“Judas.”
Eliya cornered Judas against the wall.
He had no room to escape.
He didn’t even know where he was.
With his back against the cold wall, he barely managed to reply.
“… Yes, yes, miss.”
The intimidating aura of Eliya, who blocked his way, was ominous.
The playful smile that used to be on her face had vanished completely.
She took a big step forward.
It was a very aggressive approach.
She got dangerously close, almost pressed up against him, and asked.
“Why were you with that girl?”
“Well, I know it was a misinterpretable situation….”
“Misunderstanding?”
“… It’s really a misunderstanding. I swear, truly.”
“Hm. Explain.”
Judas cleared his throat.
“I went to the Magic Tower for a personal matter….”
Eliya didn’t immediately ask what that personal matter was.
She decided to hear him out first.
“On my way back after finishing my business, I happened to run into her. It just so happened that we were headed the same way, and out of surprise, we walked alongside each other, but it’s not like we were together or anything….”
While he was doing his best to defend himself, Judas found the situation a bit bizarre.
What could be the reason Eliya was so cautious about someone of the opposite sex?
No matter how he thought about it, there was only one reason.
“So, it was all just… coincidental? Meeting and walking together? Pure coincidence?”
“I know that’s the least believable excuse, but it’s the truth.”
“Hmph.”
Eliya leaned in closer, her body brushing against his.
Her weight pressed against him as she looked up at him, his face turning red in embarrassment.
“Believe me.”
Judas couldn’t lie.
He always gave himself away. In various ways.
And right now, he had no clues detectable from him.
Eliya felt relieved about this fact.
The warmth of her body felt nice.
This warmth, the scents, the breath.
They were all hers.
Not a single bit could be given away to anyone.
“Uh, um… thanks. But, really, where is this place?”
“I told you, it’s at the nearby mountain.”
“Eh? Oh, that mountain talk? I did mention that, didn’t I?”
But what did that conversation have to do with this space?
Eliya smashed that question.
“This is below that nearby mountain.”
“… What?”
“While you were away today, I dug up this mountain and made it. How do you like it?”
She asked as if she were a proud child.
Judas momentarily lost his senses at her pure smile before looking around again.
Eliya had turned on lights in various places to accommodate his curiosity.
The space revealed by the golden light was, if anything, grand.
He was awestruck all over again.
This was a space Eliya had made in less than half a day.
Could one person hold such power?
What was more puzzling was a different question.
“Why… did you create such a place?”
“Hmm….”
Eliya stared at Judas intently before smiling.
“Because I thought it’d be nice to have it.”
“Hmm….”
“Do you like it?”
For a moment, Judas was left speechless.
‘Is this a space that should please me? Why? What does it mean?’
He truly found it hard to come up with an answer.
“Well, uh… it’s amazing, but… it’s a bit desolate?”
“I think so too. So, I plan to gradually bring in facilities and furniture from now on.”
“Facilities… furniture? Why…?”
“Because if I’m going to live here, I need them.”
Ah. Only then did Judas understand.
This was Eliya’s unique vacation house.
‘What a taste….’
It was hard to comprehend, but he didn’t have to understand everything in the world.
Some things were better left alone for mental health.
So, Judas wasn’t going to pry further.
There was no way she was thinking of spending time here with him.
Eliya wanted to keep Judas here right away, but she decided to hold off for today.
As he said, this place was too barren.
Not suitable for living.
She could always bring him back after filling it up.
“By the way, you mentioned you had personal business at the Magic Tower?”
“Oh, about that….”
Since the topic came up, Judas decided to clarify it here.
He gently grabbed Eliya’s shoulder and took a step back.
Eliya shot him a glare.
“What are you doing?”
“Miss, I have something to say.”
“… What is it that’s so serious?”
Judas hesitated before speaking.
“I’d like you to refrain from touching me or getting close from now on.”
It was more absurd than embarrassing.
Telling the master not to touch him? What was this…?
“… What?”
Eliya raised an eyebrow and stepped closer.
Stopping just shy of touching him.
“Why?”
“I don’t know if you’re aware, but every time our bodies touch, my magic is draining away.”
