Yeriel had managed to hide successfully, but there was no suitable place for Ipeurin and the club members. They scurried about in confusion and hid clumsily.
One hid behind the door, one hid behind the coat rack, and Ipeurin—whoosh—rose up and stuck to the ceiling like a starfish.
It was a self-application of [Psychokinesis].
Clack—
Dekyullein opened the door. Without lifting a finger, he hung his overcoat on the coat rack.
“Professor! How should we proceed with this week’s common lecture?!”
“Just drop off the documents and go.”
“Ye-es!”
He had been with an assistant professor, but Allen soon went outside. After that, Dekyullein stopped in the center of the office.
Everyone held their breath.
“······.”
Dekyullein, who had seemed lost in thought, suddenly tilted his head upward.
On that ceiling was Ipeurin.
“Ah······. Ahahaha······.”
The exposed Ipeurin gave a bitter smile. Dekyullein stared at her intently. At the same time, he dismantled her Psychokinesis.
“Kyaaack!”
Before Ipeurin fell, she slowed her speed of descent somewhat with [Fluid Manipulation]. She hit the floor face-first without pain, but Dekyullein felt a certain surprise.
The mana he had consumed interfering with Ipeurin’s Psychokinesis—a whopping [300].
At the beginning of the semester, she had been someone whose talent alone was brilliant, while her magical attainment was still like a fledgling’s.
Taking into account that Dekyullein’s own skill level had risen to some degree in the meantime, it was an extremely steep rate of growth.
As expected, so this is what it means to be a ‘Named’.
A feeling close to jealousy welled up, but he quickly shook it off.
“······The rest of you, come out too.”
Dekyullein called the other club members.
“······.”
As a result, four debutants stood before Dekyullein.
He stared at them frighteningly and said,
“Trespassing into the Head Professor’s office warrants at minimum disciplinary action, and at worst, expulsion.”
“I-I’m sorry!”
Julia shouted loudly and knelt first. Ipeurin, Rondo, and Perit followed suit.
“Apologies are unnecessary. Just give me a proper reason.”
“Ah, well, that’s······.”
Ipeurin hesitated.
Yeriel was hiding under that desk. If she sold out Dekyullein’s younger sibling, she might somehow survive, but······ Ipeurin had loyalty.
“I was trying to deliver this to you.”
She first pulled a photograph from inside her clothes. Dekyullein received it with [Psychokinesis].
“······When I connected that spell formula, the sentence ‘Expect the Punishment of Ash. The moment to test your weakness and frailty shall arrive.’ came to mind.”
“So you’re saying it’s a warning from Cinder.”
“Yes. We presumed so and tried to deliver this news as quickly as possible······.”
Dekyullein examined the photograph closely.
No matter how much it was Dekyullein—no, precisely because it was Dekyullein—Ipeurin thought he would show a similar reaction to the other professors.
Because ‘Cinder’ was no different from their Achilles’ heel.
“······Mitigating circumstances are plausible.”
However, Dekyullein’s reaction was markedly different from the other professors. He even nodded as if he understood.
“Even so, trespassing deserves demerit points, and more than anything.”
His voice was still cold, but unmistakably softened. Dekyullein swept his gaze over the four in turn.
“This is not something debutants like you should worry about. Even if it is Cinder, it is a matter for professors and above.”
“······The professors wouldn’t even listen to us.”
Ipeurin clenched her fist in frustration. Dekyullein’s lips twisted into a smirk.
“I know. Those old dogs would be like that.”
Everyone was surprised by those words.
“However, there are many professors in this Magic Tower besides them.”
The mid-career tenured professors have long had their magical skills stagnated, having focused on research and projects for a long time.
But there are promising young professors who have just reached their mid-to-late twenties. Among them are Jennifer of Harmony, the bespectacled Kellodan, Grant, and other trustworthy Named.
“Find Kellodan. He will be able to help you.”
Named Kellodan, who had been set as a player’s assistant from the very beginning.
He would be able to lead Ipeurin and the club well.
