Just a Bunch of Us
So, what now?
Turns out I never actually branded Hekate with a mark.
Precisely, I couldn't.
Mea wasn't scared staring at Hekate with those empty, lifeless eyes—she just didn't want to risk it.
Honestly, it was a little tempting, but Hekate looked so desperate I swallowed my own pride to keep it a secret.
"Hekate, you…"
"E-Err, what can I do! Just this money, this money… and besides, we're from the same academy now!"
She said it with a smile, but the way she was clutching that gold coin I gave her felt like more than just gratitude.
I let her keep her last shred of dignity and tucked the rest away.
"Eighty-eight thousand lupe. It's not pocket change."
For an entrance fee it was way too much, and the top Alexandria School only took about ten thousand.
I thanked my friends for saving my life and wondered if their generous support funds had loosened my wallet too much.
Plus the money from selling those Chromatic Find crystals and the hides I'd been carrying around.
Maybe even hundreds of thousands would come in again.
By the way, I had tried to pay that huge sum as an entrance fee partly because of the book and the mysterious liquid I found in the unexplored ruins.
It was kind of a down payment.
"Leather's fine, I'll just use it. I've got enough cash."
Whatever, I'd think about it later.
I tried to brand it once.
And failed.
The feeling was totally different from when I did it to Mea.
The method was similar to summoning a demon.
Stamp the demon's symbol onto the contract document.
That way the demonologist could control even other people's contracts and hold absolute power.
Mea had been simple.
There was some resistance, but I just slammed in the power from Seir and Leraje.
Hekate, though… it was impossible.
Not just the magic flowing through the contract document, but her entire body rejected it.
I saw veins bursting and blood spraying everywhere and had to stop, terrified.
Hekate just nodded calmly, saying she'd known it would turn out like this.
Her expression was strangely sad yet relieved, like she'd accepted everything.
I didn't have the heart to say a word.
"Why is it like this?"
Hekate answered while pressing a hand to the bruise forming from the burst vessel.
"Bloodline Succession."
Among innate magics, some are passed down through generations.
Normally it's through bloodlines, but sometimes through priestly lineage.
Unlike the usual innate magics that peak and fade in one generation, this one maintains its lineage for a long time and keeps growing and evolving.
Since no mishap happened midway, Hekate had inherited both the headmistress position and the Bloodline Succession together.
Her magic was literally engraved into the blood flowing through her body, so the rejection to branding was inevitable.
Above all, the rank of the demon connected to her Bloodline Succession was far too high to ignore.
She'd tried it just in case, but the result was the same.
A demon contract that would be passed on to my descendants too.
The pinnacle of demonology, selling the future for the present.
Powerful, no doubt, and Hekate would have to bear that burden anyway.
With a price that matched the power.
With that dark secret of demonology in mind, I left the Thelema Academy behind.
"Even Seir-nim and Leraje couldn't do it."
[It wasn't us two having the problem, it was you.]
[Don't badmouth Leraje like that.]
Seir-nim was even denying it.
[T-That's… because it's true…]
Probably the skill gap with Hekate was just too big for even a high-rank contract demon.
Mea's was quite high too, but still lower than Hekate's, so I could just stamp it.
"Hey, we were early."
"Yeah."
My thoughts got cut off by Ray's voice.
I'd just arrived in front of the inn where Ray and Leaf were staying, and it seemed they were coming out too.
Their appearances were completely different.
Ray without the hood, Leaf still wearing hers.
Ray's sides were completely empty except for a few pockets, while Leaf was dragging a huge backpack stuffed full of things.
Ray was unarmed like a normal beastman, but Leaf was carrying a pretty long staff.
The only thing similar was the humble pose they both struck.
"Hey, what's with the weird look on your face?"
"…No."
Beast instincts.
"Let's go, we'll miss the carriage."
I used the carriage schedule as an excuse and started walking first.
From behind came Ray's grumbled "A~h, that Roman kid had weird thoughts, really", and Leaf's soothing "Today was that day, right? Maybe she was on edge?" calming Ray down.
