EP.159 The Magician Has Returned
The magician did not hide his tracks.
No, rather, it seemed as though he was declaring his return to everyone.
With a captivating beauty by his side, he strode through the back alleys of the Military Nation as if showing off. He was far, far too conspicuous to go unnoticed.
This also reached the ears of the one who welcomed the magician's return the least. Even while consumed by terror and dread, he immediately headed to the guard post. From there, he sent a signal to his patron using a 'beacon' that could only be used once.
In the dark and narrow back alleys of Amitengrad, a hollow signal reverberated.
To those who didn't know, it was merely a collection of unintelligible noise; to those who did, it was a sound that demanded constant vigilance.
A beacon prepared in advance by those who had trapped him out of premature fear.
The beacon that awaited only one existence broke its long silence and rang fiercely.
The magician has appeared.
The magician has appeared.
The magician has appeared.
Thus, the signal announcing the magician's return spread to every district of the Military Nation.
The trump card they had prepared.
With this, they learned of the magician's return before the magician could even notice the sign....
Or so they would think.
"Heok... ugh."
Anton of the signal station finished the signal with trembling hands, sobbing. *Crackle*, the signal gemstone crumbled pathetically.
Ordinary people without signalmen or communication devices had to use twin gemstones even when sending such signals. Unless they were using a real beacon, that is.
Anyway, anyone who could use twin gemstones wasn't an ordinary person.
Actually, it was hard to call this guy an ordinary person anyway.
Anton, my old friend. The audience member who sat in the very front row.
"I, I did it. I did as you ordered, so please spare me!"
At Anton's pleading, I muttered leisurely.
"I never said I'd spare you if you did as I ordered. Once again, you're misinterpreting my actions and expecting what you want, Anton."
I hadn't specifically said I would kill him either, but Anton jumped to conclusions and trembled in fear.
I wonder why. I truly just came to ask one thing.
"I feel a bit burdened when I receive such expectations. You're so desperate that I feel like I have to comply. That's why I've listened to all your demands so far, but..."
"Grant it! I'm innocent!"
Anton pleaded with me as if clinging to me.
"I, I didn't do anything! I kept watch as you ordered, but the Military Police moved too swiftly! I thought I'd be caught too if I contacted you from there!"
"Don't lie, Anton."
"It's true!"
"If it's true, why are you managing this guard post? Why did the owner of this guard post entrust you with such a heavy responsibility?"
Anton stopped talking. He rolled his eyes, trying to come up with some excuse. Then, "Ah," he thought of one.
"No. I was trying to find you, and coincidentally, they were looking for you too. Your patron, the 'Young Lady'. So we joined forces, and they supported me... It was definitely not because I was afraid you'd return."
However, there was no way his hastily fabricated excuse had no flaws. I hadn't come here to listen to nonsense he didn't even believe himself, so I shut his mouth with somewhat coercive means.
In other words, I took out a skewer.
"Anton."
Anton clamped his mouth shut. I smiled brightly and spun the skewer around, and every time I did, Anton's pupils trembled mercilessly.
Will he kill me, or not kill me? Those two thoughts kept swirling in his head. That was all.
Ah, this is bad. I didn't particularly intend to kill him.
When I receive this much expectation, my heart sways too.
"Anton, my precious friend. I'm curious about one thing."
"If, if I tell you. Will you spare me?"
"That's not for me to decide, Anton. But I'd really like you to answer. This is, well, a kind of confession scene. I roughly know what thoughts you moved with through your tracks and words, but having you perfectly lay it out with your own mouth in that state... has its own catharsis, you see."
'You freak...!'
Once, Anton was my assistant, my disciple, and my colleague. At the same time, he was an excellent audience member.
He wished to be so, and I didn't refuse.
However, at some point, Anton wished to bring me down and become a usurper. And that day, by the sudden arrival of the Military Police, Anton achieved his wish.
