Episode 28. To the West
Dean Angelo Yulio waited for Binaeril in his study.
As he sat waiting blankly, the familiar scenery of his study caught his eye.
“…I’ve been busy.”
He had always been busy.
Dean Yulio had always been busy, was busy, and would be busy.
Such was the nature of the position of Dean of Elfenbein.
But he felt that this year had been especially chaotic, more so than any other.
“Well, it’s only natural.”
The faces that came to mind made him burst into a chuckle.
The gray-haired boy from the east with a somewhat sharp impression; the princess whom he had raised like his own child in his heart; and her guard, who was angry at everything.
Individually, they were simple and quiet students, but when put together, quiet days were rare.
“Haha.”
Thinking of his disciples, Dean Yulio let out a snicker.
It suddenly occurred to him that it had been a very long time since he had heard his own laughter with his own ears.
And so, he laughed loudly and deliberately.
“Haha, hahaha!”
His laughter alone echoed dryly in the quiet study.
“I had just thought we were finally growing close, but already, time has passed once more.”
Students who come from distant places to go to distant places.
He thought that he was too old to take on any more disciples.
He no longer wished to invest his heart in people.
“Something good seems to have happened?”
Taking advantage of the moment he was lost in thought, Binaeril Dalhaim appeared.
“Oh, you’re here.”
“Greetings, Dean.”
Binaeril buttoned his coat and greeted him politely.
Watching him intently, Dean Yulio got the impression that Binaeril had grown another handspan.
“Yes. Sit.”
He had called for Binaeril because of the missions assigned to certified mages.
Mages who passed the Scala were largely divided into two categories.
They either became regular mages formally dispatched on missions commissioned by Elfenbein, or wandering mages who roamed the world.
Regular mages received various support from the Magic Tower and were dispatched on missions, but wandering mages could not.
Most students chose the stable former option, and because of this, Dean Yulio was slightly troubled.
For now, he would test the waters.
“So. What do you plan to do going forward?”
“I am still thinking. I might remain at the Magic Tower, but it also seems like a good idea to leave for somewhere and build up my strength.”
Binaeril had his own plans.
He had to keep his contract with Veritas.
The promise that he must leave to find the pages.
“Do you intend to become a wandering mage? That is not a bad choice. It will be a good experience. In my youth, I too used to roam the entire continent alone.”
Dean Yulio readily agreed with Binaeril’s words.
If Binaeril was thinking of choosing the latter, he too could set down a small burden in his heart.
“If that is your wish, there is something I would like to ask of you.”
“What is it?”
“This is not an official mission issued by me as Dean of the Magic Tower. Naturally, you will receive no support from Elfenbein either. But it is important.”
Binaeril roughly sensed what he was about to propose.
“Help the Imperial Princess.”
As expected. Everything the Dean prepared was connected to her.
The reason Rike had so suddenly challenged the Scala, and the reason Dean Yulio had begun instructing Binaeril—it had all been for her.
He had suspected that something had gone wrong in the empire’s situation regarding Rike.
Dean Yulio wore a slightly uncomfortable expression.
He seemed hesitant to recommend the exact opposite of a safe option.
“I do not ask this empty-handed. You have already helped her plenty. As for necessary expenses or supplies, to the best of my ability…”
“I’ll do it.”
“Huh, what?”
“I’ll do it. Whatever it is. I assume it is a mission requiring me to travel west?”
To the west lay the capital of the Albrecht Empire.
Officially, diplomatic relations between Elfenbein and the Albrecht Empire were severed.
No official support had been requested, and the mission would not necessarily yield any reward.
Binaeril understood the circumstances of the Dean personally calling him to ask this favor.
But none of that mattered. Whatever the circumstances. Whatever problem had befallen Rike.
Binaeril was in a position where he had to leave for somewhere anyway, and Dean Yulio had shown him kindness.
Was that not reason enough?
“Without even hearing what it entails?”
Binaeril nodded with a smiling face.
Dean Yulio looked at him with a gratified gaze.
“…Thank you.”
The details of the mission Dean Yulio explained were as follows.
The Emperor, who had long been confined to his sickbed, was said to be in critical condition.
The empire was currently in a state of balance between Charlotte—Rike’s older sister and the regent—and the noble faction opposing the hereditary succession of imperial power to her.
The peace on the surface was thanks to a treaty guaranteeing the regent’s authority while the Emperor remained on his sickbed.
“But if the Emperor passes away here.”
“The noble faction will begin to move.”
“That is correct.”
A man named Hans Brante, who served as the Emperor’s personal physician, was a close associate of the Imperial Family and a representative figure of the royalist faction.
He had been controlling information regarding the Emperor’s health, but even a fool would not think that an Emperor who had not shown himself for so long was recovering.
“It has been five—no, ten years since the Emperor fell ill. The noble faction must be thinking that the time is slowly approaching.”
