Chapter 32: The Awakening of Seris

“Could you deliver this dagger to him…?”

“This dagger?”

“Yes. If you promise to do so, I won’t take the money.”

With those words, the blacksmith slumped back into his seat and began to snore.

I looked down at him while holding the dagger in my hand.

Would he even remember the words he had just said once he sobered up?

I wanted to help him, but there were a number of issues.

A blacksmith hammering the starry sky in the barren desert—what on earth was he trying to say?

Still, it was a good opportunity to save some money.

After all, it was not a small fee, but a commission worth several dozen gold.

I left the smithy and looked up at the night sky.

Perhaps because I had listened to the ramblings of a drunken fool, the stars seemed to sparkle and drift toward the distance.

An adventurer’s journey is always spontaneous.

I immediately headed to the inn and strapped on a large bag.

The street, now that the coming-of-age ceremony had ended, was filled with after-party revelry.

Laughter, drinks, and food overflowed, and the dazzling sights enticed the eyes.

But I pushed it all aside and made my way toward the coach station where the carriages gathered.

It was late evening, but the area around the station was crowded with people.

I approached the coachmen and asked,

“Are there any carriages heading to the desert?”

The coachmen, surprised by my question, shut their mouths for a moment.

But soon, they laughed loudly and replied,

“There’s no carriage that goes directly to the desert. You’d have to pass through several cities to get there.”

“The desert? Which desert are you talking about?”

It was the only question from the coachmen who didn’t laugh at me.

I looked at him and answered,

“I was told it’s a place where stars flow like rivers.”

“Resting place of the stars?”

“Is that where it is, the resting place of the stars?”

“Yes, if that’s the only feature you mentioned, there’s no other place I can think of except the Resting Place of the Stars.”

“Then it must be there. Does your carriage go that way?”

“Sorry, but my carriage doesn’t go that far.”

“I see…”

The coachman looked at me, then tossed the cigarette he had been holding onto the ground.

The small cigarette butt, blown by the cold winter wind, revealed a faint ember.

“Are we leaving right now?”

“Is the carriage running?”

“Well, I wouldn’t be standing here if it weren’t.”

“How much is the fare?”

“Are you thinking of paying without even knowing where you’re going?”

“Where does it go?”

“The Hyland Plateau. It’s close to the Resting Place of the Stars that you said you wanted to go.”

“I’ll take it.”

“The price is 1 gold.”

I handed 1 gold to the coachman, and he pointed to a large carriage in the corner.

The carriage was already full of passengers, but as I approached, they made room for me.

When I looked inside the carriage, I was taken aback.

A familiar face was sitting inside.

“Ah…”

“Oh…”

How could I forget someone with such a large frame?

He was wearing a huge axe on his back, just like before.

It was Agul, the orc-blooded warrior who had introduced himself to me earlier.

It seemed like he recognized me as well.

“Hello, Agul.”

“Uh…”

It seemed like he had forgotten my name.

I climbed into the carriage and told him my name.

“My name is Seris.”

“Oh, Seris…?”

The one who reacted to my introduction was a woman sitting in the corner of the carriage.

She had a sturdy-looking longbow slung across her back.

“Do you know me?”

“No, I don’t know you. But earlier today, a wizard near the inn was looking for someone named Seris. Did you meet that wizard?”

A wizard was looking for me?

Could it be the Tower Mage, Rain? Or perhaps Isolyn?

Either way, it wasn’t good news.

I awkwardly smiled and nodded.

“Yes, I met him earlier.”

“I see~”

With that, the woman closed her eyes, seemingly trying to sleep.

Many others in the carriage were doing the same.

“Agul, you’re still the same.”

“Yeah… um…”

Agul was still using a small carving knife to make a wooden sculpture.

This time, he was shaping an elegant eagle.

As I looked around the carriage, the coachman, sitting on the coachman’s seat, shouted.

“We’re leaving! Hold on tight!”

Late in the evening, the carriage I was on quickly moved away from the capital of the Karma Empire, blending in with the other carriages.

The sound of hooves pounding grew distant as the massive castle began to fade from view.

I pulled a thick blanket out of my bag and wrapped it around my body.

Spending the night on this carriage, with the cold winter wind blowing fiercely, was quite the ordeal.

The other passengers, like me, huddled under their blankets, curling up their bodies.

The jolting ride and the freezing wind made it impossible to sleep properly.

Every time the carriage bumped, I woke up, spending the time in a half-dazed state.

I wondered how much time had passed.

As my blurry eyes blinked, the sun began to rise from the far end of the vast, white snowfield.

The long night had passed, and morning had come.

“Ah…”

In that moment, I realized a change.

The mana circle that had been gently revolving around my heart melted completely, merging with the starlight.

On the day I turned fourteen, I had perfectly absorbed the mana of the calm, flowing sea.

“Hoo…”

With a calm breath, the mana from the sea spread out gently, pushing the white snowfield like a wave.

While I was training inside the Mage Tower, Rain was summoned by her master.

Normally, she would have avoided the summons by pretending to be absent, but today she couldn’t do that.

The master had come in person with the summons.

“What… what is it?”

“Read this.”

The old mage handed his disciple a piece of paper.

It was a report from a young mage.

“This is…”

Rain read the report her master had handed over.

At first glance, it looked like an ordinary report, but upon closer inspection, she noticed something strange.

“Seris entered the Mage Tower?”

“Do you think that’s possible?”

“Then…”

“It seems that this girl named Seris is impersonating a Mage from the Tower.”

Rain broke into a cold sweat at her master’s words.

Impersonating a Mage from the Tower was a grave crime.

In the worst case, she could be imprisoned for life.

Rain thought about it.

Seris must have been a village girl who knew nothing of the world. She couldn’t possibly know how serious the crime of impersonating a mage was.

Rain genuinely felt concerned for the little girl named Seris.

“It seems that what you said was true after all.”

The old mage finally believed his disciple’s words, which he had initially dismissed as a joke.

Of course, he still couldn’t be certain about the starlight mana the girl had shown him.

“What should we do now…? If Seris gets caught…”

“No problem. If the report is true, that is.”

“But…”

The old mage casually waved his hand.

Suddenly, Rain’s scattered belongings flew up into the air and were sucked into a large bag.

“Master?”

“Seris will be considered an undercover Mage on a secret mission.”

“Does that mean…?”

“It means we must move quickly to make it so.”

The old mage thought to himself.

At first, he had dismissed it as a coincidence, thinking his disciple was making a fuss.

But after finding Seris, it had not been a wasted trip.

However, a single report gave credibility to Rain’s words.

If the contents of the report were true, it meant thatSeris, a girl who had awakened her mana less than a year ago, had already grown into a mage powerful enough to fight a Death Knight using a Battle Mage’s Mana Bolt.

How could such a mage be overlooked? Of course, she had to be captured and taken as his disciple.

“We’re going to the Karma Empire.”

The old mage left the Mage Tower, accompanied by his young disciple.