Chapter 92 : Each One’s Circumstances (2)
Chapter 92: Each One’s Circumstances (2)
Former merely watched from a corner of the auditorium as Deven was dying.
Naturally, he could not let himself be seen, so he veiled his body in shadow using the Dark Element.
And so Deven fell into a corpse whose shape could no longer be recognized, and on the auditorium floor, a thick pool of blood formed as if a small pond had appeared.
‘Seeing it in person is gruesome.’
He felt no remorse toward Deven.
After all, he was a mage of the Draco Family, whom he was hostile toward.
Now Former’s objective was to deal with those dozens of wolves and then destroy the altar he had temporarily linked.
Former withdrew the Dark Element magic that had concealed him and revealed himself to the wolves.
Krrrrrr—!
As a new prey appeared, the wolves drooled as if in heat, baring their gums to show sharp fangs as they sent Former a message of slaughter.
“Yeah, you want to eat me, don’t you. But I’m someone who’s been through every kind of battlefield, so I can’t die that easily.”
Chwarararak—!
Former manifested the maximum number of black spikes—the signature magic of the Draco Family.
He did not particularly like using this spell, but it was the most suitable magic for efficiently dealing with these monsters.
Krrk!
As the wolves charged all at once, Former steadily struck the bodies of the flying wolves with black spikes, taking them down one by one.
Yelp—!
Yel—yelp—!
Soon, the auditorium was filled only with the cries of dogs that sounded as if they were being abused.
The Underworld, the Swordsmen’s District.
Garent found the house where Quilte was staying.
Quilte appeared as a completely aged old grandmother.
As always, her mind seemed to have drifted far away, leaving even her focus empty.
“Quilte Granny, eat this.”
Despite being a grandmother, Quilte truly loved cookies like a young girl.
Garent placed the cookies he had brought in advance on the table where she sat.
Without looking, she moved only her hand, fumbling as it was drawn by the smell of cookies.
She looked exactly like an animal that sniffed food first before eating it.
Picking up a cookie, Quilte began chewing it with her toothless mouth.
“Quilte Granny, your parents were originally mages, right? They were people who crossed over from the Magical Society to this side.”
It had been not long after Garent became a Grand Swordsman.
At the time, the Archmage Arkis Aimer had wanted exchange with the swordsmen.
Quilte was a mage who had crossed over to the swordsmen due to that influence.
Her parents crossed over here first, and they gave birth to a daughter here—that daughter was Quilte.
That did not mean Arkis Aimer had forcibly sent her parents here.
Only those who wished to go were allowed to, and among the many mages, Quilte’s parents were the only ones who crossed over.
“Granny, listen while you eat. I came here to vent a bit.”
Quilte chewed the cookie with unfocused eyes, knowing nothing.
“I think a war with the mages will break out soon. But you see…… if my friend were here, I think we could win this war…… could you help me find my friend?”
He was talking about Arkis Aimer.
Garent was the only swordsman who believed he had not died.
He had told the current Grand Swordsman, Vulcathos Milton, that he was a dead friend, but deep down, he believed Arkis Aimer was alive somewhere.
“Sounds crazy, right? But it’s not crazy at all. Look—look at me. I’ve been living for over four hundred years among swordsmen. And I’ve kept my youthful appearance the entire time.”
Quilte’s focus remained blurred.
“The day my friend died. I heard everything through the sealing stone at the very top. But when that friend died, the sealing stone shone with a blinding white light. That light exploded and struck me.”
Garent took one of Quilte’s hands and guided it to touch his face.
“This is the result. Even though I’m a swordsman, I don’t grow old and die. I’ve maintained my youth and lived a long life like this. I interpreted this phenomenon like this—that my body became strange after receiving my friend’s mana. But Quilte Granny, there’s something I’m curious about. If my friend truly died, would I have been able to live until now?”
Garent believed that this was the reason—one no one had ever solved—why a swordsman possessed a lifespan like a mage.
Of course, this was not the correct answer either.
It was nothing more than his own delusion.
But if Arkis Aimer had truly died, his mana would not have affected Garent, and he would not have been able to live this long.
Clinging to that belief, Garent abandoned the post of Grand Swordsman and tried to find Arkis Aimer, who had disappeared.
And now, as signs of war with the mages appeared.
To Garent, Arkis Aimer was an absolutely necessary figure.
He wanted to ask him to help the swordsman society, promising to assist in his revenge.
The reason was simple.
If swordsmen and mages were to clash in an all-out war, it was a fight the swordsmen could not win.
Swordsmen were those who fought pressed right up against their opponents, trusting only their own bodies and their weapon, the sword.
They could only fight in close combat.
But because of mages’ magic, even approaching them was not easy.
If they managed to close in, there was at least a small chance of victory, but even that act of closing the distance was as unlikely as plucking a star from the sky.
In an impregnable situation where deflecting magic with a sword meant losing one’s weapon, and taking it with the body meant losing one’s life, he was an absolutely necessary person.
“Granny…… you’re a mage, right. No matter how long ago you left the Magical Society, there must be at least one mage you can still contact…… through that mage, please find my friend…… Arkis Aimer.”
Garent now murmured his name as if begging.
“Heehee, heeheehee.”
“……Granny?”
