By Zephyria 
I listened to their conversation for a while before interjecting.
“I wanted to ask about Protection magic. Does anyone know a lot about it?”
“Protection magic? I delved into it a bit as a side interest while researching Magical creatures, but why all of a sudden?”
Andrew asked, looking at me. I recalled Aska’s words in my head and said, “Is there a type that can be cast on a person’s body and only activates in dangerous moments?”
“Well, there are records that it existed in the past. Doesn’t the Akthan Imperial Castle have a similar barrier? Anyway, setting it up for a building itself or a certain area is possible, but targeting something living would be impossible right now.”
“Strictly speaking, it’s different. Sa Dillin’s barrier isn’t just a simple shield. Wouldn’t something similar to Talim’s Security magic be possible somehow?”
Zero, who was listening to Andrew’s words, said to me. Did Talim have such magic? I vaguely remembered the name and structure of the castle, but I couldn’t recall anything related to magic.
“If it’s just to the extent that an alarm goes off when a certain impact is applied…”
I shook my head at those words.
“Not that. I’m talking about a means that can protect the person without them knowing when danger is detected.”
At my specific question, Zero and Andrew looked at each other. They exchanged blank glances before their expressions turned serious as if they were thinking. Zero was the first to speak.
“Protection magic is a type of barrier. It’s impossible with the current level of magic. To create a barrier, a huge amount of Mana is needed, and to gather that much Mana, you need a so-called storage.”
“Storage?”
“Yes, in the case of Sa Dillin, the seal engraved on the outside of the building replaced that storage role. Records say that the seal was drawn with the blood of Caliph, the first Emperor, but how so much Mana can be contained in the liquid that becomes the material is still unknown.”
I listened to the slowly flowing words and asked, “Can’t the storage be replaced with a Magical tool? Like the necklace you mentioned last time. If you carry that necklace around?”
“Magical tools that can hold Mana aren’t common. And the medium plays the role of absorbing the shock that occurs when magic is activated. If it can even hold Mana, then it’s no longer a simple tool, but magic in itself.”
“……”
“I’d have to see the necklace to know for sure, but it’s just a necklace, right? Would it be bigger than my hand even if it’s large? I don’t think it can hold much Mana… Or you could use a Magical tool like you did when you created a barrier in the inn. But there won’t be a Magical tool engraved with High-level magic to the extent Theodore mentioned, even if you searched the whole world.”
So, it’s impossible to target living things because there’s nothing to act as a storage?
“Can’t you just engrave a seal on human skin like you do on buildings?”
“That’s a bit ambiguous… Theoretically, it’s possible to do that. But there’s no way to distinguish between the Mana that needs to be sent to the barrier and the life force that exists in the human body. There’s also no way to prioritize sending Mana to the barrier before life force. Even if the Protection magic is activated, it’s meaningless if the person being protected dies from life force depletion first.”
“I guess so.”
Anyway, magic of this level is impossible with current technology. But even if Aska, who is not human, is excluded, that wasn’t the problem.
“Assuming that such magic could be used, what would be the reason if it didn’t activate in a dangerous moment?”
“There’s a high probability that the magic wasn’t completed? There was a mistake or something…”
This was the assumption that I had thought of first. But Aska didn’t know until I said it. Then there’s almost no chance of it being a mistake, right?
I don’t even know if this is magic or not. But if it’s a measure to prevent pain when it hurts, what else could it be if not magic?
‘I clearly… I did a great job fixing it back then.’
I pondered Aska’s words and opened my mouth.
“Any other reasons?”
“Um… Not enough Mana?”
This is unlikely. Because, as I said earlier, if there wasn’t enough Mana, I would have been sucked dry of life force and died by now.
“Isn’t there a chance that the magic itself disappeared because the caster died?”
Andrew said at that moment. As soon as I heard the word death, my face frowned involuntarily.
“But usually, most magic remains even if the caster dies, right? Sealing Magic too.”
