"Magic is the truth of the world. The more magic you master, the clearer your understanding of that truth becomes—and the more taboos and unknowns you glimpse as well..."
"If a mage lacks strong self-control, grows curious about the mysterious unknown and the untouchable taboos, and acts on that curiosity, his mind and will shall be horribly twisted..."
"Even if he can restrain his desires, he still cannot escape the risk of sliding into madness."
"Under such circumstances, faith will without a doubt firm your will and mine, keeping our minds safe from the assault of horror..."
Veronica drove while warning Wayne not to get carried away; his path in magic had only just begun, and there was a great deal he still needed to learn.
Perhaps because Wayne had gained magic and become an insider, no longer the stranger he had been, Veronica's attitude toward him had turned somewhat friendlier.
Just a little. A very little.
The reason was that diary. The college girl had been taught a harsh lesson, and every time she thought back on it, she ground her teeth.
————
The blue sedan traveled the highway at an average of fifty kilometers per hour. In this era before navigation, a novice driver was in for pure misery.
Veronica could drive, true enough, but she had never been down this road before. Feeling her way forward by road signs and map, she took several wrong turns and wasted a good deal of time.
The car crawled along like a turtle, and Operation Lightning Capture failed the moment it began. Tonight the group would be spending the night in the Town of Kafuno.
As they neared the town, the car pulled over to the roadside. The group ate to replenish their energy and adjust their condition, in case the Death Walker attempted a sneak attack.
Wayne took out the loving potato bento William had prepared for him and hunkered down by the roadside, noisily wolfing it down. In the car he had eaten plenty of compressed biscuits, made from cooked oats, flour, jam, and margarine; they tasted awful, and the more of them you ate, the thirstier you got.
So the potatoes didn't seem so bad after all.
Veronica leaned against the car, nibbling at a sandwich bite by bite with impeccable manners. Even without a dinner table, she observed every rule of table etiquette.
The sharp contrast to her was not Wayne, but William, who was demolishing a big bag of chocolate and teasing Veronica while he ate.
What was so good about sandwiches? Chocolate and a pretty girl—that was the dream combination!
Veronica was thoroughly annoyed. Anyone could tell she craved that chocolate, but to keep her figure and avoid an excess of sugar, she had to suppress her longing for sweets.
"Veronica, this stuff beats sandwiches by a mile!"
William poked his head toward Veronica and grinned, his teeth coated in dark chocolate, his very breath sweet.
Those who play with fire get burned. Teased into a fury, Veronica gave William a gentle smile, unhurriedly set down her sandwich, took out a silk handkerchief, and dabbed her lips.
William's brow twitched, and without a word he turned and ran.
Two steps in, Veronica rushed him and sent him sprawling with a flying kick. As he lay there groaning, she caught his ankle in a lock and squeezed until he slapped the ground begging for mercy.
William stood two meters tall, broad-shouldered and thick-muscled, built like a bear—a golden-haired strongman weighing over two hundred jin. Veronica stood a barefoot one meter seventy, fair-skinned and lovely, slim-waisted and long-legged, not even half his weight.
Yet every time William stirred the fire, Veronica put him down with brute force. A frail young lady with a double-A rating in both speed and strength, so to speak.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Veronica, let go, my leg's going to break!"
"Hmph. Will you dare do it again?"
"I'll dare again."
"..."
"Ahhh—"
Having finished his loving bento, Wayne went on eating compressed biscuits with canned food, watching William court death as he ate. Amused, he said, "Veronica's really something. Is that magic too?"
"No. Veronica's magic is sealed by a curse; she can't work powerful spells and can only fight with a few simple magical tools. The reason she can pin William is pure physical ability." Monica came over to Wayne with a catwalk stride, licked her paw, and began washing her face.
Monica had eaten alone in the car, out of sight, refusing to be watched; Wayne suspected she had secretly stashed some dried fish.
"Physical ability?!"
Wayne was astonished. "Are you sure it's not a magic effect? How does she train? Look at her arms and legs—there's no muscle there."
"She has dragon blood."
"Dragon... blood?"
Wayne painfully swallowed the compressed biscuit in his mouth. The image of a fire-breathing dragon rose in his mind, and he held his breath. "There are giant dragons in this world?"
What a dangerous world. Yesterday it was mages, today dragons—what about tomorrow? Would angels sound the horn of doom?
"No."
"No dragons, so where does dragon blood come from?"
"Inherited from her mother."
"Her mother is a dragon?" Wayne was shocked—so his honorable father-in-law was a dragon rider.
"She's human."
"..."
Wayne's face contorted in exasperation.
Every word you say is a word I've already heard—you're just standing there saying nothing!
Wayne rolled his eyes furiously and said sourly, "The last time I heard a statement that constructive was the last time. You know, scientific research shows that every minute people waste is equal to sixty seconds wasted."
The group rested in place for an hour, and the blue sedan set off again. According to the map, they were still thirty kilometers from the Town of Kafuno.
The woods on both sides of the road gradually thickened. It was the tail end of winter, and early spring had not yet arrived; apart from the cedars, which were untouched by the seasons, the barren woods held little green. Thick fallen leaves buried half the trunks, and the air gave off a natural smell of rot.
This time, Wayne drove.
Veronica sat in the back with Monica in her arms, arranging their new identities: she and William were siblings, Monica still played the harmless pet cat, and Wayne was the driver. They would pass through the Town of Kafuno and rest a night, then leave once they had refueled in the morning.
In Veronica's plan, they would catch Bloody Mike tonight, lift the curse by dawn, and drive off at daybreak.
Every plan is perfect before it is carried out. Wayne was not optimistic about this one—Veronica's earlier Operation Lightning Capture, for instance, had died in its cradle because she didn't know the way.
As a newcomer, Wayne had no say in the matter. Seeing that both William and Monica approved of the plan, he tactfully said nothing more.
Rumble—
A flash of bright light, and a tremendous peal of thunder followed close behind. Unnoticed, a gloomy storm cloud had descended from the sky, and the whole earth was cloaked in darkness.
"Scared me—why is it thundering all of a sudden?"
Wayne narrowed his eyes. In the instant the lightning burst, the world before his eyes lurched violently. Fortunately, he was a civilized man who obeyed traffic rules and kept both hands on the wheel at all times, so he steadied the car and kept it from hitting a tree.
Smack!
A grayish-white, semi-transparent hand clamped onto the hood, its misshapen palm leaving a glaring smear of dark red blood...
From the look of it, there was a ghost under the car, and it was about to climb up and grab the wheel!
Wayne's eyes shrank; he cursed the car dealer inwardly, his breathing turning ragged.
Damn that bastard—he had said that, for the Queen's sake, this car had no soul rings attached to it!
Chapter 10