Chapter 106
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: Elise
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“Elise.”
Steam rose thickly from the scalding waters of the great lake.
To Elin, it might have just seemed humid and misty, but this place was far more than that.
It was Elise’s dwelling, hidden on the world’s hidden side—a mausoleum where the dragon Radon’s corpse lay submerged.
The body of the great Creator of Providence, mighty in life, brimmed with immense heat and energy even in death.
No one knew what catastrophe might befall the earth if that power ever leaked out.
This great lake enveloped the corpse, cooling its heat.
That was the pact between Radon and Elise, the spirit of the rapids.
The rising steam gathered and coalesced, shaping into a form.
—You who know.
A mare forged of water, its hooves clacking with each step.
It was Elise.
Princess Lilian’s eyes widened as she turned to me.
“A spirit? You mean there’s something like this in the academy…?”
Her words trailed off, her brow furrowing as her expression hardened.
Her gaze questioned me, so I tossed her a simple hint.
“It might seem like just another ordinary back mountain you could find anywhere these days, but surely you haven’t forgotten the name of this mountain?”
“…Spirit Mountain.”
Overtaken by the passage of countless ages, it was now treated as mere fairy tale. Yet a high spirit, once the guardian of the imperial capital, still resided here.
Princess Lilian’s face grew grave as she turned back to me.
The princess was a sharp child.
Tell her one thing, and she’d piece together the rest on her own.
“So the heretics weren’t after crippling the academy’s functions. They were after this place.”
“Exactly.”
“They targeted here. That’s why they led so many troops, pierced the capital’s barrier, and launched the invasion….”
She mulled over her words, arriving at the answer herself.
“Does this place hold that kind of value? Enough to invade the capital, turn the empire against them, and face you, Professor Aiden, knowing they’d suffer heavy losses. Is that how I should interpret it…?”
Value worth turning the empire’s back on them, worth clashing with a master who embodied a nation’s full might.
How enticing must it be to shoulder such enormous risks? The princess shook her head, unable to fathom it.
But whatever it was, it was no normal thing—that much she was certain of.
Something of overwhelming worth that ordinary folk didn’t even know existed.
Something even the sun-like imperial family couldn’t fully grasp, schemed after in the shadows.
This realization struck the princess with horror.
Elise frowned at Princess Lilian.
—What is this child?
“The bloodline of Village Chief Donapart, the one who made a pact with you. I brought her because the seal weakens day by day. You might not have known, lost in long slumber to mend your wounds, but that’s no excuse.”
—The seal? What…!
“Nothing strange about it.”
It might not satisfy Elise, but Princess Lilian bore the purest imperial bloodline of this era.
Diluted compared to the heyday when she reigned supreme, but still the one and only key.
Princess Lilian was essential to resealing the great demon.
“The Village Chief Donapart who once pacted with you weathered time’s storms and scattered like dust. His descendants shirked their duty, and now those fiends stir again.”
Now, it was time for me to pierce to the heart of Village Chief Donapart’s legacy.
Naturally, Elise’s cooperation was indispensable.
“I stopped the demon worshippers on the surface level, but the root problem remains. The great demon must be resealed. Cooperate.”
No answer came.
Instead, the lake’s surface boiled under surging heat, countless bubbles bursting.
The great lake existed to cool that heat, so steam drifted endlessly skyward.
But this explosive rising, scorching enough to flay flesh, was utterly abnormal.
Princess Lilian clung to my back, choking, clutching her throat in agony.
Her fair skin flushed red, so I summoned faint mana to ventilate the air around us.
She exhaled roughly, catching her breath.
“Enough. You’ll hurt the princess.”
—They shirked their duty. Must I protect her?
“She might not meet your standards, but right now, she carries the thickest bloodline. Kill her, and resealing becomes impossible.”
—That’s all?
“Understand this: centuries might be a mere handful to you, but humans aren’t like that. Blood mixes with outsiders, collaterals are born, prosperity brings change. Same context.”
I let out a long breath.
“Princess Lilian is the bare minimum to reinforce the seal. Neglected so long, even that’s uncertain. Soon, the seal will break.”
The lake rippled.
Elise showed clear agitation.
—That fiend?
The great demon sealed beneath the capital would surely target Radon’s corpse once free.
It had clashed over that very prize from the start. With Elise weakened now, this was the perfect moment.
“Of course, not immediately. I said ‘soon,’ not ‘now.’”
“Professor? What is all this…?”
I patted Princess Lilian, who couldn’t follow, and turned to Elise.
“This time, let’s kill the bastard. No—we have to.”
—…
“You’re weakened, and the great demon’s been sealed so long it’s frail too. Even if it revives, it needs time and minions to recover. Cut off the time and minions, and it’ll be as weak as you.”
—Can you do it? I cannot leave this place.
