Chapter 135 – Hero Maniac

Blink, blink.

I blinked at Leona’s strange words.

“…If being ninety-seven makes you a ghost of the past, does that make you an ancient ghost, Vice Headmaster?”

“W-what!”

Leona’s face turned red.

“That’s not what I meant! A-and! You have to count in Beastkin years!”

Wouldn’t that still make her over a hundred? Not that I said it out loud. I’d probably get hit pretty hard.

“So what are you saying?”

“The Flame Empress… might be an even older existence than me.”

“…What?”

“Of course, I’m not completely sure. But in my memories… that is, in my memories from four hundred years ago, I think the Flame Empress was there too…”

Again with the strange stuff. How could she be in memories from four hundred years ago?

She was either there or not, what’s with ‘I think’?

While I was tilting my head in confusion, Leona let out a small sigh.

“…This is why I didn’t want to talk about it… Ugh, I’ll only say this once, so listen carefully.”

After taking another gulp of mint chocolate latte, Leona cleared her throat and spoke in a serious voice.

“Normally… an ordinary being, not a demon, couldn’t keep memories going back over four hundred years in their head. It would drive anyone mad. I was the same way.”

“So what do you do?”

“You have to seal away, erase, or throw out old memories just to go on living. I seal mine.”

“Then just open them.”

Leona shook her head.

“It’s not that simple. If you open up what’s sealed and try to look around inside, it takes a lot of time. Then, to seal those memories again… that takes a lot of time too. During all that, I can’t do anything. It’s like being brain-dead, totally unable to move.”

“Hm…”

“Still, even sealed memories don’t sink all the way into the depths. If you’re faced with a familiar situation or something triggers a strong memory, it can surface, at least faintly.”

I’ve never lived for four hundred years, nor do I want to, so that method feels totally foreign. I can’t even imagine what it’d feel like.

Then, what about Luna and Paulo? Kaloso? Arisa?

How do they cope with it? Did Luna and Paulo even keep their consciousness? Kaloso, that bastard, probably managed somehow.

And Arisa…

There’s no point in thinking about it now.

Anyway, I understood Leona’s explanation.

“So, you saw the Flame Empress’s face in one of those hazy memories.”

“Yes, I’m sure. Every time I see that fool’s face, or hear her voice, or watch what she does, those memories come back.”

“…Yeah. She is… kind of unforgettable.”

Her blunt face, all those sighs, tears, and wild expressions, the Flame Empress’s face flashed through my mind.

Her way of speaking is unique, and her thought process is bizarre.

She’s someone you just can’t forget.

“But… that’s not all.”

“There’s more?”

“This is only my guess, but the Flame Empress is… how should I put it? She doesn’t seem like someone from this world.”

Not someone from this world.

That reminded me of what the World Tree lady had ranted about before, when she handed me the violet elixir, I think.

‘This elixir is from my homeland, where I was born and raised!’

‘My mother especially made it for me! My mother commands the original spirits and created the pinnacle of magic herself!’

‘Hm? You’re asking why someone like that would give it to me? You rascal! Show some respect!!’

‘Of course, I did… nearly get uprooted by demons after coming to this remote world. But! It was a trial I needed to face. Don’t you dare call it a waste!!’

She’d said more, but what was it again?

She’d said there’s an existence at the pinnacle of the gods in her homeland.

Well, that doesn’t matter. Anyway.

“So you’re saying… she came from another world? Or another dimension?”

Leona’s eyes widened at my question.

“Another dimension? How do you know about that?”

“…It’s in novels.”

I couldn’t say I’d heard it from the World Tree lady, so I just made something up.

Pfft! Leona burst out laughing.

“You really believe that stuff exists? You act like such a brat, but in some ways, you’re so innocent. You really are just a kid.”

“You were the one who said she’s not from this world. That’s weird too.”

“Yeah, that’s true. What I said was plenty strange. But, well… I’ve lived a long time, right? So I made that guess based on my experience and memories.”

Must be nice being old.

I was about to make a snide remark when Leona spoke first.

“The Flame Empress… it’s like she came from a world living in another time.”

“Saying she’s from another dimension would make more sense.”

“Wh-what! Why are you being so sarcastic?!”

“How am I supposed to believe something like that? Where’s your proof?”

“My experience and thoughts are proof! There’s nobody in this world who’s seen and gone through more than I have!”

“So stubborn.”

“When your teacher says something, you should just accept it! What a hopeless student, always talking back!”

Leona ground her teeth, but then slumped in her chair, the steam gone from her earlier outburst.

“Haa… Anyway, that’s how it is. The Flame Empress… yeah. Like you said, maybe she’s not as dangerous as I made her out to be. But you can’t trust her too easily. Of the Six Pillars, she’s the most suspicious.”

“What did you mean by calling her a ghost?”

“The Flame Empress has no scent at all.”

“Maybe she just bathes really well.”

“You, are you purposely trying to annoy me so I’ll spill what you want to know?”

Tsk, unnecessarily sharp.

I shrugged and shook my head.

