episode_0060

“……♪”

In the end, Acel walked towards the dormitory with Ena. No matter how he tried to persuade her, it was difficult to break the stubbornness of the unyielding Ena. Once a wizard was fixated on something, they would never back down from their will. How much more determined would an Archmage be?

So Acel gave up on persuading her. Instead, to avoid being detected by others, he layered perception-hindering magic and walked towards the dormitory. Ena seemed pleased with just that, humming a little tune softly.

Acel gazed down at her appearance for a moment, then let out a small laugh and turned his head.

Yes, they had known each other since the blood hadn’t even dried on their heads, so what could possibly happen? His master wouldn’t think much of it, so the only thing to do was be careful on his side.

He thought that way as he walked alongside Ena.

Not long after, they arrived in front of the dormitory. The atmosphere of Wizel, seen after a long time, wasn’t much different from when he had seen it before. However, it was still just as empty, giving off quite a desolate feeling.

Perhaps when the midterm exams are taken and a large-scale shift in ranking begins, this place will become quite crowded. Until then, it will likely remain quiet.

“Heh-hem……”

At the entrance, one maid was out sweeping the floor. She was a woman with a simple impression. She hummed softly while meticulously poking the broom into every corner. Acel avoided her and entered the dormitory.

The first-floor hall, seen after a long time. The head maid, Lacey, could be seen sitting at a table, looking through documents. She was slightly frowning, as if something wasn’t to her liking. Ena looked at her and mumbled quietly.

“……She’s pretty.”

“Master is prettier.”

Acel replied without thinking, then quickly turned around in alarm, thinking ‘Oh no’. He was worried that she might feel uncomfortable with the sudden assessment of her appearance.

“……Oh, really? Thank you……”

However, far from showing displeasure, Ena mumbled that in a voice as small as an ant, then covered her flushed face with her hair and quickly headed towards the stairs. It was clearly a walk that showed she was in a good mood. Acel let out a sigh of relief and called out to her.

“My room is up the opposite stairs!”

“…….”

Pat-pat-pat-pat.

Ena turned her body towards the opposite stairs.

***

As he placed his hand on the lock that opened by recognizing his mana pattern, a clicking sound was heard from beyond the firmly closed dormitory door.

It was the sound of the lock disengaging. Acel immediately opened the door and entered the room. Ena followed behind him.

The dormitory room, returned to after a long time, was not significantly different from before. This was thanks to the various life magic arrays he had cast because he was too lazy to clean, which were still functioning continuously. Seeing that the warning magic was still robust, it seemed no one had attempted to forcibly enter.

The worry that Grace might have broken in again while drunk completely vanished. Acel threw off his coat and tie onto the sofa and smiled, watching Ena look around the room.

“Would you like something to drink?”

“Yes. Water should be fine.”

“Just a moment.”

Acel left Ena, who was looking around barefoot, and went to the kitchen to get two appropriately sized cups.

He manifested stream magic inside them. Filling the water until just before it overflowed.

Before long, the cups were filled with enough water that the surface was rippling. Acel used telekinesis to bring them over and plopped down on the sofa.

Ena, who had somehow taken off her coat, approached him and carefully took a seat beside him.

Perhaps because she was barefoot. Her small wiggling toes were completely visible.

Acel let out a small laugh and handed her a cup. Ena smiled slightly and accepted it.

“Thank you.”

Acel didn’t reply separately. Instead, he responded with a smile and took a gulp of the cold water.

As the cold liquid went down his throat, he felt his mood calm down further. He looked up at the sparkling ceiling and took off the glasses he had been wearing all day. A sudden sharp pain instantly went beyond his eyeballs and heated up his brain.

Still, it was better than before. Back then, it was hard to even open his eyes, but now he could bear it.

It must be because the number of potentially active magical eyes is gradually decreasing.

‘All the magical eyes corresponding to categories have disappeared, and now only those related to spell formulas or mana remain.’

