darklydivergent

It was truly absurd; it felt like my mind was burning away in the fire too. How was it that I could still feel lonely after all this time? Despite my hatred, despite everything?

Because I had loved that golden age.

Because I loved that time, those days, and felt it slip through my fingers along with the ashes of time.　

For this reason….

For Shino and Heath-

I want to protect their blue skies.


Faust: ……!


Suddenly, a dark room I have never seen before flashes in my mind’s eye.

Something like that was most likely connected to the distortion I was looking for.


Faust: (Where would you ever be able to hide a room like that in here…?)


I took a deep breath, closing my eyes one more time before reaching out again for that presence.

Once more, I was able to spy the room through a crack in the fabric of space.

Before this fleeting image could vanish, I recite my spell.


Faust:《Salliuqnart Mullcredo》

The next moment…….

We were in an unfamiliar room.


Shino: …….Huh?! This….

Faust: This is the hidden room. Shino, stay close to me.

Shino: I think I’m sensing Heath here…do you think this is where they are??

Faust: 《Salliuqnart Mullcredo》


Reciting my spell again, I made the room’s lights flare up.


Faust: This is….


With the room now lit, we were able to see the inside. It smelled musty from disuse, and it was covered in cobwebs.

There were bookcases here where various items had been left behind. Peering closer, I saw something that looked like a crest was carved into the wood.


Faust: ….the Wizard’s Guild crest?

Shino: Faust!


With a sharp voice, Shino called out to me.

He was crouched in a corner of the room, trying to help someone sit up.

It was Tanya, the hunter we met just a moment ago.


Tanya: ....u…ugh……

Shino: Are you okay?? Come on, pull yourself together.


I quickly checked over the woman’s condition, but she didn’t seem seriously injured, nor in shock.

While making a pained face, the woman opened her eyes. Upon seeing him, she suddenly gasped, and reached out to clutch Shino’s arm tightly.


Tanya: Master Heathcliff and Nero?

Shino: Not here. We’re searching for them-did you see them at all?


The woman nods, and directs her gaze towards him.


Tanya: I don’t remember very much of what happened. I saw so many different places…

Tanya: I was almost pulled somewhere else, but Nero protected me.

Tanya: Those two, they vanished somewhere in all those shifting spaces. I was the only one left behind.

Shino: Were they injured??!

Tanya: I don’t know. They were fighting a white haired man.

Faust: ....A white-haired man…..


I stopped breathing.

Nova, the wizard who had performed the ritual on the moon, had the very same trait.

Suddenly my stomach starts twisting itself into knots. Hoping to find some clues, I strode over to the bookshelves and began to haphazardly search through them.


Faust: (Spatial magic-combining several spaces into one. If that’s the case, Nero and Heath are sure to be in one of them somewhere.)

Faust: (And Nero had both the time and composure to protect Tanya. That means they are definitely alive, too.)

Faust: (She’s probably telling the truth; Nero would do something like that.)


Shino, however, was shaking Tanya for answers.


Shino: What else?! Aren’t there any other clues?!

Tanya: Nothing aside from this….Ah….here….


Tanya held something out to him in her hand. While stealing a glance at the two, I finally managed to come across an intact journal.

Blowing away the coating of dust, I read the faded letters on the cover, stating it was a record of the East Country’s Wizard Guild.


Faust: (Meeting and visitor records….This hotel seems like it was their headquarters for a very long time….)

Faust: (Who was the one who created this space? Was it Nova, or someone from when the guild was active….)

Faust: (...hm? Murr Hart….?)


A name I recognized jumped out at me, and I unconsciously stopped turning the pages.


Faust: (‘The esteemed Murr Hart’s visit…..negotiations about turnover of a classified project that was carried out by that sly noble’s request …’)

Faust: (‘I want to demand the suspension of the plan immediately, but doubt we can do something very much since Murr Hart has two countries on his side….’)

Faust: (.........Turnover of a classified project……?)

Shino: This…this is Heath’s pocket watch!!!


At that moment, Shino’s heartbroken cry echoed through the room.

As I turned to look at him, the lamps shook once more, the light flickering and failing.

In the midst of our dim surroundings, Shino held a watch lightly in both of his hands. Even in this light I could tell; that was Heathcliff’s magic tool.

That meant…Heath no longer had it with him…?

