Ghosts of the Past (2)
Black Sky Tower.
The gloomy sky that could erase even the remaining hope came into Reed's eyes.
It was the first time since he had come to save Adonis.
If there was something different, it was that he entered with Phoebe this time.
They entered Freesia's office, a room that could be called the king's private chamber.
Inside the dim interior, a girl sitting in a huge chair like a giant's throne could be seen.
"Our Reed, I would have been so happy if you had come alone... but you brought that half-penny?"
Freesia looked at Phoebe with an unhappy expression.
Phoebe politely greeted her.
"I am honored to meet the master of the Black Sky Tower."
Phoebe's greeting seemed to be ignored as she looked up at Reed.
"What brings you here? If it's about that incident, I haven't done anything, so let's not hurt each other's feelings."
Although he expected it, it seemed that Freesia had already heard the news about Reed's surroundings.
"You are quick to grasp even minor events."
"I am very interested in our Reed's surroundings. And the people around Reed are very interested in me."
Even though the water had been changed, it seems that the weed is still left in the tower of silence.
They decided to put that issue aside and solve Phoebe's problem first.
As soon as he was about to ask a question, Freesia took the lead.
"Let's not go through unnecessary questions and answers. I didn't do anything. What would I have to gain from messing with those half-pennies? If I had interfered, I would have taken it when Astheria's nightmare erupted."
Astheria's nightmare.
In their rage over the death of the head of the family, the 13 half-dragons waged war with the knights gathered from all over the continent.
As a result, there were nine deaths, three captives, and one missing person.
At that time, Freesia had tried to buy the nine half-dragon corpses.
The one who stopped her from purchasing the corpses was the master of the Silence Tower, Jude Roton, and the corpses were returned to Phoebe.
Based on such memories, he thought that the relationship between Phoebe and Freesia would be fierce, but Phoebe seemed to be avoiding such friction.
"Is there a possibility that the Black Sky Tower magician took it?"
"No. How dare you doubt me, Reed?"
"I just wanted to get some assurance since someone took the nine corpses."
"Wanting assurance means you doubted it. Isn't it like saying you think I did it and you want me to clear it up?"
"That's not it, but this incident is enough to cause misunderstandings."
Reed carefully scratched Freesia's unhappy expression, trying not to touch her nose.
"If it wasn't the Master of Black Sky Tower, then there's a high probability that other mages are researching mind control. If that happens, won't it be stepping over Black Sky's authority? We're also worried about the conflicts that such misunderstandings will bring."
"Go ahead and use it. It's because you guys are so despicable that you can't help but think that way."
Phoebe holds the white hem of her dress.
She was enduring it.
Knowing that she shouldn't make Reed uncomfortable, she had to endure and move on even from such careless words.
* * *
Dream big tl dot com
***
"I ask for your help. Please listen to the humble request of the humble tower master."
"You're so in love. It's so cheap that I want to die."
At Reed's sincere request, Freesia snickered.
And then, her mood suddenly changed and the atmosphere became tense.
Her fierce eyes glowed red.
"So, should I just stay still? Do you know that the reason you came to me was to doubt me? And you still think I'll just watch?"
"Do you think we just came here to doubt the tower master?"
"If not? What kind of bullshit is it if it's not that reason?"
At her fierce question, Reed swallowed. Making sure not to falter, he looked at her with force in his eyes and handed her his answer.
"I trust the Black Sky Tower master. That's why I came to you first and told you what's on my mind. This is because I want to trust you."
Freesia looked down at the serious Reed with a disgusted expression.
"It's disgusting. You came to find me because you wanted to trust me? Shit, why don't you just say you came to propose?"
"..."
"It might be disgusting, but it's much better than it is now."
Though her tone was close to a refusal, Freesia stood up from her seat.
Taking out a parasol from the shadows, she opened it and spoke to Reed.
"Guide me. If it's a boring incident, it won't end with just hitting your face."
***
Astheria's tomb.
It was the place where the nine deceased siblings, subordinates, and half-dragon people were buried.
Since it was a rebellion against the whole world, the tombstones couldn't be as extravagant as those of other nobles.
They had to be content with making small mounds and carving each name on an appropriate stone slab.
Reed remembered what kind of place this was.
That's why he could understand how angry Phoebe must have been when she saw the dug-up tomb.
"It looks like a sweet potato field. It looks like a wild boar dug up and overturned a sweet potato field."
A careless remark.
It may not be malicious, but it made the listener feel uneasy.
There was a clatter.
The sound of stones hitting hard echoed in Phoebe's mouth.
Startled, Reed comforted the girl beside him.
"Don't take it to heart."
"Huh?"
"Don't take what the Black Tower master said to heart."
"Oh, no, it doesn't matter what the Black Tower master says. It's just... seeing this made me angry again."
It was a sight Phoebe couldn't get used to.
Reed patted her shoulder in consolation, and Phoebe calmed her anger.
As the anger disappeared, a feeling of depression settled on her face.
Freesia continued her observation with her parasol up.
Her eyes were wide open, and she didn't seem to be doing a sloppy job as she tapped her lower jaw with her index finger.
Smiling, it seemed she had finally reached a conclusion after much thought.
"This is a really interesting problem."
"What's interesting?"
"Reed, I'll give you a question. Do you know how corpses come up when necromancy is used in a communal cemetery?"
Feeling uneasy, but different from the excited Freesia, he joined her quiz.
"Probably... starting with the hand."
Since they don't know where they were buried, they would start by digging the grave with their hands.
That way, when they reach the surface, the first thing they see is the arm.
"What's the next part?"
"I don't know."
"Right, you shouldn't know. It doesn't matter what the next part is when the corpse comes crawling back up, right?"
That's right.
The basic principle of necromancy is the forced movement of twisted organs by external magic.
Phoebe nodded her head.
"Yes..."
"Reed, look at these tombs. They all came out with one side dug up first, right?"
As Freesia pointed out one area at a time, Reed finally saw it.
The places she pointed to were all the head parts of the graves.
"Everything that sprang up here did so by sticking their faces out first in order to breathe. Once the urgent fire was extinguished, the rest slowly dug through the dirt and got up."
"Combining the information you provided..."
Reed couldn't finish his sentence.
The answer that came to mind was so absurd that he wondered if it was correct.
