It was a rather sunny day, so much so that it was uncomfortably warm, even
inside. The witch had just brewed tea in the king's study, and she repeated
the words Lazar had said to her, "What? Birthday?"
"Yes, that's right. It's two weeks from now."
"Whose?"
"Mine, of course," Oscar cut in, breaking his silence as he signed
another document. Still surprised, Tinasha placed a cup of tea near his free
hand.
"So you have a birthday…," she muttered wonderingly, placing the tea
tray under her arm.
"What do I look like in that head of yours?" Oscar retorted. His eyes
remained trained on the contract he was looking over. His fine features
exuded nobility, though Tinasha was long used to seeing them.
Tinasha let her true thoughts slip out. "You're going to be twenty-one,
right? …So young."
"Everyone must seem that way when compared with you."
"Mentally, you're like an old man, so it's especially surprising."
"I will grind my fist against your head again. Come here," Oscar said,
reaching out for the witch. She dodged and leaped back.
Tinasha took a seat in a chair to the side of the table and had a sip of her
tea. In sharp contrast to his leisurely protector, Oscar worked hard at
progressing through his documents. He worked efficiently from right to left.
"What does 'surprising' mean? Don't you have a birthday, too?" Oscar
inquired.
"Yes, I do. I was born just the same as you were. It was two months
ago."
"How old are you?"
"I've forgotten… I suppose I'm four hundred plus around twenty or
thirty."
"Crazy," Oscar remarked.
Lazar stacked up the papers Oscar was done with and picked them up.
The faithful attendant asked his king, "And what should we do for your
birthday celebration, Your Majesty?"
"My dad just had his, so we don't need to do one this year… Too much
trouble."
"But the coronation ceremony was a simple affair, too," Lazar protested.
"And right after that, I saw just about everyone who's anyone while we
were in Tayiri, so it's fine," Oscar argued. While he carried out his duties
impeccably, he had little desire to appear at fancy affairs.
Lazar hummed unhappily, but when he considered the situation with
Cecelia in Tayiri, he felt some amount of sympathy. He gave up and
nodded. "Then I'll answer as such to the people who have already inquired
about the matter."
"Please do that, thanks."
Lazar left, his sighs trailing after him. The witch set down her cup and
floated up. Fluttering through the air as if she were swimming, she drifted
over to a position directly above Oscar's desk and looked down at him. A
bit of her sweet floral perfume tickled Oscar's nose, and he smiled.
"Is there anything you want?" she asked, her voice like tinkling bells.
"Where did that come from?"
"It'll be your birthday, so just this once."
Oscar tilted his head to look up at Tinasha, only to find her grinning in
amusement. She looked so innocent—it was hard to believe she had lived
for over four centuries.
Oscar paused in his work to consider the question. "You've put me on
the spot. I can't think of anything."
"So you want for nothing," Tinasha replied doubtfully.
"I'm aware of how blessed I am," Oscar said, gesturing for her to come
closer. She descended until she was sitting on his lap with her legs out to
one side. Oscar brushed her hair back, revealing one pale earlobe. He took
in her lovely profile and neckline, and his eyes narrowed.
"By the way, about getting married—"
"I'm not going to!" Tinasha cried in her usual way. Oscar made a face as
he dropped a hand on her head.
"Then there's nothing I want. I have you, and that's enough."
"Really?"
"Mm-hmm. So don't dart around hiding here and there. You're not a
little kid, you know."
Tinasha groaned, aware she could say nothing for herself. In the end, she
just looked up at Oscar regretfully.
Little light penetrated the deep canopy of the forest. Thick bushes
abounded, seemingly staring at any visitors. Silent in the shadows, they
appeared eerie and almost ill intentioned to any humans who wandered
through.
Despite the gloom, patches of sunlight filtered down in spots
surrounding the cabin tucked snugly away in the woods. One sunbeam
generously poured right onto a group of flowerpots. The planters must have
been placed in just the right spot forecast to get sunlight. Wondering at it,
Tinasha knocked on the door of the house.
"Oh, it's you. Come in," said Lucrezia, appearing at the door. She
seemed mid-experiment, as she held numerous tiny bottles between her
fingers. Once inside, Tinasha began to brew some tea herself, as she was
very familiar with this house.
Soon enough, the two sat down. Tinasha lifted one finger that was
wrapped around her teacup to point to the ceiling. "Tell me how to make the
pastries from the other day. Without the aphrodisiac."
"They won't taste the same without it."
"Seriously?!"
Tinasha often wound up an unwilling live test subject for one of
Lucrezia's potions, but as this only happened once every fifty years or so,
she would always forget and recklessly consume a Lucrezia creation again.
While Tinasha was extremely cautious in every other area of her life, she
was aware that when it came to this, she had a tendency to forget in calms
the vows she'd made in storms.
"So why have you come today?"
"Oh, I have something to ask you about. What's a normal thing to give
men?"
"…What in the world?" the Witch of the Forbidden Forest exclaimed,
staring nonplussed at her friend after such a random question. Tinasha
recounted the events of the conversation back in Oscar's study.
To Lucrezia, the situation seemed quite trivial, and she offered a simple
answer. "If he said he doesn't need anything, then you don't need to worry,
do you?"
"I've been feeling like I owe him a lot lately. Since I have the chance,
I'd like to pay him back."
"Owe him, huh?" Lucrezia said. She rested her chin on her hands as she
eyed Tinasha, who was carefully selecting a cookie.
Wanting to give someone a birthday present was so completely ordinary
that it seemed exceedingly unordinary for a witch. Lucrezia wondered if
Tinasha had realized that.
"So then why did you come to ask me for advice?"
"Because the other day with the ring, you…"
"What?!"
"Nothing," Tinasha said, electing not to broach the subject after seeing
the look her friend gave her.
With hurried bluntness, Lucrezia cut to the chase. "Anything you give
him will be fine."
"I suppose you're right… Maybe I'll go take a look around the Tuldarr
treasure vault while tidying it up a bit. There might be some intriguing
armor in there or something."
"I am begging you, do not make that man any stronger than he already
is!" cried Lucrezia. Feigning calm, Tinasha sipped at her tea.
Even so, she did wonder if getting him something he could use every
day would be best. The question was what? Maybe some sort of food that
wouldn't leave leftovers? Tinasha mulled over the idea as she picked at a
cookie. She realized she had almost no experience giving someone a
birthday present. If she messed this up, she'd have to consult her memories
from before she became a witch. Never had Tinasha considered such an
innocuous concept to be so vast.
"I can't think of anything…"
"Give him your body. He'll love it."
"You're a pervert," Tinasha said. She broke her cookie in half, sighing.
The southern tip of Farsas touched the ocean.
Numerous port cities dotted the mainland's southern coast, and each had
long bustled with fishing and trade. Merchants did business with partners in
the continent far across the sea to the east, as well as with countries along
the eastern coast of the mainland.
