I looked around in utter despair, like someone left alone in a theater after the curtain had fallen. The city was reduced to ashes, pitch-black smoke, and even Eon had vanished. Only the little child lay collapsed, all alone in a pure white space where neither up nor down could be distinguished.
'Surely he hasn't been asleep ever since then.'
Even though I knew he wasn't dead, I checked the little one's breathing. I felt a faint breath. What showed absolutely no reaction was his magical power. It wasn't just a simple depletion of mana. Having suffered such a massive shock, it had stopped completely. Neither the mana that should have circulated nor his breathing did.
The child who stopped like that slept for several hundred years, as if he had entered a shell.
'Just what on earth did Eon say?'
He was a child who held onto his sanity even amidst the ruins. He even showed a determination to find a way to find me. What on earth could have been the words that turned such a child into this?
Eon's red lips, whispering to the little boy with a smile, lingered in my mind. I thought that the mouth of the serpent that whispered to eat the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil must have been just like that.
Returning to reality, I gazed down at the sleeping little one.
'That ruined place was probably... Tartan.'
My memory of the moment of death was not clear. However, I could tell that I had died in Tartan without being able to return to Baynan.
'Did you burn down Tartan because I died?'
I shook my head. I hoped that what I had seen was just a very small part, some outskirts of the city. But now, what bothered me more than that was Eon. It seemed the kid was calling Eon a murderer because of what happened back then.
However, that could not be proof that the little kid and Eon were the same person. Nor could it explain why Eon had shown obsession toward me.
The only certainty was the lesson that one should not pressure the little boy for an answer. The boy had already fallen into a deep sleep on his own due to the psychological shock. If he were forced to recall that time, I didn't know it might show similar or identical symptoms.
'And you don't know what effect that has on the little kid's heart.'
There was no record anywhere stating that the Philosopher's Stone was indestructible. In fact, since only a very small number of people would have obtained the Philosopher's Stone in the first place, it was only natural that there were no records. No one would have even conducted an experiment to see if the Philosopher's Stone, which they had worked so hard to acquire, would actually be destroyed.
'I cannot create the Philosopher's Stone right now.'
I looked at my palms, which were free of even the slightest scratch. Eon had gotten angry and told me to take care of myself, but it was a petty act of kindness he performed knowing that it would leave me with no pain.
It was a mindset that was fundamentally different in magnitude from that of Archmage Sally, who fought against monsters and left for Tartan again, even though she could have escaped alone.
Therefore, I knew without even trying that I could not recreate the Philosopher's Stone. After all, I no longer possessed the spirit of sacrifice and altruism that had made it possible to create the Philosopher's Stone.
'The little one's heart must never be damaged.'
With that hope in mind, I kissed the little one's forehead once again and left the room.
For some reason, it felt as if I could smell acrid smoke in my nose. The image of Eon covered in blood was vivid.
"Ha..."
I leaned against the wall. The touch of the cold helped clear my head, even if only a little. After standing there for quite a while, a tapestry hanging on one side of the wall caught my eye.
This tapestry, which I thought was old, was a gift I had received in the past. I carefully stroked it.
'Was it Baron Antoine? He fought alongside me to the very end.'
People from the past came to mind as vividly as if I had met them yesterday. It was an item his wife had made to pray for his safe return. She said she really wanted to give it to me, stating that seeing her husband return unharmed, it was clearly blessed with good luck.
'The following year, a child was born.'
I left for Tartan without even seeing that child running around. Now, that child's child, and that child's child, must be carrying on the name Antoine.
I could finally immerse myself in the sentiment that I had returned to my world. Although everything had changed from the past, the Magic Tower and Eon remained exactly the same.
'The place where I lived. My home, my sanctuary.'
I held onto the stair railing and looked down. What did I think this place was like when I was first dragged here by Eon?
'Prison? Grave?'
Actually, it was my hometown. A self-deprecating laugh escaped me at my own stupidity. Dragging my leg, I walked slowly into the room.
'Come to think of it, this was originally my bedroom.'
The bedroom was exactly as I remembered it, more so than anywhere else in the magic tower. A desk and table made of mahogany. And the wardrobe was the one I had used before.
'I thought it was excessively flashy.'
