episode_0047

As Sharon and I were leaving work, the driver looked at us and lowered his head.

“Astan, can you give me a moment? ”

“Do you need me?”

“Chloe called for a moment.”

At the knight’s words, I opened my mouth to Sharon.

“Go back first, and if anything happens, call your seniors immediately, and then tell Isabel the story.”

“Okay, see you tomorrow.”

After greeting me, Sharon moved to the academy first, and Jeremy followed behind. And I opened my mouth to the article.

“Where is senior Chloe?”

“You are in the eastern part of Ignolia, please follow me.”

“Yes.”

I slowly moved with the knight to the eastern part of Ignolia. Why did Chloe-senpai call me? I heard about the decision earlier, and if not, is it about a spy?

But even if I go, there might not be anything I can do differently. As we were walking and talking, raindrops fell from the sky and landed on my forehead. The cold sensation that tickled my forehead made me wonder if Erica could even freeze the rain, when I heard the sound of raindrops splashing on the knight’s armor.

I should have brought an umbrella, I thought. As I followed the driver into the alley heading towards the east, the driver opened his mouth.

“Astan, where are you from?”

“I’m from Araelia. It’s a small country whose name I don’t know, so I don’t think the driver will know.”

“Araelia is wide.”

While I was walking slowly down the alley muttering that story, the rain became stronger. I felt like I needed to stop the rain, so I was about to take out my wand to prepare for the magic that senior Erica showed me, when I heard the knight’s voice.

“Ignolia’s spy is said to be the Demon King’s army.”

“The Demon King’s army has already disappeared, but it’s surprising that its remnants still remain. The devil would have died.”

“Is the Demon King dead?”

At that moment, there was a feeling that covered my entire body. For some reason, the creepy feeling that covered my body was clearly fear. With my mind suddenly becoming cold, I held the wand in my hand and cautiously opened my mouth.

“Chloe, why did you call me?”

“I don’t know that either.”

“Then where is Senior Chloe?”

“It will arrive soon.”

And then I smelled a strange smell in my nose. A strange smell mixed with the smell of rain, a fishy yet sweet and mysterious scent.

Nothing else came to mind except the smell of blood.

“The driver must also be from Araelia.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“You probably know Araelia’s declaration.”

“Yes.”

At those words, I pointed my cane at him and opened my mouth.

“Who are you?”

Then the knight turned and looked at me. Although I couldn’t see his face because it was covered by a helmet, the senses in my body were telling me one correct answer. He was a familiar person. Of course, I could tell from the moment he dragged me along like this.

The knight pointing his cane looked at me and spoke carefully.

“Now, do you realize that this action is a threat to Araelia?”

“Then, let’s answer the Araelia Declaration that the driver mentioned.”

The driver gave no answer to my question, so I smiled and grabbed my cane.

“There is no such thing in the first place. If you were going to disguise yourself, you should have done it more carefully.”

Then the knight took a step towards me, and I held out my staff and opened my mouth.

“If you approach, I will attack.”

“Do you think you can beat me?”

The voice I heard in my ears was different. In a somewhat unpleasant, tearing voice that was not the knight’s, I deployed a protective shield around my body and let out an answer.

“I never thought it would appear before my eyes like this, and that it would appear like this. Should I say it’s been a while? I tried so hard to find you, but it was more futile than I thought.”

“All the cores of the dead disappeared. It must have been the Academy’s fault.”

“Don’t look down on your seniors at the academy. I already lost to Erica once.”

He let out a small laugh at my words and took a step toward me.

“That’s bold, it’s like a mouse struggling after being cornered on a dead end. How can a wizard who almost died once be so proud?”

“When you find yourself at a dead end, you will do anything. And I’m sorry, but this time will be different.”

With those words, I injected mana into the ring on my index finger and smiled at the man.

“I will take revenge on the previous duel.”

“That’s funny.”

And the man pointed his staff at me, and at that moment, lightning flew towards me. When I saw lightning in front of me, I aimed my wand at the lightning and opened my mouth.

“Mana, destroy the enemy before me!”

The shock magic fired at the same time as my spell struck the lightning and blocked it, and I smiled as I looked at the man.

“You said things have changed, right?”

“Well, you’re just an inexperienced wizard!”

The man waved his wand at me and mouthed a spell, and lightning moved towards me. It was a familiar memory, a familiar magic.

