Graduation
At the break of dawn, Lapiel's mansion.
We had returned here safely after many twists and turns.
According to Aransol, Sohan had followed Soun.
That was why only the two of us had come back to the mansion.
We had gone there hoping to gather some information, only to end up in this mess.
I had learned once again that I needed to be cautious the moment I sensed anything amiss.
More than that, Lapiel's mansion was strangely quiet.
"Where could our master have gone when her beloved disciple was in danger?"
"I envy your shamelessness, Harua."
"It's fine, Aransol. You're plenty shameless yourself. Have some confidence."
"That wasn't a compliment."
Listening to Aransol's grumbling, I stepped inside the mansion.
Just then, I ran into the head butler, who was hurrying somewhere.
"Ah, Lord Harua. I'm glad to see you're safe."
Well, I did die once and come back.
Aransol shot me a glance, but I didn't meet her eyes.
"Yes, I made it back in one piece."
"I see. It seems Lord Soun arrived just in time."
"By the way, where did Master go? I should let her know her beloved disciple has returned."
"Lady Lapiel has gone to the Grace Magic Tower."
The Grace Magic Tower.
The moment I heard those words, my gaze turned subtle.
An uneasy premonition brushed past me.
"……Is it because the Black Dawn is at the Grace Magic Tower?"
"So you knew as well, Lord Harua."
The head butler let out a troubled sigh.
"It seems Lady Lapiel has identified the culprit."
Now I understood why Lapiel had rushed to the Grace Magic Tower.
At the same time, my bad feeling grew even stronger.
The Black Dawn had targeted disciples and attacked the Star Cluster Society.
They were disciples of famous powerhouses.
If they could kidnap them, it would be a huge gain for the Black Dawn.
But terrorists like them were mostly extremists.
Would those greedy bastards really have stopped at just one crime?
The Black Dawn hadn't committed many forces to kidnapping the disciples.
They had only deployed just enough power to barely pull off the abductions.
So where had the rest of their forces gone?
My eyes drifted to the window.
Far in the distance, dawn was beginning to break.
Morning was rising over Gladion, the nation of the human race.
Perhaps much would change with today's dawn.
＊ ＊ ＊
Morning had arrived.
I had stayed awake with my eyes open until dawn.
Aransol sat beside me, doing the same.
"You could have gone to sleep first."
"Master and Sohan still haven't returned."
She had a point.
I almost mistook it for her staying up out of concern for me.
The head butler had brought coffee and snacks in the middle of the night.
Come to think of it, we hadn't eaten much at the Star Cluster Society.
I took the chance to eat heartily.
While filling my stomach like that, it was already approaching noon.
Just as I was thinking it was about time to sleep, a maid's cry rang out.
"Lady Lapiel has returned!"
The moment I heard it, I jumped up from my half-asleep state and rushed outside.
There, in the distance, I saw Lapiel trudging toward us.
"Lady Lapiel."
When I called her name, our eyes met.
She looked at me with an expression full of things she wanted to say, then tilted her head.
"Harua, you……"
Don't tell me she heard about my death.
After a moment of hesitation, Lapiel opened her mouth.
"Your seed has bloomed."
Your seed has bloomed.
Hearing those words, I belatedly checked my condition.
Deep within my body.
I could feel that the seed, which had always been firmly rooted, had bloomed and sprouted a new shoot.
At the same time, the mana condensed inside the seed was flowing out on a scale different from before.
Come to think of it, right after I revived and met Aransol, my resurrection had been faster than usual.
The situation had been so chaotic that I'd forgotten, but maybe the seed had already broken at that time.
If I had to guess the cause, it was probably because I had used resurrection magic more than ever before.
I had revived at least ten people, so it must have had an effect on the seed as well.
"Congratulations."
Lapiel, who had looked exhausted just moments ago, smiled as the corners of her mouth lifted.
"You're now a proper holy mage."
As she said, from the moment the seed broke, I would be recognized as a true holy mage, not an apprentice.
I had finally shed the apprentice label.
"So, Harua."
Lapiel looked at me and smiled.
"You're expelled."
What?
I stared at Lapiel with a dumbfounded expression.
I had no idea what I had just heard.
Aransol, who had followed me out, also looked confused, unable to grasp the situation.
"Wait a second, Master?"
"Don't call me Master anymore. And pack your things and leave by the end of the day."
Lapiel turned to leave after saying that.
I already had an idea why she was doing this.
She wasn't the kind of person to act without reason.
"What's the problem with the Black Dawn being connected to the Grace Magic Tower?"
Lapiel's steps came to an abrupt halt.
"……You knew?"
"I heard about it at the Star Cluster Society."
The rumor that there was a Black Dawn member at the Grace Magic Tower.
That was why Lapiel had headed there.
"Just who is this Black Dawn member hiding in the Grace Magic Tower that you're acting like this?"
No matter how I looked at it, expulsion made no sense.
Lapiel hesitated, as if reluctant to speak.
But she couldn't keep silent after coming this far.
And what came out of Lapiel's mouth was shocking.
"……It's my father."
The father she spoke of.