One day, an aristocratic merchant ship set off from the port city of
Nisrey bound for none other than the eastern country of Mensanne. The
ship was laden with pearls and silk goods to sell there, where it would load
purchases of grains and spices to bring back to the southern ports.
Soon after departing Nisrey, however, the boat disappeared without a
trace.
People suspected that the long-lost ship had been set upon by pirates or
that it ran into some sort of accident. No information to support either claim
surfaced, however. As time went on, more reports poured in of similar
vanishings.
After ten such cases, people began to regard that portion of the ocean as
cursed waters that no ship could cross.
"The other day, I replied to the other countries, letting them know about
your birthday celebration. Prince Reust of Tayiri sent word that he'd like to
make an official visit thanking you for your military aid."
"Turn him away," Oscar replied immediately.
Lazar pulled a face. He sighed as he chided his king. "Please don't be
difficult. Farsas can't afford to take a hard stance against Tayiri."
Oscar was quite aware of that, of course.
Farsas had recently sent troops in accordance with Tayiri's request, and
everything had wrapped up rather well, given the stakes. One unfortunate
outcome was that every other country was now acutely aware that Farsas
possessed Tinasha. Fortunately, no other nation openly opposed that, but it
was still safest for Farsas to be on its best behavior for the time being.
As if that alone wasn't enough, Oscar had also crossed swords with
Reust over his keeping Tinasha's visits a secret. If Oscar was entirely
honest with himself, the last person he wanted to see was the Tayiri prince.
Lazar flipped through the papers in his hands. "Even if you refuse him
now, the visit is only three days away. Your letter will pass his retinue on
the road."
"I just wanted to say it. I have a feeling I know why Reust is coming."
"Why?"
"He wants to see her, doesn't he?" Oscar said, jerking his chin over at
Tinasha to indicate her as she entered the room with a book in hand.
As both men's gazes converged on her, she cocked her head in
bemusement. "What are you talking about?"
"You, you traitor."
Faced with criticism she didn't recall incurring as soon as she stepped
into the room, the witch scowled.
Oscar ignored her and passed some documents to Lazar. "Here, you
handle the preparations."
"Hey, Oscar… What was that just now?" Tinasha inquired.
"Does it matter if you don't remember?" he retorted shamelessly. It was
hardly a satisfactory answer, but Tinasha sank down into a chair anyway.
She started to flip through a thick spell book.
"What the—?" she heard Oscar say in a tone of surprise. She looked up
to see him frowning down at a document.
As she looked on curiously, Lazar explained, "Evidently, a number of
ships have gone missing in the southern sea. The cause is unknown, but the
damage keeps piling up. The nobles and the merchants have banded
together to request the situation be handled."
"If they're going missing on the ocean, it's probably the work of pirates,
right?" Tinasha theorized.
"We had some issues with pirates a while back, but General Als
should've handled it."
"Ohhh. Then maybe it's a sea monster."
"Do those really exist?" Oscar asked, setting the report down and
crossing his arms. It was dangerous to face off against any type of demonic
spirit or monster and even more so at sea off some faraway port.
Oscar began seriously considering the sort of team he'd bring while
Tinasha gave a brief explanation. "There are many types of sea monsters.
There's huge fish as well as creatures of unknown shapes and sizes. Sea
creatures can grow very big. Of course, it's also possible that it's just a
regular demonic spirit."
"What falls under the classification of 'unknown shapes and sizes'?"
Oscar questioned.
"Things like gigantic sea anemones… Have you never seen one?"
"I've never even seen the ocean," Oscar admitted.
Next to him, Lazar raised a hand and offered, "Neither have I."
Farsas as a country was so huge that many people who were born in the
capital went their whole lives never glimpsing the sea. Surprised by the
response, Tinasha let out a little cry of shock.
"If you've never gone to the ocean, can you not swim, either?" she
asked.
"I can swim," Oscar assured her.
"That's no fun…," she muttered.
The conversation had gotten off track, and Oscar reeled it back in. "Who
do you think is best suited to handling this?"
"It depends on their skill, but if you bring Als, then you'd need about ten
people, including mages. That should be enough to handle it. There's no
accounting for the creature's size, though."
"Als, huh? He's more of a land guy, I wonder if putting him on this team
is a good idea…"
As Oscar was deliberating over his decision and Tinasha floated directly
overhead, she peeked at the papers. "Oh, Nisrey. That really takes me back.
In Nisrey, there's—"
She got that far before she clapped her hands together, having just
remembered something. Oscar looked up at the sound. "What's up?"
"I'm heading out," Tinasha declared.
"Why so suddenly…?"
"Don't mind that. I'm going to take care of it!" Tinasha answered,
suddenly very excited and in a great mood. Oscar narrowed his eyes
suspiciously at her. He wanted to make her tell him what she'd thought of,
but he also knew that Tinasha handling the trouble at sea was the safest way
to see it done.
As Oscar rested his chin on his knuckles, he remembered something
else. "Fine then, go along. Pick out who you want to accompany you."
"Thank you."
"Make a weeklong trip of it and get some rest while you're at it."
"Your Majesty…," Lazar objected, appalled. He knew what Oscar was
up to. This was a ploy to make sure Tinasha wouldn't be around when
Reust arrived. For a king, he could certainly act very immature.
The witch suspected nothing, however, and replied to Oscar's seeming
generosity with a wide smile that bloomed like a flower.
"I'll be back by your birthday," Tinasha promised. She gave a playful
toss of her hair before winking out of the study.
The witch chose Als, Suzuto, Pamyra, and Renart to accompany her.
Als had knowledge of the southern regions of Farsas, and he suggested
Suzuto accompany him. That was because he was close with the witch and
counted as one of the few people in the castle not afraid of her. Then
Tinasha picked Pamyra and Renart. While the two had recently been made
Farsasian mages in name, it was more accurate to say they served Tinasha
directly. Unlike most other local mages who were terrified of the sea,
Pamyra and Renart had volunteered to go on the trip.
The group of five used a transportation array to teleport to a fortress far
to the south. From there, they rode on horseback to the port town of Nisrey.
Als had vanquished the southern pirates only three short months ago,
and the people of Nisrey had not yet forgotten his deeds. Tinasha's group
was met with cheers and applause upon their arrival. Marquis Broguia, the
most influential person in the city, welcomed the five into his mansion.
The marquis wore an ashamed expression as he bowed low before Als.
"I'm deeply sorry to be troubling you again."
"Not at all. Ships going missing is quite the significant matter. We'll get
this resolved as quickly as we can," Als replied formally. While Tinasha
was the actual leader, Als took the role of a figurehead so as to ensure her
identity as a witch stayed a secret.
Marquis Broguia's eyes widened as he beheld the beautiful woman
behind Als, and then he seemed to grow concerned at how small their party
was. He suggested sending some of his private officers, but Als refused.
"We're only asking for a ship and the sailors to man it."
