Dawn at the Wild Rift (Book IV)

Chapter 24

(This chapter is dedicated to koku-sama)

Harley stands before the large gates of Magical City, making him doubt if he has truly returned to the city or it is simply an illusion to trick him.

"Entering the Enchanted Forest is truly a pain in the ass. Now, let's see what scheme you're up to."

And in order to confirm if it is an illusion or not, Harley's choice is to investigate. Thus, he enters the borders and carefully observes his surrounding, trying to spot anything unusual.

As he walks around the market place, he senses this faint yet strange magic he has never encountered before. It's like a scent of a savory food that Harley is urged to follow where the magic is coming from.

Running through the dark alleys and jumping from roof to roof, Harley finds himself at the entrance of the Swan Castle. He peeks into the closed gates and sees a few guards on duty.

"Young mage, do you have an appointment with the princess?" one of the guards asked.

Thinking about his reply for a while, Harley comes up with a question.

"If I said yes, would you confirm it first with Princess Odette?"

"Of course."

"Then, I do not have an appointment. I'm leaving so no worries."

Instead of actually leaving, Harley makes a detour and heads to the back of the castle, where another gate is closed. Just as he expected, there are no guards on standby, only guards taking rounds for a patrol. He could sneak in without being noticed and definitely, he will find out whatever magic is hidden behind those walls.

Chanting a spell of levitation, Harley floats in midair and gets over the high walls. He is patient enough to wait for each guard to pass before hiding from one bush to another until he reaches a wooden door.

With a small creaking sound, he opens it and finds himself inside the kitchen. He raises his eyebrow since no one is around but a smirk curve on his lips because he needs not to use magic just to bypass anyone. There are several doors and Harley opens them one at a time, to find where he should take his exit from that room.

On the third door that seems unused because a table stands before it, Harley finds it a bit suspicious. With his levitation magic again, he lifts the table with a whisk of his wand.

Though when he holds its knob and pulls it without much force, the door is removed from its hinges and almost pummels Harley right on them if only he didn't catch it on time.

"Oh, c'mon, Your Highness! You gotta fix this door or it'll kill someone."

Mumbling to himself, he steps into the stairs that leads way down and with one swing of his wand, the door goes back to its place.

When he senses the stronger presence of the strange magic, Harley runs down with glee, skipping a stair or two just to get closer to that certain magic.

The deeper he goes, the air starts to smell dusty and he would get some cobwebs on his face and feet. It also becomes colder somehow that with Harley's getup—only a yellow shirt paired with shorts—he'd shiver. Still, those are not enough to stop him from reaching the end of the stairs.

Using his wand as a source of light, Harley halts when there is only a small space at the end of the stairs. The four corners are made of old bricks and green mosses even grew out from the small cracks in between them. Furthermore, he could no longer feel the presence of the magic, making the room more suspicious.