The chilling sensation he had felt since childhood.
He’d vaguely known it was his magic.
But he never considered that it might be causing a significant reduction in his own power.
Looking back, it would have been easy to figure it out.
Yet he hadn’t wanted to know.
Because he simply wanted to monopolize it.
“Lately, well… it’s turned to a level that’s become hard to bear. I went to the Magic Tower to look for ways to supplement that. Beyond my personal safety, this practically means a depletion of your power as well… Are you listening, miss?”
As he spoke, Eliya’s lips began to pout adorably, and then she buried her head down.
“… Yes.”
Eliya nodded just like that.
From Judas’s angle, all he could see was her crown.
Her voice came back muffled.
Almost like she was about to cry.
“Ah, miss? Are you crying?”
She shook her head, still hiding it.
Judas’s mind went blank.
‘Oh no…!’
No matter how he thought about it, this was his doing.
He couldn’t think otherwise.
“Ah, I mean, I’m not saying never to touch me again… It’s just that, maybe after I recover, you can touch me again… Sorry if that sounds weird!”
“……”
Even after hearing Judas rambling nonsensically, Eliya couldn’t bring herself to smile.
She merely kept nodding her head.
She felt sad.
The way Judas was pushing her away.
Seeing him seriously explain while trying to distance himself made her heart ache, and she despised this absurd reality.
It was an incomprehensible emotion.
Nothing terrible would happen if a little touching was off the table.
It wasn’t that he was leaving or that he disliked her.
There was a reason behind it.
Yet, the very situation of him pushing her away was truly horrifying.
It felt like her heart was twisting.
Judas was at a loss.
There was a time during the founding ceremony when Eliya had cried for some reason.
Though he had been flustered back then, he had not felt as troubled since he didn’t know the reason.
But now, rightfully being at fault, he felt much more embarrassed.
Eliya said through her sniffles.
“… Can I hold you just one last time?”
Judas couldn’t say no.
Even after barely refilling his magic, having touched her for just a moment had already halved it. Still, he couldn’t deny her.
He quietly opened his arms.
Eliya, as if she had been waiting, threw herself around his waist.
Judas, who had hesitated, cautiously wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
She was small and warm.
And precious.
He tentatively ventured his words.
“Why do you think it’ll be the last time?”
“You’re right. It’s not the last. By the way, I should’ve said this earlier. Silly fool….”
“Um… I’m sorry. I thought I might handle it on my own.”
Eliya, sniffing, took a step back.
With a regretful look, her fingers brushed against the hem of her clothes before falling away.
“I’ll help you too.”
“You’ll help me?”
“First, I should feed you lots of things that would boost your magic and health.”
Judas thought it probably wouldn’t work.
The magic he had just regained had dropped to a quarter yet again just from that brief embrace.
Still, he couldn’t tell Eliya that it was impossible.
He wanted to believe it could be done, so he replied with a smile.
“Then, I would gladly accept.”
*
“Ah, welcome.”
The owner of the 32nd floor of the Magic Tower, the Tower Master.
Epona looked up.
Eliya sat down across from her.
“Did the restoration succeed?”
“Yeah. Of course. Only partially though.”
Eliya had asked the Tower Master to restore the black magic with magic.
And yesterday, she received a notification that it had been successful.
The timing was perfect.
Eliya had business to discuss with Epona.
“Check this out.”
Epona handed her a book.
As Eliya flipped through it page by page, she explained.
“It’s a book containing the copies of the restored magic. I prioritized restoring the black magic you gave me last time. Memory removal, sensory blocking, suggestion implementation, memory peeking, and so on. Complex high-level magic like reviving removed memories requires more time.”
“And how about the usage verification of the restored magic?”
“I tested it on a rat that had formed an attachment bond. When I removed the memory, it couldn’t recognize it. Same goes for suggestion. Even without being competitors, it could be made to fight. Of course, humans have much stronger mental resistance than rats, so it wouldn’t be the same, but…”
Epona took a sip of tea and laughed.
“That would be different for a talented wizard like you.”
