**#164. The Frozen Things (8)**
—
The sound of winter rain striking the walls could be heard even from inside.
*Tap─! Tatatat─! Tap─!*
“…….”
Perhaps because the sun hadn’t risen, the inside of the tower felt dim and shadowy despite the bright lights being on.
“Today’s examination is complete.”
Sitting alone in a chair placed at the center, lost in thought, Ray was pulled back to reality by Binjin’s voice.
“Complete?”
“Yes. Your assimilation rate has nearly reached its maximum. It’s showing a stable trend.”
Smiling, Binjin approached and marked something in the file he was holding as he spoke.
“I don’t think you need to worry about the success of the procedure. Occasionally, some people exhibit rejection symptoms to the elemental compound, but as expected, it seems such concerns don’t apply to you at all, Mage.”
**Elemental compound.**
That was what Binjin called it.
The dark blue mana that had once filled the vessels of the exploitation magic victims, now dispersed faintly in the air, swirling into clumps.
*“Elemental compound. What a word game.”*
As if sitting for an hour a day in a place with some clumped elements could cause any change in the body.
The so-called examination was nothing more than Binjin observing the sacrifice, ensuring they didn’t change their mind before the appointed day.
Assimilation rate, rejection symptoms—empty wordplay, all of it.
However—
“Here, take a look at this file. I’ll explain your current status.”
Binjin’s explanations and data were extremely logical and thorough. A typical mage would likely have been thoroughly fooled.
“…And so, that’s the situation. Can you feel your body adapting to the elemental compound?”
“Not really.”
Even with such a response, Binjin didn’t flinch.
“Haha, there can be differences depending on individual sensitivity. There’s no need to worry just because you can’t feel it.”
He simply brushed it off with his usual shameless ease.
A thought came to Ray.
Had Binjin lured other mages besides his disciples to the tower under the pretense of treatment, making them sacrifices?
*“…Disciples.”*
It had already been several days since the commotion at the mansion gate.
Ray changed the subject and asked,
“Those kids… are they gone?”
“Yes, early this morning, I sent them all off to the farm by car.”
Ray gave a slight nod as he looked at the faint traces of the exploitation magic circle still remaining on the floor.
Since their circles were destroyed, it likely didn’t require a large-scale magic circle.
*“And the extracted mana…”*
After examining the floor briefly, Ray lowered his gaze even further, as if to answer his own question.
And there it was—*the Galaxy.*
Its flow was extremely turbulent.
He didn’t know the exact reason… but its movement had been growing increasingly violent by the day.
Maybe it was due to the recent flurry of activity from Binjin’s work and examinations.
Or perhaps it was simply angry from its hunger not being satisfied.
If it were the latter, then this morning’s meal must not have been satisfying enough.
*“Maybe it only whetted its appetite instead.”*
Thinking that, Ray gently soothed the increasingly restless Galaxy.
*“Wait. Not yet.”*
Just then, Binjin’s voice came again.
“Tomorrow is the procedure. Are you not nervous?”
“…….”
*Am I nervous?*
Not particularly.
He had already planned out what needed to be done. All that remained was to execute the steps in order tomorrow.
Of course, whether that plan would go exactly as intended was a separate issue.
But there was no room for anxiety or tension.
It had always been this way.
*“And it always will be.”*
Ray parted his lips to answer.
“…Not really.”
“Haha, as expected, so composed. But truly, it’s impossible to predict how powerful you might become once a mage of your level grows wings.”
Ray stared at Binjin’s vessel, which was joking around.
There had been a shift in his malice.
Subtle, but more inflated than before.
To be blunt, Binjin had realized Ray was not an elf.
That had happened on Day 5 of his stay at the mansion.
The exact trigger was unclear, but it seemed Binjin had managed to pull himself out of the pit of self-deception.
Not surprising.
Ray hadn’t expected such a delicate and flimsy deception to last forever.
The first emotions to emerge in Binjin’s vessel after his illusion shattered had been intense anger and malice.
But over the next couple of days, those feelings rapidly diminished, replaced equally by expectation and desire.
And after that—
Binjin acted as though he hadn’t realized anything.
All his words and actions remained exactly the same.
