Star-Slaying Swordsman - Chapter 52

“…Ah— I forgot to ask her a bunch of stuff.”

I got up and left the office as if to run away.

And before I realized the blunder I had done, I was already several minutes away from where I’d been.

As I made my way back to the inn, the thought of Zenoah possibly telling me about the ‘Magician Hunter’s’ identity and motive flashed through my head.

I felt a little bit of regret not asking, but I decided to only dismiss that part of the story.

“But… one’s sense of hearing, huh?”

Albeit not too strongly, I still felt guilty towards the unjust I did to Zenoah despite receiving all the information I needed.

Her eyes must’ve been the reason.

I was ignorant to the reason why staring at her eyes seemed that she could see right through my entirety.

…I don’t have a clear conclusion, but I wonder if Zenoah already knew prior to my decision that I wouldn’t accept her request, just like how I’m also wondering to myself if I said too much.

“Indeed, the countermeasure is plain and simple, but it’s not something that can easily be done, is it?”

The way to rid my sense of hearing is…

Namely, by crushing my own eardrums.

But as Zenoah had said, doing that will put me in a tremendous disadvantage.

“But if I can’t see him, I’ll just get killed one way or another.”

If I focus myself on the importance of hearing, it’s more than possible that I’ll die without even being able to deliver a single blow.

“If I could at least create a situation where he’d be right in front of me, I could do something.”

Assuming I could get him into that circumstance, I would have a chance.

It will be a little more reckless than how I fought back in Minaura, but I’d have to overwhelm him with continuous attacks without allowing him even the slightest opening to fight back.

Even if the figure of him that I’m seeing isn’t true, if I can surround him with『Night of the Shooting Stars: Naglufar,』I’ll be able to win.

“…I guess I’ll have to discuss that with Lilea and Sofia.”

I walked for more than ten minutes, only muttering to myself.

As tinges of darkness began to mix with the twilight sky, I finally arrived at the inn only to find the two shadows of two people standing in front of it.

Apparently, Sofia and Lilea had returned before me.

“How did it go?”

“No good. It was hard to even find acquaintances, since the magician who originally used『Disorientation』magic only had a very small friend group. Finding flaws in his magic was completely out of the question.”

“I tried asking the church people about it, but they just told me not to get involved in such a dangerous matter.”

Both of them sigh, their faces plastered with exhaustion.

The church is where the nuns who teach Sofia healing magic are located.

Although it’s almost impossible to learn distinct healing magic from others, such as the person I met in Minaura, Abald, one can learn general healing magic that only heals injuries from the vast amount of users that it has.

Given that it’s the common practice throughout the world, anyone with the capabilities can learn and improve on them.

And so, Sofia had been visiting the church frequently in order to learn healing magic from a certain nun, but it seems that her attempts had been unsuccessful.

“So, how’s your side?”

“I was able to ask a certain person. I don’t know whether the information I received is true or not, but the person who saved my life in Minaura told me to rely on that certain person. And well… I think I can trust her.”

“Hmm~?”

“And from what I’ve heard, the only flaw in the『Disorientation』magic is that you can’t be affected by it if you suppress your own sense of hearing.”

“If that’s the case—”

I interrupted Lilea, who was probably trying to make a hasty conclusion that we should just throw away our auditory sense, and continued to speak.

“—But it seems that the “Magician Hunter’s” true magical ability is called『Collector.』”

“『Collector?』”

“In essence, he’s a magician who can use various kinds of magic. So I was told that it wouldn’t make much of a difference even if I gave up my hearing.”

“Ah— That sure makes a lot of sense… It’s going to be a lot more trouble if that’s the case.”

Lilea ruffled her bangs with a clouded look on her face, and proceeded to churn from where she stood.

“Just so when we learned such a troubling discovery, too… Things are really getting out of hand.”

“…Troubling discovery?”

I furrowed my brow.

Being concerned as she was, I thought she may have been onto something new, a fact that I’ve only yet to know.

When I tilted my head in doubt, this time Sofia, not Lilea, opened her mouth and filled me in on the details.

“Yeah. When I tried to ask about the ‘Magician Hunter,’ the same sister who told me to not get involved said that if we don’t do anything, we wouldn’t be harmed.”

From the context of the conversation, I guessed Sofia was not referring to us three, but to the people of the church.

But I wondered—

Given that there may be some magicians in the church, including sisters who only can use healing magic, how can she be sure that they will be safe from the Magician Hunter?

Questions started to swirl around my head.

Perhaps it is because I didn’t have a good head on my shoulders, but I couldn’t see any reason why this was the case.

Then…

“So I thought about it for a minute. The ‘Magician Hunter’ said he’s doing this for revenge, right? Therefore, he held a grudge against the magicians of the capital, but he also owed the church a favor, enough for him to have a reason not to touch it. Nevertheless, he’s doing all the killing now because he knows that the Knights can’t move carelessly. That brings me to a certain answer.”

When you carefully put the pieces together one by one, it just so happens that there is a certain character who fits the picture perfectly, Lilea said.

“The capital is the most important part of this country. But do you know why there are only two magicians in the Order of the Knights responsible for protecting the security of this place, Julius?”

“…No, I don’t.”

“Until about five years ago, there were quite a number of magicians in the Order of the Knights. The magician who originally possessed『Disorientation』magic, he was one of them.”

I guessed that was an amazing feat, but that’s really the only impression I had.

What’s this troubling discovery they’ve been referring to, then?

“The magicians among the Knights of that time were the pride of the kingdom, they were very well-known for their bravery… but as they were put into a pedestal, they became proud of themselves. This pride, which was contagious among the knights, led to a certain catastrophe. It was as they commonly called, the Tragedy of Cazalea.”

The Tragedy of Cazalea?

Upon hearing my concern about such an unfamiliar matter, she reaffirmed herself, and began to talk about it.

“It all started with the kidnapping of a noblewoman by a group of thieves. During her rescue, there was a person who got fed up with the then Knight Commander, who for some reason was reluctant to get up from his chair, rushed ahead to help her himself. His name is— Bermuda. But as it turned out, the choice of the then-Knight Commander who remained adamant on his stance, perhaps foreseeing what was to come, was the right one. As a result of Bermuda’s preemptive action, the kidnapped woman, alongside dozens of civilians, died.”

He thought he could save the day.

Such pride, Lilea said, became a tragedy.

Had he supported the opinion of the Commander of the Order, there probably would have been fewer, if any, sacrifices made.

“Bermuda, who merely attempted to save the noblewoman’s life which nearly cost him his, was still executed to atone for his actions. At the same time, the then Knight Commander took responsibility and left the Knight Order, thus founding the current one. Everyone says that Zenoah Almerida was appointed deputy commander so that the tragedy of five years ago wouldn’t happen again. The reason why there are almost no magicians in the current Order is, in all probability, for the sake of control.”

I see.

With the amount of new information that I received, I had a good understanding of what really happened in such an incident.

However, I still couldn’t get rid of my doubts.

What does the Tragedy of Cazalea have to do with the current magician killings?

“There was more to the story. There were people pleading against Bermuda’s execution in exchange for theirs, saying that he merely wanted to help, and taking the blame for the casualties was just not fair. And the people making the appeal in question at the time, were the church people, and Bermuda’s younger brother— Oliver. I have a strong suspicion that Oliver is indeed the ‘Magician Hunter.’ The troubling fact is that the same ‘Magician Hunter,’ if I am correct, is most likely being sheltered in the church.”

——