Come to Think of It, That Might Be Better

Could this actually work in my favor?

"...Why, though?"

"For starters, there are two ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠reasons. The first, as I mentioned before, is that I'm still a greenhorn."

Compared to my past self, I was a hopelessly weak existence. I carried no distant divinity within me, and my body wasn't sturdy enough to withstand casting overwhelming techniques like the Spear of Annihilation.

If there was even a sliver of possibility, it lay in me — me, who had completed my 4th advancement...

But three measly hours means nothing.

Five hours a day, ten at the very most. And of that, I had to pour a full three hours into maintaining Serek alone.

Pharaoh's golden mask gave a twitch.

"You are the one who holds dozens of beasts within your very soul. You even took in one whose soul was all but crushed."

"That was Myosin. She was such a pitiful case, too."

Myosin, who had shouldered the fate of her own kin. If I had been even slightly weaker back then, she would surely have perished — but the me of that time was twenty-six years into my craft, nearing my prime.

"I'm a thing of the past, in the most literal sense. I don't have that kind of strength anymore."

"But you could still place her within your soul, could you not?"

"You already lifted the restriction on using soul-space abilities once before. You didn't object then."

"I do not say this merely because she must continue to exist."

"Then what is it?"

"......"

Pharaoh's mouth closed again. I'd asked, but truthfully, I already knew the answer.

"She won't be lost. The world they vanished from isn't all that dangerous anymore, after all."

"...I am not speaking of threats."

"Then it's time, isn't it. We have no idea how much ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠longer she'll hold on."

Serek's soul had slept, half-shattered, for thousands of years. Pharaoh's liberation of her had opened her eyes once more, but her condition was far from good. Compared to the other beasts of the Void Space, Serek's abilities were remarkably ordinary.

"Her time grows shorter by the day. Left as she is, her soul may not hold together much longer."

"......"

"So if you grant my request, I shall do one more thing you desire."

"Something I desire... Then answer me honestly, please."

A sidelong glance. Once more, I turned my eyes toward the door.

Two presences, supposedly suppressed — and yet still lingering.

"Ooh. She's doing it. She's doing it."

".....gulp."

They're really in sync, those two.

"What do you think of Serek?"

"What do you mean, what do I think of her?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. It's simple curiosity, so speak freely."

What Serek was to Pharaoh.

"...Serek is. My right hand. The one capable retainer I have left."

"That's it?"

I can't agonize over this at that rate. I tilted my head, and Pharaoh let out a sigh.

"......She is merely. Somewhat special to me."

"In what way?"

"Are you mocking me?"

"Of course not. I'm genuinely curious."

This was a side of him I'd never seen in the proud, self-assured man of the past — or rather, a side I'd never witnessed because he'd never once spared a thought for trivial things like relationships.

"...She weighs on my mind, to a certain degree. Is that answer sufficient?"

"Oh my."

"Oh my, my, my."

"Whoa, I have GOT to put this on the academy board."

"...What in the world are those things."

Pharaoh glared at the two girls sprawled flat where the door to the dean's office had swung open. So he was only noticing them now.

"Uncle Inom's heart-pounding love story..."

Leo, sprawled on the floor, working the student ID's board system...

"Told you. I knew this would happen."

And there sat Rasty, draped in a veil of blood that sealed off every sense, wearing a deeply satisfied smile.

Even from beyond the door, a being of Pharaoh's caliber would have caught on in an instant — but his opponent was Rasty. Where magic was concerned, no one in all of DeoEn could lay a finger on her position. Granted, Rasty was currently in avatar form and diminished in power, but then again, so was Pharaoh.

Rasty smiled faintly.

"Playing coy, were we? How fun. Pharaoh."

"What mischief is this."

"Found myself some entertainment for the first time in ages. You won't mind if I go tell Serek about this, will you?"

"Do so, and I will scatter every last drop of your blood."

"If you can."

KUOOOOOO!

Blood currents and a sandstorm came howling through the dean's office. Countless documents and objects went spinning in the wake of clashing power, while Leo hunched herself down into a tight ball, riding a wind spirit for cover.

"Uncle Inom is actually a tsundere..."

Even in the middle of all that, she didn't stop typing.

"That's enough. Both of you."

"I have disliked you for some time now. You and I stand in the very same straits — upon what do you base such confidence?"

"For a statue, you certainly talk big. You truly believe you can beat me?"

"In our current, equally diminished state? Entirely possible, you brat who has lived scarce a fraction of my years."

"...You. Are dead."

Rasty's snow-white fingertip drew a crimson line. The line became a character, and the characters wove themselves into ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a single spell — Rasty's unique authority, a grand magic composed of dozens of blood formulas. An art of the highest order, one that sank its target into eternal sleep, manifested into the world.

