More than half of the Ten Strongest were either affiliated with or friendly toward the Empire.
Inariel was one of the Ten Strongests who belonged to no one and wandered freely.
"You've both arrived at the same time, huh. What on earth is going on here, really..."
Inariel furrowed his brows.
"You don't seem happy to see me, rather, you look uncomfortable."
"That's not it…"
"So, you think you're all grown up now?"
It looked like a young boy scolding an adult, but the attitude was so natural that Yuri didn't find it strange at all.
Inariel stood with his arms crossed, looking down at Ernando, who was sitting.
"I came to see what you've been up to, but this is how I'm treated…"
"That's not what I meant."
"Try fooling someone else. You can't fool my eyes. Don't even try to make excuses…"
Yuri was deeply impressed by Inariel.
The combination of a youthful appearance and an old-man attitude made Ernando look pitiful by comparison.
Yuri took Inariel's side.
"Ernando, stop trying to dodge and just apologize to Lord Inariel."
"Come on, even you, Your Highness…"
Now being scolded by both of them, Ernando let out a sigh.
"Let's move somewhere else first."
Yuri, Jared, and Inariel followed Ernando's lead and entered a log cabin built in the middle of the forest.
The four of them sat facing each other across a wooden table.
After serving tea, Ernando spoke.
"So, what brings you both here?"
Inariel and Yuri explained their reasons in turn.
"I came because it suddenly crossed my mind."
Inariel said.
According to him, he had been strolling through the forest, talking to the trees, when suddenly the image of Ernando as a child came to mind.
For someone like Inariel, who had reached such a high level of mastery, even his unconscious thoughts didn't flow without reason.
"That's why I came."
Yuri asked,
"Were you and Lord Inariel acquainted since childhood?"
"Yes. I was an orphan. I met Lord Inariel on the street. He saw I had talent for magic and took me in, sending me to the Magic Tower."
"So he was like a parent to you."
"Not quite that much…"
In any case, it meant there wasn't really a reason.
Yuri's reason for visiting Ernando wasn't so different from Inariel's either.
"I was bored and suddenly thought of him."
Ernando looked at the two of them in turn.
"You two…"
Inariel jerked his chin at Ernando, and Yuri tilted his head, legs crossed.
"What?"
"What?"
Ernando shook his head.
"It's nothing."
And with that, he let out a long sigh. Inariel asked,
"What exactly were you doing, acting all testy like a teenager?"
"I was doing personal research."
"I see, and what is that personal research?"
"It's private, though…"
"You're working hard to hide it. But seeing how you're reacting, there must be something."
He may look like a rude boy, but he was a mage who had reached the rank of the Ten Strongests. He had the insight to draw conclusions from the smallest of signs.
"Well, I'll find out eventually."
At Inariel's words, Ernando sighed.
Everything he had painstakingly prepared until now had been ruined by these two. Had only one of them come, it might have been fine, but of all things, they had arrived together—leaving him no choice.
With that frustration in mind, Ernando suddenly asked Inariel,
"Lord Inariel."
"Hmm?"
"Do you by chance know anything about parchment imbued with black magic?"
Yuri looked over, and Ernando gestured with his eyes. The fact that he brought it up meant that Inariel was someone he trusted.
As an Archmage among the Ten Strongests through magic alone, Inariel might know something.
"Parchment imbued with black magic, huh…"
Inariel furrowed his brow. He shook his salmon-colored hair and pondered for a moment.
"If it's parchment, then it must be something very old…"
"Yes, that's correct."
"If it's black magic, then it must be something quite unpleasant."
"It is."
"I don't know much about parchment, though."
"Nothing comes to mind at all?"
Inariel spoke.
"Black magic disappeared a long time ago. I don't know either."
Ernando nodded.
Even if Inariel was a long-lived elf, he didn't know everything.
"Yes, I understand."
In other words, it was of no help.
Not only had they disrupted his work, but they also couldn't offer any useful information. Ernando looked at Inariel with narrowed, triangular eyes.
"That look in your eyes is disrespectful."
Inariel took a sip of tea.
