"Unexpected."
Tap tap, the Dean finished tending to the orchid by the window and personally prepared tea.
"I never expected you to personally request a meeting with me."
"I heard a story."
"What kind of story?"
"A rumor that quite a large disturbance occurred in Professor Rosalia’s laboratory."
"Hmm."
"The tea has a good fragrance."
The Dean smiled slightly.
"Doesn’t it? This is tea I cultivated myself. It might sound like self-praise, but the quality isn’t bad either."
"Yes, it really is."
"A demon seed appeared. It interfered with Professor Rosalia’s research, and there was a process of subduing it."
Rudger, who was blowing on the steaming hot tea to cool it, asked.
"You’re answering directly?"
"Is there a reason to hide it? You already knew when you came, didn’t you?"
Though not as much as the magic stone combination, the ice crystal was also a massive concentration of mana.
Since magic was deployed while completely consuming it, the resulting magical power waves were by no means small.
No matter how many concealment and stealth magic circles were carved on the walls, there were limits.
As the Dean felt, some professors within the academy noticed that anomaly.
"Professor Zowell is one of them. His abilities are among the top five among the various professors."
Professor Zowell was one of the academy professors connected to Rudger, and furthermore to Schwaben.
"What happened to the demon seed?"
"We caught it."
"I heard you’re planning to delay the Continental Academic Conference."
"There were some problems in the process of catching the demon seed. Professor Rosalia’s research, which had been prepared for the Continental Academic Conference, became unusable."
"Is that so?"
"I’m trying to make it so it can be safely submitted to the academic conference. It would be regrettable if a capable professor’s excellent discovery and invention couldn’t see the light due to an unfortunate accident."
The Dean added milk to his black tea and stirred it with a teaspoon.
"Would you like some too?"
"I’m fine."
"Some people ask why you put milk in black tea, but once you try it, this smoothness isn’t too bad."
At his cunning appearance like a hundred-year-old sly fox, Rudger somehow felt irritated.
"Why are you telling me everything so readily?"
"Is there a need to ask? Because Student Rudger already knows everything."
Mmm, the Dean savored a sip of the milk tea and smiled with satisfaction.
"This is an academy. The academy is a place for studying, not for fighting each other."
"Isn’t what we learn essentially fighting?"
"The framework is the same when viewed broadly, but they’re strictly different."
The Dean, who had emptied his cup in an instant, refilled it with new black tea.
"Weren’t you not very interested in the academy?"
"No matter how uninterested I am, I can’t just watch parasites growing in my child’s body, can I?"
"That’s true."
"So, will you interfere?"
"I don’t have that power."
Rudger shook his head.
"Even if I did, there’s no reason to. Rather, if you wish, I could lend a hand as well."
"There’s no need for that. Just don’t interfere."
"Yes. But that demon seed, who discovered it?"
"Student Hyde. As befitting an Armian, his ability to detect demonic energy was indeed exceptional."
"I understand. Thank you."
"Apply anytime if you want a meeting."
The Empire’s Second Prince left the office.
"He doesn’t want to come to the front until the end."
Though he answered the questions honestly, he hadn’t told everything.
The fact that Gerhard was at the center of all those events.
Gerhard wanted to hide it, and the Dean accepted his request.
Because Goldenheim was the family that donated the most money to the academy.
’It’s not difficult to guess the reason for hiding.’
Even if Rudger already knew that Gerhard had grown close to Hyde, this case was different.
The Dean poured black tea for the third time.
"Mmm. My cultivated tea really is the best."
It tasted especially good today.
==
Fallen leaves dropped in the blowing wind.
Rustle-
The fluttering fallen leaf blocked the sword’s path. The sword cut through the leaf in half and advanced.
─!
Sparks flew as sword clashed with sword.
At the same time, one sword left its owner’s hand and flew through the sky. The sword that slowly rotated five times stuck into the ground with a thud.
"..."
Hyde Armian stared blankly at his torn grip and the sword stuck in the ground.
"What are you doing right now?"
Veriana Kalproten approached angrily.
"You asked for a spar but where is your mind? Do I look easy to you?"
"...Don’t I seem really stupid?"
"What?"
Veriana frowned at the sudden remark.
