EP.159 The magician is back
The magician did not hide his whereabouts.
Or rather, it seemed to reveal his return to everyone.
Wearing an eye-catching beauty by his side, he strode proudly through the back alleys of the military. It was too noticeable to go unnoticed.
This also entered his ears, who were most unwelcome to the magician’s return. He went straight to the watchtower even though he was overcome with fear and fear. There, he signaled his benefactor using a ‘beacon’ that could only be used once.
An empty signal rang out in the dark and narrow back alley of Amitengrad.
For those who don’t know, it’s just a collection of unknown noises, and for those who know, it’s a sound that should always be alert and vigilant.
A beacon prepared by those who trapped him in fear.
The beacon, which had been waiting for only one existence, broke the long silence and rang fiercely.
A magician appeared.
A magician appeared.
A magician appeared.
In this way, the signal announcing the magician’s return spread throughout the country.
A trump card they prepared. With this, they
would think
that they noticed the magician’s return before the magician noticed it….
“Huh…ugh.”
Anton at the signal post finished the signal with trembling hands and sobs. Crisp, signaling jewels shattered terribly.
Communication soldiers or ordinary people who do not have communication devices must use the twin jewels when sending these signals. Unless you’re going to use a real beacon.
Anyway, I’m not a normal person enough to use the twin jewels.
In fact, it’s hard to say that this guy is a normal person.
Anton my old friend. The audience sat in the front row.
“I did. I did as you asked, save me!”
At Anton’s appeal, I muttered leisurely.
“I never said I would save you if you did as I was told. Again, you misinterpret and expect my actions as you please, Anton.”
He never said he would kill, but Anton speculated and trembled in fear.
Why. I really just came to ask something.
“I feel a bit burdened when I receive such expectations. It’s so desperate that I feel like I have to listen. So, I have listened to your insistence until now.”
“Listen! I am innocent!”
Anton has been appealing to me as if he were clinging to me.
“I didn’t do anything! I watched as you ordered, but the military police moved too quickly! I thought I would get caught if I contacted them there!”
“Don’t lie, Anton.”
“Really!”
“If it’s true, why are you managing this watch station? Why did the owner of this watchtower entrust you with this weighty responsibility?”
Anton stopped talking. I rolled my eyes, trying to make some excuse. Then I thought of an excuse.
“no. I was looking for you, and they were looking for you at the same time. I mean, your sponsor, the ‘lady’. So we got along and they gave me support… never because I was afraid you would come back.”
However, his hastily made excuse cannot be without loopholes. I didn’t come here to listen to nonsense that I didn’t believe in, so I blocked his mouth with a bit of force.
That means the skewer was pulled out.
“Anton.”
Anton shut up. I smiled and turned the skewer round and round, and whenever I did, Anton’s eyes trembled mercilessly.
To kill or not to kill? Those two thoughts kept running through his head. That was all.
oh it’s a big deal I didn’t mean to kill him.
My heart melts when I receive expectations like this.
“Anton my dear friend. I have a question for you.”
“If you tell me. Will you save me?”
“It’s not up to me, Anton. But I really want you to hear the answer. It’s kind of a confession scene. I know roughly what kind of thoughts you moved through your actions and words, but in that state, unfolding them perfectly with your mouth… it’s kind of cathartic.”
‘A pervert…!’
At one time, Anton was my assistant, my pupil and colleague. At the same time, it was a great audience.
He wanted it and I didn’t deny it.
But Anton hoped that at some point he would destroy me and become a usurper. And on that day, by the sudden arrival of the military police, Anton made his wish come true.
A very unfortunate coincidence. Or the opportunity given to Anton.
But my return ended his brief dream.
‘Why did you betray him? Let’s get around somehow. Even a magician can’t read other people’s minds!’
I’m sorry, but you’re wrong. from one to the other.
I’m not curious why you betrayed me.
I didn’t even ask for an excuse.
And I can read people’s minds.
“You scared me, Anton.”
He took a card out of his pocket and shuffled it slowly.
Tick tock tock tock. Anton’s body twitched whenever he heard the sound of the shuffling deck.
I said, shuffling the cards very leisurely so that they were all visible.
“I was afraid, but I was in awe and admired. So he followed me around. I had no particular intention of doing so, but I raised myself up on my own, and I couldn’t even think of betrayal. however.”
He wanted to be my only limb. I wanted to feel proud under someone who looked great.
It’s a very low wind, but I couldn’t ignore his wind. Even though it was the wind that came with the stench, it wasn’t hard to hear.
only I could hear
Unfortunately, the price was returned to Tantalus as a slave.
widely. The shuffle is over. I put the deck on the desk and said.
“How did our cowardly Anton come to such a resolution? I didn’t even notice until that morning, but thanks to a change of heart close to a whim, I ate one too. What kind of resolution did a coward like you betray me in such a short time? I am very curious about that.”
