Cleanup Part 3
The thing you’re holding in your hand—I know what it is too. A magic stone crafted over years by those who serve the Erased One.
After scratching away at him for so long, the black mage finally lowered the corners of his mouth that had crept upward and spoke in an utterly calm voice.
“In contrast, my art is created on the spot. That’s what creation truly is. And since the value of an artwork naturally rises with time, one cannot ignore the power accumulated through those years.”
But, he added, slipping his hand into empty air.
When he pulled it back out immediately after, his hand held—
“So I’ll give it my all as well.”
A single ‘hand,’ pitch-black and dried as if it had been preserved for ages.
Before I could even ask what it was, the guy launched straight into an explanation.
“This is the hand of a painter who never saw the light of day while alive, only becoming a masterpiece after death. The very hand that painted famous works.”
The hand of a painter who only became famous after dying.
He finished the explanation in a rush and then—
-Slice.
He swung his brush and cut off his own hand.
Then he pressed the black hand against the stump.
“Khh…! Inspiration…! Inspiration is flooding in!!”
The moment he opened his eyes, the whites turned completely black, and a dark aura began to ripple around him.
Unlike the suspicious, leisurely smile from before, this one was genuinely joyful.
It was closer to mad laughter.
“It’s so stupid! The only way those who believe in the Erased One can grow stronger is by pouring in endless time! But we painters can become this strong just by inheriting the legacy of our predecessors!”
“You’re naturally spilling everything, huh.”
It seemed the scratching from earlier was still having an effect.
“Hah! But it’s true! My current creativity far surpasses the power of that magic stone in your hand! I’ll show you my art!”
The black mage’s attitude was suspiciously confident.
If he was boasting this much, he really must have grown stronger.
“…Is that so?”
Only then could I finally smile.
“Then that means we can have a proper fight, right?”
“Ha! You think it’ll stop at a proper fight? You’ll kneel before my art, shedding tears of overwhelming emotion!”
“I see… That’s a relief.”
“Yeah! Relief—wait, what?”
“Finally, I’ll be able to get some proper experience points…”
All the event enemies I’d fought until now had been so weak that instead of growing, I felt like I was regressing.
But if he was making declarations like that—
“Flame Enchant.”
I believed I could fight with everything I had and still gain proper EXP.
Let’s use every spell, sword technique, magic tool—everything I could throw into battle—and go all out.
“Don’t disappoint me!”
“!! Art Illusion!”
“Slash like a madman!”
-Slice!
“?! Wait, how do you slash—art—?!”
“Ice! Stab like a madman!”
“You crazy bastard…!”
I sliced through the black liquid flying toward me, summoned ice in midair to use as a foothold, and shot forward at high speed.
But the strengthened enemy slipped into a shadow and popped out from another one.
No, looking closer, it wasn’t shadows—he’d splattered black liquid all over the place.
“Submit to my art!”
Black liquid gushed wildly from the black mage’s blackened hand.
“Ice.”
I instantly froze everything at my feet, then charged forward with my sword raised.
Toward the guy who was about to swing his brush with the opposite hand.
-Thud.
“Ugh…!”
I fired a paralysis dart from my gauntlet.
As he hurriedly tried to dive into a shadow, I shot a light spell at him.
“Blazing Light.”
“Aaaargh!”
Since my opponent was a black mage, I didn’t have to worry about killing him, which made things incredibly convenient.
The spell Rebia had used on me was so ridiculously strong that even I had no choice but to dodge it.
“Kgh…!”
As if to prove that point, the black mage who couldn’t completely avoid it had his left arm reduced to ash.
But he was, after all, a black mage who served the ‘Painting’ demon.
“An injury like this…!”
He pressed the black hand against the wound, and his left arm sprouted anew.
It was clearly made of black liquid, but the important thing was that the arm had regrown.
“As expected, you don’t disappoint.”
“W-what?”
“Now that I’ve confirmed the regeneration, shall we pick up the pace?”
“Y-you insane—!”
The paralysis effect was short, the regeneration was fast, and his reaction speed wasn’t bad either.
I nodded in satisfaction. The guy pulled a brush out of thin air and swung it immediately.
“This is still fascinating every time.”
