The Imperial Palace, a place of learning.
Sopien looked at the various documents strewn across the desk. They were all 'Deculain Files' provided by the Intelligence Bureau.
"The Empire's Intelligence Bureau is truly remarkable......"
Ahan was impressed, but Sopien was indifferent.
"It is the most basic duty of the Intelligence Bureau—to monitor and investigate the Empire's nobles. To them, Deculain is a factor equal to Zeit."
"I see. Is that so? Then this must be information they had been gathering from before?"
"So it is."
"By the way, I hear the professor is bringing a gift today. Have you heard, Your Majesty?"
"I have heard......."
Sopien placed a long tobacco pipe in her mouth. Scritch—she lit the tobacco leaf. Puffing away billows of smoke, she broke into a fit of hollow coughing.
"...Khm."
It was, in her own way, an attempt to understand her father.
"Why did the Former Emperor enjoy such things?"
He who had sired her was praised as a wise king who pursued harmony between imperial authority and divine power—at least, by his subjects.
Yet his hobbies—fishing, tobacco, hunting, and the like—were quite dull.
Had she grown set in her ways over a hundred-some years of regression, or had she simply failed to inherit even his hobbies?
"It would be far more enjoyable if done with another."
Sopien scoffed at Ahan's words.
"Are you suggesting I keep someone who smokes a pipe before my very face?"
"Ah... that is not what I meant. But hunting or fishing, perhaps—"
"Enough. One may know a hundred waterways, yet the ways of man are ever difficult to fathom. Even if he is my father."
Setting down the pipe, she opened Deculain's file.
[...Called a prodigy from youth, but his growth declined as the years passed. He began to show theoretical excellence just as he risked falling to mere mediocrity.]
The sentences contained Deculain's entire history, everything the Intelligence Bureau had investigated.
The keywords: prodigy. Limits of talent. Admission to the Tower. Theoretical excellence.
[Appointed to a professorship based on that theory. However, there were no few claims that Deculain's thesis was not his own work but stolen from another's ideas. Several internal reports were filed within the Magic Tower, but all were buried.]
Professorial appointment. Thesis theft. Internal reports.
[Bereaved of a secretly betrothed lover. Appears to be due to the 'Devil's Letter.' Thereafter, visits the grave every year on the anniversary.]
And, bereavement and anniversary.
Sopien's eyes lingered on that paragraph for a moment.
Events ill-suited to Deculain, yet clearly composing the Deculain of today.
[Re-engaged to the youngest daughter of Peuhairuden. However, perhaps due to the previous bereavement, shows an obsessive attachment to his fiancée.]
Just as Sopien was about to turn the page again.
Knock, knock—
A knock signaling the lesson hour.
Ahan quickly rose and opened the door, while Sopien tucked the file into a drawer.
"You have arrived, Professor."
Deculain, beyond the threshold. Meeting him after some time, his face was as calm and composed as ever.
For some reason, she was also glad to see him.
Sopien spoke.
"Sit."
"Yes."
Deculain approached and sat. His attire and manners were no different from usual.
Sopien asked bluntly.
"You went to Rohakan's vineyard."
Deculain answered, placing blank paper on the desk.
"Yes."
"And you concluded that I would not reprimand you for it?"
"No."
"Then it is well. When you killed Rohakan, what words did you exchange with him?"
There was no reaction. Only the sound of writing implements and magic stones being placed on the desk rang out.
Irritated for no reason, Sopien tossed out a remark.
"I see that the anniversary of your late betrothed draws near."
"......."
At that, Deculain raised his eyes to look at her. Sopien did not avoid his gaze.
"Your Majesty."
The air chilled in an instant.
A demeanor he had never once shown before.
"That is a topic unrelated to the lesson."
"......."
Even this one had a reverse scale.
Sopien swallowed the laugh bubbling up inside her.
"Impudent... Then, what of Rohakan?"
"That also strays from the topic, and is likewise the same."
"Haha."
A smile slipped past her lips.
Deculain, always so coldly rational, had today erected unusually sharp thorns. Far from impudent, he was rather like a hedgehog—endearing.
"Your new appearance shall be indulged. However, you cannot hide it forever, can you?"
