episode_0044

“Ras… isn’t he really cool these days? His face was handsome to begin with, but.”

“Exactly. He was a bit bland, being too soft-hearted, but these days, he’s become somewhat of a bad boy.”

“Heh heh…. I heard he broke up with Lizley, so should I just go for it? I was really surprised when I saw him in the practical combat skills class earlier, you know?”

These days, among the first-year female students at the Academy, the stock of ‘Ras Etgard-nim’ was quietly rising, unexpectedly.

Do they say that a breakup makes a boy into a man? Or is the trend these days the bad boy?

That was roughly the feeling.

And…

“Ras-gun. Could you please put that smug expression back in place? Your current popularity is nothing but an illusion.”

“People always enjoy illusions, Marisa. That’s why you like those street novels, aren’t you?”

“Ugh, how did you know that…”

During lunchtime, I was enjoying the popularity I could practically feel on my skin, eating with Marisa and Irha.

Right behind our table, voices were overtly whispering, clearly ‘for me to hear’, which I found immensely pleasing.

Before my regression, at the end of the semester, I was scum who tried to commit a sexual offense against my girlfriend’s best friend. Compared to that, my current reputation is a sea change.

“It’ll be very troublesome if I get even more popular. Growl….!”

Meanwhile, Irha was secretly glaring at the girls whispering about me, like a dog guarding a bone.

But whether it was her eyes or her demeanor… she was just so innocent and harmless that she wasn’t threatening at all.

“Irha. What good is my minion if she can’t even threaten properly? You have such an innocent face, you need to infuse mana right into your brow, bam!”

“Uh-uh-uh?! When did I threaten anyone… Hehehe… It’s totally not because I’m afraid of Ras being taken away.”

Seeing this fellow blurt out things even without being asked, I was reminded of the cunning Pisces, her polar opposite.

They say extremes meet, but who knew my two minions would be so different.

“Watch closely. This is how you do it. Go quickly and buy a pastry after the meal, Irha.”

“Hiccup..! I’ll go buy it quickly..!”

After concentrating mana on my brow, I drew out a very, very shallow portion of the Raksasa’s power within me and commanded Irha, and she ran to the store in a fright.

On the surface, this might just look like a bully bossing around a classmate, but in truth, even at this very moment, I am undergoing intense training.

The power of the Mental Realm, as it’s called, should be studied and utilized in various ways, from fine-tuning its control like this to expanding it broadly like an ocean.

Looking back, before my regression, I specialized in expanding the Mental Realm for wide-area deployment, and as a result, the destructive power of my attacks was tremendously strong.

In terms of destructive power alone, I handled most situations with enough strength that even Semere would have to concede half her power, but in the end, I was crushed by the ‘Apocalypse’ that came.

Perhaps the parts I missed, such as this delicate control of power, are where the key to my growth lies dormant?

Of course… from an outsider’s perspective, this was a full-force coercion for a pastry errand, so I had to endure the ensuing controversy a little.

“Ras-gun. Are you a terrible villain for bullying your classmate like that, constantly? But actually, you can torment Irha a bit.”

“Look. Irha isn’t his girlfriend, she’s just his subordinate! He’s bossing her around so sincerely, how could she be his girlfriend? Hand over the money!”

“So that’s what Ras’s ‘sincere pastry errand’ was… But I kind of want to try it too?”

Sigh, saving the world through training is truly this difficult.

*

After school, Emma sat in a cafe with Lizley and studied.

Leone has a rather excellent library befitting a prestigious academy, but one cannot chat while studying in the library.

Therefore, large cafes near the Academy where one could talk freely and study were quite popular.

*Rustle- rustle- rustle-*

‘Ah… I’m so happy. How can Lizley look so graceful even when reading a book?’

From Emma’s perspective, this time spent studying, with a magic tome open, receiving various advice from the brilliant and noble mage Lizley, was incredibly precious.

‘Seeing her with the Imperial Prince-nim looks very good and makes me happy, but I still like seeing her alone the most.’

From Emma’s perspective, steeped in the two emotions furthest from obedience and understanding, Lizley de Gracia was truly an empress and a sage.

What Lizley, as a woman, truly possessed inwardly held little meaning for Emma.

“Hmm..? Emma, is something on my face? You’re staring quite intently today.”

“Ah..! No, it’s just your expression is very bright today. Your complexion hasn’t been good lately… I was worried a lot.”

Lizley smiled slightly, looking at Emma.

Unlike the somewhat dazed and fragile, precarious smile she had shown in the salon, this was a truly bright smile.

“Well… a lot of it is thanks to you, Emma. I’ve often thought how fortunate I am to have someone like you as my closest confidante. There’s no one who cares for me as much as you do.”

