Chapter 65
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: One Week (4)
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The Imperial Capital,
a central city of the Madel Empire that even in Frontier Chronicles ranked among the most beautiful and majestic places.
In the game Frontier Chronicles,
there was a hidden landmark unique to that place.
A so-called Player Spot.
It was a hidden location in the Madel Empire's central city where no NPCs existed at all,
accessible only to players.
'Really, no one's here...'
And just like in the game,
there was absolutely no one there...
"There's... a place like this in the capital?"
"Yeah, it's pretty amazing, right?"
"It is..."
In that rare spot,
Isabel, who had come with me,
let out a soft gasp of admiration
as she gazed down from the observation deck on the capital's outskirts, where all areas were visible at once, and continued speaking.
"It's beautiful..."
"Not the time for that yet."
"There's more?"
Beautiful.
As Isabel said,
the view of the capital from here
was breathtaking enough to call a scenic wonder.
The central plaza of the capital and the statue of the Madel Empire's founding king—the Emperor—standing there,
countless people holding a festival around it...
And fitting for the capital,
sophisticated buildings and decorations adorned the streets.
However,
it still wasn't time for such words.
Not yet,
because I hadn't even started on the real reason I'd brought Isabel here...
'What crowns the Founding Festival...
The finale of the Founding Festival is always
adorned by
whoooosh—boom!
the magic of the court mages filling the empire's skies.
In simple terms...
"Fireworks."
Fireworks,
the flowers in the sky launched by humans,
which had always commemorated the final day of the empire's Founding Festival.
"So beautiful..."
"Right?"
And so,
as Isabel and I watched the magical flowers filling the capital's sky,
Isabel
gazed at them with an expression like she was seeing a dream,
saying how beautiful the sky... those flowers floating there... were.
"Hey... Aden, I... I don't want to go back to the Helm Marquis household..."
And then,
with effort,
in a voice that sounded desperately pleading, almost petulant...
she continued.
'Must be tough...'
However,
that statement
was, objectively speaking, truly
nothing more than an impossible whim.
She herself
knew that fact even better than I did.
That what she was saying now... was just a whim unlikely to come true.
She was
the eldest daughter of the Helm Marquis household.
She had been
a member of the Helm family from birth until now.
"Don't go back. You don't have to."
Even so,
no matter how hard it was...
'I... don't want you to go back either...'
You don't have to go back.
Don't go back.
I won't send you back.
"Really... is that okay...?"
Your time,
going back to hell...
was something so horrific, so utterly unbearable, just to imagine.
"It's okay. Even if it's not, I'll make it okay."
So...
Even if that whim wasn't okay,
I'd
make that whim okay.
Make it so no one
could carelessly say otherwise.
So...
"Stay with me from now on."
"Anytime."
I desperately hoped
you'd never have to return to that hell.
And to ensure such a situation never arose,
I'd
make it happen.
"Pfft... Thank you."
Hearing my response, filled with such resolve,
Isabel smiled—
for the first time since possessing this body,
a smile so radiant...
more beautiful than the flowers in the sky—
and expressed her gratitude.
'Beautiful...'
That sight felt
truly beautiful,
that smile felt
precious,
that gratitude felt
like it gave me courage...
"You look good when you smile."
All those moments,
I wanted to protect them.
I wanted her smile
to last forever.
'Cheap price.'
Yeah,
if that smile of hers
could continue indefinitely just by being with me,
then anytime...
"I'll be with you anytime."
Anytime,
I'd be with her.
Wishing that Isabel
could keep being happy from now on...
another day with her
was drawing to a close.
And at that moment,
in the empire's heart.
In the imperial palace, located even more centrally than the nobles' city of Madel,
the grand banquet commemorating the Founding Festival's finale had just ended,
and most nobles were returning to their families,
when
Academy Chairman Eris...
she too
was in the imperial palace's core,
the emperor's office,
finishing up all her business and preparing to depart.
"Heading back to the academy now?"
As she finished preparing to return to the academy,
a voice from behind made her turn,
and she looked at the person who had asked.
