Chapter 7
In her childhood, she often dreamed that every day in Pamenta would be like this, that these peaceful days would last forever. But on nights when she lay gazing at the sky, wishing for that eternity, Erta would speak as if she had read her very thoughts.
“Nothing in this world is eternal. That is the way of the world, Jeina. And we mages must be even more mindful of this truth.”
She would tell her not to try to reverse things, not to fight against the flow, but to simply let things be—spouting all these uncharacteristically firm and boring statements. It was the only time during their moments together that the laughter would vanish from Erta’s face.
Jeina, half-asleep, would just nod vaguely. No matter how many times she heard it, until she was sick of it, she never truly understood.
‘If you can reverse something, then reverse it. If you can fight it, then fight it… I can just make it happen, can’t I? Why does it have to be so complicated…?’
Erta had said she would understand one day, softly covering her eyes with a hand, but Jeina hadn’t particularly wanted to know. For someone curious about everything, it was the one thing she had no desire to comprehend. She simply found that so-called “way of the world” disagreeable.
But when uninvited guests came crashing into Pamenta, the moment the peace that had seemed eternal was shattered, she was ultimately forced to confront that disagreeable truth head-on.
* * *
“Erta, you knew, didn’t you? You must have seen it all! But why, why…!”
“Knowing wouldn’t have changed anything. It was destined to happen, and we…”
“What? Just go with the flow? You’re saying that even after seeing this? You could have at least given me a proper warning! You could have told me… that this was the future you saw…!”
Jeina screamed, her voice raw with anguish.
Erta was the mage closest to the heavens, even among their kind. The one who could foresee all. That’s why, even though she was always so lighthearted and playful, Jeina knew the weight her words carried.
“You’re a seer…! You saw it all, so how could you…!”
Trapped within the protective barrier enveloping her, Jeina stared blankly at the surroundings.
Boom—! Kaboom!
The relentless explosions assaulted her ears, the smell of gunpowder stung her nostrils, and Pamenta was engulfed in flames.
Men clad in white vestments were ransacking the village, their faces filled with animosity. They shouted that they were the bearers of a divine mission, wielding a power similar to yet different from mana. They fired flaming arrows and incendiary shells to set everything ablaze, only to then sprinkle some strange water upon the fires and offer prayers.
Thousands of humans, armed with menacing weapons, were targeting the mages and only the mages.
And yet… and yet…
The mere hundred or so mages left neither resisted the attacks nor tried to flee. They merely enveloped themselves in magical barriers strong enough to buy a little time, focusing all their power on protecting Jeina alone.
Watching as the mages, their once-black hair rapidly turning white, Jeina was utterly devastated. She tried to manipulate her mana, but it was futile. The power of a hundred mages and all the ambient mana of the land were concentrated solely on the barrier caging her. Woven so densely, not even a young mage as confident in her magic as Jeina could break through.
Seeing the land of magic being reduced to scorched earth and the mages disappearing one by one, Jeina pounded her fists against the barrier. Bang! Bang! Since she couldn’t use her magic properly, she had to do whatever she could, even if it meant her hands shattered. But the barrier, designed solely to protect her, didn’t let a single scratch form on her hands no matter how desperately she beat against it. Jeina bit her lip until it hurt.
“Why… why…?”
To Jeina’s anguish, Erta responded with a voice of unsettling calm. “It’s precisely because I saw it all, because I knew everything, that I said nothing.”
“It’s because of me, isn’t it? They tracked the magic I used in the Barren Lands, right? It’s because I used magic… because I…”
“Jeina.”
“You saw that too, didn’t you? So then… why?!! Why didn’t you stop me! Even a destined event can be changed. I can make it happen, okay? You know how immense my magic is, right? Huh? You said so yourself, Erta!”
“Jeina, I told you. Our dissipation was destined for today, regardless. With our predetermined amount of mana, it’s simply the natural order. Them tracking us here now is also because our mana is nearly spent, the barrier’s efficacy is gone.”
“I’ll give you my mana! I can protect everyone! So just take this thing down!”
The black color was already fading from Erta’s hair as well. It was painfully clear that the remaining mages were also on the verge of dissipation. Without shedding a single tear, Jeina screamed her throat raw.
“Tsk, tsk. We must not use magic for killing, for attacking others. I told you it would come back to us many times over. See? You never listen, even though you’re so tiny,” Luccia clucked, scolding her as if it were any other day, a wry smile on her face.
“Sweetheart! You’ll hurt your hands! Your hands! Stop pounding. It hurts, doesn’t it? Hmm?”
Jaya, even facing her own imminent dissipation, fretted helplessly, concerned only for Jeina.
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