Chereads / Unnamed Memory / Chapter 47 - The Crystal Orb’s Enchanted Sleep

Chapter 47 - The Crystal Orb’s Enchanted Sleep

With a clear tinkle, the teacups shattered.

"Oh no… I broke them," Tinasha groaned.

The mystical spirit seated across the table from her made a disappointed

face as she regarded the broken pieces. By appearances alone, she was a

beautiful woman in her midtwenties with long green hair pulled into a

ponytail.

Casting an appalled look at her master, she said, "You should train

yourself in detaching your magic from your emotions, Lady Tinasha."

"I did, a long time ago… I know how to do it," Tinasha replied, sighing.

"It doesn't seem that way."

"I know…"

Regardless of any excuse, Tinasha had broken the teacups.

Before she could clean everything up, the shattered cups and the spilled

tea vanished. The spirit must have disposed of them.

Tinasha thanked her before donning some sealing ornaments. "I

shouldn't have carried breakable items. Next time, I'll use metal cups."

"Will that really solve the problem? Why not deal with the source?

Maybe you can get rid of him."

"I won't do that!"

Tinasha had been acting like this whenever she was free since her

coronation the week before. Naturally, the trigger had been Oscar's

proposal, a total bolt from the blue that had thrown her emotions into

complete turmoil.

With a very human mannerism, the spirit threw her master a sidelong

glance. "I don't know why you're so indecisive. You came here to see him

in the first place, didn't you?"

"Yes, but… But things haven't been like that this whole time! He's

always been so mean to me! All he does is scold me!"

"I wasn't around, so I wouldn't know," the spirit replied crisply.

Tinasha flopped onto the table. Excluding Mila, the lone spirit who had

served Tinasha, the twelve mystical spirits had been inactive for the past

four centuries. Raking a hand through her hair, Tinasha gazed up at the

spirit. "How would you answer him, Lilia?"

"I would say no. It sounds like a lot of trouble."

"…"

Consulting one of the spirits had been a mistake. Face still planted on

the table, Tinasha let out a groan. "Me, marry him? No way… no way at

all."

She remembered what he'd said to her when she was much younger.

"You will reach me, and you'll be happy."

The Oscar who'd disappeared had promised her that. The present Oscar

was the same man, but still very different.

For the past six months, she hadn't so much as dreamed of a future with

him.

Still, the current Oscar knew why she'd come from four hundred years

in the past. There was no way he hadn't picked up on it. And yet he'd told

her, "Don't let it weigh you down anymore."

And that was enough. Tinasha had been so happy that she could have

died right then; she'd truly felt that it was worth it to come to this era.

"But marrying him…"

Tinasha bit back a sigh. She had never put words to her feelings for

Oscar. For the longest time, she'd avoided thinking about that.

There was one thing on which Tinasha was certain. She'd discovered it

after awakening in this era and spending time with him. Even if their paths

diverged, he was someone very dear to her.

It was clear that he was important, but beyond that… she didn't know.

It had never required much thought until now. How was she supposed to

respond now that it was at the forefront of decisions she had to make?

Oscar had apparently mentioned the proposal to Legis and some others,

who had wished her well with Farsas. Meanwhile, her attendant Renart and

the spirits couldn't understand her hesitation.

Had Oscar proposed for purely political reasons, Tinasha would have

given an answer sooner. But that didn't seem to be the case. Just pondering

it made her feel dizzy, so much so that she was grateful for the times when

she was buried in work.

Lilia eyed her agonized master and remarked coolly, "Just marry him if

he wants you."

"I don't know why he's proposed to me, though. Even supposing that on

some wild chance he really does like me and it's not some trick of my

imagination, we're in a different time now… He doesn't know what people

were like in the Dark Age."

When she first awoke in this time, Tinasha had harbored a faint hope

that he might fall in love with her, buoyed up by the fact that they'd been

married in their previous history together. But once she'd snapped out of

that daydream, she realized that she was only a queen with a bloodstained

past.

People only saw one side of Tinasha—a person who'd escaped her own

time period and abandoned the throne to live freely for a short while. If

Oscar knew how she'd subjugated those around her in the past, he definitely

wouldn't feel the same way about her.

Lilia, one of Tinasha's servants since the Dark Age, sipped from her

teacup. "That's true. In those days, you were the type to betray someone in

order to stand on your own two feet."

"Do you really think I was that bad?! I mean, that is how it was, but

still!"

"That's why I suspect the Akashia swordsman might also be planning to

betray you."

"And get a Tuldarr hostage! That would make his motives easier to

understand, but—"

"So should we get rid of him after all?" Lilia asked.

"No!" Tinasha shouted, leaping to her feet.

As Lilia watched her master go brew a new pot of tea, she giggled. "You

know, I'm very glad to find you enjoying yourself. When you told us you

wanted to put yourself in a magic sleep, I thought you'd finally gone crazy."

"I can't believe how much you didn't trust me!" the queen exclaimed,

pouting.

Shortly after abdicating, Tinasha had informed the twelve spirits that she

planned to enter a magic sleep. They were unanimously opposed to that

idea and told her it was ridiculous because they knew it was for Oscar, and

they doubted his claim about traveling backward through time. However, a

closer examination had revealed that the orb responsible was a very real

power that existed outside all laws.

Tinasha decided to ask Lilia about something she'd been contemplating

earlier. "Do you know how time travel is possible? It goes against the laws

of magic."

"I don't know. It may be that it looks like time travel, but it's actually

something else," the green-haired spirit responded.

"Like dismantling the world and reconstructing it based on records? I

hadn't thought of that, but I can't get past the immense scale. A tiny orb

couldn't contain all that."

"Then perhaps it's simply that another law that makes such a thing

possible has been brought in," Lilia said.

"Brought in? From where?"

They were meant to be just chatting and tossing around ideas. But Lilia's

suggestion sent an involuntary jolt through Tinasha, and her hands stilled.

The spirit went on. "It's human foolishness to assume that you

understand everything. We demons live on a different plane of existence,

and even we can't perceive that many other realms. So wouldn't it make

sense that from time to time, someone with unusual powers would be born

somewhere or a mysterious phenomenon would occur?"

"I suppose… that's true," Tinasha replied slowly.

It was extremely rare for someone to be born with strange powers that

were not magic. Those abilities generally entailed postcognition and

precognition, but where such skills originated from was unknown. Ancient

myths would call powers of this nature blessings from the gods. The

research of many mages confirmed that these abilities were distinct from

magic.

As Tinasha poured tea, she sighed. "Now that you mention it, strange

things like that did happen in my past reign… Remember the Harvesting?"

"At those odd old ruins? We never did find out what sort of mechanism

was behind that."

"When it happened, I was more concerned with ending it than with

uncovering the cause, but now that I'm thinking about it again, it really was

weird."

The queen recalled an inexplicable incident that had claimed the lives of

hundreds. A culprit had never been found, nor could anyone hazard a guess

as to why they'd done it. Compared to that, going back in time almost felt

easier to comprehend. She didn't know how the magic orb operated, but it

was clear that whoever used it wanted to alter the past.

Feeling stupefied, Tinasha sipped at her tea. Just then, there was a knock

on the door and Legis entered. "Excuse me, Your Majesty, but I have a

number of reports to make."

"Confidential ones, I assume. What are they?" said Tinasha, correctly

guessing why Legis had come to her chamber, while she was at rest, and not

to the queen's study.

Legis gave a weak smile at how perceptive his queen was. "First of all,

several private requests for marriage talks have come in."

"Again?"

"You are an object of mass destruction, and many hope that will pass to

your progeny," Lilia offered. "Anyone who can draw you over to their

country will kill two birds with one stone."

"Thank you for that brutally honest reminder," Tinasha replied tartly.

