Chapter 510 – Recent Affairs (2)
After decades, the six surviving stragglers finally learned that Melard Tastienne was still alive, and with their own eyes, they beheld the new successor of the Black Hour.
Only after the three sages had rested for a while did they finally have time to share their stories.
There was no need for a feast so grand that it would break the table legs. Ordinary wine and food, the kind one could find anywhere, were enough.
Two Mages, who once bickered in the Great Hall yet spent their days researching magic together in the same field, met again.
───Hmm? This insanely dry chicken and sour wine… it's almost exactly like what we used to eat when hurriedly filling our stomachs during research.
───I made sure of it.
───Tsk. Nice of you, but you didn't need to fuss over trivial things like… huh? Where's your fringe gone? I could've sworn…
───You could've sworn, what?
───Ha, ha. You've recreated the taste, but not your hair.
The half-collapsed wooden inn Opea had prepared grew noisy and bustling.
Amidst the sound of furniture breaking, laughter mixed in. The inn stood near a cliff, covered in fallen leaves and filled with the scent of grass, so no matter how loud they were, no neighbors came to complain.
Though it was a gathering of venerable figures who had devoted their whole lives to magic, their conversation held none of the gravity one might expect.
Back then, it was like that.
There were times it was like that.
They hurried to drag out the memories they had long buried deep in their hearts.
Thus, throughout the nights and days turned upside down, they shared nostalgia to their hearts' content, and then, finally, Grave, Alderneys, and the other six began telling of the years they had each lived.
"Well, it was only hard at first. Afterward, it wasn't too bad."
Advisor of a small merchant company, an alchemist married in a village, a recluse, a mercenary, a professor… whether quiet or noisy, their later lives had split into two.
There wasn't much difference.
For in the end, every life had been one of fugitives, forced to hide their identities.
But not anymore.
And so, they could speak of the past freely, tossing out jokes without hesitation.
Thanks to that, the atmosphere did not grow heavy, nor dark.
Two empty chests were filled to the brim with drained wine bottles before the turn finally came to Melard Tastienne.
"We were───"
Wearing the gentlest of smiles, yet a face weighed with guilt, she lowered her eyes and spoke.
The light of the mana lamp at the center reflected in her aged pupils.
The first members, scattered while fleeing the Great Hall with fatal wounds. Linder, who had been with Melard, and his death.
Her encounter with Osgar and Medrant.
The abandoned twins, Cain and Unia, whom she met as infants.
The founding of the Society.
Her long search for the old comrades who had left the Black Hour.
The moment she personally accepted Ethan and Rebecca as her disciples.
...
The obituary of Harkan Dazest, and Verden who bore the star of that old friend.
Adrian Chambers.
Isabella Argyle.
The Ownerless Land.
Rayshen Tailroad.
The secret of the Bohemirn magic tower.
Infiltrations of the Great Hall, and all that came after, leading up to the present.
Granted permission by Verden to disclose such information, Melard recounted the objective facts, leaving her emotions behind.
For if she added her personal thoughts to each event, the gathering would not end for days.
Of course, she refrained as much as possible from mentioning Cayman Vermont. That the first member had survived by becoming a contractor of a Demon was a secret known to only a very few within the Society.
That was a truth that only Cayman himself had the right to reveal.
"…That is all."
By the time Melard concluded her story, half a day had passed. Even in summary, it had taken that long.
This made it the second day the gathering had continued, yet not one of them had forgotten to listen attentively, without once dozing off.
Alderneys knelt, taking Melard's frail hands into his own.
"You have endured much, Lady Melard."
She inhaled lightly, whispered a small thank you, and slowly closed her eyes. Weak but steady breaths.
She had fallen asleep.
It was partly the fatigue she had not yet recovered from after the magic duel with Verden, but more than that, her body itself had grown weak. A highest-ranking Mage of the 6th tier did not tire so easily.
Tap.
Grave gently covered the sleeping Melard's shoulders with a blanket.
"You should all rest too. It's late, we'll clean up together tomorrow."
"Ah, yes, Uncle."
Grave's gaze lingered as he ruffled Opea's hair. She protested, saying, do you know how old I am, but it didn't matter.
She was still the youngest of the Black Hour.
Leaving Opea's complaints behind, Grave passed his comrades preparing sleeping spots throughout the abandoned inn, and stepped outside.
"…Hoo."
As was his habit, he took out tobacco and lit it, standing at the edge of the cliff.
The night's scent tickled his nose. Soft moonlight fell across his face.
"Want one?"
"No, thank you."
