“Like this? Am I relaxed?”
“Yes, that’s good. Now... I’ll put it in like this.”
“Ah... Wait, slowly...”
“Yes, it’s okay. I won’t push you. Can you feel it going in slowly?”
“Yeah... It’s warm...but a little...mm, hot...”
The priest placed his hand over the boy’s. My heart was racing!
“All right, now let’s take that heat circulating inside... See, like this, let’s bring it out...” Ahh, the priest’s gentle voice was so nice! But surely it would be time to return to reality soon.
“Like this...”
“Yes, from there, push it out strongly...”
Their voices had grown heated.
“We did it! We did it, we succeeded! Brother, we purified it!”
“That’s good. It looks like you’ve got the hang of it!”
Ah, reality...it’d been a while. The two clasped hands in joy. Congratulations, young Muzika.
They really were brothers, weren’t they? It wasn’t just hair color they shared; now that I could see their features, those were similar too.
On the table, a fist-sized stone lay on top of paper. Just moments ago, it had been unpurified, appearing to my eyes as if it emitted a faint black haze. The stone had been corrupted by magic essence, but I didn’t think the brothers could see it. The paper had had a magic circle drawn on it to seal the miasma within, but it was gone now—it was designed to disappear once purified, and the two of them were practicing purification.
It was common knowledge that the closer the blood relation, the higher the affinity for magic. For children who struggled to master the circulation and release of magic within their bodies, like the young boy here, parents or siblings had to press close, channeling their own magic into the child’s body to teach them how it worked.
It was the quickest method, and the safest way to prevent magic from running wild.
Still, just as the lady and prince had said, the church was in full bloom! A secret garden! A sanctuary where inspiration descended! Ah, Sacred Beast Drogolena, thank you so very much! I never dreamed a day like this would come! Lady Robur, I’ll follow you anywhere! My favorite deity is you, my lady! And the lady was also that popular author...it was too much!
That was right. For that very reason, I had to find Lady Robur!
But as I snapped back to my original purpose, I saw the friendly brothers were already gone.
“Ahh... That was quite a sight. I don’t know where Lady Robur is, but I’m sure she’s somewhere in this church. I’ve got to follow her aura.”
I pulled a notebook from the bag slung over my shoulder and began transcribing the inspiration that had just struck me. I’d faithfully carry out the lady’s advice! As I finished and glanced back over the pages, my eyes fell on the inspiration I’d written down earlier. That passage I’d jotted down in my notebook just before Lady Robur had vanished. Prince Regulus’s scary vibe usually only ever showed when I was arm in arm with Lady Robur, or when we were getting excited talking about roses or our fangirl obsessions. It was definitely jealousy.
Shuddering at the memory of the prince’s intimidating aura—the one he radiated whenever anyone clearly gave Lady Robur special treatment—I tucked the notebook back into my bag and turned the doorknob.
Lost in thought, I carelessly opened the door—only to find the female priest who’d passed by the room earlier standing right there. I had to cover my mouth with both hands to keep from screaming. But she hadn’t noticed me at all, thanks in part to my original protection spell, but also to the obfuscation spell Prince Regulus had cast.
I quietly followed her, and in the church’s shadows, a small moment of respite began. Two overlapping shadows... Ahh, thrilling. I instinctively hid my face with both hands, but secretly peeked through the gaps between my fingers.
Before long, I spotted Priest Nax, with his flaxen hair, and several senior priests who seemed to be his colleagues entering a room somewhere from a distance.
Come to think of it, Priest Nax hadn’t had that artificial smile on his face today, like he had in the chapel. I could actually sense will in his emerald green eyes. What had that been about, back then?
I was about to follow them inside when suddenly, somewhere, I heard a sound like leaves rustling. I stopped. Because I was indoors, right? But I was hearing leaves rustling? That was weird. In that same moment, the protective power dwelling within me reacted, and I felt a strange warmth deep in my chest. Could it be the sacred beast, Drogolena?
Following the sound, I found a door leading underground. I never would have imagined the wall at the far end of that narrow space, used as a cleaning supplies closet, would open with a magic authentication. It was a simple one, so I was able to open it without breaking it.
The moment I entered the room, Lady Robur noticed me—startlingly quickly. I’d heard rumors that she was top-notch when it came to escape skills. She must have terrifyingly sharp intuition.
She raised her left hand, index finger extended, to her lips, gesturing for silence. She was patting her lap as if soothing a child asleep there. No doubt she was lost in thought about what to write in the new art book. The art book, presumably drawn by Lord Heinz, had been so provocative I hadn’t been able to look directly at it. A woman bound by ropes tied into hexagon shapes, throwing every contour of her body into stark relief...
I-I wasn’t thinking about it!