Ominous Clouds Spreading Through the Capital

Sylvia is a rabbit-like woman.

That’s what Kyle always repeats in his mind when summing up Sylvia in a single line.

Patahk. Patahk.

“Kyle, look at that! He’s not even a wizard, but he’s breathing fire from his mouth! I wonder what the principle is behind it?!”

No, maybe she’s more like a sparrow. She’s too busy flapping her arms like wings.

Anyway, when Sylvia gets excited, there’s just no stopping her.

It’s hard enough just keeping up with her energy, and in her excited state, Sylvia sees the world as full of colorful and enjoyable things.

Maybe if you showed Sylvia a falling leaf in that state, she’d jump up and down saying, ‘The leaf is falling so beautifully!’ Kyle chuckled to himself, thinking such silly thoughts.

‘Still, I’m glad she seems to be having fun.’

He was worried that she might be too tired from the journey to properly enjoy the sightseeing, but it was a completely unnecessary concern.

To the point where Kyle felt quite exhausted just following her as she rushed ahead.

Where does all that energy come from in that small, delicate body? It’s enough to make you wonder if she should be a subject of research.

“K-Kyle… Was it not fun for you?”

Sylvia, belatedly noticing him quietly following behind, suddenly approached with a deflated look, asking cautiously like a child who had done something wrong.

Kyle tilted his head, wondering why she was saying this all of a sudden.

“No, of course not. More importantly, why would you think that…?”

“It just felt like I was the only one having fun. I wanted Kyle to enjoy it with me too…”

“Ah.”

As she fidgeted with her hands and mumbled, Kyle realized that he had been watching her too much from an observer’s perspective.

To be honest, if you asked him if the scenery of the capital was giving him such a new and enjoyable experience, the answer would be no.

In the first place, he didn’t have the childlike innocence to be amazed by such things and purely enjoy them, and Kyle was somewhat lacking in emotional aspects, to the point where he himself called himself a boring person.

On the other hand, Sylvia was more emotional than anyone he had ever seen, and a woman who knew how to enjoy new experiences, so it was only natural that there would be a difference here.

“I’m sorry. Actually, I’m not very good at enjoying new things like Sylvia, so I guess that’s how it felt.”

“No, it’s me who didn’t think of Kyle. I was just getting carried away by myself…”

Thinking that her deflated appearance was quite cute, Kyle smiled wryly and unconsciously reached out to her head.

“It’s okay. To be honest, seeing Sylvia having fun is more satisfying than the sights themselves. Please don’t mind me and enjoy yourself.”

“Yes, yes. More than that, Kyle? Why the head pat…”

“…Ah.”

For a moment, she reminded him of the puppy he had raised in the castle when he was young, and he had unconsciously patted her head, but Kyle realized this belatedly and stopped his hand, realizing his mistake.

It’s not like he’s treating a grown woman like a child or a pet, what kind of behavior is this?

“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t even realize it myself…”

It was something that happened before he even realized it, so Kyle tried to take his hand away, showing embarrassment.

But Sylvia didn’t just stand by and watch.

Thump.

“…Y-You didn’t say you didn’t like it. Please finish what you were going to do.”

Kyle’s eyes widened at Sylvia’s action of grabbing his wrist with her slender hand and bringing it back to her head.

‘So, in other words, she wants me to pat her more?’

Is it really okay?

Although the person in question gave permission, Kyle still felt a bit of reluctance to pat the head of a woman he wasn’t even dating.

Of course, that reluctance was not simply a reluctance to touch Sylvia’s body, but rather stemmed from an instinctive doubt, ‘Do I have the right to do this?’

But since Sylvia seems to want it, he has no choice but to do it for now.

Swish. Swish.

“Ehehe… It tickles.”

As he carefully stroked her hair with trembling hands, as if polishing a glasswork made by a master craftsman, she twisted her body and created a flower-like smile.

As Kyle always felt, Sylvia was most beautiful when she smiled.

When he looked at her smiling, he felt as if the brightness of the world was getting a little brighter.

It was a smile like light to him.

It was at that moment, when the two of them were standing side by side in the middle of the road, being all lovey-dovey enough to arouse the envy of the people around them.

Whoosh─!

“……!? Kyle!”

Sylvia’s eyes, which had been blankly looking up at him while being petted, widened.

She saw a thick arrow flying from behind Kyle, tearing through the air.

But, contrary to her worries,

Ting!

Before it even touched Kyle’s body, the arrow made a sound as if it had hit an invisible wall and fell powerlessly at his feet.

Kyle, looking down at it with cold eyes, nodded indifferently as if it was something he had expected.

‘I’m glad I took precautions.’

It was something he had guessed to some extent since it was decided that he would stop by Artas.

In the first place, no matter how much it is the capital of the empire, it can’t be safer than his own home.

From the moment they set foot in Kaintreche Castle, he had always kept in mind the possibility of being attacked, no matter where he went.

