TYND 52

TL: Motokare

“You became a mage to protect people, Harrié. And you did. A lot of them. I saw it happen, over and over.”

“……”

“Every time the Allied Forces were in danger, you pushed yourself past your limits and continued to use magic. Many times, you drained yourself past three hundred and eighty-one wyons and collapsed. But the moment you woke up, you were always the first one to head back to the battlefield. I always thought you were incredible.”

Rothy extended his hand towards him. Dazed, Harrié lifted his own. Rothy then placed the magic crystals he’d made directly onto his palm and carefully brushed over the small wound on the back of Harrié’s hand. 

“I never disliked you, Harrié.”

“……”

“I’m sorry I didn’t want to go to PLEIN. I just wanted no more children to get hurt. And you know what? Master wouldn’t have welcomed more living magic stones either… I don’t know why he left the research journal, but Master really hoped PLEIN wouldn’t create living magic stones. Honest to goodness truth.”

Harrié’s lips trembled. There was too much he wanted to say and questions he wanted—no, needed—to ask, but he didn’t know where to start. Right now, he felt that if he opened his mouth, something strange like sobbing would come out. 

“Rothy, let’s go now.”

“Mhm.”

With his patient spent, Theon removed Rothy’s hand from Harrié and lifted him up in one motion. Even as he watched their retreating figures striding out of the cave, Harrié remained dazed for a long time. 

What was this hot emotion welling up inside him?

It was disconcerting.

He thought he didn’t care if no one understood him.

He really didn’t care if no one acknowledged him.

“Harrié… you must become heartless. This war will never end unless someone is……”

The former leader of PLEIN had died when demonic poison spread through his body. Before passing, he’d made Harrié his successor with one final order: be heartless. Harrié had no intention to hide behind his master’s last words. From the start, he’d believed that bringing an end to war required aggressive human experimentation. He hadn’t considered living magic stones, but he believed that through human experimentation and research, spellcraft and magitools could be made much more effective.

He’d collapsed more times than he could count while keeping his shield up on the battlefield. He’d endured the agony of his body being torn apart while every time he unleashed wide-area spells. 

But in the end, none of that mattered. 

None of that was remembered, because the only thing that endured was the stain of his own unrelenting, unethical ideals. 

He told himself it didn’t matter. If the war could end with someone becoming heartless, then he’d be that someone. He’d simply done what was necessary as PLEIN’s leader. 

He believed recognition didn’t matter. 

And yet, I felt wronged and a little disappointed…?

The effect of unsolicited comfort had quite an impact. Harrié bitterly caressed the back of his hand where the warmth from Rothy’s touch still lingered. How could someone be so gentle towards a person who wanted to experiment on them? Could he have done the same?

Could he ever……?

They emerged from the cave to find a beach stretching before them. Just as they’d thought, this labyrinth was inside an island shrouded in sea fog. Harrié was about to fly off to retrieve the boat using flight magic, but that proved unnecessary. Zey, judging there was a problem with the delayed return, had come to fetch them accompanied by two knights and a mage. After safely rejoining the main ship, everyone shared what had happened in the labyrinth.

PLEIN had originally planned to return to the capital via portal after landing but given the circumstances and the urgency to report the incident to the palace, they decided to head directly to the tower with the portal using flight magic. 

Rothy provided enough magic crystals for everyone to cast flight magic. 

“It’s the non-contact method…!”

“Haa, there have only ever been three people in the history of Araxys to achieve that……!”

The exclamation that was full of awe from the mages drew a darkened expression from Chungnip. This was something he’d wanted to hide from those mages for as long as possible. 

“This expedition was quite the success. We not only discovered a labyrinth, but we also learnt more about Lord Rothy’s abilities.”

Harrié chortled lightly.  

In the cave, he’d behaved unlike himself because he was shaken and caught off guard. But now that he was back among his subordinates, his usual sarcasm returned. 

“Yes, I’m glad no one was hurt. Harrié worked really hard to protect us.”

Rothy smiled back at him. Faced with that pure, spotless smile without a trace of guile, Harrié wavered again. 

“Haaa…”

Had he always been this easily swayed? Harrié let out a short breath, as if defeated and called out to Rothy as he was turning away to leave after bidding goodbye. 

“Lord Rothy.”

“Yeah?”

“The magic that moved the crocodile figurine’s a special type of spell called ‘Puppet Marionette’. It has a short casting time and requires little magical power, so you’ll learn it quickly. Here’s the incantation.”

