# Chapter 6
Del didn’t say a word until they reached the hotel. The only thing he said was to request “the most expensive and best room” upon arriving at an incredibly expensive-looking hotel. Ethan seriously had to wonder if his joke had been that devastating. He admitted it wasn’t a particularly funny joke, but he didn’t think it was serious enough to warrant not even making eye contact.
“There isn’t just one type of magician. Did you know that?”
“Huh?”
Del suddenly spoke once they entered the room, startling Ethan who had been feeling awkward for quite some time. When their eyes met, Ethan finally realized that Del hadn’t been silent because the joke wasn’t funny, but because he had been contemplating how to explain something. He could have just said so instead of making things awkward. However, Del didn’t seem to care at all, and Ethan naturally placed Del’s bag that he had been carrying in a corner.
“I don’t know much about magicians except from stories I’ve heard.”
“Well, I suppose there’s no reason for a magician to be anywhere near where you live.”
Magicians are extremely high-end personnel. The abilities they possess from birth ensure that even if they’re born in the slums, they’re discovered early on and directed toward a special destiny.
“Magicians are born magicians.”
“I know that much.”
“Really? Then do you know that they receive their star at birth?”
“Star?”
“Yes. That star influences a magician’s abilities. Depending on which star selects them, magicians can use different types of magic, and their destinies differ. This is the type of magician most people see.”
“The kind that shoots fire, causes explosions, and uses water?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“It’s hard to imagine since I’ve never actually seen one.”
Ethan found Del’s carelessly discarded shoes and thought as he organized them. Indeed, a magician in his imagination was nothing more than an old man with a long beard brewing mysteriously colored potions in a large cauldron. At the very least, he could tell that the boy before him didn’t match the image of a magician. The magician from the mercenary group he had seen from afar was young, but had a frail and neurotic image. It was difficult to imagine someone as peculiar as this peer being a magician.
“Have you never seen a magician?”
Ethan nodded. Having dealt with high-status or wealthy women, he had heard more stories about them than most, but that was the extent of it. He had never once encountered a magician. Magicians were mysterious beings with an unapproachable image. For one thing, they weren’t the type to casually toss stockings on the table after removing them. As Ethan placed the lace stockings—which felt incredibly expensive just to touch—in the wardrobe, he thought: This boy definitely doesn’t fit that image. But Del said with wide eyes:
“But you have.”
“I told you I haven’t.”
“The coachman.”
“Huh?”
“The coachman is also a magician.”
“What?”
Ethan was genuinely surprised. How could a simple coachman be a magician? He was just a decent-looking young man who could be seen anywhere. Ethan realized he needed to revise his image of what a magician looked like. Neither the coachman nor Del standing before him looked anything like magicians. He decided to accept that he simply didn’t have the ability to identify magicians by appearance. None of the magicians in his imagination were the type to bang their knee on a chair and writhe in pain. Ethan set the fallen chair upright.
“All desert coachmen are magicians. They read the stars to cross the desert and use magic to find protection and water. Their stars carry that destiny.”
“Ah.”
“Otherwise, how could anyone travel by carriage through a desert crawling with monsters?”
That makes sense. Ethan nodded. He hadn’t given it much thought before, but it made sense now that he heard it. He had always thought individuals were simply competent, but there were things that couldn’t be explained by that alone. All deserts were thoroughly prepared to bring travelers to the brink of death, but this one was particularly close to death. The ability to traverse such a desert freely—yes, calling it magic made more sense now.
“So can you cross the desert like the coachman?”
Curious as to why Del had hired a coachman to cross the desert, Ethan asked. Del shook his head.
“I can’t drive a carriage.”
“…Ah.”
It was a matter of skill before magic.
“What about other magicians?”
Del had said there were two types of magicians. If one type received abilities through a star’s selection, there must be another type. And by the atmosphere, Del would belong to the latter.
“Magicians who inherit through bloodline.”
“Blood?”
That sounds familiar. While Ethan tried to recall this hazy memory, Del continued his explanation.
“Magicians sometimes call this kind ‘true magicians.’ Outside magicians are bound by their selected star’s destiny and orbit within that trajectory, but ‘we’ are not. There are no limitations to our magic; rather, our abilities are determined by the purity of our blood.”
Bloodline. He had definitely heard about this before. And only after a long moment could Ethan remember. Of course. There was only one type of magician whose power was inherited through blood. Ethan groaned.
“The Emperor’s Hound…”
“So you know? The Emperor’s Hound, the Herald of Destruction, the Star Soaked in Blood. That’s ‘us.'”
“Ah, if you’re really…”
“Derev Serli Crowlia.”
Ugh. Ethan let out a small groan. He certainly knew that name. It would be nonsensical not to know the oldest ducal house in the Empire. Each member of their bloodline was a powerful magician and enjoyed the Emperor’s favor. His complexion must have changed at this unexpectedly distinguished status. Del laughed and asked:
“Why, are you surprised? I thought you were insolent regardless of status.”
“Even that has its limits.”
“To be honest, I didn’t think you’d know much about status.”
Del laughed seeing Ethan still responding properly despite everything. Someone of that status might typically dislike back talk, but he seemed to particularly enjoy Ethan’s retorts. They say the higher the status, the stranger the personality—this must be his peculiarity. Having tastes strange enough to be bizarre. Of course, there wasn’t much to say about the fact that Ethan himself had become the object of that bizarre taste. Ethan finally managed:
“I definitely understand that disobedience would be a serious matter.”
“Being cheeky is fine.”
