For a Mage...
For a Mage...
We were victorious.
What lay scattered across the tracks barely qualified as bodies. Like a fruit basket crushed beneath carriage wheels, the contents of those human forms sprawled abandoned in a pitiful mess.
"Hoo...."
Trixie wiped the sweat from her forehead. Becky, as though the tension had finally snapped, had slumped right down onto the ground.
"Ughhh.... High places, gruesome things—this is just a parade of everything I hate...."
"Not exactly everything you hate, though, is it?"
Louis's gaze turned toward me. Then Becky's gaze naturally followed suit.
Abruptly, Becky's face went red, and she started fidgeting with her pointed hat.
"...I-I meant that as a figure of speech. It's not that I hate everything."
The representatives all let out deep sighs. Their bodies were still faintly trembling.
That was only natural. They had dealt with the ghosts, but what they felt was barely different from having killed humans.
"Well done."
I murmured the praise.
They had overcome the ghosts through their own strength, without any assistance, and their hesitation against foes bearing human form had diminished considerably.
Just then, I heard murmuring from another direction. When I looked, a lone mercenary clad in armor was being greeted enthusiastically by the journalists.
"Thank you, Squad Leader!"
An intense aura swirling alongside violet hair. It was Elysis, the Squad Leader of the Mystic Gorge.
It seemed Elysis had personally helped the journalists down from the rear car and onto the ground. They continued their conversation without the slightest care that I was nearby.
"It was incredible?"
"Yes. Ah, I don't mean the scale of the ghosts.... I mean the Magic Department representatives were incredible."
Among the journalists, Arine answered as the representative. After surveying the remnants of the ghosts scattered around, Elysis gave a slight nod.
"What were you lot doing up there all that time?"
"Recording the representatives with a crystal orb."
"Hmm."
"Although, I am a mage as well, before I'm a journalist. And in that respect, their operational level was completely absurd. A truly astonishing level of..."
"Right. I know. I know."
After cutting off Arine's words, Elysis's gaze shifted toward the rear car of the train. Toward that special car reserved for honored guests, stretching straight up into the sky.
The next moment, Elysis asked me.
"Hey, it's been a while. Did you really stop this thing?"
The squad leader rapped her knuckles against the train tower with a thud. I merely nodded in silence.
"...You're one hell of a guy."
Elysis murmured, and then grinned. It was a smile full of satisfaction.
"Thanks to you, the Magic Department reps are in one piece...."
The squad leader asked Arine.
"What about the journalists? No casualties on your side either?"
"Yes. Not a single one."
Arine glanced at me several times.
"I thought we were going to be caught up helplessly in the explosion.... We came through safely thanks to Plan stopping the train."
"Good. No fatalities."
The squad leader pointed her chin toward Arine's crystal orb.
"That thing—is it recording us right now too?"
"Huh? Oh, no. It's an artifact that needs periodic mana refills.... Its charge expired partway through. Still, we did manage to capture everything up through the ghost hunt─"
"Enough. Just answer what I asked."
"Ah, yes."
Silence fell, and Elysis's gaze returned to the train. Her eyes did not leave it for a long while.
"...Hm."
Elysis looked back and forth between me and the train. The expresion on her face held a great deal she wanted to say, and she mulled it over without pause.
In the end, it was Arine who broke the silence. She took a step toward me.
"Hey, don't worry. We definitely got footage of the representatives dealing with the ghosts."
"There's something you've forgotten, I think."
I returned three return stones to her. Arine's eyes went wide, a beat too late.
"Oh, what is wrong with me. I completely forgot the return stones! My mind was so distracted, I didn't even...."
My only purpose had been to ensure the representatives' actions were recorded. To put it another way, I had no interest whatsoever in the journalists, who were incapable of doing anything right now.
Yet Arine remained elated. She seemed to have long since abandoned any pretense of hiding her identity.
"I should have gotten a clearer shot of the train itself.... It feels like such a waste to be the only one seeing it. Ah, if I just refill the mana and come back to record it─"
"There's no need."
My mana is not infinite.
I am not holding the object in place in real time, so the train is currently simply stopped—which means before long, it will plummet over the cliff edge.
I asked Elysis.
"How much time remains until the Subjugation Festival finals."
Elysis, who had been lost in thought, looked at me and then let out a short laugh.
"Look at this guy. Have you decided to drop formal speech entirely now? About five hours left until the finals."
"Five hours, then."
That is satisfactory. I should be able to reach the destination without issue.
Elysis narrowed her eyes slightly and asked.
"Plan. Any thoughts about entering the Mystic Gorge? Setting aside the fact that this isn't the place for it, I'm being quite serious."
