Memories are buried in the smallest things.
The hand she had clung to so tightly for fear of losing her way while walking the corridors of the lord’s castle.
The flowers they had raised together in the garden.
The fairy-tale book read to her before bed.
The stray cat she had begged and begged to adopt.
......Looking back, Sylvia’s memories amounted to only eight years.
Because that was the time she had spent with her mother.
A person’s memories pile up like grains of sand. The oldest memories sink to the very bottom, and countless others pour down over them.
The strata of memory grow heavier with the passage of time.
Under that weight, some memories are helplessly buried, but some memories remain like fragments, never able to mingle. They stab sharply.
Sylvia’s memories were of that sort. They were not buried beneath sand, not swept away by waterways, and did not fade even after long years passed.
Because they were feelings that would never change, even after she left this world.
And yet, from some point on, Sylvia began to feel a new presence falling onto her sandbank.
From Lokhak, from Bercht, from the Baron of Ashes—the professor who had protected her.
Perhaps, a person who carried a sorrow similar to her own.
He grew within her heart like a sprout. In that desolate, parched place, a single stem had begun to bud.
Before she fell asleep,
sometimes when she trembled from the cold,
or when loneliness made her feel as though she could not breathe.
Now, she thought of him.
Sylvia knew what kind of feeling it was.
It was so vivid that she could not possibly fail to notice.
That was why, perhaps, it hurt all the more.
......She slowly opened her eyes.
The ceiling was pure white. The lights shimmered, and her head was dizzy.
Sylvia lay still for a long while.
Rustle—
The sound of a page turning. She blankly shifted her gaze.
Professor Deculein was sitting in a chair.
Had he felt her gaze? He spoke while reading his book.
“The exam is over.”
“......”
His blue eyes touched upon her. They shone like crystal, but were cold as ice.
“All your grades during the semester were perfect, so an A should be more than sufficient.”
The final exam accounted for 35% of the grade evaluation, but Sylvia had perfect marks in the remaining 65%.
Before the final exam, the gap between her and Epherene in second place had been a full 20 points. Even if she scored a zero on the final, she would merely fall from first place into the top ranks.
“......Professor.”
“Take those grades and ascend to the Floating Island.”
Deculein repeated the words he had once said before. Sylvia looked at Deculein, her lips trembling.
Heartless.
Sylvia had not even known that word until now. She had never said it aloud.
Now, she felt it with her entire body.
Thak— Deculein closed his book. Then he rose from his seat. Since he was about to leave, Sylvia stopped him.
“......My father told me. The reason I must not be under your command, Professor.”
She continued, clutching the edge of her blanket.
“He said Iliade and Yukline are sworn enemies. That they are mortal foes who kill and are killed by each other. Is it because of that?”
Deculein’s eyes remained indifferent. Sylvia did not avoid them.
It felt as though an awl were stabbing her chest, but because it was him, she could endure it.
“Sylvia.”
“Yes.”
“I have not once thought of you as an Iliade.”
Sylvia’s heart trembled faintly. Holding on to a certain expectation, she asked again.
“Then?”
“......Sylvia.”
At that call, she nodded.
“Yes.”
“Sylvia.”
“Yes.”
“You are Sylvia.”
“Yes.”
At the strange repetition, Deculein tilted his head. But soon, perhaps realizing the error, he changed his words to be more specific.
“......A leading candidate for Archmage, this year’s rookie mage, a miracle of the magic world, a talent capable of reaching Authority, and the child of Iliade.”
Deculein listed them one by one.
They were the praises showered upon Sylvia, praises that the former Deculein would have felt maddening jealousy toward.
“Though there are this many phrases that refer to you.”
Of course.
Deculein did not know what feelings the current Sylvia held for him. Deculein did not concern himself with such things at all; he was simply indifferent.
“To me, you are merely Sylvia.”
However, as Kim Woojin, there were words he could say.
“One under my protection and guidance, and one who occasionally needs proper counsel.”
