Liwin's Whereabouts (1)
In the fog-shrouded dawn, Yustina returned once more to the back mountain of Denebergen Academy, strolling along the mountain path. Walking the quiet trail, it was hard to believe that just a few hours earlier, a horrific battle had raged here. And hadn't it been Yustina herself who had nearly burned the entire mountain to ashes?
"Ugh, this Yustina must learn to control her emotions as well..."
The cleanup after the incident had gone smoothly enough. Elfin had administered memory-erasing potions to all the students except Deneb, and Yustina had handled the site restoration herself. Deneb, who had been the most seriously injured, was receiving separate treatment and resting deeply.
'I wanted to watch over Deneb's sleeping face without missing even a second until he woke... but things got complicated.'
Yustina let out a goofy laugh as she suddenly recalled Deneb's adorable sleeping face, then shook her head to clear her mind. Though everything had wrapped up neatly, the reason Yustina had returned to the back mountain was something else entirely.
'...To think a spy dared infiltrate this Yustina's academy.'
Despite their exhaustion, Yustina and Elfin had pressed on without rest. Unfortunately, Gruetta—the one who had spewed flames from her magitech flamethrower—had been slain in Yustina's fit of rage, so they had conducted the interrogation with only Hans, the demon Elfin had captured.
The result revealed that the demon siblings had been able to infiltrate this far thanks to an inside collaborator hidden within the academy. At first, Hans had stubbornly resisted, clamping his mouth shut and refusing to talk. But once subjected to Yustina's mind-manipulation magic, lying became impossible. Moreover, he spilled everything else with ease.
'Drelin's last king, and Liwin...'
Both were stories Yustina had more or less suspected. She knew of the major stirrings in the Demon Realm recently orchestrated by Drelin's final king, and that the central nobles and imperial family were responding in various ways. But while she had known Liwin had headed to the Demon Realm, she never dreamed they had formed an alliance.
"I wonder how Deneb will react when he finds out."
Yustina gazed at the sky with trembling eyes. She had come to check for traces of the spy and inspect the barriers, but her thoughts inevitably drifted back to Deneb amid her worries. Just yesterday, she had sternly warned Dane not to investigate Liwin. Yet she never thought she could hide it forever.
'He'll learn of it soon enough, one way or another.'
Drelin's last king had begun to move, and if Liwin was his ally, then it was obvious she would soon act to achieve her own goals. The moment she did, the world would change dramatically. Five hundred years was more than enough time for preparations.
"...Ah, but for Liwin, it might not have been five hundred years at all."
Yustina, who knew well the transcendent nature of a time mage, shuddered as a wave of dread washed over her.
"Ugh... uuuuugh..."
It was an unfamiliar ceiling. He had clearly collapsed mid-battle on the mountain moments ago, yet here he was in an opulent treatment room, which suggested things had wrapped up well somehow. Despite dodging as best he could, his body had taken quite a beating, but now it felt perfectly fine. Pressing down on the plush bed and marveling anew at the power of healing magic, Deneb heard the door open as someone entered.
"Wha—what?!"
The woman entering with a tray and a gloomy expression rounded her eyes wide the moment she saw him fully awake. Comfortable pants, bandages wrapped around her chest, and an overcoat draped on top. The coat was a bit dirtier than before, but it was the same style as when he'd last seen her before blacking out—Elfin.
"You're awake?! Thank goodness!"
"...Fainting like that—were my injuries that bad?"
"Hmm, want the honest truth?"
Deneb nodded, meeting Elfin's sparkling eyes. In his past life, she had been a bratty kid who bombarded him with facts regardless of what he wanted, throwing him off balance. But apparently, in the five hundred years since, she'd learned to hide her true feelings.
"It wasn't that serious. The ice mage you collapsed against had incredible power, but you fought amazingly well."
"Ahem, told you my skills haven't dulled."
"Even with that body of yours, you're still Master after all. Honestly, a seventeen-year-old student facing a mage like that is absurd to begin with."
The day had come when Elfin praised him. Being a master outdone by his disciple and receiving advice instead—who would've thought? But Elfin wasn't just stronger than him now; she was top-tier on the entire continent. Without their past-life bond, he might have simply felt honored by her acclaim based on skill and status alone.
"...That said, from what you're saying, it sounds like I was fine, so why was I out for a full day?"
Elfin finally gave an awkward smile in response.
"Ah, haha... Well, your body is just so frail, you know..."
"...Ah."
"You burned through all your mana and hit rock bottom on stamina, so recovery took time. But you're good as new now, so that's a relief."
"The healing magic's doing? Nice, definitely feels solid."
"Even so, that body is still a shame, right? How about we find the resurrection flower together and swap it out...?"
