The magician did not hide his deeds.
No, rather, he seemed to reveal his return to everyone.
Wearing a beauty that catches the eye, she walked as if boasting about the back alleys of the military. She was too, too conspicuous for her not to notice.
It also reached the ears of those who least welcomed the return of the magician. He went straight to the watchtower, shrouded in fear and dread. There he used a 'beacon', which he could only use once, to signal his supporters.
In the dark and narrow back alley of Amittengrad, an empty signal resounded.
To those who did not know, it was just a collection of noises that they did not know, and to those who knew, it was a sound that should always be alert and alert.
A beacon prepared by the people who had thrown him into the trap, fearing the lever.
The beacon, which had been waiting for only one existence, broke the long silence and rang fiercely.
A magician appeared.
In that way, the signal announcing the return of the magician spread to each section of the military.
One of the secrets they prepared.
With this, they knew that the magician had returned, before the magician noticed a hint… .
you would think
“flaw… Ugh.”
Anton at the signal station finished the signal by weeping with trembling hands. Crisp, and the signal jewel was terribly broken.
Ordinary people who do not have a signal operator or communication device should use twin gems to send these signals as well. Unless you're going to use a real beacon.
Anyway, if you use twin jewels, you're not a normal person.
In fact, it's hard to say that this guy is a normal person.
Anton, my old friend. The audience was seated in the front row.
“I did, I did. I did what you told me, so save me!”
At Anton's appeal, I muttered slowly.
“I never said I would save my life if I did what I was told. Again, you're expecting me to twist my actions as you please, Anton.”
He never said he was going to kill him, but Anton was terrified of guessing.
Why. I'm really, just here to ask you something.
“I feel a little embarrassed when I have such expectations. It's so desperate that I think I'll have to listen. So I've listened to all your insistences up until now.”
“Listen! I am innocent!”
Anton appealed to me as if clinging to me.
“I, I didn’t do anything! I followed your orders, and the gendarmes moved too quickly! If I had contacted you there, I thought I would be arrested too!”
“Don’t lie, Anton.”
“Really!”
“Really, why are you managing this watchtower? Why did the owner of this watchtower entrust you with this heavy duty?”
Anton stopped talking. He rolled his eyes to make an excuse. Then, ah, he thought of an excuse.
“no. I was looking for you, and they were looking for you at the same time. Your supporter, 'Lady'. So we came together, and they gave me support… Not because I'm afraid you'll never come back.”
However, there is no doubt that his excuses made in haste are not without loopholes. He didn't come here to hear nonsense that he didn't believe in, so I shut his mouth with a bit of force.
So, that means the skewer was pulled out.
“Anton.”
Anton shut his mouth. I smiled broadly and rotated the skewer, and each time Anton's eyes trembled relentlessly.
To kill or not to kill Those two thoughts kept running through his mind. That was all.
Ah, that's a big deal. I didn't really mean to kill him.
When I get so much anticipation, my heart moves too.
“Anton, my dear friend. I have a question for you.”
“No, if you tell me. Will you spare me?”
“It's not for me to decide, Anton. But I want you to hear the answer. This is a kind of confession scene. We know roughly what kind of thoughts you were moving through your actions, words and deeds, but in that state, perfectly unfolding with your own mouth… Apparently, there is catharsis.”
'Perverted child… !'
At one time Anton was my assistant, my disciple, and a colleague. He was at the same time a great audience.
He wanted it so, and I didn't refuse.
But Anton hoped that at some point I would fall and become usurpers. And on that day, Anton made a wish by the military police who suddenly came.
A very clever coincidence. Or the opportunity given to Anton.
But with my return, his short dream came to an end.
‘Why, why did you betray him? Let's get around somehow. Even a magician can't read other people's minds!'
I'm sorry, but I'm wrong. Everything from one to the last.
I don't wonder why you betrayed me.
I didn't even ask for an excuse.
And I can read people's minds.
“You were afraid of me, Anton.”
He took the cards out of his pocket and shuffled them slowly.
Tick, tick, tick, tick. Anton's body twitched every time he heard the sound of the shuffling deck.
I said, shuffling the cards very slowly, so that I could see all the cards.
“I was afraid, but I was in awe, and I admired it. So you followed me around. I had no intention of doing that, but I was proud of it, and I couldn't even think of betrayal. By the way.”
He wanted to be my only limb. I wanted to feel the pomp under someone who looked great.
It was a very low wind, but I couldn't ignore his wish. Although it was the wind that came with the stench, it was not difficult to hear.
Only I could listen.
Unfortunately, the price was returned to Tantalus' servitude.
widely. Shuffle is over. I put the deck on the desk and said.
“How did our coward Anton come to such a determination? I didn't even notice it until that morning, but thanks to a change of heart that was close to a whim, I ate one too. What kind of resolution did a coward like you make to betray me in that short time? That’s why I’m so curious.”
