Ch.126Ruide’s Choice (2)

Ruide bit his lip nervously as he walked with quick steps. Something was covered with a white cloth.

Students stood around, all with red eyes. Some had buried their faces in their hands, crying.

“She was found dead about a mile away.”

“Any wounds?”

“…It appears she was trampled by a massive magical beast. But we can’t be certain.”

A drop of sweat trickled down Vincent’s brow.

“The body was too horribly mangled to identify.”

“A White Bear, perhaps?”

“Yes. Probably…”

“Which direction was this mile away?”

“The direction you came from, Lady Viki. That…”

Vincent whispered into Victoria’s ear.

“She was found near the ruins.”

Ruide, standing right beside them, heard it too.

‘Ruins?’

There shouldn’t be any magical beasts in that area.

More precisely, they had been eliminated.

The Windsor Knights had wiped them out.

Magical beasts are surprisingly cunning. If they sense a stronger group nearby, they avoid the area completely.

Ruide finally realized why Vincent had been wearing that anxious puppy-dog expression.

If a magical beast truly killed Sophia, it would be a serious mistake. He wouldn’t escape disciplinary action.

“I’d like to resolve this while we’re here, but—”

Victoria paused and looked to the side.

Ruide felt a cold hand stroking his head.

It was Ruby, one of the twin maids. Ruide looked up.

“Hello, young master.”

“Hello.”

She bowed to Victoria.

“The head of the family is calling for you.”

“Hmm.”

“It’s urgent.”

She stared at Ruide with a troubled expression.

Ruide nodded.

“I’ll be fine.”

“Very well… Ame.”

“Yes.”

Amelia couldn’t meet Victoria’s eyes.

“Please take care of Rui.”

“…Yes.”

“I’ll see you later, Rui.”

“Okay.”

Victoria walked away with Ruby.

Ruide waved his hand.

After they disappeared through the gate, Vincent spoke.

“So it’s true that Lady Viki is His Excellency’s confidant. She can even use the gate freely.”

‘Well, she is him after all.’

Anyway—that wasn’t the important thing.

Ruide observed everyone from the corner of his eye.

The students were in a state of panic, and the Windsor Knights were fidgeting with their swords.

‘…Everyone knows. This is going to become quite a troublesome issue.’

Sophia had died near where the Windsor Knights were stationed.

Even if she had died while acting on her own, there were many noble heirs here.

If they were sent back to the Imperial Academy, the Windsor Knights would likely be held responsible.

No, it would definitely become an issue.

That’s why the knights were fidgeting with their swords.

To kill everyone before it became a problem.

Ruide could state with certainty: with just one command, they would massacre the Imperial Academy students without a moment’s hesitation.

After all, the kindness of the Windsor Knights was directed only toward the people of the North.

“Young master, what should we do?”

Charlotte approached, yawning widely and stretching her arms high.

“What did Sister Ame say?”

“As you can see…”

Charlotte glanced at Amelia, who was pacing in circles with her arms crossed.

“She got really angry when I suggested we just clean everything up! Young master, I feel so wronged!”

“Charlotte, that was too much.”

“But what else can we do?”

Charlotte placed her hands on her hips and spoke confidently.

“If we send them back, they’ll just cause us trouble. Wouldn’t it be better to clean them up in advance? The captain would have already taken action.”

“Don’t say such things with a smile.”

Charlotte could be frightening at times. Like now, when she suggested “massacre” with an angelic face and casual tone.

‘Though I’m not one to talk.’

Despite someone having died, he felt neither grief nor any particular emotion.

Honestly, he was a hundred times more concerned about Dellin. Ruide wore a bitter expression.

“Um, Professor Ruide.”

Just then, Isabella approached him. She seemed somewhat tense but was trying to smile.

“With this accident… don’t you think it’s unreasonable to continue the class? Wouldn’t it be better to return to the Academy and take time to regroup?”

Her voice trembled at the end.

‘…She’s caught on.’

She realized that their lives could change in an instant.

‘I’m sorry, but…’

Ruide smiled and spoke innocently.

“Since there are magical beasts nearby, going back would be dangerous. Wouldn’t it be better to wait until we properly understand the situation?”

Isabella’s forced smile froze.

He had used the word “dangerous.” If he intended to escort them back, there would be no reason for that.

In other words, he had no intention of sending them back.

“Go back to your seat and sit down.”

Ruide spoke casually. Isabella bowed her head.

“Yes.”

As Isabella walked away, Charlotte’s eyes sparkled.

“Wow! Our young master has become so cool!”

“I’ve always been cool.”

“…”

Ruide blushed.

Even he felt embarrassed by what he’d just said.

“Ahem. Anyway, I’m against killing them too.”

Charlotte plopped down on the ground.

“We can’t keep them imprisoned in the North forever, Rui. In my experience, there’s no better solution than silencing them.”

Charlotte spoke quite seriously.

He knew.

‘The safety of the North is the most important thing.’

Ruide calmed his heart coldly.

Hadn’t he resolved to do whatever was necessary if something threatened this place?

He was prepared. If killing everyone would minimize damage to the North, Ruide would certainly choose that option.

But this time, there was another alternative.

“Miho.”

“Kyaeng!”

Miho ran over on her short legs and jumped into Ruide’s arms.

Her tail wagged vigorously.

“Can you erase everyone’s memories?”

[Yes. Though I can’t guarantee there won’t be side effects.]

“What kind of side effects?”

[If a third party probes too deeply into the erased memories, there’s a risk they could become mentally disabled.]

“That doesn’t matter.”

‘This is the cleanest solution.’

Actually, killing everyone might create even more complications.

“As expected, Rui is smart.”

