CH 52

Dante, whom I haven’t seen in a really long time, yeah. He was unfamiliar even at first glance. A cold expression that I hadn’t seen even when we first met.

You’ve never made a face like that in front of me, though.

Just as she opened her mouth with a feeling of determination, Dante said in a low, cold voice as he tilted his head to the side.

“I thought I killed them all.”

I thought I had seen him reaching out his hand at the end of those words.

“Sister! What are you doing, come to your senses, really!”

“Ah.”

A roar rang once more in my deafened ears, and at the same time I was pulled over by Ivan and forcibly stood up from my seat.

Ivan’s urgent voice and the sight of smoke in front of me seemed like lies.

Even though it can’t be a lie.

What caught my eye at that moment was the scorched ground.

“…Hey, is that where I was?”

“Yes. If you hadn’t risen up, you would have been in real trouble. If it was magic, I wouldn’t have been able to get your bones”

“What kind of magic is that?”

“I don’t know. But um, it just looks like dangerous magic.”

That’s right, it’s a dangerous magic at first glance, but why am I asking him this? What answer do I want?

My head was cluttered with unanswered questions. The sky where the sun is going down before I know it, the leaves that have been burned black and scattered, and the scenery that looks terrible at best. All the sights in front of me were blurry as if they had been smeared with water, and only Dante was clear.

Yeah, only you, who still has a cold face.

…What do you mean you thought you killed them all?

“Why did he attack you? That person, so…”

“The Master of the Magic Tower?”

“Gasp, you know. Why did the Master of the Magic Tower attack Sister?”

At first, I thought he missed the spell as if it was just a warning, yet he attacked Sister accurately. At the words Ivan added, my fists tightened involuntarily.

At the moment when I felt cold sweat forming inside my clenched fists, Ivan asked in a bewildered voice.

“Sister, did you do anything wrong to the Master of the Magic Tower? Is that why he recognizes and attacks you like that?”

“No. He attacked me because he didn’t recognize me.”

“What does that mean…”

Yeah, Dante didn’t recognize me. Since he didn’t recognize me, he must have made such a hard expression, used attack magic with bloodlust, and was still glaring at me.

I looked down at my clothes, which had been ruined by rolling on the floor earlier, then looked up at Dante. When our eyes met, Dante hardened his gaze even more coldly. If he had recognized me ‘properly’, he couldn’t have reacted like that, a thought mixed with laughter passed by.

But, well. It was expected. I naturally assumed that I was dead to Dante and he wouldn’t immediately recognize me. I also thought he might consider me fake and use magic.

Still, I thought it would be okay if only I could see you. Even if you don’t recognize me, as long as I meet you, everything will be okay…Yet it’s weird

Now that I face everything as it is, why am I not okay?

As soon as the realization and question came at the same time, the inside of my heart suddenly felt like a hot lump. No, it was more of a bubbling sensation rather than a rumbling. Could it be that the fever rises belatedly because of the wound on my arm? That can’t be.

I don’t know what kind of feeling this is, yet it’s not very nice. It’s funny how you can feel the coldness of your heart and something boiling at the same time.

The moment I burst out laughing involuntarily, Dante’s expression cracked.

“…You.”

Dante’s expression gradually changed, and finally, when he tried to say something in a very small voice.

Suddenly a strong wind blew.

“Ivan!”

“Sister Lily!”

Ivan’s face brightened, and at the same time as Lily’s voice was heard, a green translucent creature passed in front of my eyes. It was something that looked similar to the spirit I saw in the hole earlier. And with that, Lily’s and Kade’s faces were visible.

Could that be another spirit? Seeing it disappeared as soon as Kade waved his hand, that must be one.

As soon as they landed on the ground, the two almost flew in and blocked our way. To be precise, Lily blocked us as if she hid us, and Kade completely blocked me, filling my view.

As I stepped aside to look ahead, I heard Lily shout.

***

L3.

“To think that you randomly attacked, what kind of rudeness is this!”

Liliana shouted, reflexively gripping her trembling hand tightly. The Master of the Magic Tower in front of her stood there with a cold, expressionless face, the same as she had seen during the war.

She had always been unfamiliar with that appearance, and she still was. Fear soared at the same time as it felt uncommon. Even though she had been watching the Master of the Magic Tower for a very long time, she couldn’t shake her anxiety, feeling like every time she saw him, he was going to hurt her with one gesture of his hand.

Even though she always thought she shouldn’t be so afraid. Liliana closed her eyes tightly in embarrassment, then opened her eyes clearly, reminding herself that this wasn’t the time to think about it.

It was an unimaginable situation that the Master of the Magic Tower appeared when only Ei and Ivan were left. Either way, both of those present could have been hurt.

Ivan was strong, yet he was no match for the Master of the Magic Tower, and especially Ei, an ordinary person…

As soon as that thought came to her mind, Liliana glanced at Ei from the side of her eye. Fortunately, she didn’t seem to be seriously hurt though she has some dirt and little cuts.

