Call

Minerva, despite her age of 400, was humming a faint tune and writing on a scroll with a very joyful expression, as if her age meant nothing.

She couldn’t help it, as she was feeling the emotion of curiosity for the first time in a very long time.

After about two hundred years, her magic research, which she had only pursued out of a sense of duty, regained its vitality for the first time in a long while. It was only natural, as two things she had never experienced in her life had occurred within a few days.

One was about the Crystal Scroll, and the other was about Delta, the very person who had offered to find it for her. Both were subjects that greatly stimulated her curiosity.

‘The more I think about it, the more amazing that child is.’

Minerva recalled Delta, who had achieved remarkable changes in the past few days, and continued to write something on the scroll.

When she first checked him at Aurora’s mansion, he was clearly a man with a terrible amount of inherent mana. So much so that it was almost certain his mana would be completely depleted after one or two low-tier spells.

However, when she encountered him again at the Imperial Palace, his total mana had surprisingly increased severalfold. Minerva was so astonished that she even doubted her own senses for a moment.

Considering the short interval between the date she brought him to her bedroom and the date he arrived at the Imperial Palace, it was truly an absurd level of change.

Of course, since his basic mana amount was ridiculously small to begin with, even a severalfold increase wasn’t a huge number, but the fact that he showed such a rapid increase was more important than the absolute value.

‘In terms of talent alone, he could certainly… no, perhaps even more, if he entered the Magic Tower.’

Minerva had taught countless mages until now, and among them, there were certainly mages who showed a similar upward trend to Delta, or even distinguished themselves more rapidly.

However, those were achievements made with the Magic Tower’s generous support. There wasn’t a single case like Delta, who had achieved such growth without any support or effort.
Magic, by its very nature, gradually develops through the acquisition of vast knowledge. To gain enlightenment at some point without such a process, simply by doing nothing?

As far as Minerva knew, that was absolutely impossible.

Minerva seriously considered whether she should bring Delta into the Magic Tower right now and raise him as a mage. She even had the intention of forming a master-disciple relationship with him if he wished.

It was a privilege unprecedented in the hundreds of years of the Empire’s history, but considering the potential glimpsed in Delta, it was well worth the investment.

Above all, hadn’t he himself said he would tell her the location of the dungeon where the Crystal Scroll was hidden?
The moment that statement proved true, it was clear that all the mages in the Empire, far from shunning Delta, would beg him tirelessly to bestow his grace upon them as well.

“……Hmm?”

Minerva, who had just finished a sentence and was about to pick up a new scroll, frowned as she detected an unfamiliar mana flow nearby.

Along with Kaikilia’s bedroom, Minerva’s own bedroom was a place protected by dozens of layers of protective magic that Minerva herself had cast.

Most magic couldn’t even be cast inside here. Yet, to feel a mana flow meant….

“This is truly surprising. To drag that heavy body all the way here. What wind blew you in?”

Minerva said that without even turning around.

A moment later, black magical energy gathered in the air. Minerva’s face crumpled at the viscous flow that simply feeling it made one feel unpleasant.

It was similar to teleportation magic but fundamentally different. A black turbid current swirled, forming a massive circle. Minerva put down her pen and turned halfway around to look behind her.

From amidst the swirling black turbid current, a person was walking out. Minerva’s face crumpled even more severely as she witnessed the sight with her own eyes.

The one who walked out from the black turbid current was a woman.

Her height was nearly three heads shorter than Minerva’s. Even considering that Minerva was remarkably tall compared to both women and men, this woman was very short and stubby.

In contrast, her chest was absurdly large. Minerva’s was also above average, but this woman boasted a much heavier weight. It was even larger than her own head.

In particular, due to her overwhelmingly short height, her already large chest appeared even bigger. With every step she took, it jiggled wildly up and down.

Her already slender waist felt even thinner when compared to the two masses of fat hanging above it. Furthermore, the plump thighs directly below only accentuated this.