For a moment, Legis looked with dread at this spirit who spoke in such

an unreserved manner to her master. However, Tinasha didn't mind it at all,

instead pouring a cup of tea for Legis. "And the rest of the report?"

"A rebellion against the parliamentary system is mounting. We don't

have solid leads, but some nasty individuals are plotting the use of force."

"To assassinate me, you mean? They're welcome to try anytime they

like," the queen responded calmly. She had overwhelming power and

confidence on her side. In her eyes was the strength of someone well

accustomed to fighting for her life, and she didn't seem perturbed in the

least.

While Tinasha partook of her tea, Lilia frowned. "Four hundred years

have passed, and you're still surrounded by enemies?"

"Such is the fate of someone who tries to do something different. It

makes perfect sense."

"Then why don't you sentence them all to death?" Lilia suggested

blithely.

Legis, who was in the process of sitting down at the table, boggled at

that. He shot a questioning glance at Tinasha, who only smiled with her

hands wrapped around her teacup.

"I told you, Lilia, times are different now. First, we should talk to them

and try winning them over. Then we can resort to force, if necessary. If all

they're doing is calling me a little girl with nothing but magic to her name,

they'll be easily dealt with… and we can get rid of them anytime." The

queen gave a brilliant smile. For a moment, however, something as icy as a

river in the night flashed in her eyes, and Legis didn't miss it.

Noticing that he was still frozen in place and hadn't sat down yet,

Tinasha faced him. "What's wrong?"

"Ah… I'm sorry," he answered, planting himself on the chair. Tinasha

put a teacup in front of him. That she brewed and served on her own,

actions quite unlike a queen's, spoke to both her friendliness and her

vigilance against poisoning. Over the past two to three months of talks

about changing the system in Tuldarr, Legis had caught glimpses of such

shrewdness from her. He had to imagine it was typical of one from the Dark

Age.

Legis felt like he might pass out if the conversation continued in this

vein, so he switched topics. "Ah yes, what are you going to do about the

proposal from Farsas? If you're going to accept, then we can reject all the

other ones."

"Aaaahhhh… just when I'd managed to forget…"

"If you can forget about him so easily, perhaps you should say no?" Lilia

suggested.

"N-not so fast," Tinasha protested.

"Why don't you just go and see him? That should give you your answer

much faster than dawdling around here," Lilia countered.

"Dawdling…"

Tinasha deflated at having it put so succinctly. But soon enough, she

stopped massaging her temples in frustration and looked up. "Ah, shall we

get back to work?"

"As you wish."

"Very well."

The queen clapped her hands, and the three of them vanished from the

room. It was just a few moments past noon.

While it was afternoon, it was dim inside the room, owing to the thick

cloths pinned up over the windows.

A girl was sitting on a chair in one corner of the chamber, away from the

sliver of a sunbeam that managed to poke through. Her eyes were shut, but

she wasn't asleep. She simply liked things this way.

Her awareness reached to every corner of this enclosed space, and when

she sensed someone approaching from the hallway, she looked up.

Stretching out a hand, she drew up a spell. Magic requiring no incantation

made the door silently swing inward.

The young man on the other side peered into the room and chuckled.

"All closed off again… Your body needs a little sunlight every so often."

"I don't like it."

"You're hopeless," Valt said as he strode into the room and walked up to

her. He stroked Miralys's glossy silver hair, and she smiled.

"The witch took the throne. Is that all right?"

"Yes. I needed her to."

"How's Farsas?"

"That's also fine for the time being. Akashia remains a bit of a wild card,

though," Valt answered as he pulled over a chair and sat across from

Miralys. He crossed his legs and rested his chin in an arm he set on his

knee. In his light brown eyes was a hint of a shadow.

"It doesn't matter that the king of Farsas fell for her. We only have to

split them up and get her alone. She's the weaker one."

"Really?" asked Miralys.

"Psychologically, and that's what matters."

Force of will was paramount. They knew that there were times when it

could outsmart even the most powerful and change history.

The girl sighed, eyeing the five rings on her right hand. "I'm still

praying that I don't have to face off against her directly. I may be borrowing

your magic, but I'm still no match for a witch."

"I'm working to ensure that doesn't happen. Even though history was

overwritten on a vast scale, plenty of people are still the same as they were.

I have lots of pawns I can move around."

Seeing the future. Orchestrating fate. Those were their weapons.

Valt smiled reassuringly at Miralys… but the expression faded swiftly.

"The world is waiting for one last straw."

"What?"

"It's something my father said. The world is trying to converge on the

future that's closest to how things should have been. Humans continue to

alter it because of their desires. It's a cycle. And so the world is waiting for

one last straw—a final move to restore things to their original form."

"That sounds like something from a dream."

"The next day, my father hanged himself for the first time, and I

understood everything," Valt said as lightly as if he were discussing what

he'd eaten for dinner yesterday, but his words painted a sorrowful picture.

They cast a shadow as dark as the ones the fierce midday sun peeking

through the curtain left on the floor.

Miralys frowned. "Valt?"

"I understood. And yet I—"

Silence.

It was like that dark room rejected and blocked off every fate in the

world. Amid a sense of ennui almost inherited from the futures trying to

converge, a drab melancholy shrouded the chamber.

Miralys stood, reached out for Valt, and clasped his face between her

hands. She leaned close to him and whispered, "I don't want to let you die."

"I'll be fine." The man smiled, yet despite his cheerful expression, he

gave off a gloomy vibe, as if he'd accepted his fate.

It was just about lunchtime, and Oscar was puzzled that Royal Chief Mage

Kumu, Doan, and Als had turned up at the door to his study.

They stood in a row before his desk, docile looks on their faces. Finding

that unsettling, Oscar came right out with it. "What? What happened?"

"To be frank, we have a report to make to you, sire," said Kumu,

stepping forward and passing the king three documents.

Oscar began to scan them, and once he had finished reading everything,

the expression on his face was quite indescribable. "What's going on here?

Magic?"

"More than likely."

According to the papers, ruins had been uncovered the month before in

the mountains of southwest Farsas. Local villagers had happened upon a

cliff eroded by recent heavy rains while foraging in the woods. Beneath the

cliff resided a cave that appeared to be man-made. They had reported this to

the castle.

The mages who led the investigation of the site had judged the ruins to

be centuries old based on the shape of the entrance passageway. However,

no Farsas records described anything like it in that location, leaving the

structure unidentifiable.

Upon returning to the castle and getting equipment in order, the mages

formed a survey team and returned to examine the cavern more thoroughly.

Oscar did recall granting permission for that soon after arriving home

from Tinasha's coronation. And now he was holding the results from that

investigation in his hands.

When he read that none had returned, he scowled with displeasure.

"This is extremely serious. It's hard to believe five court mages have

vanished."

"Unfortunately, it's the truth," replied Kumu.

But the problems didn't end there. In one night, all the residents of the

village near the ruins disappeared. Kumu added, "One mage in the party

arrived late. He's the one who discovered the fate of the other five. Upon

realizing the rest of the group was gone, he inquired at the village if any had

seen them. However, all the locals had vanished as well, so he returned to

the castle."

"Does that mean they went into the ruins and couldn't come out? How

far did that mage search for the others?"

"He only looked around the entrance, where he was supposed to meet

them. When they weren't there, he checked at the village first. It was

probably wise that he didn't venture deeper."

If he had, he might have vanished with the rest, and the issue would not

have come to light until much later.

Oscar puzzled over this account that made less sense by the moment. "If

they went missing after entering the ruins, does that mean all the villagers

went inside, too?"

"That can't be… They were forbidden from doing so, as it was a royal

investigation, so I would find it hard to imagine they'd all get close," Kumu

replied. Then his face visibly darkened. "However, there was an anti-decay

charm at the entrance. But its spell composition was unique."

"Unique how?"

