Bound by Rohakan's large hand, Epherene stared blankly at the subsequent bombing, the fragmented buildings, and the horrors of the explosions' aftermath as they walked past them.
"Why…"
"Don't ask why. It's crazy things done by crazy people."
Rumble!
Rohakan applied magic on a collapsing statue, seemingly trying to prevent its fall using [Psychokinesis], but it didn't work as efficiently as Deculein's.
"Oh, my. I can't even do it as neat as he did."
Smirking, he quickly cleansed the area with his own magic.
Snap—!
At the snap of his fingers, the falling debris swiftly disintegrated into tiny fragments. The deflagrations were then extinguished, and the flames sublimated to the sky.
"What was that just now?"
"I call it [Elementalization]. Melting the processed material into the most one-dimensional element. You probably won't find it in textbooks."
"Wow."
Epherene closed her eyes in admiration, and when she opened them, she found herself already out of town.
"… Where are we? Did we just teleport?"
They now stood on a hill. The square, which turned into a horrific crime scene while the festival was underway, was now at a far-away distance. A quiet hut was also near them.
He smiled and took a deep breath.
"It's been a while since I've shown my magic in front of a young talent."
He said, releasing more mana. In his hand was the Fragment of the World Tree, a staff she had seen before.
Boom—!
Rohakan hit the ground with it, casting the grand magic [Flow of Purification]. The magical shockwaves it generated reached all the way to the hot spring area, cleaning up the excess mana in the square.
"I've done enough. I believe they can take care of the rest."
"Yes, yes. Then I'll go now—"
"Using grand magic made me hungry. Don't you want to have some meat? I hunted one last night."
"… Meat?" She asked suspiciously.
*****
Chomp—!
Piece by piece, Epherene devoured the meat in her hands, finding each bite delicious. It wasn't as luxurious as a Roahawk, but she thought it wouldn't be bad to try something new.
"This is amazing. It's enough to satisfy my picky palate…"
"I know you can eat all kinds of things."
Even as he answered, Rohakan ceaselessly busied himself with his own matters, frantically moving from place to place in his narrow hut.
"What do you mean? I can't do that."
"Where did your friend go, though? The one with you before."
"… Oh. She's not feeling well, so she's resting." Epherene smiled bitterly. Sylvia overworked herself during the final exams, causing her exhaustion to finally take its toll on her. From what she heard, she didn't sleep or eat at all throughout the finals.
"Have you been living here all this time? How come you haven't been caught yet?"
"Well, this hut is far from ordinary. I wouldn't be able to keep my freedom in my possession during the past decades otherwise. Think of it as a ship."
"A ship?"
"Yeah. You guys also call it "The 9th Series" or "Specialized Magic." I think they define it as a wizard's signature that combines all of their disposition, personality, and talent."
Signature magic. The ultimate achievement that all wizards desired.
Epherene only blinked.
Albeit, she moved her mouth as well to chew on the meat.
"Here. Look."
Rohakan closed the hut's door then pulled a lever installed near the fireplace in a way that made it look like a decoration.
Boom-!
She flinched when she felt her surroundings vibrate, but she didn't stop eating her food. Chuckling, he opened the door again.
"… Huh?"
As she looked past the doorway, her jaw dropped open.
Before her widened eyes were a desert, its sand stretching to the horizon and mixing with the scorching wind. Her lips dried up after just 10 seconds of staring at the scenery.
Softly, he asked, "What do you think? It's uncanny, right?"
"This…"
Epherene grabbed him by the collar.
"T-Take me back!"
"Hahaha."
"D-Don't laugh, hurry up, you kidnapper!"
Bump—Bong—Bong—
She clumsily shook the large criminal's body.
"Do it!"
"Hahahaha."
"Take me back!"
"Don't worry. I will. You might get scolded by Deculein if I don't."
"… What? Why would he do that?"
"Hmm? Weren't the two of you Deculein's disciples?"
She frowned.
"Nonsense. More importantly, where the hell are we?"
