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Chapter 57: Routine (2)

Yeriel hid properly, but Epherene and the other members couldn’t find a good place that would keep them from being found. Frantically pacing around the room, they decided to just go for the nearest option they had, no matter how poor a spot it was for concealing themselves.

One hid behind the door, another hid behind a hanger, and Epherene made herself float and clung to the ceiling like a starfish by using [Psychokinesis] on herself.

Slam—

Deculein opened the door, closed it behind him, and hung his coat on the hanger without lifting a finger.

“Professor! How should we proceed with the common class this week?”

“Just leave the paperwork and go.”

“Yes, sir!”

He came in with his assistant professor, but Allen soon went out. Not long after, Deculein stopped in the middle of the office.

Everyone held their breaths.

“…”

Deculein, seemingly deep in thought, momentarily tilted his head upward, finding Epherene on the ceiling.

“Ah… Ahahaha…”

Epherene laughed bitterly the moment she was discovered. Apathetically looking at her, Deculein dismantled her magic.

“Whoa!”

Before Epherene fell, she slowed her fall using [Fluid Manipulation], allowing her to land painlessly.

Deculein was a little surprised, considering he consumed 300 mana just by meddling with Epherene’s [Psychokinesis].

She only showed her talent at the beginning of the semester, but her magic completion level was still like a beginner’s then.

Considering Deculein’s own skills had also improved to some extent during that time, she grew quite rapidly.

Was it because she was a Named character?

He felt something close to jealousy, but he quickly brushed it off.

“… All of you, come out.”

Deculein called out the other CRMC members.

“…”

Not long after, four debutantes found themselves standing before the Head Professor, who was staring at them intently.

“Intrusion into my office is grounds for disciplinary punishment, and in extreme cases, expulsion.”

“I-I’m sorry!”

Julia was the first to cry out and kneel down. Epherene, Rondo, and Ferit followed her example.

“There’s no need for an apology. Just tell me your reason for doing this.”

“Oh, that’s…”

Epherene thought about their situation.

Yeriel was hiding under Deculein’s desk. If she sold her out, they would be able to get out of trouble somehow. However, she was loyal to a fault.

“We wanted to show you this.”

She took a picture out of her pocket and gave it to Deculein, who used [Psychokinesis] to receive it.

“… After we activated that formula, it displayed a message in the air. ‘Look forward to the retribution of the Ashes. The moment will come when your weakness will be exploited,’ it said.”

“A warning from the Ashes?”

“Yes. Presuming that’s what it is, we came to tell you as soon as possible.”

He looked closely at the photograph.

Epherene thought he would react the same way as the other professors.

The Ashes were their Achilles’ heel, after all.

“… This is worth extenuating the current circumstances.”

However, his response far exceeded her expectations. He even nodded, letting them know he understood why they infiltrated his office.

“Even so, trespassers must be punished. Moreover…”

His presence still felt gelid, but his voice had clearly softened. Deculein looked at them.

“This isn’t an issue debutantes like you should be worrying about. Even if the ‘Ashes’ are involved, only professors or higher should deal with this.”

“…The other professors didn’t even bother listening to us.”

Epherene clenched her fists in anger.

“I know. That’s to be expected from those old dogs.”

His statement surprised everyone in the room.

“But there are many other professors in this tower.”

Most, if not all, of the Imperial University Tower’s old professors had allowed their magic skills to stagnate since they focused mainly on their research and projects.

However, among the new professors who had just entered their mid to late 20s were trustworthy Named characters, such as Jennifer of Harmony, Kelodan, the glasses-holder, and Grant.

“Find Kelodan. He’ll be able to help you.”

In the game, Kelodan was made to be the player’s assistant during the early stages of their journey.

He would lead Epherene and their club well.

“I’ll give you one penalty point. Moreover, you may not acknowledge this discovery as an achievement of your club.”

“…Yes. Thank you.”

“You may go.”

Epherene and the others left with their heads down.

Deculein walked around and sat down in his office chair, then looked at the picture they gave him.

[Look forward to the retribution of the Ashes. The moment will come when your weakness will be exploited.]

[Rank 5 intermediate-boss event: Baron of the Ashes]

◆ Intermediate boss kill reward

– One item catalog

– Store currency +2

It sounded grandiose, but it wasn’t necessarily special.

Deculein was an intermediate-boss himself, and there were dozens of others with that title.

However, this particular event was rather difficult.

Without the help of Named third parties, like the professors, the player would have to overcome it with Named students.

In that respect, this tower had the biggest problem.

There was no ‘player.’

