Zack strolled casually through a forest as he headed towards Dorzaal City. Well, calling it walking might not have been entirely accurate since his pace was relaxed, yet with each step, he covered about a hundred meters or so.
He had wrapped up all his business at the tower, so he had a whole year to roam free.
Sir Cedric had caught up with him when he heard Zack was leaving the tower. He had given Zack a heads up that sometimes he might get a mission if a level 2 powerhouse from the Holy Church messed with the magic tower’s affairs. But, it hadn’t been mandatory for Zack to take these missions. However, the rewards had been pretty sweet.
Sir Cedric had also warned him not to draw any unnecessary attention outside. The wizarding community hadn't been in the best shape back then, and everyone had had to keep a low profile to avoid getting snagged by the Holy Empire forces.
Right after leaving the tower, Zack had shot a message to Fannie. He hadn't been surprised he hadn't heard from her for the past decade since communication tablet had been a no-go inside the tower.
Not even a minute after sending his message, Fannie had replied. But her messages had been a bit odd.
“!??!?”
“”Is that really you, teacher?”
“Where are you now?!”
“Oh, I just saw your message. You said you’re heading to Dorzaal, right?”
“Stay right there! I’m on my way! Don’t move!”
Fannie had sent a flurry of messages. From what Zack had gathered, it had seemed like she hadn’t been in Dorzaal City. He had told her he'd wait at the house she had bought a decade ago. Whether the house had still stood, he hadn’t been sure, but he would have figured something out when he got there.
Arriving at the forest's edge, Zack had remembered he couldn't just stroll into town flaunting his wizard status, so he had masked his presence, adopting the guise of an ordinary human. Still, he had gone by Lucius' identity, of course.
As he had stepped into the city, Zack hadn't been able to miss the guards sporting the emblems of the Holy Empire on their armor. The streets had been crawling with them. He had found it quite surprising that the Holy Empire had deployed so many troops to Dorzaal, especially considering its proximity to the Forest of Death, way up north.
Zack had even sensed the presence of numerous priests, essentially level 1 wizards. He had also sensed some actual level 1 wizards. But they had been trying to keep a low profile, though their attempts had been futile against Zack's keen senses.
The sheer number of Holy Empire forces in Dorzaal could have meant two things: either the church had had a surplus of manpower, or they had been beefing up security because of the city's proximity to the Lightning Magic Tower's base. By the way, the Holy Empire still hadn't sniffed out the magic towers' bases. Likely because the Lightning Magic Tower had only allowed level 1 wizards or apprentices with soul contracts to return.
Regular apprentices' badges hadn't been able to activate the teleportation circle anymore. Even if the Holy Empire had managed to nab a level 1 wizard or an apprentice with a soul contract, they hadn't been able to force them to activate the circle. Wizards with soul contracts cannot betray their towers. Maybe the other towers had had the same policy as the Lightning Magic Tower.
Meanwhile, the Holy Empire still hadn’t had enough manpower to comb through the massive Forest of Death or other territories in search of the magic towers. So, the towers' locations had remained safe.
Lost in these musings, Zack had finally arrived at Fannie's house. But to his surprise, it had already been occupied, and the owner hadn't been Fannie. He hadn’t bothered questioning the current occupant and instead had opted for one of the inns in the city before shooting Fannie a message with his location.
About half an hour later, he had sensed Fannie's presence rapidly approaching his room. Just as he had been getting up to greet her, the door had burst open with a bang.
In the doorway had stood a woman in her early twenties with brown hair and brown eyes. She had cast a face-masking spell to conceal her stunning features, but Zack had still been able to see through it, noticing even the illusion magic on her hair.
Draped in a black robe that had done little to hide her curvaceous figure, it had definitely been Fannie. He had still been able to see the resemblance between her current face and the one from a decade ago. How time had flown—her baby fat had melted away, leaving behind a beautiful and glamorous visage. If her face a decade ago had been like a budding flower, now it had fully blossomed.
His heart had skipped a beat at the sight of her. But then he had noticed something off about Fannie's complexion. Her eyes had been red, and her lips had trembled as if she had been on the verge of tears.
"Teacher!!" Fannie had dashed toward him and clung to him like a koala. It had felt oddly familiar. Regardless, he had patted her back as she had cried on his shoulder.
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"I-I thought *hiccup y-you abandoned me, *hiccup,” Fannie had stuttered between hiccups.
“I-I *hiccup thought that *hiccup I disappointed you a-and *hiccup maybe I-I’m not good enough.”
“Y-you don’t know *hiccup how hard it’s been *hiccup for me all these years, *hiccup waiting for you.”
“W-where have you *hiccup b-been?”
“Y-you, you bad teacher.”
“P-please d-don’t leave me again.”
Fannie had poured out her heart while crying, but her intense emotions had caused her to hiccup between every sentence. Zack had felt a mix of emotions—amusement at Fannie's attempts to speak through tears, distress and sadness seeing her so upset, and guilt for not keeping in touch, leading her to doubt herself.
Fannie had repeated herself over and over, crying for an hour until Zack had felt her body relax and slump against him. Checking her breathing, he had realized she had fallen asleep.
