A night on the island. In the spooky guild room, Idnik was discussing with Zukaken and Arlos.
“Right now, the most important thing is to catch Gerek first. I don’t know what he’s thinking, but if he keeps killing Deculein like this, not only will the completion of the magic circle, but Sylvia’s mental state, will be a problem.”
She did not tell her assumption to Zukaken and Arlos. It wasn’t clear yet, and above all, Deculein’s method was the best way to protect the continent…
Idnik would take that path as a desert wizard. Sacrifice served as a wizard’s base.
“Okay. So what about the scarecrow?”
“I have to make another one. The scarecrow that I placed as Deculein’s escort has already been broken. It must be Gerek’s doing…”
Creek-
At that time, for some reason, the door to the guild room opened. Arlos, Zukaken, and Idnik looked back, feeling a chill.
“Uh…”
The Eighth Deculein stood in the dark. He was looking at them. While everyone was silent, he came over without a word and sat at the desk and chair. Then, he casually read his magic theory. Looking at him, Zukaken muttered blankly.
“Even if you reincarnated on your own… who guided you all the way here?”
“…No one.”
“But how did you come here?”
“I don’t know.”
Zukaken and Arlos whispered. Their eyes trembled back and forth in astonishment. As if all that bothered him, Deculein looked back with a frown.
“Did you see a ghost?”
“Oh, of course, you… were killed by Gerek.”
“Gerek?”
Deculein asked. Arlos answered quickly.
“Yeah. Deculein. Gerek went looking for you. Now you are in danger. Stay here for a while.”
“…”
But Deculein shook his head. Idnik watched him closely, and Arlos frowned.
“Why? I said Gerek is after you.”
“3 p.m.”
“…”
He held up his hiring contract, signed by Deculein and Sylvia.
“I have a contract to keep.”
“…”
Idnik clenched her teeth. Arlos sighed and shook her head. Zukaken said:
“Yeah, well. Do whatever you want. After all, even if you die, you will live.”
* * *
…After all, even if you die, you will live.
Whether it was the damn words of that asshole Zukaken or things would’ve always turned out this way, Arlos still sometimes thought about it. Of course, that may not have caused all of this, but did she need something to complain about?
Thud-!
Arlos put the clump of paper down on the desk. It was the tracking paper that marked the points where Deculein had been dying. Countless points were marked with an X. Based on this, she worked tirelessly to inform him of Gerek’s location, where Gerek resided, and Gerek’s movement, but she had no answer. She couldn’t come up with an answer.
“Whew…”
As she sighed, a white breath spread like cigarette smoke through the air. Here, on the Voice’s Island, it was winter. Snow fell every night of the year. The scenery of this island was similar to Sylvia’s mental state, so, as Idnik said, it could be called a very dangerous state.
“…Gerek. Where the hell are you?”
Deculein would live even if he died. He didn’t even need Sylvia’s help. Just at the end of his life, he would appear somewhere on this island thanks to Deculein’s unique mental power. As such, his resurrection was certainly infinite…
If he killed him as soon as he came back to life, it would be insignificant. Even if he resurrected infinitely, if Gerek killed infinitely, he would be dead in the end.
“…”
Arlos silently looked at the box containing his magic theory. Although it was Deculein’s magic theory, he hadn’t touched it for two years. Arlos cleaned that dusty box from time to time, feeling it pitiful that it had been abandoned.
“Three years and three months?”
Three years and three months. That was how much time had passed since Zukaken said he would live even if he died. Of these, Sylvia’s home tutoring lasted only three months. For the remaining three years, Deculein suffered his death repeatedly. Without reaching the guild room or Sylvia’s house, he was killed by Gerek.
“…He kept pretending to be strong. But just kept dying.”
Arlos murmured and took the crumpled drawings. It was a sketch that Deculein drew a long time ago.
“Ahem.”
It wasn’t like she didn’t like it at all, but the Professor’s disgusting compliments came to mind from time to time. Mysterious, beautiful, artistic…
Creek-
Then someone opened the door. Arlos quickly hid the drawing.