He looked at his own hand.
A leather glove. Proof of a closed heart that even recoiled from the touch of another’s skin.
“My student.”
Sylvia was still young. Because she was young, she would grow further. Her body, her heart, and her skills as a mage.
“My role is to show you the right path.”
Sylvia looked at him.
His words were always cold, and warm. Whenever she heard such words from him, the sprout inside her heart grew beautifully.
Sylvia did not want to lose him. She wanted to keep holding him in her heart.
And so, she spoke.
“My father said the Yukline family and you, Professor, harmed my mother.”
Hoping that he would answer that it was a lie.
“That isn’t true. It’s a lie, isn’t it?”
......However.
No matter how long she waited.
No matter how she waited and waited again.
“Professor.”
His answer did not return.
Dripdripdripdrip......
Dripdripdripdrip......
Only the sound of rain echoed in the quiet hospital room. A suffocating heaviness, as though her heart would stop.
“My father’s words are false.”
Sylvia forced herself to smile.
“They’re lies.”
Repeating to herself the words he should have said.
“......A lie.”
An emotion she could not understand filled her chest, and soon her voice was empty.
Without a word, Sylvia turned to look outside the window.
Rain pouring down in sheets. Reflected in that glass window, she saw Deculein. His face was still indifferent and cold.
“......”
Looking at him in the glass, she said,
“Go.”
*
I walked down the dark corridor. Outside the world, rain was pouring down. For an instant, a flash blazed across that pitch-black sky.
───!
A bolt of lightning lit the far side of the darkness. The shadowed face of a certain man was revealed. He was looking at me.
“Professor Deculein.”
A neat, middle-aged man. Beautiful blond hair and wine-colored eyes. A named character, and among them, a man belonging to the category of “madman.”
Giltheon.
“I heard my daughter collapsed from overwork during the exam.”
Not the slightest trace of concern was buried in that voice.
“Was it your fault? Or my daughter’s?”
At that shameless question, a contempt of unknown origin arose. It was an emotion common to both Deculein and Kim Woojin.
“What did you say to Sylvia?”
At that, Giltheon’s eyes curved sharply. His blood-colored pupils, which seemed to be glaring, soon narrowed as he smiled with his eyes.
“Nothing in particular to call words, Deculein. Do you, by any chance, remember that day? Eight years ago, the day Iliade and Yukline waged war.”
Deculein’s memories were still limited. Of course, the relationship between Yukline and Iliade was that of sworn enemies, but there was no way for me to know the detailed circumstances.
To begin with, the original Deculein and Sylvia would only have hated each other.
“That day. You killed Ciel as she tried to leave.”
Cielia.
Sylvia’s mother.
I did not know Giltheon’s “that day.”
However, those words of Giltheon’s made a “scene” rise to mind like a fuse being lit.
The sound of rain striking the window overlapped with Giltheon’s face.
Eight years ago.
A day when rain close to a storm was whipping about. Giltheon says something to Deculein, and Deculein looks at his own hand. That hand is a glove soaked in blood......
“I cannot let you ruin Sylvia as well.”
The incomplete memory rummaged through my head, but I soon steadied myself. My ego was not one to be shaken by something so trifling.
I simply ignored him and walked past.
“Deculein. Are you running away this time as well?”
“......”
As though seized by the throat, my steps came to a halt. Heat rose from within my body. I turned and approached Giltheon.
“Giltheon.”
“Deculein, you were always like this. Pretending to be lofty and looking down upon all things, when in truth you were more cowardly than anyone—”
“Giltheon─!”
This shout was an anger unknown even to me. A ball of fire surged up from the depths of my chest. My roar echoed through the corridor, and Giltheon widened his eyes as if surprised.
I approached right before him and looked down at his face. His eyes were at my chin.
“I can see right through you.”
“......Through me?”
“Sylvia is not your doll.”
Giltheon was a mage crazed by ambition. For the sake of an Archmage, he would stop at nothing, so this too was nothing more than part of it.
