Chapter 152
Chapter 152
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 152
Chapter Title: Another Sachsen
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“I'm so happy I finally get to learn magic from you, brother!”
Seven-year-old Lije smiled, unable to hide her joy.
“I told you, it’s not something that happens overnight.”
Looking at his adorable sister, Dale smiled, unable to hide his fondness.
Dale had formed his first mana fragment at the age of four and constructed his first mana circle at eight. He could have done it at four or five if he had set his mind to it, but Dale had waited to maintain this world’s ‘common sense’ in his own way.
In comparison, young Lije had awakened to her first mana fragment at the age of five. It was a talent befitting the bloodline of the Master of the Black Magic Tower.
So, when the year passed and Lije turned six, she had thrown a tearful tantrum, insisting she wanted to become a great mage like her brother.
But learning magic was no simple task. For anyone but an extreme exception like Dale, learning magic could directly lead to the threat of ruin.
Nevertheless, seeing the ‘fragment of a mana circle’ in Lije's heart expanding day by day, both Lord Black and Dale concluded they could no longer stand by and do nothing.
It wasn't a state of complete self-control like Dale's, but a talent encroaching upon a pure, innocent girl without her awareness.
That made it all the more dangerous.
The decision to teach her magic earlier than Dale, who had started his training at eight, was made in that context.
*What would Teacher Sephia have said at a time like this?*
Watching Lije rejoice innocently at finally being able to learn magic, Dale's heart was a tangled mess. He inadvertently recalled the wisdom of Sephia, who had guided him in his childhood.
“Brother, can you show me that again?”
Just then, Lije pestered Dale to show her ‘that thing’ as she always did. Dale gave a wry smile and nodded.
He rotated his circle, generated blue mana, and flicked his fingers.
“Wow!”
Ice crystals began to scatter from Dale's fingertips. The scattered crystals glittered like stars around Lije, enveloping her. It was like a show at a planetarium.
It was a nostalgic spell he had shown her as a brother, staying by his little sister's side whenever she couldn't sleep and whined.
Even now, whenever she saw it, Lije would smile like a child, her spirits lifting, and she began to admire Dale's magic.
To Lije, at least, Dale's magic was akin to that of a wizard from a fairy tale.
Not the formulas of slaughter designed to kill, nor the magic of darkness.
He could just imagine the uproar in House Sachsen if Lije were to ever say she wanted to learn Lord Black's dark magic. And it wouldn't just be his father or Elena who would be upset; Dale would be no exception.
“I want to become a cool mage like you, brother, as soon as possible!”
“And what do you want to do once you become a cool mage like me?”
“—I'll become great, just like you!”
“…Like me?”
“Yes!”
Dale asked again, and Lije answered without a hint of hesitation. Dale held his breath for a moment.
“I want to use all sorts of cool and amazing magic like you and surprise everyone in the world!”
“…”
The words of a naive young girl who knew nothing stabbed Dale's heart like a dagger. This was probably how a normal seven-year-old should be. She couldn't even begin to imagine.
“I'm not the great mage you think I am, Lije.”
“That can't be true! Everyone says you're the greatest and coolest mage in the Empire!”
What path of magic would Lije eventually walk when she grew up and made decisions of her ‘true will’? He didn't know. But she, too, was a member of House Sachsen, inheriting the blood of the Master of the Black Magic Tower.
“Yes, I'm looking forward to it. The day you become a much greater mage than I.”
“I'll work hard!”
Dale just stroked Lije's black hair and smiled bitterly.
He pushed aside his inner hope that Lije wouldn't follow Sachsen's darkness and would escape from the shadow of black.
This must be what they meant when they said a frog forgets its tadpole days.
“Then let's start by feeling and accepting the mana in the atmosphere.”
Leaving the crystal constellations swirling around Lije behind, Dale began.
“After that, you will repeatedly practice rotating the mana around your heart.”
“Yes, brother!”
He spoke the words his teacher, Sephia, had once taught him.
The wise elf's student had grown to a point where he could stand shoulder to shoulder with the Empire's strongest. And now, upholding his master's will, he was passing it on to a new student.
Leaving behind the void left by his former master, who was no longer by his side.
***
Lije did not awaken her circle the moment she started learning magic from Dale.
It was a truly fortunate thing.
***
“Brother taught me so much magic today!”
In the great hall of Duke Sachsen's castle, Lije chattered happily as she scurried over to her mother, Elena.
“Oh? What magic did you learn from Dale?”
“Um, he said I'm not ready to use magic yet. So we're starting with training to be able to use it!”
Lije reported the day's events cheerfully, and Elena smiled quietly. It was a very complicated smile for a mother.
“There's no need to worry, Mother.”
Seeing her expression, Dale spoke up.
“Unlike me, Lije will become a wonderful mage who brings joy to the world.”
Understanding his meaning in an instant, Elena drew a quiet breath.
“Dale.”
But the Dale standing before her was also her son. So, Elena silently embraced Dale.