"Much of it was impossible to decipher, suggesting the utilization of

technology outside our magical knowledge… It's possible there's

something very strange inside there."

Oscar leaned back in his chair. He crossed his legs over the top of his

desk, rakishly. Brooding, he inquired, "Do you think we should bring

Akashia?"

All three had expected him to say that, and they didn't respond initially.

After a short pause, Kumu spoke falteringly. "I don't believe that you

should be there, Your Majesty. We don't know what we'd be walking into.

It's terrible what happened to the people who were lost, but we think we

should seal off the entire site…"

"So you're suggesting we cut our losses?"

These three members of Oscar's inner circle had likely wanted to keep

this from him. Akashia was the best tool in all of Farsas for dealing with

unknown spells.

When Oscar was still crown prince, he had actually traveled on foot with

Lazar to a sealed-off magical ruin.

However, bringing Akashia to this mysterious situation would mean

exposing the king to danger. The person most suited for the job was also the

one they absolutely couldn't afford to lose.

Utterly stuck and possessing no good ideas, the three had decided this

was not something to conceal from their liege and wound up delivering the

news to him. They all held their breath as they awaited Oscar's judgment.

After closing his eyes and thinking, Oscar abruptly swung his legs off

the desk and got to his feet. "So it's either living up to expectations or going

against them? I don't really care either way, but… I'll go."

Kumu, Doan, and Als restrained themselves from expressing aloud that

they knew he'd say that.

They'd anticipated this from the start. Oscar's personality was such that

there was no way he'd approve of sealing off the ruins. In fact, that would

actively bother him.

Oscar had an inkling about his subordinates' feelings but ignored them

as he issued orders quite naturally. "We should go quick. Be ready to

explore the site tomorrow."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The three men bowed and left the study.

In the hall, they exchanged looks and sighed.

As the report had indicated, the entrance to the ruins really did look like it

had originally been buried inside a cliff.

The entryway under the cliff was supported by gigantic stones, the

surfaces of which had traces of mud. Someone had probably plastered over

the ruins with rocks and wet dirt. Chance had exposed it, and now many

people were missing.

"If we're going to seal it off anyway, I'd like to record why we elected

to do so," Oscar muttered as he gazed up at the entrance, washed clean by

the rain.

The party had teleported there and were checking over their equipment

one more time before going inside. No one except the king spoke, for they

were all too nervous.

Oscar called Doan and General Granfort to his side and issued some

simple instructions. On this expedition, they were in charge of the mages

and the officers, respectively.

Ordinarily, Als would be present, but since Oscar had left the castle, Als

had remained there instead. Too many people in the search party would

limit maneuverability, so it totaled only thirteen members.

"Should something happen, retreat. Protect yourself first and foremost."

All nodded in assent to that, though it was coming from a king who did

not tend to prioritize protecting himself.

Chief Mage Kumu remained at the entrance. His role would be to

communicate with Doan—who was heading inside—and relay any findings

back to the castle. Oscar scanned the faces of his team, who were all ready,

and nodded. "Then here we go."

With that unceremonious start, Oscar led the way into the cave. The

little dragon on his shoulders yawned.

Doan hurried after him with a glowing ball of magic light. "This is too

clean for a ruin from hundreds of years ago. It may very well be true that

some unknown technology is at work."

"There's no seams on these walls at all," remarked Oscar. The surfaces

above, below, and on their sides were smooth, obviously cut by human

hands. However, the high level of magic evident in such design far

exceeded the norm for the time period the structure would've come from.

Oscar rapped on a wall. "Time hasn't worn at them at all, just like

Tinasha."

"I beg of you never to say that to her, Your Majesty."

"You know, she actually studied pretty hard even after coming to

Farsas."

The queen of the Magic Empire had worked hard to make up for her

four-hundred-year gap, and now enjoyed a place as the most preeminent

mage of the era. Perhaps she could've told them what this strange place

was?

The group proceeded carefully down the passage, which was

reminiscent of the underground labyrinth beneath Farsas Castle.

No traps seemed to be laid, which made the straight, even route all the

more monotonous. After walking for fifteen minutes, Oscar turned back to

Doan with a frown and asked, "Was the mountain this big? We've gone

pretty far back."

"It's quite strange… Judging by the distance, we should soon reach the

other side and exit to the open air. Yet…"

They had come in via a cavern in the side of a mountain, which itself

wasn't all that large. Surely, they'd reach the opposite end before long if

they continued. However, the path before them appeared as lengthy as when

they'd set out, the end of it dark. Oscar and Doan both grew uneasy.

Several minutes later, a shout changed everything.

"Your Majesty!" came a sharp call from the back of the party. Oscar and

Doan whirled around instantly.

"What happened?!" Oscar demanded, seized with apprehension.

Granfort should have been at the very rear of the group, but he was not the

one to reply.

A soldier gulped and then answered tremulously, "The general…

vanished."

"He what?"

After a beat, the whole party turned to look back. No matter how they

strained their eyes, they couldn't spot the general.

"Hardly any time, and we've lost another person," Oscar whispered sourly,

scratching at his temple. He couldn't sense anything, and neither could

Doan, who was alert for any magic in the air.

Granfort wasn't the only one to vanish, either. The soldier and two

mages just ahead of him had vanished as well. It was someone in front of

them who'd happened to turn back and realize what was wrong.

The whole group stopped there to examine the walls and floor but could

find nothing out of the ordinary. Doan contacted Kumu, then once he was

done, he looked up at his king with a grave expression. "Your Majesty, let's

head back. This is too dangerous."

"Hmm."

"If you must conduct a search, we should request aid from Tuldarr. None

of our mages have any idea what happened."

"You do have a point," Oscar admitted. Doan was suggesting they ask

Tinasha for help. Royal sword in hand, Oscar considered his options.

He'd expected something like this to happen, but it was more bizarre

than he'd imagined. If they kept going, they were liable to lose the entire

party.

"I guess we'll go back," the king said to himself, coming to a decision

after some deliberation. Just as he opened his mouth to issue the order, he

detected something strange.

Oscar glanced at the ground and noticed it shimmering a hazy white.

Faintly, he could make out a spell composition there.

"Fall back!" he cried, grabbing Doan and leaping farther down the path.

It was too sudden for the others to react, however, and they winked out

of sight, stunned looks on their faces.

Oscar clicked his tongue in frustration. Doan tugged on his sleeve. "YYour Majesty!"

Oscar turned to look deeper into the passage and was struck speechless

to see the path ahead glowing.

What's more, the light was coming toward them, expanding outward bit

by bit. The king glanced over his shoulder and understood that the light that

had swallowed up the soldiers behind was also creeping closer.

The trap was closing in from both sides, making it impossible to escape.

In the end, the glow filled the entire passageway and caught the last two.

When he came to, Oscar was in a rock chamber he'd never seen before.

He hadn't lost consciousness, but his memories were disconnected. At

some point, he'd found himself standing in this small room. He could

remember being on the path with Doan up until moments before, but now

he was alone.

"What is this place?"

The rock chamber wasn't very big. He could walk the length of one of

its sides in ten paces. There was no furniture, and swords and magic

implements were scattered across the floor like so much trash.

"Damn it… Did we all get separated?" Oscar whispered, checking to

make sure he had Akashia in his right hand and Nark on his shoulder.

Noticing its master's gaze, the dragon cocked its head. Oscar petted it as he

scanned the room.

There was a single door. Judging there to be nothing else of importance

around, Oscar opened it and went out. The first priority was locating the

rest of the investigation team. He prayed they were all safe.

"I suppose it's been a while since I explored some ruins on my own,"

Oscar mused with no small degree of pride, recalling the days of his youth

when all he did was sneak out of the castle. The door led to the same type of

passageway the party had been on before they'd disappeared, although

likely a different one.