Her bottom wear, which was barely more than something she “seemed to be wearing,” and a top that practically exposed her chest, combined with her curvaceous figure to create a significant synergistic effect.

Minerva, not even paying attention to the woman’s utterly ordinary attire, glared at her with a hardened expression.

“Ah, hello, Minerva-nim……”

A voice full of trepidation, a face busy glancing around nervously. And a large chest that seemed ready to burst through her clothes at any moment, completely contrary to her timid owner’s demeanor.

Her frizzy hair, half purple and half green, swayed behind her back, and black pupils rolled around between the bangs that fell near her eyes.

“Since you’ve come all the way here yourself, I’ll assume it’s a matter of significant importance. Otherwise, I might have to get quite angry. You’ve interrupted my pleasant time, haven’t you?”

A staff floated up into the air and settled into Minerva’s right hand. *Thwack*, its tip lightly tapped the floor. Blue mana surged, and white pupils and black pupils met each other’s gaze.

“Answer me, Nyx. What brings you here?”

‘It’s finally over.’

I was walking down the Imperial Palace corridor, my face utterly drained.

It was fine heading to the Silver Dawn Knights’ duty station and meeting the regular members. That part was fine, but as soon as they heard I was a newcomer, all their attention shifted to me.

None of the four Knight Captains were the tearful type, so I thought they’d at least be quite happy to reunite, even if it wasn’t to the extent of crying and hugging each other. But it was just a few greetings and then it was over.

Thanks to that, I was relentlessly tormented by myself for the rest of the time.

Moreover, the Knight Captains didn’t seem to care at all that their members, whom they were reuniting with after several years, were only focused on me. In fact, they even looked proud.

In the end, I was relentlessly bombarded by a barrage of alternating questions and was only able to escape after nearly an hour.

It was truly disgustingly difficult. It felt like it would be much easier to spar with regular knights for 20 consecutive rounds. At least my mind wouldn’t be tired from that.

‘I guess it’s right to restore the Silver Dawn Knights to their original state, after all?’

The player could decide the fate of the Golden Twilight Knights and the Silver Dawn Knights.

It was possible to restore the Silver Dawn Knights to their original status, or conversely, to incorporate the Twilight Knights into the Dawn Knights, or even for the player to take the position of Knight Captain.

What I had originally aimed for was a position as the Emperor’s direct knight, but Kaikilia’s unusual interest in me made me hesitate. It was because I wondered if I could truly endure that almost oppressive attention.

‘Well, I can think about that when the time comes.’

I simply gave up thinking. There was no need to worry about such things right now. I could just come up with solutions as the story progressed.

Thinking about the future right now was pointless. The story had already twisted too much from what I knew of Brdk 4.

Right now, I don’t even know what Kaikilia will do to me at the next audience. To worry about things further in the future than that was preposterous.

“Were you here?”

Someone stopped me as I was about to return to my room. I turned my head. It was a maid with an overall similar aura to Lana, but with a much more emotionless expression.

She had been serving us since yesterday, but I just couldn’t get used to that appearance. She was far more robotic than even Lana, to the point where I felt a sense of incongruity just looking at her.

Her movements were so stiff that it wouldn’t feel awkward at all to call her something wearing a human shell. I figured that’s how one had to be to perform duties in the Imperial Palace.

“What is it?”

“His Majesty the Emperor is looking for you. You must prepare to have an audience with His Majesty immediately.”

“……Only me?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

As soon as I heard that, my intuition sounded an alarm. Kaikilia was the person who had unhesitatingly pulled my head between her legs even in the central hall where Aurora and the Knight Captains were present.

She was someone who would calmly commit such acts even in a place where there were onlookers, and now she had even given a separate order for me to have an audience with her alone?

It felt bad.

Very bad, at that.

“I understand. Where should I go?”

I sighed inwardly and asked. Whether the feeling was good or bad, the Emperor had called for me, and I couldn’t ignore that.

Pupils that seemed devoid of any emotion turned towards me.

“It’s His Majesty’s bedroom.”