Episode 53: Boy Of The Plateau
Well, that’s right.
How could he become the best wizard in the kingdom?
To begin with, he was a descendant of Ur. He was destined to live his life in hiding. But being the greatest in the kingdom? What a foolish and vain dream. He never even wanted such a thing, but he felt a bitter despair.
She was playing with him.
Kaiton glared at the girl, feeling not only disappointment but also an intense anger.
Now that he looked closely, she didn’t seem to be in her right mind. He couldn’t believe she was wearing such thin clothes in this cold and snowy plateau.
He wondered if she was protecting herself with a warmth magic, but it seemed not. The girl was shivering, and her cheeks were frozen red.
Her hair looked strange, too.
When he thought he was fooled, his breaths became rough, and his eyes tightened with irritation.
“You found the wrong person!! I’m not Kai Crawford, I’m Kaiton! And who the hell are you? The plateau isn’t a place anyone can enter. If you’re not a black wizard, you’ll end up buried here.”
“Oh… I didn’t know that. But you’re gonna protect me, right? You’ll become a wizard who helps the hero that will save the world.”
“…Is this for real? I’m a black wizard. Does it make sense for a black wizard to save the world?”
“No, the world is saved by the hero, and you’re here to assist the heroes. Don’t get ahead of yourself, Crawford.”
“It’s Kaiton! Hell. Why am I even bothering with this stupid thing? Get out of here right now! Or you’ll end up buried in the plateau forever!”
“Alright, Kaiton. If you’d like me to call you Kaiton, I’ll call you that. But you’re also Kai Crawford. The best royal wizard recognized by Sharan. I’ve seen it all.”
“…What the hell are you talking about? You’ve seen it all… Are you saying you’ve seen the future? There’s no magic that can see the future…!”
“I can see it. They’re all scary dreams, though.”
“Are you saying you’re a saint?”
“Oh, maybe that’s it. I’ll meet you when I become the star of the saint who saves the world. For your information, Rovelia will also join us, but the hero will probably be me. Since I’m smarter than Rovelia.”
The girl shrugged as if it was nothing.
“I came here because I have a favor to ask. Never use black magic from now on. This is incredibly crucial to save the world. You must never use black magic from now.”
“Don’t use black magic? I’m a black wizard! Among them, I am…”
Before he could finish his sentence, Kaiton bit his lip, unable to continue.
The hero who saves the world.
The greatest wizard recognized by the kingdom.
His heart, swollen by such a dreamlike story, twisted firmly when he realized it could not be his story.
As much as he was thrilled by the presence that believed in him for the first time, the sense of loss and disappointment that overwhelmed him were great too, and Kaiton seemed unable to regain his composure.
“Get out of here right now!”
As Kaiton turned around, a hand cold like ice grabbed him.
“But Crawford…”
“I told you to go away!”
Unable to bear being called by the unfamiliar name, Kaiton recited a spell. It was the curse of agony he had seen in the book he’d borrowed from Hunt.
It happened in an instant. As the girl’s clothes tore apart, a mark resembling beast claws was engraved on her back.
With a burning, violet glow, each time the pattern of the spell was etched, the girl writhed like a worm, rolling in the snow.
“Ah…!”
He couldn’t believe he’d succeeded.
Kaiton was dazed by the magic he had accomplished, defying his father’s words for the first time in his life, but the girl began to twist her body and groan.
“Ugh…”
“That’s why I told you to go…”
“It hurts….”
“…B-Because it’s black magic.! I cursed you!! I told you I’m a black wizard. I said I’m neither a person who helps heroes nor a royal court wizard! But you tell me not to use black magic… then how am I supposed to become the best wizard in the kingdom?”
Kaiton shouted with a bewildered heart.
However, every time the girl groaned in pain, his body flinched with guilt and remorse.
After taking a long sigh, the girl stood up without accepting help from Kaiton who’d reached out.
In the book, it said that when someone is cursed, they scream like a mad person and eventually can’t bear the pain, leading them to take their own life…
Should he have failed?
Although the girl was frowning in cold sweat, she didn’t scream until the ground fell off like it said. She stood there quite calmly.
“Well, you’re a genius who can perform all five elemental magics.”
“Me? Is that… possible? There has never been a wizard capable of all five elements in history…”
“Yeah. That’s why you’re the first. You, Kaiton Ur and Kai Crawford, that’s you.”
“You…!”
No one even on the plateau knew his name was Ur.
The black wizards were stigmatized as followers of the Demon King Ur, but the situation was such that the Demon King himself was hiding his true identity, surrounded by his followers.
But why did the girl know about it…
As if she read Kaiton’s question, the girl replied bluntly.
“I told you I saw everything. Every time you did something bad, I saw you in my dreams. So promise me, Kaiton Ur. Promise you will never use black magic in the future.”
“…Was it true?”
“What?”