Oscar had changed locations so suddenly that he couldn't be sure of

where he was, but one thing he did know was that this structure had to be

vast. The path was plainly constructed and yet plenty bright, despite no sign

of a light source. Doors similar to the one Oscar had come through lined the

sides, each a few dozen paces apart. His door was situated at the end of the

corridor.

"I guess it saves me the trouble of choosing left or right," Oscar

remarked as he set off. He didn't sense any sort of mechanisms, but there

was no room to get careless. While making his way toward another door, he

remained vigilant against any traps.

"All right—"

Before Oscar had time to wonder what was beyond the door, he detected

something abnormal and leaped back. No sooner had he done so than a

white blade sped past where he'd been standing.

A moment later, an expressionless assailant was standing before him.

The young man clad in black wore light equipment and gripped a dagger in

each hand. Everyone knew that those who wielded twin blades were

descendants of an assassin clan.

Taking a deep breath, Oscar readied Akashia. "Nark, get back."

Obeying its master's order, the dragon flew up to the ceiling. The

assailant struck without giving Oscar so much as a moment. Crouching low,

he closed the distance between them with frightening speed.

Oscar used Akashia to repel the left dagger, which had been aimed at his

legs. He instantly pulled Akashia back and up to parry the right, which had

been lancing for his chest.

The motions all occurred within the span of a second. Assassins were

known for their inhumanly honed speed.

Yet Oscar was swifter.

Without waiting for the man to stab at him again, Oscar kicked up at his

torso. The assassin jumped back to minimize the blow, however. He was

more talented than the average military officer, and Oscar smirked despite

himself. Caustically, he inquired, "You're tougher than I thought. Are you

the guardian of this place or something?"

His opponent didn't respond—instead readying their weapons. Oscar

had wanted to gather a little information, but his opponent didn't seem to

feel like talking.

I can't waste too much time. I still don't know what happened to my

people.

Oscar switched modes. When the assassin leaped for him, he moved

right in for him, too. This threw off his assailant, delaying his reaction.

That spelled the end of the fight. With no groaning or grimacing in pain,

the black-clad man disappeared once his belly was ripped open. It was like

he was never anything but a phantom.

Astonished, Oscar looked all around. He'd felt the stab through his

sword, but no one was there. There were no traces of blood on Akashia's

blade, either.

"What in the world was that?" Oscar said, shaking his head.

He opened the door he'd meant to before the attack.

Beyond it was a tiny rock chamber, the same as the one Oscar had appeared

in, with nothing inside.

Oscar checked all around the room before heading back into the hallway

and setting off again. Each time he arrived at a new room, another assassin

would appear with no warning. This happened five times in succession.

Sometimes, it was a pair of people, too. Occasionally, they attacked with

swords or magic—it all seemed random. All the attackers had in common

was that they never spoke, and they vanished without a trace upon

sustaining a mortal wound.

"What is going on? Are these ruins just full of ghosts?" Oscar grumbled,

unable to make sense of anything, but then he remembered Tinasha saying

ghosts didn't exist. In that case, this had to be the result of some magical

contrivance.

Puzzled, Oscar continued his search. After he defeated the tenth

assailant, the path veered to the right. He peered down the bend cautiously.

It looked like a pretty major branching off. Constructing a map in his head,

Oscar turned the corner.

The eleventh assailant appeared there, and Oscar's eyes went wide.

"Hold on…"

This was a familiar face.

But something was different.

The young woman's long black locks were swaying, as if her hair itself

had sentience.

Her eyes were dark as night, and her skin was white as porcelain. Her

beauty was cool, clear, and utterly unforgettable.

However, her face was more childish than that of the woman he knew.

The mage girl looked no more than thirteen. Oscar's voice exposed his

fearful confusion as he called, "Tinasha?"

She didn't answer, remaining expressionless. Instead, she launched balls

of light from her hands. The orbs zigzagged toward him with differing

speeds, closing in.

Holding his breath, Oscar took a step forward and sliced through the

spells holding the two orbs together. By the time he did, a black vortex was

already upon him. Even as he hesitated, Oscar plunged his sword into the

center of it, shattering the vital key hidden inside the spell.

He was prepared for the vortex to injure his arms, yet he only felt a

rubbery snap. After nullifying three spells, he closed in on the girl floating

in the air. One slice from Akashia tore apart her protective barrier.

He reached his empty hand out to grab her throat.

But in that split second, she disappeared, materializing behind him.

Oscar sensed dense and powerful magic, and a shiver ran through him.

"Ngh!"

He leaped forward without looking back. At the same time, Nark landed

on his shoulder and spewed fire behind him, offsetting the girl's own

conjured flames. Prickling heat seared Oscar's skin, and the temperature

skyrocketed.

It was fortunate nothing worse occurred. If Nark hadn't been there,

Oscar could have been killed.

"You saved me, Nark," he said, racing forward and then turning back to

face the beautiful girl. Her expression hadn't changed.

With her gaze fixed on him all the while, she raised her right hand, and

invisible blades sped forward. Of those razors that sought to encircle him,

Oscar cleaved through only the ones that barred the way forward as he

pressed in close to the girl. Once more, she tried to weave a spell.

Akashia was faster than her teleportation magic, however. It hit her

upstretched arm, and her spell dissolved.

A grim, bitter look on his face, Oscar brought his sword down.

The girl's dark eyes widened.

With her arm and head lopped off, the girl's frame wavered for just a

moment before vanishing.

"Disgusting," Oscar spat, feeling a deep sense of despondence.

At the start, he'd been fairly uncertain over whether he should attack

her. But Nark's hostile attitude toward the girl convinced Oscar that it

wasn't the real Tinasha.

Once he understood that, it simplified things. As Tinasha herself had

once said, she was far stronger in such a narrow space and at close range. In

fact, this girl's speed and reflexes had been much slower than those of the

woman he knew.

"I'm going to have nightmares about that. Ugh, awful," Oscar said,

heaving a long sigh as if he could expel that nasty aftertaste.

Nark chirped at him comfortingly, and with a grimace, the king set back

off on the path.

Assailants continued to appear relentlessly.

They varied in strength, making it impossible to pinpoint the origin of

their manifestation. The girl from earlier was the only one Oscar

recognized.

As he ventured on, dispatching enemies, he kept a mental map of the

increasingly mazelike tunnels. He checked his progress first to avoid

running into dead ends.

After Oscar departed a tiny, empty room, Nark gave a shrill cry. Before

Oscar could even wonder at it, he saw a woman dressed in a white mage's

costume. Instinctively, he readied Akashia.

Recognizing him, the woman widened her eyes. Her delicate lips opened

to say something, but she had to rush to grab her sword and parry away

Akashia's sharp slash.

However, the royal sword's second thrust was faster. She narrowly

fended it off while adjusting her stance.

"O-Oscar, wait!"

"You really look just like her," he stated calmly as he lunged for her a

third time.

She turned her blade diagonally to catch the blow, but Oscar twisted

Akashia along the way, hooking it onto her slender sword and knocking the

other weapon to the ground. Flustered, Tinasha next found herself with

Oscar slamming her shoulders back against the rock wall with his left arm.

He used the hand still gripping Akashia to grab her wrist, pressing his body

weight against her to trap her between him and the wall.

She struggled against his hold, trying to escape. Losing her composure,

she shouted at him, "I said wait! You're too close! Way too close!"

"The more I look at you, the more you seem identical to her."

"I'm the real Tinasha!" she protested.

Oscar swooped in close, then kissed her ear. Before his eyes, her ivory

white earlobe turned a deep red.

"W-wait… seriously!" She pleaded with him in a reedy voice that

sounded on the verge of tears.

For a bit, Oscar stared blankly at her. Her beauty was even more striking

when her face was flushed. Just as she was about to beg him again, he

suddenly burst out laughing. Oscar released her and bent down to pick up

her sword. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey! Do you finally believe it's really me?!"

