[V13C1] Your Face...

“Waha!” Karina laughed. “This is super amazing! Roses here, roses there, roses everywhere!”

“According to Monica, the Thorn Witch made all of them. The current one that is, not the previous.”

Lana replied while scanning the town from a few steps behind Karina.

Only a day had passed since Monica Everett of the Seven Sages defeated the black dragon that suddenly appeared at Sazandol Harbor.

It was still unclear if the so-called Black Dragon of Sazandol had any relationship to the black rain from three days ago. However, the Mage Association was in the process of treating the comatose victims, leading to the city’s recovery.

That said, an immense spike in mana concentration was detected at the port where the black dragon appeared, for unknown reasons. Thankfully, the Fifth Thorn Witch Raul Roseberg summoned roses to absorb the mana and prevent it from contaminating the town. The countless rose vines strewn across the streets were proof of his deeds.

Most of the roses had withered, but crowds of people could be seen plucking them as souvenirs or just for the fun of it.

The black rain and the black dragon may have planted fear and despair in the hearts of Sazandol’s citizens, but they seemed to have regained much of their vitality only a day later.

The merchants were especially energetic, likely determined to make up for the delays of the past few days. They could be seen around every corner, busily selling food and medicine.

It was still relatively early in the morning, but the usually quiet streets were bustling with activity.

Everywhere you went, you would hear people talking about the aftermath of the incident, speculating and gossiping about this and that.

(Even though it’s only been a day.)

Lana held down her hair from swaying in the sea breeze, recalling the events of yesterday.


After sending off Monica, Cyril, and Glenn early in the morning, Lana felt incredibly uneasy.

It was just like the time Monica went before the Supreme Council. All Lana could do was ensure that Monica left in her best possible condition.

Lana always took pride in her work, but even so, she couldn’t hold back her frustration. There was nothing else she could help with.

Later in the day, she looked out the window to see a black mist rising from the harbor. As if that wasn’t enough, there were even people running through the streets and shouting about how they saw a black dragon flying through the sky.

Lana knew that an ancient artifact was involved in this incident, but why would there be a dragon? Black dragons were supposed to be creatures of legend.

If a black dragon had truly descended upon Sazandol, then they needed to evacuate as quickly as possible. However, there was no escape with all of the gates closed.

Lana was responsible for her trading company, so first, she considered returning to her store to instruct her employees.

(No, that’s not necessary. Cliff can handle that.)

Her secretary Clifford Anderson often got on her nerves with his insensitivity, but he was a man who could remain calm during emergencies.

Lana was both amazed and impressed by Clifford’s statement of, “If the gates are closed, then we’ve got no choice but to stay here and keep doing our jobs. Of course, I’m always ready to run if an escape route opens up.”

Clifford had said this while performing calculations on his abacus.

In other words, a mountain of work would be waiting for Lana once she returns to her company. She could easily imagine Clifford dropped a pile of documents requiring her signature on her desk, all with his usual nonchalant demeanor.

——Knock, knock.

A faint knocking sound brought Lana back to reality. She waved away the thought of her secretary and looked up at the door.

Would the owner of a house knock so lightly on their own door? …Monica probably would.

Karina, who had been seated next to Lana, stood up and perked up her ears like a cat.

Lana immediately rushed over to the front door. She knew that it was best to confirm the person’s identity before opening the door, but she couldn’t help herself.

Because she was convinced that Monica had returned.

“Monica!”

Lana opened the door to see a smiling Monica, wearing her Sage robes and cradling her staff against her chest.

“Lana.”

Monica leapt into Lana’s arms and gave her a tight hug.

“Lana, Lana…”

Lana immediately understood. She could tell what had happened by the tone of her best friend’s voice.

——Monica had reclaimed everything.

And so, Lana returned the hug and said the words with overflowing emotion.

“Welcome back, Monica.”

“Yeah! …I’m home!”

