The territory of Borgian is adjacent to the northern mountain range.
While it wasn't a front line, it was an area connected to the Wailing Gorge, the forefront fortress. It was always bustling with people as it served as a vacation area for soldiers and a supply route.
Hicksam Borgian, the lord of Borgian, was in his office engaged in a conversation with someone.
The space was occupied only by Hicksam, the lord, and a person in strange attire, with all his attendants gone.
Hicksam received a piece of cloth handed to him by the other person.
"What is this...?"
"Once every three days, you should dip the cloth in his blood and strike it with the given rod. Repeat it four times, and the curse will be activated."
"Thank you, Jester."
The person referred to as Jester was a man with bizarre attire, his head completely turned around under a triangular hat. From the content of their conversation, it was clear that he was no saint.
As they concluded their satisfactory deal and were about to end the meeting...
"Knock, knock!"
Someone knocked on the door, making a tapping sound.
Hicksam frowned.
"Apologies, Jester. I clearly told them not to let anyone approach."
"That can happen."
"Well! Of course, it can."
As their gazes turned toward the door at the sudden voice, an entirely unexpected figure had entered the office.
"Salem Yedidia...!"
"Yeah, yeah. Nice to meet you."
Jester exclaimed in astonishment, while Hicksam, not knowing what was going on, looked at the two.
"Jester, who is he?"
"Are you the lord of this place? Sorry, I had to come without notice because I had something to discuss with this guy."
Salem casually approached and grabbed a bottle of liquor placed on the desk. He then sat on the desk, facing Jester.
"Hey, Jester."
"...Seems like there's no hope for you, Salem. You're hopeless."
"Don't you know that already? Don't you have something to say to me?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
As Jester finished speaking, a beam of light suddenly erupted from Salem's left arm.
The light seemed to be engraved on Salem's left arm, forming various strange and grotesque magic circles.
With the light emitting from his left arm, Salem laughed.
"So, you think very little of me?"
"Is this about the ambush?"
"Got it right?"
Hicksam couldn't figure out what was happening and quietly backed away, not knowing what to make of the man who had entered the room.
"We were after Dienne Alben, Bahat Alben's daughter. Is there a problem with that?"
"Look at this guy. Do you really think I came here knowing nothing?"
Flames began to sprout from Salem's left arm, where the light had been emanating earlier, engulfing his clothes.
The hand surrounded by flames resembled a human hand to some extent, but it looked more like something out of a demon's possession.
"...What do you want me to do?"
"That's the spirit."
Salem finally relaxed his expression and casually extinguished the flames on his left hand, as if blowing out a match.
Once the hand that had looked like a demon returned to its original form in an instant, intricate magic circles drawn as tattoos on his muscular exposed arm were visible.
"If you ignore my warning and dare to hire a mercenary for the assassination of Adrias, it means you not only disregarded me but also considered me a mere meal. Understand?"
"Give me one more week of diligence."
"Is that it? Shouldn't you lend me something to ease my anger for the time being?"
"Luna has it now. If you want it, go get it from her."
"Fine. Perfect."
Salem smiled with satisfaction and got up from his seat.
Then, as he was about to leave, he saw Hicksam, who was standing by the door.
"Oh, Lord? I apologize for today. I came in a hurry because I had something urgent to discuss with this guy. Let's continue our conversation."
He left the room while shaking the bottle of liquor.
"This tastes good. Can I borrow it for a bit?"
After Salem left and the door closed, Hicksam stared at the closed door with a perplexed expression.
"What on earth just happened..."
Several days had passed since the attack by the black-robed individuals.
The total number of casualties in the attack was 13, consisting of 9 students and 4 teaching assistants. It may have been a smaller number than expected, but considering that the total number of third-year students in the School of Magic was only about 300, it could be considered a significant loss.
"Luck was on our side. Fortunately, Dienne and I were the first to be discovered, so the damage wasn't as severe. Otherwise, they would have killed more students."
Despite that, the number of assailants was greater than anticipated.
Even excluding the members who targeted Dienne, there were dozens of other robed individuals who engaged in fierce battles throughout the mountains. Among them, "Kidwell, the Tongue of Darkness," who was considered the leader, was swiftly eliminated by Ivy.
I, who appeared late and saved Dienne and myself, pretended to be a masked swordsman and lied that he had rescued us. Thankfully, I was able to join without suspicion.
Although many people participated in the search to uncover the true identity of the masked swordsman, they couldn't find any trace of him.
"Well, it's not surprising. It's me, after all."
No one could suspect that I was the masked swordsman.
