Unnamed Memory - Volume 1 - Chapter 2

2. Countless Mentions of the Past

At the moment, the mainland was home to four powerful countries, known as the Four Great Nations.

As one of these four, Farsas was the large region in the center.

It had been founded during the mainland’s Dark Age and was widely perceived as a military power, both due to its symbol of the royal sword Akashia and the royal family’s steady seven-hundred-year reign.

Even during peacetime, those who served the castle carried out meticulous drills and trained nearly every day.

“…How diligent they are. It hasn’t changed at all.”

Tinasha surveyed the soldiers’ field from the walkway along the outer walls of the castle.

In a huge open clearing on the grounds, the soldiers had been performing mock battles, likely part of their regular drills. As two fought one-on-one, the others clustered to the side to observe.

Leaning on the stone wall, Tinasha watched them. Though easily mistaken for just a pretty girl, she was actually the witch extolled as the most powerful in all the mainland. Seventy years ago, this was a fact that everyone had known, but this time when she entered the castle, she’d kept her true identity hidden.

No matter what Tinasha herself was like, witches were generally beings to avoid. There was even a small country that incurred the wrath of one around three centuries earlier and had been destroyed overnight. It was understandable that the general populace would fear them.

It was Tinasha who proposed concealing who she really was. Oscar had approved, and so her assumed identity was that of an apprentice mage.

The white fingers she ran through her hair were adorned with numerous power-sealing rings so that other mages wouldn’t pick up on her magic. She was also wearing power-sealing earrings that bore magical designs.

“Ngh…” A sudden, strong gust of wind blew a cloud of sand into Tinasha’s eyes. She rubbed them as they watered, when someone addressed her from behind.

“So this is where you were.”

Tinasha turned around to find Lazar there, holding a book. She smiled and greeted him.

“Hello. I was just taking a walk around the castle.”

“Yes, you can see the training grounds from here.”

Lazar came to stand next to her and looked down at the training drill. Tinasha pointed to one of the soldiers who was fighting.

“That one has been winning every match and must be quite strong.”

“That’s General Als. He’s young, but he’s the most talented of the generals. Just last month, he led a small platoon and wiped out a gang of weapon bandits.”

Just as Lazar said, the red-haired swordsman did look to be the same age as Oscar. Als flipped up his right hand, and the sword of a soldier he’d been fighting flew into the air. His slender opponent clutched her wrist in pain and appeared to be saying something.

“That one lost, but she also seems to be pretty good… Is she a regular soldier?”

“Her name is Meredina. She fights under General Als, though I think she’ll be commanding her own unit soon.”

“Wow.”

Tinasha narrowed her eyes to get a better look at the female soldier. At such a distance, however, all she could see was the woman’s bright blond hair.

Farsas had no restrictions on gender when it came to occupations. People could do just about any job as long as they had the talent and the desire. That was why Tinasha wasn’t too surprised to hear Meredina was a woman, although such a talented female soldier was rare.

“She can be a little rough around the edges, but she’s a kind person,” Lazar added, smiling at her. He seemed unaware that he himself was actually the kindest person around. Tinasha broke into a grin, too.

“Is it fun to watch the mock battles? I would think mages would have little interest in this sort of thing,” remarked Lazar.

“In the past, I used to do swordplay. I had some free time…”

When Lazar heard that, his eyes widened in surprise, and he glanced at her petite frame. “Are you actually quite strong…?”

“No, I’m not, which is why I couldn’t get very good. Let’s see… I could probably beat that woman from earlier. But that general, hmm…probably not. I think I’d lose.”

It was hard for Lazar to tell from Tinasha’s lighthearted tone if she was being serious or making a jest. In the end, he didn’t press the matter any further.

Back on the training grounds, Als was sparring with a different soldier. His opponent was backing away in fright, and there were what sounded like jeers coming from the surrounding troops. Lazar adjusted his grip on the book in his arms.

“His Highness is stronger than General Als.”

“He is?” Tinasha sounded astonished, and Lazar turned to look back at her.

“Why are you so surprised? There’s no one stronger than him in the whole country. I mean, at the tower the other day, he… Hmm?”

Lazar cocked his head in confusion. He knew something had happened at the witch’s tower, but when he tried to recall what it was, he found he possessed absolutely no concrete memory of it. On the other hand, Tinasha’s face was frozen, and she was at a loss for how to react.

“Stronger than that general…? Hmm… Really?” she wondered aloud.

“Really. He’s got natural talent, of course, but despite his appearance, he actually works very hard. He’s always been eager to study any subject, and he absorbs things quickly.”

“Wow…”

“Why do you keep reacting like that?”

“No—no reason…” Tinasha looked displeased, frowning with her arms crossed. “This has made me want to take up a sword for the first time in a while.”

“Um…why?” asked Lazar.

Tinasha didn’t reply, merely nodded to herself. Such an inexplicable reaction made some doubts start to gnaw at Lazar, but he had to be off for the library.

Left alone at the castle walls, Tinasha murmured to herself, “As expected of a tower champion. I’ll have to be sure not to let my guard down around him.”

Even so, if push came to shove, she could force him to surrender. She was a witch, after all.

Tinasha thought on the matter for a while until she remembered the royal sword, made a face, and sighed.

Farsas was warm year-round, but it did have a summer that lasted two months a year, where the days were hotter than the rest. It also had a very mild winter. Tinasha had arrived right at the start of summer, and the castle city awaited the fast-approaching Festival of Aetea, a celebration of the mainland’s chief god.

One night, Oscar was walking along a corridor while reading a thick stack of reports when he noticed a black-haired girl approaching from the opposite end of the hall.

“Well, if it isn’t Tinasha.”

“I haven’t seen you in a while,” she said.

The witch had run up to Oscar when he’d called to her. She was as petite as ever, and he patted her head as if she were a young child.

“It’s been about a week. How’s the castle? No one’s been mean to you, have they?”

“I’m not a child. Everyone’s been quite kind, although I have gotten some stares.”

“Because we didn’t hide the fact that you came from the tower. If you run into any problems, let me know.”

“I’m fine.”

Tinasha didn’t appear to be heading anyplace in particular and fell into step with Oscar. “Is that your work?”

“Yeah, some diplomatic stuff and the arrangement of security for the festival. It’s not done yet, and I’m having some trouble.” Flipping the edges of the huge stack of papers, Oscar grimaced. At his side, Tinasha’s eyes widened.

“You do that, too? I thought you just lounged around the court all day.”

“You really do say some rude things without batting an eye, don’t you? …Last month, my uncle, the prime minister, died. We’re temporarily short-staffed, and it’s work I’ll have to do eventually, so I don’t mind.”

“I’m surprised you’re so diligent!”

“Listen here…”

As they bantered back and forth, they reached the door to Oscar’s room. He’d been so busy, he’d ignored the witch for an entire week. “Do you have some time?” Oscar asked. “I want to hear your report on what you’ve experienced this week.”

“When you put it that way, you make it sound like I’m your spy… I haven’t found any suspicious people in the castle.”

“I see… I just wanted to hear about your daily life.”

The two weren’t always on the same wavelength when they talked, a fact that had been true since the moment they’d met. When the pair entered the room, Tinasha rephrased her answers.

“I’m just doing normal royal-mage work. There are a lot of different jobs posted in the mage area. I just pick the ones I like and complete them. I can also freely attend lectures and do research, so it’s pretty fun.”

“It is the mages’ job to do research, after all,” Oscar added.

For that reason, the royal mages had been furnished with a rather lavish budget. In exchange, they gathered up jobs both inside and outside the castle, divided them up, and took care of them. Creating magic potions, medicine, and magic tools were part of their responsibilities.

Within the spacious room, Tinasha floated up into the air lightly and hugged her knees.

“With the festival coming up, I’ve been assigned a task on that day. I’ll be in charge of lighting.”

“Lighting? What will you do?” Oscar asked, looking through documents on festival security. Soldiers were to take turns doing security rotations during the celebration, and the general had drafted a report summarizing their shifts and positions for the prime minister to approve. With no prime minister at the moment, Oscar was in charge of the final approval.

