Ch.64Thorough Preparation (2)

# “What’s wrong with this kid?”

Amelia fiddled with her armor, looking uncomfortable.

“Wear armor today.”

“Huh?”

“Just wear it when I tell you to.”

Obviously, one doesn’t wear full armor when going to the Academy.

But because of Ruide, she ended up wearing it anyway.

After finishing her preparations, Amelia went outside.

She saw Ruide sitting in the carriage, resting his chin on his hand.

Amelia sat across from him. The armor’s bulk made it quite uncomfortable. But she couldn’t voice her complaints, only glancing at him cautiously before speaking.

“Ruide, are you not angry anymore…?”

“I wasn’t angry.”

…The previous incident at the Mellan Mountains.

Amelia thought she was going to die from the stress.

It was the first time she’d seen Ruide so angry. She must have been away for too long.

“I’m sorry. So please don’t be mad. Okay? I promise I won’t leave you alone for so long again.”

“What are you talking about?”

Amelia sighed. They say siblings fight every other day, but she didn’t want to fight with her clearly younger brother. Ruide was someone she needed to take care of. Above all else.

‘If Mom and big sister find out, I’m dead.’

If news of her fighting with Ruide somehow reached their ears, they would tear her apart completely.

Amelia gulped. Ruide glanced at her and said:

“Black Mages will invade today.”

“I see…”

Amelia, who had answered unconsciously, blinked.

Then she became extremely flustered.

“W-what did you say?”

“For now, only you should know.”

Amelia’s expression, which had been contemplating how to reconcile, instantly hardened.

Ruide wasn’t one to talk nonsense. If he said something would happen, it was a future that would actually unfold.

“What’s your evidence?”

“I can feel it. The presence of a powerful Black Mage.”

Ruide gazed out the carriage window at the sky with a melancholic expression.

Amelia swallowed nervously.

‘He must be sensing something incredible.’

Clatter.

At that moment, the carriage shook. Ruide, who had been trying to look cool, lost his posture and bit his tongue with an “Urk.”

Tears welled up in his eyes. Even genius magicians couldn’t escape the misfortune of biting their tongues.

“A-are you okay?”

“…Yeah.”

‘For Ruide’s posture to be disrupted like that. Just how powerful is this Black Mage’s presence?’

Amelia heightened her sense of tension.

“What about the scale and level?”

“It’s incomparable to that fake Black Mage from before. This time it’s real. A real Black Mage. It’s going to be troublesome.”

“Excuse me, driver.”

Amelia called to the coachman with a stern face. She intended to have the carriage turn around and head to the Imperial Palace.

“No.”

Ruide poked Amelia’s cheek.

“…Huh?”

Ruide thought for a moment. It wasn’t difficult to come up with a story that would convince Amelia.

“I don’t know the exact location. I think they’re targeting the Academy, but if the Imperial Palace makes a move, they’ll notice.”

“What does that mean?”

“We can’t catch them. Do you know how good Black Mages are at escaping?”

“…!”

Amelia’s eyes widened. She had only known one thing and not the other.

“I feel bad for the Academy, but this is an opportunity. A chance to eliminate a potential threat. And.”

Ruide spoke in a subtle voice.

“Wouldn’t this be a big plus for your succession test?”

“Ruide.”

But this time, Ruide had misjudged. Amelia sat upright and scolded him sternly.

“Where did you learn such wicked thinking? To pursue personal ambition when great harm might come to others. The people of the empire are just as precious as the people of Windsor.”

“……”

“As a Windsor, you should understand the greater good.”

Ruide couldn’t argue back and just pouted.

“Answer me.”

“…I understand.”

Seeing that Ruide seemed to be reflecting, Amelia’s expression softened. She patted his head firmly.

“Yes. If it weren’t for you, no one would have known such information. Thanks to you, we can protect many things. Well done, Rui.”

“Stop talking like a knight. You old-timer.”

“…What’s an ‘old-timer’?”

“People like you, Ame. Anyway.”

Ruide looked at Amelia.

“Only you should know. Got it? Don’t tell anyone.”

“Shouldn’t we tell the people at the Academy?”

“The Black Mage could be among the students or professors.”

“What…?”

If true, that would be an extremely serious matter.

“That’s not what I mean. They’re skilled in dark arts, so they could be hiding their identity. Or they might leak information that we know. They’re Black Mages, after all.”

“I see. …I didn’t think from a magician’s perspective. I should reflect on that.”

Amelia touched her lips.

“Rui, how close does the Black Mage need to be for you to identify them?”

“I need to see them directly.”

The reason Black Mages were considered troublesome was that if they wanted to hide, they could never be found.

They were truly skilled at hiding. Even Ruide’s statement that he couldn’t tell unless they were right in front of him was the absolute truth.

‘…So the rest is all lies.’

Yes. Ruide had lied to Amelia. Currently, Ruide wasn’t sensing even a hint of a Black Mage.

It was all made up to inform her that “Black Mages are targeting the Academy.”

“Then we’ll have to patrol.”

Amelia looked troubled. The Academy grounds were so vast that it was impossible for her to cover everything alone.

“This is what the Black Mage is after.”

Ruide pulled out a wine glass from his spatial storage.

“Hmm…? That’s your orange juice glass, isn’t it?”

“How rude to call it an orange juice glass. It’s a holy relic, the Chalice of Mana.”

“……”

Amelia pressed her lips together. Then, with a kind smile, she asked:

“Ruide. May I ask where you got that?”

