CH 45

“It’s really what the Master of the Magic Tower did.”

Those were the first words Kade, who had summoned the spirit upon seeing the hole, said.

“Unless he aimed for something in particular… it seems like a simple venting of anger.”

“He made a hole that huge to vent his anger?”

“It’s possible.”

What does it mean? I listened carefully to Ivan and Kade’s conversation, yet I couldn’t figure out what it meant.

Is it possible to make such a huge hole in the open with the magic of the Master of the Magic Tower or is it possible for him with his nature to do such a thing just to vent his anger?

The semi-transparent spirits summoned from Kade’s fingertips floated around with trembling gestures. I looked at Kade, who was sending his spirit somewhere, and turned my head.

I also thought of a light appreciation as he was competent apart from his bad personality when I filled my eyes with the black huge hole.

I think I smell something burnt.

“Doesn’t it seem like it hasn’t been long since he has been here?”

“Yes, it does… What are you going to do if you know that?”

It’s a question not worth answering. Ignoring Kade’s gaze, I leaned over and ran my hand over the blackened ground. Even though I only brushed it lightly, all kinds of ashes and dust seemed to get tangled up in my fingers.

The familiar purple glimmer that was briefly seen in that pitch-black hole must be only my imagination.

Even if it wasn’t an illusion, it didn’t make any sense. After all, Dante is already gone.

I wondered if I could have met Dante if we had come a little earlier. At the end of my thoughts, the feelings that clung to me as if biting my tail seemed to be regret or frustration.

Dante doesn’t even know that I want to see him this much. Thinking that way made me laugh, so I unknowingly grabbed onto the ashes.

“It would be better not to touch it carelessly.”

“I didn’t touch it.”

“Such an obvious lie.”

I brushed my hands off. I could feel Kade looking at me with bewildered eyes, but there was not much of my impression. Now I don’t even think about answering him in sincerity.

“Hmm, I think Illinan was here.”

Then, suddenly, Ivan raised his head and said.

“How do you know that?”

“It smells like Illinan.”

“Smell… No, let’s go for now.”

I had felt it since I heard that he was on the top of the carriage earlier, it seemed that his physical abilities had far exceeded the normal range. However, there was something I was more curious about than Ivan’s unusual sense of smell.

“What is Illinan?”

“Sister, don’t you even know what Ilinan is? This one became very famous because of the Master of the Magic Tower.”

“…I don’t know anything about him.”

“There are so many things you don’t know, Sister!”

That sounds pure, right? It didn’t sound nice because the gap of 10 years was only getting bigger and bigger.

While I doubted the meaning of the words for a moment, Ivan excitedly opened his mouth.

“It’s okay, because I know him well! Even if I look like this, right next to the Master of the Magic Tower, I…”

“Ivan.”

Just as the story began, Lily called out to Ivan in a stern voice. It was the first time I had heard it, her hard, firm voice.

“It seems like he came and went not long ago, talking about the Master of the Magic Tower in a loud voice is careless.”

“Yes…”

Ivan’s expression quickly turned sullen at Lily’s strict admonition. I looked at him with sympathy as I felt sorry for him.

Lily, who had been calmly yet carefully examining the surroundings, opened her mouth again.

“Was the monster here, as Ivan said?”

I felt it from the time she was strictly intervening with Ivan earlier, but from the moment the topic of the Master of the Magic Tower was brought up, Lily seemed to be overly nervous.

Well, is it natural for her to be nervous? Because the traces of the person they were looking for were found right here.

Whether Dante made a hole while dealing with the monster named Illinan, or he was just taking out his anger and the monster was swept away, it seemed clear that Dante had dealt with Illinan. However, the dispatchers somehow seemed to want to deny that fact.

“But Illinan…”

“I also think that part is strange.”

The atmosphere suddenly became serious. It seems like they are talking about Dante, yet I was the only one standing there bewildered, unable to understand.

What else would Kade say if I interrupted and demanded an explanation? But I’m not the one who cares about that.

“Is Illinan different from other monsters?”

“How did you try to pass this road without knowing that?”

Look at him, such sarcasm as if he had waited. Ignoring Kade’s pointless sarcasm, I looked at Lily.

Lily, who looked distraught, made eye contact with me and replied with a slight smile on her pale face.