Tinasha created a white light in her hands, showing it to Oscar. “I’ll make light sources like this one using magic and place them in the castle moat, like underwater lights. Won’t it look pretty once it’s done?”

“Ah, so that’s how it’s done. I always thought they buried lamps or something.”

“It’s easier to do it with magic.”

Once Tinasha had floated high enough to reach the ceiling, she flipped over so she was hanging upside down.

Oscar looked up at her, exasperated. “You really are a witch.”

“You’re saying that now?”

He’d never seen a mage levitate without using an incantation. Floating magic was fairly difficult to begin with. What’s more, Tinasha was wearing magic-sealing ornaments all over her body. Oscar started to worry if Tinasha would be able to keep up her facade.

The witch snapped her fingers, and the candlestick on the far wall lit up.

“However, to maintain the light, it must not fall outside the range of the caster’s power. Normal mages can only light the lamps of one or two shops at most.”

“What about you? Can you maintain it no matter how far away you go?”

“Mmm, I can keep it up from anywhere in the city, even with the sealing accessories. I’m planning to take in everything the festival has to offer!”

Oscar glanced at Tinasha’s happy, smiling face and very much felt like messing with her. “All right, I’ll go talk to the chief mage and give you some more annoying work to do.”

“Stop it! I’ll cry!”

Oscar pretended he was going to leave the room, and Tinasha desperately pulled on his jacket to keep him from doing so.

“They don’t really trust newcomers anyway. That’s why they didn’t give me a more important job,” Tinasha explained.

“Well, I guess that’s true. I was only kidding anyway.” Oscar grinned.

Tinasha puffed out her cheeks at him, but he ignored it and sat down to get back to checking over his many documents. “You seem pretty excited about it. Have you not been to a festival before?”

“It’s my first. The last time, I arrived just after the festival. I really regretted it, so I still remember it clearly.”

“You could’ve just come back another time after you’d left.”

“I promised not to return to Farsas until after Reg died.”

Tinasha floated up toward the ceiling again. The hem of her white robe filled with air and fluttered out. Oscar looked up from his papers and caught sight of her.

“I wasn’t in any mood to ask about his death, either, so after that, I forgot all about the festival.” She smiled just like a young woman, but there was a curious lack of emotion in her expression. As she tumbled in midair, she looked like some beautiful fish that had freed itself from everything but had been left behind.

Oscar was about to call her name without thinking when Tinasha suddenly clapped a hand on his shoulder.

“That’s right. I had something to discuss with you. It just wasn’t important, so I forgot.”

“Something to discuss? How could you forget about it?” Oscar asked.

“It’s about your safety.”

“My safety isn’t important?!”

“You’re pretty strong already…,” Tinasha retorted, looking thoroughly annoyed. “Anyway, we’ve made a contract, so I’m going to honor it. On the day of the festival, though, I’m going to be busy wandering around, so let me cast some more defensive magic on you.”

“You’re asking if you can slack off?”

Oscar wasn’t sure if this offer had been motivated by anything, but it didn’t seem to be. It wasn’t like Oscar had climbed the witch’s tower in pursuit of protection anyway. He tidied up his papers and set them on the table before looking up at her.

“All right, what should I do?”

“The spell is a little complicated, so I’ve already assembled it.”

With a happy glance, Tinasha flew down to land in front of Oscar. Then, she interlaced all ten fingers and pressed her palms together before bringing them in front of his eyes. Instantaneously, five rings made of thin red lines floated into the air between Tinasha’s hands and Oscar. They were all intricately intertwined, impossible to unravel, and after a moment, they morphed into a huge magical sigil.

Oscar barely managed to suppress a cry of wonder at the sight. The sound of the witch’s chanting filled the room.

“May this last the length of the contract. Let three times and two worlds be specified…”

Mages did not normally require incantations for simple magic.

If floating was representative of what was normal for Tinasha, all she had to do was concentrate or wave her hands to do magic that ordinarily required an incantation. This was the first time Oscar had heard her chanting a spell. Such a long recitation meant that the witch was about to cast something extremely powerful.

“Melt away the words that should be destroyed at the source, and the rain that was formed will disperse their meaning… All circles come back as circles… Follow my rules for all that may appear.”

When her chant ended, the slowly rotating, tortuously woven sigil converged and melded into Oscar’s body. Surprised, he turned his hands over to look at both sides but could see no traces of the crimson mark.

“That’s amazing.”

“Mm, that should be good. It has a semipermanent effect,” Tinasha explained. She took a moment to even out her tense breathing. “That magic will nullify just about all incoming attacks, regardless of physics. It can’t protect you from things like poison and mind tricks, though. Be careful. It’ll fade away if I die, too. On the flip side, it can’t be undone by anyone else as long as I’m alive.”

“This sounds almost like cheating.”

Undoubtedly, there were quite a few eager people who would pay any price to receive such incredible protection.

But they would most likely go their whole lives without having such a spell cast on them. Oscar was suddenly reminded how powerful an ally he possessed.

But Tinasha merely smiled in the face of his astonishment. She walked over to the wall and sank into a sofa. “You made a contract with a witch. This much should be expected.”

“Expected, huh? …I just wanted you to marry me,” Oscar objected.

“And didn’t I reject you?!” snapped the witch.

“Even if I don’t die, I still need an heir—or we’re all in trouble.”

The argument was sound, and Tinasha looked discouraged. She wouldn’t meet Oscar’s eyes; she must have understood that, too. With a little sigh, she crossed her slender legs.

“When you say you need an heir or you’re all in trouble… Aren’t there others of royal blood? I thought you had lots of relatives.”

“I do, but they don’t have any children. When I was four or five, there was a strange rash of kidnappings. In the end, dozens were lost. Several of my cousins were among those who disappeared. I currently have no younger relatives of royal blood.”

Oscar took up a water pitcher and poured its contents into a cup. He watched the witch as he took a sip. She looked astonished. Though she’d only just sat down, she leaped to her feet and bounded over to him.

“Did they find out the culprit behind those disappearances?”

“No, it’s still a mystery.”

“Did the Witch of Silence come before or after that?”

“After my mom got sick and died, so…yeah, it was after.” Oscar had to think for a moment, reconciling private records with his own memories from childhood.

Just then, a splitting pain lanced through his head.

Image of a witch

against the moon

A curse

A voice

Sharp nails

Ripped apart

Covered in blood

Shapeless images and wordless fragments flashed through his mind. All too soon, though, they disappeared as if they’d never been there. Oscar shook his head, brushing off the foreign sensation that had pierced his brain like thorns.

“What happened?”

“Nothing… I’m fine.”

“You must be tired. You look like you haven’t slept in a while.” With concern tinging her words, Tinasha reached out to place a hand on Oscar’s cheek. Her cool touch was comforting, and he could feel the tension melting from his shoulders.

Oscar grabbed Tinasha’s tiny hand and grinned. “I slept for three hours.”

“I don’t think that counts.” She gave Oscar a horrified look and grabbed his arms to force him to his feet. Tinasha started dragging him toward the bedroom. Ordinarily, her slender arms and light body shouldn’t have been able to budge the much taller Oscar, but she must have used magic because she effortlessly moved him along. Ultimately, he ended up sitting on the bed.

“Hey, I still have to organize my papers.” Oscar looked up at her from his spot on the bed, clearly discomfited. Tinasha had to suppress a fit of laughter.

“If you get some sleep, you’ll find you can finish much faster.”

“I don’t think so…”

“See, aren’t you sleepy?” She tapped his forehead.

Just as he registered that she’d done something to him, Oscar fell into a deep sleep.

“Children disappearing and a curse to end the bloodline…? What in the world happened, I wonder.”

Tinasha fell into deep thought again after forcing the man with whom she’d signed a contract to sleep. To her, fifteen years ago was still rather recent in her memory. Perhaps because she’d been holed up in her tower, however, she had no knowledge of these events. Thanks to the kidnappings and the actions of the Witch of Silence, the Farsas royal family was in danger of extinction.

Were it any other royal family, they would’ve simply adopted a child from distant kin as their new heir. Unfortunately, that option was not available to the kingdom of Farsas. The royal sword, the symbol of the country, was inherited only through direct lineage.