Resting her chin on her right hand, she gazed intently at Deculain.
Searching for the traces revealed in his expression.
"Yes."
Deculain nodded calmly.
"Originally, Your Majesty's lessons are held once a year. I intend not to break that tradition; however, due to various incidents and Your Majesty's indolence until now, quite a number of lessons have been delayed."
"It is not indolence, but the crush of duties."
"If Your Majesty diligently applies yourself to the remaining lessons and clears all that are delayed, then—at that time."
The one who had paused placed a long rod upon the desk. It was an object of unknown nature, wrapped in black cloth.
"I shall answer every question Your Majesty asks."
"......."
With narrowed eyes, Sopien alternated between Deculain and the rod. Then, with a snort, she nodded mockingly.
"Very well. Do so. What is this?"
"It is an object for today's lesson."
"Lesson."
"It is."
Deculain peeled away the black cloth.
Swish— What was revealed was.......
"A fishing rod?"
Sopien's brow furrowed.
* * *
We were fishing.
A lake reserved for fishing, prepared personally by the Former Emperor, Keurebaim. In that place as wide as a decent river, sitting on small chairs, we gazed blankly at the water's surface into which the fishing lines had sunk.
"...This is a lesson?"
Had about fifteen minutes passed?
Sopien asked in a dumbfounded tone.
"Yes. Fishing and magic share quite a few similarities. Especially in clearing the mind and maintaining stillness. In waiting leisurely without impatience."
"......."
"Your Majesty's rune language has stagnated. It is not a matter of talent or skill."
I had taught Sopien all the rune language I knew. By now, at least the knowledge of rune language had surely been shared between us.
With the 'hardware' thus perfectly assembled, next came the 'software' to utilize it.
"Therefore, I intend to teach Your Majesty what is called 'clear mirror, still water.' I intend to teach you the virtue of serenity."
"......."
Tak—
Without a word, Sopien set down the rod. She rose, dusting off her clothes.
To her, as she made to leave, I spoke but one sentence.
"Have we never fished together before?"
In an instant, Sopien's footsteps halted. She turned back.
Perhaps sensing the significance of my intentions, she looked down at me with wide eyes.
"...What is the meaning of that?"
Before long, wind began to gather.
Ripples spread across the calm lake, and the fishing rods swayed.
"I am merely asking."
"For a question, your sentence structure is exceedingly strange."
"......."
"No, it is something with no reason to be asked. You......."
Sopien's words broke off there.
I spoke while looking at the lake.
"Your Majesty. In Rohakan's vineyard, I saw fragments of memory. Memories I do not possess—yet within them, I was together with Your Majesty."
"......."
"Now, I am trying to recover those memories."
Another timeline that Rohakan's vineyard had shown me.
But if I cannot remember them myself, they hold no value.
Thus, this lesson is for Sopien, but it is also a lesson for me.
"To do so, I shall need Your Majesty's assistance."
Sopien said nothing. For a while, not even the sound of her swallowing could be heard. I raised my eyes to look at her.
Her tightly pressed lips trembled. I was reflected in her red eyes.
It was an agitation rarely seen.
No, it was a side of Sopien I had never before encountered.
"I shall certainly recover those memories."
"......."
Then, Sopien lowered her gaze. It was a demeanor entirely unlike that of an emperor, and she murmured softly as she sat back down.
"...Then, must I simply wait for the fish to bite?"
"Yes. Let us set the quota at around thirty-three fish."
Sopien gripped the rod again. I looked at that fishing rod.
That was the 'Ancient Wooden Staff of Murkan.'
Of course, there was a reason Sopien—whose sensitivity to magical energy surpassed any human on this continent—could not discern its true nature.
The moment it had left Rohakan's hands, that thing had sealed itself.
"That fishing rod is my gift to you."
As Murkan's staff was now merely an ordinary stick, I had processed it into a fishing rod through 'Transmutation.'
That was the second purpose of this fishing lesson.
To have Murkan's staff and Sopien achieve an unconscious resonance, naturally guiding her to become 'the third master of the staff.'
"...I see you have installed some device in this rod—"
At that moment, the rod shook violently. A fish had taken the bait.