“I will only assign one demerit point. Furthermore, I recognize this discovery as an achievement of your Pyeongmatamdong club.”
“······Yes. Thank you.”
“Now leave.”
Ipeurin and the club members bowed their heads and went outside.
Dekyullein walked over with heavy steps and sat in his office chair. Then, he looked at the photograph they had handed over.
[ Expect the Punishment of Ash. The moment to test your weakness and frailty shall arrive. ]
[ Grade 5 Mid-Boss Event : Count of Cinder ]
◆ Mid-Boss Subjugation Rewards
：1 Item Catalog
：Shop Currency +2
Mid-Boss Event.
It sounds grandiose, but being a mid-boss doesn’t necessarily mean it’s special.
For starters, Dekyullein himself was nothing more than a mid-boss, and there were dozens of others who could be called mid-bosses.
But this Grade 5 event is rather difficult.
Because a mage Player must overcome it together with student Named, without the help of professors or external Named.
In that regard, the biggest problem in this Magic Tower is—
—that there is no ‘Player’.
A Player is an existence outside the standard who utilizes the system. He should serve as a focal point to gather the Named, but since that is impossible, it is hopeless.
“It can’t be helped.”
Dekyullein went outside the office to make proper preparations.
······About five minutes had passed like that when
Yeriel quietly slipped out from under the desk.
“Phew. Thank goodness.”
She tried to dust off her clothes, but there was no dust. It was an insane level of mysophobia.
Good grief, really. It’s not like he’ll die if it’s not clean.
The moment Yeriel sighed, walked over with quick steps, and opened the door—
“Yeriel.”
“Kyaaaaaack—!”
The voice right beside her paralyzed her heart. Yeriel practically convulsed and clung to the floor.
Dekyullein looked down at his younger sibling with pitiful eyes.
“What is it?”
“A-Ah, n-no, nothing······ If you knew, you should’ve said something earlier! Ah, seriously, my heart······.”
“I asked what is it.”
Yeriel glared at Dekyullein and got up. The things stuck to her clothes were removed by Dekyullein’s [Psychokinesis].
“······Hey. Ruina, Ruina. You know.”
“You mean McQueen’s Ruina?”
“Yeah. I’m asking just in case. You didn’t kidnap her, right? The rumors are rampant, so they’re just nonsense, right?”
Dekyullein said nothing. He didn’t even pretend to hear.
Yeriel corrected her wording.
“You didn’t kidnap her, did you?”
“······I heard Ruina will be released soon.”
“Huh? What do you mean by that?”
“Go back.”
Dekyullein went inside the office, leaving Yeriel outside. Yeriel, left alone, thought over his words carefully.
‘I heard Ruina will be released soon.’
‘I heard Ruina will be released soon.’
‘I heard Ruina will be released soon.’
Realizing the nuance contained in that sentence and tone, Yeriel’s eyes went wide.
“No way, that crazy bastard really······!”
In the end, it means you were the one who kidnapped her!
* * *
······Meanwhile, Silvia was studying magic at the mansion.
[ Dekyullein : Pure Element Theory ]
[ Dekyullein : Mana Disaster Interpretation ]
[ Dekyullein : Magic Through Logic ]
[ Dekyullein : Lineage Application ]
On the bookshelf were Dekyullein’s lecture notes arranged by subject, and the notebook she was engrossed in was also a review of Dekyullein’s lectures.
Knock, knock—
Just then, a knock disrupted her concentration.
Silvia glared at the door. It quietly cracked open, and a familiar face peeked through.
It was Gilteon.
“······Ah! Were you studying?”
Gilteon laughed heartily and scratched his cheek. Silvia narrowed her eyes and shook her head.
It was almost break time anyway.
“Hahaha. That’s a relief, my dear.”
Gilteon came inside. As he looked around the room, he frowned upon seeing the notes inserted in the bookshelf.
“······Dekyullein’s notes?”
“Yeah.”
“I’d heard rumors that the Head Professor’s lectures are famous in the Magic Tower these days, but you’ve organized them quite diligently.”
