The Strongest Gun Magus: I Cast Bullet!-Chapter 41: I Forgave You for Five Entire Minutes

"Not just any human, Mari. Only magi will do, and they must be at least at the Final Cycle Nigredo stage. The realm won’t let anyone with a lower stage enter."

"And... Did... Why did my parents go there?!"

Bartholomew winced again.

"I tried to stop them, Mari, believe me. I tried to! But they were so talented... They thought they might have a chance of actually returning and closing the Four-Moon Realm once and for all. I will admit, I... Had that hope, too. But when they went to the realm, they left behind Life-Candles so that I would know whether they are alive or dead. These Life-Candles went out several days after the Four-Moon Gate disappeared."

Marien went silent, blinking rapidly to keep from tearing up. Bartholomew began speaking slightly faster.

"Since the second Magister of our school, this was a secret protected by only the most trusted magi in it. The region we are living in is too precious to simply abandon. Thanks to the Blue Bismuth mines and the beasts from Growlgrove, our school has managed to survive for centuries. We are small fish, and big schools don’t bother with us... But we are also richer than many of these schools realize."

"A single magus every ten years was enough to satisfy the Four-Moon Realm. The Magisters usually let some traveling magus disappear inside, and students weren’t even told about it. That’s why, after the Autumn Beast Hunt, nobody is allowed entrance to the Growlgrove until spring, and not to preserve the beast population."

Marien nodded. Bartholomew frowned at her in concern.

"I didn’t want to stress you so much... Please, don’t be, my dear." He reached out and cautiously stroked Marien’s head. "Soon, things will be better again. Your honor and pain will be avenged, and no innocents will have to be sacrificed in this decade. And next year, you will surely be luckier in the Autumn Beast Hunt!"

Marien nodded again.

"I... I have to think about this. Mom... Dad... So their coffins are actually empty, aren’t they?"

"They—"

She stepped away from her grandfather before he could touch her again.

"I get it. I won’t go to the Four-Moon Gate, but... Mom and Dad! I must think about all this."

Before Bartholomew could add anything, Marien fled his office, only slowing down in the hallway. The Magister’s assistant, Georg, was still there, pretending to be reading papers.

Marien scowled at him.

"So you knew about the Four-Moon Realm, too?"

Georg nodded uneasily.

"Miss Marien, I just follow your grandfather... Please, don’t blame me, I already have to deal with his wrath!"

Marien huffed and marched on.

Now she understood all of it, and first of all, her grandfather’s plan to kill Reynard. But she didn’t know what to do.

***

The entire garden, previously lush with plants, was now empty. Every plant has been gathered, cut into parts, and sorted into jars, baskets, bags, and boxes.

Reynard watched the results of his hard work with sadness.

Many of these plants would’ve given him much more profit if he had let them grow until the next year. But he needed every bit of money and Earth Mana.

To start with, he went to his most expensive section. All the Saturnian Ivies were there, along with a bunch of other plants.

Reynard put his hand on a box with Saturnian Ivies and closed his eyes. Then, he began absorbing the Earth Mana of the plants one by one.

Previously, a single Saturnian Ivy flower would’ve been enough to fill his Athanor, but after Reynard had reached the Albedo stage, it. A single flower was a cup in a bucket.

Reynard had to absorb at least thirty until his Athanor was full. There were only a couple of flowers left on the bottom of their box—the rest had become useless ash.

’I will need even more mana later, when I go through the Operations. I can dry up the plants in the meantime. Most of them won’t lose any Earth Mana or value in the process. The rest... I can sell tomorrow, I suppose? For now, I should start on my Operations. Unless I search for a better refinement manual first...’

Reynard’s thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the garden’s fence gate.

It was a very insistent knock. If the garden wasn’t magically protected, the knocker would’ve surely broken down the fence.

"Who’s there? If someone is just pestering me for no reason..."

"Let me in, Reynard!" Marien shouted from the other side. "We must speak! In private."

Reynard immediately went to let her in.

The blond magi princess looked absolutely downtrodden. Angry, sure, but with eyes that looked slightly red and low-hunched shoulders.

"What happened, my songbird?" Reynard immediately asked in concern. "This isn’t my fault this time, no? I did nothing wrong! Uh... Want to pet Chili?"

Marien pinched her lips and stared him in the eye.

"I’m still mad at you. But! Reynard... My grandpa wants to kill you. The Four-Moon Realm is a trap! You have to avoid it. It appears every ten years, but for centuries, nobody who entered it has returned! There’s no chance."

Reynard stared at her with wide eyes for a moment, then laughed.

"Reynard! This—this is serious!" Marien raised her fists. "I forgave you for five ENTIRE minutes just to deliver this warning, and you laugh at me?!"

"No! I’m sorry. I just—I’m so happy that you would forgive me even for five minutes!" Reynard explained, grinning. "Thank you so much, my dear. Honestly, I expected as much from the old man."

"You did?! And... You didn’t tell me?" Marien pouted.

"But you told me not to speak with you until I made you happy again. And I... Well, I was busy. Saving my life and all. Can’t bring the world to your feet while I’m dead, am I?" Reynard smirked.

To his joy, Marien blushed a little and smiled back.

"That’s what I thought, too! So you have a plan, right? Tell me, what is it?"

"Well, considering what you just said, I have to adjust my plans slightly."

Reynard took Marien’s hand in his, making her blush even harder, and looked longingly in her blue eyes.

"Marien, there’s no other choice. I must flee the Blue Bismuth School and become a traveling magus. Will you come with me?"