"You wretch!"
Sopien raised the rod hastily, but the lakeside fish was cunning. Using the lifting force against her, it bit through both bait and line at once.
"!"
Because of that, Sopien's chair tilted—leaning backward.
Screeeeech——
I supported her just as she was about to topple over completely.
"...Uh."
I extended my arms to wrap around her shoulder and the chair at the same time.
Fortunately, my arms were quite long.
"......."
Wordlessly, Sopien looked at me. Her red eyes were tinged with an unexpectedly innocent light.
It was the first time I had faced an emperor's eyes from so close.
I asked her.
"Are you alright?"
At that, Sopien's eyes belatedly narrowed.
"...Has the mage sold his magic that he resorts to his body?"
"How could I dare use magic upon Your Majesty?"
"Tch. Let go."
Sopien pushed me away and righted her posture. Gripping the rod, she glared at the water's surface.
"Cursed fish. I have understood how to catch it now. My hands have the feel of it. It shall not happen twice."
She who does not fall for the same trick twice. She who masters the whole from a single experience.
Sopien was truly such a person.
"Yes."
I nodded, but noticed something slightly odd.
Sopien's hand, gripping the rod.
"......."
That hand was trembling slightly. As if anxious, her thumb and index finger fiddled with the rod.
"What are you looking at?"
Of course, the tremors subsided at once.
Sopien leaned back leisurely into her chair, glaring at my gaze, and just then, a clear wind blew. Her red hair fluttered like a trailing sunset.
I spoke.
"It is nothing. Let us focus on the lesson once more."
* * *
That afternoon, after the lesson ended, Sopien lay in her bedchamber, looking up at the ceiling.
"......."
Without a word, she recalled the lesson just now.
Deculain, who claimed fishing was the lesson.
The one who had cast out 'memories from before the regression' as bait to her, as she was about to leave thinking him a fool.
Words proclaiming he would certainly recover the memories of that time.
And.......
"...Were that rascal's eyes so blue?"
Deculain's blue eyes, met from far too close.
Pupils brilliant as crystal, somehow tinged with a sorrowful light.
They had truly gazed at each other from a distance where their noses might touch.
Even now, with Deculain gone, that scene remained vivid in her mind.
"Hmm."
Sopien suddenly placed a hand over her heart.
Her chest remained unharmed. Her heart rate was as always—as low as a person on the verge of death.
—In the future, you will come to love Deculain.
Rohakan's words, surfacing suddenly.
The future he had conveyed with certainty.
"...How strange."
Had Rohakan not spoken, she would never have harbored such thoughts. She would not have even troubled herself over what this emotion was.
Rather, because Rohakan had spoken such words, Sopien was made to agonize over her own feelings.
"That wretch......."
The more she doubted whether she would come to love Deculain, the more she seemed to entangle herself in that very snare.
Truly, it felt as though in some future, she would end up loving him.
"Could it be."
Had that black beast Rohakan aimed for this.......
"Your Majesty."
Just then, Ahan's voice called out. Sopien turned only her head to look at her.
"The knights you have summoned are arriving one after another."
Candidates for the Empire's Guardian Knight, personally selected by Sopien.
Of course, she had not told them from the beginning that they were prospective Guardian Knights; the knights would simply believe it to be a dinner gathering.
"What shall we do?"
Among them was Yulli.
The woman whom Deculain loved dearly was among them, too.
Sophien twisted the corner of her mouth and said,
“Tell them to rest from their journey first. I shall meet them in turn starting tomorrow.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Ahan withdrew without showing her his back, then left the bedchamber as he was.
Sophien looked up at the ceiling again and sank into thought.
A very new kind of difficult problem—one she had never worried over or even considered in her life, utterly unrelated to the virtues of an emperor such as politics or governance—filled her mind completely……
* * *
……Meanwhile, in the evening, when stars had entered the sky above the imperial capital.
At the Imperial University’s “Roteo Hall,” an admissions guideline briefing was currently in full swing.
[Department of Business Administration], [Department of Medicine], [Magic Tower], and so on…… Briefings on the entrance requirements for all sorts of departments were being held inside this building.
