TL/ED – Miso
The return was swift.
It was because the magic that opened Dersia’s door was connected to the library.
He knew it, but still, after traveling by carriage for two days to reach that place, arriving in the Capital in just a few seconds from a castle that was much farther away made him imagine so dangerous possibilities.
“If Crimson Circle could use teleportation magic like this, that’d be a real disaster.”
“Do you think those who cannot even wield elental magic could reach the level of slicing through dinsions? Though, well, they do similar things using that lump.”
“Did you definitely kill it?”
“Sothing like that cannot be killed. Instead, I left a bluff.”
“A bluff…?”
“Yes. But a bluff cast by a 9-Star wizard is sothing they’ll have no choice but to fall for. They know nothing about magic anyway.”
We sent Elysia and Alletus back to the mansion.
Of course, it wasn’t that easy.
When we arrived and entered the mansion, a maid who greeted us asked with a puzzled look.
“Ah, Dersia nim. And Teacher Jern. What brings you here? The master and young lady are currently away on a trip.”
“Uh… that is, we brought them back-”
“Excuse ? What do you an by that…”
Sensing what was about to happen, I awkwardly entered the mansion and opened the workshop door.
The maid, who entered the workshop with a bewildered look, scread louder than soone who had witnessed a murder.
“Kyaa- kyaaaaaaaaah!!”
“What is going on- no!! Master!! Young lady!!”
“Ugh, a doctor! Call a doctor!!”
Most of the staff who ca running after hearing the scream reacted similarly.
…It seed news of Azelin’s invasion had not yet arrived.
Well, we did get here awfully fast. As I quietly stepped back, the butler, who looked almost half-crazed, asked .
“W-What on earth happened!!”
“Well…”
I gave him a brief summary of the events, omitting the fact that sothing could have happened to Elysia, and even so, he collapsed to his knees.
“…Thank you. Truly, you’ve given our house an unfathomable grace…”
“Not , Dersia nim- no, Master, where are you going?”
“Just let them know we weren’t the ones who attacked. Once a report about Azelin’s situation cos in, they’ll co looking for on their own. I’ll explain everything then.”
I sensed sothing in Dersia’s tone, a feeling of urgency unlike her usual self.
It couldn’t be helped. I gave the butler a final piece of advice before leaving.
“Um, Elysia might be a little out of it and say strange things, but you must not believe any of it.”
“Pardon? What do you an by that?”
“…I’m busy, so I’ll take my leave.”
I stepped into the library through the door Dersia had opened.
?
No, there were books, but it wasn’t a library.
It was a bizarrely shaped room where papers covered papers, and books and pens were scattered carelessly on top. But rather than feeling ssy, it felt as though the room’s owner had arranged things according to so logic only they understood.
It was probably Dersia’s personal space. I carefully looked around and stepped forward.
“This is my room. You’re the first human other than Ciel to enter.”
Dersia, who had sat naturally on an ordinary bed with only the essentials, curled her finger.
It was a gesture telling to co over.
I felt an indescribable unease and took a step back.
“Imperial law-”
“Shut up and co. I’ll treat you.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Couldn’t she treat at the library?
As I hesitated and walked over, Dersia grabbed by the scruff of the neck and laid on the bed.
Then, she looked at the injured area and muttered sothing.
“Ugh.”
Rather than pain… it felt like my strength was being drained all at once.
As the treatnt began, the fatigue throughout my entire body vanished, leaving without even the energy to remain tense. It was quite a curious sensation.
“What is this?”
“Healing magic… or rather, it’s rely a spell that induces all bodily functions to focus on natural recovery, accelerating the healing process to its limits.”
“Back in the library, when you beat like a dog, didn’t you use so kind of magic that instantly healed everything?”
“That was a matter of saving your intact physical state and, upon injury, recalling it and separating the developed areas from the undeveloped. It’s not sothing you’d call healing.”
“…What?”
“Jern. I, too, have sothing I’m curious about regarding you.”
Suddenly, while touching my wound, Dersia t my gaze.
“Since you may beco uneasy, I’ll say this in advance. No matter what answer you give to the question I’m about to ask, the way I treat you will not change. There will be no difference in our contract, and I will still assist you for your survival, so I hope you will speak honestly.”
