A Chance to Atone (3)

-Pusss.

“There is still a lot of room for quantification… That’s what they say.”

After finishing the overwhelming round of 16 and returning to her own player waiting room, Nora sat there looking at the wand she had magically taken out, unable to magically put it back in place.

And he laughed and shook off the superior catalyst he had installed at the end of the staff, the masterpiece he had created by giving up sleep for a week, as if it were his own masterpiece, and it evaporated into dust.

How much did you have to grind to make one of these? You probably blew 10 years’ worth of tuition at the academy.

“But if it was a high-grade catalyst made by Rudis, I could have definitely used it 10 more times.”

I still feel inadequate.

Rudis, the elder brother, has been known since ancient times as a genius at making catalysts.

He now understood why he had always told him to practice magical power control.

Magic control was a technique that not only controlled one’s own magic power, but also controlled the overload imposed on the catalyst.

In the past, I thought I understood it through my teacher’s teachings and reading books, but when I started using magic with the magic book he gave me, I realized how much I had been thinking of books as just words and not applying them to practice and theory.

And in the process, Nora came to know that the magic book he had given her was not a complete book, but rather a stepping stone for her own growth.

He had been told that he would surpass his master in terms of magical power before he turned thirty, but he had not even started growing yet.

“… I guess I’ll have to interpret the magic book a bit more.”

The magic book that Rudis gave me not only protects me, but also helps me grow.

It was on the day of the last survival when I used magic that surpassed my specialization level that I realized it.

Until then, I couldn’t deny the fact that I was starting to feel a little greedy, because I was honestly able to give a sincere apology to Rudis and receive forgiveness before the ranking match began.

-I want to be by his side.

Even though other women have already taken the seats, I would like just one more seat for myself… even if it’s at the very end.

I didn’t want to stand next to him like I used to, just so I could follow him around a little without stepping on his shadow that was cast behind me.

But he couldn’t do that. To be exact, he wasn’t qualified to do that yet.

Although Rudis had forgiven me with various excuses and considerate words, I had not yet given him anything in return as an apology.

It did not restore the possibility of entry into the Kingdom of Frisia, nor did it make the false accusations and expulsion from the Royal Academy of Frisia disappear.

Moreover, he has not completely resolved the issue of his involvement with the Demons, something he considers a threat.

So, you shouldn’t expect that position yet.

Nora, who had thought that far, decided to find at least one thing she could do.

And then I realized. No matter how much I struggled, things related to the kingdom and the academy wouldn’t be resolved right away.

If so, there is only one thing you can do.

He has to deal with the demons that he feels are a threat and the things that are connected to them.

To do that, we obviously need a lot of information, but we decided that more than that, we need the power to intervene and resolve the incident.

There, Nora recalled the magic book of Rudis that she had, and interpreted the book more deeply, following the feeling she had that day when she felt her own potential for growth in it.

As a result, Rudis succeeded in creating his own item that could mimic the magician’s wand.

As you can see, the catalyst that becomes the nucleus was destroyed in a ‘merely mere’ battle.

Of course, in the original, the problem was solved by putting a transcendence catalyst in the place of the superior catalyst, but Nora did not know that fact, so she quietly stored the staff with magic, thinking that she had to create a better superior catalyst.

“… If I go and ask Rudis, will she think about it with me?”

When I was punishing that stupid Raul earlier, I glanced at him and our eyes met.

Moreover, didn’t he even pretend to draw the line and tell Raul to finish it off quickly? (Rudis meant it as a warning not to bother him too much.)

If I were to report that I had interpreted the magic book he gave me and created my own magical tool and staff, and asked him if there was any room for improvement, he would most likely give me a small compliment and help in the form of a death sentence.

Nora, who had started to have slightly shameless thoughts based on such self-imposed standards, thought that there was no reason for her to stay here any longer, so she jumped up from her seat and ran out of the waiting room to the stands.

‘Surely it was the left?’

Nora, who was running with a clear memory of where he was, stopped for a moment by people running noisily from another hallway, and waited for the people running ahead of her… and saw the person being carried away.

“I’m a patient!”

“I’ll just go ahead for a moment!!”

‘Raoul… ‘

He, who had been beaten unilaterally in the round of 16, was being carried away on a stretcher together with light attribute magicians.

His face, once praised as handsome, is covered in blood and difficult to recognize, although not to the point of being horrific.

Of course, since the last attack drained a lot of magical power, it wouldn’t be life-threatening, but it would probably be quite painful. It would definitely be very painful when you wake up.

‘… Rudis said she had no intention of blaming or seeking revenge on us. But it doesn’t make sense to just accept the victim’s words and end it as a good thing. This is… my personal revenge for my execution. Accept it sweetly.’

No matter what anyone says, it was definitely Raoul who called Ellis here, and that means he knew what I told Ellis.

In other words, he is a human being who should feel guilty like us, and not a human being who can confidently walk in front of him.

That’s why Nora… just to make Raoul understand even a little bit of the same pain as her, she crushed him so much. She literally got up and blamed herself.

That way, you too will understand a little bit the feeling of injustice that Rudis must have felt.

“Ah, I don’t have time to do this.”

Nora ran, leaving Raoul behind.

The round of 16 will be played over two days, and Rudis will definitely be playing the first match tomorrow morning. In other words, today will be as a spectator.

That’s why Nora ran with a slightly bigger dream that she might be able to watch the ranking match with him now. And.