"Still none."
"Is that so."
She smiled in amusement for a moment, and then abruptly pointed her chin toward the tracks.
"First, let's head back to the station and talk. As you can see, the tracks are in this state, so we can't go this way anyway."
I silently studied the destroyed tracks.
They were completely wrecked, but if measured purely by 'length,' it was not such an extensive stretch. I concluded that with materials available, it would be a solvable problem.
"Send for materials."
"Materials? Why materials, all of a sudden."
Elysis blinked.
"...You can't mean."
"I intend to repair the tracks and continue on."
"Oh, this guy."
Elysis shook her head.
"It's not that I don't know you're capable of that. But these tracks get more and more dangerous the further you go. That's exactly why I'm saying let's head to a different station."
"Because they're dangerous, I said I will repair them and proceed."
A brief silence passed.
"Ha. Truly one hell of a guy."
She gave me a look with eyes subtly narrowed, and then ultimately conceded. She shouted toward the mercenaries waiting behind her.
"Forget it. Don't prepare the escort. He says we aren't turning back."
"Yes. Understood!"
"Instead, bring some materials. So we can fix the tracks."
"Yes!"
With just a few words from the squad leader, the mercenaries moved in perfect unison. Elysis swept back her violet hair in a pleased manner.
"Hey, Plan."
She called my name once more.
"One more time—think about the Mystic Gorge. I'll set you up with a decent position."
"Unless that position is squad leader.... forget it."
"Like hell it's squad leader, you bastard."
Elysis shrugged.
"Be careful in Berkel. Our guys can get a bit rough with people who don't eat from the same pot."
"Are you referring to Cheonchuk."
"Yeah."
The moment I heard that, a hollow laugh escaped me. Exactly who did she think needed to be careful of whom?
"Why don't you deliver that warning to Cheonchuk instead."
"Hm?"
"My people just spent this whole time slaughtering humanoid demon beasts. They might end up confusing ghosts with humans."
While Elysis stifled a hollow laugh, beside me Becky sprang upright like a startled cat.
"P-Plan! I can't kill people!"
The girl launched into a heated explanation all on her own.
"We dealt with the ghosts because they're demon beasts in the end.... A-Actual people, how could I kill them! I could never do that!"
"You're capable of it."
Trixie's and Louis's eyes were still wide. Becky jabbed her index finger toward them.
"She can't! Trixie and Louis will be thinking the same thing as me, right? Look at their faces. Everyone's expression is just like mine. Guys, right?"
"...."
No answer came. An awkward stillness descended, and just as Becky started to grow sheepish—
"You. Did you just say 'we'?"
"Woah.... Plan, that's the first time you've said it like that."
The reason Trixie's and Louis's eyes had widened was finally revealed. Becky let out a small startled yelp, as though she too had only just realized, her own face struck anew.
"Th-Th-That's right? Just now, you definitely said 'my people'...."
"Shut up."
I dismissed their reactions. Strictly speaking, I hadn't used the word 'we' with any particular meaning behind it.
Elysis now called out to Louis.
"Hey, Louis."
"Lady Elysis. It's been a while."
Louis bowed politely.
"You've been through a lot, huh? Grow up well and come to the Mystic Gorge."
"Ah, well...."
Louis couldn't finish his answer and kept sneaking glances at me.
"...?"
A moment later, Elysis's eyes went round, and she burst out laughing as if she couldn't believe it.
"What's with that reaction? Did I just lose you to Plan or something?"
"Ahaha.... No, nothing like that. It's just that I'm learning a great deal from Plan. I want to stay by his side for the time being."
"Fine. We'll talk about the rest once the Subjugation Festival is over."
With that, the conversation ended, and I marshaled my mana and simply waited for the materials to arrive.
"Um, excuse me...."
However, one of the journalists approached me to speak. In her hands were a notepad and a pen.
"Would it be possible, by any chance, to get an autograph in advance?"
At the journalist's words, the Magic Department representatives nearby all turned to look at me with curious eyes.
"Ooh~ Plan, you really are a celebrity now."
"...Maybe I should get one too."
"You get your papers summarized, not autographed."
"Ugh. Something other than that."
I quietly accepted the notepad.
I swiftly wrote out my signature. I was about to hand the notepad back to her—
"Ah, and please add my name next to it."
My eyebrow twitched in that instant. Irritation swelled up fully from the depths of my mind.
"...Your name."
"Oh, I'm Lorelia."
I wrote it down without difficulty.
"This should be the correct spelling."
She nodded.
"Yes. That's right. Seeing it in person, you really are unbelievably impressive. That a mage—'for a mage'—could display this level of firepower...."
For a mage.
