episode_0204

The brilliant night of the royal capital.

The sun sinks below the surface of the water, and the moon and stars rise high in the sky, late into the night.

The back alleys of the royal capital, full of brilliant light.

There is a shadow running quickly between the dark back alleys where light does not reach.

One person wearing a black robe is moving forward quickly with light steps, dodging here and there. Inside the slightly visible black robe, there was clothing made of quite luxurious fabric, and in his hand he held a silver, gleaming sword.

Shurururuk

And what the black-robed figure is single-mindedly chasing is a black shadow, gleaming with red eyes.

Not a description for the sake of description, but literally the black shadow itself was moving and fleeing quickly along the wall.

However, the black-robed man was also running at a speed no less than that, chasing quickly.

“Stop… running away, you son of a bitch!!”

Ppppiing!

The shining blade reflecting the moonlight.

Aiming for the black shadow, it transforms into multiple strands of sword energy and aims for the black shadow.

However, the black shadow instantaneously stretched its body and created a hole in its body.

That hole exquisitely avoided the silver sword energy that pierced through.

“Tch!… Rebiya!!”

The black shadow avoided the sword in a way that humans cannot imagine.

However, he already expected that this attack would not work.

Therefore, the man shouted someone’s name with all his might.

And as if responding to that, a cool chill began to rage around them.

“Lance.”

Despite not being a loud voice, a woman’s voice that seemed to spread throughout the entire back alley echoes.

What is created by the condensation of the cool chill is an ice spear with an impressive bluish light.

The ice spear accurately pierced the black shadow that was gathering again.

With that, the black shadow disappeared as if scattering.

“Hoo… These bastards… somehow seem to be getting more cunning. It’s going to be difficult to deal with them alone anymore.”

The black-robed man says, letting out a deep sigh.

Prince Leon put his sword back into its scabbard and said.

And a woman with dark hair and tanned skin slowly walked towards Leon.

“It’s gone.”

“Yeah. I’m alive thanks to you.”

“…I didn’t really do anything.”

“No. Rebiya, if you weren’t there, if the Shadow Puppet that dodged my attack had launched a counterattack, it would have been quite difficult. Then I would have been hurt, or the battle would have dragged on. It’s thanks to you.”

At Leon’s words, Rebiya silently looked at Leon and then nodded.

“Is it over for today?”

“Well, yeah. But I’m going to look around a little more before deciding, since they might reappear like last time.”

“…Okay.”

A few days ago, the Shadow Puppets, of which no more than one appeared per day. At the moment when these appeared for the second time, Rebiya helped him.

That connection continued, and he now receives Rebiya’s help when dealing with Shadow Puppets.

Especially since then, have the patterns of the Shadow Puppets become more diverse?

Because of that, it was difficult to defeat them lightly by myself like in the old days.

“But it’s a relief. Honestly, I was a little lonely. I thought I was the only one who could see those things. I wondered if I would have to deal with those things alone for the rest of my life. I don’t know how fortunate I am that you’re here, Rebiya.”

“…It’s nothing.”

“There you go again.”

As if it were nothing.

Leon chuckled and shrugged at Rebiya’s attitude, as if she had transcended everything.

If you stop everything and stay still, you can hear the voices of the people passing by on the royal capital street, not far from here.

It is the voices of the people laughing and finishing the day.

Today, he felt a sense of pride in his heart that he was able to protect the smiles of those people, and looked at Rebiya.

“…”

When I was less than 10 years old.

I saw a magician who came from a city of magicians a little far from the kingdom.

The magician who was wearing a black robe was, what should I say….

To explain it, he felt like a bit of a shut-in? Anyway, he was the type who wouldn’t do much outside activity.

His clothes were also just baggy, clothes that didn’t reveal the shape of his body.

‘Compared to that, Rebiya is….’

“…?”

She was a woman with tanned brown skin different from ordinary people, and a truly attractive appearance and figure with large breasts and buttocks that seemed to easily captivate men, and a slender waist compared to that.

In addition to that, the clothes she was wearing were also, she was covering her figure with a robe, but inside, she was wearing clothes that clearly revealed her figure.

