SWNOVELXO Chapter 103
Episode 3-b. The Black Mage Subjugation.
Ain’s gentle touch as he petted me was truly comforting.
When I was in pain—specifically, when I had collapsed and was hovering between life and death—it was Ain’s hand that tenderly stroked my head, and it was careful and warm.
I usually didn’t find myself bedridden, thanks to my grayish complexion, so that moment remains my only memory of such kindness.
A different kind of carefulness compared to the casual patting in daily life, that gentleness.
This is also likely one of the reasons I can’t help but love Ain.
And so.
I feel a soft hand carefully stroking my head.
Although it was definitely softer and more delicate than Ain’s rough, calloused hands, the warmth and kindness behind it felt oddly similar.
It was a small and slender hand in contrast to his large and thick one, yet the warmth enveloping my forehead was comparable.
“Ain…?”
I murmured that name, barely managing to open my eyes.
Thanking the person for their hard work in protecting others and wanting to compliment them for doing the right thing.
And perhaps, without realizing it, wishing for them to come closer and smile at me.
If it were Ain, I thought he might do just that.
“Ta-da! Unfortunately, it’s not Ain, but Eileen instead!”
“….”
Of course, I knew it was a foolish delusion.
“Hehe, you mistook me for someone as dear as your beloved! Oh dear!”
“…Okay, then please move your hand away and get lost.”
“How cruel!”
So I slapped away the hand that was teasing my forehead and sat up.
My entire body ached.
Every part of me throbbed painfully.
“Ugh….”
“Asha, you still need to be careful. The sorcerers aren’t professional healers, and they can’t exactly call in a holy priest or an outside physician… They only provided minimal treatment with potions and basic magic.”
As I frowned in discomfort, even Eileen, who typically made playful remarks, looked at me with a worried expression.
“Haah… I’m fine. I can heal myself.”
“What? Your condition is serious!”
Mana was flowing through my body again, which had been entirely drained during the long exhausting battle.
The dull gray mana that greeted me as it surged back felt familiar, as if it were saying hello.
“I cast a healing plea.”
Even in this state, healing myself was hardly a significant task.
Thinking back to the nights during the three years I spent alone resisting in the Empire, when I had harmed myself and turned into a rag, this felt quite familiar.
“I’ll be okay now.”
“Whaaat… I worried for nothing!”
Seeing me like that, Eileen jumped up from her chair and shouted in disbelief, and I couldn’t help but chuckle at her reaction.
“So what happened after that?”
In fact, that was more important than my physical condition.
What had transpired after I collapsed, the distribution of rewards, the secrets hidden underground, and the research notes of the black mages.
It was true that I had collapsed while protecting people, but fundamentally, I had gone through this hardship to obtain a reward.
Then, as if she suddenly remembered, Eileen clapped her hands and pulled mine.
“Ah, yes! I was thinking I should tell you once you woke up, but I got caught up playing around!”
“….”
“To summarize quickly, there’s nothing to worry about concerning Asha! Very few people figured out your true identity, aside from the sorcerers and knights.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, the knights managed the situation well, so hardly anyone saw it clearly, and those few subjugation members who noticed were silenced under duress. Since most were just nobodies, the captain had told me to downplay the situation so that it wouldn’t be a hassle!”
Eileen happily recounted how the knights knocked out those who woke from the illusion to control the information.
Her words kept flowing.
“And thanks to the knights and sorcerers’ assurance, you were credited as the main contributor to the subjugation. So this crystal will be delivered to you first! The remaining rewards are enormous—or alternatively, ten items from the treasure vault! Hehehe!”
Waving the crystal around excitedly, her enthusiasm seemed a bit overwhelming.
“The light has dimmed.”
My eyes were fixed on the crystal, which was now softly glowing instead of fiercely bright.
“Ah, yes. As the city’s curse was lifted, the twinkling, wiggling lights from that crystal flew off to various places in the city. They were likely the dreams and lifespans that people had lost.”
“So the remaining light is…”
“It seems to be a solidified form of dreams and lifespans that have already lost their owners, according to the sorcerers.”
That seemed likely true.
They had said it was the essence of dreams collected over a hundred years, and a gem containing such immense power wouldn’t be common.
So after the magic ended and the curse was lifted, those still alive reclaimed their own, while the dreams of those who could not were still lodged in the crystal, wrapped tightly in my care.
I glanced at the crystal for a moment and asked the next question.
“And the next news?”
“The research notes of the black mage found in the underground ancient ruins were all discarded. They wouldn’t allow them to be rewarded due to their insidious intent. Instead, I brought back a massive manuscript of an ancient magic circle that no one could interpret! Here!”
Eileen fluttered a large piece of paper in front of me.
