The Returnee Wants Peace

Rosha was momentarily flustered.

Looking at the content of the optional quest, it seemed obvious which of the two she should choose.

‘…Anyone can see that we need to clean up the altar.’

Night was already approaching.

The sun sets faster on mountains than on flat land. The red moon, full of the mana released from the altar, was slowly revealing itself to the entire world.

“Ugh…”

“M-my body feels strange!”

“Don’t look at the sky! Throw away all weapons and find a place to hide from the moonlight!”

The moon’s magical power was fatal to the knights whose minds and bodies were exhausted from the recent battle.

The moonlight is fair to everyone, but it shows off a little more to those who make an effort. For instance, to everyone close to the moon.

Clang!

The knights who felt something wrong with their bodies all threw away their weapons at once and looked for places to hide from the moonlight. However, there wasn’t even a single tree to hide behind at the mountain peak.

There was only the altar projecting mana of madness and allure onto the moon.

It was then.

Whoosh-

Something appeared as the empty air rippled.

A wall of gray bricks tightly interlocked.

Arched glass windows that couldn’t be seen through.

A steep roof in a color close to black blue gradually materialized in reality.

It was an enormous mansion.

It had a grotesquely unbalanced appearance, as if it had been expanded several times, yet it was harmonious in itself.

Though she was seeing its exterior for the first time, she knew what it was.

Froy’s great mansion that was said to float through the cracks of space.

It was the essence of his ability that he had achieved.

“That’s…”

“This should be fine for now, so let’s put the altar aside for a moment.”

Froy approached after confirming that the knights were avoiding the moonlight by sticking to the walls of the mansion.

“You didn’t like revealing the mansion, is this okay?”

“We need to buy time somehow, don’t we? Besides, the real thing is inside anyway… and we can’t just let that guy escape easily from here.”

He pointed at the magician.

Though he had gone quite far by now, he was still at a level where his face and limbs could be distinguished.

“…Ah.”

Hearing Froy’s words, she realized something.

‘…I was almost naturally led astray. I thought that because it was an optional quest, I had to choose between catching the magician and destroying the altar.’

She felt like her mind was finally clearing up a bit.

As the obstacle blocking her consciousness disappeared, a feasible method quickly came to mind.

Rosha lowered her hand and gripped Hildor after a long time. Then, aiming it at the magician, she infused tracking magic into the silver barrel.

Unique Characteristic – ‘Magic Bullet’ is imbued with tracking magic.

You can track the location of the target hit by the magic bullet by placing a mark on them.

After the Trial of the Sacred Relic, Hildor’s appearance hadn’t changed dramatically.

Instead, functions were added little by little, and being able to imbue magic into the bullets was what she liked the most.

‘But to hit him, the distance is quite far…’

There was a method of sending the bullet far by imbuing acceleration magic. However, since only one type of magic could be imbued in a bullet, she couldn’t give up the tracking magic.

At that moment, seeing her, Froy called Sien.

“Sien. Throw a stone towards him.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Sien picked up a suitable stone from under his feet and walked out into the moonlight.

Though he had a beast-type ability, perhaps thanks to the mental supplement he had eaten, he seemed fine for a while even under the moonlight.

‘But why throw a stone?’

She understood the reason in the very next moment.

Because the stone Sien threw shook the magician’s protective barrier without losing any speed at all!

Koko, who had watched this scene, muttered with a rare look of astonishment:

“Th-that fellow actually accomplished something after being secluded for 3 years. Creating a vacuum in the path the stone passes through to eliminate air resistance, what an absurd use of ability.”

His beak dropped open as if his jaw had fallen.

It was certainly amazing. It’s not easy to handle an ability so freely, unlike magic.

It must have taken an enormous amount of effort.

Why did he go to such lengths?

‘To find me?’

“Now that we’ve had a practice, let me assist you.”

Froy, who nodded with satisfaction, stood close behind Rosha. Then, supporting her slightly trembling arm, he didn’t spare his own advice.