"I'd be happy to, of course, but… Will you really be all right?"
"We've brought everyone we need," said Als. He flicked his gaze over
to the witch, who was looking out the window. She grinned and waved at
him.
The next day, the group of five was escorted to the port where they
borrowed a medium-sized ship that normally ferried around twenty. The
marquis had wanted to lend them an even larger man-of-war, but Tinasha
said it would be a waste if it sank.
"Does that mean there's a chance we could sink?" murmured Suzuto.
His face looked pale as they sailed out toward where the disappearances
had occurred.
"We can't rule it out. I'll do my best to keep us from sinking, though,"
Tinasha said matter-of-factly.
Als cocked his head in puzzlement. "What exactly are we up against
anyway?"
"Based on what I've heard, it's either a demonic spirit or a sea monster.
I'm hoping it's the former, because that will be easier for me to handle. I
don't like how sea monsters look. They're big and slimy."
"That's your reason…? I think there's bigger problems beyond their size
and sliminess…," Als objected.
Pamyra suddenly cut in, raising her hand. "Could it be a kraken?"
The witch frowned at that. Krakens were a famous and gigantic sort of
sea monster that lived deep in the ocean. They were said to resemble squids
or octopuses. Tinasha's little band was in for a hard-fought battle if their
opponent was something on that scale.
After some thought, Tinasha shook her head lightly. "Krakens tend to
live only in the northern waters. I don't think one would be this far south
unless it'd been specifically summoned."
Suzuto piped up and hesitantly inquired, "Um, sorry to ask something so
basic, but does magic not work on things that are underwater?"
The three mages exchanged glances. Renart was the one who answered.
"I'm not sure, but I think it's more difficult for a spell to affect something
that's in the water. If they're completely submerged, the spells will have
almost no effect. You can't speak an incantation while submerged, so it's
best for us to fight above the waves, if at all possible."
Tinasha and Pamyra nodded in agreement. Als let out a deep sigh.
"We'll have to lure it out, then. Before the boat sinks."
"Even if it sinks, we can fly back to land," the witch said brightly, and
Pamyra and Renart grimaced. Tinasha often floated in the air when she was
in the study or her rooms, but flight magic required a spell and dedicated
concentration. Most normal mages couldn't fly and perform other spells at
the same time.
Fortunately, both Pamyra and Renart were highly skilled mages who
could do battle while flying. So long as they didn't need to defend
themselves, they could carry the others away. With this crew, they could
handle the situation even if the ship was lost.
Owing to the heat, Tinasha's hair was tied up, and she was wearing a
lightweight, boyish outfit. A thin sword was sheathed at her waist, and her
overall lithe figure made a perfect picture against the marine backdrop.
As she gazed out at the open water, Als turned back to eye the others. He
didn't know about them, but Als sometimes felt like Tinasha was a natural
part of Farsas—and he often found himself forgetting she was a witch at all.
He had a hard time believing that she would someday leave the castle.
That was why her leaving for Cuscull had been such a shock to him.
Now that she was back, he felt relieved. Als actually couldn't imagine
Oscar marrying anyone but her.
He was unsure how things would truly play out, however. At best, he
knew he could only accept whatever came and grow used to it with time.
After about an hour, they reached the area of the ocean where the
disappearances had taken place. Far in the distance was the shore, where an
intimidating gray quay jutted out from the cliffs.
Als scanned the surface of the water. Nothing appeared out of the
ordinary. "All right, Miss Tinasha, what should we do?"
"We'll be wasting time if we wait to get attacked, so I'm going to send
out a scout," she replied. After a short incantation, a fishlike creature
appeared in her palm. Upon closer look, it wasn't a living creature but a
hazily glowing mass of clay. She threw it into the water, where it began to
zip along just like a real fish.
"It's going to loop around the area and search for magic. If something
happens, it'll alert me," she explained.
"That's convenient. I guess we'll break out the booze while we wait,"
Als replied.
"You'll die when you fall in the ocean," Tinasha cautioned.
Neither of them seemed worried at all, but everyone else on the boat
looked pale and drawn. The crewmen were there on the marquis's orders,
but more than ten ships had gone down already—no exceptions. They
wanted to turn around and head straight back to land.
Blessed with fine weather, their vessel bobbed in the blue ocean. A
favorable tailwind carried the ship to the middle of the danger zone. Als
peered back at the distant sight of land on the horizon. "I've come here
before. We sank one of the pirate ships around here."
"Ohhh. Then maybe it's a ghost ship causing all this trouble," Tinasha
suggested.
"That's ridiculous. First of all, ghosts don't exist; you told me that
yourself—"
Then Als noticed that the breeze had suddenly died down. The sea was
eerily calm. The sailors in charge of adjusting the sails were glancing
around uncertainly. Off to one side, waves could be seen rippling out from a
point not too far away. Tinasha grinned radiantly after noticing the
trembling in the water.
"Oh, sorry. I guess it really is a kraken after all," she stated.
Screams erupted high into the air.
Ten huge tentacles, each the width of a column, rose from the briny
depths.
The half-transparent limbs tried to assail the ship from all sides, but each
was stopped by an invisible wall. In the nick of time, Tinasha had thrown
up a barrier to protect the boat. Unfortunately, that only provided a
moment's relief before the kraken tried to drag down the ship by way of
pulling the barrier itself.
The witch's eyebrows raised. "This isn't good. The shield's got about
ten seconds before it breaks. Drive that thing back."
Als and Suzuto unsheathed their swords while Pamyra and Renart began
to chant spells. In the middle of it all, the witch continued to bark her
countdown. "…Eight! Nine! Ten!"
On that final word, the barrier shattered.
With nothing stopping the kraken's tentacles anymore, the slimy things
slunk their way over the deck. Pamyra and Renart burned them with magic.
One tentacle tried to make off with a sailor, but Suzuto intercepted it with
his sword while Als cut it off. The severed limb wriggled fiercely for a
moment before a spell from Renart sent it tumbling back into the ocean.
As she burned the other legs, Tinasha conjured another magical shield
around the ship. In the face of such an unexpected counterattack, the kraken
dragged its arms back into the sea. Pamyra looked out over the slimy deck.
"This is inarguably disgusting…"
"Apparently, you can sell kraken mucus for a high price."
"Lady Tinasha…"
Their battle with the kraken had lasted only a few dozen seconds, but it
had all felt too bizarre to instill fear. Instead there was a strange sort of
mania that hung about the vessel and its crew. Als realized his heart was
beating out of control and took some deep breaths.
"If there's a kraken, then that means there's someone who summoned
it," Als reasoned.
"Most likely. But I don't understand what their goal is. The attacks seem
completely random," Tinasha answered.
"Can you kill it?" Als asked.
"That might be difficult unless we can get it to stay above water for
more than a few moments at a time. I wonder where its weak spot is…"
No sooner had the words left the witch's lips than the boat began to
rock. Everyone lost their balance and almost fell. Tinasha herself was about
to slip, and Als grabbed her arm to support her. He looked to the ship's bow
and saw three fat tentacles coiling around it, pulling the boat up vertically—
barrier and all.