Alongside the massive formation, a wave of blood rippled out through the dean's office —

KWAAANG!!

"Eeek!"

"I told you to stop."

Snow-white divinity punched straight through the Rite of Tranquility and neutralized Rasty where she stood. Snow-white wings and a translucent cape unfurled behind my back, radiating light. My divinity-laden eyes turned and locked onto Pharaoh. He, who had been in the midst of summoning a sword of sand, quite naturally crushed it in his own hand.

"Pharaoh, you stop it too."

"...At this moment, I judge it entirely possible."

"I told you already. Three hours, at best."

At best, this was a half-finished awakening shackled to a time limit. Worse, even my offensive capabilities were restricted. In this state, I could suppress the two of them, but I couldn't actually take them down — I might have stood a chance fighting at my 3rd tier instead.

"Uuunn... niiieee..."

"Rasty. Did I not tell you to stop?"

"Sowwy..."

Rasty had gone thoroughly limp under the divinity. Ordinarily, a mere vampire would be purified in an instant upon so much as brushing against divine power — but Rasty was the sovereign of the Blood Nobles, the Progenitor herself. Run-of-the-mill divinity didn't so much as faze her.

Of course, the reason she wasn't in any pain at all was that the divinity I'd fired off was the Divinity of Healing.

"I feel... all... woozeh..."

"That's your punishment. Sit there like that for a while."

"Hnngh!"

"...Professor, she's not drunk, is she?"

Leo glanced upward, pausing mid-sentence. Rasty still looked utterly woozy.

"Hard to say?"

The Divinity of Healing was a power I'd only just acquired. I'd never isolated and wielded it like this even in the old days, so I had no way of knowing how it would interact with anything — not with myself, and not with Rasty, who was every bit as special a being as I was.

"...Anyway, let's sum this up. You like Serek, so to keep her from fading away, you want me to place her inside the Void Space. That about right?"

"I never said I liked her."

"Then we'll call it love."

"No."

"I could do it, sure — but the problem is my power. Even if I treat her soul in my current state, there's no guarantee it would hold."

A soul cannot be 'resurrected'. That was a truth I had learned, bone-deep, over long and bitter years. Even at the height of my power, I had never once revived a soul or restored one to wholeness. Myosin hadn't truly been healed so much as forcibly kept anchored — much like Pharaoh himself is now.

"...You are saying it cannot be done?"

"I'm saying it would make little difference. Not until this awakening is complete, or I reclaim greater power."

"......"

"And above all, Serek wouldn't want it."

Whether it was the Serek brimming with loyalty, or the Serek harboring a heart she knew she shouldn't — she would never wish to sever her bond with Pharaoh.

"...I see."

"Yes."

"Truuue. Even I would hate that."

Leo — who apparently had finished writing — chimed in with her big, sparkling eyes.

"He'll totally say 'understood' on the outsiiide. And then be suuuper, suuuper disappointed on the insiiide."

"Whatever the reason, you're telling me it cannot be done."

"For the moment, yes."

"Understood. I shall take my leave."

And with that, Pharaoh swept out of the dean's office. Given his personality, I'd expected him to push a little harder. Unexpected.

"Is it okay to just leave things like that?"

"Any more and it'd be overkill. They're both already onto each other."

This was as far as I'd nudge. The bond between those two had endured for ages upon ages; there had been a brief parting, yes, but after thousands of years they stood at each other's side once more. Whatever anyone else said, the ones who understood each other best were the two of them — so this much was plenty. Shoving the pair into seats side by side and declaring, 'Now, love each other!' would just be absurd.

...Though honestly, that might be kind of fun too?

"Ah, boohoo! B-but. The statue guy's a duuummy..."

"Serek's every bit the fool he is. That's exactly what makes it fun."

"Ooh... then can I post this one?"

Leo spun her student ID around to show me. Beneath the finished text, the cursor hovered right on the register button.

It was Leo's hastily scrawled account of Uncle Inom's love story.

"If you can withstand Uncle Inom's wrath, be my guest."

"Doesn't matter anyway, right? I'm not even majoring in his class~"

"You could take it as a minor. You've never sat in on it, not even once?"

"Nope."

Apparently, Leo had taken my lectures as her major, Rasty's twice, and the newly appointed Jeokma's once — but she'd never attended a single one of Pharaoh's classes. Leo's line of work could arguably be called a summoner type, too.

"Just never felt drawn to it. Anyway, posting it, heehee."

And just like that, every student at the academy was about to learn Uncle Inom's love story.

"Gasp! What if he quits teaching over this?!"

"He can't quit."

If he tried, I'd simply confiscate the desert. And if I confiscated the desert, he'd have no reason to stay in it — meaning the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠two of them would never be apart again. And since Pharaoh wanted Serek by his side anyway...

Come to think of it, isn't that actually a good thing?