Ch. 217
“Looking for a Water Spirit Mage with blonde hair and blue eyes! Her name is Geenie. Geenie from Dmitri!”
With so many people around, it wasn’t surprising someone knew me. Several candidates came to mind.
The men who ran away from home looking for me.
My popularity has been sky-high since the old days. Three of them are my own brothers, though.
“Who could it be… Should I go take a look?”
“What? Where are you suddenly going?”
“Let’s head over there. I think I know who it is.”
Chad looked reluctant.
“Akia will be waiting alone at the restaurant. If she’s by herself, some guys might bother her.”
“Ah, right. You guys go first. I’ll go alone—no, Ash will come with me.”
If I went alone, he’d act like an anxious mother bird. Now I understand why Ash’s nickname is the Royal Mother Bird.
“Are you really going?”
“Yeah. Let’s go, Ash.”
“Yes!”
The others looked surprised, but Ash followed as naturally as breathing.
Like a loyal attendant. Or a devoted dog. He would’ve been sad if I didn’t take him along.
[Master, what about me!]
[Of course you’re coming.]
[Ahem!]
Make that two dogs. One of them is a little strange, though.
—
It took a long time to push through the crowd. The person looking for me had chosen the worst possible place: the center of the intersection where all the crowds merged.
Before long, I began hearing the voice myself.
“Looking for someone! Name is Geenie, nineteen years old. Carries a snake—white snake. Please look at this portrait! This is her. Excuse me, this…”
I’d walked for about two minutes since leaving the group, yet Ash heard this voice from that far? Even with the slow-moving crowd, how could he hear that?
He really isn’t normal.
While thinking about other things, I got completely stuck between people.
I was being swept along when Ash rushed over and grabbed my arm.
“You’re late!”
“I’m sorry.”
“You should’ve rescued me before I got stuck!”
“I’m sorry. I really am. I didn’t know you’d suddenly go that way… Are you okay?”
Geenie Crowell is unpredictable!
I kept choosing the roughest routes on purpose. They looked like shortcuts.
“Please! Just take a look! Has anyone seen someone like this? Blonde hair, blue eyes… Name is Geenie. She has a violent temper, so she’ll hit you if you bother her. She hits really hard too. Has anyone seen her?”
Ugh. Anyone would think he’s looking for a lost rabid dog.
I had guessed who it was from the voice, but seeing the face was different.
It was good to see him. And pitiful.
[Bright looks like he lost weight? Would you call that gaunt?]
[Yeah. A lot.]
[Why’d he end up like that? His face was the only thing he had going for him, and now he’s gotten ugly.]
[Because he thought the me who loves him to death was dead? And because he went to Elan following the info he gave me.]
The man holding a portrait that didn’t resemble me at all—wavy brown hair, rare sparkling purple eyes, clear skin—was the handsome young Mage Bright Kenian.
Weight loss had made his features more fragile, but he still had the intellectual pretty-boy charm.
I always taught him that a man’s all about the face! Judging by his dark circles, he’d completely neglected himself.
“Looking for someone! Please!”
Bright even used Firework magic to gain attention, but no one cared.
The portrait was too inaccurate.
This world’s portrait skills are truly awful. To capture my beauty, you need a high-definition video.
“Hey, did you see that guy? Using magic while shouting?”
“Oh… as expected from a big city.”
“I even saw a Spirit Mage yesterday! Amazing!”
People were more impressed by the magic than the portrait. When someone mentioned “Spirit Mage,” Bright immediately abandoned all his belongings and chased them.
“Did you just say Spirit Mage? Where? Where did you see them!”
“What’s wrong with you, mister!”
“Please tell me!”
I hadn’t used Spirit Magic anywhere except my room, so whoever they saw wasn’t me.
But Bright was desperate enough to cling to the passerby’s leg. I clicked my tongue and approached.
Standing crookedly, I called to him for the first time in ages.
“Hey. Idiot senior.”
The Bright in my memory was a handsome fool. Or a pretty idiot. Same thing.
At my lukewarm greeting, Bright froze, then turned slowly.
Still clutching the passerby’s leg, he stared, then gasped and crawled toward me at unbelievable speed.
I didn’t need to know a person could crawl that fast, but there it was.
“Geenie! Is it really you?!”
He immediately hugged my leg.
“Is it real? Not an illusion. Hngh—heueong! I found you! Geenie!”
“Ugh, my ear.”
“I thought you were dead, I was going to—heueoheuekk!”
“Okay, stop crying and talk.”
“I… I thought you died, so I was going to die too… Heuheong!”
“Stop it!”
It was exactly like the last festival season.