He was the master of the Grace Magic Tower.
The situation where the Grace Magic Tower's master was affiliated with the Black Dawn.
I had already seen the Lord of Red Flames join hands with the Black Dawn.
It wasn't strange at this point, but it was still absurd to me.
Why would people with such high status join the Black Dawn?
A hunch struck me.
The Black Dawn's goal wasn't simple terrorism.
These bastards were after something more.
Something so massive that even the world's strongest were tempted by it.
At the same time, I understood the problem surrounding Lapiel.
If the Grace Magic Tower's master was with the Black Dawn, then Lapiel, his daughter, couldn't avoid investigation either.
The imperial family would definitely investigate her thoroughly.
And naturally, that included me, her former disciple.
I was a former disciple, and a No-Named at that.
The daughter of the Black Dawn-affiliated Grace Magic Tower master had taken a No-Named former disciple as her student.
How would the imperial family view her?
Or how would they view my existence?
This world didn't punish criminals through proper legal procedures like modern society.
If there was suspicion, they could brand you a criminal and cut off your head at any time.
The imperial family shuddered at the mere mention of the Black Dawn.
Having fought a war against them in the past, their reaction was even more extreme.
So if the other party was a transmigrator, the punishment was even more merciless.
Lapiel, the only one who could take my side, had already been branded as an accomplice.
They would cut off my head before she could even explain.
And I would revive with resurrection magic.
Damn it.
I pictured them cutting off my head a few more times before burying me in the ground, forcing me to live forever without dying.
That was the one thing I wanted to avoid most.
"……So that's why you were going to expel me."
If she severed the master-disciple relationship, she could save my life.
But doing that would only make Lapiel more suspicious.
Expelling a No-Named former disciple out of nowhere in this situation.
The imperial family would naturally suspect it and interrogate her.
"It's fine. I have connections too. The imperial family won't want to drag me into this and punish me as well."
She said that, but I could already imagine how much trouble Lapiel would go through.
No one who was taken by the imperial family ever returned alive.
That was one of the things I had learned while working as an explorer for a few months.
Lapiel would definitely be shaken down.
Yet she was willing to risk being suspected herself to save me.
A sigh escaped my lips.
Life really didn't give me a single peaceful day.
"Master, the word 'expulsion' is too gloomy. Let's not use it, even between us."
But from the moment I transmigrated, peaceful days had already disappeared.
"Let's call it graduation."
From apprentice holy mage to full-fledged holy mage.
Thanks to Lapiel's teachings, I had reached a level where I could at least present myself somewhere.
More than anything, there was one piece of good news.
"And if the imperial family asks about your disciple during the interrogation, tell them this."
Lapiel wouldn't be interrogated about expelling her disciple.
"At the Star Cluster Society, my disciple Harua died fighting against the Black Dawn."
I died fighting the Black Dawn at the Star Cluster Society.
Countless witnesses who attended the Star Cluster Society would testify the same.
They had clearly seen me melt away from the flame beam the Lord of Red Flames shot.
Lapiel's eyes widened, not understanding what I meant.
Aransol, standing behind her, simply let out a long sigh.
It was something I had to tell Lapiel, even if I didn't tell anyone else.
She was my master, after all.
"My unique ability is resurrection magic."
She didn't have to worry about her disciple dying somewhere.
When I told her that, Lapiel's eyes grew even larger.
The reason I could be a first-rate holy mage.
The reason I could help Ririran, the master of space magic.
All the questions she had about me, big and small, would be answered at once.
The people who knew I hadn't died were the head butler, Lapiel, Aransol, and Babiyen.
The head butler and Lapiel were obvious, and Aransol had no reason to spread word of my death.
Babiyen was a bit concerning, but she had also come back from the dead.
Even if she went around talking about my name, everyone would just think she was crazy.
Instead, Babiyen would be the one interrogated about how she survived.
I died at the Star Cluster Society that day.
With this, neither Lapiel nor I would face interrogation from the imperial family.
"Harua, what exactly did you do?"
Lapiel looked bewildered, still not having heard about the Star Cluster Society.
"There's a saying on Earth: 'The student surpasses the master.'"
Instead of answering her words, I shared an idiom.
"Someday, when you hear my name, you'll feel proud that you raised your disciple well."
I still had much to learn from Lapiel, but I had learned a lot already.
So I bowed my head to her.
It was a gesture of respect toward my master.
"Thank you for everything."
"……I'm sorry. I wanted to teach you more."
Tears welled up slightly in Lapiel's eyes.
She let out a breath and turned her head.
"I've learned enough. I'll study the rest on my own with books. Besides, holy mages are high-value personnel."
I could make a living as an explorer.
Even if I couldn't explore the second world alone, I wouldn't starve.
"Take care of yourself until you hear from me."
Lapiel wouldn't be able to come see me in person anymore.
And I wouldn't be able to send her even a single letter.
Until the imperial family's investigation was over, master and disciple could no longer maintain their connection.
That was why today was the last day for Lapiel and me.
The first master I had gained after falling into this other world.
That was how I graduated from my master's side.