~Chapter 55~
That’s it!
I almost shouted with relief.
If I could close that rift, both my diary and my mansion would come back! Lucky me—I got here before the other mages did.
“Big sis, did I do good again this time?”
“Yes, you did really well!”
“How well? As much as one bag of candy?”
“I’ll buy you two bags.”
“Yaaay!”
“Let’s hurry and close it so we can restore the mansion.”
“Mm-hm!”
We rushed toward the clock tower, but then I noticed someone standing right in front of it.
I tensed, thinking it might be another mage—but the figure looked familiar.
“…Lady Lana?”
It was Felix’s mother, Lady Lana, standing perfectly straight before the clock tower.
With Shiz on my back, I approached.
Her eyes were locked on someone in front of her, her expression dazed.
“…Carlisle?”
At her call, a red-haired man who had been gazing up at the sky turned around. I froze in place, holding my breath.
“…Lana?”
No way.
The man Lady Lana was staring at was her husband—the very man who had supposedly died long ago.
* * *
The events unfolded too fast for Shiz to really understand.
Our house disappeared. To get it back, we need to close that giant crack.
That much, she understood.
Her gaze fixed on the black rift spreading out like spiderwebs from the clock tower.
Crack, snap. The sharp noises echoed as the rift continued widening bit by bit. The very same noise that had tormented her ears.
The hole kept stretching, pitch-black and eerie. Uneasy, Shiz clung tightly around big Relshiz’s neck.
“Um, sis… let’s hurry and close it. It’s scary… and my ears hurt.”
“….”
But Relshiz didn’t answer.
Shiz looked up and saw her staring at two people in the distance.
She already knew Lady Lana from the mansion, but the man beside her was a stranger.
“Sis, who’s that man next to Lady Lana?”
“Remember Investigator Guifero?”
“Mm-hm.”
“That’s his father.”
“Oooh.”
Shiz’s eyes sparkled with curiosity as she looked again. Now that she thought about it, they did resemble each other: the red-haired man and the golden-eyed woman.
Hmm… but he looks more like Felix’s older brother than his dad.
She decided not to think too hard about it. Instead, she glanced at Relshiz’s face—
—and froze.
“Sis… are you sad?”
“…Yeah.”
Her answer made Shiz’s chest pound with shock.
She had seen Relshiz laugh, get angry, even scold her—but never look sad.
Children are quick to catch feelings. Shiz suddenly felt like crying too.
“Why are you sad?”
“Because those two can only meet now. That man… he passed away a long time ago. When the rift closes, he’ll disappear again.”
“What?! Then they can’t meet anymore?”
“That’s right.”
“Not even later?”
Relshiz nodded slowly.
“No. He’s gone. It’s like… a really, really long goodbye.”
Shiz didn’t fully understand the meaning of a “long goodbye,” but she knew it was something very sad.
Just like how she couldn’t meet her own parents.
The thought of that loss made her heart pound nervously.
“Then… then let’s call the investigator over! Let him meet too!”
Relshiz blinked, startled.
“Felix? Right now?”
“Yeah! Bring him here! This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance!”
Shiz’s eyes shone.
“If not now, then never again!”
“…If not now…”
Relshiz muttered, as though turning the thought over in her mind. Then, at last, her face hardened with resolve.
* * *
“What a disaster… a rift in the capital of all places.”
Investigators Zion and Alt from the Third Investigation Unit grumbled as they worked side by side, helping citizens evacuate.
“Seriously. How many more times is this gonna happen?”
“They said something about a ‘time-line error.’ Supposedly it’ll keep happening until that’s fixed.”
“And when will that be?”
“Like I’d know.”
“Stop chatting and focus.”
“Ah, captain.”
Felix had just returned from escorting more citizens to safety. He scolded his subordinates for wasting time.
“This area’s almost done.”
“What about the mages?”
“They’re searching district by district. But I hear it’s tough—apparently the rift cores aren’t visible to normal eyes. They’re probably struggling just like us.”
Felix couldn’t help but think of Relshiz. At Para’s gallery, she’d handled a rift all by herself.
Maybe it wasn’t as easy as it looked.
Even so, recalling it now, she had solved it pretty quickly.
Well, they wouldn’t make just anyone the royal court’s head mage.
She was backed by House Willovis, yes—but beyond that, she was relentless, obsessed with success, and burned with a frightening passion for magic.
Felix had always hated that. Magic itself was tied to his worst memories.
The way she loved magic—devoted to it more than anything—was unbearable to him.
Was it resentment? Revenge? He knew rationally that “that incident” wasn’t her fault, nor magic’s as a whole, but his anger always swallowed him.
Only recently had he started second-guessing himself.
The change began the day that little girl kicked him.
The child, who had inherited Relshiz’s face so clearly, made him see things differently. Maybe her obsession with success was because she was raising a daughter.
It made her feel… less distant somehow.
He clicked his tongue. Thinking too deeply didn’t suit him. Felix ruffled his own hair harshly.
“Too bad. The market was just about to close—I was hoping to rest tonight.”
Zion smirked.
“Same here, Captain. Though I guess you’ll be more upset—you had dinner plans with your mother, right?”
“…Forget it.”
A flicker of bitterness crossed Felix’s eyes, but no one noticed.
They were just about to move to another street when—
“Found you! Investigator Guifero!”
“Huh?”
Out of an alley burst Relshiz—carrying Shiz.
Felix froze at the sight.
She ran straight toward him, breathless, cheeks flushed red from sprinting.
Shiz, perched on her back, waved brightly.
“Hi, Mister Investigator!”
“Investigator Guifero, do you still have unfinished business here?” Relshiz blurted.
“…What? What are you talking about?”
“Don’t ask questions—just answer! Do you still have work left here?”
The force in her voice made Felix instinctively shake his head.
“N-not right now…”
“Then that means you can leave for a bit, right?”
“What? Where are you trying to take me?”
“No time to explain! Just follow me—I’m borrowing him for a while!”
Before anyone could react, Relshiz grabbed his hand and yanked him forward.
Zion and Alt gasped, covering their mouths like schoolgirls.
“Hey—what the—?! At least tell me what’s going on!”
He could’ve easily shaken her off, but somehow… he didn’t.
“To Lady Lana. We’re going to her!”
“…To my mother?”
If Relshiz was dragging him, there had to be a serious reason. That instinct blared in Felix’s mind.
He hesitated, then carefully lifted Shiz from her tired mother’s back.
“Ah—”
“I’ll carry her. Which way?”
“This way.”
Relshiz’s steps grew lighter with the weight gone.
Up ahead, the clock tower loomed. That was where she was leading him.
“Investigator Guifero, the rift in the capital is showing pieces of the past from fifteen years ago. Nature, buildings… even people.”
“…I’ve heard reports. But why drag me all of a sudden?”
“Because at the clock tower, Lady Lana is standing with a man. He has your red hair. His name… is Carlisle.”
At that, Felix’s eyes widened violently. He finally realized where he was being taken, and why.
