Please, Just Read It

Please read this!

Chapter 20

City of Magicians (5)

The magician’s name is Rebecca Duncan. According to her, you can just call her Becky casually.

At the young age of 27, she has already reached the pinnacle of intermediate rank and has come to Wilhelm to take the Selection Test, just like us.

Becky, who passed the first test just like us. During the process, she spotted Riley, who also had a pattern engraved on her hand, and out of curiosity emitted a killing intent.

“I really overstepped, huh? No matter how curious I was, I shouldn’t have done that.”

In a fancy restaurant, Becky smiled while resting her chin on her hand. Her fork was spearing a piece of lamb chop, cut perfectly for eating.

Having learned magic at a school located in Wilhelm since childhood, Becky was familiar with the surrounding geography. She knew the locations of various facilities, obscure magic shops, and even hidden gourmet spots scattered throughout the city.

Thanks to Becky, Riley was enjoying a meal at a delicious restaurant.

[Is it good?]

Riley, still fixated on the food, replied.

‘Yes.’

After swallowing her food, she continued, “I’m so happy eating this after always having unappetizing meals in Lord Rich’s stinky cave.”

That would be a comment Rich might find hurtful. He also worked hard cooking for Riley, aiming to provide balanced nutrients and including rare ingredients like Magic Grass generously.

‘Then what’s the point? If it doesn’t taste good…’

[…….]

How cold. Riley was surprisingly picky about her taste.

Come to think of it, she hasn’t liked many of the foods she’s had up to now. Excluding the meals from this restaurant, the only food that suited her palate was the grilled unicorn skewers she had at the institution.

‘You see, I have sensitive taste buds.’

[Yeah, sure.]

A sensitive person mistaking lamb skewers for unicorn meat? Really?

‘Well, even monkeys fall from trees, you know…’

[Shut it. Stop babbling and just eat.]

‘Yes.’

Riley continued her meal quietly without saying another word.

*

“Thanks for the meal.”

“No, it’s me who’s happier seeing you enjoy the food!”

Once they finished dining and stepped outside, the sky had turned dark. The streets of Wilhelm were illuminated by streetlights.

Becky smiled brightly and continued speaking, “And there’s no need to thank me that much. After all, it was just a restaurant from a list provided by the management.”

“……Huh?”

“Ha ha! It was all free anyway!”

Becky flipped her hand over to reveal a pentagonal symbol glowing blue and smiled.

“You know it too. Some facilities let you use them for free if you just show this symbol, right?”

“Ah.”

“This restaurant was one of them.”

Riley wore a blank expression. Seeing this, Becky let out a more exaggerated laugh and lightly tapped Riley on the shoulder.

Right? Riley’s blank look meant she was quite annoyed.

“Haha! I didn’t mean to trick you. Sorry!”

“……”

“Ahem, anyway, so what are you going to do now? Go straight to your lodging?”

“……Yeah. I don’t really have anything else to do.”

“Why? You came all the way to Wilhelm, why not take a look around the city?”

“I’ve already done plenty of that.”

“Oh, I see.”

While they wandered around searching for the management office, they had indeed seen much of the city, and because of that, Riley was already exhausted—both mentally and physically.

“Do you have a chosen inn?”

“I was just going to go to the closest facility from the list.”

“Hey!”

Becky raised her voice suddenly.

“You’re seriously just going to go to the closest place? That won’t do!”

“……?”

“Ugh.”

Shaking her head, she reached out to Riley with a smile.

“Give me the map and the list. I’ll choose for you.”

“……?”

Although all the facilities had been verified to be in good condition within the realm of the Five Great Towers, there would still be differences in quality among them.

Using her long experience living in Wilhelm, Becky began filtering the options.

“Hmmm, this place is good too… Oh! Yes! The accommodations at ‘Sky Whale’s Rest’ are the best. It has excellent soundproofing, is quiet, the owner is kind, and the food here is the tastiest!”

“Got it.”

“Yep.”

After about five minutes passed, Becky smiled again and handed the map back to Riley.

“Alright, this should be sufficient!”

The returned map and list were filled with useful information about various essential facilities.

Riley inspected the notes Becky had left, one by one, and asked, “Aren’t you coming along, Becky?”

“……Me?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, I have someone I know living in Wilhelm, so I plan to stay at their place for a while.”

Becky smiled brightly.

“Why, do you want to join me at that person’s house?”

“No thanks.”

“Hehe, you flat-out rejected me. I was just joking anyway.”

[…….]

Just joking? Well… Given Becky’s experience of living for thousands of years, that was certainly not a throwaway line.

Becky was serious.

If Riley had accepted her proposal, she would indeed have taken her to her place.

Right now, Becky had that much interest in Riley. To be precise, that interest leaned more toward curiosity than affection, but still.

‘Why is she interested in me…? What could the reason be?’

Riley, who had caught her thought, asked.

Well, I don’t know either.