“This is a pretty thorny situation…”

What was the Witch of Silence thinking, bestowing such a curse on this family? Tinasha was curious but knew that the other witch wasn’t someone who would readily tell her if asked. If Tinasha really wanted to know, she would need to be prepared to either lose her own life or kill the other witch—both of which were beyond the bounds of this contract.

Which was why, instead of digging up the past, Tinasha was going to clean up the current problem instead. She was confident her power was capable of accomplishing that much.

She pulled out the stack of documents Oscar had left and quickly perused them. Here and there, she could find corrections the young prince appeared to have written in by hand, and she grinned.

“He does seem to be quite capable. I’d expect nothing less of a hard worker.”

In Tinasha’s long life, she’d seen many decision-makers, but Oscar held the potential to become a wiser ruler than them all. That said, as long as he was cursed, his future was up to Tinasha, his protector. Taking advantage of the fact that he was in an ensorcelled sleep, Tinasha petted his head as she leafed through the documents. Once she’d put them in order, she disappeared from the room without a sound.

When Oscar awoke, the witch had already left.

Looking at the clock, he saw that only an hour had passed. Yet he must have slept deeply, because for some strange reason, he felt refreshed in body and mind. He sat up in bed and shook his head lightly.

Glancing over at the side table, he saw that his paperwork was lying there in a stack.

Reaching over to check the documents, he noticed a new sheet had been added to the top. In what was clearly Tinasha’s handwriting, the page neatly summarized the parts Oscar should review as well as other salient points.

“I really can’t get a handle on her,” he murmured.

Even though she lived like a recluse, she apparently had a good acumen for clerical work. Snorting a little as he glanced through the papers, Oscar took up the stack and left the room.

Everyone in the castle went about their preparatory duties, and before anyone knew it, the big day had arrived.

The castle city was packed with people first thing in the morning, and strains of the performers’ music floated among the crowds.

The townscape was elegant, with rows of stone buildings. Light refracted through the colored glass inlaid on hanging signs, glittering like a rainbow. There were many foreign guests from outside Farsas milling around the historic streets, heightening the hustle and bustle of the already prosperous Farsas castle city.

This was the 187th Festival of Aetea held in the 526-year history of Farsas.

“This is so fun,” Tinasha said to herself, holding up a little porcelain cat in front of her eyes.

With the festival having finally arrived, she’d been out exploring the city by herself since morning. Wandering the streets, Tinasha happily took in the bookshops and traveling minstrels. It had been some several dozen years since she’d been in such a huge crowd of people like this. Having received the porcelain cat as a freebie, she placed it in her waist pouch.

Tinasha would have liked to keep playing to her heart’s content, but as long as she served the court, that meant she had work to do. She took note of the setting sun and returned to the castle moat to assume her post.

Ramparts and a moat encircled the magnificent alabaster castle. Festival stalls lined the road in front of the moat, and tons of people were strolling about. Slipping out from the crowd, Tinasha stood right before the moat and lifted a hand.

“Let there be light.”

The incantation was quick, a mere handful of words. A white ball of light rose from the witch’s hand and dived into the water. Now submerged, the luminous orb split into five spheres and spread out to evenly spaced positions in the moat. People passing by let out cries of joy at the pale, flickering light rising from the waters.

The mages stationed in other locations must have done their lighting at almost the same time, too, because the ramparts suddenly seemed cast in a bluish glow. When Tinasha glanced at the station next to hers, a mage in a robe noticed her and approached with a wave.

“How’d it go? You’re new, right? It looks like you did a good job, though.”

“It’s all due to the mages’ tutelage. Thank you, um…?”

“I’m Temys. Nice to meet you.” The man held out his right hand. His arm was covered in black markings—magical sigils. On the inside, Tinasha was surprised at the rarity of the designs. On the surface, however, she smiled and shook his hand.

“I’m Tinasha. It’s nice to meet you.”

“I’ll be around here for a while, so let me know if you need anything,” Temys said.

“I will,” she answered.

Temys gave a friendly wave and wandered off. Though the lighting was done, Tinasha would have to keep them going late into the night. As she watched the seemingly endless supply of people go by and wondered what to do with her time, an unknown man’s voice called out to her from behind.

“Best not to leave. You’ll get drawn into something annoying.”

“What?” She whirled around, but all she could see were the crowds of revelers. Tinasha had no idea who had spoken or if, indeed, they’d even been speaking to her. Then she saw a young man in a traveling cloak backing away, trying to blend into the masses. He was accompanied by a silver-haired girl. No sooner had Tinasha noticed them than they vanished into the throng of festival goers.

“…A mage?” She’d only seen him for a moment, but he had appeared to be suppressing his own magic. Tinasha brought a sealing ring–clad finger to her chin. For an instant, she considered going to question him but soon thought better of the idea.

“Well, it is Farsas.”

It was a festival day in the number one country in the entire land. There were bound to be some oddballs about. Tinasha herself, as a witch, was the oddest of them all. She pulled herself together and left her post, heading over to inspect a stall emanating a lovely, sweet smell.

During a festival that attracted attendees from inside the country and out, security was considered the most important consideration.

Whether acting as guards for important guests and locations or directing the flow of traffic in the streets, the security team had to possess split-second decision-making and vigilance. Which was exactly why Oscar had appointed only those who had proven their worth in battle.

Amid the excited hustle and bustle, a man wearing a sword complained, “Festivals sure must be nice. I’d love to have a drink.”

“We’re on the clock.”

The tall man dawdling through the congested streets and the woman with perfect posture next to him could not have appeared more dissimilar. Both, however, had the same smooth gracefulness as they made their way through the crowds.

The emblem on the tall man’s waist and on the well-postured woman’s chest denoted affiliation with the castle. It was the proof that they both had higher status than a commander. The red-haired, affable, and baby-faced young General Als turned to the woman, his childhood friend, and asked, “Actually, where’s His Highness?”

“In the castle. Working.” Meredina, the female officer with the authority to command a platoon, answered without pausing to look at Als. The woman’s face bore gentle and beautiful features. Only her blond hair, cut cleanly to her shoulders, gave her the appearance of a soldier.

“This year, we don’t have any official guests from other countries, so we don’t have too many guards assigned to specific people. We just have to do a good job of patrolling… Do you understand?” Meredina asked.

Als, who had been eyeing some salt-grilled pork strips, shrugged when he heard that. He and Meredina had grown up in town together, but perhaps because of their differences in personality, she was still always scolding him.

Although, if mischief within the castle was ranked, Oscar was much more of a troublemaker than Als. The crown prince loved to go off on his own, and he regularly sneaked out of the palace. Though he was supposed to be inside the castle during the festivities, whether he’d actually stay there was an entirely different matter.

“Hey, is anyone with His Highness?” Als asked.

“He said he didn’t need any guards. I wish he’d trust us a bit more, but…” Meredina trailed off.

“I think he needs a babysitter more than a guard… But yeah, he probably doesn’t need anyone protecting him. He’s strong.” Als shrugged before he realized something, and then he clapped his hands together. “Oh, did you want to be his guard, Meredina?”

“No, I didn’t say that.” Meredina pouted the same way she had since childhood. Als knew she had feelings for their commander, the crown prince.

The stars were visible in the bright night sky while the pair walked along the main avenue and approached the castle moat.

A startling scream cleaved through the droning buzz of the festival goers. Als and Meredina took off running toward the sound of a woman’s high-pitched cry. She had both hands planted on the bank of the moat as she stared at the water.

“My son… My son has…”

“Did he fall in?!”

She looked up at Als with a face that seemed drained of blood and just nodded in shock.

“Als!”

Meredina grabbed his collar. He shrugged off his jacket and unbuckled his sword belt before diving right into the moat. Though illuminated for the festival, the water still proved to be dark and murky. Squinting, Als swam to the bottom.

The moat was about four men deep. The lack of a current made it easier to swim, but it also made the water cloudy. Als’s vision was obscured by illuminated clumps of mud, and as he looked around, he began to panic. Just when he thought he should return to the surface for a breath…

A hazy, glowing ball of light suddenly grew in size.

It expanded rapidly, eating up the dark until the field of vision beneath the waters of the moat looked no different than on dry land in daytime.

