Ch.9The Black Mage is Free (3)

“Crow, if you’re reading this letter, I must be gone from this world. The Warlocks have started a war to bring down the Church. Naturally, I plan to join their cause. Great reforms are always accompanied by bloodshed, so my death can’t be helped.”

“Well, that was a long introduction. I would have liked to be called ‘big sister’ at least once, but I guess that’s too bad.”

I collapsed right where I stood.

Honestly, it didn’t feel real.

My master, Riano, was an extraordinary Warlock even by my standards.

When I heard that she had brought down the Church, I didn’t particularly doubt it.

I thought that someone like her would surely have accomplished great deeds and would still be living proudly.

But what was this?

What a stupid old hag.

I told her to take breaks while working.

Tears that hadn’t fallen even when I parted with my party now poured down like a waterfall, soaking the letter in my hand.

Why did you have to leave before I could repay your kindness…

Just then, I heard footsteps from behind me, coming from the back door.

I got up and drew the dagger from my waist.

Who dared to intrude on my master’s place?

Were they in their right mind?

With my vision blurred by tears, I could only make out that the person had a good figure and a cigarette in their mouth, but nothing else.

I didn’t care though.

What was the point of noting the appearance of someone who was about to disappear from this world?

As I raised my dagger high to stab their palm, the cigarette in her mouth moved up and down.

Then I heard a low voice.

“Knockout.”

The magic shot from her finger hit me, and I lost consciousness immediately.

* * * * *

Returning from shopping, Riano muttered as she saw the man collapsed on the floor.

“Ah… this kid is just as stupid now as he was back then.”

Why hide it?

It was Crow, her disciple who had run away from home a few years ago.

Of course, it was her fault for writing the letter and being too lazy to throw it away.

But still, the crazy fool tried to attack her with black magic before she could even explain, leaving her no time for excuses.

In the end, it’s your fault, my disciple.

Still, it wasn’t such a bad feeling to have someone cry for her.

Riano sighed as she looked at her hand, which had a deep wound from clutching the thorn ring. She then rummaged through her Magic Pouch and poured a potion over the wound.

The red liquid seeped into the wound, smoke rose, and the wound disappeared completely.

How should she torment this troublesome disciple?

* * * * *

When I regained consciousness, the first sensation I felt was that my body was lying on something soft.

I carefully opened my eyes, but a hazy smoke blocked my view.

Had that intruder set the house on fire?

This house contained many memories with my master and was very precious to me.

I couldn’t just sit by and watch it burn.

But my body refused to move, and I felt a slight pain in my arms and legs.

That’s when I realized.

I was tied to the bed.

Hurriedly looking around, I saw someone sitting in the chair where my master often sat.

Beyond the glossy dark brown hair, I could see slender shoulders, and following down the slim waist, well-developed hips stole my gaze.

Seeing the same silhouette I had glimpsed before collapsing, I shouted in anger.

“You bastard! Untie me! I’ll kill you, by any means necessary!”

When she turned her head, sharp red eyes pierced through me.

Feeling as if everything was being exposed, I gulped.

Come to think of it, this wasn’t the time for me to be shouting.

How much must she be laughing at someone who threatens to kill while tied to a bed, unable to move?

With the cigarette in her mouth, she raised one corner of her lips and said,

“Do you know what situation you’re in right now?”

Of course I know, but…

“Shut up.”

My pride wouldn’t allow it.

She made an amused sound through her nose and got up to approach me.

I quietly closed my eyes as she drew closer.

Master, I’ll follow you.

If we can meet there too, I won’t leave you alone.

“What a stupid fool.”

At the voice filled with exasperation, I gently opened my eyes to see her untying the ropes that bound my hands and feet.

I couldn’t understand her actions at all. But this was clearly an opportunity.

Once all the ropes were untied, I jumped up.

I planned to subdue her first and then listen to what she had to say, since I could have heard her even while tied to the bed.

As if she had read my thoughts, she lifted the hair covering her right ear.

As if she had something to show me.

