Heavenly Castle

Ditzen】

Two days have passed since Yuri departed into the sky.

Although I’m throwing all of my frustration at the research of the toilet, I’m yet to reproduce even one of its functions. My days are filled with howling from gloom while sitting at the toilet that got closer to the real thing only in appearance.

In the afternoon of one of such days, I heard a knocking on my door.

Could it be, a messenger from the sky?!

Thinking that I rushed to open the door, but the one standing there was a male elf in a tattered robe. His hair is in disorder, exposed skin was covered in bruises and dirt, yet even so, his appearance did not lose its allure.

Well, not like I care about the beauty of elves.

「…Are you the magician named Ditzen?」

「Ah, yes. I’m Ditzen.」

When I answered so, the elf narrowed his eyes looking at me sharply. From his voice and demeanor, I was convinced that that was a man, but from that expression, I also understood that he is a soldier who went through his share of battles.

He gave the impression of being powerful enough to make one swallow his breath.

As I got weak in the knees from fear, the elf put his hand on the edge of the door and forced himself inside of the room. I think I’m about to cry.

「W-What’s your business?」

I don’t remember doing anything to get hated by elves.

I looked at him with a plea in my eyes, but his stare didn’t change.

「…We know that you went to the Heavenly Country. Reveal all information you acquired there.」

「No, I couldn’t go to Heavenly Country, so I know nothing.」

I went into full denial without thinking. Probably surprised by my unexpectedly strong denial, the elf closed his mouth and went silent for a while.

Then, a beautiful girl with purple hair appeared from behind the elf. Without a doubt, she can be called a beauty. Just like the elf, her hair was somewhat in disarray and her armor had scratches and dirt here and there, but even so, her beauty was obvious.

「How much time are you planning to waste there?」

A cold voice of the armored beauty almost gave me shivers.

「M? Armor?」

Purple hair, and the armor that surely was pure white previously. And on the chest, the armor had the emblem of the Blau Empire.

「…No way, the witch of the empire…」

A hoarse voice escaped my lips. While being a woman, she abandoned the position of the court magician and joined the war, eventually attaining the rank of a general, The Witch of the Empire, Violette. That name travels along with the tales of her ferocious combat style and a notable fighting record of without a single defeat.

Hearing me, the beauty raised one corner of her mouth and looked at the elf from the side.

「Looks like I’m more famous in other countries, Aifa.」

Even after the woman said so, the elf kept his mouth shut, without showing any signs of discontent.

However, right now, I couldn’t care less about that.

「Aifa…」

A person who is said to have brought drastic improvement to the imperial magic system and magical tools. Although he has been serving the empire for decades, elves inherently loathe such attachments.

Therefore, the reason why Aifa serves the empire is considered a mystery.

And at this moment, that mysterious and most prominent practitioner in the empire, was right in front of me.

「…Why are the Empire’s court magician and general in these lands…」

For a moment, three letters appeared in my mind – war. But then I remembered that the answer had already been stated by Aifa.

Flying island, Heavenly castle… Heavenly Country, they were collecting information on it.

And one didn’t even have to think to understand the reason.

「…Are you planning to take hold of the Heavenly Country.」

When I said that, the two looked at each other. And then, the witch’s mouth turned into a smile.

For some reason, that sight filled me with fear for my own safety.

I began to chant the spell, mumbling it inside my mouth, trying not to make a sound. I had no time to think and my body was moving by itself.

「Mugh!」

A devastating wind, strong enough to destroy eardrums, blew over, and in the blink of an eye, a whirlwind covered the entrance.

Being able to instantly activate the wind spell that is difficult to avoid in a narrow space, was a good job, if I may say so myself.

While hearing Aifa’s voice coming from behind, I rush to the back of the room.

There, behind the door was a messy laboratory and even deeper behind it was a testing site. However, the testing site was a dead end, so there is no escape through it.

I swiftly changed my direction and jumped into a window, that was only about half of my body in height.

「Hoooryah!」

I break through the window while protecting my head with both hands and roll out onto the road outside.

I grazed palms on the stone pavement, but I returned to running before I even felt pain. Moving my lips, I kicked off the ground with all my strength and took flight.

「T-Those two are too bad for opponents!」

I scream while flying through the sky. I have confidence that I won’t lose to some run-of-the-mill practitioner, but if the rumors are true, I can’t compete with those two even one-on-one.

「I cannot afford to die yet!」

I fly with desperation, aiming for the castle. I don’t think that even those two would try to go against a whole army.

If I manage to run away it’s my win. With the flight spell, I can reach the castle in no time.

While thinking that, I look behind me.

However, what I saw, were figures of Aifa and Violette, flying towards me expressionlessly.