He had already grasped the effects of all the magical eyes. However, he hadn’t chosen which one yet. When he thought about choosing just one, the effects of the other magical eyes kept flickering in his mind. He wished he could just bind them all together to create a new magical eye, but that wasn’t so easy.

So he needed a little more time. To bind the magical eyes together into one right away, he had to look directly into a mirror, explore the magical eyes, and extract only the profound principles contained within them. It was a strenuous task that took a long time and required enduring the accompanying pain.

However, he had no intention of giving up. The idea of choosing just one had flown away long ago. It was an opportunity that had finally arrived. He intended to be greedy for once.

Thinking that, Acel put his glasses back on. The pain subsided and his vision became clear again.

“……Does it still hurt?”

Ena, who had been gazing intently at him, asked. Acel smiled bitterly and shook his head.

“It’s much better than before. I think I’ll probably awaken a magical eye and be completely healed before the temporary leave of absence ends.”

“That’s good. Let me know if you need help. I’ll help you anytime.”

“Yes.”

Acel replied with a smile, then adjusted his seat and continued speaking.

“More than that, I’ll go down for just a moment and come back. I need to tell the head maid I’ve returned.”

“Ah…… okay? Got it. Go ahead. I’ll be showering.”

“Yes. You can wear anything from the closet in the bedroom…… Ah, right, I can just clean the clothes I was wearing with magic.”

“Ah, no. I’ll wear your clothes. I’ll wash this one.”

Ena said, holding her shirt and shaking it. Acel nodded.

“Understood. Do as you like. Then, I’ll be quick.”

“Okay. Hurry back.”

“Yes.”

Acel replied with a smile, left the room, and went down to the first floor of the dormitory. Just then, he ran into someone coming up the stairs.

“……Ah!”

A girl with impressive deep ash-gray hair and blood-red eyes. Two pointed fangs gleamed between her slightly parted lips, and her skin, so pale it was almost transparent, sparkled in the light.

She was a girl with an impression that would be loved anywhere she went. Acel curved the corners of his mouth upwards and waved his hand towards her.

“Elena.”

“Acel!!”

Elena ran towards Acel, crying. While Acel was saying ‘uh-oh’. She tightly hugged Acel and looked up at him with a tear-soaked face.

“I heard the news. It must have hurt a lot, right? Ugh…… You’ll be okay now…….”

“Uh…… yes.”

Acel scratched his cheek with a strained expression, looking at the crown of Elena’s head. Since Elena was someone who usually showed a variety of emotions, he had expected a somewhat intense reaction, but he hadn’t expected her to cry. He hadn’t even imagined her empathy would be that high.

‘It would look strange if I cried with her here.’

Acel also cries when he’s sad. He wasn’t a cold-hearted person whose tear ducts had dried up. But this wasn’t a sad situation, and his empathy was too lacking to resonate with Elena’s emotions and burst into tears. It was a magician-like trait to rely more on reason than emotion.

So, after thinking for a moment, he put the answer he arrived at through rational thought into action. He waited for her to calm down, patting the back of the sobbing Elena with his hand. Then, Elena cried even more sadly and hugged Acel tightly.

“Ack.”

Acel gasped for breath from the strong pressure applied to his abdomen. He also clearly felt the sensation of his clothes getting wetter.

Acel was clearly the one who got hurt and came back, and Acel was the one receiving comfort. Yet, looking at the situation alone, it seemed as if Elena was the victim. Acel felt a strange emotion and stroked the back of Elena’s head.

While he was doing that, Elena’s body was suddenly pulled back. Acel saw the girl who had pulled her from behind and wore a wry smile.

“Ugh……?”

“What do you mean ‘ugh’. Snap out of it. Anyone would think you came back from the dead.”

Hair like melted gold and pink eyes. A warrior smaller in stature than Elena, but with twice her strength.

Ellen let out a deep sigh and released her grip on Elena’s hand. Then Elena wiped her tear-streaked face with her hand and sniffled.

