~Chapter 60~
“Welcome to Orphen!”
After suffering from seasickness for days, Simon finally perked up as the kingdom came into view.
“Bianc—uh, I mean Ann—you’ll definitely love it here!”
He looked happy, and it was nice to see.
But now that he was acting like his usual self again… his expression was starting to get on my nerves.
As we were unloading the ship, Lily lightly scolded him.
“Simon, we’re not here on vacation.”
Normally he’d get sulky after that, but Simon proudly replied,
“Don’t worry! I know that already!”
Luckily, Lily seemed to like seeing him in high spirits.
“After tomorrow’s schedule, you’ll have some free time. Go see your family then.”
“Okay! But don’t just stand there—come help with the luggage!”
Barely managing to stand on my wobbly legs, I shouted, and Simon rushed over.
“S-sorry!”
Still, I couldn’t help but smile at his excitement.
I kind of understood how he felt.
“It’s been a while since you’ve been back to Orphen, huh?”
“Yeah, about three years.”
“That long? Wait, then how old were you when you went to the Empire?”
Considering his age now, he must’ve been just a kid.
“I first went to Carpea when I was eleven. It was just a trip with my family… but I fell in love with magic.”
“…”
“My family was against it, but I’m the type who can’t hold back when I want something. So I just went and knocked on the Mage Tower door.”
Simon scratched his head awkwardly.
Lily, who had been listening, chimed in.
“Peril wasn’t there at the time, so we told him we couldn’t take students. But he just hung around the tower for days.”
“I-I couldn’t help it! I had no money left to go back home…”
“Oh.”
So he’s got more guts than I thought.
Simon muttered under his breath, looking a bit bitter.
“And I really wanted to find out something back then.”
“What was it?”
At my question, Simon smirked mysteriously.
“Just… something.”
“…”
“Something you’d never understand, Ann.”
Ugh. Why did I even bring him?
“Alright, that’s enough chatting,” Lily cut in, gathering us back to focus.
“We need to reach the capital by tonight. Let’s keep going.”
Looking at the huge pile of crates on the terrace made me sigh.
And watching Peril just standing there all relaxed made it worse.
Finally, I snapped at him.
“Wow, must be nice to have free time.”
“Leaders never do anything, you know.”
“But you’re not Peril right now, you’re Thomas.”
“Same difference.”
He gave me a smug little smile. Still annoyed, I asked something that had been bugging me.
“Why are you wearing a ring?”
He didn’t need one to disguise himself like I did. He changes appearances like changing clothes.
“Just being polite?”
“What kind of strange etiquette is that?”
“Orphen-style, I suppose.”
I was trying to poke at him, but he didn’t seem affected at all.
I sighed and looked toward the port, where ships were coming, and on top of them, waving the Carpea Empire’s flag.
…Is that a delegation from the palace, after the recent attack?
Please don’t let Erkessian be on one of those ships.
As I was having that random thought, Peril grabbed my chin and turned my face toward him.
“You’ve got luggage to move, remember?”
“…So mean.”
“You think we’ve got time to be slacking off?”
He gave me a little push, basically telling me to get back to work.
***
One thing I learned from all this:
The most important trait for a mage isn’t mana.
It’s stamina. Damn stamina!
I was worried we wouldn’t make it to the palace before sunset, but thankfully, we got there just in time.
“Lord Marcol, it’s been a while. Thank you for welcoming us so warmly.”
With Peril “not officially present,” Lily acted as the Mage Tower’s representative. She greeted a kind-looking middle-aged man with a warm smile.
He welcomed us with genuine hospitality.
“Oh, no need to thank me. We’re grateful for your visit.”
I expected some tension due to the Mage War, but surprisingly, everyone seemed friendly—even the people around him weren’t giving us dirty looks.
Peril noticed my confusion and leaned in to whisper:
“Orphen loves magic.”
“Oh, really?”
“Because of that, we have a pretty good relationship with them.”
Makes sense. The Mage Tower is the only place that deals with magic tools now.
That’s why they were after Dremokan too—because magic is convenient.
‘I get why Ailins wanted Orphen to win the war now…’
“You must be tired from the journey. Please relax tonight. We’ve also prepared a meal, so come on in.”
At Marcol’s words, cheers erupted from the others.
“Can’t wait to catch up with Lord Marcol.”
“Glad we brought wine!”
As Lily and Marcol chatted, Simon started shifting on his feet like he wanted to leave already.
Lily noticed and gave him a light reminder.
“Simon, be back by 10 a.m. tomorrow, okay?”
“Yes, ma’am! Thank you!”
Then he turned to me.
“See you tomorrow, Ann.”
“Take care.”
He was already gone before I finished the sentence.
Man, he was really excited.
“Shall we go too?”
Peril asked, and I nodded quietly.
After we slipped away, I brought up something I’d been meaning to ask.
“Remember that eccentric guy you mentioned?”
“Yeah.”
“How did he even figure out there were other worlds?”
Most people wouldn’t notice something like that.
Even I just thought I’d been thrown into a fictional story.
“It started as a theory. Just a random curiosity—‘there’s no way we’re the only timeline out there.’”
“…”
“But your existence proved the theory.”
“I think I explained it pretty vaguely, but… you still figured it all out.”
Honestly, I thought Peril would press me for more details.
“I’m smarter than I look.”
“Can’t argue with that.”
We were chatting when I squinted at a familiar face up ahead.
“Huh? Simon?”
“…Bianca?”
Simon looked just as surprised.
“Why are you back?”
He looked a little awkward.
“Uh… the shortcut was blocked. If I took the long way, I wouldn’t make it back by morning. So I’m going to visit my family later instead.”
Yikes. I could still remember how excited he was before…
I felt a little bad for him—until Peril spoke in a cold voice.
“That path doesn’t lead to the village.”
“…!”
“There’s no way the shortcut to the village is blocked.”
Simon’s eyes darted like a lost child.
“You lied to me?”
The mood instantly turned icy. Simon panicked and shook his head.
“N-no! It’s not a lie! I was going to see my family, but… not in the village.”
“…”
“I was headed toward the magic-restricted zone.”
…The what?
Peril narrowed his eyes, clearly surprised.
“Wait… is that where you’re from?”
“Yeah.”
It must’ve been rare. Peril tapped his arm in thought.
“The shortcut being blocked, huh…”
Were we heading there too?
“I heard there was an incident involving outsiders a few months ago. Security’s super tight now.”
Peril sighed.
Simon added in a shaky voice:
“I’m worried about my family. But apparently, the only way in is by a special carriage that goes there every two weeks.”
“You can’t use magic there either?”
Simon answered instead:
“It’s the most closed-off area in the kingdom. If you try to use magic, your power just disappears. You can’t even enter without a special pass.”
No wonder Peril didn’t teleport there.
“When’s the next carriage?”
“In two days.”
After listening to them, I spoke up.
“Then we have no choice. Our business will be done by then anyway. Let’s go together.”
Simon blinked.
“Wait… But why are you going there?”
“I have my reasons.”
“…?”
“Something you’d never understand.”
Simon shut his mouth quietly — for once, speechless.
