Farewell (1)
I descended the stairs using the wooden steel swords as steps. One footfall at a time, one at a time—the twenty blades naturally rotated, serving as my footholds.
At first, Sophien on my back was a distraction, but I soon accepted it.
The name of this passenger was Sophien Yekater Augus von Zifreine. No one else but the imperial bloodline. With such noble lineage, it was only fitting to offer my back...
Thanks to forcing such thoughts.
"......"
Sophien had been silent for a while now. Probably lost in her own contemplations.
"......The cold."
Just then, Sophien grumbled. She pressed her body closer against my back.
"Are you all right, Your Majesty?"
"......I shall adapt."
Sophien's potential was the greatest and strongest in the human world, but she was still just a chrysalis. Judging by her characteristic ennui and indolence, her awakening was still far off. Moreover, in this snow globe, she had consumed nothing but ice cream and water.
"It is because Your Majesty has been negligent in training until now."
"......"
"Had you diligently practiced and tempered your mana, mere cold like this—"
"I know. Shut your mouth."
"......Kairon."
I called Kairon instead of Sophien. He was following, guarding her back.
"Are you managing?"
The Frost Stone could cover only one—Sophien. Kairon had no choice but to endure on his own.
"I am fine."
Kairon answered thus.
I believed him.
"Do not fall behind."
"......Ach b'shvilcha."
At that moment, Sophien recited a divine incantation. Her syllables turned into a warm flame and clung to Kairon.
"Your Majesty."
"I shall not tolerate any falls."
At the emperor's command, Kairon simply nodded. A rare smile touched his lips.
Tick-tock— tick-tock—
The regular chime of a clock in the quiet inn. The rustle of turning manuscript pages.
Ifrin read Sylvia's novel, and Sylvia watched Ifrin intently.
Idnik, Longdalp, and Roserio also observed the two with keen interest.
Gulp—
Sylvia was tense, in her own way.
She had pretended not to want to show it, but she had written it to show in the first place.
"......"
Sylvia's two sole hobbies: writing and painting. Among them, the novel she had poured her heart into lately.
Tentative Title: Blue Eyes.
She scrutinized every flicker of expression on Ifrin's face.
"......"
At some point, Ifrin looked up.
Had she finished reading? Or was it no good?
As Sylvia waited, gripping her hands with sweat for a reaction, the girl spoke.
"Sylvia. You write really well?"
"......"
It was praise. Her pulse surged after quite some time, but she forced composure. Sylvia stared at Ifrin with a stiff face.
The girl fiddled with the manuscript pages and grinned.
"This is fun. No next chapter?"
"Not finished yet."
"Ah~ Really? With that mystery vibe and all, I wanna read the next one quick."
Sylvia deliberately clenched her jaw. She tried not to show any expression.
"So, you're publishing this?"
To that question, she just nodded. Ifrin widened her eyes in admiration.
"Whoa~ I'll definitely buy it later."
"......Do as you like."
"Alright!"
Then Longdalp stepped in. Ifrin turned to him.
Longdalp chuckled heartily.
"If the impressions are done, let's get serious. Hey, Kalra?"
Then Kalra and Jakal turned this way. Ifrin was slightly surprised.
Had they been pretending not to know until now?
"Sorry for the late start. I'm asking this one to train you."
"......Only four times, it seems."
"Aye."
Kalra nodded and placed a hand on her robe. She tilted back her hood, revealing her eyes. Crimson, blazing demonic eyes.
The moment Ifrin met those eyes.
Her consciousness sank into the abyss.
She simply fainted without a word.
"......"
Sylvia looked at the sprawled Ifrin with exasperation. She just called a passing staff member and ordered a dish.
Three minutes later.
"Gah!"
Ifrin woke up.
"Whoa! What the hell! I almost died!"
She seized Longdalp's collar in a frenzy. Longdalp laughed heartily, and Ifrin slowly lowered her trembling hands.
"How was it?"
"Ah, sorry. I was just so shocked. But what, what was that? It was insane—"
"Mental training, they say. I begged Kalra hard for it. Only four chances."
"Three more times of this......?"