"Of course I do. I was only teasing."

"…"

Tinasha glared at him reproachfully, and Oscar smirked.

After taking three deep breaths in and out, Tinasha stopped shaking with

rage and faced Oscar. Sword back in hand, she pointed at him. "A magic

attack made contact with the barrier around you, so I went to Farsas to see

what had happened. I heard about the situation from Als, then went to the

ruins and spoke to Kumu, and now I'm here."

"What barrier? I had a barrier?"

"You've had it the whole time. It's set to be invisible."

"Since when?"

"Your coronation."

"That's pretty far back," Oscar said, rifling through his memories. Yes,

he did recall having a barrier put on him. But something else had happened

after that. "Didn't you undo it?"

"I did not. I only enhanced it and camouflaged it," Tinasha explained,

and she stuck out her tongue.

So she'd lied about undoing it back during the coronation. And true

enough, when he faced off against Druza's forbidden curse, some sort of

magic protection the mages had known nothing about had protected him.

He barked out a dry laugh upon finally learning the truth.

Tinasha went on matter-of-factly. "It's my barrier, so it's connected to

me. I'll know when it repels magic. Did you battle a mage?"

Oscar recalled the fight with the girl. He'd thought his arms would get

seriously burned, yet he escaped relatively unharmed. He pointed at

Tinasha, grimacing. "I fought a younger version of you."

"Oh… so I'm recorded, too, then?" she replied, pulling a face.

Confused, Oscar asked, "Recorded? What does that mean, and what

attacked me?"

Tinasha winced. "In short, this place is… a repository of sorts that

records people and preserves them."

"What?"

It was rare that Oscar didn't immediately grasp the meaning.

Tinasha frowned. "I'm not sure how it operates, but this place captures

people and creates duplicates of them. Normally, these copies are merely

storage vessels that contain information, but when they sense an intruder,

they will materialize to eliminate them."

"So that's what I fought?"

"Yes. In Tuldarr, it's known as the Harvesting. Four hundred years ago, I

also came here in search of missing people. It caught me and made a

duplicate of me. I thought I'd escaped before the process was finished, but

it looks like I was wrong."

"You've been here before?!"

"I wouldn't have been able to find you otherwise. It's only because I got

close that I was able to rely on my sense for the barrier on you to forcibly

teleport closer," she explained in a huff, cheeks puffed out in annoyance. It

looked like she'd taken his teasing seriously.

Tinasha had divulged some useful information. Tuldarr possessed

records of these ruins and Tinasha was involved. Oscar looked down at her.

"So were you the one who blocked off the entrance? It was buried inside a

cliff."

"You mean the entrance that you came in from? No. I destroyed all the

entrances. This place isn't inside a mountain; I don't know where it is,

exactly. Four centuries ago, I came in from a spot in Tuldarr."

"It has multiple entrances?"

"Yes. It can transfer those within and abduct any who are close by. Other

entrances may exist, too."

It was certainly quite the account. Shaking off the last of his shock,

Oscar posed another question. "Why do you call it the Harvesting? That's a

really unsettling name. What happens to the people this place abducts? Are

they used to grow mushrooms or something?"

"What an unpleasant mental image… There are no mushrooms. They

should be asleep in their duplicates' chambers. I'll show you."

"Thanks," Oscar responded honestly, and Tinasha smiled. It had been a

long time since he'd seen her cute side, and he found himself grinning back

at her.

The last time we met was when I proposed.

She hadn't given him her reply yet, but Oscar felt no particular sense of

urgency.

Tinasha was quite an awkward person. If someone told her to decide

with her feelings, she would be lost in confusion for a while. He didn't

intend to rush her. She could take her time discovering an answer.

That said, judging by how she looked now, she'd forgotten all about the

matter. The young queen had come running in a panic, her mind clearly

occupied by the emergency.

"It's this way, Oscar," Tinasha called, beckoning to him. The two set off

along the twisting, turning path.

While she paused here and there to waver over which way to go, they

made solid progress without needing to turn back at all. Oscar was truly

relieved for the rescue. While he'd been trying not to think about it, he had

actually lost faith that he'd be able to save everyone.

Oscar glanced at Tinasha walking alongside him and felt the desire to

stroke her hair. He asked, "So when a duplicate is defeated, does the person

who was captured get freed?"

"They do not. They were all left to sleep, so they eventually die of

starvation. The last time I was here, I was devastated to find a mountain of

skeletons and bones. That's why we call it the Harvesting."

"Yeah, I can't imagine anyone would be happy to see something like

that…"

The initial search party had vanished three days ago. Oscar hoped they

hadn't perished yet.

That made Oscar remember the investigative team he'd come in with.

"So was everyone else on my team sent to a random place in the ruins like I

was?"

"Hmm, they're probably all asleep. I think you were separated because

you have Akashia. That made the ruins judge you to be something

abnormal. The structure has a disposal chamber," Tinasha explained

dispassionately.

"Is that why?" Oscar said, glancing down at his beloved sword. True

enough, that room he'd been deposited in was the only one littered with

assorted objects. The others had all been empty. Perhaps that had been the

area for isolating magic implements.

"That's just a guess, though. This place seems to operate automatically.

Honestly, it's all a bunch of things that ordinary magic technology can't

detect. It gives me the creeps," Tinasha admitted with a scowl.

Even for her, these ruins were a mystery.

"Automatic…," Oscar repeated. "So there's no one here pulling the

strings? Not even a demonic spirit of some kind?"

"At the very least, there wasn't anyone four hundred years ago. This

place is a complete enigma."

What was this Harvesting that had been going on for four centuries?

Before Oscar could think too deeply on it, he sensed something and

popped his head up. A new assailant had appeared. He was about to ready

Akashia to face off against this unknown male mage when the man abruptly

exploded.

Surely, Tinasha must have been responsible, and without so much as an

incantation or gesture, either. Impressed and awed, Oscar commented,

"You're really something, you know that?"

"This seems to have no end. It's all just information, which is how it

constructs duplicates."

"Human copies, huh? If that's not normally possible, does that mean that

there was a mage capable of the feat long ago?"

"No. The laws of magic are immutable, whether past or present… This

place employs something that should, by all rights, be impossible, even for

me or a high-ranking demon."

"Something outside the laws of magic… Has there never been anything

like that before?"

After an awkward pause, Tinasha replied, "That magic orb."

Oscar recalled the little sphere that had allowed the two of them to meet

in the first place. The object's very existence undeniably defied the laws of

magic.

Bitterly, Tinasha elaborated. "Ultimately, my people failed to destroy the

ruins the last time. We didn't break its automatic defense mechanism."

"So you destroyed the entrances instead?"

"As a last resort, yes. But if it can create other openings elsewhere, then

there will be no end to it."

Nodding to himself, Oscar turned the issue over in his head. While the

nature of this place was unknown, it had clearly been constructed by a

sentient being. And if it was made by something that defied the laws of

magic, its goal really might be simply to record humans.

Record, collect, store.

Who would review all that information? An absurd mental image of a

child lining up a collection of colorful glass marbles on a sunny windowsill

surfaced in Oscar's mind.

Children are often cruel. They don't consider others' suffering.

Oscar sighed, fed up with his silly musings.

The pair rounded one corner after the next, making progress while defeating

enemies. At last, they reached a large door at the end of the passageway.

Tinasha placed her hand on it, then paused and looked over her shoulder to

Oscar. "How many people have been captured?"

"An entire small village… and our people from the castle. Altogether, a

little over three hundred."

"That's so many!" she exclaimed, removing her palm from the door and

crossing her arms. After scowling for some time, she glanced up at Oscar.

"I'm going to open a transportation array here. You go wake the people

inside. They'll be within cocoons, but you can tear through them."

