[605] To Someone (3)
Riz asked back.
"What?"
"Do you know who Oscar met?"
"That would be the branch chief…."
"His daughter sat with him. They linked arms and walked, then went into the house together. Don't you find that suspicious?"
To say otherwise would have been a lie.
Even with a license, Oscar wasn't skilled enough to get a special hire at the Mage Association—unless something shady had happened.
"You must be imagining things. Maybe the branch chief's daughter just sat with him and he was escorting her home."
Given the circumstances that was a possible reading, but Nade wasn't foolish enough to miss the subtle emotional line between a man and a woman.
"I'm not lying. If you'd seen it yourself, you'd believe me."
Riz felt ashamed.
"Stop. Why are you making such a fuss? Nothing's going to change because of this. You know that, don't you?"
"Why wouldn't anything change? Oscar doesn't truly love you!"
"Even so, that's my problem to deal with! I don't want to hear this from you! Don't ruin the good memories I have!"
"Senior—"
Whatever kind of schooldays Riz and Nade had were a secret only they knew, and now even that was just a fond memory.
"Just go. I think meeting you was a mistake. Even if Oscar does have another woman…."
Biting her lip, Riz forced the words out.
"I will never go to you."
Feeling as if the sky had collapsed, Nade bowed his head and left Riz's room listlessly.
* * *
"Mom! Mom!"
Nade was eight years old.
The West family's fortune had declined. On their way to the capital to take out a loan, their carriage was ambushed by the Chickenhead bandits.
The carriage overturned and the servants were captured and brutally slaughtered without exception.
Teria, Nade's mother, stamped toward the only carriage still standing, but she was seized by the bandits before she could do anything.
"Kuhahaha! Where do you think you're running off to!"
The Chickenheads were half-mad, and the man who leapt on Teria stuck out his pierced tongue.
"She's a real beauty, isn't she? From now on, you're mine!"
"Kyah!"
Hearing his mother's crazed scream, Nade lunged at the bandits without restraint.
"Let my mother go!"
"Kukuku. Too bad, kid."
They assumed one blow would be enough to deal with an eight-year-old.
But as the man raised his sword, he saw blue electricity streak toward his solar plexus and his eyes widened.
"Ugh!"
When the struck man flew away, everyone at the scene turned their gaze to the child.
"Magic? That little brat?"
A coachman waiting by the carriage shouted.
"Get in, now!"
The carriage had already started to move; Teria and Nade gave chase with everything they had.
Teria climbed in first, and Nade—lagging by a hair—was caught by the bandits.
"Mom! Mom!"
From inside the carriage speeding away, Teria watched the captured Nade with a face gone pale.
"Sto—!"
Her voice carried the weight of every torment a person could bear.
"Stop! Stop it!"
"It's no use! If we go back there's no way to rescue him! Someone has to get out alive to go call for help!"
"Mom—!"
Nade's screams echoed through the mountains.
* * *
"Hah."
On a cold dawn, Nade crouched by the roadside and let his breath fog as he stared up at the Dolphin Inn.
No one passed by; only busy birds chirped in the distant woods.
"I knew it would come to this."
Oscar still hadn't returned.
Riz might be told that he'd simply been delayed, but Nade, who had seen the scene himself, saw the whole picture.
It had been an offer hard to refuse.
Anyone at the Magic Academy knew how fiercely mages competed and how desperately they craved success.
If the director's daughter had flirted with him, even someone from a modest background would be shaken.
'That doesn't change anything.'
Everyone has something they value above all else.
'Aren't you thinking about the hurt Riz would feel?'
What made him angry was Oscar's response.
If success came before love, then what was the betrothal for? Why bring Riz this far?
'There can only be one reason.'
Nade's gaze went cold. In the distance he saw Oscar in a coat, looking tired, walking toward them.
Whatever complaints Oscar might voice in front of Riz, he showed no sign of guilt as he approached.
"You've been busy, huh? Running all over."
Oscar turned at the sudden provocation by the roadside, realized it was Nade, and blinked in surprise.
"What are you doing here? Did you wait here all night?"
"You look satisfied. Did things go well with the director?"
"W-what nonsense is that?"
At first flustered, Oscar's mage's instincts for reading a situation kicked in and anger spread across his face.
"Don't tell me you followed me. Typical scumbag behavior. You're pathetic."
"Wait. Can we talk?"
Oscar snorted and turned away.
"Why would I? And I don't know what misunderstanding you're under, but I only stopped by the director's house on business."
"If you're that confident, you can tell the truth, right?"
"Ha! To Riz? Go ahead. Do you think Riz would believe someone jealous like you?"
"No. To the press."
Oscar's expression hardened.
"If what I saw is accurate, you've committed a grave offense that would tarnish the kingdom's honor as a licensed mage. An affair with the branch chief's daughter and using that to get into the Association? What happens if that gets out?"
Mages were headstrong, but licensed mages in the state's employ had ethics to uphold.
"…What do you want?"
"So I said—talk with me."
