The Flower of Separation

Sometimes it is hard to tell what that girl is thinking. She is already so level-headed at this age, and she acts way more mature than him sometimes. He knew the Ageha family teachings had a way of corrupting individuals but didn't the corruption spread faster in Lillian than the other children?

At least he and his other siblings had a bit more leeway. But Lillian is different. Father must have noticed her abilities from the moment of her birth; that must be why they raised her differently.

They spend the rest of the journey, at least the walk there in silence. His own thoughts distracted him, and Lillian seemed to have something on her mind too. Raiju would, however, occasionally look over at his sister. He wonders what she is thinking right now.

What kind of things does she have to go through when he isn't at home?

Two years ago, when his father was adamant about infiltrating the monastery, Raiju had no choice but to accept the mission. He was the only one who could go in without them suspecting anything because of his magic.

Lillian could have done the job, too, but her dark magic leaks out a lot more than before. It is like something triggered it because it was fine before.

"Isn't that the place?" Lillian suddenly spoke up.

Raiju looked in the direction where she pointed at. An unused small cottage beside a large lake. He recalled Zushi's description. It should be in this place then, but what is this odd feeling?

"Brother, there is somebody with dark magic nearby."

"Huh?"

"Hmmm, to be exact, a cursed person? The dark magic is affecting his light magic quite a bit."

Raiju paused as something else Zushi told him came to mind.

He asked her if there was something other than his appearance that he ought to watch out for.

He has strong mana for a commoner.

Don't tell him-- Raiju immediately rushed ahead without saying a word to his sister. The moment he approached the small cottage, he noticed it. The dark aura around the cottage gradually got stronger. It seemed like the miasma affected the surroundings since all the trees started to wilt.

If it was this strong, isn't it odd that they didn't notice it soon- Raiju recalled his sister's reaction before they started the job. So that was why she was looking around like that; she must have noticed it first.

Raiju took a deep breath before he entered the cottage. Despite the dark energy covering the entire place, he found who he wanted to immediately.

Amid all of that was a young boy with the same description that Zushi gave him. He was on the ground, covered in black swirls clenching his chest.

"Hey--hey you?"

No response.

"Pierre."

At those words, the young boy looked up. A disappointed look appeared on his face. "You're not Zushi."

So he was right, it is this boy. Raiju wanted to be wrong. Zushi did say that he has odd mana, but she never mentioned this. She most likely didn't notice it. Then again, it is impressive that she noticed it.

What can he do? Unfortunately, he isn't very good at containing dark magic. Moreover, he has never seen a situation like this where somebody's physical body is leaking out mana like this.

His thoughts broke off when he heard a small pair of footsteps.

His sister stood there by the door and looked around. After she assessed the situation, she sighed. "Brother, step away."

"You can't kill him."

She rolled her eyes but nodded. "I understand."

Raiju hesitantly stepped out of the way. But he still stood close just in case.

In the next second, a flash of yellow light is similar to lightning heading in their direction. "Way of binding, kaminari."

He watched as several lightning rods of light pinned the young boy to the ground.

The black waves of energy seemed to hesitate but still headed back towards the boy.

"--Fenghuang." At those words, a large wave of red-colored destructive beams of mana appeared. If that was all, it wouldn't be enough, but this man was in the shape of a mythological bird. A phoenix? But he has never heard of a phoenix in the form of mana.

When did Lillian learn something like this? With a stronger binding and the phoenix, the dark energy seemed to gather on one spot, and Lillian extended her hand out.

Raiju watched, horrified as she absorbed the energy. "Wait, Lili-" Those words fell short as the rest of the dark energy entered her body.

He immediately rushed over when it finally disappeared.

"Lillian! You-"

Lillian sighed deeply. "Brother, you're too loud."

"Why did you do that?"

"The dark mana in his body was foreign, so it was stronger than most. A simple containing spell won't do it. But if we left it be, then not only this place but the edge of town would end up wiped out. This area is near our jurisdiction; it would be bad if something happened to it."

He does understand that, but even so, Raiju ran his hands through his hair. "Even if we do have more affinity to dark magic, absorbing that much in one go is far too dangerous. You get that checked out when we come home."

Lillian chuckled. "Right," she turned to the boy. "So this is the one Miss Zestra asked you to find?"

"Yeah. I guess it makes sense why she hasn't heard from him."

Since he rushed in, he ignored it, but he did see traces of a forcefield. "Lillian, have you seen this kid before? Because I feel like I have."

Zushi said he was a commoner with strange mana. But he has never heard of a commoner with this much mana. Moreover, somebody managed to curse him.

"I am surprised you don't recognize him at first glance, brother. He is noble."

"Right, so which family?"

"From the yellow pegasus house, the young heir."

At those words, Raijus face color turned pale. Why did it have to be somebody from the seven noble families? This situation has become more troublesome. Moreover, didn't that young heir run away half a year ago?

"You're sure?"

"Mm, so do we give him up to the authorities or?"

Lillian was looking at him for an answer. He knew if he didn't speak then, Lillian would use him as another plaything for her torture chamber.

"I will bring him to the monastery."

This kid may have a curse placed on him, but his light magic is still strong.

"If that is your decision, brother, but you need to be careful. People with curses tend to have fluctuating magic. The monastery is a good place to get rid of curses, but people should be watching his movements. Knowing you, brother, you won't let him go through that, so it is up to you to stabilize his condition-" Lillian trailed off. "It isn't too hard; use our family magic of restraining."

Raiju looked troubled when she said those words. But it is not like he can disagree with her.

"Alright."