It was such an excessive effort to reassure that it had the opposite effect, it made more anxious.
However, she seed to be about to discuss sothing quite serious, so I too wiped the smile off my face and responded sincerely.
“Yes. I understand.”
Speaking while lying down wasn’t exactly a dignified posture, but still.
In a voice without any inflection, Dersia asked,
“Do you have any connection to Crimson Circle?”
“Hmm.”
I pondered the question. For quite a long ti.
It was because I understood why Dersia was asking this. Rather than trying to co up with a satisfying answer, it felt more like I was also searching for an answer to that very question.
Thankfully, Dersia waited silently for the five minutes I remained quiet.
“…I know this isn’t the answer you’re looking for, but I don’t really know either. However, I can explain.”
“Please do.”
“This is about the questions that arose when you saw those corpses, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
Dersia nodded in reply.
“After eting you, Crimson Circle rose up. Of course, it’s certain that their current objective is to increase their numbers. But beyond that, why did they act now?”
“You believe I’m their objective.”
“Sothing similar, yes. It’s clear they’re trying to create a being like you. Perhaps-”
“They’re looking for . That could be the case.”
I shrugged and answered.
“To be honest, when I was five… I think, but I have no mories from before that.”
“…Hmm.”
“When I ca to my senses, I was in front of the Orphanage. So I grew up as an orphan. That ans, it’s possible. I could’ve been tortured by Crimson Circle before I lost my mory… or maybe I’m a secret weapon they released into the Empire.”
“Or the story about losing your mory could be a lie.”
“Did you really have to bring up that possibility?”
“Hmm…”
Dersia stared at for a mont, then let out a faint laugh.
“If you are their minion, I think Crimson Circle would really suffer.”
“I’ll take that as a complint. Do you have any more questions?”
There’s no way that’s all. I thought for sure Dersia would keep digging into sothing, but unexpectedly, she seed satisfied with that answer and wrapped it up cleanly.
“Well, if I had to say, it was a question asked out of pure curiosity. Nothing is certain yet, so I can’t make any hasty judgnts.”
“Still, isn’t it highly likely there’s a connection to my short life after mory loss?”
“Even if there is, what could you do? Didn’t you say you lost your mory? You can’t use it.”
“…That’s true.”
“Then, I’ll ask about the battle after you’ve rested, so take it easy for now.”
“Where are you going?”
“If I don’t report what happened in Azelin, things will get very troubleso. If you need anything, here, ring this bell, and a maid will co…”
Suddenly stopping mid-sentence, Dersia seed to contemplate sothing, then wore a decaying expression and took the bell away.
“No, I will be back soon, so just bear with it.”
“Yep.”
After Dersia opened the door and left, I lay comfortably on the bed.
It felt like the image of the room would be full of cigarette sll or sothing, but there was nothing like that. It was nearly scentless.
Already tired, I was about to doze off when I reached my hand into the air.
“Hmm…”
I examined my hand closely.
An ordinary hand, a child’s hand. Through the Body Reinforcent Art and what could only be called torturous exercise, muscles that shouldn’t exist at this age had ford. But that couldn’t be helped.
Aside from that, there was really nothing unusual.
‘…Was I tortured?’
The thought suddenly occurred to .
Did the owner of this body truly suffer torture severe enough to fall into the Deep Sea?
If that were really the case…
I was very curious to know who had done it.
*
Amazingly, I was unable to leave Dersia’s room for three whole months after that.
The mont she heard how I defeated Wihwa, Dersia locked the door.
During that ti, when Elysia woke up and tried to co find no matter what, Dersia didn’t even allow her to speak with .
Then Elysia tried to break the door down, and after that, I never saw any sign of her visits again.
Starting two months after my leg had completely healed, I asked to be let out every week. But Dersia, who treated like a terminal cancer patient, always gave the sa answer.
“Jern, right now, you are in a very, very, very, very dangerous condition.”
“Didn’t we already know that from before?”
“It’s more than that. Frankly, I’m more curious about how you survived…”
Dersia, with even darker circles under her eyes than usual, furrowed her brow and examined my condition.
It had been the sa routine, every single day, for three months without fail.
“How is the burden today?”
“I don’t feel like it’s worse than before. Of course, I know the Deep Fusion state is extrely dangerous, but that’s already over, and not going out won’t change anything, right? I’m seriously going to die here.”