A very timely coincidence. Or an opportunity given to Anton.
But with my return, his short dream ended.
'He's probably going to ask why, why I betrayed him. Let's just make something up. Even a magician can't read people's minds!'
I'm sorry, but you're wrong. From start to finish.
I'm not curious about why you betrayed me.
Nor do I want an excuse.
And I can read people's minds.
"You were afraid of me, Anton."
I took out a deck of cards from my pocket and shuffled them slowly.
Tap, tap, tap, tap. Every time a sound came from the shuffling deck, Anton's body flinched.
Making sure the cards were all visible, I shuffled them very leisurely and said.
"You were afraid, yet in awe, and revered me. So you followed me around like a puppy. Even though I had no intention of it, you put me on a pedestal on your own, and couldn't even dream of betrayal. But."
He wanted to become my sole limb. He wanted to feel the sensation of swaggering beneath someone who looked great.
It was a truly lowly wind, but I couldn't ignore his wind. Even if it was a wind that swept in with a foul stench, it wasn't hard to grant.
Because only I could grant it.
Unfortunately, the price for that came back as the Tantalus penal servitude.
Tap. The shuffle ended. I placed the deck on the desk and said.
"How did our coward Anton come to have such a resolution? Until that morning, I didn't notice any signs, and thanks to your near-capricious change of heart, I took a hit too. What kind of resolution did a coward like you make in that short time to betray me. I'm just so curious."
Perhaps because I kept injecting the words coward and afraid.
The defiance in Anton's heart reared its head. Anton confessed with tears brimming in his eyes.
"...Fuck! I thought you wouldn't be able to come back!"
A cry that was perhaps regret, perhaps self-blame.
"If I knew you'd come back, would I have done this! They said they would send you to a place you could never return from...!"
'I believed it firmly...! When a powerful person who can move the Military Police says it, how could I not believe them! I agreed because they confidently declared you'd never return!'
For someone who did that, you were still afraid of me.
You were complacent, Anton. You didn't think much about the aftermath.
Should I call you a foolish gambler? Intoxicated by the sense of achievement you'd get if this succeeded, you forgot the fear of failure.
"You succeeded in removing me, whom you feared so much, even if just for a moment. Congratulations. How was it, was the fleeting dream satisfying?"
Them, the ones who approached Anton and urged him to betray me.
Since Anton doesn't know their true identities, I don't know them either. Because I can only read thoughts and memories.
"But what were you planning to do if I happened to return? Ah, you didn't think about it at all?"
But conversely, I can read all of Anton's thoughts. From beginning to end.
Having read his thoughts enough, I smiled brightly and said in a theatrical tone.
"You left it to luck. Well, you always marveled at seeing me play card games. Even while your heart was in your throat whenever I threw a winning bet, you cheered louder than anyone when I succeeded. You were truly a fine audience."
As I accurately pierced his heart, Anton couldn't even answer and hung his head.
Because he couldn't escape from the cries in his own heart. All Anton could do was ignore my words.
"Yeah, you wanted to be me. To throw gambling bets to your heart's content, to succeed, and as a result, drive me out and take my empty seat..."
But I am not a gambler. I only looked like one on the outside.
Therefore, Anton doesn't know the mindset of a true gambler.
Let me show you a taste of it.
"Now, Anton. Let's play a very simple game. See the cards here?"
I showed the cards in order in front of him.
Spades, Hearts, Clubs, and Diamonds. It was a deck of trump cards with two of each suit drawn on them. I shuffled them roughly, then turned them face down and placed them one by one on the desk.
Anton, roughly sensing what was going to happen, shook his head vehemently.
"Choose one of the suits, Anton."
'Choose one, and if I guess it right, you'll spare me? One out of four?'
As expected of a fine audience.
Because he anticipates everything I'm going to do.
"N, no. That. Please."
Hey, where are you going.
If you're a gambler, you should be able to put your life on the line at least, right?
