The mountain was steeped in darkness, and a desolate wind swept across the ground. Sparks spat from the campfire and rose like heat haze.
I looked at Rohakan. Rohakan did not avoid my gaze. He called me his disciple, but there was nothing particularly special about that.
Deculein’s past was tangled like a spiderweb, so a connection like this was both unexpected and only natural. Among the named characters scattered throughout the Empire, wouldn’t it be rarer to find one who had no connection to this fellow?
“Rohakan?”
Ephrine turned toward Rohakan. Then she asked again in a trembling voice.
“R-Rohakan? That fragment of the World Tree is······”
The treasured possession of the archmage Demakan was a staff made from the World Tree. The story was famous enough to appear in fairy tales.
Demakan had made a staff from a branch of the World Tree, then distributed the remaining fragments among his family. To Ephrine and Sylvia, Rohakan’s staff was unmistakably made from the World Tree.
“How did you pass through the barrier? I put quite a bit of effort into making it.”
Rohakan asked as he scratched the back of his neck.
Barrier magic was generally divided into schools according to its nature. For example, a barrier that expanded space belonged to the auxiliary school, while one that deceived perception belonged to the illusion school.
In that regard, Rohakan’s barrier was an illusion. A field to which I was immune.
“Cheap tricks no longer work on me.”
“······Oh-ho. Cheap tricks, is it?”
Rohakan’s eyes widened. I looked at Ephrine and Sylvia, who were standing near him. But Sylvia was gone.
“I’m here.”
······She had somehow moved behind me.
“Ephrine.”
I called Ephrine’s name. Rohakan was greatly startled.
“Ephrine? Are you that Ephrine Luna? The daughter of the Luna family?”
“Huh? Y-You know me?”
“Of course I do. Fifteen years ago, was it? Your father’s mind gave even me a fresh shock. What’s your father up to these days?”
Ephrine’s expression stiffened considerably. She looked at me, then at Sylvia, but in the end her gaze remained fixed on the ground.
“······He’s dead.”
“······.”
Rohakan’s mouth fell open.
As if embarrassed, or perhaps apologetic, he rubbed his temple and said,
“That’s a shame. His personality was a little peculiar, but he was a theoretical genius the likes of whom appeared perhaps once in a century.”
“Ah······.”
“Debutan Ephrine.”
I called Ephrine. She hesitated, but soon approached me. Even as she did so, she asked Rohakan,
“······You really are Rohakan, not Murkan?”
Rohakan gave a bitter smile and nodded.
“Aye. Sorry about that. Whenever people hear my name, they all run away. Murkan’s practically my oldest friend, and I borrowed this staff from him.”
“Rohakan, the Empress’s assassin······.”
“I can’t say that’s a lie, but at the time, I had no other choice.”
Rohakan had been a friend of the late Emperor Crebain. However, he had killed the empress of that time along with numerous court mages, becoming an enemy of the Empire.
“Th-Then······.”
Ephrine felt around her stomach. It was the location where the Light Spiel had settled.
Rohakan chuckled softly.
“My spirit is perfectly normal, so don’t worry. That way, you two will be able to keep your promise, so—”
“Ephrine, Sylvia.”
I cut Rohakan off and spoke to the two of them.
“Go down.”
They hesitated. But there could be no witnesses to what came next.
I urged them on in my coldest and most solemn voice.
“If you get caught up in this, you may die.”
Rohakan clicked his tongue. The two, who had been frozen stiff, finally nodded.
“Go. Follow my steel.”
To ensure they would not be caught up in the barrier, I left one Mok Steel sword to guide them. Sylvia, behind me, whispered in a small voice,
“Don’t lose.”
“······Go.”
There was no way I would lose.
However, I could not win either.
Naturally, I would not fight him.
“If you haven’t moved after three seconds, I will punish you.”
Ephrine and Sylvia departed, following my steel. The rustling of their footsteps gradually faded into the distance.
Whoooosh······.
A cold, dry wind blew. Their clothes and hair fluttered wildly. Rohakan looked at me with a solemn expression.
“······You certainly seem to have put in some effort. Your mana is purer than it used to be. Was the quality of mana something that could be improved through effort as well?”
“You are still growing younger.”
Rohakan’s expression hardened for an instant. My words had pierced straight through his secret.
He narrowed his eyes and retorted,
“Do you intend to fight? I’d rather not kill my disciple.”
“Neither of us stands to gain anything from provoking the other.”
