Secret Rendezvous
Secret Rendezvous
Professor Haspelt went missing during the northern expedition.
By the time the Northern Army realized it, everything was already too late. The regiment-sized force Haspelt had been leading vanished without a trace within a single day.
And that wasn't all. Immediately after that incident, the Imperial Army was forced to retreat helplessly before the Black Death, which had begun to spread across the entire nation.
Even a superhuman was powerless against disease. Over the past month, the number of soldiers who died from the plague at the front reportedly exceeded the number crushed to death by magic beasts by several times. The situation escalating rapidly wasn't just a story confined to the capital.
Thus, the morale of the Imperial forces, which had temporarily managed to breach the 3rd Defense Line, plummeted to the extreme. After retreating again and again, the front lines returned to their original positions. Everything went exactly as the magic beasts intended.
"And that's not the only problem. We lost hundreds of strategic-class mages. I heard they were all elite."
Strategic-class mages were those qualified to bring down calamity-class magic beasts. In industry terms, they were PhD-level personnel.
Hundreds of talents with that level of ability were lost at once?
It was a critical blow.
At this rate, national defense was in danger. The Black Death had barely ended, but if anxiety spread among the people that the enemy would attack from the outside, even academy classes might not proceed normally.
I chewed my lip and asked Professor Herlein.
"Did you know beforehand that Professor Haspelt was missing?"
Herlein immediately shook her head. Her face was overcast with dark clouds.
"I found out a week ago too."
I heard a sigh from somewhere. I came to my senses and realized it was leaking from my own mouth.
"The Imperial Household must have imposed a press blackout during that time."
"Yes, the gall of them."
The subject was omitted, but I knew whom Professor Herlein was cursing. She had an air of considerable discontent with the current Imperial Household.
To call the Imperial Household galling. It was a remark that could get one arrested for insulting the imperial dignity.
Yet not a single person gathered here cautioned Herlein about her words.
"Aether, I'll tell you in advance. I'll be going to the Northern Front as well during this summer break."
I could see Herlein's pupils trembling through her narrowed eyes. Her facial muscles were stiff, and her voice trembled more thinly than usual. Irregular breaths occasionally carried through the air.
The moment I heard that Professor Haspelt was missing. And the moment the Black Death started to rampage.
Comparing these two timeframes, the possibility of Professor Haspelt being alive was less than a handful of ash.
Moreover, the front was located in the north. A frozen land teeming with magic beasts.
A wasteland in the truest sense, where not a single blade of grass grew, so even the concept of a lean season before harvest didn't exist.
"Professor."
"You don't need to worry."
Herlein probably knew as well. That someone going missing in a place like that meant death.
"I'll only be gone for the duration of the break."
Despite that, this person still clung to a faint hope. Even though I had an unfavorable connection with Professor Haspelt, I couldn't spout cold-hearted sentiments in front of my mentor. So I chose to remain silent.
In that brief moment, my teacup emptied. In this unventilated room, I couldn't even roll a Mana Cigarette.
So I fished out a citrus peel settled at the bottom of the cup and chewed it to bits. A bitter yet sweet scent climbed up my nasal cavity and burst out with my exhalation.
"Right, I didn't call you here just to tell you this story. The really important part is next."
Around the time Herlein said that, I realized something as well.
"How did they break through the 3rd Defense Line?"
"Flare. Kleis mass-produced the Flare you developed in just a few days."
I had forgotten. That Haspelt was a person with a natural genius for crafting Fire Magic scrolls.
Memories from my slave days clawed at my brain. Make hundreds of these by whenever, hurry and finish those by that deadline. Can't you do this simple thing faster? Just thinking about it made me want to die.
Of course, separate from that, piercing the 3rd Defense Line in the war was truly a monumental achievement.
"Overcoming the geographical disadvantage and reaching right under the nose of the sleeping Demon King was an encouraging feat."
"Still, there's a problem. That offensive was the turning point that made the magic beasts truly become wary of our Empire. It's probably why they prepared an asymmetric strategy this time."
"You mean the Black Death?"
At my question, one of the nobles answered in succession.
"You've pinpointed it exactly. This Black Death broke out simultaneously nationwide. Mathematical modeling showed a pattern entirely different from how ordinary infectious diseases spread. This implies only one thing."
Right. What else could it be? Everyone here probably knew.
This was the work of an extinction-class magic beast.
I knew because I had personally seen that crow mask, but it seemed these people had also caught on. Well, of course they would. If the learned people here couldn't deduce at least this much, the Empire would have fallen long ago.
