This Time, Don't Miss It
The sharp rap of knuckles against the chancellor’s office door made Kassian lift his head.
“Chancellor, a letter has arrived from the Magic Tower.”
“Come in, set it down, and see yourself out. Thank you for your trouble.”
The adjutant placed the sealed letter on the desk, offered a crisp bow, and withdrew without another word. The entire motion was designed to avoid disturbing Kassian while he worked through his papers.
Kassian’s gaze slid back to the documents. They had to be dealt with first.
His hand moved across the pages with increasing speed.
Then it stopped.
A vicious headache pulsed behind his eyes. He tilted his head, jaw tight.
It’s worse than usual today.
There was no point trying to continue like this.
“…Haah. I need to rest.”
A long sigh slipped from his lips. Kassian rose from his chair and crossed to the sofa. The moment he leaned back, closed his eyes, and opened them again, the letter bearing the Magic Tower Lord’s personal seal caught his attention.
“The Tower Lord’s seal.”
Have they found student Yohan?
I hope nothing has gone wrong.
But the very fact that the letter had been sent suggested otherwise. If Yohan had chosen to return, he would have come straight back to the academy.
Kassian stood, crossed the room, and retrieved a silver letter knife from the side table drawer. With a soft click he broke the seal.
The handwriting inside was not Celestia’s.
“Claire, not Celestia.”
The fact that Claire had used the Tower Lord’s direct seal meant the matter was urgent enough to warrant it. Kassian’s face darkened.
A corpse possessing a pure white body. Its identity is unknown. Even Lady Celestia has no knowledge of such an entity.
“What is this?”
The letter was packed with statements he could not parse at a glance.
“…A corpse with a pure white body, an existence even Celestia does not recognize.”
Kassian murmured the words aloud. Whatever the corpse’s identity, the fact that Celestia had ordered Claire to send this letter under her personal seal meant the matter demanded immediate attention.
Hmm.
“If even she doesn’t know… I’ll have to visit the forbidden archive.”
It was a repository of information the academy rarely touched. He had no guarantee of finding answers there, but it was the only logical place to begin.
“Still, it isn’t a place just anyone can enter.”
Entrusting the task to someone else left a bad taste in his mouth, yet the volume of material was far too great for him to comb through alone. He would need a trustworthy companion.
Kassian walked to a bookshelf and pulled down a thick roster containing the personal records of every academy affiliate.
“Tsk.”
As he scanned the names his tongue clicked in open displeasure.
“Most of them are the council’s spies. This won’t work.”
He could order his adjutant, but if the man were caught in the council’s retaliation, Kassian could not guarantee his safety.
He closed the roster with a snap and sank into his chair.
There were painfully few people he could trust. Most had already been ensnared by the council’s schemes, and the rest soon would be.
Going with anyone else felt too risky.
“Yet I cannot ignore a letter bearing the Tower Lord’s seal.”
No matter how long he had known Celestia, this was clearly not a personal favor. She had judged the unknown corpse important enough to use her official authority.
“…Haah.”
There was no other choice.
“It looks like I’ll have to do it myself, no matter how long it takes.”
Kassian headed for the forbidden archive alone.
Thud. Crash.
In front of a house in Edelbein, I took a kick straight to the face and tumbled across the dirt.
A cloud of dust billowed up as I rolled, coating me from head to toe.
Sigh.
I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but this was worse than expected.
I brushed my hands clean and let out a long breath.
“Get lost!”
Bang.
“They are ordering you to depart this time. The door has been closed as well. Are you unharmed?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
Still, is this within acceptable bounds?
Since I can neither see nor hear, it’s impossible to read the mood.
Zeno’s flat, emotionless voice left me with an oddly uncertain feeling. Even with his help resolving so many problems, distinguishing truth from lies in the information he relayed remained difficult.
In every way, the situation was inconvenient.
I pushed myself up with a soft grunt.
“This place isn’t it either. Is there dirt on my clothes as well?”
“It is thoroughly covered.”
Perfect.
I patted the dirt from my clothes and started walking again.
I’ve checked this side. Time to try the opposite direction?
Where could it be…?
“Your recovery concluded only recently. Would it not be wiser to rest longer?”
“We still need to locate the small giant’s hiding place.”
“There is still ample time. Proceed at a measured pace.”
“Understood.”
I smiled faintly and kept moving.