“The results are something we can only know after testing.”
“Oh my, how humble. I heard a little bit about the founding ceremony. Are you planning to go to war with the Empire?”
“While erasing Bevel, might as well do it in one go.”
“That’s quite the confidence. Is this black magic part of that?”
“I need solid evidence and witnesses.”
“Alright then. I don’t intend to meddle in your affairs. I just wish the crossfire didn’t hit my side.”
“I’ll do my best.”
Just as Eliya finished checking the book and was about to ask a question, Epona spoke up first.
“About the young lady and the knight.”
Judas was the subject that came out of her mouth.
Eliya glared at Epona with darkened eyes.
“Wow. Why do you look so scary? Are you going to eat someone? I can’t even bring it up because you’re so intimidating.”
“What business do you have with that boy and me?”
“Just… what kind of relationship do you two have?”
“……”
Eliya found it hard to answer straightforwardly.
Why?
It was a simple question.
A master-servant relationship.
A master and her knight.
That was all.
Or she could just ignore it.
She could dismiss it as none of Epona’s business.
But Eliya couldn’t choose any of those options.
Under normal circumstances, she would’ve answered without hesitation.
But that wasn’t the case now.
Things had changed between her and Judas.
It had barely been a few days since they returned from the founding ceremony.
An awkward air lingered between them.
A very delicate, thin air.
They still occasionally held hands, and Eliya would still snuggle up to him at random times.
In practice, how they interacted when they were alone hadn’t changed much from before.
But something invisible had altered.
Eliya was slowly beginning to acknowledge that her reactions toward Judas weren’t the same as before.
To begin with, those past few days had given her headaches over the matter.
On top of that, she had a mountain of things to handle, especially with the dual assault on Bevel and the Empire.
“You mentioned the young lady’s power is like the sun, while the boy’s is like the moon.”
“And?”
“I’m sure you know about the fabled first scripture. The Distorted Sun, the Shattered Moon.”
Eliya knew that story as well.
Curiosity about Judas’s abilities had led her to self-study.
“The two possess qualities that aim to become one. To be more precise, the sun desires the moon. It seeks to absorb that power.”
Epona stood up from her seat.
She retrieved a container holding several flasks from a storage shelf and placed it before Eliya.
“The one on the left contains the young lady’s magic. The one on the right is the knight’s magic. I was curious, so I experimented a bit… do you want to see?”
Epona pulled out a long flask.
Nothing was inside.
Yet, the exterior was pitch black.
As if it had been burned.
“This flask originally contained Judas’s magic. And this one…”
Epona pulled out another flask from the other side.
A golden magic aura.
Eliya’s magic.
But this magic was different from Eliya’s usual magic.
Instead of swirling bursts of red and orange, this magic was pure gold.
Serene and stable.
“It’s Eliya’s magic after absorbing Judas’s magic. While observing these two close together, I noticed Eliya was absorbing some of Judas’s power. And as a result, this flask burned black.”
“……”
“Your magic is incomplete. It’s a distorted sun. It will seek to absorb the moon’s power to achieve completeness. However, it’s the same for Judas’s magic; it’s also incomplete.”
The sun craves the moon.
It consumes to obtain that power.
Eliya recalled the latter verses of the scripture.
The shattered moon sacrifices all of itself to the sun.
As a result, in this world, the moon disappears.
In other words.
The moon dies.
“If this continues, there will come a time when Judas’s magic will completely run dry.”
“……”
“Your power has grown at an abnormal rate. I heard you’ve been together since childhood?”
“… Yes.”
“It’s likely the influence of regularly absorbing his power. And the burned flask indicates… he can’t handle your power anymore.”
“That means….”
“If you continue to stay together like this, Judas…”
Epona paused momentarily.
The reality was too cruel to articulate.
But it couldn’t be hidden either.
As she lingered, Eliya waited like a condemned criminal awaiting trial.
Praying. Hoping against hope.
When she heard the next words, her heart dropped as if plummeting.
It felt just like receiving a death sentence.
“He will die.”
She had hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
But reality was exactly as cold as she dearly wanted to avoid.
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