DMHS 90

“You’re right, Kian. Just because we belong to the same Magic Tower, or because we’re both mages, doesn’t mean we have to be exactly the same. I’d forgotten that obvious truth for so long. Thanks to you, the rest of my time at the Academy might actually be easier.”

Whatever the reason, if Frederick felt better, Kian was glad too.

After wrapping up their conversation, Kian crossed over to the adjacent room with Lucien. The princess had also entered the girls’ dormitory in time for bed.

Before falling asleep, Kian glanced at his schedule.

‘Tomorrow, I have a class with Noam.’

He didn’t forget to steal a glance at Lucien as he emerged from washing.

‘He hasn’t grown any tonight either.’

Though he knew there was no time for displays of affection on his first night at this unfamiliar academy, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy. Not that he was going to initiate a kiss or anything.

Kian pulled the blanket up over his head.

‘Sleep early and wake up early.’

One final thought trailed behind.

‘…Just don’t have any strange dreams.’

His body must have been exhausted, for sleep came quickly. However, the wish remained unfulfilled.

That night, Lucien appeared in Kian’s dream again. It was, without fail, a wet dream.

***

The next morning, Kian left the dormitory alone under the pretext of going for a walk.

‘The north staircase, right?’

Kian was rushing from the morning to find the black cat from the ghost story.

‘A cat that speaks when your eyes meet.’

From the start, Kian had been puzzled that all the missing children were from the Administration Department.

The Academy’s undergraduate programs were broadly divided into four: the Sword Arts Department, the Magic Department, the Practical Studies Department, and the Administration Department.

Among these, the Administration Department was the only one that didn’t use mana. That’s why Kian suspected magic had been used to lure the children away. After all, it would have been easy to deceive children with no knowledge of magic.

‘But where do I even find a cat?’

Gazing up at the endless spiral staircase, Kian swallowed.

‘Let’s just go up first.’

He climbed the stone steps one by one.

Naturally, he was the only one using the stairs this early in the morning. There was no sign of life, human or animal, in the vicinity.

Come to think of it, it was far too lively an hour to be the protagonist of a ghost story.

‘It seems too early. Should I come back at night?’

Lost in thought, Kian turned to leave. Just as he was about to head back down to the surface, a faint meow reached his ears.

Meow.

Kian peered up the stairs. The sound of the cat came from a higher floor.

He moved forward. At first, he walked quietly, muffling his footsteps, but soon he was striding up three or four steps at a time.

And for good reason, the sound coming from above was anything but ordinary.

Kyaaak!

Kyaaak!

Kian reached the landing by the door connecting to the rooftop.

“……!”

Unbelievably, a black cat and a white cat were tangled together, fighting. Both wore furious expressions, baring sharp teeth as they lunged at each other, then quickly backed away to size up their opponent.

Neither was an ordinary swift creature. They darted together and apart, darted together and apart again, accumulating small cuts on their legs and bodies.

Kian finally snapped back to his senses.

“Stop! Stop it!”

As if understanding human speech, both cats froze simultaneously.

“Stop fighting, you two. You’ll get seriously hurt. Okay?”

Kian reached out his hand toward the cats. On his palm lay a treat he’d prepared in case he met the black cat.

Upon seeing the treat, both cats simultaneously opened their mouths fiercely.

Hiss!

Hiss!

‘I don’t understand cat language, but I know they hate it.’

As Kian, his confidence instantly shattered, gathered his hands, the black cat jumped onto the stair railing. Though limping, possibly injured, its movements were incredibly fast.

There was no chance to grab it. Leaving only a dark red bloodstain on the floor, the black cat vanished without a trace.

Only Kian and the white cat remained. Contrary to his expectation that it would vanish as quickly as the black cat, the white cat stood tall in place, staring at Kian.

Perhaps heightened by the recent fight, the white cat’s pupils were dilated wide. Its unusual green eyes fixed intently on Kian.

Kian bent his upper body to meet the cat’s eye level. Hoping the creature would calm down, he blinked slowly.

Blink. Blink. Blink.

Honestly, he didn’t expect this eye contact to soothe its nerves. Yet, defying his expectations, the white cat’s tail moved.

Swish.

As its long tail moved softly, the cat jumped up. 

Its final destination was Kian’s arms.

It wasn’t a puppy, and he never expected a cat he’d just met to run up and hug him.

As a flustered Kian stumbled backward and landed on his butt, the white cat perched on his chest licked his cheek. Kian couldn’t help but laugh.