Oscar checked that no one was nearby and stepped toward Nade.
"All right. Move where you want."
Nade placed a hand on Oscar's shoulder and cast a teleport; with a roar and a flash that warped the light, the scenery shifted.
They were in a clearing in the woods outside Creas, and Oscar, taking in the location, sneered.
"Of course—typical thug. You think bringing me to a place like this will scare me? You look down on licensed mages—ugh!"
Nade's fist twisted against Oscar's jaw.
"You bastard!"
Oscar tried to turn, but Nade was no longer there.
Nade moved so quickly human nerves couldn't follow; he pushed himself to stay rational.
'Grrr!'
But when the emotions he'd been holding back for this moment were unleashed, murderous intent began consuming him.
"Ugh!"
A punch struck from an unexpected direction; Oscar fell.
"What the hell—?"
Nade's movement was more like a blink than a teleport.
It could have been flicker magic—the Unlocker's trademark—but if it were, Riz would have mentioned it.
"Stop your tricks and come out, coward!"
"Who are you talking to?"
Oscar turned toward the voice, but absurdly the blow had come from the opposite side.
A fist to his cheek spun him around and he collapsed to the ground, pathetic and humiliated.
"Aaagh!"
Now fully seized by killing intent, Oscar used teleportation to create distance and ignited his specialty—fire magic—in both hands.
"I'll kill you!"
He shouted, but with no target in sight his anger only frayed into frustration.
'Damn it! Where are you!'
Even with a Spirit Zone swallowing dozens of meters around him, Oscar couldn't detect Nade's presence.
'Is he farther away?'
Before he could plan, a straight punch came from an utterly unexpected place and Oscar rolled along the ground.
"Ugh!"
He spat blood as quiet, catlike footsteps drew near.
"Get up."
The words were followed by merciless beating; as if determined to kill, Nade began stomping on Oscar.
"Krrrgh!"
Curled into a ball and groaning, Oscar was kicked in the gut as Nade closed in again.
"Argh!"
Oscar tumbled and writhed, and only then did Nade flip his head back and catch his breath.
"Get up."
Being able to control the situation with only this level of release was a kind of magical mastery, but Nade felt wretched.
"Get up. Please. Don't let it end here."
"You—you bastard—!"
As Oscar pushed himself up, Nade's foot struck his jaw.
"Argh!"
"Get up."
Facing an impossible opponent, Oscar's vision went black; he crawled and pressed his back to a tree trunk.
"Just hit me. If you want to hit, hit all you like."
There was no point pretending to fight someone he couldn't see; judging the gap in skill was pointless.
"Is that your last shred of pride? Struggle all you want."
"Hmph. You're only mad at me anyway, right? Think of it like stepping in dung and get it out of your system. And get out of my life."
"You won't have it so easy. As you know, I'm a thug."
Oscar's face, already contorted in pain, twisted further.
"Why are you doing this? What do you hope to gain from ruining me? If I break up with Riz, wouldn't that be good for you too?"
"Beg. Go to her and beg. Say you were out of your mind, say you won't do it again, beg until your hands and feet rot off."
Oscar went blank for a moment.
"You naive fool. What will you even gain? Do you think some naive romanticism will win? Women want sweet lies, not worthless sincerity."
"That may be true."
Nade crouched in front of Oscar.
"If you'd played it cool, not cried, peddled those sweet lies you talked about, maybe senior would have come to me."
Nade's hand tightened around Oscar's throat.
"Gkkk!"
"But there are people so precious that you can only treat them with sincerity."
Oscar choked and thrashed.
"You were like that at first too, weren't you? Her breath was sweet, looking into her eyes made your head spin. And yet you weighed her against success?"
Nade's face twisted into something monstrous.
"You should've given one thing up. That sweet lie you used to win a woman's heart—the satisfaction of claiming you'd won her—do you have not even the smallest shred of responsibility?"
'This bastard's gone mad.'
Nade's eyes held a supernatural killing intent no human should bear.
The thought that he might die there became real, and his mind finally began searching for an escape.
'Right. I'm a licensed mage. This is self-defense.'
His opponent had no mage's license, and it had been Nade who was struck first.
"All right. Fine. I get it. I'll do as you say."
Nade stepped back slowly. Oscar, rubbing his bruised throat, asked one last thing.
"Do you really have to go this far? I was betting my life too. Wouldn't it be better for both of us to end this now?"
"That's for Riz to decide. Tell the truth and beg. You'll never get a job at the Mage Association."
"Hah. This is so frustrating."
Oscar slumped in resignation and toyed with the ring on his hand behind his back.
'Once I enter the Spirit Zone, it's over.'
A licensed mage with a decent income usually carried at least one magical item for emergencies.
"All right, maybe right now Riz seems like the whole world to you. But you'll understand as you get older. You're a student, so you don't know yet…."
Oscar thrust out a hand.
"The world of adults is ruthless."
The Lightning Thunder sealed in his ring activated, and a bolt of lightning struck down onto Nade's crown.