Als boggled over what had just happened, but he kept searching and finally spotted a boy of about two years old floating some ways away. He grabbed the child’s unconscious body and kicked his way back up to the surface. When he finally breached and took a deep breath, cheers erupted all around him.

“Meredina, help.”

Als lifted the child up, and Meredina hauled the boy out and began tending to him. “It’s all right. He has a pulse, and it looks like he didn’t swallow much water,” she said, consoling the child’s ghostly pale mother.

“Th-thank you so much!” The woman was in tears as she thanked them both, hugging her child. A physician came running up and, soon after, departed with the parent and child. It was best to have the boy examined just to be safe, after all.

Als watched them go as he wrung out his sodden clothing. “Ah… It’s a good thing I didn’t drink…”

“Of course it was.”

“It was hard to see down there; I was getting pretty worried. Oh, actually… Which mage made these lights?”

“That would be me. I deeply apologize for my carelessness.”

In response to Als’s loud question, someone in the crowd lifted a pale hand. Tinasha came forward, and as Als caught sight of her, he fell into a trance for a moment. He wound a wet strand of hair around his fingers.

“Oh, no, I didn’t mean you were negligent… You really helped me by making the light brighter. Thank you,” he managed after a moment.

Tinasha said nothing and bowed her head. Looking past the girl, Als saw that the robed mage stationed next to her had noticed the commotion. He lifted a sigil-inscribed hand as their gazes met.

As the crowd of onlookers began to disperse, Meredina held out Als’s sword belt. “For now, go get changed.”

“Yeah…okay.”

Als and Meredina set off for the guardroom. Once they were a safe distance from the moat, Als shouted, “That was a shock! Who was that beautiful girl? Has she always been in the castle…?”

“Apparently, she’s a mage who was in the witch’s tower. His Highness took her as his companion,” Meredina muttered in hushed tones, like she was talking about something ominous.

“Oh right! I heard about that. I see. No wonder.”

“What’s no wonder?”

Als shook his head, sending the water droplets clinging to his hair flying. Meredina got caught in the spray and frowned, looking annoyed.

“No, it’s just that I didn’t think His Highness was the type to hang around women, so it surprised me to hear that… But it’s totally understandable in this case.”

“What’s totally understandable?!” Meredina snapped.

“Getting jealous?” Als needled.

Meredina punched the general in the back as hard as she could.

As the festival wore on into the night, Tinasha floated in the sky above the castle and gazed down at the city below her.

Filled with multicolored lights, the city was like a jewel box laid out on a jet-black cloth. The hem of Tinasha’s black dress fluttering in the breeze, she blew on the paper bird in her hands. The little folded thing was a decoration sold at a festival stall, and its white wings quivered slightly.

“Tinasha!” Oscar called out from below. She saw he was standing on the castle walkway and slowly descended to him.

“You’ve got good eyes,” she said.

“Everything around you looks kind of fuzzy and bright.”

“What? How?” Tinasha hadn’t been using any magical camouflage, but she’d purposely changed into a black dress so she wouldn’t be as easily spotted from the ground. Curious, she looked down at her own outfit, and Oscar laughed.

“You sure you don’t want to walk around the festival? You were looking forward to it so much.”

“I already have. And I’m keeping up my lighting, too. While I was at it, I made an air barrier so no one will fall in the moat.”

“Why?”

Evidently, no one had reported the moat incident to Oscar yet. He gestured to the witch casually. “I’ve managed to reach a stopping point in my work, so I thought I’d go out for a bit. I’ll show you around the city.”

“I do hope this isn’t you trying to escape the castle. You really shouldn’t. It’d mean that advance security plan the guards set up will go to waste.”

“I escape every year, so I’ll be fine.”

“Wow…”

Tinasha thought it likely this careless disposition of Oscar’s is what had led him to the witch’s tower with only one companion.

Floating soundlessly down to Oscar’s side, she blew again on the paper bird. The toy wasn’t unusual in Farsas at all, and Oscar watched in amusement as she played with it.

“Whatcha got there?”

“All the kids were playing with them, so it made me curious. It’s fun,” Tinasha said, kissing the bird. Somehow, the action had apparently given the toy life. It gave a big flap of its wings and flew off into the night. Tinasha watched the paper bird soar farther and farther away before her eyes softened as she took in the nighttime scenery.

“The city is so beautiful. It almost doesn’t seem real that there are tons of people down below all those lights.” She gave him a gentle little smile, and Oscar stroked her hair languidly.

“Was it worth it coming down from the tower?” Oscar asked.

“Yes,” replied Tinasha.

“Then I’m glad.” The way Oscar spoke made it sound like he was the one looking after her. Tinasha giggled and tried to float up again, but Oscar suddenly reached out a hand to drag her back down.

“Hey! What are you—?” Tinasha started to protest when, past Oscar’s shoulders, she spied Lazar running in.

“Your Highness! We have a problem!”

Oscar and Tinasha exchanged a puzzled look at Lazar’s flustered state. Lazar noticed Tinasha and cried out in surprise, “Miss Tinasha, so this is where you went! Everyone’s been looking for you!”

“What?” Tinasha looked guilty, and Oscar patted her shoulder.

“This is what you get for playing around. I bet you’re in for a lecture.”

“Now’s not the time for that! Someone’s been killed!”

“What?” Both Oscar and Tinasha were stunned.

Lazar led the other two into a back alley, one that people hardly ever traversed. In the dim light of the dead-end street, Oscar could make out a small gaggle of soldiers and mages.

“Can I see the body?” asked the prince.

“Your Highness…it’s this way.”

Kumu, the royal chief mage, materialized from the crowd. He motioned for Oscar to come closer and lifted a black cloth that had been spread on the ground. What lay underneath was no longer recognizable as human. It had been reduced to a charred lump of meat.

“Urgh…”

Starting with Lazar, all who caught sight of the cadaver covered their mouths and backed away—save Oscar. Tinasha’s eyes softened as Oscar calmly inspected the formerly human corpse.

“Do we know who this is?” Oscar questioned.

“The mage Temys. We identified him from his ornaments; they survived the burns.”

“Oh!” At Tinasha’s cry, all eyes turned to her. Oscar looked down at the witch with a conflicted expression.

“Did you know him?” he asked.

“He was stationed next to me today. He came to say hi.”

“Yes, which is why we were searching for you, Miss Tinasha. During the three minutes between Temys’s lights disappearing and his body being found, your lights were lit, but you were nowhere near the moat… Exactly where did you go during that time?” With the festival revelry beginning to die down, Kumu’s question echoed clearly and decisively.

Temys’s lights had gone out sometime after the child had been rescued from the moat. Right around then, Temys’s girlfriend had shown up at the moat to pay him a visit, but he’d been absent. Since his shift was not yet over, she’d guessed he was somewhere nearby. However, he was nowhere to be found. Three minutes later, his body was discovered in an alley a short walk from the moat.

“I look pretty suspicious, don’t I?” Tinasha asked.

“You’re probably the number one suspect,” replied Oscar.

Oscar and Tinasha whispered to each other in hushed tones as they trailed behind the other officers and mages on their way to the royal audience chamber. Curiously, although both agreed Tinasha was likely under suspicion, Oscar didn’t sound worried at all for some reason.

“Well, if push comes to shove, we’ll just tell them who you really are.”

“I think that would land me in hotter water than if I was the actual culprit…”

“It’ll be fine. I’ll protect you.”

Even though she was really a witch, Oscar had begged her to come back with him. He had no plans of pinning unnecessary guilt on her—she didn’t seem the type to harm others anyway. Tinasha was a girl who found delight in a simple paper toy. To no small degree, that was how Oscar saw her.

As if to reassure the witch, Oscar patted her on the head. The gesture was no different from what one would have done to a child. Tinasha glared up at him in protest but said nothing.

After a trek down a long corridor of the castle, the assembly of soldiers and mages reached the audience chamber. They entered with heads bowed, fanning out in front of the throne. Tinasha stood in the center, while Oscar placed himself at the side of the king’s seat.