“Ahahaha. You’re a funny little thing, aren’t you?”

Kian stroked the cat’s head. Pleased by the touch, the cat nuzzled its small head into Kian’s embrace and purred softly.

“Why are you all like this?”

Kian ran his fingers expertly along the cat’s neck. Sure enough, a collar bearing the Freesia Palace mark came into his grasp.

“Did you come to help me?”

Purrr.

“Then that black cat must be a bad one, huh?”

Purr.

“We should catch it and give it a good scolding. Right?”

Purr.

The white cat couldn’t stay still, constantly rubbing its head against Kian’s body. Its clearly excited movements lifted Kian’s mood too.

“I should check if you’re hurt anywhere.”

Kian lifted the cat’s front paws and then its hind legs one by one. Fortunately, there were no visible wounds.

“Can I check your belly?”

At that, the cat, which had been about to flip over, suddenly curled its legs. It tucked its tail inward, trying to hide something.

‘Could it be that animals are also shy about their genitals?’

It was a ridiculous thought. But if the cat disliked it, he had no intention of forcing the issue. Kian stroked the cat while examining its face.

“Oh, there’s a scratch under your eye.”

Pointing out the thin wound, the white cat rose to its feet. Stretching its front paws and arching its back like it was yawning, it leaped onto the stair railing.

Meow.

The sound seemed like a ‘bye’. So Kian replied.

“See you.”

It was a brief encounter, but he felt they would meet again soon.

After letting the cat go first, Kian slowly descended the stairs.

***

A narrow passageway branching off between the Academy corridors.

A black cat was limping along that path.

‘Ugh…’

Drops of blood formed beads, trailing behind it wherever it passed. No wonder, the creature had just sustained a deep wound to its leg in a fight with a white cat.

‘Damn it. Where did that thing come from?’

The black cat – no, Kessler, the devotee of ‘Heart of Dawn’ – cursed and walked forward.

Finally, the seemingly endless corridor ended. Kessler pushed open the slightly ajar door and entered his dorm room.

As always at this hour, the room was empty. Exhaling in relief, Kessler entered the bathroom and undid his transformation magic.

‘Damn it.’

Back in his human form, the wounds looked even more gruesome. A large bite mark, clearly not from a human, gouged his thigh. Blood still oozed from the spot pierced by fangs.

‘I transformed into a cat only to get attacked by a real one. Too embarrassing to even tell the Master.’

Kessler retrieved magical ointment and bandages from the bathroom cabinet. He treated the wounded area and swallowed a painkiller to ease the agony.

‘I finally found a vessel with a pure soul.’

The first emotion that surfaced when he came to was regret.

Kessler was a dark mage.

Foolish mages believed dark magic had vanished from the kingdom, but the truth was different. Just as plants unable to live in sunlight retreat deeper into the shadows, dark mages had simply become adept at concealing their true nature and identities.

Dark mages had formed a small village in the east. On the surface, it looked like an ordinary neighborhood, but in truth, every single villager was a dark mage.

Kessler was born and raised in that village. Since his father, mother, aunt, and uncle all used dark magic, he didn’t even recognize that dark magic was wrong.

However, once every quarter, when rumors spread that the heresy inquisitors were roaming about, the villagers would tense up, waiting anxiously for the crisis to pass.

After days of walking on thin ice passed, the people would say in unison.

–Let’s all leave the kingdom and migrate west!

That was their official goal. It was their dream to live with dignity in a place where black magic was legitimately treated as sorcery.

But contrary to the ease with which the words were spoken, their true feelings were far more complex.

In truth, they did not wish to be incorporated into the Delia tribe.

The Delia tribe was a group that had forged its own distinct culture and identity. Religion exerted a particularly profound influence on their daily lives.

In contrast, the dark mages believed in neither the Goddess of Creation nor the God of Destruction. Those without faith would never escape being outsiders there.

Amidst the anguish of having nowhere to go, a sweet proposal came to them.

The Master had arrived in the village.

–Dawn is born from the heart of darkness.

–The old world will crumble, and a new world will open.

–You are the center of this new age. You are the talents who can erase the already fallen world with the power of destruction. The coming world will be yours.

–Wouldn’t you like to live in a world where the boundaries between dark magic and magic disappear, and all become one?

Of course, it wasn’t empty words that moved people.

–Not only our tribe, but many within the kingdom stand with us. They are those preparing for the new world. For example, the capital’s… headquarters, the southern… and…, and also…

The figures the Master mentioned were individuals whose influence was formidable enough to bring down birds from the sky.