Elina's excitement was palpable. She leaned forward, her eyes sparkling with the pure, unadulterated curiosity of a magic student who had just discovered a whole new field of study.
"So how does it work? is it active right now? Are you really here?"
Hayato couldn't help but let a small, rare smile touch his lips at her boundless enthusiasm. "No, the illusion isn't active right now, The 'me' you're talking to is the real one."
He paused, a slight gleam in his own eyes. "But I can activate it, if you'd like to see."
Elina's eyes lit up, her excitement palpable. "Yes! Please!" she exclaimed, leaning forward eagerly. "Show me! Is there an incantation? Do you need a catalyst?"
Hayato gave a small, amused smile at her academic questions. "It's not that complicated, just watch."
He didn't move or speak. He simply glanced over at a small pot of flowers sitting on the edge of the stone table. Elina followed his gaze. Slowly, a tightly closed flower bud began to unfurl, its petals opening in a smooth, silent time-lapse. Once it was in full bloom, its color began to shift, the simple white bleeding into a vibrant, impossible blue, then to a soft pink, and then back to white again.
Elina stared, mesmerized. "How!? There was no mana fluctuation. No formula, no runes. You just... looked at it."
"I just think about what I want to happen," Hayato said with a simple shrug. "And it happens."
Elina stared at the impossible, color-shifting flower, her mind trying to grapple with the casual miracle she had just witnessed. "So, it's an illusion, what happens if I touch it?"
"Go ahead, it will feel completely normal."
Tentatively, Elina reached out and gently brushed her fingertips against the petals of the vibrant blue flower. Her eyes widened. It felt real—soft, velvety, and delicate.
"But, the moment I deactivate it..."
He gave a slight nod. The impossible blue flower vanished in an instant. Elina's hand, which had been caressing soft petals a second ago, was now closing on empty air. Below her fingers sat the original, still-closed flower bud.
"...reality reasserts itself, whether you were touching it or not, it was never truly there."
Hayato saw the look of profound shock and awe on Elina's face as she stared at her empty hand. He offered a quiet reassurance.
"Your sister already knows the truth. And I give you my word. I will never use this power to harm either of you."
Elina looked up from her hand to his face, and her worried expression melted away, replaced by a warm, trusting smile. "I know. I never thought you would for a second. Don't worry, Hayato-san."
***
Kerina and Riko's mission took them to a grand, silent building in the capital's noble quarter. It was the headquarters of the Hero Party, now empty and somber.
Riko pulled a small, ornate key from a pocket inside her heavy coat and unlocked the massive doors.
Creaaak! They swung open into a grand hall shrouded in a heavy silence.
Sitting in a lone chair in the middle of the vast room was a young woman with long, dark hair, dressed in the elaborate robes of a witch. A soft, green light pulsed around her arm as she focused on healing a wound hidden beneath her sleeve. She looked up as they entered, her expression weary.
"Riko-san. Kerina-san," she said, her voice quiet. It was Akamine Ayaka, the Witch Hero.
They walked in, the heavy doors closing behind them and sealing them in the silence. Riko's analytical gaze immediately fell on the healing magic swirling around Ayaka's arm.
"How is it?" Riko asked, her voice low.
Ayaka let the green, healing light around her arm fade, her expression weary. "The wound is closing. I can move freely now. I made it back late last night, just like I told you in my message, Riko."
Riko and Kerina both gave a solemn nod.
"How did you get away?" Kerina asked, her voice low.
"My unique skill… It's called 'Clarity of Mind.' It gives me a powerful resistance to mental interference. The moment their control wavered, my mind got a... refresh. I was myself again, and I ran. It can deflect brainwashing and mind control."
The two adventurers stared at her, the implications of her words sinking in. "Mind control?" Kerina whispered, her eyes wide with a new kind of horror.
Ayaka gave a sad, tired nod. "Of course, why else do you think Arthur would suddenly change? He didn't betray us."
She looked at them, her gaze filled with a grim certainty. "The Ice King has a general, a powerful mentalist. His voice... it can brainwash anyone who hears it. He turned the entire Hero Party in an instant."
Riko's screamed, her voice echoing in the empty hall. "Which one?! I was on that expedition! I fought his lieutenants on the glacier! I never saw anyone with a power like that!"
Ayaka shook her head, her expression pained. "You weren't there for the final push, Riko. You were outside the fortress, holding the main line with the rest of the assault force, but we… The Hero Party went inside to face the King."
She looked down at her still-healing arm, the memory clearly a painful one. "He was standing right beside the Ice King's throne. A man they call 'Jester of the Endless Silence.' He just... spoke."
Ayaka's voice dropped to a whisper. "For a moment, I was under his control, too. A fog filled my mind, and my will wasn't my own. But then my 'Clarity of Mind' activated. The fog vanished, and I was myself again."
She looked up, her eyes filled with a grim certainty. "But they... Arthur and the others... they were still his puppets."
Kerina's eyes were wide, her mind grappling with the tactical nightmare of the situation. "How did you escape?"
"It was simple, in a way, I couldn't fight them. So, I pretended. I let my face go blank, my movements become stiff. I made them think I was still brainwashed, just like them."
She took a slow breath. "I waited for a moment, then I created my opportunity. I announced that I had sensed an urgent threat approaching the fortress from the outside and that I would intercept it myself."
She looked at them, her expression grim. "It was a lie, of course. There was no threat. I just needed an excuse to leave. And they let me go. Once I was out of the fortress, I ran."
A heavy silence settled over the room as Riko and Kerina processed the horrifying truth of Ayaka's story. It was Riko, who spoke first, her mind connecting the new information to her own recent trauma.
"Ayaka, that curse from the Ice King... did you get afflicted with it, too?" She unconsciously touched her own arm. "Just yesterday, I had a disease from one of his followers. It was an ice that grew on my body, freezing my blood from the inside. Lenna cured it."
Ayaka looked at her, her eyes widening with surprise and a new layer of concern. "No.. My injuries were just from the fight. I wasn't cursed."
She frowned, considering Riko's words. "A disease that grows ice and freezes the blood? I've never even heard of such a thing. The only power I saw the Jester use was mind control."
Kerina walked over to an empty chair and sank into it with a heavy sigh, the weight of all the new information pressing down on her. "A traitorous Hero, a mind-controller... There's so much going on. How do we even begin to plan the next expedition?"
Ayaka looked at her, her expression calm and focused. "One problem at a time. And the first problem is the one I am sure of."
She leaned forward. "Before any new expedition, our first priority must be to create earplugs. Lots of them, magically silenced if possible. We need a way to close our ears to the Jester's voice."
Riko's analytical mind immediately jumped to the next logistical hurdle. "Magically silenced earplugs. That's a complex enchantment. There aren't many artisans in the capital capable of that kind of work. Who could possibly create them?"
Kerina fell silent for a few moments, her brow furrowed in deep thought as she mentally scanned her list of contacts. The number of people with that level of specific, ancient knowledge was vanishingly small.
Finally, her expression cleared with a reluctant certainty. "You're right, there aren't many, But there is one person who specializes in this kind weird magic."
She looked at Riko and Ayaka. "Of course... the only one who would know how to do this is... Lenna."
To Be Continued.