Chapter 120
Chapter 120
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 120
Chapter Title: Be Careful as the End Approaches (2)
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Time flies by.
Suddenly, that thought crossed my mind.
Raniel sat by the window of the café, checking the academic schedule and counting the remaining classes on her fingers. Inevitably, she thought about how quickly time had passed.
Looking out the window, she saw students passing through the square. Dressed in light summer uniforms that felt a bit more relaxed than formal attire, wandering around Aphria... it brought a flood of thoughts.
'Six months.'
It had already been six months since she'd started living as Lania. She'd spent half a year as an entirely different person. Reflecting on the past six months, Raniel murmured to herself.
"Time sure has flown."
To some, half a year might be a short time.
But from the perspective of the Ashen Mage, who had lived her days broken down into minutes and seconds... half a year was never short.
But what about now, living as a professor?
'It felt short.'
Half a year had felt brief. Looking back, time had passed so quickly.
"......"
Raniel set her pen down for a moment.
She let out a short breath and stretched.
'The reason time feels like it's flying by.'
It wasn't hard to guess.
Reflecting on her past life, the answer came quickly.
'Because I've been living more leisurely than ever.'
Back in her days as the Next Mage Tower Lord, cutting sleep to research and managing the Mage Tower's finances without a moment's rest.
Her Sage days, marching to the front lines day after day without proper sleep or rest.
Compared to those two periods... life as an Aphria professor now was leisurely beyond compare. No major ups and downs. There were incidents, but nothing like her Sage days.
A smooth life is flat.
Because it's flat, it slips by in the blink of an eye.
Before you know it, summer's here, winter's here, the year's almost over... you'd say things like that.
'I can't let that happen.'
Raniel shook her head.
Time is precious, a limited resource.
Using limited resources efficiently is a mage's virtue. With a feigned serious expression, Raniel fiddled with her coffee cup.
"Summer."
Half the year.
"End of term."
The end of the semester.
With that right around the corner, Raniel recalled her past classes. She pictured in her mind the life students had experienced at Aphria.
And then, she blurted out.
"Isn't it kind of bland?"
It was a quiet mutter.
But there were those who heard it. The eyes of a few students in the café widened. Their heads whipped around, gazes pouring toward Raniel.
"Ahem."
The person herself didn't seem to care. Raniel touched her lips and began scribbling something on a blank sheet of paper.
「Seasonal Semester」
「Extra Assignments」
「Make-up Classes」
Written in crooked handwriting.
Each one was enough to make students freak out.
'This isn't it.'
But she wasn't satisfied.
Raniel crossed them out with a line and wrote something new.
「Something to cap off the semester.」
She jotted down the theme and pondered for a long time.
Raniel didn't like wasting time meaninglessly. Meaningful time. A major event worth remembering when looking back on the past.
There should be at least one like that.
"Ah."
Clap. Raniel clapped her hands.
Then she wrote something down on the paper. Looking at the completed plan, Raniel nodded.
"This should do it."
It was quite a satisfying plan.
All that was left was approval. Holding the plan, Raniel stood up. Humming a tune, she stepped out of the café.
Creeak, thud.
The café door closed.
A moment later, the students who had been holding their breath one by one raised their heads. Their gazes turned to the spot that had just been occupied by Aphria's nightmare.
The seat with the best sunlight.
Sitting there, basking in the warm rays while gazing out the window... Professor Lania's figure was a picture in itself. Her appearance was outstanding, inversely proportional to her foul personality.
Ashen hair sparkling in the sunlight.
Her profile, chin resting on her hand, lost in thought.
Every time she blinked, eyes leaking a subtle blue light between her lashes.
An appearance that kept drawing the eye.
A few students rolled their eyes at her looks.
'She's pretty. Really pretty...'
But that was it.
"What did she just say?"
Beauty is highly volatile.
It might steal your gaze for a moment... but once it vanishes from sight, what remains is something else.
"I wasn't the only one who heard that, right?"
"...I heard it too."
One phrase lingered in the students' minds.
「Isn't it kind of bland?」
...Bland?
What exactly was bland?
"No way it's because there were no assignments last week..."
"Nah, come on."
"Don't jinx it."
At someone's guess, students playfully punched his shoulder. Trying to brush it off as a joke, telling him not to say ominous things.
"......"
But silence soon fell.
In the heavy quiet, the students remembered.
The terror they'd endured over the past six months.
The nightmares that came every night.
The nights they couldn't sleep.
Thinking back on that, and considering what kind of person Professor Lania was... it wasn't impossible. Quite likely, in fact. The more they thought, the more it seemed like something she'd do.
"......"
Silence hung in the air.
Unable to bear it, someone opened their mouth with an awkward laugh.
"Nah, she wouldn't."
"Right? I mean, it's the end of the semester."
"Yeah, exactly."
Everyone chimed in.
Yeah, there had to be limits, even for her.
"Right, Professor Lania's human too. Even she has a heart..."
The student trailing off went quiet.
After a brief silence, he spoke again. What came out was a question.