Maybe it’s because he kept instilling the word “fear” into a coward?
In Anton’s heart, that repulsion reared its head. Anton confessed with tears hanging over him.
“…Fuck! I knew you wouldn’t come back!”
Perhaps a cry of regret or self-reproach.
“If I had known you would come back, would I have done this! They said they would send you to a place of no return…!”
‘I believed like iron stone…! How can you not believe what someone in power who can move the military police says? I said I would never come back, so I agreed!’
He was still afraid of me for that.
It’s not easy, Anton. I didn’t think much of the day after.
Should I call him a foolish gambler? I forgot the fear of failure intoxicated with the sense of accomplishment I would get when this job was successful.
“I succeeded in getting rid of me who was so afraid of me for a while. congratulations. How was your brief dream satisfied?”
Those who approached Anton and urged him to betray me.
I don’t know them because Anton doesn’t know their true identity. This is because I can only read thoughts and memories.
“By the way, what were you going to do when I came back? Oh, didn’t you think?”
But in other words, I can read all of Anton’s thoughts. from start to finish.
Having fully read my thoughts, I smiled and said in a theatrical tone.
“You left it to luck. Well, you always admired the way I played card games. Every time I threw a win, my heart tightened, but when I succeeded, I cheered more than anyone else. It was a really good audience.”
When he stabbed his heart accurately, Anton couldn’t bear to answer and lowered his head.
You can’t run away from the cry in your heart. All Anton did was ignore my words.
“Yes, you wanted to be me. You threw your gambler to your heart’s content and succeeded, and as a result, you wanted to take my vacant seat after driving me out…”
But I am not a gambler. It only looked that way on the outside.
That’s why Anton doesn’t know the mindset of a real gambler.
I’ll show you where it tastes.
“Come on, Anton. Let’s play a very simple game. See the card here?”
I put the cards in order in front of him.
Spades hearts clover and diamonds. It was a trump card with two of each symbol drawn on it. After roughly mixing them, I turned them over and set them one by one on the desk.
Anticipating what was about to happen, Anton shook his head.
“Choose one of the patterns, Anton.”
‘If you pick one and hit it, you’ll save it? One of four?’
He’s also a great audience.
Because you anticipate what I will do.
“Oh, no. that. please.”
uh where
If you’re a gambler, you should be able to put your life on the stakes, right?
me? Of course not me. Because I, who reads thoughts, always only fights to win. My life has never been up for stake.
That’s why I have to tell Anton about my true attitude.
“Are you really lucky enough to be able to save yourself?”
The cards are laid. All that remains now is the choice.
There are four cards in front of Anton. He can’t peek inside, so he has no choice but to leave it to chance…
‘Nonsense. If you’re a magician, swapping the cards I’ve chosen is no big deal!’
Is it really so?
Can he really become a gambler?
‘Please… I hope magicians have human hearts…!’
“…ha heart.”
I double-checked Anton’s decision.
“heart? Are you sure?”
“That’s right.”
“good. Great. Now choose one here. If that card is a heart.”
Now all he has left is a choice that will decide his life.
Important choices tend to take a long time. I sat down at my desk, shuffling the cards, and waited patiently for a decision.
A deck of cards made in the bottomless pit. We were close, but now is the time to part ways.
good. I’ll leave this deck as consumable and carry my original deck with me. The more magic tools there are, the better, right?
while i’m messing around
Anton glanced at me in a cold sweat, then slightly lowered his head to look at the card. Like if you do that you can peek underneath.
‘Invisible…’
But the overturned card does not reveal the secret. Giving up on peeping, Anton closed his eyes tightly and with a trembling hand touched the card farthest from his right hand.
As far as that little effort will bring good luck.
I asked again.
“Did you choose that one?”
“That’s right. don’t play tricks this is what i chose I can’t even dream of swapping…”
Anton nodded. I was putting a lot of effort into it, fearing that I might do something to the overturned card.
ah don’t think like that
He said he really wants to play tricks.
“okay.”
Spin the skewer and pierce the card Anton had picked up. In the process, he didn’t pay much attention to the fact that Anton’s hand was covering it.
A sharp, sharp skewer dug into the wooden desk.
“Quaaaaaaagh!”
A violent scream followed. I put my finger on Anton’s shoulder and brought it to my mouth.
“Shhh Anton. calm down.”
“Huh huh. Black.”
Taking a step back from the sobbing Anton, I raised my empty hands and said:
“This is the consideration I give you. i am a magician Were you worried about what would happen if I played around with the cards?”
“My hand…”
“I specially fixed this card so that you can’t play with it to get rid of your worries. Now, all you have to do is confirm the fate given to you.”
I urged him, still keeping my distance so he could check the card completely.