There sat a handsome man with golden eyes—the symbol of the imperial family—
and graying hair.
But in truth, he was just a man over fifty
who had reached a realm granting him immortality...
'The Emperor...'
The current emperor of the Madel Empire,
and in the academy's S-Class,
shining at 4th place overall in the first years...
Aren Reinhardt's father.
Leon Reinhardt.
In other words, from the perspective of Frontier Academy's chairman,
he could be seen as a parent.
"Who knows."
With such idle thoughts,
she lightly answered the emperor's question.
"Sigh... Where to this time..."
Hearing that, the emperor sighed,
rubbed his temple, and tossed out a cryptic question.
"What?"
"Which noble house are you off to this time...?"
At that question,
she made a genuinely puzzled face
and casually shot back a question of her own,
but what followed was the emperor's response, as if he already knew everything.
"Tch..."
'Tch... That's why perceptive brats are...'
In the end, it seemed all her secrets were already out,
so she clicked her tongue lightly and continued.
"Helm Marquis household."
"Why... mess with a marquis house again..."
At that,
the emperor, hearing her confession,
sighed as if he'd expected it
and asked for the reason, whatever it was.
"Because they messed with my student."
She replied in a tone as if it were obvious.
My student was messed with.
That was pretty much the only reason.
During the week of the Founding Festival,
using every method, she'd investigated
how the Helm Marquis household treated Isabel.
That was it.
"Sigh... It's their family matter, can't you just... let it slide...?"
That was the meaning behind her answer.
The emperor, hearing it,
spoke as if he already knew all about the Helm household's affairs,
suggesting she overlook it as a family matter,
but
"No."
Her response, knowing all the facts, was naturally a refusal.
And above all...
"And... it'd be better if I handle it first...?"
From the emperor's perspective,
it might even be better for the future if she dealt with the Helm Marquis household now.
"What... does that mean?"
At that,
the emperor asked what she meant, looking baffled.
"If it weren't me... no, even if it was me, eventually... someone more monstrous than me would handle it anyway..."
At those words,
thinking back to something chilling even now—
the kidnapping of student Isabel at the academy early in the Founding Festival.
She answered while recalling that time.
On the second day of the Founding Festival,
while talking with the emperor in the capital,
the barrier she'd set over the academy
had its control instantly seized by the demon count.
Realizing that,
she'd quickly tried to channel mana to dismantle the barrier,
but then she felt it—
a single word echoing through the world.
{Extinction}.
That chilling sensation of a single character moving the world,
that irresistible mana...
It still felt tangible,
as did the rage within that mana,
like it would shatter the world itself.
"Yes...? Such a being... exists?"
"Exists. A fortunate one, aligned with the world's side."
That's why.
She was certain.
If not her, then someday...
No.
Even if she acted first, eventually...
Aden.
He would annihilate the Helm Marquis household.
'Well... that's not my concern...'
Of course, even if Aden destroyed the Helm household,
she had no intention of stopping or dissuading him.
"Just keep that in mind. I'm off."
With that,
leaving the still-puzzled emperor behind,
she quickly began deploying a teleportation magic circle.
"Wai—"
The emperor tried to call her urgently upon seeing it,
but the teleportation circle was already activating.
With the characteristic bright light of the teleportation magic,
a massive mansion came into view.
"Who are you?"
At the gate,
two guards blocked the suddenly appeared her
and demanded to know.
"Move."
At the sight,
she delivered a chilling word
and
BAM—!!
shattered the mansion's grand gate with magic and strode into the garden.
"Intruder!!"
Seeing the sudden situation,
the two bewildered guards
shouted urgently.
As armed knights emerged from the mansion upon hearing the desperate cries,
she deployed a shield with her mana to protect everyone in the mansion—from the lowliest insect onward—from all damage,
set up a barrier around to prevent magical damage from spreading to the territory,
and then...
"Let's see that smug face of yours, Marquis Helm."
From her hand...
a single spell began to deploy.
Roooaaar—
With the spell activated from Eris's hand,
flames surged skyward as if to incinerate all sins,
and upon the mortal world...
hell descended.