Golden hair and twilight-colored eyes with a hint of purple. As the protagonist of this triumphal procession appeared, the cheers grew even louder. I engraved the appearance of the Second Prince, Isaac Eternor, in my mind and clicked my tongue. My Star Silver… My new lantern…