Chapter 61
Chapter 61
61
EP18 - Christmas Bells Ring Over the Snowy Ruins (6)
Gloomy doesn't last long.
That's Elise's good nature.
"Hmm...♪"
Also, she isn't interested in complicated things, and doesn't know the details of what's going on around her, which is a good personality to have in this era.
However, she knows that the people around her are gloomy, so Elise thought she should help them.
'Hmm.'
What should I do?
'Bracelet?'
So she decided to make bracelets. Bracelets that the sisters of her family used to make long ago.
The method of making them is simple.
The pink hair of the Kshikos family is strong and has a beautiful sheen. Pluck out a few strands of hair and trim them. Insert beads. Then, draw 「○」, which symbolizes Shadowless Star on a wooden plate.
If there is bad luck, it will disappear with the energy of 「Shadowless Star○」.
With that wish in mind, Elise went around giving the bracelets to the Hidden Dragon Society.
"...Thank you."
First, to Kaiser in the next room, who has been dazed for a while.
"What is this...?"
"Bracelet."
"Ah, okay...."
To Balmung, who looked somewhat depressed.
"...Where did those guys go?"
Quan and Kendrake, who suddenly disappeared, had their bracelets hung on their doorknobs.
"What is it."
She thought she would be scolded severely, but for some reason, it was glossed over, so she came to give one to the princess.
"It's a bracelet, Princess."
"........"
At this time, Elise was very nervous. She knew how much the princess hated 'resistance'.
It was like that from their first meeting. When Elise first went to Rebecca's mansion to meet her. The princess was killing a man. Rummaging through his neck with a fork.
The man was a servant who managed Rebecca's clothes, because the shoulder strap came loose at the banquet.
However, no disgraceful incident occurred. Rebecca caught the fallen strap with agility and dealt with it with a smile. But when she returned, she decided to kill the servant.
That princess told her to kill 'Professor Dante' as an 'assignment', but Elise didn't do it...
"Did you make this?"
"Yes."
She was worried that a scolding would come back, but unexpectedly, the princess took the bracelet willingly. She picked it up like a rubber band and looked at it.
"......"
However, that was all the reaction she got, so she bowed her head and came out.
Hoping that her gloom would be relieved a little.
After that, there were two left. Except for one, the last person to give it to was Gray.
With her eyes closed, Elise smelled the scent and headed to the back garden of the academy.
Clang!
There, Gray was training [Illusion Magic]. It was a familiar scene. Last time, glass shards scattered like they were breaking, but this time, feathers were pouring down.
"No..."
Gray muttered, sitting down.
Elise, who was hiding behind the Wall, watched Gray. What is he doing? What does he mean by 'no'?
"No... No, no, no... Why not...?"
Then Gray cast [Illusion Magic] again, and one large wing stretched up into the sky. To Elise, it was a surprisingly huge wing.
But Gray released his Mana, and [Illusion Magic] shattered again, scattering into feathers.
Why is he doing that??
Elise still couldn't understand.
"......"
At the end, Gray sat down. Bleeding from his nose.
Oh dear. 'He's doing that again.' From some point on, Gray's training volume became excessively large. The last time, he had a breakdown from overwork before entering the Airship.
Anyway, it was time to give him the bracelet.
"Are you okay, Gray?"
"...What, you. Why did you come?"
"I have something to give you. This. It's a bracelet I made..."
"...Hey."
"Huh?"
Kneeling and burying his head on the floor.
Gray said.
"Don't come when I'm training."
"Uh, why...?"
"Just don't come if I tell you not to. Honestly, it's uncomfortable every time you pop up."
"......"
"Why aren't you answering? I said don't come when I'm training. Can't you hear me?"
His voice was getting louder and louder.
"Uh-huh. I understand..."
Elise rolled her pink eyes, then smiled brightly again to bring up a good story.
"Ah, but I heard a rumor. Gray, you're going to be on the cover of next month's Assassination Daily, right?"
"No. Can you please just go now?"
"Huh? Huh? Why...? I heard being on the cover is a good thing that anyone can't do..."
"Elise. Please..."
"Lucy said. Gray, you in the Airship..."
"Ah-!!"
Then Gray raised his head annoyedly.
With blood dripping from his eyes.
While Elise, surprised, shrank back, Gray snatched the bracelet in her hand. With a Silver Thread.
