Kyle Byron collapsed in a faint.
Adela, catching his falling body, looked at him with trembling eyes.
Adela.
She felt guilty towards Kyle Byron.
“If only I hadn’t been avoiding you…”
Whenever the topic of her reaching a level beyond her years came up, she couldn’t help but think of her parents. That’s why she had been avoiding Kyle Byron, who brought up the subject.
Of course, he wasn’t at fault. He didn’t know about Adela’s parents or her past.
She tried to strike up a conversation again, but every time she saw Kyle Byron, her body stiffened, and she turned away, imagining he would ask about her parents again.
More than a week passed like this.
Just when she started to worry that Kyle Byron might leave the Magic Tower without her being able to follow,
Master Olfin came to find her.
“Adela.”
“…Tower Master.”
“The Creator just went to his room. It must be a tough situation… go see him.”
“…Yes.”
In the end, Adela couldn’t make a decision on her own. It was only after Master Olfin, who had been watching over her, spoke that she could move.
With someone pushing her from behind, she surprisingly found it easy to go. She entered Kyle Byron’s room.
“…What.”
Scratch scratch scratch!!
She could see him, surrounded by an intense obsession, sitting in a chair and madly scribbling something down.
She hesitated at his crazed appearance. Summoning her courage, she approached and spoke, but Kyle Byron, as if he couldn’t hear anything, just kept filling the paper.
Escape room. Unlock. Escape. Problem. Drawings that seemed to depict various mechanical devices. Puzzles. Codes.
All sorts of creative and admirable drawings and writings blackened the paper, but the end was always the same.
Squeak!
With a dissatisfied look, he tore the paper in half and started again on another sheet.
Beside Kyle Byron, handing him paper, was his maid.
“………….”
“…………….”
The maid, with a fierce look as if to say not to disturb her master. Behind her was even the Water Tiger.
She wasn’t scared of them. But, perhaps it wasn’t the right time to disturb Kyle Byron, who was so focused on something.
The fault was Adela’s, and she was the one who needed to apologize to Kyle Byron. If she disturbed him now and he got annoyed, everything would be ruined.
So Adela waited.
For a full three days.
And at the end of that wait, she finally forced Kyle Byron up from his chair.
Carefully carrying his slumped body, she glared at the maid and the Water Tiger.
“I feel guilty. I feel deep pain for having let it come to this, whether because of your threats or the thought of considering him.”
“…………….”
“That’s why you disgust me. I know he likes board games, but shouldn’t you have stopped him?”
“Stopped him?”
“As his guard maid, isn’t it your job to guard him?”
“…I, I don’t know.”
“What?”
“You, you don’t know the young master well.”
Adela, carrying Kyle Byron, quietly looked at the maid, Sally.
Sally had a look as if she was remembering something.
“Back then, compared to that, this is nothing.”
“What do you mean…?”
[And there was no need to stop him. I trusted my husband.]
“…Princess.”
[Moreover, through this child, you can use Water Spirit Magic. Surely you didn’t think an ordinary human could immerse themselves for three days without eating, drinking, or sleeping? That’s physically impossible.]
“………….”
[You were too busy looking at someone else’s husband to realize the Spirit Magic? The title of High Magician would cry.]
“I know Water Spirit Magic. At the level of a Spirit Master…”
“It depends.”
[Then that’s enough, right? With my Spirit Technique, my husband can sit and focus in that spot for more than three days.]
“…………….”
[My husband, who was always so composed, was so overwhelmed. There must have been something he desperately needed to do. Shouldn’t we trust and help him? Unlike you.]
“………Hah.”
Someone else’s husband.
I’d already heard about the engagement between Kyle Byron and Leisha Everts.
‘Disgusting.’
After hurting him so much, she’s going on about “husband this, husband that.”
It was truly nauseating.
‘It doesn’t matter what you guys say anyway.’
The fact that Kyle Byron had always been like that, or that he was being cared for with Water Spirit Technique, didn’t matter.
To Adela, the only real thing right now was Kyle Byron, who had collapsed.
Those women weren’t thoughtless, so if Kyle Byron had truly reached his limit, they would’ve let him rest and taken care of him. But Adela had no intention of waiting until then.