Maybe it's because of the constant instilling the word 'fear' into a coward?
The resentment rose in Anton's heart. Anton confessed with tears in his eyes.
“… f*ck! I thought you would never come back!”
A cry that could be both regret and self-blame.
“If I had known you would come back, I would have done this! They said they'd send you to a place of no return… !”
'I believed like an iron stone… ! A person in power who can move the military police says you can't believe it! He ranted that he would never come back, so I said yes!'
For that matter, he was still afraid of me.
I'm sorry, Anton. I didn't think much of the next day.
Am I supposed to be a foolish gambler? Intoxicated with the sense of accomplishment that would come from success, I forgot the fear of failure.
“You succeeded in getting rid of me, who I was so afraid of, even for a moment. congratulation. How about you, were you satisfied with your brief dream?”
Those who approached Anton and persuaded them to betray me.
Because Anton doesn't know their true identities, I don't know them either. Because I can only read thoughts and memories.
“But what were you going to do when I came back? Oh, didn't you think?”
In other words, Anton's thoughts are all readable. from start to finish.
Having read my thoughts, I smiled broadly and said in a playful tone.
“You left it to luck. Well, you always admired me playing card games. Every time I threw a game, my heart swelled, but when I succeeded, I cheered more than anyone else. It was a really good audience.”
When he stabbed his heart accurately, Anton could not even respond and bowed his head.
You can't run away from the cry in your heart. Anton just ignored me.
“Yeah, you wanted to be me. I wanted to take my vacant place after throwing all my gambles to my heart's content, succeeding, and eventually driving me out… .”
However, I am not a gambler. It just looked that way.
That's why Anton doesn't know the mindset of a real gambler.
Where, I'll show you the taste.
“Come on, Anton. Let's play a very simple game. Can you see the card here?”
I showed the cards in order in front of him.
Spades, hearts, clover and diamonds. It was a trump card with two symbols of each. I roughly shuffled them, then turned them over and laid them down one by one on the desk.
Anton, who had a foreboding of what was going to happen, shook his head.
“Choose one of the glyphs, Anton.”
'Choose one, and if I match it, you'll save me? One out of four?'
It's also a great audience.
Because he predicts what I'm going to do.
“Oh, no. that. please.”
uh, where
If you're a gambler, you should be able to put your life on the stake, right?
me? Of course, I am not. Reading my thoughts, I always only fight to win. My life has never been put on the stake.
So, I have to tell Anton my true intentions.
“Are you really lucky enough to save yourself?”
The card was placed. Now all that's left is a choice.
There are four cards in front of Anton. He can't peek inside, so he has no choice but to leave it to luck… .
'Nonsense. If it's a magician, it's not even a matter of swapping out the cards I've chosen!'
Is that true?
Can he really become a gambler?
'please… May magicians have human hearts… !'
“… Ha, heart.”
I reconfirmed Anton's decision.
“heart? Are you sure?”
“Yeah, yes.”
“great. That's good. Now pick one here. If that card is a heart.”
Now all he has left is the choice that will determine his life.
Important choices are time consuming. I sat down at my desk, shuffled my cards, and waited patiently for my decision.
A deck of cards made from the abyss. I'm in love with you, but now is the time to break up.
great. Leave this deck as a consumable and carry your original deck with you. The more magic tools, the better, right?
while i was thinking
Anton, in a cold sweat, glanced at me, then lowered his head slightly to look at the card. That way you can peek underneath.
'I can't see… .'
However, the card flipped reveals no secrets. Anton, who had given up spying, closed his eyes and, with a trembling hand, reached the farthest card from his right hand.
Farthest, as if that little effort would bring good luck.
I asked again.
“You picked that one, right?”
“Yeah, yes. you, don't mess around This is what I chose. Even in my dreams of changing it… .”
Anton nodded. I was giving a lot of strength in case I would do anything with the overturned card.
Ah, don't think like that.
I really want to play a handicraft.
“okay.”
Turning the skewer round and round, Anton pierced the card he was holding. In the process, he didn't pay much attention to the fact that Anton's hand was covering it.
A sharp skewer pierced the wooden desk.
“aah!”
A fierce scream followed. I put Anton's shoulder on his shoulder and put his finger to his lips.
“Shhh, Anton. calm down.”
“Uh-huh. Black.”
Taking a step back from the sobbing Anton, I said, raising my empty hands.
“This is the care I give you. i'm a magician What if I played a prank on the card, did you worry?”
“My, my hand… .”
“To take away your worries, I have specially pinned this card so you can't play with it. Now, all you have to do is confirm the fate that has been given to you.”
I urged him, still keeping my distance, so that he could fully check the cards.