Harrié took out a piece of paper from inside his robe. However, Rothy hesitated to take it. Theon gave his shoulder a light squeeze before letting go, offering silent encouragement. Carefully, he took the paper from Harrié’s hand. Elegant handwriting filled the page, and it was only a five lines long incantation. 

Rothy beamed.

“Thank you, Harrié.”

That was when Harrié realised. 

I…… I fell for the archduke’s trap.

A hollow laugh escaped him. 

After PLEIN’s departure, Rothy immediately cast the spell on the crocodile figurine. He didn’t even need to practise. 

Clickety-clack-clack

Thup-thup

The crocodile figurine waddled around the table, playing tag with the weasel. 

Scree!

Chi-chi was wagging his tail furiously, showing just how much it was enjoying itself. 

“Ugh… This isn’t easy at all. Lord Rothy, you’re amazing. The incantation may be short, but the magical power infusion part is complex. How did you get it in one go?”

“It’s kind of like a localised explosion magic… You can do it. Keep trying.”

“Yes, I’ll keep at it.”

Chungnip attempted to animate the other wooden figurines, but his control wasn’t as natural as Rothy’s. With his small fist clenched, Rothy cheered Chungnip on. Utlje and Xeon joined in with words of encouragement, though it sounded more like coaxing than praise.

From a distance, Theon and Zey looked on. However, a scowl was on Zey’s face. 

“Harrié Geelin has evil ideas. I think we should keep Lord Rothy far away from him, Your Grace.”

“I don’t like him either.”

“Then why did you help improve their relationship?”

Improving their relationship… wasn’t a scheme that was exclusive to Harrié Geelin. When PLEIN announced they’d join the expedition, Theon knew their true aim was to improve their relationship with Rothy. After thinking it over, he decided to let it happen. But while Harrié wanted to make Rothy like PLEIN, Theon wanted to make Harrié like Rothy. That was why he’d turned a blind eye to Harrié’s little schemes and why he’d frequently stepped away with the guard captain. 

“It’s for his safety.”

For Rothy’s safety, it was important to turn Harrié to their side. Currently, only Givarche knew about the existence of the living magic stone, but should Harrié decide, this knowledge could easily spread to other nations too. 

“I understand, but… I worry Lord Rothy might grow curious about PLEIN and waver.”

“You don’t need to. He’s firm in his stance against them.”

“But… he has such a soft heart…”

“Zey, tell them to prepare dinner. It’s been a long day, he should rest early tonight.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

Zey withdrew quietly. 

Theon silently watched Rothy, who was laughing merrily like small droplets falling on leaves. There hadn’t been any doubt, he was confident Rothy would win this battle for Harrié’s favour. All his life, no one had shaken his heart like Rothy did, so he was confident even the evillest person would be swayed by Rothy. Take Harrié Geelin for example. Theon had only planned to plant a seed of doubt in him, but the seed grew faster than expected. 

“Theon.”

Lost in thought, he looked up just as Rothy shot to his feet and scurried over like a baby bird. With a faint smile, Theon caught him easily and lifted him into his arms. 

“Time to watch the sunset?”

“Yeah.”

Carrying Rothy, Theon stepped onto the deck. Looking at the sky and sea stretched before them, dyed in deep reds and golds, his thoughts drifted to the old archmage. How had that man managed to hide Rothy on the battlefield? What did it mean that Rothy said the same words as that man once did? The Harrié problem was fixed, but one more issue still bothered his mind.

***

“What the bloody hell did you just say?! You’re backing out now?!”

Ken Bane shouted. Even through the communication device, his aura pulsed with anger. On the other end, Harrié simply smiled, calm and unbothered. 

—Did I say I was backing out? I only meant we should pause all plans and observe for a while. The living magic stone isn’t something I can just give up. 

“The longer we wait, the harder it’ll be to take him! We must work together and use this chance!”

—I don’t know. Even if we took him now, we still haven’t deciphered the research journal entirely, so we don’t know how to conduct the experiments. Wouldn’t it be better to figure that out first?”

“Get him first. You can decode it later. The Falsen land is an iron fortress! This is our chance while they’re away from that bloody place!”

—Even if Rothy leaves the fortress, the archduke will be right beside him. What’s the point?”

“……!”

Ken Bane’s face hardened with rage, looking like he was ready to raid the Zibiah Empire’s imperial palace that very instant. But unlike before, he didn’t raise his voice. He simply glared sharply at Harrié before opening his mouth. 

“Very well. If that’s your stance, there’s nothing I can do.”

Harrié raised one eyebrow. His face showed that he didn’t believe for a second that Ken would give up this easily.