AS THE WHEEL TURNS

When Lynne noticed the King himself charge ahead with his cavalry, alongside the Grand Elder, he had already realized it was too late, as the old fart of the Viscount was probably already killed within the dungeons. He could do nothing but sigh inwardly; after all, it was not his place to tell others how to do their jobs, nor did he wish to. This entire matter stank far more than he initially thought, and he had begun regretting ever accepting this mission.

“Fyire, what happened here?” the King asked as he leapt off his black mane, joining the five of them.

“Lord Father,” the young Prince bowed deeply before speaking. “I am not certain myself, as I have only just arrived. It appears there was some sort of an explosion that took many lives.”

“Humph!” the King snorted coldly as he looked at the scene before him. “Some fools dared cause trouble within my domain? Investigate this matter immediately!” he then turned to the soldiers behind him. “Leave no stone unturned!”

“Yes, my King!” the soldiers replied as they scurried away to the nearby people to interrogate them.

“My King!!” the Grand Elder suddenly exclaimed, as if he had realized something.” The Viscount!”

Without another utterance, the King’s eyes widened as he climbed up his horse and raced back, with several soldiers and the Grand Elder following him. Lynne sighed, as he knew it was far too late. He couldn’t fault the King for coming here; after all, a good deal of people were just killed. It would be odd if he hadn’t arrived personally.

“Who could do such thing?” Princess Ella said, sighing. “These were just innocent people...”

“Evils know no right or wrong,” Captain Edgar replied. “We should never try to understand them, lest we become them.” Idiots… Lynne cast a solemn glance across the downcast group. However, remembering that he should be a fool, his face suddenly grew distorted as he turned around and pretended to hold back from vomiting.

“You don’t have to be here,” Princess Ella looked at him, shaking her head. “What kind of a prodigy you are if even this can cause you to vomit?”

“Peh, look at yourself first!” Lynne scolded, pretending to be completely horrified. “How can you not want to vomit out?”

“… ah, fool once, fool every time.” she said solemnly as she turned around and left. After all, this was not a matter she could change anything about, as soldiers were already deployed to stabilize the situation, and the top echelon of the Guards was also present.

“Don’t listen to her,” Prince Fyire spoke to Lynne in a gentle voice, smiling warmly. “She may have harsh tongue, but she means well.” now Lynne truly nearly vomited after seeing such a scene; fake! How in the damned hell can you be so obviously fake?! Even I have to take my hat off to you!

“Don’t worry about me, Prince,” Lynne still managed to remain indifferent and not burst into torrent of curses. “It is but a setback on the grand path of Magus.”

“Ah… do not be swayed by this,” the Prince elaborated, seemingly genuinely interested in preaching to Lynne. “Grand path of blood is not something someone your age should crave; tranquility is always the true answer.” Go away! Please! You’re breaking my heart!

“Y-yes...” My facade is breaking because of you!! “I-I shall go now… elsewhere. Away.”

“Yes, yes,” the Prince nodded, still smiling. “Settle your mind; perhaps your path shall be opened before you due to today’s tragedy.”

“….”

Without saying another word, Lynne bolted away. He always thought himself to be rather good at fooling other people, but he nearly broke down before the young lad. He immediately swore to himself to never meet that man again, lest he goes on a rampage due to annoyance seeping from his bones. As a third party, Lynne removed himself from the entire mess and went back to the courtyard. On the way, he heard a few guards whispering about the Viscount who was found with lacerated neck in his dungeon. Apparently, the King was so furious that he had nearly blown up the entire dungeon. Lynne couldn’t blame him; after all, the Viscount was his only clue, and now he had nothing. However, if nothing else, it confirmed that the Viscount was a traitor, and that he definitely wasn’t working alone. Alas, Lynne knew that the matter wouldn’t be buried for too long. Seeing as they had already taken two grave actions within such a short span of time, Lynne felt strange foreboding seeping from the depths of his soul.

After returning to his courtyard, he immediately began practicing. This strange foreboding had given him a fuel; if something terrible was truly to happen, he knew he had no way of protecting himself. However many faces he can put on to try and parade with words, it was all meaningless underneath the absolute strength. Words were minced by swords, especially so during the ages of wars.

Guiding strands of Mana from the temporary space to his soul was a very slow process, but Lynne urged it forward. Sitting cross-legged, droplets of sweat poured down his forehead, and his face was slightly distorted due to immense pain. His veins were clogged with Mana, leaving little to no space for his blood to flow. Realizing he had overdone it, he quickly stopped taking any more Mana from the temporary storage, and poured all his efforts into guiding the strands that were already in his veins. He had managed to dispel them only after several hours of extreme efforts. Sighing in relief, he crashed on his back, panting heavily due to exhaustion.

“This stinks more than Auldin’s bathroom,” Lynne pondered out loud as he was recovering. “First the murder of a random kid, then trying to steer away the spotlight, if only for a little while… why? Why go through all this trouble? The death of that kid was meaningless, and neither the King nor anyone else had any clues prior to the Viscount’s blunder… why risk it all? Ugh, this is worse than the time I was trying to figure out Madame’s sizes in order to buy her a dress. I wonder what’s she doing now… he he… that night was truly remarkable… he he…”

“What are you mumbling about so happily?” a familiar voice caused him to bolt onto his feet; Princess Ella stood calmly at the entrance to the courtyard, slightly annoyed expression on her face.

