Chapter 62 – Reward

They say when three women gather, plates break.

It really felt like that.

My head was already pounding, my whole body was aching, and my head was about to explode from all the complicated thoughts. On top of that, hearing their incessant chattering made me want to throw up blood.

So I sent them all away.

The method was simple.

I pressed the emergency bell to call the head maid and asked her to kick out all of the unwanted guests.

Even that insufferable Vice Headmaster Leona couldn’t do anything against the head maid. She was dragged out like a cat caught by the scruff of its neck.

And so, in the peace that followed the terrible chaos…

“…Ugh.”

I could barely move my fingers, but I managed to sit up, leaning my back against the wall.

Last night’s conversation with Sparkle left me with a mountain of things to think about.

But I decided to put that off until later.

What’s important now is how yesterday’s events played out.

Fabiana was supposed to handle things quietly, but that plan was clearly a bust.

That said, Fabiana wouldn’t have revealed everything. She’d made a vow, after all.

Looking at the fact that I’m not being questioned about the broken weapons at the museum, it seems she was able to bury that.

I couldn’t hide the fact that I was inside the labyrinth. But… I suppose that was inevitable.

As soon as I came out of the labyrinth, there was a huge crowd of people waiting for me. The rumors must have spread far and wide through them.

And also, in order to open the imperial treasury and the forbidden archive, it’s important to acknowledge that I did something, so I guess it was inevitable.

Even so, this is too much.

I haven’t gone outside yet, so I don’t know what rumors are going around inside the academy.

But seeing that the Eustetia Knights are being mobilized and even my father is coming, the speed at which the rumors spread is too fast.

The only ones who could do that are…

“…The royal family?”

Are they trying to cover up the fact that a royal knight tried to kill Silina by spreading rumors about my presence in the labyrinth?

That makes sense, as that kind of incident could hurt the honor of the royal knights, and by extension, the authority of the royal family.

A mishap that could turn into a major scandal.

So they might want to cover it up with a different issue.

But Fabiana or Silina wouldn’t use such a low-down method.

So, it’s likely someone else in the royal family spread the rumors for some purpose.

And that someone is likely either working with the demons or made some sort of deal with them.

Their goal? To find the human who killed even a half-demon.

From my experience, the only human capable of killing that demon was Fabiana, at best.

But that was before the demon’s last stand. There was no human capable of killing the demon after it absorbed all of the magi it had accumulated and the core of the labyrinth.

Fabiana’s raw power would be enough, but her lack of experience is the problem.

When fighting demons, experience is the most important factor, no matter how strong you are.

If you consider everything, if we said that Yurasia, Silina, and I worked together to defeat the demon, it might be believable, but… it still wouldn’t be easy.

It’s also not possible to say the demon didn’t do something. From the outside, there must have been a noticeable change in the labyrinth.

Anyone who knows anything about demons and labyrinths would realize the demon absorbed the magi within the labyrinth.

And if they did, then they’d come to the conclusion that there must be a powerful individual with overwhelming power inside the labyrinth, and that person will become the target of the demons.

This situation is incredibly problematic.

According to Sparkle, my soul is identical to my soul from my past life.

In other words, anyone who can see a soul would be able to recognize ‘me.’

Of course, it would only be possible for those who have been able to see souls for over 400 years, and have seen me at least once, but it’s still dangerous all the same.

Even that moronic demon I met yesterday recognized me. Any demon who has a name wouldn’t fail to recognize me.

And what happens if that demon comes face-to-face with me, Ronan?

Regardless of any alliances, they’d try to kill me on the spot.

This isn’t some sort of ego trip.

I… well, I have enough grudges with demons for that to be entirely possible.

Of course, I have ways to kill even high-ranking demons, but…

If I use ‘that’… not only will I become a ticking time bomb, but all the demons in the world will find out I’m the reincarnation of Ronan.

“Ugh, shit…”

If something had happened while I was awake, I might have been able to think of a solution, but since it all happened while I was asleep, it’s difficult to keep up with the flow.

If I go outside now, maybe I can meet Fabiana.

But I probably won’t.

Fabiana and Silina are probably both in the royal palace.

Then, who else?

Who would be aware of the general situation, the rumors floating around, and various pieces of information?

One person comes to mind.

But…

“…Ugh, I really don’t want to.”

I sighed and lifted my head.

“What is it that you don’t want, I wonder?”

And there, standing before me, was someone I had clearly kicked out earlier.

“It’s not me, right? Heehee.”

Adelia Baros was there, smiling brightly.