"I'll use it well. Okay? Get lost, please!"
"......"
Elise had to turn around sullenly.
Glancing sideways, she returned to her room.
"......"
She didn't feel good.
But she soon got better.
Gloomy doesn't last long.
That's Elise's good nature.
"Hmm...♪"
The last remaining bracelet is for Professor Dante.
She specially drew a bone pattern on it.
The reason for drawing the bone is simple. Because she likes it. Of course, the Professor will like it too, right?
'Bones...♪'
I want to give it to him right now, but I don't think I can.
I'll have to meet him at the final exam soon.
* * *
"Professor!"
It was an ordinary afternoon.
Adele urgently sought me out.
"The Dean wants to see you for a moment!"
"What?"
"That's what they said! The department called..."
It was unexpected news.
What's wrong with Shaman Kreutz all of a sudden?
So I went to the Dean's office in the Professor's building. What is this? There are a lot of big shots gathered.
There are five tenured Professors. One of them was surprisingly Galua.
I thought I would never meet him if I could help it.
At the head of the table was Ezekiel, the Dean of the Magic Department.
Dean, so it was that old man?
"Have a seat for a moment. Professor Dante."
The average age here is about 80 years old.
"Yes."
While he instructs the teaching assistant to prepare refreshments, the eyes of the tenured Professors are poured on me. They all have eyes full of interest.
So, after looking through the [Script], I seemed to know the situation.
'How did the exam paper get to Ezekiel?'
I already knew that my name had spread among the tenured Professors. Of course, I had to know. Because I had done so many things.
But this was the first time we had gathered together like this.
'Am I being suspected because of the exam paper?'
It didn't seem like that. The thoughts that appeared in the [Script] were all round. 【Is this guy really 30 years old?】, 【I heard the level of Illusion Magic is high, but I didn't know it was this much.】, 【Where did the Chairman pick up such a lucky charm?】etc.
When the tea came out, the main topic followed.
"Professor Dante."
Ezekiel, the Dean of the Magic Department, opened his mouth. He was almost 90 years old, but he looked only 40 years old. His magnificent Mana makes it possible.
He spoke in a dignified voice.
"I'm sorry to ask so suddenly. You must be a busy person."
"It's okay."
"Let's get straight to the point. By any chance. Would it be okay to hide the Professor's name?"
He brought up the conclusion from very far away.
"Hide my name? May I ask why?"
"Of course. Earlier this afternoon, Galua and I looked at Professor Dante's final exam paper."
Galua winked from the side.
"This, Professor Dante made it intentionally, right?"
"What do you mean."
"Yes. What do you mean... I guess so, you intended it."
"Yes."
"I guess so. You can't build a clock tower when the waves are crashing... This can't be called a simple final exam."
Thud.
He put the exam paper in front of me.
To be exact, it was a perfectly copied exam paper.
"It's too dangerous to put the Professor's name on this."
"......"
"In this Kreutz's rebellion cooperation, there were two things that the guys were most concerned about. Do you know what they are?"
I know. The first is to lure away as many Professors as possible. The second was to eradicate anything related to [Illusion Magic].
"From here on out, it's top secret. Kreutz has been investing heavily in [Illusion Magic] for 15 years, and has begun to stake its military fortunes on it."
"......"
I narrowed my eyes. Because there was no such setting originally.
Originally, Kreutz's main focus was on the Holy system, but that has changed.
In other words, it was a unique setting of [Hell Difficulty].
"About how much is Kreutz's investment?"
"It's estimated that they're taking about 4.5% of the national budget."
"If that's been going on for 15 years..."
"It would be about 500 billion Hica."
500 billion Hica. It's a truly enormous amount.
Even for 15 years, it's an amount that would shake the kingdom.
For reference, Hica (Ħ) is a common unit in the continent, and it is a coincidence that it has a similar name to Hiaka.
"In the past, [Illusion Magic] was one of the top three countries in the continent for our Hiaka."
"You're talking about before the Habanero incident."
"That's right. The Habanero family being half-destroyed during the Second Assassination War was the beginning, and this Gloomy's defection was the completion. We have lost our competitiveness."
"......"
"Now, except for the Empire, there is no country that can keep up with Kreutz's level of [Illusion Magic]..."
Ezekiel smiled slyly.
"...That's what it should have been, but at this point, Professor Dante 'of ours' was appointed."
