✦ Chapter 28 – I Will Teach You What Fear Is (2) ✦
The next day.
The Imperial Magic Tower was in an uproar from the morning.
“Is this… Is this for real?”
“How long has it been since we accepted a yellow-grade request?”
“It’s not the acceptance that’s the problem! How are we supposed to succeed?”
The reason they couldn’t stay still was one — the notice conspicuously posted on the board.
== x == x == x == x == x == x == x == x== x == x == x ==
Ruiple’s insolence has gone too far.
Personnel will be selected this afternoon. Gather accordingly.
== x == x == x == x == x == x == x == x== x == x == x ==
“…What!”
Widro, the leader of the theoretical faction, exploded in anger. Nox, the head of the pragmatic faction? He had long since collapsed from drinking.
Perhaps because Widro was the highest-ranking official among the nearby mages, everyone began to direct their questions at the old man.
“Master Widro, departing for Ruiple after just a week of preparation? Will we be alright like this?”
“Hmm…”
But Widro could only groan in response.
Are we alright? That was something they should ask the Inspector.
Everyone here was worried about the same thing.
“Currently, Ruiple has an extremely bad reputation. Do you think a novice mage can grow enough in just a week to set foot in such a place?”
“Exactly! Even if the Inspector is excellent, the rest of us…”
“M-moreover, our opponents are three knights from the Imperial Knights Order! It would be great if we won the bet and opened the Imperial Treasury, but if we lose, the consequences…”
“……………”
Widro could only quietly stroke his beard.
…I don’t know either. Why are you asking me?
Fortunately, Widro’s awkward situation didn’t last long. From the far end of the corridor, Ezekiel appeared.
And the mages rushed towards him.
“Inspector!”
“Inspector! We have something to ask!”
Though their expressions were uniformly urgent, Ezekiel preempted them as if he already knew what they were going to say.
“…There is no turning back on this mission. Follow me for now.”
“………..”
His tone was as chilling as the ice he could create. In the end, no one dared to ask any further questions.
Thud― Thud―
Everyone could only stare blankly at Ezekiel’s back.
In that quiet moment, someone asked Agnes—
“Agnes, you’re the secretary, right? Haven’t you heard anything?”
At that, the eyes of the others also turned to Agnes in an instant. It was a simple thought that if she was the personal secretary, she might have heard something.
“Th-that’s right! You’re the personal secretary!”
“Agnes, haven’t you heard anything about this decision?”
“……….”
However, Secretary Agnes remained silent for a moment.
To distribute sunweed, he said. Can I tell them that?
“………..”
No, I can’t. I absolutely can’t.
No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t say it.
“…There is a reason why we must go to Ruiple.”
An expression full of meaning in many ways.
For now, this was the best Agnes could do.
~~••~~••~~
In the afternoon, Ezekiel headed to the auditorium with Agnes.
“We’ll select only one novice to accompany us,” he muttered, chewing on a sunweed. Perhaps because there weren’t many left, or because he wanted to savor it, he was chewing slower than usual.
“Just one? Shouldn’t we select at least two?”
“It’s fine. I already have one person in mind.”
“When did you do that? You’ve just taken office and haven’t even interacted with the other mages.”
At that moment.
Swish―
A yellow badge suddenly appeared on Agnes’ chest above her uniform without her noticing; the person in question just blinked silently at the unexpected occurrence.
A yellow badge.
As far as she knew, it was the symbol worn by mages going on yellow-grade missions before departure.
“…What is this?”
“It’s you. The one I had in mind.”
“I’m administrative staff, not a field personnel.”
“Of course, it’s not mandatory. I’ll give you a choice.”
Ezekiel handed her an envelope. Agnes took it and looked inside to see that it was a blank resignation letter.
The implication was clear.
…Either you come with me, or you resign.
“Ah.”
Agnes closed her eyes tightly. I’m crazy to quit my job as an imperial administrator. I’m really crazy…
“Why me of all people?”
“Your telekinesis is useful. It’d be a waste to let it go to waste. If you polish it properly, you could be a great achiever later.”
“………….”
The woman quietly brushed her hair behind her ear.
It was true that Agnes usually took great pride in her telekinesis, and it felt good to be recognized by Ezekiel, who had achieved remarkable magical feats.
But there was one thing that greatly bothered her.
The manual.
Agnes had lived her entire life following set manuals. As a result, she liked things that were predictable and naturally avoided things that weren’t.
Agnes quietly looked at Ezekiel.
“………….”
…I couldn’t predict what he would do next, even a second from now.
But what could she do? She couldn’t resign.
“…I understand for now.”
The two finally arrived at the auditorium.
In the spacious area, novice mages stood at regular intervals; their faces were filled with tension.
Agnes broke the silence with an expressionless face.
“There are a lot of people. It seems like it will be a long process.”
“Not at all.”
Ezekiel answered easily without hesitation.
And for good reason—he had done this countless times before, refining and selecting gems from among many candidates.
— Since it’s the organization you’ll lead, select the personnel yourself.
— What should we call it… Right, Balance.
— You’ll also directly select personnel for missions.