"That's why I said, go figure out how first. We don't even have the basics. Then I can think about it."
Deneb rolled his shoulders, stretched lightly, and rose from the bed.
"Wha—hey! You're still not ready to get up!"
"I'm fine, no need to fuss. What about the others?"
"Hmm, Yozef, Gines, and Konet are all unscathed. Yustina stepped out to check something."
"...And Charlotte?"
The moment Charlotte's name came up, Deneb caught the flicker in Elfin's eyes. He wondered if he should start by explaining that the witch and demon siblings had targeted Charlotte, but it seemed that wasn't the issue. They'd captured the demon siblings who hadn't reached his side and interrogated them. Which meant Elfin and Yustina had the same information he did.
"Charlotte's... yeah, she wasn't badly hurt. You were up front fighting, so she stayed safe in the back."
"Safe?"
During the fight, Charlotte had clearly been hit by an icicle. That icicle looked like it could kill a person outright if it landed properly. And yet she was fine? That might be exactly why Drelin's last king was after her.
Deneb cut straight to it without beating around the bush.
"You know Charlotte was the target of this attack, right?"
"...Huh? Wh-what? I, I have no idea! Charlotte was the target?!"
"You're still terrible at lying, past or present. You're definitely more warrior than assassin or thief."
"Haha..."
Elfin gave a cautious smile as she looked at him.
"...Who told you?"
"Who? I heard it from the witch herself... no, Katarina, mid-fight."
"Ah, I see. Figures. I thought she couldn't talk under the brainwashing, but you must've found a way to communicate."
"Yeah, there was a spell for that."
Explaining Cheongsimsul would take too long, so he glossed over the method.
"No honorifics... Katarina, huh. Someone I know well too."
"You know her?"
"Of course. Come to think of it, Master—no, Deneb, you wouldn't know what happened in the five hundred years after you died."
"...Just call me casually when it's the two of us. So what were you up to all those five hundred years that you know Katarina, the resistance mage?"
Elfin lightly tossed her dirty coat aside and shrugged.
"Well, I was in the resistance too."
"You were in the resistance? Why?"
Deneb's eyes widened at the unexpected info, but Elfin scratched her cheek and continued matter-of-factly.
"After you died, Philbert Uncle came to our house, and I joined up with him."
"Uncle... I see."
Deneb suddenly pictured Philbert's face upon hearing of his death. Even knowing it was a premeditated sacrifice, a pang hit his chest.
"I didn't think much of it. I needed a place to be anyway, and I'd guessed you trained me to take your place in the resistance someday."
"That was just at first. After a point, I just enjoyed watching you grow up by my side."
"Ahaha, yeah. You never forced me once."
Elfin smiled, her voice firm.
"But I did want to repay you. So I helped the resistance with the coup on purpose. You raised me, so I repaid Philbert Uncle, who raised you."
"...So that's how it was. Makes sense—you wouldn't have just joined the imperial family right after I died and slaved away for five hundred years. There was a story behind it all."
Elfin beamed at Deneb as he rubbed his forehead.
"Yeah, that was probably the second-happiest time in my life. When Drelin Kingdom finally fell and the Kaeton Empire swallowed it up."
"Hold on—you were happy then?"
"Yeah. History books make it sound like the empire just gobbled it up easy... but they actually treated the resistance really well."
This was new to him. Deneb raised an eyebrow, urging her on.
"They even made Philbert Uncle—the resistance leader—a lord over Drelin's former lands, and all the executives and members got their shares. The territory ran way better than under Drelin too."
"Uncle as a lord...? That's... surprising."
"Ahaha, not the image, right? But he did pretty well? It was smooth sailing for about fifty years. Fifty years..."
Elfin's eyes sparkled briefly, as if recalling that time. Then her expression darkened, and she bowed her head.
"...But one by one, they all started leaving me."
"Ah..."
Now Deneb understood. Elfin was an elf—a long-lived race, unlike humans. As years passed, wrinkles would crease the foreheads of those around her, while she remained unchanged. Her resistance comrades would have left children behind and passed on first, leaving her alone.
"Philbert Uncle never had kids, so after he died, someone else took the lordship. He was recommended by so many, a good guy... but I couldn't get attached."
"......"
"People I knew kept vanishing. Sickness, old age. With everyone gone from Drelin's lands, I couldn't find a reason to stay... so I left."
At that point, Deneb voiced the question that popped into his head.
"What about Yustina and Liwin?"
"...Huh?"
"Liwin the time mage could've stopped her own time flow, right? And Yustina's a dragon with an even longer lifespan than elves. Couldn't they have stayed with you?"
Elfin looked at him with strangely wistful eyes.
"...Truth is, they were the first to leave."
She gave a bitter smile, rubbing her reddened nose.