Me? Of course, I don't. Since I can read minds, I only fight battles I can always win. My life has never been on the line.
That's why I must teach Anton the mindset of the real deal.
"I wonder if you are lucky enough to save your own life?"
The cards are laid down. Now all that remains is the choice.
There are four cards in front of Anton. Since he can't peek inside, he has no choice but to rely on luck...
'No way. For a magician, swapping the card I choose is an easy task!'
Is that really the case?
Can he truly become a gambler?
'Please... let even the magician have a human heart...!'
"...H, Heart."
I confirmed Anton's decision again.
"Heart? Are you sure?"
"Y, yeah."
"Good. That's great. Now choose one from here. If that card is a Heart."
Now all that remains for him is the choice that will determine his life.
Important choices tend to take a long time. I sat on the edge of the desk, shuffling the cards, and calmly waited for his decision.
The deck of cards I made in the Abyss. I've grown attached to it, but is it about time to slowly part ways?
Alright. I'll leave this deck as a consumable and carry around my original deck. The more magic tools, the better, right?
While I was having idle thoughts.
Anton was sweating cold sweat, glancing at me, then slightly lowered his head to look at the cards. As if doing so would let him peek at the bottom.
'I can't see...'
But the face-down cards do not reveal their secrets. Anton, having given up on peeking, tightly closed his eyes and pointed his trembling hand at the card furthest from his right hand.
The furthest, as if that slight effort would bring luck.
I asked again.
"Is that the one you chose?"
"Y, yeah. Don't try any tricks. This is the one I chose. Don't even think about swapping it..."
Anton nodded. He was pressing down hard, fearing I might play a trick on the face-down card.
Ah, don't think like that.
It makes me want to play a real trick.
"Alright."
Spinning the skewer around, I pierced through the card Anton had pointed at. I didn't really care that Anton's hand was covering it in the process.
*Stab*, the sharp skewer dug into the wooden desk.
"Kuaaaaaaaah!"
A fierce scream rang out immediately after. I placed a hand on Anton's shoulder and brought a finger to my lips.
"Shh, Anton. Calm down."
"Heu, heuk. Sob."
Stepping back a pace from the sobbing Anton, I raised both empty hands and said.
"This is a courtesy I'm offering. I'm a magician, after all. You were worried that I might play tricks on the cards, right?"
"M, my hand..."
"To erase your worries, I specially fixed it so that I couldn't play any tricks on this card. Now, you only have to confirm the fate given to you."
So that he could fully confirm the card, I urged him while still keeping my distance.
Anton trembled as his bleeding hand slowly flipped it over.
'Fuck... I thought wrong... There's no way such a monster has a human heart...'
The card is red. Whether that's the red of a Heart, or the color of Anton's blood.
Even at the glimpsed red color, Anton couldn't rejoice, and flipped his bleeding palm over while trembling.
Right now, flipping his palm over was a matter of life and death.
The cruel card suit, with the sharp skewer piercing through its center and red blood oozing out, bearing the weight of blood, was...
The Two of Hearts.
Anton blinked. He looked at the card with an expression of disbelief at first, then looked back at me once, and forgetting even the pain, clenched his other fist and shouted.
"Fuck, I lived! I survived!"
He was so ecstatic that he jumped up from his spot. Filled with the exhilaration of victory, he swung his arms.
"You lost, Magician! You can't kill me!"
Just as he said. Since Anton won the game, I couldn't kill him. I clicked my tongue and shook my head.
"My, my. What good luck. It seems the goddess of fortune is smiling upon you."
No, from the start.
Since he didn't want to die, I couldn't kill him either.
"The loser of the bet should step down now. Ah, before that. Give me back my thing."
"Hurry, get out right now!"
Anton swiftly gathered the other cards laid out on the desk with his intact hand. Perhaps it was rewarding that he had practiced following me around, as his hand was smooth in grabbing the cards.
"Huh?"
However.