“It seems you still don’t fully understand. You were on the verge of becoming part of the Deep Sea.”
“…Ah.”
When I answered with a slightly surprised tone, Dersia tilted her head.
“What’s the matter?”
“I thought the sa. That I was just about to beco a phenonon.”
“If you felt it firsthand, this will be quicker. Had you made even the slightest misstep in handling it, you would’ve lted into the world, into the Deep Sea, and ceased to be human.”
“Then what would’ve happened?”
“Transcendence. You would have vanished from this world. You’d be living inside the world you created.”
“…”
I had instinctively hated the idea, and so that’s what it would’ve beco?
“Once you set foot in it, you wouldn’t be able to escape. How did you pull yourself back just by will…”
As I watched Dersia begin to ponder, I rembered sothing and spoke up.
“Co to think of it, I think I had Elysia’s help when I returned from the Deep Fusion state.”
“What do you an?”
“After losing myself in Deep Fusion and regaining consciousness, Elysia was doing sothing to . Maybe she deactivated it with her ability to reject magic?”
“With her ability to reject magic, how could she stop a transformation into a phenonon? That’s completely differen-”
Dersia, who had been shaking her head in disbelief, suddenly stopped and began seriously thinking things through.
“Hmm.”
“So, when can I go out? I am getting antsy just staying in the room.”
No matter how much I liked being in my room, being locked in for this long was really driving insane.
After a long mont of hesitation, Dersia handed a certain key.
“…Very well. If you feel like you’re about to fuse outside, imdiately use this key to open a nearby door. When you open it, it will connect to this room. It’s single-use, but this much should be sufficient.”
“Huh? I can really go out?”
“Since there haven’t been any issues for three months, it’s reasonable to judge you as stable. Truthfully, I’d have liked to monitor you for six months, but I also have things I need to do.”
Dersia, clearly very busy, kept poking at the preserved head of Wihwa on her desk while jotting down magic forms on paper.
“I’ll be suspending lessons for a while. I need to think about this and what you just told .”
“I understand. Then I will…”
“Yes, please take so rest.”
It was freedom, for the first ti in what felt like forever.
I hurried out of the mansion before Dersia could change her mind.
“Phew…”
My breath ca out in visible puffs. I had already seen it through the glass inside the mansion, but it was indeed the middle of winter.
I walked through the Capital, stepping over the crunching snow. I wandered around here and there for a while, but as expected, my real ho was the Orphanage. I hadn’t visited in quite so ti, so I should go say hello.
And Elysia, judging by the way she kicked at the door, she must’ve recovered, but I hadn’t exchanged a single word with her in three months. Maybe I’ll go see her after visiting the director.
“Ah, right.”
Since it’s been a while, I should bring a gift too.
I dropped by a nearby bakery, opened the door confidently, and asked the bewildered shop owner,
“Is there anything here that’s been reserved?”
“Hm? No, nothing like that.”
“Then I’ll buy everything. Please wrap them up.”
“Ha ha, kid, joking like that…”
I placed the Black Magic Tower workshop key down on the counter in front of the smiling bakery owner.
Then the shop owner’s expression changed.
“…Ah! You’re a wizard’s disciple, aren’t you? Running an errand?”
Mm. It’s my own workshop key, though.
Maybe because it was one of the expensive bakeries, they seed used to dealing with wizards. So it looked like I wouldn’t get the “Oh dear, I failed to recognize the noble wizard! Please forgive !!” treatnt I’d secretly hoped for.
Not that I really wanted it, honestly. I shrugged and replied.
“Yes. They said to distribute these to the Tower people.”
“Where is your attendant?”
“I’ll be carrying them. Don’t worry. I may be young, but I’m a wizard in my own right.”
I lifted the key using Current sense.
The bakery owner’s eyes widened like lanterns.
“N-No way, tele…telekinesis? At your age…???”
“Ah.”
That’s not Telekinesis, though.
But yeah, it would look like that. Since I couldn’t explain it properly, I just stayed silent, and the terrified shop owner quickly started packing the cookies.
“Oh dear! I didn’t realize you were soone who’d beco an Archmage soday, what house are you from?”
“It is a personal matter, so I cannot say.”