“Sealing Magic isn’t a very difficult magic either. It simply continuously deletes the energy of the set value regardless of the target’s condition… But that Protection magic, just hearing about it, is so difficult that it will require many conditions. As I said, the caster must be alive, or something like that.”
“……”
Abyss’s words suddenly came to mind.
‘A large amount of Aegis’s blood was found at the time of the incident, and judging by the amount spilled…’
I jumped up from my seat.
“Theodore?”
Zero and Andrew also got up and looked at me with puzzled expressions. I ignored their words and approached Abyss, who was a little further away.
People hesitated and stepped back a few steps to maintain a certain distance. It seemed impossible to talk here, so I went further into the bushes and gestured for Abyss to come over.
“Is something wrong?”
At this distance, no one would be able to hear what we were saying. I took off my hood because I was frustrated. Cold sweat had broken out at some point, and my body felt cool when the cold wind touched it.
“The day the crack appeared in the Akthan sky, you said you rescued me from Talim, right?”
“Yes, that’s right. Why all of a sudden…”
“Do you also remember saying that a large amount of the Imperial Princess Consort’s blood was found at that time? How did you know that? Who told you? Or did you see it yourself?”
Abyss’s expression became more and more puzzled at my urgent questions. He moved his lips as if he needed time to think because it was a long time ago, and then said, “I didn’t see it myself, but I heard it. Perhaps you don’t remember…”
“From whom? How much was a large amount of blood? How much blood was there that you thought I was dead?”
“It was a servant who had been in contact with us for a long time. The location where the blood was found was near the entrance to the garden connecting Talim and Sa Dillin, and I heard that it was scattered extensively on the floor, trees, and the exterior walls of the building.”
“……”
Scattered? Not just spilled on the floor and splashed? It was an explanation that I couldn’t understand no matter how much I thought about it.
“You’re saying it wasn’t a trail left by someone running away while cut or stabbed?”
“Yes, the servant said that judging by the way the blood splattered, it seemed like an explosion had occurred inside. The scene was too gruesome, so he didn’t look at it in detail.”
“Are you sure that blood belonged to only one person, the Imperial Princess Consort?”
“I don’t know about that. The Imperial Family started an investigation, but he said that he couldn’t get any more detailed information after that.”
The order was strange. I frowned and asked again, “If the servant discovered the scene before the investigation, how did he know it was the Imperial Princess Consort’s blood?”
“That’s…”
“That’s what? Tell me quickly.”
I urged Abyss, who was only looking at me. Then Abyss lowered his head slightly and said in a heavy voice, “Fragments…”
“What?”
“I saw the accessories you wore that day in the fragments that splattered on the floor…”
“……?”
He knew by looking at the fragments of the accessories? My heart started pounding and I started to suffocate. Just in case, I asked again, “You found broken accessories?”
“I heard that he knew by looking at the earrings on your ears…”
“What?”
I raised my voice without realizing it. Abyss lowered his head further as I suddenly spoke loudly. But I still couldn’t understand properly.
“You saw earrings attached to the ear?”
“Yes.”
“Then that means you saw a fallen ear? What are you saying about fragments…”
But Aska’s ears were fine.
“Besides that, the clothes and shoes you wore that day were also found…”
Abyss said something more, but I couldn’t hear anything because my mind was distracted by the memories that were rushing in haphazardly.
The cracked scars covering Aska’s body.
‘So what’s your staple food?’
‘I don’t know. It seems like I don’t really need to eat anything other than when I’m injured and need to repair… Am I an omnivore?’
The corpse pierced by the claws of a giant bird.
The lump that cried squeaky noises in the water.
Scattered pieces were slowly coming together. I was definitely out of breath just a moment ago, but now I felt like the world had become quiet. As I stood facing Abyss, who was looking at me worriedly, I stopped breathing and saw Aska in the distance.
Aska, who had made the hem of his robe like a basket, quickly approached me and asked, “I told you to stay inside, why are you out here? Aren’t you cold?”
“……”
Inside the hollowed-out space were unknown small red berries. There were also a few green leaves, as if he had picked them together while picking the berries.