〈 Chapter 334 〉 Given Time (3)
*
Summer is gone and fall has arrived.
It has been quite some time since the leaves began to turn colors, and the leaves that barely clung to the branches started to fall. The path was painted yellow and red.
The hill where the Trias family’s mansion is located.
The path leading to that hill is covered in a multitude of crushed leaves. There are people crushing the leaves as they head toward the mansion. They are students of Apuria. It goes without saying what their purpose is for visiting.
Rania van Trias.
They are here to meet her.
It has already been about two weeks since Professor Rania has been absent from Apuria. Although they heard she wasn’t feeling well, the fact that Professor Rosel hasn’t shown up either for two weeks has caused them concern.
Countless people have expressed their intention to visit, but Professor Rosel has coldly dismissed them, saying it’s “not the right time.” However, he did not stop the Apuria students from coming to visit.
Thus, only a handful of students made their way to the mansion.
Those who frequently interacted with Rania—Lac, Belnoa, Resti, Chloe, and Ayla—arrived at the Trias mansion. As they knocked on the door, it creaked open with a squeak.
“…You’ve come.”
The first to meet them was Rosel van Trias, with sunken eyes. Gone was his usual sharp demeanor, replaced by a Rosel who looked at least a few years older.
“Thank you for visiting, Princess.”
Rosel’s gaze landed last on Resti as he named their ranks in turn.
“…Next Ashen Tower Master, Resti Elenoa.”
“Yes, Elder Rosel.”
“I’m no longer an elder, but… well, anyway, thank you for your visit. Seeing your face will surely bring joy to that girl.”
Rosel smiled bitterly.
“Thank you so much for coming.”
His voice was weak.
Rosel indicated the room where Rania was staying, saying he would bring some tea, and the students began to walk inside.
The mansion had never had a caretaker.
Everything in the mansion was managed by magical tools and circuits, as it was befitting a wizarding family… but looking around, dust was piled up. It was clear that it had not been maintained. The only places that were taken care of were the room where Rania stayed and the path leading to it.
Knock, knock.
With a brief knock, the students opened the door.
As the door swung open, a gust of wind swept in. A dry autumn breeze, carrying a slight chill.
“Professor Rania.”
Resti called her name.
Leaning against the bed and gazing out the slightly opened window, Rania slowly turned her head. Her ashen hair fell down in disarray. Her dull blue eyes, now lacking in luster, looked at Resti.
Her reaction was a bit delayed.
Rania eventually smiled and nodded.
“Welcome.”
The students swallowed hard and moved closer to her. As everyone made their way toward Rania, only Resti remained frozen in place.
“……”
Resti’s eyes, fixated on Rania, trembled.
Elder, Krenbel Elenoa.
An old man heading toward a predetermined death.
The expression he wore before approaching his end was startlingly similar to the one Rania bore now.
2.
“It’s okay, it’s okay.”
After two weeks, Rania finally managed to move her arm as she joked with her students.
“I exhausted all my mana. It’s just exhaustion, and I’ll be up soon enough.”
“…Exhaustion, you say?”
“Plus, I may have pushed my body a bit too hard.”
Rania smiled wryly.
“I pierced through high-level magic, an ancient spell, with just my bare body; this is actually getting off easy.”
The students wore subtle expressions.
As Rania hid her trembling hands, she slightly lowered her head. Ashen hair spilled over her face. Her lackluster hair clung to her dry skin as Rania exhaled softly.
One deep breath.
Rania raised her head with a steadied mind.
“Why does everyone look so grim?”
Rania chuckled lightly.
“If someone saw you, they’d think I was dying.”
“…Your condition.”
Belnoa spoke up.
“Your condition—it isn’t very good, is it?”
Resti recalled how the Master of the Black Tower canceled all matters and rummaged through forbidden tomes after going to check on Rania’s health.
“I’m a businessman.”
“I weigh the pros and cons of everything I do. That’s what I was taught, and that’s how I acted. So I suppose this action can be seen that way too, but…”
He did not want to think like that.
The Black Tower Master sighed.
“This can’t happen.”
“I’m not an overly sentimental person, nor am I someone who idolizes heroes… but this cannot happen.”
If only the Ashen Mage weren’t so prevalent in his mutterings.
“Such a person must not be lost.”
Since some point in time, he had been saying that.
Belnoa couldn’t grasp what he had witnessed to react like that, but one thing was clear: Rania’s condition was serious.
