"It's your win, Perpetua."
"... finally said my name."
Her voice carried a strange happiness with it.
I opened my eyes and looked at her.
"Hmm?"
"Lord Sieg!"
Erina's loud voice reached us.
Both of us turned toward the sound and saw the three of them running back toward the bench.
"Why haven't you gone home yet?" I asked, my question directed specifically toward James, who looked like he was about to collapse from the extra running.
"On the way—"
"A park! We saw a park with swings and slides just like the young lord told us about!" Erina shouted, her eyes wide with wonder.
A park? There is only one park in the entire barony, and we are literally standing in it right now. What are they talking about?
"Where exactly did you see this other park?" I asked, looking back at James for a more reliable answer.
"It was right behind the Church," he answered, trying to catch his breath.
"Huh? I specifically asked you to go home. Why were the three of you heading in the completely opposite direction of your houses?" I asked, narrowing my eyes as I looked at them.
At that, James lowered his head like a child being scolded, while Erina still looked full of excitement.
"Play catch... her," the answer came from Nidrik. He pointed a finger at Erina, who was clearly the catalyst for their detour.
I frowned immediately.
"Erina, I told you before not to play around on the roads. It's dangerous these days, especially with so many outsiders coming and going."
"B-but..."
Her shoulders drooped and even her excitement dimmed.
Next to me, I heard Perpetua chuckling softly.
"What now?" I asked while lifting a brow.
"When you get angry, you sound exactly like Lady Fors."
"That's not true at all." I sighed. "And can you please take this seriously?"
She moved behind Erina and gently placed her hands on the girl's shoulders.
"I am sure she understands her mistake."
Perpetua looked down at Erina and gave her a small conspiratorial wink.
"Right?"
Erina happily nodded in reply, her mood swinging back to the positive instantly.
"I do."
That was way too fast.
"So," Perpetua continued cheerfully, "why don't we all go check this new park out?"
"A new park behind the Church..." I muttered.
If I remember correctly, behind the Church was… Hmm Now, I am curious. Let's go and check.
Guided by James and Erina, we made our way toward this mysterious park.
Children's swings creaked softly in the wind.
A slide stood near the corner.
Flowerbeds lined the edges of the small park.
It looked old enough to have always been here.
When did Granny and Grandpa get this made? I don't recall any orders for construction in this area. This place used to be–
"Let's play!" Erina shouted, her small feet thundering against the ground as she ran inside. James followed suit with a hesitant smile, while Nidrik walked in calmly.
I followed after them, but as I crossed the threshold of the entrance, a strange, prickling energy washed over my skin, a sensation that set my nerves on edge.
"What was that...?"
I turned slightly and looked toward the Church's visible spire rising above the nearby rooftops.
Did that come from the Church?
The feeling disappeared just as quickly as it came.
I quietly observed the surroundings again.
This park was much smaller than the main one.
Far smaller.
Still, it was large enough for playground structures and benches to fit comfortably inside. There were also two entrances placed opposite each other, making it easy to pass through the area.
Erina and Nidrik quickly claimed the swings while James awkwardly pushed them one at a time.
Where is she?
I looked behind me, expecting her to be right on my heels, but she was still standing just outside the entrance, quietly observing the surroundings instead of joining the others.
"Is something bothering you?" I asked, stepping back toward her.
As usual, she offered a smile in return, though it didn't quite reach her eyes this time. "It is nothing."
She walked past me without saying a word. I followed her, watching the way she moved.
"Aren't you going to say something like 'What a lovely place' or something along those lines?" I asked while watching her stare at the three playing children.
"Oh~ Sieg really knows me well."
A small laugh escaped her as she walked forward with her hands behind her back.
Even so... She still looked distracted.
After that, we spent some time in the park.
Erina and Nidrik turned the swings into some kind of competition while James struggled to keep up with them.
Perpetua eventually joined them too, though mostly just watching and laughing.
