“Do you know what those words mean? Of course there are people like that. Plenty of them. But bringing one here is the difficult part. Young lady, have you heard of Ayanad?”
“Yes.”
Master Temena looked a little surprised at Rosa’s immediate answer.
“Are you a mage?”
“Yes.”
This time her answer was brief. Apparently her attitude on their previous meeting really had been an act. Master Temena looked at her keenly.
“Then have you been to Ayanad? Even once?”
“No.”
“But you’re a mage?”
“I haven’t been in Delphinad long. I don’t belong to a school yet, either.”
So much had happened in the meantime that it scarcely seemed possible, but in fact only about a fortnight had passed. Master Temena nodded, then shook his head thoughtfully, then nodded again.
“Hmm, that’s true, but that makes it all the more… In any case, now, though still…”
His muttering continued, as though tracing the course of his thoughts. Then he raised his head and looked at Rosa again.
“Damn it, I don’t know. It’s not for me to judge. All I need to do is give you the information. As you know, there are mages in Ayanad. They say masters who specialize in healing can even bring the dead back to life. Frankly, that sounds rather absurd, but since it works through magic rather than medicine, they say anything is possible as long as the patient is still breathing. Remember the great healer, King Idraphon V? The one who brought the dying king of Peran back to life. He was well versed in healing magic too.”
At that, half the men leaped to their feet. Neups shouted.
“Is that true? Where is this Ayanad place? Do they take visitors at night?”
Hal sighed.
“Hey, do you think it’s some tavern that stays open illegally?”
“But we can’t wait until morning! Let’s go right now!”
As Hal and Neups bickered, the other men added their opinions.
“They’re mages. Shouldn’t we be careful not to offend them?”
“What if something happens to the captain while we’re waiting?”
“Will we need a present? Or would it be a bribe?”
At last, Master Temena clapped his hands to silence them.
“Unfortunately, the only person here who can enter Ayanad, or even see its doors, is our young mage. It’s dangerous even after she goes inside. The rest of you shouldn’t dream of following.”
Ayanad, they said, was not an actual place, but an artificial space made through magic that existed overlapping Delphinad. Mages who had lived in Delphinad for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years had gradually built and expanded it. Even now, only mages could live there or enter and leave.
“At first glance, Ayanad looks just like Delphinad. It has a library and a Grand Theater, a governor’s residence, a royal palace, and city walls too. The interiors are utterly different, of course. Some mages consider it a sort of hobby to make things identical, right down to the houses in the streets, so they say there are entire streets that look exactly the same. But the problem isn’t the scenery. It’s that every bit of it was made with magic. In other words, it’s extraordinarily dangerous.”
Terry asked,
“Why is that dangerous? Could it collapse?”
“If that were the danger, there’s enough shoddy construction in Delphinad. Why go looking for it there? Nothing in Ayanad, neither its scenery nor its objects, is necessarily what it seems. A house might suddenly open its mouth and swallow a passerby. Or a street might move of its own accord, constantly changing the route. Then the person walking along it could lose their way and never get out. You can’t let your guard down around a stone lying in the road, or a book carelessly left open. And that goes without saying for the people you meet. You don’t even know whether they’re people at all.”
The listening men’s eyes grew wide. Some shook their heads in disbelief or glanced around them. They all lived in Delphinad, and quite a few had been born there, but none had known such a place existed in their city. Hal asked,
“How do mages live somewhere like that?”
“It’s simple. It’s safe for those with powerful magic, and dangerous for those whose magic is weak. Even if a stone is a weapon made of magic, you can ignore it if your magic is stronger than its maker’s. In other words, it’s a place where the strong truly prey on the weak. There are no guards, no trials, and no defense speeches. It may have a governor’s residence and a royal palace, but there’s no governor or king.”
“How has it lasted hundreds of years like that? I’d expect it to become a madhouse within a month at most.”
Master Temena laughed.
“They rely on the mages’ intelligence and good sense. There are plenty of mages in the world who don’t know the meaning of either, mind you. At least mages have a scrap of fellow feeling toward one another, but ordinary people… Ahem. It’s not pleasant to say, but remember that some mages think of ordinary people as no more than beasts or livestock.”
As disappointment spread over their faces, Rosa, who had only listened, spoke.
“Please tell me the name of just one healing mage who has intelligence and good sense.”
“You really mean to go, young lady?”
Master Temena looked her over and folded his arms.
“I don’t know how skilled you are. And I won’t ask. I don’t want to be someone who knew and sent you anyway. The finest healing mage is Grandmaster Goropin, but meeting him will probably be impossible. Two of his disciples, Master Hisis and Master Aimilia, are known to be good people, but meeting them won’t be easy either. If all else fails, try Hippolyte. At this hour, she’ll probably be at the Blue Peacock Café in Port Square as usual. The one in Ayanad, I mean.”
At the café’s name, Luke looked incredulous.
“That place exists there too?”
“Everything that’s at all famous does.”
“Now I suddenly want to see it myself.”
“So, will you go?”
At Tahyang’s question, Luke hunched his shoulders and smacked his lips.
“Well, no. I mean, I’d like to, but I suppose it’d be just the same as here.”
“I will go.”
At the words that followed, not only the men but even Master Temena turned toward Tahyang in surprise. Rosa asked,
“Can you use magic?”
“No. But a cat has quite a few lives. I took stock, and it seems I still have several left.”
Then Luke began to fidget too. In truth, he had been desperate to go ever since he first heard about Ayanad. He was the sort to think of danger afterward. Above all, as a poet, he could not hear of such a mysterious place and simply ignore it.
“Th-then… Perhaps I could join you too?”
Hanbun also pushed his way through the men.
“I would like to go as well.”
By now, it was no longer a matter of one or two volunteers. Master Temena waved his hands.
“No, no, warriors mustn’t go. You’ll be no help and will only put yourselves in danger.”
“The captain’s life is bound to mine, so it makes no difference.”
“You mean you’ll take your own life if something happens to him?”
“Having failed to protect the captain, I have no right to go on living.”
The men glanced at him as he said something worthy of a royal knight. They followed Gene too, but none had thought of it as Hanbun did. Hanbun then looked toward Rosa. The decision lay with her. Rosa spoke.
“If that’s how you feel, come. But only you. No one else.”
As Jamalik approached, Hanbun shook his head almost imperceptibly. Jamalik said,
“I can’t claim I’d be more useful than you. Don’t worry about your family.”
From the bed, Gayar tapped Hanbun’s sleeve.
“Do your best in my place. I think I’d better stay here.”
“You’re the one who must look after the captain with your blood. I’m counting on you.”
But Luke held his ground with surprising determination.
“Once we meet them, don’t you think my eloquence will help? When it comes to persuading people, surely I’m better than you two…”
In the end, Rosa, Tahyang, Hanbun, and Luke decided to set out for Ayanad. Having finished the transfusion, Gayar sat up and looked at the four of them.
“It leaves a bitter taste, being told all we can do is wait. It feels like waiting with your neck on the block.”
Rosa approached Nana, who was sitting in a corner, and whispered with her for some time. When Rosa stood, Huka ambled over and sat before Nana. Without a word, Nana wrapped her arms around Huka’s neck and leaned against him.
Rosa looked around at the other three.
“Let’s go.”
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