“Of course. My apologies for asking! Just wait a mont, I’ll wrap everything up nicely for you!”
“…No, I’ll help too.”
Since I was the one carrying them anyway, the faster the better.
I sighed and began floating the baked goods one by one into bags using Current sense.
At this point, the bakery owner had gone past astonishnt and reached disbelief.
“No, what in the world…”
“…Wow, there are a lot of knights passing by out there. Is sothing going on?”
I couldn’t take it anymore and quickly changed the subject.
“…Ah, yes. With how unstable the world is lately, you see these patrols often. Apparently, several cities have been attacked by a terrorist organization recently, Crimson Circle or sothing like that-”
“Hmm, I see.”
“I don’t think they’ll be able to do anything here in the Capital, but people have families in other regions and all…”
It seed that during the three months I’d been locked up, the na Crimson Circle had started spreading throughout the Capital.
If even regular citizens knew the na, then I suppose Crimson Circle had already accomplished their initial objective.
What could they want next? I watched the knights march in perfect formation down the avenue with a complicated expression, and the bakery owner began explaining in a much more relaxed tone.
“Still, I’m not too worried. After seeing the Golden Bell Tournant recently, the future looks promising.”
“Golden Bell Tournant?”
“Yes. It’s a tournant where knight cadets compete to determine who’s the most outstanding, and would you believe it, so dark horse defeated all the top candidates overwhelmingly and took first place.”
“Oh? That happened? Impressive.”
Knight cadets… a certain blonde ca to mind.
“Right? It was really sothing. The other favorites weren’t lacking in skill, but the winner was so overwhelming that it’s clear they’re aiming for the Heaven’s Judgent Knights.”
The bakery owner, seemingly a passionate fan of that “Golden Bell Tournant” began explaining with spit flying as if a dam had burst.
“I an, the kid’s probably not even fifteen, but that skill, seriously, it was unbelievable. To be honest, when I first saw them, I didn’t really like them. Their origins weren’t clear, and they talked way too rudely.”
A disturbing thought popped into my head.
…Could it be?
“By ‘rude’, you an-?”
“Well, you see, after defeating their opponent, they’d say stuff like, ‘Child, you are nothing to ’, or ‘Kneel before this Dark Night Lightning Judgent Knight. Mortal.’ Things like that.”
“Dark Night what?”
“Dark Night Lightning Judgent Knight. That’s what the cadet calls themselves.”
Wow…
Just… wow………
Definitely not.
With a great sense of relief, I grabbed a nearby cup of coffee and took a sip.
“That’s quite a unique na.”
“Right? At first I was skeptical too, but the more I watched, the more I ca to admire them. That calm aura at such a young age, that gaze like they’ve mastered all things, it really stuck with !”
This bakery owner didn’t seem very normal either.
I silently offered my condolences to that unknown cadet. Of all things, they had to go and win the tournant, aning now the entire world would know that, even into adulthood, they called themselves by that na.
If it were , I couldn’t go on living. As I sipped my coffee, the bakery owner suddenly beca visibly excited and stepped out from behind the counter.
“…Oh! Wizard-nim, look over there! That’s the cadet’s emblem!”
Wondering just which poor soul it could be, I looked through the shop’s window.
Black hair. Long black hair reaching down to the waist.
And.
“–Pfft!”
“W-Wizard-nim?”
I spat out my coffee right then and there.
Rushing up to the window, I fixed my disbelieving eyes on the scene before .
Yes, she was on horseback, her hair dyed black, wearing an expression not just proud, but outright smug.
“…Li–Linl?”
“Yes. That is Cadet Linl. Do you know her?”
It was definitely Linl.
Even the armor she wore was bizarre. The pauldrons were carved with the faces of a dragon and a demon, and the hilt of her sword was adorned with jewels and inscriptions.
Armor that didn’t look like it would help at all in actual combat.
“She’s calling herself that… that Dark Night sothing Knight?”
“Pardon? Yes.”
Staring blankly at the sight, I gathered the cookies and left the shop.
“Put it on the Black Magic Tower’s tab.”
“Ah, yes! Have a good day!”
The bakery owner looked pleased to have sold all the treats, but I was not.
‘Isn’t this a little too early…?’
–It seed I needed to stop Linl’s slightly premature adolescence antics.
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