Meanwhile, I climbed onto the monkey bars and pulled out the notes for my original invention for the Master Alchemist exam.
Time slowly passed as I let the sounds of their games become background noise, my mind diving deep into my notes.
"...All materials are ready, quality has already been verified."
I tapped the page thoughtfully.
"There shouldn't be any problem making perfect demonstration items for the practical exam."
After weeks of testing and failures, things were starting to come together.
Satisfied, I closed the notes and slid them back into my pouch.
"Just how much time has passed..."
I looked up toward the sky. The sun remained suspended in the same position, still bright and shining.
"Lord Sieg!" Erina called out from below, her voice carrying a hint of a whine. "I am hungry and bored now. Let's go home."
Bored? You were the most excited one out of all of us.
I jumped down from the monkey bars and dusted my clothes off before noticing that the orange colored problem in our group was missing.
"Did she leave?"
"Miss Perpetua?" James pointed past me. "She is talking to that old person there."
I turned around.
A little farther away, Perpetua sat on a bench beside an old man while the two chatted like longtime acquaintances.
Did nobody ever teach her not to casually talk with strangers?
...Actually no.
Even if someone did teach her, she seemed exactly like the type to ignore it completely and do whatever she wanted anyway.
I walked toward them and called out,
"Perpetua, we are leaving."
As I approached, I finally got a proper look at the old man.
He wore a long gray coat and a matching hat lowered enough to hide his eyes. A wooden cane rested beside him while a thick mustache covered most of his face.
Perpetua stood up immediately after hearing me.
"Looks like my time is up."
She smiled warmly at the old man before giving a small wave.
"Goodbye, Mister."
The old man simply chuckled softly and tipped his hat toward her.
"What were you talking about with him?" I asked as we walked.
"I did not say much." Perpetua clasped her hands behind her back. "He mostly talked about his life."
"Life?"
She nodded lightly.
"He said he and his wife used to make potions together. Then one day she and their ten year old son lost their lives." Her voice softened a little. "He also talked about how he was an adventurer once, how he served as a soldier, and even worked as a baker. He had many such stories."
"Hmm..."
Quite the life.
I glanced over my shoulder.
The old man was still sitting on the bench quietly looking toward the sky.
A man of many talents, huh.
Soon we regrouped with the others and began walking out of the park together while Erina complained about being hungry again.
Then suddenly James stopped ahead of us.
"H-huh?"
"Hmm? What is it?"
I looked forward past James and Nidrik to see what had caused the confusion. I narrowed my eye as I looked ahead. In the distance, I saw the familiar shapes of the swings, the slides, the monkey bars and the same small playground we had just left. The far end of the path held the same exit we had used to leave the area.
I turned around quickly, looking back at the entrance we had just stepped through.
The old man still sat on the same bench.
"Did you not leave?" he asked casually.
"S-sieg..." James pointed around nervously. "Didn't we walk out already?"
"We did!" Erina scratched her head in confusion while pointing between both ends. "We went through there and then... somehow came back?"
Nidrik silently moved closer to me.
"I... am not sure, but," I answered slowly.
A strange feeling crawled up my spine.
"...Follow me."
I turned around and walked back toward the path we had just used.
The others hurried after me.
Step after step, we crossed through the exit once more.
Instead, the same playground stretched out before me in the unchanging light. We had emerged from the opposite entrance yet again.
"I-it happened again," James whispered from behind me, his voice trembling with a fear that was becoming contagious.
"Lord Sieg, why is this happening? Why can't we leave?" Erina asked, her usual spark of energy replaced by a look of confusion.
My eyes slowly scanned the surroundings.
Nothing looked different.
The swings still moved gently in the wind.
The church spire still stood beyond the walls.
Everything looked normal.
And that somehow made it worse.
"...I think someone separated this park from the rest of the world," I said carefully. "Then connected the surrounding space together somehow."
Even as I explained it, I was not fully confident myself.
