Chapter 6: Ciella is scary, Part 1

Lucia was currently being treated with the utmost care.

Even more so than visiting nobles or foreign dignitaries.

Frankly, she was receiving better treatment than the third prince returning from his deployment.

And Lucia was miserable.

A maid followed her everywhere. She had to share meals with the royal family at their massive dining table.

Having been a village girl until recently, Lucia knew nothing of noble etiquette.

Her table manners were far from refined.

Overwhelmed by shyness and the stifling atmosphere, she would quickly finish her food, clutch her sword, and scamper away.

the king, his children, and the maids, observing this, would only think,

“Aww… so cute…”

“My dear, mind your manners…”

She was simply an adorable creature in their eyes.

Clip-clop, clip-clop.

Horses’ hooves.

Creak

The rumble of carriage wheels.

I sat at the front of the carriage, dangling my legs, feeling the gentle breeze on my face.

Beside me, Hans wore a deeply troubled expression as he drove.

I smiled encouragingly at him, and he quickly averted his gaze, focusing on the road ahead.

Understandable.

It had been a while since the caravan departed.

Two sunsets had passed; it was the third day.

The journey had been smooth, with only brief stops at relay stations to change horses.

We were nearing the heart of the Solarite Kingdom.

The checkpoint had been a breeze. Thanks to the frequent travels of adventurers, security checks were minimal, mainly comparing travelers to wanted posters.

Identity was confirmed by guild insignias.

Hans vouched for me as an apprentice coachman. There had been a slight misunderstanding, but it was resolved quickly. I’d expected a more thorough, serious inspection.

There were also customs duties, but those didn’t concern me.

I hadn’t been idle these past three days.

My condition for joining the caravan was to learn from Hans.

So, every time I stared at him, he dutifully explained the nuances of driving a carriage.

I listened attentively, or at least pretended to, while my mind wandered, bored by the repetitive lessons.

By the third day, the lessons were becoming redundant, so I found a new source of amusement: Joining the adventurers.

Every night, as we gathered around campfires, the merchants busied themselves with inventory and schedules.

The adventurers, except for the scouts on patrol, battled boredom by telling stories.

As a fellow modern human with a low tolerance for boredom, I subtly joined their circle.

The adventurers, accustomed to boisterous taverns, were clearly uncomfortable with the enforced sobriety of caravan travel.

They told stories to pass the time, but their repertoire was dwindling.

As the storyteller began repeating himself, I slipped into the circle. Their reactions were quite entertaining.

“And then?”

“Then wha-?!”

That was a rather girly shriek.

They sat in a circle, with a suspiciously empty space between two burly men.

I quietly slipped in, trying not to draw attention.

The others noticed me, of course, but I put a finger to my lips, and they obligingly kept quiet.

As the story reached its climax, I interjected a single word.

The burly man let out a surprisingly high-pitched squeal. A fascinating discovery.

Such discoveries came with a price. Perhaps too high a price.

I hadn’t threatened them or tried to steal anything, but the burly man I’d startled scrambled to his feet, drawing his sword. The firelight glinted off the polished blade.

I glanced at the others, pleading with my eyes. They, too, had drawn their weapons.

One, who looked like a mage, had already finished casting a spell, a faint glow emanating from their staff.

That mage looked familiar…

Regardless, I was about to become a hunted peddler. I raised my hands in surrender-

The sharp blade moved closer.

Right, don’t move. If I tried to explain, they’d probably think I was casting a spell and roast me.

If I raised my hands, they’d think it was silent casting and stab me.

Just as I was realizing the true meaning of a no-win situation, a savior arrived.

“Who are y-”

“Lynn?”

The burly man stopped mid-sentence. I’d called out my name.

We turned towards the source of the voice.

A girl with playful features and bright pink hair.

“Ray…?”

My regular customer, my source of income.

Ray.

Beside her walked a dark-haired man, Kalt, Ray’s party member, if I remembered correctly.

Judging by how quickly they unlinked arms, they were definitely an item now.

“What are you doing here?”

Thanks to my shining benefactor, the hostile adventurers quickly dropped to their knees, apologizing profusely.

“I’m… so sorry…”

“It’s alright. I startled you, it’s my fault.”

I let it go. I would have probably fainted if Kairin suddenly appeared beside me.

