Chapter 22
After she became able to clearly sense mana, contrary to her expectation that Kallios would push her even harder, he gave an unexpected order to rest.
“Take the day off.”
She blinked in surprise. The moment she was about to head down to the training grounds, he barged into the room and said those words.
“Why?”
Sitting on the chair in front of Abella’s desk, who had gone out early that morning, Kallios shrugged.
“Being able to sense mana means one of your senses has newly awakened. You need to let your body adjust. In the meantime—”
His crimson eyes gleamed as he rested his arm on the back of the chair.
“Let’s go see what the Northern Spirit Master is doing.”
Before she could even comprehend what he meant, the man suddenly stepped up to her and lifted her into his arms.
“What are you doing—!”
“You might want to hold on tight.”
He sang the words as if humming a tune and headed straight for the window.
“Wait, put me down, what are you, Kallios!!”
The ground far below came into view beyond the window. Their room was already in a dizzying height of the tower.
[What are you doing.]
[Hey, human!]
[What are you trying to do to Asila!]
The butterflies glimmered with light as they flapped their wings, striking Kallios’s face.
Yet he paid them no mind and stepped onto the windowsill, still holding her. The height was so perilous that it felt like they might fall at any moment.
“Ah…”
The fact that he was holding her in what people called a princess carry didn’t even cross her mind anymore.
The sheer terror of falling to her death if he so much as lost balance made her reflexively grip his shoulders.
“Kieeeek!”
A cry she vaguely recognized echoed from somewhere. At the same moment, Kallios’s lips curved upward. A bad feeling ran cold down her spine.
“Here we go.”
The short whisper brushed her ear.
He wouldn’t really jump, would he? she thought. But the moment that thought passed, Kallios’s foot left the windowsill.
A sharp wind battered her face.
Gravity pulled her down with a chilling force. The ground drew closer at a terrifying speed. She squeezed her eyes shut against the imminent impact.
Then, after what felt like a long time…
“You can open your eyes now.”
Kallios’s amused voice reached her ears. Slowly, she lifted her eyelids.
Blink.
A familiar pair of blue eyes filled her vision.
“…Radin?”
[Asila!]
[It’s Asila!]
The nymphs fluttered and laughed with clear, ringing voices.
She realized she was still in Kallios’s arms, sitting on something. Looking down, she finally understood, they were flying through the air.
A large bird glowing softly in a familiar silver light.
Jin.
“Your hands are soft.”
Following his words, she noticed her own hands clutching his shoulders and hastily tried to pull away. But Kallios didn’t let go. He was looking at her hand with that same unreadable gaze.
“What are you doing.”
Only after Rdin growled did Kallios slowly release her hand. His ears had turned bright red.
She was about to ask if he was feeling unwell when the creature beneath them suddenly wavered. Gasping, she grabbed onto Radin beside her.
[Such a weakling, isn’t he?]
[He can’t even handle our energy.]
The butterflies flapped their wings, mocking Jin.
[He ran away.]
[He ran away.]
[He must have been scared, with two beings of darkness around.]
[What a coward.]
She recalled how Jin had fled from the Nixes in the Tower Master’s chamber.
It had been fine when she rode with Rdin. Was it too much for Jin to bear the presence of two dark spirits?
Looking down, she saw how far the ground was and felt her face go pale.
Should one of them get off? From this height?
As she was lost in thought, Rdin’s cold voice cut through the air.
“Kallios, get lost.”
Still staring blankly at their joined hands, Kallios didn’t react until Rdin lightly tapped him.
“Wait, Radin—”
“…Ah, okay.”
Before she could even call his name properly, Kallios replied casually, still dazed, and waved his hand.
Before she could say anything else, shadows wrapped around his body, and he vanished from sight.
She blinked at the sight of a man disappearing before her eyes. Jin, who had been trembling moments before, soon steadied.
“…I don’t like him.”
Still staring blankly where Kallios had vanished, she turned her head at Rdin’s low murmur.
“What?”
“Ah, nothing. Asila, I can finally see you properly.”
His blue eyes softened with warmth.
“Did he tell you where we are going?”
She shook her head. She had no idea where, or for what purpose. She had simply been swept up, carried, and dropped, until she found herself on Jin’s back.
“That damned fool…”
Still smiling, Rdin muttered a few curses under his breath in Kallios’s direction.
Then he pulled a map from his robe and unfolded it, pointing to a location.