A player was an outsider who utilized the system and could gather Named characters as support.

“There’s nothing I can do about it.”

Deculein went out of the office to make preparations for it.

About five minutes passed before Yeriel sneaked out of the desk.

“Whew. That’s a relief.”

She was about to dust off her body when she realized there was no dust. Her brother had some crazy level of mysophobia.

She thought he’d probably turn into a ghost that would haunt people until they cleaned their respective territories.

Yeriel sighed and opened the door.

“Yeriel.”

“Kyaaaaaaaaaah—!”

A voice from right next to her made her heart stop, almost making her convulse as she clung to the ground.

Deculein looked down at her, his eyes seemingly finding her actions pathetic.

“What’s going on?”

“Oh, oh, no, nothing… You should’ve said something if you knew! Gosh, my heart…”

“I asked what’s going on.”

He helped her stand, then removed everything on her clothes with [Psychokinesis].

Yeriel, pouting, stuttered. “… H-hey. A-about Louina…”

“Are you talking about McQueen’s Louina?”

“Yes. I’m just asking this as a precaution, but you didn’t kidnap her, right? There are rumors circulating that you did, but that’s just bullshit, isn’t it?”

He didn’t say anything. He didn’t even pretend to hear her.

Yeriel corrected her words.

“You didn’t kidnap her, did you?”

“… I heard Louina would be released soon.”

“Huh? Come again?”

“Leave.”

Deculein entered his office, leaving Yeriel outside. Alone, she pondered around his words.

Louina would be released soon.

Louina would be released soon.

Louina would be released soon.

Her eyes widened, finally realizing the nuance contained in his words and tone.

“That crazy bastard…!”

That meant he kidnapped her!

* * *

… Sylvia was studying magic in their mansion.

[Deculein: Pure Element Theory]

[Deculein: Magical Disaster Analysis]

[Deculein: Magic to See through Logic]

[Deculein: Series Applied]

The organized version of Deculein’s lectures was divided by subject in her bookshelf. The notes she was engrossed in were also a review of his lectures.

Knock, knock—

Her concentration was disrupted.

Sylvia stared at the door as it opened, revealing a familiar face.

Glitheon.

“… Ohh! Were you studying?” He laughed and scratched his cheek.

She narrowed her eyes at him but soon shook her head.

It was time to take a break anyway.

“Hahaha. That’s good, sweetheart.” He entered and looked around her room, frowning at the notebooks on her bookshelf.

“… Deculein?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ve heard rumors that the Head Professor’s lectures are famous in the University Tower, so I guess you put a lot of effort into organizing them.”

“Yeah. It helps a lot.” She said calmly, but he still felt discontented deep down.

“I think it’s better to learn practical things from him rather than theoretical.”

“He’ll also be teaching us that. We’ll start this week.”

“… Is that so?”

Glitheon couldn’t even predict Deculein’s skills anymore.

Three days ago, he broke the devil’s barrier by himself, so rumors of his practical combat ability also spread to the magic world.

Even the chairman didn’t deny his prowess.

“Professor Deculein’s actual combat power, I think, is just below mine! It was amazing!” She said in an interview.

He was right below Adrienne, a monster who would soon become an archmage.

At first, those words probably just sounded like bullshit meant to flatter him, but many young wizards soon believed it, growing fearful of him.

Deculein’s actions so far had been very unconventional, after all.

Kiiiek….

The door opened again. As Glitheon and Sylvia looked at it, Ghilland, Sylvia’s half-brother, emerged.

“A potato came too,” Sylvia uttered.

“… I’m not a potato!” Ghilland slammed the door open and yelled.

“Mini potato.” She responded, her expression remaining the same.

“I said I’m not—!”

As his two children chatted, Glitheon listened to them without much thought as he looked at the art notebook on Sylvia’s bed.

“…”

He stiffened.

Opening it out of curiosity, he found a face he didn’t want to see sketched in it.

There wasn’t just one or two of them.

Every page of it was occupied by… Deculein.

Glitheon put her notebook down. With mixed feelings lingering inside him, he looked at Sylvia, who kept saying ‘potato.’

“Sweetie.”

“Yes?”

“I’m going to the cemetery. Do you want to come with me?”

“I already did.”

“… I see.”

Glitheon forced a smile.

“Then I’ll go alone. Get along well with your brother.”

“Take the potato too.”

“I’m not a potato!”

“There is a really noisy potato here.”

He went out, leaving the two children behind.

“…”

Glitheon felt dazed for some reason. It felt like the whole world was moving away from him.

“Shall we go, my lord?”