“I stole it.”

Amelia maintained her silence again. She was at a loss for words due to Ruide’s overly confident attitude.

“Put it back.”

“No.”

“Ruide. Stealing is wrong. The clergy came looking for it yesterday. Why did you take the Easter egg too?”

“To make scrambled eggs.”

“…Of all the chicken coops, why did you take it from the clergy’s? The clergy’s eggs aren’t ordinary eggs; they’re natural potions infused with holy power.”

“No wonder they were delicious.”

Amelia said with a stern face:

“I wanted to eat them too.”

That seemed to be the real issue.

“Anyway, I’m going to put this back where it belongs. Just wait nearby.”

Just then, the carriage stopped.

The armor pieces collided as she was pushed back. Amelia looked at the armor and said:

“…So that’s why you told me to wear armor.”

“Yes. Nothing bad comes from listening to me. So listen to me well from now on too.”

“Okay.”

Ruide got out of the carriage.

Amelia, who hadn’t been thinking much, suddenly blushed.

“R-Ruide! That sounds strange! I’m still your older sister!”

**

Episode: ‘The Seven Deadly Sins.’

This episode captured the moment when the “mastermind” of this world first revealed their tail.

The mastermind’s identity was, of course, a Black Mage.

Their purpose was simple. There was an entity that all Black Mages commonly followed, and they sought its resurrection. Black Mages referred to “that one” as the Demon King. They routinely proclaimed their mission “For the return of the Demon King—”

However, that wasn’t the truth.

While Black Mages thought the entity they followed was some demon who would bring calamity to this world, or a divine being—

He was just a greedy magician who wanted to live longer. Nothing more than a foolish human who wanted to defy death.

‘Even if he struggles out of his grave, I’ll still win.’

Naturally, Ruide was confident he could win even if the Demon King were resurrected.

Anyway, since Black Mages desired the Demon King’s return, they obviously had their own organization.

Among them, they called their leaders by the childish name “Seven Deadly Sins,” and in this episode, one of those seven was scheduled to appear.

Ruide didn’t care about anything else; his goal was to ensure the kids didn’t get hurt.

“Is everyone comfortable with their weapons?”

“Yes!”

Ruide, who had gathered everyone under the pretext of a class, carefully examined the students.

‘Fortunately, none of them are here.’

They were all looking at him eagerly, holding shiny equipment.

‘This should be enough to prevent injuries. As long as they don’t get greedy.’

Equipment advantage can’t be ignored.

Moreover, the difficulty of this episode was such that Justin almost died about four times.

Considering Justin’s incompetence, survival was quite possible.

“Excuse me.”

Just then, a female student raised her hand.

“Yes?”

“When should we return these?”

No noble here thought Ruide had “given” them various weapons. Nobles were clear about give-and-take, believing nothing in this world was free.

And that was actually true. Even Ruide had no intention of freely distributing this much wealth.

“When you graduate.”

“…What?”

However, he was willing to lend them.

For quite a long time, at that.

“U-until graduation?”

“Yes.”

“…!”

The students’ eyes widened.

“Hoho, you really know your stuff. A ruler should be generous when giving, that’s the way.”

“…The Emperor would be angry if he heard that.”

“Ruide. You have the qualifications of a ruler.”

Damon Kairos said seriously.

Ruide was dumbfounded.

“This is a cooking class, not an army…”

“Well, anyway, I got a glimpse of Windsor’s wealth. I wondered if Northern weapons were somehow different, but they’re the same.”

Damon smiled as he looked at his spear.

Though why a magician chose a spear was unknown. He seemed quite pleased with his weapon.

With an arrogant expression, he evaluated:

“It’s just like the Divine Spear of Regulus I saw in the Imperial treasury the other day.”

‘That’s because it is.’

Ruide decided not to share this uncomfortable truth.

“But what are we gathered for today? You asked us to come fully armed.”

Hersy raised her hand and asked.

“It’s simple. Today’s class ends when you faithfully do what I tell you. Don’t ask why, just do it.”

Ruide tugged at Amelia’s sleeve.

Amelia distributed papers from inside her garment to the students.

“…Walk for 30 minutes from West?”

The female student who had asked the first question tilted her head.

“5,000 thrusts at the training ground.”

Gilbert’s eyes filled with despair.

“Stay near Justin, a first-year in the Magic Department, and approach if something happens?”

Irina had a curious expression.

“What does ‘take the fox for a walk’ mean…? I already did that for an hour today.”

Miho rubbed her face against Hersy’s calf.

“Kick Justin’s butt? What a petty task. But it sounds fun.”

The last was Damon.

Everyone looked at Ruide with equally bewildered expressions.

The instructions written on the papers were all different, but they were all equally absurd and incomprehensible.

“I think 5,000 thrusts is too many.”

Meanwhile, Gilbert raised an objection.

Ruide gazed blankly at the sky. Though it was daytime, the moon was faintly visible. The faint color of the moon was red.

‘Almost time.’

Hersy, hugging the fox, said. She was told not to ask questions and just do it. So she would.

“When should we start following these instructions?”

“When Dellin’s Forest catches fire.”

“…What?”

Did she hear wrong? Hersy frowned.

Ruide silently pointed somewhere.

It was in the direction of Dellin’s Lake.

Everyone’s gaze turned there.

Dellin’s Forest was as quiet as usual.

However—

Around the time Ruide lowered his hand.

“Liar.”

Dellin’s Lake began to burn.