“Of course not.”

“So cocky… Anyway, that’s not what I mean. It’s not about cleanliness. Humans, demons, Beastkin, elves, spirits, dwarves, dragons, everything under the sky has its own scent. Even the air itself. But the Flame Empress has no scent at all.”

“But just now, when she came in, you said you smelled her, Vice Headmaster.”

“That wasn’t her scent. When the Flame Empress uses her abilities, there’s a faint residue of Mana left behind. Even that disappears after a day.”

Her ability… That’s true. The Flame Empress did seem to read the past in front of me.

“That’s why even I can’t track the Flame Empress. There’s no scent, no presence, no trace, nothing.”

So it wasn’t just that barrier she always throws up, there was something about the Flame Empress herself I hadn’t realized.

“So, has the Flame Empress ever… caused trouble in the world, sided with demons, made shady elixirs, or anything like that?”

“Never. The Flame Empress is strictly neutral.”

“Neutral?”

“Yeah. That fool doesn’t side with humans or demons. She even says she doesn’t belong anywhere. All she does is chase after traces of the hero and collect them.”

If someone like that, who always stands on neutral ground and practically lives in Gevihenum, suddenly shows up and approaches us…

Well, considering how much Leona hates demons, it’s not that strange she’d be wary.

But, 

“And now, that neutral person has become Stella’s teacher.”

“What? Stella? Teacher? Huh?”

Leona’s head tilted, and even her tail curled up in a question mark.

“If she’s now a human mage’s teacher, doesn’t that mean she’s taken the human side?”

“…What are you talking about?”

Should I explain or not?

I’ll explain. I trust Leona.

If Mom trusts Leona, then I will too.

All the things that have happened.

From the labyrinth in the underground waterway, to meeting the Flame Empress again in the training hall, to her becoming Stella’s teacher, I started telling her the whole story.

* * *

Quite a bit of time passed.

I told what needed to be told, and left out what should be left out.

Of course.

Anything about Stella, Akasha, or what Arisa left behind at the end of the underground labyrinth, I kept secret.

As for me, Yurasia, Stella, and Pina drinking the elixirs, I just said we drank what Samaela had left behind when she ran away.

Weapons? No need to reveal that yet.

They haven’t even been made yet, and we wouldn’t carry them around the academy anyway.

After hearing everything, Leona had a lot of reactions. Most of all, she was filled with murderous intent, directed at those who kidnapped and tried to kill Pina.

After that came guilt.

Guilt over her own incompetence and ignorance.

Then she bowed her head and thanked me.

Thanking me for surviving, and for protecting Stella and Pina, those embarrassingly sentimental words.

And finally, she scolded me.

She scolded me harshly for acting recklessly.

Still, when I told her Mom already scolded me, she went easier.

Leona calls me a brat, but out of all the people I’ve met, she’s the biggest brat of all.

I’m so sick of her nagging now.

“…So, now the Flame Empress is… teaching Stella?”

“Yes. I think so?”

“What were you thinking, handing Stella over to that fool?”

“You said she’s not a bad person. She might be suspicious, but I don’t think she’s a bad person. That’s why I did it.”

Leona didn’t argue with that.

The Flame Empress has never shown any suspicious actions until now.

Who knows if she’s good or evil.

Honestly, even dividing this world into good and evil is kind of laughable.

So is she a good person?

At least, to me, she is.

That’s why I asked her to become Stella’s teacher.

It wasn’t out of pure intentions.

I made that decision because I believed it would be a great advantage for me moving forward.

I don’t regret it.

…Actually, Leona was a little freaked out that she couldn’t track the Flame Empress, but she just said she could feel her presence now at the Shurium training hall in the heart of the capital.

Probably, when Leona returned to the academy and caught her own scent, the Flame Empress put out that much presence to show she was innocent.

Anyway, I’m glad things worked out.

Oh, right. There’s still one thing left to resolve.

“Anyway, since things turned out like this, Vice Headmaster.”

“…What now? What are you trying to say?”

Leona held her head in her hands, looking fed up.

“Honestly, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried. So, can Stella come train in this hall when she’s learning?”

“You want to… bring the Flame Empress into the academy?”

“Well… it’d be nice if she became an official professor, but if not, she could just sneak in. She snuck in when she came to see me, didn’t she?”

“Ugh… I keep saying to tighten academy security, but Pina gets kidnapped, the Flame Empress comes and goes as she pleases… Haah.”

Letting out an annoyed sigh, Leona fell silent, deep in thought.

After about ten minutes of tick, tick, tick, 

“Whuh?! What, what are you doing?!”

Leona scooped me up with both hands…

She put her foot on the windowsill of the wide-open training hall, holding me in a princess carry.

“I need to have a word with the Flame Empress. If I go alone, she’ll just run away, so come with me.”

“What about my lesson? I have a lot to ask you!”

“I’ll tell you everything after. So zip it, or you’ll bite your tongue!”

“At least let me get ready, “

Before I could finish, Leona kicked off and leapt into the air.