Well, with tastes that unique, it makes sense he’d seek Ethan out even in the slums. Being unpredictable, curious, and doing things others wouldn’t think of. But there was still something Ethan didn’t understand. And this whole conversation started with that question.
“So what is a crow?”
He wouldn’t get the same answer as before: “The crow is you.” “A magician must have a crow by their side.” Del had given that lengthy explanation about magicians to explain this. Del said:
“They say a magician’s soul is a star.”
Del had said that “outside magicians” receive a star’s selection. So this must be about “true magicians.” They don’t receive a star’s selection. They don’t follow a star’s destiny, but their own. Because they themselves are stars.
“A burned fragment from the corner of a star. A being that cannot emit light on its own, but completes the star merely by existing. A being that lives the most different life but shares the closest fate. That is the crow.”
Honestly, Ethan didn’t understand a word. It sounded like gibberish, but Del spoke with such seriousness that Ethan felt he should at least pretend to understand.
“If you don’t understand, just live without understanding.”
“I don’t get it at all. So why is it called a ‘crow’?”
“Because a magician must have a crow by their side.”
“Why am I a crow?”
“You were just born that way.”
Ethan thought he somewhat understood, but didn’t fully grasp it. A crow? Of course, for magicians, “crow” might be something like an idiomatic expression used as a formula, but wasn’t Ethan himself human? However, it didn’t seem likely that Del, a member of a ducal house, would lie just to lure a slum boy. Is that why he said Ethan wouldn’t have to do anything? Ethan had been listening because Del offered payment for an ability he didn’t even know he possessed, but it was a suspicious and vague proposal in many ways. Yet at this point, the benefits of following Del far outweighed rejecting the offer.
“Whether you believe it or not, whether you understand it or not, it doesn’t matter. You’re going to follow me anyway, right?”
“Saying it like that might make me rebellious.”
“Well, I only explained this out of courtesy for our future employment relationship, not because I thought you’d understand the concept.”
Though his words could have felt condescending after such vague explanations, somehow Ethan didn’t feel bad at all. They hadn’t spent much time together, but since their first meeting, Del had been strangely easy to talk to.
“Do you really need that crow? Enough to personally search for me in the slums? The magicians I’ve heard about seemed to do fine on their own.”
“That’s because their power is borrowed. ‘Our’ magic comes from blood, so using strong magic becomes problematic. And I’m special even among us.”
“Special?”
“I’m the most powerful magician in our family, which means I have restrictions.”
He spoke so confidently about his abilities that Ethan almost missed it. Ethan belatedly realized that being the most powerful magician in the ducal house meant there might not be a stronger magician in the country. He really shouldn’t be defiant, just cheeky.
“What the—?”
Ethan, momentarily lost in thought, was honestly startled when Del suddenly removed his top and tossed it aside. Seeing Ethan’s composure break for the first time since they’d met, Del laughed cheerfully.
“What? Do I look like a girl undressing?”
Ethan bristled at the subtle implication that he was naive. Though not something to boast about, honestly, he’d seen far more female bodies than this pale young master before him. Ethan replied tersely:
“It’s normal to be disgusted seeing a man’s naked body.”
“I see. Sometimes I find it difficult to gauge what normal people think.”
How could such common sense be confusing? But Ethan realized that Del had been living a life where wearing women’s dresses was completely natural. He truly was unique.
“Usually people nearly get nosebleeds even if I just slightly lift my skirt.”
“…Have you shown this to others?”
“If I took off the blouse, it would be obvious.”
That wasn’t what he meant. The answer missed the point, but it was difficult to ask further. Ethan belatedly realized his question sounded like that of a jealous novice.
“Look here.”
Ah. In the sunlight streaming through the window, his white body gleamed like ivory. The narrow shoulders of the not-yet-fully-grown boy certainly made his gender appear ambiguous. His waist, tightly cinched by a corset, looked slender despite Del being male. Everything was ambiguous. His gender, and something strangely boiling up inside Ethan.
(Illustration)
He seemed to have been momentarily entranced. Belatedly, Ethan could see where Del’s fingertip was pointing. He was pointing at the area around his left chest. As his gaze naturally followed, he saw:
“A tattoo?”
“Briar rose.”
A tattoo resembling a thorny vine encircled his left heart. Thin stems were densely interwoven with small leaves and thorns, and the pattern of small flowers seemed familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before. The tattoo wrapping around the left chest left only a faint trace as it curled inward near the heart and gradually disappeared.
“It’s the mark and price of casting forbidden magic.”
Del was still smiling. But the atmosphere was clearly different from before. Having lived on the streets, Ethan had seen and interacted with many people, constantly reading them to survive. What was certain was that if that expression counted as a smile, drawing a smile on an egg would be better. His mouth was smiling, but his eyes were dead.
It was truly peculiar. Ethan would never know what was contained in those eyes, yet he could still sense certain things. Regret, remorse, duty… and eyes tired of it all. It was an excessively adult-like gaze for a boy of fifteen or sixteen. That made Ethan hesitate.
“Forbidden magic gave me powerful magical abilities, but it always exacts a price. The medium of my magic is blood. The briar rose is both mark and payment. When I draw magic from blood, the briar constricts my heart, causing pain. Strong power comes with strong restrictions. I’m a powerful magician, but in my current state, I can’t properly use magic.”
Del’s eyes turned to Ethan. He said:
“That’s why I need you.”
Ah. For the first time, Ethan thought Del seemed like a magician. His voice, as if infused with magic, lingered inside Ethan’s ears, refusing to fade away.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