“The sorcerers couldn’t make sense of it, so they asked if you could perhaps understand it, Asha, and they were so eager to please!”
“….”
What she presented was a gigantic magic circle filled with all sorts of bizarre symbols and patterns.
“What do you think? Do you understand it right away?”
“Not at all.”
I answered after staring at it for quite a while, having never seen anything like it.
“What a letdown…”
“Do you want to die?”
“I’m not saying that, but I thought Asha would recognize it immediately…”
“I’ve never seen an ancient magic circle before. It’s not something you commonly encounter, and it’s a field with almost no progress in research.”
After all, my knowledge wasn’t that vast.
As a child, I lived as an orphan in alleyways, and only after growing a little did I learn language and society, starting my studies only after parting ways with Ain.
So I carefully folded the manuscript of the ancient magic circle and tucked it away.
Even if it were just a thought at that moment, I wanted to study it someday if the opportunity arose.
As I pondered that, I stretched my somewhat stiff body and looked down at Eileen, who was staring blankly at me.
“Are you done talking?”
“No! I have one more thing!”
“What is it?”
“Come over here!”
She grinned and pulled my hand.
Trotting ahead, she made her way to the distant window and flung open the closed curtains.
“Tada! It’s night!! The night of a city that doesn’t have nightfall, created by Asha!”
What lay outside was a dark sky dotted with glimmering lights from the buildings.
The cheers and songs of the people.
I chose the reward.
Ten items from the treasure vault, selecting one by one items that Ain would likely have wished for, referencing the past visions unfolding in the vault.
The massive, ornate axe desired by the old dwarf, the potion of unknown efficacy favored by the quirky man in the white robe.
Heavenly-flavored biscuits yearned for by the set of twins, and the drink called “Tears of the Gods.”
Collecting these gifts for his comrades, I also set aside the one item Eileen had wanted with sparkling eyes and the four pieces of equipment Ain had longed for but had tried to ignore.
And then.
“…Phew.”
“Asha, that’s too gloomy…”
“It’s not gloomy; it’s love.”
“Then it’s gloomy love…”
“Shut up.”
For the last item, I felt I could indulge my desires a little and picked it up.
A positioning tracker said to be crafted in ancient times.
This was merely a token of my pure love, a vow to follow Ain no matter what.
In fact.
I did cast a glance at the past visions in the red-light district.
Yes, Ain.
I will come find you soon.
Regardless.
The night is quite dark.
Yet, even in the shadowy scenery, the lights of the buildings and the shining reflections in the eyes are radiant.
The night of a city where night does not fall has arrived.
I reluctantly ascended to the platform set up in the square, unable to resist the tearful pleas of the city’s mayor.
WAAAAAAAH—
WAAAAAAAH—
The tremendous roar from the crowd felt like waves crashing, bringing overwhelming cheers directed at me.
They celebrated me.
People were applauding the gray figure.
Of course, aside from a few who had participated in the subjugation, no one knew my true identity, allowing this scene to unfold.
– Hero of the city!!
– Savior of Tevris!!!
Countless gazes filled with respect directed at me thumped in my heart.
So many people were sending me admiration free from hatred and revulsion.
– Thank you, hero!!!
The knights and sorcerers who had aided and protected me saluted in gratitude.
The quiet applause of those I had saved as a member of the subjugation unit.
And then.
The night wind blew fiercely, and the robe I had pressed down fluttered for a moment, revealing my face ever so slightly.
The cheers of the people erupted hotter than ever, echoing throughout the city.
********
Did no one find that place?
Did no one approach the secret of the city?
No, surely someone approached the root of the problem, and surely someone attempted to break the ancient magic circle.
In the course of a hundred years, many have come close to that answer.
However.
The reason they failed to even make it into history and faded away was simply because their power was lacking.
Their desperate screams were buried and could not reach the surface due to the remnants of the black mages.
Thus, all their struggles had to return in failure.
An unrecorded past.
A hundred years of blessing and curse.
You have finally resolved it.
The stepping stone created by your beloved.
The nightscape you have crafted.
What you and he unraveled is the pain that continued for a hundred years.
The dreams and hopes that people had lost.
Of course, no one can say for certain if it will all flow positively.
At the very end of the brightly lit street, another dark sprout may very well grow.
But.
It is the right thing.
It was surely the right thing.
So listen to the roar of the citizens.
Hear their cheers directed at you and offer a single smile.
Capture the quiet applause of the adventurers you protected.
Even if there are those who notice you’re the gray figure in this scene.
Even if someone attempts to block your journey and threaten you.
At least for this moment, there will be no one who can draw a blade against you, the hero of Tevris.
Congratulations.
Asha.
Hero of Tevris.
May the spark of glory that began in a single city spread wider and wider.