Chapter 45: To Each Other

R̀èà​d̂ ̂​ò​n̂ ̈K̈át̂R̀êäd̂ïǹǵĈãf̀ê

Sugar roughly wiped one of her eyes with her sleeve, while the boy wiped the other for her.

“Stop crying already. This isn’t the time for this.”

“Hic… But there’s something else I want to apologize for. There’s so much I want to say.”

“…I have a lot I want to say too.”

As their eyes met, a fireball flew over their heads, shattering the moment like broken glass.

As they looked back, the cultists were chasing them. Claude’s lackeys. They had lost their sense of self and moved only according to his commands. Loyal puppets who would carry out any order, even if it meant their own destruction.

“Let’s run…!”

The boy grabbed her hand and pulled her along, and Sugar followed.

The mountain path the children ran through was unsettling, filled with flames erupting here and there with the cries of the heretics around them filling the air. In the distance, the sun was setting lazily in the sky.

The sunset and the flames merging into a scene that was both haunting and beautiful.

“…I’m sorry. For making you go through all this.”

Even as she ran, even as she gasped for breath, Sugar spoke the words she wanted to say. It felt like she had to say them now. Accidents always happened without warning and by the time she came to her senses, it might all be over before she could say anything.

She wanted to say everything that was in her heart right away.

“Even though you went out of your way to teach me magic… it still ended up like this.”

“…What are you talking about?”

The boy clicked his tongue in exasperation.

“You just escaped from their den, didn’t you?”

“Yeah…”

“You used everything you could, all your abilities, to get out right?”

“That’s… true.”

“Then that’s enough… I was reaching my limit anyway…”

“…Tommy?”

From the start, the boy’s breathing had been unusually labored. It wasn’t just from running; it seemed like there was another reason.

“Ah…! Is it because of the cold you caught…?”

“It’s not that…”

The cold had vanished after a night’s sleep. This was something else entirely.

“Then…”

Before Sugar could finish her sentence, a massive wall of earth rose in front of them. Startled, they both abruptly stopped, the boy already grabbing his book and starting to chant an incantation.

“Cutting.”

The wall of earth was cleanly sliced horizontally in an instant.

“Don’t look back… keep running…”

As they jumped over the lowered wall, avoiding the cultists who had caught up during their brief pause, the boy opened his book and began chanting something.

A long incantation. The spells written in the grimoire were all characterized by their lengthy chants.

‘He’s trying to cast something.’ Sensing this, Sugar raised her wand and cast a protective spell on both the boy and herself. This would hopefully buy them a little time.

“…Become the piercing blade—”

As they ran, dodging the barrage of magic the boy uttered the activation phrase.

Unlike ordinary spells, this one required a full sentence. When he finished chanting, light burst from the book and a massive magic circle appeared behind him, large enough to fill the entire path.

He stretched out his palm toward the magic circle, and hundreds of magical blades immediately shot out, raining down on their pursuers.

Screams, the sound of flesh being sliced, the clashing of defensive spells, the dissonant noise of trees breaking and air vibrating—it all flooded their ears.

Sugar looked at the boy with a pained expression. She felt guilty for making him do something so harsh. He looked visibly exhausted, and it broke her heart.

“You’ve used too much magic…”

Gasping for breath, he muttered, “It’s fine.” His breathing was even rougher than before. It definitely wasn’t because of the cold.

Mana depletion.

She recalled the explosions she had heard faintly while on the altar. The culprit had to be this friend. He must have scoured the entire mountain, tearing through every corner. Even with the grimoire, it was too much for a child’s body to handle.

In fact, the grimoire was the problem.

Just as there was a clear difference in height between adults and children, there was also a difference in the total amount of mana. And the amount of mana the grimoire consumed was difficult even for adults to handle. It wouldn’t be surprising if blood was seeping into his breath.

“Let’s hide somewhere first, Tommy. We need to rest…”

“No… they’ll catch us soon. Even if I’m fine, you can’t hide your mana…”

In this unstable state, even the boy couldn’t properly conceal his mana.

As Sugar bit her lip in frustration and helplessness, the boy spoke softly.

“And… my name. That’s not it.”

“…”

“I’ve been hiding it. My real name. I’ll tell you now, since it’s a good opportunity. I wasn’t going to tell anyone, but…”

Sugar tightened her grip on his hand. As if urging him to speak. But she didn’t press him.

Feeling that warmth. Sensing the faint flow of his mana through his hand. The boy opened his mouth.

“Riley.”

“…Yeah.”

“It’s Riley. My real name. Not Tommy.”

The name from her memories became reality. It became real, existing before Sugar.

The boy holding a grimoire in one hand and Sugar’s hand in the other was Riley.

The name of her irreplaceable, precious childhood friend.

“…Riley.”

As if trying to engrave the name she already knew, Sugar spoke in a tearful voice.

Hearing this, Riley tightened his grip on her hand.

“One more time…”

“Riley…”

“Again…”

“Riley.”

The voice gently brushing against his ear.

