“K-Kaboom! Hnngh... Kaboom! Kaboom! Sniff... K-Kaboo... Ka...” The unimaginably cruel act of massacring people with magic had the thumb-sized mage’s conscience screaming. Tears fell from his eyes one after another, until he suddenly fell to his knees in a mess of weeping. Magic was a wonderful thing, meant to help the world and all the people in it. These feelings the thumb-sized mage couldn’t put into words had merely devolved into sobbing, and he was in no state to use magic any longer. “Why... How did it come to this...?”
How many shots have I fired? I know I’ve fired so many... I’ve fired...so many...
Regret was choking him out.
Just how many people have died with all those shots? How many people were hurt? How many homes did I destroy? How many places are burning to the ground? I don’t know how many...but I know it’s a lot. Because I fired so many cannons. So many people died. So many people were hurt. So many places were burned and destroyed. The capital, a place I’ve never seen, is now nothing more than a sea of flames.
“I’m sorry... I’m sorry... I’m sorry...”
Is this what I became a mage for? Magic is supposed to be a special power used to protect people from monsters! It’s meant to defend!
“What are you doing over there?! You have more cannons to fire!” Juana was still bound by thread, as she ordered him to kill more. Destroy more. Burn the capital to the ground.
“No... I can’t...”
“Do you not hear me? This is an order!”
The thumb-sized mage had always looked up to Juana as a famous magic researcher. She was the one who had looked after him when he’d unfortunately shrunk. He couldn’t possibly refuse an order from a superior like that. Yet his body and mind were begging him not to do it. His conscience and his desire to do as he was told were at war with each other.
“I can’t...” The thumb-sized mage cowered and held his head in his hands as he trembled all over.
“It’s not good to be so forceful, Lady Juana.” Joshua picked up the thumb-sized mage between his thumb and forefinger and placed him on the palm of his hand. “Poor thing. An incompetent leader will only lead to broken subordinates. You’re meant to give orders based on your subordinate’s individual capabilities and aptitude. This one’s already unilaterally and indiscriminately murdered legions of the kingdom’s people on your orders, hasn’t he? All while using the gift of magic.”
“I’m sorryyyyyy!”
“Nngh...”
The thumb-sized mage was trembling on Joshua’s hand and burst into tears again. Additionally, Joshua’s carefully chosen words inflicted psychological damage on the other mages captured, and on Juana as well. Mages were a very rare breed. Not one of them had gone without wondering why they had to use such a special power to kill people.
Click.
Just then, the door to the room opened.
A blue-haired boy poked his head in, then spoke in halting language as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. “The knights of the kingdom are here.”
Juana’s eyes went wide.
Why are the knights here?! Why are the knights here, at Simmons Harbor, when they should be stationed at the castle right now?!
Just based on the distance, this would have meant the knights had set off toward the harbor hours ago. The barrage was supposed to have destroyed the knights, the castle, and the entire kingdom right then and there. But if they were here now, it meant that the knights had already been nearby when she’d started the cannon fire.
“They’re here sooner than I expected.”
So why were the knights at Simmons Harbor? Because naturally, Joshua had called them there ahead of time.