Shadows of White Night
"Just now... how did you know I was here?"
Once the situation had settled, Juwan asked Adel with a face tense as if he were sitting on a bed of nails.
"What's that? Shocked that I pinpointed the bastard who tried to ambush me?"
"Ugh... no, absolutely not. It's because that idiot Donnes pulled off something insane."
"You knew he was planning to attack me."
"Well..."
Adel sneered coldly.
"Looks like even a genius like you doesn't realize he nearly sparked a war out of his burning curiosity."
"What?"
"Listen well. You knew those morons called Donnes were coming for me, and you let it happen. As someone responsible for managing the academy's students, you failed in your duty."
"...That's true. But there's no way you, Lord Adel, would fall to them..."
"And if by some slim chance I had? The Ivory Tower would've been at war with the Ulan tribe."
"Th-that..."
"And even if I didn't fall, what about the attackers? They moved on orders, but they attacked Hien's son."
Everyone in the cabin flinched at the overwhelming pressure radiating from him, and Juwan shivered uncontrollably without realizing it.
"Killing them wouldn't cause me any issues. So what were their lives worth? Just disposable for some greenhorn's revenge?"
"Absolutely not! You showed mercy, so no one died..."
"What makes you think I'd hold back?"
"Pardon?"
"I could kill them right now. And I wouldn't hesitate for a second."
The killing intent in Adel's eyes was real, and Juwan felt his legs go weak beneath him.
"You, raised in the academy's greenhouse, wouldn't understand. The outside world is far more ruthless. And..."
He continued.
"Lives are on the line. Like right now. For that one moment, their lives—and mine—hung in your hands."
"I-I'm sorry..."
Juwan couldn't lift his head.
[Adel. He's just a clueless kid who doesn't know the world, like you said. That's enough, isn't it? Settle the blade of betrayal from your past life there.]
Unable to watch any longer, Kalderet intervened.
'...It's not like that.' Adel grimaced in response.
"Anyway, what's got you so eager to talk? You look like you have a ton to say."
"C-can I ask?"
"You risked your life hiding here just to feed that insatiable scholarly thirst of yours."
"Then... how did you hunt the dragon? They call it the continent's strongest beast, with scales that no magic or sword can pierce. And did you really gain mana from its heart? If you're already contracted to a god, your true bloodline wouldn't have room for dragon mana..."
"And...?"
Juwan bombarded Adel with questions like a dam bursting. The sight was so purely joyful that Adel couldn't help but let out a hollow chuckle.
"One at a time. We've got a long ride to the North Sea anyway."
"S-sorry!"
"As you said, I hunted the dragon. The way to pierce its scales isn't a sword or magic. It's divine power."
"...Ah!!"
Juwan nodded vigorously.
"So you are a contractor. But even with a powerful high god, the divine power a human can wield has limits..."
"It does have limits."
Adel replied to Juwan.
"Depending on the god, though."
[Kr-r-r-r...]
At that moment, Kalderet's low growl echoed, and Juwan's eyes widened round.
"An ancient god?"
Shh—Adel pressed a finger to his lips, signaling silence.
[You sure about this? You wanted to hide it from the magic council folks.]
'At first, yeah. But if what Juwan wants is to shatter magic's boundaries, showing him might be the way to win his heart.'
"I-it makes sense... You're incredible!!"
As Adel predicted, Juwan's eyes sparkled as he shouted.
"I realize now how narrow my view was. All this time, I only thought of swords and magic for hunting dragons! Ignoring the most crucial—divine power."
"That's because you excluded divine power yourself. You've never once considered contracting a god."
"...You're right."
"But in the past, there were those who sought ways to wield divine power and mana together."
"Impossible."
"Is it? Do you think I'm impossible, standing right in front of you?"
Adel said.
"Why do you think Julian Pader, the Ivory Tower's master, contracted even a low god? Because he knows his own limits."
Juwan's eyes wavered at his words.
"I acknowledge your genius, but if you want to break magic's boundaries, you need to experience both sword and divine power."
"But..."
"Of course, the best way to gain divine power is splitting your true bloodline in two. But that's impossible for now."
"So it really comes down to a stroke of fate."
"Fate, you say? Meeting me now could be that fate."
"Huh?"
"There are ways to boost divine power. The key is spirits. But simply using a spirit axis isn't easy."
Juwan stared at Adel.
"Go find the eastern druid Elune. As soon as possible."
"Elune?"
"She should have mastered a unique breathing technique by now. Learn it from her, and you'll wield impressive divine power."
