"Brother! Are you really a wizard?"
The children working in Bonseong gathered around Cookie. Adults tried to stop him, but they couldn't stop him.
In fact, even adults found Cookies fascinating. A wizard. The one being they wondered if they would ever see in their lifetime was a wizard.
"Yes, this brother is a wizard. Is this your first time seeing a wizard?"
When Cookie introduced himself as a wizard, he subtly avoided the children's gaze. Just like Drial, who is not good at lying.
However, the facial expression was humorous and natural, so no one felt strange.
Rather, the avoidance of gaze felt like that of a mischievous person. Cookie seemed to be better at lying than Drial.
The children clung to Cookie.
"Can't you just show us any magic once? You're just shooting fire!"
"I want to show you, but magic should only be used when it's really important. If you use it at any time, you will be cursed for breaking your promise to the gods."
"A curse?"
The children were startled by the scary words. A child showed curiosity.
"What kind of curse are you under?"
"You either go crazy, become a monster, or end up in hell."
"If I'm cursed, I can't even use magic?"
"No, that's not it. Once someone has acquired mana and studied runes, they can continue to use magic. It would be okay to block or steal the mana of the wizard who broke his promise, but the gods are not omnipotent like the World Tree."
The girl tilted her head at Cookie's explanation.
"Is there something even God can't do?"
"Once upon a time nothing was impossible, but now it is."
"Why?"
"Because the World Tree died, the power of the gods weakened. The gods were great beings until they imprisoned the frost giants in hell seven hundred years ago..."
The children soon forgot the mystery of magic and focused on Cookie's story.
"Did frost giants hurt people seven hundred years ago?"
"It wasn't much of a harm. At that time, the frost giants tried to destroy the World Tree and make themselves the best. So the gods and the frost giants started a war, and so many people got caught up and died.. The gods at that time made an oath because the cries of resentment against heaven continued. I will never descend to Middle-earth again."
The war between gods and frost giants was an old story that their parents told them at least once. One child tilted his head, perhaps remembering the lament of adults who said that if the gods had come. many people in the north would not have died.
"So the gods can't come down anymore?"
"The gods who swore at that time are like that. An oath is a promise that must never be broken."
Another child, who had been quietly listening to the story, got bored and clung to Cookie's arm,
"When can I see you use magic?"
"If it was something other than magic, I could show you right now."
When Cookie waved his hand, the wind blew.
The wind did not blow away but stuck to the children's ankles. The children's bodies suddenly rose from the ground.
The startled children screamed and then burst into laughter. The children, who were about two spans above the ground, looked at the cookies with curious eyes.
"Is this magic too?"
"No, it's just the wind. The wind is everywhere. Still as cool as magic, right?"
"Yes!"
It was a time when the children were distracted by the power of the wind. The surroundings suddenly became bright as if lightning had struck.
Everyone in Arhon looked up and followed the light. A magic circle large enough to cover Arhon Territory appeared in the sky.
The cookie that landed the children rose into the air. Cookie calmed down the surprised residents.
"Don't be scared, everyone. That's a portal opened by Magic Tower. It connects to the northern battlefield. The Arhon Knights will return through that portal."
That was when Cookie's shouting ended.
The magic circle flashed and dazzling light poured down on the ground. Those who could not stand the pure white light turned their heads and closed their eyes.
Rune stood on the balcony, and Dreal sat on the roof of the watchtower, looking straight into the bright light.
The moment the flag symbolizing Arhon fluttered in the light, the sound of a horse neighing powerfully echoed from afar. The Arhon Knights passed through the portal and poured towards the castle gate.
Drial created a wind and rang the bell. As the bell rang, people wandering the streets and squares retreated to the edges.
The local residents belatedly cheered when they saw the knights wearing armor and driving horses.
"Come outside quickly. The knights are back! The Arhon Knights are back!"
Rune stared in silence as the knights entered the main castle.
There was a white urn in the arms of every knight. Everyone came back, alive or dead.
Rune took a deep breath and looked at Drial sitting on the watchtower roof.
Even though Drial had the same expression as usual, he looked somehow sad.
***
"Are you going to come to dinner?"
