Ch.113The Black Mage and the Black Knight (1)

Lorian looked up at the sky.

The clear sky reflected in her red eyes. It was a cloudless sky with the sun hanging high.

Since this wasn’t a sight Lorian often got to see, she frequently enjoyed looking up at the sky to meditate.

She appeared completely at ease.

While Melody was busy wandering around gathering information, and the being her lord called “Mr. Mourner” was assisting her.

Lorian had nothing to do.

Her strengths lay in combat, after all.

And these trivial matters had always been left to the blood clan’s offspring or blood mages.

So Lorian wiggled her legs, contemplating what to teach Llewellyn next, or perhaps what interesting stories she could tell him.

Her flowy dress, unsuitable for the winter season, swayed as her legs moved back and forth in her idle state.

“Ah.”

Lorian uttered blankly.

Her eyes, gazing at the sky, caught sight of something enormous passing by.

As space distorted chaotically, being pushed aside, and the sky mixed in disarray, showing a scene too turbid to be called clear.

She knew what it was.

The masterpiece of the Anti-Magic School, the fortress that all three clans had forbidden access to.

The Shadow Cradle.

It was crossing the new continent.

*

The Black Knight is a masterpiece of the Anti-Magic School.

It paled in comparison to the Shadow Cradle, which was already referred to as a masterpiece.

But the Black Knight and the Shadow Cradle were similar enough to be considered brothers.

The Black Knight and the Shadow Cradle were created in similar ways.

Their composition was similar, and so was their purpose.

Even setting aside the eradication of all black mages, they were truly like brothers.

But as with all siblings, despite their similarities, there were slight differences.

The Shadow Cradle was, so to speak, the successor of the Black Knight.

It was the culmination of all the techniques that went into the Black Knight, advanced and refined.

In the beginning, before the Shadow Cradle existed, Black Knights were like mayflies, fighting and dying each day, but after the Shadow Cradle was completed, things changed.

The Shadow Cradle had that kind of power.

Its immense strength could disrupt all surrounding magic just by being present with its engraved anti-magic formulas.

Its mobility allowed it to repel the magical power filling the world to sustain and move itself.

And on top of that, it had the Anti-Magic School’s unique magic-disrupting formulas that neutralized all mages imprisoned within.

The Black Knight and the Black Knight’s armor were close to being its prototype.

A human filled with anti-magic power that removes magical power and has the property of repelling magic, using the Anti-Magic School’s arcane knowledge.

And the specially crafted black armor designed for such humans to wear.

The Black Knight’s armor was symbolic of the Black Knight.

Armor forged and refined with the Anti-Magic School’s arcane knowledge, layered with formulas that repel magic.

Its effectiveness would make anyone easily believe that the Shadow Cradle and the Black Knight were brothers if they saw it in action.

I stared blankly at the Shadow Cradle.

A castle in the sky. Like something from a classic animation I’d seen before, a floating castle suspended in the air.

It had no other power source. As far as I knew, it simply floated in the air by repelling the magical power that filled this world.

Just by adjusting the level and intensity of the formulas engraved throughout the castle, it could float, fly, and move.

Therefore, if that castle were to truly fall, the only way would be to bring it down at once with some powerful non-magical means.

But how many bastards could actually do that?

Since such powerful means that weren’t magic or didn’t use magical power were rare, I could only stare blankly at the castle.

“So, that’s…”

“It passed by while you and the young master were hugging and sobbing, and stopped over there.”

“We weren’t sobbing…”

“Your eyes are red, master.”

My sister, who seemed so happy to see me again despite already knowing everything, blushed with embarrassment, her eyes still red-rimmed.

She didn’t exactly sob as she said.

But she must have been through a lot emotionally.

It’s a bit strange for me to say this when I had always suspected she might have abandoned me, but my sister wasn’t the type who could abandon me.

Rather, she probably worried whether I was living well on my own, or whether I thought she had abandoned me.

I felt the same way, after all.

The period when I resented her, wondering if she had abandoned me, passed quickly.

By the time I was handing out flyers, I had such thoughts.

Whether my sister had abandoned me or not, I didn’t know.

But I hoped that wherever she was, she was eating well and living well.

And since siblings tend to resemble each other, my sister probably felt the same way about me.

In the early days after my possession, when I couldn’t hide my emotions well, it would have been more obvious, and Eshatherna would have seen it clearly.

“I’m just happy to have two people who adore me now.”

Or maybe she just didn’t care.

Eshatherna said that and quickly turned her head to look at the sky, while my sister briefly cooled her flushed face with a hand fan.

“Anyway, let’s talk about the details when we get back.”

My sister quickly gathered her emotions.

“Alright. That’s the more important issue right now.”

With my agreement, silence fell, and we all looked ahead.

The Black Knights’ castle that had destroyed the ridge right in front of us and taken its place.

There was no reason for them to be hostile to us, but you never know.

Black Knights are beings who repel magical power, unlike the Mourner who has no magical power.

They have an advantage against most professions that use magical power, and the most extreme Black Knights are incredibly powerful even without that advantage.

It’s never bad to be cautious. We were in agreement on that. The question was how to approach that place.

“Sorry, I don’t want to go near there either.”

“Since I use magical power like the master, I feel the same way.”

Both Esha and my sister have professions that use magical power.

“But if you really want me to come with you… you know?”

Esha would be less affected, but the price was something inappropriate to mention in front of my sister right now.

My sister’s sharp gaze was directed at me.

I pretended not to notice and stroked my chin.

“I guess it’s best if I go in alone.”