I ignored it all.
Res Limen was a huge city, so circular carriages ran along the radial roads dividing it into eight directions and the circular roads encircling the walls.
They were the circulatory routes responsible for the city's movement.
Without those carriages, even the explorers living in the outer districts would have had to walk hours just to enter the Abyss.
Our situation was a bit better, but walking without a carriage was still too much hassle.
We boarded the carriage and headed straight to the inner city.
Then we crossed the Abyss gate.
Even though it was a temporary license, it was the only condition that allowed passage without a guide.
It was for the license test.
§
The license test started at the Abyss's first floor, Main Base.
The testers who had reached this far had all passed the temporary license test and completed their training, so they were basically full-fledged explorers.
The Demonologist Union branch at Main Base was bustling with people.
Recently the training center's graduates numbered only sixteen after the tragic incident—how could that be?
Because not only the current year's graduates were taking the test.
The previous cohort who finished training late and missed the last test.
The repeaters who had failed the previous test.
The transfer students who had completed training elsewhere and were only taking the test here.
All of them had gathered, so there were tens of them.
And their gazes, whether obvious or subtle, all pointed to one place.
"Hey, look over there."
"Ah… those people…"
Such conversations were heard everywhere.
After all, people who would spend their whole lives in the Abyss gathered here wondering if they'd ever be able to properly chat once in their lives.
Fiona McManus, the mirror grand duchess, masterpiece of the ducal house.
Arthur Carlyle, former disciple of Frontier Guild's head mage, Thousand Blades.
Alejandra Rubio, the Alexandria School headmistress's rival daughter, the wind-flame heiress.
Theresia Nachtblumer, the top talent of the Blostma School, the flower of the night.
Dustin Challoner, the Celsus School's notorious delinquent, the madman.
Just those five leading the next generation of the Res Limen ruling powers.
But there were more.
Alejandra's fellow academy members Amaya Iero and Juan Blasco.
Elowen Starweaver, who stood out instantly with her elf blood and exceptional skill.
Philon Grivas, the Serapeion School prodigy who suddenly dominated the crowd after getting a sudden realization in training and saying nothing.
Words about the previous cohort's members were said as well.
They were truly the cohort of stars.
The galaxy of new stars.
It was astonishing how they could all be tied together as one cohort, with faces full of surprises.
"Unbelievable."
"But why are they all together? Especially Fiona and Alejandra, weren't they not on good terms?"
"They say they're all training center classmates… How did they gather like that? Herston, you said you went to training too."
"Yeah, but I just know their faces and names. Even teammates didn't meet often…"
It wasn't completely false that the relationship was bad—Fiona and Alejandra were the farthest apart.
But even that was still within the range of one group, so the surprise remained.
What kind of conversation were they having?
People argued over the topic.
They had set up barriers, so no voices leaked out.
Still, you could tell they were talking by the way their lips kept opening and closing.
Curiosity grew stronger, and since someone was debating, the conversation heated up more and more.
Meanwhile, three figures appeared in the plaza.
No one paid attention at first, but when they crossed the barrier like it was nothing, the reaction flipped 180 degrees.
Crossing the barrier?
Understandable.
Friends, after all.
Even though they were called the cohort of new stars, there were definitely normal ones among them.
But even after seeing that reaction, could they still be considered normal?
Arthur Carlyle, silent with a blank expression, opened his mouth with a warm smile.
Dustin Challoner, who had been shoving people away calling them madmen, approached and gave him a friendly shoulder pat.
Not just the men.
Fiona and Alejandra, who had been talking from opposite sides, got closer and started chatting together.
Theresia, who had been dozing with her head nodding, rubbed her eyes and joined in.
Amaya Iero patted his back as if she'd heard a funny joke, but Juan Blasco immediately stopped her.
Then Alejandra Rubio handed the man a staff, like a gift, as the finishing touch.
Everyone watching from the beginning muttered the same thought.
"Who is he?"