The main building of the Imperial Knights, the ones who claimed to be the best on the continent.
"… After three days of tracking…"
Among them was the 'Round Table of Myths,' a gathering of their most powerful knights that tackled only the highest-ranking agendas.
"It is presumed that Rohakan has already escaped the continent."
The atmosphere at the round table today was heavily subdued.
It was because the operation to arrest Rohakan, which they had painstakingly devoted themselves to, had officially failed.
"Of course, we have requested cooperation from the local knights and the police. Hence, we can rest assured that the investigation will be carried out steadily."
Lawaine, Knight of the Sacred Heart, was the one reporting.
Thirteen high-ranking knights, including Deputy Commander Isaac, listened to him at the round table, while the rest of the members listened to him from the surrounding seats.
"Write a report to Her Majesty—"
At that moment…
Kieeeek—
The door to the conference room swung open, and a firm voice came in.
"I don't need a report or anything of the sort."
Everyone's eyes widened.
A number of knights entered from the other side of the conference room. They lined up side by side to make a path as a blazing aura flashed between them.
"The shadow of the Intelligence Agency is more accurate than your information, after all…"
The current emperor of the empire, Sophien Ekater von Jaegus Gifrein.
Her kingly brilliance made her truly appear like the sun.
───Your Majesty the Emperor!
The entire knights fell to their knees, regardless of rank.
Their ruler frowned as if their shouts were rather too loud.
Tap— tap—
She walked majestically and sat down on the perimeter.
"I will watch your meetings in person. Rohakan is the enemy of the late emperor, so I can do this, right?"
Her words came as an electrifying shock to them.
Lawaine looked at Isaac nervously, but he motioned with his chin to continue anyway.
"… Yes. Rohakan left no trace while escaping, but before he could, he got caught up in a magical battle with Deculein."
Lawaine presented the record. It was a crystal ball that contained Deculein and Rohakan's magic battle.
Whoooosh…
When he injected magic into the crystal ball, a harsh landscape appeared.
"What's that?"
"Isn't there a misunderstanding?"
"How can this be Deculein's…"
The people in the room were buzzing.
The land they saw had been turned upside down. All vegetation in the area had been destroyed, and the ground itself had been torn apart so much it left no steady footing.
"Did Deculein and Rohakan cause this?" Even Sophien was surprised by what she saw.
Lawayne replied with his head bowed. "Yes."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. The Magic Tower has already completed the analysis and verification. They detected blood from Deculein and Rohakan."
… It was useless, but Deculein's [Aesthetic Sense] also played a role in its 'terraforming.'
That made it possible for him to completely manipulate his environment not only to enhance its beauty but also to make it look like a battlefield.
"Then, the only one who gained an achievement relevant to this issue was Deculein?"
Isaac didn't answer quickly.
If Rohakan only excelled in magic, there would've been no plausible reason for the empire not to catch him. However, Rohakan was a person with the spirit of a wizard and the body of a knight.
Rohakan was too strong even for Isaac, making it even more difficult to accept Deculein's achievements.
Judging from the aftermath of their battle alone, they could easily deduce they were well-matched.
"Hey. If you have a mouth, speak. How will I understand your position if you don't explain yourselves after you let the enemy of the empire escape?"
Sophien's tone was more of disdain than of anger.
The knights bowed their heads in silence. Isaac took the initiative to reply.
"… Deculein was defeated, so I can't really say he achieved anything. The only reason he didn't die is probably purely because of Rohakan's mercy. They had a master-disciple relationship in the past—"
"I see you only talk to make excuses."
Sophien twisted her lips.
"A man who killed his close friend's wife showed mercy on Deculein only because of his memories as his teacher? Rohakan only taught Deculein for three months. I even heard that he immediately ran away the moment he was given a half year's worth of payment."
"…"
"Enough. From now on, it would be more efficient to leave Rohakan's death to Deculein than you. I don't think there's more information worth listening to here."
The emperor stood up and left without looking back. The knights of the Imperial Palace followed her.
"…"
The round table, hit by a storm of typhoons, became a desolate wasteland.
Isaac fell silently in thought, and Lawaine recalled Deculein's arrogant voice.
'You'll all just be a burden. I'm telling you to piss off nicely.'
"… At first, I thought he ran away out of sheer fear of Rohakan." Lawaine frowned, causing Isaac to look at him.
"But… often, when you think you know someone, it turns out you don't."
The great man named Deculein was also famous among the Knights Templar. When Julie was still a member of it, it was Deculein who tormented its innocent newcomers.
"… It may have been that Deculein was hiding his skills, or maybe he's always been like that, but we underestimated him. However…" Isaac clenched his fists. "A more certain fact is that we weren't strong enough."
Today, he promised again.
