Chapter 168: Secret (1)
…She introduced the purpose of magic in my mind. She selected a series suitable for the purpose and composed the circuit. A process expressed in two sentences; it didn’t have to be that complicated. She believed in her talents, so she just focused on the condensation and heating of the magic itself rather than flashy individual skills or high-level techniques.
The theory of the Iron Man was taught by Professor Deculein. Carrying that theory into her body and mind, Epherene slowly reached out. Her artifact, the bracelet, glowed blue first. The magical energy emitted from her spread into the atmosphere, and a strong air current condensed around her arm.
“Heeya!”
Epherene stretched out her hand with that. The magic to be manifested held the wind attribute of the destruction series Call of the Convection.
Whooosh-!
The gale that soared from her grasp scattered and shattered the rocks before her, turning them into small fragments.
“Fufu.”
A perfect result was blending magic composition, power, and efficiency. Nothing lacked. Epherene laughed triumphantly, and then—!
The wind blew away the smoke that lingered in her hands. Then, with a proud expression, she looked back at the Professor who was evaluating her from afar.
“Epherene, is the trial over?”
Deculein was checking something in a document. This was the so-called capacity assessment, assessing the skills of knights and wizards before starting the mission to form a well-rounded team.
“Go back.”
“…Yes.”
Again, there was no praise. That was a little dissatisfying, but Epherene just retreated to the tree stump and sat down. She then watched the next assessment. Now it was probably Drent’s turn-
“Huh?”
Epherene’s eyes widened. She found a familiar figure on the passage leading to Reccordak.
“Professor Louina?!”
At Epherene’s cry, Louina looked to her. She smiled at Epherene.
…
Epherene and Louina went together to a restaurant to speak.
“…He has less than five years to live? Are you sure?”
“Yes. I can’t explain in detail why. But I’m sure.”
The two decided to speak comfortably. Epherene’s efforts had broken Louina’s stubbornness.
“I knew it… I expected it, but it feels a bit empty knowing it’s true.”
She looked at her plate with a very disappointed expression. Epherene understood her feelings.
“But… no one is sitting over there?”
However, as if more than that was uncomfortable, Louina changed the topic. Epherene glanced over. Deculein’s fiancée, Julie, and the lieutenant, Reylie, were there, just the two of them. No one wanted to sit near.
“I know, right? The place is full, but no one is sitting by them.”
The restaurant was full except for around them. Louina muttered in a low voice.
“Well. It’s because she broke up with Deculein.”
“What? Oh~, but that’s not official yet, is it?”
“…Huhu. Maybe it’s because it’s between two great families? Yukline and Freyden. They’re probably saving face right now.”
“Ah…”
In response to Louina’s answer, Epherene nodded. Then, someone sat down next to her.
“Who is it?”
“Who is it? It’s me, Leaf.”
It was Ihelm. His brow furrowed as he looked at Louina.
“Are you here too?”
“Yeah. Hi?”
“Hi? Since when did we meet each other? More importantly, Leaf, are you doing well? I’ve heard that you’ve been publishing Deculein’s work at random.”
“…N-No. We just read together for a while…”
“Huh! Ihelm! Louina!”
A clear and refreshing cry resounded, drawing everyone’s attention. A blonde knight approached with a bright smile. Louina’s eyes widened.
“Syrio?”
“Yeah, it’s me.”
Epherene was startled. The deputy commander of the Knights of Iliade, ‘Quick Swordsman Syrio.’ He was quite famous. In addition, Raphael, Gwen, and other equally famous knights all sat nearby.
“Why are you guys sitting here?”
Ihelm murmured, dissatisfied. Syrio still answered with a smile.
“What’s the problem? It’s good to see all of our classmates after a long time~. It’s been a long time since we’ve gotten together like this.”
“Classmates?”
Epherene asked in surprise.
“Yeah. We’re all classmates with Deculein. If only Julie, sitting over there alone, could come—?”
Syrio spoke aloud for Julie to hear. Julie stopped using her spoon and chopsticks for a moment. But instead of coming over, she immediately stood and left the restaurant.
“…Damn. You ruined it.”
Gwen lightly hit Syrio on the shoulder. He patted his shoulder and smiled bitterly.
“Oh, my bad. Still, since all the classmates have gathered, wouldn’t it be nice if we reconciled?”
