“······The result of three days of pursuit.”
The main headquarters of the Imperial Knight Order, which claims to be the greatest on the continent.
Among them, the innermost core—the ‘Round Table of Myths,’ where only top-priority agendas are tabled.
“We estimate that Rohakan has already escaped the capital.”
Today, the atmosphere of that Round Table was heavily subdued.
Because the Rohakan capture operation, to which they had devoted all their efforts, had officially failed.
“Of course, we have requested cooperation from the regional knight orders and the police, so inspections will be diligently carried out.”
The reporter was Lawain, Knight of the Sacred Heart.
Thirteen high-ranking knights, including Vice Commander Isak, listened to his words at the Round Table, while the other members listened from the surrounding seats.
“We will draft a report for Your Majesty—”
It was then.
Screeeak──
The great doors of the conference room swung wide open, and a firm voice flowed in.
“Reports and such are unnecessary.”
Everyone’s eyes went wide.
Numerous knights entered from the far side of the conference room. They lined up in formation to create a path, and between them, a blazing aura brilliantly radiated.
“Of course, the shadows of the Intelligence Bureau will be more accurate than you lot, but······.”
The current Empress of the Empire, Sophien Yekater Augus von Gibrain.
Bearing the dignity of a sovereign, she had appeared like the sun itself.
───We greet Your Imperial Majesty!
The entire Knight Order knelt, regardless of rank. Their thunderous shout seemed rather noisy to the Empress, and she furrowed her brow.
Thud, thud—
She walked proudly and sat down.
“I shall personally observe your meeting. Rohakan is the sworn enemy of the late Emperor, so this much should be permissible.”
It was a bolt from the blue.
Lawain, the reporter, looked at Isak, extremely tense. Isak signaled him with a chin gesture to continue.
“······Yes. While Rohakan left few traces during his escape, he engaged in a meaningful magical duel with Deculein.”
Lawain presented a record. It was a crystal orb containing the scene of the magical duel between Deculein and Rohakan.
Gooooo······.
As mana was infused into the crystal orb, a savage landscape rose into view.
—No way?
—Could there be some mistake?
—How is this Deculein’s······.
The hall stirred.
To that extent, the ground of the area was extremely hostile. All natural features were completely destroyed, leaving nowhere to step; it was utterly devastated.
“This was the magical duel between Deculein and Rohakan?”
Even Sophien asked with an air of surprise. Lawain answered with his head bowed.
“Yes.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes. The Magic Tower has already completed its analysis and verification. The blood of both Deculein and Rohakan was also detected.”
······As an aside, Deculein’s [Sense of Aesthetics] also functioned in such ‘landscape creation.’
That is, not only beauty, but he could perfectly manipulate the environment according to his intention that it should be seen as the ‘result of a mutual magical duel’······.
“Then, the only meaningful achievement was Deculein’s?”
Isak could not answer hastily.
If Rohakan had merely possessed exceptional magical capabilities, there would have been no reason the Empire could not capture him. However, Rohakan was one in whom a mage’s spirit dwelled within a knight’s body.
From Isak’s perspective, Rohakan’s might was formidable, and precisely because of that, it was all the harder to accept Deculein’s accomplishment.
If one looked only at the results, it was more than enough to call them evenly matched······.
“Hey. If you have a mouth, speak. If you let the Empire’s sworn enemy slip away so cleanly and keep your trap shut, do you think I can understand?”
Sophien’s tone held more mockery than anger.
The knights bowed their heads, and Isak spoke.
“······To call it a meaningful achievement, Deculein was defeated. Moreover, the reason he survived is surely purely due to Rohakan’s mercy. Rohakan and Deculein had a master-disciple relationship in the past—”
“You certainly talk a lot when making excuses.”
Sophien twisted her lips.
“The one who killed my close friend’s wife, showing mercy over mere master-disciple memories? Rohakan taught Deculein for only three months, and even then, he took half a year’s worth of money and ran away, or so I heard.”
