33

When Id introduced himself to Lara, two quarrels flew through the open window with a wind-piercing sound toward them. Id sprang up from his seat and swung his sword to strike the quarrels away. The next moment, he ran out of the restaurant to the street. Lara, Sasha and Benjamin followed him and saw that three men in black besieged Id, keeping him at bay for a while before running away soon after. Id did not chase them and walked over to where his party had watched him fight. The four people, each with a number of questions in mind, returned to the restaurant and sat down at the table again, an awkward silence hanging in the air. Lara, who had been looking down at her hands for a long time, opened her mouth as if she had made up her mind.

“Now that this has happened, I’ll be honest with you. I’m from the Thieves’ Guild of the Ur Kingdom. Since my parents were guild executives, I grew up at the headquarters of the Thieves’ Guild from an early age. After my father, the former guild leader, was murdered last month, my mother, who had never wanted me to live as a guild member, took me out of the guild. The new guild leader declared my mother a traitor and sent men to the border of Ur and Scandia. When several of his men attacked my mother and me near the border, my mother sacrificed herself to give me a chance to flee. When I arrived here in Chernobugor, I thought I was out of the chase’s reach, but they tracked me down all the way here. I saw a couple of familiar faces attack you, Id. Probably more guild members will arrive here soon. I don’t want to put you in danger, so I’ll go somewhere else now.”

Unlike her bright appearance from before the incident, Lara’s eyes were moist and slightly red. When Lara stood up from her seat, Id, who had kept looking into her eyes while Lara had told her story, dissuaded her.

“You must be tired of being chased around. Why don’t you eat first? Including the crossbow shooter, at least four men are after you. It’s too dangerous for you to go alone.”

Id stopped talking and looked at Benjamin for a while. As Benjamin did not react in any particular way, Id asked Lara.

“Where do you plan to go?”

Listening to Id, Lara was looking at Benjamin. After Benjamin nodded, Lara sat back down and answered Id.

“You saved my life, and I didn't even say thank you. Thank you so much. Since I’ve only been concentrating on running away, I don’t have any particular destination.”

“It’s too much to say I saved your life. I don’t think you would have lost your life by such attacks. You seem to have great martial arts skills, and you are a sorceress too.”

Surprised by Id’s insight, Lara opened her eyes wide and asked him.

“How did you know I learned magic?”

Benjamin replied to Lara instead of Id.

“Id recognized at a glance that I was a mage. He seems to have a special ability to read the flow of manna. How many circles did you carve on your heart?”

“My mother was a four-circle mage. She joined the Thieves’ Guild since she’d fallen in love with my father, who had been the former guild leader. I think my mother has been thinking about leaving the guild ever since my father died. She taught me magic since I was young, but I’m still only at two-circles.”

“Can I take a look at your magic force?”

As Lara nodded, Benjamin chanted a spell.

“Magic Force Examination.”

Benjamin, who used magic to examine Lara’s magic circles and flow of manna surrounding her, said,

“You have great potential for magic. Will you follow me to the Icarus Wizard Tower and learn magic in earnest? Since Id and Sasha, who have excellent swordsmanship, will accompany me to the Icarus border, you will be able to escape the pursuit of the Thief Guild if you join us.”

Although slightly taken aback by the offer, Lara carefully considered Benjamin’s sudden suggestion.

“I’ve learned martial arts from my father and magic from my mother since I was a little child, and I’ve been thinking martial arts suit me better than magic. But now that I have no one to teach me martial arts, I’m not sure what to do. If you allow me to accompany you, I’d like to think more about my future on our way to the Icarus Empire.”

Benjamin responded to Lara, nodding,

“All right, take your time to think about it. In the meantime, anytime you want to learn magic, I’ll teach you.”

“Thank you for being so kind to me even though we’ve only just met.”

“You’d better thank Id rather than me. Though I met him for the first time yesterday, he saved my life. Judging by the sorcerer’s sixth sense, he seems to have an ability to look inside people. Seeing that he’s trying to help you, I believe you’re a good person.”

Looking at Id, Lara said,

“Thank you. Your swordsmanship was great. Are you going to be a Knight?”

“Yes, Sasha and I will go to the estate of our late master’s family to be knighted there and fulfill the will he has entrusted us with.”

The party of four, who wandered around the town in the afternoon and bought travel items, returned to the inn late in the evening. Lara decided to stay in the same room as the other three for safety. It was already past eleven when they returned to their room after a late dinner. Four people, who had been sleeping out in the open for a long time on their own individual journeys, fell asleep as soon as they lay in bed.

In the middle of the night, a black dangling object crept through the door's keyhole of Id party’s room, and green smoke came out from its end. Having smelled the unpleasant odour, Id opened his eyes and rose to his feet. A sudden spell of dizziness hit him as he did. Having realized that he had been poisoned, Id sat back down on the bed and started manna circulation. Id’s manna moved quickly to discharge the poison from his body. After half an hour of manna circulation, when Id discharged almost all the poison penetrated his body, four men in black intruded his room. They had been cautious, patiently waiting for the poison to take its effect. But that patience had come back to bite them as it had allowed Id to expel the entirety of the poison that had entered his body.

Having seen Id’s silhouette sitting on the bed, the intruders rushed at him, brandishing their weapons all at once. Id jumped out of bed, unsheathing his sword. After several collisions of weapons in the cramped guestroom of the inn in the darkness, moans were heard here and there. Id lit the lamp. All four intruders were moaning and bleeding as their hands holding their weapons were cut off. Their weapons were littered on the floor along with their severed hands.

“Everyone, sit in the middle of the room. If you don’t follow my instructions, I will no longer be merciful enough to let you live”

As the four intruders gathered in the middle of the room, Id approached Benjamin and put his left hand on his chest, still wary of intruders as he kept holding onto his sword with his right hand. The manna, which rose from Id’s manna hall, flowed through his palm into the mage’s chest, wrapped the poison and released it from Benjamin’s body. A few moments later, the mage opened his eyes and asked,

“What happened?”

“There are intruders. They released poison into the room before they broke in. There’s still some poison in your body, so stay put for a while.”

“Did you detoxify it? You have an interesting skill. But now that I’ve come to my senses, leave it to me.”

Benjamin raised his wand and chanted a spell.

“Detoxication.”

The bluish magic force covered Benjamin’s wand, and all the poison left in his body was released. He detoxicated both Sasha and Lara and woke them up. Having confirmed that all of his companions were safe, Id asked the intruders.

“Why are you so persistent in tracking Lara even though her mother is already dead?”

As all the intruders remained silent, Lara asked a gray-haired, middle-aged man.

“Uncle Mateus, you were close to my father, weren’t you? Why are you doing this?”

Asked by Lara, the middle-aged man answered in a somber tone.

“The guild leader ordered us to catch you by any means necessary. Besides, your mother's magic killed almost twenty guild members, so some members hold a grudge against you regardless of the leader’s order.”

Mateus, who had been silent for a while, opened his mouth again.

“I am sorry, Lara. Since all my family members are currently staying at the guild's headquarters, I have to obey the leader's order. You probably don’t know yet, but the guild leader is the one who killed your father. He already poisoned your father, and he will make sure not to leave any loose-ends by letting you live. Many teams are chasing you beside us, so run as far as you can. And kill me. My family will only be safe if I die.”

Lara took four tiny daggers out of her belt, tightly holding two daggers in each hand. Tears kept flowing down her eyes. Biting her lower lip, Lara threw all four daggers at almost the same time. All four daggers accurately hit the necks of the four men.