Chapter 141
Chapter 141
……To put it simply, I bought the camera that Esdal made.
It wasn’t out of pity for her.
Nor was it because I wanted to give her some meaningless hope that her efforts would someday bear fruit.
The reason was simple.
I just needed a camera.
‘It was more of an investment since a decent idea happened to come to mind.’
Given that reason, I bought it anonymously.
I merely pretended that a generous benefactor had purchased it, while I acted as nothing more than the messenger.
To Esdal, I would only seem like someone who delivered the note.
‘Anyway, it seems to be working fine.’
Click–!
I took a picture of the livestock shed’s storage room.
Esdal’s camera seemed to have a structure similar to a Polaroid. Its mechanism must have been alike as well, since the picture took about ten minutes to develop.
I compared the printed photo with the actual scene.
The saturation came out slightly lower, and the image looked a bit blurry.
‘……Still, this is good enough.’
It would do for something like a book or newspaper. The image quality was satisfactory enough.
As I looked at the printed photo, Esdal’s words suddenly came to mind.
“Someday… if mana disappears from the atmosphere, wouldn’t even mages use this?”
What a coincidence.
Just as Esdal had said, in <Yggdrasil>, there was indeed a route where mana and magic completely vanished from this world once the story reached its conclusion.
Well, at least in theory.
‘But it’s not like I want that route to happen. Nor would it change anything if I did.’
The condition to unlock that route was far more demanding than reaching the true ending.
‘Right before the ending, the player had to perform a specific action.’
After defeating all enemies, if one touched Gilley’s statue standing in front of the academy’s main building and prayed, a battle would begin in a white void against a male-shaped silhouette.
If that silhouette was defeated, magic would vanish from the world.
‘But neither Ren nor I have any reason to do that.’
Maybe the developers had added it simply as an Easter egg boss.
It was the most brutally difficult fight among all bosses.
In the game, I only managed to defeat that silhouette and unlock the ending route out of a sheer collector’s obsession.
There was no reason for me to do that here.
‘After all, I value my life. There’s no point risking it for something unnecessary.’
I still didn’t know who that silhouette truly was, but it wasn’t an enemy that harmed humanity.
As long as everyone in this world reached a happy ending, that was enough for me.
A few hours later, Karin left early because of an urgent matter.
I headed toward the abandoned building with Laphin.
I handed her the camera.
After all, Laphin was the only person in this world who knew my other identity.
“Use this to take pictures of me.”
When I reached into the air, Shurk’s card appeared in my hand.
My entire body turned pitch-black, and a dark mask covered my face.
I stepped onto the wall and hung there, posing like a spider.
Laphin raised the camera to her eye and moved it around, trying to find a good angle.
Click–!
She pressed the shutter. But she didn’t immediately lower the camera; instead, she tilted her head slightly.
Before long, she began giving me directions like a film director.
“Villed, move a little to the side.”
“……Like this?”
Laphin struck odd poses while taking pictures, even lying down on the floor for some shots.
‘Well… she seems to know what she’s doing.’
Click–! Click–!
……After some time passed, the photos she had taken began developing.
As soon as I checked them, I couldn’t help but let out a small exclamation.
‘……That’s unexpected.’
Maybe it was due to Laphin’s animal-like instincts, but none of the photos were blurry.
Her technique of deliberately filling the frame by getting close to the subject was impressive.
Some of her compositions were astonishingly creative.
‘She used falling water droplets?’
It was enough to make me chuckle in disbelief.
I recalled the moment when Laphin had placed the camera on the floor and lay down to take a shot.
I imagined droplets of water falling from the gaps in the ceiling, splashing right in front of the camera lens.
Tiny droplets scattered like shards, reflecting the light.
As a result, in the photo, it looked as though the droplets were encircling the distant subject.
‘She knows how to take a photo with that kind of direction?’
Apparently, Laphin had taught herself photography in that short span of time.
It’s not like she had ever learned how to take pictures before.
“I wasn’t expecting much, but you’ve got some artistic talent.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I’ll ask you to take pictures from now on.”
“Mhm.”
Laphin shrugged proudly.
‘This should be good enough.’
After returning to the livestock shed, I picked out the best photos Laphin had taken.
There were about ten of them in total, which I placed neatly inside an envelope.
I put the envelope in my pocket and stood up.
‘……Time to head there now.’
The old building of Yggdrasil Academy.
As its name implied, it was one of the oldest structures on campus.
‘It’s been a while since I’ve been here.’
Usually, the old building was used for club rooms. I had once treated Boogie in the Alchemy Department’s room here.
I entered and made my way to the second floor, where the “Press Department” was located.
When I slightly opened the door, I could hear the noisy chatter of people working on typesetting.
A familiar voice came from within.
“Come on, come on! This section needs more punch! How about a more exciting title to draw readers in? Something like… ‘A Blood-Soaked Battlefield of Flying Blades!’”
“Editor-in-chief, this is an interview about the cafeteria.”
“That’s why! Even in the kitchen, when you slice meat, the blood splatters! Preparing food is also a battle!”
It was the voice of the bespectacled student reporter—Haze.
At this point in time, the rightful editor-in-chief of the Press Department was second-year student Haze.
‘Editor-in-chief,’ huh.
So things had indeed followed the canonical route.
I opened the door and stepped inside.
Almost immediately, my eyes met Haze’s.
“Oh? Junior Villed? Nice to see you! What brings you here?”
I looked around the room as I approached her.
“Seems like you’re busy.”
“Ah, yeah. We’ve got some breaking news coming in, so I’m in the middle of editing. Let’s talk properly next time!”
She tapped a stack of papers on her desk as she spoke.
I glanced at the bold headline written across the top.
