Nocturne of the Sleepless Black Magician

Though there had been somewhat hostile and mutually uncomfortable moments, the rescue operation was over. The wagon carrying the family of four would reach town by midnight. Safi looked around from above the orchard and confirmed there were no ominous signs. An uninhabited wasteland. There were no ground-crawling animals, let alone shadows of flying birds.

Perhaps she had gotten carried away with her first carefree aerial stroll in a while. Having safely protected the family, she was completely at ease. The other pointed mountain where she had landed after getting lost on the way there. It was a mistake to stop there meaninglessly.

"Ah, that is..."

Seeing their shadows, Safi shuddered. They were monster remnants. A group of grotesque beings was nestled in the ravine visible from the mountaintop. It was far from the orchard, with a chain of mountains between there and the rubble town. It was hard to say that crisis was approaching the town.

Should she pretend she hadn't seen them... The black magician hesitated in judgment for a while, but curiosity won out.

"What are they doing? If they're preparing to attack somewhere, it would be terrible."

There was no place to hide in the air, so believing their eyesight was weak, she boldly approached. Curiosity was indispensable for travelers—sometimes it led to wonderful encounters, but often it backfired.

She lightly landed on the edge of a steep cliff and observed the group's behavior. Though details were unclear, they appeared to be resting in a cluster. About fifteen bodies in total. Nothing that looked like weapons was visible. However, they were opponents requiring constant vigilance. The one she had encountered on the highway had wielded mysterious techniques controlling winged insects.

The people of the rubble town had spat them out as cruel barbarians. They were targets for extermination. Was there any need to hesitate... When Safi stepped forward, inconveniently, the cliff edge crumbled and she fell into the middle of the group.

"Eek!"

She let out a cry that wasn't quite a scream. It was too late. Several bodies simultaneously looked up at the cliff, and their eyes met. Though it would have been easy to ascend high and escape, it was already too late.

Curiosity had her in its grip and wouldn't let go. Even when several grabbed stones and showed signs of attacking, Safi didn't think to flee.

"You, who are you?"

That was mainly a line for the other side, but she couldn't think of appropriate words. She didn't know to what extent the monster crew understood human language. However, she was reluctant to exterminate them indiscriminately. The group appeared to be tending to wounded members. It wasn't some eerie ritual. They surrounded one lying figure, whispering among themselves.

"You're the one—what are you, girl? From your appearance, you're probably a sorcerer or magician type. What business brought you here? It's no longer any concern of yours people."

Instead of stones, verbal projectiles flew at her. They spoke well. Unlike the winged insect man she had encountered before, this one wielded fluent human language and seemed not barbaric but intelligent. Its appearance was also somewhat different—the overly talkative monster was small and slender. There was a marked physical difference from the muscular majority.

"There's something I'd like you to tell me."

She tried probing. It wasn't that she actually had inquiries, nor was she trying to muddle through with small talk—it didn't go beyond stopgap measures. After saying this, Safi began considering what to ask.

"Hmm, let's see... Are you all male? Do you understand? Like male and female?"

"So-called males, yes. There are so-called females too, but none here. So what? Normally people start by asking questions that help determine if someone's enemy or ally."

She was immediately lectured. Though its tone seemed irritated, she couldn't judge from its expression. The facial structure was the same as humans. However, like a mask, individual features showed no movement, making emotions unreadable.

However, she could understand they were a different species from the lake children whose gender was ambiguous. They might be somewhat closer to humans.

"Aren't you part of the group that destroyed towns and rampaged?"

"You say 'town' but there are many—I don't know. Please be more specific."

"A big town. I don't know if it had a castle, but many people lived there... in that direction."

Safi turned around and pointed roughly. Then the talkative leader-type monster immediately answered "That's right." Perhaps that side was also answering roughly.

"In the war, many died. I heard dozens of people lost their lives. Regardless of whether you're my enemy or ally, aren't you bad guys?"

"So what? We had massive casualties—truly enormous numbers—and are now on the verge of complete annihilation."

Only the small one spoke to her, while the other swarming creatures either didn't understand human language to complex levels or showed no reaction, just staring blankly up at the girl on the cliff.

"Complete annihilation?"

"That's right. We're already fated to perish. We lost the battle against you human bastards. From now on, we'll never prosper again. It's already over."

Looking closely, one body at the back of the group was making ominous movements. In its hands was an old-fashioned bow and arrow. Though its expression was equally unreadable, it was clearly acting suspiciously. And while hiding its body, it drew the bow and released an arrow.

Safi hurriedly activated defensive magic. Circular, but not a sphere—a plane. In an instant, it deployed before the caster, becoming a wall and shield. This too had the mysterious characteristic of swallowing everything. Rather than deflecting, it erased.

The hastily built defensive wall could block the approaching arrow, but the black shield grew too large and deeply gouged the cliff edge as well. Next, Safi created an attack sphere and floated it at the tip of her arm.

"This is an unusual type of magician. Girl, we know that magic. It's truly nasty. A detestable magic that devours humans and beasts in an instant."

The atmosphere, which had been close to casual conversation, changed completely. Safi braced herself for a second wave. The monsters she faced were the ones who had fought fierce battles and caused towns to collapse with earth tremors. Even if they were a small remnant group, they weren't reasonable opponents. She would have to reflect on chatting carelessly and taking a mocking attitude.

"A pitch-black, terrifying ball. It swallows everything. If you point our way, we'll evaporate and be finished. In an instant, I'd say."

Safi didn't know how to respond. An overwhelming intimidation, with something like tragic heroism drifting within it. As the small monster said, if she released the sphere, she could erase the group in the blink of an eye.

"It would be easy to massacre everyone with that. If you use it, your allies will thank you and treat you as a hero. But you see, saviors and murderers are similar things. There's only a tiny difference between them."

Safi puzzled over what the small one was trying to say. Whose story was this, about what...

"Girl, which will you become? Savior or murderer? If you massacre us all here and now, you'll become a murderer. So, which will it be?"

Was it negotiation, threat, or plea for life? Safi remained braced but couldn't move to the next action. She fell silent. Trying to think quietly, but understanding didn't reach her.

"We'll perish soon enough. If you don't become a murderer, someday remember and pass on the story. That beings of this shape and form, different from humans, existed in this world. We're returning to our village now. And we'll probably never cross paths again."

Those were parting words. Lifting up what seemed to be a wounded member, the grotesque group slowly departed into the depths of the ravine. Heavy footsteps. The black magician stood atop the pointed mountain and continued watching until twilight approached.

Western sunlight leaking through cliff crevices created several streaks, occasionally illuminating their backs.

She didn't understand half of what had been said. Still, Safi felt that those gray monsters weren't suitable to be called cruel barbarians, but seemed like beings bearing sad fates.

❁❁❁ From the Author 🪄 ❁❁❁

This is a scene that determines the story's direction. Safi will not harm humans or speaking monsters indiscriminately. Though she did dispose of one on the highway before...

Next time is Act 2's ending. Some time has passed since returning to town, beginning with the scene of finishing the rubble removal work.

(End of Chapter)