"I saw your array outside earlier. You were about to begin that, weren't you…"
Ernando didn't answer.
The "that" Inariel referred to was his unique magic path, the "Heavenly Insight Method."
Since meeting Yuri, Ernando hadn't used it.
But ever since discovering the parchment on Okua's corpse, he instinctively sensed that a threat loomed over the world.
If such an artifact was circulating among people, something terrible would surely happen.
And if Yuri's suspicion was right—that someone from the imperial family had fallen into black magic—then the entire continent could be engulfed in disaster.
So Ernando tried to trace the identity of the mysterious parchment.
Such an artifact would surely disturb the heavenly secret, so he planned to arrive in the imperial capital, open the "Heavenly Insight Method," and apply it to uncover the truth behind the parchment.
But it didn't go well.
The Heavenly Insight Method allowed one to glimpse destiny—it wasn't omniscient, nor could it predict the future or specify the exact information desired.
It was the first time Ernando attempted to peer into the destiny of a specific object.
On top of that, an unknown malevolent aura kept interfering with his magic.
So, after drawing the magic circle and completing all the incantations, he was finally going to open the Heavenly Insight Method and look into the parchment.
That was today.
But everything went up in smoke.
"Because of someone, it didn't go well."
Yuri Briol, he came.
The one who renders all fate meaningless, appeared on the most crucial day.
If Yuri had come alone, the ritual wouldn't have been interrupted.
After all, Yuri couldn't find his workshop on his own.
But something ridiculous had happened.
At the very hour Yuri came to find him, the Archmage Inariel also happened to visit.
Two rare individuals in the world.
Inariel, who could find his workshop, and Yuri, who nullified fate.
Those two came on the same day, at the same time, to find him here, at the Empire's Magic Tower.
Because of that, the Heavenly Insight Method he had prepared ever since arriving in the imperial capital scattered and extinguished like a candle in the wind.
That happened.
And yet…
The two of them just said they came.
"You really just came?"
"Yeah."
"Mhm."
They said they suddenly thought of him and decided to come.
"This tea's not very good. Get something better next time."
"I don't like tea. Got anything else?"
The two wandered casually around his log cabin, completely unaware of what they had done. Jared scratched his head and gave Ernando a shrug.
"Haa…"
According to Yuri's recent testimony, there was a high probability that the one distributing drugs was the Crown Prince.
If he had fallen into black magic, how could he be stopped?
Before such a grave situation, these two had interrupted his magic at the most critical moment.
Ernando realized he no longer had anything he could do.
"Sir Ernando."
"Yes, Sir Jared."
"From the look of it, you were in the middle of something important…"
"That's correct."
"It seems we came and disturbed you. My apologies."
"No, it's fine. I suppose this must have simply been fate…"
As he said that, Ernando suddenly looked at Yuri and Inariel.
They were wandering noisily through the log cabin, complaining as they went.
Something about that sight felt strange.
The two people he never imagined would be together were now inside his workshop, and the scene felt like such an unbelievable coincidence.
Jared spoke.
"Yes. Just as Sir Ernando said, perhaps fate is saving a better day for you. Hahahaha…"
It was an awkward attempt at comfort.
But Ernando felt something in his words.
"I see. Yes."
He had been impatient, trying to twist the Heavenly Insight Method to serve his ends.
But the world never left greedy magicians alone. What kind of fate had been laid out for someone like him, who tried such a thing?
Where had his future been heading before Yuri had thrown it into chaos?
It was unknowable.
"You're right, Sir Jared."
Ernando let out a hollow laugh.
"I might have tripped, hit my head, and died in obscurity, but thanks to all of you coming, maybe I've been saved. Thank you. Hahaha, it's all thanks to you. You know that, right? You can be proud. Hahahaha…"
As he suddenly burst into laughter, the three others looked at Ernando.
Inariel spoke.
"Are you blaming us right now?"
Yuri replied.
"Seems like it."
Jared gave his own take.
"Looks like he's just coping…"
While Ernando laughed to himself, running his hands through his hair, Yuri turned to Inariel and offered a greeting. He was always polite to the Ten Strongests.
