# Chapter 80
Rite was equally confused. Not understanding the situation, he reached out his hand.
“What are you doing?”
“No, this kid…”
After blocking Arden’s view with a tray, the child had reached under it and put a hand in Arden’s pocket. Whatever the intent was, one thing was certain—it was an unpleasant feeling.
Why is this kid putting a hand in Arden’s pocket?
“Ah, how annoying. Let’s go!”
The older child who had been watching grabbed the younger one’s other wrist. As Rite relaxed his grip in surprise, the children fled without looking back.
“That kid was putting a hand in Arden’s pocket…”
Rite explained belatedly. Only then could Arden understand the situation. Pickpockets. He checked his pockets just to be sure, but nothing was missing. Still, he felt uneasy. What would children so young know about doing such things? Could there be an adult who put them up to it? That was his suspicion.
“Seems they were pickpockets.”
Such crimes were rare in small villages. It was obvious that stealing from villagers would be discovered by the next day and rumors would spread. In Winterishe, people locked their doors out of fear of monsters, not thieves.
“…Let’s go.”
Arden, who had been staring at the alley where the children disappeared, reluctantly spoke first. Rite nodded and followed. They walked in silence the entire way. Arden was lost in thought with a troubled expression, while Rite observed him.
“We follow this road up, right?”
“Looking at the map, it seems that way.”
Rite and Arden stopped in front of a mountain, putting their heads together to examine a small map. Rite raised his head and looked around. Even though it was winter, he was still not accustomed to seeing trees and dirt paths without snow. It wasn’t a field blooming with flowers like he had read about in books, just a barren winter field.
Indeed, everything without snow felt unfamiliar.
“Let’s go. The path is a bit rough, but the distance isn’t far.”
Arden folded the map and put it in his coat pocket. Rite walked ahead of Arden, overtaking him with two steps, and then turned to walk facing him.
“You’ll get hurt. You should watch where you’re going.”
I won’t get hurt. Rite muttered quietly as he looked around. It seemed all the trees had been logged, making the view clear. But that also meant there was little to see on the mountain. Whatever the season with blooming flowers and vibrant colors might be like, right now there wasn’t much of a view except for the village below.
“Why does this person live alone in a place like this?”
“Probably dislikes people.”
Arden answered nonchalantly. He could understand. Plus, this person was a magician. There was a high probability they had grown up receiving unwanted attention from an early age. If you’re constantly bothered by people, you eventually get sick of them.
The path became increasingly steep, and the small and large stones embedded in the ground slowed their steps. Neither Arden nor Rite was accustomed to hiking, but for some reason, even Rite’s breathing remained calm.
“Why… are you climbing so well?”
“Want me to help you?”
“…No.”
Despite Arden’s refusal, Rite extended his arm and grabbed Arden’s forearm, pulling him along. It was hard to believe that Rite, who mostly read books at home, had better stamina, and Arden didn’t want to believe it either, but with that assistance, climbing the path became much easier. Pretending to give in, Arden surrendered one of his arms to Rite.
“I see smoke.”
“Where?”
“There. We’re almost there.”
At Rite’s words, Arden looked ahead but couldn’t see any smoke. His eyesight had always been below average, so he didn’t think much of it.
After walking a bit further, something faintly began to appear in Arden’s vision as well. From that point, the path became gentler, and though he could walk without Rite’s help, Rite firmly held onto Arden’s arm and led the way. The magician’s house was a small stone cottage built in a crude manner.
“Looks like we’re the only ones here today.”
As Rite said, there was no one else around. It was quiet except for the occasional sound of the wind.
“It seems like a lot of people do visit, though.”
Arden bent down in front of a small sign in the front yard.
‘No visitors. No requests. No peddlers. No humans.’
The hastily scrawled writing looked extremely angry.
“It’s okay. There’s no mention of ‘No monsters.'”
At Rite’s words, Arden jabbed him in the side with his elbow. Rite smiled brightly as if he had just made a delightful joke.
“Don’t say things like that…”
“I’ll go knock.”
Before Arden could say another word, Rite crossed the yard and headed for the door. The door was so thick that the knock sounded heavy.
“Are you the…”
“Go away!”
Before Rite could finish speaking, a sharp shout made him open his eyes wide. He turned his head to look back at Arden. Arden approached Rite with a frown.
