~Chapter 16~
“Ah, I see…”
“Then one by one they collapsed from overwork; everything got stuck, work piled up, and that idiot’s mind was either off in a flower field or stuck in a pile of crap.”
“So that’s what happened…”
“Do you know how many experimental sites that bastard ruined over the past few years? Thirty-four! Some of them were even places where my own research was ongoing! Do you know how much — cough — how much effort I put into gathering those samples…!”
Ansif’s face turned beet red as he spoke, clearly furious.
“When I couldn’t take it anymore and asked him why he did it, do you know what he said? ‘I was bored.’ Can you believe that? Crazy guy!”
Well, that’s Aska being Aska.
He had always been notorious for his bad personality.
‘Even when we were at the Academy, he caused a lot of trouble.’
Aska often clashed with classmates, even though you wouldn’t expect it at first glance. If something didn’t sit right with him, he would mercilessly crush his opponents — whether during sparring matches or tests.
‘Honestly, most of the ones he crushed were people badmouthing me behind my back, so I didn’t feel too bad about it.’
His talent as a magician made up for his terrible personality — otherwise, someone would have stabbed him on a dark street long ago.
“And that’s not all. That guy recently accessed the Book of Time and Space too!”
The Book of Time and Space — a magic tome stored at the Association containing all magic related to time and space.
It wasn’t exactly a forbidden book; any magician with a verified identity could view it. The dangerous spells were sealed within the book itself.
“Well, maybe he just checked it for coordinate teleportation magic?”
“Who knows. He might’ve been interested in the timeline itself.”
Thinking about his life, though, that didn’t seem likely.
It was just unfortunate timing.
“Anyway, he’s not in his right mind. Definitely not.”
Ansif, muttering to himself, suddenly stared straight at me. His sharp gaze made me flinch.
“Relshiz, what do you think? Do you agree with me?”
“Uh, well…”
“If you — the Royal Court’s Chief Magician — lend your support, we could hold a hearing against him.”
“Huh?”
Honestly, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted. If we faked some evidence and held a hearing…
Now that the association president himself was suspicious of Aska, maybe this was my chance — a chance to both escape danger and kick Aska out of his position as Dawn Tower Master.
“Well? Relsis, I want to hear your opinion.”
Ansif’s eyes seemed to pierce right through me.
I hesitated for a long time before finally speaking.
“I…”
After finishing the report, I returned home. From inside, Shiz came running out like a little squirrel.
“Mommy!”
I picked Shiz up, and she quickly whispered in my ear.
“Nothing happened. I kept the secret, too…!”
She gave the report like a secret agent, then smiled proudly.
A moment later, Aska walked out from inside. He looked curious.
“You’re later than I thought.”
“…I ran into the association president.”
“Ah.”
Aska nodded like he understood. Still holding Shiz, I stepped aside from the doorway.
“Well, you should get going now, Aska.”
“Huh?”
“Thanks for watching, Shiz.”
I said stiffly. Aska, noticing the serious mood, didn’t argue.
I listened to his footsteps fading away, but eventually couldn’t help myself.
“Aska!”
He turned around when I called him. I spoke with a tense voice.
“The Association President is watching you. Don’t cause any trouble for a while and focus on your work at the Dawn Tower.”
“Hm?”
“Just be careful.”
His eyes widened a little.
“Wait… are you worried about me?”
“W-who’s worried?! I’m just passing on what I heard! Now go away!”
I slammed the door shut. Outside, I heard Aska laughing out loud.
Damn it. I knew I shouldn’t have said anything.
‘Dumb mouth.’
Still gripping the doorknob tightly, I heard Aska’s voice from outside, mixed with laughter.
“Thanks for telling me, Rell.”
“…”
“See you next time. Bye, Shiz.”
“Bye-bye, Ash!”
He gave a short goodbye and disappeared.
Shiz, who had been watching closely, met my eyes.
“Something happened? Your eyebrows are way up.”
“No, it’s nothing…”
I shook my head weakly.
Honestly, my feelings were still all over the place. I couldn’t get the association president’s words out of my mind.
“We could hold a hearing against him.”
I had thought long and hard about just getting rid of him for good. But in the end, my choice was…
“He’s annoying, but he’s not that kind of person, President.”
I never imagined there would come a day when I’d defend Aska with my own mouth. I could hardly believe it myself. Me, Relshiz Baltaine, taking his side!
“It’s all because of Shiz. I’m just worried that if Aska gets accused at the hearing, he might reveal Shiz’s existence.”
I kept trying to justify it to myself like that, but deep down, I knew the real reason.
“I won’t tell anyone.”
I couldn’t forget the look on his face when he promised to keep Shiz’s existence a secret.
Because of that, I just couldn’t falsely accuse him and paint him as the culprit.
“Ugh, seriously.”
I scratched my hair in frustration. The more I thought about it, the more irritated I got. Maybe it would be better to just pass out and sleep.
“By the way, Shiz, did you eat dinner?”
“Yup! I ate with Ash! He even showed me a cute bunny, blew bubbles, danced with whales, and he said he’ll teach me magic too…!”
I wasn’t sure what she was talking about exactly, but it seemed like Aska had looked after her properly while I was gone, just like he promised.
I set Shiz down while she happily talked about everything they did. As I did, something slipped out of my inner pocket.
It was my diary — the one I had found at the well, or more precisely, from the crack.
‘Right. I had this.’
My mood, already bad, now hit rock bottom.
March 16
Today, the director explained what a sponsor is.
They said I’ll get to wear better clothes and eat better food.
When I asked who would be sponsoring me, they said it was the Duke of Willovis.
Willovis… That’s Aska’s last name…
It was an entry from the day I first heard the news about getting a sponsor. In the middle of the excited handwriting, I spotted a few spots where I’d made spelling mistakes and corrected them.
Even though it had been so long ago, the excitement I felt back then was still fresh in my memory.
Getting a sponsor. Finding out that I, who thought I was nothing special, actually had talent for magic.
Among all the children at the orphanage, for the first time, I felt special.
That’s why I threw myself into magic even more. I wanted people to recognize that I was different.
Lost in the strange emotions, I kept reading the diary when suddenly, I sensed something strange.
“This is…”
There was something faint left in the diary. I squinted and examined the crooked handwriting carefully.
It was a very faint trace of magic. Specifically, it was the return magic that I had cast.
“Gasp.”
I hurriedly flipped to another page.
It was the same. Every diary page had traces of magic left behind.
“What’s wrong?” Shiz asked.
“I-It might actually be possible.”
“What might?”
“If I keep gathering all the diaries that appear from the cracks, then… I could recreate the original magic formula!”
“Huh?”
Shiz tilted her head, not understanding.
“If I recover all the diaries that acted as pathways, I can send you back to your original timeline!”
So that’s it.
That’s why the magic pathway hadn’t disappeared even after Shiz crossed over to this world.
I could return Shiz — the younger me — back to where she belonged!
The heavy feeling that had been dragging me down suddenly soared up like I was flying.
“God hasn’t abandoned me!”
Overcome with joy, I hugged Shiz tightly.
“Ugh, let go! I can’t breathe!”
“Ahaha, it’s okay now, everything’s okay!”
Swept up in the excitement, I grabbed Shiz and spun around in a dance.
“Ahhh! Let me go!”
Finally, after Shiz kicked me in frustration, my little dance party came to an end.