Because of that, every time I see her….

It’s a little difficult because a part of me reacts.

Even if I try not to pay attention, I can’t help but react, so it’s hard to look at Rebiya straight.

“Leon?”

“Huh?”

While I was lost in thought, Rebiya, who I don’t know when she approached, came close to my face.

“Is something wrong?”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

“…Okay.”

She nodded at my answer and turned around.

“But Rebiya. What I said last time. Is it still a rejection?”

“…?”

“To come into the royal palace as a magician. With your skills, you seem to be much better than the magicians in our royal family.”

“…Not interested.”

Rebiya shrugs her shoulders at my words.

Her magical skills are very outstanding.

I’ve seen royal magicians a few times, but I’ve never seen anyone start magic as quickly as Rebiya.

And what about the power of magic?

The ice magic that Rebiya mainly uses has the ability to pierce and eliminate black shadows at once with its excellent power, as well as speed.

I predict that Rebiya’s magical skills can easily beat ‘Agrone’, the royal magician.

But she says she’s not interested like that….

“Too bad.”

“…Too bad?”

“Of course it’s too bad. Your skills are outstanding, aren’t they? It’s a shame that your skills aren’t known…. And if you come to the royal family, we can meet more often. Honestly…. I sometimes learn a little about magic as part of my liberal arts classes, but it’s always Agrone, I learn from that old man, and it’s not fun.”

Strangely, there seem to be more magicians with twisted personalities.

Agrone was the one who gave me that prejudice.

Of course, I realized that it was a prejudice thanks to Rebiya….

“It might be a little more fun if I learned magic from you.”

“…Really?”

She tilted her head, looked at me, and then nodded.

Rebiya’s reaction ended there.

And since there was no more topic to continue beyond that, I left with regret.

“Then I’ll go back. Rebiya, you….”

“I’ll go back too. You don’t have to take me.”

“Yeah, with your skills, it doesn’t matter what comes.”

* * *

“Are you… leaving again today?”

“Yeah.”

“Surely, the Shadow Puppets aren’t supposed to appear for 3 days after they are dealt with?… You seem to be going out every day recently.”

The next day, in order to meet Rebiya… no, in order to deal with the Shadow Puppets, just as I was secretly trying to escape from the royal palace.

The head maid, who knew that I was going out every night, looked at me, tilting her head.

“I told you. Their movements have changed a little since then.”

“Hmm…. Is that the story that the second entity appeared at that time, even though only one entity appeared usually?”

“That’s right. I almost died thanks to that.”

Thinking about that time makes me really shudder.

Just as I was thinking that, the head maid seemed to be quietly lost in thought, and then threw out a word.

“You said you met a magician named Rebiya there.”

“I did.”

“…The Shadow Puppets are said to be monsters close to a phenomenon that appears due to something, right?”

“That’s right?”

“And that magician, Rebiya, could see the Shadow Puppets just like the prince.”

What exactly is she trying to confirm?

When I frowned and looked at the head maid, she lowered her head and said.

“I’m sorry. I just… needed to check for a moment to organize my thoughts.”

“Okay. I understand, so tell me quickly. What exactly do you want to say?”

“That Shadow Puppet… isn’t it something that that magician Rebiya created?”

“!”

I looked at the head maid with a thought that I had never thought of before.

I don’t know what my expression was like at this time, but at least it didn’t seem to be a normal expression.

Because there was a slight tension in the head maid’s expression as she looked at me.

“I’m sorry. However… if you think about the situation before and after, I get that thought. The prince said that the magician Rebiya has excellent skills, right? Then conversely, could that magician have caused the Shadow Puppet phenomenon? Isn’t she able to see it because she is the one who caused it, and didn’t she approach the prince with that…? I get that thought.”

“…”

“In fact, the royal magician Agrone was unable to confirm the Shadow Puppets, wasn’t he?”

“…I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”

The head maid nodded at my words.

“I’m sorry for being presumptuous. Then I hope you come back safely. Leon-nim.”

“Yeah.”