Who to select for the organization, who to take on this mission… These were things Ezekiel had done countless times, and they were Ezekiel’s strengths.
So the task of selecting people—he had mastered it by now.
‘The only problem is…’
Is the gem Ezekiel wants here?
He didn’t know.
‘There are fewer than 10 sunweeds left now.’
If Ezekiel were to become incapacitated due to the absence of sunweed, they would need someone competent enough to fill his shoes, but that was probably too high an expectation for a novice.
It was then that Agnes spoke up, “What are you going to do? Are you going to go around by yourself? Or should I tell them to come one by one?”
“There’s no need for that.”
Snap―!
Ezekiel snapped his fingers.
“Huh?”
“Wow…”
At the same time, the mages opened their eyes wide and looked at the ceiling; high above, a sphere enveloped in cold air slowly rotated, beginning to scatter snowflakes.
Agnes caught one snowflake on her index finger.
“…It doesn’t seem like an ordinary snowflake.”
“That’s right. They react to the mage’s mana and stick to them.”
It was a marvelous magic whose principles Agnes couldn’t even begin to guess. In any case, thanks to Ezekiel’s application, they could now identify at a glance who was the most talented.
Far away, there was someone who was already turning into a snowman.
Ezekiel puffed out smoke and asked, “Who is that guy?”
“That’s Leo, the valedictorian of this year’s academy class.”
As expected, Leo will be selected. That thought crossed Agnes’ mind—
“I see.”
—but Ezekiel looked elsewhere as if he was not interested.
Agnes unconsciously followed Ezekiel’s gaze and was surprised to see a girl who was melting the snowflakes falling around her.
Ezekiel approached the girl and asked, “You, what are you?”
“Me… me?” The girl with pink hair pointed to herself with her index finger. She was clearly nervous. What was unusual was that she was sweating profusely; so much so that it seemed a bit excessive. “Ah, hello! My name is Belka…!” She shouted, wiping the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve. She even gulped down the water bottle she was holding in one hand.
However, it was somewhat different from being nervous about wanting to be selected. It seemed more like she was trembling with fear that she might be picked.
“I, I absolutely can’t go with you!” Belka exclaimed.
“Explain why,” Ezekiel said.
It was an unusual scene – usually, people would try to persuade him by explaining why he should take them, but instead, she was asking him not to take her by explaining the opposite.
“I’m not good at magic in the first place…! I only know how to use scrolls, and, and I don’t even know how I got into the Imperial Tower in the first place!”
Agnes , who had been listening quietly, nodded after looking at the document containing her personal information.”Her scores should have disqualified her, but there were few applicants this year. Her academy grades were in the lower-middle range.”
“Yes, yes… That’s right…” Belka did not feel bad about Agnes’ words, but rather agreed vehemently, clapping her hands.
However, Ezekiel noticed that there was something a little unusual about her. Belka’s grades weren’t consistently low – they were either top marks or complete failures, nothing in between.
“Besides, I’m not suitable for group activities…” Belka continued, sweating so much so that the robe she was wearing was completely soaked and stuck to the contours of her body. “My mana keeps boiling over… It keeps spreading like a haze, interfering with the mana control of the surrounding mages. It’s serious…”
“Your mana boils over?”
“Yes, yes. It’s true.”
When Belka stretched out her hand to the right as if to show him, the snowflakes in that direction immediately melted.
“…………..”
Ezekiel paused, holding the stem of his sunweed. He looked at the sunweed, then at Belka, then back at the sunweed.
“…………..”
…A sunweed seedling was breathing alive right in front of his nose.
‘It’s a living sunweed.’
Of course, Belka’s condition was still mild, far from the heat output of a sunweed, but it was worth cultivating. Very much so.
“The rest of you, please leave,” Ezekiel announced.
The other novices left the auditorium as if they were waiting, and in just a few minutes, the space was empty.
And finally, Ezekiel nodded.
“Belka. You pass.”
“…What? Whaaaat?”
.
.
.
.
.
And so, the three people who would go on the mission were formed, and Belka, one of the person involved, visited Ezekiel every day.
Of course, the purpose of her visit was simply to plead.
“In-Inspector, I don’t know how to do anything…!”
“Don’t do anything.”
“Whaaaat?”
Meanwhile, the people inside the Imperial Magic Tower began to wonder about various things, their necks craned.
Will they really be able to go to Ruiple?
And if they went, will they be able to solve the request?
Could they even win the bet?
Thanks to the fact that there was so much to talk about, the mouths of the Imperial Magic Tower mages didn’t stop talking for a long time.
“…I can’t believe they passed over Leo.”
“Belka isn’t particularly talented as a newcomer… No, could it be! Is he confident he can nurture even the untalented?”
“What was that reason they absolutely had to go to Ruiple?”
“All we can do is wait and watch the results.”
What changes would Ezekiel bring about in a week?
This was currently the greatest point of interest in the Imperial Magic Tower.
At the same time, anticipation and concern enveloped the entire Magic Tower; the amount was overwhelmingly immense.
~~••~~••~~
I greeted the day of departure without any training.
‘This is the last sunweed.’
And one more thing.
“Shall we talk?”
Hedera came to see me.