Ch.65Everyone Is Insane (1)

The clumsy act was successful.

As expected, Melina mistook this amateurish performance as “behavior trying to hide the fact that she had regressed.”

With this, even if Melina discovered that I knew the future, she wouldn’t be suspicious, and at the same time, I gave her a reason to stay close to me.

‘And she can’t follow me when I leave the North.’

Because on the surface, we’re strangers. If I tell her not to follow me, Melina has no grounds to do otherwise.

That day, an extra bed appeared in Glacia’s lair.

“Sleep well.”

“…Yes.”

Because of the bright-eyed gaze I felt beside me, I woke up several times during the night. I could only be thankful that she didn’t invade my bed.

After spending the night wide awake, Olivia thought:

‘I need to sort out what to call her first.’

“Master” is definitely out of the question.

While thinking about an appropriate title, she suddenly realized that the surroundings were unusually quiet.

“…Hmm?”

The beds were all empty. Olivia walked outside the lair with a disgruntled expression.

“Again. Your mana flow is disrupted.”

“The most important thing in lightning magic is speed. First, visualize lightning in your mind, then shoot it out.”

“Well now, when it comes to cold energy…”

Seeing Melina teaching her disciples from a distance, Olivia let out a hollow laugh.

Well, from Melina’s perspective, they were her grand-disciples.

She couldn’t help but care for them.

‘…Hmm.’

Melina watched the disciples with her arms crossed.

Whether they had talent or not wasn’t important. Just being Olivia’s disciples was more than enough reason for them to receive instruction.

However…

‘To think she would take a dragon as a disciple.’

Though they had just shed their hatchling status, they were still dragons.

‘As expected of my disciple.’

How she managed to capture the hearts of such a proud race was simply astonishing.

‘She must have been impressed by Olivia’s generous spirit.’

It was obvious without even seeing it.

To be honest, except for the one called Aramis, the other children just had talent at the level of upper-tier Tower Masters.

Of course, to others, that would be overflowing talent, but Melina’s standards were much higher than the common folk.

But Olivia’s disciples had unmatched determination.

So much so that one might mistakenly think they were selected for their tenacity.

It was desperate. It looked more like combat than training. With such fierce determination in their eyes, they were clearly extraordinary.

‘As expected of Livga.’

To think she had such a good eye for people.

“…What are you doing?”

“As you can see, I was teaching your disciples.”

“Why?”

‘Because they’re my grand-disciples.’

Melina swallowed those words.

“If you don’t like it, I’ll stop.”

“…I don’t dislike it.”

Seeing Olivia pretending to be shy, her disciples frowned deeply.

“That damn…”

“Shhh.”

“…?”

Melina tilted her head.

“Is something wrong?”

Instead of answering, the disciples just swallowed. This was because Olivia was raising her finger, making a throat-slitting gesture.

“Ha, haha. It’s nothing!”

“P-please continue your conversation comfortably! We’ll stay out of it!”

“Then we’ll be going now!”

Olivia stared at her retreating disciples and handed them potions.

A whopping eighty of them.

“M-Master? This is twice as many as usual…”

Instead of answering, Olivia just smiled sweetly. Then, from an angle where Melina couldn’t see, she mouthed:

‘Twenty each. Do it or die.’

The disciples trembled.

“…Yes.”

As soon as the disciples disappeared over the hill, Olivia put on her clumsy face again.

Melina didn’t notice.

*****

“So, did you find her?”

“…I’m sorry.”

“I see…”

The Emperor sighed lightly while stroking his chin.

“Red Tower Master.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“If we continue like this, a clash with the Eastern Alliance will be unavoidable.”

That meant his head would be the first to roll.

A dagger was hidden within his calm tone. Galdur couldn’t bring himself to look up.

A month. It had been a whole month, not just a week, since Melina disappeared. If the Eastern Alliance hadn’t inexplicably remained quiet, they would have already been in battle formation.

“Your Majesty, here are the results of the Eastern Alliance force analysis.”

“Any notable points?”

“Ashe Balthar has come down from the Atilla Mountains.”

At Calliophe’s words, the Emperor’s brow furrowed.

Ashe Balthar.

The world called him the King of Martial Arts. In the free city where money determined status, being called a king was itself proof of his martial prowess.

The free city of Mikabel is surrounded by the natural fortress of the Atilla Mountains. The basin in the middle of the mountain range wasn’t a coincidence. Until fifty years ago, the place where Mikabel now stands was known for its rugged terrain.

Until Ashe Balthar flattened the mountains with his bare fists.

The meaning of the self-proclaimed guardian of Mikabel coming down from the mountains was clear.

War was imminent.

