〈 Chapter 245 〉 Night of the Mages (7)
*
“You qualify as a Guide.”
The plaza buzzes at the words of the Mage of Ancient Dragons.
The titles bestowed by the Primordial Mage, who has lived for millennia, are various, but their branches are somewhat predetermined.
Sage, Wise One, Grand Magus.
The only titles granted by the Ancient Dragon are these three. Although exceptions exist, they are names given to calamities, so they should rightfully be excluded.
And.
‘Guide?’
‘What does Guide even mean…?’
‘I’ve never heard that title before…’
‘Guide? Lead? What will you lead?’
Among the countless people gathered in the plaza, no one had ever heard the title ‘Guide’. Not even the leader of the colored Tower nor the extraordinary mages researching the history of magic at the end of the transmission had heard this name.
‘Doesn’t walk under the stars?’
‘He mentioned being close to the truth.’
‘Saying he walks a path different from anyone else.’
The buzzing grows louder.
As the magicians chatter among themselves, their gazes converge once more. The focus of their attention is on a girl sitting quietly.
Rania van Trias.
She is staring at the podium in silence.
Her azure eyes, which reflect something unknown, seem enigmatic. Like a doll, the girl slowly closes and opens her eyes.
The cerulean glint in her eyes shines golden.
As the girl gazes squarely at the Ancient Dragon Mage, the previously buzzing magicians fall silent. A moment passes in unnatural silence.
“I have no more to convey.”
The Ancient Dragon Mage speaks.
Turning his gaze from the girl, he lightly taps the ground with his staff. Platinum stars spread from the point of the staff.
What the spreading stars create is a door.
The Ancient Dragon smiles as he gently taps the door.
“I shall take my leave now. It was a delightful festival, magicians representing this era.”
There are many questions to ask.
Yet, none dare to halt the footsteps of the Ancient Dragon Mage. Blocking the path of a god is seen as a sacrilege.
However, there are exceptions.
Someone walks through the still magicians. The wind stirs her ashen hair.
Thud.
A mage, not trusting the stars or the Ancient Dragon, steps onto the podium. She roughly yanks the doorknob of the platinum door that the Ancient Dragon Mage is about to vanish through.
Crack!
The door swings open and light floods in.
When the light subsides, no one remains on the podium.
2.
With a fierce yanking of the doorknob.
For a moment, my vision flickered to white. After a few blinks, I could see clearly.
A vast expanse of grassland.
Scattered, crumbled stone pillars lie across the meadows. A sight reminiscent of ruins broken long ago. Among them is a collapsed statue.
The remains of a temple.
I lifted my head and looked straight ahead.
At the end of my gaze is a mage. He sits perched atop the highest stone pillar, smiling down at me.
“You indeed followed me. I knew you would.”
“What is this? Spouting nonsense and leaving without any explanation?”
“I have no tales suitable for others. Furthermore, it’s quite…”
The Ancient Dragon Mage shrugged.
“I want to show that I’m not a mere lightweight. It is the mystery often hidden beneath the lightness that makes an existence special.”
What in the world?
I frowned at the Ancient Dragon’s attempt to appear lighthearted. I stepped closer to him.
“Stop it.”
The chill in his voice echoed.
I halted and looked up at him.
“Do not cross that line. Stay there and listen. This is an area I do not wish to be trespassed upon.”
“If you despise it so much, why did you call me here?”
“Because I want to share a story here.”
He stepped down from the pillar and stood before the broken statue. Caressing the half-collapsed statue gently, the Ancient Dragon looked at me.
“What does this statue resemble?”
“At first glance, it doesn’t appear to be Deloheim.”
“Haha. I do cherish my friend, but I don’t worship him. This place is dedicated to the one I truly revere.”
The statue before me differs from those seen in the Deloheim Church.
In the church, statues represented perfect and asexual humans, but… the statue before me clearly takes the form of a woman.
She wears a blindfold over her eyes.
In her hand, she holds a staff and wears a robe adorned with a pattern of three overlapped circles.
“What is that?”
“The Guide of the Stars.”
The Ancient Dragon looked at me.
