Chapter 35
Regrettably, I couldn’t leave right away.
As I turned, blood dripped from the wound with a soft splatter.
Ugh. I silently swallowed a sob.
“That bastard really went all out.”
For an awakened being of that level, using power was no different from simply moving their hands or feet.
“He meant to make me bleed.”
Suppressing the bitterness that bubbled inside me, I glanced around—and spotted the awakened man I’d locked eyes with earlier. He was still standing there.
“What’s with him?”
His eyes seemed fixed on my wound. Was I imagining it?
But then a group of mages suddenly swarmed in like a human wall, blocking my view.
They chirped like baby chicks.
“Oh no, Lord Magister! That looks painful…”
“The bleeding! We know, we know you can heal a wound like this easily… but still!”
“May we… may we heal you instead?”
Apparently, they thought I was leaving the injury untreated on purpose, just to guilt-trip them or something.
That wasn’t it. I was just magically impotent.
And Hilaria, who was born with fire mana, had always been terrible at healing magic to begin with.
“Then, we’ll… um…”
Hesitating as they watched me stay silent, the mages rushed forward in a flurry, casting wave after wave of healing spells.
Bright lights flashed before my eyes, and slowly the pain began to fade.
To avoid showing any hint of relief, I stiffened my expression like a cat drunk on silvervine, narrowing my eyes. Then I noticed one of the mages approaching with Ruias in their arms.
The rest peeked at me, gauging my reaction, and then all bowed their heads.
“We were wrong.”
“We were… irrational.”
“And this child… didn’t do anything wrong, yet we said such cruel things…”
They confessed like guilty children, stumbling over themselves to explain just how badly they’d acted and how determined they were to do better.
Where did those vicious thugs from earlier go?
They all looked so pitiful and deflated, I almost laughed.
“What am I, a kindergarten teacher? Why are they all lining up to get scolded?”
That must be why I said what I did.
“This much is mild, compared to how the Emperor would react in anger.”
I spoke like the lofty Duke Ariel—but what I really meant to say was Don’t dwell on this too much.
And just like that, my mages—bless their perceptive hearts—snapped their heads up, their eyes brimming with gratitude.
“L-Lord Magister!”
“S-Sniff, we—hic—we fought alongside those bastard humans, and it was our fault!”
“We’re sorry! Waaaah!”
God, they’re hilarious.
I couldn’t hold back anymore—I burst into laughter.
It slipped out before I could stop it. I flinched, glancing at the status window. But it remained quiet.
Maybe because I hadn’t laughed too obnoxiously.
But then the mages broke.
One by one, they froze with their mouths open.
Even the ones who’d been bawling just seconds ago.
“…What now?”
I looked at the slack-jawed mages, slightly exasperated, and turned away.
“D-Did the Magister just… smile—”
“Shut it, you tactless fool!”
There was a stir behind me, but I paid it no mind.
I did, however, catch sight of that same awakened man again, standing apart with a twisted expression as he stared in my direction.
“What, am I supposed to feel sorry for you now?”
Like hell I did.
I was tired.
I just wanted to go home.
Even as the memory of the Emperor’s cold gaze pricked at my chest, I forced myself to keep walking.
✵✵✵
Hidden in the shadows, a group of unseen figures watched everything unfold.
They exchanged glances—and grinned in satisfaction.
Fools.
How entertaining they were.
The fact that those pitiful things were supposed to be the protectors of the Empire was laughable.
“To fall for such a simple trap…”
They had bickered and backstabbed each other so disgustingly that it was almost comedic.
And then… seeing the Emperor and the Magister of the Tower at odds—ah, that had been pure delight.
They hated and distrusted one another, yet stood united before the shared enemy of the Gates. How utterly nauseating.
“Go ahead. Fall apart.”
The great god’s descent was drawing near.
Their loyal followers worked tirelessly toward that moment of divine arrival.
They would offer blood. Offer their lives.
“Kaisis might be a tricky one…”
The Emperor’s rage had exploded like a nightmare today—foul and monstrous enough to make them curse. But in the end, he was only one man. Just a mortal who couldn’t escape death.
A revolting monster, nothing more.
And that monster didn’t know—his pride would rot his heart from the inside.
Nor did he know about the gift they had prepared just for him today.
Six years ago, they had failed.
But now… shaken by his clash with the Magister, the Emperor was vulnerable.
Today would be different.
The grinning figures vanished, their traces wiped clean—as if they had never been there at all.
✵✵✵
“I wonder what kind of dream he’s having…”
I murmured, my voice heavy with emotion, as I brushed my fingers over Ruias’s sleeping face.
How heartbroken he must have been…
Tears glistened like glass beads at the corner of the child’s eyes.
After we returned, he hadn’t eaten. He’d just silently cried and cried until he passed out from exhaustion.
Clearly, he was the one most wounded by what happened.
“Meow~”
Which is why I could barely look at the fat cat who had leisurely woken from his nap and finally waddled over.
“Hey, you, Fat Cat.”
“I am the Great Guide, Lord Lucy! I won’t forgive such an insulting title!”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”
“Meow?!”
“Oh Great Guide, may I ask what exactly you do around here? All you’ve done for the past two days is eat.”
“I don’t understand why you’re picking a fight. My mere presence is a benefit to you, you foolish, clueless girl.”
“Hey.”
The cat leapt onto the bed and began circling around the sleeping Ruias.
He pressed his wide butt against the child’s hand, curled up, and rubbed his head into Ruias’s hair.
I let out a sigh and gently smoothed the boy’s hair, now messy with cat fur.
“…Did you make him cry?”
I was about to deny it, but then my lips clamped shut.
“…Maybe I did. The mages and awakened ones started fighting each other, and he had to watch the whole thing.”
“It wasn’t a fight between you and the Emperor?”
What the—
That was not something someone would say unless they knew exactly what happened.
“…You knew something. You said earlier a strange window appeared.”
I leaned in to check on Ruias. He was out cold.
Good. We could talk freely.
Relaxing slightly, I turned to the cat, who was now licking his paws nonchalantly.
“Explain. What do you mean by ‘unauthorized interference’? You better start earning your meals.”
When the cat kept avoiding my gaze and playing dumb, my temper flared—I grabbed his tail.
“KYAAAK!”
Yes, yes, I know—true cat lovers would never do such a thing. But he wasn’t a real cat, so I justified it.
Real cats don’t eat dessert, okay?
“Let go, meow!”
“Answer. And don’t try to weasel out of it again. I will not tolerate something like today ever again.”
“…Hmph.”
Seeing I wasn’t backing down, Lucy narrowed his eyes, his earlier theatrics gone as he gazed at me with eerie calm.
What’s with that serious face all of a sudden?
“You know how the flow of this world works, right? That’s what this is about, meow. There’s always a protagonist… and a villain.”
“So… those people, they are the big bads I think they are?”
But I didn’t remember them infiltrating the palace in the original story.
“This isn’t how things were supposed to go.”
It had all been off from the very beginning.
