A day had passed, and it was now nighttime. After finishing up my detection magic job, I took a dip in the castle baths on His Majesty’s advice to ease my exhaustion and now walked the dark hallways alone. Apparently, the king had prepared a room for me here now that my job was done.
“In the end, that took over twenty-four hours...”
Luckily, I was used to all-nighters. Skipping out on sleep for just one night was nothing for me. I guess that was also thanks to Master Merlin.
Plus, Elizario had brought me some light meals every so often, so I wasn’t hungry either. Right now, I was simply taking a walk while languidly taking in the castle atmosphere.
“It really is pretty, huh?” As I walked the long halls, I took the time to appreciate the palace’s design, as well as the knickknacks and paintings adorning the walls. That’s when I began to hear a faint voice—one that was getting closer.
Sniff, sniff! “Hah! I know’st thy scent!” A short young woman suddenly appeared from around the corner, muttering those mysterious words to herself. She had orange hair and was dressed in oriental-style clothes. She had animal ears too, which marked her as a beastwoman. While they weren’t common here in the castle, there were still a few. But there was a bigger problem.
“A-Are you a...child?”
“How rude! I’faith, I am fully grown!” she said, throwing a tantrum like a little kid.
S-So, she was an adult. In that case, I guess her roaming the halls alone wasn’t a problem.
“S-Sorry.”
“Hmph! Thou wouldst do best to keep that in mind,” proudly proclaimed the girl with animal ears.
But what was happening here, exactly? Well, there was no need to keep chatting, so I started off once again. However...
“H-Huh?! W-Wait!”
“Huh? Are you talking to me?”
“Art there anyone else here but thee?!”
I had just met this girl, but for some reason, she’d stopped me. What could she possibly need?
“I did espy thy detection magic. Thou art quite impressive.”
“Th-Thank you. I guess?”
“Indeed. Though I have a question for thee.”
“A question? What is it?”
Just what did she want? I had no idea.
That’s when I realized I hadn’t cast any detection magic on her. Was I under attack?!
“Thou needst not panic. Thou hast heard, no? There doth be one thou need not detect. That is I.”
Oh, that’s right. His Majesty had said there was one person I didn’t need to check. Therion had gone ballistic, but apparently she mostly kept to herself, so I could leave her for later. That was this beastwoman.
All right...
For assurance’s sake, I activated my detection magic. She really was a beastwoman.
“So? What do you need?” I asked point-blank.
“Hmm... I have many questions for thee, and many words to share. But first, hmm...” She seemed to be pondering something, and I got the feeling it was going to take a while.
“If you need some time to get your thoughts together, why don’t we discuss this tomor—”
“Halt! They hath come to me!” she said, panicked. I heard her whisper, “This shall draw thy attention,” before she slowly asked, “Dost thou know of Ancient Magic?”
Ancient Magic? I’d never heard of that before. My mind froze. I searched through my memories, but I couldn’t find a single mention of it at all.
This was magic completely unknown to me. And really, I’d thought I had a pretty good grasp of magic. I guess not.
Ancient Magic, huh? If it was as the name suggested—if this was ancient magic from long ago—then I had some personal interest in the matter. Maybe this would be the key I needed to level up my spells.
I’d better hear her out. “Ancient Magic? What’s that?”
She giggled. “Just as I thought!” she exclaimed, snickering like her prey had fallen right into her trap. “Interested, art thou not?”
“Yeah.”
She giggled again. “My plan hath worked!”
Apparently, I really had fallen right into her trap. The phrase “Ancient Magic” was more than enough to grab my attention. How could I not have asked?
“To my laboratory!”
To her laboratory? I wasn’t tired yet, but at the same time, this wasn’t exactly a pressing matter.
Well, I guess I could follow...
“Sure. But can I ask your name first? I’m Lloyd.” If we didn’t know each other’s names, things were only going to get more difficult.
“And my name, ’tis Ryouen, though I pray thou not ask my age, dear Lloyd.”