In the eyes of the Ancient Dragon watching me, the same three circles engraved on the statue emerge.
“This is the temple of the Guide. It is a place dedicated to honor both her and I, who was once a Guide. Though now, it is a place in memory of her alone.”
“Her?”
I furrowed my brow.
A name came to mind. That name was voiced through the lips of the Ancient Dragon Mage.
“Gletus of Regulation.”
Regulation (?).
“You must have come to inquire about the Guide, correct?”
I nodded silently.
The Ancient Dragon smiled faintly.
“Thus, I wish to speak of the Guide here, in a place honoring the most perfect Guide.”
He narrowed his eyes slightly.
A half-obscured platinum ring gleamed.
“The Guide’s other name is Pathfinder. Another name is Pioneer.”
Names related to pathways.
“Long ago, Gletus walked a singular road. At the end of that road, Gletus inscribed regulation upon the world. I too walked a path of my own choosing…”
Starlight swirled around the Ancient Dragon Mage.
“At the end of the path, I hung my friend in the highest place of the heavens.”
So murmured the Ancient Dragon, pointing his finger at me. His usual playful demeanor was absent.
“Child who hasn’t been chosen by the stars yet knows how to handle the stars, child who understands both light and shadow, child who dares to ponder a path no one else has.”
He whispered to me.
“I don’t know how your guiding path will be, but I shall give you one warning.”
The golden eyes shone a vibrant blue.
“Do not break the taboos.”
His chilling voice sounded like that of a great beast growling.
“Do not carelessly disturb the regulations Gletus inscribed in this world. I am also bound by those regulations. Do not make me break them.”
Unconsciously, I took a step back.
This was the first time I had seen the Ancient Dragon Mage reveal such emotion. Caught off guard, I retreated, and…
“…That’s all I had to convey.”
The Ancient Dragon gazed at me, wearing a bitter smile.
“It was a message I needed to pass on as one who must protect regulation and order.”
As if nothing had happened, the Ancient Dragon continued speaking in a much gentler tone. The temperature difference between the two voices was hard to adjust to.
“Did you leave the door open so that you could give me those warnings?”
“Though it has turned out this way, I had a great desire to welcome a new compatriot.”
“…For a welcoming speech, your voice was rather rough.”
“I thought I could assert some presence.”
Chuckling, the Ancient Dragon took a step toward me.
“In truth, I wanted to give you a different name, not just the title of Guide. Something like ‘The Most Beautiful of the Century chosen by the Ancient Dragon Mage’, or perhaps something else.”
He began counting down each name he had thought up, and with each candidate revealed, I frowned a little more.
“Lastly, if you choose the same path as me, it would be nothing less than a companion of the Ancient Dragon… Cough cough!”
The Ancient Dragon swiftly turned his head.
I clicked my tongue at the crafty mage who narrowly avoided my fist.
“…If you say any more, I’ll be left with nothing but my face. Nothing quite like chatting with a spicy lady for thrills, but I shall stop here.”
He lightly tapped my feet with his staff.
“Regardless, congratulations on becoming a Guide. If you do not break the taboos… I too shall bless the path you walk.”
The platinum door appeared before me.
Just as I was about to open the door, I cast a sideways glance at the Ancient Dragon Mage. There were still questions lingering in my mind.
“Is the title of Guide recorded in history?”
“No. It is a fact known only to you and me.”
“Then why reveal it in the plaza?”
Anyway, no one would understand, so why?
Couldn’t it have been conveyed privately?
At my question, the Ancient Dragon wore a playful smile as if to say, ‘Are you really asking such a thing?’
“Well, it’s to focus attention on you.”
…Huh?
“Didn’t I say before? I wish for you to settle well in the society of mages as ‘Rania’.”
“What does that have to do with this…?”
I paused mid-sentence as my eyes narrowed.
The Ancient Dragon continued to smile and speak.
“Because no one knows, it feels special. It’s like the Ancient Dragon Mage himself declaring ‘You are special’… wouldn’t the mages buzz with excitement?”
It seemed the name of Sage alone might not make the impact he desired.
As I contemplated the Ancient Dragon Mage, I let out a long sigh.