“What choice do I have? If it goes wrong, we all die. We do it.”
Heretic mages, demon worshippers, cultists. Time to deal with them.
“I’ll step up fully. But I need time for that.”
—You mean to reinforce the seal.
“Beneath the capital’s labyrinth lie your minions and the maddened holy water. I’ll lend my power, but I can’t do it alone.”
The seal’s core was the imperial bloodline.
Aiden lacked the ability to touch the seal itself.
Princess Lilian carried the strongest imperial blood, but…
‘Unsealing? Sure. But resealing? She’s not enough.’
“No resources left, no one remembers the sealing rite. I just stopped demon worshippers prowling the palace—who else can I trust? We’ll have to do a makeshift job. Having the original sealer would make it easier.”
That was why Elise was needed.
The duty-shirking imperial family wouldn’t have left such documents, and they’d burned most records establishing primogeniture anyway.
—What must I do?
“Get yourself to the seal site. Just give me the method to reseal it.”
—Understood.
Elise stared at Princess Lilian.
Her gaze held exasperation, but closer inspection revealed faint pity.
Having witnessed a fragment of Elise’s power, the princess clung tighter to me, but it was no real issue.
“It’s fine.”
They exalted her as imperial, as princess, but in truth, it was a castle built on sand.
Most of what lay ahead would be like that.
If we failed to stop it, the nation would decline, people would flood the streets, ancient dynasties would crumble.
‘That’s why I’m doing this.’
I thought I’d just stick to the academy quietly, but it’s not that easy.
Once this was done, I’d have some time—maybe enough to see the students settle in.
‘Razia said she’d dig into it.’
Whatever she poked next, it’d likely put me in a tough spot.
If Razia got involved, Elin would too, and eventually the rest—cleanup would fall to me.
I couldn’t just draw a line and tell her not to.
My original knowledge was certain, but spilling it directly wasn’t ideal.
‘Knowing the enemy’s true nature is trial enough for the protagonists.’
Info I told them would be too much at this stage.
Better to avoid unknown butterfly effects.
Suddenly, Elise approached us slowly.
Princess Lilian startled back, glancing between Elise and me.
Then she squeezed her eyes shut and extended her hand toward Elise.
“Huh?”
Princess Lilian opened her eyes at the cool aura blooming on her hand’s back.
“A temporary blessing?”
—My minions will be at the seal site. If only I could clear them, but my power no longer reaches there.
With the holy water maddened, I didn’t expect the water spirits placed as guards to be intact.
This was just a veil to keep them from outright targeting her.
For me, it meant handle it yourself.
“Come out when I call.”
—Then, good fortune on your path.
With that, the steam stretching to the heavens dissipated.
The fog filling the space faded away.
What remained was an ordinary back mountain.
Princess Lilian’s legs buckled, but I swiftly grabbed her shoulder.
“Don’t dirty your knees. It’d just annoy me.”
She looked up at me silently.
“What is all this?”
What, indeed.
“What do you want to know? I’ll tell you what I can.”
“Village Chief Donapart? Shirked duty? Great demon and demon worshippers? How does it all connect…?”
Her pupils trembled, then steadied as our eyes met.
“No, that’s not it. Superficial questions like that mean little to you, Professor.”
Princess Lilian swallowed hard.
A tremor I’d never seen shook her voice.
“Professor, what exactly are you fighting?”
I chuckled inwardly.
Her earlier questions would sort themselves out in time.
Or digging into Count Rojebert’s family would reveal them.
“You don’t have to tell me the rest. Just answer this clearly. What exactly are you fighting, Professor?”
The world said heretics targeted the academy, but really, it was something inside.
She’d dismissed demon worshippers as political assassinations unrelated to her.
Yet both involved me.
The second was her initiative, but showing the links would shake her certainty of autonomy.
As I touched my jaw, Princess Lilian’s eyes sharpened.
“Professor, at least let me know what’s targeting me. What I’m up against.”
Those words weren’t literal.
She questioned why they acted this way.
Probing the core.
“What is it?”
I mulled it over, then exhaled softly.
“Providence.”
“Pardon?”
“Providence. An inescapable force of fate. That’s what we’re fighting.”
Providence neared purity.
Purity meant Aer and Aiter.
That led to runes.
And connected to the World Tree.
‘Heretic mages, cultists, demon worshippers, and…’
The roots upholding the world.
Those guarding the World Tree.
And…
‘The final enemy.’
“The World Tree is dying. An unavoidable providence.”
Princess Lilian’s face hardened.
“And if the World Tree dies, we can’t survive either.”
This game was hardcore single-player: everyone dies, or a few scrape by.
“The great demon is just a waypoint.”
I gazed at the clear sky.
The elves guarded the World Tree.
Among my students—the protagonists—one bore elven blood.
A faint smile curved my lips.