Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: A Deal and a Promise
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Walter the Bloodfiend was, in the end, nothing more than a pawn for Marquis Yuriseu to discard. Walter likely never knew he was just a puppet, abandoned at the very end.
“The 6th Company Commander of the Black-Red Brigade…”
Dale spoke softly, and Sephia turned toward him in surprise.
“How do you know that name?”
He couldn’t very well blurt out that he knew from a past life.
“Today, Lord Crimson himself came to the academy.”
“…!”
So Dale answered, telling her the truth about the Black-Red Brigade that Lord Crimson had revealed. And the fact that the ‘Emperor’ wanted to silence those who knew it.
He remained silent, however, about the landscape he had seen in Lord Crimson's world and the offer of a ‘new bond between Black and Red’.
“…It is certainly an inconvenient truth for the Empire.”
Sephia replied calmly.
“Still, to use us as a borrowed knife to kill his enemy… How truly wicked.”
“He must have been confident that with you by my side, Lady Sephia, Walter the Bloodfiend could be defeated.”
He was also likely certain that Walter could never defeat you. Walter had merely fallen into Lord Crimson's trap, and in a way, even Dale and Sephia were just puppets in his hands.
“…That man is dangerous beyond measure.”
“I agree.”
Dale did not deny it, nodding in agreement. After nodding, he looked around.
The Crystal Tundra. The world of Sephia, the snow elf mage.
A mage's world is like a barrier that permits no trespassers. A barrier formed from the landscape of their mind. Therefore, for a mage to consciously manifest their world means one of only two things.
One, when facing an enemy that must be eliminated with all their might.
Two, when facing someone to whom they can truly reveal their world.
And in this case, it was likely both.
“…Thank you for protecting me, Teacher Sephia.”
In her world, where only Dale and Sephia existed, she did not answer right away. She merely responded with her usual warm and gentle smile.
“It's an incredibly beautiful world.”
Dale said, gazing at the flawless crystal tundra stretching beyond the horizon.
“As your teacher, and as a fellow mage, when I first glimpsed your world… when I saw the horizon of solitude and emptiness you must feel…”
Like the gentle and benevolent teacher she always was.
“I thought it was very similar to my own world.”
At her words, Dale quietly drew a breath. She was right. Sephia's world. A crystal-colored horizon with nothing in it. The world of thought built by an exile, a snow elf who had left her home to wander the lands of mortals.
Only then did Dale understand. She was just like him.
Two souls bearing a chilling loneliness. Before that, Dale's young age and Sephia's long life as an elf were no barriers at all.
The world of thought was, after all, a landscape of the heart, and right now, the two of them understood each other's hearts.
So Dale reached out and silently embraced the 6th-circle elf mage. For he was not the only one suffering from a chilling loneliness in this crystal tundra.
“…I like you, Teacher.”
Dale said.
“So please, wait a little longer.”
He carefully stood on his tiptoes and kissed her on the cheek.
“…!”
“Until I become a man worthy of you.”
After the kiss, he looked up at Sephia's face.
“O-Okay…”
There stood Sephia, her elven ears perked up and her face flushed red, as if she had forgotten that the one before her was an eleven-year-old boy.
Ending the embrace, Dale stepped back.
“Or maybe.”
After putting some distance between them, Dale asked again.
“There was no need to wait at all?”
Understanding his meaning, Sephia's face turned crimson once more. Even her pointed elven ears were turning red.
“…B-Be quiet.”
At Sephia's flustered reaction, Dale smiled softly.
“Teacher Sephia.”
After smiling, he muttered as if it were someone else's business.
“I didn't realize your standards were so flexible.”
***
Two mages, one red and one blue, had clashed and unfolded their worlds of thought. And for high-ranking mages of the elder class or higher, these worlds could function as barriers in their own right.
An impromptu arena, free from outside interference.
In other words, it was impossible for outsiders to break through until the caster willingly dispelled the world.
To force it open would require the intervention of a mage of equal or greater skill.
And across the entire continent, there were not even a hundred who could do so.
Thus, when the two 6th-circle mages, Walter the Bloodfiend and Sephia, clashed, Lord Badel of Baskerville could do nothing but wait.
Shortly after, Dale and Sephia appeared. It was a great relief.
As for ‘Walter the Bloodfiend,’ he had become prey for the Shadow Lurkers, not even a trace of his flesh and bone remaining.
“Young Master Dale, are you unharmed!”
“I'm fine, Lord Badel.”
Dale replied, with a crimson-faced Sephia behind him.
“What are the casualties among our knights?”
“There are some injuries, but thankfully, no fatalities.”
“I see. That's a relief.”
Dale nodded calmly.
“To think an elder of the Red Magic Tower would launch an attack…!”
Inviting the ‘heir to the Master of the Black Magic Tower’ to the Imperial Academy, only to attack him.
The unthinkable had actually happened. It was a grave act that could send shockwaves through the other magic towers and the entire Empire. Without Sephia, even Dale would have had no chance against an elder-class mage. At least, that's how Lord Badel must have seen it.
