“It seems like there’s quite a distance to the outer gate… By the way, how exactly was I brought to this place? Escaping from the royal palace must have been incredibly difficult,” Martina said curiously, tilting her head as they walked through a forest near the royal capital.
Roland, wearing a similarly puzzled expression, responded, “That’s something I’ve been wondering too. When I noticed you were missing and used magic to find you, you were already outside the city.”
When the two exchanged glances and turned their eyes toward the three representatives of the Ghazal Kingdom, the third prince, Aditya Ghazal, sneered down at them and spoke.
“Like I’d ever tell the likes of you.”
“—I see,” Roland replied.
Then, without hesitation, he manipulated shadows to twist Ghazal’s arm in a direction it wouldn’t normally bend.
“Ow! Hey, stop! Quit it!” Ghazal yelled in pain.
“I thought you didn’t seem to understand your position,” Roland said coldly.
“Damn it… damn it, damn it, damn it!”
After a few similar exchanges, Ghazal finally spilled the truth about a teleportation magic circle. He then pulled out a folded, durable cloth from his attendant’s inner pocket, which, when unfolded, revealed a drawn teleportation magic circle. Martina’s eyes sparkled as she examined it.
“With this, we might be able to recreate the magic circle for summoning the Saintess. …Could it be that what we were missing was dark magic?”
“Dark magic?” Roland echoed in disbelief, his eyes widening at Martina’s murmured observation.
“Yes. Magic that creates connections to other places, such as teleportation or summoning, seems to require a reconnaissance-like magic powered by dark-element mana,” she explained.
“But… isn’t it true that magic circles don’t depend on elemental attributes in the first place?” Roland asked, confused.
“That’s true in the sense that the attribute of the mana poured into a magic circle doesn’t matter. Magic circles only need a small amount of mana from a person to activate, and then they use the ambient energy in the air, called natural mana, to function. However, the mechanism of the magic circle converts this natural mana into various elements, and for this particular case, it seems we need to convert it into dark magic.”
Excited at having found a breakthrough for completing the Saintess Summoning Magic Circle, Martina spoke rapidly before returning her focus to the diagram.
Watching her intently, Roland murmured with a faint note of both pride and sentiment, “…Well, at least it seems dark magic has its uses.”
Hearing his slightly uncertain tone, Martina looked up and nodded firmly.
“Yes. I still think it’s wrong that dark magic is so undervalued.”
At her words, Roland’s expression softened. He tousled her hair lightly before quickening his pace.
“Alright, let’s hurry back.”
After walking through the forest for a while, Martina, Roland, and the three captured representatives of the Ghazal Kingdom arrived without incident at the outer gate of the royal capital.
Since it was night, the main gate was closed. Roland knocked on the smaller service door instead. Although nighttime entry and exit were generally prohibited, there was an unspoken understanding that soldiers would open the service door if requested.
“Excuse me. Could you open the door for us?” Roland called out.
A soldier responded from the other side, and the door was quickly unlocked. As it opened, a few soldiers on night duty, along with several knights stationed there by royal order, came into view.
“Oh, knights are here too,” Martina noted.
“—Martina!”
The knights’ eyes widened in shock when they saw her peeking through the door, and they rushed out in a hurry.
“Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine. Roland saved me,” Martina answered, slightly leaning back at their overwhelming concern as she gestured toward Roland.
The knights then noticed the three Ghazal Kingdom representatives tied to horses. Their expressions immediately turned severe as they returned their focus to Martina.
“We’ll need to hear the details.”
Martina and Roland explained everything they knew, after which one of the knights left to report to the royal palace. A carriage was arranged to escort Martina and Roland, while the three representatives, now bound with sturdy ropes rather than Roland’s magic, were confined in a separate room under heavy guard.