[How could I know the thoughts of a crazy woman?]

Despite the warning from the manager, it was quite difficult to discern the intentions of someone so reckless as to emit killing intent from the very first encounter.

[But let’s take a wild guess…]

Perhaps it was because Riley, being at only the elementary stage, had passed the first level of the test?

What kind of talent could she be hiding for successfully passing this test? That kind of curiosity, along with the blooming mystery.

‘I didn’t expect such a well-articulated response from you.’

[It’s just a guess, a guess.]

‘Truly, that saying about the same kind recognizing each other isn’t for nothing.’

[Wait, are you calling me insane in a roundabout way?]

‘Nope!’

[…….]

Riley stopped speaking after that. Instead, she simply stared at Becky, who was standing in front of her with a bright smile and waving goodbye.

“Well then, go on and rest, Riley! Let’s meet again for the next exam!”

“…….”

Becky wore a smile that seemed entirely sincere.

A pure smile.

It’s hard to believe that such a person was the crazy one who tried to kill on their first meeting, or that she was a murderer who had gruesomely slain bandits.

But that’s why we need to be more cautious.

After all, the less one knows about someone, the more dangerous they can potentially be.

[Riley.]

‘Yes?’

[Before we part ways, we should say what we need to say.]

‘That’s exactly what I was about to do.’

Riley gazed at Becky, who was greeting and bowing to her, with a faint smile.

“Becky.”

“Yeah?”

“I’ll see you next time.”

“Oh! Yes!”

“And if we meet again, I’d like to fight you directly. Please don’t use illusion magic to scare me or anything.”

“……What?”

Becky’s smile momentarily twisted.

“Illusion… magic?”

“Yes.”

Becky’s playful smile began to fade. Her expression started to turn cold.

“What’s up?”

“…….”

“Did you know?”

When she spoke in a cold voice, Riley immediately replied.

“Yes.”

In the virtual battle that occurred during their first encounter with Becky, Riley faced death and returned to the real world.

-Wh-What…?

-Ah, that?

-…….

-It was a battle in your mind.

Becky explained to the bewildered Riley that the phenomenon she experienced was a mental simulation battle.

A very concentrated state manifests as a simulation, a kind of virtual battle conducted using mental strength (心力), and unfolds through the brain’s fantasies.

That’s right.

The concept of this mental simulation battle really did exist.

Especially in battles between skilled individuals, when they try to identify each other’s weaknesses, these mental battles sometimes manifest.

But……

“That was the illusion magic you cast on me, wasn’t it, Becky?”

“…….”

What Riley experienced today was not a mental simulation battle.

It was merely a high-level illusion magic that Becky had cast on Riley.

“…….”

After hearing Riley’s words, Becky fell silent for a moment. Confusion began to color her impassive face.

“Wow, no way… You’re a bit impressive, aren’t you?”

Becky spoke with a mix of amazement and panic.

“How did you figure that out? Normally, only an upper-level magician would notice something like that!”

“…….”

As Becky said, people often mistake dreams for reality.

This is the best example showing how challenging it is for people to distinguish between illusion and reality.

But then, what’s more, when it comes to distinguishing between ‘illusions’ like mental simulation battles and illusion magic?

I’d wager it’s an incredibly difficult task.

Even the average high-level magicians would struggle with it.

[But it’s not impossible.]

Traditionally, there’s only one way to distinguish between the two.

[Certainty.]

That is certainty.

A strong belief that one will win.

Only that was the key to distinguishing between mental simulation battle and illusion.

The mental simulation battle, as its name implies, is a battle conducted within one’s consciousness.

This battle using mental strength (心力) also has a high rate of fusion with reality. A person victorious in a mental simulation battle is very likely to achieve victory in reality as well.

But illusion magic is different.

It’s merely an ‘illusion’ forcibly shown by the caster.

Within an illusion, an 8-year-old child could slay a dragon, and an 80-year-old unable to dodge properly could overwhelm a swordmaster.

It means that a virtual scenario created by the caster flows on regardless of the laws of reality.

And due to that small difference, Riley was able to see through Becky’s illusion magic.

Because she had.

-What does it look like from your perspective? Do you think you can win?

-Of course.

A very strong belief that she would win.

“There’s no way I’d die to a lousy magician like Becky.”

“……What?”

Riley continued, unfazed.

“If that battle was something that played out in my mind, I would definitely have won. There’s no way I’d die to you.”

“…….”

“Since the impossible happened, that must mean it was illusion magic.”

All magicians have a strong sense of pride.

I can definitely say there wouldn’t be a single magician who’d sit quietly after being called a ‘lousy magician’ right in front of them.

Especially if it’s said by someone of a lower rank than themselves.

“Hey, you…”

And that wasn’t any different, even in a situation like this.

“……What did you just say?”

Creeeak—.

The chilling sound of her grinding teeth echoed.

Becky’s expression twisted severely.