Hyde pulled out the sword and swung it. But the blade without any power couldn’t properly cut even a single falling leaf.
That sloppy swordwork represented his state of mind.
"That seed, if I had just left it alone, a demon would have been summoned. It contained magical power comparable to, no, even greater than the World Tree’s branch."
"What nonsense are you talking?"
"If I hadn’t known that fact until the end, and a demon was summoned the moment Professor Rosalia presented to everyone..."
It would have been a predetermined catastrophe.
The Continental Academic Conference was one of the most authoritative events in the magical world.
Countless wizards stepped forward for money and fame, and wealthy people and nobles attracted by that sweet scent followed.
If things had happened according to the demon seeds’ plan, countless people would have died, and quite many talents supporting the Empire’s present and future would have been included among them.
It was a terrible future he didn’t even want to imagine.
"So what the hell are you babbling about now! Speak so I can understand!"
However, Veriana didn’t know that fact.
"Ah... You weren’t there?"
"Are you making fun of me now? Just because I hung around with you a bit, you think you can look down on me..."
"There was a demon seed in Professor Rosalia’s laboratory. It interfered with what the professor was going to submit at the Continental Academic Conference, and if left alone, a demon would have been summoned at the conference venue."
"..."
Hyde briefly summarized the recent events, and Veriana hiccupped at the sudden wave of information.
"...Such a thing happened?"
"Senior Gerhard noticed the demon seed in advance and stopped it."
"Ha, that guy. He definitely has good abilities. When and how did he find out about that again?"
"That’s the problem."
"What?"
"It’s extremely fortunate that we stopped it, but I didn’t know anything."
Despite obtaining all of the first emperor’s arrangements.
Despite being somewhat confident as the demons’ adversary.
"I could do nothing but ignorantly follow behind Senior Gerhard."
How stupid and pathetic.
"Is that particularly important?"
"It’s important. It’s now a given fact that the demon seeds’ schemes won’t end with just once or twice. But I can’t be caught unaware every time."
"Senior Gerhard will take care of that."
"I can’t just depend on him forever. Senior is senior, and I am me."
Gerhard wasn’t Hyde’s person, nor was Goldenheim a vassal of Armian.
"I need my people. People who will help me."
"Why are you telling me this?"
"I never thought it was regrettable that my family fell in my lifetime. Though I felt sorry for family members who only sought past glory, I never experienced the flourishing times."
Lack comes from knowing abundance.
To someone born and raised in a small village, city life was just a story from a distant country.
"Of course, I thought it would be good if the family became greater, but it was a bit vague. But coming to the academy, I clearly understand."
How shabby Armian had become.
"If Armian had its previous power, I might have been able to find demon seeds before senior."
"Sorry, but I’m not a friend who shares inner feelings with you. Did you forget? How we came to be together?"
"I had occasionally thought it would be nice to become that great past Armian. But I’ve never been as desperate as now..."
Gardner’s words fanned his greed.
The demon seeds and demons appearing at just the right time increased the possibilities.
"I want to rebuild Armian."
It was the first time he had spoken these words in front of someone.
It was that weighty a matter.
"This crazy bastard...! You’re not listening to me, are you?"
Veriana’s complexion turned pale.
"No, I’m listening."
"If you want to rebuild your family, tell someone else! Don’t drag me into it unnecessarily."
"The situation is good. Armian’s power is the natural enemy of demons, and demon seeds and demons are making the continent chaotic at just the right time. It’s when a hero is needed."
Hyde wanted to become a hero.
"But even a hero can’t do everything alone. I need you. More precisely, I want you to become my person."
"What is this crazy bastard babbling about now?"
Veriana’s face twisted viciously.
"I’m on Prince Rudger’s side."
"You were on his side. You’re abandoned now."
"I’m not abandoned, I’m being threatened to be by your side!"
"Well said. I learned while going around with Senior Gerhard. To get what you want, you mustn’t be picky about means and methods."
Hyde’s face sank coldly.
"You wouldn’t..."
"Did you forget how we came to be together? How could I forget? And this saying also comes to mind. The first time is difficult, but the second time is easy."
Veriana’s eyes widened with deep foreboding.
"Become my ally, Veriana. This isn’t a request but a threat."
