The highest place on the continent.
A man took a step forward where thick fog lay as clouds passed by.
Even in the intense cold with snowflakes swirling, the man climbed the endless stairs as if it were nothing.
At the end of the cracked and broken steps, a gigantic shrine appeared.
The moment he walked inside, a light flashed, and *boom* thunder sounded.
“Why are you so late? I’ve been waiting for five days, Traveler.”
“Forget about Tiltitz! Just come and warm up! It’s nice to see you, so stop acting up! You know?!”
“Who says I’m happy to see you, Alexia!”
Majin meeting.
Seeing the Majins gathered in one place after a long time, a smile crept onto the man’s face.
Tiltitz still looked cheerful and angry.
Alexia seemed as carefree and nonchalant as ever.
“If you were any later, I would have thought about leaving entirely. I was bored to death.”
“Hahaha. Then wouldn’t you have been caught by Tiltitz and Alexia?”
“Shut up, Magician.”
However, there were certainly some Majins whose atmosphere had changed.
The ‘Madman’ looked just as feral as before but somehow gave off an impression that his violence had been curtailed.
The ‘Magician,’ who almost received the title of ‘Madman’ for rampaging and starting human killings, looked unusually mild.
Hundreds of years can change mountains and rivers.
Moreover, with the rapidly changing humans, it was no surprise that the personalities of the Majins were also changing.
“But Traveler, why are you dressed like a prisoner?”
“Oh, this?”
The man, slightly embarrassed, lowered his head to inspect his attire.
His arms were tied across his chest, making it impossible to move.
It was a uniform humans put on heinous criminals.
The traveler, known as a Majin, instantly tore the outfit to free his arms and scratched the back of his head while smiling brightly.
“It’s a long story.”
“But first! You need to explain why you’re this late! With a Majin’s ability, you could arrive anywhere on the continent within an hour. You didn’t, did you lose your authority?”
“Of course not. I just wanted to finish my sentence.”
“Yes?”
“I only had four days left until my release. If I broke out just before that, the guards would have a hard time. Plus, I had an artifact to make for a human’s request.”
“………”
Tiltitz fell silent, headaches forming.
The traveler always kept his identity hidden while causing unimaginable accidents across the continent.
This time, he decided not to ask why he was captured by humans and what artifact he was tasked to create.
Once he began to ask, he knew he’d have to listen to an utterly pointless story all night.
“So can we know who called this meeting?”
“Yes! It was me! Me!”
As the traveler sat down on a stone chair and asked, Alexia shot her hand up.
The eyes of the Majins widened in surprise.
It seemed like they had never provided a reason for the meeting until all the Majins were gathered, and this was the first time she mentioned it.
“Alexia? Why?”
“I’ll explain that.”
The Magician stood up, grabbing the armrest, and stepped forward.
He rubbed his hands together and finally spoke after some hesitation.
“Actually, I have been sharing my power with sick human children. It’s been over 30 years now. I am dying, everyone.”
“………”
All the Majins were taken aback by the sudden declaration from the ‘Magician.’
A Majin voluntarily giving up his immortality.
It meant that the five remaining Majins would be reduced to four.
“Huh. And you’re not saying you’ll die for, like, 2000 years? How many years do you have left?”
“About three years, I expect.”
“………”
Even the ‘Madman,’ who had been joking around, fell silent, sobered by the gravity of the situation.
Three years. For the Majins who had lived for thousands of years, it was but a fleeting moment.
Having seen countless Majins die, they still found it difficult to accept a Majin choosing death for themselves, leaving everyone hesitant to speak.
“You all don’t need to worry. I think of it as enjoying the rest of my days in the human world and leaving when my time is up. Three years is longer than it seems if you savor every moment.”
“But Magician, you—”
“There are still important matters to discuss.”
“Ahem.”
As the atmosphere grew serious, the Magician stepped back, returning to his seat, giving the floor to Tiltitz.
This meeting was undoubtedly called by Alexia to announce the Magician’s end, but in the meantime, another issue had arisen.
“Then let’s postpone saying farewell to the Magician a bit longer… Next, let’s address the topic at hand. I believe some Majins who have been close to humans might have caught on.”
“What’s it about? Haam… I just want to knock that rude Magician once and go back.”
“I’m in a nearly powerless state now, so if you hit me, I’m likely to die…”
“Can both of you be quiet? The topic is about an unidentified force that has recently appeared in the Empire.”
“Unidentified force?”
A smile spread across the traveler’s face, but he quickly resumed a neutral expression before any other Majins could notice.
“Yes. They attacked the Imperial University twice and even awakened the ancient monster Untiar. You all must have seen the blue light soaring into the sky during that time. That was the light emitted when Schlus Hainkel defeated Untiar.”
“Umm… Wait, isn’t it the wrong time to discuss the unidentified force? Who is this Schlus Hainkel that caught Untiar?!”
