Chapter 110: Graduation Ceremony (6)

Chapter 110: Graduation
Ceremony (6)

After
Balkan’s conversation with Professor Mankostil.

With
Diana’s help, Ellie changed her dress and set her hair, then rode in
the carriage to the ballroom.

“Hoo-hoo.”

“⋯?
What’s wrong?”

Ellie
shook her head as she saw Diana smiling faintly at her from inside
the carriage.

“No.
It’s just that⋯
not too long ago, I never imagined us together like this- I wanted
to.”

“⋯Ah⋯”

A
few months ago, before their meeting with Balkan and their
conversation, there was an invisible wall between Ellie and Diana.

Not
being together, the physical distance, the lack of communication.

No,
this was just an excuse.

Even
if they had been together, they wouldn’t have been able to
communicate properly.

The
conflict between them was a combination of Diana’s inexperience as a
parent and Ellie’s lack of understanding of adolescence.

However,
there was one person who stood between the two and filled in the
gaps.

He
provided an opportunity for mother and daughter to talk, and gave
them the courage to try to talk by pushing them on their backs.

If
it weren’t for him, there would be no awkward laughter in the
carriage at this moment.

“Let’s
keep it pure today.”

“⋯Yes.”

Ellie
smiled and nodded, though she doubted she could enjoy a social party
like this innocently.

“Oh
my! Miss Ellie?! You look so beautiful today! When your elven blood
is like this-”

“They
say clothes are like wings, and they’re made of Arachne silk? Oh
my, even I have a hard time finding this. Such a luxurious item—”

As
soon as she entered the ballroom, people recognized her. Most of them
were teaching assistants or professors.

Their
gazes went straight to her side.

The
teaching assistants gave her a curious glance, but the professors
noticed her presence.

She
looked and felt different, but the professors could instinctively
sense the aura underneath.

“Are
you Diana Ordia?”

“Fu,
you’ve changed a lot, haha.”

“Oh
my, I’m Arpo, the Labyrinth Ecologist! Miss Ellie’s academic talent
is nothing short of genius-”

“Well,
more than that. We’ve been conducting research on the strange
phenomena that have been occurring in the Labyrinth lately, and I was
wondering if you, Ordia, might be able to help us find some prey-”

They
surrounded Diana like a school of ravenous piranhas upon discovering
their prey.

Ellie
was quickly pushed aside.

They
didn’t even pay attention to Ellie beside her, their eyes fixed on
Diana.

“Ellie.
Why don’t you go enjoy yourself first?”

Diana
beckoned as she was swept away by a wave of questions, so Ellie
smiled bitterly and nodded.

Despite
her smile, something bad was brewing inside her.

It
was a feeling called jealousy and inferiority.

These
vile feelings had been eating away at Ellie’s heart for the entirety
of her time at the Academy.

“⋯But,
⋯now,
⋯it’s
okay.”

And
yet, it was okay.

-Come
on, Ellie!!! You can do it!!!

I
still couldn’t get over that loud voice in the auditorium.

Soon
after I heard it⋯and
honestly, I still feel insanely embarrassed when
I think about it.

His
cry, which went beyond reaching her ears and penetrated deep into her
heart, definitely changed Ellie.

In
retrospect, it always had.

He
recognized her as a wizard in her own right, and gave her the human
encouragement that she could do it this time.

Maybe
it was because of him.

“Wooo.”

In
one breath, Ellie emptied the bad feelings that had been simmering
inside her.

Her
eyes widened.

Taking
a glass of wine from a busy server, she moistened her red lips and
looked around the ballroom.

The
only way to resolve these feelings is to meet the man who had already
taken a firm hold on her heart.

“Speaking
of which, Ellie, you’re a half-elf. Is there a male elf inside that
helm?”

“Well,
I don’t know about that⋯”

“But
those muscles⋯
don’t you think that’s impossible with an elf’s body?”

“Yeah⋯
I honestly felt my uterus flutter just looking at them⋯”

Very
few people knew that Ellie was an adopted child.

Ellie
pushed her way through the crowd of speculation to find Balkan.

“⋯Mister.
I don’t see you.’

Ellie’s
elven ears perked up and she scanned the ballroom, but Balkan was
nowhere to be seen.

Sullenly,
Ellie headed for the balcony to calm her nerves.

“Huh.”

The
wine washed down her throat, giving her a fuzzy feeling.

As
much as she hated to admit it, Ellie was too weak to alcohol.

As
she sipped her wine and watched the night sky turn black, she felt
relaxed.

Then.

