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CHAPTER 08
At Del’s signal, an invisible barrier spread around them. After checking the layers of barriers stacked around them, Del finally turned to look at him.
Apparently trying to disguise himself, the man’s usually glossy brown hair had been dyed pitch-black, as if he had just crawled out of a coal mine. Wearing a bucket hat pulled low over his face, he smiled softly.
“So? Not surprised?”
Because I knew it was you.
But Del chose silence, unsure what kind of reaction he’d get if he said that aloud. Theodore merely looked unsurprised.
“I did well, didn’t I?”
“What exactly did you do well?”
“A monster appeared, so I took care of it. I sensed a huge wave of energy over there and figured you’d used magic. Wasn’t that you?”
“This is Pinesa, you know? I’m not the only person here capable of casting large-scale magic.”
How did he know it was me so confidently?
“When the monster appeared, I was nearby too. The instant it showed up, I sensed a massive wide-area magic circle activating almost simultaneously from far away. To respond that fast, someone would need excellent judgment, immediate mana control, and the ability to construct a large magic circle flawlessly. Doesn’t a certain someone immediately come to mind?”
“You picked the wrong profession. You would’ve become a bestselling novelist.”
“A mystery novelist?”
“…Ha!”
Unable to deny it, Del let out a sharp laugh. Theodore wrapped his arms tighter around Del’s waist and sighed.
“Well, at least we handled it before people got hurt. I was planning to stay out of it if possible, but that monster targeted a child, so I didn’t really have a choice.”
Seriously, for someone who looks cold-hearted, he sure sticks his nose into things.
Unwilling to admit that his mood had softened a little, Del sharply turned his head away.
“And Del, you sent Nike out too, huh? The divine beast’s true form was pretty impressive. I could tell even from far away.”
“She’s probably been hungry lately. It was about time she ate.”
Foxes were omnivores, but divine beasts, by nature, would not kill anything except monsters. Thank goodness “killing” was the standard. Meat and fish were difficult, but things like milk were manageable.
Well, foxes were still animals. If she couldn’t consume any animal-derived products at all, her diet would’ve been a disaster.
“Nike’s probably tearing into monsters enthusiastically by now, while you were too busy slipping away to retrieve the corpse. So the monster you killed ended up in the guards’ hands, huh.”
Yeah, one of them should probably go to the city guard. They needed to investigate the cause somehow.
“Divine beasts are considered sacred beings anyway, so it’s not like it matter— …Why are you looking at me like that?”
Del stared suspiciously at the man, who suddenly looked dissatisfied. Theodore finally spoke in a low voice.
“The name ‘Theo’ is actually pretty common in this country.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means nothing bad will happen if you call me that once in a while.”
“You’re ridiculous. I’d rather call you Rain.”
Theodore’s face instantly darkened, and somehow that made Del feel much better. After debating whether or not to remove the arms wrapped around him, Del instead rested his head lightly against Theodore’s shoulder. His purple eyes lifted toward him seriously.
“What were the monsters like?”
“When I cut them down, I noticed they seemed to have more than one core. Judging by their reaction speed, they also appeared fairly intelligent.”
“Did they enter the capital through underground tunnels?”
“Even then, they shouldn’t have been able to bypass the barrier. To prepare for situations like this, they mix mana into the water flowing through the underground waterways. If monsters had tunneled underground, alarms should’ve gone off immediately.”
“That’s true…”
“Then there’s only one possibility left. You already figured it out too, didn’t you?”
“…Summoning magic.”
“Exactly.”
But Del still couldn’t understand it. He lowered his voice again.
“Do you think they summoned them from the underground waterways?”
“Remote summoning isn’t possible with current magic theory, so probably. Unless the summoner was somewhere near us.”
“If the monsters burst up from underground, then probably not.”
“Hm. Still, now that the city guards are involved, they’ll handle the rest, won’t they?”
By now they were probably swarming the area and investigating thoroughly, so it’d be difficult to find any additional clues there. Del glanced at the two swords hanging from Theodore’s waist and snorted.
“Still, I bet wandering around alone feels nice, huh? Usually Edith or the knights handled this kind of thing instead of you.”
“That’s their job, so they can deal with it. Still, it’s been a while since I got to stretch my body a little. Honestly, all that royal dignity nonsense is exhausting.”
The casually grumbling expression on his face stirred up a nostalgic warmth in Del.
“I guess this worked out nicely for you too. You found yourself a brand-new research subject, didn’t you? Even if it was troublesome for a moment.”
These sentimental moments never lasted more than three seconds.