The king entered the room. He was a comparatively young king, being somewhere around fifty years of age. He resembled Oscar, but his demeanor was milder. In his gentle eyes, Tinasha could find traces of Regius, the king with whom she’d made a contract in the past.

“So you are the mage my son has brought.” The king gazed steadily at Tinasha, and she accepted the look with poise. “Have we not met somewhere before?”

The abrupt question caught Oscar and Tinasha completely off guard, though neither let it show on their faces. Ever since the Witch of the Azure Moon had left Farsas seventy years ago, she had never again made an appearance until now. Perhaps Regius had once described to this king the tale of how a witch he’d made a contract with had fought in battle for him. Now was not the time to consider such things, however.

Tinasha gave the ruler of Farsas a brilliant smile. “No, this is the first time we’ve met. My name is Tinasha.” She swept one leg beneath her as she curtsied deeply. The graceful motion charmed the entire court. The king’s head was still inclined to one side as if something was still nagging at him. Whatever it was, he did not raise it. Instead, he merely surveyed each person spread out before him, from left to right, before his gaze landed back on Tinasha.

“A mage has been killed. Were you involved?” asked the king.

“No. I had nothing to do with it,” she replied immediately, her voice firm. Sighs could be heard in the crowd, and people began to murmur.

The king looked up at Oscar, who was standing next to him. “I leave this to you. Choose a good team to help you and take care of this.”

“I understand.”

The king stood and exited the chamber through a door in the back. All present bowed deeply at his retreating figure.

Oscar and the magistrates left to handle the remaining festival business, while Als and others involved in the situation gathered in another room. Seated around a table, they went over the state of the body and the time line of events in rapid succession.

Surrounded in the center, Tinasha simply received the oncoming questions, neither flinching nor growing defensive.

“Don’t you think it’s incredibly suspicious that you weren’t at your station?”

“Where were you, and what were you doing?”

“Are you even capable of magic that can serve this court? Those lights weren’t lamps or something, were they?”

“Oh, they were magic lights. I got a good look at them,” interjected Als, raising his hand. “Partway through, they got bigger and brighter. I saw them up close. There’s no mistaking it.”

This was the first word anyone had spoken in Tinasha’s defense, and the rest of the group was speechless for a second. Meredina broke the awkward silence by adding, “When that little boy was drowning, Temys was still there.”

“Ah yeah, I remember seeing him. His hood was up, and I couldn’t see his face, but he waved at us. I definitely saw the magical black sigils on his arms.”

“B-but even so, if she was using magic to keep the lights going, then she must have been nearby. That’s the issue. Maybe she traded places with another mage?”

Listening to the assemblage speak as if she wasn’t there, Tinasha suddenly recalled something that had happened while she was among the crowd.

“Best not to leave. You’ll get drawn into something annoying.”

If that warning had been meant for her, then the situation had developed just as the mysterious person had said. Maybe that mage had even known that Temys would be killed. Tinasha fell deep into thought while suspicious gazes converged on her.

“You’re rushing to a conclusion. She’s a mage from the tower. It doesn’t seem unreasonable to think she’d know things we don’t,” offered the aging Chief Mage Kumu as he stroked his dark-skinned, shaved head and considered Tinasha. “Making lights bigger and brighter after they’ve been created isn’t a simple thing in and of itself. These balls of light were originally made with the intention of being maintained for several hours. None of us besides her have the ability to adjust them in response to an unforeseen event. It shouldn’t surprise you that she can maintain them from a separate location, too.”

Tinasha was a little moved by the older man’s more flexible demeanor. It was just what she expected from a mage who had been known as Farsas’s Rock for decades now. Tinasha’s familiar had sometimes brought stories of his strength and astute judgment to her in the tower. At the same time, Tinasha began wondering just how much of her own hand she should give away.

It was then that the door opened, and Oscar entered.

“What happened?”

“We were just about to question her—”

“What were you doing and where?!”

Kumu’s explanation was interrupted by the mage who’d gotten held in check earlier suddenly pressing Tinasha for an answer.

The witch’s dark eyes glanced at the man who had made the outburst. Something deep and unknown lurked in those eyes, and he stiffened.

Oscar answered readily, “She was with me. Lazar saw her, too.”

The alibi immediately got the room buzzing.

Kumu’s eyes widened, and Meredina’s face twitched for a moment. Als noticed the woman’s brief movement and shrugged.

Oscar, responsible for the ripple through the room, merely looked around at them, not at all concerned with the shock of his subjects.

“Don’t waste time insisting she’s guilty. She’s not the one who did it; I can vouch for that… Tinasha!”

“Ah yes.” Grimacing, the witch stood up and showed her open hands to everyone in the room. “It’s true that, as Master Kumu said, I use a slightly strange kind of magic. I’m particularly good with light spheres and spiritual-type magic… So that’s why I can do things like this.”

Tinasha manifested a sphere of light in her hands. The luminous orb bounced up to the ceiling, then slid over to the window, edged out through the gap, and flew off into the night. Its light continued glowing until it got so distant that none present could even see it anymore. Everyone in the room let out gasps.

“It was irresponsible of me to leave my post. I’m aware that it’s unavoidable that you will suspect me because I did. I truly am very sorry.” Tinasha bowed her head low in apology, and everyone in the room shifted uncomfortably as they watched her.

Oscar let the moment pass before addressing Als, the only one who appeared unaffected.

“Als, I want you to look into this. Meredina, you help him,” he ordered.

The two soldiers exchanged looks before bowing respectfully.

Having their orders, Als and Meredina headed back to the alley for one more look a short while after midnight. As they walked along, they found the castle city far emptier than it had been. Meredina glanced back at the castle, its visage stark against the night.

“Are we sure she didn’t do it? Even if she did make those lights, she still left her post, which just makes her even more suspicious.”

“So you think His Highness is covering for her, Meredina?” Als asked. Putting aside personal feelings, it was only natural that she’d suspect Tinasha. Als gave a little shake of his head. “Well, it’s definitely a possibility, but I don’t think so. It’s true that she was with His Highness; Lazar confirmed it. But I admit I do feel a little…uneasy.”

“Uneasy?” Meredina turned to look at the general.

“It’s just a hunch, but something about her makes me think she’s…scary.”

Als’s words were so out of place that Meredina burst out laughing, but she quickly realized he was serious. She stared at him. “You’re serious? Why?” she asked.

“I am. Earlier, a mage tried to get closer to her but froze stiff.”

“What? That happened?” Meredina apparently hadn’t been watching Tinasha at the time. It was likely no one else had noticed, either.

Als had sensed a pressure emanating from Tinasha, one that felt like it pierced the skin. The girl’s dark eyes had seemingly held the depths of night. The force from them had been unmistakably real. If Tinasha had really wanted to kill someone, Als didn’t doubt she was capable, regardless of who or where. Nor did he doubt she had the power to do it inconspicuously or right out in the open.

“I wonder if His Highness knows about that…”

Als had sunk deep into thought when he noticed a mage farther down the road and raised his head. The small-statured mage approached the two soldiers and bowed.

“I apologize for the wait.”

His name was Kav. He was the one who had first examined the victim’s body. He and Kumu had just performed the autopsy, and as he fell into step with Als and Meredina, he began explaining the results of the postmortem.

“The cause of death appears to have been poisoning. Some not yet incinerated vomit was still in the alley, and we detected poison in it. It’s an old type of magic potion known as limath, a tasteless and odorless liquid. Those who ingest it vomit, and their whole body hemorrhages until they bleed from the nose. Death comes within minutes.”

“Is this poison easy to obtain?”

“It’s something one could make with the right instruction. You might be able to find it for sale somewhere, but not in Farsas.”

“So just as an example, could any of our mages make it?”

“Around half are capable. That said, potions are my specialty, but I wouldn’t use limath if I wanted to kill someone. It’s an old potion. The ingredients are hard to obtain, and the procedure is troublesome to perform. The magic involved in making it also takes a heavy spiritual toll… Nowadays, there are poisons that are far simpler to make.”

“I see!” Using a finger to flatten out his scrunched-up brow, Als asked Kav another question. “So what about how the victim was torn apart and burned?”