“What reconcile? Don’t you know Julie’s personality? Now she won’t even come to the restaurant and will only eat in her office.”
“Hmm… I guess so?”
“Guess so, my ass.”
Epherene listened to the conversations of celebrities who often appeared in the media with amazement.
* * *
Against the background of a blizzard outside the window, I was making a list for the mission.
[1. Julie 2. Gwen 3. Devrin 4. Drent.]
[1. Syrio 2. Lillard 3. Diment 4. Epherene.]
[1. Raphael 2. Ihelm…]
It was an arrangement considering compatibility so that no matter what kind of monster they encountered, they wouldn’t be at a disadvantage. I consumed 3,000 mana with Understanding while making this list, so the outcome was certain.
Knock, knock-
I opened the door with Psychokinesis.
“It’s Knight Deya.”
It was Julie. As the de facto head of Reccordak, she was also in charge of this type of work.
“This is a report on the condition of the Reccordak prisoners.”
Julie put the report down. I looked at her with Vision. Her lifespan was increasing by years. I nodded with satisfaction.
“This is a list of missions. Distribute it.”
“Yes.”
“Also, you have work to do at night.”
“Yes.”
I handed her the full-length mirror. Julie, holding the mirrors the size of her own body, looked at me with a face holding no emotion. She wanted me to explain.
“This is a map.”
At the same time, I pulled out a map. It was the artifact strengthened with Midas’ Hand in Time.
“I marked the key points. Put a mirror in each. Be careful not to break it.”
My new origin, Mirror. It could be used for all the properties of mirrors, such as reflection and refraction, and methods such as connection and passage. Therefore, I could go anywhere in the North where this full-length mirror was installed. Of course, there were still limitations due to the low quality of magic, but my range of movement expanded exponentially.
“Yes.”
Julie didn’t ask any questions; she left with the mirror on her back. Truly, she was a woman suited to the North.
“…Now she won’t get lost.”
I muttered. Julie’s characteristic was bad with directions, but that map would cover it to some extent.
“Then…”
I was about to start on my only hobbies in the North, painting and writing. However.
Tap— Tap—
A stone hit the window.
Tap— Tap—
“What.”
I frowned and stood. When I opened the window and looked down, I saw a certain postman.
“Oh! Professor! I’m a messenger!”
He was an adventurer who delivered letters.
“Take this!”
He took the letter out of his bag and-
Swish—
-threw it. I caught the soaring letter with Psychokinesis.
“Then, I’m going!”
Whoong!
And the way he flew away was pretty amazing. The postman disappeared over the horizon in an instant, so he must have been a Named. The world was wide, and there were many masters.
“…”
I opened the envelope.
[Deculein… it must be night in the North… you might be bewildered by my private letter~. But there is no special reason for me to send this letter…]
It was an unfriendly letter that didn’t reveal its sender, but I thought I knew who this person was from the first paragraph.
[I just didn’t want to use a crystal ball or something… sometimes, I get this weird feeling… I want to use something other than magic… haha~.]
“…”
I was familiar with these phrases for some reason. It was a style I read somewhere.
[I’m practicing Go to defeat you… I also spent a small amount of time on magic and swordsmanship… but, these fucking subordinates… they want so many things… Man~. The more I think about it, the more annoyed I get…!]
I smirked. Was it universal? At such moments, Sophien’s age could be glimpsed. She was an elder who had lived for hundreds of years. Of course, she had only experienced death, so her mental age wasn’t as mature as that might imply.
[I heard that you are passionate about writing… so I thought about it…! Try to write a book related to Go there. I mean, I’m going to entrust the distribution of Go to you~. There might be someone… somewhere who could beat you… and me…]
“Go.”
If Go became easy to spread, Sophien would like it too. It was my duty as a servant to find things to please Her Majesty. I considered myself to be Sophien’s servant. Of course, this feeling was, to some extent, due to Deculein’s emotions and personality.
[I’ll stop here… it’s been almost 100 years… I don’t know if it’s 100 years, but I’m not good at this since it’s the first time I’m writing a letter… you don’t have to reply…! You cheeky and arrogant bastard… work hard in the North~.]
For some reason, that was the end of this sweet letter. I took a piece of paper out of the drawer. I would send it to Her Majesty, so I imbued it with Midas’ Hand and wrote a single sentence on it.