He couldn't possibly imagine what Dale looked like when fighting with his full strength, away from prying eyes.
“…Fortunately, the Sachsen knights were not seriously injured, so I will handle today's matter myself.”
Dale said.
“Until I give a new order, you and the other knights will remain silent about what happened today.”
“B-But, Young Master!”
“Lord Badel. This is an order from the eldest son of House Sachsen.”
“…As you command.”
Dale cut Lord Badel off before he could argue further.
*Because of my turmoil, the Sachsen knights could have been caught in the crossfire.*
Dale clicked his tongue and turned his head.
But even Dale hadn't expected such a brutish attack, especially not while he was in such a state of inner turmoil.
“…”
He recalled the ‘landscape of Earth’ that Marquis Yuriseu had shown him. How could that scene be reflected in Lord Crimson's mental world? And what on earth had happened there after he was gone?
—For a mage to reveal their world was never a matter to be taken lightly.
The world of thought was the landscape of a mage's heart, their very psyche. In other words, it was like letting another person peer into their soul.
Just as Sephia had done for Dale.
It was either a 100% rejection of the other person or a 100% affirmation. There was no in-between. No exceptions.
*Could it be that he knows my true identity…*
He considered it, then shook his head.
*No, absolutely not.*
If Lord Crimson truly knew Dale's identity, his actions wouldn't have stopped here. Dale remembered clearly how Lord Crimson had treated him in his past life.
Back then, he had never shown his ‘world of thought’ to his past self. He had never even mentioned Earth.
The man who had never opened his heart to his past self had a change of heart just because he was now the eldest son of House Sachsen?
*Impossible.*
Lord Crimson did not know Dale's true identity. Of that, he was certain.
In other words, he truly wanted to join hands with the ‘Black Prince’.
By showing his true heart and wholeheartedly affirming Dale's existence as the future Master of the Black Magic Tower, he was hoping for a ‘new bond between Black and Red’.
Then what exactly did Lord Crimson hope to achieve through this new bond between Black and Red? What was this ‘ultimate power and truth’ he spoke of? And what was the Emperor plotting in his silence?
His mind was a tangled mess.
But after thinking that far, he shook his head again. None of it was something to dwell on right now. The only thing to do was to get out of this damn capital and return to the Sachsen Duchy immediately.
His ill-fated stint as an academy student was over.
***
Meanwhile, at Castle Sachsen.
Just as Dale, heir to the Master of the Black Magic Tower, had visited the capital for the Black-Red exchange, the heir to the Master of the Red Magic Tower… the ‘son’ of Lord Crimson, Marquis Yuriseu, was there.
In Duke Sachsen's office.
Ray Yuriseu.
Strictly speaking, he was not his son by blood. He was an adopted son, taken in by Marquis Yuriseu for ‘certain reasons.’ And Lord Black was one of the few who knew those reasons.
Lord Crimson had gathered dozens of children with magical talent and made them kill each other until only one remained. He was the sole survivor who had passed the test.
Having survived, he had successfully made his existence known to the world as the son of House Yuriseu.
Unlike Dale, he had not performed any deeds to make a name for himself throughout the Empire. He was one who hid in the shadows, acting as Lord Crimson's will.
That was why Lord Black's expression held not a trace of emotion as he looked at Ray.
Far away, beyond the reach of the Empire's influence, across the Sea of Death on the Eastern Continent, there is a poison known as *gudok*.
Venomous creatures are placed in a jar and forced to devour one another until only one remains, from which the most perfectly refined, potent poison is extracted.
Ray Yuriseu was like that final survivor. The fact that he was a child, the same age as Dale, changed nothing.
“Your Grace, Lord Black.”
Ray spoke.
“As you know, my father and His Majesty the Emperor desire the same thing as you, Your Grace.”
What they desired.
“Speak.”
Lord Black spoke calmly, as the greatest black mage on the continent.
“I have a list of the hardliners from the Black Magic Tower who are cooperating with our Red Magic Tower.”
“…”
At Ray's words, a flicker of agitation crossed Lord Black's face.
“What do you want in return?”
Dragging out conversations unnecessarily was not Lord Black's way.
“The demon corps, the Black-Red Brigade.”
Ray answered.
“His Majesty the Emperor wishes for all records of the Black-Red Brigade's activities during the war to be completely erased.”
“…”
“And as it so happens, among the hardliners of the Black Magic Tower, there are a few company commanders from the Black-Red Brigade.”
“Hand over the list of hardliners cooperating with the Red Magic Tower.”
“I'm glad we could come to an understanding so quickly.”
At Lord Black's words, Ray Yuriseu smiled and bowed his head.
The hardliners who joined hands with the Red Magic Tower to resist Lord Black's regime. They were men who had to die anyway.
The fact that some of them were targets to be silenced, men who remembered the shameful deeds of the Black-Red Brigade, would change nothing.