/
It seemed that this couldn’t be accomplished simply by imagining it in his mind. Anyway, ancient things were annoying. Thinking, Reinhardt slowly opened his lips.
“Spears of ice.”
The reason for prolonging the chanting in magic was to concentrate the mind and gather the disturbed magic power in one place. Regrettably, Reinhardt, who was full of magical power, did not need to gather it. So his order was short. It was more of a starting word than an order.
Faaaah!
A huge magic circle floated up in the air, and thousands of ice spears were filled so tightly that they couldn’t move an inch.
Caspellius was simply mesmerized by the spectacular sight.
As Reinhardt lightly waved his finger, his blood trickled from the gap between his fingers and formed a round sphere in the air. And then it disappeared, reducing its volume as if it’d been sucked into the air.
At that moment, the spears flew furiously towards the wall. Caspellius and Barrio opened their eyes wide, as if they didn’t expect it.
Boom!
With a huge explosion, the first floor of the magic tower building was half destroyed. Reinhardt, who had been standing still through the blasting shock wave, fluttered his eyes once and looked down at his still bloodied fingers. Then he raised his head again and looked at the entire expanse of sky in front of him.
“It’s certainly fascinating.”
He didn’t even try to exert half of the original power, but four times the original power came out even stronger. If he had tried to use the power properly, the tower might have already collapsed.
‘I would have set up a protective boundary.’
He was blankly thrust through.
Shrugging his shoulders, Reinhardt lightly flicked his fingers.The magic tower, which had been shattered by the ice spears into powder, instantly returned to its original state.
”…… you.”
”I didn’t even exert half of your original power.”
Reinhardt explained to Caspellius. Caspellius’ eyes opened wide. Only half of his power but this powerful?
With a jerk movement, Caspellius snatched the book of black magic from Reinhardt’s arms.
“It’s still dangerous.”
“Oh, it’s fine. I don’t need it.”
Reinhardt smiled with a childlike expression as he raised his hands neatly.
“What is that……?”
“I understand the principles of black magic, and I know how to create a magic circle. All we need to do is use our brains to find the rest of the answers.”
“…… you’ve already figured it out? You’ve only seen two books?”
At Barrio’s words, Reinhardt raised his head and smiled.
What is there not to understand? The principles of learning were easy to apply once the basics were generally understood.
“How hard can that be? Once you understand the basics, it’s all about application.”
Barrio Baloxis, who had been exploring the discipline of magic for nearly a hundred years, opened his mouth dumbfoundedly. He felt as if he was denied his entire life that he had worked so hard to live.
“Oh, Master, I miss you.”
Reinhardt murmured in a low voice as he turned his head. He chuckled as he looked down at his fingers, which still had red marks on them.
“If I say it hurts, will you fix it?”
The gentle smile on his lips made Barrio and Caspellius look at him in surprise. It was not a painted smile, nor a made up laugh, but an expression that came from the heart.
“A magic circle that seals magic is only good if you don’t use magic to enter it, right?”
“A magic circle that seals magic…?”
Caspellius’ counter-questioned with a contraction of his brows. A look of incomprehension.
Reinhardt, who had been watching his expression closely, continued to speak.
“Yes. For example, what if I use magic to get outside the door where that magic circle is, and then walk in?”
“You won’t get caught. A magic circle that seals magic is fine as long as you don’t use direct magic. Or …….”
Caspellius pulled something out of a drawer on a side table by the bed in the middle of the room surrounded by bookshelves. He held the object out in front of him in his hand. Holding out the object on his scarred hand, he opened his mouth again.
“You can wear this and use your magic to get in.
“A ring?”
It was a silver ring with an elaborate magic circle wrapped around the entire ring on the inside, while the outside was clean and free of any artifacts.
“This ring is used to enter underground prisons. The entirety of Tartarus is engraved with powerful magic circles that seal off magic. This one has a magic circle on it that will prevent you from being affected by it.”
“Is it yours?”
Reinhardt asked as he took the ring and looked around. Caspellius shook his head.
“I have a separate one. This is given to the Lord of the Tower.”
“By the way, where the hell are we?”
Barrio spat out a series of questions that he had stuffed into his mind.
Reinhardt, who wore the ring on his left index finger, looked at Caspellius and smiled.
“It’s the empty space between the 74th and 75th floors. It’s our dog’s home.”
“…… Come to think of it, I’ve never even heard of a dog’s home.”
“Are you going to Lady Valletta?”
Reinhardt smirked at Caspellius’ question. He lowered his head and stretched his right hand. The fingers, which stopped bleeding and left only red marks, now looked almost normal.
Reinhardt, who was looking down at it, held up his left index finger and slowly drew on his right palm a long, diagonal line. A red blood line was drawn along his movements.
“Master, What are you doing now?’
Barrio, who was watching from the side, rushed over and grabbed his wrist.
Reinhardt glanced at him and shrugged. He lowered his gaze and looked at his palm. Blood spurted out from a red line that cut diagonally across his palm and eventually began to pool in his palm.
“She won’t heal me if I don’t do this.”
“You …….”
This was the first time in Barrio’s life that he had seen someone so twisted. The Tower Lord was of course a cranky, arrogant, self-centered person, but not of this sort. Neither Caspellius nor Barrio had ever seen such a disregard for their own lives.
“Now that I’ve done my business, I’ll go now.”
“Are you really not coming back?”