"Oh, I don't like the sound of that one bit…"

"They function as human storage vaults. However, once you open the

cocoons, a large number of guardians should appear. I'll take care of those."

"By yourself?"

"I'll be fine. But I may not be able to keep it up for very long, so hurry,"

Tinasha said. She flashed Oscar a smile but didn't meet his gaze. There was

something ephemeral in her face that worried him.

Still, he intended to take the queen of Tuldarr at her word. She wouldn't

have made the declaration if she wasn't prepared.

"If you feel you're in danger, call for me. Don't get yourself hurt,"

Tinasha cautioned.

"I'll do my best."

After flashing Oscar a wry look, she began her incantation. Her dark

eyes urged him to go.

Oscar nodded and pushed open the door.

On the other side lay a vast, cavernous space.

There was something of a mystical quality to the air, like one might find

in a cathedral. What Oscar saw inside astonished him.

"Whoa…"

The floor was littered with pods the size of adult humans. Each of the

white, translucent things was rooted to the ground. Oscar peered into the

closest one and saw a man slumped over, his eyes closed. Inside the pod

next to him was a skeleton.

These were the cocoons Tinasha had mentioned. Oscar grimaced to see

the repugnant things for himself, his stomach turning unpleasantly

A hand tapped him on the shoulder. Tinasha had finished opening the

array. "I'm ready. Go ahead now."

She left Oscar to move deeper into the room. Seemingly in response to

her intrusion, a dozen or so guardians materialized in front of the wall at the

back of the room. Oscar noticed there was an intricate spell design etched

into the surface.

Tinasha stopped. She did not draw her sword but instead outstretched

her arms.

"My word defines a metal that shall not become blade. A rift of

negation. A painless span of time."

The queen's voice sent shock waves through the chamber. The air

changed. More than twenty crescent-shaped crimson blades appeared in

midair. After a short inhale, Tinasha whispered in a lyrical voice.

"I reject you."

The words flew for the guardians, who met them expressionlessly.

While Tinasha manipulated the blades, she cried out, "Karr! Senn!"

"Yeah, yeah."

"You called?"

In response to their master's summons, two mystical spirits teleported in

on either side of Tinasha. Taking in the scene before them, they frowned.

"We're back here? I hate this place."

"Carry out your orders without complaint, Karr."

Even as they spoke, the two spirits wove elaborate spells. Their intense

magic attacks fell upon the guardians like rain.

The guardians, who varied in appearance and gender, vanished one after

another, mowed down by magic. However, more appeared just as quickly to

take the places of their defeated comrades.

Keeping an eye on the battle at the far end of the room, Oscar moved

from one cocoon to the next.

Once he found the one he was looking for, he used Akashia to cut it

open. The unsettling pod began to dissolve from the laceration and oozed

out, losing its shape. Oscar gave a light kick to the man sleeping inside.

"Doan, wake up!"

After several seconds, the mage groaned. Oscar grabbed Doan's arm and

hauled him to his feet. When Oscar saw that Doan was blinking his eyes

open, Oscar barked orders at him. "There's a transportation array set up at

the door. Cut through the cocoons and help the people inside escape. Get

our people from the castle to help once they're awake!"

Doan's expression grew serious. He looked all around him and then shot

up. "Y-yes, Your Majesty…"

He probably didn't fully understand the situation, but he headed off to

rescue the people sealed up near the door.

Oscar continued opening up the cocoons around him, which mainly

contained the Farsas investigative team. The king shook them awake and

issued his orders. Once all of his subjects were awake, Oscar hurried for the

pods at the back of the chamber.

Karr frowned to see sweat beading on his master's forehead. He and Senn

were helping Tinasha battle back the guardians while protecting the

cocoons, but she was also maintaining the transportation array

simultaneously. It was taxing work to keep a teleportation spell from an

unknown location to the outside world going. And while Tinasha was doing

that, she was also casting attack magic.

Karr pushed his queen behind him. "Call another two or three, little

girl."

For a moment, she gaped at him, but she quickly nodded in agreement.

"Itz, Saiha, Mila, come here."

New spirits appeared. Their faces grew tense once they beheld the

situation.

Tinasha sighed and issued orders. "Hold things down here… and try not

to hurt anyone."

"Yes, my lady," they replied reverently, which reassured Tinasha to

some degree. The queen of Tuldarr took in a deep breath and began a new

incantation.

Over a hundred guardians had appeared already, attacking relentlessly.

No matter how many fell, new phantoms materialized instantaneously.

Tinasha and her spirits couldn't use magic on too large a scale, so while

they were far stronger than the phantoms, this war of attrition was slowly

but surely pressing them to exhaustion. Even if Tinasha called more spirits,

the vast size of the chamber and the cocoons posed limitations that would

make it difficult for them to fight. While it wasn't ideal, all they could do in

this situation was keep at it.

"Over there! We're opening that one!" shouted a Farsas soldier among a

group.

They ran over to a cocoon behind Tinasha and the spirits, shouting to

one another as they did. However, they were brought up short by the

distinctive and peculiar sight of the spirits.

Tinasha turned and faced the soldiers with a smile. "Please, go ahead."

That snapped them back to their senses, and they quickly cut into the

nearest cocoons. Then the group escorted the emaciated villagers to the

door.

Unfortunately, a phantom appeared by them. By the time Tinasha

noticed, the guardian was about to bring his sword down upon a child. A

wave of her hand was all it took to crush the thing. The soldiers helped the

kid toward the safety of the door.

Tinasha breathed a sigh as she watched the child's mother carry him off.

Her relief was fleeting, however, as she nearly lost her balance from

twisting herself backward to stop the guardian.

"Ah!"

Her arms flailed in the air but could find no purchase—until she fell

back against a man who was there to steady her. He pulled her fully upright

and gazed searchingly into her dark eyes.

"That was close."

"Oscar!"

"Can you keep going for a little longer?" he asked fervently,

unwaveringly.

Tinasha smiled. She loved hearing him urge her to fight and the feeling

of his unshakable belief in her.

And she wanted to fulfill his request. She wished to stand tall, even if

she was alone.

The world was neither a kind place nor a cruel one. It simply existed as

it was.

Everything was both exceptional and commonplace. Only what was

possible would happen.

Tinasha understood that, which was why she refused to quit.

"I'm all right. I can keep going," she assured Oscar with a nod,

straightening her posture to face her enemies.

The young woman told herself there was nothing she couldn't

overcome.

Nearly fifteen minutes after the battle began, the Farsas investigative team

had rescued roughly 90 percent of the people from the cocoon chamber.

As Tinasha watched the soldiers opening the remaining dozen or so

cocoons scattered around the corners of the room, her face suddenly

contorted in pain. "Ngh…"

Something was applying pressure to close the transportation array, and

the force of it was falling on the caster, Tinasha. That unknown power

weighed down on her with brutal intensity. The attack sought to wipe the

spell away. Anyone besides the queen of Tuldarr would have crumpled and

perished beneath the force of the opposition.

Even Tinasha would have difficulty holding out against this until

everyone could escape.

The color drained from her face, but her dark eyes remained fierce and

determined. Oscar, who was fighting by her side with Akashia in hand, was

the first to notice.

"Tinasha?"

He gave her a concerned look and used his thumb to wipe away the

sweat gathering on her forehead. Tinasha's eyes closed in a pained blink.

"The enemy… is trying to block me… It's trying to force my portal

closed…"

Oscar watched the signs of desperate struggle cross Tinasha's face, and

then he had a thought.

Look ahead.

New guardians weren't popping up as quickly as before, nor were there

as many of them.

That alone wasn't enough to conclude that the enemy's power was

waning. But perhaps it was diverting some amount of strength into that

force working against Tinasha.

