Elijah looked at Iris, speechless. The cautious question was heard again.
“…Have you?”
“…”
Come to think of it, had Master ever demonstrated magic in front of us? No matter how much he thought about it, there wasn’t.
However, Master’s teachings were perfect, without ever having harbored the slightest doubt. No matter how complex the theory, Master always made us understand perfectly.
If he had no magic power, he couldn’t have done that. A person without magic power wouldn’t even be able to understand the principles of magic formulas in the first place.
“…I have.”
Elijah answered half out of stubbornness.
“Of course, I’ve seen it.”
That Master had no magic power was absurd. From the moment he first met him until now, Elijah had never once doubted that fact, and it was the same now.
Iris finally made an expression that seemed somewhat relieved.
“I see…. Then as you said, those people must have lied.”
Elijah dismissed it firmly.
“Don’t worry about what those people say. Master took us in when we had nowhere to go and taught us magic. The only one we can trust is Master.”
Iris nodded repeatedly at his words.
“Right. That’s true….”
To the children of the monastery, Jade Ilisian was an absolute existence. Their only guardian and master, sometimes even a parent. Though they were people who had never experienced parental affection since birth, they were not unaware that their master was fulfilling that role.
It was much easier for them to trust Master than the words of criminals they were seeing for the first time.
* * *
“Elijah.”
At the quiet hour when everyone was asleep, Elijah, who had been sitting crouched in front of the stairs leading down to the basement, looked up at the person standing before him.
“…Is Rose doing okay?”
Elijah, who had indifferently turned his gaze away from Igrit, said coldly.
“How would I know that.”
The footsteps that had paced a few steps stopped in front of Elijah again.
“…I’m sorry.”
Words that seemed to have been hesitated over for a long time flowed out small from Igrit.
“I really didn’t know Rose would get hurt that badly. I really just wanted to scare him a little.”
A fierce gaze shot up to Igrit’s face at once. Elijah was now furious at his shamelessness of trying to relieve his guilt with a crude apology.
“If we were outside, I would have killed you.”
“…What?”
“If Master hadn’t given you confinement, I would have paid you back exactly as much as Rose was hurt.”
Elijah glared at Igrit, who had frozen in confusion, then ignored him as if he wasn’t even worth it.
“B-but….”
A faintly trembling voice was heard from above his head.
“But I’m still your friend. How can you say such things? Of course Rose is your friend too…. But you and I are the oldest friends. It’s different from Rose.”
“…”
“I really made a mistake this time, I’m sorry. I know what you said isn’t sincere either, Elijah.”
“It is sincere.”
Elijah didn’t even look at him anymore.
“I sincerely want to kill you. If Rose doesn’t get better, I might really do it. I imagine every day turning you into a frog, shoving you deep into a pit, and burying you so you can never come out again.”
“…”
“I never thought of you as a friend from the beginning, and I have no intention of being friends with you in the future. If I could, I’d want to never see you for the rest of my life. I hate you the most in the world. Even breathing in the same space is horrible.”
Whether the other person was shocked or not, he didn’t care. Elijah wanted to hurt Igrit’s heart at least, using every word he could. Even if he poured out all the bad words in the world on him, it would be woefully insufficient compared to Rose’s wounds.
“So from now on, don’t talk to me and don’t appear in my sight. When Rose gets better, be grateful for that and don’t do anything to us anymore.”
No more replies came from above his head. The feet that had been facing Elijah hesitantly stepped back. Elijah didn’t give him even one second of his gaze until he had completely distanced himself.
It had already been almost a month since he couldn’t see Rose. During that time, not only had classes been continuously suspended, but even Master rarely showed himself.
Elijah was so worried about Rose that he couldn’t do anything at all. He just wanted to see him even for a moment. He felt he could only be at ease if he confirmed that he was breathing and alive.
Someone’s footsteps echoed in the dark corridor. Elijah discovered the master he had been waiting for so much and jumped up.
“Now you’re quite boldly breaking curfew, Elijah.”
He looked a bit tired.
“Um, …how is Rose doing?”
Instead of an answer, a very long sigh flowed out. Though it was an ominously felt silence, surprisingly the answer that came from his mouth wasn’t so bad.
“He’s recovering.”
“Then, can I see Rose even for a moment?”