…But why is her expression like that?

Liliana even felt suspicious for a moment before the Master of the Magic Tower, who had been standing there silently, opened his mouth.

“…I just attacked because I saw a monster.”

“A monster? That can’t be.”

It was Kade who took over the words of the Master of the Magic Tower.

“After confirming that there were no monsters around here, we stopped the carriage.”

“No, there was an Illinan.”

It was an uncharacteristically stubborn tone.

“Even right now.”

And with that tone, the person whom he was staring at was the one standing behind Liliana.

A person with an expression as cold as the Master of the Magic Tower.

“…An Illinan? That person is,”

“I’m a monster, you said?”

Kade was just about to open his mouth in bewilderment, yet Ei’s quiet voice interrupted him.

Unlike the usual expressionless expression that gave off a carefree feeling, it was a face full of cold energy.

“A monster?”

Ei murmured once more as if she was chewing over what she had heard, then raised her head straight to face him. And the Master of the Magic Tower, who received that gaze,

The mask that disguised his coldness was shattered.

“I don’t know what you’re mistaken about, Dante.”

His body trembled when his name was called by that voice.

“I’m not a monster.”

His face was distorted by the eyes staring at him.

“You…”

Liliana finally thought at the voice leaking out through the teeth of the Master of the Magic Tower. It’s the first time I’ve seen him shake like that.

Even when he saw Illinan, he didn’t look like he was about to cry.

“…Who are you and what are you doing?”

However, the Master of the Magic Tower quickly hardened his face and hid his agitation. Seeing that, Ei burst into laughter.

“With that look, with that voice… Don’t speak. Don’t call my name.”

He said in a trembling voice, as if he was trying to hide his emotions as much as possible.

In the end, the face was distorted again without paying any attention to the efforts he put in.

“There is only one person in the world who can call me that…”

A wet voice was heard, and at the same time, a purple wind blew wildly. There was no time for Liliana to be taken aback by the Master of the Magic Tower sudden casting of magic.

“Miss Ei!”

The Master of the Magic Tower had moved in front of Ei.

“Wait, Miss Ei. Get away from him!”

“What are you doing!”

When was she so far away? Ei was clearly standing right behind them, yet before she knew it, Ei was so far that she couldn’t even reach her hand. It seems that the Master of the Magic Tower kept them away with magic,

Ah.

The moment she thought so, The Master of the Magic Tower reached out to Ei’s neck.

…Neck, why? Liliana thought as her mind went blank, and saw Ei’s neck grasped in the white hand of the Master of the Magic Tower. At the same time as he moved his arm as if he was giving strength, Ei twisted her face.

Only then did Liliana realize that he was trying to strangle Ei.

Are you trying to kill her? When Liliana reflexively tried to let out a shrieking scream.

A completely unexpected, surprisingly carefree voice rang out.

“Dante.”

…A voice that could never be heard if her neck was strangled.

“If you really meant to strangle me.”

After tapping the hand of the Master of the Magic Tower mockingly, Ei spoke in a totally unpleasant voice.

“You have to give your hand strength.”

“…”

And at last, a proper view came into Liliana’s eyes. The Master of the Magic Tower was holding Ei by the neck and lowered his head, Ei stood calmly on the spot, and even the Master Tower’s hands were shaking. Even from a great distance, the tremors were so strong that she could feel them in her eyes.

Soon after, she heard a voice that she didn’t know why, yet somehow it felt sad.

“…Why.”

“…”

“Why, it looks real. It can’t be.”

Although it was a very small whisper, everyone in that place could hear it because no one was talking in the midst of the miserable scenery close to the ruins.

“It can’t be…”

The Master of the Magic Tower raised his head, and it was then when Liliana understood why his voice was so trembling.

He was crying.

With a mixture of despair and longing on his face, he was shedding helpless tears. It was to the point where she could feel that all the expressionless faces she had seen until now were just camouflage.

The moment Ei, who had been watching that expression, opened her mouth,

Suddenly, a magic circle appeared under the feet of the Master of the Magic Tower, and a gust of wind blew from somewhere. It seemed that he was muttering something at the same time as his hand wrapped around Ei’s neck fell off.

The Master of the Magic Tower disappeared faster than she could hear that murmur.

…Seeing him disappear in an instant, Liliana thought she had seen a ghost of him.

However, he clearly wasn’t an illusion, and he had disappeared in front of them using teleportation magic.

The place where the person who created the ruins left, the remaining four people stood for a long time without saying anything.

In the silence that seemed to last forever, it was none other than Ei who broke the silence first.

“He ran away.”

After uttering a single word in an emotionless voice, Ei turned her body to look at them.

As she was standing with her back against the setting sun, catching the red light of the sunset with her whole body, speaking like that.

“Isn’t that right?”

She seemed angry.