“Hey, Arlos.”
It was Zukaken. He didn’t bother wiping away the snow that had piled up all over his body.
“Idnik is calling you to come. She has something to say.”
“…Where?”
Arlos was reluctant to leave. It was because Gerek smashed her scarecrow three years ago. Now that she didn’t have enough coins to even buy food, she didn’t have the materials to make another one.
“To Sylvia. She called you to come to the central lighthouse.”
“…”
Arlos frowned. Zukaken wore a similar expression but shrugged.
“She said that she has something to tell us.”
* * *
“…It was a fairy tale.”
One hazy day long ago, Sylvia showed Deculein the fairy tale she wrote herself. A fairy tale made for Deculein that she wrote in the language she learned from him.
“…Fairytale?”
He asked briefly.
“…Yes.”
A story written with correct grammar. Deculein nodded quietly and glanced over the script as if savoring it.
“…What do you think?”
Sylvia hastily asked for a review. Then, Deculein smiled very faintly.
“…I haven’t read it yet.”
“…Oh. Okay.”
Sylvia waited. Wiggling her fingers, she expected his response. Tension rose every minute and second as she was focused on his lips. Then, finally.
“…It’s well written.”
Deculein’s praise. A bulging smile filled her face. And…
“…Oh.”
Sylvia opened her eyes. Today, she also dreamed of the past. It was a memory she missed, a heartbreaking scene.
“…”
She slowly stood. Her long hair cascaded down about her waist. Suddenly, she looked at the calendar. Eight years in the Voice after her first meeting with Deculein… no. Too many years had passed without Deculein.
-Knock, knock
Sylvia turned around as the door opened.
“…Sylvia.”
Calling her name in a low voice, it was Idnik. Sylvia clenched her teeth, her eyes turning sharp.
“Idnik. Why did you come?”
“Sierra called. She’s worried about you. As well, the island. It’s been winter for a whole year, Sylvia.”
“…”
Sylvia didn’t say anything; she didn’t even meet Idnik’s eyes. However, she asked for the gist.
“Did you find Gerek?”
Sylvia knew that Gerek was killing Deculein. There were times when she chased after him with the wind, and there were times when she was accompanied by the ghost. However, Gerek’s keen senses far surpassed Sylvia’s Wind. Idnik shook her head.
“We couldn’t find him.”
“Then why did you come?”
Sylvia resented Idnik. She resented her for not stopping Gerek in advance. She resented the Voice.
“…Sylvia.”
Idnik’s voice subsided. Sylvia shook her head as if she didn’t want to hear it.
“Get out.”
“About Deculein.”
“Get out.”
“He’s not someone you should miss that much.”
“I said get out!”
To Sylvia, who struggled not wanting to listen to her, Idnik showed her a piece of paper with magic on it. She grabbed Sylvia’s hands, which were pushing her away.
“Look. This is the magic circle that Deculein formed on this island.”
After watching Sylvia crumble and suffer for three years, Idnik learned how Deculein was trying to kill Sylvia. It was a method that, as a wizard, she could understand, but as a human, she could never tolerate.
“You said you made a bet with him, right? The one who completes the magic first will step away without any regrets.”
At this rate, Sylvia would die. She was exhausted every night, withering and withering. Sylvia would surely die.
“You see for yourself. This magic circle.”
Deculein offered Sylvia the feeling of love. Above all, that feeling was sure to kill Sylvia.
“Deculein intended to kill you from the beginning.”
And the mana that would overflow from her corpse would activate the magic circle.
“This is the magic circle of Deculein that I studied. Open your eyes and see.”
This theory took three years for even Idnik to fully understand. Sylvia looked over it, shaking her head blankly.
“This magic circle will be activated when you die, and the entire island will be submerged. Deculein intends to bring everything together in the Voice and eliminate it. It doesn’t matter who they are or who lives here.”
“…No.”
“No! Look closely. Rather, Gerek is blocking him.”