It was not within the Empire. It was much farther north.
“Where is this?”
“The Seden Territory of the Kingdom of Druaz. The Marquis of this land sent a request.”
Rdin explained that in Seden Territory there was a vast forest where people had been disappearing.
At first, they thought it was nothing serious, people occasionally got lost, since the forest was enormous and had no clear paths.
But as weeks passed and even a month went by, with no one returning, the entire area was sealed off for investigation.
Even the investigators sent inside vanished.
A unit of knights was organized and dispatched, but they too never returned.
Because the forest lay near the heart of the kingdom, closing it off caused significant problems not only for the Marquis but for the kingdom itself.
Eventually, royal mages were sent, but even they disappeared. That was when the request was made to the Spirit Tower.
There was a strong possibility that magical beasts were involved.
“The Marquis is an acquaintance of mine, And since you’ve just entered the adaptation phase of feeling mana, the Tower Master suggested you accompany us. Consider it a learning experience on how spirit masters handle such cases. You won’t need to do anything yourself.”
After some time, Jin let out a cry and descended slowly.
She frowned. A faint stench lingered in the air.
[Ugh!]
[Disgusting!]
[Horrible!]
The nymphs that had been chattering on Rdin’s shoulder and hand shuddered and soon faded from sight.
And it wasn’t only them who reacted.
[Those who defile nature.]
[I can sense it faintly. Another fissure has opened.]
[It never ends.]
The butterflies’ voices were sharp as they stirred their wings.
“You’re here.”
A lazy voice entered her ear.
Kallios stood leaning against a tree, shadow curling around him. He had arrived ahead of them. Whatever strange trance he’d been in earlier was gone.
Then a middle-aged man in uniform approached them in long strides.
After helping Asila dismount, Rdin turned to the man and exchanged a brief hug.
The man then bowed deeply to Asila and Kallios.
“Thank you for coming, Raizel Rdin, and the spirit masters. I am Hans von Seden, Marquis of this territory.”
His face was gaunt, worn with fatigue.
“It’s nothing. After the request was sent, has anyone else entered the forest?”
Rdin got straight to the point, and the Marquis’s expression darkened visibly.
After a moment of silence, he answered in a heavy voice.
“…Yes.”
Kallios’s eyes narrowed.
The shadow coiling lazily around his neck stirred and lifted its head.
“Your head must be empty.”
The sharp insult spilled from his mouth before anyone could stop him.
“You—!”
“If the Spirit Tower accepted the request, that alone means there’s a high chance magical beasts are involved. That’s common sense. It’s not like we took our time responding, either.
You sent the request, and we came right away. And yet you let someone go into that forest again after just one day? That’s not just stupid, it’s brainless. Don’t you think?”
Before Rdin could intervene, Kallios continued with relentless scorn.
Looking at him with a mix of irritation and resignation, Rdin finally sighed and spoke.
“Though his words were unnecessarily harsh, he’s not wrong, Hans. We did ask that the entire forest be sealed off.”
The Marquis’s already dark face contorted further, his expression breaking as though on the verge of tears.
“I’m sorry. I received word that my mother was gravely ill. My wife insisted on going. She said she would regret it for the rest of her life if she didn’t, even if it meant dying in that forest. She was crying so much I couldn’t stop her…”
The Marquis lowered his head, voice trembling.
“Please, please save my wife. I beg you, Raizel Rdin.”
His desperate cry echoed across the plains like that of a wounded beast.
“How long has it been since your wife entered the forest?”
Rdin’s calm question came only after a long silence.
“Four hours. Four hours have passed.”
“How long does it take to reach the center of the forest?”
The Marquis bit his lip anxiously.
“No carriages can enter the woods. It used to take about four to five hours on foot. Why do you ask…?”
Asila looked ahead at the enormous forest before them. This was no ordinary forest. The trees were immense, towering skyward.
The foul stench seemed to thicken in the air. The butterflies fluttered beside her as if in agreement with her unease.
A dark aura, unpleasant and foreign, rippled faintly through the forest.
“…A fissure. Magical beasts usually appear in the deepest part of a forest or mountain where the yin energy is strongest,” Kallios muttered, frowning.
The Marquis’s face turned pale.
“For now, we’ll go in. I can’t promise anything, but we’ll do what we can. Please make sure no one else enters the forest.”
With those words, Asila, Rdin, and Kallios stepped into the dark woods, where the unpleasant energy was writhing like a living thing.