“That I… would be the best wizard in the kingdom”
“Yeah. I told you I saw it. You’re more stupid than I thought. It’s fascinating. Most exceptional wizards are usually smart. But you don’t seem to be.”
“So, does that mean I really learn to use all five elemental magics…? Is that true, too?”
His heart fluttered.
He thought he would live a life where he couldn’t even create a single flame and had to chop firewood. But to become the greatest wizard in the world? It felt like a dream.
The girl responded as if it were obvious, and unable to contain himself, Kaiton approached her, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her, demanding an answer.
“Really? Are you saying I really help you save the world?!”
“Ah… hey, let go of this…”
“Answer me! Are you a real hero?! Did you choose me because I’m great?”
“It hurts, Kaiton.”
Ah.
Startled, Kaiton jumped back from the girl as if he had been burned by fire. Examining her in surprise, he noticed that pain seemed to be spreading across her face.
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay. I’m used to pain. I hurt all the time in my dreams. But I don’t like the pain of burning so can you get rid of it quickly? It feels like my back is on fire.”
She was being so calm that one would think her words were dramatic, but her complexion was getting worse as time went on.
She seemed too nonchalant, so I naturally thought the magic hadn’t worked properly. But she had been enduring the pain because she was used to it. The things she said were all so unbelievable.
“…I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. Just hurry and make it go away.”
“…I don’t know how.”
“What? But you’re a genius, aren’t you?”
Not now. Kaiton’s voice, devoid of any dignity, crawled in a pitiful manner.
“…I’m sorry.”
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
After the girl went down the plateau, Kaiton rushed to Hunt’s house. Despite Hunt’s refusal to lend him the spellbook under any circumstances, Kaiton managed to obtain the book after almost seizing it. He became completely absorbed in finding a solution.
He worried about what would happen if the girl got scared and didn’t return to the plateau, but fortunately, the magic Kaiton had cast was a spell that could never be broken unless the caster did it themselves.
“Come to think of it, I didn’t even hear her name…”
Kaiton paced back and forth at the spot where he had met the girl, anxiously waiting for her.
It was frustrating to just wait. If he had known her name, he would have gone down the plateau to find her.
As he started to become restless, wondering if the magic had been undone, the girl, with her cheeks still red like when they first met, appeared in front of him.
Thank goodness.
Kaiton felt an indescribable sense of relief as the girl came to him again. It was a mistake, but he thought he had done well in casting a spell that only he could undo for her.
Unlike the last time, the girl was dressed in thick cotton clothes wrapped around her.
Feeling as if he were watching a ball, Kaiton had to suppress the urge to burst into laughter with a smile.
“What’s your name?”
He wanted to ask more gently, but due to his nervousness, his voice came out abrupt and forceful. Worried that he might have upset her, he glanced at her for any signs, but the girl seemed unfazed.
“Didn’t I tell you?”
“Yeah! You just changed my name at will, but didn’t even tell me your name, which is really important.”
…Should he have not said it was important?
What if she misunderstood what he meant? Should he explain that he didn’t mean that she was important to him, but that it was important to exchange names when greeting each other…
“I’m Muriel Storm.”
With the girl’s name, Kaiton’s mind, getting complicated with entangled thoughts, suddenly cleared up. His mind went blank, and only the girl’s name echoed in his head.
“Muriel.”
Kaiton quietly pronounced her name. Muriel. It was a very fitting name for the girl. It felt like there could be no other person with the name Muriel. Even if there were other Muriels, it didn’t seem like anyone else could fit the name as perfectly as she did.
“Now you can undo the spell that was cast on me, right? You’re amazing, so learning a new spell should only take a day.”
“Y-yes, of course. No problem.”
The two settled in the small cave where Kaiton often spent time alone. It felt strange to have someone else there in a place where he had been alone every day. It made him feel excited and embarrassed for no reason.
“Why… why is this happening…?”
But Keaton struggled, unable to erase the curse pattern painted on her shoulder.
He tried multiple times, feeling the pulsating energy of his pacio flowing through his veins, but he couldn’t seem to undo the magic at all.
“Did you fail?”
“Oh, no… it’s not like that…”
Feeling the disappointment in Muriel’s voice, Kaiton forgot about pretending to be a dignified genius wizard and started to panic.
“It hurts….”
Surprised.
“It hurts?”
“Of course. You cast the curse. Don’t you know?”
Kaiton’s heart tingled as if he had been blamed. Suppressing the urge to hide somewhere, he squirmed his lips, unable to properly apologize, when Muriel’s voice seemed to hit him on the head.
“How painful do you think it is to have a curse cast by a great wizard like you? It hurts a lot more than the pain I’ve experienced in my dreams. It’s because you’re amazing.”
“…”
He couldn’t even lift his own magic like a fool, and Muriel acted as if he were a really great wizard.
It was so…
The unwavering faith shook his heart too much. Kaiton took Muriel’s hand and led her.
“Let’s go. I’ll take responsibility for you. I won’t let you suffer.”
