The Innocent Mage's Spellbinding Nights - Chapter 47
Irina felt a chill run down her spine as she stared at the small paper doll in front of her.
– Would you like to come over for surveillance with me?”
It was a welcome suggestion for Irina, who had been wandering outside. When she was troubled, she tended to throw herself into her work, and even if she had to relinquish her position as Tower Master soon, she wanted to personally conclude this case.
– Please tell me the location. I’ll be there soon.
If the other party had been a fellow mage, she would have asked for the coordinates of the deserted alley for easy transport. But since Noyad was a shaman, he might not know the coordinates needed for magic, so she asked for a detailed description of the place instead.
Once Noyad finished his explanation, the paper doll turned to ash, having served its purpose.
Irina used a cleansing spell to wash away the tear stains on her face and recalled the coordinates of a nearby safe house.
Instant teleportation magic was unstable and dangerous, so even high-ranking mages like Tower Masters or Vice Tower Masters only attempted it with secure coordinates. Irina planned to teleport to the safe house closest to Quilton City and then use a Haste spell to join Noyad.
‘Although I’m going to observe the suspect, if he is the culprit, I’ll have to engage in combat immediately.’
At the White Tower, it was customary for mages heading out on a mission to leave details of their departure, location, and time with at least one colleague, in case of emergencies.
‘But is there anyone in the current White Tower who would genuinely be concerned about my whereabouts?’
After a moment of hesitation, Irina ignored the incoming calls on her communication orb, bypassed the missed messages, and sent a message to just one person before casting her teleportation spell.
The recipient was Hisran, the Red Tower Master.
***
In the back alleys of Quilton City.
Situated on the opposite side of the entertainment district, it was a relatively deserted street both day and night, frequented mainly by rats scavenging through garbage cans and stray cats hunting those rats. In this desolate area, a beautiful silver-haired woman appeared.
“This seems to be the place.”
Though she was well-versed in both offensive and defensive magic, walking through the darkened alley still filled her with fear, making her ponder how helpless ordinary people must feel in such situations.
‘Before stepping down as Tower Master, perhaps I should press the kings of various countries and the mayors of nearby cities. Back alleys are part of the country and the city, so they should at least maintain minimal oversight.’
Even as she mentally criticized the authorities, Irina looked around for any sign of Noyad, indicated by rats.
Squeak!
“Is it that guy?”
A rat with red eyes, seemingly under the influence of some spell, caught Irina’s attention. The rat paused briefly in front of her before moving again as if beckoning her to follow.
‘This alley is deeper than I thought. It’s like a maze.’
She considered casting a detection spell but, knowing that the culprit had cleverly avoided the crystal balls, she prepared herself to summon her magic at any moment and followed the rat.
Then, from a certain point on,
Tap, tap.
Faint footsteps could be heard. The low, dull sound suggested that the person walking was likely a man.
‘If you walk down a deserted street at night, you’ll start hearing footsteps behind you.’
‘If you look back even once, a monster with a huge red mouth will stick out its tongue and swallow you whole.’
Irina recalled the rumor about the back alleys that Noyad had told her.
‘If the person behind me were Noyad, he would have already called out to me.’
Taking a deep breath, she prepared a powerful wind spell and turned around.
Whirr!
Six red tentacles, resembling an elongated human tongue, were closing in on Irina.
“You…!”
All the grotesque tentacles were extending from a red crystal ball held by a man. Irina’s wind deflected and pushed the tentacles aside.
The black-haired man, whom she had once encountered as a fortune-teller, smiled at her.
“An encounter once is coincidence, twice is fate, and thrice is destiny,” he said.
That implied they had already met three times.
‘Where did we meet one more time?’
Irina’s face tensed with concentration. Despite the tentacles being pushed back by the wind, they sprouted new tendrils like branches, desperately trying to reach her.
In response, Irina’s wind adapted. It sharpened, slicing through the tentacles like blades. She observed closely.
‘The branch-like tentacles are cut off, but the ones directly extending from the crystal ball are unaffected!’
Instead, they seemed to absorb the force of the wind, becoming more frenzied.
‘This can’t turn into a war of attrition.’
The more she exhausted herself, the stronger they would become.
Realizing this crucial detail, Irina focused on pushing the tentacles back while forming a very sharp and solid spear of wind.
‘I’ll pour all my mana into this…’
Invisible but strongly present, her friends—the spirits—would need to assist her.
She needed to overwhelm the sinister crystal ball with so much power that it would burst.
“Hmm, this is troublesome,” the man muttered, noticing Irina’s determined expression.
In reality, she was a natural enemy of “Gluttony,” capable of amplifying her power with the help of spirits.
But that wasn’t the end of it.
The man had more tricks up his sleeve.