“Yeah. It’s a lot of help.”
Silvia said calmly. Gilteon’s lips twisted.
He was inwardly displeased.
“I think it would be better to learn actual combat from Dekyullein rather than theory.”
“I’m learning actual combat too. Starting this week, it’ll be actual combat.”
“······Is that so?”
Dekyullein’s skill was now beyond even Gilteon’s predictions.
Just three days ago, he had shattered a demon’s barrier single-handedly, so rumors of his practical combat ability had spread throughout the magic world.
Even regarding that incident, the Chairman had said in an interview—
“Professor Dekyullein’s actual combat prowess! I think it’s right below my level! It was incredibly amazing!”
To think it was right below the monster Adrinne, who would soon become an Archmage.
It was obvious after a moment’s thought that this was lip service close to nonsense, but many young mages believed it and feared him.
Because Dekyullein’s steps so far had been that groundbreaking.
Creeeak······.
Then the door opened again. Both Gilteon and Silvia looked over. It was Gillandeu, Silvia’s younger half-brother.
Silvia spoke to the little child.
“The potato is here too.”
“······I’m not a potato!”
Gillandeu shouted as he flung the door open. Silvia replied without a change in expression.
“Baked potato.”
“I’m not—!”
While the two children conversed, Gilteon saw the art notebook on Silvia’s bed. And he picked it up without much thought.
“······.”
His expression stiffened.
Inside the art notebook he had casually opened, the ‘face I loathe’ had been sketched.
It wasn’t just one page.
It wasn’t two pages.
The entire notebook······ was Dekyullein.
Gilteon set the notebook down. With a complicated and rigid face, he looked at Silvia, who was bickering about potatoes and corn.
“My dear.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m thinking of going to the cemetery now. Will you go too?”
“I already went.”
“······I see.”
Gilteon forced a smile.
“Then I shall go alone. Get along well.”
“Take the potato with you.”
“I’m not a potato!”
“It’s noisy because the potato is talking.”
He came out, leaving the two children behind.
“······.”
For some reason, Gilteon felt dazed. It felt as if the entire world was receding away from him.
“We shall depart.”
He did not respond even to the driver’s words.
The car simply moved, and before long, it reached the public cemetery.
“We have arrived, My Lord.”
Gilteon got out of the car and walked along the cemetery path.
A sentiment that felt as if his entire soul was being shaken.
Within it, the tombstone he reached was clean.
[ Sielia von Elemin Ileide ]
The tombstone was pristine, and the grass was well-maintained.
It was naturally Silvia’s devotion.
“······How complicated.”
Gilteon knelt and muttered as he looked at the tombstone.
Dekyullein, drawn by Silvia.
Does that meaning signify admiration and affection?
Or respect?
If even that is not it, is it a fever of youth that passes by after brushing past once?
He didn’t even want to make the distinction; his mind felt as if it would fly off into the universe just at the thought.
“Siel. I had thought I lost you because I deserved to lose you······”
He closed his eyes briefly.
He wanted to deny reality as a father, but Gilteon was an exceedingly realistic person.
“······Once again, a method you would hate has come to mind.”
When he opened his eyes,
a dark smile was already rising on his previously contorted lips.
“But I do not think it is bad. In the end, thanks to you, our child, and Ileide, will become even greater.”
Gilteon placed a single flower on her tombstone.
“You probably left because you were tired of someone like me······ but still, I am Ileide.”
Sielia had not wanted to be buried in Ileide’s land even in death.
She had regretted to her dying breath becoming the wife of a specter obsessed with magic.
“Whether you were tired of me, loathed me, or hated me, bloodlines······ kin do not change.
Just as Yukrain hunts demons, and Rebairon rules the sea, and Peuhaireuden melts into warmth.
For Ileide, ambition itself is ‘bloodline.’”
“The child you love is ultimately Ileide’s kin as well.”
If there is a suitable ‘enemy,’ if there is an ‘opponent’ she wants to crush to death.