But then, Quilte—who had been unfocused—suddenly let out strange laughter, and a dark focus settled over her eyes.
“The sky…… the sky! The sky is white!”
“……What does that mean? The sky is usually described as blue—white?”
For a moment, Quilte regained her senses.
Even so, she still could not hold a proper conversation.
Yet Quilte began scratching chaotically across the table with the cookie, which had become sharp from being half-bitten.
Her hand movements were exactly like when she was drawing.
“Granny! Just a moment!”
Garent hurriedly brought her paper and a pencil.
Soon, Quilte began to draw.
What she drew was countless clouds floating in the sky.
After putting the pen down, Quilte muttered the same words again.
“The sky! The sky is white!”
“Granny, this isn’t the sky…… they’re clouds, aren’t they? Clouds are white, that’s true, but…….”
No matter how out of her mind Quilte was, could she really not distinguish between clouds and the sky?
But one thing was clear—Quilte was making a prophecy right now.
“White! White! The sky…… does not disappear! It always exists! The sky is always above us! It…… is…….”
After finishing the prophecy, Quilte collapsed face-first onto the table.
She fell asleep with cookie crumbs still in her mouth.
“……Above us?”
No matter how he looked at it, it was not an answer to his request to find his friend, yet Garent found his attention being strangely drawn to that drawing again and again.
“Above… what does that mean……?”
He was merely interpreting what she had emphasized.
2 p.m.
After receiving Cullem’s notice, Kiena, Hei, and I were on our way to the auditorium.
Clap clap clap clap clap!
As we were walking down the corridor, Keled suddenly saw me and started clapping his hands.
“Alright, kids, applause! Today’s the day Artel, Kiena, and Hei pass their interviews and head to 5th Class!”
“……?”
What was this all of a sudden—some kind of send-off?
But when Keled shouted, the nearby students lined up at once and applauded us.
“5th Class in just one month. As expected, a double caster?”
“Kiena and Hei are amazing too! Since they passed as well, they’re going together with Artel!”
The students sincerely congratulated us.
The first day we came to 3rd Class.
I knew Keled was close with all his classmates, but I hadn’t expected it to be to this extent.
Thanks to that, we walked down the corridor amid the students’ cheers.
It was as we were passing in front of Keled.
“Artel, keep your promise.”
“What promise?”
“My goodness, you already forgot? Is your memory that bad? You said you’d be friends with me once you got to 5th Class!”
“Ah…… that? Of course I remember.”
“Exactly! Just you wait!”
“Got it.”
The students didn’t stop clapping until we completely disappeared from sight.
Applause not ordered by anyone, but sent because the students genuinely wanted to congratulate us.
Perhaps moved, Kiena’s and Hei’s eyes filled slightly with tears.
“We’re even getting treated like this…….”
Well, after living as officially ostracized students since 1st Class and then experiencing our first blessed farewell, even I felt something strange—so for Kiena and Hei, it must have been even more so.
“You guys work hard too! Let’s all meet again in 5th Class!”
Kiena shouted toward the students who were clapping enthusiastically.
And with that, we parted from the 3rd Class students and stepped into the auditorium.
Cullem had already arrived and was waiting for us.
“You’re two minutes late. Should I just revoke your passes?”
Even on the day of parting, Cullem didn’t drop her prickly attitude.
“Alright, line up.”
When the three of us lined up side by side as instructed, she removed our existing 3rd Class insignias one by one and newly affixed 5th Class insignias.
Then she opened the portal leading to 5th Class.
“If you go in here, you’ll come out in the 5th Class auditorium. The Vice Headmaster is waiting for you, so go and receive guidance.”
“……Why is it the Vice Headmaster, and not a 5th Class professor?”
That part caught my attention.
I could understand it if it were 6th Class, but having the Vice Headmaster come out personally instead of a perfectly available professor for 5th Class didn’t sit right with me.
“How would I know? If you’re that curious, ask the Vice Headmaster yourself.”
……It was my fault for expecting an answer from you.
“Alright, then hurry up and disappear.”
Without warning, Cullem moved behind me and shoved my back hard.
Because of that, I was forcibly pushed into the portal.
Good grief, what a violent farewell.
“Hei and Kiena, you too.”
The two of them couldn’t avoid the intense farewell either.
The 5th Class auditorium we arrived in.
Compared to 3rd Class, it was definitely much wider.
And on top of that, it was downright magnificent.
This wasn’t just a school auditorium—it was so luxurious it looked like a facility belonging to some family’s main residence.
“Wow…….”
“5th Class really does have a different atmosphere. Right?”
Kiena and Hei couldn’t hide their admiration as they looked around the splendid 5th Class auditorium.
But within this grandeur, I could sense something suspicious lurking.
‘What is it? Why do I feel this unpleasant presence the moment I step in here?’
I felt a very familiar aura in this auditorium.
The aura of Sylarid’s summoner.
I closed my eyes briefly and maximized my five senses through magic.
Then, through my heightened sense of smell, I realized something.
‘The smell of blood……?’
Why would there be blood spilled in a school auditorium?
Whose blood was it to begin with?
It was as I was making all sorts of guesses.
“Welcome. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you all. Or should I say, we see each other quite often now?”
Former appeared before our eyes.
And then……
An especially strong smell of blood was emanating from Former.