“······.”
“Enough. From now on, leaving Rohakan’s extermination to Deculein rather than you lot will be more efficient. There is nothing more to hear here; I take my leave.”
The Empress rose from her seat. She left without looking back. The Imperial Palace knights followed her in a rush.
“······.”
The Round Table, hit by a sudden storm, was left in shambles.
Isak fell into quiet thought, and Lawain recalled Deculein’s arrogant voice.
—Listen. You lot are nothing but dead weight, so this means get lost on your own.
“······At first, I thought he was simply trying to flee out of fear of Rohakan.”
Lawain said, pressing his brow. Isak looked at him.
“But······ he is truly someone you can never figure out, that man.”
The great figure known as Deculein was famous even within the Knight Order. After all, back when Yully was a knight order member, Deculein was the one who tormented innocent rookies for no reason.
“······Deculein may have been hiding his true skill, or perhaps he was always at that level and we simply underestimated him. However, the more certain fact is.”
Isak spoke thus and clenched his fist tight.
“It is that we were lacking.”
Today, I vow once more.
Rohakan.
Someday, I shall certainly take the head of that black beast······.
“Anyway. This report seems to need revision.”
Then, a clear, ringing voice flowed in. It was ‘Rose,’ the prodigy knight of the Empire. At the same time, a report fluttered down onto Isak’s Round Table.
The document’s title was [Personnel Report — Deculein].
Isak looked at a specific passage within it and let out a hollow laugh.
[Combat Power: Estimated Grade 5]
“If this guy is Grade 5······.”
Even Adrinne had said that Deculein was just below her own tier. Of course, at the time, it had been dismissed as nonsense, but now, having experienced it later, it was a statement brimming with truth.
“Those damn Intelligence Bureau bastards.”
Such personnel reports are usually distributed by the ‘Imperial Intelligence Bureau,’ but occasionally, instances like this occur.
Stoking the Imperial Knight Order’s needless competitive spirit, they provide blatantly false information with the intent to mess with them.
Isak immediately picked up a pen and amended it.
[Combat Power: Estimated Grade 1]
Considering that the combat power of those standing above all others—Adrinne, Rohakan, Zait, and the like—is Grade 0—immeasurable—he should be at least at this level.
“Deliver the message to the Intelligence Bureau personally as well to correct the report. Those filthy stray dogs have been resorting to cheap tricks too often these days······.”
* * *
There were no clouds in the sky of the floating isle, and because it was close to the sun, the scenery was vivid.
Thanks to that, the open aerial vistas were beautiful and diverse, but the people coming and going were, in truth, rather dull.
For they were all mages in robes.
“The Symposium problem, number 6, you said?”
“Indeed.”
I had arrived at the headquarters of [Wizard Atomic] near Megiseion.
“Deculein of Monarch-rank. I have verified your thesis.”
I had submitted my thesis confidently, but the clerk’s reaction was indifferent.
Perhaps because dozens of addicts challenged the problem every day.
“Since you are of Monarch-rank, the review will be quick.”
That was all.
The clerk typed away without a word, and I too immediately went outside. After all, I hadn’t been expecting some reaction like ‘Whaaaat— Problem number 6—?!’
“······?”
As I was heading back to the residence like that, a familiar back of a head caught my eye.
A magic shop on the floating isle.
The crown of a head bobbing beyond that window.
I opened the door and went inside, placing my hand on the small head.
“Uwaaah! Damn, what the hell!”
In an instant, Yeriel shook her body like a tornado. Then she turned around as if to throw a punch. It was a violent reaction enough to surprise even me.
“What kind of pervert······?”
She looked up at me and trailed off.
Soon, Yeriel’s haughty expression twisted, and I shook my head.
“Your manner of speech is truly beautiful.”
“······Wh-what, it’s because you suddenly touched my head! Don’t touch my hea······ d.”