It was then that Lana saw the two people standing behind Monica.

The first was Bartholomew Alexander, a tall man with black hair. The second was a tall young man with blond hair.

But his face…

＊　＊　＊

Black Dragon Theodore had fallen into the underworld, and the gate for summoning the Spirit King of Darkness closed its doors.

For a while, Monica could only cling onto her returned disciple and cry her eyes out. After managing to calm down a bit, she turned her attention to the artifact in Isaac’s hands.

Gluttonous Zoe had disappeared into the underworld with Theodore, but it seems Isaac successfully recovered it.

——In other words, his time as “Isaac Walker” was coming to an end.

He needed to reclaim what Gluttonous Zoe stole from him.

After all, the artifact would eventually be analyzed. And when that happens, it would likely expose the true identity of the Second Prince.

“…Ike.”

“I know.”

After staring at the artifact for a moment, Monica quietly called his name. Isaac nodded back with a calm expression.

His eyes showed no hint of resignation, only determination.

“…Are you really sure about this?” Monica asked.

“Yeah. This is something I decided from the beginning. Besides…”

Isaac put on a smile.

The smiles he made with this face always seemed cold and inhospitable, but this one seemed a bit brighter for some reason.

His current face possessed a natural gentleness with a hint of mischief. This was most likely a smile from the heart.

“You’ll recognize me no matter what face I wear. Right?”

If Isaac had already resolved himself, then Monica had only one answer too.

“…Right! Because you’re my disciple!”

Even if his face changes. Even he loses the golden ratio. Monica would find Isaac somehow.

“I’ll never forget again. No matter what.”

Monica put a voice to her determination.

She would never forget the people precious to her and all the time she spent with them.

Isaac nodded to Monica, then turned to Cyril, who was busy wiping away his tears with the sleeves of his wet clothes.

“Cyril, I want you to temporarily release the seal on Gluttonous Zoe. Can you do that?”

“Yes… Give me a moment.”

Cyril sniffled a bit, then looked down at Sophocles, the ring fitted onto his right middle finger.

“Sophocles, do it.”

“Very well.”

Cyril swiped his right hand, and the magical symbols covering Gluttonous Zoe disappeared instantly. The seal had been undone.

That said, Cyril kept his right hand raised, ready to quickly reapply the seal if necessary. However, Gluttonous Zoe did nothing. The artifact showed no signs of spewing out shadows or clamoring about its hunger.

Isaac used the dagger in his right hand to poke the green gem at the keyhole portion of Gluttonous Zoe.

Then, a black ball the size of a candy rolled out of the gap in the box’s lid.

Isaac quickly caught the ball in his palm, but it burst into a cloud of black mist that covered his face.

“Master!”

Wildianu exclaimed in worry from atop Isaac’s head, but Isaac remained calm, keeping his head lowered and his face covered with one hand.

After the black mist dissipated, Isaac slowly lowered the hand covering his face.

This revealed a handsome face boasting flawless proportions and lacking even the slightest blemish——the face of Felix Arc Ridill.

Isaac traced the area above his right eye with a finger. After confirming the absence of his scar, he put on a lonely smile.

This feeling was not regret; it couldn’t possibly be.

Monica was about to call out to Isaac when they heard a familiar voice shouting “Hey!” from the direction of the warehouse.

Thule and Pikeh, who were currently disguised as a silver-haired man and a blonde girl, turned their heads towards the source.

“It’s Raul.”

“Yeah, Raul.”

Indeed, Raul Roseberg the Fifth Thorn Witch was running towards them with the hem of his robe swaying behind him.

There was a bloodied handkerchief wrapped around his left hand, but other than that, he had no noticeable injuries.

“I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw a black dragon in this direction! And my sister said something about the black dragon being Theodore. What on earth is going on?”

Apparently, Melissa and Ray were currently busy keeping the civilians away from the harbor. Meanwhile, Raul was a force to be reckoned with even against dragons, so they sent him to the harbor alone.