"You've gotta be kidding me."
As the bow was hoisted higher and higher, everyone started to topple
down toward the stern. Als grabbed hold of Tinasha, who shouted,
"Pamyra! Renart! To the sky! We're abandoning ship."
The two loyal attendants began their chants while Tinasha took hold of
Als.
Als lost his footing, but they escaped into the air a split second before
the kraken's tentacles lugged the hull to one side. All they could do was
watch from above as it pulled the barrier with the ship inside down into the
inky dark.
Tinasha surveyed the violently roiling waves and scratched at her
temple. "I'm definitely glad we didn't take a big ship. I guess Oscar will
have to pay off our debt."
"I think that necessitates a discussion with Marquis Broguia…," Als
remarked. He had a feeling the marquis wouldn't mind the loss of an entire
fleet of ships so long as it meant the death of the kraken.
Perhaps realizing there was no food on the boat it had sunk, its tentacles
began wriggling about the surface in search of new prey before finally
disappearing back under the water. Watching from above made it clear how
unusually large this specimen was. The whole creature, judging by its
limbs, was big enough to eclipse an entire town.
"I'm tracking it, so let's figure out how to combat it. That should
probably wait until we get the sailors back to land, though," Tinasha said.
Pamyra heeded her lady's order and opened up a transportation portal in
midair. Then she pushed the sailors into it.
At the same time, Tinasha crossed her arms and fell into contemplation.
She only spoke up once the sailors were gone. "It looks like the creature's
bound to this particular portion of the sea. That said, it doesn't appear to be
taking orders from anyone."
"You think someone summoned it and left?" Als inquired.
"No, I think the summoner is here," she answered.
"Here? You mean, among us?" Als said, pointing to himself.
The witch shook her head, however—a faint smile on her face—and
pointed downward. "He's probably dead. I bet it was one of the pirates you
defeated, Als."
"Huh?" Als was frozen in place as Tinasha gazed back at him with her
beautiful eyes.
"Do you mean that a pirate summoned the monster but died before
giving it any orders, leaving it trapped in these waters?" Renart theorized.
"That seems the most probably explanation. The summoning must have
taken a long time, and this is the result. I'm glad it didn't happen while you
were subduing the pirates, Als."
"Ugh…I can't believe this," Als moaned, faintly horrified as he finally
understood. Had his fortune been even slightly less favorable, he would've
wound up in the kraken's clutches. While he wasn't sure whether the beast
was an octopus or a squid, he knew for certain that dying while battling a
creature like that was not how he wanted to go.
Pamyra turned to her lady and asked, "What shall we do? Fire attacks at
the monster or destroy the spell pattern the summoner left behind?"
"Either target would be deep underwater. Hmm, what to do?" wondered
the witch aloud. She scanned the air. Her dark eyes came to rest on Als.
Tinasha seemed to mentally debate her own idea for a moment, but
eventually she pressed her palms together and requested, "Please be our
bait."
"…Oh, you really have got to be kidding me," Als said, echoing what
he'd exclaimed earlier. He turned his head skyward in futile supplication.
Still hovering in the air, the group laid out their plan while keeping
careful watch on the rolling waves below.
While Als readied his sword, Pamyra and Renart drew up attack spells.
Suzuto had managed to avoid being part of the bait, so he stayed aloft with
Tinasha and her mages.
Pamyra and Renart cast separate spells, then combined them into one.
For her part, Tinasha called up a barrier around Als.
"I'm going to lower you into the water, so draw it toward you. Once it's
hooked, we'll reel it up."
"I'd really prefer not to die…," Als griped.
"I'll be very careful," Tinasha reassured him.
The witch checked to make sure her mages had completed their spell,
then motioned with her alabaster hands to slowly drop Als down into the
ocean. Only his feet sank below the water, but Tinasha's protection kept
Als's boots dry. The general looked up at his teammates hovering overhead
and wondered how long it'd been since he'd felt this helpless and alone.
From far away, he could see that the witch's hands were still moving.
"She really has the perfect personality to be His Majesty's wife…"
They were definitely alike in how reckless they were. More importantly,
Tinasha was powerful and reliable.
Waiting began to make Als anxious, so he swung his sword around as a
test. Based on how the water reacted, Tinasha's barrier seemed to be globeshaped. Curiously, no water leaked in, even if his sword penetrated it. With
his blade, Als idly stirred little pools in the sea.
After a little while, bubbles began to gather close to where the kraken
had surfaced earlier.
"…There it is," Als muttered. His back felt uncomfortably sticky with
sweat. He readied his sword and slowed his breathing. No sooner had he
done so than a huge sheet of water rushed up. A gigantic tentacle crept from
the depths and encircled him.
The tentacle pressed in to wrap itself around him, but just before its tip
could touch him, the globe-shaped barrier began to carry Als up and out of
the water. The tentacle was hot on his heels, and Als slashed at it. His cuts
were repelled by a nauseatingly elastic surface, however. The kraken's limb
retreated slightly but didn't give up the chase.
"Looks like my sword isn't gonna help…"
Als continued to soar upward. Ten huge arms stretched far up toward the
sky, pawing after him.
Each limb was taller than a tower. The sight of them wriggling after Als
was like something out of a nightmare. Tinasha stared at it from her
position in the air, then nodded at the two mages next to her. "It's time. Do
it."
At their lady's command, Pamyra and Renart fired their magic down at
the same time.
Fierce spears of lightning crashed down, colliding powerfully with the
ten tentacles of the kraken. Electrical currents ran through them, and a
piercing shriek rent the sky.
The sea monster tried to retract its unexpectedly electrocuted arms, but
that wasn't to be. The witch's lips curled in an evil grin. "You can't get
away. Who do you think you're up against?"
Using no incantation, Tinasha cast a spell to bind the great sea beast's
arms and hold it in the air. Electricity charred its writhing limbs, and a
fragrant aroma began to waft through the air. The shocks diffused at the
water's edge, however, so they didn't reach the kraken's trunk and head.
"Hmm… Not enough after all," Tinasha murmured, grabbing a cylinder
that had been at her waist. She poured five crystal balls out of it and flung
them carelessly into the sea. As the little spheres sank, they spread out into
a neatly formed circle with the kraken in the middle.
"Renart, could you look after Als?" Tinasha requested.
"Yes, my lady," said Renart who accepted stewardship of Als from the
witch.
Now free of distraction, Tinasha began an incantation.
"Let my words sink in. A change of form shall not be a change in
quality. The definition will not waver but merely flow and float… Move
aside."
In response to her chant, five white lights started fountaining up from
underwater. All at once, a white magic circle linking them together
appeared in the air. Once the glowing disk surrounded the kraken, the ocean
water within its circumference began to slowly drain.
