Ch.295Episode 12 – The Strongest Mage in History

“Huh? Frederick all of a sudden?”

Camilla, who had been busy kindling a fire, tilted her head in confusion. In these times when people were freezing to death due to the unusual cold wave, people like her who could start fires with a bit of effort were welcomed everywhere in the north.

Her porcelain-like hands gently waved through the air, creating a shimmering heat haze.

Whoosh! Flames bloomed like flower petals, and as workers settled around the communal space glanced occasionally at the two of them, Camilla’s face flushed an untimely crimson.

“Hmm…”

Francesca, who had been standing still observing the underground chamber, broke the silence.

“Hero. Do you not feel anything unusual?”

“Huh? Feel something?”

“Yes. Like a sudden chill, or an upset stomach, something like that.”

Camilla, who had been distributing embers to the workers, fell into deep thought.

With arms crossed and standing on one leg, she hummed thoughtfully before suddenly tilting her head to one side with a curious expression.

“Now that you mention it, I have been feeling something off since earlier.”

“An uneasy feeling?”

“Like someone’s watching me? That feeling when you just want to leave where you are, you know?”

“……”

After hearing her answer, Francesca glanced once at the collapsed waterway, then turned and trudged away from the site.

Camilla tilted her head in confusion before hurrying after her with quick steps.

Episode 12 – The Greatest Magician in History

“Oh my. It’s already this late…”

As the sun hung in the sky, tilting westward, I set down my pen and gazed at the scenery through the window while reviewing documents in my office.

With a stiff neck and slumped shoulders, I rotated my aching wrists, suddenly reminded of an uncle I used to meet frequently long ago.

A colonel with a wallet-style smartphone case filled with cards and business cards, sitting in his office with a golf ball massager around his neck. Back then, I couldn’t understand what was so great about it. These days, I often think about buying a massage device myself.

“Am I getting old…”

“At 28, you’re plenty old. About time you started worrying about your blood pressure, isn’t it?”

“Shut up, Jake.”

Jake, whose disheveled appearance made it hard to believe he was a civil servant, approached with a stack of files, grinning mischievously. It was today’s approval documents.

I snatched the papers from his hand, glared at his smug face, and picked up my pen.

“Anything unusual today?”

“Oh, plenty of unusual things.”

“What kind? The Magic Tower? The Church? Or the Empire?”

“It’s the Magic Tower mages causing problems. Take a look at this page here.”

*

The report, presumably written by Pippin and Charnoi, contained information about the activities of Magic Tower mages.

The reason I assumed Charnoi had co-authored the report with Pippin, despite only Pippin’s name being listed, was quite simple.

“Hey. Who drew sunflowers on the report?”

“…Ah.”

I pointed at the sunflower drawings on the back of the report and looked at Jake. Childish drawings that looked like they were made by a five-year-old with a kindergarten teacher’s help were scribbled on the back pages.

“This is driving me crazy…”

“I apologize. We’ll be more careful next time.”

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it.”

The intelligence contained in the report was extensive, but the compiled data was well-organized.

The Magic Tower mages have been agitated by the events of the past month.

According to information gathered by intelligence networks in the northern part of the Kien Empire and informants stationed at the Magic Tower, mages operating in the north and high-ranking officials of the Magic Tower government have expressed serious concerns about the Grand Duke’s approval of the Inquisition’s investigation.

The report also included a list of supplies the Magic Tower had prepared to support the Empire and the Church’s investigation activities, and even a list of Magic Tower officials who opposed this support. The former was information I had obtained through Francesca.

“Hmm…”

It seems the wizards are on edge these days. They thought all the murder cases were the Church’s doing, but now clear evidence has emerged pointing to a necromancer as the culprit.

If I were a mage, this would truly be a heartbreaking situation, but unfortunately, I am not a mage.

Which means whether the Magic Tower falls or not is none of my business.

I signed my name in the signature field and handed the file back to Jake.

“The Magic Tower will soon be reorganized internally by the Oracle, and the field will be managed jointly by Francesca and Evangellos, so that’s settled. As for the Church, I already know about that… What’s the Military Government Headquarters up to these days?”

“Busy. Everyone’s in a frenzy preparing to hunt demons.”