[Yes. I will do my best according to Your Majesty’s will.]
* * *
Meanwhile, Julie was on a night mission with Reylie. Snow was falling heavily in the sub-zero temperature, but there wasn’t a single complaint about it.
“He did that to screw us over on purpose. You know?!”
But Reylie was pissed off. Julie covered her ears and shook her head.
“I get it. I know. You don’t have to repeat it.”
“Gosh! What kind of night mission do you use advanced personnel like us for? And what, a mirror? A mirror—?!”
“…Go and put it there. It is a key point.”
Julie pointed to a basin on the side of the mountain.
“Hmph!”
Reylie stomped over and put the mirror in the area Deculein had marked with a bang—!
“It’ll break, Reylie.”
“Whatever!”
“…Gosh.”
It was at that moment.
Whoooosh-!
The blizzard intensified. Reylie was startled. It wasn’t a typical blizzard any longer, but a chill was raging with mana.
“Ah, again! A magic blizzard of all times!”
“Don’t worry. There is a station nearby.”
Julie unfolded the map. She had found it very convenient thus far. Of course, her location was currently displayed.
“Please guide me to the station.”
Saying this, it would guide her to the nearest station in this area. It was a very helpful and grateful instructor.
“Where is it showing?!”
“Let’s go. Follow me.”
“Yes, yes. Hurry up. If I stay here any longer, I will freeze to death. Ugh!”
She lifted the noisy Reylie with both arms and ran in the direction the map marked.
“Hmm?”
“Huh? There is someone there!”
She found someone on the other side of the road. At first, they were nothing but a dark silhouette, but as they drew closer, they could make out who it was.
“Lia!”
Reylie jumped from Julie’s arms and ran towards her. Julie followed close after.
“Oh! It’s Reylie!”
There were three children total, each of them smiling brightly to see Reylie.
“I see Leo and Carlos are here too, huh? Nice to see you guys~.”
“Long time no see~.”
“Yeah!”
The four greeted each other. Julie, who was watching with a blank look, spoke up.
“…Reylie, do you know them?”
“Oh, yes! Right, guys. This is Knight Julie.”
“Hello.”
First, the girl looked at her and smiled. She seemed to be a child named Lia… when Julie noticed the child’s face, she became a little curious, but she wasn’t entirely sure why.
“There must be a station nearby. It’s cold, right? Follow me. Knight?”
“…Ah. Okay. Right, let’s go. Follow me. Please guide me to the station.”
Julie walked with the three children. The station appeared soon after, exuding warmth.
“I don’t know how many times this saved our lives.”
“Really~? How can our Lia be so kind?”
Julie first swore an oath then opened the door.
“Come in…?”
When she looked back and said that and looked forward again, a shiver went through her.
“…”
There were already people in the station. Three people were sipping teacups together.
“…Hmm.”
One was a beautiful blonde, and the other was a civil servant with navy blue hair. Julie was familiar with both of them. They were Sylvia and Primienne, respectively. However, there was one more than the two of them combined.
A knight who was so familiar to Julie but sometimes even more unfamiliar and frightening than any other.
“…Hmm. You’re here, Julie?”
Zeit von Brugang Freyden. He scratched the back of his neck with his bearish hand.
“What… I ended up coming here, too, somehow. Hahaha. Ahem.”
“…”
Julie looked blankly at the three of them. Sylvia glanced at Julie and then turned her head away in dissatisfaction. Next, Primienne nodded while gazing at Julie.
Finally, Zeit. She didn’t know why he was here, but he chuckled and avoided her gaze. It was an unexpected combination.
“What are you doing there? Just come in and sit down. It seems like there are others.”
“…Yes.”
Julie let the children in. It was cold outside, so she couldn’t help it.
“Come on, everyone inside the station… huh! What!”
Reylie sat down, more surprised than Julie. Leo, Carlos, and Lia, who followed, were no different. The children staggered backward with anxious looks. They felt Zeit’s absolute strength with their bodies. It was understandable with Zeit’s body, face, and grand majesty. If it were a normal person, the moment they met, they would’ve collapsed.
Zeit frowned as if dissatisfied.
“Hey. Are you looking at a monster, you guys? Just come in…”