“Sorry for coming unannounced. I won’t take much of your time. If you could just listen for a moment…”
“I said go away!”
With that irritable shout, Rite wrapped his arms around Arden’s waist and quickly stepped back. Before Arden’s feet even touched the ground, a column of fire rose from where they had been standing. Arden’s startled heart pounded at the unprecedented sight.
“This is real.”
“That’s why I told you to go away!”
“Are you trying to kill people?”
“You obviously know I’m a magician, so it’s not like you’d die.”
At the magician’s grumbling, Rite and Arden looked at each other simultaneously.
How did he know?
“Just a novice. Doesn’t even know how to hide magical energy.”
Exaggerated mockery and ridicule flew at them. Arden, undeterred, tried to knock on the door again, but Rite wouldn’t let go, blocking him each time. Finally, Arden gave up on knocking and, held by Rite, simply spoke.
“As you said, I’m still a beginner. I’d like to learn how to use magic, and if it’s okay, I was hoping you could be my teacher. If you can’t spare the time, at least if I could have access to some magic books…”
“Why should I? If you really don’t want to be roasted, stop talking to me.”
Persuasion didn’t seem easy. But they couldn’t give up so easily either. Arden turned his head to look up at Rite standing behind him. Rite, who had been glaring at the door, opened his eyes wide at Arden’s gaze.
Arden had heard countless stories during his time at the palace. Knights’ achievements were usually exaggerated, but not every knight had such exploits attached to their name.
Daniel was a capable knight, but there were many who said he would never become the captain due to his hot-tempered personality. So Seirios was likely the current captain. That was also Arden’s biggest concern.
Seirios’s family had been loyal to the Emperor for a long time, standing as his closest confidants. He was also a young knight who received the Emperor’s favor, surpassing his two older brothers. That was already 12 years ago, so he would have been captain for quite some time.
Wasn’t it said that he had no weaknesses as he could wield any weapon, and that it was easy to find him on the battlefield because the path of unidentified corpses remained like a road wherever he went? It was said that his innate nature was ferocious and cruel, closer to a beast than a human, and closer to a grim reaper than a knight. His infamy was so great that merely placing him at the front lines was enough to break the enemy’s morale.
Regardless of the truth, Arden was uncomfortable with that man. He remembered the strangeness he felt whenever they met. His eyes, which were as if artificially made and implanted, deep and clear in color, always had a heterochromatic gleam. Unlike Daniel, who mostly worked inside, Seirios spent many days on the battlefield, so Arden had never exchanged words with him and didn’t often bump into him, but Arden could sense it. Seirios was a dangerous person.
It would be nice if they could avoid meeting him, but Rite needed to be prepared, and they desperately needed a magician to help with this. At the very least, to avoid dying in vain, they needed the strength to protect themselves and escape.
“…Does it have to be this person?”
Rite said as he pulled Arden back. His voice and expression were full of irritation.
Arden was perplexed, but not angry. It was understandable for the magician to be displeased since they had come uninvited, and the magician had no obligation to grant their request.
“Alsi is too far away.”
“With that attitude, do you think we can persuade him? It might be faster to just go to Alsi.”
“I doubt a magician in Alsi would be any kinder to us.”
Arden had never heard of a magician with a good personality in his life. Even the reckless Daniel would be intimidated by the Imperial Palace magician.
At those words, Rite sighed, lowered his eyes, and rubbed them. If he had known finding a magician would be this difficult, he should have asked Artalis more questions. Belated regret washed over him.
“What about other places?”
“I’m not sure if there is one in Rosmunt, and there probably is one in Moran… but they’d be at the palace.”
“So this person is our only option?”
“Not necessarily, but… we should at least try to have a conversation. We could ask if they know of other magicians.”
At Arden’s words, Rite looked at the tightly closed door. With purple eyes whose thoughts were unreadable, he glared at the door and asked Arden:
“Would dragon scales be a precious material for a magician?”
“Yes, they would. But why do you ask that suddenly?”
Rite rolled up the sleeve of his right arm. Simultaneously, black skin sprouted on what had been smooth skin. Rite’s left hand plucked one of them off. It was a light gesture, like removing a petal to see a flower mark.
Before Arden could properly comprehend what was happening, Rite strode towards the door.
“Wait, Rite. What are you doing now…”
With a loud sound, the door opened by itself. Rite stepped inside without using his hands.