The Imperial Ministry of Defense was committed to eradicating demons. From a certain perspective, they were being even more proactive than the Church.

Resources, manpower, funds, intelligence, and more. The military was pouring everything they had into the northern region.

They had even reached out to foreign countries to realize their grand ambition of ending the conflict with the magical beasts in time for the National Foundation Day celebrations, only to have some nuisance appear and cause havoc. How could they not be furious?

The military, not wanting to see countless stars fall at the Emperor’s pointing finger, had gathered troops from all over the empire to crush the demons.

This much I had anticipated. But the contents of the report deviated significantly from my expectations.

“They’re reassigning the units from the central region to the rear reserves? Weren’t they sent to hunt demons? Why are they being moved to reserves?”

“It’s by order of Military Governor Mikhail.”

“General Mikhail?”

“He says it’s to prepare for any problems that might arise at the front or rear during the demon subjugation. Given the recent incidents and the previous rift attack, we don’t know what might pop up where, right?”

“Hmm…”

It’s certainly a reasonable decision.

I scratched below my lip with my finger and nodded slowly.

“True, if another monster appears and there’s no unit to respond, that would be bad…”

“There are voices of opposition within the military, but it seems General Mikhail wants to resolve the situation with minimal casualties.”

“Well, that’s for the Imperial Army to decide. Anything else?”

“That’s all for today… Oh, right.”

Jake, who was about to leave with the documents, suddenly clapped his hands as if remembering something.

“Sir, about the team the company dispatched to the north recently.”

“Hmm? Oh, yes, I remember. What about them?”

“I had brief contact with them through the embassy yesterday, and they’ve successfully infiltrated.”

“Really? That’s good news.”

“Due to time constraints and backlogged work, they can’t start operations immediately, but they should begin their main tasks around the New Year.”

The operation team Klevins mentioned, sent to extract someone.

I don’t know who they are or what mission they’ve been assigned, but it was clear they were keeping an eye on officials from the Magic Tower’s Secretariat.

I pulled out my sleeve that had rolled inside my coat and said casually:

“Don’t worry about their business. They probably won’t cross paths with us anyway.”

“That’s true. But sir, do any of the overseas dispatch teams bring pets with them?”

“Pets? Why are you suddenly asking about that?”

“Yesterday while communicating with that team, I suddenly heard a cat sound over the radio. It had a really strange meow, too.”

“How did it sound?”

Jake tilted his head. He pursed his lips, thinking about how to pronounce it, then finally said:

“Meoong.”

It was a strange meow I’d never heard before.

What an odd sound.

“A stray cat, perhaps?”

“Well, that’s what it seemed like to me.”

*

As people age, they tend to resist change.

Considering that humans are animals that adapt to anything, this is clearly an unusual phenomenon, but from a psychological perspective, it’s not particularly strange.

People always say we should pursue change, but in reality, not many people actually like change.

Change ultimately means altering something and departing from one’s existing life.

Abandoning stability always brings anxiety. Fear and terror are among humanity’s greatest concerns. So there are no humans who truly enjoy change.

From that perspective, my settled mood could be easily explained.

The corridor of the cathedral bathed in crimson sunset. Marble pillars gleaming in the brilliant light.

When I first saw it, I felt slightly excited as if I were visiting an ancient site. But after spending considerable time at the cathedral, that initial excitement had long since faded.

However, not in this moment.

“……”

Walking through the deserted corridor of the cathedral, I suddenly stopped.

With the setting sun visible to my left, I was heading roughly northward. Since the sun wasn’t exactly to my left but more behind me, my destination would more accurately be described as northeast.

The northeast section of St. Basilius Cathedral. A remote, secluded place rarely visited even by clergy and monks.

In that place, only a single old wooden confessional stood alone.

I opened the door and sat down. The discomfort from the hard seat was distinctly noticeable, but I had no time to dwell on such things now.

-Creak.

The wooden window of the confessional opened with a loud noise. Through the latticed wooden bars, between the pillars where soft crimson sunset light poured in.

“…You’ve come.”

Lucia, with eyes as blue as the freezing sea, was sitting there.

The saint beyond the lattice greeted me warmly with a benevolent smile.

“I’ve been waiting for you.”