This meant that Raul probably had a near miss with Silas and Glenn.

Wildianu had deployed the wide-range illusion right after Theodore revealed his true identity.

Thus, there was a moment where the people of Sazandol could see Black Dragon Theodore in the sky above the harbor. However, none of them should have seen the dragon forms of Nero and Thule.

(Um, how do we explain this to Raul-sama…?)

Raul was already familiar with Isaac, who had regained Felix’s face, as well as Thule and Pikeh. But even with knowledge of Thule’s identity, he had no way of recognizing Nero as a black dragon.

As Monica started pondering how to explain the situation, Cyril spoke up first.

“Black Dragon Theodore fell into the underworld of his own accord. The summoning gate has disappeared, and Gluttonous Zoe is in our custody.”

Raul rubbed his chin and mulled over Cyril’s words for a few seconds, before muttering, “Wait, does that mean everything’s good now?”

“Yeah. You really saved us with your Rose Fortress. Thank you.”

Cyril expressed his gratitude with a faint smile.

Raul returned the smile and raised his uninjured right hand. Then, Cyril walked over and gave Raul a high-five.

This was the perfect display of two friends rejoicing on their accomplishments as equals. After watching this exchange, Isaac smiled and raised one hand as he called out to Cyril.

“Cyril.”

“Here!”

Instead of raising his hand for a high-five, as he had done with Raul, Cyril turned to Isaac and stood at attention, both arms fixed firmly at his sides.

For a brief instant, Isaac’s beautiful smile was distorted by a tiny twitch. Monica was probably the only one who noticed.

With his hand still raised, Isaac briskly walked over to Cyril, grabbed Cyril’s right arm, and lifted it into the air. Then, he slammed the palm of his right hand into Cyril’s hand with all his might.

Bam!

Even at a distance, Monica could hear it as though it sounded right next to her ears.

“Eek…!”

“That sounded pretty ugly,” Nero muttered with a smirk.

Meanwhile, Thule and Pikeh simultaneously said, “Looked painful.”

Cyril could do nothing but stare alternately at Isaac’s face and his own reddened palm, with tears welling up in his eyes. He seemed bewildered, unable to comprehend Isaac’s intention.

Monica was about to scold Isaac for being mean to Cyril again, but Isaac quickly turned away and started speaking to Wildianu, who was resting on the back of his hand.

The movement appeared so natural, as if the entire event of him slapping Cyril’s hand had never even happened.

“Wil, good job today,” Isaac said to his contracted spirit. “Sorry for making you push yourself so hard.”

“Don’t be…”

“I’ll transfer some of my mana to you. Use it to quicken your recovery.”

Isaac’s suggestion caused the small white lizard to curl his tail and lower his head in a troubled manner.

“But Master, you must be exhausted as well…”

“I’ll be fine,” Isaac replied. “I haven’t used any large-scale magic.”

Wildianu seemed hesitant, but the truth was he had truly been pushed to the limit. If not for the increased mana concentration at the harbor, he might have disappeared entirely.

“…In that case, I will take you up on the offer.”

After muttering those words, the white lizard began emitting a faint glow.

Monica had no experience contracting with a spirit, so she needed a second to grasp what was going on. It seemed that Isaac was transferring mana to Wildianu through the invisible thread connecting a contractor and their contracted spirit.

After absorbing a decent amount of mana, Wildianu raised his head to look up at Isaac again, but…

“Huh…?”

The white lizard could do nothing but gasp.

A moment later, Monica also noticed the anomaly.

“I-I-Ike… Y-Your face, your face is…”

“…Hmm?”

Using his other hand, Isaac traced the skin above his right eye.

He felt the sensation of an old scar extending vertically across his forehead.

As everyone else stood dumbfounded, Raul voiced a question at the appearance of an unfamiliar face.

“Um… Who’re you?”

View the latest chapters at seeker142.github.io