Anton, who was trying to gather the other face-down cards, suddenly discovered the suits on the cards and muttered dumbly.
"Hearts...?"
'Spades, Diamonds, Clubs, Hearts. There was definitely one of each...'
That was definitely true. At least when I showed them to him.
But the cards in Anton's hands were.
Three of Hearts.
Four of Hearts.
Five of Hearts.
They were all Hearts. Without exception.
Anton couldn't even be surprised. He just looked down at the cards laid out before him with a devastated face.
"Wow. All the face-down cards I flipped have turned into Hearts! To think there's such luck! You must be the luckiest person this year!"
"H, how."
"They say a lucky person can do anything!"
'The magician didn't touch them after they were flipped. Then, since when. I, definitely after they were flipped, said I'd choose Hearts.'
His thoughts come to a halt. Endlessly tangling. Front and back mix into a jumbled mess, and at the end of all sorts of transformations and distortions, the name of the emotion is terror and awe.
'From the beginning, he knew I'd choose Hearts? T, that's impossible.'
"Congratulations, Anton. You saved your life after desperately trying to survive. Because the goddess of fortune smiled upon you."
And the last expression that flashed across his face was regret. At the end of fear, eyes that ultimately yearned for the mystery beyond it.
"How, did you do it...?"
"Anton, do you want to know the trick? Really?"
At my words, Anton, coming to his senses, violently shook his head. His teeth chattered.
'No! The only people a magician reveals his tricks to are dead people, or those about to die!'
He revered the mystery. But he never tried to uncover it. He simply revered and served it.
Taking him around actually ruined him, huh. To him who revered mystery itself, I should have left myself still mysterious.
I kept him too close. The closer we were, the more discontent grew in his heart.
I am not a prophet. I don't know how things will change with my actions.
It wasn't that I didn't know his true desire... But I couldn't let him take my place according to that desire, so I offered to grant him a different wish.
As expected, a small wind is swallowed by a great wind.
Anyway.
"You have to give this back too, Anton."
"Huh?"
I naturally grabbed the skewer stuck in his hand. And before he could even react, I pulled it right out.
A scream similar to when it was pierced, or perhaps slightly louder, flowed out.
"Kuaaaak! Keuk, keuak, aaak!"
"Wrong. You should say thank you. Pulling out something stuck in your body hurts less when you take advantage of the moment they don't notice. Like a baby tooth before the new one grows in."
Anton writhed on the ground, clutching his bloody hand. He lost a bit of blood today, but at least one worry was gone. Since I wouldn't come back for revenge now.
From now on, Anton's life, Anton's desires are all his own responsibility.
Leaving him behind, I lightly opened the door and said.
"Live well, Anton. May your life continue."
"Keuh, keuheuk!"
'Crazy bastard...!'
At the parting words that bordered on lavish praise, I slightly tipped the hat I was wearing and bowed to my former audience.
"Ahaha. Thanks. I'll live a long life too."
*Slam*. The door closed. From the guard post that had fulfilled its role, only blood-soaked sobbing leaked out.
Dark night, the back alleys of the Military Nation filled with people exhausted and steeped in fatigue. The residential area of District 15, where most were merely level 1 or level 0.
Walking on the stage illuminated by the faint moonlight and the streetlights that rendered it meaningless, I let out a sigh.
I sent a warning, so there will be a response. I just need to read the thoughts of the guys approaching and steadily make my way up.
Of course, if the one at the end is an overwhelmingly massive existence, even I would have no choice but to run away.
Ah, that's exactly why.
People should play within their means.
Life is a faint spark; even when exhausted and struggling to stifle its breath, it is always lying in wait for a chance to swallow something else and blaze up.
I don't know what others seek to swallow, but my sustenance is the wind. As long as there is wind to catch, I can persist forever.
Suddenly, the Captain who would be sleeping in my house came to mind.
What kind of wind will the Captain, having regained their life, harbor?