Chapter 334
Chapter 334
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 334
Chapter Title: Given Time (3)
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Summer had passed, and autumn had arrived.
Quite some time had passed since the leaves began to change color, and now the few that still clung desperately to the branches started to fall. The path was dyed yellow and red with fallen leaves.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The hill where the Trias family estate stood.
The path leading up to that hill was covered in crushed fallen leaves. People making their way to the estate crushed the leaves underfoot. They were students from Aphria Academy. Their purpose for visiting was obvious.
Lania van Trias.
They had come to see her.
It had been about two weeks since Professor Lania had stopped appearing at Aphria. They'd heard she wasn't feeling well, but when Professor Rosel also failed to show up for two weeks, worry set in.
Even though countless people had expressed their desire to visit, Professor Rosel had coldly dismissed them, saying it wasn't the right time. But he didn't stop Aphria's students from paying a sick call.
And so, a small group of students headed to the estate.
Rak, who had frequent contact with Lania, along with Belnoa, Resti, Chloe, and Aila, arrived at the Trias estate. When they knocked on the door, it creaked open with a groan.
"...You're here."
The first to greet them was Rosel van Trias, his eyes hollow and sunken. Gone was his usual sharp demeanor; he looked years older as he welcomed them.
"Thank you for visiting, Your Highness."
Rosel named each student's status in turn, his gaze lingering last on Resti.
"...Next Ashen Mage Tower Lord, Resti Eleanor."
"Yes, Elder Rosel."
"I'm no longer an elder... but thank you for coming anyway. Seeing your face will surely cheer her up."
Rosel gave a bitter smile.
"Thank you for coming."
His voice lacked strength.
Rosel told them to go ahead and see her—he'd bring tea shortly—and pointed to the room where Lania was staying. The students began to move.
The estate had never employed a separate caretaker.
Everything in the house was managed by magical devices and circuits, as befitting a mage family... but looking around, dust had accumulated everywhere. It was clear it hadn't been maintained. The only well-kept areas were Lania's room and the path leading to it.
Knock knock.
With a short knock, the students opened the door.
A breeze blew in the moment the door opened. A dry autumn wind, carrying a slight chill.
"Professor Lania."
Resti called her name.
Lania, who had been leaning against the bed and gazing out the slightly open window, slowly turned her head. Her ashen hair, now dull and lusterless, fell loosely. Her faded blue eyes, devoid of their former light, looked at Resti.
Her reaction was a beat slow.
Lania smiled belatedly and nodded.
"Come on in."
The students swallowed dryly and approached her. As they all drew near Lania, only Resti remained standing in place.
"......"
Resti's eyes trembled as she gazed at Lania.
Elder Krenbel Eleanor.
The old man racing toward his appointed death.
The expression he wore as his end approached was astonishingly similar to the one Lania now bore.
2.
"I'm fine, really."
Lania waved her arm, which she could barely move after two weeks, putting on a playful front for the students.
"I just burned through too much mana, down to the dregs. It's exhaustion symptoms. I'll be up in no time."
"...Exhaustion symptoms?"
"Plus, I pushed my body pretty hard."
Lania gave a wry smile.
"I broke through high-tier magic—not to mention an ancient incantation—with my bare body. This is getting off cheap."
The students' expressions were subtle.
Lania hid her trembling hand and bowed her head slightly. Her ashen hair fell forward, sticking to her dry, parched skin as she let out a short breath.
One deep breath.
Steeling herself, Lania lifted her head.
"Why do you all look so grim?"
Lania chuckled.
"Anyone would think I was on my deathbed."
"...Your condition."
Belnoa spoke up.
"Your condition... it doesn't look good at all, does it?"
Belnoa remembered the Black Mage Tower Lord who had examined Lania canceling all his backloged work and rifling through forbidden tomes.
"I'm a businessman."
"I weigh the pros and cons of everything before acting. That's how I was taught. That's how I've always acted. So, one could see this current action the same way... but."
I don't want to.
The Black Mage Tower Lord had muttered that with a sigh.
"It's impossible."
"I'm not that sentimental, nor do I idolize heroes... but even so, this can't happen."
