NOVEL WEB Ch. 7.7
When she returned to the inn, a group of unwelcome guests was waiting for her: a swarm of guards.
Once again, Safi had forgotten that she was an escaped prisoner. It was a crowd at a level where she had no choice but to give up, and her rear was immediately blocked off too.
"If we talk, you'll understand."
Safi appealed to the elderly guard in front of her. She was prepared to be captured immediately, but that wasn't the case. From behind the assembled guards, a small old man emerged and made an apologetic face. From his clothing, she could tell he was one of those white-robed people.
"Are you the magician, young lady?"
"Yes, I'm a passing black magician."
"I've been waiting eagerly for you."
He said they hadn't come to capture her, but had come to invite her. The destination was the castle either way, but there seemed to be quite a difference in treatment. The reason for deploying the large crowd of guards surrounding her on all sides was unclear. Did they assume she would rampage, or were they simply bored...
"An invitation—how delightful, but could I hear the reason?"
"A certain elderly priest saw the state of the fallen bridge and thought it was interesting. Then he saw the condition of the broken prison and thought it was quite something. Long ago, there was or wasn't a magician who used similar techniques."
His roundabout way of speaking was partially incomprehensible, but as far as Safi understood, the traces of magic used during her jailbreak were curious and had caught the old man's interest. Just how old was the person this old man before her called "elderly"?
"I understand somewhat, but it's already late at night, so wouldn't tomorrow be fine?"
When Safi said this, the white-robed old man looked even more troubled.
"That's true, but today various things happened, and that elderly man can't return even though he wants to, he's confined in the castle and can't go back even though he wants to. Orders were issued to find and bring him... cough, cough"
He coughed violently. Until this late hour, he had been driving his aged body to exhaustion and was at his wit's end. "Various things" probably referred to the major incident in the castle where the secret treasure was stolen. Even after Carnival ended, it seemed the commotion continued in the inner sanctuary.
"It's pitiful to be unable to sleep when sleepy. It's a bit different from wanting to sleep but being unable to."
Safi agreed and left the inn again. Though the town had already gone to sleep and the lights in the houses were sparse, it seemed a large number of all-nighters had appeared inside the castle. It was understandable that there would be a big commotion. What was stolen was truly a treasure among treasures. An extremely precious jewel that emitted mysterious seven-colored light and captivated all who saw it.
A star fell from the night sky.
On the narrow road in front of the inn, Safi looked up at the heavens and thrust her arm upward. One star was falling. The many guards overflowing onto the road all looked up at the sky in unison. Like fine snow, it descended at a slow speed.
As it approached, it shone brighter, and eventually settled in Safi's palm. The jewel she had received from the thief girl earlier. Murmuring rose like a wave. The white-robed old man collapsed with his legs giving out, and the guard in the front row cried out loudly.
"Th-that is... I understand, you're the culprit!"
She wasn't the culprit. She knew who the culprit was, but there was no longer any need to pursue or capture it. If she returned this, the theft incident would be completely resolved. Safi handed the glowing stone to the old man and concisely stated how she had come to receive it.
"This is the first time I've seen it shine so brilliantly. This is truly mysterious."
The old man sat down in amazement and became unable to stand up.
He had been looking at this jewel for decades since before becoming a prirst, and while it sometimes sparkled orange, he said this was the first time he'd seen it red. There was a strong indication it was related to the magician's nature or Safi's amount of magical power, but the details seemed unclear.
"Well, troublesome matters have all been settled at once."
The incident was solved along with guiding the magician. The old man tried to rally himself, saying he must report as soon as possible, but his body wouldn't obey him. He was carried by guards toward the castle while holding the jewel.
Perhaps finding the black magician somewhat eerie, the group of guards maintained a slight distance from Safi. An unnatural space that opened up in the middle of the large group. The white-robed old man carried like a portable shrine. If the townspeople had woken up to see it, would they have mistaken it for a continuation of Carnival?
The incoherent grand procession advanced beyond the central square.
❁❁❁ From the Author 🪄 ❁❁❁
Returning to the castle that appeared at the beginning, next time will be a scene inside the castle.
"Spiral Castle" used in the Arc 1. It just popped into my head somehow, but it was the name of a giant fortress from the anime "GEAR Fighter Dendoh." Oops.