Chapter 154
Chapter 154
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 154
>Chapter Title: Loneliness in the Crowd?
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After deciding to head to the Blandoga estate.
A week had passed before I knew it.
"You uncivilized brute, can't you hurry up?"
At Shine's urging, I leisurely stepped out of my room.
For reference, 'uncivilized brute' was the nickname Shine had started using for me after we emerged from the Sword God's Tomb.
"The weakest one is always the last. And yet you're so relaxed. Do you have no shame at all?"
I took in the sight of Shine, standing guard at my door and throwing a tantrum.
'What the hell is with this guy?'
Ever since the Sword God's Tomb, Shine's arrogance had pierced the heavens and kept going.
Without fail, every single day, he'd come pick a fight, which left me utterly baffled.
'What the hell did he bring out of the Sword God's Tomb?'
The guy was arrogant to begin with, but now it was on another level.
No, was arrogant even the word?
He was like a goblin rampaging without a care in the world.
The source of that confidence was undoubtedly whatever arrangement the 13th family head had left behind...
'...Tch, he won't say a damn word about it.'
"Hmm, that glare of yours is seriously displeasing. Can't you open your eyes properly?"
"...Whatever."
I brushed off Shine's needless provocation and started walking.
"Scared?"
There had been a brief moment of crisis, but it passed without incident.
You know, like leaving before the applause dies down.
No need to prove my strength against an overconfident Shine. My record spoke for itself.
Anyway, when I finally arrived at the Little Sword Hall entrance with the noisy guy in tow, I ran into the people who had arrived ahead of us.
Parun, looking utterly exhausted even from behind his mask; the Young Patriarch, sporting a refreshingly bright smile in contrast; and Sir Zeke.
The Young Patriarch and Sir Zeke were there to see us off as we left Lortel.
"All packed?"
"More or less."
"Why not stay a bit longer?"
"I'd love to, but it's too much hassle."
"Haha."
The Young Patriarch gave an awkward laugh.
Yeah, I bet.
'How much of a pain had it been?'
Oh, for the record, the Young Patriarch hadn't personally hounded me.
More like... indirectly?
The moment I announced I was leaving Lortel, he started introducing me to everyone in his circle of influence.
His intentions were genuinely appreciated.
'Opportunities to connect with Lortel's elites don't come often.'
Sure, with the platinum badge, it didn't matter much whether I connected or not—no big gains or losses—but there's a difference in influence, right?
An ally with just a lone platinum badge isn't as warmly received as one you've met face-to-face and chatted with.
But kindness has its limits.
Back-to-back social calls without a moment to breathe were downright torturous.
"Still, the effort will pay off someday. You might not remember all those faces, but they'll remember you."
I gave a wry smile at the sheepish Young Patriarch.
"Not that it bothered me. Quite the opposite—I'm grateful."
"That's a relief, then. In that case, why not stick around a little longer? The vassal families will be gathering at the estate soon. Getting acquainted with them then..."
"Torture round two?"
"Haha, such jokes."
Too bad it wasn't a joke.
The past week had been pure hell for me.
Anyway.
I turned my gaze to Parun for a moment, leaving the Young Patriarch behind.
"You sure it's okay to leave like this? You could stay longer if you wanted."
"I've grasped the basics of the Infinite Chain. And..."
[...How do you plan to find the Heavenly Origin Art thesis if I stay here? Use that brain of yours for once.]
[If you tell me the hiding spot...]
[Trust the one you trust.]
I curled my lips at Parun's sharp rebuke.
'A trusted axe chops your foot, but a distrusted one cleaves your skull.'
If I ever raid Parun's secret stash someday, it'll be entirely his fault. For not trusting me.
In any case, I shifted my attention from Parun to Shine.
"You uncivilized brute, why are your eyes so wide?"
"You're really not staying?"
"Is this body that frightening?"
"Nah, you've just looked so happy these past few days."
"Boring."
Boring my ass.
Of the three of us, Shine had enjoyed Lortel life the most.
