The Mask Comes Off
Daryl didn't believe a word Chris said. He had no interest in a war of words, so he let it drop.
"Please give me a magic book that explains how to weave the rings by one's own strength. Nothing that depends on Motaro."
"From the fourth ring on, the difficulty climbs sharply. Without Motaro, it'll be rough."
He had no wish to feed something foul to people he cared about. Say that, though, and Daryl wouldn't understand, so he offered another reason.
"Once every Ring Binder ascends, there won't be any way left in this world to obtain Motaro."
"So you mean to leave your disciples behind at the tower."
"Their level is too low. They couldn't ascend anyway."
"Fine. Wait here."
She left the pavilion and flew for the mountain peak. Chris toyed with his teacup and waited. The sun went down, the moon rose, and by the time it was sinking again, Daryl returned.
She held out a spatial pouch containing five magic books and mana stones, then took the wooden casket from him.
"The essence of our tower's magic is in there. I'm taking a heavy loss on this."
She spent a while congratulating herself, then opened the casket and broke into a bright smile.
"Three of them."
"Is that enough to become an Ultimate Mage?"
"It is."
"Will you be taking Wilbur with you as well?"
Her expression darkened.
"His attitude is far too stubborn……."
She clenched a fist and went on.
"Even so, I have to try to persuade him."
Chris bowed to her as she steeled herself, then took his leave.
Chris had meant to shore up his shaky foundations with the books Daryl had given him. The moment he opened one, he hit a wall. They were written in the Divine Language.
He picked his way through the characters he knew, grew irritated, and shut the book. When he asked Grain to teach him a little of the Divine Language, he was told to stop wasting time and get back to work — so he threw the books aside.
Then, with all the sour dignity of a fox staring at grapes it could not reach, he muttered to himself.
"I've got the Acrian. The Acrian is all I need."
Ten days later, Chris walked toward the quarters of the Jenyeom mages behind the Training Wing. Jenyeom mages were required to teach the Gyesin apprentices, so their residences had been built close by. That did not mean they lived in dormitories the way the Gyesin did. Every one of them had a house to themselves. He was strolling through the scattered neighborhood that climbed the mountainside when a noisy commotion reached him.
The voice was familiar and strange at once. Chris headed for the source of the racket, saw a young man grinning and running his mouth, and nodded.
Lai.
Lai, the self-proclaimed genius boy of the Training Wing, had grown into a man while Chris wasn't looking. Puberty had dropped his voice, leaving an odd impression that was familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.
He was stuck to Catherine, pestering her.
"You really are ugly. Think anyone's marrying a face like that?"
Chris clicked his tongue. As a child the boy had fawned at her side, all sweetness, and now that her looks had changed he had turned on a dime and started mocking her.
Brat then, brat now. Still not a scrap of manners on him.
Catherine didn't rise to it. That only made Lai cling harder.
"Ugly. Want me to introduce you to one of our household servants?"
Catherine sighed.
"Stop being a nuisance and go away."
"This bitch is as stuck-up as ever. She still thinks she's pretty."
In that instant fire flashed across Lai's eyes. Chris had closed the distance at astonishing speed and smashed a fist into his eye socket.
"Agh!"
Lai clutched his eye and went tumbling.
"Which bastard—"
He recognized the man who had struck him and froze.
"Elder Gary."
"That's right. Gary. You little son of a bitch."
Chris ground a heel into him.
"Agh! Agh!"
"Mannerless little shit."
"Aigoo, Elder, why are you doing this?"
Lai grabbed Chris's calf and clung on.
"Please spare me."
Chris shuddered as if a cockroach had latched onto him and shoved the young man off. Lai rolled backward and scrambled clear.
"Run, and you're dead."
Chris crooked a finger. Lai crept closer with terror on his face, snot streaming from his nose.
"You don't mock someone for how they look."
Lai hung his head.
"Yes, sir."
"Live decently."
"Yes, sir."
Chris slapped him across the cheek one last time.
"Get lost."
Lai fled as if his heels were on fire.
Chris turned to Catherine, who stood beside him looking blank.
"Segorin is dead. Why haven't you had yourself treated?"
"I don't have any mana stones."
He gave her a portion of the stones he had received from Daryl.
"Is this enough?"
She took them and frowned.
"Why are you giving me mana stones?"
"I'll tell you the reason later. Restore your appearance first."
She gave no answer. She only hesitated.
"Where's your house?"
Catherine pointed to a house with a red roof.
"That one there."
"I'll visit at noon, the day after tomorrow."
"Elder. Elder!"
Chris ignored her puzzled calls and returned to his quarters.
"You really are beautiful."
Alice said it while stroking Catherine's cheek. Catherine let out a soft laugh.
"Stop touching."
"It's not going to wear out. What's the harm?"
Alice pinched the cheek hard. Then, all at once, she dropped the playfulness and spoke in earnest.
"Why did Elder Gary help you?"
"I don't know…… Pity, maybe?"
"Maybe he wanted to see the face that used to be famous for how pretty it was."
"That's a little creepy."
"Why?"
"He might want me for himself."
"Oh. Right."
Alice glanced at the clock.
"He said he'd visit at noon?"
"Yeah."
"Two minutes left."
"Thanks for staying with me."
"Compared to what you've done for me, staying is nothing."
"All I did was lend you some spare money. It embarrasses me when you thank me this much."
"That money saved my family."
Just then, someone knocked. Catherine went to the door with a stiff face and opened it.
"Elder Gary. Welcome."
Chris stepped into the parlor and saw Alice.
