Chapter 124
[“Winter Orsheus is someone who must keep returning to life, unable to die.
But… what if I am no longer Winter Orsheus?”
“I’m insane, but you’re completely mad too…”
“Agricen, I will give you 100 lives. For those 100 lives, I will offer myself as the test subject for your disgusting ideas.
Tear apart my soul and body, destroy the things that define me as Winter Orsheus until even the gods’ rules accept that I am no longer him.”]
The man who called himself a savior spoke.
Agricen began to laugh darkly. He didn’t care about any prophecy or “savior” nonsense.
He had been imprisoned since before Igrio was even born.
The idea of regression was mildly interesting… but even with it, nothing changed — he was still stuck in this prison unless someone took him out.
As his vision, dulled from years in the dark, became clear again, Agricen’s voice trembled with delight.
“Heh… hehehe… Hey, you. I have no intention of refusing your offer. But you clearly don’t understand what it means to be my test subject. I almost pity you…”
“I know it better than anyone. Even better than you.”
The man slowly removed his cloak.
Silver hair shining brilliantly, clean blue eyes — completely out of place in this dark, filthy prison.
But within those eyes was such madness and mockery that even Agricen, called the worst of all mages, felt a chill run down his spine.
“Agricen, this is not our first meeting. To be exact, this is the 901st.
The first time we met, I promised you 1,000 chances.
900 attempts have failed, so now you have 100 chances left.”
Agricen’s jaw trembled.
“…And if all of them fail?”
“Then for all 1,000 lives, you will remain my test subject, and we will continue our experiments. What’s wrong? Afraid?”
Afraid?
“Heh… hehe…”
Through his still-trembling teeth, a hum of death mixed with both fear and pleasure escaped.
Then, with his voice echoing in the empty prison, Agricen shouted in rapture,
“Perfect! You’re perfect! I’ll do it — I’ll do it again this time! If it fails, I’ll do it the next time, and the time after that! You must come find me every time!”
— The Wings of the White Dragon, Vol. 2 — Overflowing
***
On the way to the Western Empire’s Magic Tower, Serzan and I managed to hitch a ride in the back of a passing freight wagon.
“……”
“……”
A strange silence hung between us.
It wasn’t that we usually talked nonstop — in fact, we often shared comfortable silences.
But this time… it felt awkward, uneasy.
Wanting someone to break it, I scratched at my bracelet with a fingernail.
[Why are you scratching me!]
Raglia’s sudden loud voice startled me into pretending I didn’t notice.
“M-Me?”
[Yes, I can feel it — this desperate plea for me to fix this awkward mood! You want the great Raglia to intervene and break this weird tension between you two, right? Like a third party stepping into this strange vibe between master and… someone~~]
Oh right — Raglia was still mad about having his lair robbed.
I just shot myself in the foot.
“I was just scratching without thinking. Sorry.”
[No, no! This is clearly an SOS signal to me! I can feel—]
“Nope. Be quiet, Raglia.”
Hehehe.
The bracelet blinked like it was laughing.
I scratched my wrist again, very obviously, and glanced sideways — only to find Serzan resting his chin on his hand, quietly watching me.
Oh no.
I needed to say something clever to break the tension.
But when I opened my mouth… nothing came to mind.
My lips just kept opening and closing like a fish asking for food.
Unable to stand it, I blurted the first thing that came to mind:
“Uh… random word.”
…Wow. I really said nothing.
I felt like smacking myself in the head.
“What do you mean?”
Serzan’s gaze became warm — the way a kind person might look at a slightly slow child.
“Word chain game?” I suggested weakly.
His eyes softened even more.
“Alright. Any words? It breaks the rules, but I’ll allow it once.”
“Y-Yes…”
“Wordplay.”
“…Nan…”
Ugh, I couldn’t even keep up with a simple game.
Words starting with “nan” were hard to think of.
“…Undershirt.”
Of all things, an undershirt.
Only afterward did I think of “heater,” and bit my lip.
“Undershirt…?” Serzan frowned slightly.
Right — no way he’d know that word.
“I lose,” I admitted.
The bracelet buzzed mockingly.
Serzan now looked at me almost pityingly.
Just then, the wagon came to a stop.
“This is as far as we go. What will you two do now?” the driver called.
I jumped to my feet like I’d been waiting my whole life for this moment.
“Thank you!”
The wagon dropped us at the entrance to a mountain range.
Two hours ago, the tower had looked as small as my little finger — now it was as big as my forearm.
Serzan picked me up and leaped onto the highest, sturdiest branch of a tall tree nearby.
“Tia, wait here. I’ll be back soon.”
“…Wait, you mean I’m just staying here?”
He nodded.
I stared between him and the black tower, baffled.
“Why… why?”
Shadows deepened on his face, perhaps from the tree’s shade.
“It’s rare for you to ask ‘why.’ You didn’t ask who prisoner Agricen is, why he has the elemental stone, or how I know that — but you ask why I’m going alone?”
“Ah…”
I just opened and closed my mouth again like an idiot.
He set me gently on the branch and pointed toward the tower in the mountains.
“Since you asked, I’ll answer: I’m going to meet a monster. A monster I once personally released into the world — a piece of darkness inside me.”
He straightened, ready to leave, smiling politely but coldly.
“…It’s someone you don’t need to meet.”
No.
Even before the word left my lips, my body moved — I grabbed his fluttering cloak with both hands.
“I… I get what you mean, but… I don’t want to.”
Then, like a stubborn child, I hugged his left leg tightly.
I didn’t want him to meet Agricen alone.
“Tia.”
His firm voice didn’t make me let go — I clung even harder.
Prisoner Agricen… he was someone tied to Winter Orsheus’s darkest, most desperate time.
A time when Winter decided to erase his very existence from the world in order to die.
If he could slice up both his body and soul into such tiny pieces that even the gods would agree he no longer existed… then maybe he could vanish completely.
That was when he met Agricen.
Back then, Winter tried to deny being Winter Orsheus at all — even to overturn the fact that he was human, or a living being at all.
To me, that tower looked like a massive gravestone with “Winter Orsheus” carved into it.
“You still want to go alone? Fine, then kick me off and go.”
During his time as Agricen’s test subject, Winter’s soul had been shattered in some way.
Agricen had kept his mind alive while completely dismantling his body and spirit.
Days blurred together like he was just a breathing log.
It was like a black wave swallowing the heart.
I dug my nails into his leg, refusing to let go.