“Just now, did you say you could not let her be ruined?”
Muttering that, I pushed his chest with my finger. Giltheon tried to resist, but he could do nothing against the power of 「Iron Man」 and staggered backward.
“Those are my words, Giltheon.”
“What?”
“That damned ghost of a family.”
“......”
Giltheon’s face chilled cold. A sneer rose to my lips.
That family called Iliade—no, that family alone—was the bastard’s reverse scale.
“I will not let you ruin Sylvia.”
This was perhaps the remnant of anger derived from Deculein’s personality.
Sylvia did not matter. Even that child, for now, was only a pretense, or an excuse.
I simply loathed Giltheon from the bottom of my heart.
“You are the one who killed Ciel, Deculein.”
Giltheon sent a similar emotion toward me. No, it must have been an identical hatred.
The bastard stared straight at me with eyes from the distant past.
“To think the bastard who only used to tremble in fear...... has grown so much.”
“Giltheon. It is you who have become smaller.”
At that moment, lightning struck once more.
A flashing world.
I saw someone’s figure reflected in the corridor window.
Behind a wall Giltheon could not see,
Sylvia was there.
The child hiding and trembling in the darkness, when the third bolt of lightning finally arrived,
hid herself completely.
* * *
The sky is clear.
Fragmented sunlight settles through the leaves of the great trees, and the roadside is full of vitality and laughter.
A fresh green summer, three in the afternoon.
A festival is taking place in the Empire’s “Romelot Square.” It is a festival that marks the end of the first half of the year.
University students who finished their final exams, office workers on vacation, farmers who had finished their mutual labor, travelers who arrived at the right time, and so on...... In the square filled with all sorts of people, the Empire’s peddlers had gathered to form all kinds of interesting street stalls, and there were all manner of games with prizes on the line, such as darts and indoor fishing.
“Wow.”
Epherene stood in the middle of that festival with a somewhat dazed expression. To her, a country bumpkin, it was far too unrealistic a sight.
“Everything looks delicious......”
“Ephy!”
At Julie’s shout, she belatedly came to her senses. She looked behind her.
It was the members of the Common Magic Exploration Club, including Julia, Ferit, and Rondo.
“Julie~ Ferit~ Rondo~”
Epherene smiled brightly, but at the thought that suddenly came to mind, her expression darkened.
“She’s still not coming, huh.”
“Hm? Ephy. Are you waiting for someone?”
“No. Well......”
Sylvia. She had delivered the letter to Lady Lete of that mansion, but it seemed she had no intention of coming after all.
“Julie. I’ll leave the guide duties to you.”
“Okay~ There should be a ton of fun things today. Ephy, is your wallet nice and full?”
“Plenty.”
Epherene strolled through the square.
The lively atmosphere and the joy that spread all around. They laughed and chatted together as they admired the festival scenery.
“Huh?!”
Then suddenly, she saw a street stall selling potato croquettes.
3 elne.
She bought one at once and took a big bite. Beneath the crisp outside was a moist texture.
“Ooh. This is good~ Huh?! What’s that!”
Suddenly, she saw a dumpling stall.
2 elne.
She bought some at once and popped them into her mouth. The flavor of meat spread through her mouth.
“Oh. This is good too~ Huh?! What’s that over there!”
Suddenly, she saw waffles.
2 elne.
She bought one at once and tore off a corner. The strawberry whipped cream was sweet.
“Sweet, so sweet. Deliciously sweet...... Huh?! You there! I was just thirsty!”
Suddenly, she saw a plum drink.
2 elne.
She bought one at once and gulped it down.
Julie, who had been watching, asked in disbelief.
“......Ephy. Why are you buying so much?”
“Hm?”
Before she knew it, both of Epherene’s hands were full of food.
The problem was that there was still far more food left.
After thinking it over, Epherene held one out to each member of the Common Magic Exploration Club.
“Ah~ I was going to share. Let’s eat together, okay? Have a croquette and a dumpling each.”