“The victim was dismembered after death. The head, arms, and legs were all severed, and the torso was cut in two. It looks like an ax or some other downward-swinging tool was used to dissever the body. Some parts took just one cut, and others required multiple. After that, the corpse was incinerated. He was doused in oil and then set on fire.”

“Horrible.”

Only guard soldiers were at the scene of the crime, but it had been close enough to the festival that the breeze still carried the sounds of laughter and harp music from nearby streets. However, the murder had taken place in a blind spot in a dead-end alley. There were no windows overlooking the narrow street, giving it an isolated feeling from the surrounding festivities. Peering down at the scorched ground, one could still catch the scent of death wafting silently in the air.

“Who found the body first?”

“One of our mages. They were searching for Temys. His girlfriend found him, too, and went half-mad. Right now, she’s resting inside the castle.”

“With what happened to him, that’s understandable,” commented Meredina, hugging her arms like she’d caught a chill. She looked up and realized that Als wasn’t next to her anymore. He’d gone back a little bit and was peeking out onto the street.

“Als? What are you looking at?”

“Well… I want to look inside the moat, too. It’s already dark, though, so it’ll have to wait until tomorrow. We’ll check out the moat, talk to some people, and then go report to His Highness.”

“Wait, do you already know who did it?” Meredina asked.

“Nope, not at all,” came the general’s swift reply.

Kav and Meredina looked disappointed, but Als looked up at the starry sky. “Why do you think someone would’ve dismembered and burned a corpse? Any ideas?”

“Some sort of ceremony?”

“Because they had a grudge?”

Meredina and Kav gave different answers at practically the exact same time, and Als shook his head at both.

“What I suspect is a body swap or an easy disposal method… Well, let’s head back for today. It’s about time I have a drink and get to bed.” Rubbing his neck, Als sauntered off at a quick pace. Meredina rushed to catch up with him, with Kav following.

“Hey, what kind of a person was the victim?” asked Meredina.

“You mean Temys? If I had to say… He was a lucky guy. He was a fast learner and had a real way with women. The man was friendly and responsible, so it’s not as though he was despised.”

“Which means it’ll be pretty hard to pin down a motive.”

Als, walking ahead of them, let his impressions slip. Adding to her friend’s train of thought, Meredina asked, “What about aside from his personality? Did anyone have anything to gain?”

“If we’re talking about inside the castle, I can’t think of anyone who stood to gain from his death. To begin with, all the royal mages research different areas… We’re not fighting over promotions or anything, either.”

While both served the court, the army, with its emphasis on collective behavior, and the mages, with their emphasis on individual behavior, had fairly different cultures.

“What did Temys research?” Als inquired.

“Magical lakes and spiritual magic. As for the former, he mainly worked with the lake in Old Druza,” explained Kav.

“What are magical lakes? Lakes made of magic?”

“They’re called lakes, but they don’t have any water in them. They’re places where magic has pooled underground with considerable density. There are a number of them scattered across the mainland. The major focus of Temys’s research was the magical lake in Old Druza, the site of the war from seventy years ago. He went there about once every month.”

“The war… There are stories about a witch who fought some kind of demonic beast during that conflict, right?” asked Meredina.

One unforgettable part of Farsasian history was the war with Druza that erupted seventy years back. Druza had quite suddenly attacked with a fleet of mages. Their magical strength had made it a hard fight for the army of Farsas at the time. In the face of such a fierce attack, Farsas lost much ground to the invading enemy.

Worst of all was a giant magic weapon that Druza had procured known as a demonic beast. This beast appeared suddenly on the front lines and boasted overwhelming destructive power. Druza’s weapon mowed down the Farsasian army. In the face of such a strong adversary, Farsas had been at a complete loss. Its generals and mages alike had fallen into despair.

However, Regius, the king during the time of the war, had called the most powerful witch to the front lines. She fulfilled the wish of the one who had made a contract with her, eliminating the terrible magic weapon. With their greatest advantage lost, Druza was defeated, and Farsas triumphed. Victory came at a price, however. After suffering such heavy casualties, Farsas took thirty years to truly recover. Druza, defeated and already contending with political instability, declined rapidly and broke apart into four small countries.

Als frowned at the mention of the historic battle and the infamous magic weapon. “I heard rumors the beast isn’t actually dead, though. Isn’t it dangerous to go somewhere like that?”

“That’s why he was going. If the seal on the demonic beast really is about to come undone, its effects would be seen at the magical lake,” Kav explained.

“Hmmm… If that really has something to do with the murder, this is really getting big. I can’t even begin to imagine the culprit now,” remarked Als.

“You sounded pretty confident that you knew who it was a little while ago,” Meredina retorted.

“I only said it was suspicious. And I was only talking about how it was done. I have no idea who actually did it.” Als shrugged, like he was out of ideas.

Meredina sighed in exasperation. Regaining her composure, she turned to Kav. “What about his other research topic, spiritual magic? Was he a spirit sorcerer?”

“No. Spirit sorcerers are extremely rare. What’s more, they’re very insular. We have many mages who can use spiritual magic, but no pure spirit sorcerers,” answered Kav.

“Really? What’s the difference?” Als inquired.

“The magical strength is completely different. Spirit sorcerers excel at controlling nature. Just a platoon of them would be more than a match for a traditional army,” Kav explained.

“Oh wow, that’s amazing,” said Als.

“On the other hand, there’s little record of them. By nature, they must be pure, as it’s a requirement of their magic. If they are no longer pure, they will lose their power. That’s why they live in small, reclusive groups and don’t often intermingle with outsiders. Evidently, Temys was doing experiments in an attempt to analyze their spirit magic. The sigils on his arms were spiritual magic, too.”

“Oh yeah, those. He sure was passionate about his research.” As Als recalled the black sigils covering the man’s arms, he and his companions at last reached the castle gate.

“We’ll make our report to His Highness tomorrow. Thanks for lending us your expertise, Kav,” said Als.

With that, the three of them went their separate ways.

A fragrant smell of tea pervaded the royal study. It had been brewed by the crown prince’s protector, a witch. Tinasha set a cup down on the desk, grumbling to herself. “I come down from my tower, and all of a sudden, I’m the suspect in a murder… Truly, no good can come from being on land…”

“You didn’t do it, so act more confident. If anyone says anything, I’ll deal with them,” Oscar offered.

“That will just damage your reputation.”

Although he was the crown prince, if Oscar went too far, there would almost certainly be backlash. Tinasha wondered if she shouldn’t just tamper with the memories of everyone involved in order to avoid the issue altogether. Oscar, on the other hand, had a mountain of paperwork to take care of after the festival and appeared busy working on things entirely unrelated to the murder case. Tinasha tidied up the teacups and crossed her legs as she floated about in midair.

“Anyway, I’ll handle my own problems. If this blows up, I’ll be the one to clean it up,” she said.

“I have a feeling it’ll get messy if I leave it to you, though. You’ll adjust everyone’s memories or something,” Oscar speculated idly.

“How’d you know what I was thinking?!” Tinasha snapped.

“So you really can do that…” Oscar looked shocked, but it wasn’t a bad last-resort option. The witch floating in Oscar’s room made no attempt to deny it, and he winced.

“In any case, I’ll handle it, so just sit tight. I signed the contract, so I have to take that responsibility,” he said.

“Responsibility? I’m only here in the castle for a year. I don’t care if I have a bad reputation.”

“You say that, but you’re going to be queen in the future,” Oscar reminded her, as if chiding the witch.

“I will not! Don’t make up a future for me!” Tinasha denied the assertion wholeheartedly, and Oscar burst out laughing. She rolled her eyes at him. “How serious are you about that anyway? It’s exhausting to get dragged into your jokes, so please stop it.”

“Don’t worry; I’m serious about all of it. You may be a witch, but you’re a good person. I don’t think I’ll ever suffer a dull moment with you as long as I live. It’s perfect.”

“That’s your reasoning?”

Tinasha didn’t enjoy people pursuing her with eyes full of adoration or worship. The reasoning “because it sounds fun” hardly sweetened the deal, either. In fact, it was even worse, because Tinasha had no idea how to reject something that unusual. She felt at her wit’s end, and Oscar turned back to his paperwork.