***

Adelia, who had barged into my room uninvited, explained the current situation in great detail.

First of all, the rumors were not started by Silina or Fabiana, just as I expected. They did indeed start in the royal palace.

As for the reason for the rumors, it was, as expected, to protect the reputation of the royal family.

Of course, she doesn’t know the full details. Even Adelia wasn’t able to dig that far.

Apparently, someone powerful enough to fool Adelia had created a barrier that enveloped the entire royal palace.

What followed was a bunch of political stuff, all of which I ignored. The important takeaway was that Fabiana and Silina were still at the academy.

And after the political talk, there was some good news.

The royal treasury would be opened for the first time in 70 years.

The ones allowed to enter are me and Yurasia.

As a reward for subjugating the demon and the half-demon inside the labyrinth, we would be allowed to take one piece of equipment from the treasury.

Furthermore, we were also granted access to the forbidden archive.

It seems that Fabiana’s stubbornness and her reputation as a madwoman were big factors, causing many problems behind the scenes. However, on the surface, everything was resolved.

But there was one condition.

When entering the forbidden archive, I have to be accompanied by a royal family representative.

And on that point, the Eustetia family strongly asserted their stance.

If a royal family representative was going to accompany me, then a Eustetia family representative also had to accompany me.

It seems the Eustetia family knew that this labyrinth incident wasn’t just an accident, but a deliberate occurrence. So, it seems they decided to act as my guardian to eliminate any potential danger.

This declaration meant that the Eustetia family was suspicious of the royal family, but the royal family didn’t express any discomfort and readily agreed.

The first guess is that even the royal family didn’t want to make an enemy of Eustetia.

The second guess is that the royal family will take responsibility for the incident and tolerate the minor inconveniences.

And lastly, that Eustetia, my father, made a strong push for it.

Whatever the case, being able to have a Eustetia representative escort me to the royal treasury is a good thing.

Having someone who is unconditionally on my side in the royal palace, where everyone is a potential enemy, is a huge advantage.

And if there are any tricky questions or political matters, I can just leave them to my escort, and they’ll take care of it all.

I feel a bit relieved, but…

It doesn’t make sense for her to come here all of a sudden, secretly, to explain all of this.

Is she looking for something from me?

But all I have is the name of Eustetia and my body.

“So, why did you tell me all of this?”

“Because it seemed like my student was in trouble.”

“…Is that… all?”

“Of course. Does a professor at the academy need a special reason to protect their student?”

“Hmm…”

I pulled the blanket up to my neck, glaring at Adelia.

“And, Eliaernes, you seem to be trying to hide your power for some reason, don’t you?”

“I’ve heard having lots of secrets makes you more attractive.”

“Someone like Eliaernes is attractive enough without secrets, but yes, I’m trying to help you keep those secrets. So, you don’t need to be so wary of me.”

“It’s a bit much to ask me not to be wary of a Black Magician who can appear in a student’s room without any notice, warning, or preamble, as if it’s nothing.”

“But it’s not like I’m going to hurt you, right? Honestly, heehee, if I wanted to, I could do whatever I wanted to you right now, with how weak you are, but I’m holding back. Don’t you think you should trust me a little more?”

“That makes me feel even more uneasy.”

I narrowed my eyes and held the blanket even tighter. Adelia’s smile deepened as she watched me.

…I don’t like this.

But still, how did she know I was weakened?

Can she tell just by looking at me?

Or maybe she heard me asking for a priest earlier.

Even so… I don’t think I showed that much weakness for her to call me “frail.”

‘There’s no way I wouldn’t recognize Ronan’s soul. Of course, you seem to have overexerted yourself, and seem unusually weak, but… it’s definitely Ronan’s soul.’

…Could it be?

“I… I have a question.”

“Feel free to ask.”

“By any chance, are you—”

“Tsk. Not ‘you.’ It’s ‘Professor Adelia.’”

“Ugh… yeah, um… Professor… Adelia, do you happen to have… good eyesight?”

Adelia tilted her head at my question, before answering casually.

“Yes. As I mentioned before, my eyesight is very good. I can see far and wide, and I see a lot, too.”

“…No, not that. I mean, can you see the form of a soul… or something like that?”

Adelia’s eyes widened.

Just for a moment. She soon closed her glistening red eyes slyly and smiled seductively.

“The form of a soul…”

A pink tongue peeked out shyly from between her lips and licked them. Then, click-clack, she took a step closer.

“Yes, I can see it.”

She whispered into my ear.

“And I can even see that your soul is weaker than usual right now.”