Especially since the back of the neck is the most fatal blind spot for humans, he had always surrounded himself with a magical barrier around him, always invisibly.

Even so, he didn’t expect the bastards’ claws to reach out so quickly.

“Oh my!”

“W-What’s going on!? An arrow came flying!”

“Young man, are you okay!?”

Despite the person involved being indifferent, the residents who witnessed this were startled and tried to find the place where the arrow came from.

“K-Kyle. Are you okay…?”

“Yes, I took precautions in advance, so nothing happened. I’m sorry for making you worry.”

Meanwhile, Sylvia, who was more surprised than Kyle, who was attacked, asked cautiously, and he calmly nodded and rather comforted her.

It doesn’t matter since it was something he expected anyway, but it seems impossible to continue sightseeing like this.

He doesn’t care what happens to himself, but as long as there is a possibility that Sylvia next to him will get caught up in it, he had no intention of taking unnecessary risks.

“More than that, I’m sorry, Sylvia. I guess we’ll have to go to the Imperial Palace right away.”

“No, it’s not Kyle’s fault. I wanted to rest anyway, so let’s go quickly.”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

He felt sorry for having to deliver the disappointing news to Sylvia, but Sylvia wasn’t so out of her mind as to want to walk around outside in this situation, so she hurriedly led him by the hand.

As the sightseeing, which they thought would only be enjoyable, came to an end due to an unpleasant incident, the two had no choice but to swallow their disappointment and get into the carriage.

＊＊＊

‘It’s dark.’

That was the impression Vermillion muttered to himself as he faced the unknown place he had first set foot in.

It’s not just that he can’t see well, or that there are few lights so he has to be careful when walking.

This place was darker and more ominous than any other place Vermillion had ever been.

The air was so cold that it was stinging, and even he, a reasonably talented wizard, felt threatened instinctively.

‘More than that, is this magic?’

In particular, the unidentified energy densely dissolved in the air added the most to the strangeness of this space.

Among the people he had seen so far, there were those who possessed heterogeneous and extraordinary magic, like Kyle.

But the energy he was feeling on his skin was too bizarre to be simply called magic.

It even felt like leeches parasitizing a rural village, sticking to his skin and slowly eating away at his magic.

Vermillion, who wanted to escape this shitty place as soon as possible, continued to walk quickly without stopping.

“You’ve come.”

“……!”

In the meantime, he flinched and trembled slightly at the sight of an old man who looked to be in his 60s, who had appeared without a sound.

How long has he been here?

Despite constantly sensing the surroundings with magic because the view was so dark, Vermillion had not noticed his existence at all.

Narrow eyes, finely wrinkled, and a smile like a kind-hearted person.

If he had met him outside, he would have thought he was just a kind old man in the neighborhood, but the moment their eyes met, Vermillion was able to quickly see that the other person was no ordinary person.

“…I’m sorry for being late. I was a little delayed because I had to shake off the bastards.”

“That can happen. The Apostle-nim will understand too.”

‘Apostle-nim?’

Apostle, who is he referring to?

Vermillion, sensing that there was something going on in the title that had never been mentioned even when his grandfather or father talked in the family, slowly moved his steps following the old man.

Finally, when he arrived at a large joint, his eyes flashed.

There, like a small temple, there were quite sacred-looking structures and a small door that only one person could pass through.

As he headed back through it, a bright path appeared, lit by torches, unlike before.

And finally, there was a tightly closed door, and he felt an unidentified energy that seemed to reject the intrusion of those who were not allowed.

“If you go inside, the Apostle-nim and the assistant will be waiting for you. Since those who are not allowed cannot set foot in it, I’ll stop here…”

“Yes, thank you for the guidance.”

Still, judging from the fact that he was wearing quite fancy ceremonial clothes, the old man seemed to be a fairly important figure.

Nevertheless, Vermillion could guess the dignity of the person waiting for him inside from the way he easily turned away.

So, he straightened himself in a slightly nervous state and pulled the doorknob.

He did so because he had been told not to knock on the door because the person waiting inside would not like to be notified.

“Excuse me.”

As he stepped inside, a woman sitting on a large chair that seemed to be twice the size of his body on a marble platform caught his eye.

But strangely, there was little light around her.

Clearly, there were torches lit around her, and as if that wasn’t enough, oil lamps were also prepared.

As if all the light that touched her disappeared, only her surroundings were particularly dark.

Thanks to this, Vermillion could barely recognize that the other person was a woman only by the lines and outlines of her body.

The other person didn’t say anything, didn’t even say a simple greeting, and just stared at Vermillion.

It was the moment when Vermillion inadvertently turned his head and looked to the side.

“I didn’t know that the assistant Apostle-nim mentioned was you.”

“You are…”

There, an individual who had arrived earlier, presumably the ‘assistant’ that the old man had mentioned earlier, was smiling heartily and reaching out his hand.

But Vermillion’s eyes widened in an instant when he saw that face.

Why is this guy here?