[That breathing technique you used in the nest. It had remarkable results.]
Kalderet nodded as if understanding.
"But it won't be easy. Her personality's a real pain. Anyway, why take the train to Azal Kingdom? A magic circle would've been faster."
"We're... heading to the Kal ruins. On master's orders, we'll escort them there and return."
Juwan muttered "east," "druid," "Elune" repeatedly, committing them to memory.
'...Kal ruins?'
Adel felt a vague memory stir at the name.
"Why there?"
"You might not know, but the Kal ruins house the Ivory Tower's White Night Lab. We're going to provide support since they're short-staffed."
"The lab..."
At that moment, a hazy memory sharpened in Adel's mind.
'Right. That's it. It was around this time. I was skeptical when you said ruins, but lab jogs my memory.'
The horrors of White Night.
Adel remembered the pre-regression incident clearly now, though he hadn't paid it much mind before. It hadn't become the big issue one might expect.
'If my memory's correct, a massive magic explosion wiped out hundreds of mages in the lab.'
By content alone, it was more horrific than Shallon's great disaster.
Yet it faded quietly from memory.
'Mages think they're the pinnacle. They can't tolerate mistakes.'
But it wasn't that simple.
He'd ignored magic council affairs in his past life, but now it struck him as suspicious. With the central nine kingdoms at war, attention might be diverted, but this was the magic council. Kingdoms sending their heirs as disciples to gain Ivory Tower favor wouldn't ignore a lab disaster.
'But the opposite happened. They scrambled to cover it up. Meaning...'
The Ivory Tower didn't want it publicized.
Why? Obviously, because of the unethical research in the lab. No one wanted their sins exposed.
'After White Night's horrors, the lab vanished, and the Kal ruins lay abandoned for years.'
He'd visited years later, ironically on Karon's orders with Juwan. There, they found an artifact: a golem.
But unlike Bin Temir's ancient golem, this one was different.
'White Night Lab was where Ivory Tower mages used ancient tomes to create golems.'
[Absurd. They can't even build a train engine, yet make a golem core like magitite?]
'Exactly. So they made fake golems.'
[Fake golem? A golem's a golem—what's fake mean?]
Kalderet scowled.
'Golems are magitech masterpieces. Soulless guardians fight till they break.'
[Right.]
'But that one's golem has a soul.'
[...Human experimentation.]
'Yes.'
[These mad...!! Grinding humans to replace magitite.]
Kalderet growled in fury, startling clueless Juwan, who looked at him wide-eyed.
[Tch, mages... Generations pass, but their twisted thirst for knowledge never changes.]
He shook his head.
[Calling themselves sages, the wisest, yet blind to right and wrong.]
'We learned of the lab's atrocities later, but no one dragged up that ancient scandal to assign blame.'
Adel gazed steadily at Juwan.
'And the reason? It's you.'
With the Ivory Tower's genius as palace mage, how could the kingdom accuse them?
Adel instinctively knew: the hundreds of mages doomed in that incident were the trainees on this very train.
'To replace magitite, they needed mana-bearing souls, not ordinary ones.'
"So Julian Pader's at White Night now."
"...How did you know?"
Juwan gasped.
"Just a hunch. Haven't heard much from him lately. Sending this many to the boonies means a key figure's there."
"As expected... Yes. Master and the Ivory Tower sages are researching magic there."
"You'll drop them off and head to Azal Kingdom."
"Yes."
The puzzle pieces clicked into place for Adel.
'Now I get it. Juwan, that's why you became so expressionless, doll-like. Guilt from that incident.'
Guilt from unwittingly leading them to death. Innocent, but the shock on a young boy would've been crushing.
"To meet the fifth prince."
"You see through everything, Lord Adel. Yes. Master wrote a recommendation."
"You plan to serve him?"
"Hm... I just want to serve a great king."
Adel chuckled dryly.
"A great king. Sure, Karon Azal might be that. But great kings aren't always great men."
"Pardon?"
'Even you didn't know this when you found the lab. It was in Bin's diary, alongside the ancient golem notes. White Night's golem research was backed by Karon himself.'
"One piece of advice."
Adel said meaningfully.
"Before returning to the kingdom, check White Night's underground. There'll be a special barrier. But a genius like you can break it easily."
"What does that..."
"Then decide. Go to the kingdom, or find me."
Adel said.
"I'll be in the North Sea."
That was it.
But he was certain. Juwan Regian, seeing the underground secret, would come to him.
[Kekeke... Karon Azal's future's twisted before it even begins.]
Kalderet laughed.