Chapter : 65
Ashil cannot lie to me because of his oath.
So, what he just said must be the truth.
I stared intently at his violet eyes glimmering in the moonlight.
“Then… does this man not realize that his eyes are purple?”
He possesses the eye color of the imperial family, the rulers of the empire, yet he seems completely unaware of it—
I tilted my head slightly and asked,
“Everyone says that’s how you appear, and even you see it the same way. Why ask me again?”
“…To explain that, I need to first tell you my situation.”
Ashil took a moment to catch his breath, then spoke slowly.
“The truth is, until now, I’ve lived without any self-awareness or memory, merely like a puppet of the Mage Tower.”
“!”
“I have no memories of my childhood. When I regained consciousness, I was already an adult, and without questioning it, I lived according to the orders of the Mage Tower master and the elders.”
“…”
“Obeying their commands felt completely natural. But even someone like me experienced a major change.”
“A change?”
“A few months ago, there was an incident that caused the magical energy of this world to fluctuate. It was subtle, so subtle that the Mage Tower master and elders didn’t notice, but it was impossible to ignore. The moment I felt it, I—the mere puppet—gained a sense of ‘self.’”
“Self…?”
“When I became aware of my existence, countless questions arose. Who am I? Why do I have no memories? What has the Mage Tower done to me?”
As Ashil spoke, he lightly tapped his chest with his hand.
“The most pressing question was that I felt this body I’m using isn’t entirely my own. A strange sense of displacement, like wearing someone else’s clothes… That’s why I started investigating this phenomenon, trying to do it without the Mage Tower master noticing.”
Hmm. When I possessed Aeni’s body, I adapted instantly without any sense of displacement.
‘I naturally assumed this body was mine.’
After all, it’s a body that had lost its original owner, right?
Magic within the body stirred energetically, as if responding to my thoughts. While I smiled in satisfaction, Ashil continued his explanation.
“And I found a hint in some ancient texts.”
“Is that what you mean by ‘possession’?”
“Yes.”
Ashil nodded lightly.
“The text was extremely old, so it didn’t provide detailed explanations, but it mentioned that, occasionally, magic could cause the phenomenon of possession. I looked it up and found that possession is defined as a soul entering or transferring into another person’s body.”
“Hmm~.”
“From that, I realized: perhaps I had possessed this body. That would explain the strange sense of displacement I felt and why I have no memories before a certain age.”
The more Ashil explained, the stronger my doubts grew.
“You mean you have no memories from before the possession?”
“Yes, exactly.”
“Your original name, where you lived, what you did… you can’t remember any of it?”
He nodded earnestly.
“My first memory is when the Mage Tower master gave me the name Ashil and told me I would become a Grand Magus and must serve the Tower loyally. At that time, I was already an adult.”
“Couldn’t it just be memory loss, rather than possession?”
“No.”
This time, he shook his head firmly.
“It’s not just forgetting. I don’t have memories at all. This strangeness is hard to explain in words.”
‘I can see the difference between him and me here.’
I retained my original memories when I possessed Aeni’s body, and I had thoroughly studied the original story beforehand.
But Ashil seemed like a very different case.
‘No memories, huh…’
The moment he mentioned possession, I wondered if he came from the modern world like me, or if he knew about the original story.
‘It seems that’s not the case.’
I organized what I knew about Ashil in my head and asked,
“So, that’s why you asked me if I had been possessed? Do you have any concrete evidence?”
“Do you need evidence to know about possession? I simply felt, the moment I saw Aeni, that he, too, had been possessed like me.”
That’s enough.
Even if Ashil went mad and blabbed about possession to others, without proof, it could easily be dismissed.
‘As long as he can be fooled, it’s not my problem if others are tricked.’
Thinking briefly about the man smiling at me, Ashil bowed politely.
“The day the magic fluctuated… it was because you were possessed. Thanks to that, I was able to find my sense of self. I’m grateful.”
“You’re confident that I was possessed, huh.”
“I can’t not recognize it. Besides intuition, I occasionally catch glimpses of your original traces.”
“Traces?”
“For example, your black hair now.”
“!”
I frowned slightly and looked at my hair.
The silky blonde that had been running through my fingers disappeared.
Seeing my action, Ashil hurriedly clarified.
“It doesn’t stay black all the time. Fundamentally, it’s blonde, but it momentarily appears black sometimes.”
“…”
“That’s why I want to ask Aeni for help.”
Ashil spoke to me in a serious tone.
“You will surely see traces of me too. If you notice anything different from my earlier description, please let me know.”
“Is Ashil really that curious?”
Ashil nodded seriously in response.
“Yes. I want to understand the essence of my existence, and also figure out how I ended up as a puppet of the Mage Tower.”
“I see… That’s why, even as a Grand Magus, you came to me personally.”
“Yes. After gaining self-awareness, I developed a strong distrust of the Tower. So I sought out the leader of the personal magi and begged them to accept me.”
“The Tower doesn’t know your situation at all?”
“I usually take a break once a year to replenish my magic. They don’t pay attention to me during that time. Probably because I had no self-awareness, they let their guard down.”
“I see.”
I looked at Ashil quietly, then slowly lifted the corner of my mouth.
‘Perfect~’
At first, I was suspicious, but the more we talked, the more I liked Ashil’s traits.
His innocence in explaining exactly what he wants.
His diligence in answering my questions, even when I didn’t give clear answers.
‘Above all, he’s a highly skilled Grand Magus, distrustful of the Mage Tower, and currently unemployed?’
“Then, why not work here?”
“Huh?”
Ashil’s eyes widened at my sudden proposal.
I gave him a slightly troubled expression and said,
“The truth is, I still can’t fully trust you.”
“Ah…”
“But~ if you stay here and build trust with me, I might open up and tell you your unique traits~.”
“You can see my traits even with Aeni’s eyes?!”
Of course, it’s perfectly visible~.
I nodded while looking at his hopeful purple eyes.
Ashil’s smile broadened as he replied,
“Excellent! I’ve heard it’s hard to build trust between people. I’ll do my best to earn Aeni’s trust!”
“Hoho, I look forward to working with you~.”
I, having just discovered his self-awareness, had effortlessly snatched up the pure-hearted Grand Magus, smiling in satisfaction.
‘I really am lucky with people.’
Beep-beep—
Sensing the commotion, Lere, who had been sleeping soundly, flapped over toward the balcony.
Even seeing Ashil, Lere didn’t shy away and flew curiously around.
“Oh, we met at the train station before. It’s nice to see you again.”
Beep?
“Yes, I’ll be staying here for a short while. It’ll be nice to greet each other often.”
Beep-beep—
‘They’re getting along well~’
Watching Ashil and Lere happily, I turned my gaze to the calm night sea.
Having recruited a far more talented individual than expected, I thought tonight I would sleep very soundly.
