#85. What Happened in Kalita (2)
Sasha thought for a moment before deciding.
“I’m going to help him.”
Pavel silently nodded, showing he fully respected her decision.
She smiled faintly, meeting his gaze before turning toward the unfamiliar man.
“Excuse me.”
The male mage looked up, eyes teary. He seemed startled by her sudden approach.
“Wh-who are you…?”
“Could I take a look at that for a moment?”
“Huh?”
He clutched the jar tightly to his chest, as if she meant to steal it.
“I think I can help you.”
“You… really?”
“Yes. I know it’s hard to trust someone you’ve just met, but…” She glanced at the jar. “You built its formula around memory magic and duplication magic, didn’t you?”
The mage’s eyes widened.
“How did you know?”
“If you put an object you want to duplicate inside, along with the materials that make it up in the right proportions, it will create an identical copy, right?”
“Gasp…!”
“That’s a difficult feat, but you managed to research it well.”
Her praise made him flush with pride—something he’d never heard in years of fruitless research.
“Yes. I started this six years ago after reading something in an old book. Last year I finally found a clue…”
When she asked if he still doubted her, he hesitated, then handed her the jar.
Looking closely at the formula, Sasha confirmed her suspicion.
“As I thought—this is the problem.”
She touched the markings. The mana-written characters blurred, then realigned, until they became fixed again like printed letters.
“Done. Now let’s test it to be sure.”
The jar had limitations: it could only copy items small enough to fit inside, the materials had to be exact, and it could not copy living things.
Spotting a carved wooden rabbit and matching wood blocks among the mage’s supplies, Sasha used them for the test.
Thump, thump. She put the wood block and rabbit inside, then activated the magic.
Vrrr—
The jar glowed, drawing curious onlookers. When the light faded, two identical wooden rabbits lay inside.
The mage was stunned.
“Th-thank you!”
He bowed deeply.
“There’s no need for that,” Sasha said, trying to help him up. Pavel stopped her, lifted the mage easily like a scarecrow, then let him go.
“I must reward you,” the mage insisted.
“It’s fine.”
But he pulled a worn book from his robe.
“This is the book that inspired me to make this. It’s an ancient text from before proper naming conventions even existed, incredibly rare. Please take it.”
“Such a precious thing… are you sure?”
“Of course. I’ve memorized every word. Accepting this is the only way I can repay someone who saved my child.”
“Your… child?”
He hugged the jar. “This is like my own child.”
Sasha didn’t want to accept a reward, but she loved books—and refusing would only make him more insistent.
“…Thank you.”
She took the book—
“If you receive, you must give. If I seal that, what will you offer me?”
—A strange, booming voice echoed in her head, inhuman and chilling.
“You must give something of equal value… perhaps the Blessing of Forgetting. I could take that from you.”
Her head throbbed violently. She hunched over, struggling to stay conscious.
“Sasha?”
Pavel caught her as she staggered.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing… just a bit dizzy.”
“…Let’s go.”
He tried to lift her, but she insisted she could walk. Half-supported by him, she managed to wave goodbye to the mage as they left.
They walked to the end of Senua Street toward their carriage.
“I feel better after walking a bit.”
“Still, I’ll call a doctor when we get back.”
“…Alright.”
Just then, she noticed an elderly woman in fine clothes surrounded by young men in a shady alley.
At first the woman smiled serenely, but Sasha soon overheard—
“Hand over some money. Or that jeweled cane.”
They were thugs shaking her down.
Sasha’s eyes narrowed. She tapped Pavel’s hand, silently telling him she meant to step in.
“…Alright,” he agreed reluctantly.
She strode forward.
“Hey.”
The thugs turned, spotting Sasha standing boldly at the alley’s mouth.
“Well, well, what do we have here?” sneered their leader, looking her over.
“You shouldn’t be threatening an old woman in broad daylight. I’ve called the guards, so you’d better—”
“Your mouth runs too long.”
“Guards? Think they’ll get here before I—hm?”
Sasha stared straight into his eyes, unflinching.
“Or maybe you could give me something else. Pretty face like yours, nice—”
Wham!
The thug crumpled, clutching his face.
Sasha blinked in surprise. I didn’t hit him yet…
Which meant the one who had just struck him was—
“Pavel?”