“······What?”
I could not defeat Rohakan. It was not because I had not grown enough, or because I needed a little more time.
I probably would not be able to defeat him even until the day I died.
“Did you take that as provocation? It was a warning.”
“An act of reckless bravado.”
“Hah, reckless bravado?”
Even so, this body would not retreat. It would break, but never bend. Even before a powerhouse who transcended the world, it would not lose its self-respect.
That was unmistakably part of Deculein’s personality, but this particular trait was one I liked as well.
Kim Woojin had always been a man who was swayed by the currents of the world. I had grown sick of watching him waver this way and that, without convictions or principles of his own.
“Reckless braaaavado~?”
“······.”
I closed my eyes and assessed the current situation. Fifteen of the twenty Mok Steel swords were still darting all over the mountain.
“······There are 157 people wandering inside the barrier. Ninety-three who are merely lost. Twenty-three attempting to dismantle the barrier. Thirty-seven breaking through the path toward us. The encirclement is already complete to the southeast, north, and east, and the Imperial Knights’ forces are converging.”
After saying that, I opened my eyes. Rohakan’s gaze was fixed on me.
“Do you intend to stall for time? I have no intention of allowing that.”
Rohakan raised his mana.
I spoke with my usual expressionless face.
“Go northwest. The defenses there are still weak.”
“······?”
The mana Rohakan had been gathering scattered in an instant. His eyes widened as if they were about to pop out, and he blinked.
“What?”
“However, bear this in mind. This is the last time I will let you go.”
I said it, hoping Rohakan would be more careful from now on. That he would not be captured by the Empire—or perhaps even killed—because he had been distracted by two children.
“Er······.”
Rohakan scratched the back of his neck and replied,
“Is that your old affection for me?”
“I feel no affection for the one who murdered the Empress Dowager.”
“······Yes. Of course you don’t. But aren’t you curious? About why I came here.”
“I am curious.”
“Hmm. Then would you believe what I say? I am a master who abandoned his disciple.”
“Did you come to destroy the ‘Temple’?”
I asked as if stating a fact. Rohakan, who had been about to say something, sucked in a sharp breath and gaped.
“You······ You’ve grown somewhat differently in the meantime, haven’t you?”
“There is no time for idle talk. Leave.”
“······Fine.”
He turned his back. But after taking a few steps, he stopped. Without turning around, he twisted only his head to look back at me.
He still seemed to have something to say.
“Deculein.”
“Yes.”
“······Do you believe in God?”
In a way, it was an absurd question. Yet his words struck straight at the heart of the main quest.
I answered,
“I believe only in myself.”
I did not believe in God.
Not as Deculein, nor as Kim Woojin.
That belief had not changed.
“······Haha.”
Rohakan smiled faintly.
“That’s a good attitude. Take this.”
He handed me a book.
“It’s about a group of fanatics who exist in this world. Read it sometime.”
───《Myeolji Exploration Record》───
◆ Information
：An exploration record written by Rohakan.
：It contains records of the habits of the fanatics he observed while crossing Myeolji.
◆ Category
：Special ⊃ Book
◆ Effect
：???
────────
I placed it inside my clothes.
“Take care.”
He took in the wind element with his entire body, and at the same time activated a destructive archmage spell.
Rumbleeeee───!
The archmage spell slammed into the ground again and again, tearing through the entire earth. All around us twisted as if struck by lightning.
Afterward, he raced northwest.
“······So it begins.”
Little by little, the ‘true named characters’ were appearing. Rohakan, the Empress’s assassin; the giant Sektran; the divine soldier Rodran; the Authority figure Kala······.
It would take at least two more years for even Ephrine and Sylvia to join that tier.
This world was vast, and the quest was still only in its early stages.
[Complete: Rohakan’s Story]
◆ Acquired one page of the Item Catalog
◆ Shop currency +1
The Item Catalog was a special reward. I had thought it was given only to players, but in any case.
I would make use of it later.
“A sly old man as meticulous as a snake.”
As Rohakan departed, he damaged nearly the entirety of this area. It was not some pointless display of bravado intended to show off his might.
I knew his true intention.
It was an ‘alibi’ for the two of us.
To play along, I called back the Mok Steel swords scattered throughout the area. Then I began my work.
Kwagwagwagwagwang───!
