Caron, reading the deputy commander’s thoughts, let out a faint, cold smile.
“Get lost.”
“Your Highness—!”
“Before I kill you.”
That was all. The unbearably arrogant man unleashed the power of a red mage.
Those who had stepped forward to restrain Grand Duke Repert flinched back at the ominous shift in the air.
A moment of silence—then everything exploded.
When I opened my tightly shut eyes, my first thought was: Am I alive? This isn’t hell, right?
There was a huge rock just now…
My thoughts stopped midstream. Something transparent and unknown was enveloping me.
“What’s this?”
I poked it—no response. Maybe blue magic?
“My body feels fine, though…”
The transparent barrier was supporting the rubble of the collapsed building. Whatever it was, I’d be dead without it.
“Teacher!”
“Kki-ang!”
“Kesh, are you okay?”
Thanks to being held tightly in my arms, the child was completely unharmed. The baby Luxo next to him blinked innocently.
How do we get out of here?
The cave had collapsed completely. Only a small space remained, barely enough for one person, held up by that mysterious barrier.
We can’t move at all…
Ian must have escaped safely—he’d probably start rescue operations soon. But I couldn’t just sit here and trust the translucent blob forever.
“Kki-ang? Kki-ang?”
While I lay there on the jagged ground, deep in thought, the very creature that caused all this began to whimper.
Kesh, who had been playing with the horn of the mole-like monster, looked up.
“Teacher, can we take it to the clinic and raise it?”
“Kki-ang-ang!”
That was enough to make me grab the back of my neck in exasperation.
“Kesh, do you even realize how dangerously you acted today?”
“…No.”
“…Kki-ang.”
“Really don’t? No matter how cute it is, a monster is still a monster. It could hurt you anytime.”
“But…”
“No ‘buts.’ You could’ve died today.”
Then I would’ve had to live for decades remembering this day over and over again.
Suppressing the surge of emotion, I hardened my expression. The child, realizing her mistake, began to sob.
“Uwaah… Don’t be mad, Teacher. I’m sorry.”
Tears and snot streamed down her face as she buried it into my chest, crying loudly.
[I was wrong, don’t be mad, big sister…]
Despite everything, I could never stay stern with children. I sighed. Kesh’s crying face overlapped with the image of my younger sibling.
Just then, the transparent shell flickered, crackling faintly.
It had been exactly an hour since it appeared.
“…Huh?”
A small pebble fell through the barrier. My vision, hazy with confusion, caught the sight of the translucent layer thinning rapidly.
It was collapsing.
I grabbed Kesh in my arms, trying to summon blue energy—but a memory suddenly flashed in my mind.
[Blue magic is the magic of restoration.]
It was something Marquis Rubian had told me, back when I’d first tried purification and fallen ill afterward.
[Don’t look at the tree—look at the forest.]
[ … ]
[Blue magic restores. Healing and purification are part of that.]
[Restoring power?]
[Yes. But even I don’t know how far your power can go.]
He’d told me not to limit blue magic to mere healing or cleansing.
At the time, I was too feverish to remember clearly.
“…Is this my life flashing before my eyes or what.”
Well, nothing to lose now.
Except death, if it failed.
No time for sentimentality—I bit my lip and focused my energy.
Thanks to recent recovery, my once-drained life force shimmered back to life, though the pain was still there.
“I just need to restore enough for us to escape—just a small space.”
Following my will, the blue aura spread. Thin azure threads stretched out, clinging to the falling debris.
The power to return what’s broken or lost to its original state.
“Huh…?”
It looked as though time itself was rewinding.
The collapsed cave righted itself, forming a space just large enough for one person.
Amidst the ruins, the area around me alone remained untouched.
“…So it works.”
An astonishing power.
Anyway, we survived again—though now trapped inside a stone box.
“Hopefully we won’t starve to death…”
That thought was cut short by a deafening explosion nearby.
A beat of silence—and then everything around us shattered outward.
Before I knew it, I was standing in the middle of an open wasteland.
There was only one person who could pull off something this insane.
The Red Mage.
If blue magic restores, red magic destroys.
Two powers destined to run parallel forever, never to meet.
…I’m alive.
Yet, in the moment everything was obliterated, the blue mage Jeryl felt nothing but deep relief.
“Haa…”
When the dust settled, Caron and Jeryl’s eyes met.
The moment he saw her clear face, he realized—
So much for keeping my composure.
His gloved hand twitched slightly.
He’s finally gone mad.
Even as he drew upon the red magic without hesitation, a flicker of unease stirred in him.
He had never used red magic to save someone before. Wherever red magic passed, death always followed.
Just as unease began to eat him alive, a pale face, dust-covered but alive, emerged from the wreckage.
“Kesh!”
A tear-streaked woman rushed in, snatching the child from Jeryl’s arms.
“Thank you, thank you so much.”
Jeryl grimaced as she bowed repeatedly.
Ugh, my ribs…
Apparently, the wound from the monster’s tail wasn’t fully healed.
Caron, who’d been talking with a knight, turned to her.
After their destructive reunion, his first words were blunt.
“You look like a beggar.”
“…Your armor isn’t much cleaner either, you know?”
“Where are you hurt?”
So much for assuming I wasn’t.
“I’m not hu—ow!”
“Why bother lying when it’s so obvious?”
“I wasn’t trying to lie! Can you let me finish a sentence?”
“Hey, get a healing mage.”
Caron pressed lightly against her side, then flagged down a passing knight. The healer arrived shortly.
“How were you injured?”
“A monster’s tail hit me.”
“Really? The wound seems too light for that—should’ve broken a bone at least.”
She must have already healed herself with blue magic. The healer muttered that it was just a bruise, cast a quick spell, and left.
Caron watched the whole process with an unreadable expression.
“Did you read my letter?”
“No.”
“Good. Don’t. Burn it without opening.”
“I take it you badmouthed me, then.”
“…”
His red eyes narrowed. The silence after his teasing words was… suspicious.
“So you did badmouth me?”
“…”
“Why are you looking at the sky? My face isn’t up there.”
“Just promise you’ll burn it.”
“I promise—to read every word carefully before I burn it.”
Feeling too guilty to argue, Jeryl just pouted.
“And I’m signing the employment contract the Order sent. Don’t go back on it later.”
“Fine.”
“…Really?”
He raised an eyebrow and nodded.
Maybe he really meant it?
Of course, she’d realize much later that Caron’s consent wasn’t nearly as innocent as it seemed.
The collapse site was finally being cleared up. Then Jeryl suddenly noticed someone was missing.
“Where’s Ian?”
“That bastard? Why?”
Caron frowned as he stared at her incessantly moving lips.