“If the Emperor’s death is not announced?”
“Impossible. No matter how much information is controlled, you cannot silence every palace attendant. It will not be long before the truth is exposed.”
“If the Emperor dies, what exactly is it that you are worried about, Dean?”
Dean Yulio let out a long snort and answered.
“There will be much fighting over the position of the next Emperor. The noble faction will either put forward a representative or demand a transition to an aristocratic government. Either way, the likelihood of them respecting the two Imperial Princesses is low.”
Binaeril thought his answer somewhat evaded the question.
“But… what does that have to do with you, Dean?”
“Hmm?”
“Is it because of a personal connection to the two Princesses? You are not even from the Empire. Objectively speaking, it is another country’s affair; why go this far…”
Whether it was the Albrecht Imperial Princesses, the noble faction, or the royalist faction, it was all ‘someone else’s business’ to Dean Yulio.
Binaeril still could not understand why he was trying so hard to help Rike.
“…Binaeril. Do you know why I remain in Elfenbein?”
The Dean brought up an old story.
It was the first time Binaeril had heard it.
“I was a famous mage. I earned enough gold during my wandering days to eat and play for the rest of my life. So why did I become a professor at Elfenbein?”
“I do not know.”
“I believed that magic saved people. I lived my entire life using magic in that way. But that was not the case.”
Binaeril listened without answering.
“The emergence of demonic beasts dismantled the existing power structures of the world. People no longer believe in nations or kings. They believe in those who save them. But into that void stepped a power by the same name: magic.
Magic, the church, demon hunters, and knights. Many forces clashed, vying for the power vacuum. There was only one thing I wanted to protect.
At least this miraculous power called magic. I believed that this alone, and Elfenbein alone, must become a relief organization that does not covet power.”
Binaeril swallowed. He felt he had just heard a goal too great for one person to bear.
“Do you think I can do everything simply because I am the Dean of the Magic Tower? No. The Council of Elders is a mess, and the professors all only know their own affairs. Far too few support me. But if the Empire, with which relations had been severed, were to respect my will and support me…”
“Then…?”
“I want to make Elfenbein a completely neutral place. The Lord of the Magic Tower also knows my will and keeps this old man in an important position.”
“Hmm…”
“That is why I am helping the two Princesses. To be honest, I am using you for my own ends. It is a dream I can never achieve alone. Do you understand now?”
It was an extremely political plan, and yet extremely personal, and at the same time, extremely grand.
Even hearing that he was being used, Binaeril could not hate him.
Because his goal was not selfish.
“Help me. I beg you.”
The legendary, and yet now so old, mage bowed his head to the mage of the next generation, his white pate exposed.
Binaeril felt solemn and could not answer.
Once Binaeril’s decision to accompany them was made, preparations for departure were completed quickly.
Rike and Silvia could not afford to waste even a single day. They were already prepared.
Unaccustomed to long journeys, the three ended up competing to see who could pack the biggest load.
“Binaeril, do you like books that much? Why are you bringing that old thing?”
Silvia picked up Veritas and shook it.
“Books are food for the soul. But what about you? Why a tea set? Are we going for a stroll?”
“The Princess likes tea.”
“Where are you going to get tea leaves?”
“I packed those too.”
Since they would each carry their own luggage, Binaeril did not interfere further.
But to Dean Yulio’s eyes, they looked far from reassuring.
He rubbed his face with one hand and said:
“…Cut your luggage in half.”
“All three of you.”
At the Dean’s firm command, the three reluctantly removed precious belongings.
They had packed so greedily that even after reducing their luggage, each was left with a backpack reaching up to their waist.
“This won’t do. At least take these.”
Dean Yulio fetched three leather pouches, each large enough to hold coins, and held them out.
“These will lighten your load. Weight reduction, spatial expansion, security enchantments—I had complex work done on them. Just one of these could buy a decent house.”
“Wow, Master. Thank you!”
After transferring their things and trimming their luggage once more, they finally achieved a somewhat traveler-like appearance.
“Why do I feel so uneasy?”
“Don’t worry, Dean. I will guide them well.”
Silvia, the eldest of the three and the one with camping experience, thumped her chest.
Dean Yulio grabbed Rike’s hand with the expression of a parent setting their child adrift at the water’s edge, and said:
“Your Highness, please take care of yourself.”
“Yes, Master.”
“You mustn’t follow strangers.”
“Oh, please. Am I a child?”
“In my eyes, you are. And you must, must be careful of people.”
Dean Yulio was the only one to see them off.
Watching the old man’s affectionate expression, the three found it difficult to leave.
With the hearts of wanderers, they passed through the gates of Elfenbein.
“Let’s go. To the west.”
The boys and girls began to walk.
To the west, to the empire, toward where the sun sets.
The sun that blessed the young travelers still shone brightly above their heads.