Silvia can grow faster than she does now.
He could become far closer to an Archmage.
For trials that could be endured would only make Iliade stronger.
“You need not forgive me, nor understand me.”
Giltheon knew that fact better than anyone.
“If I can become fertilizer, I would gladly throw even myself into the fire.”
The child’s brilliant blond hair and innate disposition were exactly as the primordial Iliade had been described, so Sylvia was a jewel who had inherited Iliade blood more thickly than anyone else.
The whole of that child was the essence of Iliade.
“So this time…”
The cherished desire passed down through the two-hundred-year history of the prestigious magic family—Iliade—an Archmage.
Some mocked it as obsession, others belittled it as delusion, but Giltheon’s life was nothing more than a vessel made solely for that purpose.
“You must become the fertilizer.”
Giltheon remembered Cielia’s death.
The Yukline family.
And that bastard Deculein, too, was not free of Ciel’s death.
He would not be able to stand before the world and proudly say, “I had nothing to do with it.”
…No.
Deculein.
Even if I say that you killed Ciel, you will not be able to refute it.
Because it is the truth.
Because that killing and being killed is the fate of Iliade and Yukline.
“Thanks to you, thanks to you whom Sylvia loves, we will be able to fulfill our cherished desire.”
Whatever feelings Sylvia held for Deculein, all of them would become firewood and feed the blaze called “Iliade.”
It would become a more bewitching, lightlike conflagration, rising like the sun that illuminates the world.
…Even so, if it is not enough.
If even selling the corpse of my already dead wife is not enough.
I can even give up my own life.
“Cielia. Deculein killed you. So now, it is our turn to use that.”
A torch that burned fiercely by damaging itself.
Such was Iliade’s resolve…
* * *
Early dawn. Inside the car Ren was driving.
I looked at the seat beside me.
“……”
Louina was forcing her gaze out the car window, but a single stream of tears ran from her eyes.
Not even a grain of pity arose in me.
Even so, I forcibly drew up the experiences from when I had been Kim Woojin and showed a little sympathy.
“Don’t feel too wronged.”
“……”
Louina whipped her head around.
“For five years, you have instead been granted the opportunity to grow within Yukline’s fence. You could call it a blessing.”
“B-Ble—what, bleble, bless, blessi, blessing? Blessiiing?!”
Louina was horrified, but I was shameless.
Of course, Louina’s background was quite impressive. A talent who had graduated from the Academy early and, with the former chairman’s recommendation, entered the Tower four years younger than others.
However, as far as I knew, Louina’s end was not very good. Once the “Erosion” began, McQueen would be the first to be attacked.
Therefore, it might truly be safer for her to remain by my side.
“It is five years. Not that long a time. If converted to an annual salary… about four hundred million.”
“……”
“Can you earn four hundred million in a year? If you think so, you lack self-objectivity, so correct your thinking.”
Louina silently bit only at her own lip. In the meantime, the car arrived at Louina’s mansion.
“Also, I will recommend you as an externally invited professor at the Imperial Magic Tower. There should be nothing more for you to accomplish at the Kingdom Magic Tower, so work at the University Magic Tower.”
Click— Louina opened the door and set foot on the ground.
“……Do you know something?”
Then she looked in at me and spoke.
“I was planning to do that anyway.”
Bang—!
Louina slammed the door.
“……”
I opened the window. I gestured at her departing back.
“Stop.”
“What is it, boss?”
Louina spoke sarcastically.
“Again.”
“……What shall I do again, boss?”
I stared at Louina in silence. Louina came back with a sneer and closed the door again.
Bang—!
It was not much different from just before.
“Again.”
“Hmph.”
Bang—!
That made three times.
“Again.”
My voice sank deeply.
“……”
Louina, her lips twitching, eventually opened the door again, and this time closed it gently.
“Good work.”
Only then did I offer words of praise.
“……”
“Answer.”
“……Yes, boss. Is that enough?”
“It is.”
At that very moment, the car set off. In the rearview mirror, Louina was glaring at this car as if she would kill it.