“Sniffle…… It’s just moving…… I can’t help but cry…….”

“No, in times like this, it’s right to welcome them with a smile.”

Ellen said that, then grinned and held out her hand towards Acel.

“You went through a lot.”

“……Yeah.”

Acel also smiled back and clasped her hand. Then, Ellen pulled Acel strongly into a tight hug, just like northern warriors do. Then she stood on her tiptoes and, in an awkward posture, patted Acel’s back and whispered into his ear.

“Welcome back.”

Instead of replying, Acel patted her back with a warm smile. Ellen released him with a satisfied expression. Elena, who had almost wiped away all the tears from her face, pouted her lips when she saw her face.

“You cried too! The area around your eyes is red!”

“Don’t slander me.”

“Kyaaaaaak!!”

Elena bared her fangs and threatened Ellen. Ellen casually ignored her, and Acel burst into laughter watching the scene.

Perhaps reacting to the commotion, Shiera walked up from the bottom of the stairs. He widened his eyes and covered his mouth with his hand upon seeing the three people gathered.

“Acel…… Young Master?”

“Ah, Miss Shiera.”

“You’ve returned. I heard the news that you were alive…… but I thought you would need to recuperate for a while. I didn’t expect you to return so quickly.”

“I have recuperated and come.”

“Is that so?”

Shiera approached the three people and asked.

“More than that, how did you come in? I was just on the first floor until a moment ago, but I didn’t see Young Master Acel enter.”

“I came in with magic.”

“Ah, magic.”

She nodded. People unfamiliar with magic tended to accept it and move on if someone said it was because of magic.

“Then are you staying at the dormitory from today? Or are you just stopping by?”

“I plan to continue staying here.”

“In that case, I will clean it for you right now. If you wait outside for a moment, I will tidy it up neatly.”

“Ah, it’s all done with magic, so you don’t need to. I appreciate the thought.”

“Is that so…… Then what about laundry?”

“That too, all with magic.”

“……You’re capable of everything. I think I understand why wizards don’t keep maids.”

Shiera grumbled softly. Acel replied with a wry smile.

“That wouldn’t be the case. My master, for instance, keeps maids at her mansion.”

“……M-Master?”

“……? Yes. Why are you acting like that?”

Acel tilted his head, looking at Shiera who suddenly avoided his gaze.

He glanced to the side and saw that Elena and Ellen were also avoiding his eyes with awkward expressions.

He immediately realized the reason.

It must be because of Ena’s academy destruction incident. It was such an overt act of destruction that no one involved with the academy could fail to know her name. There were even quite a few people who had witnessed her might nearby. It seemed these three were among them.

“Normally, she’s a very kind and cute person. You don’t need to be too afraid.”

“……It seemed she cared a lot for her disciple.”

“She is.”

Acel looked at Shiera, who cleared her throat, and continued speaking.

“Ah, speaking of which, there was one thing I wanted to ask. Would it be alright if I stayed in the dormitory with an acquaintance until the academy leave of absence ends?”

“Hmm…… Normally, you cannot…… but there are currently few residents in Wizel, and there are no special academic schedules, so I believe I can permit that much under my authority.”

“Ah, thank you.”

“Not at all. But would it be possible to know who will be staying?”

Acel replied with a smile to Shiera’s question.

“My master.”

*Crack.*

Shiera’s expression froze solid.

***

At that time. When Acel was talking with the three people downstairs.

At a sudden knock, Ena swung open the dormitory door and narrowed her eyes sharply at the sight of the red-haired woman standing beyond it.

“Who are you.”

“Uh……”

“Who are you to come to my disciple’s room. I won’t allow it.”

Grace couldn’t speak, seeing her face which was not just familiar but almost intimate. There was only one thought in her mind.

‘Why are you here?’

She had knocked on the door out of a feeling of ‘just in case’ when she sensed a presence inside. Someone completely unexpected had suddenly popped out.

It was enough to drive her crazy and make her jump.