The nineteen swords of steel tore apart the already-crushed earth and vegetation once more. The natural surroundings were pulverized beneath the raging steel, and the area where I and Rohak—Rohakan—had stood was transformed into a catastrophe too horrible to describe.
The result of squeezing out my mana by force, even after exhausting every last drop of it.
* * *
Dozens of knights were climbing the mountain. At their center were not only Rawein, a knight of the Holy Heart, but also ‘Isak,’ the deputy commander of the Imperial Knights who had joined them late.
Nearly the entire military strength of the capital had gathered on the Mountain of Darkness.
─────!
As they raced along in search of traces, they soon sensed the waves of a powerful magic spell.
─────!
It was a series of pounding impacts.
“North. Follow me.”
Isak predicted the epicenter through his characteristic sensitivity. The knights followed behind him. To Isak, the barrier was merely an obstacle to be dealt with.
Then they sensed someone approaching down the mountainside.
“······Who goes there!”
The knights immediately drew their swords and aimed them. Whoever it was continued approaching them without hesitation.
Everyone tensed, but soon let out sighs of relief.
“······Professor Deculein?”
Isak muttered.
Deculein, the chief professor of the Imperial University’s Tower of Magic. He was coming down the mountain.
“······.”
His stride still possessed an air of dignity, but unmistakable fatigue clung to him, and his appearance was extremely disheveled for Deculein.
“What happened up there?”
Isak asked. Deculein stood before the knights and said nothing for a moment.
“Professor. Tell us.”
Deculein’s expression suggested that his pride had been wounded. It was a performance that would have deceived anyone who saw it.
At last, he spoke.
“······I lost him.”
“You lost him? Rohakan?”
“······.”
Deculein said nothing. Leaving them only with their mounting frustration, he continued down the mountain path.
Isak glared at his retreating back and furrowed his brow.
“What is he talking about? Was he really capable of capturing Rohakan?”
“Of course not. He’s nothing but an arrogant man. Let us hurry up.”
At Rawein’s words, they sprinted up the slope like the wind. The knights’ strides were swift.
Not long afterward, they arrived and came face to face with the scene.
“What······ is this?”
······It was an oppressive sight that left them speechless.
Everything was an inferno. There was not a single undamaged spot, as if nature itself had been crushed whole. Craters pocked the ground in every direction, the earth had been hideously overturned, and ash, mana, and drops of blood swirled together through the air.
Could even hell or the asura’s pit look like this?
The knights were momentarily rendered speechless by the brutal scene of a magical war, but Deputy Commander Isak was the first to regain his senses and shout,
“If the battle was this fierce, Rohakan cannot be in normal condition either. Divide into three squads and resume the pursuit!”
Having formed their forces with Rohakan’s might in mind, they split into three groups. One each headed northwest, north, and northeast.
* * *
Meanwhile, Sylvia and Ephrine were arrested by the police as soon as they came down from the mountain. They were taken directly to the police station.
“Good grief······ You’re saying nothing happened?”
The interrogation room of the Violent Crimes Unit. A curly-haired investigator questioned Iprin.
Iprin nodded.
“······Yes.”
“No way. You met Rohakan, and nothing happened?”
Iprin was being interrogated. Silvia had accompanied her when they first arrived, but Silvia’s interrogation had ended in three seconds.
“Nothing really happened.”
“Liar.”
“······.”
“I can see every lie written all over your face, child.”
The investigator grinned. Iprin tightly wrapped her robe around herself. Rohakan’s letter was still tucked against her chest.
“If you don’t talk, you might end up in prison~?”
“······.”
Iprin clenched her teeth. Confessions and informing on others simply weren’t in her nature. Even if he had been Rohakan······.
The curly-haired investigator, who had been grinning slyly, snorted.
“Hey! Is anyone out there? Let’s search her first!”
“What?! That’s absurd!”
“What do you mean, absurd? You keep lying, so of course we have to search you.”
“I’m not a criminal. A body search is······.”
“You really don’t know anything, do you, girl? Listen. Even if you’re a mage from the Imperial University, hiding even a single thing about a criminal of the ‘Black Hand’ rank is a crime. Hey! Can’t you hear me? I said come search her!”
It was then, as the investigator shouted.
Bang─!
The interrogation-room door flew open so violently it seemed ready to shatter. The investigator jumped and turned toward it.
“What the hell? The interrogation isn’t over yet, so who opened the door······!”
As he muttered those words, he soon found himself face-to-face with the approaching noble.
Head Professor Deculein.
“······.”