“Dale, you are already the proud eldest son of our House Sachsen. You are my son who does not yield to the weight you must bear as a Sachsen, my son who has built so much for our house.”
“Mother…”
“Your path is not wrong in the slightest, so please be proud of that fact.”
In the heart of a mother who believed in her son, there was not a shred of doubt or hesitation. And so, Dale too reached out and embraced Elena.
***
That night, in the office of Duke Sachsen's castle.
“…This is the list of units heading to the Demon Realm to carry out the crusade.”
“A holy war.”
Hearing Dale's report, Lord Black smiled bitterly.
“It reminds me of the time the Hero and the Empire's grand army marched on our House Sachsen.”
“It won't be the same as then.”
Dale shook his head firmly.
“The Northern Demon Realm is already a hub of Imperial trade. There are far too many eyes watching for the Empire to act with the same tyranny as before.”
Not hiding behind high walls, but paradoxically, breaking them down to reveal everything to all.
“Is that why you implemented the open-door policy for the Northern Demon Realm?”
“Yes.”
Dale nodded, and Lord Black smiled without a word.
“There are just a few things I wish to ask.”
After a moment of silence, Dale spoke again.
“Father, how much do you know about the ‘high-ranking demons’ of the Demon Realm?”
“Are you referring to the Shadowcasters?”
“…While the main forces of our Anti-Demon Alliance were deploying from the Northern Demon Realm, I secretly obtained some information.”
“Speak.”
“Why do the high-ranking demons speak the ‘Imperial tongue’?”
It was a lie. It was information he had obtained not as Dale, but during his time as the Hero from Another World. As the Empire's strongest warrior, who had ventured deeper into the Demon Realm than anyone else to face the Demon King and his high-ranking demon subordinates.
“It's not strange that they have the intelligence to understand human speech. But isn't it strange that demons from the Demon Realm use the ‘Imperial tongue’?”
The high-ranking demons had mocked the Hero from Another World in the Imperial tongue, mocking the hunter's leash tied around his neck. That was something one couldn't know without being privy to the Empire's internal affairs—its deepest secrets.
But how could beings from the dark lands known as the Demon World know this and speak the Imperial tongue?
“How did you obtain this information?”
Lord Black asked coldly. The air around them chilled.
“You wouldn't believe me even if I told you.”
“That is for me to decide.”
“…A high-ranking demon appeared before me. It spoke the Imperial tongue with great fluency.”
Dale lied again.
“What did it say?”
“It called me the ‘Golden Dog’.”
“Was that all?”
“—It warned me to turn my troops around and leave, for this place was nothing more than the ruins of the fallen old Shadow Empire.”
That was what the high-ranking demons had said, not to the Dale of now, but to the Hero from Another World.
The conflict between Gold and Shadow—back then, ignorant of the ancient conflicts and secrets of this continent, he hadn't been able to understand those words. But now was different.
“Now it is your turn to speak, Father.”
And so, Dale pressed. He was piecing together the puzzles with the knowledge he'd gained as a member of House Sachsen, tracing back his memories from that time.
“What are the Shadowcasters? What connection was there between those high-ranking demons and our Sachsen's Black Magic Tower?”
And Dale knew the answer would not be a light one. He was asking because he knew.
“If the Second Crusade is to advance to clear the darkness of the Demon Realm, I must at least know the truth beforehand. Please, answer me.”
“…”
“You must know the answer, Father.”
Dale asked, and a silence as light as a feather descended.
“Do you remember that in ancient times, the Black and White were a single magic tower?”
Dale nodded at Lord Black's question. The Black-White Magic Tower, and the fact that those called 'The Black,' led by Lord Undead 'Frederic of Sachsen,' had staged an uprising, been defeated, and were exiled to the northern frontiers.
“When The Black were driven to this northern land of Sachsen, there were those who extended a hand to Lord Undead and his clan.”
“Who were they?”
“There are no records of their identity or what they called themselves. Only a few passages remain in the ancient texts of Sachsen from which we can infer the truth. The one thing I can say for certain is that they were the ‘first outsiders’ who came from the dark lands beyond the Demon Realm.”
“From the Demon World…”
Dale held his breath.
“However, it was the son of Lord Undead, who resolved to stay here rather than follow them, and The Black who were loyal to him, that created the Sachsen and the Black Magic Tower of today.”
“Then who followed them?”
“Lord Undead Frederic and his clan.”
“…!”
Hearing those words, Dale finally gasped.
The secret of the high-ranking demons, the Shadowcasters, the Tower of Shadows, and even the true nature of the Demon World beyond the Northern Demon Realm. He could finally understand.
“Don't tell me.”
“It is as you say.”
Lord Black nodded slowly.
“The beings beyond the Demon Realm, known as high-ranking demons, and further, as Shadowcasters…”
He nodded, continuing calmly.
“What lies there is another Sachsen.”
The true clan of Sachsen, who do not hesitate to become monsters of truth.
“And Lord Undead is still slumbering in the deepest darkness of that land.”
Reborn as a being that can no longer be called human, just like the clan of Yuriseu.