"…Unbelievable," Als breathed. Never had the man dared to envision
such an astonishing display of magic. Next to him, Pamyra gasped.
In three minutes, a perfect circle had been cleaved all the way to the
ocean floor. The kraken's huge body was stripped of its watery armor,
revealing its ugly shape to the open air. Its black eyes, each easily three
times the height of an adult human, glared at its opponents with
unmistakable ire.
Tinasha scrutinized the sea monster she'd captured. "Is this a squid?
Looks like it would be quite tasty."
"Miss Tinasha, I don't know why that's the first thing that comes to
mind when you look at that thing…," Als muttered miserably. In contrast,
the witch appeared in slightly brighter spirits as she began another
incantation.
"Recognize my will as law, transformer that sleeps in the earth and flies
in the sky. I control your thunder and summon you. Know my command to
be every concept of your manifestation."
When Tinasha finished her chant, ten balls of lightning appeared in her
hands. They crackled and popped, sending out silvery branches of light
every passing moment.
"Go."
Tinasha glanced at her collected spheres, and they obediently sped off to
assail the defenseless kraken. Each one expanded to a tremendous size and
affixed itself to one of the kraken's ten immobilized tentacles. Then, with
frightening speed, they moved along the limbs as though they were
pathways and made for the monster's trunk.
An air-rending sound exploded on impact.
The kraken's arms blackened and crumbled into fragile pieces.
As the lightning attack reached the kraken's head, a drawn-out scream
like nails on a chalkboard shook the sea.
The terrible shriek grew fainter and fainter before fading away entirely.
As its last cries echoed off into silence, the kraken drooped feebly, still
unable to move. One of its large, beady eyes had gone cloudy.
"Is it dead?" asked Als.
"We'll see," Tinasha replied, floating down to inspect. She hovered in
close enough to examine the mighty creature's head and eyes.
Suddenly, the kraken's one dead eye regained its dark luster.
In a flash, it regenerated its disintegrated arms. One thin tentacle caught
hold of Tinasha's right foot.
"Lady Tinasha!" cried Pamyra, trying to swoop down, but the kraken
entwined itself around the witch's body before she could. It tried to draw
the witch toward the rows of tiny teeth inside its beak.
Bearing the pain, the witch placed a hand on the tentacle coiled tight
around her.
"Dissolve!"
The kraken's arm exploded. Tinasha kicked away and teleported over to
Pamyra. The two of them rose up to come next to Als. "Miss Tinasha, are
you all right?" he asked.
"I broke my ankle," she answered. Looking down, he saw that her right
calf and foot were crisscrossed with red bruises from where it had been
snared by the kraken's tentacle. Proper healing was going to take some
time.
The witch took a moment to look down at the sea. Her concentration had
broken, so the parted water was thundering back to fill the open space. The
kraken's regenerated ten giant limbs were wriggling about.
"This damn squid… How should I deal with you…?" Tinasha muttered
hatefully. Suddenly, the creature stopped moving. A huge distortion formed
around it, creaking and groaning for a bit like the low growl of an animal.
Then the distortion converged toward a central point.
That was when the kraken inexplicably vanished.
Renart finally let a breath out. "Looks like it went well."
"It certainly looks that way," the witch said with a shrug. Not a moment
later, a young man about Suzuto's age appeared nearby from thin air.
He nodded to her with a calm expression. "My Queen, your orders have
been carried out."
"Thanks, Nil. And stop calling me 'My Queen.'"
"But you are the queen," the spirit said crossly.
Next to him, Suzuto looked visibly relieved. "The magic pattern for the
summoning has been destroyed. I'm sorry it took so long to find it."
Als listened to his subordinate's report, then sheathed his sword and
grinned. "You succeeded just in the nick of time. Thanks."
While the three magic users and Als had faced the kraken head-on,
Suzuto had gone diving inside a barrier maintained by one of the witch's
spirits. He'd searched the wreckage of the dozen or so ships sunk by the
kraken for the pirate vessel, then—following the spirit's instructions—used
his sword to smash the spell pattern seared into the deck by the summoner.
Once the summoning mark was gone, the kraken was released from its
bindings and returned to its original home in the northern depths.
With that, Nisrey's sailing troubles came to an end.
Mission completed, Als glanced over at the witch floating next to him.
"I don't know what we would have done without you here, Miss Tinasha."
"Hmm. Maybe Oscar would have come," she replied, not even joking.
She broke into a face-splitting grin. A frightening amount of power was
packed into her petite frame.
On the day before Oscar's birthday, Prince Reust finally arrived in the
castle city of Farsas after a long trip on horseback from Tayiri. While his
country now tacitly acknowledged the existence of mages, their castle still
used no magic at all, which denied him access to teleportation, something
the other Great Nations used in abundance.
Oscar was there to greet Reust, welcoming him with formal remarks of
gratitude.
News of Als and his party's return came soon after the guest's welcome
banquet began. Oscar was given the news while in the grand hall.
He clicked his tongue in disapproval, wishing the journey had been
delayed even slightly.
After the magistrate who delivered the missive excused himself, Reust
inquired lightly, "What was that?"
"Als and his team have returned from a mission to kill a sea monster.
We'll hear the full story from him later."
"General Als? I owe my life to him as well. Would it be all right if we
sought an audience with him immediately?"
Oscar wanted to scowl but knew it strange to refuse. He ordered that the
new arrivals be summoned to the banquet.
Ten minutes later, the Nisrey expedition team entered the grand hall and
bowed. Renart and Pamyra lifted their heads only to catch sight of Reust
and freeze. Oscar felt bad for them but noticed that their lady wasn't
present. While he wondered at that, he struck up a conversation with Als.
"How did it go? I heard you ran into something big."
"Until further notice, consider squid off the menu for me."
"I kinda wish I could've seen it. I bet it'd be tasty."
"You really are two peas in a pod…"
"Who are you talking about? Hey, where's Tinasha?"
Pamyra answered the king. "She has some business to take care of, so
she'll return later."
"Got it. Good job out there," Oscar replied.
Pamyra nodded, then she, Renart, and Suzuto bowed and left the hall in
haste. Left behind, General Als accepted a glass of wine and offered a
formal hello to Reust. The foreign prince looked at him oddly. "Does the
witch always go with you on these sorts of expeditions?"
"She does when it's something we can't handle ourselves or when she
feels like coming along."
"She's a temperamental one," added Oscar with a wry face, before
taking a sip of his own drink.
Normally, Oscar's birthday would be a grand celebration filled with
invitees from many nations, but as it was the second birthday celebration
that year, Reust was the only guest. That made the event easy to pull
together, but a guest was still a guest and had to be attended to. As a result,
two hours after the banquet started, Oscar went out to the balcony alone to
sober up. He didn't get drunk easily by any means, but he wanted to be as
sober as possible on official diplomatic occasions. He also wanted a break,
and he took in the night air while gazing at the scenery outside.