Ifrin pressed a hand to her heart. It pounded wildly—thump-thump-thump-thump.
"Your mental strength ain't bad, lass. Just no structure yet."
Then Roserio spoke.
"Easiest way to build structure is to create a 'mental guardian' in your head yourself."
"Structure?"
"Aye. Imagine the most trustworthy being in your mind. Doesn't have to be human. Could be a doe, a lion, even a dragon. Make it once, and it'll fight demons for ya."
Ifrin, listening blankly, soon nodded.
Mental guardian.
Right now, only one person came to mind.
"Got it. I'll give it a try."
"Speakin' of, hey Sylvia. Wanna try too?"
To Roserio's question, Sylvia shook her head.
"I'm good."
"......Aye? Well, then. Kalra?"
"Wait, hold on, I'm not ready yet—"
Ifrin waved her hands frantically as she focused her mind. But Kalra didn't hesitate.
"Okay."
"Gurk—!"
"......"
Kalra nodded and glared at Ifrin again. Ifrin plummeted back into the abyss, and Sylvia received her ordered food.
"Mana stone roast chicken."
The dish was mana stone roast chicken.
Fried chicken coated in mana stone powder—like chewy rocks, the worst food, but it didn't matter to her tasteless palate.
If anything, it was the finest. Diet was crucial for becoming an archmage.
"......But you eat that?"
Roserio stared at Sylvia in horror.
"Don't. Even if magic's important, that's not fit for humans."
"Don't worry about it."
Sylvia replied coolly. Roserio was flustered by how much she had changed since their Floating Island days, and Idnik gave a wry smile.
"Kkuburukburukberelele—!"
Ifrin woke with a bizarre scream.
Clink—
Just then, the inn door opened. New guests glanced startled at the source of the sudden shriek.
"Huh? What. Ifrin? Gramps Longdalp too?"
Yeriel of Yukline.
She tilted her head, looking around at the famous mages gathered near Ifrin.
Deculein groped through the darkness, advancing. Sophien pondered deeply on his back. She analyzed the mana currents and grasped the time discrepancies.
The cause of the time lag was this underground space. Massive mana waves flowed from below upward.
"......I do not understand."
Her understanding of the phenomenon was clear. Sophien's insight was always precise.
Yet the question lingered.
She had always wondered.
"Why do you......"
To her, the value of death was infinitely light.
However, Deculein—or rather, the Deculein from the previous regression—had told her.
—From now on...... no matter what happens, do not take your own life.
She understood Kairon's loyalty, but Deculein's intent still eluded her. He had died without explaining the sentence's meaning.
"Deculein. Why do you not let me die."
"......"
"My memories are intuitive. Even if I return to the past, I have the confidence to properly reassemble 'all events'."
Step, step.
Deculein moved his legs. Frustrated by his silence, Sophien punched his back.
A vending machine-like response came out.
"Your Majesty. Do you know why the giants vanished?"
Some ancient myth.
Sophien answered unconsciously. Nearly all continental history resided in her mind.
"Because death became deficient......"
With that, she grasped Deculein's implication. Sophien glared at his broad back with eyes full of annoyance.
"Yes. Humans have the process of challenge. And the driving force of challenge is the end called death. Without death, humans become empty. Your Majesty knows this better than anyone."
"......Hmph. You think suddenly speaking of it will create a death that does not exist? I might kill myself when you are not looking."
"Then, I shall swear."
"What?"
Deculein suddenly spoke of a vow. Sophien was uncharacteristically surprised.
Having spent centuries with him, she knew.
To him, a vow meant eternity.
No, more than that.
This stubborn man's vows would remain constant even if the timeline changed.
"I do not know what meaning I hold to Your Majesty. Perhaps merely an ordinary subject, an annoying tutor mage, or the head of House Yukline."
Sophien looked at the back of Deculein's head.
She wondered what expression, what face this professor wore, but she could not see.
"However, if Your Majesty ignores my intent and takes your own life."
"Deculein. Hold your tongue."
Sophien sensed what came next.
Deculein recited exactly as expected.
"I shall do the same."