Seeing it, I stood frozen.

A crescent moon.

Behind her ear was the same tattoo as mine.

People in the world think that Warlocks only tattoo behind their ears, but that’s incorrect information.

Master and disciple simply have the same pattern in the same location, but it can be anywhere that can be hidden.

In my master’s case, it was behind the ear, and I got mine in the same place as her.

Which meant that the woman before me was…

“Master’s disciple?”

“…That’s right.”

The slight hesitation made me a bit suspicious, but considering she wore the same thorn ring as my master and handled mana in the same way.

It was certain that she and I had the same master.

I bowed my head to her.

After all, if we were both disciples, the one who attacked first was clearly in the wrong.

“I’m sorry for trying to attack you without hearing you out.”

“No, raise your head, it’s fine.”

She brushed past me, sat on the bed, and patted the spot beside her.

It seemed she had something she wanted to talk about.

I had many questions about our deceased master anyway, so this was actually fortunate.

As I sat down beside her, she stared at me with those fiery red eyes and said,

“Master said it’s been years since her disciple left. Why did you come back?”

“I had nowhere else to go. And I missed Master. I thought I’d earned enough money by now. I was planning to take care of that old hag… I mean, Master.”

“Old hag…?”

Veins popped out on her forehead, forming branches.

Judging by her expression, she seemed quite angry. Perhaps she thought I was insulting our master by calling her an old hag?

“The ‘old hag’ thing is just a nickname. You know how old our master is.”

“No? I heard she was 28.”

I recalled my master’s face from my memories.

Deep nasolabial folds, wrinkles around the eyes—she looked like a typical middle-aged woman, or even elderly.

Plus, she always had “You fool!” on her lips, so by any measure, she couldn’t be 28.

She should at least tell believable lies.

Would she really want to appear that much younger?

Master, I’m a bit disappointed. That’s ugly of you.

“She’s definitely not 28. Did you believe that?”

“Then how old do you think she is?”

“About 60… wouldn’t you say?”

The moment I finished speaking, I felt a strong impact on my head.

It was such a powerful blow that I thought my neck might get stuck.

“You fool! How dare you say your master is 60?! Are you in your right mind?! Even at most, I was 40!”

“What are you saying? And why are you hitting me?”

“I’m hitting you because I’m your master. What? If you don’t like it, become a master yourself.”

Holding my dizzy head, I tried to understand the current situation.

But it was impossible.

There was no way this young woman, this beautiful woman, could be my master.

Of course, I did feel that the color of her eyes was similar.

My master’s eyes also had that beautiful red color.

But that wasn’t enough to reconcile this discrepancy.

“Do you think I brought you in and raised you when I was 16 just to hear this nonsense?”

“16…?”

I still remembered that scene clearly.

No, there was no way I could forget it.

On a day when the rain was pouring heavily, after my parents had died from illness, I was sitting blankly on the street when my master saved me.

But my master was already middle-aged then.

The wrinkles I felt on the hand that grabbed me are still vivid, so I’m certain.

“No, that’s impossible. If you’re my master…”

“You wet the bed when you were 11 in winter, got stung by a bunch of bees when you went out in spring at 13, and in the summer when you were 19… you left this house.”

I felt goosebumps all over my body at her words, which seemed to accurately read my memories.

I wondered if my master had kept a parenting diary while raising me, but that was definitely not the case.

Our master wasn’t the type to diligently record such things.

“I was so proud to have a disciple with talent in all five attributes, and this is how you make me feel?”

I had never revealed to anyone I’d ever met that I had talent in all five attributes.

I hid the darkness attribute to avoid suspicion of being a Warlock, and I hid the holy attribute to prevent the Church from approaching me.

That was also true during my adventures as the Black Crow mage, so even those women who had been with me for years didn’t know this fact.

But there was one person who knew this fact.

The person who brought a crystal ball and proved to me that I had talent.

Master, Riano.

The balance of the scale that had been weighing between the evidence she presented and my desire to deny it collapsed with just one word she uttered.