Adopt 197
by Cristae197
At Belinda’s words, Cheshire frowned hard.
Even if it was Belinda speaking, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
He’d been communicating with the priests about the “Walkers of the World’s Veil,” but that was only because they shared a common goal and mutual interests.
As head of the Grey Tower, Cheshire was obliged to extradite the Red Tower Master—a top-level fugitive in the Mage Republic—back to their homeland.
He couldn’t entrust the execution of a national criminal to the hands of priests.
At that moment, Belinda turned her back to the priests and mages, leaned toward Cheshire, and whispered in a low voice.
“You still haven’t found the black magician who made the explosive devices, have you? If you keep fighting over custody of the Red Tower Master, you’re going to ruin everything before the job is done.”
Cheshire knew she was right, but he stubbornly shook his head.
“If those sanctimonious priests would just yield, then I—”
“That’s why I’m saying, save the fighting for after all the black magicians are caught. For now, just pretend to make peace.”
It was perfectly reasonable, but to humble himself before a priest…
“Cheshire, for my sake?”
“…”
“Hm?”
“Hah, honestly…”
With a single word, Belinda managed to bend even a wizard’s pride, and Cheshire could only let out a long sigh.
Who was it that once said those who fall first are bound to lose?
Cheshire had never imagined a day would come when he’d sympathize so deeply with that sentiment.
He grumbled,
“Let me make this clear—this isn’t me knuckling under to those sanctimonious brutes. I’m only doing it because you asked me, Master.”
He was talking to Belinda, but he wanted Giuseppe to hear it.
“In exchange, once we return to the capital, you have to go on a date with me.”
“That—”
Belinda started to respond, but Caesar, who had been standing a few steps away, looked ready to interject.
Cheshire ignored whatever answer Belinda might have given, quickly rearranged his expression, and held out his hand to Giuseppe for a handshake.
“Let’s just get this over with.”
Giuseppe’s gaze traveled once from Cheshire to Belinda, then to Caesar, before settling once more on Cheshire.
It seemed unlikely that Giuseppe would refuse the handshake, and thankfully, unlike the loftier clergy of the Holy Empire, he showed a minimum of flexibility.
Giuseppe grasped Cheshire’s hand and shook it slowly up and down a few times.
Belinda quickly stepped aside so that everyone could witness the gesture.
“Ahem, if that’s what the High Priest wishes…”
“Ahem, I’ll abide by Lou’s decision.”
With the leaders of both sides acting in this way, the priests and mages—who’d looked ready to come to blows a moment before—reluctantly stepped back.
After that brief confrontation,
It was agreed that, until the last black magician was found, Belinda and Caesar would take charge of the Red Tower Master’s custody.
The priests and mages split up to continue the search.
So what had once been a pursuit motivated by principle and justice soon became a competition between priests and mages.
The red raincoat, which had once inspired even a hint of camaraderie, had long since been cast aside.
Cheshire, shielded from the downpour by his magic, spread his mana through the entire port city, probing for any trace of their foes.
Beside him, one of his senior wizards spoke timidly.
“Um, Lou…”
“…”
“Are you being… blackmailed by the Marquess Blanche?”
“What?”
Cheshire opened his eyes, which had been closed in concentration.
“What could I possibly be suffering?”
No?
But to the wizard, the relationship between Lady Blanche and Cheshire looked suspicious, to say the least.
The way Cheshire addressed her, the way he swallowed his pride at her every word—it looked like the relationship between someone holding damning leverage and someone forced to comply.
Yet Cheshire’s response was as unconcerned as ever.
“I get to go on a date with Master just for shaking hands with a sanctimonious priest. Not a bad deal, right?”
“…”
“Just agree quickly.”
“Y-yes, of course.”
Seemingly satisfied, Cheshire closed his eyes again and returned to his search.
Watching, the wizard shook his head helplessly.
It seemed that Lou truly had a powerful weakness.
