Chapter 9 …

Diarin, too, had been a child of the White Deer Tribe, but it seemed she had never been as precious an existence as Banda.

The elders had known full well how dangerous magic that revived the dead was. Yet they had given such an order without hesitation.

“They also said the reason there were two children of the White Deer this time, even though only one is born in each generation, was probably because of a situation like this…”

Right.

That was what the elders had said.

The reason for the anomaly was likely to prepare for a situation where one of the two died early, just like now.

Besides, unlike a child of the White Deer Tribe should be, Diarin was far too cold and frigid.

And so Diarin drew a grand magic circle.

A great spell meant to revive the dead Banda.

Of course, it failed.

And then Diarin was born again.

Even after being reborn, she retained the memories of the White Deer Tribe, and following the elders’ orders, she once again drew a magic circle to revive Banda.

There was not the slightest error in the grand magic circle she painstakingly created.

Yet it failed again.

And Diarin died once more.

What had been lacking?

What exactly had gone wrong?

Even now, Diarin still had not fully figured it out.

This was already her fourth life.

To be honest, Diarin was exhausted.

The guilt she felt toward Banda remained, but she no longer wanted to cling to that absurd grand spell and die again.

Even so…

“Damn side effects.”

What Diarin had realized through repeated reincarnations was that after failing to revive Banda in her first life, a severe magical side effect had remained attached to her soul.

“I’ll never be able to forget Banda.”

It was a kind of curse.

Diarin barely remembered her previous life or the one before that.

To be honest, it was the same in this life.

Other than her memories with Ezet, she could barely remember even her childhood.

That was the side effect.

The lives she experienced became blurred, while only her first life grew clearer and clearer.

Never being able to forget it.

“This is already my fourth life.”

She was sick of it.

So in this life, Diarin made a vow.

She would never use magic again.

She would never place her hopes in magic again.

It was a vow so serious that she even placed a powerful restriction upon her own magic.

“Even after going that far, this hasn’t exactly been a peaceful life.”

The restriction she had placed on her magic since birth had been completely shattered when the souls of the Red Birds went berserk.

The only reason her life itself had not been broken as well was probably because she had been an extraordinarily high-ranking mage.

“This life will be different…”

Now she wanted to forget Banda.

To forget the White Deer Tribe.

* * *

“Lady Conclister. May I come in for a moment?”

Late in the evening, Ramd—who had sat beside the coachman like a statue throughout the journey—opened the door and entered.

He was still stiff and formal.

But unlike before, that stiffness came not from disliking Diarin, but from his wariness because he disliked Duke Concl.

“What is it?”

“Ahem, my lady. Earlier, I discussed matters with the merchant leaders traveling alongside us. It seems the atmosphere around Mount Kiralt hasn’t been very good lately. We’ve reached a consensus to continue traveling through the night and get out of the area as quickly as possible. Would that be acceptable?”

“The atmosphere isn’t good?”

“They say there have been sightings of magical beasts.”

“Magical beasts? Then we should leave as quickly as possible.”

“Yes, then…”

Ramd gave a slight bow.

Just as he was about to step out and close the carriage door—

“Aaaagh!”

A scream sharp enough to tear ears apart echoed through the mountain road.

“Black fog! Black fog has appeared!”

“All mercenaries, draw your weapons!”

Ramd looked at Diarin with a face that had gone rigid.

“Absolutely do not leave the carriage, my lady. We need to get out of here immediately.”

Before she could even nod, the door slammed shut.

Along with the screams, the carriage began moving again.

It seemed they were trying to escape from the magical beasts as quickly as possible.

Gripping the carriage handle, Diarin’s expression hardened.

‘Black fog.’

Outside the window, darkness had taken on a different meaning than before.

A pitch-black, unnatural fog billowed forth as though something had been burned to create it.

That fog was not a normal natural phenomenon.

Black fog.

Just as a rotting corpse gives off a foul odor, this fog appeared whenever magical beasts emerged.

To begin with, “magical beasts” did not simply mean ordinary monsters.

They were curses crawling up from beneath the earth—from hell itself.

And the one who had cast that curse was none other than a dragon.

The Heavenly Dragon, Odd.

And according to imperial law, the official name of the Akir Empire was “Odd A Kir.”

‘Right. That’s the important part.’

* * *

The founder of the Akir Empire had been a sage.

At the same time, he had been a legendary mage.

With the help of the Heavenly Dragon Odd, the founder established a nation and later completed a grand magic circle.

From that grand magic circle emerged divine beasts, each possessing a pair of wings.

Those divine beasts were the White Bird, Black Bird, Blue Bird, Golden Bird,

and the Red Bird.

But human greed knows no end.

The founder coveted dragon blood.

He betrayed the Heavenly Dragon Odd and used magic to transplant all of Odd’s dragon blood into his own body.