The rumor that he'd cleared the Sword God's Tomb spread like wildfire across Lortel in less than a day.
And then this rumor started circulating too.
The Sword Garden's master is a knight acknowledged by the Patriarch himself.
It felt like a rumor the Patriarch had deliberately spread to back Shine, and thanks to it, Shine had a pretty blissful time.
Knights seeking him out unbidden.
Countless duel requests.
One guy even gifted him a famous sword just to "build camaraderie"!
'Wait, thinking about it now, it's kinda depressing.'
While one of us sat with boring contacts sipping godawful tea, the other had eager punching bags rolling in and piles of gifts.
If I'd been a knight instead of a mage, would this discrimination have happened?
'No way.'
So unfair. So heartbreaking.
Dirty knights.
As I stewed in my resentment, the Young Patriarch's voice rang in my ear.
"By the way, have you heard of the 'Fairy Dance'?"
"Fairy Dance?"
"You know, the phenomenon in the Amera region. Ever been there?"
It wasn't that I didn't know the Amera region.
It's a place with dozens of large and small lakes, where moonstones—one of the key magic ingredients—are mined. No mage worth their salt wouldn't know it.
But.
"What's this about a Fairy Dance? First I've heard of it."
"You don't know the fairy legend? It's from the Amera region—a pretty famous fairy tale. About fairies fed up with human tyranny who dove into the lakes to end their lives..."
Fairy tales weren't really my thing.
I grew up a Black-White Slums urchin; the only stories I heard as a kid were about monsters dragging off kids into the Seil River sewage.
Anyway, not the point.
"Oh, we just got word from the main estate today. Some anomaly at one of the Amera lakes. Thought it might interest mages."
So, he brought it up because it sounded like something we'd be curious about.
Am I really not a mage, like Parun says? Anomalies or whatever—zero interest.
But that's when Parun, who'd been standing silently, stepped forward.
"Young Patriarch, that anomaly... by any chance..."
"They say it's a mana oversaturation phenomenon. Locals call it the 'Fairy Dance.'"
"Could I hear more details?"
"You're interested?"
"Yes, please."
I tilted my head at Parun's unusually proactive attitude.
[What's the Fairy Dance?]
[...You don't know?]
Nope.
I've heard of Amera lakes plenty, but Fairy Dance or mana oversaturation? First time in my life.
What could make Parun so eager?
[It's one of those irregular phenomena that only happens at Amera lakes. Appears unpredictably in one of the dozens of lakes. I'll explain the details later.]
With that, Parun turned away from me.
Right then, the Young Patriarch pulled a thick stack of documents from his bosom and handed them over.
"Good thing I brought these just in case. Info gathered by our estate's sources. Take it and review at your leisure."
"...Thank you for the kindness."
"If you're interested, you'd best hurry. No way the other great magical houses haven't caught wind since we have. You might get lost in the crowd."
Parun stowed the documents in his subsace like they were priceless treasure.
I watched the scene in a daze for a moment before cautiously speaking up.
"Well then, time for us to head out..."
"Yeah, go ahead."
"...?"
"...?"
I tilted my head at the Young Patriarch's straightforward send-off. He tilted his head back at my blank stare.
"Forget something?"
"Didn't you give me the platinum badge?"
"Got it."
I'd received the platinum badge a few days ago.
Two badges engraved with the names of the Magic Tower and Sword Garden.
Two tokens from those ghostly organizations.
"Even handed over the direct-line communication crystal."
"Didn't really need that, but I took it anyway."
"But what else do you need? Oh, traveling funds?"
"..."
I stared at the Young Patriarch for a moment, then extended my hand. Funds weren't an issue, but you don't turn down good intentions.
"...Thrifty one."
Anyway, after accepting the pouch of gold coins he offered, I finally got to the point.
"Why haven't you given me the Infinite Chain?"
Yeah, that's right—the Infinite Chain.
More important than the platinum badge, more than the communication crystal, more than a bit of travel money!