The Mourner has absolutely no magical power.

Homunculi also have no magical power, and the Immortals, which seem to be an evolved concept of homunculi, also have no magical power.

It used to be somewhat disappointing, but looking at it now, it wasn’t so bad.

Being strong even without magical power, and being able to handle some kind of unidentified power despite having no magical power.

The problem was how they would respond.

How would they react?

If there were a diplomatic expert like Melody, I could ask for advice… ah.

“Sis.”

“Uh, um, yes.”

Why is she flustered?

I was a bit puzzled, but I had more important business.

“Where are Melody, Lorian, and the old man?”

“…Ah.”

Oh dear.

My sister looked surprised as if she had just remembered, then made a bitter expression as if she felt guilty and hung her head low.

“I’m sorry… I completely forgot…”

“No, no. It’s okay. It must have seemed like an urgent situation.”

I was a bit surprised that my sister would make such a mistake. But I wasn’t a bad enough brother to criticize her for it.

Rather, I’d say I’m quite a good brother.

With a sense of propriety too.

“Esha, where are we?”

“A secret dungeon east of Marsi. Though it doesn’t seem to be a secret anymore.”

“How long would it take to get to Marsi?”

“Is that a request?”

Eshatherna had already figured out what I was about to say.

She smiled and took a step closer to me.

“Would you like me to go find them?”

“Yes, and if possible, peacefully, without fighting.”

“My, without fighting? That makes it more expensive.”

‘And I’ll need payment in advance,’ Eshatherna said with a smile, tapping her cheek.

This crazy woman. I glanced at my sister, and sure enough, she was looking at me expressionlessly, as if nothing had happened.

Oh shit.

I swallowed nervously, sweating.

What should I do? Is there a way…?

As I pondered, enlightenment came quickly.

“…Ah, that won’t be necessary.”

The two women turned their heads in the direction I pointed.

“What a shame.”

Eshatherna clicked her tongue with a sigh, while my sister, as if she had never been expressionless, raised her hand high and waved.

Three people approaching us from far away.

Lorian, Melody, and the Mourner old man.

It was a bit bizarre to see the Mourner old man being carried by Lorian, looking like he wanted to die of embarrassment.

I coolly decided not to pay attention to it.

“Really, you should tell us where you’re going!”

“I’m sorry, it was an urgent situation.”

“What kind of situation was so urgent… is it related to that?”

Melody panted, pushing her sweat-soaked hair behind her ear. I stared at the strands of hair sticking to her nape before coming to my senses.

“No, I don’t think so. Probably.”

It would be closer to the truth to say I hoped it wasn’t, but the possibility of that being connected to this situation wasn’t very high.

“Then what on earth…”

Melody, who was catching her breath with her hands on her knees, paused.

She belatedly recognized the assassin standing there.

“…Eshatherna.”

“Well, I was famous.”

“Why is a murderer like you here?”

Ah, this is the normal reaction.

Eshatherna was acting as if nothing was wrong, but her fundamental nature was evil.

And not just any evil, but the kind of evil that made her the prime suspect in the assassination of five Grand Dukes.

She was only acting like a well-trained dog in front of me and my sister, but originally, she was a being who shouldn’t be here.

Melody knew that well.

Lorian, looking interested, put down the old man and placed her hand on the hilt of her decapitation sword, and even the Mourner old man seemed somewhat serious, as if he knew of her infamy.

But it’s best to avoid unnecessary conflict, so I said:

“She’s a pet.”

“Something like that.”

Melody froze in the middle of drawing her estoc. She stared blankly at me, then at Eshatherna who was readily agreeing.

“What?”

“It’s a bit complicated to explain in detail, but she’s my sister’s former colleague… and she’s agreed to join us on the condition that she receives affection from me and my sister.”

“A-affection?”

“I know what you’re thinking, but it’s different. It’s like petting a dog.”

“I thought I was more like a cat.”

“You be quiet.”

Melody still seemed unconvinced, but she quickly realized that there was something my sister and I were deliberately not saying and fell silent.

It was clear, at least, that this wasn’t something to question here and now.

Melody’s conflict didn’t last long.

“Alright, but you’ll tell me the details later, right?”

“Of course.”

Only after my confirmation did her expression soften a bit. She then raised her head to look at the Shadow Cradle.

“What are you planning to do?”

Lorian asked. Sensing that the group was ready to follow my opinion, I pondered.

“Shall we go and visit? Knock and ask if anyone’s home?”

“That would be better. They probably won’t be hostile, but still…”

“That won’t be necessary.”

A deep voice cut between my sister’s words and mine.

We quickly turned our heads toward the direction of the voice, and saw a group approaching us from the sky.

Figures clad in black armor, their bodies wrapped in inhuman darkness, approaching us one step at a time.

They were walking down from the sky.

“As guests, we’ve come to you first.”

Behind them floated the Shadow Cradle. Just like its brother, the Black Knight.

Yes, Black Knights could do that.

I looked at the knight standing at the very front of the group.

He was a typical Black Knight.

His black armor was covered with countless scars.

Like the annual rings of an old tree, there were numerous scratches proving his long history of struggle.

Against mages, monsters, and no less formidable minions of the three clans.

He was a veteran who had filled his entire life with struggle and survived until now.

Looking up at the Black Knight, who seemed to be at least 2.5 meters tall, I realized who he was.

Though I had only seen him a few times in the game, he was unmistakable.

I spoke his name.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Lord Valterok.”

His name was Valterok.

The strongest Black Knight and the leader of the Black Knight Order.