Chapter 165
Chapter 165
After returning to my dorm through Siri’s shadow—
I immediately organized the situation in my head.
‘Semeru Volcano. The mountainside of Semeru Volcano, northeast of Muktaba. The temple located underground there.’
A temple.
Yes, Eisen definitely called it a temple.
If it was a temple… then it must have been the very shrine belonging to the Evil God behind all of this.
And there was also something else Eisen had said...
‘If possible, leave tonight and go with the people you trust.’
With those I trusted.
Eisen wouldn’t have said that without a reason.
“…So, he meant not to go alone?”
It was dangerous to go alone—he must have meant that I should take allies with me.
‘To sum up: the temple beneath Semeru Volcano. Go there quickly before Rage notices. Take the people I trust.’
I had the plan laid out clearly, but the real problem was getting there quickly.
It took at least one or two days to travel from Lysquare to Muktaba.
A way to leave tonight and arrive at Muktaba right away…
“Well, it’s not like there isn’t one.”
At least one person I’d bring along was already decided.
And as for who else to take, I spent several minutes thinking it over.
“…For now, this should be the best option.”
After deciding who to take and how we’d proceed there, I finalized the outline of my plan.
Then I pulled a Crystal Sphere out of my pocket.
There was one person I needed to contact first.
“Sir Jason. Are you available right now?”
– Ah, Gideon. It’s you. Yeah, I’m free for now. Oh, and I heard the news—you actually beat Eisen.
“Yes. We met in the finals, and I won.”
– Wow, well done. But if you’re calling me after beating Eisen... does that mean he told you something, as promised?
“Yes, he did. And regarding that matter… I’ll likely be heading to Muktaba soon, with a few others.”
– …You’re coming here? To Muktaba? Aren’t you in Lysquare right now?
Jason’s voice carried a note of surprise.
He clearly hadn’t expected me to suddenly come to Muktaba.
“That’s correct. I’ll send you my exact location shortly. Could you come meet us there? I’d like for you to join us too, Sir Jason.”
– Uh, well… sure, alright. I’ll get things ready to receive you here. You’ll tell me what Eisen said when we meet in person, right?
“I’ll organize it and send it along with the coordinates. You’ll understand when you see it yourself—but the reason I’m even going to Muktaba with others in the first place… is because of what Lord Eisen told me.”
– Got it.
Jason sounded like he had a general grasp of the situation.
Then, seemingly curious, he asked again.
– But who are you bringing?
“The people I trust the most… and those essential to this situation.”
“I really am the best mentor you could ask for, aren’t I, Gideon?”
“Yes, Lady Kara, you’re the greatest mentor—and the greatest magician—in the Empire.”
“Heheh, well, maybe I’m still a long way from being the greatest magician, but being the greatest mentor sounds about right.”
Kara smiled in satisfaction, clearly pleased by the compliment.
And well, at least for today, I had to stay on her good side.
After all, she was the core of the plan I’d made.
“By the way, Gideon.”
“Yes, Instructor.”
I turned at Luke’s call.
“Why did you summon all of us to your room?”
Luke looked at me curiously.
And it wasn’t just him.
Gathered in my room were Luke, Kara, Lisa, and Roy.
All four of them were looking at me with expectant eyes.
“Right, disciple. You suddenly contacted me, asked me to teleport here, then had me teleport the other three—one by one—to your dorm room.”
“First of all, thank you again.”
“If you’re that grateful, explain what’s going on already. I agreed to your request without asking much, but I still don’t know what this is about.”
“Yes, I’ll explain everything right now.”
I looked around at the people gathered in my room.
Lisa, Luke, Kara, and Roy.
Lisa and Luke were reliable allies—people I trusted completely and who trusted me the same.
Roy might be someone who could help at a crucial moment. And as for Kara…
‘She’s a capable magician, which is helpful—and more importantly, I’ll absolutely need her help if I want to get to Muktaba right now.’
I pushed aside all those scattered thoughts and looked back toward Kara.
“You probably already know part of this, Instructor.”
“Ah, the one you mentioned back at the Protected Zone for Other Races?”
“Yes, that’s the one.”
After replying to Kara, I turned toward the other three.
“You all must have realized by now that I’ve been hiding something. I’ll tell you everything I’ve been keeping secret.”
I wanted to explain everything I’d discovered as quickly as possible.
Because the sooner we finished, the sooner we could depart for Muktaba.
However, so much had happened that even trying to summarize it all took a long time.
In the end, it took nearly an hour before I could finish speaking.
And once I did, both Lisa and Luke began bombarding me with questions.
“Why would your family, and those of other races who were sentenced to Record Erasure, even be—”
“So that means there’s another faction operating within the Isrinbloom Family…?”
There were plenty of questions, and I answered each one carefully, one after another.