"...Does she?"
No one answered.
Only a chilling silence spread among the students.
...It was the story of a summer day.
2.
Royal Guard's personal office.
Looking at a single letter that had arrived for him, Kalt let out a long sigh. It was from Knight Commander Heinkel.
"...Feels like the workload's piling up again."
Lately, the tasks just wouldn't stop.
Big and small incidents kept erupting. Kalt set the letter on the table and leaned his head back.
Superhuman movements.
That's what Heinkel had sent.
'Superhuman.'
Repeating the word, Kalt closed his eyes.
Closing them brought back recent memories. The experience of death brushing right up to his chin. It kept flickering before his eyes.
Sword Superhuman.
Sword Master, Kuntel.
His old master and benefactor, turned familiar of the apostate church. The sword strikes he wielded replayed and vanished repeatedly.
It was a sharp sword.
A beautiful sword.
Free of excess, a perfect sword.
A rusted, broken blade. Twisted arm. Even missing one arm, Kuntel swung his sword without a tremor in its arc.
The blade tip was serene.
Once swung, something was severed.
Swing, sever. That simple process repeated infinitely. All Kalt could do in that space... was swap targets so his own neck wasn't the one cut.
'I nearly died.'
No exaggeration.
Death had come right up to his chin.
If Kuntel's body had been even a bit intact, if the Ashen Mage had been even slightly slower defeating the apostate, if he'd blinked once more.
He surely would have died.
"......"
Kalt silently touched the area around his eye.
The scar from his chin stung for no reason.
'Surviving was a miracle in itself.'
A stack of coincidences upon coincidences.
And in those coincidences, Kalt had felt it.
'The wall.'
He'd heard of it once.
'Everyone has their set limit.'
People have predetermined limits.
Depending on talent, the point varies. But the limit exists. Sword practitioners called it the wall.
'Something you can't surpass with ordinary means.'
A wall no amount of simple effort can overcome.
Those who surpass it become sword superhumans. Those who break their own limits are called superhumans.
'If I surpass the wall...'
Kalt opened his eyes.
Staring at his own hands, he thought.
'Maybe once again.'
He could stand by their shining side. The thought crossed his mind. But Kalt soon shook his head.
"It'd be tough."
It was a wall he couldn't surpass even in battle.
For now, he could only gauge its height; surpassing it seemed impossible.
"Sigh."
There was much to do.
Best to keep idle thoughts in check. Kalt exhaled shortly and picked up the letter.
「Draka Movement Report.」
A matter needing attention. Kalt narrowed his eyes and read.
Sword Ghost, Draka.
A man who became superhuman through madness and obsession alone.
His skills were exceptional, but he chose any means necessary, so the Knight Order kept close watch.
'An uncontrolled superhuman.'
Thus, extra caution was needed.
Kalt skimmed the report.
「...Passed through, currently staying in the north.」
Seeing his current location, Kalt inwardly sighed in relief.
Truth be told, for tracking Draka's position, Kalt only cared about one thing.
"...Good thing he won't run into Senior."
Ashen Mage, Raniel.
Did their movements overlap? If so, he'd have to pull them apart no matter what.
'Their compatibility is the worst.'
Kalt remembered clearly. What happened on the battlefield when Draka and Raniel met.
-What did you say?
-I said it was the best method. Was I wrong? Ashen Mage. This side's more efficient, isn't it?
-Are you from the Delohim Church by any chance? Why the fuck do you talk just like that bitch Sara? Shut your damn mouth?
-Don't throw a tantrum like a kid, Ashen. If you won't do it, I will. This is the most efficient.
-Hey.
-Collapse the mountain and bury them all...
-I said shut your mouth.
A powder keg situation.
-I warned you.
-Just what I wanted. The brat doesn't know his place.
Internal strife right before the apostate.
"Ugh."
Just recalling it was horrifying.
Kalt shuddered and folded the letter. Anyway, those two wouldn't meet.
Draka was far in the north.
And the Ashen Mage was in the capital.
'No chance of meeting.'
The probability of them crossing paths was near zero.
「No anomalies.」
Kalt wrote a short reply.
3.
"Raniel, a letter arrived."
"Pardon? A letter?"
Who would send me one?
I tilted my head.
"From whom?"
"Let's see. The paper's unique. This crest looks familiar..."
After a pause, my master spoke.
"Ah, the Grace family crest."
"Grace? Rak's family?"
"Yes. Seems like a letter from the north."
I took the letter and opened it.
The contents were straightforward.
"It's an invitation."
"Invitation?"
"Yeah, looks like Rak recommended me? Something about inviting me over and treating me well..."
A good opportunity.
I nodded.
"Perfect timing."
"Perfect for what?"
"I was planning to visit the north anyway."
Since I'm heading north, I could stop by while I'm at it.
'Things are working out nicely.'
I could go lightly, like a trip. I carefully folded the invitation and tucked it into my robe pocket.
Author's Note (Afterword)
#Illustration provided by HOMY author.
Wrote it quick and uploaded quick :D