Chapter 155

Blood spurted out like a fountain, and magic clashed with swords. If it were Skadi in her usual state, she would have swept those guys away, but her chronic illness flared up, leaving her unable to exert her full power. She hadn’t yet seen the sight of her dream being realized, and I wanted to see the expression on her face when it happened, so I stepped forward.

I channeled mana into my hand and chanted a spell. Everything I had existed for her dream.

“Horn of Earth, rise!”

Sharp rock horns erupted from the ground, piercing the assailant’s chest and shattering their heart. It was a kind of murder I used to perform often, but doing it in front of her left an inexplicable discomfort in my heart. I don’t know why. I don’t know. I don’t know why I’m like this… What is this discomfort settling in my heart?

“Gaius!”

That nameless discomfort created a fatal opening. I allowed one of the assailants to rush at me with a sword. If this continues, I’ll be stabbed to death. But strangely, even if I died like this, I felt no fear.

The only thing that scared me was that I wouldn’t be able to hear Skadi’s lullaby anymore.

But unlike me, who was ready to resign myself to fate, Skadi fiercely rejected it. She pushed me aside and took the stab to her side instead.

“Spear of Earth, rise.”

“Sword of Earth, cut them down.”

“Fangs of Earth, tear them apart.”

Even in that state, she slaughtered the enemies with her magic. Her spells radiated the same dazzling and beautiful light as always. I could do nothing in the face of that brilliance. She was squeezing out her life force to emit that light.

“Gaius…”

In contrast to the bright, beautiful magic light, she was bleeding dark, murky blood.

“Ma… Master?”

“It’s really good. That you’ve started to feel repulsed by murder… I’m so happy about that fact alone that I could die. Ah, so that’s why I’m dying…”

“Don’t say anything more… I’ll heal you right away…”

“No, I know my body best. I’m done for now. It’s time to return to the Earth…”

She continued to cough up black blood. The darkness of that blood felt like the dark fear in my heart.

“You said you’d create that magic, right? That was your dream, wasn’t it? Are you going to die without seeing it? So just hold on a little longer…”

“Haha, you fool… I told you… I just want my dream to come true… It doesn’t have to be me. Wanting to achieve it yourself is just ambition or greed…”

“What does that matter! You have to see it first! You can’t just die without achieving anything…”

I wanted to see the expression on her face when her dream came true. I wanted her to smile with satisfaction and hug me.

“You’re really a fool.”

She pulled me into a tight embrace. Even in the cold rain, her hug felt as warm as a bonfire.

“I’ve already achieved a lot of what I wanted.”

“What have you achieved… You haven’t even seen the completion of your magic…”

“I became the master of a foolishly earnest disciple, and in truth, the mother of a fragile child… I showed a lost child the path of magic… No sorcerer has achieved as much as I have… Haha…”

She began to stroke my head. Even as the world grew rough and cold, her hand felt as warm as the sun, and her embrace was as comforting as a mother’s I had never known.

Hot tears began to stream down my cheeks.

“Fool… Don’t cry… Neither a ‘sorcerer’ nor a ‘man’… cries.”

“Master…”

“I’m not dying… Like the Earth that supports everything… I’m becoming the bedrock that will support the path you and your descendants walk… That’s all…”

From that day on, I could see the beautiful light in magic. From that day on, I couldn’t listen to lullabies.

From that day on, I hated the rain.

They say the rain sweeps the Earth away.

That day, the rain washed away so many things. My master, the light, my tears, and love.

And so, I lost my master, my mother, my family, and the sound of singing.

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No matter how much I suffered, time ignored my feelings and raced forward at a cruel pace. Seasons changed, wars broke out, lives were born, and lives died. New things emerged, and old things disappeared without a trace.

“It’s been a while, Master. It hasn’t rained recently, so I couldn’t visit.”

In the 20 years that had passed, many things had happened, but to me, they were just pebbles on the muddy path to fulfilling her dream.

“As I’ve told you every time I’ve come, there were those who didn’t accept my succession as the Tower Lord.”

The elders of the Magic Tower and their descendants had always held the position of Tower Lord. With the Tierra family’s bloodline, which had held the position of Tower Lord of Earth, now extinct, they claimed it was their turn. Of course, to them, even as an adopted heir who inherited the name, I was nothing but a thorn in their side.

Sorcerers don’t care about bloodlines as long as there’s talent… but the Tower of Earth was different. They were tearing each other apart for the honor of being the Tower Lord and the benefits it brought.

“So I used magic to silence them. It took a bit of time to suppress them all, but…”

That’s the ‘sorcerer-like’ way you would have wanted. There were many other methods… but they weren’t ‘manly’ enough.

“Well, I’ve been making progress on the research for your dream… but it’s tough. It’s admirable how you managed to establish the basic framework and theory.”

Even after 20 years, I had only progressed two-thirds of the way through the work she had left a third completed. They say starting is half the battle, so my achievements were insignificant compared to hers.

I placed a white chrysanthemum on her grave. I never cried. It wasn’t ‘manly.’

“Then I’ll visit again when it rains.”

I always visited her grave when it rained. It felt like I could faintly hear her singing that way.

I was about to head back to the mansion through the drizzling rain. There was still a mountain of research piled up. But I accidentally dropped my pocket watch and bent down to pick it up. Cold raindrops began to seep into my body.

Suddenly, something blocked the sky and shielded me from the rain. It was a red umbrella, like Skadi’s eyes. Though it was torn in places, and a few drops still fell on my shoulders.

“Take it.”

It was a beautiful girl with brown hair and golden eyes. Her tattered clothes and scruffy skin clearly showed she lived in the slums. Her knees and elbows were covered in wounds, and there were fresh scratches around her neck.

“Kid, I’m fine. You take it.”

The kid was smiling brightly despite her appearance.

“Uncle, you’ll catch a cold. So you take it.”

“If you don’t take it, you’ll catch a cold. Besides, I don’t have any money to pay for the umbrella.”

“But I can’t just pass by someone in trouble. And I don’t need payment. I’m doing it because I want to. It’s better to do what I want before I die, right?”

Her determination to do what she wanted and her kindness to not ignore those in trouble… in many ways, she reminded me of Skadi.

If she had shown talent as a sorcerer, I would have taken her as my disciple and made her the next Tower Lord. But there were serious flaws in her circuits. She had the aptitude for Earth magic, but her body couldn’t handle it. It was purely a matter of talent.

“Kid, what’s your name?”

“It’s Trisha.”

“That’s a pretty name. How old are you?”

“Five.”

Kids these days mature quickly, but this child was far too clever for her age. If it weren’t for her lack of talent, she would have been the perfect disciple for the Tower of Earth.

“Kid.”

If she had talent…

“Follow me. I’ll repay the umbrella in a different way.”

I didn’t need the same circumstances. Just as Skadi had saved me without reason, it didn’t matter if Trisha had no talent. Even without magical talent, she was clever enough to survive as my assistant.

“From now on, call me Master.”

I needed a reason to bring her into the Tower. And there was no more certain reason than calling her my disciple.

Even if I couldn’t teach her magic, I could teach her how to survive in this world.

“But… you must like the rain.”

“Why do you think that?”

“You were standing in the rain without an umbrella. Do you like it that much?”

“…No, I really hate the rain.”

Before I knew it, the rain was stopping.