Now that I look at it, everything in my room was furniture gifted by Duke Credian. He said that the animal markings on the wardrobe doors and table legs symbolized that I had defeated monsters.
It was so well maintained that it was gleaming without a single worn spot.
'The master took special care of you. For your sake.'
Karen's words came to mind.
'I didn't believe it back then.'
At first, I thought Eon's interest was merely him baring his teeth at his prey. I wanted to ignore the fact that his interest was still directed at me, even after several confessions. After all, such kindness still felt like nothing but a death sentence.
'What on earth is that person?'
I threw myself onto the bed as if collapsing. The moonlight flickering on the ceiling reminded me of his eyes.
'That isn't even purple, so why?'
Overwhelmed by a strange feeling, I raised my arm and covered my eyes. Then, the image of Eon I had seen in the little boy's memory came to mind. It was the exact same murderer I had feared.
'Something's strange. Something is...'
Just a moment ago, I was certain it would be a night where I wouldn't be able to fall asleep easily. But now that I am lying in bed, sleep has washed over me before I knew it.
***
Knock knock. Knock knock knock.
It was only after the sound had continued for quite some time that I realized it was the sound of knocking on the door.
“Uhm, come in.”
I buried my face in the pillow and answered reflexively, naturally assuming it would be Mary.
"Oh my? Are you still sleeping? It's already midday."
It was only then, at the sound of an unfamiliar voice, that I remembered I had given Mary a vacation.
Sunlight poured in along with the sound of the curtains being roughly swung. I stared at a figure I couldn't see clearly, my brows furrowed deeply.
"I was wondering why you weren't coming, no matter how long I waited in the lab."
The person who suddenly broke into the room was none other than researcher Sally.
"It looked like you didn't come back until quite late yesterday, either. At this rate, the rules of the Magic Tower have become meaningless. Do you remember? The second rule that you must return to the Magic Tower by five o'clock at the latest."
She nagged on as if she were a human being. Was she displeased that I didn't follow the rules? I wondered what could possibly bother her, but it seemed that was the case.
"Of course. It’s a rule."
I sat up and answered half-heartedly.
"Since the Tower Master's nephew is in the Forbidden Chamber, the fourth rule is practically gone. Now, all that remains are the first rule—never speaking of what happened before coming to the Tower—and the third rule—not to mention anyone who was banished at all... but now, well, there is no one left to follow."
I wondered why she was blabbering about that unpleasant rule first thing in the morning; at times like this, she was even more inflexible than a homunculus. I was about to snap at her for being noisy when something suddenly flashed through my mind.
'Eon, the reason you have to be back at the Magic Tower by five is because of the wild beasts. Do you see that black forest over there? There are a lot of beasts like wolves living up there. They start moving around actively from sunset. You must return to the Magic Tower by four. It is a rule that everyone in the Magic Tower must follow.'
I recalled the look in his eyes as he gazed up at me with bright, sparkling eyes. The voice, full of curiosity as he asked about the rules of the Magic Tower, was a little different from the little boy of today—it belonged to a child who had just faced the world. Even at that time, I was enjoying the peaceful moments I spent with the little boy.
'The first rule? That is simply a courtesy for those who ended up staying at the Magic Tower after losing family or suffering unfortunate accidents. The small hospital was already at capacity. Soldiers injured in battles with monsters or those who had lost family members used to stay at the Magic Tower.'
It was before Eon had even been born. The monsters, whose numbers had increased, began attacking the royal palace, and the Magic Tower happened to be situated in a location that could serve as a good outpost. With innocent people dying, I had only one choice.
'Most of the people who came to the Magic Tower carried emotional scars, so a rule was established not to ask about their past. The third rule is the same. If someone suddenly disappeared from the Magic Tower, it was usually because they had been attacked by monsters, so everyone stopped asking about the person who left. That is how it eventually became the rule.'
'It was a rule I set.'
It was just as Tower Master Eon had said. At the time, I thought I was merely using the legendary existence of an Archmage as an excuse, but it really was a rule I had set. I had only added a fourth rule because of the little kid.
'Why have you been following that old rule I made until now?'
To find a clue, I had to ruminate on the little boy's words that he and Eon were the same person.
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