“That won’t do.”
Elijah was a bit surprised at the unexpected refusal. Until now, he had always been allowed to see Rose briefly even during treatment, but seeing that he wouldn’t even permit it at all, his condition must be critical.
“Is Rose, …very bad?”
Elijah asked, trying hard to remain calm while holding back tears that seemed about to burst. However, Master seemed to have no intention of answering his questions properly anymore.
“He’ll recover soon.”
The gray eyes shrouded in darkness showed no emotion, so nothing could be guessed. Elijah’s gaze, dropped in disappointment, turned to something in Master’s hands.
The large bucket he was holding was covered with cloth so its contents couldn’t be seen. What is this, he was thinking when the answer came from above his head.
“Rose has to eat too, doesn’t he.”
“…”
That one statement gave him a bit of hope. It meant Rose was at least in a condition where he could eat.
But why on earth wouldn’t he let him see Rose?
“Go upstairs and sleep now. I’m letting it pass for now since I don’t have the energy, but you’ll thoroughly pay for the punishment of breaking the rules later.”
“…Yes, Master.”
Elijah held back from pestering him more to let him see Rose. He reluctantly made way with an unwilling face. The bucket in Master’s hands as he went down the stairs swayed, and its contents sloshed inside.
What on earth is that? Water?
For no particular reason, feeling regretful, his gaze kept going downstairs. Elijah, who had stood there until Master’s shadow was no longer visible, finally trudged away.
The empty spot on the bed without Rose was cold.
* * *
Winter without Rose passed.
Though there were children who were secretly pleased that classes were suspended, as the period lengthened, most of them gathered in the classroom and studied on their own without anyone forcing them.
When spring ripened with colorful wildflowers raising their heads, Elijah felt like he was going crazy. Now he even suspected that Rose had actually died long ago, and Master was lying to reassure him.
The other children were just as worried. Even those who hadn’t made a big deal of it at first began to implicitly blame Igrit as the period of not seeing Rose lengthened.
‘What on earth happened that day?’
‘I don’t know. He just locked him in the stable to tease him a bit.’
‘Gasp…. He locked him in and then set fire?’
‘It wasn’t on purpose. He just wanted to scare him a little. But Clover, who misread the signal, set the fire….’
‘What should we do…. It’s just a mistake.’
‘Does that mean there’s no fault?’
Igrit, receiving such glares from the children, stayed very quiet, unlike his usual personality.
After being refused several times when begging to see Rose, Elijah finally reached the conclusion that if he couldn’t get permission, he should at least secretly go see him.
He knew the cycle of when Master was away. Naturally, the missions given to the children were also suspended since classes were suspended to that extent, but strangely, only Master went out more frequently than before.
When absent, he always blocked the passage leading down to the basement with chains and locks, but today Elijah decided to somehow break through them and go see Rose.
The basement stairs, which he had only secretly peeked at in the dark night, looked rather more gloomy when seen during the day. Elijah, who had confirmed several times that Master had left an hour ago, headed to the basement taking advantage of the other children gathering in the classroom.
There were bloodstains scattered here and there on the stairs, but they didn’t seem to be Rose’s. There were too many stains for that.
Rose, who had been in the basement the whole time, would never have gone up and down these stairs even once, so it was likely stains from a very long time ago or someone else’s blood.
The basement was very damp. It was worse than their rooms where damp moisture always formed whether summer or winter, to the extent that the floor was thoroughly soaked with moisture.
Elijah, who had finally reached the iron bars with a lock, fiddled with it. It was the point where he had come several times but couldn’t bring himself to break it and had turned back.
How could he get in and out without it being noticed? The worry didn’t last long. Elijah, who had grabbed the tightly wound chain, simply broke it. The chain melted by the green glow snapped open.
Elijah, who had unwound the chain and easily opened the iron bars, stepped inside. Something this easy—the time wasted trying to get Master’s permission was regrettable.
“…Wh-who’s there?”
Then, a frightened voice was heard from inside. Elijah knew well that it was Rose’s voice.
“Rose! It’s me.”
“Elijah!”
The voice echoing loudly against the damp stone walls had gotten a bit lower in a few weeks. Originally Rose grew faster than them, so puberty had come early too, so it wasn’t strange.