“…If possible, I hope I won’t see you often.”
“Let’s meet frequently if we can.”
“Please don’t come looking for me.”
I spoke assertively and flung the door open.
Let’s not get entangled, though… unfounded certainty swirled in my mind.
I would inevitably become intertwined.
And, depending on the situation, I would become adversarial.
Just before the platinum light engulfed me, I turned to look back at the Ancient Dragon. He stood there, as always, like a symbol of unchangingness.
He does not age.
He does not change.
An existence that has maintained its constancy for countless thousands of years.
That presence feels like a wall. A wall that is nothing but cumbersome. If there were something at the end of the path I was arriving at, it would undoubtedly be this mage before me.
Suddenly.
I had that thought.
*
The land where the Ashen Mage had departed.
Yormun leaned against one of the stone pillars of the temple, letting out a short sigh. A bitter smile graced his lips.
“Curse it.”
I tried to give a warning.
I laid down threats.
However, despite taking a step back… the girl’s gaze did not waver.
“I never thought it would lead to such a change of heart…”
It’s beyond imagination.
While he believes in his own permanence, the young mage who faced him possesses another form of permanence.
No, it should be called indomitable.
“Phew…”
Yormun breathed out sharply.
He reached out a hand to brush his eyes. In his eyes, where three platinum rings overlapped, countless things lay visible.
Mage of Ancient Dragons, Yormun van Dragonik.
He is a companion of the stars and can enjoy all of the blessings of the stars without cost, as long as he keeps the regulations. Hence, if something is possible for one who possesses the blessings of the stars… it should also be possible for Yormun.
Therefore, he can see the future.
Countless possibilities of the future.
Possibilities that may or may not occur flicker in Yormun’s eyes.
‘Step aside.’
The Ashen-Haired Woman stands there.
The youthful woman’s hair wildly sways in the breeze.
‘I must return.’
The translucent eyes of the woman looking at him are filled with rage. Her voice echoes like a flame burning hot, with a heat that claws at his ear.
‘I will, without fail.’
She seeks to break the most forbidden of taboos.
The possibility ends there.
Everything burns and vanishes, and the Ashen Mage inevitably breaks the taboo.
That future led the Ancient Dragon to the Royal Capital.
‘…For the time being, it is merely one of the many futures.’
Millions, thousands, hundreds of thousands of potential futures.
It is but a mere possibility among them.
The chance of it happening is lower than that of it not happening, and nothing can be confirmed.
Thus, regulation binds the Ancient Dragon.
“I suppose I’ll have to watch a bit longer.”
Nothing is certain yet.
However, if signs begin to show themselves…
“If you do not, I will extinguish it myself. Personally. So, keep your mouth shut.”
The fire must be extinguished.
Not by anyone else, but by oneself.
3.
A few days after the Night of the Mages had ended.
The festive atmosphere that was once lively had begun to fade, and everything was returning to daily life. Two girls walk through a quiet corridor.
“Did you hear anything from the Master? Chloe?”
A child loved by the stars, Stella.
“No, she didn’t give any details back then either…”
A child chosen by the stars, the Hero.
The two are on their way to the classroom at Rania’s call. They cannot comprehend the reason for their summons but surmise it pertains to class matters.
“Ah, you’re here?”
Pondering this, they walk and walk toward the classroom and… momentarily gasp at the sight unfolding inside.
A separate classroom.
On an enormous blackboard created by stacking several smaller boards… a colossal circuit that would be hard to take in at a glance was etched in.
“I was waiting.”
The circuit is dizzying at first glance.
Before the complex, intricate, and almost nauseating circuit, Rania taps the board with her knuckles.
“Hurry up and come in.”
Chloe, who was standing just shy of the classroom door without stepping inside, takes a cautious step back. Ayla, sensing the tension, steps back in unison.
“Oh dear.”
However, they could not escape the professor’s gaze.
With a bright smile, Rania beckoned the two standing at the threshold with a finger.
“Come in.”
If they don’t enter, it seems she would pull them in anyhow.
The students favored by the professor move toward the classroom, swallowing their tears.
*