The sun had already set, and faint orange and dark blue streaks
intermingled in the sky. The few lingering clouds were dyed golden. The
sight so beautiful that Oscar wanted to show it to Tinasha.
As he gazed idly up at the sky, he felt someone behind him and turned
around. Reust was standing there with a humble expression, and once their
eyes met, he bowed. "I want to deeply apologize for how I behaved."
Oscar knew exactly what the other man was referring to. He meant when
they had ended up crossing swords outside Reust's chambers.
"I'm sorry, too. If possible, I'd like us to forget all about it," said Oscar.
"If that's all right with you, then let's do just that… Has she been doing
well?"
This was probably what Reust had really wanted to ask all along. Oscar
smiled and prepared to answer.
Before he could, however, the witch in question teleported right behind
him. "Oscar, I'm back," she said, floating up and throwing her arms around
his neck with an innocent smile. She quickly caught sight of the foreign
prince in front of her and paled. "P-Prince Reust…"
"It's been a while," he replied politely.
She was back, but her timing was supremely unlucky. Suppressing a
sigh, Oscar undid her arms from around his neck and moved her to the side.
She looked ill at ease as she floated back to the ground. When he looked
over, he saw she was wearing a very boyish lightweight outfit.
"What is that getup? Come back after you've changed your clothes."
"I'm sorry," Tinasha said. She would've had her hands full dealing with
just Oscar, but there was a guest of honor in their midst, too. The witch
looked flustered as she inclined her head to Reust. "I apologize for greeting
you like this. I'll come back later."
She made to teleport away, but Oscar caught a sense that something was
off and grabbed her arm.
"Wh-what?" she asked.
"Is there some magic on your foot? What happened?"
Her eyes wide, she shook her head immediately. "You're imagining
things."
"There's no way I am. Show me," he demanded, reaching out for her
bare right calf. Twisting to keep her balance with one leg out, Tinasha
floated up and straightened her posture.
"I told you, it's nothing!" she cried. There was no injury on her slender
leg. Oscar frowned at the smooth skin there, but he used his other hand to
draw Akashia. She guessed what he meant to do and started to flail, but he
held fast to her leg and wouldn't let her squirm away.
Reust, who had no idea what was going on, wasn't sure if he should try
to defuse the situation. Before he could, Oscar touched the flat of Akashia's
blade to the witch's leg. Once he did, the magic dispersed.
"I knew it…"
With the glamour dispelled, spirals of red bruises rose to the surface of
her skin. The witch turned her head to the side, with Dammit clearly written
on her face. She'd successfully healed the bones, muscles, and nerves, but
she couldn't erase the bruises permeating her skin.
The sight of red marks twining around her slender white leg was more
titillating than painful looking. Reust turned his face away with the distinct
feeling that he'd caught sight of something he shouldn't have.
On the other hand, Oscar examined the marks with a very unhappy look
on his face. "You really let down your guard. How could you be so foolish?
If you're going to get yourself hurt like this, I'm not going to send you out
the next time. You have to beat it without the close call."
"Okay…"
Oscar released Tinasha's leg, and she clucked under her breath as she
teleported away, clearly too proud to admit she was wrong. He watched her
go and heaved a sigh, then winced at Reust, who looked incredibly
uncomfortable.
"This is how she usually is," Oscar explained, his voice laced with much
more fondness than exasperation.
Thirty minutes later, Tinasha returned to the banquet dressed in full
formal mage's robes. Clad in white, she was wearing light makeup—
meaning Sylvia must have caught her. She was so lovely that her mere
presence changed the entire tone of the room.
Once again, she greeted Reust. "I'm so sorry I appeared before you
looking like that."
"Not at all. Defeating the monster must have been quite an ordeal," he
replied.
She flashed him a grateful smile. Her aura was entirely different from
when they'd met at Tayiri Castle. Gone was the mysterious and forbidding
sense of intimidation. In its place was the calm of sunlight filtering down
through a forest. To witness such a transformation in her made Reust feel
both glad and lonely.
Tinasha—a person, a witch, and a queen with no throne—changed her
aspect like the waxing and waning of the moon. All people had various
facets to them, but because she was a witch who had lived for such a long
time, each of her qualities was truly differentiated.
She sat down next to him, and as his eyes ran over the delicate planes of
her face, he broached the topic on his mind. "Thank you for everything you
did back then. What you said gave me a lot to think about…and in the end,
I realized I'd never thought about anything for myself. Our god Irityrdia is
indeed absolute, but I may have been trying to pretend I was that god
myself by throwing around my power and hiding behind his name."
His halting delivery was awkward and full of self-admonition, but his
sincerity was evident. Tinasha was serene as she responded, "Please don't
beat yourself up. We're talking about a history that's gone on for centuries.
It would have been very difficult for you to go up alone against that. That
said, I think what you've done is incredibly meaningful. Yes… It's very
human."
"It's…human?"
"Humans kill people but have the capacity to save them as well,"
Tinasha said with a smile. She was as radiant as the moon.
A dull pain prickled at his heart. But on the surface, he asked her with a
smile, "Incidentally, when are you planning to be married?"
"What?" Tinasha replied blankly, caught off guard. Oscar, sitting across
from Reust, cleared his throat and started to laugh. Tinasha finally
remembered the excuse by which she was allowed to remain in Farsas.
"Oh! Um, well, that's—"
"It's a lie," Oscar interjected smoothly as Tinasha fumbled for how to
reply. Now it was Reust's turn to gape. "That was a pretext to bring her
back here. In reality, she's only my protector."
For her part, Oscar's protector—not fiancée—looked uncomfortable.
Lazar, standing on ceremony behind her, was too shocked to move. He'd
never dreamed his lord would tell Reust the truth, not when he'd hated the
idea of Reust and Tinasha meeting. What kind of turn of events was this?
He dreaded what would come next.
Reust looked back and forth between Oscar and Tinasha, unable to parse
Oscar's meaning. After a moment, he dared to ask, "Then what are your
plans for marriage?"
"I don't have any," Oscar answered.
"You said she's your protector…?" Reust inquired.
The witch of the tower answered that one herself. "We have a contract.
You know that I normally live in the tower, don't you? He climbed all the
way to the top, so as his reward, I signed a contract with him."
The witch gave a soft smile. Feeling as if he would be drawn in
completely by it, Reust couldn't help but say, "Then what if I could climb
the tower? Would you grant me a wish?"
All present, excepting the king and the witch, froze awkwardly. It was
completely obvious that Reust was attracted to the witch. But it was also all
too certain that the king of Farsas's mood would darken if anyone pointed
that out. If things really went wrong, it could mean conflict between the two
countries.
While his attendants and confidantes were worrying away, Oscar merely
sipped at his drink with perfect composure. The witch looked a little
surprised by Reust's question; then she put on a somewhat pained smile. "I
don't mind, but I wouldn't recommend it. His Majesty here climbed it
easily, but it normally takes a team of at least ten. It's so difficult that I only
see successful challengers once in a hundred years—if I do at all. I tamper
with the memories of those who fail and transport them to random locations
on the mainland, so people with royal responsibilities probably shouldn't
attempt it."