“Anyway, do you have any ideas who did it? The murder case, I mean,” Oscar asked as he scribbled some things.

“Mm… A lot of things don’t add up. We don’t have any conclusive evidence, though, and it would look suspicious if I got too involved,” Tinasha admitted while still floating overhead. What was bothering her now was that warning she’d gotten only a short while before the mage had turned up dead. That mysterious man might’ve been involved, but he’d been given ample time to flee the city by now. Tinasha regretted not chasing after him.

Oscar grinned like he could see everything the witch was thinking. “Well, you can trust me. I’ve left it to a capable team.”

“You’re terrible for making your officers solve a mystery.” Tinasha wasn’t certain Oscar had heard what she’d said, because the door to the study had loudly opened at the same time. Oscar and Tinasha exchanged a glance, and the latter flicked her right hand—vanishing instantly. She had probably cast invisibility magic so as to avoid complicated inquiries. Oscar was impressed at how quickly she’d managed it.

Als entered the room, stood in front of the desk, and gave his summary of the investigation. Once Oscar had heard the gist, he grinned teasingly.

“Do you know who did it?” he asked.

“We know how they did it, more or less, but not who,” Als stated flatly. Curiously, his response seemed only to please Oscar even further. The prince’s grin widened.

“Then tell me how they did it. Oh, but only once everyone’s here. I want to see their reactions.”

“Understood.”

Als left, and Oscar spoke to the seemingly empty room. “So there you have it. You should come, too, Tinasha.”

There was no reply, but Oscar felt like he could sense a sigh right next to him, and he laughed.

Everyone involved in the case gathered together in a seminar room normally used for practicing magic. Among those in attendance were people close to the victim or with some sort of indirect connection to him. Temys had no blood relations. The only person there who didn’t work at the castle was his girlfriend.

Oscar sat at the very back, with everyone else scattered around him in a circle. Tinasha stood behind Oscar outside the circle, almost leaning against the wall. On the opposite side sat Temys’s girlfriend, Fiura.

Oscar, who was leading the meeting, cast his gaze around the assemblage. “All right, it looks like everyone’s here. I’d like to hear General Als’s report on the investigation and any current leads.” The introduction was short. Oscar quickly yielded the floor to Als, who was waiting by the prince’s side. Als took a step into the circle.

“First, I’ll go over what happened the day of the murder. After Temys created his light spheres for the moat, he spoke with Miss Tinasha. Sometime after that, a child almost drowned in Miss Tinasha’s area of the moat, causing a mild uproar. Temys was also spotted nearby, though I think I was the only one who noticed him. I definitely saw a mage who waved at me from a short distance away.”

Als lifted his right hand, re-creating Temys’s gesture at the time.

“After that, this young woman, Miss Fiura, came by and noticed that Temys was not at his post. She asked the nearby mages about him, and by the time everyone realized he was missing, his light spheres had vanished. In the ensuing search, Temys’s body was found. It was determined he was murdered in the approximately thirty-minute window between when the light spheres went out and when his body was discovered. Miss Tinasha, who was missing during that time, was suspected accordingly. However, is it really possible to murder someone and incinerate their body in under thirty minutes?”

Als exchanged a look with Kav, who left for the neighboring room.

“Wondering this, today I went diving in the area of the moat that Temys had been assigned to. I never thought I’d be taking a swim in the castle moat two days in a row, let me tell you… But it was not a trip taken in vain.”

Kav returned, holding what looked to be an ordinary lamp. Its one peculiarity was that it was enclosed inside a large glass sphere.

“I found six of these set positioned at the bottom of the moat at regular intervals. The glass looks like it was made with magic. Of course, a regular glass sphere would be sealed off, keeping out both water and flames. However, because it’s made of magic, the lamp can be lit from outside the surrounding shell. Isn’t that right, Master Kumu?”

“…Yes.”

“Judging by the air inside and the wax, the flames appear to have simply naturally extinguished after enough time passed. We never got any reports about Temys’s lights going out and getting relit, so the lights were likely these from the very start. Temys had told Miss Tinasha, ‘I’ll be around here for a while.’ Meaning that, even though he was supposed to be at his post for the entire festival, he did actually plan on leaving partway through. It was not Miss Tinasha but Temys who did not use magic for their lighting duties.”

All members of the assembly gasped. Oscar crossed his legs, listening while keeping a sharp eye on everyone’s reactions. Tinasha had her eyes closed, content to only listen.

“This discovery tells us that Temys was not in position, even though his lights were lit. So when did the murder take place? If you’ll allow me, I’d like to put forth my own theory.”

Als closed his eyes for a second, organized his thoughts, and then continued.

“The murderer probably had a meeting set up with Temys in advance. They prepared the lamps ahead of time and buried them together. After Temys pretended to create his magical lights, he left his post to go meet with the murderer. After that, he was poisoned in the alleyway. When he was killed, there was still some time before the candles were due to go out. Unfortunately for the killer, something unexpected happened…the incident with the little boy almost drowning.”

Als glanced at Meredina. She gaped back at him, her eyes wide.

“Let’s suppose that, at that time, Temys was already dead. If you turned the corner out of the alley where the body was found, you would glimpse the moat, just a short distance ahead. The murderer likely chose that alley for that very reason, its proximity to the moat… But when the culprit heard the commotion caused by the child falling in, they probably panicked. If a person dived in after the boy, there was a chance they’d discover that Temys’s light globes weren’t magical. Even if no one noticed, there was also the risk of someone observing Temys’s conspicuous absence. As such, the murderer hurriedly put on Temys’s robe and went to the moat. There, they saw that the child didn’t fall into Temys’s section and, pretending to be Temys, waved at me. I have to admit, it was a clever way to turn a crisis into an opportunity.”

“Well, hold on.” Kumu held up a hand, cutting Als off. All eyes turned to him. “I don’t mean to interrupt, General Als, but the murderer held up an arm, didn’t they? A mage would have been able to tell that the markings didn’t belong to Temys. Why would the culprit have run such a risk?”

“That’s what I’m saying…they held up an arm. The body was dismembered, remember? The murderer brought the severed arm with them, concealed beneath their robes.” Almost the entire room was speechless at Als’s revelation. Such calculated violence sent shock waves through those gathered in the seminar room. Meredina’s green eyes widened, and she let out a little sigh.

“After that, the murderer returned to the scene of the crime and removed Temys’s other limbs to hide the fact that they’d taken an arm. And to make it harder to determine the time of death based on how dry the blood was when the body was discovered—or perhaps to make it more difficult to discover the use of poison—they doused the body in oil and burned it.”

Als dropped his gaze to the floor, looking somewhat indifferent as he continued.

“Looking at it that way completely changes how we narrow down our suspects. Whoever did this was someone close to Temys, someone who had to have been absent until his false lights had burned out, and then was quick to assert an alibi afterward to cover their tracks. We can make a guess based on that, but that’s as far as my investigation and impressions go.” Als turned and offered a bow to Oscar before returning to his seat.

An atmosphere thick with suspicion settled over the room. From its midst, Oscar said, “Thank you for your hard work. Does anyone have any ideas?”

The awkward tension grew weighty. None dared to claim innocence or cast doubt on another.

Oscar shifted his gaze to one person in particular, as if he’d known the answer all along. From about halfway through Als’s report, this person had appeared strangely calm, keeping their eyes glued to one spot on the floor. As Oscar was deliberating over how to bring this up, he heard the delicate voice of his protector call from behind where he was seated.

“You’re a spirit sorcerer, aren’t you? Or at least, you used to be, I’d guess. You’re the one who gave Temys those markings, right?” Tinasha asked, and Temys’s girlfriend, Fiura, looked up.

A spirit sorcerer was an extremely rare type of mage. When Tinasha identified Fiura as one, the whole room burst into an uproar. Kumu was the one to vocalize the thoughts of every other mage in the room. “How is it you know that?” he asked Tinasha.

“I could tell… Because I’m one, too. I can tell by looking at someone if they’re a spirit sorcerer, even if they aren’t one anymore. Also, Temys’s sigil markings were so complex and difficult to apply that only a spiritual-magic specialist could’ve done them. I’d assumed there was a spirit sorcerer in the castle who I just hadn’t met yet, but it seems I was mistaken.” Tinasha cast a sad look in Fiura’s direction. “Did you give your purity and power to him? Did you come to regret it?”

