Episode 20: The Three Future Sages

At last, the blinding light faded, and my vision slowly returned.

The five of them were still standing on the magic circle, maintaining the flight spell.

Of course, as long as they continued casting, none of them could leave the circle.

Even so, they began talking.

“Who exactly are you?” Meow asked.

The woman who seemed to be their leader answered.

“We are members of the Lux tribe. We had been traveling and were on our way back home when we boarded this ship.

My name is Pal. This is Pul. And that’s Pol.”

Pal, who introduced herself, was about 150 centimeters tall with long pink hair. She wore round glasses, giving her an intelligent air—yet she was just as beautiful as Meow.

Pul was smaller, around 140 centimeters, with short pink hair. She looked a bit childlike, but her features were still delicate and refined.

Pol was slightly taller than Pal, with semi-long pink hair. She had sharp, cool features, and her expression remained stern at all times.
Though honestly… it was hard not to notice her impressive figure first.

So that’s it—

They were Lux tribe members.

Now that I thought about it, I had heard that Lux men have silver hair and women have pink hair. If I’d been paying attention earlier, I should have realized it immediately.

But back then, all I could think about was Leviara.

“I see—you’re from the Lux tribe!” Meow said with a smile.

“Yes… we are. Does that mean something?” Pal asked curiously.

“It does. We were actually heading to your village ourselves.

We’d heard your people are highly knowledgeable in magic… and it seems the rumors were true.

To be honest, I had my doubts. Someone here claimed to be the captain of the knights from the largest kingdom in the world, yet turned out to be rather weak… so I wasn’t expecting much from this world.”

Meow casually threw that jab—directly at me.

“Not at all!” Pal said quickly.
“You two are on a completely different level!

We saw your fight with Leviara. Using every magical element at that level of power—it’s unbelievable.

And not only that—you created a barrier strong enough to withstand its attack, then continued casting high-level spells one after another…

Even now, you’re sustaining flight magic powerful enough to lift an entire ship for this long.

Even among the Lux tribe, we’ve never seen anything like it!”

Pal’s eyes sparkled with awe.

Once again, I was reminded just how extraordinary these two really were.

“But you helped with the barrier too—and you’re helping keep the ship afloat right now,” Meow replied.

“Our magic is mostly supportive,” Pal said modestly.
“We don’t consume much mana ourselves.

That barrier earlier—we only reinforced the one you created.

And this flight spell as well—we’re simply supporting and amplifying yours.”

She looked at them with something close to reverence.

“The three of us are considered especially gifted even among the Lux tribe. We are expected to become the Three Sages who will lead our people in the future.

This journey was meant to broaden our understanding of the outside world before we take on that role…

But we’ve never encountered anyone with power like yours.

The world truly is vast.”

Her eyes shone brightly.

“…With power like that,” Pol suddenly cut in, her voice sharp,
“You’re not the rumored Dragonkin, are you?”

The atmosphere shifted instantly.

Pol’s piercing gaze locked onto Zeke and Meow.

“Relax. We’re not Dragonkin,” Meow replied calmly.

“For reasons we don’t fully understand, Zeke and I ended up here from another world.

We thought that if anyone might know a way for us to return, it would be the Lux tribe. That’s why we’re heading to your village.”

“I see…” Pal nodded.
“If you’re referring to another world, perhaps it involves interdimensional transfer magic.

We don’t know much about it ourselves, but… the Three Sages who currently lead our tribe might.”

At those words, Zeke and Meow’s expressions brightened.

So… there really might be a way for them to return.

That should have been good news.

But—

For me, it wasn’t that simple.

I had finally found people I could truly look up to as mentors…

And now, they might leave.

“That’s great and all,” Zeke said, cutting through my thoughts,
“but none of it matters if we don’t survive this.

We’re running out of mana.

We’re going down.

Let’s just hope Leviara’s gone.”

As he said that—

The ship slowly began to descend back toward the ocean.