Volume 3 - CH 14

“No-Norwen-kun……?”

“The ball is still ongoing, right? What happened?”

Norwen-kun looked at us with puzzlement. It seems that he did not overhear us.

“We’re about to return to my room. Norwen-kun, do you have any business in the main tower?”

The Princess answered him amiably. The Princess knows Norwen-kun very well. He appears here and there as Famir-sama’s errand boy, and with his cuteness, he is loved by everyone in the castle.

“Are you running an errand for Famir-sama even today?”

Famir-sama should be attending the ball as a guard of the King.

“No, I am not Master’s errand boy today. It’s just that I was informed that some of the magic tools used to light the tower are likely to run out of magic……”

“Oh, so that’s why.”

One of Norwen-kun’s jobs is to maintain the magic tools used in the castle. In short, it is the replenishment of magical power. It seems that the apprentices are in charge of that.

“Thank you for working hard until this late.”

“N-No, it’s not a big deal.”

Norwen-kun’s cheeks reddened a little at the Princess’s appreciation. It seems that he is also attracted to the Princess. It is not unusual for this to happen in Schwarze, though.

Norwen-kun said that he will check the lights of the main residence after this, so in a way, the three of us walked through the corridor.

Some of the magicians are nobles, so they also attend the ball as escorts. Norwen-kun is also from a viscount’s family, but since he was not invited this time, he seems to have been doing the task given to him by Famir-sama in his room at the Magicians’ Tower.

I think Norwen-kun is aware of the stains on the Princess’s dress, but he did not breathe a word of it. He read the atmosphere. As expected of the castle’s staff.

“I have only been taught recently how to make a magical tool that traps light . . . Eh?”

Norwen-kun, who was happy to talk about the magic he was learning, stopped as if he noticed something shortly after he entered the corridor between the main tower and the main residence.

Several passageways are leading from the main tower, which houses the hall, ballroom, and the King’s office, to the main residence, which houses the rooms of the royals and state guests. There is a corridor on the second floor, and there is also a passage that goes around the outside of the building. There is also an underground passage but I have never been there.

However, the one that is most pleasing to the people’s eyes is the corridor facing the courtyard. The courtyard of the West Building, where we servants live, is a rather simple space, but since this is a place that guests can see, a fountain was installed and it is decorated with colorful flower beds and trees, making it gorgeous.

It is nighttime, so we can’t appreciate the flowers, but instead, the outdoor lights were all over the place and those lights lit up the courtyard fantastically.

It was the same scene as usual…… Or it was supposed to be.

The princess and I also stopped on our tracks and followed Norwen-kun’s line of sight . . . and we saw someone standing near the fountain in the courtyard. I couldn’t tell for a moment because he was wearing a robe, but it looks like a man judging from his back.

……But what is he doing in such a place?

“Is that . . . Arturo-san, the magician of Albatro……?”

Norwen-kun murmured dubiously. Now that he mentioned it, it appears that he is wearing his magician robes.

──Arturo-san, the magician of Albatro.

He is one of the kingdom of Albatro’s magicians brought by Crown Prince Lautrich. He did not show up at all because he was sick since he came to Schwarze.

“Oh. He is Arturo?”

The Princess said. It is also the Princess’s first time to see him.

“Yes. Yesterday, I went with my master to visit him, so I’m sure.”

“I heard that though Arturo-san is young, he has the ability of a second-ranked magician of Albatro……”

It was Belinda who told me that after obtaining the information elsewhere. Where did that girl hear it from?

“Yes, you’re correct. He is somewhat a celebrity among the magicians. Not as much as Rufus-sama, though. Since the Chief Magician of Albatro is old, it is said that he will be the next leader . . . in other words, the day when he will become a royal is near. He said he is going to be absent from today’s ball because he was sick, but what is he doing in such a place?”

Norwen-kun tilted his head in puzzlement.

“He is sick, but what is his illness after all?”

Injuries can be healed by magic. But an illness is different. Although there are ways to relieve pain, relieve symptoms, and improve resilience, it is not convenient to cure an illness with magic.

So, being sick for this long might mean that he has some kind of illness, not an injury…… no one can tell what the illness is.

Norwen-kun doesn’t seem to understand, as he is constantly tilting his head.

“I don’t understand. Even if he tried to see a doctor, they only said not to worry…… Maybe, the rumor is indeed true……?”

“Rumor?”

The Princess heard Norwen-kun’s ramblings and asked.

“Oh, err, yes. The truth is . . . just before coming to Schwarze, Arturo-san was said to have encountered a demon. He then battled it, but it seems that he escaped without defeating it. Usually, he would not lose to a demon unless it was a demon with a color title, but when he tried to fight it, that was the result. Moreover, it has been known that his technique became unstable since then.”

“Well, maybe he sustained a mental shock or something……?”

“Probably. Magic depends on the person’s mental strength. The spell is just a medium, and the rest is up to how the person himself devises the magical power based on the technique. That’s why, him being sick is not necessarily a lie but . . . oh, I don’t know if it’s true, it’s just a rumor!”

Norwen-kun added in a hurry.