“Could it be…”
That time when she saved me.
When she raised her lifespan up on the Balance.
“No.”
Rania cut off Belnoa’s murmuring abruptly. She spoke firmly.
“That has nothing to do with it.”
Rania looked at Belnoa.
“It’s not something related to you. It’s simply an accumulation of problems that have erupted… it will be resolved soon.”
She shrugged her shoulders.
“Who am I?”
“…You are the Ashen Mage.”
“Exactly. This has now become a well-known secret: Ashen Mage Rania van Trias.”
Rania chuckled.
Having tried to keep it hidden, somehow all these kids knew her true identity.
“Now that you know I’m such a great person, doesn’t it make you feel a sense of reverence or something?”
“You are indeed a great person.”
“Right, I’m so great…”
Flinch.
Rania’s ears turned red.
She shot a glare at Ayla, who had muttered the word “great.”
“Isn’t that right, the great Rania van Trias.”
“Th-that…”
“You are great.”
Ayla said, biting her lips.
“Will you be getting up soon?”
“Of course.”
Rania replied with a smile.
“Who am I? The Ashen Mage and a soldier experienced in countless Phantom Terrains. I’ll be up soon, so don’t worry and go on with your assignments.”
After some light chatter, the students left their get-well-soon gifts and turned to leave. As one by one, they opened the door to exit… only Resti remained behind.
“Professor Rania.”
“Yeah?”
“Ashen Mage.”
“…So you’ve figured it out?”
“Yes.”
As Resti slowly spoke, savoring the name Rania van Trias.
“There was a time I hated you, and a time I was jealous… but I still admire you, Rania.”
You were my rival.
While you might not have seen me that way, I did. I imagined surpassing you countless times. Becoming the Ashen Mage, leading the Tower, far more exceptional than anyone else.
“So…”
Resti clenched her fist tightly.
She bowed her head in front of Rania, straining to hold back her breath and swallowing her tears.
“…Please don’t die.”
Please, don’t leave my side.
“The Elder has passed away.”
In the midst of confusion, a modest funeral was held.
Resti felt a void as if a hole had been drilled in the center of her chest. It would take a long time to fill that emptiness, but before she could adapt to that feeling of loss, another loss was about to strike.
Intuitively sensing this, Resti pleaded.
“My father and mentor has passed, and now you are the only one who sees me. You are the only one whom I look up to.”
You were both my mentor and my goal.
“Please don’t leave.”
Please, just don’t go.
Rania couldn’t respond to Resti’s heartfelt pleas. She could only weakly lift her arm and pat Resti’s head.
“I’ll try my best.”
That’s all she could answer.
*
All the students left.
The sun set and the night deepened. Unable to sleep, Rania gazed out the window. The tightly closed window reflected only her face.
A face that had changed so much.
Yet, it had become an expression she had grown accustomed to.
The Rania reflected in the window was expressionless.
It was the expression she had maintained as a Wise One. Reacting coldly to whatever she saw. It was the role that had been demanded of her, and Rania had performed it splendidly over the past several years.
She was called Wise One.
She had shown a perfect facade as a companion to the Hero.
To manifest that, Rania donned a mask on her own face. She cast aside fear and despair, acting out a perfect version of herself. The more Kyle wavered, the firmer Rania’s mask became.
That mask.
The mask that had been perfect for years.
So much so that she thought it had completely become her true face.
Crunch.
Now, it was crumbling down.
What remained after her mask broke was the face of a girl gripped by terror. Seeing her reflection in the mirror, Rania let out a dry laugh.
“Ha, ahaha…”
Death approaches.
Rania calculated the time left for herself. The time she could endure. This cursed fast-processing mind reached that conclusion in a flash. From hours to minutes, down to seconds, calculations were made.
One second passed and fell away.
Seconds combine to form a minute.
A minute folds into an hour, an hour clusters and forms a day. And so it continues…
Grind.
Rania clenched her teeth.
She tried to erase the clock filling her head, but even the tick-tock of the second hand moving was audible. She couldn’t get rid of it in her mind at all.
The fear of death floods in.
It’s impossible to escape from it.
Naturally, overcoming it is also impossible.
When faced with the predetermined end, humans rationalize and turn their eyes away from death. Rania, too, had been avoiding death until now.
A determination to achieve greatness.
A desire to burn the few remaining days of her life and leave a brilliant mark on the world.
