...As Expected, That Was Your Flame.
...As Expected, That Was Your Flame.
The next morning.
"It's absolute chaos."
Yushia murmured vacantly.
It was a complete mess, in the most literal sense.
As if a storm had swept through, Yushia's work desk was entirely buried under a sea of paper documents.
"To think my guess was actually right...."
Her golden eyes blinked a few times. Her white hair was loose and disheveled, left untended.
[ Scarlet is not a person of Yudit. ]
Knight of Embers, Scarlett Yudit.
She bears the Yudit name, but the blood of the Yudit family does not flow within her.
That simple fact had kept Yushia awake all through the dawn. She understood, and yet she did not. That was the feeling that persisted.
"Maybe, in a way, this is fortunate...."
Yushia took hold of the glow-in-the-dark doll that looked exactly like Plan with both hands. She lifted it up, carefully.
She traced back through the past.
That time, thick with the stench of blood, was still vivid. At the moment of fatal crisis, when she couldn't even open her eyes, pitch-black darkness covered the world.
─Fwoosh!
That was when the crimson flame saved Yushia. Even Yushia herself had given up on living, but the flame did not leave her to die.
─Fwoosh!
It slaughtered every demon beast that threatened her, until at last Yushia could open her eyes.
─Fwoosh!
Until she realized that no matter how dark it became, so long as there was a single ray of light, she could live again.
Because he had saved Yushia.
...Because she could never forget that.
Yushia quietly hugged the glow-in-the-dark doll close.
To shine with light in the darkness—even now, that was what Yushia loved above all else.
"As I thought... that flame was yours after all."
The girl closed her eyes and spoke as if whispering.
Thinking of only one single man.
◈
The joint conference room of Märchen Academy.
The room was so packed with high-ranking knights and mages from each department that there was barely room to set foot.
And the noise—well, it didn't need to be said twice.
A low rumble of voices─
"No, you people are the ones in the wrong─"
"Your side started it!"
"If they had the skill, it shouldn't matter in the first place!"
Finally, one knight slammed the table repeatedly—bang, bang—and only then did silence return to the conference room.
"Are we certain this information is true?"
A senior knight, a figure roughly equivalent to a head professor if measured by the Magic Department's titles. Conrad murmured, his tone questioning. Conet, the head of the Magic Department, replied with a composed expression.
"So many pieces of information were mentioned today. To which one are you referring?"
"I am asking whether these knights truly died."
He said, tapping the list from the subjugation festival.
Conrad, stroking his well-groomed beard, was a major figure who led the renowned Cloud family.
In fact, his son Kian was a prodigy as well, currently commanding a student knight order called 'Blue Cloud.'
"Yes. That is the conclusion we have reached."
"...."
Conrad still seemed unconvinced. Another knight beside him cut in irritably.
"How can you answer that so easily? The representatives are dead, and yet...."
"Do not interrupt. Look here, Conet. This part also bothers me considerably."
Conrad pointed at one of the reports.
[...In Plan's teleportation magic circle, formulas composed of various Elf languages were also discovered.]
"For a mere student to even use Elf languages—is the Magic Department not concealing something of importance?"
Conet gave a short, scoffing laugh.
"I confirmed with my own two eyes that he is proficient in multiple languages—very clearly."
Plan had personally recited Elf languages in front of Conet.
She remembered that moment. It was when she truly began to take note of the existence called Plan.
"So, he is a mage with ample capability in that regard. Hasn't his extraordinary skill already been sufficiently proven by the previous competitions?"
Conet deliberately used the word 'mage' rather than student to describe Plan. Conrad still watched her with narrowed eyes.
"The situation is so strange that I am compelled to mention it."
"Yes. It is certainly strange."
Conet calmly accepted Conrad's words.
"Entering the danger zone during the subjugation festival was always treated as a point of pride, and deaths occurred every year. So why is it suddenly an issue only this year...? Is that not exceedingly strange?"
"Rant all you want. It will all come to light soon enough."
"The scores are already coming to light as we speak."
As of yesterday, the Magic Department's score—which hadn't so much as budged—had skyrocketed to a level comparable to Cheonchuk.
The rise was literally staggering. Enough to make the points a few other groups had accumulated here and there look somewhat meaningless.
'...To think I would get to see a sight like this with my own eyes.'
Looking around at the densely packed knights, Conet silently repeated her impression to herself.
Defeat, suspicion, worry... On the faces of knights who'd passed their days without a second thought, all those emotions were now mixed together.
Because she remembered the years of being so casually and utterly ignored, she didn't entirely dislike this current uproar.
"So, has the dispatch to the danger zone still not occurred?"
Just as Conrad opened his mouth once more.
The conference room door swung wide open.
"What reason have you to quarrel over such things?"
A solemn tone that resonated through the space.
A woman stood firmly in the open doorway.
Her hair was as black and deep as the night sky, and beneath it, golden eyes that glittered like stars blinked.
"...!"
Everyone's eyes simultaneously widened.
Second Princess Aurora. There was no one present who did not recognize her face.
"Your Highness...!"
"We dare behold Your Highness!"
Guard knights stepped out from Aurora's left and right, systematically surrounding the conference hall, and one after another, people began to bow and offer formal greetings toward the princess.
Accepting the greetings with a raised hand, the princess blinked once, then spoke.
