Chapter 115: The Shape of Chance (2)

Among the Ten Greats, more than half are affiliated with or favorable to the Empire.

Inariel was one of the Ten Greats, but he didn’t belong anywhere. He was a wanderer.

“What a coincidence that you all came at the same time. This… what does it mean, exactly…?”

Inariel frowned.

“Far from being happy, you seem annoyed.”

“It’s not that…”

“You think you’re all grown up now, don’t you?”

Even though he looked like a child scolding an adult, his attitude felt so natural that Yuri didn’t find it strange. Inariel, arms crossed, looked down at Hernando, who was sitting.

“I came to check what you were up to, and this is how you welcome me…”

“It’s not that.”

“Fool whoever you like, but not me. My eyes don’t lie. Don’t come at me with excuses…”

Yuri was deeply impressed with Inariel. The combination of his youthful appearance and grumpy old-man tone made Hernando seem quite pitiable.

Yuri sided with Inariel.

“Hernando, don’t make excuses and apologize to Sir Inariel.”

“You too, Your Highness…?”

Pressed by both of them, Hernando sighed.

“First, let’s change places, please.”

Yuri, Jared, and Inariel followed Hernando to a log cabin in the center of the forest. They sat face-to-face, with a wooden table between them.

Hernando, who had brought the tea, spoke.

“So, what brings you here?”

Inariel and Yuri explained their reasons one after the other.

“I just remembered you and came.”

Said Inariel.

According to him, while strolling through the forest talking to the trees, he suddenly thought of Hernando as a child. A mage of Inariel’s level didn’t let thoughts flow without reason, not even unconsciously.

“And that’s why I’m here.”

Yuri asked:

“Did you know Sir Inariel since childhood?”

“Yes. I was an orphan. I met him on the street, and when he saw I had talent for magic, he took me in and sent me to the Tower of Magic.”

“So he’s almost like a father to you.”

“Not quite…”

In short, there wasn’t an important reason behind his visit. The same applied to Yuri—he also had no clear motive for seeking out Hernando.

“I just had nothing to do and thought of him.”

Hernando looked at both of them.

“You two…”

Inariel motioned with his chin, and Yuri, legs crossed, tilted his head.

“What is it?”

“What’s up?”

Hernando shook his head.

“It’s nothing.”

And sighed in resignation. Then, Inariel asked:

“What were you doing to be in such a teenage-like bad mood?”

“I was working on personal research.”

“And this personal research… what was it exactly?”

“It’s private…”

“No need to hide it. That reaction means there is something.”

Although he looked like an impudent youth, Inariel was a mage who had reached the level of the Ten Greats. He had the ability to draw conclusions from minimal signals.

“Well, I’ll find out anyway.”

At those words, Hernando sighed again.

All the effort he’d accumulated until now had collapsed because of the visit from these two people. If only one of them had come, he might’ve had options. But with both arriving together, there was no way to avoid it.

With some resentment, Hernando suddenly asked:

“Sir Inariel.”

“Hmm?”

“Do you know anything about a scroll imbued with dark magic?”

When Yuri looked at him, Hernando signaled with his eyes. The fact that he was bringing this up showed he trusted Inariel.

Maybe a great sorcerer like him, one of the Ten Greats, might know something.

“A scroll with dark magic…”

Inariel furrowed his brow even more. His salmon-colored hair swayed as he thought.

“If it’s a scroll, it must be very old…”

“Yes, it is.”

“And if it has dark magic, it must be something very nasty.”

“Correct.”

“I don’t know much about the scroll itself.”

“Nothing comes to mind?”

Inariel replied:

“Dark magic has been gone for a long time. Even I know nothing about it.”

“I see.”

It was a way of saying he wasn’t helpful at all. Not only had he ruined his work, but he also provided no useful information. Hernando looked at him for a moment with a stern expression.

“You’re giving me a very insolent look.”

Commented Inariel while sipping tea.

“Earlier, outside, I saw the magic circle. You were going to do that, weren’t you…?”

Hernando didn’t respond.

What Inariel called “that” referred to his unique spell: the “Heavenly Mandate Observation Ritual.”

Hernando hadn’t used it since meeting Yuri. But after discovering the scroll among Okua’s remains, he instinctively sensed a great danger looming over the world.

If something like that began circulating among people, it would be catastrophic. And if Yuri’s suspicion was true—that someone from the imperial family was involved in dark magic—then the entire continent could plunge into war.

So Hernando had tried to trace the scroll’s origin.

Since such an object could disrupt the heavenly balance, his plan was to reach the imperial capital, activate the Heavenly Mandate Observation Ritual, and use it to gather information about the scroll.

But it didn’t go well.

The Observation Ritual wasn’t a tool for predicting the future or accessing specific information with omniscience. It only allowed glimpses of the heavenly mandate.

And this was the first time he attempted to apply it to a specific object. Furthermore, an unknown dark energy kept interfering with his magic.

That’s why, after preparing the magic circle and completing the incantations, he was finally going to perform the ritual today.

But everything went wrong.

“It didn’t work… because of someone.”

Yuri Briol. He had shown up.

The being that nullified all heavenly mandates appeared on the most important day. If Yuri had come alone, the ritual wouldn’t have been affected.