Charlotte covered her mouth with her long sleeve and chuckled. The sight of Ruide with the fox was too adorable.

“Then I’ll go look around the area, young master.”

“Looking for magical beasts?”

“Yes. Honestly, if there were any, we would have known already… but it could be a type that can conceal its presence. And our puppy would just be in the way if she stayed here.”

Charlotte did some light stretching before approaching Amelia.

“Ame. Let’s go.”

“W-wait, Charlotte! I’ve almost figured out a solution!”

“Can’t hear you, can’t hear you.”

Charlotte forcibly dragged Amelia away. Amelia struggled, but Charlotte seemed too strong.

“Charlotte—!”

“We’re off. Fighting!”

Ruide smiled awkwardly.

“Be careful.”

After Charlotte and Amelia disappeared, Ruide turned around.

[Master, should I erase Sophia’s existence from everyone’s memories?]

Miho was excited at the opportunity to finally show off her powers.

“No. That’s a last resort.”

[What?]

“The best option is to bring Sophia back to life.”

Ruide stood before the white cloth.

Even just from the silhouette, it was a horrific corpse.

Probably with severed legs and waist.

‘Using the Dragon Heart would be certain, but…’

That was a trump card for emergencies.

Sorry to Sophia, but it would be wasteful to use it here.

Moreover—

This was an experiment.

The dead Sophia was a valuable test subject for Ruide.

It was also practice for potentially reviving the great mage “Dellin” someday.

“Ella. Come here.”

“Yes!”

Ella approached with quick steps.

She had the only clear face here, not consumed by panic.

“I’m going to try turning back time with the 5th Magic. Watch and learn.”

Ella thought for a moment, then carefully said:

“…According to my magical knowledge, that’s impossible. You yourself stated that time magic used on living beings is physically unsustainable.”

“I’ll correct myself. It is possible.”

Ruide had previously concluded that “reversing time for living beings is impossible.”

However, he could make this assertion now because of Dellin’s magic.

‘It was too presumptuous to think Dellin’s magical achievements would be inferior to mine.’

Of course, even Dellin probably didn’t know how to use the time aspect of the 5th Magic.

But what was certain was that Dellin’s understanding of the “space” aspect was superior to Ruide’s.

After all, it was Dellin who created the subspace magic.

“I declared it impossible because I was only trying to use time. If you utilize space—that is, spacetime—it becomes possible.”

“Space…?”

“Yes. Spacetime.”

“Spacetime…! Is this a new theory you’ve developed, Professor Ruide?!”

Ella’s eyes shone with excessive excitement.

Ruide felt a bit pressured but explained calmly.

When Ella’s magical achievements improved, it would reflect well on him as her professor.

“Let me use a baguette as an example.”

“You mean what you always eat.”

“…Never mind. Let’s use sliced bread as an example.”

“Yes.”

“Just as bread can be sliced in various ways, spacetime can also be cut in various ways.”

“So spacetime is like bread…”

‘Don’t write down such strange things.’

Ruide opened his drowsy eyes.

He sighed and explained. Despite appearances, she was probably trying to understand properly.

“We’ll cut the bread into three pieces. We’ll name one piece ‘past,’ one ‘present,’ and one ‘future.'”

“We’ve cut the bread into three pieces, but they’re all on the same plane, right? Past, present, and future all exist in the same reality.”

“Now let’s add a situation. Mold has grown on the edge of the bread called ‘reality.’ We want to remove this mold and fill it with clean bread. How should we do this?”

Ella said with a blank expression:

“If the present piece of bread is spoiled, then the future piece must be spoiled too. So… we have no choice but to take from the past.”

“Correct. As expected, Ella is smart. If we swap the clean bread piece from the past with the moldy bread piece of the present, the present bread piece becomes fresh.”

“Is, is that possible? That would be…”

Ella swallowed hard.

“The realm of gods, isn’t it?”

“I thought it wouldn’t work either. But it turns out it’s possible. I mentioned earlier that past, present, and future are identical, right? That means it’s possible to consume a part of the ‘past’ from the ‘present’ into ‘subspace.'”

This wasn’t a memory from the “lazy Ruide,” nor was it a research achievement he had thought of on his own.

He borrowed knowledge from the modern world. Specifically, Einstein’s theory of relativity.

…He never expected that the scientific knowledge he’d consumed during his insomnia would help in this way.

“Applying this to reality…”

Of course, Einstein’s theory might not be entirely accurate. This is just a theory after all.

Moreover, he couldn’t claim that his knowledge from briefly watching science YouTube videos was accurate.

But <magic> is different.

If there is a strong conviction that one’s logic has no ‘flaws,’ then the rest is filled in by mana, the all-purpose energy that exists to fill in those flaws.

Ruide was the person in this world who possessed the most of that energy.

Even if there were slight errors, as long as the direction was correct, it would definitely work.

“First, I’ll consume ‘Sophia from one hour ago’ who exists in ‘reality’ into subspace.”

Blue mana erupted from Ruide’s eyes.

KWAGAGAK!

People in the area barely managed to shield their faces from Ruide’s overwhelming magical power that burst forth like a waterfall.

If not for Ruide’s consideration, they wouldn’t have survived such exposure to excessive mana.

“Now I’ll swap the healthy ‘Sophia from one hour ago’ with the ‘dead Sophia’ that exists in the present.”

In other words, rather than simply turning back time for the Sophia in front of him—

He would swap the dead Sophia with the Sophia who existed somewhere an hour ago.

That was the nature of this magic.

Ruide extended his hand toward Sophia’s corpse.

“5th Magic.”

Ruide’s mana shot up toward the sky.

He clenched his fist.

“Diagram.”

After a moment of silence—

The blue mana that had shot skyward plunged down into Sophia’s body.