"You have no need whatsoever to quarrel."
At her leisurely pronouncement, a few knights voiced their convictions.
"Your Highness, but this is!"
"Each and every one of those representatives is a future pillar of the Empire. What the Magic Department has done to those pillars...."
"Ha."
Aurora gave a quiet, scoffing laugh.
"Fellows who cannot even break through a danger zone of Berkel—you dare call them pillars of the Empire?"
She blinked twice.
On the first blink, stars shimmered in her pupils; on the second, the shape of a golden crescent moon.
"That is an exceedingly dull jest."
Everyone closed their mouths.
Soon, a throne was moved into the conference room for Aurora, and the princess continued speaking amid the solemn atmosphere.
"I have dispatched officials to the danger zone."
Surprise spread across everyone's faces once more. And simultaneously, Aurora's statement that there was no need to quarrel was understood.
The Second Imperial Princess quietly nodded her head.
"Now then, everyone—are you prepared to observe?"
◈
Early morning.
We were staying near the heart of the temple.
After wiping out the shadows and the Blue Cloud knights who'd become demons, we'd kept the momentum going and spent the whole day hunting demon beasts inside the temple.
The number of demon beasts slain yesterday was at least over a hundred. This was largely thanks to the three mages having learned the concept of 'combined assault.'
"Hmm."
I looked at the three representatives, who were deeply asleep. I was the only one awake at present.
In a single day, we'd accumulated points rivaling Cheonchuk's, and the distortion bag still had plenty of provisions. So letting them rest this much should be fine.
I decided to conduct an inspection of Hera.
[To have refined the first absorption to that degree—that was an astonishingly perfect utilization, Master!]
Hera was satisfied, but I was not.
From now on, I would be handling far greater power, so I needed to practice controlling forces that gather in one place and then amplify.
"...."
I quietly closed my eyes and attuned with Hera.
The glove that was Hera floated up into the air.
[Oh? Trying out spirit transformation too, are we?]
The purpose of this inspection was to deepen my attunement with Hera while also perfecting spirit transformation.
Before, I'd had many regrets because conditions like total mana capacity weren't met, but now that I could partially absorb the surrounding energy, it was worth attempting.
Fsssssh─.
Spirit transformation meant freely changing Hera's form.
I decided to take it a step further: not only to achieve the desired form, but also to make it appear transparent by dispersing the visible light that hits it.
Poof!
[Ooh?!]
It succeeded more easily than expected. The glove that was Hera freely altered its appearance according to my will. A quill pen, a box, and various other uses were possible.
That was sufficient.
"Next would be the destination, then...."
I took out the map and examined it.
The place that held the most points aside from the Dead Dragon and Scarlett's pauldron, and at the same time, the place where an ancient rune treasure lay.
This temple satisfied both of those conditions.
No, actually, it was more a trap than a temple.
Through my examination yesterday, I'd discovered that this entire structure was a space created by a demon that manipulates shadows.
That entity was watching me warily, luring us toward the temple's heart.
The reason I let myself be led so obediently was just one.
...Because I was confident I could smash the trap entirely.
But then.
"You—!"
Trixie's sharp voice rang through the space. It was a response I found quite unexpected.
It couldn't be an enemy attack or anything like that.
When I turned my head, Trixie had grabbed the half-asleep Becky by the collar and was shaking her back and forth.
"Are you crazy? Are you insane?!"
"Nnnyeah.... Gak, uh, uung?"
"My handkerchief! You blew your nose on my handkerchief!"
"Huh...?"
Watching Becky go pale in real time, I sighed deeply.
Trixie had every right to be furious. She'd treasured that handkerchief, imbued with magical effects, so dearly.
"My nose was stuffed up while I was sleeping, and something just happened to be in my hand, so... I mean, why were you even hugging that thing while you slept?"
"Is that really what you should be saying right now?"
"Okay, okay. I'll give you my handkerchief, so calm down, okay?"
"No!"
"...Isn't it the same handkerchief? This one's clean."
"It's not the same!"
I pondered for a moment, then approached Trixie. Standing by and doing nothing about their endless fight wasn't an option—there were far too important tasks ahead.
I held out a fountain pen to Trixie.
"Take it."
Trixie looked at me with furrowed brows. Naturally, I tacked on a plausible reason.
"Now that I think about it, I was supposed to give you this in return for the handkerchief."
"...."
Trixie blinked a couple of times.
She shoved Becky away and fixed her gaze on the fountain pen. Her eyes looked a little wider now.
She looked between me and the fountain pen.
"Mr. Teaching-sensei. To me?"
"Yeah."
"Why are you only giving it to me now?"
"I blanked out and forgot."
"As if that's something you'd forget. It's been days."
Though her voice was sulky, Trixie kept her eyes fixed on the fountain pen. An inscrutable desire flickered in her blue eyes.
"Make your decision. The choice is yours."
I moved the fountain pen up and down. Trixie's eyes followed it. The same happened when I moved it left and right.
"What's there to decide? It's originally mine anyway."
Trixie swiftly snatched it and tucked it into her inner pocket. Her mood seemed to have improved in that short span.
Around then, Louis finished folding all the blankets.
I addressed the representatives.
"We're moving out."
It was time to enter the temple's heart.
'We'll meet soon enough.'
Whether it be demon beasts, Cheonchuk, or embers.