He didn’t even respond to the driver’s words.

Not long after, the car moved and soon reached the cemetery.

“We’re here, sir.”

Glitheon got out of the car and walked down the path of the cemetery, bearing emotions that shook his entire soul.

After a few moments, he stopped in front of a tombstone.

[Sierra Von Ellemin Iliade]

It was clean, and the lawn around it was well maintained.

Of course, it was Sylvia’s doing.

“… It’s complicated.”

Glitheon, on his knees, murmured to the stone slab.

The drawing of Deculein done by Sylvia.

Did it mean adoration and affection?

Or was it respect?

If not even that, was it just a phase from childhood?

He didn’t even want to make a distinction or even think about it, for that matter.

He closed his eyes for a moment.

“I think I lost you because I deserved it, Sierra…”

As a father, he wanted to deny reality, but Glitheon was a realist through and through.

“… Again, I’ve come up with a method you wouldn’t like.”

Eventually, when he opened his eyes once more, a dark smile appeared on his distorted lips.

“But I don’t think it’s bad. In the end, thanks to you, our child and clan will become even greater.”

Glitheon placed a single flower on her tombstone.

“You must’ve left me since you’re tired of me, but… I am an Iliade.”

Sierra didn’t want to be buried in their family’s territory.

Until her very last breath, she regretted becoming the wife of an old man obsessed with magic.

“Whether you were sick of me or hated me, your bloodline… would never change.”

Just as Yukline annihilated demons, Leviron reigned over the seas, and Freyden melted in the heat…

For Iliade, ambition itself was their ‘blood.’

“The child you love, after all, bears the Iliade lineage.”

If she had a suitable ‘enemy,’ an ‘opponent’ she would want to destroy, Sylvia could grow faster than now.

She could get closer to becoming an Archmage at a much quicker state.

That ordeal would be enough to make her stronger than she could stand.

“You don’t have to forgive me. You don’t have to understand.”

Glitheon knew that better than anyone.

“If I could be her fuel, I would gladly throw myself into her fire.”

Sylvia’s brilliant blonde hair and innate temper were the same as the description of the ancient members of their clan. She was a jewel born with the thickest Iliade blood.

Her existence itself served as the embodiment of their lineage.

“So this time…”

A secret desire that had been passed down from generation to generation throughout their ancestry’s 200-year history— the Archmage position.

Some called it obsession and despised it as obstinacy, but Glitheon always thought his life was only a vessel made for it.

“Be the fuel.”

Glitheon remembered Sierra’s death.

Deculein’s hands weren’t clean of her downfall.

He wouldn’t be able to proudly say he wasn’t involved in her end.

… No.

Even if Glitheon were to say Deculein killed his wife, he wouldn’t be able to refute it.

That was the truth, after all, much like death and murder being the fate of Iliade and Yukline.

“Thanks to you, whom my daughter loves, we will be able to make our desire come true.”

No matter what Sylvia felt toward Deculein, that would all be firewood to the ‘Iliade’ flames.

She would become a more intense light than she was now, rising like the sun that illuminated the world.

… If that still wasn’t enough, if even his dead wife’s body proved insufficient, he was willing to give his life for that cause.

“Deculein killed you, Sierra. We need to use that information to our advantage.”

A torch that burned fiercely, damaging itself.

Such was the Iliade resolution…

* * *

Early morning, inside Ren’s car.

I looked at the seat next to me.

“…”

Louina forced her gaze out the car’s window as a teardrop fell from her eye.

I didn’t pity her even a bit.

Nevertheless, I showed a little sympathy by forcibly using my experience as Kim Woojin.

“Don’t be too upset.”

“…”

She quickly turned her head.

“For five years, you have been given the opportunity to grow within the boundaries of Yukline. You can call it a blessing.”

“A b-blessing?!”

She sounded astonished, so much so that she stuttered, but I didn’t care.

Her history was quite impressive. She graduated from the academy early, was recommended by the former chairman, and started working at a magic tower four years earlier than most.

As far as I knew, though, Louina’s last days weren’t that great. If their ‘weakening’ started immediately, the McQueen family would be attacked.

Hence, it might actually be safer for her to be by my side.

“Five years isn’t even that long. In terms of salary… You’ll be making about 400 million a year.”

“…”

“Can you make 400 million a year on your own? If you think you can, you’re not objective enough and should change your mindset.”

Louina bit her lips in silence. Not long after, the car arrived at her mansion.

“I’ll also recommend you as a visiting professor. There will be nothing more to achieve where you work, so just work in the Imperial University Tower.”