Just then, as Julie and the club members were accepting the food with wry smiles—
—I, Roherk, swear!
A desperate shout pierced through the noise of the plaza.
A question mark seemed to appear over Epherene’s head, and everyone began murmuring as they looked in that direction.
—Beneath this brilliant sky, upon a world filled with filth!
Atop the arch of the plaza structure, the “Briondel Independence Gate,” stood some suspicious figure.
He wore a chain robe. A black velvet robe, and a book bound in chains that crossed over his shoulders and hipbones.
Epherene tilted her head.
“What is that guy?”
“Who knows~? Looks like he’s acting?”
The club members did not take it very seriously. At a plaza festival, there was always bound to be an event like this.
—I swear to the god Ruanne!
“......Ruanne?”
But the line was unfamiliar.
The god Ruanne? The Empire’s state religion should be the Blet Orthodox Church, which believed in the god Ranion. Was there a god named Ruanne?
“Julie. What’s Ruanne?”
She asked while eating a dumpling. Julie shrugged.
“Not sure. I don’t know the details, but isn’t that the god the Jeokgwe believe in?”
“Jeokgwe? You mean that race—”
Before Epherene could finish speaking.
—Divine punishment upon the apostates!
Together with a roar bordering on noise pollution—
A massive explosion occurred.
Kwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwa-gwang———!
A rumble that shook heaven and earth. First, a shockwave raced in every direction, followed by the detonation of demonic energy.
Kyaaaaaaak────!
Uwa, aaaaak──!
A blast of heat and smoke surged in madly. Buildings caught in the explosion collapsed, and piles of stone began to rain down.
In an instant, the lively festival had turned into a pandemonium of explosions and screams.
“Ephi!”
At Julie’s cry, Epherene immediately radiated a barrier.
She tried to adjust the barrier as large as possible to protect the civilians...... but something was strange.
“......?”
There was no impact striking the barrier.
No, the entire area itself was utterly still.
Even the screams that had seemed to tear through the air had, in truth, been very brief.
“What...... is this.”
Epherene, eyes widened in confusion as she looked ahead, lost her words for a moment.
It had stopped.
The entire plaza.
The smoke that had been spreading fiercely, the buildings that had been collapsing, the explosion that had been surging up like a wave—all of it.
They hung there as though fixed in midair.
The fragments of collapse that should have slammed into the road, crushed a child’s head, and burst an adult’s body......
As though time itself had stopped.
Not a single crumb fell.
Even those who had been waiting for death beneath the buildings could only waste away the moments, doubting the scene before their eyes.
It was that much of an illusion—one that made them forget even the thought of fleeing.
“......”
Epherene looked around blankly.
A world that seemed both real and unreal.
All the people in the plaza, each thinking the same thing, were dazed as if dreaming. No one moved, and thanks to that, Epherene’s field of vision cleared all the more sharply.
“Ah.”
And so, she found him.
In this mysterious scene, there was only one man moving.
A mage walking with composure.
Still dressed in his suit as always, he stole every gaze in this space. Every person gathered there watched him.
Even without any magical perception or sensation, they could tell.
No, they came to know.
The master of this dreamlike magic, this magic magical in and of itself, as though it had seized time and space in their entirety—
Was none other than “Deculein.”
How dare you──! A mere apostate──!
Deculein reached out toward the terrorist who shouted as if coughing up blood. Then the man was sucked down from the top of the Independence Gate into his hand.
The type of magic was 「Telekinesis」, and its target was the “chain” binding the man’s robe.
“......”
Deculein looked into the man’s eyes. There was no fear in them. No terror. No hesitation toward death, which a human ought naturally to fear.
“You.”
“Kuh—”
The man smirked and revealed his waist. There was a bomb there. Deculein merely twisted his lips in contempt.
Beep—
Just before the explosion, telekinesis interfered first and tore the inside of the bomb to shreds.
“Hmph. Vermin.”