“Illinan… To put it simply, it’s a spirit monster. The attack power is weak enough that a normal person can handle it, but the reason why it is difficult to deal with is… It’s because it shows an illusion so that people don’t harm them.”

Illusion.

Words that didn’t make much sense were stuck in my ears. Illusion was, at least for me, an unrealistic phenomenon that could only be seen in a dream. I had never seen an illusion while being fully conscious in my whole life.

“What kind of illusion does that monster show you so that you can’t harm them?”

Fuzzy speculations popped into my mind.

Do they hide who they really are, pretending to be something that will seduce people and lead them astray? Or do they hold back one’s steps by listing the memories one doesn’t want to recall before one’s eyes?

Either way, the feature itself of showing illusions seemed to be an excellent ability for survival. Because you can’t fight with strength, you lure people with illusions and make them unable to fight.

Apart from that, is there any reason why Dante can’t hurt Illinan? Why do they want to deny that Dante killed Illinan?

The Dante I know isn’t so weak of mind that he is fooled every time by illusions.

At the moment when I thought about this or that, Lily, who hesitated at my question, opened her mouth.

“That monster…”

“Miss Lily.”

Before I could hear her answer, Kade suddenly called out to Lily. Turning her head, Kade stood as if he had summoned the spirit he had just launched into his hand again.

“I sent a spirit to look through the woods, only to find another Illinan nearby. I guess… There seem to be enough Illinans to call it a habitat.”

“…”

I felt it on my way here, but strangely there were many monsters on the way to the Magic Tower. Judging from the reaction of the merchants and the delegation, this was by no means a normal situation.

The monsters that roam during the day as well as at night, and the merchants who blamed Dante when the monsters appeared.

“Also, there were traces of the same mana felt in this hole.”

And even Dante’s traces that were found where the monsters were.

After hearing that, I was able to grasp the situation with difficulty. I don’t know what Dante has been doing in the Magic Tower since he disappeared after the war, but at least it seems that there is some connection between the monsters’ change and Dante.

It must be pretty bad news for me, who had hoped for Dante to wait quietly in the Magic Tower.

Lily pondered briefly at Kade’s words, then she replied as if she were confirming her thoughts.

“Then, the Master of the Magic Tower passed by there, or… He might still be there.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

In fact, it was as if our destination had been decided by those words.

They were the people who went to find the Master of the Magic Tower, and I didn’t reveal it to others, but I also had the same purpose.

Soon Lily said with a look of firm determination.

“It wouldn’t be bad to go once. Please guide us.”

“I will.”

After Kade said that, he looked at me unexpectedly.

“…?”

Standing there for a while with a puzzled look, he soon frowned as he fixed his monocle once.

“Don’t wander around alone without thinking, unless you want to get lost in it.”

Why are you even telling me about these things? I smiled at Lily as she took my hand with an apologetic expressionㅡperhaps apologizing for Kade’s shrill tone.

In my heart, I wanted to go find Dante even if I had to search the woods alone, but I knew best that I couldn’t do that.

“Even if I wanted to go around alone, I couldn’t. Because I’m not good at finding my way.”

“…That is something to be proud of.”

Kade fired back like that and turned around.

Once again, translucent creatures flew high into the sky.

***

Kade didn’t stop nagging me before we got to the forest, after we got there, even before we went back.

At first, I was puzzled by what this worry was, but the further I went, the more I thought, ‘If I just talk beautifully, then half of it will go away’, so I dismissed it with apathy.

I know very well that I don’t have the ability to stand out like they do, but why does he keep making people look like they can’t tell the difference?

…However, now, I wonder if I really can’t tell the difference..

“…”

As the saying goes, a monster appears in a gloomy forest.

For some reason, I was standing alone, lost in this place, where the smell of burnt that I had vaguely smelled earlier was creeping up.

Even when I looked around, only the dense trees filled my vision, and the party was nowhere to be seen. Besides, for some reason, the trees in this forest were completely black, from their trunks to their leaves, and the view was as if I was in the dark. I can’t see an inch in front of me, and I can’t understand my surroundings.

Do I really have a jinx that I will cause trouble if I’m not paying attention?

“…How could I be left alone like this?”

I muttered to myself in vain, yet I heard no answer.