episode_0151

Leo is the greatest force in the secret task force.

With all of my swords broken, I couldn’t continue fighting.

The moment Tristin’s defensive barrier was broken, everyone jumped into Luke’s portal.

“… I thought I was losing.”

Barely escaped with his life.

Cherel, who was half-mixed with water, soon returned to her half-squinted eyes.

It meant that he had completely returned to being human.

“… Are you okay, Leo?”

Luke looked at Leo, who was lying blankly in the snow.

Even if there was some kind of insulating magic, there’s no way you wouldn’t be cold if you lay there like that.

It was such a shock that I forgot my senses.

“The sword strike I just saw… …was not human.”

Carl Chad simply took out his sword and put it back.

With just that simple movement, a storm of black energy blew in.

“Even if he is that human, there is a limit… … .”

Leo grew up watching Calchad’s swordsmanship up close.

In the first place, all the swordsmanship he uses was learned from Kalchad.

What I just witnessed was something that even a sword master would be unable to do.

“If this continues, I’ll freeze.”

Luke lifted Leo up.

I thought you’d know how to get up by now.

I couldn’t wait because he kept lying there muttering.

Because mana is still being consumed.

“Is Mana okay?”

“It would have been better if Leo had woken up sooner.”

“… I’m sorry.”

Leo bowed his head obediently.

It wasn’t just an apology for wasting magic power.

If only Luke’s portal had opened even a little later.

Or if Tristin’s defensive barrier hadn’t held up, the secret task force would have been slaughtered on the spot.

As a captain, my mistake was not being able to gauge my opponent’s level.

“How do you estimate that with common sense? Let’s get into it.”

Luke just squeezed his mana to the limit to open the portal.

Although the pact with the dragon made him incapable of feeling pain, it was reported that Mana Heart was screaming for him to be killed.

It felt like my life had been shortened by a week.

“What about black?”

One was split in two.

The remaining one is Leo’s dented sword.

It is common sense that the more skilled a prosecutor is, the more famous the sword he carries.

Leo’s sword must have been quite a valuable item, but it was a huge loss…

“You can get it from the imperial palace.”

… … It didn’t seem to exist.

“Is that okay?”

“What do you want to ask?”

“These must have been the swords I cherished and kept with me until now… .”

“The captain doesn’t care about that.”

Tristin, who was pressing her temples in the aftereffects of frantically creating a barrier, intervened.

“I’ll just think of it as one of the consumables.”

“?”

Don’t prosecutors usually value their swords more than their lives?

“Is there any reason to cherish weapons made of metal?”

Leo was no ordinary inspector.

“I couldn’t understand why that person was so fond of his sword. It seems to have been replaced by a strange aura now, but even 10 years ago… .”

This is the first time I’ve seen Leo speak so quickly.

It seemed that the habit of not sparing the sword was a backlash against the sword.

“Then it was just an iron sword. It seemed like it would break too easily.”

“Yes? That was made and given to you by His Majesty himself.”

“… … ”

Luke gave up thinking any further and just looked at Leo.

Even if I tried to use common sense, it was clear that it would all go astray.

“A special sword made from a black meteorite bestowed by His Majesty. Who would have thought that it could be cut and crumpled like a piece of paper… .”

… But why do you think it’s just a consumable?

Isn’t it okay to use it for the rest of your life?

“If His Majesty asks for a new one, He will make one for you.”

“… … ”

It was only then that Luke remembered.

The captain of the secret task force before my eyes was the eldest son of the Empire’s top official.

No matter how harsh his childhood was, he probably didn’t lack materially.

“Anyway, you have to return to the palace.”

“Yeah, I’ll come back after reorganizing. I’m shameless, but… .”

“I will open a portal to the palace.”

“Is that okay?”

“I’ve told you many times, but your body is already broken.”

We arrived at the entrance to the tower just as Luke was drinking the mana potion.

I’m trying to break the barrier and enter.

“… … ?”

Something felt off.

Did I write something like this when I built the barrier?

It seems like the amount of mana being released has subtly changed.

“Why is that?”

Leo tilted his head as Luke opened the door and stared blankly.

“Nothing… .”

Luke tried to ignore it and just move on.

Suddenly, a strong energy struck the back of my head.

“Senior, was it always this dark?”

I’ve never closed all the curtains on the roof.

I have never turned off the magic lamp.

There’s no reason for it to be this dark inside, right?

When you think about it.

bang!

The door I just came through closed automatically.

* * * * *

I felt something was wrong.

Exactly.

Even if I snap my fingers, no light comes on.

The door that just closed won’t open.

“… Are you okay?”

Leo examined Luke’s complexion.

He was so pale that he could be called a vampire.

“Is this a group after all?”

“No, that’s not it. That’s not it… .”

My head feels dizzy.

All the magic on the tower was designed by Luke himself.

Most wizards wouldn’t be able to properly understand the structure.

There is only one wizard on the continent who can completely take control without anyone noticing.

But how on earth?

Even if Aurora told me that it was in the northern outskirts.

Wouldn’t it make sense to find the location of the magic tower and change all the magic in that short time?

“… Senior?”

“I think I should go out for now.”

Luke tried to leave the tower right away.

In the meantime, the barrier on the door had changed.

The moment you want to release it.

“Where are you going?”

“… … !!”

The hairs on my whole body stood on end.

I can honestly say that I’ve never been this scared.

A fear more indescribable than the one I had felt when I saw Kalchad’s absurd swordsmanship earlier came over me.

Luke creaked and turned his head.