"I was going to send for you. This works out."
"I beg your pardon?"
Alice was flustered.
"You were going to send for me?"
"Yes."
Chris raised a double barrier and sealed the sound in. Watching him cast, Catherine and Alice grew even more unsettled.
What in the world is he planning, being this careful?
They were anxious, and on edge.
Chris sat on the sofa and crossed his legs. He patted the cushion beside him for them to sit, but the two of them took the chairs opposite.
"You fixed your face well."
Catherine lowered her head.
"Yes, thanks to you…… Thank you. But why did you help me?"
Anxiety thinned her voice until it trembled. Chris looked from one to the other in silence. Then he suddenly slipped his fingers beneath his chin and tore his face away.
"Wh—!"
"Kyaa!"
Both of them screamed.
That hit them even harder. Their eyes went so wide he half worried the corners might split, and their mouths hung open.
"You! You!"
Drool slipped from the corner of a mouth.
"Yeah. That's right. It's Chris."
"How…… how……"
"Oh my god……"
Neither of them could get a proper sentence out. Then Alice wiped the drool at her lip and muttered.
"Is this illusion magic?"
"No. It's real."
Chris held the mask up before their eyes and shook it.
"I've been wearing a mask this whole time."
Alice shouted.
"What on earth happened!"
"It's a long story."
Catherine said,
"We've got time."
Chris began with the day he met Tom in prison. As the tale went on, their emotions swung every which way. They laughed, they cried, they sighed. Now and then they swore, and more than once anger closed their fists.
He did not tell them everything. Anything that would only worry them — Grain's true intentions, for one — he kept to himself.
When the long story ended, neither of them could speak for a while. At last Alice opened her mouth.
"Chris, the dunce who sensed mana last of everyone, became a Ring Binder first."
Catherine chimed in.
"No one in the tower's history has reached Ring Binding this fast."
Chris smiled bitterly.
"Courtesy of suffering like a dog."
"You're going to ascend, aren't you?"
At Alice's question, Catherine's eyes went round. The thought clearly hadn't occurred to her.
"You're really going up?"
Chris nodded.
"Yeah."
"You've got plenty of lifespan left."
"My master told me to come with him."
"You could just refuse."
"I want to climb higher. If I stay here, Ring Binding is the ceiling."
They had finally met after all that waiting, and soon they would have to part. The sadness ached in Alice's chest.
"You bastard. You should have let us know ages ago."
"I didn't want to reveal who I was. Some rotten bastard might have grabbed a weakness and used it to threaten me."
Catherine said it straight.
"You're an orphan. What weakness do you even have?"
Chris only smiled.
Alice said,
"Don't tell me — us?"
"In this world, you two are my only friends."
Alice pressed a hand to her chest, eyes brimming.
"Wow. I'm touched. I didn't know you held us that dear."
Catherine shot him a look.
"You still should have said something sooner."
"I was busy."
Chris drew the magic books from his spatial pouch.
"A gift."
Catherine took them.
"Six volumes."
The sixth was one Chris had written himself, and it contained no concrete spells. He had set down what he had come to understand while training, and devoted a great deal of it to the method of weaving rings. An account of the Split Mind Art had gone in as a matter of course, and here and there the contents of the Acrian Magic Book were woven through the pages as well.
The two of them divided the books and read. Neither was fluent in the Divine Language, so they could not read them properly, but they could tell the contents ran deep. As time passed, their eyes grew wide.
"This is—!"
Chris smiled and nodded.
"It holds the essence of Mick Magic Tower's magic."
Probably. More or less.
They clutched the books to their chests.
"Thank you. Truly."
"They're treasures. Don't let anyone else lay eyes on them. If the books get found out…… you know."
Alice bit her lip hard and nodded.
"I'll be careful."
Catherine held out the sixth volume.
"The writing in this one is completely different."
"I wrote it."
Alice pulled the book out of Catherine's hands.
"Let me see too."
She read a few pages and shook her head.
"It's hard."
"Most of it is about Ring Binding. That's why."
Alice was only at the Jenyeom realm, so of course it was difficult. Chris had leapt straight to Sikbae through the bizarre training method called Iron Body, and so he had had little worth writing about the realms below Ring Binding.
He handed over the spatial pouch and went on.
"There are mana stones inside. Use them when you train."
Catherine looked apologetic.
"I don't know if it's all right to take this much."
"We're friends."
"Even so, only ever receiving makes me feel shameless."
"Then do me one favor."
"All right. I will. What is it?"
"When I was living in the Training Wing dormitory, the proctor—"
Alice cut him off.
"You mean Hailey."
"You know her?"
"We see each other now and then."
Catherine drew a line.
"We're not close."
Alice laughed.
"She's only saying that because Hailey keeps teasing her. They're pretty close."
"Teasing her? How?"
"About being old."
Catherine said,
"So what's the favor?"
"If you have the room for it, look after Hailey a little."
"Do you like Hailey?"
"It's not like that. When I'd just gotten out of prison and was struggling to adjust, Hailey helped me a great deal."
"All right. I will."
Chris's tone turned serious.
"Once all the Ring Binders leave, there won't be anywhere left for Motaro to come from. Even so — if you ever get your hands on any, don't eat it."
Alice made a face as if she had stepped in shit.
"I have no intention of eating it."
Catherine mimed a retch.
"Just imagining it is awful."
They talked of old times all through the night, and parted in the morning.
He had said he would come again when he had the time. How many more times would they actually see each other?
If his luck was bad, this might be the last.
Chris gathered up the loneliness and forced it down.