TYHL 164

~Chapter 164~

The day to go home!

On the last day, I went out into the city with my brothers, Khalid, and Grandpa to have fun.

Void got addicted to shopping and grabbed all sorts of random stuff, including a diary. As expected, Liam stayed stuck in the bookstore.

Grandpa swept through the weapon shop, and Khalid, as usual, watched everything I looked at with a bored face.

“You know… it’s strange. I didn’t buy anything, but why do I have the most stuff?”

I looked at the boxes of presents piled high in the carriage and mumbled honestly.

“They’re multiplying.”

Dad said that absent-mindedly and quickly lifted me into the carriage.

Mom was already inside, polishing her bow.

“Ruby, I think I really have to teach you archery properly when we go back north.”

“Yes! I’d love that!”

“Hoho, then I’ll ride a horse! I feel so good~”

Clean the road, too~

Before Dad could even catch her, Mom had already switched to horseback.

Liam and Void were in the second carriage, Khalid and Grandpa in the one right behind. (Sorry, Khalid… I’ll switch seats with you next time.)

While I comforted the Duke, who looked a little sad that Mom left, I unfolded a table and wrote letters to Sortie and Zerdin.

The carriage started moving.

After a chaotic time in the capital, we were finally going home!

“Ruby. Your pocket feels a bit hot.”

Dad, who was sitting close and criticizing my worm-like handwriting, spoke up.

“Huh?”

I quickly opened my small shoulder bag. There was a piece of paper gently vibrating inside.

“Oh, this. It’s a magic paper…”

The end of the paper was burning blue.

If you write a simple sentence, you can communicate with the other person who has the matching paper.
When the magic in the paper runs out, it’s done—a one-use tool.

‘The woman who gave this to me…’

She must be past the border of Bamilon by now.

“Hmm…”

I glanced at Dad and carefully placed the paper on the table.

Somehow, it’s still a little embarrassing to use magic in front of Dad.

‘Of course, this one is a magic tool with its own power, not mine.’

Still… for some reason…

When I put my hand on the paper, blue letters floated up.

Dad sighed, resting his chin in his hand. Then he placed his big hand on my head.

“To think such a lively, talented, and adorable little wizard is my daughter.”

…It feels like he keeps adding more words.

“Hehe…”

“This paper sure has a lot of features.”

“It can only send short messages…”

Dad looked at the paper, which was now about half the size of a book.

“So. Did she escape safely? That woman.”

“…Yeah! Thanks to you!”

On the paper, the words <Thank you, Rubian.> appeared.

The handwriting was familiar—Second’s.

“Dad! You can’t kill her!”

That day, I barely stopped Dad from killing Second.

Instead of stabbing her heart, his sharp sword pierced where her stigma was.

It was the moment when the Magic King’s power was at its strongest.

Right away, I broke Second’s magic core.

When the container holding the magic broke, the stigma’s connection was cut, and the Magic King’s power scattered.

Of course… this was a huge gamble.

A magician whose core is broken can die instantly.

‘But I’d already experienced this in the Kanalan canyon…’

I’d once released the young magicians in the magician army that way.

“I broke your magic core. Your injury is bad—I don’t know how long you’ll live with that weak body…”

“Ugh…”

“But the stigma lost its power.”

Dad secretly ordered someone to take her to the townhouse’s underground jail for treatment.

I pretended to stay in my room and watched over Second.

“This is my way of paying you back for the records… I hope you can see it that way…”

Second asked me to remove her stigma.

Her wish was not to die in vain.

“Once your wounds are healed, run away. If you want to live, find your own place.”

“Seventh…”

“You know, my name is Rubian.”

“….”

“Rubian Zebert. Try making a name for yourself, too. Oh, the name you wrote on the restorationist application was nice.”

Second wept, gritting her teeth.

She looked like a shadow that used to stand by the Magic King.

She was the bystander and hypocrite who cared most for her own life, and yet, even so…

“Seventh, put on this healing ointment. I’ll leave the recipe here, so take it.”

“….”

“Don’t tell anyone I gave it to you. Father doesn’t like it when I get involved…”

Sometimes, the hypocrisy I picked up in the Magic Kingdom gave me breathing space.

‘Well, I don’t know if someone who lived their whole life in the palace can survive out there.’

She might face a life even harsher than death.

But it’s her own life now.

‘Of course, it’s not just because I’m nice that I let her live.’

Second knows everything about the Magic Kingdom.

‘…Someday, when we destroy the kingdom—’

The information she has will be useful.

The space on the magic paper wasn’t large.

So we agreed to use it only when necessary.

After a bit of thought, I moved my fingers.

There was one more thing I wanted to ask Second.

< Do you… remember what I was like before the war? I mean, when I was really young… >

Careful not to let Dad notice, I wrote more.

< Like, the person who gave birth to me. >

My forgotten childhood.

One day, I suddenly wondered.

Why hadn’t I thought about it before? It was such a basic question.

‘Was Wizeria with me from birth?’

Then, where did I come from?

Blue letters appeared.

Crackle. The edge of the paper burned with blue light.

< No. >

The words came up slowly, with hesitation.

< You… The Magic King brought you one day. No one knows where you’re from. >

I stared at the paper.

< I thought the Magic King must have told you at least… But if you don’t know, then… >

Crackle.

Ashes floated from the paper and fluttered out the window.

< Then where are you from? >

Khalid was covering his ears in the bouncing carriage.

“You rascal! How dare you look so annoyed when I’m talking to you?!”

“Please… just leave me alone…”

“What! If you say that, it only makes me want to hang around more!”

“Ah!”

Ruby, please, switch seats with me…

Khalid struggled in misery.

“Duke, Duke! Please look at this design! Isn’t this something good from the capital shops?”

Luckily, Morris rescued Khalid.

“Hmm, that’s true. Let’s see. Maddox will go crazy for this part. I should blacken that part out first.”

“You really are evil.”

“Keuk keuk keuk.”

Grandpa and Morris were soon lost in the world of blueprints.

Thanks to that, Khalid could finally sit quietly and think.

He remembered a note he’d carried for a long time.

‘The words I copied from the cave where I was trapped…’

It was written on the inside of the chain that bound him.

Nag-re me rof.

‘But that wasn’t it.’

“Ancient language has different character orders.”

That’s what Rubian said.

That means you don’t read it like a normal book…

‘If I read it backward…’

Pro me regna.

He repeated the words silently.

Before leaving the capital, Khalid visited Professor Yuliophe Molton without telling Rubian.

“Hmm? You’re curious about this sentence?”

The tired professor looked pleased, saying many students were interested in ancient language these days.

“Yes, sort of.”

“Oh, this isn’t a difficult sentence.”

Khalid nervously licked his lips.

“These characters were mostly used in the old royal palace.”

“…Palace?”

“Pro me regna.”

Professor Yuliophe smiled gently and added,

“It means, ‘For my king.’”