“······.”
The investigator shut his mouth, while Deculein glanced back and forth between Iprin and the curly-haired man. The latter belatedly straightened his posture.
“Ah, Head Professor! I just heard the report that you engaged in a fierce magical duel with Rohak. Are you all right? What brings you here?”
“······What brings me here?”
Wrinkles formed around his eyes as he repeated the question. His gaze seemed to be interrogating the investigator in turn.
“Yes, sir?”
“You took two of my students from here.”
“Ah~ Yes! That person is resting comfortably on the sofa outside!”
The curly-haired man answered. Deculein already knew. Silvia was sitting on the sofa, fast asleep.
However, if this incident was to be brought to a peaceful conclusion—
“I distinctly said there were two.”
“······Yes?”
“Come out, Iprin.”
He spoke to Iprin. The flustered curly-haired investigator sprang to his feet.
“I-I’m afraid I can’t!”
“······.”
Deculein remained silent. Frightened by the pressure, the curly-haired man continued speaking without being asked.
“T-That girl is hiding something.”
“What is it?”
“We were just about to find that out······.”
Deculein silently stared at the investigator. Those blue eyes possessed the uncanny ability to choke the breath from a person.
He spoke.
“Name.”
“······Pardon?”
“Your name.”
“Ah, well, I······.”
“Do not make me ask three times.”
Deculein’s gaze swept over him from head to toe.
“How insolent.”
“I-I’m sorry! It’s Ecorn!”
Just then, perhaps having heard the news, the person in charge came running over.
“P-Professor! You’re here! Hey, you bastard! Why aren’t you bowing? He’s the professor who fought that Black Hand criminal in a bloody battle!”
“Ah, yes. I was just about to do that!”
The supervisor and the investigator bowed at the same time. Deculein paid them no attention and spoke to Iprin.
“Iprin. Stand up.”
“Yes······.”
Iprin rose hesitantly. Silvia, who had woken up at some point, was waiting beside the interrogation room.
“Let’s go.”
“““Goodbye, sir!”””
Deculein walked down the corridor, and the police bowed their heads whenever they saw him. Silvia seemed accustomed to such treatment, but Iprin found it impossible to adjust.
Two vehicles were waiting on the road outside. One belonged to Silvia, and the other to Deculein.
“······Iprin.”
Before getting into the car, Deculein turned to Iprin.
“Yes.”
“Did that investigator take anything from you?”
“······No.”
Iprin gripped the letter inside her robe. Deculein nodded, seemingly satisfied.
“Well done. If you made a promise, you must keep it.”
Deculein got into the car.
Before he closed the door, however, Iprin asked,
“Um······ What happened?”
Silvia also looked curious.
Deculein let out a faint breath and answered.
“You do not need to know.”
His voice was steeped in fatigue. It was a voice neither Iprin nor Silvia had heard from him before.
“Everyone, leave. No one is to speak of what happened today.”
Deculein’s driver closed the passenger-side door. He got into the car and drove away, while Silvia also boarded her own vehicle.
Only Iprin remained on the sidewalk, staring blankly at the cars.
“Want me to take you home?”
“Huh? Ah, no, it’s fine. I’ll walk. I get carsick in carriages and things like that.”
“All right.”
Vroom─ Silvia’s car started its engine. The two vehicles soon disappeared beyond the road, and Iprin, who had watched them go with envy, began moving her legs one step at a time.
“Haa······.”
The night wind felt a little heavy. She had gone through a situation that was far too dramatic and heard far too many things. Her whole body felt limp, as though it had been soaked in water.
“Hah.”
A hollow laugh escaped her.
The first person she had ever met who acknowledged her father—and he had turned out to be ‘Rohakan.’ The worst criminal in the world, whose name was on everyone’s lips.
“My body won’t explode if I don’t send the letter, will it······?”
For Iprin, it had been a complicated day in more ways than one.
“Ah, this is seriously suffocating······. I want to cry······.”
······.
Silvia was gazing at the scenery outside. She cautiously opened the window and closed her eyes, feeling the breeze seep in.
At some point, the voice she had heard in Vercht came back to her.
─There is nothing to be surprised about. It is a weapon and magic specialized solely in killing.
─What is useful in this world, Silvia, is the talent of a mage like you. Magic was not created to kill people, was it?
Deculein’s words.
At the time, she had thought he was merely praising her talent.
But now that she understood the effort he had put in—
They felt a little different.