From long experience, he knew that nowhere in the world was there a weakness greater than love.
Rain poured through a hole in the roof, drenching a half-shattered round table.
The place was scarred with the signs of battle.
There, a scrawny man huddled in a corner, trembling and holding his breath.
He’d risked staying in his exposed hideout, betting no one would think to check it twice.
Fortunately, he’d managed to remain undetected thanks to a stash of magic tools specialized for escape and concealment…
‘I—I don’t want to die.’
The problem was that he was so terrified he couldn’t make himself take a single step.
If he were to carry out the Savior’s plan, he needed to move right now, but he simply couldn’t summon the courage to leave even this spot.
It was no coincidence that all the magic tools he’d ever created focused on escape.
He was a hopeless coward.
“Uu…uh…”
Paralyzed, tears and snot running down his face, he sat immobilized—neither able to act nor turn back.
Though the typhoon had cast the world in darkness, he realized the appointed time for the plan was at hand, and so began to inch along, dragging himself forward.
He jumped at his own shadow countless times.
Finally crawling out of the ruin, he surveyed the desolate streets for a long while.
After repeatedly confirming that no one was around, he carefully cast a location spell to uncover the Red Tower Master’s whereabouts, as the plan dictated.
‘The square? Why would he be there?’
Something had definitely gone wrong.
Dark, pessimistic thoughts seized control of his mind.
Had all his comrades already been captured by the priests?
Maybe they’d even discovered the identity of the Savior.
Or perhaps…
“What if… what if they’re all dead already?”
The instant he uttered that worst-case scenario—
“Correct.”
A voice answered, tightening around his throat.
“Heeeeek!”
Shrieking, the man collapsed hard, too frightened even to attempt escape.
Immediately, he dropped to his knees, flinging himself prostrate in supplication.
“They…they’re all dead… P-please, spare me… oh god…”
As he bawled pathetically, Cheshire and the assembled mages let out exasperated laughs.
“Good lord. With nerves that frail, how did he ever think of crossing the line?”
Shaking their heads, they fitted him with mana-sealing stones and bound his hands to ensure he couldn’t cast any spells.
Even so, the man didn’t put up the slightest resistance.
They bundled up the black magician and headed back toward the square—only to run into a trailing group of priests.
Unlike the mages, who easily tracked their quarry with magic, the priests relied on numbers, thoroughly combing every district—and were now left panting for breath.
The mages seized the opportunity to mock them.
The brief truce under Belinda’s supervision was quickly forgotten as the bickering between priests and mages reignited.
“See! You only let those previous black magicians escape because you mages are so feeble!”
“What nonsense! How is that our fault? It’s because you lot are brainless!”
Only Cheshire stood apart from the argument, sighing.
“Not… not all of them are dead, are they?”
For some reason, Cheshire heard a faint note of hope in the other man’s voice.
But there was no way any hope remained for this man.
Sensing a strange sense of dissonance, Cheshire replied in a dry voice,
“You’ll be caught soon anyway. And besides, every last explosive magic device has already been found and destroyed. So that insane scheme to grant the Red Tower Master immortality has long since failed.”
Yet it was clear his words hadn’t really registered.
Instead, the man sobbed harder, then began to giggle through his tears, his gaze turning vacant as he muttered,
“Uh… uh… don’t wanna die… but the end of the world… The Savior will bring a new world…”
Completely unhinged.
Keeping his back to the babbling black magician, Cheshire shook his head.
Then, suddenly, a strange ripple of magic washed over him from behind.
All the mages’ heads snapped toward the black magician.
With mana-sealing stones in place and measures taken to prevent him from sacrificing his own body for black magic, he shouldn’t even have been able to cast a trivial spell.
But, as if to mock their precautions, the black magician threw something at the group of priests and mages.
“Damn it, stop him!”
Cheshire belatedly sent a surge of mana to shield himself and those around him, but he was a moment too late.
The explosive magic device detonated before it even hit the ground.