Apologies made, new member welcomed, it was time for more stories.

“So, Ray, what’s her name?”

But first, a burning question.

“Oh, her? Ciella Magna, a mage from the Magic Tower.”

“Ciella…?”

The Ciella?

The green-haired girl flinched at the mention of her name.

Ciella was a four-star, top-tier mage in Amadeus.

Incredibly popular, and often featured in fan works.

Though she wasn’t this young… Was this a pre-sequel appearance?

Ciella Magna was a promising talent in the Magic Tower, the last direct descendant of the once-great, now-fallen Magna family.

The story went that she was a prodigy, mastering the magical language of runes before foreign languages, and inheriting the powerful and versatile Magna family magic.

However, contrary to popular belief, she wasn’t a natural prodigy. She could simply see.

Ciella possessed the violet eyes of the ancient dragons, said to have created the system of magic for humans.

She could instantly grasp anything she saw.

While others learned through study, she absorbed knowledge effortlessly.

The Magna family magic? She’d seen her parents cast it in a desperate attempt to save her before they died.

She’d merely memorized and replicated it.

Because of her perceived “talent,” she was adopted as a child by a mage who saw her as nothing more than a tool in the power struggles within the Magic Tower.

Consequently, she became withdrawn and suspicious of others.

If the original story held true, the protagonist would help Ciella overcome her distrust.

But this was still the first arc, before Ciella’s proper introduction.

She hadn’t yet changed.

“So, I-”

Unable to join the cheerful conversation, Ciella sipped her warm water, observing the group from a distance.

Then, she noticed a girl silently approach and sit between the burly man and another adventurer.

No one, not even the two beside the girl, nor the adventurer next to Ciella, seemed to notice.

Ciella herself might not have noticed if not for her eyes.

The ‘Magic Eyes,’ as they were called, detected a subtle flow of mana.

From the girl’s body? No, there was no mana emanating from the girl herself.

This wasn’t unusual. Non-combatants like merchants often had negligible mana.

Just weaker than those with magical abilities.

What caught Ciella’s attention was the small pouch at the girl’s waist.

A small pouch, big enough for a few potions and a dagger. But the mana it radiated was…

Nauseating.

The adventurer next to Ciella, noticing her discomfort, followed her gaze and gasped, though for different reasons.

As they stared, Ciella’s trembling eyes met the girl’s.

The girl slowly raised a finger to her lips.

Don’t speak.

Ciella quickly looked down, trying to control her racing heart and the sweat trickling down her face.

Don’t speak? About what? About the horrifying amount of mana leaking from that artifact?

The mana seeping from the pouch wasn’t substantial, nor was the pouch itself exceptionally powerful.

But the mana, which should have appeared blue to Ciella, was a deep, inky black. Not the gentle flow of incense smoke, but the viscous ooze of mud.

She’d never seen such mana, not even from the powerful Archmage.

What had she just seen?

Should she report this to the Magic Tower?

As her surroundings faded into a panicked silence, a single question pierced through the fog in her mind.

“And then?”

And then what?

It couldn’t be that the girl had read her mind.

Magic related to thoughts had always been the domain of transcendent beings.

But Ciella couldn’t think straight. The image of the viscous, nauseating mana was seared into her mind.

The burly man raised his sword. The adventurer beside him notched an arrow.

Ciella raised her staff, aiming it at the girl. No mercy for someone wielding such power.

Magna family magic: Thunder.

Like the rumble after a lightning strike, a brutal spell that tore apart anything in its path with residual magical energy.

Already cast, the spell waited only for her command.

It would have been unleashed, regardless of what the girl did, if not for Ray’s intervention.

Ray explained it was all a misunderstanding, that the girl named Kairin meant no harm, and urged them to apologize.

No ill intentions.

She means to help you.

Ciella had heard those empty words too many times. All she could think about was the horrifying mana.

“So, Ray, what’s her name?”

Kairin’s question cut through her thoughts.

“Oh, her? Ciella Magna, a mage from the Magic Tower.”

“Ciella…?”

And then, her name from the girl’s lips.

A slight tremor in her voice. Ciella looked up.

And,

“Ah, Ciella Magna, I see.”

Red eyes gleaming between smiling crescent moons. A cheerful face.

And a voice filled with recognition, as if they’d already met.

“Let’s be friends.”

Ciella felt faint.