Just like our first meeting, black stains instantly appeared all over my body.
I tried to grab the magic stone with my gauntlet and press it against the stains, but—
“Not a chance! Haaaaah!”
The black mage’s blackened hand and brush moved frantically, dyeing my body black at an incredible speed.
I didn’t know exactly what would happen, but there was a high chance that if my entire body turned black, something bad would occur.
“Not bad, but still a bit slow.”
However, I was erasing the stains with the magic stone faster than he could spread them.
He was a black ‘mage,’ while I was both a mage and a ‘knight,’ so of course there would be a difference in speed.
“What the… what kind of monster…”
“There are a few people even more monstrous than me. I can’t give up here. You guys are black mages, aren’t you?”
Black mages were beings who could land effective hits on even the strongest in the world through utterly bizarre methods.
“Put in a little more effort!”
“You crazy bastard…!”
I don’t think you people will fall apart here.
-Fwaaaaah…
Sacred golden light spread in every direction, completely erasing the black liquid that had been covering the dormitory building.
“I’m sorry… Ella… I… I…”
“It’s alright, Ray. You’ve come back to your senses now, so everything will be fine.”
“…I’ll probably be taken away now, won’t I?”
“That’s…”
She wanted to say no, but even Ella could see that Ray borrowing the power of a black mage to commit his crimes was an incredibly serious offense.
Watching Ella’s expression as she carefully chose her words, Ray eventually gave a weak smile and spoke.
“It’s okay. It’s the path I chose.”
“Ray…”
“You’re… too kind for a human. Won’t that make it hard to live in this world?”
Ray and Ella faced each other, exchanging a short conversation.
Weakly, yet filled with determination.
As their conversation was coming to an end, knights in armor arrived with the academy staff and took Ray into custody.
“The notebooks in my room—take them all. There are tons of drawings you said you liked.”
Leaving those final words, Ray obediently let the knights lead him away.
“Ray…”
With a bitter expression, Ella watched the retreating figure of Ray being taken by the knights.
Standing beside her was—
“You handled it well, as expected. I believed in you, Miss Ella.”
“Ashen…?”
Ashen approached with a somewhat satisfied smile on his face.
“D-did something happen to you?”
“Ah, nothing much. While you were dealing with your friend, I went and took care of something at my own level.”
“You… you look like you’re in a good mood?”
“Haha, it’s been a while since I met a decent sandbag—er, opponent. People like Loxia, Rebia, Estelle, and Leona are too high-level for me to fight, and the 4th places below me are too weak, so I was wondering what to do… but I got to fight someone who held out just right.”
As he spoke, Ashen pointed somewhere.
“They’re carrying him over there right now. Ah, maybe it’s better if you don’t look, Miss Ella?”
“Huh…?”
“It’s a black mage’s corpse. Probably better not to look.”
“B-black mage…?”
“The one who ran away earlier. I fought him.”
“Ah…”
Behind the detained Ella, two knights in golden armor were carrying a coffin containing the black mage.
The lid was open, offering a slight glimpse inside, but the knights seemed to have finished their analysis quickly and closed it shut.
“…Ashen.”
“Yes.”
“Black mages… they’re always executed, right?”
“Well… yes. Either kill them for research or keep them alive for interrogation… but in the end, they die either way.”
“Then… Ray is…”
“Ah, you mean that liquid monster friend of yours?”
“Liquid monster…?”
“Ahem. Since your friend joined hands with a black mage… well, that side also…”
“Right…”
At Ashen’s answer, Ella’s expression grew even darker.
Seeing her like that, Ashen glanced around for a moment before speaking.
“By any chance… do you want to save your friend?”
“Pardon?”
“I can’t make him innocent, but I think I can keep him from being executed.”
“R-really?”
“Well… no one died, and I saved all the eroded victims without any injuries, so it should be possible.”
“H-how?!”
He could prevent Ray from dying.
At Ashen’s words, Ella’s eyes sparkled as she asked for the method, and his answer was—
“Just use your connections. You’re the Saintess, after all.”
“…Eh?”
It was the typical solution employed by people in high places.
After all, Ella was the Saintess—essentially the number one or two figure in the Holy Empire.