NOVEL WEB Ch. 1.1
Act 1: "The Prisoner of Spiral Castle Marks Ancient Maps”
"She escaped...? And how did she make a hole like this?"
The guard shouted. Before his eyes was an inexplicable sight. The prison bars had been broken. Not twisted or bent—the iron bars of the cell had vanished in a perfect circle.
"Found her. That flying thing over there. Must be the escaped girl."
Another guard who had rushed over pointed his finger. Near the castle walls, there was a black shadow of something flying through the air. Not a bird, and much larger—
The castle's outer walls resembled terraced fields, with balconies layered one upon another. The black shadow neither ascended nor descended, but as if mocking the guards, danced along the edges of the semi-outdoor corridors that encircled the castle.
"That girl in blue clothes was a magician..."
Hearing the commotion, more than thirty guards rushed to the scene. No one could lay a hand on her; they could only watch the fleeing shadow. Too far to throw a short sword or draw a bow, they could only follow with their eyes.
Eventually, the black shadow left the castle grounds and landed on the roof of a nearby building.
"Phew, that wasn't even close to dangerous. No one should be able to follow me now... wait, they're still coming after me."
Alarm whistles blared violently, and guards poured out into the castle courtyard all at once. How paranoid could they be? The number of guards kept increasing, becoming a force of dozens. They were determined not to let the escaped prisoner slip away.
The black shadow on the rooftop let out a small sigh, extended one hand, and aimed her clenched fist toward the castle. She opened her fingers in order—index finger, thumb, middle finger, then ring finger and pinky—took careful aim, and released.
Stop—
No sound echoed. She had destroyed the bridge the guard squad was trying to cross, but no sound of destruction was heard. The place where the bridge had been, including the bridge piers, had simply vanished completely.
The lead group of guards—
"That's why I said too many people. This is way too excessive."
Seeing the guards' beehive-like chaos, the black shadow on the roof was exasperated. Her long hair fluttered in the wind, and her azure blue robe billowed. She appeared to be around fifteen or sixteen years old.
The girl's name was Safi. She was a black magician. The old woman from her hometown had told her there were no particular restrictions on clothing—anything would do—but she chose and preferred to wear deep lake-blue garments. The wide-brimmed hat was something she had heard was standard, purchased from a town she had passed through.
She had a habit of starting everything with style, and even when casting magic, she would devise her own signature poses, often prioritizing them even when time was short. She looked like an ordinary girl who could be found anywhere—fashionable and talkative—but that wasn't quite right. She was a user of special black magic.
"This should keep the pursuers away for a while. I hope they'll give up."
After glancing at the guards in confusion within the castle, she flew again toward the dark corners of the town. Her blue robe and long hair were like butterfly—
Someone had described it as the color of a sharpened sword. Black magician Safi's long hair was silver. However, it sometimes appeared golden, sometimes shone like yellow-green, and sometimes seemed tinged with purple. Someone had said it was like a mysterious mirror.
That long hair now glowed red. Almost simultaneously, explosive sounds echoed throughout. They were fireworks. Probably launched from the front of the castle, from around the high walls, several shots fired in succession. Perhaps they were decorating the climax of a carnival.
"I wonder if there's some kind of show going on."
Safi made her way across the rooftops toward the light source. For a moment—
"Kyaaa, stop it!"
A scream came from the back alley.
"I'm not hiding anything!"
Three guards were groping all over a girl's body. Just as she was about to pounce on these perverts, the men spat some parting words and immediately released the girl. It appeared they had been conducting a body search.
She was familiar with such behavior from them.
In the houses built in the back alley—
(End of Chapter)
❁ ❁ ❁ From the Author ❁ ❁ ❁
This is how it goes. I'm anxious about whether I can meet the expectations of those who read the previous work, but well, the story progresses in this kind of atmosphere.
It's third person from the protagonist's perspective, and basically I won't mess with the chronology, but next time there will be an exceptional flashback at the beginning.
Safi (the protagonist: she is female) is on some rooftop, and will briefly look back on the period from her arrival to being imprisoned in the dungeon.