"......Insolent. You know not the moment of regression."
"Do you think I do not know? Perhaps I know Your Majesty better than Your Majesty knows herself."
At that moment, Deculein reached solid ground. They had finally arrived at the bottom of this cliff.
Yet Deculein still carried Sophien, and she was dissatisfied with his recent words.
Knows me better than I know myself. Truly near-treasonous words...
"Deculein. I entrust Your Majesty to you."
Suddenly, a voice approaching from behind. Sophien turned that way.
Kairon's entire body was already frozen.
"Your Majesty. I shall follow without delay."
"......Kairon."
"You know. I do not die. Perhaps this moment is a crucial turning point for me. Lately, I have been stagnant......"
With those final words, Kairon became a statue. Encased rigidly in extreme cold.
"......Come without delay."
Deculein did not turn back. Sophien believed his words.
The two simply pressed forward.
Believing in the not-distant destination, piercing this frigid darkness.
They reached the end of the bitter cold.
—......I knew you would return.
A voice delivering a small shock to Sophien.
Its grand vibration announced their arrival.
"......"
Sophien looked up at him. Eyes vast as a lake. Those eyes shone on Sophien.
A giant.
—The passage is here.
The giant's mana constructed a passage. An oval portal.
—Children, go quickly.
Deculein entered it. He had no energy for chit-chat with the giant.
Vreeeeeng—
A faint mana ripple, a dazzling light flooding the retinas.
Afterward, they returned to Sophien's bedchamber.
"......"
The snow globe sat on the table, and Sophien remained on Deculein's back. Deculein acknowledged the floating notification.
"......Deculein."
"Keep this snow globe, Your Majesty. Wait for Sir Kairon to emerge on his own."
Sophien looked at the snow globe. For some reason, her heart felt desolate.
......Desolate.
A feeling she had not had in quite some time.
"Your Majesty. There are no perfect humans in this world. Moreover, because Your Majesty lacks death, you are more imperfect than any human."
"......"
Deculein laid Sophien on the bed. Her frozen body barely moved.
"The first step is acknowledging that fact. Acknowledging deficiency and accepting loss."
"......"
"Your Majesty is human. Like us."
With that, he even covered her with the blanket, leaving only her face peeking out. Sophien narrowed her eyes thinly at Deculein.
"I shall take my leave."
"......Will you not rest?"
"Yes."
Deculein nodded and turned.
As he moved to depart, Sophien added one more word.
"Professor."
"Yes."
"I know not human relations."
"It is natural for Your Majesty. I understand."
"Do you perhaps love me?"
"......"
Deculein did not answer. Sophien found the silence awkward and quickly corrected.
"If not, it is fine."
"Yes."
Deculein exited thus, but Sophien felt suspicious for some reason.
She soon dismissed it and glared at the snow globe.
"......Kairon."
The world's most loyal knight was inside.
He said he would emerge on his own, and Sophien believed him.
"I shall wait."
Until the funeral, the burial with rites, and reporting the fallen to the Hall of Knights...... Deculein did not appear.
"Truly cold and excessive. The professor is."
"Well. He came and went. But......"
"Showing his face is Yukline's honor."
Various knights of Freihen vented frustration at Deculein. Veron’s public cause of death was ‘fell to death with assassins while escorting Deculein’.
Knowing Veron’s truth turned Julie’s every day into hell. Each moment a pit.
"......"
Julie had said nothing until now. No retort to the knights’ words.
"Still. He fought alongside. That’s enough. Veron would want that."
But that instant was the tipping point.
Biting her teeth to the gums, she left her subordinate knights and boarded the car. She gripped the wheel the moment she turned the key.
"Whoa! Captain! Where are you going!"
"Captain!"
Vrooooom—!
The old car roared like a beast, surging forward.
She personally drove this crumbling old steed to Yukline Manor.
"......Where is the professor now."
Julie asked the guard at the firmly shut entrance. The guard did not answer.
"Where is he."
No change even after repeated asks. Julie nodded as if understanding. Then stood beside the guard.
"......"
She intended to wait indefinitely.
Until Deculein came.