My blood ran cold at the thought, and I looked up at Tanya. I was about to ask her where she got it, when the sight of her immediately froze my tongue in place.

Tanya was smiling.

While holding the pocket-watch, while watching Shino struggle to draw in breaths through his panic.

It was so unnatural that I shuddered.

Right after spotting it, Tanya reaches out to Shino again, as if to embrace him. Seeing that I latched onto the back of Shino’s robes and without hesitating, yanked him backwards.


Shino:...n-ck!!?


And in the same moment, I drove my heel down onto Tanya’s face.


Shino: Faust!?


Unfortunately, I didn’t feel any resistance when I brought my foot down; instead, Tanya had vanished like smoke.

Shielding Shino with my body, I scanned my surroundings.

Suddenly, there was a voice from right behind me.


Nova: Rude, honestly.

Faust: ……!


Something pulled at my barrier, and I turned my head to look. The white-haired wizard was loitering there, radiating a ghastly aura.

His eyes bore into me, and I couldn’t get over the ominous feeling; it was like being stared at by the glassy eyes of a porcelain doll.

His eyes were a reddish purple, the left scarred, the right artificial.

In some ways, he was just standing there, smiling at me like everything happening was someone else’s problem.


Shino: .….You’re Tanya??!

Faust: What happened to her??


The white-haired wizard just tilted his head to the side and smiled again.

Again, it was a thoroughly odd sensation.

I’ve had far too many dealings with the sort of person who would smile as they committed a crime.

But his reaction was odd. Owen, whenever his schemes came to fruition, would laugh with an almost innocent glee.

Morality of his actions aside, he seemed very much like a child who had gotten a present for their birthday.

But Nova, this white-haired wizard, just seemed distant. Like he’d been called in to do an inspection of the place, and this was just another normal day.


Faust: (I mean….isn’t he supposed to be a wizard?)

Faust: (Because the spirits are reacting oddly. He’s not supposed to be a human either, but this presence…)

Faust: (It feels like the sage…)

Shino: You’re the one who took Heath?!!


Shino is raising his voice, but his face was stiff with terror, and his hands, clinging to the handle of the scythe, were shaking.

He is not letting his emotions get the better of him, nor is he mistaken about the enemy’s strength. Rather, as the experienced soldier he is, being afraid was the smartest option.

Nova just smiled like it was someone else’s problem.

Despite his condescending look, he didn’t express any desire for domination, strong hatred, nor sinister designs.


Nova: You should really check for yourself.


With one smooth motion, the white haired wizard raised his hand, placing the palm up.

I needed to use magic, now. I’d delayed because the spirits were acting so lethargic.

Normally with such immense power, it would be like an riled-up crowd watching a parade of heroes down the center of town; they would never be this indifferent.

And yet, they were not. Not excited, or affected by this man, merely fluttering around like dead leaves.

It was like he was using them as a magic tool.

Nova closed his open hand, and in that instant, the world collapsed into darkness, like we were caught up suddenly in a muddy landslide.


Shino: Faust.....!


I immediately shielded Shino with my own body. While I covered him, I collected a dazzling light in the face of my magic mirror.

In the time that took, though, Nova had moved far away from us.


Faust: 《Salliuqnart Mullcredo》


Trying to get revenge, I shoot the bundle of light like a razor-sharp arrow, aimed at Nova’s throat.

But it just instantly dispersed as it reached him.


Nova: Oh, Heath is definitely going to be delighted.

Nova: Because he said he loved you.


Something much like a flood cut between us, and we were set adrift.


Shino: L-love? …??!


I could feel myself losing connection to Shino, so I waded through the collapsing space. As soon as I felt his slender arm, I hugged him close to my chest.


Faust: It’s okay! Shino, don’t let go of me!! It’s okay-I will get you to Heath, no matter what. I will get you to Heath if it’s the last thing I do!!

Shino: Faust…..……..ch!!


After losing bearings for a moment, Shino clings tightly as he can to my arm. His warm body was a comfort to feel against mine.

Like I always did, I recalled how Alec’s warm hands felt on mine.

Absolutely absurd. I clicked my tongue almost on reflex; I was certainly not going to turn to stone now that I’d thought about him.


Faust: (I need to save Shino…….Nero, Heath, please-please be alive!!)


And so, the muddy stream engulfed us whole and dragged us down into the pitch-black depths.


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