By the time the flood of questions ended, another full hour had passed.
“Any more questions?”
“Then, Gideon, the reason you called us all here right now… is to go to the temple of that Evil God, isn’t it?”
“Yes, that’s right, Nuna.”
I nodded at Lisa’s question.
“It seemed too dangerous to go alone, so I gathered the people I trust most—and who are also the strongest. Of course, even if that wasn’t the case, I would’ve called you anyway… just to tell you the truth.”
“Hmm, I see.”
“And, Nuna, you don’t have to come if you don’t want to. Honestly, this could get really dangerous, so you don’t have to—”
“What are you talking about?”
Lisa grabbed my hand tightly.
As if declaring she would never let me go.
“No matter where you go, I’ll follow. Anywhere.”
“…You really don’t intend to be apart from me, huh.”
“Yeah. And… don’t keep things like this from me again. I know you probably didn’t tell me because you were worried I’d be in danger… but don’t do that. Even if it means I’ll be at risk, I still want to be with you.”
“…Thank you, Nuna.”
Holding Lisa’s hand, I smiled at her.
Then I looked toward Luke.
“Instructor, do you have any more questions?”
“Plenty. But it doesn’t seem like we have much time now… Wouldn’t it be better to inform Lord Andrew about this immediately? It might be safer to involve the Hawkbat Family.”
“Yes, I also think we should inform them—but at least after visiting the temple. The puzzle of this incident isn’t completely assembled yet. Sir Jason said it would be wiser to report only after we’ve pieced everything together.”
“And you agree with that?”
“Yes.”
“In that case, I’ll trust your judgment for now.”
Luke nodded.
“Now that I think about it, the reason you had Instructor Kara gather us using teleportation magic… was to avoid the Hawkbat Family’s surveillance, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. The Hawkbat Family has been paying quite a lot of attention to me lately. If people suddenly started gathering in my room… it would definitely attract eyes.”
After replying with a nod to Luke, I turned toward Roy.
“Sir Roy, do you have any questions for me? You’ve been awfully quiet this whole time.”
“Hmm… so we’re heading to the forgotten temple of the Evil God, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Nice. Thanks for inviting me. I’ve always wanted to see something like that. If we make a huge discovery there, I might leave my name in the field of Ancient Studies.”
…At least Roy didn’t seem to have any objections about coming along.
So I nodded and turned to Kara.
“Thank you as well, Instructor, for coming with us.”
“Hey, aren’t you going to ask my opinion? What if I’d said I didn’t want to come?”
“So, are you not coming?”
“…Of course I’m coming. My instincts are telling me this is a chance to carve my name into history. I’m not the type to pass up opportunities like that.”
“As expected of you, Instructor.”
I chuckled lightly and agreed with her words.
“And thank you again for coming. Honestly, if we’re to reach Muktaba tonight, we’ll need your power.”
“Tonight? You’re saying we’ll get all the way to Muktaba today? Is that even possible? It takes at least a day or two to get there from here.”
“Yes, it does take a day or two normally. That’s why we need you, Instructor.”
“What are you—wait a second. Don’t tell me you’re planning…”
Perhaps realizing what I meant, Kara’s expression darkened.
I gave her an apologetic smile.
“Instructor, could you teleport all of us to Muktaba right now? Just like you did before.”
“Hey, that spell consumes an enormous amount of mana! You’re asking me to take you to the northern edge of the Empire…!”
Kara waved her hands, refusing.
But well, it didn’t take long to persuade her.
And so, a short while later, when everyone had finished preparing to leave for Muktaba—
Thanks to Kara’s magic, we arrived in an instant on the northern lands of Muktaba.
Immediately upon arrival—
“Uewewek!”
“Ugh?!”
Kara and Roy staggered away from the group and began throwing up.
Seeing that, Luke scratched his head.
“I’ve heard long-distance teleportation causes nausea, but this is the first time I’ve actually seen it.”
“Yes, well… that’s true. I guess our bodies are just sturdier than most.”
After replying to Luke, I scanned our surroundings.
We were supposed to meet around here…
“There you are.”
“Ah, Sir Jason.”
“Jason!”
From the trees nearby, Jason emerged.
Luke greeted him warmly.
“Man, what happened to you? You look like you’ve been camping rough for days.”
“A lot’s happened. Too long to explain right now—and that’s not important anyway. Gideon, after seeing what you sent me, I scouted the entire area.”
“Did you find anything?”
“There were a few soldiers belonging to the Isrinbloom Family. I subdued and tied them up inside a nearby cave, so you don’t need to worry about them… And just as you said, I found an interesting-looking entrance halfway up the volcano.”
I nodded at Jason’s words.
It seemed that the real action was about to begin.
“Did you go inside that entrance?”
“No. You said we’d all go in together, right?”
“That’s right. Let’s head there immediately.”