The Flame Swaying In The Heart (3)

“…My. It’s quite lively again, isn’t it?”

“Was there a public square around here?”

The kingdom soldiers reined in their horses.

While thoroughly inspecting the domain, Kardia heard their voices and pulled on his own reins. In the direction of his gaze stood a single great tent.

“Is there some dispute?”

“I’ll go stop it. Your Excellency, please wait a moment—”

Kardia silently watched the commotion, then dismounted. Still without a word, he strode straight forward.

“Your Excellency!?”

Leaving the startled soldiers behind and slipping through the crowd, he found, in the very center, a girl laughing with a particularly radiant smile.

A dandelion-bright smile—easy to spot anywhere.

“You seem to be having a wonderful time—Noi.”

Noi, who became friends with anyone, made everyone smile.

That made him happy—and, even more than that, endlessly resentful.

(If only you would smile for me alone.)

He nursed that impossible wish and, softly, sent it off to the stars.

“Kardia!”

Noi spun around and beamed at him. At that expression, Kardia narrowed his eyes.

(But for me—she smiled this brightly.)

By force of habit he felt the urge to scoop her up, and inwardly scolded himself for such disrespect.

“You came at the perfect time! Come over here!”

Kardia’s arm was tugged hard.

His thoughts, overflowing with tenderness, were yanked from daydreams back into the present.

“I trust you. Now, activate this magic circle.”

Smiling broadly, Noi handed Kardia a sheet of paper. Right beside them, four mages lay sprawled out, utterly spent.

“There’s no way… a magic circle like this… is possible…!”

“Th-this isn’t… a children’s playground… you know!?”

“You crammed in nothing but ideals—it’s not feasible…!”

“I only drew circles I believed possible even with your mana reserves. Practice twisting your mana a bit more skillfully.”

In the tone of a master scolding her struggling disciples, Noi addressed the mages.

The ones lying there were Royal Court Mages. Among those at the pinnacle of the Esria Kingdom, the only “child” who could say such things to them was someone like Noi.

“To have failed Lady Noi’s expectations—this is the disgrace of my life…!”

The Court Mage who sounded ready to commit seppuku on the spot was the one who had come as Panselinos’s guard. He alone knew Noi’s true identity.

“…What a beautiful magic circle.”

Kardia looked at the paper bearing the circle and wore a blissful expression. He could not tear his eyes from the ink-drawn lines.

He had seen many of the magic circles Noi drew.

But it had truly been a hundred years since he last saw a new circle of hers.

The circle depicted was a teleportation spell. It adapted the circle Kardia had used for the Water-Illusion Post. While its higher output made it more complex, it remained delicate, efficient, and utterly one-of-a-kind.

Doubtless the three who had protested, despite thinking it a child’s pastime, could not resist trying it when faced with such beauty. It was that sort of circle—one that combined cutting-edge technique and inspiration with a beauty worthy of history.

“…You can do it, right?”

Noi looked up at Kardia, worried.

He felt aggrieved.

Even if the Demon King’s presence had bolstered his mana, the fact that she judged it “doable” for Royal Court Mages, yet now considered that Kardia might “not be able to,” stung him deeply.

“As you command.”

So Kardia smiled gently and began twisting mana.

The four mages who had collapsed jerked upright.

—If Noi, after her death, lived on as a legend, then Kardia was a legend in the flesh.

Having heard of Kardia’s sorcery from all quarters, they must have wanted to witness it with their own eyes.

Watching Kardia weave the circle with fluid ease, the four let out sighs of admiration. Beside them, Noi wore a proud face.

Seeing that face filled Kardia’s chest with a joy that nearly brought him to tears.

(Go ahead and laugh at me, working so hard for your praise even though I’m no child anymore.)

The magic circle that Noi had drawn was spun to completion by Kardia’s hands.

At this moment, as her disciple, he had answered her expectations.

(…Nothing could make me happier.)

It felt as though one of the lingering regrets in his heart turned to light and drifted away.

—The band-shaped circle Kardia had woven wrapped around a massive pile of rubble. In the next instant, the debris within the circle vanished into bubbles of light.

“Wha—!”

Everyone present gaped, mouths agape.

“Kardia, take care of the other rubble too!”

At the disappearing debris, every onlooker stood stunned.

Neither at Noi—who took Kardia’s completed spell as only natural—nor at Kardia—who executed it so calmly—could the people hide their bewilderment.

The four mages slumped back down where they were. Possessing more knowledge of magic than the soldiers and townsfolk, they were shaken to their core by the brilliance of this circle.

“Yes. But before that—”

“What is it?”

“I properly activated your magic circle, Noi.”

“That’s right.”

Noi nodded, mm-hmm. Kardia deliberately put on a meek face.

“…Is that all?”

Startled, Noi hastily tugged at Kardia’s clothes. With a broad grin, Kardia promptly followed her cue and dropped to one knee.

Again, people recoiled.

They had never expected to see a noble lower a knee—much less to an ordinary girl.

“Well done. I trusted you, but you truly worked hard, Kardia.”

With her small hand, Noi patted Kardia’s head twice.

With a flood of feelings, Kardia quietly closed his eyes.