[No title provided]
“Be a proper master to me.”
I looked at Rohakan. He looked back at me and smiled broadly.
Then, he spoke.
“Your talent is undoubtedly terrible. What you've achieved at your current level can only be called a miracle.”
“……”
“Of course, you must have put in the effort to match it. However, without a change in your soul, that achievement would have been impossible.”
A change in the soul.
For some reason, the words stuck in my mind.
“But do not despair. Even if you kill me today, you can always meet the past me here anytime.”
“……The past Rohakan, you mean.”
“Aye. I created this space because I wanted to linger a bit longer. I stretched out my remaining years as much as possible and left them here. An older Rohakan still waits in this vineyard.”
I surveyed the vineyard. Mana and time intertwined like threads, flowing together. Their movement was visible to the naked eye.
Suddenly, a line from the letter Rohakan had left came to mind.
“Deculein, disciple whom I shall meet many times……”
“So that's why you called me the disciple you'd meet many times.”
“Aye. I've already met countless future versions of you here—the you who kills me, then comes back to meet me again.”
Rohakan's origin, Worldline.
He had created his own worldline right here.
In other words, he had 'stretched out' his past and future selves.
“I see.”
“Aye. So for now, kill me today. Master and disciple can come after. The you who came after killing me had remarkably pure mana, didn't you?”
It was probably due to the 'quality of mana.' Killing Rohakan and reinforcing mana quality with the Three Pure Coins would make me a solid 3rd Grade mage, one worthy of pride even in this world.
“……Very well. I shall not delay.”
“Good. Ah, there are lots of those knights down by the hillside—take them with you. I didn't kill them, just bound them, so they're probably lost in their own memories by now. With your mental fortitude, you can save them.”
“Understood.”
I rose to my feet and activated the Frost Stone with mana.
Crackle—
A blue-and-white crystal froze into form in midair, sharpening into a straight blade like a sword.
“Deculein.”
Rohakan spoke. He gazed up at the high sky, and I gripped the hilt of my blade.
“When the time comes someday, tell Sophien this.”
Whoosh— A wind of mana blew. The grapevine leaves rustled sharply. White grapes clustered thickly on the long branches like snowflakes.
“……That curse of yours has made everyone around you unhappy, and it will again.”
Rohakan murmured to the empty air and closed his eyes. The passing wind carried his voice.
“But the time I spent with you was enjoyable.”
A smile bloomed on Rohakan's lips. Then, he called my name again.
“……Deculein.”
“Speak.”
“Even if Sophien kills you one day, you'll stay by her side, won't you?”
“Yes.”
I answered without hesitation.
Deculein would remain at Sophien's side as her subject. Partly because Sophien was deeply tied to the main quest, but also because of my own nature.
“……Good.”
Rohakan nodded.
“It's fortunate you're there. Until we meet again, my disciple.”
There were no more words after that. The wind stilled, signaling farewell.
“Yes.”
I slashed at Rohakan. The Frost Stone dug into his neck.
Even in that moment, my mind remained calm and cold. At the same time, a scene flashed like an afterimage.
—……Why?
In the dark corridors of the Imperial Palace. Blood flowing from her dead mother. Amid the warmth soaking her toes, young Sophien asks Rohakan.
Why.
To that single-word question, Rohakan from those days bites his lip. Clenches his fist.
But what he must say—what he can tell a child—is already decided.
—I killed her.
……As I placed the dead Rohakan's head in the wooden box, I thought.
The one who killed the Empress.
Perhaps it wasn't Sophien herself.
……Meanwhile, Julie and Sylvia lay amid the grapevines.
“It's because you forced your way on.”
No, they were bound. The branches tightened deeper the more they struggled. Having quietly given up, the two conversed almost comfortably.
“I'm looking for a way out.”
Julie said. Sylvia glared at her lazily and snapped back.
“It's because you forced your way on. Because you're heavy.”
“……I'm not heavy.”
“You weigh over 70kg.”
“Pardon? Ah, wh-what? No. And even if so, it's natural for a knight.”
Sylvia shook her head. Leaning back against the vines, she gazed up at the sky.
The air was so clear that the mana in it was visible.
Just breathing here made Sylvia grow. Her mana capacity increased in real time.
That was her talent.
“……”
Sylvia silently turned to look at Julie. The knight grunted and strained to escape, but her hands and feet were pinned tight, leaving her helpless.
“How do you plan to get revenge on Deculein?”
Sylvia's question. Julie paused for a moment.
“……Revenge, you say.”
“Yeah.”
Julie thought of many things.
Revenge she could take on Deculein. A just way to avenge everyone's grudges.
“My revenge is simple: make Deculein himself admit all his sins.”
“What sins?”
“He's ruined many people's lives.”
Even setting aside the knights of Phairden, countless mages had seen their careers destroyed by Deculein. Julie had spoken with them.
“……And he's taken lives too. I'm gathering evidence of that.”
Sylvia stared steadily at her. Then, she added flatly, as if spitting it out.
“My mother was one of them.”
“……Pardon?”
Julie's face froze in shock. Sylvia continued.
