Arrogance
"I—I'm alive…"
Sprawled across the cold stone floor, I dragged in ragged breaths.
The hellish aura of the black market that had pressed against my back was gone. The black water inside the fountain had vanished without a trace, and beneath the faint moonlight only the ordinary nightscape of the Academy stretched out in quiet stillness.
The relief of survival.
It spread through my body like a drug, drowning out even the crushing exhaustion and pain for a moment.
"…Ian!"
And then—
Sudden warmth stole the air from my lungs.
Ro—Roella?
Her body was trembling faintly, but the arms locked around me held a desperate strength.
"Thank god… really… I'm so glad…!"
She buried her face against my shoulder and the sobs she had been holding back finally broke free. Relief and the extreme terror she had endured in the black market must have crashed over her all at once. There was no trace of her usual prickly, haughty self.
Caught off guard, I awkwardly patted her back.
"Just calm down. It's okay. We got out."
At my words Roella sniffled for a moment longer—then, as if suddenly realizing what she was doing, she jerked back in a flustered panic and shoved me away.
"Wh-what do you think you're doing?! You think I hugged you because I wanted to?!"
Even under the moonlight her face was flushed a vivid red. Swallowing down tears that looked ready to spill at any second, she snapped at me in that sharp voice of hers again.
"I just… just lost my balance…! I only leaned on you for a second because I was falling! Don't you dare get the wrong idea!"
"Balance?"
I couldn't stop the snort of laughter that escaped me.
"You were clinging so hard I thought my ribs were going to break."
"Wh-what are you talking about?! Shut up! I was just so happy we didn't die that I didn't know what to do with myself!"
Roella's face went even redder as she stammered out excuses. After huffing and puffing for a long while, she finally muttered in a tiny voice,
"…I—I'll say thank you. There."
"What?"
"Anyway… I only survived because of you, so… hmph!"
She said it gruffly and whipped her head away.
Honestly, I was stunned.
Roella Amelia, who lived entirely on her own self-regard, thanking me?
"This is scarier than the aberrations."
Thud.
Something heavy smacked my arm.
When I looked, the only person there was Roella, still facing the other way and pretending nothing had happened. The way her fist was clenched tight was definitely not my imagination. She opened her mouth.
"So what the hell was that place just now? Those horrible things…?"
Roella asked. She was trying hard to look unbothered, but the faint tremor at the edge of her voice couldn't hide the fear she had felt.
Did I really need to share my knowledge of aberrations with her?
I considered it for a moment, then decided there was no harm in it. The general facts about aberrations would become common knowledge soon enough anyway. Humanity would vanish by the percentage point, and those truths would be written in their blood. If that was how the information was going to spread, explaining it to Roella early and putting her in my debt wasn't a bad idea.
"It's a place where aberrations that appeared after the Eclipse gather."
Aberrations fed on fear and grew. They tore down the boundary between reality and unreality, amplifying the negative emotions buried deep in the human heart—terror, despair, hatred. Drawn to those emotions, they had begun to slip out of the shadows and seep into the real world.
And in places where negative emotion ran especially thick, dens like that one existed—clusters of aberrations.
As if they had always been there.
Aberrations defied human understanding. Many of them gave the uncanny impression that they had occupied those spaces long before the Eclipse ever happened—that the places had always been theirs.
In a way, maybe the Eclipse didn't bring the aberrations. Maybe it just revealed the ones that were already here.
They existed outside human logic either way. Thinking too hard about it only gave you a headache.
In the great cities, in densely populated regions, in places where the Eclipse had struck hardest—countless aberrations were probably already at work, driving people into despair. That was why Theore was a dark fantasy. The true horror wasn't the monsters you could see. It was the darkness right beside you, closer than anything else.
What mattered was understanding their traits and knowing how to deal with them.
Some of them even had "strategy manuals" attached, which made those ones a little easier to handle. Ever since I'd taken down an aberration in Seorigol, the manuals had started surfacing in my mind. Shock therapy, maybe? Whatever.
Ah. Right.
"So how did you end up following me in there?"
I asked Roella for the full story. Honestly, I hadn't expected anyone to come after me at all.
At the question her expression turned grave again. Still in a shaky voice, she laid it all out—tailing James, overhearing Lionel and his underling's conversation, losing them, searching for me, and getting swept into the fountain's strange phenomenon that dumped her into the black market.
"…Your brother, Lionel. He ordered them to get you expelled… or to deal with you quietly."
Roella said it grimly.
"You need to be careful, Ian."
"I see."
Maybe my reaction was too flat. Roella's eyes went round.
"What? Do you not get how serious this is? Your brother is trying to kill you! Lionel Darkest himself! And you're just sitting there like it's nothing?"
"Lionel hating me isn't exactly news, Roella."
I continued with a sigh.
"He just hasn't finished me off because tormenting me is more fun."
"But still—!"
"It's fine."
I looked her straight in the eye.
"What matters to me right now isn't some petty little scheme like that. Lionel is… nothing compared to the real threats."
My calm must have thrown her completely. Roella stared at me for a moment, at a loss for words.
"…You've really changed."
She murmured quietly.
"Then what about the Academy talent recruitment? A whole day's already gone by. If you don't go now—"
"I'm not going."
I said it firmly.
"I told you. I don't have the money, and this isn't the time."
