Chapter 6: A Sorcerer Never Runs Away

Five minutes before the battle erupted.

Kalia, hiding silently in a tree, nervously watched the two figures crouched inside the pit among the ruins of the wooden cabin, murmuring to each other.

She had no idea where Roland had gone or what secret signal he had left for her.

Yet, she decided to obediently wait without slipping into her own shadow.

What if he was in danger? No matter how she thought about it, it seemed absurd for a second-tier mage to face off against two fourth-tier mages.

Why hadn’t she stopped him back then?

Wait—could it be that he had abandoned her here and ran off alone?

The thought of this possibility made Kalia clench her fists tightly, but soon she relaxed and smiled softly.

“Well, if he runs on his own, that’s smart at least.”

“After all, if he hadn’t run here or encountered me, he wouldn’t have gotten dragged into this mess.”

“But... his soup was pretty good. I wonder if I’ll ever get to taste it again.”

“Probably not, since I don’t even know his name yet.”

Though their time together had been brief—barely over an hour—Kalia didn’t want to see him get hurt, nor did she want him to be caught up in troubles because of her.

Now that Roland seemed to have fled, she surprisingly felt a bit relieved.

Especially since before he left, he had given her an invisibility cloak.

Seeing that the two below hadn’t noticed her hiding spot, she was certain of Roland’s earlier words: with some simple concealment, they wouldn’t be able to track her—or the pendant she wore.

The reason Kalia hadn’t thought of this sooner was because she lacked any stealth magic herself.

Particularly because such spells were unlike her innate magic talents and consumed a vastly different amount of mana.

If innate magic was an extension of her body, requiring only a couple of bread loaves’ worth of energy to travel a hundred kilometers, then casting spells beyond that was like waving a wooden stick around.

Maybe sustainable for a short time, but for assassins who already knew her face, the safest strategy was to stay in the shadows and keep moving.

She would survive by eating bugs and grass, occasionally stealing normal food from passing villagers.

Realizing she had already lived like this for half a month, Kalia suddenly felt like crying.

She thought back to that fish soup.

Damn those black-clad assassins—couldn’t they have waited until she finished the last bit of soup with her bread before showing up?

The thought of that delicious fish soup now buried beneath rainwater and the cabin ruins made her heart bleed.

***

Muttering to herself, Kalia began thinking of an escape plan.

Before she could act, several explosions rang out, nearly causing her to fall from the tree. Fortunately, she caught herself quickly and avoided being exposed.

When she steadied herself and looked toward the lingering smoke from the blasts, she saw Roland beheading Orian with a longsword and then obliterating the corpse with a fireball.

He hadn’t run away!

No, that couldn’t be right.

Had the two fourth-tier mages who had chased her all this way really been taken out so easily?

What had those explosions been just now?

Confused, Kalia’s gaze involuntarily shifted toward the figure who had just removed his hood.

He was sheathing his longsword and slipping two short knives into his belt sheath.

More than a mage, Roland looked like a seasoned hunter—or perhaps an assassin.

Distracted, Kalia had barely seen the fight unfold—or rather, she hadn’t had time to.

In less than half a minute after the landmine detonated, Roland had already dealt with both enemies.

By the time Kalia regained her footing in the tree, he was preparing to erase all traces.

Wait, what was he doing?

Kalia suddenly noticed Roland giving a thumbs-up in her direction.

What was that about?

A spell gesture?

Or a signal calling for reinforcements?

Signal? Suddenly, Kalia realized that the thumbs-up he gave her when leaving earlier was a secret sign.

“Why use that as a signal?!” she whispered lightly, then activated her innate magic and melted into the shadows.

…

After throwing a fireball to destroy the bodies and ensuring the two were truly dead, Roland began searching their belongings.

Surprisingly, they carried very little.

Or rather, almost nothing—just two palm-sized portable communication devices.

“Hm? What’s this…”

Roland flipped one of the half-broken devices in his hand and discovered a small hidden compartment at the bottom.

Inside was a rolled-up miniature map.

He immediately recognized it as the layout of Riscane City, marked with several red dots.

“Good luck. And this device isn’t too badly damaged; a little repair and it’ll work again.”

Roland pocketed the device and carefully retrieved the map to hide it.

Then he deactivated the cloak’s invisibility and reached toward a large tree in the distance, giving a thumbs-up.

“Hm, no response?”

He looked at the hiding spot he’d indicated to Kalia—there was no reaction.

After a brief wait, a shadow appeared at his feet, and Kalia emerged from it.

Removing her hood and smoothing her disheveled hair, she took out her staff and shaped her shadow into a tendril that brushed the two piles of ashes on the ground.

After confirming that the assassins who had chased her from Blackthorn Territory all the way to Riscane were truly dead, Kalia finally exhaled in relief.

At the same time, she felt a newfound respect for this second-tier mage beside her.

She looked up slightly at Roland’s profile. “How did you do it? What was that explosion just now?”

“Just a landmine. If they’d been more careful where they stepped, I’d be the one running with you right now.”

“Of course, this helped too.”

Roland drew a magic-suppression stone dagger from his waist and handed it to her, holding it by the tip.

Kalia didn’t take it. She recognized the dagger immediately and suddenly understood how Roland had managed to defeat those two fourth-tier mages.

She looked up at him. “What now?”

“Simple. Give me the pendant.”

Roland took off his cloak and asked for the silver pendant from Kalia. It was the first time he’d examined it up close.

After a brief inspection, he wrapped the pendant in the cloak and spoke to her.

“All right, the crisis is temporarily over.”

“Let’s head into the city to rest for the night. We’ll figure out the next steps after we wake up.”

“Keep your cloak on for now, then hide in the shadows and follow me into the city.”

Just as Roland was about to leave, Kalia called out to him.

“Wait! I still don’t know your name!”

“Just call me Roland. Let’s go—delays could cause more trouble.”