There is someone there who can never be here.

Luke’s only disciple who shouldn’t be here.

“I finally found it.”

He walked lightly in the darkness, his blue eyes shining brightly.

Luke rolled his eyes diligently, looking for an escape route.

But all the gaps were blocked.

It was the thoroughness of Luke’s disciple.

In the end, Luke made the best decision.

“… Go out first.”

“What?”

Only then did Leo, who had been frozen by the unexpected person, come to his senses.

“Go to the Glaze Estate or the Imperial Palace. Get out of here.”

“But the door… .”

Bam!

The door that had been tightly closed opened.

Ellen didn’t say anything though.

The message to get out was clearly conveyed.

Leo made a wise decision.

“… … Let’s go out.”

I was in no mood to talk to my younger brother.

The secret task force left the tower quietly.

Click.

The door closes again.

Darkness fell on the rooftop.

In the pitch darkness, Elin’s blue eyes radiated an intense presence.

“I missed you, teacher.”

Just a little.

Elin walked up to my nose.

“It’s been a while… …”

Left alone, Luke faces his karma.

* * * * *

“Yeah, it’s been a while.”

Ellen smiled faintly.

It wasn’t the reaction Luke had expected.

I thought it wouldn’t be strange if I exploded with anger and overpowered him the moment I met him.

I was given hope by his calmer appearance than I expected.

“How did you find this place?”

“The saintess told me that the teacher was here, so I wandered around until I found him.”

A look that seems to say, “You did well?”

It was an ignorant and scary method.

Gulp.

Luke swallowed without realizing it.

“…Why did you make my magic tower like this?”

“You know that too, teacher?”

“… … ”

“That’s too bad. It must have been a magic tower that he built to hide from me from the beginning, trying to run away.”

Pause.

Luke took a step back.

Ellen continued with a calm expression.

“The teacher probably knows that even if you open the portal, you can’t get out of the magic tower.”

Yeah, I noticed it a long time ago.

I don’t know what Elin did.

No matter how much I tried to figure out the space, I only ended up inside the magic tower.

“… … ”

What used to be a door has become a dead end.

You can’t escape with space magic.

Now that it’s come to this, what can Luke do?

“Sorry―”

“Okay. I don’t want to hear an apology.”

It was an apple.

Even that was blocked.

“I know what the teacher was thinking. That’s why he made another contract.”

“… !”

“Did you think I wouldn’t know? After all, I’m your disciple.”

Ellen shrugged.

“I know. You’re doing this for me in the end. I know it in my head, but… .”

Place your clenched fist on your chest.

“I just don’t get it. You could have just told me everything. You could have just asked for help.”

“… This is not your business, Princess.”

Elin can live her life as the new head of the Bertain family.

If Luke can eliminate the threat, he can live the rest of his life in peace and happiness… .

“Ha.”

Ellen let out a cold sneer.

“So you lied to me, deceived me, and sacrificed yourself to make me happy.”

Luke couldn’t open his mouth.

If you open it now, you won’t survive… .

No, my intuition rang an alarm bell that I wouldn’t be able to die comfortably.

“After the teacher left, I cried a lot by myself.”

Ellen approached with brisk strides.

This time it seems like they won’t give you any time to back down.

“I really cried a lot… a lot.”

Hot.

I grabbed Luke’s hand.

“What should I have done? What did I do wrong for the teacher to leave? I cried and worried.”

It’s pictured in Luke’s head.

Elin, lying on the bed like a doll with a broken string.

Tears that flowed as if they were broken and eventually dried up.

Endless resentment, self-reproach, regret, despair.

“Then… I realized it when Anne said she wanted to go get the teacher. I was so stupid.”

Luke cursed Anne inwardly.

The one who gave me hope was a friend I trusted.

Flash.

For a moment, Elin’s eyes rolled back.

In the dead eyes, there was a madness that was difficult to even imagine.

“It was originally my property.”

He grabbed Luke’s little finger.

“Here too.”

When Ellen was young.

It was a finger whose ownership had been transferred in exchange for breaking a promise.

“Here too.”

The same goes for the other side.

It was a hand that had been carelessly walking without coming to its senses.

“Here too… The teacher was all mine.”

Swish.

The hand that was holding the finger moves up to the wrist, the forearm, and the collarbone.

Luke tried to back away, though.

“Stay still.”

“Huh… .”

Slender fingers press against my collarbone.

Kwuk.

In contrast to the light gesture, the strong gravity pressed down on my body.

Luke is tied up and unable to move.

Ellen’s hand didn’t stop there.

It climbs Luke’s neck like a snake.

The fingers that were attached to each other gently grabbed his neck.

“Ugh… .”

“There was no need to go to great lengths to prepare.”

Elin laughed at her foolish past self.

There’s no need to tell her to wait until she gets married.

There is no need to make any plans for a confession.

There was no need to collide with sincerity and seduce.

Woof-

Mana gathered between my fingers in an instant.

Elin’s pure, condensed mana… .

Clank-

It was changed to a thin leash.

It was a special leash tied to a chain extending from the air, connected to Elin’s unique magic sword.

“I should have done this a long time ago… … .”

It would have been better to just tie it up in the first place.

There is nowhere to run away to.

So that I can always watch from the side.

There was no reason to suffer in the hope that someone would understand my feelings.

“I will find a way to heal the teacher’s body.”

Ellen smiled brightly and stroked Luke’s chin.

There was no reason not to be happy.

“Stay here with me, for life.”

Because I finally figured out the ‘right’ way to deal with teachers.