“Your heartbeat is fast. Be calm.”

“…It seems similar to yours.”

“It’s natural for mine to be fast, but you need to snipe him, don’t you? Take a deep breath.”

…Why is it natural for his to be fast?

Anyway, since his words were right, she tried to consciously lower her heart rate.

Yes, think of cold ice.

A cold winter day. She imagined the feeling of her body temperature slowly dropping while lying on a frozen lake.

A quiet stillness where nothing could be heard except the sound of falling snow.

She exhaled very little at a time so as not to disturb the trajectory of snowflakes falling on her face.

Like that, one, two, three breaths.

“…Now.”

At Froy’s voice, she pulled the trigger very naturally.

Bang!

The produced bullet smoothly crossed the air.

It was at a speed where no wind resistance could be felt, as if space itself was clearing the way.

Sensing the danger, the magician flapped his wings even faster.

However, Hildor’s magic bullet finally shattered his protective barrier and buried itself deep in his abdomen.

“Argh!”

With a scream, the metal wing shook violently and then disappeared somewhere in the mountains.

“Phew…”

“We’ve dealt some damage at least. I’m not sure how much though.”

“He won’t die from that.”

He was someone who had survived a massive explosion. There was no way he would die from just one bullet.

Let’s be satisfied with this, since we at least attached tracking magic.

Swoosh-

Perhaps trying to block the moonlight, Froy put his hand to her forehead and nodded slightly.

He should be avoiding the moonlight himself…

“…”

Was it because of the alluring magic contained in the moonlight?

It was hard to take her eyes off his face.

His purple eyes, which seemed particularly deep today, and the pale moonlight flowing over his clean skin caught her attention.

The line from his nose bridge down to his lips, chin, and neck was as elegant as if it had been drawn.

He… looked like a sculpture artistically molded by gathering all the beauty of this world.

‘…Get a grip.’

Suddenly noticing his face getting closer and closer, Rosha quickly turned her body towards the altar.

There was something she needed to resolve as quickly as possible right now.

‘The Moon Altar…’

Confirming the moon gradually turning red, she gathered all her remaining mana.

Though she was trying to act as if nothing was wrong.

Thump, thump.

Her heartbeat, which she had slowed down for sniping, was gradually speeding up.

* * *

“Damn it, damn it…!”

In the plateau region of the northwest where the mountain range gradually becomes gentler.

The magician – Berendo, who fell almost like crashing while folding his metal wings, rolled in the front yard of his hideout, spitting curses.

He could heal the wound perfectly with the ‘life force’ he had gathered so far.

After all, a penetrating wound that missed vital organs wasn’t such a serious injury.

However, the magic bullet lodged in his body remained.

He knew tracking magic was imbued in it, but there was nothing he could do. He needed tools stored in the hideout to remove the bullet.

“Ugh… I will surely tear that woman to pieces and kill her!”

Berendo, who had dug out the wound to remove the bullet, cursed while erasing the mark of the tracking magic.

It was then.

The communication device in the hideout turned on, and a familiar voice was heard.

—What’s this? I contacted you because it was strange that the red moon was about to appear but stopped, and you’re groaning from injuries again? Just die already, we have no face to show our sponsors.

“Shut up! If only that woman hadn’t suddenly appeared…!”

—That woman?

“I’m talking about that woman who disappeared with the Empire’s Emperor. Roshanak Aper! I thought something felt off lately, it seems she’s returned alive and well.”

When he told the story of encountering her at the Moon Altar, the other person seemed quite surprised.

—You encountered her at the altar? How much does she know?

“I don’t know either. What’s certain is that we need to kill her quickly before she interferes with our work any further.”

Berendo gritted his teeth even as he spoke.

To think he would see again the combination of those two guys and the parrot that had killed him once before!

He had left that bird-brain alone because something bothered him about it, but at this rate, it seemed like nothing would go well.

Somehow, he had to do something.