“…!!!”

Although they had spent a considerable amount of time together, this was the first time Lizley had given Emma such direct praise.

Emma’s pupils widened greatly, having received such unexpected praise.

“Emma, I’m afraid I have to leave first today. I have an appointment with Leon…”

“Alright. It’s an appointment with the Imperial Prince-nim, so you should hurry, Lizley.”

Lizley quietly added a remark to the beaming Emma.

“Next time, let’s meet quietly, just the two of us, at the salon. Since it’s near the Academy, all sorts of commoners… Haa… The air isn’t very good here, is it?”

“Ah…!”

Emma looked around at Lizley’s words.

She had made a reservation in advance because she heard it was popular, but it seemed ‘popular’ included popularity among commoners.

Following Lizley’s gaze, at its end, was…

“Ras..? Irha…?”

As if clinging to his girlfriend, Ras has been sticking close to Irha lately.

The funny thing is, because he keeps her by his side and makes her do errands, no one even thinks of Irha as Ras’s girlfriend.

Irha running around, sweating on her soles, doing all sorts of errands, is quite a spectacle among the first-year students of Leone these days.

“Eustace, Pio, Shasta… It looks like they’ve come for some strategic meeting, maybe? They have extra exams, you know. I keep telling Garett to be tough on them.”

“Hmm… seeing their happy expressions makes me a little annoyed. Anyway, I’ll go first. Oh, be sure to read this?”

Lizley quietly handed Emma a couple of magic tomes, then packed her bags and left the cafe.

“Haa… Isn’t that truly complete stalking? He’s doing that on purpose for Lizley to see, isn’t he? What a truly rotten bastard…”

True to Emma, who would curse Ras as much as she wanted, she didn’t forget to grumble and badmouth him under her breath.

“But she’s giving me all these books before she leaves..? She’s never done this before?”

Today’s Lizley was a little unfamiliar to Emma, but Emma just shrugged it off and checked the books Lizley had handed her.

“What… is this…?”

[The Black Ritual Book of Schwarzkolom, Is Black Magic an Illusion? Author_La Lergo]

Emma looked at the pitch-black book, completely unsuited to the pure white Lizley, swallowed hard at the sense of incongruity, and turned a page.

“…….”

The ill-tempered, half-formed witch of the Agnelli family thus encountered black magic for the first time in her life.

*

Leone is located in Delphi, one of Sephiroth’s considerably large cities.

Though not as vast and complex as the capital, Zephyr, its status within the empire is high, as it is called the ‘Cradle of the Imperial Family’.

And high and glorious status implies that it harbors a commensurate amount of shadow, both behind and beneath it.

Delphi’s back alleys are not as large as Zephyr’s, but they are equally vast, harsh, and cruel.

A den of night and darkness, completely opposed to the bright and sunny Academy.

And in the deeply settled night and darkness, a figure crept, stealthily like a mouse, and very cautiously.

“…..The note says… the black mage La Lergo’s residence is nearby… Damn it. With no proper address, am I supposed to be solving a puzzle right now or what?”

Yet, even in the midst of it, she didn’t forget to grumble, unable to suppress her peculiar temperament.

Judging by her voice, she was either a young girl or a newly adult woman.

But unlike her irritable voice, she was continuously and carefully looking around.

*Squeak-!!*

Sewer rats sprang out from everywhere, and she nearly screamed in fright, but managed to compose herself.

“Whew… what good is it to be startled by mere rats. Well… anyway, it seems I’ve roughly found the right place.”

The woman, fumbling, diligently ‘deciphered’ the rough map drawn on the note, and finally arrived at her destination.

One of the garbage heaps located in the back alleys.

A ‘den’ from which a scent vaguely resembling a foul stench wafted out.

She entered the strange house that gave off a cave-like impression.

Then, *knock- knock- knock-*

“I have come, having read the vision of Schwarzkolom. For a black commission. I have come to seek the flour from the blackened mill.”

When she spoke the pre-arranged password, the door creaked open.

She opened the door and entered, but there was no one in what appeared to be the black mage’s workshop.

“Did I come for nothing? That can’t be…”

“You have- found your way. Maiden of the black heart…”

However, her disappointment and perplexity were brief.

From within the darkness. No… the black mage, who had been one with the darkness, revealed his secretive form.

A mysterious mage, wearing a grotesque bird-beak shaped plague doctor mask, whose gender and age were utterly indiscernible.

“I greet you once more. Welcome…. to the workshop of the Plague Doctor La- Lergo.”

With a grotesque voice and a chillingly shaped mask, the black mage warmly welcomed Emma Agnelli.