Gerek’s village had been destroyed by the Yukline. That history, Gerek did not want to repeat. That was why he killed Deculein countless times, even if Sylvia died, to not complete the magic circle.
“…”
Sylvia’s face went dull. However, her eyes continued to scan Deculein’s magic circle. Her tightly closed lips trembled. Idnik loosened her tight grip around Sylvia’s wrist.
“Deculein is a Yukline. Yukline never compromises with demons.”
Sylvia was a smart kid. So, she would know exactly what the purpose of this magic circle was and what the requirements were.
“…Hey, Idnik.”
Then, another voice called Idnik. Two people were looking at them from outside Sylvia’s door: Arlos and Zukaken.
“Is that true?”
The two asked with expressionless faces. Idnik looked into their eyes and nodded.
“It is true.”
* * *
…Three months later.
Stomp, stomp-
The sound of footsteps resounded outside the guild room. Arlos, sitting at the desk studying, glanced at the door.
“Are you here, Zukaken?”
“Yeah.”
It was Zukaken. After looking for Gerek today, he rushed to the fireplace as soon as he hung his coat on the hanger.
“Gerek.”
“I couldn’t find him. Naturally. Everywhere is covered by snow, so… are you still holding on to that theory?”
“Yeah.”
Arlos lifted the glasses placed on the bridge of her nose.
“I’m trying to find out if Idnik’s words are true.”
Deculein’s Magic Theory. Arlos was studying it hard. Of course, it would take quite a long time for Alos, whose theoretical ability was inferior to Idnik’s, but it was better than nothing.
“What will you do studying that? You are just a puppeteer.”
“I am not a shit head like you. I’m not just a puppeteer; I’m the best in the industry.”
Zukaken snorted and leaned back.
“But, Arlos. Even if it’s true, isn’t that the right way? It’s better than the Voice spreading to the continent and destroying it whole.”
“…”
Arlos looked at Zukaken with surprise. What was wrong with this one?
“Are you Zukaken?”
“I am.”
“But you say that?”
“…What the. I told you before, I believe in myself.”
Zukaken took out the sweet potato that had been left in the fireplace. Arlos licked her lips. She had put it in to eat, but that bastard.
“It’s better to die as heroes who saved the continent than to live here and forget about ourselves. The Professor will do that for us.”
“…Think about dying later. Rather, where were the Professor’s traces today?”
Arlos unfolded the map and handed him a pen. Zukaken pointed with his finger.
“Here.”
“Hmm. Today, in a strange place too…?”
At that moment, unexpectedly…
Like a spark, like a match being scratched, an idea burned in Arlos’s mind.
“…”
Rustle, rustle…
The sound of snow accumulating on the ceiling of the guild room.
Whoosh…
A cold draft seeped through the cracks in the wall. Arlos closed her mouth while Zukaken continued to eat.
“Do you want some?”
Zukaken put the sweet potato up to Arlos’s mouth, and she unconsciously bit into it while lost in her mind.
“…It’s different.”
Finally, Arlos spoke. She put the map on top of Deculein’s magic circle. To be precise, she overlaid the tracing paper that marked the points where Deculein died.
“It’s different…”
Then, she compared the two locations. Here, Idnik missed…
Idnik had missed something.
“…I mean~, what do you know just by studying this?”
Ignoring Zukaken’s interruptions, Arlos concentrated. With a more serious attitude than when making puppets, she considered the relationship between this magic circle and Deculein’s deaths. She used her brain until it felt like her skull might explode.
And like that…
“…Zukaken. I think I know.”
“Pffft. Bullshit.”
Even though Zukaken laughed in disdain while eating the sweet potatoes, he cleared his throat after meeting Arlos’s serious eyes.
“Ahem. What, what do you think you know?”
Arlos, she seemed to know. No, she was sure.
“Next, the place where Deculein will die. And now, where Deculein is.”
Arlos, answering that way, gathered the map and the magic circle together and stood.
Bang-!
She opened the door and ran out.