Her warning was unshakable fact. Stories of the tower's trials were told
even in far-off Tayiri. That included the part where the majority of fearless
challengers went out to try their luck and never returned.
The barrier was so high that Reust almost hung his head. He still
couldn't quite bring himself to give up, though.
Tinasha was one of a kind.
At that moment, she was within his reach.
It didn't matter to Reust that she was a witch and he was the heir to the
throne of Tayiri, a country tough on mages. Reust took her hand and faced
her as her eyes widened.
"I…," Reust began.
"Tinasha," Oscar interjected. Tinasha tilted her head to the side,
mystified. Oscar used his glass to gesture toward the balcony. Disinterest
plain, he offered, "If this is going to be a complicated conversation, could
you have it outside?"
"I understand," she said, frowning as she got to her feet.
Looking abashed, Reust took her hand again. "I'll be borrowing her for
but a moment. So sorry about this."
Once he'd let the witch out to the balcony, Als hissed in his lord's ear,
"You sure you're all right with this?"
"Why should I have to mind the affairs of a woman who's lived twenty
times longer than me?"
No one was expecting that reply, and Oscar's confidantes exchanged
glances. Oscar, for his part, was eminently calm as he took another sip from
his glass.
Reust and the witch returned quickly. Neither of their expressions
betrayed any change.
Tinasha sat down next to Oscar, furrowing her elegant brows at his
wineglass. "Don't drink so much. You'll die."
"Where did that come from…? I don't know what you mean."
She didn't bother to explain her reasoning. Oscar found it suspicious,
but set down his glass and switched to water.
After that, those seated at the table enjoyed pleasant conversation for a
while before Tinasha excused herself and went back to her room. With that,
the party started to wind down naturally.
As Oscar changed his clothes in his bedroom, he wondered if he shouldn't
take a bath to remove the last lingering traces of tipsiness in his system.
He checked the time and saw that it was almost midnight. He took off
his shirt and then heard a rapping at his window. He answered, and the
witch opened it and entered. Oscar took one look at what she was wearing
and was suddenly struck speechless.
"What's with that outfit…?" he asked.
"It's easy to move in, and that's what's most important to me," Tinasha
answered. She was wearing a black sleeveless dress. It hugged the lines of
her torso snugly before flaring out at the waist into a very short skirt.
Practically all of her smooth ivory legs were on full display. She was surely
wearing underwear beneath it, but such a revealing outfit made Oscar do a
double take. The bruises on her legs were all gone; she may have used
magic to cover them up again.
Oscar couldn't tear his eyes away from her creamy, slender thighs. "I
don't know whether to let my eyes drink their fill or avert them…"
"Stop talking nonsense and change into something you can move about
easily in, too," Tinasha insisted. It was only then that Oscar noticed she was
carrying several folded bundles of thick cotton fabric. He wondered what
their purpose was as he donned a light jacket. Then she called over, "Oh,
and tell Nark to come."
"What the hell…? Do I need Akashia, too?"
"It doesn't matter too much either way," Tinasha answered.
Evidently it wasn't going to be something too dangerous. Nark was
sleeping in a corner of Oscar's room. He roused the dragon and put it on his
shoulder. After some deliberation, Oscar ended up bringing Akashia, too.
The witch took his hand and opened up a transportation array right in the
middle of the room. The array took them to a spacious, grassy plain. The
moon was high and bright in the sky. The witch picked up Nark and bade it
grow. From there, they continued their journey on the dragon's back.
As city lights came into view far in the distance, Oscar asked the witch
sitting next to him, "What city are we heading toward?"
"Nisrey," Tinasha replied.
Oscar was surprised to hear the name of the city where Tinasha had so
recently vanquished a sea monster. Looking again, he saw a dark sea spread
beyond the dots of light comprising the city. Bluish-white moonlight rippled
across the water, glittering silver on cresting whitecaps. The moon's
reflection shuddered ever so slightly as it sparkled luminously.
Oscar could do nothing but gaze out raptly at such overwhelming natural
beauty. It was the first time he'd ever seen such a sight. The night sea
looked like it could go on forever, tinged with stillness and mystery.
Brushing back her black locks, Tinasha grinned. "I really should have taken
you during the day, but you were busy."
"…No, this is great," Oscar said, still overcome with wonder, and she
smiled with satisfaction. Moving up to the dragon's head, she signaled
something to it. The dragon understood and made a slow rotation over the
ocean.
"Are you going to show me the kraken or something?" Oscar asked.
"What would you do if I said yes?" Tinasha responded.
"I'd take back what I said to Als."
The witch could imagine what their conversation entailed, and she burst
out laughing. The dragon changed its heading and started to fly along the
coast.
Before long, they reached the top of a rocky cliff some distance away
from the city and Nark let them down there. It shrank back to its original
size and climbed onto Oscar's shoulder.
They were just outside a southern city, and as such, a languid heat clung
to the air despite it being nighttime. The high temperatures were probably
what drove Tinasha to put on such a skimpy, almost boyish ensemble. She
ran her fingers through her hair, mussed by the salty sea breeze.
"Well, shall we be off?" she said, taking his hand. Silently, they rose up
into the air and descended slowly down the cliff face toward the ocean.
Oscar stared eagerly down at the water; all this was so fresh and new to
him. Then he realized there was a cave opening halfway down the cliff. She
led him into it by the hand.
The tiny cave was a hollow that sloped down at an angle, and soon
enough they entered a wide space filled with seawater. There was a small
crack in the rock making up the cave ceiling, letting in moonlight that shone
with a blue light on the water.
It looked like the sea had eroded the interior of the cliff over the years to
form this space. It was like being inside an eggshell. The rocky enclosure
kept the water still and calm.
The witch let Oscar down on a spot along the wall where there was a
foothold the size of a closet.
"Let there be light—"
She opened her hands, and white balls of light flared to life. Some flew
up to the ceiling and some dived into the water to illuminate the cave.
Immediately, the place took on a cerulean tint.
"What is all this…?" Oscar murmured, his breath taken away by the
transformation.
The water gleamed with a brilliant azure hue. The color only intensified
deeper into the water. Those conjured luminous globes that had been
submerged underwater shone here and there in electrifying and gorgeous
shades of cobalt.
Everything glittered like sapphires. Oscar was thoroughly entranced and
found himself unable to hold back a sigh of wonder. The witch's smile was
one of total gratification. "What do you think?" she asked.
"It's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen."
"The bottom is sandy, so you can swim without worrying about rocks.
There's no fish here, either."
"You want us to swim?!"
"You can, can't you?"