“Sis.
Something’s wrong. I haven’t seen any of the clan members in the
banquet hall before.”

Along
with the sound of unfamiliar footsteps, a sullen voice that sounded
like it shouldn’t be there came from the balcony next door.

“What
was that?”

“I’m
telling you. We were supposed to have at least one person on each
floor of the ballroom⋯now,
there’s no one in sight except us.”

“You
mean the plan was discovered?”

“I
think the information must have leaked out somewhere. We got
Assistant Gelsia’s parents, so that’s unlikely, but maybe the
combatants were distracted and someone overheard them and reported
it⋯
at this rate, we’re going to be caught⋯”

“Holy
shit!”

Thump!

“Hmph!”

The
sound of a violent slamming against the wall startled Ellie, and he
quickly crouched down, holding her breath.

The
drunkenness flew away in an instant.

“⋯⋯”

“⋯⋯”

The
shouting from the neighboring balcony diminished rapidly.

There
was nothing but silence but Ellie soon heard the sound of footsteps.

Ellie’s
sensitive elven ears recognized the sound of the steps pounding with
malice clearly.

She
ducked her head in an unknown anxiety, and instinctively began to
gather magic in her hands but the time was too short and a black shoe
came into view as she stared at the floor.

“There’s
a rat hiding.”

She
tried to unleash her unfinished magic.

-Woof!

The
magic scattered as it touched the pitch-black orb the woman in the
suit had taken out.

Ellie
doubted her eyes. What the hell was that?

A
strange resistance to magic, like she’d felt when she’d faced the
dark, mutated minotaur in the Labyrinth.

It
was impenetrable unless she really concentrated.

“What
the⋯⋯!”

Ellie
was immediately grabbed by the throat and lifted up.

“Kolok,
Keuhuk⋯”

It
was a force that Ellie, who was far from strong due to her studies,
couldn’t even resist.

As
she was grabbed by the neck with such force, her consciousness
gradually faded.

“Red
hair⋯
Red eyes⋯
Elven ears⋯
Could it be Ellie Ordia, the valedictorian?”

Beside
Vesta, who was dressed in a suit, were two more women.

Dray,
an officer of Clan Blues, and Kalino, an orc who also went by the
name of Iron Ingot.

“Sister.
Are you sure? It’s Ordia. If you do anything wrong, they’ll kill
you.”

Vesta
pondered as she listened to Dray and Kalino’s conflicting voices.

Over
the years I have been dealing with [them]⋯
[the devil worshippers] and have offered up over a hundred slaves so
far.

If
we fail to meet the deadline for slave delivery, we will be judged to
have broken our contract and exterminated.

‘If
we can make this payment, our dealings with the devil worshippers
will be over. Then, this [orb] will be all mine.’

This
[orb] was obtained after a long and arduous struggle with such great
risk allows me to control trace amounts of Magi.

Now
that the Academy knows about them, everything she’d built up would be
for naught, but she didn’t care.

‘If
I can get my hands on this orb in its entirety, I can soar higher and
more spectacularly than ever before.’

It
might not be a bad choice to abandon life in the labyrinth city and
head to Eden on the 15th floor, a land of new beginnings and a place
where all kinds of people gather, with a few executives.

Vesta’s
gaze shifted to Ellie.

‘Offering
her will not only pay off the debt, but I’ll also get an additional
orb. A much more valuable orb than the one I’m borrowing!’

A
common slave, or even hundreds of Academy students combined, would be
worth less than Ellie herself.

The
risks were frightening, but the rewards were even greater.

One
must have the temperament of a gambler to rise to great heights.

“Don’t
resist if you don’t want to get hurt.”

-Squeak!

Vesta
grinned wryly and tightened her grip.

“Kwak,
kolok!”

Tears
welled in Ellie’s eyes and streaked down her beautiful face.

She
had never been choked so hard in her life. It was so painful, and her
consciousness faded into a blur.

Every
time she woke up after that, her vision changed.

One
moment she was in the sky, the next she was on the street, and now
she was in a carriage.

“Ooooo-”

The
words didn’t come out right and before she knew it, she was tied up
in some sort of rope.

Ellie
kept her mind and body calm, though she was terrified at the danger
she had never experienced before.

She
tried to gather enough energy to remain undetected, but Dray, who had
been clinging to her side and watching her closely, repeatedly
stopped her.

“Stay
down, bitch!”

Bam!

Ellie’s
head snapped back with a dull pain as her last ditch effort had
failed.

Ellie
stared blankly into the dark sky from the covered wagon’s luggage
compartment.