Fiura met Tinasha’s darkness-filled stare head-on. Her own eyes were brimming with a kind of hollow determination. After a long bout of silence, she smiled at Tinasha and began speaking.

“I never… I never thought I’d meet another spirit sorcerer after leaving the forest and coming to this strange land. I miscalculated. You must be a powerful spirit sorcerer if you can discern what I am just by looking at me. I’m sorry you ended up as the primary suspect.” Fiura’s eyes were as calm as the most placid lake. There was a clear resignation within them, one that had pervaded her whole body, like that of an elderly person who knows their time had come and is ready to go.

“I don’t plan to talk about most of it. I also won’t try to justify myself. I just…couldn’t bear the condescending look in his eyes when I couldn’t use magic anymore. I couldn’t handle his superiority complex, and every time I looked at him, I saw the protections I had put there and how shortsighted I’d been… I hated it. I killed him out of respect for myself. Nothing more, nothing less.” Fiura spoke as if to herself, desiring neither understanding nor sympathy.

“So in the end, the body was dismembered after the drowning incident was resolved,” Meredina said.

She, Oscar, Kumu, Als, and Tinasha had gathered in the crown prince’s study. Fiura’s questioning had concluded, and she had been temporarily imprisoned.

As Tinasha added hot water to a teapot, she replied to Meredina’s remark. “Magic that produces markings like that—and it’s not just limited to spiritual magic—will be effective for as long as the caster is alive, at the very least. In her case, the sigils continued to function even after she lost her spirit-sorcerer magic. Since she’s the one who cast them, she was probably able to transfer a portion of them to her own body, even though her magic was gone.”

“Why didn’t you notice it was a woman’s arm?” Meredina chided, and Als groaned.

Kumu interjected soothingly, “The marks on the arm were the more striking feature; it’s not surprising that’s all he noticed. Besides, Als also saw the wave from a distance.”

“No way she cut the arm off after noticing the disturbance at the moat. There wasn’t enough time. I guess that means all she prepared in advance was what she needed to burn his body to disguise the fact that his markings were gone,” Oscar reasoned. He uncrossed his legs and accepted a plate of snacks from Tinasha.

Als looked even more frustrated and confused. Meredina ignored him and kept asking questions. “Then why did she cut up the body? If she’d just left it how it was, she might have gotten away with impersonating him.”

Tinasha offered an answer. “I think it was all a gamble on her whether the impersonation would work. She couldn’t retrieve the lamps submerged in the moat, so she must’ve considered the possibility that someone would sense that she wasn’t really Temys. If the body was cut up by the time it was suspected that the person who’d waved wasn’t really Temys, then she had a chance. But if he wasn’t dismembered, then only a spirit sorcerer could’ve been responsible. No one else could’ve transferred the markings or drawn new ones. As a proud spirit sorcerer, Fiura wanted to avoid drawing suspicion from any potential brethren. In this case, that was her downfall, however, as it’s what led to us realizing she’d impersonated Temys.”

“You fell for it hook, line, and sinker,” said Meredina archly, and Als was unable to meet the woman’s gaze.

Oscar grinned and attempted to mediate. “Don’t bully him. It’s only because of his work that we were able to solve the mystery. What’s more—we did so quickly, which really helped.”

Once again, Als bowed low. Despite the truth having been revealed, Kumu still looked displeased.

“But Temys came to me to discuss his plans to marry Fiura. Did he really think so low of her?” Kumu asked.

“No one can say if he actually did or if it was more the workings of Fiura’s mind,” Oscar said, bringing everything to a close. The prince scrawled a signature along the papers spread out before him.

Kumu, Als, and Meredina departed from the study after their discussion, each returning to their work. Quietly, Tinasha cleared away their cups as she muttered, “Why am I doing the job of a lady-in-waiting?”

“Because you make good tea, I suppose,” Oscar teased.

Tinasha set the tea-laden tray down on a stand by the wall, looking not at all satisfied. “What will you do with Fiura now that you’ve caught her?”

“That’s for my dad to decide… But she won’t be executed right away. I think the mages have a lot they want to ask her.”

Tinasha looked down at her own hands. The witch’s expression was one of pity. “I suppose there are reasons why spirit sorcerers never come to the city.”

“Are you okay? Let me see your hands,” Oscar interjected.

“Don’t avoid the subject. I’m not exactly happy about it, but everyone’s convinced that I’m important to you. I’m going to make sure not to do anything that will reveal my identity.”

“I knew you cared.”

“No, I don’t!”

Oscar let out a big belly laugh and began work on a fresh set of documents. When he went to dip his pen in the adjacent inkwell, he suddenly remembered something and looked up.

“Come to think of it, if you’re a spirit sorcerer, does that mean all your power will disappear if you lose your purity?”

Tinasha, now wiping down the table, smiled as if to say, Oh, so that’s what you’re asking.

“There’s some truth to it, but it’s also kind of an old wives’ tale. In reality, having sexual relations does make it easier for your soul to become impure. It will require a much greater amount of magic than before to perform spiritual magic, but that’s all. When that happens, the majority of sorcerers end up being left unable to use spiritual magic altogether. If it were an easier kind of magic, it would be a different story, though… That’s why it’s likely Fiura mixed the limath used in the murder herself; its magical composition is pretty simple.”

Tinasha cut herself off there. She finished wiping the table, folded the cloth she’d been using, and went to place it on the tea tray. Now empty-handed, she returned to the study desk and sighed.

“The amount of magic I have is totally different from someone like her, so I don’t think it would affect me much. It’s not like spiritual magic is the only type I can use anyway. Although, the really big spells might start giving me difficulty.”

“Oh, that’s good,” Oskar remarked rather casually.

Tinasha finally realized what Oscar had been hinting at, and her jaw dropped. Flustered, she came around behind the desk and went right up to him.

“No, that was a lie just now. It’d be a big problem. A huge one. I wouldn’t be able to use magic at all.”

Paying no mind to her desperation, Oscar broke into a wry grin.

“Even if that were true, it wouldn’t matter. I’d take responsibility and protect you.”

“No!”

Their quarrel came to an end when an abrupt pounding erupted at the door to the study. A soldier hurriedly entered. Between gasping breaths, he managed to say, “The woman we locked up for murdering a mage has killed herself!”

Oscar heard Tinasha inhale sharply.

Kumu and Als had beaten the prince and the witch to the small room where Fiura had been confined. She was lying facedown in its center. Her right hand was clutching a small bottle, and flecks of blood were spattered around her body.

“It looks like she took limath, the same poison used in the murder. She wasn’t eating, so there was no vomit, but she bled from her eyes and nose.”

“Didn’t you check her belongings beforehand?”

“We did, but she didn’t have anything on her at the time…”

While the soldier on duty explained the situation, Tinasha got a closer look at the bottle Fiura was holding. She reached out and scooped up the drop clinging to its rim.

Everyone else was clustered around Oscar, so none noticed what she was doing. Tinasha let out a low humming chant and began concentrating on the magical composition of the poison on her fingertip.

Oscar left the room after giving everyone their orders. Tinasha had been waiting for him and beckoned him over. He bent down to listen, and she stood on tiptoe to whisper in his ear.

“You should take one more look around Fiura. She wasn’t the one who made the poison. She probably has a coconspirator… That—or there’s a mastermind with a different goal entirely.”

Oscar nodded sagely and went back to the door to instruct the soldiers on what to do next.

Left alone, Tinasha let out a deep sigh before leaving.

The follow-up investigation revealed that a suspicious-looking old man had been visiting Fiura for the past month or so. It also came to light that an unfamiliar old mage had been walking around the castle the day Fiura committed suicide.

When the two accounts were put together, everyone concluded that both were the same person, but no one could track down the enigmatic elderly man in question. The case was left unresolved, leaving Oscar uneasy about the whole thing.

Tinasha took Fiura’s remains and went to bury them in some faraway forest. Whatever Tinasha saw in the lonely mage who threw away her power for a man and killed him out of pride, she didn’t say.