I pulled the strange objects I'd taken from the black market out of my coat and showed them to her. A cracked hand mirror. A withered seed. A black box. A rusted key. And… a dust-caked old sword.
Now was the time to put these to use.
Especially this seed… if it grew the way it was supposed to, it would be worth more than dozens of mediocre knights or mages.
And right then—
Flutter—!
A small bird cut across the night sky and landed on my shoulder. It wasn't an ordinary bird. It was a messenger bird I had specially trained to carry news between Seorigol and the Academy. A tiny scrap of paper was tied to its leg.
Emergency! Come back right away!
The letters were crooked and uneven, but the urgency came through loud and clear.
If anything urgent happened, send a letter immediately.
That had been one of the things I'd asked of Anya.
"…What's going on?"
Roella asked, watching my face.
"I think I need to head straight back to Seorigol."
I stood up.
The next morning, the Grand Hall of the Imperial Royal Academy.
Day two of the Emergency Talent Recruitment.
Yesterday's chaos had settled somewhat, but the fierce jockeying and recruitment wars between students and lords had only grown more blatant.
And then the great main doors of the hall swung open, and a group of figures stepped inside.
In an instant, every sound in the hall died as if someone had cut a string.
Students and even the scouts mid-argument all turned as one toward the entrance.
A man stood silhouetted against the sunlight.
An immaculately tailored top-tier tailcoat. Not a single golden hair out of place. A face carved like sculpture, wearing a soft, gentle smile. Around him, knight cadets from the Knight Department stood in perfect formation like shadows, armored without a gap.
Presence and authority that crushed the room simply by existing.
"…It's Sir Lionel Darkest!"
"He's from the Knight Department—what's he doing here? It's not like he needs money badly enough to take mercenary work."
"Don't say something that stupid. Obviously he's here as a lord."
"True. Even if he's not in the Fief Management department, he's the heir."
The murmurs mixed surprise with awe.
Lionel Darkest, eldest son of the Darkest family.
With his outstanding ability, gentlemanly manners, and the powerful backing of his house, he was one of the most influential figures in the entire Academy. The Darkest name might have lost a great deal of its luster, but in the hands of someone like Lionel, the title of "fallen house" was a brand all its own.
The savior who would restore the Darkests.
That was the treatment he received.
Lionel savored the stares pouring over him, smiling with easy leisure as he walked slowly into the hall. His blue eyes swept the crowd with gentle warmth—but deep within them, a cold ambition and arrogance flashed, the hunger to put everything beneath his feet.
Fools.
He sneered inwardly. The Eclipse? A catastrophe? To him it was an opportunity. Chaos birthed new order, and he would stand at its summit.
He paused for a moment, looking toward Evans, the top student of the Knight Department, where the largest crowd had gathered. Multiple houses were throwing extravagant offers at him, scrambling to recruit him. Lionel watched the scene briefly, then approached Evans and spoke in a low voice.
"Evans. Come to my office tomorrow morning. I've prepared a position worthy of you."
It wasn't a proposal. It was a notice.
But neither Evans nor any of the surrounding lords dared raise an objection. Lionel smiled in satisfaction and moved on. His real target was elsewhere.
A corner of the hall.
A girl standing alone, as if she had been left out. Linea Judith.
In truth it was her reputation that was shutting everyone else out, but either way, she stood by herself. Since yesterday she had received countless offers, and she had refused them all.
As if she were waiting for someone.
The corner of Lionel's mouth curled with interest.
He was confident. In this Academy—no, in the entire Empire—he believed there was no one who could refuse him.
If I recruit this girl, my renown will climb even higher.
Wearing a gentle smile, he approached Linea. The surrounding gazes burned hotter.
"Miss Linea Judith. If it wouldn't be an imposition, might I have a brief word?"
His voice was sweet as honey.
"I am Lionel of the Darkest family. Your reputation precedes you. In person, you are far more… beautiful than the rumors suggested."
He offered a subtle compliment along with his hand. But instead of taking it, Linea only looked up at him with cold eyes.
"What business do you have, Sir Lionel?"
Her voice was ice. A hairline crack appeared in Lionel's perfect smile.
"Haha. As proud as they say, I see."
He recovered his composure with effort.
"I simply wished to ask whether you might consider unfolding your magnificent talents under the Darkest family."
Someone nearby sucked in a sharp breath.
To make such a bold offer to Linea Judith, who had rejected every proposal—that was Lionel Darkest for you.
But Linea's face remained expressionless. She regarded him for a moment, then spoke quietly.
"I must respectfully decline, Sir Lionel."
"…What?"
The smile vanished from Lionel's face for an instant.
She dares refuse my offer? Few cadets could have read the vanity in him. His gentle smile was already back in place, covering the darkness underneath.
"What is it you desire? Whatever it is, I will do my utmost to provide it."
"What I am looking for is not you."
Linea smiled faintly.
Lionel's expression crumpled badly. The facial muscles he kept under perfect control twitched. Barely suppressing his rage, he forced a twisted smile onto his face.
"…A pity, Miss Linea. Recruiting you would have been a great help. To both of us."
He spun on his heel and left.
Watching him go, Linea furrowed her brow.
…Familiar.
She groped at a hazy memory.
The death of Ian Darkest that she remembered—it had definitely been connected to that man.