"We're at the Kahal Desert in the eastern part of the continent. Despite this place's absurd climate, there are several demon-blooded people's villages here."
"You mean the instigators of today's terrorism?"
He let out a bitter smile. Without answering her question, he continued.
"Their annihilation will soon begin, and so will the intensification of the oppression over the minorities. That tormenting gale will be far stronger than the desert wind that you feel now. What do you think of that?"
"Why are you asking me that? I'm a wizard, not a politician."
"I need someone who will succeed me soon."
"Succeed you?"
Rohakan's slanted gaze reached Epherene, his eyes seemingly overflowing with sorrow.
"Yes. When you reach a certain level as a wizard, you are powerful enough to learn of your own death. That being said, I don't have much time left in this world."
"… Then you should tell Professor Deculein to do it."
"Do you think that man will listen to me?"
Recalling the Head Professor's unique ego, Epherene nodded.
Haughty, arrogant, noble, and possessed by self-righteous dignity.
"Well, to be fair, he listens to no one. Even if God tells him to do it, I don't think he will if he doesn't want to. No, I'm certain he won't."
"Hahaha! You're right."
Rohakan laughed as he closed the door, then picked up a magic pouch in the corner of the room with [Psychokinesis].
"Now. In this pouch are 'elixirs,' a 'magic training book' I wrote, and many others that I'm certain will help you."
"… So?"
She already seemed to have set her own expectations.
"I'll give this to you and your friend."
"… What? Why? That's suspicious."
Her doubt was just for formality. Epherene's eyes were already fixed on the magic pouch.
He chuckled.
"There will come a point in your career as a wizard where you'll start finding it easy to decipher other people. Of course, it only works for simple people like you. I will never understand those as complex and reserved as Deculein."
"What? Sylvia is far from simple."
"No. That one is probably simpler than you. Anyway, will you take it?"
His words made her ponder.
A Black Beast and known as the world's worst criminal, Rohakan…
Seemed to be a good old man.
"Half belongs to you, and half belongs to your friend. I even wrote your name tag."
"…"
Deeply thinking about it, she glanced at him as she grabbed the pouch.
"Okay."
"Good. Now that you've taken it, I'll leave Deculein to you. I'll come back later and ask you a favor."
"Huh? I don't know what favor you'll be asking, but why are you entrusting Deculein to us?"
"Well~ you probably don't know yet, but I can see a little bit of the future. At most, two weeks or a month is my limit." He smiled nonchalantly.
"Bullshit! I-I mean, you're lying! How can you see the future?"
But his words were more than enough to astonish Epherene.
"You don't have to be surprised. It serves as proof of a short life. The closer a wizard is to their end, the more they learn of the truth."
Creak—
Rohakan pulled the lever again. The desert landscape had disappeared.
"I have now two or three years left in me at most. Even if I fall, many wizards in this world will have key roles, and whether you like it or not, Deculein, that bastard, will be one of them."
"That's funny."
"Right. But bear this in mind. He could be both a pillar of growth or the beginning of ruin."
"Both are huge problems for me. What kind of future did you see? Can't you come back after seeing it in more detail again?"
"Hahaha. I also want to, but it's not something I can just look at as I please."
He opened the door to the hut again, revealing a familiar square.
The flow of time seemed strange. The sky was already dark, and the surroundings had grown quiet, seemingly signifying that the terrorist attack incident had been cleared up.
Epherene looked up blankly at Rohakan.
"… You look like a real wizard."
"I get that a lot. I see Demakan the same way you see me."
Archmage Demakan. With Rohakan being this powerful already, how much more could he be?
He looked at the moon in the sky for a moment, then looked at Rohakan again. No, she looked where Rohakan previously was, only to find that he and his hut had already disappeared.
"Epherene."
Not long after, a cold voice called her name, startling her.
It was all too familiar, but that was exactly why it terrified her.
"P-Professor…?"
Deculein's fierce eyes were staring down at her.
"You met Rohakan."
His words made her heart pound so hard that she thought it would explode.
