Great Teacher in a Defense Game

#48 The Mastermind

The Time Mage Esnos.

A mage who read the future and rewound the past.

Enoch knew little about her.

Because for all her grand setting, she had scarcely appeared.

‘At best, she only showed her face when the game was over. And even then, not always.’

Unlike the Master of the Magic Tower, who made frequent appearances.

She only revealed herself at the very end of the game.

A character of a certain mystique.

In truth, this was practically their first meeting.

“How strange. We *are* meeting for the first time, aren’t we?”

“……”

“The atmosphere certainly suggests as much.”

But, the situation was a little odd.

Surely, this was their first encounter, without a doubt.

Yet, Esnos’ reaction was as though she were facing an old friend.

“Why do you stand there, blankly staring? Can’t you at least say something?”

“…The Sorceress of Time.”

“Pardon?”

“Esnos… Is it truly her, in the flesh?”

“Such a peculiar question. Of course, it is, isn’t it?”

Esnos tilted her head, a gesture of bewilderment.

As if wondering why he would ask something so self-evident.

Enoch considered her reaction for a moment, lost in thought.

Calculating every conceivable possibility within his mind.

After ordering his thoughts, he finally spoke, belatedly.

“Esnos. I understand it is impolite to ask such a thing so soon, but allow me just one question, first.”

“Questions out of the blue? Delightful. What is it?”

“Firstly… tell me, has time, perhaps, been rewound?”

Enoch posed the question that burned most fiercely within him.

Esnos’ knowing reaction.

The cause behind it could be one of two things.

Either time had already been turned back.

Or, she had foreseen the future and become aware of Enoch’s existence.

Personally, he hoped it was the latter.

For the former would signify his own failure.

“No. Time has not been turned back.”

“…Then…”

“Not the former, but the latter.”

Esnos grinned, raising a finger.

The finger spun in a clockwise circle.

Fast forward.

A gesture signifying the future.

“Worry not. I merely knew in advance that you would appear. You are already aware of my abilities, are you not?”

“I know of them, to some extent.”

“Just as I suspected.”

Esnos nodded slowly.

A reaction as if he’d expected as much.

But, was something displeasing him?

Esnos, without warning, tilted his head, then shot back with a tone laced with discontent.

“Truth be told, isn’t that the stranger thing? How you know my magic, which I never taught you. Shouldn’t I be the one pressing you on this matter?”

“……”

Enoch held to his silence.

Esnos laughed it off with a nonchalance as if he’d foreseen it.

“Looks like you’re reluctant to answer.”

“…”

“Fine. Let’s just gloss over it. I’ll let it slide this once, shall I?”

“…”

“Why don’t you grace me with a word or two?”

Esnos shifted his weight, took a step.

On the rooftop, the distance closed.

He was almost nose to nose.

“Anyway, it’s a pleasure. Iron-Wrought Magician.”

“…Iron-Wrought?”

“Ah, is it not yet then, I wonder?”

Iron-Wrought.

Also known as, supple iron.

For some reason, Esnos called Enoch that.

Seemed it was a moniker to be bestowed in the future.

“In any case, the reason I’ve come seeking you out today is to deliver a message personally.”

“A message, you say. What is its content?”

“Your head’s a tangled mess right now, wouldn’t you agree? It’s related to that. First, would you be so kind as to retrieve the vial from within your coat?”

“This?”

Enoch produced the stimulant Clarena had concocted.

Esnos nodded as he saw the vial.

“Yes. The stimulant crafted by the Pharmaceutical Magician. It’s making your thoughts a maelstrom right now, is it not?”

“Indeed. But, precisely how much do you know?”

“What do you mean?”

“Your magic, the ability to read the future. How far ahead have you peered with that power, precisely?”

Esnos could read the future.

He had even admitted it directly, just moments ago.

Enoch pressed the point.

A somewhat sudden query, it was.

“How far ahead, you ask… so, you too are curious about the future, are you?”

“Frankly, yes. Or rather, wouldn’t one be the rarer sort not to be curious?”

“Hmm… Very well. I believe I can share this much.”

Esnos conceded quickly.

Following this, he brazenly extended two fingers.

“Two years.”

“Two years?”

“Yes. That is the time I have ascertained. Sadly, I have not seen beyond that point.”

Two years.

Long if it is to be long, short if it is to be short.

‘Why two years of all things?’

Enoch felt a stirring of doubt.

The time mage’s abilities had never been publicly disclosed.

What he knew came only from inferences drawn from the original work.

Yet, even accounting for that, two years felt far too brief.

In the original work alone, he had rewound time by at least three years.

‘Is he concealing his abilities?’

Or perhaps, there is a reason of its own.

‘I should ask.’

Enoch shelved his thoughts.

He promptly posed the question.

“Why precisely two years?”

“Pardon?”

“Time, you say. Is it due to the limits of your power? Or for some other, more ulterior reason?”

“……”

“My questions don’t end there. Firstly, you should have been recuperating at the family estate. Why the sudden decision to hide yourself away? Not even a soul knew your whereabouts, I hear.”

“……”

“One more thing. You, who claims to have glimpsed the future, why show yourself only now? If you sensed my existence, you must surely know my purpose as well. If our aims align, shouldn’t you have sought me out long ago?”

Enoch pressed on, relentless.

Questions poured forth like a sudden downpour.

Perhaps it was the tangled web of emotions within the man,

but his tone held a subtle, sharp edge.

“Your questions are rather… aggressive. We’ve only just met, after all.”

“I am aware I am being somewhat discourteous. But even so, answers take precedence.”