Yeriel tidied her disheveled hair with both hands.
I smirked and asked in return.
“What brings you to the floating isle?”
“I’m a mage too~ I come if I want to, so what.”
Yeriel muttered and gauged my reaction. I checked the item she had been looking at until just now.
It was an advanced grimoire.
“Are you going to buy it?”
“······I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“My rank falls short.”
For reference, there are purchase restrictions on the floating isle. Yeriel, who was of Solda-rank without even graduating from the Magic Tower, could not buy high-tier grimoires.
“······I see.”
I bought that grimoire myself. It was quite expensive at 50,000 Elnero, but I placed it directly into Yeriel’s arms.
“Take it.”
“······Really?”
“Yes.”
“······You’re saying I can learn magic?”
Yeriel asked back. I thought I knew the reason.
The previous Deculein must have feared that Yeriel might surpass him. Because he feared it, he must have blocked Yeriel’s studies.
“Learn. You too must now know how to protect yourself.”
I am not such a petty person, and above all, Deculein has many enemies.
It is possible those enemies might take Yeriel hostage.
“Y-yes. Well. I can at least do self-defense······.”
“By the way. Yeriel. I have something to give you.”
To the bewildered Yeriel, I handed over a thick bundle of documents. It was the edited thesis.
“It is the thesis gift I promised you before.”
“Hm? Ah~ that?”
The mage Panien, who resembled Allen.
“What is that mage doing these days?”
“······He’s a wreck, what else.”
Yeriel shrugged.
“A wreck?”
“You took his thesis, didn’t you? So he’s almost given up.”
“Given up?”
“Weren’t you going to snatch that mage’s thesis as it was? I assumed so since there was no word from you.”
I furrowed my brow.
“It was merely editing. Return it to him as is.”
“······Huh? Really?”
“Yes.”
Yeriel looked at me with an expression of surprise. As if debating whether to believe this or not, she then nodded and put the thesis in her bag.
“Where are you going now?”
“To the Magic Tower, to prepare for class.”
“Class preparation?”
“Yes.”
The Baron of Cinders who will arrive before long.
I intend to prepare classes as practical as possible so that the students can respond to him.
* * *
······Meanwhile, Ruina was keenly realizing how she had been abandoned in an instant.
Until now, the tenured professors of the Imperial Magic Tower had fawned over her, calling her Deculein’s rival, but now that she had entered of her own accord as an ordinary externally invited professor.
They ignored her as if nothing had happened.
She could understand.
Because she had lost to Deculein.
But.
Even so.
“The 23rd floor is too much.”
An office on the 23rd floor?
It was not even far from the classroom floors, and it was a lower floor where one might run into ordinary mages in the elevator.
An office fitting for a fledgling who had just been appointed as a full professor?
“Sigh······.”
I know.
That the humiliation Deculein has prepared does not end here.
However, no matter what he does, no matter what humiliation awaits, he cannot break me any further than this.
I am prepared to overcome it all.
A period of five years is not that long.
Above all, the contract explicitly stated the clause: ‘When Deculein becomes chairman, he shall endeavor sincerely to make Ruina a chair professor.’
“The restroom······ isn’t inside the office.”
Ruina, who had been looking around for the restroom, let out a hollow laugh.
No restroom inside the office. No restroom inside the office······.
She went outside to wash her face, and then.
“Oh my?”
Suddenly, she ran into a professor.
It was Siare.
Unlike herself, who had opposed Deculein until the end, a professor who had clung to him from the beginning, yet had tried to latch on like a bat when Ruina herself later found success.
“Professor Ruina. Was your office on the 23rd floor?”
It was a remark designed to get on her nerves from the very start.
“······Yes. This kind of experience is important in its own way. It’s fun.”
Ruina smiled brightly. Siare nodded with a face that seemed to be holding back laughter.