After all, Yuri couldn’t have found his workshop by himself. But something completely unforeseen happened.

Right when Yuri came looking for him, the great mage Inariel also appeared.

Two people extraordinarily rare in the world. Inariel, capable of finding his workshop, and Yuri, able to nullify the mandate of heaven.

Both arrived the same day, same hour, together, at the Empire’s Tower of Magic.

That’s why the “Heavenly Mandate Observation Ritual” that Hernando had been preparing since his arrival in the capital crumbled like a candle snuffed out by the wind.

And despite all that… both claimed they had simply come without reason.

“Did you really just come for no reason?”

“Yes.”

“Mhm.”

They claimed they just felt like it.

“The tea tastes bad. Next time have something better.”

“I don’t like tea, is there something else?”

Without realizing what they’d caused, they strolled calmly around the cabin. Jared, scratching his head, made a resigned gesture to Hernando.

“Haa…”

According to Yuri’s latest testimonies, there was a high probability that the crown prince was involved in drug trafficking.

And if that man had fallen into dark magic… how could they stop him?

In such a grave situation, these two had ruined his spell at the decisive moment.

Hernando realized there was nothing more he could do.

“Sir Hernando.”

“Yes, Jared.”

“It looks like you were doing something important…”

“That’s right.”

“And we seem to have interrupted it with our visit. I apologize.”

“Don’t worry. I suppose… it was just my fate…”

As he said this, Hernando looked at Yuri and Inariel.

Both continued roaming around the cabin, complaining about everything.

It was a strange sight. Two people he’d never imagined seeing together were now inside his workshop.

It seemed like too perfect a coincidence to be just chance. Jared commented:

“Yes. Maybe, like you said, fate has a better day in store for you. Hahaha…”

A clumsy attempt to console him. But Hernando felt something in those words.

“That’s right. You’re right.”

He had been so anxious that he tried to force the use of the Observation Ritual. But the world never forgives a mage who acts with greed. What kind of fate awaited someone who did that?

Where was his future originally headed before Yuri threw it into chaos?

He would never know.

“That’s right, Jared.”

Hernando let out a hollow laugh.

“Maybe I was destined to die alone, hitting my head after tripping… and thanks to you all, I’ve been saved. Thank you so much. Hahaha, it’s all thanks to you. Do you understand? You should be proud. Hahahahaha…”

When he suddenly burst into laughter, the three of them stared at him. Inariel said:

“Are you blaming us for all this?”

Yuri replied:

“I think so.”

Jared offered another interpretation.

“Seems more like he’s deluding himself…”

While Hernando laughed to himself and ruffled his hair, Yuri turned to Inariel with a respectful bow. He was always courteous toward the members of the Ten Greats.

“In any case, I’m Yuri Briol, third prince of Briol. It’s an honor to meet the great mage of such high renown.”

“You don’t seem like a child of these times. I see there are still manners in Briol.”

“Thank you.”

“I’m Inariel. For some whim of fate, I haven’t yet joined the World Tree and continue wandering outside. I’m a wretched elf.”

Inariel extended his hand.

“This is how humans greet, right?”

Yuri shook it.

It was a small hand, but the magical energy radiating from him was anything but small. It felt like plunging your hand into the ocean. Yuri couldn’t even imagine how much power was contained in the body of that small elf.

“I heard you wiped out those filthy orcs, so I thought you were like your father, but you’re not quite the same.”

“You know my father?”

“I saw him when I was a child. Humans are usually pitiful, but every now and then they produce monsters like that—it’s why they’ve thrived so much.”

Yuri looked at Inariel silently.

It was rare to have an opportunity like this to meet one of the Ten Greats in such a relaxed setting. Yuri didn’t believe in fate.

Separating coincidence from inevitability was, in the end, each person’s decision. Yuri wanted this unexpected encounter to mean something.

“Sir Inariel.”

“Hmm?”

“Forgive me for saying this at our first meeting, but…”

“Speak.”

“Could you offer me a small teaching?”

“A teaching…?”

Inariel narrowed his eyes.

“From the way you say it, it sounds like you’ve hit a wall.”

“That’s right.”

“You’re bold, but since you’re rather likable, I’ll grant your request. So, what is it you want to know?”

“I’ll show you outside.”

After exchanging a few words, Yuri stepped out of the cabin with Inariel.

Hernando, seeing them, opened his mouth in surprise.

Inariel had a complicated personality. He didn’t like humans. He was often the target of discrimination because of his childlike appearance and had even been targeted by human traffickers.

For him to display such a friendly attitude toward a human he had just met was practically unheard of. In Hernando’s own case, he could hardly say he’d been “adopted”; it was more like he had been abandoned at the Tower of Magic.

“Good heavens…”

Jared, seated beside him, also looked astonished.

“Sir Hernando… did you hear when he said the prince was cute?”

“Yes… I heard.”

“Out of all the young people I know, the last one I’d call cute is that prince…”

“Same here. Of everyone I know, Inariel is the last one I’d expect to say that…”

“Could it be that weirdos understand each other?”

“Could be. And when that happens, it’s usually the people around them who suffer.”

“This is starting to worry me.”

“Don’t say that…”

“Don’t say that…”

They looked at each other in concern.

And that “don’t say that” came true.

No sooner had they spoken than an explosion blew away half the cabin.