Brave Story - Miyuki Miyabe [192]
Mitsuru.
The robed man looked up. “You!” he shouted out in surprise. The man holding the axe by the guillotine and the man grabbing Wataru by the neck stood frozen in place.
“Servant of evil, what business have you on our holy ground!” the robed man shrieked in a high voice. “Come down! Come down here! Do you know what penalty your trespass carries?”
The circle of believers wavered, losing its shape, and the candles began to flicker. Some went out in the commotion.
Mitsuru didn’t move an inch. His face was drawn in his usual condescending smile. Even though he stood quite a distance away, his expression was clear. Somehow, the sight of those slightly crooked lips made Wataru incredibly homesick. No time for that now, he thought. They’re going to capture Mitsuru!
“Mitsuru, run!” Wataru shouted as loud as he could. “Get away from here! Quickly! Run, and call for help!”
Mitsuru turned, looking at Wataru. Then he sighed—another familiar gesture. “Exactly who would I call for help?” he asked, shaking his head. “While I was traipsing through the woods looking for someone, you’d be here losing your head.”
“Go or they’ll get both of us!”
“I think not.” Mitsuru sighed again. “I never took you for the self-sacrificing sort. Such a good kid.”
“What’re you saying, Mitsuru? Quickly, we don’t have…”
“Time, I know,” Mitsuru finished the sentence for him. With his free hand, Mitsuru pointed directly at the robed man. “The one who inscribed the magic circle on this rooftop—is that you?”
Though he had only pointed his finger, the man reeled as though struck with an arrow, his face twisting into a grimace. “Watch your tone, young whelp! Just who do you think you are talking to?”
“You.”
Mitsuru’s voice contained not a grain of hesitation, but instead rang with all the confidence of a teacher scolding a naughty pupil. “I have no idea what you were trying to summon up here, but you got it all wrong,” Mitsuru said, chuckling. “Your orientation is off, and the lines are the wrong length. Where did you study? Did you even graduate?”
“Y-you!!” The man ran up to the building. It looked as though he might claw his way up the side in his rage, but he merely stamped his feet, powerless. “You mock me!”
“I’m only asking you a question. But you’re a little far away—I couldn’t quite hear you. Why don’t you come up here? Just cast an air ladder. Simple, no?”
The robed man’s face went pale. The circle of believers had completely dissolved, making a ragged semi-circle, not centered on the robed man, but on Mitsuru.
“What, you can’t even chant up an air ladder?” Mitsuru asked with mock surprise. “Well, then you’re quite hopeless. Isn’t the Old God a sorcerer?” Mitsuru put his hand to his chin and frowned. “Are you sure you haven’t been taken in by some creature claiming to be the Old God?”
“You blaspheme!” the robed man hissed, raising his scepter in the air. Just then, Mitsuru extended his finger above his head and uttered a brief incantation. In the next instant, a single bolt of lightning cut across the sky.
“Augh!” screamed the man in robes. The blinding light flashed, and the lightning bolt disappeared into the ground, leaving behind a hole—a sharp, jagged hole, as though a giant spear had pierced the earth.
“I won’t miss next time,” Mitsuru said. “If you don’t want to be blackened to a crisp, I suggest you remove those chains from Wataru.”
The robed man fell upon the ground, his mouth flapping uncontrollably. Mitsuru’s gaze turned from him toward Wataru—and then to the giant standing by him. “Hey, you. Yeah, you—the big guy!”
Wataru heard the giant suck down a mouthful of air.
“Release those chains!” The giant followed Mitsuru’s instructions with hardly a moment’s hesitation. His large fingers were clumsy and trembled terribly, making the simple task of inserting a key into a keyhole a difficult feat.
“Look, I’ll do it,” Wataru said, and took the key from his hand. He unlocked the chains himself. Mitsuru watched