Visit

Although she seemed affected by my story the other night, Mana looked surprisingly chipper the following morning, for some bizarre reason. I didn’t ask her why.

“Let’s get an early start, Saga,” she told me. “We still have some way to go.”

She was right, so I said nothing and hurried to prepare for us to embark again.

Going past the rushing river and down the hills, we were treated to a panorama of an area that was mostly scattered towns and farmlands—with the great Harko Forest and the mountain surrounding it now growing closer and closer.

I kept glancing at the sky as we walked, but there were no traces of Three and his unit of robots for the time being. The problem was that even if they didn’t know where we were right now, he likely realized our destination. I was wary of an ambush.

This was yet another reason why I decided we should go down to Riche despite all the risks.

This time we were better prepared—we fashioned ourselves some cloaks to hide our hair, which was probably the most distinguishing feature for both of us.

As I feared, however, the town itself had indeed gotten the memo as well, and our wanted posters were hung all over. We found our own faces staring at us from every corner as we hurried ahead, wary of anyone staring at us for too long.

“Are you sure we should be here, Saga…?” Mana whispered to me as we walked side by side.

Well, it was better than nothing. I wasn’t sure whether the man himself would help us, but it was worth a shot.

“Desperate times call for desperate measures,” I whispered back to her. For some reason this made her expression softer, and she nodded back to me.

Luckily, the Sage’s house was not difficult to find; I actually did some asking of my own the previous time we were here. I was somewhat curious about what C had been doing there, though I never ended up visiting.

“…Who the hell are you?” asked the grumpy woman that opened the door for us.

“Hello, we would like to speak to the great Sage Jarred,” said Mana very politely. When I’d explained our plan, she told me she should do the talking—and she was probably right, so I let her handle this.

“That doesn’t answer my question,” said the woman, her wrinkled brows wrinkling even further. “He’s not takin’ any disciples, just so you know. Don’t waste his time!”

“We’re not looking to be disciples, we simply need to… consult him,” Mana continued, then lowered her voice. “Tell him that the Mana of the Doorway Witches wishes to meet him.”

At first the old woman’s expression froze, and then she widened her eyes and her mouth slightly parted.

This was a gamble.

The fact Mana was a wanted individual was probably already a well-known fact in town. It was very unlikely the woman hadn’t seen the posters if she lived here, so she might go and immediately report us, if not scream about our presence right here on the doorstep for the entire street to hear.

“But you…” the woman muttered. “She’s…”

“Call him,” I added, giving her one of my normal—but extremely cold—looks.

She actually shuddered, then hurried to the inside of the house. Maybe my “resting bitch face” was good for something after all.

Looking pale, the woman came back after a minute or so. “He… he says come inside.” She then looked right and left out in the street. There weren’t many people in this area of town. “Quickly, now.”

We were ushered inside the musty-smelling and surprisingly small house, then further led into a room at the very back, where a stern-faced old man immediately glared at us.

“Give me a reason why I shouldn’t hand you over to the authorities,” were his first words.

“Oh, don’t deny you’re curious. I bet you’ve heard a lot about me, haven’t you?” said Mana. “Wouldn’t you like to hear about my super awesome and unique brand of spells that not even Three could acquire?”

There was a sparkle of curiosity in his eyes, but it didn’t look like he was convinced enough yet.

“And here’s another reason,” I said, summoning Tarisha in my hand and raising her.

“Saga!”

What? That was a legit option. I still wasn’t sure if we could even trust him.

To his credit, the old man did not appear very intimidated. “Eh, I’ve lived for too long, lass—the threat of death doesn’t sway me,” he spat. “Getting some lost knowledge, however…” His eyes kept twinkling in great interest.

“Well… I did say all that, but you probably know we can’t stay here for too long,” Mana said, glancing at me as I lowered my sword. “Really, even coming here like this is risky. To be honest, I don’t know how much I can offer you, but we need your help.”

“Help… in escaping the people after you?” he said. “Don’t tell me the rumors are true?”

“What rumors?” asked Mana.

“That Three is back to his full power.”

I exchanged glances with Mana. He probably wasn’t aware that the Emperor hadn’t been the real Three, so that was likely how he would see it.

“Unfortunately, yes,” Mana said gravely. “Which is why we need your help… your expertise in magic.”

“What can I possibly teach the great Mana? Despite how you look, aren’t you supposed to be even older than me?”

“You misunderstand. We’re not here to learn any spells, but to gain information.”

“And the mogage,” I muttered.

“Yes, that too. But it’s all part of the same goal—in order for us to defeat Three once and for all.”

The old man’s gaze turned graver still. “Three… the immortal magician who can master any spell and who is looking for you right now as we speak, mobilizing the entire kingdom? That Three?”

“Yes,” I said.

A confrontation was inevitable, so we had to prepare for it. Theoretically escaping to another world might let us get away from him, but I didn’t believe things would be this simple.

“Well, I can tell you’ve got guts. You’re completely unlike that boy that spent some time here before…” There was probably no need to tell him that boy was Three himself. “Beating the best mage in the world will not be an easy task, but if you were to do it, you have definitely come to the right place.

“After all,” he said, “I know the weakness of all magicians.”