Louina opened the door and set her feet on the ground.

“… You know,” She then looked at me. “I was already thinking about doing that.”

SLAM—!

Louina closed the door.

“…”

I opened the window, beckoning to her as she retreated to her mansion.

“Stop.”

“What’s wrong, boss?”

Louina was sarcastic.

“Again.”

“… What do you mean, boss?”

I stared at Louina quietly. She came closer while mocking me and closed the car door again.

Slam—!

It wasn’t much different from her first attempt.

“Again.”

“Humpf.”

Slam—!

“Again.” My voice grew serious.

“…”

Louina abruptly stopped herself from speaking. She then eventually opened it again and, this time, closed it quietly.

“Good work.”

It was only then that I praised her.

“…”

“Answer me.”

“… Thank you, boss. Are you done?”

“I am.”

We left immediately. Louina, reflected in the rearview mirror, was staring at it as Ren drove away.

I couldn’t even imagine how she felt, having to endure such a humiliating pledge as a wizard.

* * *

On a sunny Monday, with the summer sun brightening up the whole world, they held a training session at the Mountain of Darkness.

Due to recent incidents, it had been called the ‘Devil’s Mountain’ and was subjected to shunning. However, guidelines came directly from the Imperial Family.

[Be sure to train at least once a month. Avoiding fear should never be part of a wizard’s arsenal. If you avoid the devil, one day you won’t be able to fight the devil again—]

It was the order of Emperor Sophien.

“It’s free practice. If anything happens, report it to my steel.”

Fortunately, Deculein was the one in charge today.

Deculein levitated wood steels all over the Mountain of Darkness. If anything happened, they could ask them for assistance.

It was one of the versatile uses of wood steel that had been endowed with [Midas’s Hand].

“Yeah!”

The debutantes felt cheerfully relieved. His combat ability was already proven.

Therefore, they had believed that no matter what monsters, beasts, ghosts, or demons appeared, Head Professor Deculein would easily kill them.

Even the chairman evaluated his fighting power as just below hers.

Their training started.

“… Hey, beggar. What are you doing there?”

At a river on the side of the mountain.

Epherene turned her head while catching a fish. Lucia’s gang was laughing at her.

“Fishing.”

“Who doesn’t know that? Why are you behaving like that? Are you trying to show off your lack of financial stability?

“It’s because I want to eat it. Are you stupid?”

“… Sigh.”

They didn’t know how delicious the fish caught in the Mountain of Darkness was and how much it helped one’s mana.

“Gosh, that beggar. Hey, I’ll give you money, so just buy something to eat.”

“I’ll take it. Thank you.”

“… What? Wow, look at her. Oh, just piss off!”

The nobles passed by Epherene, shocked. She would’ve felt fortunate if that was all they did, but the stone supporting her suddenly moved.

“Uh!”

Splash—!

She fell into the stream, the sound of their laughter echoing not far away.

“Gosh. I really hate them…”

Epherene sighed and grabbed her harpoon again.

With it, she caught two fish.

“I feel lucky.”

She removed their guts, removed their scales, skewered them, and made a bonfire to cook them with. While practicing her survival skills, a strange sensation crossed her mind.

“…?!”

Her whole body tingled as if static electricity surged up from within her.

“What was that…?”

Her intuition made her feel like her temples were about to burst.

Epherene stood up.

Pat— Pat—

Slurp.

“Oh, I’m starting to drool.”

She sat down again at the sound of the fish being cooked.

As she did, a nearby bush swayed, and an uninvited guest appeared beyond it.

“Who’s there? Don’t do anything weird. I’m watching you.”

Glaring at her, she soon identified the approaching figure.

“… Arrogant Epherene.” She squinted at her.

“… Sylvia?”

“What are you doing here?”

Epherene tilted her head. “What? Only a few hours have passed. Did our training session end already?”

“Stupid. Training isn’t the problem here…”

Sylvia paused for a moment and watched the meat being cooked. Following her gaze, Epherene held out one of the two skewers to her.

“Want to eat? It tastes good.”

“…”

Forgetting what she was going to say, Sylvia sat on a small boulder. Her clothes looked so dirty it was as if she had been here for quite some time…

“You can have it. I cooked it properly.”

“Okay.”

The two ate together.

Chomp—

Epherene took a bite, and her body trembled with ecstasy. Sylvia quietly closed her eyes.

“It’s so good….”

Their meal proved that fish in the Mountain of Darkness were very tasty.

… Not as much as a Roahawk, though.

‘Second best, then?’

Chomp— Chomp—

They chowed down on their food hurriedly.