For a mage.
For a mage....
I drew two lines through my signature.
"You don't qualify."
◈
"Ah! Knight of Embers, you've arrived!"
The moment she disembarked from the train, an elderly man welcomed Scarlett with great ceremony. It was Kenis, the village chief of Berkel.
He had personally rushed out to greet the Knight of Embers. It was only to be expected.
"Was your journey not too uncomfortable?"
Scarlett spared him only a glance.
"Well enough."
Scarlett had traveled here aboard a train expressly prepared for her alone. The phrase "honored guest among honored guests" truly applied to her.
"Haha. If ever anything makes you uncomfortable, please do not hesitate to tell us. For the Knight of Embers, what would I not do?"
The figures beside the village chief also bowed their heads courteously to Scarlett.
"We greet the Knight of Embers. Every year, this Subjugation Festival has been an immense help in dealing with Berkel's demon beasts."
The procession continued. The village chief, the village chief's daughter, someone whose name she couldn't even remember.... Scarlett gave a vague nod to all of them.
"Now, now, all of you. Enough with the greetings, that's quite enough.... You'll trouble the Knight of Embers!"
The village chief reined them in and then beamed toward Scarlett.
"Let us proceed to the plaza, where the representatives and the townsfolk are gathered. Seeing a knight of your stature, they'll all be overjoyed beyond belief."
"Very well."
Scarlett walked alongside the village chief, and a long line of others trailed behind them.
Thus they arrived at the plaza. The gathered representatives and townsfolk were supposed to greet Scarlett with shining eyes.
"...."
No—they were supposed to have. Yet the reality unfolding before her eyes was entirely different.
"...What?"
"They're taking down ghosts that easily?"
"And their points are already that high."
Townsfolk and representatives chattering animatedly. But their attention was not directed toward Scarlett. In fact, they didn't even seem to realize she had arrived.
"...?"
Scarlett doubted her own vision.
Beside her, the village chief's face had turned pale. He frantically sought out the official in charge and demanded—
"Y-You there, what on earth has happened here?"
"...Tch, I was watching that in the middle of the good part."
The official was dragged over physically, his gaze still fixed on the record scroll.
"...?"
He had been muttering something brusquely to himself, but the moment he confirmed the faces of Scarlett and the village chief, his mouth fell open.
The official scrambled to answer.
"Ah.... Aaaaaah! Village Chief! You've come together with the Knight of Embers! Oh, no wonder! I could sense this overwhelming aura~!"
"Forget that. Just explain what has happened."
"Ah, yes! Preparations to welcome the Knight of Embers were, of course, all in place. The representatives have only just arrived and were simply not yet in the right state of mind...."
He was giving nothing but nonsensical answers.
Neither Scarlett nor the village chief was convinced in the slightest. In the end, Scarlett stepped forward and asked directly.
"What are they all so absorbed in?"
"Hahahahaha~!"
The official swept his hair back and laughed. It was the most awkward smile in the world.
"It's honestly nothing much at all—truly not something the Knight of Embers need concern herself with! Yes!"
Scarlett openly twisted her expression in disgust.
"So you are telling me that something supposedly of no consequence has led to my being treated in this manner...."
"N-No.... No...! That isn't what I—!"
The official's entire body, and his speech along with it, went limp. He looked ready to collapse entirely at a single push.
Scarlett ultimately shoved him aside and advanced toward the record scroll. The official flailed helplessly.
"My Lady Knight! J-Just a moment! Please don't do this...!"
"Do not cling to me."
The lady knight roughly pushed the official away.
"Look at those points. And the subjugation hasn't even started yet."
"At this rate.... Even Cheonchuk might be in danger, no?"
Amid the still-noisy crowd, Scarlett shouldered her way past them one by one and moved forward.
And at last, she stood before the record scroll.
"...."
"...."
The face of that damnable mage who bore the same surname as herself. That was all the record scroll displayed.
The Magic Department representatives carried out their combat.
Ghosts were swept away like dust, and magic surged forth in a refreshing display. Everyone present had their gazes stolen by it.
"For something as trivial as this...."
Scarlett clenched her hand around the record scroll attached to the wall and tore it down.
The people nearby were about to erupt in anger, but once they confirmed the identity of whoever had torn it, they swallowed their protests.
"L-Lady Knight?"
"Knight of Embers?"
Scarlett's blazing pupils remained fixed on the record scroll.
136, 137, 138....
"...."
Mages systematically wiping out the notorious ghosts.
Points that climbed without pause.
At some point the plaza had fallen silent, and Scarlett felt an incomprehensible emotion rising within her.
Until the Subjugation Festival began—less than thirty minutes remained.