The item that started our Lortel adventure and would cap it off—this love-hate artifact.
But for some reason.
"...? Didn't you get it?"
The Young Patriarch tilted his head.
I narrowed my eyes.
"What is this? A patience test? Or a backstab?"
Parun, who'd stepped back a pace, came forward again right then.
"I got it."
"...You?"
"Yeah, received it safe and sound yesterday. Verified it's genuine, and it's safely sleeping in my subsace now."
"Why the hell would you..."
"Why do you think?"
"..."
Parun's firm tone left me speechless for a moment.
The moment I questioned my choice of profession as a mage.
Knights propping each other up, dancing their chaotic blues—while mages were all uniformly cold-blooded.
Anyway, as I reeled from the shock.
"Young Patriarch, Sir Zeke—we'll take our leave."
"Farewell. This body shall depart as well."
Shine and Parun exchanged cheerful goodbyes.
The Young Patriarch and Sir Zeke bid them warm farewells too.
Out of these five, the only one left out was me.
This sorrow of belonging to neither mages nor knights. So where the hell do my roots lie?
"Come on. You uncivilized brute."
Shine grabbed my collar and dragged me out of the Little Sword Hall.
I let myself be pulled along, gazing up at the sky.
I'd chosen the dead of night to slip away quietly, but the full moon blazed too brightly.
'Is this loneliness in the crowd?'
Life tasted bitter.
* * *
As Aster's group departed the Little Sword Hall.
Sion watched their retreating figures quietly.
"You look happy, sir."
"Do I?"
"Yes, and..."
Zeke started to say something but clamped his mouth shut.
But Sion smiled lightly, as if he already knew what Zeke meant to say.
"Surprised? Seeing me treat a mage so casually."
"Yes, honestly. Has there been a change of heart...?"
"A change of heart."
Sion trailed off, turning his gaze elsewhere. At the end of that gaze was Aster, being dragged along pathetically.
"Isn't he pathetic?"
Zeke glanced at Aster and replied.
"...Honestly, yeah."
"That wretch stood against One Sword? No, he even rolled over belly-up before Father? Can you believe it?"
"I wouldn't if I hadn't seen him myself."
"Yeah, I get it. If I hadn't met the Tower's master myself, I couldn't have believed any of it."
But those who'd encountered the Tower's master firsthand had no choice but to believe. There was something strangely compelling about him.
"Just made me think."
"What..."
"Ah, there's even pathetic mages like that. Not all mages are vicious snakes like the Decullans."
"..."
"A fact I'd only known intellectually suddenly hit home."
Zeke inwardly agreed.
Lumping the Tower's master and Decullan under the same 'mage' label felt like one of them didn't belong.
"That's all. Understand?"
"...Yes."
It was the moment the Young Patriarch broke free of the shell he'd been trapped in for so long... but Zeke couldn't rejoice wholeheartedly.
The catalyst was just too pathetic.
After a brief silence, Zeke posed a question.
"By the way, do you know when One Sword is returning?"
"...? No word on that. Heard the schedule's dragging on longer than expected. Why?"
"It's nothing. Just thought we had something to discuss, but it's not urgent."
"...?"
Zeke recalled Hamelan's grumbling from a few days ago.
—Lortel's plagued with a curse. You'll understand one day.
He'd said that and left for Baydun.
Now, Zeke finally grasped a bit of its meaning.
Up to that thought.
Zeke voiced a sudden question that popped into his mind.
"But why hand over the Amera Lake info...?"
It was hard to fathom for the usual Young Patriarch.
He had zero interest in magical phenomena.
Yet the Young Patriarch's response was oddly cryptic.
"You tell me."
"...Pardon?"
"No idea myself. Just following Father's orders."
"So it was the Patriarch's command?"
Sion nodded calmly.
He said no more after that.
He merely pictured Patriarch Muhard's demeanor when issuing the order.
—Mages will surely be intrigued.
'He said that, but...'
Those eyes had flickered subtly.
As if expecting something.