“That’s not the important part.”
“It is important! Am I the only one who hasn’t heard that name before? Like, for the first time? Or the second? Anyway, am I the only one who doesn’t know him?”
“………”
As silence descended, the Madman scratched his head awkwardly.
It seemed everyone had heard of Schlus Hainkel.
“I’m starting to accept it. There are so many eccentric acts by Schlus Hainkel…”
“If we start discussing that, it’ll never end. It’s best to think of him as a bizarre anomaly, a rare breed among humans that we cannot comprehend.”
“………”
Once the Magician and Tiltitz said that, Alexia puffed her cheeks.
No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t help but suspect that Schlus had received the Majin’s powers, but she didn’t want to voice anything against Tiltitz’s opinion here.
There was no way she could let the topic of the meeting stray any further off course.
“More importantly, discussing the agenda comes first. This terrorist group is presumed to be in the form of a religious organization. There are two unique points. One is their fanatical hatred and aggressive attacks on Schlus Hainkel and the Empire, and the second is—”
“What’s so special about that?! It’s just a typical terrorist organization! When did we start butting into humans’ conflicts? That’s a violation of the treaty!”
“It’s not just a human conflict. Listen until the end, Madman. The second point is that the blood of some of them was found to contain Majin’s power.”
“………!”
The atmosphere in the shrine turned cold.
Tiltitz only shared the facts, but every Majin could infer what she was implying.
Tiltitz was currently raising the suspicion that one of the Majins was manipulating human forces to overthrow the Empire.
Interfering in human politics and conflicts was a direct affront to their peace treaty.
That could ignite another bloody war.
“Isn’t that the Magician? Didn’t he share his powers so much that he’d be dead in three years? Didn’t he order them to overthrow the Empire?”
“Watch your words! The Magician is not a bad person!”
“Why are you defending the Magician, Alexia?!”
“Well, I’m friends with the Magician!”
“Everyone, please quiet down!”
Tiltitz clapped her hands to quell the uproar.
As the representative of the Majins, it was her duty to ensure the meeting proceeded normally.
Tiltitz decided not to press the Magician any further.
After all, he had an alibi for never having meddled with the institution for hundreds of years.
“It’s a simple matter. All we need to do is have everyone check their hearts to see if their powers are intact. Can we start with the Madman?”
“Me? Why? Didn’t Alexia check me last time? She forced me down!”
“Just to be sure, let’s do it again here—”
“I’m not doing it! I can’t do it! You’re trying to make me out to be a sly traitor by forcefully checking my heart twice! What do you think my pride as a warrior is made of if you say such things? If you want to check, let’s fight properly first and then check, Tiltitz!”
“Haa…”
The Madman growled, revealing his willpower as Tiltitz sighed, feeling annoyed by the situation.
In the end, he would be subdued anyway, so why was he making such a fuss?
At least she managed to get a clear answer.
He said he’d receive the check after a proper fight.
The moment Tiltitz clenched her fists and bit her lips.
“I’m withdrawing.”
“Yes?”
“I won’t receive the check. No matter what happens, I can’t do it.”
“………”
The traveler raised his hands in a serene manner.
Tiltitz’s incredulous gaze landed on him, who was ready to pounce.
It suddenly reminded Tiltitz what kind of race the Majin originally was.
Selfish, primitive, and incredibly uncooperative; a race so unfathomable that you couldn’t guess their thoughts.
It wouldn’t be surprising if it took decades or centuries for them to make an effort to resolve something unless it posed an immediate threat to them.
“Ugh…”
When her line of inquiry hit a wall, Tiltitz shut her eyes tightly.
*
– Come to that address again. Hurry up.
A brief note.
It wasn’t sent through the post; upon checking the stable, I found it on the saddle of a black horse.
I don’t take Emilia with me when going to the stable.
Even though it’s urgent, leaving a note in the stable, where I never know when I’ll drop by, must have been to prevent Emilia from seeing it.
If I reason that way, only a few people could be behind leaving such a note.
Moreover, the style of writing could only point to one person.
Hertlocker.
“That address again…”
He must be referring to that place filled with memories of me and Hertlocker.
Of course, there are fond memories in the dark sewage of the Old Town and some terrifying ones in the plaza of the New Town, but Hertlocker’s place is definitely different.
The house where the Crow Gin had kidnapped and imprisoned Hertlocker.
It had to refer to that house in the basement that I later purchased from Gin.
“I hope it’s not a trap.”
I hoped I wouldn’t walk in to suddenly have my sight cut off and receive a *wham* from a fist.
With Emilia being held hostage, the chance of that happening seemed slight…
But I wanted to believe so, even though Emilia might have caught on already that there was no spell on her heart.
Prepared for a possible surprise attack, I descended the stairs.
There…
“What the…?”
“Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!”
A familiar scene unfolded before me.
Someone was bound at the arms and legs, groaning behind a hood.
