#74
“First of all…”
I could see Kara opening her mouth to clarify the situation. At that moment, my vision became completely jumbled.
“…!”
There was nothing wrong with my body. It was just that a barrier-like thing originating from the sword began to spread outward, pushing away Kara and the Duke. Kara was pushed back and collided with the wall, but the Duke withstood the wave emitted from the sword.
The Duke urgently tried to reach through the barrier that blocked his path. However, like rubber, the barrier merely stretched according to the shape of the Duke’s hand without being pierced or punctured. I couldn’t understand this sudden situation.
I hastily looked down at the sword. The light emanating from the sword grew increasingly brighter, disorienting my vision.
“Andelion!!”
The Duke seemed equally unprepared for this situation. He called my name loudly while trying desperately to reach out to me. Just as I leaned forward to move toward the Duke, suddenly the ground beneath my feet gave way, and my body was sucked into somewhere.
As my body sank downward, I could see the Duke and Kara urgently approaching from above, as if the barrier had disappeared. However, soon even their figures vanished from sight as I fell into some dark place.
The sudden situation startled me so much that I couldn’t even scream. The sword cradled in my arms continued to emit a strange light.
“Ugh…!”
The moment I questioned the sword, my body landed somewhere. As I was thrown onto a cold floor, a loud boom echoed and dust rose, creating a hazy mist. Fortunately, there seemed to be no impact from the fall as my body didn’t hurt.
Coughing repeatedly, I released the sword from my hand. Based on what the Duke and Kara had said, that “voice” that had spoken to me had long since left this sword. This strange phenomenon happening now was probably because of the sword…
“Success.”
At that moment, an unfamiliar voice pierced my ears. When I raised my head, the mist surrounding me dissipated, revealing iron bars blocking my path. This place seemed to be a prison. Beyond those bars stood someone wearing a robe.
Suddenly, I was reminded of the mysterious figure I had encountered while investigating the entrance ceremony incident late at night.
As they approached me, they slowly removed the robe they were wearing. It was a face I had never seen before. With dark skin that couldn’t be described as human and long ears visible among silver hair, this person caught my attention. I had never seen someone like this in my life.
“Professor Yaksi.”
However, I could immediately recognize who she was.
When I called her name, she frowned and tilted her head to the side.
“Yaksi? Who are you talking about?”
As if pretending not to know, she began acting as if she was hearing the name “Yaksi” for the first time.
Fair enough—when Yaksi usually wore her robe, her voice wasn’t like it was now. It was a bit lower and huskier. Moreover, the robe she was currently wearing was different from what she usually wore. Originally, her figure when wearing the robe had been much larger than now, so it didn’t make sense to definitively identify her as Yaksi.
Nevertheless, the moment I first saw her, the name Yaksi was all that came to mind. I was one of the few people who knew she was a woman, and I had seen her near the dormitory room last night. After seeing her, the sword’s voice was no longer audible. So it was easy to deduce who was responsible for activating the magic using the sword as a medium.
“Professor Yaksi, what did you do to the sword?”
“You keep saying Yaksi, Yaksi, but I don’t know anyone by that name.”
Saying that, she moved a bit closer to me. With just one iron bar between us, she smiled brightly.
“Well, if you want to believe that I’m someone called Yaksi, feel free to believe that.”
She spoke to me in a voice incomparably gentle, unlike her usual fierce tone. Her gaze shifted to the sword I was holding.
“You were dragged here because of that sword, are you okay? Holding it like that?”
I answered by gripping the sword even tighter. Since I didn’t know when the sword’s voice might be heard again, I couldn’t let it go from my possession.
“What did you do to this sword? Why…!”
“You must have many questions. Why you’re suddenly here. Where this place is. What I did. You must want to know a lot. I understand.”
Yaksi nodded several times as if she completely understood my feelings. Her demeanor was so playful that it didn’t overlap with the cold and sharp Yaksi I knew. If I hadn’t seen her at the dormitory yesterday, I wouldn’t have identified the current Yaksi with the one I knew.
I glared at her without saying anything. It was obvious that she wasn’t going to give me a proper answer.
“Don’t glare at me like that. I’ll tell you later. Later. If you can get out of here, that is.”
After finishing her words, Yaksi turned her back to me and walked lightly toward the door. I couldn’t just let her leave like this. I needed something to stop her footsteps. But I didn’t know why she was doing this to me or what she was curious about.
Think. Why would she put me here? What does she want to do with me? While thinking and thinking about what I needed, I blurted out a term that crossed my mind.
“You once told me about the difference between mana and magic power!!”
At that moment, Yaksi’s footsteps stopped. She let out a small sigh, turned her head, and looked at me.
“I don’t know who you’re confusing me with, but I’ve never told you about such things…”
“Then you must also know what happens when mana enters Clum.”
At that moment, Yaksi’s face, which had been full of mischief as if wearing a mask, froze coldly.
“Where did you hear that?”
This was the Yaksi I was familiar with.
Knowing that Yaksi researched Clum and speculating that she had more knowledge about mana than ordinary people, I guessed she would be interested in the relationship between Clum and mana, so I brought it up as an estimation. Fortunately, Yaksi showed interest in my words.
Yaksi slowly approached me again. If I didn’t catch Yaksi’s attention now, everything would be in vain. I desperately racked my brain trying to come up with words that could hold her attention.
“Even for a young master, that would be unknown content, wouldn’t it?”
Since Clum itself wasn’t widely known and few people knew about mana, it was surprising that I knew about it.
“Are you curious about who told me this?”
Yaksi remained silent, staring at me intently. Though she was pretending otherwise, it was obvious she was curious about who had told me about this. I stood up and met Yaksi’s gaze.
“I’ll tell you who told me, but in return, you answer my questions. How does that sound?”
“Oh? You’re proposing a deal with me while trapped in there?”
“If you really want to know, that is.”
I couldn’t show weakness here. My heart wanted to cling to Yaksi right now. If that alone could get me out of here or gain new information, I would have done so. But the moment I knelt before her, the information I held would become insignificant.
I pretended to be composed and spoke directly to her.
“What will you do?”
Yaksi’s face, which had been glaring at me disapprovingly, slowly began to change as if putting on a mask. Yaksi looked me over, smiling as if she found this situation very interesting.
“Do you think what you have to tell me is really necessary for me?”
“Yes. That’s why you stopped walking and came back here.”
Hearing my words, Yaksi looked at me without saying anything and then nodded. Her demeanor seemed very detached, but I didn’t forget the fact that Yaksi had been shaken just moments ago. Yaksi probably hadn’t expected me to act like this. That’s why she showed the side of her that I knew.
“Alright, fine. Give and take is good. Ask away. What do you want to know?”
“What did you do to this sword?”
Perhaps the reason the sword stopped talking was also because of Yaksi’s magic. If not, how could everything happen with such perfect timing? I chose this question from among many to find a small clue in her answer.
Yaksi blinked several times with her eyes wide open. Then, as if dejected, she let out a short breath and tilted her head slightly to the side.
“In this situation, the only question you ask is about that sword? ‘Why did you imprison me here?’ ‘Where is this place?’ There are many things you must be curious about. Yet among all those questions, why did you choose that one?”
“Answer the question. What did you do to this sword?”
When I refused to change my question, Yaksi let out a small sigh. She seemed to not understand why I was doing this. But whether she understood or not was irrelevant to me. Surprisingly, at this moment, the sword had become the top priority among all matters.
“You’ll be disappointed…”
“Whether I’m disappointed or not, that’s for me to judge.”
“No, I didn’t do anything to your sword.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