"In any case, I am Yuri Briol, third prince of Briol. It's an honor to meet the famous 'Archmage.'"
"You're surprisingly polite for someone so young. I see that manners still exist in Briol."
"Thank you."
"I am Inariel. By some cruel twist of fate, I am a pitiful elf who still wanders the world instead of resting beneath the World Tree."
Inariel held out his hand.
"This is the human way of greeting, yes?"
Yuri clasped his hand.
It was a small hand. But the magical power radiating from him was anything but small.
It was a strange sensation, as if he were dipping his hand into the great ocean.
Just how much power dwelled within this small elf's body, Yuri couldn't even begin to imagine.
"I heard you beat up those disgusting orcs. I thought you might be like your father, but maybe not quite."
"You know my father?"
"I saw him when I was young. Humans are generally pathetic, but now and then they give birth to monsters like that—perhaps that's why they've flourished."
Yuri looked down at Inariel, briefly lost in thought. A chance to meet one of the Ten Strongests in such a relaxed space was rare.
Yuri didn't believe in fate.
The line between coincidence and inevitability was ultimately drawn by human will.
Yuri wanted to make this unexpected meeting into something meaningful.
"Lord Inariel."
"Hmm?"
"Forgive me for being so forward on our first meeting, but…"
"Speak."
"Would you be willing to give me a small lesson?"
"A lesson, you say…"
Inariel narrowed his eyes.
"From the way you say that, it seems there's something blocking your path."
"Yes, there is."
"You're bold, but you're rather cute, so I'll allow it. Very well, what do you want to know?"
"I'll show you outside."
After exchanging a few words with Inariel, Yuri stepped out of the log cabin.
Watching him, Ernando's mouth fell open.
Inariel had a prickly personality. He didn't particularly like humans either.
Because of his youthful appearance, he was often looked down upon or even targeted by slavers.
For someone like him to show such goodwill to a human he had just met—such a thing was almost unheard of.
Even in his own case, Ernando hadn't been adopted so much as abandoned at the Magic Tower.
"Good heavens…"
Jared, sitting nearby, looked just as surprised.
"Sir Ernando, did you hear that? He just called His Highness cute."
"I did…"
"Out of all the young people I know, His Highness is the least cute…"
"Same here. Out of everyone I know, Lord Inariel is the last person to ever say something like that…"
"Maybe weird people resonate with other weird people."
"That's possible. And when that happens, usually those around them suffer."
"I'm worried."
"Surely not…"
"Surely…"
The two exchanged uneasy glances.
And that "surely not" became reality.
No sooner had they spoken the words than an explosion ripped through the log cabin, blowing away half of it.
***
Sven stood on the tournament stage.
His head was spinning. He couldn't even see his opponent properly. The deafening cheers and jeers from all directions blended into a constant ringing in his ears.
"Yeah."
He muttered to himself.
Just making it this far might have been a miracle.
It was a result beyond his worth.
Still, he wanted to twist that annoying face into something less smug.
"I thought the most annoying thing in the world was the Third Prince…"
"What are you mumbling about?"
His opponent, Oliver Elgast, sneered.
"Admirable effort, but you'll become my sacrifice. Hahaha…"
Sven had made a stunning run to the quarterfinals. But ever since facing Oliver, he could clearly feel the vast difference in their skills.
He was an opponent Sven could never defeat.
Now, it was time to fall.
But he didn't want to.
After seeing that someone swing his sword until he was beaten to a pulp against an unknown enemy named Okua, for the first time in his life, Sven thought someone was cool.
"Alright, time to make this easy for you."
He saw Oliver charging.
He didn't want to run away. He wanted to fight to the very end. So he readied himself and charged forward, intending to swing his sword.
But suddenly, his vision plummeted downward.
His foot had caught on a broken part of the stage, and he tripped.
For such a crucial moment, it was an absurd accident.
Sven despaired. With that, his tournament was over.
Or so he thought, until his wildly swinging sword struck something.
"Huh?"
Just as his face slammed into the floor, he felt the sensation of cutting into flesh with his hand.
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