The only change was:
*“He’s stopped asking questions about the old times or the elves.”*
Instead, he now asked different kinds of questions.
“Is it possible that, thanks to the procedure, you might experience a breakthrough and increase your number of circles?”
Questions that probed for the number of Ray’s circles—just like this one.
…The reason?
It didn’t even need guessing.
Binjin simply wanted to estimate how much mana he could extract from this sacrifice.
From his perspective, even if Ray wasn’t an elf, he was still someone who possessed the inexplicable technique of *circle destruction*.
*“He probably thinks: at the very least, I’m 3rd circle. At best, possibly even above 4th circle.”*
That was the reason Ray continued to pretend Binjin hadn’t caught on.
As long as Binjin could extract a large amount of mana as planned, whether Ray was an elf or not didn’t matter much to him.
Also, from his perspective, everything was proceeding smoothly according to plan.
*“…Smoothly.”*
Judging by the confidence overflowing in his vessel, Binjin truly believed that.
In the end, as soon as he escaped one pit of self-deception, he had fallen straight into another.
“I’m so envious. You already have many circles, and now you’ll grow even stronger.”
He was smiling.
Unaware that he was sinking.
Ray reached out and spread his fingers so Binjin could see them clearly.
“If I gain insight and increase my circles… maybe it’ll look like this.”
“Y-You mean… four?”
He reached out his other hand.
“No, maybe like *this*.”
“F-Five!”
“No, wait, I miscounted. This must be right.”
“Six!”
Toying with both his fingers and Binjin’s expectations, Ray then began preparing to leave the tower.
*Creeeak!*
*Ssshhhhhhhhhhhh─*
The sound of pouring rain swept in.
As Ray held the doorknob, Binjin said,
“Then, I’ll see you tomorrow at the appointed time. All preparations are perfectly complete, and I am truly excited.”
Nodding, Ray fell silent in thought for a moment before speaking.
“The disciple going to the Mage Tower this time… it’s Ayla, right?”
“Yes, that’s right. Ever since the last meal with you, it seems she’s had some sort of revelation—her magical control has improved noticeably.”
“Was Ayla sent in place of Tenon, since things turned out that way with him?”
“Haha, no, that’s not it. I had planned to send Ayla from the beginning.”
Ray asked again.
“When’s the departure date?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
“I’ll stop by the mansion briefly. I want to give Ayla a bit of advice before she leaves for the Mage Tower.”
“Oh! How considerate of you! I’m sure it will be a great help to Ayla.”
*Considerate? Not really.*
*“You’re the one who’s overflowing with compassion.”*
Ray thought to himself as he looked at the overflowing “compassion” in Binjin’s vessel.
…Though the reason was unclear,
Just like with his other disciples, Binjin genuinely believed that turning Ray into a sacrifice for exploitation magic was an act of *compassion*.
*Tap!*
Opening a black long umbrella, Ray headed toward the mansion.
When he opened the door and stepped inside, the children working there averted their gazes and awkwardly shuffled away.
Ever since the incident at the mansion gate, Ray had become an object of fear and dread among the disciples.
“He took down four Class A disciples.”
“Are all the kids from the Mage Tower that strong?”
Listening to their hushed whispers, Ray moved through the house, searching for Ayla.
Along the way, he spotted someone and changed direction.
“Tommy.”
“Ah.”
Tommy, who had been mopping the hallway, turned around and became visibly flustered when he saw Ray.
“How does it feel to be promoted to Class B?”
“Well…”
His feelings were complicated.
Sure, the worry of having his theft of the ring discovered by the Master was now behind him.
And it was true that he felt a sense of relief seeing the fall of Tenon’s gang, whom he had always disliked.
Moreover, thanks to following instructions well that day, he was now in the Class B he had so desperately wanted.
“…I’m not really sure.”
“Why not?”
After hesitating for a while, Tommy finally said,
“Of course, I’m happy I got into Class B, but… I wanted to get there through my own effort. Not just because someone ahead of me disappeared. I think the process is more important than the result. I-I mean, I’m not blaming you or anything…! Uh, uh─!”
*Thud.*
Flustered, Tommy lost his balance and fell over with the mop he had been leaning on.