Alderneys had followed him out, and together they took in the autumn night's scenery.
"Tobacco is bad for your health, Grave."
"But it soothes the heart."
"Tobacco is an immediate sedative, so yes, I suppose it does. Even some students at the Academy secretly smoke it when they can't focus on their studies. Though of course, it's grounds for punishment."
"You sound like a proper teacher now."
"You look more like a mercenary than before."
"Such is the way of time."
Grave exhaled slowly.
"There's still a little time before we have to face Dahit's Black Hour in earnest. What will you do until then?"
"I plan to visit the Ownerless Land."
"To see the successor?"
"I think I've found a disciple I lost contact with long ago."
He blinked.
"…You had a disciple?"
"Strictly speaking, a professor and student are also bound in that relationship."
"Ah, that disciple."
Grave didn't pry further, changing the subject.
"I'll be heading to the Ownerless Land too."
"To see the successor?"
"To look around at what's around him. Ah, I don't mean I don't acknowledge him. I've already seen that magic duel. And besides, I'm not qualified to say such things."
"Then why?"
At Alderneys' question, Grave lit another cigarette.
"Just because I want to."
***
With Verden and Melard's permission, Grave and Alderneys set foot in the Ownerless Land, guided by the Society.
Grave headed to the city of Dallehin, Alderneys to the city of Arein.
The latter arrived first.
"I heard you wanted to speak with me. What business do you have?"
A secretive alchemy workshop on the outskirts of Arein, quieter than the central streets. Isabella narrowed her eyes at the man before her. She had no idea why he had requested this meeting through Verden.
Alderneys spoke.
"As I thought. Even though your appearance has changed, some things remain the same. Especially in your mannerisms."
"Pardon? What do you mean?"
"It's me, Isabella."
Alderneys brushed a hand over his face, activating the disguise magic item. The burn marks covering half his face vanished, and his appearance shifted slightly.
Isabella, who had been staring steadily at him, widened her eyes.
"…Professor Illite?"
Professor Illite—Alderneys—who had always worn a stern expression, now answered her with a faint smile.
"It's the first time I've seen you in person since graduation."
***
At first, she didn't know who he was.
Of course not.
The Isabella Alderneys remembered had neither green-black hair nor golden eyes.
Had she not been called by the name Isabella, she might have only felt a vague sense of familiarity, never realizing who he was.
But once she knew, no matter how her appearance had changed, she could see nothing but Isabella herself.
At last, it felt real.
"You often sent me letters after graduation. Always with questions about alchemy."
Alderneys sipped the tea Isabella had prepared for him.
"…And then, more than ten years ago, I lost contact with you. I even went to the address once, wondering if something had happened, but there was nothing there. When I asked around, all I heard was that you had suddenly disappeared."
But then.
"Never did I imagine… that you would be here, of all places, and beside the new successor of the Black Hour. Honestly, I'm shaken. It makes no sense."
"It's me who should be saying that. To think my professor, who only knew alchemy, was once a senior officer of the Black Hour… hmm, though on second thought, I suppose it isn't so strange. You were different from the other professors. In many ways."
Under the alias Illite, Alderneys had always been solemn and strict. He never let himself be swayed, and always focused solely on his duty.
Above all, he showed no interest in his students' backgrounds.
Other professors often bent under the weight of noble scions, but he gave no heed. Whenever rules were broken, he issued punishment immediately.
Because of this, rumors often spread among students that the alchemy professor must have had an extraordinary backer.
'That mystery is solved now.'
Alderneys was a 6th-tier Magus, a power on the level of a national force.
Before such heights of power and experience, the subtle threats and anger of foreign noble brats must have been nothing but childish tantrums.
"Well, it wasn't because I had power. After all, I was hiding my identity. I simply followed the school's regulations. That is a professor's duty."
"That seriousness of yours hasn't changed."
Isabella's face brightened.
"Either way, it's unexpected, but I'm glad. Truly. And… thank you for looking for me."
Alderneys had been an alchemy professor, and Isabella was a rare prodigy in alchemy, an excellent model student.
He had always thought carefully about how to guide her, and every time she solved the assignments he set, her alchemy grew to a level her peers could not match.
To learn, and to grow.
The two had embodied the ideal relationship between student and professor that the Academy aspired to.
The bond that had lasted all throughout the Academy years was never shallow.
They shared stories of the Academy they both remembered. Inevitably, the name "Crodon Olentia" arose.
Isabella's face stiffened for a moment.
As if expecting it, Alderneys caught her reaction and asked.