It was indeed a terrifying insight. Ezekiel was a great magician, but not a major in [Illusion Magic], yet he accurately saw through my level by looking at one final exam paper I made.
"Do you know how I feel right now?"
"You look good."
"I'm happy."
Ezekiel smiles. It is a mockery of the enemy country Kreutz. It's like a catharsis that he feels that the tower he has built for 15 years can be destroyed by just one existence called 'me'.
At the same time, it is also a smile that almost drips with love towards me. It was understandable.
"To be honest, the Professor's level in [Illusion Magic] is so high that I think it's comparable to my Magic."
"You flatter me."
"It's by no means flattery. The Professor also knows, right? How high your level is at the young age of thirty."
I know. At the age of thirty, my level is [Challenger] level. Even I think it doesn't make sense. Including the Star Fragment system, if I were to express my [Potential], I would also be [2.9].
"And it's not difficult to guess how Kreutz will think of the Professor's existence."
The situation is coincidental.
[Illusion Magic] that the Kreutz Kingdom invested everything in.
They took Gloomy as the completion of it.
But 'I' just happened to be here.
'If my existence is revealed, I'll be assassination target number one.'
"So, your exam question is the problem. The intention is good. But there's too much of a chance that the Professor will be exposed to the outside."
"Yes. I didn't consider that far."
"Of course you wouldn't have. It was top secret that the Kreutz guys were risking their lives on [Illusion Magic]."
"Then, do we discard the final exam questions?"
Then Galua jumped up.
"Are you crazy?! Why would you discard it?"
"Calm down, Galua."
"No, no, Dean, no, Professor Dante! If you have a lot of time later, let's have a meal together. Huh?"
"Tenured Professor Galua. Calm down―"
"You know what! The exam paper! You didn't copy it from somewhere, did you? I only heard rumors, but I was surprised this time? No, who's your teacher? Where did you learn Illusion Magic like that..."
Tenured Professor Galua suddenly went on a rampage.
It's because of his academic desires.
The Dean had to stop him somehow.
"It's an honor, Tenured Professor Galua."
"I'm honored, my friend. Haha! Anyway. Huh? Call me later. Huh? Huh? Call me?"
Putting his thumb and ring finger to his mouth and ears, he stepped back for now.
Then, returning to the main topic.
"So that's why you said to hide my name."
"It's troublesome if you become an assassination target unnecessarily. First of all, your name, a fake person, schedule, well, background, etc... I'll take care of all the trivial things. Instead, if there are any benefits from this, they will be allocated to Professor Dante."
"What is the allocation ratio?"
"100%."
I basically have a distrust of people, so I looked at the [Script], and it was 100% sincere.
It was amazing.
"...Well, I'm grateful if you take care of me. But aren't you giving me too much convenience?"
"If you're going to talk about unfairness, well. Has human history ever been fair even once?"
Ezekiel smiled crookedly.
With the expression of a royal family with a strong sense of elitism.
I'm glad if I'm the target of that unfairness.
"......"
Also, for the first time, I feel a sense of belonging to Hiaka.
The existence of those who are trying to protect me, even though I was standing still.
That I myself belong to one fence with them.
If 「Main Story 2: Betting Table」 had started, I would have had to find a way to hide my name even if the department hadn't suggested it.
The current me is a very ambiguous existence in terms of pure force. Depending on the situation, I may exceed the tenured Professor, but depending on the situation, I may be killed by the idiot trio.
If Kreutz comes to kill me with a firm grip, I'll be helpless, but Ezekiel was offering to provide protection for free and perfectly. There's no reason to refuse.
"I look forward to working with you."
After that, we had various conversations, so the department seemed to be very curious about my 'past'. But I have no past, so I had nothing to say. I felt a little wronged when they said, 'Aren't you hiding too much in a place where we're opening up?'
"Ah, that's right. Shall we decide on a name here and go? The name of the genius tenured Professor of Illusion Magic Assassination Studies who was newly appointed to our Hiaka Academy?"
I thought for a moment.
Then a name came to mind.
I don't know why this came to mind.
"Cain."
From now on, that is my alias.
The meeting was up to that point.
It seems that it wasn't the end there. Ezekiel used [Telekinesis] to hand me something. A gold badge.
It was a senior Professor badge.
"I look forward to working with you in the future. Senior Professor Dante."
I doubted my ears.
"...Yes?"