The feeling of having endured such a humiliating oath as a mage.
I could not even imagine it.
* * *
A clear, clear Monday. Today, when the summer sunlight poured down over the entire world, was the “Dark Mountain” practical training.
Due to the incidents of late, it had also come to be called the “Demon Mountain” and had become something people avoided, but a directive had come down directly from the Imperial Family.
You must conduct practical training at least once a month. Avoiding it because it is frightening is not the quality of a mage. If you avoid demons, one day you will no longer be able to fight demons—
It was the order of Emperor Sophien.
“It is free practical training. If anything happens, report it to my steel.”
Fortunately, today’s supervisor was Deculein.
Deculein floated wood-steel throughout the Dark Mountain, so that in case something happened, reports could be made.
It was one of the versatile uses of wood-steel imbued with “Midas’s Hand.”
““““Yeeees!””””
The debutantes were brightly reassured. It was only natural; Deculein’s combat ability had already been proven.
Therefore, even if any monster, demonic beast, ghost, or demon appeared, they believed that “Head Professor Deculein” would easily kill it.
Had even the chairwoman not evaluated him by saying, “Professor Deculein’s combat power is in the tier directly below mine”?
In any case, the practical training began like that.
“……Hey, beggar. What are you doing there?”
A stream halfway up the mountain.
Epherene, who had been catching fish, turned her head. Lucia’s group was laughing at her.
“Catching fish.”
“Who doesn’t know that? I’m asking why you’re acting so pitiful. Trying to show you’re a beggar?”
“I’m catching them to eat. Can’t you think?”
“……Ha.”
They did not know. How delicious the fish caught in the Dark Mountain were, and how much they helped with mana.
“Ugh. That beggar, seriously. Hey, I’ll give you money, so just go buy something to eat.”
“Give it to me. I’ll accept it gratefully.”
“……What? Wow, look at her. Ah, just get lost!”
The nobles passed by Epherene in disgust. That would have been fortunate enough, but suddenly the stone Epherene had been supporting herself on spun around.
It was magic.
“Ah!”
Splash—!
Epherene’s whole body fell into the stream. Not far away, their laughter drifted over.
“Ah. I really hate them so much……”
With a sigh, Epherene picked up her spear again.
With it, she caught two fish.
“They’re biting well today.”
She gutted the plump things, scaled them, skewered them, lit a campfire… and while she was thus displaying her survival skills—
“……?!”
Some strange sensation brushed through Epherene’s mind. Her whole body tingled and heated as if static electricity had surged through her.
“What was that……?”
A magical intuition, as if her entire temple were trembling.
Epherene rose to her feet.
Crackle— crackle—
“Ss-up. Ah, my mouth is watering.”
At the sound of the meat cooking, she sat down again.
It was then.
A nearby thicket shook, and an unwelcome visitor appeared.
“Who’s there now? Don’t do anything weird. I’m watching.”
The person who came walking out was familiar to Epherene as well. She narrowed her eyes at Epherene.
“……Impudent Epherene.”
“……Sylvia?”
“What are you doing here?”
Sylvia narrowed her eyebrows into a slant. Epherene tilted her head and asked back.
“Why? It hasn’t even been a few hours yet. Is the practical training already over?”
“You really are an idiot. The practical training isn’t the problem right now……”
Sylvia paused and looked at the cooking meat. Feeling that gaze, Epherene held out one of the two skewers to Sylvia.
“Want some? It should be good.”
“……”
Sylvia forgot what she had been about to say and sat primly on a stone chair. Her clothes were strangely dirty. As if she had been here for quite some time…
“You can eat it. It’s all cooked.”
“Okay.”
The two of them ate the fish together.
Crunch—
Epherene, who had taken a bite, shuddered in rapture, and Sylvia also quietly closed her eyes.
“Ah, it’s delicious……”
Fish caught in the Dark Mountain were indeed astonishingly tasty.
…Though not as much as Roahawk.
About number two?
Crunch— crunch—
The two hurriedly devoured the fish.