If only those Ashen Mages weren't such a habit of his mouth.
The Black Mage Tower Lord would mutter that.
"She's not someone who should go like this."
At some point, that's what he had started saying.
Belnoa couldn't know what he had seen to react that way, but she could infer that Lania's condition was dire.
"Perhaps..."
Back then, when you saved me.
When you put your lifespan on the scales then.
"No."
Lania cut off Belnoa's mutterings curtly. She stated firmly.
"It has nothing to do with that."
Lania looked at Belnoa.
"It's got nothing to do with you all. It's just some built-up issue that finally blew up... and it'll be resolved soon."
She shrugged.
"Who do you think I am?"
"...The Ashen Mage."
"Right. And now it's public knowledge anyway. Lania van Trias, the Ashen Mage."
Lania chuckled.
She had tried so hard to hide it, but somehow all these kids knew her true identity.
"Now that you know I'm someone that big, how's it feel? Feeling some respect or awe yet?"
"You are a great person."
"Yeah, I'm that grea—"
Lania flinched.
Her ears turned bright red.
Lania whipped her head around to glare at Aila, who had muttered "great."
"It's true, isn't it? Great Lady Raniel."
"Th-that's..."
"You're great."
Aila bit her lip hard as she said it.
"So you'll get better soon, right?"
"Of course."
Lania smiled in response.
"Who do you think I am? The Ashen Mage, a soldier who's been through countless battlefields. I'll be up in no time, so don't worry—just focus on your assignments."
After some brief small talk, the students left their get-well gifts and turned to go. One by one, they opened the door and stepped out... all except Resti, who remained.
"Professor Lania."
"Yes."
"Lady Ashen Mage."
"...You found out back then?"
"Yes."
Raniel van Trias.
Resti savored the name before slowly speaking.
"I hated you once, envied you once... but I still admire you, Lady Raniel."
You were my rival.
You might not have seen it that way, but I did. I imagined surpassing you countless times. Becoming a greater Ashen Mage than anyone and leading the tower.
"So."
Resti clenched her fist tight.
She bowed her head before Lania. Swallowing tears with a stifled breath.
"Please don't die."
Don't leave my side.
"The elder passed away."
We held a modest funeral amid the chaos.
Resti felt an emptiness like a gaping hole in her chest. Filling that void would take a long time, but before she could even adjust to it, another loss loomed.
Sensing it instinctively, Resti pleaded.
"My father and mentor is gone, and now you're the only one looking after me, Professor Lania. You're the only one I look up to."
My mentor and benefactor.
And at the same time, my goal.
You.
"Please don't go."
At least you, don't leave me.
Lania had no answer for the pleading Resti. She merely struggled to lift her arm and patted Resti's head.
"I'll try."
That was all she could say.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ All the students had left.
The sun had set, and night deepened. Unable to sleep, Lania stared out the window. The firmly shut window reflected only her own face.
A face that had changed greatly.
But now, it was a face she'd grown accustomed to.
The reflection of Lania in the window was expressionless.
It was the expression she'd maintained as a sage. Acting coldly and rationally no matter what she faced—that had been her required role, and Lania had performed it admirably for years.
She was called a sage.
She showed a perfect front as the hero's companion.
To play that role, Lania had donned a mask over her face. Casting aside fear, despair, everything, she acted the perfect self. The more Kyle wavered, the more steadfast Lania's mask became.
That mask.
The mask that had been flawless for years.
The mask she thought had become her true face.
Crack.
It was crumbling now.
With the mask gone, what remained was the face of a terrified girl. Seeing her reflection in the mirror, Lania let out a dry laugh.
"Ha, haha..."
Death approached.
Lania calculated the time she had left. The time she could hold out. Her cursed quick mind spat out the conclusion in an instant, down to seconds beyond minutes and hours.
One second ticks away.
Seconds gather into a minute.
Minutes into an hour, hours piling into a day. And again...
Grind.
Lania ground her teeth.
She tried to banish the clock filling her mind, but even the phantom ticking of the second hand echoed. She couldn't erase it from her head.
The terror of death surged in.
Escaping it was impossible.
Overcoming it was, naturally, impossible too.
