Chapter 127 : Their Provocation (2)
Chapter 127: Their Provocation (2)
“Ah, n-no. It was a report on the Royal Guard’s movements, but there was nothing special.”
When I asked, Etar finally regained focus in his eyes, and his ragged breathing also subsided.
But his expression still did not look comfortable.
It seemed he was consciously managing his expression because of me.
“……Is that so?”
“Yes.”
Of course, that answer to me was probably a lie as well.
Etar had always been the type whose face revealed everything like that.
But I did not press him further.
Because if he was not telling me, that meant there was a reason for it, and that Etar had something he was thinking through on his own.
It could also be news that would do no good by telling me.
“Alright, then you’re planning to go directly to the main school first, correct? Within this year.”
Tresha changed the subject.
“Yeah. You can only meet Tyrant if you go to the main school. And the place where everything began is also the very top of the main school.”
“Is there anything we need to prepare separately?”
“No. I already heard most of the information from Etar. This is just my guess, but you know less about the situation at the main school or about Tyrant than Etar does, right?”
Etar had pushed intelligence activities to the extreme, even planting his two sons as spies, and he had personally created and led the Sculptors.
On the other hand, Tresha and Alfric had merely been members of the Sculptors, so I expected the gap in the information they knew to be quite large.
“Yes. Etar said he would handle the surveillance alone, and told us to pretend to comply and cooperate with the Draco Family. We only knew things to the extent that Etar told us.”
I casually met Etar’s eyes.
He merely smiled lightly and nodded.
The fact that he had continued such a difficult task alone for 300 years stimulated me anew.
What a lonely battle it must have been.
It was a far more difficult and solitary fight than when I had guarded the Sealing Stone alone at the top.
“The Lamp of Justice. I didn’t know it was burning so splendidly.”
Suddenly, the nickname I had given Etar came to mind.
“Haha, that’s embarrassing. I wonder how long it’s been since I last heard that nickname.”
“Anyway, right before heading over to the main school, I also have a personal task to take care of, so I should deal with that first. But Etar, there’s something I’m curious about.”
“Yes, please go ahead.”
“The more my timing to move to the main school gets delayed, the more limits you’ll have on stalling for time as well, right?”
“…….”
Etar could not answer easily.
Because of me, the Ed Branch School had already become a place Tyrant was focusing on, and even the Underworld was now in a state where the territories of inspectors and mages were strictly divided.
In a situation like this, it seemed unlikely that we could buy several more years of time.
“So in the end, is it because of training your body?”
“Yeah.”
I spoke honestly to Etar.
My trump card as a mage was not Flewd.
It was Vision Power, which even my master could not use.
The pinnacle of a mage, even called a ‘resource that does not exist’ in some circles.
But right now, I was in a state where I could not use it freely.
“Since Lord Arkis has spoken honestly, I will also be honest. I can’t guarantee it.”
As expected.
I had to go to the main school within this year.
That meant the situations in other places I did not know about were becoming precarious.
“Alright, thanks for speaking honestly.”
“I’m sorry…… It feels like I’m only burdening you…….”
“No, how is this a burden? In the end, it’s practically the same as me pushing onto you the matter that started 300 years ago because of me.”
“……No.”
I looked at Alfric.
“I really never thought the day would come when I’d think your words were right. You were a guy who only ever got scolded by me.”
He was referring to the anecdote about opposing the idea of taking Tyrant as a disciple.
Alfric scratched his nose awkwardly and replied,
“Physiognomy is…… a basis full of credibility. At least when it comes to dark elementalists.”
Before we knew it, the meal was mostly finished.
I looked around the headmaster’s office and asked Tresha,
“Tresha, since this is your own space, you can change the structure on the spot, right?”
“Of course! How would you like it?”
“Try making it like the school’s duel arena. I want to see your skills. As your master, I want to check just how much you’ve grown over 300 years.”
“Yes!”
Tresha immediately cleared away all the facilities and turned it into a wide-open duel arena.
And then Tresha, Alfric, and Etar—
the three of them stood in a line, facing me.
“Um, by any chance…… you’re not saying that the three of us should dare to face Lord Arkis, right?”
Alfric asked cautiously.
“Of course not. Each of you, try manifesting Orbification at the same time. Just by looking at the level of your Orbification, I can tell how much you’ve advanced.”
“Ah…… yes.”
The three of them glanced at one another, and soon manifested their Orbifications.
Etar’s fire elemental Orbification.
Alfric’s light elemental Orbification.
And Tresha’s earth elemental Orbification.
A rare spectacle that ordinary mages would hardly ever see—three Orbifications floating side by side—unfolded here, in the headmaster’s office of the Ramus Branch School.
What stood out the most was, as expected, Tresha’s earth elemental Orbification.
Because he had a precedent of lying long ago about having learned Orbification, my eyes naturally went there first.
The Orbification of the earth element has slight differences compared to Orbifications of other elements.
Basically, the earth element exists everywhere, so Tap-Taking is free.
The inherent nature of earth is solidity.
When Orbification is used, the power of Tap-Taking is enhanced by several stages.
That is why earth elemental Orbification is evaluated as the strongest, second only to Flewd.