At this point Del was tired of asking how Theodore knew these things. Sometimes he acted like a complete stranger, but moments like this made it unsettling how well he understood Del.
More importantly… how long was he supposed to stay like this?
Realizing the situation again, Del squirmed, trying to get away, but Theodore’s arms didn’t budge. At this point it was becoming a matter of pride.
Should I just blast him with magic?
“If you really want to investigate properly, should I help?”
Hearing the low whisper near his ear, Del froze for a moment. He turned to the smiling man beside him.
“What exactly are you planning to do when you’re supposed to be hiding your identity? Weren’t you busy?”
“It seems connected to something I’ve been investigating too. So I’m helping while I’m at it. Don’t worry about it.”
What the hell, so he really did come here because he had something to investigate.
Del thought that should’ve been obvious, and yet he couldn’t understand why it irritated him. Pretending not to care, he casually asked,
“What are you investigating?”
“Well. It’s probably too early to talk about it right now. I’ll tell you once I’m more certain.”
“…I thought you said you weren’t hiding anything.”
“What would there be to hide between us?”
“Well, we did live through three years together.”
Del shrugged as if it were nothing important, but Theodore’s brow furrowed slightly.
“Anyway, could you let go of me n—”
The moment Del raised his head slightly, he felt something touch the corner of his eye.
Warm. Soft.
The instant he realized it was Theodore’s lips, Del swung his fist with all his strength.
Theodore narrowly dodged it in an infuriatingly graceful motion and stepped back.
“What the hell was that?!”
As if this kind of embarrassing atmosphere between them made any sense at all. Del shouted furiously, and Theodore answered with a lazy grin.
“Sorry. But you were cute.”
“W-What?”
“You were.”
You probably already know the answer deep down, and yet you keep pretending not to. So rigid, so cold, and yet too soft-hearted to push someone like me away. Watching you makes me think a lot of things.
“Get back here!”
The man retreated again, avoiding the magic circle appearing beneath his feet. He might never beat Del in magic, but he was confident in a game of tag.
“If I come closer now, you’ll hit me, so I’ll pass. See you at home!”
Laughing cheerfully, Theodore backed toward the opposite exit of the alley and disappeared. Del touched the corner of his eye where Theodore’s lips had brushed.
“…What the hell is wrong with that guy?”
Forcing himself to ignore the strangely burning sensation there, Del turned back toward the alley entrance he had come through.
“Let’s see… this way, maybe.”
After successfully escaping Del alive, Theodore pulled up the hood of his cloak and lifted a manhole cover. Slipping into the underground waterways unseen, he raised one finger into the air.
Quietly sensing the flow of mana, he followed a familiar trace deeper into the tunnels. A spherical light created with magic floated before his face.
The nature of Del’s mana was unique.
When they were younger, Theodore had no point of comparison and never realized how unusual it was. But after meeting again years later, he understood clearly.
And there was far too much of it.
No matter what kind of spell Del cast, it was usually equivalent to scooping a single bucket of water from a vast lake. Theodore had realized that vividly when Del summoned rain over the kingdom.
Magic always left traces behind.
If the people who summoned the monsters had been caught within the range of Del’s magic circle, traces of Del’s mana should still linger on them. If he followed those traces, he’d find them.
Normally, tracking a single person through countless tangled magical traces would be nearly impossible.
But Theodore moved forward without hesitation.
Tracking was his specialty, after all. One of the only things worth thanking his damned blood relatives for.
The waterways were damp and dark. Water covered the floor, so footsteps should have echoed loudly.
Yet Theodore glided silently over the ground.
Then faint splashing reached his ears.
Quietly extinguishing his light, Theodore moved far more boldly than before. As he rounded a corner, his eyes—already adjusted to the darkness—spotted figures hurrying ahead. Small magical lights floated around them like fireflies.
Theodore drew a dagger from his coat and hurled it at the black-hooded figure walking at the very back.
Thunk.
The blade struck squarely into the target’s back, and a scream rang out.
“Aaaagh!”
“W-What was that?!”
The moment one of them collapsed, the group erupted into chaos. Theodore smirked and leapt forward instantly, closing the distance.
By the time he had slashed and stabbed down about three of them, a man beside him swung a dagger wildly.
Theodore caught the man’s wrist and twisted it casually.
“AGH!”
After tossing the screaming man into the waterway, Theodore counted the remaining enemies.
One, two…
Where’d the last one go?
There had definitely been seven presences.
The instant that thought crossed his mind, something flew toward Theodore’s back.
Thud.