“…What about the Wavemaster of Icail?”

“He hasn’t shown any movement.”

“Keep me updated regularly.”

“Yes.”

The Emperor couldn’t take his eyes off the continental map. The recent continental situation was ominous.

All directions except the North.

‘There wasn’t any sign at all.’

Who could have predicted things would turn out like this just a few months ago?

‘As if they were waiting for it.’

The movements of the powerful figures representing each country were suspicious.

The Master of Dark in the West was frantically gathering funds, and the South, which had been dominated by demons, was suspiciously quiet.

The East went without saying.

‘…At least the North?’

Literally a barren wasteland. A land so harsh that even barbarians gave up living there.

The Emperor drew lines on the continental map. East, South, and West.

A three-front war.

If that happened, the Empire would be engulfed in flames.

No matter how powerful the Empire was, maintaining a three-front war was impossible.

The only fortunate thing was that the Demon Realm of Throat blocked the path between the Empire and the West.

‘And the South doesn’t have the capacity yet.’

With demon minions openly roaming the desert, they wouldn’t waste energy fighting the Empire.

Therefore, the Empire had only one option. Before the situations in the South and West stabilized, they needed to somehow negotiate with the Eastern Alliance.

Originally, they had considered all-out war, but without Melina, the damage would be too great.

If the Wavemaster of Icail blocked the ports, supply through the sea would be impossible.

So they needed to negotiate. They might have to give up some control over Eastern trade, but that was better than losing it all.

‘It’s fortunate that Duke Kiel has returned.’

Kiel, who had returned from his wandering, had gone into seclusion. The reason was that he lacked strength.

What grounds could there be to stop a knight who wanted to improve his skills?

It was essentially a loss of fighting power, but it was still much better than nothing.

There was a huge difference between using thousands or tens of thousands of soldiers to stop Ashe Balthar, and stopping him with just Kiel.

Negotiations were possible now because Duke Kiel was there.

“Red Tower Master. I want to end this matter peacefully.”

“That means…”

“Go to the East as the head of a diplomatic mission. I’ll assign capable ministers, so you needn’t worry.”

“…”

Galdur kept his mouth shut.

If it were a diplomatic mission in a normal horizontal relationship, it might be different, but this was clearly the Empire bowing down.

The meaning of going as the head of such a mission was clear.

‘…Damn old man.’

If the Golden Tower Master were here, they wouldn’t have to suffer such humiliation.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“You may all withdraw now.”

As soon as the door closed, Galdur spoke.

“…Did you really not find her?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Calliophe’s face as she said this was definitely not that of someone who knew nothing.

“How strange. Did I refuse your help, or did I interfere with the search?”

She was saying not to blame others when he couldn’t find her due to his own incompetence.

“…You!”

Mana surged in Galdur’s angry hand. But Calliophe didn’t even blink.

“There are many eyes watching. If you want to get angry, at least do it outside the imperial palace.”

“…!”

Calliophe ignored the trembling Galdur and walked away.

After leaving the palace and walking for a while, Calliophe leaned against a wall in a secluded alley.

‘The standing of magicians will greatly decline because of this. What a foolish old man.’

How could the leader of the Second Prince’s faction fall for such shallow provocation?

It’s understandable that his judgment is clouded. He’s being made a scapegoat for a crime he didn’t commit.

But that wasn’t Calliophe’s concern.

‘The North has been quiet lately too.’

How surprised she was when she heard that the eldest daughter of House Crouch, one of the four ducal families, was a witch. Although she fled beyond the border before the knights were dispatched, that didn’t matter.

House Crouch was part of the Second Prince’s faction.

The moment they were branded with the infamy of raising a witch, House Crouch was as good as ruined.

Thanks to destroying one pillar of the Second Prince’s faction, the Night Raven’s position had risen incomparably.

Perhaps because of this, Calliophe’s perception of Olivia had also changed.

To a very useful witch with whom coexistence was possible.

– Tap!

Just as she was reflecting on her achievements so far, she sensed a presence at the end of the alley.

A masked person in black knelt down and said:

“Director, here’s the regular report from the Holy Kingdom.”

After checking the surroundings with her senses and confirming no one was around, Calliophe said:

“Report.”

“The final two Saintess candidates have been decided.”

“…Two? Who dropped out?”

“The Saintess candidate Livga.”

Calliophe frowned. Livga was the most promising candidate. Both the amount of holy power she possessed and her achievements were incomparably superior to the other candidates.

Yet she dropped out?

“What’s the reason?”

“That… she voluntarily withdrew. She said she wasn’t worthy of becoming the Saintess…”

Calliophe’s brow twisted horribly.

Is everyone collectively going crazy these days?