Even if they saw me in action, they couldn't imagine that a mage would wield a sword. The concept of a dual-core was still not officially known, so they wouldn't even consider such a possibility.
However, there was another problem.
"Hey, are classes over?"
Ivy was waiting for me as I came out of the classroom.
I pondered how to extract myself from this situation and nodded.
"Yes, they're over. What's the matter?"
"Come with me."
She seemed more serious than usual, contrary to her usual carefree demeanor.
She started walking ahead without waiting for my response, and I could only follow with a headache.
"I'm going to be thoroughly interrogated this time."
When Ivy saw me, who appeared belatedly on the day of the attack, she gave me a suspicious look.
At the time, right after the incident, I was too disoriented and needed time to recover, so I didn't say much. But it seemed like she finally got hold of me.
She boarded a train.
I don't know how far she intended to take me, but I simply followed her calmly.
Ivy took me to the training grounds in the Knight Department.
Someone was training there, but they disappeared in a flash when they saw Ivy and me approaching.
"Aren't you going to ask why I brought you here?"
"I trust that you'll explain."
"Is that so? Then let me ask you directly..."
Suddenly, Ivy began speaking at length.
At that moment, her muscles, breathing, and posture sent a signal that she was about to attack.
"A sweeping strike from the lower right."
Calculating in an instant, I stepped back with my right foot and turned my body.
And Ivy's sword grazed past me as if she had planned it.
"As I expected, you're not an ordinary guy."
Ivy muttered as she looked at me, impressed by my reflexes.
Her sword remained unsheathed.
"What are you doing?"
"What am I doing? Shouldn't you be asking that right now?"
Ivy glared at me with burning eyes.
"What the hell are you?"
Vivian Belocan, after all the classes were over as usual, arrived at the training grounds and warmed up.
Despite the cold weather, her daily routine remained unchanged.
"...I want to go."
But her inner thoughts were directed elsewhere at the moment.
The recent incident of the attack during the Battle Magic evaluation.
It caused turmoil even in the Knight Department.
Unlike in Voloric, this attack was clearly aimed at the students.
As a result, even the graduating class of the Knight Department was deployed, adding to the manpower.
"Adrias."
The followers of the group of dark mages and mercenaries attacked precisely the Adrias she had been thinking about recently.
Fortunately, she heard the news that he was unharmed, but she still wanted to meet him in person and confirm it.
"...Would he dislike it?"
However, she hesitated because she and Adrias had no connection other than Voloric.
At first, when she visited him without thinking, it didn't matter, but since their encounter at the infirmary, thoughts of him made her blush.
"Why am I like this?"
Vivian despised herself for having such thoughts.
If she had time to think about this, she should swing her sword one more time.
At that moment, she felt someone entering the training grounds.
While pondering about Adrias, Vivian noticed that the person entering the training grounds was Ivy and Adrias, and without realizing it, she hid behind one of the training ground pillars.
"Adrias? Why?"
Curiosity sparked in her, and she listened carefully to the conversation between the two on the training grounds.
The interaction between the two started with some argument, as Ivy asked Adrias to draw his sword, but he refused.
"I need to make sure of you. If that sword is not just for decoration, draw it quickly."
"You suddenly come to me and demand something. I bought this sword for the sake of my devotion, not for situations like this."
"Then let me ask you to draw it for the sake of that devotion."
Swoosh.
The sound of Ivy unsheathing her sword echoed.
Behind the pillar, Vivian started to contemplate whether she should intervene and stop them.
"...Why is she going this far? Does she see me as an accomplice to the dark mages?"
"When coincidences overlap, they become inevitable. Twice now, dark mages who are difficult to find even when hiding have been discovered in incidents involving you, of all people."
"Are you taking me away without any evidence?"
"Then explain it. I still don't understand what happened during Voloric. You caught the dark mage who was using such large-scale dark magic with just you and Chris? Isn't that bullshit?"
"The investigators have already gone through that part. I don't feel the need to explain it further."
"No, there's one thing you haven't explained. Vivian Belocan. How do you explain her?"
When he suddenly mentioned her name, Vivian held her breath.
And her ears perked up more than ever.
"...Why is Vivian being brought up here all of a sudden?"
"When I first found you, you were clearly holding hands with her. And since then, you've been avoiding her and keeping your distance."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"After returning from Voloric, she changed. What did you do?"
Vivian tightly gripped her chest, where her pounding heart was.
Please, heart, stay calm for a little longer.
"I... I just saved her."
"What?"
"She was trapped in the dark mages' barrier, so I went in and rescued her myself. That's all."
Vivian's eyes widened.