Humans facing a predetermined end merely rationalize it to themselves and avert their eyes from death. Lania had done the same until now.
The resolve to achieve great feats.
The desire to burn her remaining life and etch a brilliant stroke upon the world.
With resolve and desire, Lania had turned her gaze from approaching death. It was fitting for one called a sage. Lania deemed it "right." After all, it would be a brilliant death.
She could be content with such a death.
A death like Garahal's.
A death where she could proudly say she'd lived well, spilling blood for future generations—that was the finest end she could wish for as a sage.
But what about now?
Lifting her arm.
Putting on a brave front before the children.
Even that was barely manageable now. Improvement wouldn't let her fight like before. She couldn't face disasters.
A life dying in a sickbed.
A life broken like that.
Such an end wouldn't shine like Garahal's.
It was pathetic. Like crumbling leaves. With such a conclusion set, Lania couldn't ignore death. She stared straight at the approaching end.
Was there a way to escape that death?
There was.
By trampling every path she'd walked and betraying it all. Listen to the seed's whispers. Succumb to that sweet temptation and become something not human.
That's impossible.
But Lania couldn't choose that.
She couldn't turn her back on those who had died for her. She couldn't look away from the weight upon her life.
But...
Maybe I could.
Maybe I could keep my self even if swallowed by the shadows. Even ancient heroes from centuries ago couldn't, but maybe I...
Arrogant thoughts kept surfacing.
Baseless hubris. Just overconfidence to flee death. Lania felt disgust at herself for such thoughts.
"...Ugh."
In the end, Lania chose nothing. She merely felt the approaching death.
Tick.
Flowing time.
Tick, tick, tick.
Approaching death.
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.
The sound of death rang in her ears.
The nearing death gnawed at Lania's mind.
Before it, she was just a frail human. Not a grand hero with a sage's title, but a pathetic, crumbling mortal. And.
"...I don't want to."
Head bowed, Lania muttered. The taste of blood came from her bitten lip. She felt something trickling from the corner of her eye, down her cheek.
I don't want to die.
A tear dropped onto the blanket with a plop.
Her bitten lip trembled. In utter terror, Lania's shoulders shook. A faint breath escaped through her lips.
A faint sound.
A sound that would scatter in the blowing wind.
Someone was listening to it.
Rosel, standing beyond the slightly ajar door, heard Lania's mutterings. He repeatedly placed his hand on the doorknob and released it.
...Mages are a damned breed.
So rational, so calculating, that every situation is grasped too objectively. Rosel knew well there was nothing he could do in this one.
The night deepened.
Another day passed.
The given time flowed steadily toward its end.
3.
Cardi van Armiel.
The ancient great sage mixed reagents with hollow eyes. He wrung out every bit of knowledge accumulated over centuries for one answer.
But no answer came.
Cardi ground his teeth.
He swept the reagents off the desk with his arm. Test tubes scattered, shattering into glass fragments with a clatter.
"Hoo..."
Cardi tilted his head back.
It had been some time since he'd gone to check on Raniel's condition. Time had passed, but no answer emerged. Cardi had hit a wall.
Just like centuries ago.
He slammed into the same wall from back then. No path led to an answer. Cardi rubbed his eyes.
"...Damn it."
The brilliantly shining mage.
Centuries ago, a mage with the same radiance as his comrades. Now she was breaking down. Losing her light bit by bit.
Cardi couldn't bear it.
He stared at the empty desk.
The moment he reached for reagents to try again.
Knock knock.
Someone knocked on the shop door.
It was deep night. No customers would come. At least not to this shop. Frowning, Cardi opened the door.
"Cardi."
The figure before the shop door.
"Cardi van Armiel."
The moment their eyes met, Cardi's widened more than ever.
"Long time no see."
The figure at the door smiled.
Seeing someone far more aged than he remembered, Cardi swallowed reflexively.
"...How?"
That was all Cardi could ask.
The figure gave no answer.
Stepping simply inside the shop.
"We have a lot to talk about. You and me."
Deep night.
"Sit down first."
In an old shop.
In a shop tucked away in a dark alley untouched by starlight, the two talked for a long while.
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