“Yes, yes~ well then, good luck~ work hard on your experiences too. Rising from the bottom up will be fun too, just as you said, Professor Ruina~”
Snickering followed her as she left. Ruina went into the restroom and immediately washed her face with cold water.
“Seriously, this is so irritating… After asking me for help, too.”
Hoo. She wiped her face and returned to her office.
The cramped desk could barely hold three magic tomes, but just as she was about to force herself to begin working—
Knock, knock—
Someone knocked. Before Ruina could say anything, the door opened first.
“Professor Ruina. A package has arrived.”
“…”
Without even waiting for her to tell them to leave it, they plopped it onto her desk and turned to go.
Such shabby treatment would have been unimaginable in the kingdom. She forcibly held back the tears that threatened to well up.
“Get used to it. Get used to it…”
Murmuring that bit of mind control to herself, she opened the package.
Inside the package were the words [ Answer to Problem 6 ].
“Ah~ So this is Deculein?”
Ruina let out a snort of laughter.
Problem 6 of the symposium. Rune-word magic from an ancient inscription.
She was starting to worry about what on earth had possessed him to attempt it.
[ First, in order to solve Problem 6, an interpretation of the rune-words had to take precedence. Nothing is known about rune-words, but I inferred their meanings and constructed combinations through an independent interpretive system. ]
The first page was the introduction.
[ Among the rune-words in the inscription, only three were capable of functioning as circuits. Based on that, after combining the rune-words, I was able to implement the following formula. ]
From there on, the actual formula began.
It was a realm almost alien, impossible to describe in mere letters or type.
Ruina put on her glasses and read the answer sheet.
A judge’s job was to find mistakes. Since it was enjoyable in its own way, a smile had already appeared on Ruina’s lips.
“…Let’s see.”
At first, it was mischief and confidence.
But one line,
two lines,
three lines,
four lines…
The more she read, the more Ruina’s expression stiffened.
The interpretation of the rune-words.
The shift in perspective.
The description of the formula.
The connection of logic.
The construction of the answer.
Deculein’s solution was like gathering scattered fragments, and every step was as neat as his personality.
Abnormally immaculate.
There was not a single theoretical flaw.
Deculein had begun an inductive inference based on the idea that “only three rune-words function as circuits,” but in the end, his conclusion was perfect even deductively.
He had even shown meticulousness in verifying that conclusion in the form of a magic circle.
“This…”
Ruina felt a headache stabbing at her temples.
Before she could even check the contents of the answer, a certain nausea rose within her.
—I am not the Deculein you knew.
Deculein’s detestable voice came to mind.
There was no way.
There was no way this was his answer.
There was no way he,
personally,
had written this paper.
“Wait, wait…”
Ruina took a deep breath. She roughly swept back her hair. Something hot was boiling up inside her.
She felt dizzy.
It was as though the world were shaking.
“Deculein, this isn’t your idea…”
This was not Deculein’s achievement.
Then whose achievement was it?
Who on earth had given this achievement to Deculein?
No, it was a lie that would be exposed at the “proving session” anyway, so why?
At that question, Deculein’s voice played back once more.
As if this were the answer.
—I am not the Deculein you knew.
“Shut up!”
Ruina seized the answer sheet. In theory, Deculein had never once surpassed her. Even when he had had “that man’s” help, he should still have fallen short of her.
“…It doesn’t make sense. How could you think of something like this… How could you, how could you…!”
Flames were boiling in her heart.
It was an emotion she had never once in her life imagined she would feel toward Deculein.
“It’s a lie that’s going to be exposed anyway, so why on earth…!”
Denying that petty sense of inferiority and jealousy, Ruina simply pondered Deculein’s true intentions. Crying out inwardly that this answer was not Deculein’s, she thought of the proving session. She devised a way to verify him thoroughly.
“Just you wait. This time, things won’t go your way…”
…Today.
Ruina’s day had spiraled into the worst.
* * *