Drial, leaning against the doorway, asked in an anxious voice. Rune kept her eyes fixed on the report and did not respond.
Drial's stubbornly closed mouth encouraged Drial's remorse. Drial approached the desk and whispered as if he was telling a secret.
"If you don't attend, they will spread the word around the neighborhood that I was dumped by my wife."
Rune's eyebrows twitched.
"If I were to create a group for husbands who were dumped by their wives at a dinner party, I would be the only one who would join, right? Hmm. I'm about to cry."
"I will go out even if you tell me not to."
The last banquet was prepared in a hurry and the only invited guests were permanent residents, so there was no need to show one's face, but this banquet was different.
Not only did the precious wizard decide to stay in Arhon, but the Arhon Knights, who had crossed the line of life and death on the battlefield to protect Drial, returned.
Even though she was discussing divorce with Drial, now she had to welcome them with the formality she deserved as the lord's wife.
Drial stepped back, visibly relieved by Rune's answer.
"What time will you come to escort me?"
The quill that had been moving diligently stopped. Ink spread where it stopped.
"Escort? You, me?"
"Why are you surprised? Of course, you have to do it."
Rune was taken aback by Drial's proactive attitude. She couldn't imagine holding hands or linking arms with Drial in front of people.
"I do not need. Don't do it."
Drial, feeling disappointed at Rune's firmness, left the office. Rune, who had been following the scene with her eyes, belatedly wrinkled her eyebrows.
"You're not going to attend the dinner dressed like that, are you?"
Drial, who was about to leave the office, turned his head. Drial looked at his outfit and tilted his face as if something was wrong.
"Strange?"
"No, that..."
It's not formal and it's too ordinary.
She tried to speak honestly, but she closed her mouth.
If he had a handsome face and was neatly dressed from head to toe, he would be praised as the most perfect man in the world, but Drial hated formal clothes. He seemed to be uncomfortable no matter how well the tailor-made it.
As a wife, Rune did not want to send Drial to the banquet like that. Even if they divorced tomorrow, she couldn't accept it.
However, there is no way Drial would obediently change into his tailored clothes...
Rune, who was looking at his jacket, got up from her chair. Rune took out several dark blue leather straps from a drawer.
The leather strap, thinner and longer than the width of a finger, shined elegantly and smoothly as if showing off that it was an expensive item.
Drial looked suspicious of Rune approaching him but left her alone.
Rune fastened Drial's collar and untied the tattered leather strap. Instead of changing into clean clothes, he seemed to have agreed to tidy up the mess with a luxurious leather strap.
When Drial lowered his head as if to see what she was doing, Rune pushed his chin up with a firm hand gesture.
"Still."
"Huh."
Drial obediently lifted his chin. Rune's hand grazing his collar was ticklish.
He rolled his eyes, looking for a place to focus, and then carefully looked down at the top of her head.
He lifted his chin just enough so that it wouldn't interfere with putting on the leash and looked at Rune.
The abundant, shiny silver hair, round white forehead, and neat eyebrows seemed almost out of sight.
It was his first time seeing Rune this close.
There was a first night, but it was a mess, it was painful because there were a lot of eyes watching, and it was terrible because neither of them wanted a relationship.
He got greedy and gently lowered his head. He saw beautiful eyes blinking slowly. He held his breath for fear that Rune would be conscious of his breathing.
The bright blue eyes were pretty. It looked like a sapphire illuminated by sunlight.
As he watched her long eyelashes fail and rise every time her eyelids moved, he thought to himself. 'You are pretty.' he thought.
It was a thought that made him feel ashamed for no reason. Suddenly, his head started to feel hot, but Rune pulled the leash hard without warning.
"Tell me what happened on the battlefield."
Drial was taken aback by the question that cut into him like a knife. Because he was so nervous, he couldn't manage his facial expressions.
A fleeting emotion was revealed on his face, and Rune did not miss it.
Drial twisted his gaze and hesitated.
"Everything that happens on the battlefield is the same. Fight, kill..."
The moment he thought of the desolate battlefield in the snowy field, a vision that only Drial could see appeared on the desk where Rune had been working a while ago.
The illusion resembled Drial's younger brother. The third brother died fighting the frost giants on the northern battlefield.
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