"Isabella, in your school days, you often accompanied Crodon Olentia. At first you clashed, but over time your friendship deepened. Then, after the aptitude test in the second semester revealed his limit tier was the 7th, you drifted apart because of fights, even violent incidents."
After graduation, Isabella had gone home to be with her family, rejecting every persuasion and offer, even Alderneys'.
Meanwhile, Crodon, a talent destined for transcendence, became the disciple of the Bohemirn tower master.
"Still, I believed you would reconcile someday. Even after graduation, you wrote to me often about him. So I assumed you'd long since resolved your quarrel and were on good terms, and I didn't worry much."
"..."
"Not until I heard from Lady Melard that the Bohemirn tower was conducting human experiments."
Clink.
Alderneys set down his teacup.
"What happened, Isabella."
Her sudden disappearance, he was certain, was tied deeply to Crodon.
Isabella answered calmly, her face betraying nothing.
"There's no one left but me."
"…What?"
"Xenia, Kael, Carver, Marianne. All dead. Killed by Crodon."
He knew who those names were.
Younger sister, younger brother, the gardener, the maid.
The family Isabella had treasured and loved above all else.
Alderneys felt his hand gripping his knee grow tight with strength.
"…Why?"
"Because of the heirloom of my family, the House of Argyle, once nobility of the ancient Magocracy."
Isabella Argyle had once told Crodon about that heirloom, when they had promised to help each other's dreams.
Later, when Crodon entered the Bohemirn tower, he revealed the secret to the tower master, Balrog Bessias.
And Balrog sent him to seize the Argyle heirlooms.
"The result was that they were all slaughtered. By chance, I survived, but I was as good as dead. Eventually, I even tried to kill Rayshen Tailroad, Crodon's disciple, and die with him… but at that moment, the master of the house appeared and saved my life."
Isabella opened and closed her hand.
"And gave me a new life."
Her voice was calm, but that didn't mean her feelings were faint or gone.
It was like a lake drained dry—emotions poured out, poured out, until nothing was left.
"Isabella."
"Thinking about it, professor, you and I aren't so different. Whatever the process, in the end we both lost everything to betrayal by someone we trusted."
A faint smile curled Isabella's lips.
"So I suppose what we want is the same."
Chill.
In that instant, Alderneys felt seized by a dreadful chill.
Only then did he realize.
The woman before him was no longer the fresh graduate he once knew, but a Magus hollowed by the loss of her family.
"Until next time, professor."
Their conversation continued on alchemy for a while longer, then Alderneys left, seen off by Isabella.
An unexpected reunion.
They turned away, leaving behind their longing and joy.
Step, step…
Alderneys walked the streets.
Blending into the crowd, he repeated the question he had never asked aloud.
'Isabella, your limit tier was 5th, I'm certain of it.'
Then how had she reached a realm even Alderneys himself could not gauge?
Could it be connected to the one she called master… Verden, the holy one of the Eastern Continent, a transcendent Magus hidden from the world?
Alderneys stopped and lifted his head.
The sky above was stained with the hues of sunset.
Whatever the truth, it didn't matter.
"I only wished you well…"
The news of a student he had met again after so long was tragic, and bitterly real.
***
Somewhere in the Ownerless Land.
At the center of a vast magic circle concealed from the world, Verden sat in deep meditation, eyes closed.
Whoooosh.
Magic power, precisely controlled.
In one hand, lights embodying every elemental attribute spun along the symbol of infinity (∞).
In the other hand, a sphere of destructive mana floated, flaring roughly from time to time.
To merge two magics was the means of supreme magic, but to control them in parallel was purely personal ability.
For example, while opening the Destruction Path, one could still cast tier magic, but the Infinity Path would be heavily limited.
Thus, Verden spared no thought or effort to master both paths simultaneously, with complete freedom.
But he did not push recklessly.
He knew it was more effective to normalize his current state into daily life.
At last, Verden dispelled the magic circle, drawing in his power.
Just then, something stirred at the collar of his robe.
[End of meditation confirmed.]
Mini Golem Alpha popped out, its basic performance much improved from before.
Its enhancements were complete.
Research on Beta had been put on hold until a natural golem could be obtained.
For that reason, Alpha, with nothing to do in the golem lab, had acquired three more oval blue sapphires—the transport devices of the lab—and returned to Verden.
He would have liked to craft more sapphires, but the time required was simply too great.
[Your Majesty Verden. Where shall we go now?]
"I'll pay a visit to Gharun."
Before setting future plans, he needed more precise answers about the completion of facilities and the timeline of weapon production.
Vwooom.
Verden shifted through space.
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