Chapter 4
“Hey, what the hell!!? Who do you think you are, talking like that!
“It’s fine, Alex. Stop it.”
“No, I can’t let this slide!”
“He’s a wizard.”
Priscilla held back the agitated Alex. She pushed against his chest with one hand as he lunged forward, ready to grab the stranger by the collar. Her trained arm still had enough strength for that. Alex’s heels sank deep into the sandy ground.
“I apologize once more. I’m sorry.”
She kept her blue eyes fixed on the mysterious man, calmly closing and opening them. There were unpleasant people everywhere you went, so there was no need to get worked up over every single one.
Especially with wizards—it was better not to clash with them carelessly. You never knew what kind of nasty magic they might use.
There were people who could freely wield magical power even without tools like mechanical dolls or prosthetics.
They sometimes read memories or emotions. Without question, they were the most mysterious and dangerous beings.
At the mention of “wizard,” Alex quickly reined in his fury. He just huffed and puffed, letting out sharp breaths.
The man dressed in black from head to toe looked down at the two wary figures keeping their distance, wearing a leisurely smile.
“You’re a visitor because of the war. I apologize for my companion’s rudeness, but please don’t read my memories without permission. It’s very unpleasant.”
Priscilla warned him clearly. She didn’t grovel out of fear of his power. This was inside the mercenary company’s base. No matter how formidable a wizard might be, he couldn’t just harm uniformed soldiers within Sabed.
“I didn’t read them because I wanted to. You’re the one who bumped into me.”
“…”
Fortunately, the strange man left with that same smiling expression. He walked down the path like any ordinary person, then climbed into the bizarre-looking carriage parked near the entrance. Priscilla stood frozen by the roadside until he completely disappeared, only able to breathe again when the carriage was out of sight.
After that, she had to calm Alex down, who was jumping around telling her not to let a bastard like that hurt her feelings.
“If anything happens, write to me. The Genuor Textile Factory in Arancel.”
And so her new chapter began. Priscilla told him where she was going. Perhaps she wanted to leave behind one last hope that this wasn’t a complete farewell.
The sandstorm had stopped and the sky had grown quite calm.
Light footsteps fell gently on the stone pavement beneath the dusky sunset.
“…Why is that thing here?” Priscilla, who had just gotten out of the carriage, tilted her head in confusion.
The strange wizard’s carriage she’d seen at departure was also parked in front of the train station.
At first, she thought it was as odd as the carriage.
It was clearly a private carriage, yet someone would leave such an expensive thing here and take the train.
But then she figured it could make perfect sense.
Where he was going from where, what route he was taking, whether he’d return here or not—Priscilla knew none of these things.
Not my business anyway.’
Priscilla calmly went to the ticket office and bought her train ticket.
The route from the far western edge to Lamarian was written on that small piece of paper.
It passed through Sabed and Arancel along the way.
Departure time: seven in the evening. The last train of the day.
Thanks to the coachman’s swift driving, she’d arrived on time without delay.
Since Sabed had little besides the mercenary company, there weren’t many people getting on or off. The station was empty.
Click-clack, click-clack—the regular sound of sand-covered shoes echoed on the metal platform.
Two cave-like tracks stretched out on either side, with a large clock tower standing in the center. In the empty space, only the majestic sound of the clock’s second hand seemed to ring out.
Priscilla sat on the cold, large chair placed in front of the clock tower. With countless screws embedded like toys, she had trouble finding a flat spot to sit.
As she sat in the chair and began quietly observing the grimy tracks, the train arrived before long.
‘What am I thinking, setting off alone like this?’
As she faced the loudly approaching train and stepped toward the platform, her mood began to feel strange. The reality of her sudden departure hit her.
She’d lived here since she was thirteen, and it was ending like this.
It almost felt like leaving home.
Though her original home had been a plantation that used slaves.
Yes, this place had truly been home. She didn’t even want to recall the terrible plantation life of her childhood—it was too repetitive and boring.
Come to think of it, she’d heard stories of many people leaving their hometowns for cities when they became adults. Refusing to become farmers or carpenters, wanting to leave for a wider world.
Many adventurers’ stories began that way too.
If she thought about it like that, perhaps it wasn’t something to attach special meaning to.
Feeling restless before a new beginning was natural for anyone.
“…”
But running into the obstacle of not being able to lift her bag onto the overhead luggage rack wasn’t quite so natural.
Priscilla stared up at the train car’s ceiling.
It was quite high. No, not just high, it seemed to stretch all the way to the clouds at the edge of the sky.
If her hand couldn’t reach, she could just toss the bag up there, but even that wasn’t easy with one hand.
When she realized this would be more difficult than expected, Priscilla first took out a book and set it on her seat. Then she tried to support the bottom of the bag and push it up, but lacking technique, it slipped down several times.
Even simple tasks became difficult when you had to do them with one hand.
She thought about giving up. Like when she’d left her shoelaces undone.
‘It’s cramped, but I could just keep it between my knees…’
That’s when someone appeared behind her again without any presence.
“I’ll help.”
White hands suddenly emerged from behind her head.
The bag in her grip became lighter, then rose smoothly into the luggage rack. The man’s hands could reach there easily and had room to spare.
“Ah… thank you.”
Priscilla’s expression wavered slightly as she turned around.
The ominous aura, the voice—it was definitely the same person who’d spoken so rudely in Sabed. That black-clad wizard.
‘Really, who is he? Since he helped me, maybe he’s not such a bad person after all…’
“Could you move now?”
“Oh.”
‘He helped because I was blocking the way.’
Priscilla quickly stepped aside.
Once she’d cleared the path, the man in a perfectly tailored suit and coat sat down without a word.
With his hat off, she could see his face properly. In profile, he was a beauty like none she’d ever seen anywhere in the world, but rather than admiration, she felt that same creeping sensation.
Apart from that instinctive rejection, having the black wizard sit directly across from her wasn’t a welcome situation. If they accidentally bumped into each other again and he read something, it would only make both of them uncomfortable.
‘Of all things…why this train car?’ Usually people like that would take expensive first-class seats, right? Sigh….maybe because this was just a middle station? Maybe there were fewer assigned seats because there weren’t many people? Or maybe this was the only seat left?’
She had to be careful that thoughts like these absolutely weren’t read.
Priscilla carefully squeezed into the narrow space and settled into her seat.
Fortunately, the man didn’t acknowledge her beyond helping with the bag. He unfolded an old newspaper sold at the station and began reading.
Priscilla opened her book too. She set it on her lap, turned a page, then held it with one hand again. After reading the small print, back to her lap it went. She had to repeat this routine every time she turned a page.
“You’re annoying.”
Suddenly the book floated up into the air. A page turned on its own.
Priscilla panicked and tried to grab the book again. When she let go, it still hovered in front of her.
“…”
‘He’s using such precious power just to turn book pages?? I don’t understand him.’
She yanked the book toward her. She almost said he didn’t need to help, but then thought the ill-tempered man might snatch the book away entirely since she was “annoying” him. She had no choice but to read the automatically turning book.
Small gestures like this must consume magical power. It was convenient, but the unwanted kindness made her uncomfortable.
Priscilla blinked and stared at the man across from her over her book. He was reading his newspaper with downcast eyes.
As if he wasn’t doing anything at all.
He must be a weak wizard. That’s why he couldn’t fly and had to travel by carriage and train. The magic he could manage was probably just floating light books in the air. So this was his way of showing off his power—something as trivial as turning pages.
