Chapter 3 : How to Handle a Munchkin, Part 3
The next day, Kinemia stared blankly at the boy sitting in the dungeon.
"...Why?"
"I got caught," Eian said, all sweet, and Kinemia covered her face with both hands and turned her head away.
What's this guy's deal? Is he trying to piss me off?
Eian, not giving a damn about what Kinemia thought, just grinned and asked, "Are you going to kill me?"
"No!"
Kinemia gripped the bars of the cell tightly.
The jailer next to her was going on about how he'd trespassed again. When the knights tried to stop him, he just strolled right into the cell, no fuss.
'Is he trying to get himself killed or something?'
"Just let him go..."
At Kinemia's words, the jailer went in, unlocked the shackles, and Eian hopped up.
Kinemia scowled at the little shit, who was still acting all innocent and playful.
'This better be the last time.'
That's it! I'm done!
At least, that's what she thought. Until she had to bail Eian out of the dungeon again a week later!
Kinemia leaned her head against the wall, watching Eian casually chatting and swapping snacks with the jailer.
"What's your problem? Do you, like, have a grudge against me or something...?"
"Me? Have we met before?"
"No way."
"Then no."
Eian grinned and reached out to smooth Kinemia's spiky hair.
Kinemia ran her hands through her hair, trying to fix it. She'd bolted out of bed and rushed over here.
Then what is it? Kinemia rolled her eyes.
Eian, who was now free from his shackles and could come out of the prison door, came out on his own and stood in front of Kinemia.
"So, why do you keep letting yourself get caught?"
Eian, totally unfazed, took a bite of his apple and asked, "Hey, I hear you're looking for a bodyguard?"
"No, I'm not."
"I heard it from the warden."
"Whoops!" The jailer gasped, looking surprised.
He blabbed, huh...
The knight who was currently serving as her escort was retiring, so she was looking for a new bodyguard. She had just casually mentioned it, but the rumor had already spread to the prison...
Word travels fast, huh?
Kinemia just pouted.
"So?"
"I'm going to apply. To be your bodyguard."
"Aren't things crazy busy at the Magic Tower?"
"Duh."
"But you're a Ricasha, right?"
"I'm just that good."
"And if you don't hire me?"
"Guess I'll just end up back here, then."
"The bodyguard gig is temporary."
"Sweet."
"Sweet?! What? Should I have made it a life sentence?"
She got a bad feeling and shut her mouth.
Yeah, best not to say anything I can't take back.
'But to have that guy as my bodyguard?'
Just being around him makes my blood boil.
Maybe I should tell him he has to beat all our knights to get the job?
'No, no, no.'
That little monster would probably actually do it!
And the scary part is, he's totally capable of it.
That'd be suicide. And Kinemia wasn't that dumb.
'He's gotta be up to something.'
She shot him a suspicious look, but Eian just kept grinning like an idiot.
This staring contest isn't getting us anywhere.
"Haa..."
Besides, she had more important things to deal with.
"Okay..." Kinemia forced the words out, and Eian's grin widened.
"...Just for now."
Just for now. I'll keep an eye on him, and then ditch him as soon as I can. Whatever it takes!
"You've really made a mess of things."
On the other end of the communicator, Eian's master was drumming his fingers on the table like he was playing a frantic piano solo. Clearly, he wasn't thrilled.
"I didn't start it."
"But you did provoke Lion, right?"
Eian neatly curled up the corners of his lips.
"Me? Provoke someone?"
That kind of answer is worse than just admitting it.
Eian's reputation at the Magic Tower was in the toilet, and even that time he got ganged up on by the other mages? He brought it all on himself.
'...Though he probably gets a kick out of it.'
"...Enough. You'll never be Tower Lord if you keep acting like a jerk to the elders. You get that, right?"
"Then I'll just off them all. Easy peasy."
"Eian!"
"Relax, Master. Just joking." Eian chuckled lightly and continued. "Chill out."
But he knew Eian was totally capable of it. And the worst part was, he could never tell if Eian was actually joking.
"Lie low until this blows over. And stay off the communicator."
"Yeah, that was the plan."
Eian smirked, thinking about Kinemia, and his master frowned. Something about that smirk didn't sit right with him.
Just like that?
Eian Crotz never backed down from a fight. He didn't give a damn about anyone. He could be raising hell in the Magic Tower right now, and it wouldn't surprise anyone.
"I met someone who can see the magic patterns, even though they've got zero magic."
"...What?"
Only people with a decent amount of magic can see those patterns.
No magic, no patterns. That's how it's supposed to work.
"Where? How? That's impossible... Unless... they're hiding their power? But how could we not know about someone that strong?"
Mages are nosy by nature. So, of course, his master was itching to meet this mystery person.
However...
"Nope. Not gonna happen."
"You little..."
Eian cut him off, and his master slammed his fist on the table.
"Eian...!"
I let him get away with too much—no, wait, it's not like I let him. He just did whatever he wanted and never listened.
"No magic, huh..."
There's no way a Ricasha, with talent like Eian's, wouldn't notice any magic.
"Damn, I'd love to meet this person."
"Tower Lord, that psycho Eian... isn't coming back, is he?"
His aide, Benjamin, who'd been listening in, spoke up carefully.
Benjamin, usually a quiet guy who kept to himself, wanted to make absolutely sure.
Confirmation that Eian was gone.
"That's what I heard."
"......!"
The master saw Benjamin's hand clench into a fist – a little victory pump.
"Right. Hmm, yes—hmm. It's, uh, definitely for the best that Eian's out of the tower, ahem. Yes. Ahem."
"Benjamin, you're practically grinning."
"Ahem, no—ahem, I'm not."
The master shook his head. This is gonna spread like wildfire.
And his thought was exactly right.
The news that Eian—no, that psycho Eian—was leaving spread through the Magic Tower like wildfire, and the place erupted in cheers.
"If that psycho had stayed another three days, I swear I would've quit magic altogether!"
"You made it! You survived!"
Friends hugged and patted each other on the back.
"There is a God... That psycho is leaving! Thank you, God!"
Even in the Magic Tower, which usually hated the church, some mage was kneeling and praying.
No wonder. In the Magic Tower, 'Hope you run into Eian tomorrow' was basically the worst thing you could say to someone.
Ever since Eian showed up, he'd been messing with the other mages in all sorts of crazy, brilliant ways.
The most famous one was when he split some poor guy in half and warped his top half to the desert and his bottom half to a snowfield.
The other mages couldn't even begin to understand how that magic worked.
And the fact that a mage who hadn't even finished his 2nd Awakening could pull off magic they couldn't understand? It was driving them nuts.
And that's not even mentioning the messed-up stuff he did to their bodies with his weird magic.
Nobody even bothered asking why he did it anymore.
It was probably something stupid, anyway.
Classic Eian.
The cheers in the Magic Tower went on for a good long while. Everyone was celebrating Eian's vacation.
