Chapter 28
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: I Will Teach You Fear (2)
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The next day.
The Imperial Magic Tower was in an uproar from the morning.
"Is this... is this real?"
"How long has it been since we accepted a yellow request?"
"Accepting it isn't the issue! How are we supposed to succeed?"
The reason they couldn't stay still even for a moment was one thing. A notice boldly posted on the board.
Ruifol's insolence has gone too far.
As the Imperial Magic Tower's Inspector, I cannot stand by idly. I will set out in one week to investigate the cause.
Personnel will be selected this afternoon. Assemble.
"...What!"
Widro, the head of the Theoretical Faction, let out a roar. Knox, the head of the Practical Faction? He'd long since passed out from drink.
Perhaps because Widro was the highest-ranking official among the nearby mages, everyone started directing questions at the old man.
"Sir Widro, heading to Ruifol after just one week of preparation? Is that really okay for us?"
"Hrm..."
But Widro could only groan.
Okay? Ask the Inspector that.
The concern weighing on everyone present was the same.
"Ruifol is a place with a terribly bad reputation right now. Do you think a novice mage can grow enough in one week to set foot there safely?"
"Exactly! Even if the Inspector is outstanding, what about the rest!"
"A-and their opponents are three knights from the Imperial Knights! Winning the bet to open the Imperial Report would be great, but if we lose, the fallout..."
"..."
Widro quietly stroked his beard.
...I don't know either. Why are you asking me?
Thankfully, Widro's awkward situation didn't drag on. From the end of the corridor, Zekiel appeared.
The mages rushed toward him in a swarm.
"Inspector!"
"Inspector! I have a question!"
Every one of them wore a desperate expression, but Zekiel cut them off as if he already knew what they would say.
"...There's no turning back on this mission. Just follow orders for now."
"..."
His voice was as chilling as the ice he conjured. In the end, no one could press with more questions.
Thud— thud—
Everyone could only blankly stare at Zekiel's back as he walked away.
In the ensuing silence, someone asked Anes.
"Anes, you're his secretary, right? Haven't you heard anything?"
At that, all eyes instantly turned to Anes. Simple reasoning: if she was his personal secretary, she must have heard something.
"R-right! You're his personal secretary!"
"Anes, have you heard anything about this decision?"
"..."
Secretary Anes fell silent for a moment.
The reason for going to Ruifol is Sunweed distribution. Can I say that?
"..."
No. Absolutely not.
No matter how I thought about it, I couldn't say it.
"...There is a reason we must head to Ruifol."
A profoundly meaningful phrasing.
For now, that was the best Anes could do.
In the afternoon, Zekiel headed to the auditorium with Anes.
"We're only selecting one novice to accompany us."
He muttered with a Sunweed stem in his mouth. Perhaps because there weren't many left, he chewed more slowly than usual, savoring it.
"One? Shouldn't we select at least two?"
"It's fine. I've already decided on one."
"When did you have time for that? You just took office, and you haven't mingled with the other mages."
It was right then.
Whoosh—
Before Anes could even react, a yellow badge attached itself to the chest of her top. The person in question merely blinked quietly at the sudden event.
A yellow badge.
As far as she knew, it was the mark worn by mages undertaking yellow missions before departure.
"...What's this?"
"You. The one I've decided on."
"I'm an administrative staff member, not field personnel."
"Of course it's not mandatory. I'll give you a choice."
Zekiel handed her a single paper envelope. When Anes took it and looked inside, it was a blank resignation letter.
The implication was clear.
...Accompany me, or submit your resignation.
"Ah."
Anes closed her eyes tightly. I must be crazy for quitting the Imperial Administrator position. Really crazy...
"Why me, of all people?"
"Your telekinesis is useful. It'd be a waste to let it rot. With proper training, you could achieve great things later."
"..."
The woman quietly swept her hair behind her ear.
Anes had always taken great pride in her telekinesis, and it felt good to have it acknowledged by Zekiel, who had remarkable magical achievements.
But there was one big hang-up.
The manual.
Anes had lived her entire life following established manuals. Thus, she preferred the predictable and naturally avoided the unpredictable.
Anes quietly looked at Zekiel.
"..."
...I couldn't even predict what he'd do a second from now.
But what could she do? She couldn't submit a resignation.
"...Understood for now."
The two finally arrived at the auditorium.
A vast space where novice mages stood at regular intervals. Tension filled their faces.
Anes broke the silence with an expressionless voice.
"There are a lot of them. This'll take a while."
"Not at all."
Zekiel answered without hesitation.
And rightly so—he'd done this countless times: selecting raw gems from a crowd and polishing them for his organization.
—Since it's the organization you'll lead, select the personnel yourself.
