Amid the audience's cries of alarm, the balloon drifting in the wind and the magician Oz vanished together beyond the horizon.
On a distant hill.
The silver-haired boy smiled.
"Honorable Great Magician Oz, your wish to 'safely escape the kingdom' has been fulfilled. Remember to leave a good review!"
Just now, Rhine had given the rope life, making it tear itself apart.
As for the soldiers who had come to watch the circus, Rhine had naturally arranged them in secret as well.
"To fulfill a client's wish, I even put on the whole act. How could there be such a good magician as me in this world?"
Rhine was not worried about Oz's safety.
After all, he knew that according to the original plot of The Wizard of Oz, Oz would not only encounter no danger on this journey, but would actually go become an emperor! Literally. Just in case, he had also performed a divination and confirmed that this was "an auspicious omen that would bring a turning point in fate."
Having fulfilled another Fate Protagonist's wish, Rhine once again felt the power within his soul grow.
As his slender palm turned, space distorted slightly.
After fulfilling Oz's wish to "escape abroad," he had gained a trace of Space Power! "It seems that as long as I want to, I can Teleportation to distant places.
"Of course, it can't be somewhere I've never been to or know nothing about, and there are distance limits too.
"In the future, even if Black Witch Maleficent comes looking for trouble, though I might not be able to beat her, I can still take Princess Aurora and run away! Uh, there are still fifteen years before the curse of 'being pricked to death by a Spinning Wheel' takes effect. Once Princess Aurora grows a little older, I can take her beyond the Rose Kingdom and travel across the continent! By then, Emerald City in the Land of Oz will definitely have been built. I can take her to see the Land of Oz..."
Rhine smiled as he looked up at the snowy white layers of clouds and the azure sky, unable to stop himself from imagining the future.
The balloon drifted and drifted, drifting and drifting, until it rose above the clouds.
"Oh no, the balloon is drifting farther and farther away. I have no idea where it'll take me..."
Oz trembled in the air from the cold and fear of the high altitude.
And so, the balloon drifted through the sky for an entire day and night.
When Oz woke the next day, he discovered that the balloon had flown above a beautiful and strange land.
A few hours later, the balloon slowly descended, and he landed without injury.
Oz found himself in the midst of a group of strange people.
Their attire was unlike that of any group Oz had known in his kingdom.
The men wore round hats with tiny pointed peaks in the middle, little bells hanging from all four sides that jingled whenever they moved. The women wore White Robes draped over their shoulders, covered in tiny sparkling stars that looked like diamonds in the sunlight.
"Wow, did he come down from the clouds?"
"Yes, I saw it with my own eyes just now. At first, he was so high above the ground that he was only a tiny dot, then he slowly came down..."
"Sir, you can actually fly. You must be a great magician, right?"
"Honorable, great magician, may we ask why you have graced our land with your presence?"
The strangely dressed people looked at Oz with both envy and reverence. Clearly, they had mistaken Oz, who had descended from the sky, for a Great Magician of immense power.
What magic? I'm only a stage magician...
Oz had just been about to say so, but stopped himself.
These people seem to hold magicians in especially high regard, and they look pretty easy to fool too...
I'm hungry and thirsty now. Couldn't I pretend to be a magician and get some food and drink from them?
Hehe, this place is so remote that no one can verify whether what I say is true or false!
Oz smiled faintly, placed his hands on his hips, and displayed the stagecraft he had developed over years of performing. Facing the crowd, he began making up a story without even needing a draft. "That's right, I am the powerful magician—Oz, from a kingdom in the west.
"Since I was five, I have studied magic under Great Magician Rhine. Ah, you may not know this, but he is the greatest magician in our country.
"And I am Rhine's most favored disciple, having inherited all of his magic..."
As the surrounding people listened to Oz's story, their eyes widened one after another, leaving them utterly stunned. Every now and then, they let out cries of surprise.
Oh no, if Rhine ever hears the lies I'm making up, he'll definitely kill me. Please bless me so that he never finds out what I said...
Oz grumbled to himself.
"Waaah! You truly are an incredible magician!" The strangely dressed people cried excitedly.
Before long, the people who worshipped magicians arranged a lavish feast for Oz.
They presented their finest food, allowing the starving and thirsty Oz to eat his fill.
"Great Magician, you are full now, are you not?"
"Of course. Thank you for your food and water." Oz wiped his grease-smeared mouth clean.
In an instant, tears glimmered in the eyes of all the men and women as they pleaded, "Then, Great Magician Oz, please use your powerful magic to help us defeat the evil Eastern Witch and save us all from her enslavement!"
Huh? What Witch? Your country has Witches too? The kind who really know magic? Seeing the sincerity in their eyes, Oz nearly fainted from fright.
Me, fight the Eastern Witch? Seriously?
Before you continue