Glancing at the faintly glowing spell design carved into the back wall,

Oscar made up his mind. "Tinasha, let me have your sight."

"Hmm?"

The young woman's eyes grew round and wide, but she nodded and

touched his hand, whispering a short incantation.

"Please don't go overboard…"

"There are times when that's the only option. I'll be fine," Oscar said.

Then he took a deep breath.

The world changed immediately.

It wasn't just the magic in the air; he'd already been able to see that.

Lines of even thicker magic emerged all over the place.

Tinasha's vision allowed him to see that multiple layers were

intertwined within that complex, overly elaborate design on the wall. The

network of luminous threads was like ivy, entirely covering some portions

of the stone facade. Oscar stared at it coldly.

He squeezed Tinasha's hand tightly. "Stay right here."

Leaving her with those few powerful words, Oscar took off. Slipping

through the vanguard of the five spirits, he charged into the army of

guardians. A stroke of Akashia repelled the blades that came rushing to

meet him from all directions.

Magic hurled at the king vanished before finding its mark, probably

thanks to the spirits. Still perched on Oscar's shoulder, Nark extended its

neck and breathed flame to drive away the phantoms pursuing him from the

sides.

If I waste time here, I'm going to get swallowed up.

Oscar cut down a guardian blocking his way and continued his advance.

Before long, he was at the wall. With his gaze still trained on it, he

swung Akashia and cleaved through a guardian trying to attack him from

behind. As he stared up at the glowing surface, his gaze lingered on one

point in the center.

"That's it."

Several paces to the right, a large, transparent crystal sphere was

embedded in the wall. It was large enough to reach the floor. An intricate

spell configuration rested within it, and Oscar recognized that the complex

magic was revolving in place.

Oscar moved to the orb and stabbed Akashia into it without hesitation.

A clear cracking sounded through the chamber.

Akashia's hilt grew hot. But it passed in a second, and the crystal sphere

shattered to pieces. Just like the guardians, the shards that went flying

vanished into thin air like phantoms.

Then the entire room lurched. A horrible, violent sound like metal

grating together echoed from every direction.

"Ngh…"

The uncomfortable sensation of a rapid pressure change swept over

everyone. Reflexively, Oscar put his hands on his ears as screams erupted

from all over. Some were even doubled over on the ground, clutching their

heads.

Yet the pandemonium ceased as quickly as it came.

Oscar looked around and found that all the guardians had vanished. The

wall that had shone brightly with power was now dark.

"You destroyed… the core?" Tinasha whispered, disbelief plain in her

tone. Oscar turned back to see her free from the pressure that had been

weighing on her, but also astonished. When Tinasha was surprised, she

looked just like a little kid. It was precious. Just looking at her made him

start laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"Your face."

"Is now the time?!"

Her outraged reaction only amused him further. Oscar was about to take

a step when he heard a low voice full of resentment mutter in his ear, "You

damn insider…"

When Oscar looked around, no one was there.

"What? Some kind of trick?" he wondered aloud. After shaking his

head, he hurried to Tinasha's side.

She was still shocked at how abruptly everything had come to an end.

"How did you do that…?"

"What do you mean, 'how'? It had one of those vital points."

"Yes, but there were many others that looked just as genuine. How did

you know that one was the true core?"

"Intuition."

"You really are something abnormal," Tinasha replied with a sigh. Her

expression was a mix of exasperation and admiration.

The enigmatic ruins that even the Witch Killer Queen and her spirits

could do nothing about four hundred years ago had now been

unceremoniously silenced and their mechanism dismantled by the Akashia

swordsman.

All the villagers had been safely evacuated. Tinasha was the last one to

depart the ruins. She looked back at the cave passageway, checking to make

sure no one was there, then lifted a hand toward the entrance. Lightning

shot from her palm, sending deep tremors far back along the passage.

The rupture set off a cave-in that culminated in the collapse of the access

to the ruins.

Tinasha watched until the shaking ceased, then turned back around with

a shrug. "This should do. Since the mechanism is destroyed, we could have

left it open and intact, but I wouldn't feel right about that."

"Yep. Thanks, you really saved us," Oscar replied.

"I should be thanking you for destroying the core."

Her dark eyes were narrowed, as if she were gazing into some distant

past. That calm, self-possessed, and yet melancholic gaze was the hallmark

of Tinasha's queenly persona. It was clear she was thinking of the people of

Tuldarr she had failed to rescue. The look drew Oscar in inexorably.

Rather than act upon that feeling, however, he decided to inquire about a

different matter. "What do you think made those ruins in the first place?"

"Hmm… I'm curious, but I don't have any clue at all. It's something

outside the laws of magic, which means I haven't the faintest idea."

"But aren't there lots of things humans don't know about on other planes

of existence?"

Indeed, Tinasha was the one who informed Oscar that their world was

like an endless stack of transparent pages all existing in the same place.

Humans only comprehended a fraction of the total pages. Oscar's remark

was meant to point out that something on a different plane might exist

outside the usual rules.

However, Tinasha shook her head. "I think you may have

misunderstood. The laws of magic are called that because they exist on the

laws of magic's plane of existence, but they do apply to other planes as

well. That's why humans can use spells here… It's no different from the

laws of our so-called world itself. Even though our world is made up of

multiple planes of existence, it is not divided into those separate planes—

it's all one world. My degree of sight may be different from yours, but that

doesn't change what exists, does it?"

With a snap of Tinasha's fingers, a pale spray of magic flared to life.

Oscar could see it because of the magical sight drills she had put him

through. And as the preeminent mage of her era, Tinasha could view much,

much more than he could. But that didn't mean the world itself was

different.

"Thus, it's possible that a law outside the laws of magic exists. But one

that contradicts the laws of magic cannot exist on another plane. That would

be like repudiating the world itself."

"I… think I get it?" Oscar answered doubtfully. He had a vague sense of

comprehension. The clear water near the pond's surface and the water down

at the bottom were very different, but they both shared the characteristic of

being from the same pond.

With that in mind, he asked, "Then what about something beyond this

world?"

Tinasha's eyes widened like a cat's. "What?"

"You said that the different planes of this world all share the same laws.

So then what if it's coming from outside all that?"

"From beyond the world… What is that supposed to mean? Don't bring

up something so absurd from out of the blue."

"You're the one who said that something going against a law of magic

would put it at odds with the world."

"But that doesn't mean jumping straight to the idea that another world

might exist."

"Has it been proved that one doesn't?" Oscar pressed. For him, these

were all perfectly natural questions to ask.

Tinasha fell silent, utterly flummoxed. She pressed a hand to her mouth.

"It hasn't been… proved, no… But even so… it's impossible to verify the

nonexistence of anything past our world."

"Yeah, I bet it would be. There's no telling how many different planes

there are here," Oscar reasoned. His remark about another world had been

an off-the-cuff musing. Verifying it any further would be difficult. Yet the

subdued look in Tinasha's dark eyes betrayed that she was stuck on the

possibility.

She was sinking deep into the ocean of her thoughts. Oscar watched her

studiously.

He was well acquainted with the siren's beauty she possessed.

Tinasha was a queen and a young girl all at once. A fearsome mage…

and just a very adorable person.

Finally noticing Oscar's eyes upon her, Tinasha looked up. For a second,

her face paled as if she'd remembered something, then she immediately

turned red. As Oscar watched steam virtually pour off her face, he recalled

that she hadn't given him an answer to his proposal yet.

She was clearly wavering over what she should say. With a serious

expression, Oscar said, "You can give me an answer whenever you're

ready."

The proposal must have seemed a preemptive strike with no warning.

Tinasha jumped like a cat when its tail was pulled. Blushing even deeper,

she looked down and away. "I'm very sorry for keeping you waiting…"

"No, I don't mind. How many marriage proposals have you gotten since

then? I know other countries must have sent some."