Finally, Riley, who had regained his composure let out a weak laugh. Memories of that day came flooding back. The day when this girl had embarrassingly kept calling his name.

It didn’t feel bad to hear it. A tickling sensation filled a corner of his heart.

He understood why she had done it. Even as his mana consumption reached its limit and his body felt like it was being torn apart, he couldn’t help but smile purely out of joy.

The wind blew.

The cold, eerie winter mountain air mixed with the scent of the girl’s hair.

The scent he had desperately searched for, the scent he had missed. Just the hint of it brushing against his nose was enough to reassure him.

“From now on… you can call me that.”

As he spoke, his breath almost giving out, Sugar tightened her grip on his hand. As if determined never to let go.

From there, her magical energy began to move.

“…What are you doing? You’re already running low yourself…”

“You can use it far more effectively than I can.”

Ignoring Riley’s reproach, she poured more and more of her energy into him. Sugar’s pure magical energy flowed through her hands and seeped into Riley’s body permeating every corner of his body.

It was only a temporary relief. Just as a dehydrated patient doesn’t recover immediately after gulping down water, magical deficiency also requires a comfortable environment and professional care.

Still, it’s better than nothing. Its pure nature will seep into and throughout his body more effectively.

With that thought, she held his hand tightly.

“…Feeling better?”

“…”

Though his breathing was still rough, it no longer felt like he was on the verge of collapsing, as it had earlier.

“Riley.”

“…”

“Riley.”

“…What.”

“We have to escape. No matter where, we’ll run away… and we’ll definitely go to Steele together.”

“Idiot… That’s why I came here in the first place. No need to waste your breath…”

Before Riley could finish speaking, Sugar hugged him tightly. She couldn’t bear the sight of him pretending to be fine.

“This isn’t the time for this…”

Facing his grumbling expression, she brushed aside the sweat-soaked bangs clinging to the boy’s forehead.

Ah. Now that she looked closely, it was clear.

He really resembled that Riley. His younger self. Now that she realized it, she could see it.

However this boy wasn’t that Riley.

Just as she wasn’t that Sugar, either.

The two of them had already strayed far from the original story’s flow.

As if they had cast spells on each other.

As if they had reached out to each other.

‘Ah…’

Suppressing the overwhelming emotions rising within her, Sugar stood on her tiptoes slightly.

With blessings. With gratitude. Hoping that she had been a good family to him. When her lips touched his forehead, there was a soft, moist sound.

When she pulled back and looked at Riley, he had his eyes closed and was trembling slightly.

“Why… why do you have to do this now, of all times…”

His clenched cheeks were red. Not from exhaustion, but for a different reason.

Sugar smiled softly, as she always did, and took Riley’s hand to lead him away.

They walked slowly at first, then picked up speed, and soon they were running at full speed pouring their magical energy into their movements.

Faintly, the cawing of crows could be heard. But she wasn’t afraid at all.

As if anticipating it, a crow flew over Sugar’s head with a flapping sound.

[Girl. It’s not too late. Stop now.]

“Who are you to give orders?”

[It would be better for both of us if there were no wounds. Why are you doing something so futile?]

Without answering, Sugar tore off the last ornament from her clothes and hurled it at the crow blocking their path.

A perfect hit.

Another crow that had caught up to them this time spoke to Riley.

[It seems you were the one who took out the guards. With that precious book in your hands—]

Before it could finish speaking, Riley spat out the incantation for a fire spell. He already wanted to uproot the entire church and destroy it. It was frustrating that he didn’t have the power to do so yet. The constant taunting only fueling his anger.

[…I understand your intent.]

Another crow that had caught up spoke. It flew behind the two and let out a loud, cawing cry.

From all around singing could be heard, the melody similar to what was heard during the baptism ceremony.

“…Damn it.”

As if realizing something, Riley gritted his teeth.

“Why… what kind of magic is that?”

She knew what they were doing.

Choral incantation.

She had seen it a few times in the game.

It was a high-level technique where a spell was converted into a song and sung together to cast a powerful magic. If even a single harmony was off, the spell would fail. It was something only those with professional training could do, but the current casters, having lost their sense of self and moving according to Claude’s will would find it much easier.

“This magic is probably…”

Riley looked up at the sky, so Sugar followed his gaze.

Squinting her eyes, she could see a transparent, soap-bubble-like barrier. The fact that it was covering the area gave her a very bad feeling.

“…Is it some kind of barrier?”

Riley nodded silently, his face twisted into a scowl as if he was about to curse at any moment.

“How do we break it?”

“Either analyze the barrier and use a dispel spell, or shatter it with an overwhelmingly powerful force.”

“Neither sounds easy…”

“—That’s right. Neither method is particularly easy.”

Startled, they turned around.

A voice all too familiar reached their ears.

Tap, tap—

The dull sound of a cane striking the ground.

The apostle of the church. The woman in black. The enigmatic pursuer.

Sugar and Riley swallowed hard and tightened their grips on their respective weapons.