"N-No."
"What did he say?"
Her mouth felt dry, and her anxiety was shooting through her threshold. It was as if dark pressure was squeezing her body.
"Epherene."
He called her name once more.
"Answer me."
"… It's a secret!"
Closing her eyes as she shouted, she resisted his intimidation.
"…"
The punishment she was waiting for didn't come. However, the magic pouch she held slowly moved to Deculein's hand.
"… U-Um! P-Please, give it back!"
She grew restless like a dog that had lost its treat as he looked into it calmly.
Gulp—
'He will take it from me. He will confiscate everything.'
"Take it."
"… Huh?"
When her heart was about to shatter, he returned the pouch to her. The atmosphere around him was still dark and overbearing, but he neither reprimanded her nor confiscated it.
"You disappeared without a word."
"… Yes?"
"I was looking for you."
Of course, his face and voice were still cold, but his words told her he was worried.
Epherene, who wasn't used to it, noticed a potion in his hand that had the name tag [Deculein] attached to it.
Rohakan, that old man, deliberately dropped her off near Deculein.
"Go to the police station. Your friends are waiting for you."
Epherene stared blankly at his back as he walked away.
* * *
Sylvia slept for so long in her room she felt like a hibernating bear. With her were her familiar and the panda.
Tak-! Tak-!
However, for quite some time now, she kept hearing strange noises coming from her window.
It was 4:30 in the morning.
Tak-! Tak-!
She tried to ignore it, but she eventually grew annoyed with it as it persisted.
'What fearless bastard dares…'
Tak-! Tak-!
Sylvia impatiently pulled up the curtains, finding Epherene about to throw a small pebble. The intruder smiled brightly.
"Stupid Epherene."
She drew the curtains again. Likewise, Epherene resumed throwing stones at the window.
Tak-! Tak-!
"…"
'I'm only going to hold out three more times. If you keep doing it, I'll hit you.'
Sylvia narrowed her eyes, but the noise soon stopped, almost as if she read her mind.
No, on the contrary…
Knock— knock—
It simply turned into a knock.
The moment she sighed, her door swung open, revealing Epherene, as expected.
"Who told you to come in? Who let you in? Who let you open the door?"
"Oh, sorry. Miss Lete…"
"Get out. Get out. Get out."
"Wait. Just look at this. You'll change your mind after you see this."
Epherene pulled out a rare-looking book from her pouch, causing Sylvia's eyes to light up momentarily.
"I met Rohakan, that old man. He gave this to us as a gift."
"…."
"Look. Here's your name tag. [Sylvia]."
As a document collection enthusiast, she couldn't reject Epherene's offer, who sat next to her.
"What are you going to do now?" She asked, curious about her career path.
She stared at her intently but soon answered in a low voice.
"… I'll head to the Isle of Wizard's Wealth."
"The floating island?"
"I'll become a high-ranking wizard even greater than that professor Deculein…"
Sylvia couldn't yet understand her own feelings. The scenes she witnessed that day came as a huge shock to her, causing her mind to become intricately entwined like a tangled thread.
"And?"
"I don't know what I'll do next yet."
Epherene nodded. Deculein went from 'professor' to 'that professor,' but she wasn't idiotic enough to ask why.
"Huh? Hey, is this a radio? Interesting. This is my first time seeing one."
She looked at the radio on the bedside drawer. Glancing at it, Sylvia turned it on.
—… The imperial family imposed an emergency martial law in the empire, and key factors, including a magic professor at the Imperial University and a knight commander, were convened.
"Wow. An actual voice is coming from it."
Listening to the news, Epherene remembered Rohakan's words.
Where and how would the 'gale' that old man talked about come?
─In particular, Head Professor Deculein, criticized by the magic world as well as the political and business community for defending the demon-blooded in Bercht, is getting attention─
Sylvia turned off the radio.
Epherene, about to ask why she did that, stopped herself when she noticed she was about to cry.
"If you want to listen to it, go out and do it alone."
"… Okay."
She went to the living room with the radio.