“Deculein killed my mother.”
“……”
Julie was at a loss for words. Unsure how to react, she stiffened her expression.
Hasty comfort, wide eyes, or an open mouth—any could wound Sylvia.
“So I'll kill him too.”
Sylvia looked back at the sky. Pale mana gathered in her golden eyes.
“He has to die by my hand.”
Julie simply watched her. No pity or sympathy.
She already knew such things would be rude.
From the time she'd been engaged to Deculein, the pitying gazes of her fellow knights had only shrunk her further, tormented her more…….
“I have the right to kill him.”
Sylvia's voice rumbled low and dark.
“……Yes.”
Julie nodded quietly. Somehow, she felt ridiculous herself.
What she'd suffered at Deculein's hands seemed less than a fraction of this young mage's pain.
“You have that right.”
As Julie replied, her heart froze—not in simple chill, but in bitter cold. For the countless sins Deculein had committed—
“Ugh!”
In that instant, the vines binding them snapped free.
Julie plummeted to the ground, while Sylvia soared away on the wings of an eagle from somewhere.
Thud—!
But a knight mastered the human body. Her reflexes and coordination sharper than a cat's, Julie twisted mid-fall, landing feet-first on the ground.
“……Huh.”
And there, she faced a certain man.
The professor in his suit. Holding a wooden box, gazing at her.
Deculein.
“What were you doing up there?”
“……Knight Julie?”
Another voice came from behind him. Julie's eyes widened as she looked.
“Ah, Vice Commander?”
Vice Commander Isak. Beside him, her old university junior knight, Gawain. Gawain smiled at Julie but quickly glanced at Deculein beside him and hardened his expression.
“What happened?”
To Julie's question, Isak, Gawain, and the Imperial Palace knights replied with faces etched in shame—no, utter humiliation.
“……We were defeated by Rohakan and rescued by Professor Deculein.”
“……”
Julie turned to Deculein and asked quietly.
“Is that so?”
“……”
Deculein silently scanned the faces of Julie, Isak, Gawain, and the other knights.
As if they were utterly pathetic. With contemptuous eyes.
“So many ignorant fools who won't even obey orders.”
At last, his sharp rebuke.
Fierce wrinkles creased his brow.
“The imperial command was clearly entrusted to me, yet blinded by vainglory, you act alone in this vermin-like manner……”
Even amid his tirade, the knights bowed their heads in silence. Even Vice Knight Commander Isak.
Still not grasping the situation, Julie suddenly noticed the wooden box cradled in Deculein's arms.
“That is……”
Deculein brushed past Julie without a word, and the knights followed at a distance.
Julie hurried after the group and asked.
“May I have a situation report?”
“……It's been a while, Julie. Not pleasant to meet like this, in this state.”
“Yes.”
Isak's face was reluctant, but he whispered a brief explanation.
“……Rohakan is dead. Deculein killed him.”
“!”
To Julie, whose eyes widened like soccer balls, Isak muttered like an excuse.
“Maybe mages should fight mages after all……”
The knights' sighs sank low.
Amid them, Julie silently stared at Deculein's back.
“———Your Majesty!”
Meanwhile, back in the grand hall of the Imperial Palace.
Sophien, pondering Deculein's vital records, frowned at the sudden loud voice.
“What……”
Just as she was about to find the answer. Sophien glared as if ready to mete out severe punishment.
“What is it?”
“Great news, no, joyous tidings, Your Majesty—!”
“……”
Joyous tidings. Were there any joyous events for the Empire? Sophien thought for a moment, but no.
She had, of course, heard that Rohakan was found—along with the dogged report that the palace knights had bungled it.
“So what joyous—”
“Professor Deculein is returning with Rohakan's head!”
“……”
Sophien's mouth fell open for a moment. She looked at her subject's face, then back at Deculein's vital records, and asked softly.
“……Rohakan's head.”
“Yes! He's arriving soon!”
“……”
“Joyous tidings! The Empire's joyous tidings! The head of that black beast—”
“I understand.”
Sophien cut him off. The trembling subject promptly shut his mouth.
“You may go.”
“……Yes.”
The subject turned and left. Sophien gazed back at the vital records.
The Go puzzle Deculein had made for her. As she racked her brain solving them, she thought once more.
“……Rohakan. You……”
She murmured softly.
“Were you meant to die so easily?”
Strangely, her heart felt desolate. Neither pleasant nor sweet.
Rather, an eerie emptiness.
“……”
She hadn't expected him to catch Rohakan when assigning the mission. She hadn't even dared imagine he'd bring back the head.
“……Deculein.”
She called his name softly.
Did that bastard cut down his master for my sake?
“I wonder.”
What conversation did that bastard have with Rohakan before returning?
“……Your Majesty.”
A soft question from her attending maid. Sophien glanced at the bowing girl.
“Isn't it time……to receive the professor's visit?”
“……”
So boldly offering advice, then slyly lifting her head—the impudent maid.
Sophien shook her head and sat in her chair.
Then, she issued a single command.
“When the professor returns, tell him to come to the hall of learning.”