It was only something I vaguely remembered from Teacher's lessons about advanced space magic.
"Then someone using space magic is behind this?" James asked nervously.
I nodded slowly, my thoughts immediately jumping to potential suspects.
Could this be the Teacher's doing? To separate space like this requires an incredibly high affinity with space magic and an immense amount of mana. Is this some sort of surprise test?
Or...
My eyes moved to the far end of the park, settling on the old man in the gray coat. He was still sitting there.
"Sieg."
Perpetua called out.
I looked at her, and she calmly pointed toward the sky above us. "Why don't you try flying out of here?"
Doubting that such a simple solution would work against a spatial anomaly of this scale, but I couldn't afford to leave any stone unturned.
"O wind."
Mana gathered beneath my feet as the air lifted me upward. I rose above the park walls and flew toward one of the corners with the intention of reaching the church grounds beyond. However, as soon as I crossed the boundary of the wall, the scenery shifted.
I emerged from the opposite corner of the park.
"The young ones these days are so talented," the old man's voice came up from below.
I looked down.
He sat there calmly with both hands resting atop his cane, his hidden gaze directed toward me.
I stared at him quietly.
...I can't feel his presence at all.
It was like looking at empty air.
Ignoring him for now, I descended back toward the others.
"Whoever is behind this has looped the space around the park," I said after landing, my voice tight with the weight of our situation. "Ground, air, and exits... they all lead back inside."
James swallowed nervously.
"So we are T-trapped?"
"Probably."
The moment those words left me, Erina grabbed onto my sleeve.
I looked at Erina.
Her small hands were trembling.
Fear was slowly creeping across her face.
Without saying anything, I placed my hand over hers, then looked toward Perpetua.
Understanding immediately, she moved beside Erina and gently held both her hands.
"Don't worry, it will be fine."
As she spoke, I turned toward the exit, my focus narrowing until the rest of the world faded away.
"Everyone, move back," I said over my shoulder.
All of them followed my words, retreating several paces. I raised my hands forward, my palms facing the invisible boundary that held us prisoner. [Hacker 001: Spelljammer].
Waves of willpower burst outward from my palm and crashed against the distorted entrance.
The surrounding space rippled violently like disturbed water.
Good.
So it could be affected.
I slammed my foot against the ground.
[Hacker 001: Static Shell]
A field of magical interference erupted from the point of contact, expanding rapidly around me. It slammed against the boundaries of the space, grinding against the invisible walls. The rippling space stopped its fluid movement and started to wobble violently, the scenery behind the gate blurring into a chaotic mess of colors.
Excited shouts came from behind me as the others saw the progress. I gritted my teeth and poured every ounce of my willpower into the spell, my vision swimming with the effort. The space started wobbling more and more, the very air resounding with the sound of breaking logic.
Just a little more.
Something suddenly shot out from the wobbling space.
A sharp pain tore across my chest.
"Gah!"
Warm blood splattered through the air as I staggered back.
Floating in front of me was a translucent claw made of pale astral light.
"Sieg!"
Voices filled with alarm came from behind me.
"S-stay back!" I shouted quickly.
My eyes dropped toward my chest where several fresh claw marks had torn through my clothes.
What do people have against my chest...
The spectral arm pulled back into the rift, only for another to lunge out and grip the edges of the air itself.
The warped space stretched open wider as something crawled out from within.
It looked like a ghost from those old horror movies, draped in a white, wispy form with a bald, circular head and a lower body that trailed off into thick smoke.
A large, jagged mouth opened wide, and more arms sprouted from within its throat, reaching out for me with twitching fingers.
I jumped backward, barely dodging the first strike.
Then another.
And another.
The ghostly claws tore through the air fast enough to leave afterimages as the creature's reach expanded.
I canceled my Arcana immediately and reached for my wand.
But something suddenly wrapped around my leg.
"Huh?"
A violent force yanked me upward.
Then slammed me hard straight into the ground.