Anton slowly turned over his bloody hands, shaking them.
'f*ck… . I was wrong… . There's no way a monster like that could have a human heart… .'
The card is red. Is that the red of the heart, or the color of Anton's blood?
Anton was not happy with the flashing red color, and trembled and turned over his bloody palms.
Now, flipping the palm of his hand was life-threatening.
A sharp skewer pierced through the center, and red blood oozes out of it, and the pattern on that cruel card, weighted with blood.
heart 2.
Anton rolled his eyes. He looked at the card in disbelief at first, then looked back at me, and clenched his other fist and shouted, forgetting the pain.
“Damn it, I’m alive! I live!”
Excited, he jumped up from his seat. Filled with the joy of victory, he waved his arms.
“You lost, magician! You can't kill me!”
That's it. Anton won the game, so I can't kill him. I clicked my tongue and shook his head.
“Oh dear. lucky It looks like the goddess of fortune is smiling at you.”
no, in the first place.
He didn't want to die, so I couldn't kill him either.
“The loser who loses the bet will have to back away. Oh, before that. Give me back some of my stuff.”
“Quick, get off now!”
Anton retrieved the other cards that were lying on the desk at once with an intact hand. There was no hesitation in the hand holding the card, whether it was worthwhile to follow me and practice.
“uh?”
But.
Anton, who was about to retrieve the other overturned card, suddenly found the pattern on the card and muttered stupidly.
“heart… ?”
'Spades, diamonds, clover, hearts. There was definitely one… .'
Obviously it was. At least when I showed him.
But the card in Anton's hand.
heart 3.
heart 4.
heart 5.
Hearts side by side. without missing a single one.
Anton was not surprised. He just looked down at the card in front of him with a bewildered look.
“Wow. All the cards I turned over turned into hearts! You have such luck! You must be the luckiest person this year!”
“how.”
“A lucky person can do anything!”
'After turning it over, the magician hasn't touched it. Then, from when. I said, after turning over, I would choose a heart.'
thoughts stop endlessly messed up Front and back are jumbled together, and after all kinds of transformations and distortions, the names of emotions are fear and awe.
'From the beginning, I'm going to pick a heart? No way.'
“Congratulations, Anton. You saved your life after trying desperately to survive. Because the goddess of fortune made you smile.”
And the last expression on his face was regret. At the end of fear, eyes longing for a mystery that goes beyond it in the end.
“How did you… ?”
“Anton, do you want to know the trick? really?”
Anton, who came to his senses at my words, shook his head in annoyance. His teeth trembled hard.
'no! A magician can teach tricks only to the dead or to those who will soon die!'
He feared the mystery. But he did not try to unravel the mystery. He simply admired and respected him.
Rather, I ruined him by taking him. To him who worships the mystery itself, I should have left it as a mystery.
I kept it too close. The closer he got, the more discontent in his heart grew.
I am not a prophet. How it will change with my actions, I don't know.
I didn't know his true wishes, but… . However, I can't let him take my place of my wishes, so he said he would make other wishes come true.
After all, a small wind is eaten by a big wind.
Anyway.
“I have to give you this too, Anton.”
“uh?”
I naturally grabbed the skewer in his hand. And he pulled it out before he even reacted.
A scream similar to when stabbed, or slightly louder, came out.
“aah! Whoops, whoops, whoops!”
“Wrong. I have to say thank you. When you remove something that is originally embedded in your body, it's less painful if you take a break you didn't notice. Just like a new tooth.”
Anton rolls around the ground, clutching his bloody hands. I lost some blood today, but it relieved me of one worry. There will be no retaliation for me now.
From now on, Anton's life and Anton's wishes are all Anton's share.
I said as I walked out the door lightly with him behind me.
“Good luck, Anton. May your life go on.”
“Uh-huh, uh-huh!”
'Crazy, child… !'
In a greeting close to praise, I gently raised my hat and greeted the audience.
“Ahaha. thanks I will be strong, too.”
thud. The door is closed. Only blood-soaked sobs leaked from the watchtower that had finished its role.
On a dark night, the back alleys of the military are full of tired people. Area 15 residential area, most of which are only level 1 or 0.
As I walked on the stage illuminated by the faint moonlight and the night lights that made it colorless, I sighed.
I've sent you a warning and you'll get a response. Read the thoughts of those approaching you and walk up the stairs step by step.
Of course, if the end is too big, I have no choice but to run away.
Ah, that's why.
People have to play with the fountain.
Life is a dim flame, and even if you are exhausted and exhausted and hold your breath, you are always looking for an opportunity to swallow something else and burn it.
I don't know what others are devouring, but my food is wind. As long as there is a wind to move on, I can perpetuate.
Suddenly, I remembered the captain sleeping in my house.
What kind of wish will the captain have after regaining his life?
Cold af