Book 3: Chapter 298: Three People on the Cliff

- Ice Death School, Sephone College -

"Miss Anari, Miss Anari." A calling voice echoed through the academy hall.

"I'm here." A petite girl with beast horns raised her hand and stepped forward, though her face showed some confusion—who could be looking for her?

"Your letter, apparently sent from your hometown."

A letter? From her hometown? Could it be from the Older Woman in Asra District? Anari accepted the envelope and opened it.

The handwriting on the envelope was somewhat unfamiliar, and it wasn't from Asra District at all, but from the western part of the Mage Alliance. The address below listed a place name Anari had nearly forgotten.

Morachia Village

This was where Anari had lived as a child, but the place had long been deserted—nothing but overgrown weeds and gravestones remained. Given the barren land and its remote location deep in the mountains, it was hard to imagine anyone settling there again.

"It's been a long time, Anari. I wonder how your life at the academy has been—whether you've been properly mastering your knowledge and skills, making yourself stronger.

Ten years have passed, and much of what happened back then has been buried, but I believe some people still remember—remember that great fire, those crumbling ruins, and the innocent lives that were lost.

After ten years of investigation, I have uncovered many facts the Alliance has hidden from the public. Darkness beneath the glittering surface, taboos unknown to ordinary people.

Now we need your strength, need you to help us accomplish certain things, and it's time for you to learn the truth that has been concealed.

Please gather at the designated location, and I will provide you with the corresponding passphrase..."

After reading the letter, a tidal wave surged through Anari's mind. Those forgotten images and emotions from the past were suddenly awakened, flooding back in scene after scene, continuously surfacing.

That benefactor who saved me is still alive. Because of him, I earned the qualification to study in Asra District. If not for him, I might have already died in the great purge following that battle.

With this in mind, Anari could no longer focus on her studies. After half an hour of deliberation, she decided to request leave from the academy instructor and head to the designated location.

Though she didn't know what was waiting for her there, if she didn't go, her heart would never find peace.

......

Days later, Western Mage Alliance, Andis District

Rolling mountain ranges stretched endlessly, tall trees stood in abundance, quiet shaded groves housed all manner of wildlife, and occasionally the distant roars of beasts and calls of birds could be heard.

Dressed in an outer coat suited for wilderness travel, Anari moved carefully through the terrain. Several small specters hovered around her, drifting in all directions, keeping watch over her surroundings.

Following the instructions in the letter, she entered this uninhabited zone, gradually approaching the marked location.

"This should be it." Anari stopped, looking up and scanning her surroundings. She spotted a jutting cliff in the distance, shaped somewhat like an eagle's beak.

A few minutes later, she arrived at the base of the cliff. She pulled out a scroll and unrolled it, and gentle air currents wrapped around her, lifting her up toward the cliff's summit.

Little vegetation grew up here—only grayish-blue rock, with some accumulated sand and dust. It didn't look like anyone had ever been here.

Anari landed, checked the area, found no other clues, looked around once more, and couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed. Just as she was thinking about whether to leave, a familiar voice rang out from one side of the cliff.

"Sorry, sorry, I overslept today. Didn't expect you to arrive so quickly, right, Anari?" He precisely called out Anari's name.

The horned girl immediately turned her gaze toward him, observing carefully.

He appeared quite young, at most twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, with dark gray hair that was somewhat messy. The wool sweater and shirt he wore made him look like some young master from the outskirts of the city—nothing like the benefactor who had saved her in her imagination.

Originally, she had pictured someone with the look of a righteous middle-aged man.

Shaking her head to dispel these useless thoughts, Anari spoke up.

"Are you the one who wrote me that letter?"

"That's right." The other waved his hand, then walked closer. His fingers spread apart, pressing firmly against his chest, and he introduced himself in a sonorous, dramatic voice.

"My name is Oren Helt. Over a decade ago, I accidentally stumbled upon the scene of some evil group's atrocities. I traced it all the way down, and that's when I discovered that destroyed experiment site, along with you lying in a pool of blood amidst the bodies."

"Over a decade ago..." Anari noted that he didn't look that old.

"You couldn't have been more than twenty-something back then."

"Heh, do I really look that young? Praise like that is truly delightful." He smiled, then answered.

"That's right, I was only twenty-four then. Actually, it was because the academy assignments were too boring, so I ended up doing quite a bit of extra work."

"You... aren't from the western region, are you..." Anari murmured.

She had originally assumed he came from a background similar to hers—also a beastman—and that they'd have plenty in common. Now, it seemed she had been completely wrong.

The reason she had agreed so quickly and followed the letter's instructions here was partly out of a faint hope that the writer might be someone she once knew, or someone who knew her family.

"Well, that's true." The other rubbed his chin where no beard existed, then, as if remembering something, picked up a stone and tossed it down the cliff.

"Hey, Luke! Get out here!"

Anari was startled. Was there someone hiding beneath the cliff? She had passed right by and hadn't sensed a thing.

Before long, a lazy voice sounded.

"You're selling me out just like that, Oren? How shameful." As he spoke, a figure suddenly leaped up, his feet casually stepping against the steep, sharply angled cliff face. After a few bounds, he landed before the two of them.

This young man had hair as coarse as wheat, two sword scabbards strapped to his back, a rough and durable sheepskin coat, and bandages wrapped around his wrists—looking like someone ready for battle at any moment.

After landing heavily, he slowly straightened up. Though his build wasn't particularly sturdy, he still exuded a sharp, keen presence. It wasn't something he deliberately projected, but rather something that unconsciously leaked out.

"Anari, let me introduce you. This friend of mine here is Luke. He's also from the western region of the Alliance. His hometown is only fifty kilometers from where you used to live."

Fifty kilometers counted as being from the same area? Well, the Mage Alliance was so vast that it barely qualified, she supposed.

Luke was about the same age as Anari. His hometown hadn't suffered any major attacks, though the village he grew up in was frequently raided by beastmen bandits, so relations weren't exactly friendly.

"Honestly, I don't care much about conspiracies and schemes, but this guy Oren always manages to get me rare things I want, so I tagged along." Luke let out a whistle as he replied.

"I heard about your situation from him before. Didn't think this guy had a hobby of raising little girls. Tsk." Luke shook his head as he spoke.

"Ahem, this isn't the time for jokes, Luke. You've seen the horrors of those destroyed experiment sites, haven't you?" Oren cut off his teasing.

"Yeah, I've seen them. Truly inhuman." Luke leaned against a withered tree nearby.

"Similar experiment sites exist throughout the west. In the past, that territory wasn't under Mage Alliance jurisdiction, so wild mages often ran over there. They colluded with the beastman warlords in the mountains, crafting weapons and potions for them in exchange for resources and captured prisoners or slaves for their experiments."

"I only learned about all this later. But now that the Western Mountain Range has been brought under governance, such experiment sites have become rare."

"Rare doesn't mean the forces behind them have given up." Oren shook his head.

"Previously, at the abandoned Capital of Stargazing, I also found some traces. Those unknown minor factions using secret arts and modified monsters—they all bear a resemblance to the experiment sites we found before."