Rohakan.
Someday, he would definitely hunt that dark beast down.
"Anyway, this report seems to need revision."
At that moment, a shrill voice rang out. It was the empire's genius knight 'Rose.' A document fell gently on the round table, titled [Personnel File ─ Deculein].
Isaac laughed when he saw a specific passage.
[Combat Power Expectations: Level 5]
"If this guy is level 5…"
Even Adrienne said that Deculein was a tier below her. Of course, at the time, he dismissed it as bullshit, but now, he could agree with her.
"Damn Intelligence bastards."
The Imperial Intelligence Agency was the one that distributed documents like this, but this happened sometimes.
They senselessly triggered the Imperial Knights' competitive spirit and provided clearly wrong information with the intent to screw with them.
Isaac immediately picked up his pen and corrected it.
[Combat Power Expectations: Level 1]
Considering the likes of Adrienne, Rohakan, Zeit, and Demakan were ranked 0 in terms of combat power since they were impossible to measure, Deculein should be at least this level.
"Send this report to the Intelligence Agency directly. Those dirty bastards have been playing their shallow tricks too often lately…"
* * *
There were no clouds in the Isle of Wizard's Wealth sky, a floating island, and the weather was often clear due to how close it was to the sun. Thanks to that, open-air views became beautiful and colorful, but the people passing by weren't as colorful or diverse.
They were all just wizards in robes.
"Are you talking about the Symposium problem number six?"
"Yes."
I arrived at the [Atomic Wizard] headquarters near Megiseon.
"Monarch rank Deculein. I checked your thesis."
I submitted my thesis with confidence, but the response from the person in charge was lukewarm, probably because dozens of fanatics challenged the problem every day.
"Since you're ranked Monarch, the inspection should be quick."
That was it.
The manager just kept typing without saying anything, and I went out right away.
I wasn't expecting a reaction like "Huuuuh?! Question Six?!' anyway.
"…?"
As I was about to return to the mansion, I noticed a familiar figure in one of the magic stores here.
I went in and put my hand on her small head.
"Aaah! What the fuck!"
For a moment, Yeriel's body shook like a tornado, then looked back as if she was about to punch me. Her reaction surprised even me.
"What kind of pervert…?"
She looked up at me and abruptly stopped talking.
Soon, Yeriel's face distorted as I shook my head.
"You have such a beautiful vocabulary."
"… What?! You suddenly touched my hair! Don't touch my hair… please."
Yeriel fixed her messy hair with both hands.
I smiled and asked. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm a wizard too. If I want to come here, I can."
Yeriel muttered and glanced at me. I checked the item she had just seen.
It was an advanced magic book.
"Why don't you buy it?"
"… I can't buy it."
"Why?"
"Because of my rank."
There were purchase restrictions on the Isle of Wizard's Wealth. Yeriel, a Solda-ranked wizard that didn't even graduate from the Tower, couldn't buy an item as advanced as the book she was holding.
"… Right."
I bought the magic book myself, which was quite expensive at 50,000 Elnes, but I just gave it to Yeriel.
"Take it."
"… Really?"
"Yes."
"… Can I learn magic?" Yeriel asked for affirmation. I thought I knew why.
The former Deculein was probably afraid that Yeriel might overtake him, which made him prevent her from studying it.
"Yes. You should learn how to protect yourself now."
I wasn't as narrow-minded as he was, and, above all, Deculein had a lot of enemies.
They might take her hostage.
"O-Okay. Well, My self-defense skill level is also…."
"Oh, right. Yeriel. I have something for you."
I handed Yeriel a thick bundle of documents. It was the edited thesis.
"This is the thesis gift I promised you the other day."
"Huh? Oh~ that?"
A wizard who resembled Allen, Panien.
"What is that wizard doing these days?"
"… He must be dejected."
Yeriel shrugged.
"Dejected?"
"You took his thesis, so he's near giving up."
"What do you mean?"
"Weren't you trying to steal his thesis? I didn't hear anything about it since."
I frowned. "I just corrected some things. Give it back after you're done with it."
"… Huh? really?"
"Yes."
Yeriel looked at me with surprise, almost as if thinking if she should believe me or not. Nevertheless, she nodded and put it in her bag.
"Where are you going now?"
"I'm going to the Tower to prepare the class."
"Prepare the class?"
"Yes."
The Ashes' Baron would soon arrive.
I planned to hold as many practical classes as possible to ensure the students would be able to defend against him.
* * *
Louina was aware of her plight of being abandoned in an instant.
In the past, the tenured professors of the Imperial University Tower treated her nicely, saying that she was Deculein's rival, but now she was here with her head down.
They ignored her as if nothing had happened.
She could understand that.
Deculein defeated her.
However…
"This is too much."