Carefully, he moved her to the bed, debating whether to remove her robe, which looked uncomfortable. However, he hesitated, not wanting to touch her without consent, now that she was an adult. Especially with her current appearance, he couldn’t delude himself into seeing her as a child anymore. So, he left the robe and just covered her with a thin blanket.
While covering her, he noticed her swollen eyes and tear-streaked face. Using gentle magic, he cleaned her face and applied a soothing cool air to her eyes. He did it delicately, not wanting to disturb her slumber. As he observed her closely, distress washed over him once again.
Seeing Fannie, a peak level 1 wizard, exhausted to the point of falling asleep was a testament to her emotional turmoil. Level 1 wizards, especially those seasoned in their craft, had bodies akin to magic knights. So, for Fannie to cry herself into exhaustion spoke volumes about her sadness.
Zack sighed, then restored the door with magic before settling into a chair near the bed to meditate.
Just an hour later, Fannie slowly opened her eyes, sitting up abruptly and scanning the room. Spotting Zack, eyes closed in meditation, she breathed a sigh of relief. However, as the earlier events flooded back, her face flushed red with embarrassment.
Thankfully, Zack didn’t bring up the incident again and simply offered her food.
“Are you hungry? I brought some of my favorite dishes from the tower. I'm sure you'll like them,” he said, presenting his favorite steak and chocolate cake. He had brought plenty from the tower, especially the chocolate cake, preserved with magic.
Fannie brightened at the mention of his favorite food and eagerly dug in. However, she couldn’t help but sneak glances at him while eating, as if afraid he might disappear. Her face still held a rosy hue of embarrassment, and her eyes glistened with unshed tears.
Being stared at by a stunning beauty with flushed cheeks and dewy eyes made Zack uncomfortable all over, even as he ate. Internally, he urged his heart to calm down, sighing and inwardly complaining that this wasn't good for his heart.
So Zack just said, “Hey, focus on eating. I promise I won’t disappear on you.”
Fannie's face turned even redder, and she quickly bowed her head. But not even a minute later, she was peeking at him again. Zack was left speechless.
Once they finished eating, an awkward silence hung between them. Zack didn’t know where to begin the conversation, while Fannie twiddled her fingers and kept her head bowed, though she still stole glances at him.
Unable to bear the silence any longer, Zack finally asked what she had been up to in the past decade.
At his question, Fannie's eyes welled up as if she recalled something traumatic, and she began to tell her story.
For the first two years after Zack disappeared, she obediently waited in Dorzaal City, not sensing anything amiss since it had only been two years. But at the end of those two years, the Holy Empire began flooding the city with troops, capturing and executing wizards. Most of the official wizards from the tower had been recalled, leaving mostly apprentice wizards vulnerable. With the overwhelming number of soldiers, many apprentices were caught and killed, forcing the remaining wizards to hide or flee the city.
Thankfully, six months later, many peak level 1 wizards emerged from the tower to resist the Holy Empire, making things slightly easier, although they still chose to keep a low profile.
In the third year, while she was planning to visit the black market, Fannie encountered a group of peak level 1 wizards under attack by a paladin, a level 2 powerhouse. Though she initially wanted to slip away quietly, the paladin noticed her and launched an attack.
Fannie chose not to dip into the mana Zack had left behind to conceal her strength, as she had only a limited amount and this situation wasn’t life-threatening. So, she engaged the paladin and managed to drive them off.
Facing two level 2 powerhouses would've been a challenge, but now she could handle and even suppress one level 2 powerhouse. After dispatching the paladin, she left without paying much attention to the wizards she had saved, continuing on her journey.
However, these encounters became a recurring theme. Every time she ventured outside the city, she found herself inexplicably facing off against a level 2 powerhouse from the Holy Empire. Soon, she became notorious among the Holy Empire forces, earning herself the nickname "Black Devil" because of her black hair and the black oni mask she always wore.
Feeling the oddity of the situation, she tried to limit her outings, but she still needed to procure materials for her studies on formations. During one outing, she was ambushed by two paladins and a grand priestess, forcing her to flee immediately.
The Holy Empire somehow managed to track her movements and deduced that she was based in Dorzaal City. So, when she escaped using Zack’s mana, the level 2 powerhouses lay in wait, locking down the city to trap her. Despite their efforts, she managed to slip away thanks to Zack’s mana. From then on, she wandered from city to city, always staying within range of a transmitter tower for her communication tablet to ensure she wouldn’t miss any messages from Zack.
Yet, after five years of silence, doubt began to creep in. Initially, she suspected something might be wrong with Zack. But then she remembered his strength—few could match him. Standing before him elicited a greater sense of danger than facing three level 2 powerhouses combined.
So, she began to entertain the thought that perhaps her teacher had abandoned her. She tried to push this idea aside, but as years passed without any news, it started to take root in her mind.
The relentless pursuit from the Holy Empire and the constant encounters with level 2 powerhouses during her travels only worsened her mental state. She was on the verge of a breakdown and considered retreating to the far north of the Forest of Death, near the northeastern frozen mountains, to escape the Holy Empire's grasp.
However, she clung to the hope that one day Zack would contact her, so she persevered. But she was reaching her breaking point. Just as she was about to head to the northeastern mountains, she received a message from Zack.
Desperately, she rushed to Dorzaal to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating.