SML Ch 65

Chapter 65

“That’s impossible—why isn’t the Golden Mirror reacting at all? I made sure it absorbed as much sunlight as possible!”

Prince Serna shouted furiously, thrusting the mirror toward the moss‑covered knights. Ordinarily, the statues would have laid down their swords and dropped to their knees, but now they merely stared blankly at the mirror without moving.

The same was true of the white smoke behind the knights. Even when Serna shone the mirror toward the smoke that had swallowed Reynald, Arun, and Volant, it refused to disperse. The mirror’s rim was completely bleached white — the same phenomenon that had occurred last time with the crystal clockwork birds, when it had unleashed its power — and yet nothing happened.

“What on earth is the problem, Your Highness?”

“I have no idea! Alex — if you don’t mind, give me your very best punch.”

Guessing what Serna was planning, Alex swung his fist toward him — or at least, tried to. In the mirror’s reflection, the image of Alex shook his head and stepped back, and at that exact moment Alex felt a strange sensation, as if something else had seized control of his body. He collapsed onto the ground with a grunt.

“Ugh!”

“You all right? You’re not hurt? Still… this is strange. The mirror itself is in perfect working order.”

It seemed that the mirror, having deflected Alex’s attempted strike, had briefly demonstrated its power and returned its rim to golden hue — only for it to bleach white again within less than five seconds of exposure to sunlight.

Fortunately, Alex appeared uninjured, hardly even sore, and quickly got to his feet. Yet now that it was clear the mirror itself wasn’t faulty, the situation was even more perplexing.

“Do you have any guesses, Your Highness?”

“Well, two, maybe? First — that those knights, or that white smoke, are simply too powerful for the mirror to handle. As strong as the magic in this mirror may be, it can’t nullify an attack from a being whose magic is vastly stronger than its own. If that smoke carries magic as dense as, say, a red dragon from Mount Luen^1, then it’s no wonder the mirror might fail to work…”

Even in a state of mild panic, Prince Serna rattled off his train of thought almost reflexively. It seemed to be in his nature — curious to the point of sometimes seeming a tad rude, his mind continued to work furiously even in danger.

Alex couldn’t deny that the trait, while occasionally grating, had its strengths. This was part of why Serna, despite Alex’s earlier brusqueness toward him, had been more concerned with why he acted that way — and had been thinking about how they might get along during the princes’ stay, regardless of current tensions.

In the end, that earlier talk didn’t resolve into reconciliation — just a halfway sort of truce. “Whether or not Sir Reynald leaves is his decision, so let’s not create bad blood among ourselves in the meantime”…

Though Alex thought it a lukewarm approach, he accepted it as the best option. The princes had no firm grounds to drag Reynald away, and whether he stayed in the domain or not was ultimately Reynald’s choice.

:—You care about Sir Reynald as well, don’t you? My brother and I feel the same. We don’t want to force his hand or sour his mood. You agree, don’t you?

Alex tried to push the image of Serna’s knowing smile from his mind — a smile that had dragged into the open certain warm, awkward feelings toward their lord that Alex himself hadn’t wanted to acknowledge.

This, however, was not the time to dwell on such thoughts. Shaking them off, he cut into Serna’s monologue; otherwise the prince was bound to keep spinning hypothesis after hypothesis aloud.

“The second possibility, I believe I can guess without you saying it — the mirror isn’t recognizing this as an ‘attack,’ correct?”

“Oh — exactly! If it’s classifying all this as some kind of natural phenomenon… Or maybe… hmm. Maybe the smoke isn’t meant to attack Sir Reynald at all?”

“Given that the mirror blocked the birds’ assault before, it’s probably not the first case. If it’s the latter, what purpose do you think it’s serving?”

“Well… lots of theories fit, but the most likely? A conduit of some kind. The smoke itself could just be a passageway sending people inside it somewhere else — with the real attack happening beyond that passage…”

“A conduit, is it? In that case, there’s only one way to proceed.”

“What way? —Wait! Hey! Hold on!”