「The Empire’s Strongest Sword Missing in Action—Where Is the Captain of the 1st Imperial Knight Order, Vedervel?」
After reading it, I pulled out an envelope.
“……Really? That’s a shame. I actually came to make a report.”
“A report?”
Just that one word made Haze’s eyes light up.
‘She really can’t hide her curiosity.’
I handed her the envelope.
She tilted her head, then opened it to peek inside.
“What’s this?”
“Can’t you tell by looking?”
Haze took out a few photos from the envelope and examined them.
“Hmm, photos of the Black Knight?”
She answered with a calm, uninterested tone.
Normally, she would’ve made a fuss over anything related to the “Black Knight,” but instead, she just smiled with relaxed amusement.
“Ha…… honestly. Our Press Department suffered enough because of the Jed Rubin incident. You have no idea how many fake Black Knight photos have been circulating since then!”
She shook her head as she continued.
“That’s why my photo authentication skills—Haze’s skills—have reached the highest level! If these are fake, Junior Villed, I’ll scold you mercilessly for wasting our busy department’s time!”
Haze pulled a small lens magnifier—an appraisal loupe—from her pocket.
Wearing it over her right eye, she focused on the photos.
“The color of the Black Knight’s outfit… hmm, was this taken with a magitech camera? The saturation is slightly different, but compared to the background, the tones match! Pass!”
Holding her breath, she brought her face even closer.
“The drape of the fabric… matches perfectly! Pass! Now for the mask size calculation… ohhh!”
Finally, Haze tucked the loupe back into her uniform.
Then she stood on tiptoe and leaned close to me, her eyes sparkling like gemstones.
“This is absolutely the real Black Knight! It’s a 100% match with the one I photographed myself!”
She exclaimed excitedly, flipping through the remaining photos with admiration.
“This is a scoop! The Black Knight feeding pigeons…! So elegant, so cool—and cute, too! These are super rare shots! I love how human he looks here!”
“Yeah?”
I gathered the photos she’d just seen and slipped them back into the envelope.
“Junior Villed, where in the world did you even get these…?”
Unable to contain her excitement about publishing the scoop, Haze started hopping up and down.
“They were sent by an informant under my family’s network. I have no use for them. Thought they might come in handy for you.”
“Ahh, Junior Villed’s precious report! Thank you! It’ll become flesh, blood, and bone—the very body of Morning of Yggdrasil!”
Haze clasped the envelope with both hands.
“Thank you for your report, Junior Villed!”
However, the envelope was still in my hand.
Haze tugged with all her might.
“Tha—thank… th-thank you—ugh, eh—!”
But the envelope didn’t budge an inch.
“……Um, Junior? The envelope… isn’t coming out of your hand.”
After several failed attempts, she slowly lifted her head, eyes filled with unease.
“Hey, Senior.”
I smiled.
“You don’t seriously think I’d hand over something this valuable for free, do you?”
The Red Hawk Knights’ training ground.
The first-years’ practical experience class was currently in full swing.
“Please go easy on me!”
Ren gripped his wooden sword, eyes gleaming sharply.
He stepped in with quick footwork and swung fiercely.
Tak—! Tang—!
“Wha—?!”
After just three exchanges, his opponent’s sword flew from their hand into the air.
“Thank you for the lesson, Senior!”
Ren sheathed his wooden sword and bowed ninety degrees.
“That’s the fifth one already…”
“Is he really a first-year…? That’s a monster.”
“He’s definitely skilled. He’d fit right in with the Finders.”
“Didn’t he say that was his goal?”
“I heard this year’s first-years are full of prodigies, but damn.”
The upperclassmen murmured, their gazes fixed on Ren.
“……Impressive.”
The red-haired man who had been watching, Joel Gelhart, stroked his chin with a grin.
“Alright, I’ve decided. Let’s just make him captain.”
“Whaaat? Captain Gelhart?!”
The surrounding students all shouted at once. Gelhart yawned casually.
“Managing the squad’s a pain, though. Why did the former captain have to pass the position to me before graduating? Unless you want to be captain instead?”
“N-no, sir! The oath’s already been made—you’re officially the captain, Captain Gelhart!”
“Haah, such a hassle… Fine. Whoever beats him can be vice-captain.”
“Really?!”
“Oooooh! Come at me, first-year!”
“I’ll go first!”
The Red Hawk students charged at Ren, wooden swords in hand.
“S-seniors?! If you all teach me at once, I can’t handle it!”
“Don’t run, first-year!”
Panicking, Ren sprinted off, with the upperclassmen roaring as they chased him.
From the seats near the edge of the arena, Princess Arlhardt and Luga watched the commotion from afar.
A faint smile touched the princess’s lips.
“He’s already capable of easily overpowering upperclassmen. I can’t believe Ren has grown this much.”
“Yes, Young Master Ren has indeed reached a level befitting one who serves the Royal Family. However…”
With a soft smile, Luga shook his head.
“That’s not enough. He swore an oath to risk his life protecting Your Highness. To face an ‘enemy,’ he must grow even stronger.”
“……”
Princess Arlhardt’s smile faded into a bitter one.
“There are people within this academy who seek my life.”
Her eyes were filled with certainty.
“……The Witch.”
Princess Arlhardt pressed her lips together tightly and declared firmly,
“The witch my sister spoke of—it must be her.”
“……”
Luga remained silent for a moment, then replied in a low voice.
“The Witch won’t be alone. There are surely more enemies within the academy. I have my suspicions, but the most likely one is……”
His narrow eyes glinted sharply.
“……The second son of the Dedenkman family.”
At those words, Princess Arlhardt’s breath caught.
She slowly met Luga’s eyes.
They gleamed with a beastlike intensity.
“Villed. He’s the most suspicious one.”