The mansion was dark.
Putting it on the desk near a shofar, she fiddled around with it.
"How did she turn it on again?"
However, no matter how hard she tried, no sound came out.
"Speak," She ordered.
No response.
"… Why won't you talk?"
After waiting for quite some time, Epherene frowned.
"Are you rebelling…" She crossed her arms, her tone sounding a little more serious this time.
"Speak."
"Speak like you just did."
"Speak now!"
"… Are you putting up a resistance?"
"Aha, is it because you don't recognize me as your owner? Sylvia said I could listen to you too, you know? She gave me her permission. So, talk to me already."
"Speak."
"I told you to speak."
"Speak!"
She quarreled against the first radio she had ever seen, which proved to be rebellious, until Lete arrived.
*****
[… Simultaneous Dark Energy bombings occurred during the All Nations Grand Festival of the Empire. A total of 18 places were targeted, including the square where the festival was in full swing.]
[The dispatched wizards and knights, including Head Professor Deculein, suppressed it as fast as they could, but there were still several victims, including 3,000 deaths and 10,000 injured…]
[One of the groups that perpetrated this terrorist attack was identified as the 'Demon Blood.' Opposing the discrimination against the 'demon-blooded' prevalent on the continent and despising the Orthodox Church, they plot acts of terrorism to destroy their opponents.]
[… Both those in provincial and central areas have made many appeals to suppress those of demon blood.]
[Half a year ago, 'Rock Hark,' the murderer of countless wizards, was revealed to be of demon blood. The Reok Kingdom, known for its sorcery, declared him an enemy of the race…]
"What do you guys think? More than half of the instigators of the recent act of terrorism were demon-blooded. That's what's causing this huge uproar right now." Emperor Sophien asked, smiling.
There wasn't much I could answer with. The event Arlos spoke of, the "Gale" of the Altar, would be using an entire race.
"How did they deduce they're non-human?"
"Those bastards from the Betan family developed a method."
"May I ask what that is?"
"They ripped their heart out and discovered that it was clearly different from that of a human's. They weren't called demon-blooded for no reason."
"…."
It was quite an ignorant procedure. I momentarily grew speechless in an attempt to think of a solution but soon realized there was no way out.
"Yukline. I will not be able to reject this public opinion."
The suppression of their kind was a huge event. The premise of the main quest's first half itself could even be called 'Demon Blood Repression.'
"Regardless of center and province, their appeal is strong. I have to act according to the will of my servants and my people."
I wanted to delay it as much as possible, but this era would eventually suppress those of demon blood.
"We'll begin by taking their most known territories and confiscating their properties."
The demon-blooded were broadly divided into two categories.
Those mixed with the continent and those not.
The former's appearance and behavior weren't much different from the imperial people's but could be distinguished by their religion and eating habits.
The latter spoke in a notably unique dialect and had villages and regions exclusive to them on the edge of the empire.
"The people's wrath against them has grown so much. The world of magic and the merchants are glaring at them, saying it's an opportunity to earn money. From what I heard, there are many of their kind that live among the rich."
The trigger had already been pulled, firing a bullet known as "Imperial Terrorism" and causing casualties upwards of 10,000.
"A clan has carried out a terrorist attack that will harm their own clan," I said as I looked at Sophien, who smiled happily.
Looking closely, it was a strange development.
Why wouldn't the person, who committed the terrorist attack for his clan's sake, think about how his actions could harm the very existence he was trying to protect?
It was weird, of course, but it didn't really matter.
This terrorism was just a 'pretext.'
Just like giving a death row prisoner to a man who wanted to dance with a sword, he just gave the people of the Empire who desperately wanted to suppress the Demon Blood the perfect reason and cause to do so.
This was why it was a gale.
Even I had no choice but to be swept away by it.
–-AUTOINSERTBOT- ActiveTranslations. Please ignore this, sorry for the interruption!-
From now on, regardless of Yukline, Iliade, Belard, Betan.
The time to enter the main quest in earnest had come.