—What should we name it... Right, Balance.
—Handle personnel drafts for missions yourself too.
Who to recruit into the organization, who to bring on this mission... Zekiel had done it endlessly, and it was one of his strengths.
So, picking people was second nature now.
'The only issue is...'
Was the gem Zekiel wanted even here?
No way to know.
'Sunweed is down to less than ten now.'
If Zekiel became inoperable without Sunweed, he needed someone competent to fill the gap—but that was a tall order for a novice.
It was then that Anes spoke.
"How do you plan to do this? Walk around yourself? Or have them come one by one?"
"No need."
Snap—!
Zekiel snapped his fingers.
"Huh?"
"Whoa..."
At the same time, the mages' eyes widened as they looked up at the ceiling. High above, a sphere shrouded in cold air slowly rotated, scattering snowflakes.
Anes caught one snowflake on her fingertip.
"...This isn't just an ordinary snowflake."
"Right. It reacts to a mage's mana and sticks to them."
For Anes, it was divine magic whose principle she couldn't even guess. Thanks to Zekiel's ingenuity, it was now possible to spot the best at a glance.
Far off, someone was already turning into a snowman.
Zekiel exhaled smoke and asked.
"Who's that guy?"
"Leo. Top graduate of this academy class."
Leo's the one, then. That thought flashed through Anes's mind.
"I see."
Zekiel looked elsewhere, disinterested.
Anes absentmindedly followed his gaze and was greatly startled. Strangely, there was a girl melting the snowflakes falling around her.
Zekiel approached the girl and asked.
"You, what are you?"
"M-me... me?"
The girl with pink hair pointed at herself with her index finger. She was visibly extremely tense.
The peculiar thing was, she was sweating profusely.
Excessively so.
"H-hello! I'm Velka...!"
Velka wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve and shouted. As a bonus, she gulped from the water bottle in her hand.
But it didn't seem like mere tension from wanting to be selected. Rather, she trembled as if terrified of actually being picked.
"P-please don't take me!"
Velka cried out.
"Explain why."
It was odd. Usually, one would explain why they should be taken, trying to persuade. Here, she was doing the opposite, begging not to be picked.
"I don't even know how to handle magic properly...! I only know how to use scrolls, and I, I don't even know how I got into the Imperial Magic Tower!"
Anes, listening quietly, checked the personnel file and nodded.
"Her score should have resulted in rejection, but there were few applicants this year. Even just looking at her academy grades, she's mid-to-lower tier."
"Y-yes... exactly..."
Far from offended, Velka vigorously agreed with Anes.
However, Zekiel noticed something peculiar.
Velka wasn't consistently mid-to-lower tier. Her passing grades were all top marks, but the rest were disqualifying.
Top grade or bust—extremely polarized.
"Plus, I'm not suited for group activities..."
Velka continued, sweating bullets. So much so that her robe was soaked through, clinging to her body's contours.
"M-my mana keeps boiling over... It spreads like heat haze, interfering with the surrounding mages' mana control. It's serious..."
"Your mana boils over?"
"Y-yes. Really."
Velka extended her hand to the right as if to say, look. The snowflakes nearby melted instantly.
"..."
Zekiel picked up the Sunweed stem from his mouth.
He looked at the Sunweed once, then at Velka.
At Velka once, then at the Sunweed.
"..."
...A living Sunweed sprout was right in front of him.
'A living Sunweed.'
Of course, Velka's constitution was still mild. Far from matching Sunweed's heat output. But it was more than enough potential to cultivate. Plenty.
"Everyone else, get out."
The other novices filed out as if waiting for the word, and in minutes, the space was empty.
Finally, Zekiel nodded.
"Velka. You're in."
"...P-pardon? Huuuh?"
Thus, the trio for the mission was formed, and Velka, the person in question, visited Zekiel daily.
Of course, the purpose of her visits was pure clinging.
"I-Inspector. I can't do anything...!"
"Don't do anything."
"Huuuuh?"
Meanwhile, the people inside the Magic Tower were dying of curiosity.
Could they really go to Ruifol?
And if they did, could they resolve the request?
Could they win the bet too?
With topics overflowing like tripping hazards, the mages' mouths never rested.
"...Skipping Leo, unbelievable."
"Velka isn't particularly talented... No, wait! Does he think he can even train a dunce?"
"What's the reason we absolutely have to go to Ruifol?"
"All we can do is watch the results."
Zekiel—what changes would he bring in one week?
It was the top concern in the Imperial Magic Tower at that moment.
At the same time, anticipation and worry enveloped the entire tower.
An immense amount.
I welcomed the day of departure without any training whatsoever.
'This is the last Sunweed.'
And one more thing.
"Shall we talk?"
Hedera came to see me.