She was assigned to an office on the 23rd floor.
It wasn't too far from the ground floor, and she could still run into regular wizards in the elevator.
It was a room more suitable for a newcomer who had just been hired as a full-time professor.
"Sigh…"
She knew, though.
This wasn't the only humiliation Deculein prepared.
However, no matter what he did or what shame awaited her, he wouldn't be able to break her any further.
She was ready to overcome it all.
Five years wasn't that long of a time.
Above all, in the contract, there was a clause stipulating that If Deculein became the chairman, he would do his best to make Louina the head professor.
"There's… no toilet in the office."
Louina laughed.
There was no toilet in the office. There was no toilet in the office…
She went outside to wash her face.
"Oh?"
She ran into a professor.
It was Ciare.
Unlike her, who rebelled against Deculein until the end, Ciare sucked up to Deculein in the beginning but later tried to stick to her like a bat when she rose to prominence.
"Professor Louina. Your office is on the 23rd floor?"
She already started saying things that got to her nerves.
"…Yes. This kind of experience is also very important. It's fun." Louina smiled brightly.
Ciare nodded, looking like she was holding her laughter back.
"Yes~ Then, good luck~ Enjoy your experience. Climbing up from the bottom will be fun, as you said."
As she left, Louina heard a chuckle. As soon as she entered the bathroom, she washed her face with cold water.
"So annoying… It feels like it was just yesterday when she came to me asking for help."
Sighing, she wiped her face and returned to her office, where her narrow desk, too small to put even just three magic books on, awaited her.
However, before she could start working…
Knock. knock—
The door opened without her permission.
"Professor Louina. A parcel has arrived for you."
"…"
She didn't even tell him to leave it, but he put it on her desk and left anyway.
Such inhospitality was unimaginable in the kingdom. Louina forcefully suppressed the tears that were about to burst out.
"Get used to it. Get used to it…"
She opened the package with the words [Question Six Answer] written on it.
"Oh~ is this from Deculein?" Louina laughed.
Question Six of the Symposium. Runic magic in ancient inscriptions.
She was almost worried about why he took the challenge.
[First, to solve problem six, the interpretation of its runes needed to be preceded. Although nothing is known about them, I inferred their meanings and formed combinations using my own interpretation system.]
The first page was filled with an introduction.
[Among the runes of the inscription, there were only three that could serve as a circuit. As a result of combining the runes based on it, the following formula could be implemented.]
From then on, its formula started.
It was like an alien script that couldn't be described with letters or by type.
Louina put on her glasses and read the answer sheet.
The judge's job was to find out what was wrong. It was quite enjoyable, so a smile was already on Louina's lips.
"… Let's see."
At first, it was for fun and curiosity.
But one line.
Two lines.
Three.
Four…
As she read through it slowly, her expression hardened.
Interpretation of runes.
Change of thinking.
Formula description.
Connection of logic.
Composition of the answer.
Deculein's solution seemingly collected and intertwined scattered pieces through a process that was as orderly and clear as his personality.
It was abnormally organized.
It had no theoretical loopholes at all.
Deculein started inductive reasoning based on the idea that only three runes functioned as a circuit, but in the end, he came to the perfect conclusion for it deductively.
He even showed precision in verifying his answer in the form of a magic circle.
"This…"
Louina felt a headache pierce her temple.
Before examining the contents of the answer, certain nausea arose.
'I am not the Deculein you once knew.'
Deculein's abominable voice came to mind.
It couldn't be.
This couldn't be his answer.
There was no way he did this himself.
He couldn't have written this thesis.
"Wait, wait…"
Louina took a deep breath and ruffled her hair. Something hot was boiling inside her.
She felt dizzy.
The world around her seemed to spin.
"Deculein, this idea was not yours…"
This was not Deculein's achievement.
If so, whose achievement was it?
Who the hell gave this achievement to Deculein?
It was a lie that would be revealed in the 'place of proof' anyway, so why?
At that question, Deculein's voice came to her mind again.
As if telling her that this was the answer.
'I am not the Deculein you once knew.'
"Shut up!" Louina grabbed the answer sheet tightly. When it came to theoretical matters, Deculein had never surpassed her. Even with 'his' help, he was still far behind her.
"… This doesn't make sense. How can you think of this… You? You?! How…!"
The fire within her raged even stronger.
It was the first time she had ever felt this way, and she never thought she would feel it because of Deculein.
"This is a lie that will be revealed sooner or later anyway, but why the hell…!"
Denying her feelings of inferiority and jealousy, Louina only thought about Deculein's intentions. She thought about the place of proof because this wasn't his answer. She thought of a way to verify him thoroughly.
"Wait for it. This time, it won't go your way."
Louina's day has reached its worst.