"This bastard really..."
Veriana gritted her teeth.
==
[Breaking News: 198th Continental Academic Conference Postponed by Two Weeks...]
[Some wizards cheering ’We bought time!’ at the sudden postponement.]
[No clear reason given for the postponement... Unilateral notification?]
The Dean’s words became reality, and newspapers raised questions about the sudden postponement of the academic conference.
But since the Electors had moved, these would eventually be quietly buried.
Professor Rosalia began making the magic stone combination again with Gerhard’s support and the Dean’s help.
And she faced the source that had forced her to act that way.
"..."
It was utterly unpleasant, unclean, dirty, and disgusting.
An instinctive revulsion that any life form in this world would have, excluding monsters or creatures affected by demonic energy.
It wasn’t very large. If forced to compare, about the size of a human head.
But the appearance of blood vessels faintly pulsing like a heart over the thick membrane looked more like a fetus than a seed.
Anger surged. At Aron, and at the seed.
But at the same time, curiosity arose.
What exactly was that thing?
How did it pulsate?
What would come out if it was dissected?
Click, she put a cigarette in her mouth and lit it. Her tired head cleared a little, and her emotions calmed down.
"This is my first time seeing something like this too. Fascinating yet disgusting and unpleasant."
The Dean, who had helped with the dismantling, stroked his beard while looking at the seed wriggling on the magic circle.
"Professor Rosalia, what do you plan to do with this?"
"You should ask me, not the professor."
"You?"
"This is an object that came from research I invested in. Naturally, I can claim ownership of it first."
"But it was Professor Rosalia who conducted the research."
Both their gazes stopped on Rosalia.
"I’m not without greed for it, but this isn’t my research product. However, I can’t deny that it’s a byproduct from the magic stones Gerhard invested in."
Rosalia, who had received Itarium elixirs and massive magic stones, knew well who held the initiative.
She wasn’t without desire for that strange thing she was seeing for the first time, but research came first for now.
"So it seems."
"What do you plan to do with this?"
"I’ll destroy it."
"Destroy it?"
"It’s something left by a demon seed. Whatever it is, it can’t be beneficial to us, so naturally it must be destroyed."
While other wizards might have surging research enthusiasm, Gerhard’s foundation was that of a merchant.
He had no intention of leaving alone something that was expected to cause massive losses if it exploded.
"Will you buy it?"
"Didn’t I say I’d destroy it?"
"With demonic energy this terrible, even if destroyed, the demonic energy won’t disappear overnight from the wreckage. For wizards overflowing with research enthusiasm, it would be something they’d want to obtain even for countless gold."
Since it’s not a demon, it won’t disappear. Like how monsters leave corpses.
"As payment for helping Professor Rosalia at your request, the wreckage of this would be sufficient."
Quite greedy. Demanding more after receiving donations? But the Dean had such value.
"Yes, then I’ll destroy it and give it to you."
"I need it too."
"Yes, I’ll give it to you too, Professor."
"Will you destroy it yourself?"
"I brought someone to destroy it."
At Gerhard’s words, Hyde Armian, who had been waiting quietly, stepped forward and drew his sword.
"You planned this from the beginning?"
"It’s something left by a demon seed. I think there’s no one better than an Armian to definitively end it."
"If the demonic energy is damaged in the process, the value will drop?"
"It can’t be helped. There’s nothing more precious than life."
Hyde drew up his aura. Pure white light enveloped the sword.
"Wait a moment."
The Dean gestured briefly. Several layers of barriers surrounded everyone.
"My laboratory wouldn’t break unless hellfire fell on it, but people are another matter. This is just in case."
"Thank you."
After the brief delay, Hyde raised his sword.
But the moment that sword was about to fall.
──!
Strong repulsive force pushed the sword away.
Flash-
The seed split lengthwise.
It was an eye. One large, red eyeball popped out from the center.
<So it has come to this after all.>
A bizarre voice that seemed to tear eardrums was heard.
The eyeball flashed as it surveyed the humans’ faces. A massive sense of oppression swept through the room.
The eyeball soon stopped at Hyde.
<Armian, cursed spawn.>
<Today will be your last.>
Without time to stop it from swelling madly.
────!
An explosion occurred.