‘Was
I dreaming?

She’d
been so happy just a moment ago, and now she’d been plunged into a
downward spiral.

The
dress her adoptive mother had bought her for this day was stained
with dust and dirt, and her makeup and hair were already a mess.

But
this wasn’t the end, this was just the beginning.

‘⋯This
is the worst.’

If
only it were a dream, a terrible nightmare.

She
had already fallen asleep drunk on wine, and was lying in her soft
bed, having a bad dream.

“Gelsia,
what’s wrong, let’s get going!”

“Oh,
we can’t leave yet, there’s something seriously wrong with the
carriage!”

“You
fucking bitch! What the hell are you talking about when the carriage
it’s perfectly fine?”

“Give
me a little more time⋯”

“We
don’t have time to hang around, they’ll notice and catch up to us if
we’re any slower! We’ve got to get out of here as soon as we can.
Don’t you ever want to see your father?”

“⋯This
shit! There’s a limit to how far you can go with my parents!
Firebo-crack!”

-Pfft!
Pfft!

The
sound of harsh words and punching from the curtained-off coachman’s
seat beyond the carriage reminded me that this was real.

-Thud.

After
a few moments of commotion, the carriage began to roll slowly.

“Don’t
be so pathetic. I’ve seen a lot of slaves in my time, and even if
they’re a bitch at first, they get used to it after a few years.”

Dray,
who was trampling Ellie’s stomach with her heel, laughed croakily,
like a teacher giving a poor lesson.

Ellie
cringed at the words.

A
future of slavery?

She
could never live like that. She had to resist.

She
had to resist with all the magic she could muster.

Somehow,
the tears wouldn’t stop.

The
faces of the people I wanted to see flashed in my mind.

My
real parents, who died while exploring the Labyrinth, my adoptive
mother, who took care of me like a real parent, even though we had
arguments during my adolescence and him, who recognized me as a
wizard in my own right.

Who
told me I was needed, who told me to be brave⋯

“Mr.
Balkan⋯”

“Dray-!”

A
desperate voice came from the back of the wagon.

The
wagon had started to roll, and someone was running after it.

“Is
that your voice, Valterri?! You’ve been discovered, haven’t you?”

“No,
I just happened to see you kidnapping Ellie Ordia, so I ran full
speed to catch up with you.”

“Ha.
Fuck. Well, that’s a good thing, I could use another combatant just
in case, but what the hell?”

Dray
greeted the woman, Valterri, with a familiar face.

It
was as if they had always known each other.

Ellie’s
eyes flickered as she watched Valterri climb into the wagon, taking
Dray’s outstretched hand.

There
were more people, which meant even less chance of escape.

Ellie
stared at Valterri in disbelief.

“But
when I lifted you earlier, I saw that your hands were… Were they
always this muscular? Is it because you’re tall? And they’re also
incredibly heavy? Tsk. I can’t tell because of the disguise
artifact.”

“Haha.
Is that so?”

“Uhh.
Well, since you’re here, I’ll have to check with sister first⋯
Wait.”

Pausing
for a moment, Dray looked at the axe strapped to Valterri’s waist and
asked.

“Where
did you get that axe?”

“Oh.
You mean this?”

At
that, Valterri casually grasped the handle of the axe and slowly drew
it out.

She
gently stepped her right foot out in time with the carriage’s
vibrations.

The
axe swung sharply, as if she were demonstrating footwork but behind
the all-too-natural motion Dray’s throat dropped.

“I
brought an axe from the garden, just in case. Don’t you think it’s a
good one for dealing with scum?”

“Ehhh?”

Ellie
let out a stupid groan and stared at the unreal thing that had
happened in front of her.

A
woman’s head had fallen off.

In
the midst of the unreality of the kidnapping, her thoughts naturally
shut down as she faced something even more unreal.

Ellie’s
eyes naturally turned to the one who had done this.

She
naturally walked over to her and broke her bindings with the blade of
the axe.

“⋯⋯”

Ellie
was too panicked to speak.

When
I saw her face, a mixture of tear-stained makeup and embarrassment, I
smiled bitterly and removed the brooch from my chest.

Then
the female form vanished in a flurry of color, revealing the big,
muscular body Ellie had imagined every night.

Beneath
the half-mask was the unfamiliar face.

She’d
called him “mister” every day, so she’d expected a face full of
scars and beard; however he was cleaner and stranger than she
expected, but she had no trouble recognizing him.

“I’ve
come to save you. Ellie.”

The
familiar voice penetrated Ellie’s mind.