With that resolve and desire, Rania turned her gaze away from the approaching death. Indeed, this thought process is something befitting a Wise One. Rania believed it was ‘correct.’ After all, it would indeed be a splendid death.
If it were that kind of death, she could be satisfied.
‘A death like Galahal’s.’
To proudly proclaim that she had lived well, pouring her blood for future generations seemed to be the best sort of death she, as a Wise One, could wish for.
‘But what about now?’
Raising her arm.
Boasting in front of the children.
Even achieving that has become a struggle. Even if she were to improve further, she wouldn’t be able to fight like before. It meant she couldn’t stand against calamity.
A life fading away in a hospital room.
Such a life that would crumble away.
That ending would not shine like Galahal’s.
It is pitiful. Just like crushed leaves. In the face of such a predestined end, Rania cannot avert her eyes from death. She gazes steadily at the oncoming death.
Is there a way to escape that death?
There is, indeed.
To trample upon the path she has walked and betray it. To heed the whisper of the seed. To fall for that sweet whisper and become something other than human.
‘That’s impossible.’
But Rania cannot choose that option.
She cannot turn a blind eye to those who died for her. Rania cannot ignore the weight placed upon her life.
However…
‘Perhaps I could.’
If it’s me, maybe it might be possible to maintain my self even when engulfed in shadows. Though it was something even the heroes of ancient times years ago couldn’t achieve, perhaps I could…
Such arrogant thoughts keep replaying in her mind.
An arrogance utterly without basis. Simply attempting to overestimate herself to escape death. Rania felt disgust toward herself for thinking that way.
“…Ugh.”
In the end, Rania couldn’t choose any of it. She could only feel the impending death.
Tick.
Time flows.
Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock.
An approaching death.
Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock.
The sound of death rings in her ears.
The impending death gnaws at Rania’s mind.
Before it, she is nothing but a mere human. Not a grand hero with a lofty title like Wise One, but a pitiful, powerless human that crumbles away. And then.
“…No.”
A human gripped by fear.
Rania mumbled with her head bowed. A taste of blood felt on her bitten lips. She could feel something flowing from her eyes to her cheeks.
I don’t want to die.
Plop, a tear fell onto the blanket.
Her tightly bitten lips trembled. In the depths of extreme terror, Rania shuddered. A thin breath squeezed out from her lips.
A faint sound.
A sound that would scatter in the blowing wind.
Someone is listening to that sound.
Standing just beyond the slightly opened door, Rosel heard Rania’s murmurs. He hesitated, placing his hand on the doorknob before releasing it again.
…Wretched wizards.
So coldly rational, so analytical that he could perceive everything too objectively. Rosel well understood that there was nothing he could do in this situation.
The night was deep.
Another day passes.
The given time flows gradually toward its end.
3.
Cardi van Armiel.
The ancient Grand Magus mixed potion with a haggard expression. For centuries, he had been squashing all his knowledge to arrive at a singular answer.
However, no answer emerged.
Cardi gritted his teeth.
He swept his arm across the potions spread out on the desk. Test tubes were tossed about, making a clink sound as they shattered into glass shards.
“Haah…”
Cardi tilted his head back.
It had been quite some time since he visited Rania to check on her condition. Despite the time that had passed, no answer was forth coming. Cardi felt he had hit a wall.
Just like centuries ago.
He bumped against the same wall he had faced back then. The answers did not appear, no matter where he turned. Cardi wiped the corners of his eyes.
“…Damn.”
A once brilliant wizard.
A wizard of the same radiance as his comrades from centuries ago. That same woman was now deteriorating. Gradually losing her light.
Cardi could not bear it.
He stared at the empty desk.
It was the moment he reached out once again to make another potion.
Knock, knock.
Someone knocked on the shop’s door.
It was the middle of the night. There wouldn’t be any visitors. At least none who could find this shop. Cardi frowned as he opened the shop’s door.
“Cardi.”
The figure standing at the door.
“Cardi van Armiel.”
The moment he locked eyes with the figure, Cardi’s eyes widened more than ever.
“Long time no see.”
The person at the door smiled.
Seeing the figure who had aged far more than he remembered, Cardi swallowed hard.
“…How?”
That was all Cardi could ask.
The figure didn’t answer.
He simply stepped into the shop.
“We have much to discuss. Both you and I.”
In the deep of night.
“First, have a seat.”
In the old shop.
In a store nestled in a dark alley devoid of starlight, the two engaged in conversation for a while.
*