“D-Decule—”
“Shut that filthy mouth.”
Shaaaak—! The wood-steel shuriken that came rushing in next pierced the man’s throat.
“Kuhuhuhu......”
However, at the moment of his death, the man laughed and self-destructed. Thick demonic energy leaked from his throat like smoke. The demonic energy gathered into a mass as if to swallow Deculein, but at some point, it was frozen by sword energy that came rushing in.
It was the work of Knight Yuli.
“Professor. These are simultaneous terrorist attacks.”
At Yuli’s words, Deculein nodded. The two seemed intent on minimizing casualties as much as possible.
“Ah, I’ll help too!”
Epherene, who had been watching, shot her hand up.
At that bold cry, Yuli smiled as if proud of her, and Epherene took one step forward.
But then.
“......!”
Thud! Something caught her ankle.
“Ugh!”
Epherene fell flat and looked up with a groan.
“......”
Deculein’s terrifying eyes were glaring at her. Around his eyes, creases far from his usual expression looked savage, like a bird of prey’s.
“Epherene. This is not a place for you to step in. Kindly get lost.”
The type of terrorism they had committed was “demonic energy bombs.”
Therefore, demonic energy was thick in this plaza, and Deculein had no leisure to treat Epherene gently.
“Are you all right?”
Yuli helped the fallen Epherene to her feet. Yuli was a famous person Epherene also knew well.
“Ah, yes. Thank you, Knight Yuli. I’m a fan.”
“Please do not take it too much to heart. The professor is only stopping you because it is dangerous. Lady Epherene, in this plaza, the civilians, mmph—”
A gas mask stuck to Yuli’s face as he tried to be considerate toward Epherene. It was Deculein’s doing.
Yuli removed the gas mask stuck to his face and handed it to Epherene.
“......Yes. Please take this. And focus on the evacuation, mmph—”
Another gas mask flew over and stuck to Yuli’s face. Yuli removed that one as well and gave it to Julie beside Epherene.
“Yes, yes. We’ll do that. We’ll protect this plaza.”
“Yes. I leave it to, mmph—, I leave it to you.”
A third gas mask stuck to Yuli, and only then did he leave together with Deculein.
“......”
Epherene watched the backs of the two. Beside Deculein, who walked slowly, pieces of steel floated in the air......
“Wow......”
Soon, Julie gaped in admiration. Epherene was not much different.
Deculein quelled the terror as if conducting an orchestra.
The smoke of the demonic energy explosion, the collapsing buildings, the soaring flames.
All of it was controlled by the movements of his hand.
The deadly cloud of demonic energy was held fast in the sky and could not descend, the shattered buildings landed safely, and the power of the fire diminished in an instant.
“So that is the Empire’s Head Professor......”
The dazed murmur belonged to the knights who had arrived belatedly.
Epherene likewise stood there blankly, but soon a large hand came down on her shoulder.
“Oho. That Deculein fellow certainly has grown. But to think he was at that level! At a glance, even the quality of his mana seems to have advanced...... Indeed, just as you said, he really was a genius of effort?”
A suspicious figure with a robe pulled over his head peered at Epherene and smiled brightly. Upon confirming that face, Epherene was shocked and opened her eyes wide.
“Rohaka—”
“Shh. Are you planning to spread the continent’s worst name all over town?”
Rohakan covered Epherene’s mouth. Epherene, who kept nodding her head, soon recalled her own mistake.
“I-I sent that letter by post. If I was supposed to deliver it in person—”
“Hm? Ah, aye. Post is fine.”
“Yes, yes...... I’m sorry. It was too far for me to deliver it personally. I have exams to take, and also—”
“I said it’s fine. For now, follow me. The top priority is helping so there are no casualties.”
“No. I have a lot to do—”
Epherene sent a pleading look toward her friends beside her, but all of them were fully occupied admiring Deculein.
“Eh-hey. Come along. I have something to give you as well.”
Rohakan took Epherene and disappeared somewhere.