episode_0122

Loki let out a deep sigh from inside his mask.

It wasn’t a sigh of exhaustion or anger from waiting for Sepia. He had been a little surprised when Sepia had come out in a dress, despite needing to train.

‘The price for seeing that outfit was only a thirty-minute wait?’

He could wait three hours, not just thirty minutes.

Just as he was picturing Sepia in her dress, he felt a presence approaching. This was precisely why Loki had let out that deep sigh from inside his mask.

‘Is this the fourth time already?’

No, perhaps not. Maybe they liked the bench he was sitting on and were approaching for that reason…

“Hello.”

As if.

‘And this time, it’s a woman.’

He could tell from the voice that the person who spoke to him this time was a woman. Ever since Sepia had left to change, people had started approaching him. So far, all three people who had spoken to him had been men. Some had merely exchanged brief greetings, while others had invited him to hang out. The woman who spoke introduced herself as being from a viscount family of the Croa Empire.

“Why are you wearing a black mask today instead of a white one?”

“I sometimes switch them out.”

Someone from the Empire… Honestly, he had expected more students from other kingdoms to approach him, but surprisingly, three out of the four people who had spoken to him, including this woman, were from the Empire. Naturally, the reason they were speaking to him was because it had been revealed he was the Emperor’s disciple. The Emperor, who had never had a disciple until now, had revealed a disciple who was merely an academy student with no affiliation? Even he wouldn’t have been able to resist trying to build connections or draw them into his family.

‘Since the Emperor revealed me as his disciple, no students have insulted or ignored me.’

Instead, annoying things like this had started happening. He could just ignore people who ignored or insulted him. But ignoring someone who was simply speaking to him politely, like now, felt a bit wrong.

‘I don’t care if my own reputation is damaged, but the reputation of others around me might suffer…’

As he pondered how to quickly send this woman away, Whoosh.

“What are you doing now?”

Someone descended from the sky with a cold voice. She was wearing comfortable clothes instead of a dress, and her flowing pink hair was tied up for ease of movement.

“Pr-Princess Sepia Leviaiden?”

The woman who had been speaking stammered, flustered at the sight of Sepia suddenly descending from the sky. Honestly, wouldn’t anyone be surprised if someone suddenly descended from the sky, even if it wasn’t Sepia?

“So, what’s going on here?”

Sepia ignored the woman beside her and spoke.

“That is…”

Loki pondered how to explain the current situation. ‘I don’t know either?’ If he said that, Sepia would probably get even angrier. ‘She’s someone who knew I was the Emperor’s disciple and tried to get close to me.’ This was true, but it felt like he would be humiliating the woman who had spoken to him. If the woman had provoked him, he wouldn’t have hesitated to say that, but she hadn’t. Just as Loki was searching for words and Sepia’s eyes were narrowing,

“I just remembered an important appointment, so I’ll be taking my leave now.”

The woman who had spoken to him bit her lip, looked at Sepia’s face, and then fled as if escaping.

“Hogu, what kind of conversation were you having with that woman…”

Loki interrupted Sepia and spoke.

“Sepia-ssi, thank you. I was wondering how to get rid of her, but thanks to you appearing just in time, I was able to refuse her comfortably.”

Sepia found Loki frustrating. ‘No, what’s so hard about refusing?’

“Should I call you ‘idiot’ instead of ‘Hogu’? Just say you don’t like it, no… tell them to buzz off. Most of them will really buzz off then, won’t they?”

“Gasp! How can you say such harsh things! And Sepia-ssi, you know how introverted I am, don’t you? It’s not easy.”

“Hah! That’s ridiculous.”

Sepia stared at Loki, who spoke so shamelessly, feeling speechless. ‘Introverted? Who?’ Even now, he was wearing the most eye-catching mask and a red cloak, and he claimed to be introverted?

“More importantly,” Loki said, clapping once. “Your white dress and hair earlier suited you really well, but the clothes you’re wearing now and your tied-up hair also suit you incredibly well.”

Sepia knew in her mind that those words were an attempt to change the subject, but…

“…….Really? I just put on whatever I saw first.”

She couldn’t help but fall for it, even knowing. For reference, Sepia had used wind spirits to fly home in an instant. Despite that, the reason it took her thirty minutes was because she had carefully considered beautiful yet comfortable clothes and various hairstyles. And she also had something extra to bring.

“And this! I accidentally bought too much, and it’s a waste to throw away, so I’ll specially give it to you.”

Sepia handed Loki the perfume she had brought from home. It was because Loki had said he liked it earlier.

“What is this?”

“Can’t you tell by looking? It’s what you wanted earlier.”