A pause. "Seven."

"Wow. Which nations?" Oscar inquired, making no effort to hide his

displeasure.

"What's with that face?! I'm not telling you! They all just want to have

me as their weapon anyway!" Tinasha cried, looking ready to fight.

"Hmm, I wouldn't be so sure."

Undoubtedly, lots of foreign powers coveted Tinasha as an instrument of

war, but Oscar didn't think that was the only motivation. He knew that on

the day of her coronation, she must have unknowingly captivated the hearts

of many who witnessed her in the flesh.

But I'm the one who knows her better than any other.

Tinasha pouted at Oscar, then, in a small voice, asked, "What is it you

like about me…?"

"How weird you are."

"What sort of an answer is that?" Tinasha shot back, deflated. But she

picked herself back up quickly enough and let out a long exhale to reset her

mood. Brushing long strands of black hair from her face, the queen of

Tuldarr looked up at Oscar with a profound quality to her gaze. "You know

nothing about me."

A gentle breeze whooshed past.

The rescued villagers received medical care and were then escorted back

to their homes, starting with those who had the energy to move. More help

arrived from the castle before long, and the atmosphere grew thick with

activity and conversation. However, no one disturbed Oscar and Tinasha.

Peering toward Tuldarr to the northwest, Tinasha stated, "They called

me the ice queen. You'll find all sorts of things if you research my history—

not everything, though. I made decisions that would be considered

unthinkable in this era. That's the sort of person I am."

The words were soft, but her voice was tinged with pain. Slowly,

Tinasha's dark eyes closed as if that could lock up the night.

"I don't intend to make excuses and say that I had to do what I did

because it was the Dark Age and because I was the queen… After I

abdicated, I went to see my parents once under the strictest secrecy. It was

the first and last time I met with them. We could barely hold a conversation,

and it wasn't like I could live with them or anything… I missed my parents

to death when I was little, but I had no idea what to do upon finally

reuniting. In the end, I chose to put myself to sleep using magic… That's

how coldhearted I am."

The halting way Tinasha spoke made her sound no different than a little

girl.

Her eyes remained closed. Oscar could see her awkward former self in

her expression, and he grinned with fondness.

"I know you'll regret it once you realize who I am. Spending your life

with me, that is…"

"Oh yeah? Tell me everything, then."

"…"

Her silence was neither a yes nor a no.

Tinasha simply stood there, rooted in place and all alone, just as she

undoubtedly had four centuries ago.

Oscar reached out to brush a thumb along her cheek. "You can tell me

whatever you like. I don't mind if you keep some things hidden. Whatever

you need, I'm fine either way. Knowing everything won't change the way I

feel."

"That's a lot of up-front promises you may not be able to make good

on."

"Careful not to sell me too short."

Her long lashes stirred. Tinasha gazed up at Oscar, black eyes

glimmering and damp. A trackless sea of loneliness rocked within them.

The next words from Oscar's lips sank deep into her soul.

"Your oddities are amusing, and I enjoy your strengths and your

weaknesses. I like the decisions you make, how you carry yourself, how

childish you are, and the queen in you as well. I think the way you live your

life is beautiful, even if that's only one part of who you are."

Knowing everything wasn't necessary to Oscar. Even if he did, he

wouldn't come to regret his actions.

He knew how deeply compassionate she was—the way she was as

innocent as a little girl and how she could choose to be queen.

That look of longing for the way the people lived on the night he found

her gazing toward the city during the festival was all he needed to

understand about her. That was likely the moment he began falling in love

with her. The only thing was that he couldn't allow himself to feel that way

at the time.

Tinasha winced. A red flush tinted her pale complexion. "I don't

understand your taste."

"You don't have to. My preferences are mine. Let me keep them."

Tinasha puffed up her cheeks, pouting. "Just so you know, I never hoped

for anything from you."

"Is that right?"

"I came here to be useful to you."

"I know. Like an uninvited bride."

"That's totally wrong!" Tinasha balled her hands into fists. But once

she'd settled back down, she asked in a much calmer voice, "So you really

think you won't have any regrets?"

"Nope."

This was his choice. He wouldn't lament it. And should such a day

come, he wouldn't cower from the past.

Staring straight into her dark eyes still heavy with worry, Oscar said, "I

want to live my life with you. Can't I be selfish and follow my heart just

once in my lifetime?"

Just like how she had once abandoned everything to go and see him.

If he had to devote his entire life to his country, he would spend it at her

side.

The way he bared his heart to Tinasha left her too overwhelmed to

speak. But soon enough, she lifted her head, biting her lip. "I understand. I

also kept you waiting without any word from me at all. I've spent too long

dawdling, so I will give you my answer now."

"You were dawdling, were you?"

"Hush!"

Tinasha took a deep breath and straightened up. Her face suddenly

shifted from that of a girl's into something sincere and serious.

Clear, strangely familiar eyes fixed directly on Oscar. "If you'll have

me, then I gratefully accept your proposal."

As hard as quartz. That was what her emotions were like. It wasn't

merely a crush, or an attachment, or puppy love—she had made up her

mind to live with him.

Tinasha stumbled a little once she finished her sentence, perhaps from

all the recent strain. Oscar wrapped her in an embrace. The feel of her

delicate frame enclosed within his arms made him break into a smile. He

was so happy, he didn't know what to do. Oscar felt like a boy again.

When he pressed a kiss to the smooth skin of her cheek, she blushed and

looked away. "You're too close."

"Get used to it," Oscar replied, his words succinct but full of affection,

as he savored the feeling of his bride in his arms.

Neither of them paid any mind to the shocked citizens all around them.

The king of Farsas had chosen this awkward woman to be his partner in

life. His wish was that she would always be smiling; his hope was that her

loneliness would abate. He would cherish her more than anything and walk

through life at her side.

Oscar was confident that he would never meet anyone better to spend

his days with.

Tinasha wriggled free and floated up into the air to keep from being crushed

to death in Oscar's embrace. She pressed her palms to her cheeks, which

were still flushed pink. "I ran off to come help you, so I need to be getting

back. I had one of the spirits impersonate me, but people will probably

figure that out before long."

"A queen shouldn't be sneaking out," Oscar scolded.

"You of all people do not get to say that! You put yourself on your own

survey team!" she cried.

She was about to teleport away when Oscar grabbed her hand. "Once I

get back to Farsas Castle, I'm going to send you an official messenger and

letter."

"Oh? Do you mean you want to go public with our engagement?"

"Of course. Or maybe I should go harass those seven countries," he said

arrogantly.

Frowning, Tinasha replied, "Don't." Lowering herself a little, she placed

a hand on Oscar's shoulder. "You better not tell me you assumed I'd

definitely say yes."

"I didn't think that. You're completely unpredictable, after all."

"Hmph." Tinasha stuck out her lower lip.

It doesn't feel real yet.

For her, Oscar was someone who was accessible, in a sense, but also

someone she could never dare to stand beside.

All this time, Tinasha had believed he had no interest in her and so left

her feelings about him alone. Now that she knew she was wrong, she

wanted to bury herself in a hole for how strangely embarrassing it all felt.

His gaze and hands on her made it difficult to relax. Would she really get

used to it someday?

Oscar reached for Tinasha's cheek and laid a gentle hand along it. He

seemed reluctant to part. "Come see me anytime."

"I will take you up on that," Tinasha answered with a pleased smile, and

then she vanished.

Oscar smiled wryly as he mulled over the many ways she would make

for an unprecedented queen of Farsas.

While they couldn't marry for another year, there were preparations to

be done now. First, Oscar needed to propose to her formally. As he drew up

a list in his head of all the things he needed to do, Oscar turned around and

stepped into the transportation array that took him and his attendants back

home.

Something like a hunch told him that within what he believed to be luck,

there were many overlapping memories.