Even after being kicked into the dirt, I continued knocking on every door. There was only one reason.
I had to find where the small giant had lived.
He must have kept a residence to run his street stall.
I had been wandering Edelbein with that thought for days. The only replies I received were cold voices and flying feet. Of course I never heard them myself, but Zeno’s reports and the ensuing situations let me slowly piece the scene together. Long experience made the inference second nature.
At least they aren’t trying to kill me. That’s something.
“Observe your current attire. You chose it deliberately, did you not?”
I ran my hands over the ridiculous outfit: shoulders heavily padded and lumpy, shoes with exaggerated pointed toes, and a hat carved into bizarre jagged shapes. The whole ensemble made me look exactly like the clowns who wandered the world for coin. The sight drew laughter and deflected suspicion. It was the perfect disguise.
“You are performing better than anticipated.”
“Is there anything I cannot do?”
I smiled again. Thanks to the handful of clown performances I had given, no one connected the current fool with the mute they had seen days earlier.
It really was a good idea.
I could wander Edelbein naturally while concealing both my blindness and deafness. It let me continue my search without exposing any weakness. Some people disliked the act, but others let their tongues loosen in front of a harmless clown.
Aria, watching from afar, had apparently turned pale with shock. I had no way of knowing that.
Tap.
Another cold reception. Undeterred, I turned back toward the street.
“It is time to return to the cabin. The sun is setting.”
“I suppose so. Tell me when you see a place where I can change.”
“Proceed forward. There is an area with little foot traffic.”
I moved quickly. In the space of a few breaths I changed clothes and stepped back onto the street as an entirely different person. No one associated me with the clown anymore.
This should be safe enough to head back.
I saw no suspicious glances. It was time to return to the cabin.
I followed Zeno’s guidance.
“There is a vagrant ahead. It appears to be a fortune teller. Shifting slightly to the right would be prudent.”
“Understood.”
A fortune teller. Haven’t heard that in a while.
Maybe they’ll say something as I pass.
I approached slowly. The instant I veered right to avoid the figure, a voice rang out.
“You there. Will you wait a moment?”
“Yohan, stop. The fortune teller is addressing you. Turn your head left.”
I turned my head as instructed. A moment later the voice continued.
“You’re looking for something, yes? Turn right at the next corner and walk until you reach the farthest house. It has white flowers hanging on it.”
Zeno relayed every word without omission. I narrowed my eyes.
I thought I might hear something useful, but I never expected an actual answer.
I let out a soft chuckle. Fortune tellers were rare beings one encountered only once in a great while. No one understood how their foresight worked, but it was never wise to ignore them.
Moreover, the location they had described was one I had never visited.
There was nothing to lose.
“Will you go?”
“Yes. Let’s stop by one last time.”
I gave a small bow in the fortune teller’s direction and decided to follow the guidance.
“Zeno, I’ll need your directions.”
“Understood.”
I set off without hesitation.
“Sister, do you have something you want to ask as well?”
Aria halted in front of the fortune teller. Or rather, she had come because she saw the old woman speak to Yohan.
“What did you just say to him?”
“Well…”
The fortune teller drew the word out with a languid smile. Up close she looked half-mad. Aria’s brow furrowed.
“Speak quickly—”
“Sister.”
The fortune teller cut her off. Aria’s grip tightened on her staff. A sharp sense of unease prickled across her skin.
“What?”
“Such a pitiful child. Such a pitiful sister. You must act while the chance remains, yes?”
“What are you—”
The fortune teller’s head suddenly lolled forward. Her eyes slid shut. She looked like a corpse.
What is this?
Aria stepped closer and reached out. The old woman was still breathing.
She was alive.
Then the fortune teller’s eyes snapped open again. After a few blinks she stared at Aria with a completely different expression.
“Hey, you…”
“Uhehe. Sister, do you want to play with me today?”
Saliva dribbled from the corner of the old woman’s mouth. Aria recoiled at once.
It was clear the woman’s mind was unsound.
“…Haah.”
Aria sighed and glanced in the direction Yohan had gone.
“Can he hear again now? How did he even converse with her?”
I was planning to reveal myself soon, but…
Yohan’s incomprehensible behavior had convinced her to wait a little longer.
“Following him comes first. I’ll deal with you later.”
Aria melted into the crowd and quietly trailed after Yohan.
“Hee hee hee.”
The fortune teller’s eerie laughter drifted down the street behind her.