Sepia, feeling shy about admitting it was the exact same perfume she used, spoke indirectly, but… Loki tilted his head as if he had no idea.

“You said you wanted to know what perfume I used earlier!”

“But didn’t you clearly say you wouldn’t tell me earlier?”

“…Ugh! If you don’t want it, give it back! There are plenty of other people who want it besides you!”

“That’s not right. Once received, this perfume’s owner is me. Sepia-ssi, I’ll use it gratefully.”

Seeing him carefully place the perfume in his pocket, Sepia forced her rising lips to calm down and opened her mouth.

“Hogu, where are we training? The training ground is in the opposite direction from here.”

“I’ve already thought of a training spot. If it’s the place I have in mind, we can be there together without anyone’s interference.”

Sepia unknowingly swallowed hard.

“Oh, in a place where no one else is? Just the two of us?”

No matter how she thought about it, there was no particular reason to train in a place where no one else was present.

‘Surely, the training isn’t just an excuse, and he’s not planning to… in a place where no one else is?’

However, the very logical thought, ‘But then, why would he ask me to change from a dress into comfortable clothes?’, flashed through Sepia’s mind, but…

‘That’s a trap to make me drop my guard!’

Sepia’s delusion… no, imagination, quite literally ‘passed’ her by.

“Sepia-ssi, you’ve changed into comfortable clothes, and I’m fully prepared, so shall we get going?”

Sepia bowed her head. If she said yes, she didn’t know what might happen to her in a place where no one was around. Here, she must firmly…

“…..Okay.”

***

Chirp chirp, sang the sparrows from the sky. Countless trees swayed in the wind. Even the scent carried on the wind.

“Hogu, is this forest the place where no one else is that you mentioned earlier?”

“Yep.”

“………………”

It was indeed a place where no one else was, just as Hogu had said. This forest was owned by the Academy and was rarely used except for exams.

“Right, since you can’t enter without permission, other students won’t be able to…”

Sepia felt something strange as she spoke. She knew that an entry permit for the forest took at least three days to acquire. Hogu had suggested they train together this morning.

“……..Hogu?”

“Yes, Sepia-ssi.”

“Just in case, I’m asking. Did you get permission to use the forest?”

“………….Such trivial matters aren’t important to us right now!”

“What if we get caught?”

“We just need to not get caught!”

His confident tone, as if he had done nothing wrong. Faced with his shamelessness, Sepia could only sigh and said nothing. To be precise, it wasn’t that she didn’t say anything, but that she couldn’t. If she were to say they might get caught here by Hogu and just go back? Then she wouldn’t know when they’d meet again.

“Alright, as you said, we just need to not get caught. So, how are you going to make me strong?”

“Sepia-ssi, I don’t know anything about spirit magic.”

If Sepia had heard Loki’s words recently, she would have gotten angry and asked if he had deceived her. But now, the trust in Loki within Sepia’s heart was overflowing, so she listened quietly without getting angry. Loki spoke in a rare, serious tone.

“I’m telling you this beforehand, it’s going to be very difficult. Although I’ve set a month in my mind, that’s assuming I push you extremely hard, Sepia-ssi.”

Because Loki spoke seriously, Sepia also responded seriously.

“I’ll work hard, ready to die.”

“No, why are you saying such scary things? This is all for living, and if you die during training, it’s all useless, Sepia-ssi.”

“No! I just meant it figuratively! Figuratively!”

Sepia bristled at Loki’s words. She thought he was being a little serious! But of course!

“Haa… So what am I supposed to do for a month?”

“Hmm, Sepia-ssi, please wait a moment. This requires focus and preparation.”

Loki meticulously envisioned the image he wanted to create in his mind. To make it as identical as possible, the image was paramount. No matter how much Sepia trained for a month, even with the power of the mask, she would still be weaker than Betzdo. Moreover, her opponent wasn’t a typical knight or mage, but a Necromancer, someone Sepia had never faced before. While it was impossible for Sepia to become stronger than Betzdo in a month’s time, it was possible to make Sepia able to defeat Betzdo in that month.

“Sepia-ssi, do you know the easiest way to study?”

“That’s… huh?”

She was flustered by the sudden question, but as Sepia thought about it, she was startled. Because skeletons had appeared next to Loki. Not just one, but dozens of armed skeletons, easily exceeding that number. Loki had played Croa Aca for ten years, and naturally, information about Betzdo, one of the bosses, was stored in his mind. What kind of corpses he used, what kind of attacks he performed, how he fought Sepia, and so on. The way Sepia could defeat Betzdo.

“The answer is previewing.”

It was to memorize all the patterns.