At that moment, a dignified voice came from across the round table.
"I consider the Iron Drake overflow incident on the back mountain that started last summer, the Construction Array incident during this year's entrance ceremony, and this recent epidemic outbreak to all be connected."
The owner of that voice rose from their seat, leaning on an elegantly designed staff.
He was a white-haired man with pomade in his hair. Middle-aged or so.
His jade-colored, shining eyes were striking. But that color combination looked very familiar from somewhere.
"Duke Argana!"
This man looked exactly like Shadiel, the head of the Guidance Department. He was undoubtedly the head of the Argana ducal house.
"Incidents keep occurring near the academy. Yet His Majesty, who has the Second Prince commuting here, has said nothing in particular so far. Everyone, don't you think something is strange?"
Everyone nodded. By this point, I had realized I was in deep trouble.
Had I come to a place I shouldn't be? Had I gotten tangled up in something weird?
Of course I had. Duke Argana, Chairman Robespierre, and even mid-ranking nobles like counts and viscounts were sitting around like this in a dim, secretive place. Was it really okay for an undergraduate like me to be here?
Growing anxious for no reason, I scooted my chair closer to where Professor Herlein was. Amidst that, Argana's speech continued.
"The front lines have become precarious after losing a large number of strategic mages, including Duke Haspelt. And what about the interior? The national treasury, already scraping bottom before the epidemic disaster began, is now on the brink of drying up."
"And amid all this, the Imperial Household held a banquet."
"Yes, a trivial banquet to celebrate the Second Prince finishing the term."
This man must have been the central figure who brought the nobles together here.
Holding the title of duke, he had ample popularity and power. And such a duke was openly voicing complaints against the Imperial Household.
The country must really have been going to the dogs.
"On top of that, we were even told to raise taxes to replenish the depleted treasury. Meanwhile, the lives of the common people are becoming increasingly impoverished."
"You must have had many hardships in your role as Minister of Finance."
"Marquis Lobes, as I recall, an imperial decree also came down to this academy ordering budget cuts."
"Yes, we received a royal order to cut the existing scholarship funds in half."
Just listening from the side made my teeth grind. Around that time, Duke Argana's eyes rolled toward me.
What.
"Student, your name was Aether, was it not?"
"...That's correct."
My words hardened and came out stiffly on their own.
"I understand that your financial situation as a commoner is not very favorable. And I also know that you possess exceptional Magic Arts talent and knowledge beyond that. Including that Flare, and various other things."
"......"
"Student Aether, what happened just now might be difficult for you to understand. So I will summarize the reason we called you here as briefly and simply as possible."
"...Yes."
From here on out. My response would be determined by whatever proposal came next.
It was a moment where even swallowing felt dry.
"Could you develop a weapon to bring down the Imperial Household?"
The citrus peel I'd been rolling around in my mouth went down my windpipe.
**
Various things were said after that, but nothing reached my ears. I did note it down in the idea notebook I always carried, but I only half-understood what any of it meant.
It felt like I had been subjected to an unfair contract. I came here trying to get in good with the chairman, and what a disaster this turned out to be.
At this rate, my humble ambition to just quietly research magic and then return would collapse. I had planned to finish this by only doing continuous research, but it seemed like I might end up embroiled in political strife.
I wasn't going to be framed as a traitor and die, was I? No way.
Anyway, I was someone far removed from political games. When had I last even met someone from a government ministry? Back when I was trying to collect research grants? Aside from that, I didn't seem to have any memory of contacting people on the government payroll.
This wasn't good. My strength was slowly starting to drain. I let out a puff of a sigh and quickened my pace.
The order of things seemed wrong, too.
There were answers that wouldn't come from thinking alone. This was why collaboration was important, whether in research or anything else.
I broke through the light rain that had suddenly started falling and entered a large building. One of the core locations of Tillet Academy, which maintained a fair distance from the dormitory and was close to the fountain.
[Alchemy Hall]
A stage of youth, passion, and scheming where countless clubs lived and breathed.
I rummaged through my pocket for the keys. The storage key given to me by Lorwell turned easily in the door. When I grabbed the handle and turned it, someone was waiting inside the neatly organized storage room. An elf, rolling a quill pen between her fingers with eyes half-filled with fear and trembling.
Emerald eyes that seemed to hold the spirit energy of the Great Forest, and pale yellow eyes as if set with crafted topaz. The two irises shone with their own light in the dim, murky space.
It was time for our secret meeting.