Etude of the Solitary Bandit | Chapter 4

[healingbonds]

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Snow in the portrait: He would speak to us about once every 10 years.

White in the portrait: He’d let us touch him maybe once every 300 years.

Shylock: Leaving that aside, there is the fear of being turned into stone if you ever come within touching distance.

Bradley: Honestly, he’s really mellowed out. I even shared a meal with Figaro the other day.

Owen: Ugh, that’s the worst...... I’d lose my appetite......

Mithra: I really don’t understand him. He was so arrogant and overbearing before. And now he’s what, acting as some small-time doctor?

Owen: ......Don’t you think Figaro’s magic has weakened? I feel like even I can take him down now. Hey, you should go try, Bradley.

Bradley: I don’t want anything to do with it...... How are you going to get out of it if you’re wrong? The way he tortures you really reflects his personality, you know.

Owen: Yep, I feel you. In the past......

Akira: (For some reason..... It’s alarming, but it feels like the kind of conversation you’d have at a class reunion where you’re commiserating over the changes in your former teachers......)

Owen: But Oz and Figaro aren’t the only ones who have changed. Mithra’s acting strange too.

Mithra: I am?

Owen: A while ago, I was having fun harassing the young Southern wizard, but you came to interfere. Even though I was having so much fun watching him turn all pale and shaky.
Why did you?

Mithra: Who knows.

Owen: Huh...... So you’re keeping a secret?

Mithra levels a cold glance at the faintly smiling Owen.

Akira: (Mithra doesn’t want to say that he promised Tiretta that he’d protect Rutile and Mitile......)
(After all...... If he fails to protect the brothers, Mithra will lose his magic......)
(As the Sage’s wizards, they might be comrades within the magical headquarters, but who knows when they might return to being enemies.)
(They don’t trust each other — at least not to the point of divulging things that might become weak points.)

Mithra: That reminds me, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask.

Owen: What?

Mithra: What’s your bizarre injury?

Owen: ......Who knows.

Mithra: It’s not something you should hide. Do you know what it is, Sir Sage?

Owen: More importantly, is it really true that Oz raised the prince of Central Country?
Does he treasure the boy? If I take him hostage, will Oz listen to anything that I say?

I falter, and my nervousness becomes apparent: it’s because Owen’s eyes are sparkling with a scheming expression.
Clearly, this magical headquarters is still not a place where everyone can become friends.

Owen: So, Sir Sage......

Snow in the portrait: Owen. Don’t lay a finger on Arthur. You’ll regret it.

Owen: Try stopping me. Once night falls, you two are trapped in the portrait. Oz can’t use his magic either.

White in the portrait: This is not a threat; we can’t even imagine what might happen.
After parting with Arthur, the North suffered a terrible arctic wave — the whole world got caught up in Oz’s grief.

Snow in the portrait: Oz has no control over it. If anything happens to Arthur, Oz might unconsciously destroy the world.

Mithra: Huh? The blizzard that turned up all those frozen corpses happened because of Oz?

Owen: Ahaha...... What’s with that.

Owen swirls his glass, smiling in disbelief.

Owen: How stupid. That almost sounds like love.

(Clink)

The sound of ice clinking hangs in the air, and then silence seeps into every corner of the bar.
I steal a look at a silent Mithra, and at Bradley’s unmoving fingertips.
A restless annoyance dances in Owen’s red and gold eyes.
Confinement within the magical headquarters. Neighbors changed beyond recognition. A reunion that dangles their weaknesses in front of other people. This is like a class reunion that none of them asked for.

Bradley: Tch...... That ended up being a long talk. Let’s cut to the chase.

Mithra: I’m getting sleepy.

Bradley: You’re always sleepy. From now on, we’ll be going on missions to various places as the Sage’s wizards.

Mithra: Huh? What a pain......

Bradley: That’s what I thought you’d say. That’s why Sage will get you anything that you like. If there’s something you want, say it.

Akira: Th, That depends on the request, and I’d have to discuss it with the others......

Owen: Ahaha. This is what you’re here for? I feel sorry for you, Bradley.

Bradley: ......What do you mean.

Owen: Aren’t the twins just using you however they like? But just think about it.

Owen — irritation still flashing in his eyes — whispers sweetly into Bradley’s ear, as if to disconcert him.

Chapter 3 << | index | >> Chapter 5