A Fairytale for Wizards

“Why did you make relics for the seeds… I mean the people with unnamable mana?”

‘What does he mean by “seeds”?’ Azriel chewed that word over and over. Suddenly, she remembered the sprout the target’s daughter was watering last night. A seed existed to sprout. Lost in such thought, she answered, “I was lending a hand because missing incidents have been happening in Modjankle.”

“Missing incidents?” he repeated.

“People with unnamable mana, including nameless wizards, are repeatedly disappearing without a trace. So—”

‘It’s because I want to be assured that it is not your doing. I thought I’d be able to take a step closer to your secret if I found out why the culprits were kidnapping those people.’

Azriel was going to say so after, but Rhema interrupted, “Who told you such a thing? Who drew you into the missing incidents?”

“That’s…” She could not continue. She was going to answer that she was not drawn into it but volunteered herself and that Charles helped her, but she suddenly closed her mouth. Rhema, who had come close without her knowledge, was looking down at her. His shadow covered her from above. Azriel felt uncomfortable out of the blue. Azriel stepped away from him. At that moment, Rhema’s eyes shook. She did not notice that and asked back in a nervous voice, “Rhema, why are you asking that?”

Rhema stared at her vacantly. Looking at him, Azriel remembered what he asked her nine years ago, in the paused time.

“Azriel, who hurt you?”

How did the marquis she pointed at with her eyes die back then? Azriel felt her hands getting wet with sweat.

“…If I tell you who it is, will you kill that person?” she asked.

He was silent for some time. Azriel tried to read his face. Nonetheless, she could not figure out what was on his mind at all. Suddenly, Rhema smiled faintly. With a kind face as usual, he softly answered, “That person is ‘someone you know.’ I won’t break my promise.”

She wondered why she felt unsettled even though he was smiling. Azriel grasped her hands which were slightly trembling. Rhema promised that he would never harm the people she knew and kept that promise all along. Charlene was not a wizard that was an exception to that promise. So, he must be fine. She carefully answered, “First of all, I wasn’t drawn into it. I volunteered myself.”

“Why did you do that?” he asked.

“It was necessary to find the answer to the test you gave me,” she said.

Shutting his mouth, he looked at her.

Azriel swallowed with a dry mouth. “Rhema, I told you before. I met Charles again.” Charles—as soon as that name came out, Rhema’s face minutely stiffened. Not noticing that, Azriel continued, “Charles is the king of this country, so he needs to investigate the missing incidents. The investigation headquarters made by his order was investigating it, so I asked him and participated in the—”

“Did you ask him for a favor?” Rhema interrupted her again. A faint frown spread across his face. “I told you to ask whatever if you wanted something. Why did you ask him for help, instead of me?”

His question was sharp. He somehow looked a little upset. Azriel did not know why he was upset. Why? Was it because he was hurt that she asked for Charles’ help, not his? But it was not her first time asking for someone else’s help. It was the same as the time when she asked for Maylie’s help with Tarbo Tameion’s research. He had never been angry with her for that. No, Rhema had never been angry with her in the first place. She hesitantly said, “Charles is the one who orders the investigation, so it’s right to ask for his help. It’s a fast and sure method as well.”