“Ah, my lament! For grand Princess to see me in such state, my woes are eternal! Please, I beg thee, forgive this lowly--”

“Ai, enough with your barking,” Ella interrupted him as she entered the courtyard. “Father just informed me about your help.”

“I would truly be honored with the Princess’ presence on my bed, but alas, I am only interested in fine, aged flowers--- AAGH, IT HURTS, IT HURTS!!” the Princess locked his arm behind his back and pulled heavily; in truth, Lynne didn’t feel an inch of pain, but still put on a facade. Although he couldn’t see it, her face was slightly flushed.

“Who do you think you are to speak such nonsense to the Princess? Have you no shame?!” she asked angrily.

“Shame! I am shameful, ashamed of my words! I repent, I repent!” she had finally let him go, sighing as she shook her head; she truly could not see through this man. If one were to say he was a fool, then he was too much of a fool; yet, if one were to say he was not a fool, nobody would agree with that statement.

“Ah, enough of this nonsense,” Ella spoke firmly. “I need you to do me a favor.” … no wonder our Kingdom is collapsing. The entire freaking Nobility is filled with imbeciles beyond repair. Lynne scolded inwardly, but kept up a happy expression.

“Of course, of course! Anything for my lovely Princess!”

“Enough, you’re creeping me out!” she flicked her sleeve and turned around, sitting on the ground and signaling Lynne to do the same, which he did. “What is your impression of my little brother?” Devil! Absolute freaking devil!

“Great guy!!” he exclaimed instead.

“Trustworthy?” Absolutely not!! I’d rather trust anyone else in the world!

“Definitely!”

“You sure?” Hell no!

“Of course!” one truly had to give it to Lynne; even if Imperial Lords spoke to him, they wouldn’t be able to discern what is true and what is false with his words and expressions.

“… still,” Ella sighed shortly after. “I want you to befriend him.” … that’s it, I’m leaving this shithole the first chance I get.

“I would love to! Do you think the Prince would accept me as a friend? Aaah, that sounds wonderful...”

“… you stinky brat,” the Princess murmured; she truly could not conclude whether he was telling the truth or not. “He has so many friends already, I doubt he’ll care about having one more. My father adopted him when he was seven due to his extremely high natural affinity with Magic. I need you to inquire about his origin, as to this day we do not know with certainty.” He hails from hell, there, all questions answered!

“Eh, if no one else learned, how can a lowly peasant such as myself be privy to such grand knowledge?” Lynne lamented falsely, imposing his natural disposition to idiocy even further.

“Just do it,” Ella got up, annoyed. “I’ll present you with the opportunity in these coming days.”

“… yes, of course, yes…” I hope you’re reborn as a wretched larva, you damned woman!

At the end of the day, he couldn’t have said no – it would have been too suspicious. Lynne slowly realized that all the things he didn’t want to happen during his stay had happened. It appeared as if the wheels of fortune were turning backwards, causing him endless array of misfortunes. Endure… just a bit more, and I’ll be showered in gold… endure… for the God of Gold and all that shimmers!!

**

On the grounds behind the Kingly Ring, and the Edgemaw itself, within the same, boundless ravine, in one of those hidden caves, two shadows suddenly bounced as crisp, golden flame came to be with a flicker of fingers. Both figures were cloaked and indistinguishable, as even they didn’t know who the other one was – all for the sake of mission.

“Although it didn’t go as we had planned, it was successful nonetheless,” one of the figures spoke out. “However, that explosion was unnecessary. I would have found the way.”

“We couldn’t take a chance,” the other figure replied. “Although Viscount knew little to nothing, even a straw is enough for some to find the roots. However, as things have come thus far, it appears we need to begin.”

“Aye,” the other figure nodded in agreement. “I have received news from the Master: all our brothers and sisters have been activated.”

“Good,” the figure spoke. “It is time then; I shall begin laying down the foundations for the Teleportal Array, while you deal with the snooping dogs.”

“Master had ordered a large one. I believe it should take you about three months?”

“No,” the figure shook its head as it spoke. “I can do it in two, as I’ve already planted some seeds throughout the years, perhaps even faster if I’m lucky. However, laying such grand array will definitely cause some spacial fractures. If there’s anyone within the Palace with high sensitivity to Space, they’ll definitely sense it.”

“There shouldn’t be,” the figure said. “Not to my knowledge at least.”

“What about that newcomer from the Academy?”

“A fool,” the figure said. “Barely a Master, no need to worry about him.”

“Just in case, keep an eye out for him. Academy wouldn’t have sent him for no reason.”

“Ah, fine, I’ll see to it. We shall meet a day before the Summons, else we might be discovered.”

“Others have already began planting final seeds. There’s nothing this wretched Kingdom can do anymore.”

“Alas, all Kingdoms shall perish if they dare antagonize our Master.”

“Indeed.”

Two figures suddenly vanished just the same way they appeared – into nothingness, as if they were never there to begin with.

**

Two days after the massacre at the entrance of the Kingly Ring, Lynne sat still inside his courtyard. He hadn’t left it at all, disregarding the current chaos the Palace was in. In the end, he could only trust his personal strength – and, at the moment, it was sorely lacking.

As he was guiding strands of Mana through his veins, he suddenly opened his eyes and gazed off towards the distance; his eyes appeared to be capable of seeing through all the walls and noting all the secrets kept behind them. His expression suddenly grew solemn and his eyes soured.

“Spacial fracture...” he mumbled. “A large one. What the hell is going on here?”