I’ve already seen this magic before. I saw it in the afternoon too. However, the only thing that was different from Yuria’s magic was that it was faster and stronger than Yuria’s magic. Can I stop it? Can I stop it?

With that thought in mind, I said a spell.

“Ice, protect my body.”

And at the same time, the water droplets around me froze and began to protect my body, and then I opened my mouth, swinging the staff in my right hand.

“Ice, rise up.”

As soon as the spell came out of the corner of my mouth, cold air surrounded my body and began to freeze the raindrops falling from the sky, and I added the created ice to the already summoned ice shield.

With a clatter, the shield and magic began to collide. Between the fierce lightning and the slowly breaking ice shield, I bit my lip and shouted the magic spell once again.

“Ice, protect my body!”

With the protective shield created once again, I stretched out my left hand and aimed at the opponent’s chest.

“Ice, pierce the enemy!”

The ice arrow created by the spell quickly flew towards the opponent, and perhaps because of that, the man stopped his attack and dodged the arrow.

“You’ve increased a lot.”

“You won’t lose easily.”

A rough breath escaped from the corner of my mouth. Perhaps it was because I used too much mana, but I was still able to hold on, but it wasn’t as easy as it sounds. Since I was contacted by my seniors, I thought it would arrive soon. So, I had to hold on. Whether Isabel senior or Erica senior came.

If it’s instantaneous, it won’t be long before it arrives.

Exhaling slowly, I spoke to the man.

“Can I ask you a question? We’ve seen each other several times, so I think we can get along at that level.”

“You’re bold, are you going to buy some time?”

“That’s the goal, but I also have some questions. You will be caught sooner or later anyway, so please join us.”

The man laughed out loud at my answer, and I aimed my cane at him.

“There is another spy in the academy.”

“Doubt or certainty?”

“I’m sure, my intuition tells me.”

“With that sense, did you find the door I made?”

“You can say so, so let me ask. Who are you? The Academy’s spy is.”

“Do you think you will tell me that?”

I smiled slightly at his words. Of course they won’t tell you. Is there anyone in this world who would sell out their colleagues?

“That was the answer I wanted the most.”

“Who is the spy? Is it one person, several people, or if not none? What do you think is the answer?”

To the question that seemed to be staring at me, I shook my head and answered.

“I won’t know that, until you tell me. If not that too… … There may not be one.”

In response to my answer, he opened his mouth without saying a word, pointing his cane at me.

“What if I don’t know?”

“That is also quite possible.”

And I also pointed my cane at him. As the duel was about to begin again, I swallowed my saliva and tried to move the mana in my body, when I heard footsteps in my ears.

Again, the sound of shoes rang in my ears, and when I turned my head to the sound, I saw a silver-haired woman walking towards us.

“It’s been a while?”

“… … I never thought I would meet the person I hate the most.”

“Thank you for your hard work, Astan.”

The senior tapped my shoulder with a smile, took out a cane from his pocket and pointed it at the other person, and I opened my mouth.

“Can you come a little sooner?”

“They arrived as quickly as possible, but they still managed to hold on. Looking at the ice forming around them, they seem to have gotten used to dealing with nature.”

“… … Well, that’s right.”

“So, do you want to compete with me, or do you want to surrender? By the way, it will be difficult to run away. Because Isabelle has already separated this space. Even if you try to teleport, it’s blocked.”

The senior smiled as he said those words. The wizards facing each other in the moonlit alley were pointing their wands without making a reply.

And the man’s mouth opened first. In response to the spell coming out of his mouth, the senior simply said nothing, pointed his staff at the ground, and uttered a single word.

“Liberation.”

As soon as the senior spoke, a tremendous amount of cold emanated from the senior’s body, freezing the raindrops falling from the sky and quickly moving towards the man.

It was so cold that it was difficult to even open my eyes. Even now, I felt like I would freeze if I moved my body even slightly, so I swung my staff and used protection magic, and the senior aimed his staff at the spy without any change in his expression. At that moment, the cold turned into ice and all at once. It wrapped around the spy’s body.

As the situation ended in an instant, I looked at my senior and opened my mouth.

“He might run away again.”

“I have already received permission from Ignolia and Araelia. This guy will be transported to the academy.”

I nodded slowly at those words and looked at the spy. The eyes staring at me couldn’t be seen because they were covered by the helmet, but they were clear.

I felt like I was planning something.