Back when I was kidnapped by slave traders and then rescued. Bright cried just like this out of guilt. Then he swallowed his tears when I gave him a disgusted look.
“Heuk… heup…! But then I thought… better to die looking for you than to die, right? They say you can’t go to heaven if you commit suicide…? So… I thought maybe a Dragon could—”
“Don’t say unlucky things!”
I slapped his mouth. He smiled while crying, saying he liked it.
“It’s real. You’re alive.”
“…Ugh. You’re such an idiot.”
“Can you hit me once more?”
“Pervert!”
Yes. This was the man I remembered.
I tried shaking him off and turning away, but he clung like glue. Film your melodrama alone!
“I won’t cry! Geenie! I won’t cry!”
I looked back. His face was covered in tears.
Why is a grown man acting like this? People get kidnapped by Dragon sometimes.
“I’ll abandon anyone who cries.”
[Stop crying now.]
“Look! I stopped. Please take me with you…”
An adult man lying on the ground and crying like a tragic hero drew far too much attention. Ugh. He’s the Chief of the Ministry of Magic. A disgrace to Drike Academy.
Even the polite Ash had never seen such a sight. His eyes were wide.
Don’t be surprised, Ash. That’s your rival. Isn’t it nerve-wracking?
—
Bright finally calmed down and looked normal again.
“Geenie, I’m so glad you’re alive. I can’t tell you how relieved I am. I prayed every day.”
His eyes were swollen, but he smiled happily, holding onto my sleeve like a lost child. He looked so pitiful I couldn’t brush him off.
He was like a boy on a ‘30,000 Miles in Search of Mother’ journey.
And I knew too well that his “I’ll die without you” wasn’t an exaggeration—it was genuine.
Bright has been thinking of me for nine years.
At first, I thought he was just guilty for losing me during the festival when I was little. So I took full advantage of him.
I had him steal forbidden books, make magic tools without payment, put up shields so I could break them, sometimes to the point he coughed blood.
I thought it would end eventually, but nine years passed like that.
[Ugh, I’m really not cruel.]
[…That was “not cruel”? I thought you had no blood or tears.]
[You wanna die?]
[You do know what “not cruel” means, right?]
[The reason you’re still alive is because I understand that, Rai.]
[Ah, right!]
Don’t forget. I am the Saintess of this area.
A symbol of sacrifice, a hero to all, noble soul, etc. Not my favorite titles, but accurate enough.
“By the way, senior, how did you know I was here? How did you find me?”
He’s six years older and my academy senior, so honorifics came naturally with Bright.
That doesn’t mean he’s treated better than Ash. Both of them feel like younger men to me.
“I’ve been looking for you. At first, I searched for traces of the Dragon. I checked the Magic Tower newsletter… Found a report of an unsolved mass murder involving water-type magic. All the victims were slave traders?”
“…Ahem.”
“I know how much you hate slave traders, so I went to Mielta in Koran just in case. Mages who can use that kind of widespread killing magic are rare.”
“Hohoho, that incident has nothing to do with me?”
Damn it. I’ve been caught.
Bright is one of the few who knows me too well.
“But when I went, they said it was done by Dark Elves. Too cruel for humans to do… And Dark Elves killing slave traders happens sometimes, so I was disappointed. But I heard a rumor there—someone said you were alive!”
[Looks like I didn’t get caught.]
“That you escaped from the Dragon! I went straight back to the academy! But you weren’t there…”
Bright’s face shifted between joy and heartbreak as he told his journey.
“If you weren’t at the academy, I thought you’d be at your home estate. I went to Crowell, but there was no trace of you. The Dean wouldn’t tell me anything either… No one knew where you were.”
“Seems I’ve become someone requiring high-level security?”
“Yeah. So I used my head.”
“While you were using your head, did it not occur to you to wait quietly at the academy?”
“When I thought about it—you hate Warp, right? I figured you’d come by land. That’s when I heard about Toomdra. That Rovenin is going to duel Count Trenpe publicly… I was certain you’d come here!”
Well, yes. If I skipped that, I wouldn’t be Geenie Crowell.
“Oh… Not bad, senior.”
“Right? I thought I’d find you here! So I Warp-traveled right away! I waited in that spot for a week!”
(T/N : Oh boy oh boy. Ash, you should be threaten by now. Look how attentive Bright is. Look how he is tooooo familiar with Geenie )
Should I call this smart or stupid? I just felt sorry for him.
He used his intelligence solely to find me.
“Your sincerity is… Should I praise you?”
“Yes!”
“You’re lucky too. These days, you have to wait a week just to use Warp.”
“I work in the Royal Palace Communications Room, you know. I’m a noble.”
“Ah, right… Me. Oh ho?”
A good idea popped into my mind.