“Ah, Rud… ! … ?”

He emerges from the hallway in the direction of the seats he expected to be, pushes his way through the crowd and heads outside.

An act that would make her cover her own mouth as she instinctively tried to call him, while holding the phone in one hand.

“Uh… You look like you’re in a hurry?”

Nora, who had been watching him with a bad expression on his face as he quickly left the arena, using the common magic Silas to keep it from being heard by those around him, quietly followed him, blinking her navy blue eyes.

“Well, I can’t sit with you and watch the ranking matches, but if something happens, I might be able to help.”

Since the few grand dreams he had were really just dreams, right now he just wants to be of help to him.

True to that feeling, Nora followed her master like a dog chasing him.

*

“… I knew it then and there.”

I hang up the phone and check again the regular magic Silas had given me.

I have a magic control cheat, but I don’t have any special abilities related to general magic, so if my concentration is broken even a little bit, the magic will be released.

Anyway, after seeing Nora’s overwhelming round of 16, I actually planned to keep watching the matches.

You might think that there’s no point in hanging around there even more since even the main character Raul has fallen, but I really wanted to avoid writing down information about the people who advanced to the quarterfinals when everything was so messed up.

But then, after the previous round of 64, I got a call from someone(?) who thought I could use him as a consumable.

I got the information I wanted.

This is not the time to be looking at the information on who will advance to the quarterfinals.

I walked briskly and walked out onto the main road I usually walk on. This direction is the Academy. But the destination is not the Academy.

‘It was that building.’

From the street where the academy is visible, go back into the alley and climb the stairs of an old building located in a slightly cornered place.

If Yuria hadn’t said she had to go out today, what excuse would I have made to come alone? I was worried that something might happen so I climbed all the way to the rooftop of the old building.

‘The forest that was accidentally cut down back then… is still the same.’

The exact location where [Gabul] was activated on Harb on the day he first entered the academy after coming to the former empire.

And then he arrived at the rooftop, where he could see exactly where he had dueled with his brother.

Yes, the informant I will meet here today.

“Heeheehee! Are you here?”

“Don’t laugh like that. I want to kill you.”

“… … “

[Level: 60]

[Name: Cutlass.]

[Role: Demon.]

[Status: Murderer(?), Self-Hypnosis Lv. 8, Raul’s Growth Plate.]

[Characteristic: (Black Magic Lv. 5)]

The guy who called himself a wanted man and assassin of the Empire, whom I let go of on the day Harb and his brother dueled.

Murderer Cutlass.

“Did you make contact with the demons that entered the empire?”

“Of course.”

I am a ‘demon’ who has had my mind manipulated by a wizard of the ranks who are not magicians.

He came back when his time came.

*

“Hmm. I see, you did a pretty good job of researching. But, did you come back sooner than I said? “

“Yes. The order at that time was ‘Return to the capital before the end of the Round of 64 of the ranking tournament.’ So I returned exactly before the end of the Round of 64.”

A demon who has forgotten through self-hypnosis that he is living according to his own will and not his own.

The guy proudly waves his arm around, which was cut off that day and never healed, with a disgusting smile on his face.

Ugh, I did it, but you really can’t watch it.

“Tsk, that’s enough. That’s enough information.”

“Then, should I target ‘Raoul Edmont’ of the Kingdom of Frisia as you previously commanded?”

The guy who pulled his lips together as if they were going to tear without letting out a single sound of laughter when I told him not to laugh asked me as if he was repeating my previous orders.

Yes, I ordered him. To continue to threaten Galv of the Hoppen family, Harv’s older brother, and then target Raoul after the Imperial Rankings began.

This guy is a demon that was used for the main character’s growth, so I couldn’t just erase him on my own. That’s why I gave that order.

“No. The order is withdrawn. From now on, you will contact the demons and stay with them until the operation that day. And if something goes wrong along the way and the situation seems to be delayed, contact me as a top priority. I repeat, do not kill humans. Do not hurt them.”

“Yeah, right.”

When I first ordered them to target Raul, I gave them a double order: not to kill or harm any humans. Naturally, the latter was the priority.

In other words, Cutlass should have attacked Raoul as per the story, but he couldn’t kill him.

Raoul, who should have fought a safe(?) slaughter with the murderous demon Cutlass who couldn’t kill the person I prepared.

He, who was like that, is now beaten by Nora, passed out, and taken to the church. So now Raoul’s story has just disappeared.

And, anyway, Baphomet.

Since a demon stronger than the Cutlass before my eyes appeared, I had no time to do anything else.

So I have to make choices and focus. I have to use the cutlass I made with my hands and feet to minimize the incidents that will occur in the empire.

“Then, should I go now?”

“Huh? What, why aren’t you going and are you still here?”

“Ah, that~ I don’t know if that person behind you is the person you’re with, or if that’s just a rat that came in… Heh! “

“What?”

I followed the eyes of the guy who let out a small, muffled laugh as if he was having fun, even though I told him not to. And what I saw there was this.

“Um… Since when…?”

“Hehehe!”

-puck!

“What?!”

“… Don’t laugh.”

A woman in her twenties with black hair like mine and wearing a tight-fitting black witch’s robe.

“Don’t laugh like that. Do you want to kill me? From… ?”

The sub-heroine who suddenly came out with Muyeong’s cane today, beat up the main character, and made a V sign at me.

Nora was looking at me and Cutlass with an awkwardly crooked smile and her cerulean eyes shaking violently.