Ray knelt down, lowering himself to Tommy’s eye level, and asked,
“You think the process is more important?”
“Y-Yeah… I mean, achieving something matters, but how you achieve it matters too.”
Ray tilted his head.
He tried for a while to understand Tommy’s perspective.
“…I don’t get it.”
Rising again to full height, Ray gave that simple answer.
Then, like a human magnet pushing aside the disciples of the mansion, he continued through the floors.
On the third-floor hallway, he found two people cleaning windows: Blue and Sky Blue.
“Ah! Hyung! Hailer-hyung who already has a partner!”
Sky Blue greeted him enthusiastically first.
For some reason… ever since the last meal, Ain’s attitude toward Ray had become oddly friendly.
“…….”
“…….”
Ray and Blue exchanged only a silent glance.
Beside him, Ain spoke up,
“Hyung! Hailor-hyung, who already has a partner and can’t look at any other woman! What’s the Mage Tower like? I heard that just graduating from there makes you recognized anywhere!”
Ray didn’t know what to make of that absurdly long and inefficient title, but he answered anyway.
“It’s sort of like that. It means your identity and skill are officially proven.”
“As expected! That means a path of flowers is now laid out for my noona!”
Ayla, who had been quietly listening next to them, asked,
“You want your sister to leave quickly?”
“Of course! N-Not that I *want* her to leave! It’s just that this mansion is crawling with wolves with their eyes on her. The sooner she leaves, the better her chances of escaping those dark beasts!”
A brief silence.
Ayla, rarely playful, whispered in a teasing voice,
“There are plenty of men at the Mage Tower too, you know.”
“…!”
Realization struck Ain’s eyes like a lightning bolt.
His face immediately twisted into a menacing expression as he shouted,
“N-No, this won’t do! I can’t waste time standing around here! I’ve got to go too! If I want Master to choose me as the next candidate to go to the Mage Tower, I need to start extreme breath-holding training right away!”
“You… that’s…!”
Ayla’s smile vanished.
She tried to say something, but Ain had already tossed aside his cleaning tools and was running down the hallway.
As Ayla stood frozen in place, a voice spoke softly in her ear.
“You’re afraid, aren’t you? That your brother might end up going to the Mage Tower too.”
“…….”
“I heard you’re leaving tomorrow.”
“……”
“What do you plan to do?”
Ayla’s lips moved, as if words were caught in her throat.
Finally, she managed to force them out.
“…I have to protect my brother.”
“By fighting?”
Ayla shook her head.
“I can’t do that. I wouldn’t win.”
“Then how?”
“He’ll be… satisfied with just me. I’m at least a 2nd-circle mage.”
They exchanged a few more words after that.
Ayla believed that if she sacrificed herself, Binjin wouldn’t touch her brother or the other disciples anymore.
Ray’s brow furrowed slightly.
*“That’s a completely unfounded assumption.”*
The girl before him had a fundamental misunderstanding of who Binjin really was.
Either that, or… she desperately hoped that Binjin would act that way.
Ray considered what *he* would do in the same situation—if there were someone threatening the lives of his siblings under the underpass.
*“I’d choose to fight. If I think about the risk of it happening again later, it’d be better to eliminate the threat entirely.”*
No matter how he looked at it, that was the most rational choice.
And so, he simply couldn’t understand Ayla’s thoughts or actions.
Unable to comprehend, his confusion condensed into a single question that slipped out before he knew it.
“Then what about *you*?”
“Huh…?”
“If you sacrifice yourself… what happens to *you*?”
“…I’ll be fine.”
With those words, Ayla’s ice plate emitted a vivid blue light.
It was a noteworthy phenomenon, but staring at it wouldn’t provide any answers.
Just like the past week of observation had yielded nothing in the end.
In fact, Ray was starting to lose some of his curiosity about the blue mana due to the lack of progress.
*“Does it need a strong stimulus, like Binjin’s, to provoke a definite response?”*
“…….”
“…….”
After a small breath, Ray finally said what he had originally come to tell Ayla.
“Tomorrow morning, a vehicle heading to the Mage Tower will arrive in front of the mansion.”