“Waaah! I really, really want to hear the entrance guidelines for Business Administration and Medicine too~”
Maho looked around here and there, her eyes sparkling, while Charlotte let out a sigh.
With that much curiosity, who knew when she might run into danger again.
“It’ll be all right~ We’re her guards!”
Just then, a child’s words reassured Charlotte.
Lia and Leo.
“……Right.”
Charlotte had hired these two young adventurers and Dozmu as guards.
“If they’re from Red Garnet, they can be trusted.”
They were far younger than she had expected, but since they belonged to the Red Garnet Adventurer Band, their skills at least should be certain.
“By the way. You said you came down from the north?”
“Yes. We went to the Land of Annihilation and came back.”
Lia answered.
“……The Land of Annihilation? What were you doing in a dangerous place like that?”
“Mm…… Working? There were a lot of people looking for adventurers there too.”
“…….”
Charlotte thought for a moment, then soon nodded.
“That makes sense. Rumors are rampant that the Empire will soon launch an expedition into the Land of Annihilation.”
“Charle-Charle~ Come here~ The Magic Tower admissions briefing is about to start~”
“Yes. I’m coming.”
Just then, Maho called them. Charlotte, Leo, and Lia followed after her together.
[Magic Tower Admissions Guideline Briefing — Head Professor Deculein]
On the podium of the vast briefing hall, a name was written in letters as large as a gate: Head Professor Deculein.
“Charle~ It’s Professor Deculein, Professor, Professor~”
“Yes. I know.”
“Hurry and sit down~”
Leo and Lia were tense, while Maho sat down with a bright smile.
—Ahem. The admissions guideline briefing will begin shortly. Everyone, please take your seats.
The low, subdued voice of the host. Then the lights went out.
In an atmosphere that had grown heavy like that of a classical concert hall, Deculein appeared.
Clack— clack—
Approaching with a flawless stride and gait, he swept his gaze over the prospective mages filling the briefing hall and spoke.
—A pleasure. I am the Head Professor of the Imperial University Magic Tower, as well as the chief supervisor of the tower entrance examination. Deculein of the Yukline family.
Maho watched Deculein’s explanation with shining eyes.
—All of you gathered here must have seized the highest grades at academies across your respective nations.
Leo and Lia pricked up their ears and scanned their surroundings, preparing for any possible assassin, any possible danger.
—However, that alone is insufficient to become the “kind of talent” the Magic Tower desires. In this tower entrance examination, I will evaluate not only theory and written work, but also practical magical ability and adaptability. Therefore……
At that moment, his voice stopped for a brief instant.
His brow furrowed slightly as he looked somewhere.
“……Ah.”
The target of that gaze, Lia, flinched and raised her shoulders.
Deculein clicked his tongue softly, then continued.
—Therefore, a more proactive and dynamic examination awaits you all.
It was then.
Boom—!
A loud sound rang through the entire hall. Deculein stopped speaking as well, and everyone in the briefing hall blinked and looked around.
“……Huh? What is it, what is it?”
Most of them wore bewildered expressions, but Lia, whose senses were sharp, clearly felt it.
She sprang up from her seat and ran to the exit of the briefing hall.
Grabbing the door handle, she flung it open.
She stretched one small foot beyond it, but it did not touch the ground. She quickly lifted the foot that had been about to sink straight downward.
“Eeyah!”
When they had entered, it had definitely been the briefing hall of the university’s Roteo Hall.
But now, outside the door was empty air.
No, it was the open sky.
No, it was darkness.
No, it might have been a kind of “barrier.”
“What…… Wh-what is this!”
In any case.
It was as if only this briefing hall had been severed cleanly from the university—left alone, wrapped in darkness.
“……This…… No.”
“What is this?”
“Why, why did the outside disappear?”
The many examinees who witnessed that mystery rose in shock. They clung near the door, murmuring as they looked outside.
—Quiet.
Deculein’s single word calmed them.
—It is a sudden magical terrorist attack. For now, sit still and consider the situation calmly.
At Deculein’s words telling them to remain calm because it was a “magical terrorist attack,” the briefing hall briefly fell into panic.