“How rash. Ultimately, the choice is mine. You realize I could simply choose not to answer and leave, yes?”

“It wouldn’t matter.”

“Pardon?”

“I said it wouldn’t matter. Without knowing your true intentions, blindly believing the information I receive would be foolish. What use are answers when I don’t know your heart?”

Enoch spoke evenly.

Nothing was certain now.

The sorceress of time, Esnos.

He didn’t even know if she was foe or friend.

In such a situation, accepting the information she offered at face value was reckless.

‘Information is ultimately subject to interpretation. If the messenger harbors insidious intent, it’s better not to listen at all.’

An unknown variable had already arisen.

Identifying friend from foe was the first priority.

The original setting had already been disregarded.

Just because she was an NPC that helped the player didn’t guarantee she would do the same in reality.

Trusting blindly was a fool’s errand.

If that were the case, Enoch should have accepted Orban’s help from the start.

Frankly, the Esnos standing before him now wasn’t the long-awaited ally.

She was more akin to a suspicious interloper.

“Esnos.”

“…”

“Let me be frank. I suspect you.”

“…Yes. It seems so.”

“I apologize for showing you this side so soon. However, please understand that I am desperate enough to do so.”

Enoch ceased speaking.

His intent was fully conveyed.

Having delivered all that needed to be said, all that remained was Esnos’ judgment.

Esnos did not answer immediately.

She twisted strands of her black and white hair between her fingers.

She seemed to be deliberating something.

The atmosphere suggested she was gathering her thoughts.

“…Indeed. My magic is, in many ways, inconvenient.”

“……”

“Perhaps an inner familiarity had unknowingly built. I’m sorry. I was inconsiderate of your situation.”

“……”

“Won’t even accept my apology? How harsh. Anyway, as you wish, I’ll answer your questions first. There’s not much time left anyway.”

Esnos sighed.

Then, she stretched her palm wide.

With each movement of her lips, a finger folded in.

“First, I’ll answer your questions simply.”

“Speak.”

“First, why I’ve only come to find you now. Second, why I suddenly hid myself. Lastly, why I can only foresee two years into the future. The reason is simple. I am currently being watched by someone.”

“…Watched? You, you say?”

“Yes. Hard to believe, isn’t it? I think so too.”

Esnos chuckled faintly.

But Enoch could not laugh.

A time mage is an essence-class mage.

However, due to their unique ability, it is difficult to properly gauge their threat level.

Even if they lack destructive power, their danger is no less than that of a vigilant-class mage.

And yet, she says she is being watched by someone.

It was a tale difficult to believe, to say the least.

“Who is it? This being that watches you.”

“……”

“No, perhaps I should rephrase. You, the very embodiment of time, ‘how’ could you possibly be watched?”

Enoch made no attempt to hide the rising questions within him.

The recipient of the query,

Eschnos, did not immediately reply.

For some reason, she closed her eyes, evading the answer.

Enoch felt a prickle of impatience.

Information was needed.

Whatever it may be, he had to hear a response now.

At that moment, a crimson liquid trickled from Eschnos’s lips.

Fresh blood.

-A slow, wet trickle-

“!”

“…Indeed. It seems they notice immediately if I try to speak the truth.”

“Eschnos, you…”

“I even tried to mix in some pointless chatter. But such a trick is no use, I see.”

“First, let me heal you-“

“Listen carefully, Enoch.”

Eschnos cut him off.

This was the heart of the matter now.

As if urging him to remember, she pointed a finger at Enoch.

“Someone, their true nature unknown, is lurking behind the scenes. The first thing they’re doing is encroaching on time.”

“…Time?”

“Yes. The past, the present, the future. All of it is connected as one. That is the very essence of time.”

Eschnos spoke, swirling her finger in the air.

Time, connected and cyclical, interlocked as if gears.

An implication of time’s very self.

However, her finger abruptly stopped its movement.

The circling, endlessly turning wheel, broke apart midway.

In that instant, Enoch found himself thinking of the vial.

The vial of Clarena’s medicine, the one Lachelin had shown him.

The bizarre numbers inscribed upon it.

A thing meant to be completed in the far future had, for some reason, appeared in the present.

“Stimulant…”

“You realized it?”

“The cycle is broken?”

Enoch spoke his thoughts aloud without realizing it.

Eschnos nodded, as if to say he’d answered correctly.

“For some reason, he targeted me first. Or rather, from the very moment I noticed you. As if to prevent any contact whatsoever.”

“……”

“The vial as well. Everything is related to you. Doesn’t that strike you as odd?”

“…Are you saying he knows me?”

“Yes. No matter how I look at it, that’s the only conclusion I can reach.”

At that moment, Eschnos withdrew something from within his robes and held it out.

Enoch hastily took it from him.

Upon inspection, it was nothing more than a slip of paper.

“This is–”

“This is the real purpose of my visit today.”

“Purpose?”

“Three days from now. Your disciple, Lacrina, will be caught up in an incident. The slip contains the exact location and time. However, you already know where that is. Correct?”

Eschnos asked.

Enoch nodded.

Because, in truth, her words were the truth.

“How did you know about this place?”

“I read the future. I saw what happens there.”

“……”

“Enoch. It’s not just your disciple. You must go there as well.”

Suddenly, Eschnos grasped Enoch’s arm.

She met Enoch’s gaze head-on.

Then, as if imploring him to never forget, she added,

“I am not the one to answer your questions.”

“…”

“Go. To the place written on the note. Beyond the boundary, into the phenomenon. Someone is waiting for you there. Someone from a distant future, a future even I, in my right mind, could not discern.”