However, if the rumor is true, he failed to catch even the lower-ranking demons, and the shock he sustained made his techniques unstable, and he could not show . . . everyone?

He’s lying about his illness…… No, it was said that he has a magician’s illness, but he is quite energetic… Is it a feigned illness?

No, it can’t be that another person…… But if that was the case, it can explain why he can go out even though he is not feeling well. That’s why even Norwen-kun muttered, “Is the rumor true?”

“……But well, even if it is a false illness, this is a problem that only the people from Albatro must deal with.”

“Yes. I think so too.”

“Right? We can’t do anything about it.”

Beyond words, we started walking again after briefly looking at each other.

Even though they are staying in our country, if we talked about people from other countries, we would have intervened in their internal affairs. It’s not good if they see us here.

However, I was still worried about it so I continued walking while looking at Arturo-san, who was standing in the courtyard, from a distance. It seems that both the Princess and Norwen-kun were also worried about him, and all three of us walked silently, just looking at him.

As we walked down the corridor, Arturo-san muttered something, staring intently at the sphere on his palm. Was it a spell? There was no sign that he noticed us.

A chill ran down my spine.

“What happened to the both of you?”

The Princess looked back and forth between Norwen-kun and me, and asked suspiciously.

But Norwen-kun and I could not afford to answer her.

“Aria-san, that……”

“……Similar, isn’t it?”

Why does Arturo-san have that?

My heart pounded loudly. I have a bad feeling.

“It looks like he is chanting some spell……”

Norwen-kun stepped into the courtyard a few steps from the corridor to listen.

“Dark magic? Is he trying to amplify something……?”

Listening to Arturo-san’s spell, Norwen-kun muttered. As an apprentice, he probably doesn’t understand all the spells. Still, he tried to decipher the spell’s content based on the words he hears.

“What’s this…… Creepy.”

The Princess also noticed what Arturo-san is holding. And like me, she also had a bad feeling about that sphere and frowned.

As far as I can see from here, Arturo-san, who is illuminated by the outdoor lights in the courtyard, looks like he is in his late twenties. I can’t decipher the color of his eyes, but he is blonde, tall, and has a pretty neat face…… He looked like someone likable, but for some reason, I could not bring myself to like him now.

My skin is tingling. I feel like something bad is going to happen.

I thought I should call Greed-sama and the others here, and I glanced at the Princess. But before I could speak, Norwen-kun screamed.

“……Wreck it!? Don’t tell me, he is going to destroy the barrier……!”

“……Huh?”

Destroy the barrier……!?

As I reflected on his words in a daze, Norwen-kun started chanting while running towards Arturo-san.

“Lux sphaera!” (Light sphere)

At those words, a ball of light appeared in the palm of Norwen-kun. It is a sphere of bright light, which is the exact opposite of what Arturo-san is holding.

Then, in reaction to it, Arturo-san looked up and turned around.

The Princess and I gasped. Because he was supposed to be looking at us, but his blue eyes were totally out of focus.

The next moment, the ball of light produced by Norwen-kun collided with Arturo-san’s face. Arturo-san bent backward. However, the light that Norwen-kun used to hit did not seem to be attack magic that could hurt the opponent, and although Arturo-san staggered and stepped back, he did not fall.

……I don’t know much about magic, but when I saw Norwen-kun chanting only the last words, omitting the whole spell, it’s probably his way to collect light.

Norwen-kun was replenishing the magical tools used as lighting until just a while ago. He has been casting spells at that time, so he was able to cast the art of collecting light in a short amount of time. By hitting Arturo-san, it seems that he was trying to distract him.

The ball of light should have been invisible to Arturo-san…… Yes, that should have been the case.

However, I learned later that Arturo-san was out of the ordinary at that time.

When the light magic produced by Norwen-kun connected to him, Arturo-san stood calmly on the spot without looking away. The black sphere in his palm remained.

“……What!?”

The three of us were stunned.

In front of us who became still, the glazed-eyes Arturo-san muttered and faced Norwen-kun.

“Whirlwind Blade.”

Immediately after that, the wind sprang forth in front of Arturo-san and began to swirl. The flowers blooming at his feet were mercilessly ripped off. Seeing that, Norwen-kun hurriedly started chanting.

“Bright light, the light that illuminates in the dark night, gather in my hands and assemble.”

I remember that hearing that phrase somewhere.

Was it the barrier technique he chanted during the battle with Azul? But at that time, I already knew as I watched it closely.

Oh no, he won’t make it in time……!

As I expected, Arturo-san’s wind magic roared and attacked Norwen-kun before he could finish chanting.

“Norwen-kun!”

“……Kuuu……”

Norwen-kun quickly crossed his hands in front of his face to prepare for the shock.

But . . . in front of us, Norwen-kun’s body, which was hit directly by the wind, gradually floated from the ground.

“No!”

“Stop it!”

Our screaming pleas were in vain, as his body was blown back and slammed into a tree in the courtyard.

──Thump.

A dull and unpleasant sound echoed in the courtyard. Norwen-kun, who was thrashed on a trunk of a tree, was thrown to the ground as the magic of the wind converged.

And . . . after a twitch of his body, he stopped moving.