Reinhardt’s brow furrowed in annoyance at Barrio’s question. He tapped the floor lightly, a little nimbly. A magic circle glowed gorgeously beneath his feet.
Oh, I’ll give it back after I use it, Pell.”
“You don’t have to return it until you die. Because you’re the owner of the tower.”
Reinhardt’s eyes narrowed and he disappeared completely.
After Caspellius had put the book he had been holding back in its place, he looked at Barrio .
“You should leave now, too.”
“Is he really going to abandon the tower?”
Caspellius did not answer Barrio’s deflated voice for a while. Eventually, he saw Barrio on the verge of disappearing and slowly opened his mouth.
“I don’t think so.”
“Really….?”
“For the sake of Lady Valletta, he’ll come back. I’m sure there is no safer place for the two of them in the world than here.”
With those last words, Caspellius kicked Barrio out of the room. With the peace that had come again, he took off his thickly clad robe as he sat on the bed, looking tired.
* * *
“Hello, Master.”
“…… what? How did you get in here?”
“The guard dog gave me something interesting.”
Reinhardt picked upValletta, who was still sitting at her desk at late dawn, and sat her down on the bed. The pen she was holding fell out of her hand and rolled around on the floor.
“You really are out of line.”
“Just, I miss you.”
“…….”
Valletta, whose forehead narrowed, looked at Reinhardt, kneeling in front of her. She sighed low as he rubbed his forehead against her thigh as if he was tired.
“What happened?”
“Umm, I got hurt.”
Reinhardt’s voice was unusually soft as he raised his head and looked up at her. There was no sense of danger when he said he was hurt, but he didn’t seem to be in any pain. Instead, it was Valletta who raised her eyebrows.
“…… injured? Where?”
“Hand.”
The smiling face showed no sign of pain. Valletta looked at Reinhardt suspiciously and eventually shrugged her shoulders and opened her mouth honestly.
“Let me see.”
“Yes.”
Reinhardt smiled and reached out his right hand. Valletta gulped at the sight of the red blood dripping down. Why did this crazy man come looking like this? The wound was deeper than she expected and she could see inside the open skin.
“Have you gone mad?”
“I think that’s true for Master…”
Reinhardt said as he grabbed Valletta’s hand and kissed the palm of her hand. Valletta pulled out her hand and opened her mouth.
“I can’t do alchemy here.”
She couldn’t use alchemy in her room, and she didn’t have the materials either. Her items, which they said they would return the next day, were not returned, neither was her bag or Snorta.
Reinhardt lightly flicked his fingers, and the medicine box appeared.
“I have the healing tools.”
“Wouldn’t it be quicker to ask the doctor to treat you rather than bring the ring with this?”
Despite the ridiculousness of the situation, Valletta meekly opened the medicine chest and took out an antiseptic from it.
Reinhardt smiled as he looked at her. It was a dazzlingly beautiful smile.
‘…….’
She felt like she was possessed. Besides, this man reminded her of the other Reinhardt he had met in her dreams. The one who was more weary, and had a look in his eyes that said everything was boring. The man who would end up staying that way.
“It hurts. ……”
Valletta, who had disinfected his hand, applied the medicine, and was bandaging it, stopped moving for a moment at the sound of his complaint. Reinhardt, who leaned his face against her thigh as he always did, looked like a child.
Valletta said nothing, but bandaged him up, then closed the medicine box and pushed it to one side. She reached out her arm and stroked Reinhardt’s hair.
His shoulders shook in surprise, and he slowly closed his eyes, leaning back to adjust.
“What’s going on?”
“I was kicked out, Master.”
“You came out on four legs.”
Valletta stroked his silky hair as she criticized Reinhardt. She even wanted to ask how in the world he managed it.
“Valletta.”
She stopped, a little startled by the sweet voice in her ears.
“Yes.”
Reinhardt stretched out his arms and hugged her around the waist. She let go of the hand that was stroking his head and looked at Reinhardt. She was contained fully in his red eyes.
“Why?”
“Why don’t you come out with me? We’ll look for the culprit together.”
Valletta shrugged at Reinhardt’s words. His voice was so sweet as he whispered in a nostalgic way.
“Umm”, Valletta nodded gently and smiled faintly.
“That’s what I’m going to do. But not now. I have someone to meet.”
“Then when shall I see you again?”
“I’ll be in the garden tomorrow morning.”
“Okay.”
Reinhardt kissed the back of her hand and stood up. The blood that hadn’t stopped oozing out from between the tightly wrapped bandages.
“Oh, mana stones, can you give me some?”
At Valletta’s words, Reinhardt put some of the best mana stones in her hand without asking or questioning. They were all about the size of a fist, so they would be expensive on the market.
“Two is enough.”
“Really? I can give Master as many as you want.”
“It’s fine. Go ahead.”
“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Reinhardt didn’t hide his disappointed face when he replied. He looked at her white neck for a long time, then quickly bent down and kissed her neck to her shoulder.
“Then I’ll go.”
He then disappeared with the magic circle with a fresh expression, leaving behind the speechless Valletta.
“…… What is it with him?”
Heat gathered on her face in a flash. Valletta, who held her hot neck with her hand, swallowed a vain laugh. All she could think about was that the Reinhardt in her dreams and the Reinhardt in reality were both Reinhardt after all.
Valletta, who sighed deeply, stretched lightly and raised herself from the bed.
“Jin, Nerade.”
She sighed briefly as she watched the two tornadoes form. It was time to sort everything out.