Back to the Start – Part 02
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Translator: Kell
“So, let me get this straight,” the priest said, his brows furrowed. We had already explained the situation to him as best we could, but he still didn’t understand completely. “Thanks to Thirteenth’s spell, we moved from Moonsbow Forest, which is located southeast of the continent, to the kingdom of Wenias, which is right in the middle of the continent. Yet we don’t see the sorcerer anywhere, and we don’t even know why he summoned us.”
“That’s a rough way of putting it.”
“Well, it’s too rough! What are we going to do now?!”
I was tempted to answer, “I don’t know,” but we needed to do something. “I’m guessing the right course of action is finding Thirteenth?” I glanced at Zero for her opinion.
Our original objective was to ask Thirteenth if he had ties to Cestum and then get some information out of him.
“Hmm… I have been searching for any sign of Thirteenth, but he seems to be carefully hiding himself. I am certain he is in Wenias, but even I cannot determine his exact location.”
“So he summoned us then went into hiding? I really don’t understand that guy.”
“This is Thirteenth we are talking about. He must have a reason for it, but we cannot ask him why he is hiding if we cannot even find him. We have to locate him somehow.”
“Well, in that case…”
There was only one solution.
“There is no other way,” Zero agreed.
Lily eyed me and Zero curiously. “What is it?” she asked, trying to keep up with the conversation.
“It’s best if we return to the kid,” I said. “She should be able to get in touch with Thirteenth.”
“By kid, you mean?” the priest asked dubiously.
Judging by the disgusted look on his face, he already had an idea, but I decided to tell him anyway.
“The head Mage of the kingdom of Wenias—Albus.”
“Is that you trying to tell me to assassinate them?”
“Of course not! If that kid dies, all hell will break loose!”
“Please don’t shout. I’m just joking. Even I wouldn’t make a move without orders from the Church.”
It doesn’t sound like a joke when you say it, you homicidal priest. And you can’t joke about assassinating someone, either.
Wenias had wards that prevented anyone besides those who had Albus’s permssion from using Magic. The kingdom had a record of all the Mages affiliated with it—thier numbers, names, and background. If someone misused Magic, it could be taken away from them.
Albus constantly used her magical power to keep the wards intact. One could say she was the wards’ cornerstone.
If Albus died, Wenias would once again lose its ability to keep Magic in check. I didn’t need to explain what would happen afterwards.
“I can’t believe we’re headed to the den of evil,” the priest said, looking genuinely dismayed. “God seems to love testing me.”
Pointing at the priest, Zero looked at me with a smile on her face. “Look, Mercenary. The way he dislikes the idea of seeing a witch. He is just like you when you met me.”
“I’m not like him!”
“I am not like him!”
“Wow, they’re in perfect sync,” Lily said.
The priest struck Lily with the tip of his staff. He always went all out when hitting me, but he held back a little against Lily. Perhaps in his mind, he considered her a child. Hitting her, however, suggested he didn’t see her as human.
“Well, then. I hope you don’t mind if I gathered all the information I could get about the Church’s enemies,” the priest said. “Since they’re committed to coexisting with humans, I expect a warm welcome.”
“Yeah, the kid hates discrimination, persecution, and the like. If you don’t do anything wrong, you probably won’t get thrown to jail.”
I think.
I pulled the Witch’s Letter out of my bag and wrote down a basic report.
Currently in Wenias. Heading to the castle.
“As terse as ever,” Zero said.
“Her replies lately have been similar,” I replied.
The letters I received from Albus in the beginning were irritably long, but these days, she rarely even replied to my reports.
“Perhaps your curtness made her lose interest.”
“She’s not a child, you know.”
“But she is not an adult either.”
Good point. I called her “kid,” so I was pretty much treating her like a child. Nevertheless, she was the chief Mage of Wenias. Something as trivial as the contents of my letter shouldn’t bother her much.
I rolled up the letter and shoved it into my back.
Lily cocked her head. “Are we climbing the mountain?”
“No. If there’s an Ebl Boar, then we’re already in Wenias. Climbing the mountain means we’re going out. Besides, only wanted people who couldn’t get a permit to enter the kingdom would climb over the mountains.”
Pretty sure even wanted people would find different routes instead of scaling a mountain.
The mountains surrounding Wenias were not exactly easy to climb. They were steep, craggy, and quite high above sea level. You could be thoroughly prepared for a trek, yet the chances of dying would still be pretty high.
That’s why the Kingdom of Wenias could remain a neutral state. Even when it became a Magical State that officially recognized witches, the Knights Templar would still not attack it. If the kingdom blocked the tunnels, no army could enter unless they scaled the mountains, and by the time they reached the summit, half of them would already be dead.
Lily, who was unfamiliar with the local geography, didn’t understand, however. I could explain it with a map, but unfortunately, I didn’t have one right now.
The priest still looked unwell. He took a small breath of the air. “Wherever we are, it’s probably not a good idea to stay here long. The smell of blood will attract wild animals. It would be great if we found the road while it’s still light out, but which way do we go?”
“Hmm… Well, if we walk along the mountain,” I said, “we’ll eventually find a road in a few days.”
“A few days? We can take some of the meat from this boar for food, but we don’t have enough water. We need to find a river somewhere.”
“I will use divination to determine a path,” Zero cut in. “Divining the general direction is simple enough.”
Lily tugged at my pants.
“What is it?” I asked, looking at her. Kinda busy right now. “Something wrong?”
She pointed east. “The closest one is this way.”
“What?”
“A big road full of people. Everyone’s saying it’s close.”
“Everyone who?”
My eyes fell lower, down to the ground. A few rats were gathered there. Frightened by my gaze, they jumped and scampered away.
Right. She can talk rat. Wherever you go in the world, there would always be rats. Which meant you could always have someone to ask directions from.
“You’re not going to believe what a rat says, are you?” the priest said, clear disgust in his expression. He was glaring at Lily.
Puffing out her cheeks, Lily clung to my leg, unable to say anything back.
Zero patted her head. “I believe you,” she said. “In fact, there is no room for doubt.”
“I’m in too,” I said. “Lead the way, squirt.”
“I’m not a squirt.”
“Yes, you are.”
“Why are you so mean?! You called me by my name a while ago!”
“I got tired of it, and squirt just rolls off the tongue better.”
Lily slammed her tail on the ground to express her annoyance.
The priest turned his head to the sky. “This is a cruel joke.”
If you don’t wanna come, then whatever.
The three of us started walking, and the priest followed reluctantly.
“Quit complaining then if you’re just gonna follow us,” I remarked.
As usual, he smacked me with his staff. There was laughter for a while.
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