Anton trembled and slowly turned his bleeding hand over.
‘Fuck… I misunderstood… There’s no way a monster like that could have a human heart…’
The card is red. Is it the red of the heart or the color of Anton’s blood?
Anton couldn’t be delighted with the glimpse of red, and turned his bleeding palm over while trembling.
Flipping the palm of his hand was a matter of life-and-death risk.
A sharp skewer pierced through the middle and red blood oozing out, the cruel pattern of the card topped with the weight of blood.
Heart 2.
Anton blinked. He looked at the cards in disbelief at first, then looked back at me, then, forgetting the pain, clenched his other fist and shouted:
“Fuck live! I live!”
He was so excited that he jumped up from his seat. Filled with the joy of victory, he waved his arms.
“You lost, magician! You can’t kill me!”
That’s what it says. Anton won the game, so I can’t kill him. I clicked my tongue and shook my head.
“Oh dear. Lucky for you. It looks like Lady Luck is smiling at you.”
no in the first place.
He didn’t want to die, so I couldn’t kill him either.
“The loser who lost the bet should just walk away. oh before that. Give me back my things.”
“Quickly get out of here!”
With his free hand, Anton retrieved the other cards lying on the desk at once. There was no hesitation in the hand holding the card, as if it was worth practicing by chasing after me.
“uh?”
however.
Anton, who was trying to retrieve the other flipped card, suddenly found the pattern on the card and muttered stupidly.
“heart…?”
‘Spades diamond clover hearts. There must have been one of them…’
It was definitely so. At least when I showed him.
However, the card in Anton’s hand is.
Heart 3.
Heart 4.
Heart 5.
It was a heart side by side. without missing a single one.
Anton was not even surprised. I just looked down at the card in front of me with a bewildered face.
“and. All the cards I turned over turned into hearts! To have such luck! You really must be the luckiest person this year!”
“how.”
“A lucky person can do anything!”
‘Since the flip, the magician hasn’t touched it. Then when I definitely said I would pick a heart after flipping it.’
thoughts stop endlessly messed up The front and back are jumbled together, and at the end of all sorts of transformations and distortions, the names of the emotions are fear and awe.
‘You said I’d pick a heart from the start? No way.’
“Congratulations Anton. You saved your life after desperately trying to survive. Because Lady Luck smiled on you.”
And the last expression on his face was regret. Eyes that yearn for mystery that eventually transcends fear.
“How did you…?”
“Do you want to know Anton tricks? really?”
Anton, who came to his senses at my words, shook his head angrily. His teeth chattered.
‘no! The only people magicians teach tricks to are the dead or the dying!’
He was in awe of the mystery. But I didn’t try to unravel the mystery. I just admired and supported them.
Rather, I ruined him by taking him around. I should have kept it mysterious to him who worships mystery itself.
I kept it too close. The closer he got, the more dissatisfaction grew in his heart.
I am not a prophet I don’t know how my actions will change.
It wasn’t that I didn’t know his true wish… but he couldn’t let me act as he wished, so he said he would make another wish come true.
After all, a small wind is eaten by a big wind.
Anyway.
“I’ll give you this too, Anton.”
“uh?”
I casually held the skewer in his hand. And before he could even react, he pulled it out.
A scream similar to or slightly louder than when stabbed came out.
“Quaaaaaagh! Whoop, whoop, whoop!”
“Wrong. I should say thank you When you pull out something that is originally stuck in your body, it hurts less if you take advantage of the gap you didn’t notice. Like teeth before new ones.”
Anton rolls on the ground, clutching his bloody hands. I lost a little blood today, but I still have one less worry. Now I won’t have to come back and retaliate.
From now on, Anton’s life and his wishes are all Anton’s share.
I walked out the door with him behind me.
“Live well, Anton. May your life go on.”
“Kkeuh keuheugh!”
‘Crazy bastard…!’
In response to the highly praised greeting, I slightly lifted the hat I was wearing and greeted the audience member.
“Ahaha. thank you. I will live forever.”
thud. The door is closed. Only blood-soaked sobs escaped from the observatory that had finished its role.
In the dark night, the back alleys of the military are full of tired people. District 15 residential area, most of which are only level 1 or 0.
I let out a sigh as I walked across the stage illuminated by the faint moonlight and the night lights that overshadowed it.
A warning has been sent and a response will come. All you have to do is read the thoughts of the guys approaching you and walk up step by step.
Of course, if the end is too big, I have no choice but to run away.
ah that’s why
People have to play according to their fountain.
Life is a faint flame Even if you hold your breath when you’re exhausted and tired, you’re always looking for a chance to burn something else by swallowing it.
I don’t know what others are trying to swallow, but my food is wind.
Suddenly, I remembered the captain who was sleeping in my house.
What kind of wish will the captain who has regained his life have?