“Certainly…… you didn’t spend 300 years just lazing around, did you?”
Perfect.
To the point that his position as the head of a family and as a branch headmaster suited him perfectly.
To the extent that the Orbification I had last seen from him felt like an ordinary basic sphere, Tresha’s current Orbification had not a single flaw.
And there was one more thing I could feel, something I had never felt before.
That was Tresha’s mana.
To be honest, the moment I first saw his Orbification, I doubted my own senses.
Because there was an enormous difference from the mana of Tresha that I knew.
I had once been an Archmage, so I could usually predict most people’s magical proficiency, and ever since living from Class 0 at the Ed Branch School, I had never been wrong—whether it was students, teachers, or professors.
Of course, there had been a slight anomaly in the 3rd Class, but even then, it had not deviated far from the expected range.
But Tresha, a 9th Circle Mage, was different.
If one only considered pure mana, wouldn’t he be comparable to when I myself had been an Archmage?
That was how overwhelming his power was, far beyond my expectations.
‘So that’s why Etar was so worried about me going to the main school.’
Three hundred years was truly a long time.
During that period, repeated advancements among high-circle mages had widened the gap with low-circle mages to the point where it could no longer be bridged.
In terms of wealth, it was like a state of extreme inequality that could no longer be remedied.
‘Well, having dealt only with high-tier magic since 300 years ago, is this, in a way, an inevitable outcome for long-lived mages?’
Chewing over the weight of those three hundred years, I thought as much.
Perhaps feeling proud, Tresha spoke confidently.
“Of course! We were people who moved for the greater cause! We didn’t neglect our training either!”
“What about me?”
Alfric, who had been quietly listening beside us, asked.
Alfric was the same.
The mana I felt from him was at a threatening level.
Without repeating the same words, I simply smiled lightly and nodded.
Alfric seemed to understand the meaning of my gesture clearly, and only showed a happy expression.
But when I looked at Etar’s Orbification, my expression stiffened.
The 5th Class Student Ability Evaluation where he had tried to test me.
Compared to that time, his Orbification was far more unstable, to the point where I wondered whether this was really something he had manifested with full sincerity.
‘His mana is the weakest among the three. And on top of that, it’s fluctuating wildly, like waves…….’
There was only one thing this meant.
Etar’s mind was not in a clean, calm state right now.
He had worries, and certain thoughts kept surfacing, causing him to interfere with his own spell manifestation.
‘He started acting like this after checking the Mob. So something really is going on.’
There was definitely a valid reason he had not told me.
From the moment I realized that Etar was a mage who had not changed, I trusted him absolutely, just like in our old relationship.
“That’s enough. This should be sufficient. You can put them away.”
So I ended it with those words.
The brief test ended just like that.
I still couldn’t be certain about Etar, but at the very least, Tresha and Alfric had grown to a frightening degree.
Because of that, I was troubled at the same time.
‘If these two reached this level without using forbidden magic…… then what about that bastard Tyrant?’
Artel returned to the Ed Branch School, and Etar separately called Tresha and Alfric.
The place where the three met again was not the Ramus Branch School, but the Rus Branch School.
Unlike the Ramus Branch School, which resembled a cave, the headmaster’s office of the Rus Branch School was ordinary like Etar’s office, but all kinds of white lights assaulted the eyes.
Etar faced the two alumni with a thoroughly hardened expression.
It was a completely contrasting 모습 compared to when he had been with Artel.
“What is it? You went back together with Lord Arkis, then suddenly called us again. And why are you here alone?”
Tresha asked.
“Actually, I received a message from Vise earlier.”
“What did he say?”
“…….”
After a brief pause, Etar reluctantly revealed the nature of the message.
“Livia and Kabir directly struck my family.”
“……?”
“……What?”
As if dousing us with cold water, a heavy silence descended over the pure white headmaster’s office.
“No, wait a second. Why would you tell us separately about something that serious without informing Lord Arkis?”
Once again, Tresha asked.
“You know. Lord Arkis is currently carrying a task he has never attempted before—physical training—in order to reproduce Vision Power. It’s a problem with no known answer.”
At Etar’s reply, the two of them nodded automatically.
Because even by their own judgment, they did not have any answer that could easily resolve such a problem.
“In that situation, I didn’t want to burden him by telling him about what happened to my family as well. With Lord Arkis’s personality…… he would head straight for the Lamik and Mirne families. He was already furious when he heard those two had sided with Tyrant.”
“Well, let’s accept that for now. What about the damage? What happened? If those two stepped in personally…….”
Tresha deliberately trailed off.
If it had been Lamik Livia, who was a direct counter to the Ed Family with Etar absent, and Mirne Kabir added on top of that, it would have been natural for no one to survive.
He could not bring himself to say it outright.
“Fortunately…… everyone survived. It seems Vise arrived at a critical moment.”
“Phew…… that’s really fortunate.”
The two responded sincerely.
Then Alfric followed up with a question.
“The reason you’re telling us about this…… is because you want us to step in?”
Etar slowly nodded in response.
“Yes. Timing-wise, it’s when we should endure and stay hidden, but…… I don’t think I can endure after taking such a critical blow. However, the method of retaliation I have in mind isn’t the same as theirs.”