Alex grabbed Serna by the arm — then hurled himself straight into the heart of the smoke. He knew it was dangerous, but there was no way he could stand by doing nothing while their companions inside were lost.

He had already had his fill, ten years ago, of relying blindly on outside rescue — only to lose all those dearest to him.

[And now you question whether a great dragon’s life has worth?]

“Life’s worth? No — that’s not mine to judge. As a man, I’ve simply sought to drive away that which harms people.”

[Spoken like one who’d kill without hesitation, if it were ‘for the benefit of mankind.’]

“Not at all. In my experience, killing indiscriminately has never once truly been to mankind’s benefit. The world is rarely so simple.”

Reynald replied calmly, listening closely to the voice. Hostile as the words might seem, he was certain the situation wasn’t as bad as it looked. This opponent was speaking to him far more directly than it had to Arun or Volant — and conversation meant there was something it wanted from him.

[It’s only because you’ve steeped your hands in so much blood that you can say such things — when you’ve already reached your limit.]

“Limit? Hm. Well, I admit, living like this for so long is tiring. I have thought it might be time to lay down the sword and rest in peace. That’s one reason I came to this domain in the first place.”

[Choosing you carries far too much risk, regardless of the good or evil in your heart.]

Do they take me for some uncontrollable butcher? Reynald clicked his tongue — less out of anger than puzzlement. If they truly thought that way, they’d have discarded him without so much as a word, the way they had with the crystal clockwork birds earlier. That meant there was a risk, but still worth testing him. So he waited for the next words, knowing they could already read his mind and past.

Sure enough:

[Prove it — that you have the capacity to be chosen.]

“As I thought… But ‘capacity’ rather than ‘worthiness’ or ‘ability’?”

Why such an odd term? As he wondered, a deep, heavy sound began reverberating from far down the maze’s corridors — not from one source, but several.

“Sir Reynald, the statues—!”

Before Arun could finish, masses of statues poured from every junction ahead, but this time they did not stand idle until approached. Each one drew its stone sword, its intent hostile.

They could not — no, must not — fight here.

“Under no circumstances attack them, Volant!”

“What? Why not?”

“You heard what the voice in that wall just said, didn’t you? It’s wary of how many monsters I’ve slain. Killing more of them here will only feed that wariness!”

Volant caught on instantly, nodding. The entity feared Reynald’s history of slaughter — and more deaths would only confirm its doubts. Besides, these things were solid stone; they wouldn’t ‘die’ by stabbing anyway. Which meant—

“Then let’s climb, Sir Reynald! There’s no way out from here!”

“What? Climb—where—whoa!”

Hoisting Volant like a sack, Arun began scaling the moss‑covered wall. Slick with damp as it was, the height daunting, he nevertheless climbed with startling speed. Relief came in the form of bas‑relief carvings jutting from the stone, giving plenty of handholds.

“Good plan — should’ve done this from the start!”

Reynald followed up after them. He’d expected the top to be precarious, but it was actually broad enough for a person to walk along without trouble — as long as the slick moss didn’t cause a slip. Below, the statues milled uselessly, unable to follow up the wall.

We’re safe for now… But what next?

Finding the exit was already abandoned as an option. Reynald had scanned the whole maze — there was no way to tell where an exit might be, and beyond its walls lay only an ominous expanse of ashen mist.

So what about catching the wind‑up doll? He considered it — but the thing had simply floated higher to match his new elevation, well out of reach. Now it merely hovered, arms drawn together before its chest in a prayer‑like gesture, without its prior taunting dance.

What is it you want, exactly?

Surely it was still reading his thoughts — and yet it pretended otherwise. Was there a way to seize it? And would catching it even solve anything? He was still mulling that over when—

“My lord.”

Volant, now down from Arun’s back, was looking at Reynald with a strangely worried expression.

^1 Mount Luen / 루엔 산 – A mountain in this setting known for being home to extremely powerful dragons, with “red dragons” among the most magically potent of their kind.