Grimgal of Ashes and Illusion - Volume 14.1 - Chapter 3.02

2. Ever Since I Woke Up

Shihoru was bewildered.

No, she was completely perplexed.

Up until they’d reached the mages’ guild, in a quiet high-class residential area in a place called East Town, Manato had been guiding her. Now that Manato was gone, she felt lonely, uneasy, and scared.

But in order to become a priest, Manato had to go to the Temple of Lumiaris, which was apparently in North District. She couldn’t keep him here.

The mages’ guild was an elegant mansion with white walls, and when she mustered the courage to go inside, a woman in the entrance hall kindly took care of her, so she felt just a little relieved.

But later, when she was taken to a waiting room, she was together with a boy named Adachi who wore thick-rimmed black glasses, and he made her feel uncomfortable.

It seemed Adachi had been waiting for a while. He was visibly irritated, and it didn’t feel like she could talk to him. Though, even if it had felt like she was welcome to, Shihoru probably couldn’t have struck up a conversation herself.

Eventually, a woman in her mid-twenties who, of course, wore a blackish outfit and a blackish hat, led Shihoru and Adachi to another room.

That room with large windows was on the second floor of the building, and a large armchair was placed in front of rows of simple desks and chairs there.

“The wizard will be coming soon,” the woman told them. “Please, take any seat you like.”

Then she left the room.

“More waiting, huh?” Adachi muttered.

There was a pain in Shihoru’s chest. She was no happier to be kept waiting than he was, but being alone with an irate Adachi was even worse.

Adachi took the seat closest to the large armchair. Shihoru sat in the second row from the front, in a window seat. It felt like sitting in the back would be bad, but she didn’t want to be beside Adachi.

Adachi occasionally muttered to himself. She couldn’t make out what he was saying, but he seemed to be complaining about something or other.

Shihoru did her best not to think about Adachi as she did nothing but wait for the wizard to arrive.

After waiting anxiously, eventually a white-bearded old man in a large hat entered the room. He wasn’t alone. The old man was with the black-clothed woman from before, holding on to her arm for support.

His face was so buried beneath his white beard and eyebrows that she couldn’t see it, and his back was hunched, so he must have been fairly old.

The old man sat in the large armchair, while the woman stood at his side.

“This is Wizard Sarai,” the woman said, introducing him.

Old man Sarai bowed his head slightly.

—or so she originally thought, but it looked like his head was just bobbing as he slept.

No, that couldn’t be it. He’d only just sat down in that big chair. He couldn’t possibly have fallen asleep yet.

Some time passed like that.

Adachi raised his hand.

In a cold tone, the woman said, “What is it?”

“Is he asleep?” Adachi cut right to the heart of the matter. “The old man there. It looks like he’s fallen asleep to me.”

“...Wizard Sarai.” The woman nudged Sarai’s shoulder a little. “Wizard Sarai. —Wizard Sarai. ...Wizard Sarai?”

“...Mweh.” Sarai looked up. It looked like he’d really been asleep. “Oh... Is it morning already?”

And he was sleep-addled, too.

“Enough with the jokes.” Adachi rose from his seat.

Huh? Huh? Huh? Without so much as a glance to the panicking Shihoru, Adachi was leaving the room.

“Hey! You! Wait!” The woman chased after him.

And so, Shihoru and Sarai were left alone in the room.

She’d been left behind.

Shihoru was stuck waiting again.

Sarai wasn’t opening his mouth to speak.

Could he be sleeping again?

No, clearly he couldn’t be, right?

But, upon closer inspection, Sarai’s tall hat was swaying. Couldn’t he be “nodding off,” as they called it?

Should she wake him?

No, it wasn’t decided that he was sleeping yet. Wouldn’t it be rude to try to wake him when she didn’t know he was asleep?

That said, she couldn’t leave things like this forever. Even Shihoru had limits to her patience. What exactly should she do here?

Shihoru was bewildered.

No, she was completely perplexed.

Time went by without her being able to do anything but be perplexed, and outside the window, the sun began to go down.

Finally, Shihoru was ready to cry. Not that it would solve anything. It might not, but ever since her awakening, nothing had made sense, and she was sick of it.

She couldn’t take any more. It was hard to see why she should take any more, either. But what else could she do? She had nothing to go on.

In the end, sitting here in silence, for no discernible reason, suited her. She was worthless. There was no value in her living. Even after all this brooding, she couldn’t leave her seat, only bawl her eyes out.

An idiot. I’m such an idiot.

“Hmm...? What’s wrong, girlie...?”

Snapping back to her senses, Shihoru looked to Sarai. She hurriedly wiped her tears away.

Sarai was looking at her. Dark eyes peered out from behind his too-long eyelashes. “Girlie, why are you crying?”

“...N-No... Um... Th-There’s no real reason...”

“Oh, no?” Sarai mumbled a bit, then remained quiet for a while. Phew. He let out a sigh, and then slowly began stroking his white beard. “Let me tell you something about mages. We borrow the power of elementals, beings we aren’t even sure are alive or not, to cast magic spells. In short, we are powerless.”

“...Powerless?” Shihoru repeated.

“Indeed. That’s the thing about magic. It’s there for the powerless to use. Look. I’ve lived to over a hundred, but my longevity is all I have going for me. I’m going senile, and I can’t see so well anymore. My legs are no good, either. But still, I can use magic.”

She hadn’t expected to hear he was over a hundred years old, but Shihoru was surprised by how well she could hear his voice given how quiet it was.

He was a mysterious old man.

“Heheh...” Sarai let out a low-pitched laugh as if he saw right through her. “Girlie, you just thought I’m a strange old man, didn’t you?”

“I... I did not.”

“No, the fact is, I am a strange old man, I agree. Truly, it’s a bizarre life I’ve led. When I first awoke here in Grimgar, I’d never have believed I’d live to a hundred.”

“S-Sarai... Wizard Sarai... you came here like us?” Shihoru gasped.

“You can call me Gramps.”

“I... I couldn’t...”

“Is that so? Call me Grandfather, then.”

“G... Grandfather.”

“Yes. That will do.” Sarai nodded, motioning for her to come closer. “Come here, girlie. If you’re so far away, I have to speak up. It’s a bit hard on an old man.”

“Y-Yes! I-I’m sorry...”

Shihoru rushed over to sit in the seat Adachi had occupied before. She still couldn’t see the man’s face through his eyebrows and beard, but he seemed satisfied.

“The boy who took off, he’s an impatient one,” Sarai said. “Well, I’m sure Yoruka will handle him. Yoruka, she’s the girl who was leading me by the hand.”

“Oh, Y-Yoruka-san is her name... I see.”

“That girl, too. She was a little girl like you until not so long ago, but now she’s gotten so big. Now, she’s a fine wizard. Much more clear-headed than I. A fine talker, too. Because I’m just an old man, you see. That girl must be over forty now.”

“Huh? F-Forty...?”

“She doesn’t look it, does she?”

“I... I thought she was maybe around twenty-five...”

“Ohhh. If you say that to her, she’ll be pleased, I’m sure. By the by, girlie.”

“...Y-Yes!” Shihoru sat up straight.

This old man likely wasn’t nearly as senile as he claimed. More than that, he might only be pretending to be declining in his old age. Either way, she could be sure he was no ordinary person.

Beyond his white eyebrows, his black pupils shone with an awfully strong light.

A mage.

Those were the eyes of a mage.

“Girlie,” he said.

“...Yes?”

“I’ve been needing to go to the washroom for awhile now. I can’t go alone. I’ll tell you where it is, so could you take me there, perhaps?”