The Heavenly Dragon, whose blood had been completely stolen by the human he trusted and aided, used his final strength before death to cast a curse.

He opened the Gates of Hell beneath the earth—a place overflowing with magical beasts.

The founder had betrayed a dragon in pursuit of immortality.

As the price of that betrayal, he spent the remainder of his life creating magic circles to defend against the opened Gates of Hell.

The product of that labor was the Gate Stones, the culmination of high-level magic.

The Gate Stones were enormous and sacred gems that sealed the Gates of Hell.

The eight Gate Stones, however, were not perfect.

Because a dragon’s magic stood above human magic.

Over nearly a thousand years, countless mages repaired the Gate Stones.

Four became perfect.

But the remaining four were still incomplete.

Mages constantly suffered from a shortage of manpower, and the founder’s magic—empowered directly by dragon blood—was extraordinarily vast and difficult to manage.

The repair of the Gate Stones was still ongoing even now.

The Northern Gate Stone, the one Ezet protected, was also one of the Gate Stones that was “still open.”

These imperfect Gate Stones opened periodically, and through those gaps magical beasts crawled up.

Protecting the Gate Stones and defending the territory from them was the duty of the Akir Imperial Family, who inherited dragon blood.

<…That’s how it is. You understand now, Master?>

“Mm. You’re good at explaining things, Ol.”

Diarin answered awkwardly.

Still, she found it interesting.

Especially the truth about the Heavenly Dragon Odd—she had never heard that before.

“Sounds like some kind of corruption scandal. Well, it’s been a thousand years.”

Not a single person remained who knew the story properly anymore.

The Akir Imperial Family had repackaged the tale into a beautiful and educational legend.

Then they spread it far and wide as oral folklore.

If Diarin had never become the Lord of the Red Bird, she probably would have gone her entire life without learning the truth.

She never took her eyes off the rapidly changing scenery outside.

“Run! Keep running!”

“We just need to get out of the mountains! Hurry!”

Even from inside the carriage, the incredible speed was obvious.

Won’t the wheels come off at this rate?

Just as Diarin worried—

‘Huh?’

Clunk!

With a loud noise, the carriage suddenly stopped.

Her body lurched forward so hard she nearly fell.

“My lady! Come out! Quickly— Gah! Sir Knight! Sir Knight!”

The coachman’s scream rang out.

A tremendous noise of unknown origin mixed with the terrified cries of horses.

Then the carriage began shaking violently.

In the blink of an eye, it started racing forward again at tremendous speed.

‘What’s happening?’

<Master.>

Ol’s red feather fluttered through the window, having gone outside to investigate.

It whispered:

<The Bearwolf ate the horses and is dragging the carriage away.>

“Huh? Just this carriage?”

<Yeees.>

“…Why specifically this one? This carriage was in the middle of the convoy.”

<Because magical beasts are captivated by the scent of a Divine Beast Summoner.>

<To the monsters, you look the most delicious out of all the humans here.>

At that moment, one of the books Diarin had been reading flew open from the impact.

The illustration inside became visible.

Sweet cream cookies.

Perfectly roasted turkey.

A slab of butter.

Fruit coated in honey and sugar.

Various delicacies glistening with appetizing shine.

Diarin’s face twisted slightly.

“…That’s what I look like right now?”

<Yes.>

Lor added indifferently.

<And for your information, if this keeps up much longer, there’s a cliff ahead, human.>

“Wow… This is my first time having a trip like this.”

<Most people don’t have trips like this.>

“When I get back, the first thing I’ll do is properly hide the Divine Beast’s power.”

Diarin immediately stood and opened the carriage door.

With a thunderous roar, the door was flung outward and rattled wildly.

The scenery blurred past as fast as a galloping horse—

No, even faster than that.

If she jumped out, her body would surely be smashed into pieces.

Holding the interior handle tightly with her left hand, Diarin spread her right hand.

A red magic circle floated above her palm.

The crimson mana sharpened like a blade.

Grasping the mana, Diarin swung.

CRAAASH!

She sliced the carriage door clean off.

BOOM!

With an explosive sound that assaulted the ears, the severed door flew backward.

As though it sensed the tremendous disturbance inside, the runaway carriage abruptly stopped.

Diarin missed no opportunity.

Without hesitation, she leaped from the carriage.

She did not forget to wrap her body in mana to avoid injury.

“Phew…”

The very moment she exhaled in relief—

A chilling sound came from the front of the carriage.

Diarin immediately turned her gaze.

A shadow at least twice her size was approaching with heavy footsteps.

“Grrrrr…”

Its fangs, each as thick as Diarin’s wrist, were drenched in bright red blood and flesh.

Its yellow eyes gleamed like a beast in the darkness.

‘…A Bearwolf.’

Well.

What rotten luck.

A monstrous creature with a massive, durable body so threatening that it would take several knights working together to handle it.

Blood continuously streamed from the magical beast’s eyes.