"Uwah!"
More claws rushed toward me, tearing through the air with sharp screeching sounds as I pointed my wand forward.
Before I could cast, a violent force exploded past me.
BOOM.
A massive hole tore straight through the ghost-like creature. Its body twisted unnaturally, smoke scattering apart as a shrill cry escaped its mouth.
…That did not come from me.
My eyes shifted upward.
The old man stood there calmly with his cane raised.
The tip still faintly glowed.
"Are you alright, young one?" he asked as he lowered the cane back to the ground.
I pushed myself up slowly as pain burned across my chest.
What was that attack just now?
"O green tide of ever-growing life."
Soft green light spread across my chest as I focused healing magic over the claw marks. The stinging eased little by little.
"Sieg!"
"Lord Sieg!"
The others came running toward me. Erina looked seconds away from crying while James kept glancing nervously at the floating creature trying to reform itself. Nidrik stepped in front of them silently.
Perpetua moved closest to me and grabbed my hand.
I glanced at her, her eyes fixed on my fingers like she was searching for something hidden beneath the skin. My gaze shifted toward the old man.
"Thank you for your help," I said, acknowledging the power he had just displayed.
He slightly tipped his hat. "Just fulfilling my duty." His voice remained calm as his eyes swept across the park, his grip tightening on his wooden cane. "And it is not over yet."
Following his gaze, I noticed the space around the park walls beginning to wobble again. Ripples spread across the air like disturbed water, and dozens of clawed arms pushed through the cracks.
"Everyone, move closer!" I shouted, wrapping my hand around Perpetua's and pulling her back toward the others, ensuring they were clustered together in the center.
I cancelled my healing spell, preparing to switch back to offensive magic, and glanced down to check the state of my wounds. I stared in confusion. My clothes were completely restored, the fabric seamless as if it had never been shredded. I reached up and touched my chest, but I couldn't feel any pain.
How...?
I looked over my shoulder.
Perpetua stood beside the others, giving me a small nod with that same bright smile.
Is this her? I thought she wasn't awakened?
"Are you ready, young man?" the old man asked, his posture shifting into a combat stance that spoke of decades of experience.
I nodded and stepped forward beside him, both of us placing ourselves between the others and the growing swarm.
The clawed arms lunged toward us.
I shoved my wand back into my holster and moved. Mana moved through my arms as blades formed over my hands, green edges vibrating through the air. I cut through the first arm, then the second, then another.
Gray smoke burst apart around me.
More came immediately after.
The creatures kept crawling out from every direction, their hollow screeches crying across the enclosed park.
There's too many.
An arm slipped past me and shot toward James.
Before I could react, a cane struck downward.
BOOM.
The entire arm exploded apart instantly.
I looked sideways.
The old man stood there with one hand behind his back, his coat fluttering slightly from the force of the attack.
Then he swung the cane again.
Another group vanished as mana exploded in the air.
What's with his swings? How is he making mana explode like that? It's happening in open air without any prior sign.
I noticed the space directly above us wobbling violently as a giant, bloated arm descended from the sky toward James and the others.
"O unseen threads of the world!" I shouted, pulling my wand and sprinting forward. The old man mirrored my movement with surprising agility.
"Repulsion!"
I thrust the wand forward at the same moment the old man lunged with his cane. A combined shockwave of force screamed through the air, obliterating the massive limb into nothingness.
The shockwave rippled through the park, but more space around the walls twisted and split apart. More clawed arms crawled out endlessly.
There's no end to them.
We need to deal with the source of this phenomenon.
I raised my wand high as I landed back on the ground, my feet skidding for traction. "O wind, respond to my call and grant us the protection of your currents! Whirlwind Wall!"
The air around us roared to life, winds whipping into a frenzied spiral that surrounded our group. The gale acted like a blender, tearing any incoming arms into wisps of smoke before they could penetrate our circle.
"What astounding power." The old man said as he rested his cane against the ground.