Demon Blood suppression would be the right thing to do, and the Demon Blood advocacy would turn into a mistake.
"Take it."
Sophien handed me an identification card while I was deep in thought.
"You'll be called 'Lestel.' It means tiger in rune language."
[Achievement Reward: Emperor's Guard]
◆ Store Currency +1
◆ Mana +50
◆ One item catalog.
"It's the separate guard unit I founded. Since you volunteered to be my teacher, I assigned it the grade of "R" to maintain your dignity."
"Is that so?"
"I'm looking forward to seeing you show off your power as a Yukline. That being said, do you still intend to defend the Demon Blood?"
I looked at Sophien.
I still didn't know Sophien's intentions. However, if I insisted on defending the Demon Blood even in this situation, my end would be an isolated death followed by my whole territory being dyed with blood.
"We'll build a concentration camp."
"A concentration camp?"
"Yes. It'll be less provocative than annihilation, and it'll also win popular support."
"Where are you going to build it?"
"The Yukline estate is vast. There's an area called 'Rohalak' among our lands."
"Isn't that an area close to extinction?" Sophien's eyes widened.
Rohalak was widely known as a high-risk area where demons appeared dozens of times a day. In fact, to some extent, that was true.
"I thought you liked the Demon Blood, Deculein. Your idea itself isn't bad, but Rohalak? Are you going to condemn them all to hell?"
"I don't like them. I just thought there was no reason to hate them."
"Hmm. Did this terrorist attack give you a reason to hate them…"
Stroking her chin, she shrugged.
"Are you sure you want to build such a hate facility on your estate?"
"I know your Majesty will provide me with rewards that would compensate for it."
"Oh?"
A tail rose from Sophien's back as she smiled. I looked closer, thinking my eyes were just deceiving me, but she had turned into that red-furred Munchkin.
"Alright. I'll give you a decent reward according to the number of Demon Blood you capture. The central government will also support the cost of building the camp."
"Thank you. I will need to set an example anyway."
"An example?"
"Yes."
I recalled the memories in my head.
The Demon Blood had evil members in their ranks as well.
They weren't evil because of their clan but because their nature dictated them to be villains.
If I didn't subdue and slay them, they would prove harmful to the main quest and their clan itself in the future.
"I'll repress and execute dozens of them. Now that the tower is also on vacation, giving me free time, it wouldn't be a bad idea to go find them myself."
The emperor didn't reply to my answer.
[They're said to be a member of the Demon Clan from ancient times…]
Reading the servants' appeal condemning the Demon Blood, I raised my head as her silence prolonged, finding the emperor looking at me with a surprised expression.
"Deculein… the price for betraying your faith is too cruel."
Her voice sounded unexpectedly startled.
"Is that so?"
I didn't tell a single lie.
I would execute the "criminals" who were of demon blood, and I would build a concentration camp in Rohalak, which would no longer be as dangerous as it was rumored to be.
Moreover, I didn't know how a 'concentration camp' would be accepted in this world.
It would be entirely up to me to decide what to do in it.
"Yes. You were the only one who defended them, but you changed instantly. Hahahaha."
My words seemed to have put Sophien in a good mood.
Well, she never did think positively of the Demon Blood, even in the game.
"I just decided I should also study hard. I must not betray your faith!"
"I know you'll give up in five minutes."
Humpf-
Sophien's lips twisted upward.
"You dare say that to me? You're too cheeky. Alright, fine. I can do this. I'll make sure to progress more than 1 page today—"
"—This is too annoying. Get out of here."
Her two sentences almost overlapped.
She probably only lasted three minutes before she threw away my textbook, a clear sign that she had grown tired of memorizing a few runes.
Rune language was a power that required mana and mental power, but…
"Your Majesty. Five minutes—"
"Ebebe— Ebe— Ptooey—! My mouth is already sore from dealing with these damn runes. Scram!"
"…."
"I'm sleepy. I'll go to sleep."
Sophien lay on her bed and turned her back, leaving me no choice but to go outside.