The thick cotton cloths Tinasha had brought must have been for wiping
themselves dry after swimming. She placed the towels somewhere they
wouldn't get wet, then dived into the water without delay. A spray of water
sparkled in the air.
"That's why she's dressed like that…," Oscar realized, nodding to
himself as he doffed his shoes and jacket. He likewise removed Akashia
and placed a sleepy-looking Nark next to the weapon.
The water was deliciously cold when he waded in, and it sent lighting
running up his body. It was so hot outside that the chill was quite
comfortable and welcome. Oscar dived down to the bottom and found it
blanketed with white sand. He glimpsed an underwater cove deeper in. It
probably led out to the open sea, but the jagged opening made it hard to tell.
Oscar's body felt lighter. He hadn't gone swimming since he was a
child, but that had done little to fade his muscle memory.
He swam up to the surface to breathe and found Tinasha floating just
above the surface watching him. Droplets of water fell from her long, black
hair. Each one carved tiny ripples in the water as they hit the surface. Her
glossy skin and ebony eyes, now backlit by azure moonlight, created a
fascinating allure.
Using his fingers to comb back his own wet bangs, Oscar asked her,
"Did you make this place?"
"It's entirely natural. I came here a lot to relax back in the day. This is
the first time I've brought someone with me, though. Oh, it was missing a
foothold, however, so I carved one into the wall earlier today."
She pointed to the little ledge their belongings were resting on. Nark was
curled into a ball, snoozing away on top of Oscar's jacket.
"So…happy birthday," Tinasha said, pressing her palms together and
offering him a pleased smile.
Finally, Oscar understood why she'd brought him here. He reached out
and tugged on her hair until she slowly came down to his level. When he
touched her cheek, it was oddly warm.
"Thank you," Oscar replied.
Tinasha suddenly laughed out loud like a child.
By the time Oscar had gotten his fill of swimming and returned to the
foothold, a sense of heaviness had permeated his whole body.
He turned back to see the witch still playing in the water. She really
looked just like a kid.
Smiling and shaking his head, Oscar grabbed one of the thick towels and
dried his hair off. After he'd toweled off his chest and arms, he looked back
to ask Tinasha about a change of clothes. Tinasha didn't answer. Instead,
she sat on the water gazing straight at Oscar.
"What?" he asked.
"Nothing, I was just thinking that something looked pretty…"
"What is?"
"You are."
"What the…?"
Oscar didn't think pretty was a compliment generally used for men. But
the witch didn't seem to be concerned about that. Her head was cocked to
one side as she took in every bit of his beautiful face and well-proportioned
body. Beneath the force of her unbridled gaze, Oscar gestured her over.
"What are we doing about our clothes? I didn't bring anything to change
into."
"I'll dry them," Tinasha offered, walking along the water's surface as
easily as she would have done with solid earth. With one press of her hand
to his clothes, warmth circulated along the fabric, drying it instantly, though
his skin didn't feel hot at all.
Impressed, Oscar examined his newly dry clothes. Then he remembered
something he'd forgotten to ask about. "Oh right, what did Reust say to
you?"
"Ah, that? He proposed," Tinasha recounted.
"Again?"
"I said no."
"You shot him down fast."
"I just don't like him in that way…"
"Did you tell him that when you rejected him? That's pretty harsh,"
Oscar observed, feeling a little bad for Reust.
The witch, still dripping wet, made a disapproving face. "What would
you do if I'd said that and relations with Tayiri deteriorated? I turned him
down tactfully."
"I see," Oscar replied.
Although they were both witches, he was positive that if it was Lucrezia,
she would have happily toyed with poor Reust. The prince was lucky it was
Tinasha he'd proposed to—everyone was fortunate for that.
Still, Oscar felt there was something slightly off about what Tinasha
said. He'd heard her insist that her being a witch was her reason for not
getting overly familiar with anyone.
What change of heart must she have gone through to now say that she
didn't like Reust in a romantic way? Oscar found the whole thing strange
but had the sense that if he probed too deep, he'd just end up pitying Reust,
so he said nothing.
The witch peered at Oscar. "Are you tired? Should we head back?"
"No, I want to keep looking around a little. You brought me all this way
and everything," he replied, and Tinasha broke into a happy grin. Her smile
was so lovely he could only stare in fascination. Her gaze was soft with joy,
and there were no traces of sadness or loneliness to be found.
Seeing that up close sent Oscar into a trance. He tipped up her chin,
moving closer to her entirely naturally.
"Hey, wait—!" she cried, paling as she tried to push him away. He only
caught hold of her with his other hand, however.
Then he pressed his lips to hers, even as she flailed beneath him.
Nothing about the blue-tinted cave they were in felt real, so he made sure
she was. Her long eyelashes tickled his face.
First, it was just a light brush of lips, though a lengthy one. Then Oscar
changed his angle and kissed her again—and again, kissing her with
yearning and the desire to make her body heat, her breath, belong to him. A
slow, lazy passion suffused his body; it felt like their souls were melding.
It was all so sudden, and while Tinasha resisted and tried to pull away,
Oscar wouldn't allow it.
It was all Tinasha could do to remain standing under such a rain of
breathtaking kisses. A mysterious heat welled up deep within her soaking
wet body, seizing hold of her thoughts.
She felt faint.
She even forgot how to use magic.
The warmth—and the numbness that came along with it—dominated her
body.
That was when the lights around them gave a mighty shudder.
Oscar sensed the lights' flickering and pulled back. With the witch's
mindfulness disrupted, the globes had begun to blink on and off. When she
realized what was happening, she used her free hand to cover her reddened
cheeks. Until now, her control of such a simple spell had never wavered like
this, no matter what kind of pain she was in.
"What do you think you're doing…?" she whispered.
Oscar released Tinasha's hand. He'd been clutching it very tightly but
fortunately hadn't left a bruise. The witch was red to the tips of her ears,
and he patted her head. "Sorry, I wasn't thinking," he said, ostensibly calm.
Tinasha glared at him, her eyes big and resentful.
"I'm gonna swim a little more," Oscar stated unevenly and dived right
into the water.
"…What?" Tinasha exclaimed, left behind with a heart that wouldn't
stop pounding. As she massaged her chest, she muttered, "But…I just dried
your clothes…"
Reust left Farsas the next day. The witch offered to teleport him, but he
refused firmly. As his retinue of attendants and guardsmen made their way
home on horseback, a commanding officer Reust had known for a long time
inquired, "Are you really all right with giving up?"
Reust gave a light chuckle, aware of what the guard was referring to. "I
was refused flat out. I have no choice but to."
"But isn't she simply bound by her contract to Farsas?"
"No…," Reust said with a wry grimace. Memories of last night flashed
through his mind. He'd asked Tinasha the same thing, and she'd been
radiant as she answered…
"He's special. I couldn't handle another one like him."
The witch probably wasn't even aware of it herself yet.
As she'd smiled ruefully, looking the tiniest bit exasperated, Reust had
recognized his defeat with perfect clarity, however.