"I should be saying that." I wiped the sweat from my forehead. "What's with those explosions every time you swing?"
"Oh, that?" He let out a small chuckle. "It's something my son and I picked up while traveling through Yù Dǐng zhī Guó."
Yù Dǐng zhī Guó?
What a strange name.
"Traveling with your son must have been wonderful." Perpetua said softly as the others hurried closer to us.
The old man laughed quietly.
The old man gave a small, wistful laugh. "We were a family of adventurers. Me, my wife, and my son. It was a memorable time indeed."
For a moment, his voice sounded strangely distant.
"S-Sieg, how are we ever going to go home?" James asked, stumbling to my side. He was shaking so badly I thought his knees might give out.
I tightened my grip around the wand and looked at the claws attacking the wind.
"We find whatever is causing this disturbance." I answered firmly.
"H-how do we find that?" James asked, sounding slightly hopeful despite the fear in his voice.
"Not sure," I admitted, "but to isolate a space like this, someone would need a large magic circle prepared beforehand if this was meant to be a trap. The other possibility is even more direct. If we think of this space like a spellfield, the caster needs to be at the center of the influence. That means the enemy is already inside the park with us," I explained, my eyes scanning every inch of the shifting terrain.
"I-inside?" James stammered, his face losing what little color it had left.
"Old man, do you know anything or did you see something strange before we arrived?" I asked, turning my focus toward him.
"I don't think I am of much help either." He shook his head lightly. "When I arrived here, you children were already playing."
Weird...
I don't remember seeing him enter.
Then the walls around us trembled violently.
I looked up to see massive arms clawing against the whirlwind barrier, trying to force themselves through.
We don't have much time.
Think... Remember...
"A park! We saw a park with swings and slides just like Young Lord told us about!"
"It was right behind the Church."
But behind the Church was...
"He said he and his wife used to make potions together. Then one day she and their ten year old son lost their lives. He also talked about how he was an adventurer once, how he served as a soldier, and even worked as a baker. He had many such stories."
"We were a family of adventurers. Me, my wife, and my son. It was a memorable time indeed."
...That's it.
I slowly lifted my eyes.
"Old man," I called quietly, "how many sons did you have?" I asked, my voice dropping to a serious tone.
"Just one. But why the sudden interest in my family?" he answered, tilting his hat just enough for me to feel his gaze.
[Iron Fist: Impact]
I jumped forward with everything I had, driving my fist toward the old man's abdomen, but his cane rose at the last second and blocked the strike.
"Repulsion!"
The force burst from my arm and blasted him backward toward the wind wall. Midair, he twisted his body and swung the cane. A hole tore open in the spinning winds and he slipped through before crashing outside the barrier.
Thrusting my arms, I forced the wind wall to burst outward in a massive pressure wave, the expansion shredding the arms into nothingness.
As the winds faded, the old man sat on the ground with fresh scrapes covering his body.
"S-sieg... why?" James asked shakily.
Before I could answer, Perpetua gently pulled him and the others safely behind her.
"Young man," the old man said slowly, "why are you doing this?"
"Old man, you told Perpetua your son died at ten." I pointed my wand at him. "But you also said your son was an adventurer."
"And what is wrong with that?" he asked.
"The minimum age to register as an adventurer is twelve. It has been that way for over six hundred years." My voice hardened. "So how can this be? How could your son be an adventurer if he never lived past ten?" I asked. I noticed the spectral arms in the distance suddenly stalled, hanging lifelessly in the air.
"What...?"
The old man stared at his own hand.
"M-my son Darren... no... Raimond..."
His voice trembled.
"But... my daughter... Maya..."
His fingers slowly touched his face as the arms around the park began shaking violently. The colors around us started twisting together unnaturally.
"Darren! Raimond! Maya!"
He screamed the names while clutching his head making his hat slip off.
"Who am I?"
Hollowed out eyes stared directly at me.