‘Trust Kyle?’
Trust. Sure, it’s a nice word. But in this situation, Adela didn’t believe in the word “trust.”
──Don’t worry, Adela. Trust us. He’ll come back.
──Trust and wait, Adela.
……More precious than trust is life.
In a situation where he could die, telling someone to “trust” is utterly absurd.
That’s why Adela picked up the unconscious Kyle Byron and left the room.
Even if Kyle Byron got angry at her for interrupting his focus.
There was a line she absolutely couldn’t compromise on.
*
I had a dream.
In the dream, I could see my past self.
Before joining the military, before high school, before being adopted, when I was living in the orphanage.
That version of me.
──How about this? It’s a robot from TV!
──……I don’t need it.
──Then, what about these building blocks?
──No thanks.
──Ugh………
I could see my young self, not even in elementary school yet, and the orphanage director.
The director was a good person. She was always sincere with the kids, and she even approached someone as negative as me.
Back then, I, well…
I knew my parents, who left me here, wouldn’t come back even after 30 days……so I stayed in the corner.
I didn’t talk to the other kids or the teachers, didn’t even look at them, just stayed holed up in the corner.
The director was the one who passionately reached out to me.
But a child who knew they’d been abandoned by their parents wouldn’t easily open up. Still, the director came to me every day, every week, every month, telling me all sorts of stories.
Always smiling, always trying to get my attention, saying she’d see me tomorrow before leaving.
Not just anyone could do that. Especially not for over half a year.
Then one day.
──I’m here again today. You’re not annoyed by this old director, are you?
──…………
──Hehe, this time it’s different. I brought something really, really fun.
──………?
──Ta-da!
──………What’s this?
──This is……!!
Ah.
“…………….”
“You……!!”
“……Adela.”
Uh, so.
“Why am I here……?”
“Don’t push yourself to get up. Even with the protection of Spirit Technique, sitting in a chair for three days would’ve stiffened your joints.”
“Huh? Ow!?”
Without thinking, I tried to sit up, and creaking sounds along with pain surged through my body.
So I let my body slump back onto the bed, and the throbbing finally subsided.
……By the way, three days.
Three days, huh.
“Did you bring me all the way here? What about Sally and the tiger……?”
“……I’m outside right now. Should I call you in?”
“No, it’s fine.”
“Understood.”
“Instead.”
“……?”
“Could you just bring me some paper and a pen?”
“Huh?”
“I don’t have time for this.”
“………”
If what Adela said is true, and I’ve been sitting in this chair for three days, then that means I have about three days left until I meet Diogenes again.
If I assume it takes about a day to make any kind of board game, the remaining time is ridiculously tight.
‘I need to figure out how to make something, anything, and fast.’
But given my current physical state, moving around is tough, so I’ll have to ask Adela to───
*Tap.*
“………”
“……Adela?”
“Are you planning to repeat what you did in that chair again?”
“Adela?”
“Can’t you see your own condition!? Water Spirit Technique can only sustain life. Your leg joints are completely stiff, and you need days of rest and rehabilitation before you can even attempt to walk again!”
“………”
“Did you enjoy being able to focus on that board game for three days without eating or drinking, thanks to Spirit Technique? You’re not like that maid or the Spirit Master, or even me! You’re just an ordinary person with no Aura or Magic. Have you forgotten that?”
My cheek stung.
But more than that.
This was the first time I’d ever seen Adela so worked up.
Her usually expressionless face was twisted, and she glared at me before pausing to catch her breath.
“What if……you die? Or what if you collapse again like this?”
“………”
“Is that board game! That damn game, really worth grinding yourself to dust for……?”
Silence filled the room.
I had nothing to say, and Adela, after spilling everything she’d been holding in, slumped weakly into her seat.
“……I’m sorry.”
“Adela.”
“I just………wanted to tell you not to push yourself. I know you love board games. I’ve known since Abracadabra, since the time I felt ugly jealousy toward you. But still………”
“I should be the one apologizing. Adela, it wasn’t right for me to say those things in front of you, who’ve worried about me and brought me this far.”
“No, I overreacted. Your condition will be fine after a few days of proper rest. Even if I hadn’t intervened, that maid and the Spirit Master would’ve brought you here at the right time.”
“Adela?”
“So I just………felt sorry for you. That’s why I tried to do something. Pointless consideration. I’m not like that maid who gave you paper, or the Spirit Master who healed you. I’ve been avoiding you all this time.”
Why?
Adela looked incredibly confused.
“You, you bother me so much. I’ve never felt this way toward Master Olfin or the other magicians in the tower. It’s different. It’s suffocating, and you keep popping up in my mind.”
“………”
“Why? Why exactly? What are you? Are you just……someone so much greater than me? Someone who stole the attention of Master Olfin and all the magicians in the tower? Or………”
Adela, who had been muttering to herself, suddenly stopped and slowly stood up.
Maybe she’s planning to leave the room, her mind in turmoil.
“I’m not leaving. It’s about time to change your bandages.”
“……Adela, what you just said.”
“You know what? It’s funny that I’m saying this myself, but I don’t really understand my own feelings. That’s why I always keep a straight face. After meeting you and acting hostile toward you………I only realized later, after Master Olfin told me, that it stemmed from a feeling of ‘jealousy.'”
“………”
“Maybe you know what this feeling is? You don’t have to tell me. I want to figure this out on my own.”
*Thud.*
Adela, who had freshly prepared bandages imbued with healing magic, tightly wrapped them around my limbs.
After taking a brief sigh, she handed me the paper and pen lying beside her.
“……Are you giving these to me?”
“I’ll keep an eye on you. If I see any signs of strain, I’ll stop you immediately, and if it interferes with your current recovery, I’ll take them back.”
“Thank you, Adela!”
“Ahem, ahem! And, um… I’m sorry for avoiding you all this time and for slapping you earlier… Does it still hurt?”
“You were just worried about me, weren’t you? It’s fine.”
“Well, that’s a relief…”
…I didn’t say it didn’t hurt, though.
Are all magicians naturally heavy-handed? I thought scholars were supposed to be frail, but she was anything but.
Anyway, knowing Adela’s heart and sincerity, I took a deep breath and gripped the pen and paper.
‘By the way.’
What should I do about Diogenes’ request?
Frankly, even if I spent the next few days thinking about it, I doubted a good idea would come. I only asked for the pen and paper out of a sense of needing to do *something*.
In the end, this problem arose because I couldn’t create a challenge worthy of an Archmage with my abilities.
While I was pondering what to do about him…
“Um, so when you set off on your journey again, can I… come with you…?”
“Huh? Isn’t that obvious?”
“Obvious… I see. Obvious… I guess.”
As Adela mulled over those words, I recalled the brief dream I had earlier.
I slowly calmed the anxiety filling my mind.
‘If three days of sitting in a chair and thinking didn’t yield an answer, then in my current state, I probably can’t find one.’
Maybe I already know the answer but just can’t think of it. Or perhaps, because I know too many board games, the ideas keep coming endlessly.
If the answer didn’t come even after immersing myself to the point of exhaustion, then I might as well calm my mind.
Slowly, let’s do what I can right now.
‘I may not be a genius board game creator.’
But I’ve played countless board games to the point where I could be considered one. Surely, among them, there’s an escape room game that would satisfy even an Archmage.
After all, if I can’t do it, no one in this world can.
With that thought, I steeled myself.
“…Adela, it’s hard for me to move my hands, so could you draw for me instead?”
“Y-yes. Of course. What kind of drawing…?”
“First.”
What I can do right now.
That is.
“Academy, ruins, secret room, cemetery, inn, party hall, castle, mansion, ordinary house, basement, museum, art gallery, floating island, underground bunker, seaside village, deserted island, lake, ghost town───”
“………?”
“──All of them, please.”
Just.
Let’s recreate all the escape room board games I know.
Who knows? Maybe one of them will catch Diogenes’ fancy.
Having concluded that, I began explaining to Adela every escape room board game I knew, one by one.
Dozens of different locations, settings, and puzzles.
“Adela, fighting! My body’s in no state to do this!”
“………I should’ve slapped you harder earlier………”
Well, I shouldn’t think like that, but…
It’s easier since I’m not the one drawing…
