Severed News

After Hessel’s funeral, a large-scale investigation into the Eyes of Dawn followed.

Kyle and Sylvia, as persons of interest, also had the trouble of visiting the Imperial Palace again and returning, but perhaps because of Emperor Oswell’s assurances, the attitude of the investigation team was extremely polite.

After about two weeks passed, the Lyarde family slowly began to regain its original appearance.

Although the grief of losing their eldest son would not disappear immediately, the precarious scene that seemed as if they would collapse did not continue.

In this situation, Sylvia clearly recognized what she had to do and was carrying it out.

It was to support Kyle from the side.

,He’s working hard again today.’

Sylvia found Kyle, who was engrossed in his training in the small open space behind the castle that had now become his designated spot, and a bitter smile formed on her lips.

After Hessel left, Kyle began to devote himself to training even more than before.

Whether it was because of the grief of losing his brother, or for some other reason, Sylvia had no way of knowing.

Still, she thought it was fortunate that Kyle was moving forward without collapsing.

Goooo─

,Cheep cheep.’

Clear blue magic flowed from above Kyle’s head as he meditated, and soon sparrows gathered around and landed on his shoulders.

The funny thing was that Primo, Kyle’s familiar, was also among them.

Perhaps he was comfortable in his sparrow form now, Primo always called his sparrow friends and rested on his master’s shoulders, using them as tree branches, whenever he was training here.

Tuk.

,Ah.’

While watching from a distance, trying not to disturb his training as much as possible.

The moment Sylvia, who had stepped on a rolling stone at her feet, almost fell.

,Are you okay? Sylvia.’

Kyle, who had been closing his eyes and meditating in the distance just a moment ago, had somehow appeared in front of her and supported her body.

Normally, Sylvia would have been thrilled by this small physical contact, but now her surprise was greater, and she looked up at him with a dazed expression.

,Ah…. S-sorry, Kyle. I came to bring water and a towel, but I 괜히 (kwaenhi – unnecessarily) disturbed you….’

,It’s okay. I was about to finish anyway.’

Kyle shook his head with a faint smile at her apology.

He had come out since dawn, had a simple breakfast, and had been doing this for almost five hours, so he felt it was time to stop.

If it hadn’t been for Sylvia, he might have stubbornly continued training.

Feeling grateful to her for stopping him at just the right timing, Kyle received the water bottle.

,Thank you for the drink. I’m sorry for entrusting Sylvia with the work that Alf should have done.’

,It’s okay. Alf-ssi must be busy with other things too.’

Kyle felt sorry that she was taking on the work that his servant should have been doing, but the truth was not so.

Of course, at first, Alf felt sorry for entrusting such chores to her, who was a guest and the head of a respectable family.

Now that he knew that Sylvia was using it as an excuse to go see Kyle, he wisely kept his mouth shut.

Rather, sometimes when Sylvia was a little late in preparing, he would pack the water bottle and towel in advance, give them to Sylvia, and connect the two people with the excuse that he was busy.

Sylvia was truly grateful for Alf’s consideration.

But Kyle, the person involved, would never know.

,By the way, Kyle’s level is getting higher and higher. I can feel it even just by looking from afar.’

,Is that so?’

,Yes. Especially a little while ago, magic was rising above your head like a heat haze, and I was impressed even while watching.’

,I think it’s because my concentration has improved a little more than before.’

Kyle smiled unconsciously at her cute appearance as she waved her hands wildly, expressing it as if she were shaping a heat haze.

Although his skills were indeed very outstanding, he felt it while competing with Hessel, who wielded the Demon Sword, this time.

That he was still very lacking.

In particular, if Hessel hadn’t regained his sanity at the end and taken his own life, it could have ended in Kyle’s defeat.

He didn’t want to utter such a pathetic excuse that it was unavoidable because he borrowed the power of the Demon Sword.

,I still need to work harder.’

Even to avoid seeing his loved ones die in front of his eyes anymore.

Kyle clenched his fist, looked at Sylvia once, and silently placed his hand on her head.

,W-why suddenly, Kyle…?’

,It’s a sign of gratitude.’

Sylvia was a little embarrassed, but after hearing Kyle’s words, she couldn’t shake off his hand.

No, she wouldn’t have shaken off his hand even if there hadn’t been such a valid reason in the first place.

,Ah, come to think of it, Kyle. I, I have a favor to ask, would that be okay?’

,A favor? If it’s to ask me to do electric massage like last time, then no.’

,It’s not that…. It’s a little disappointing though.’

Sylvia clicked her tongue lightly at his firm line drawing.

The favor she was about to ask wasn’t that, but she had intended to seize an opportunity later and at least say something.

Still, believing that an opportunity would come someday, she threw out the words she had prepared.

,Could you perhaps teach me magic?’

,Magic? Of course, it’s not impossible, but why suddenly…?’

Kyle widened his eyes and asked back.

It wasn’t that difficult to teach her magic.

He didn’t know if Sylvia had the talent to be a mage, so he couldn’t promise to make her a Great Mage right away.

Just teaching her itself was not an unreasonable request.

What he was curious about was why she was suddenly making this request.

,Actually, I’ve been thinking about it since the incident at the Imperial Palace a while ago. I wondered if I was becoming too much of a burden to Kyle.’

,A burden, that’s not true.’

,Of course, I know that Kyle doesn’t think that way either. But from my point of view, I don’t want to be a burden anymore.’

In the end, it was a confirmed story that the Eyes of Dawn were targeting them, or more precisely, Sylvia.

In this situation, she couldn’t just hide, thinking that Kyle would protect her forever.

What was the first thing she had decided when she returned to the past?

She had vowed to protect Kyle in this life.

She couldn’t do it this way to achieve that resolution.

,…I understand. If you’re learning to protect yourself, then I have no reason to refuse.’

Kyle also thought about it for a while after hearing those words, but soon nodded and decided to accept her proposal.

He only hoped that Sylvia’s hands would not be stained with blood, but that was just a hopeful matter.

In the end, it would be better to give her at least a minimum of shield and armor to protect herself.

,Then let’s have lunch later and start teaching you in earnest. First of all, the first priority is to find out how suitable Sylvia is for magic.’

,Yes, please take good care of me. Teacher.’

,…….’

Kyle smiled wryly as he watched her bow and express her respect.

He never thought that the day would come when he would teach someone, but since Vermillion was already his disciple, it wouldn’t be strange if there was one more such person.

,Come to think of it, Vermillion, what the hell is he doing and where is he?’

As his thoughts reached that point, worry about Vermillion, who hadn’t been in contact for a while, suddenly sprang up.

 *** 

Tadak.

,Heok, heok…!’

Vermillion ran without rest.

He bit his lip, thinking that he didn’t know how far this damn forest extended, and even while his heart was bursting and his lungs were screaming for help, he didn’t stop moving his legs busily.

He never thought that things would get so twisted.

Thanks to the fact that he had finished the cleanup well in the Imperial Palace, he expected that the arrows of suspicion would not be poured on him, but perhaps their information network was not so easy to see.

When he stayed in the Imperial Palace, they couldn’t easily touch him, but as soon as he left the castle and headed to his main house, he was attacked.

Fortunately, he was a fairly skilled magician, so he was able to shake off the pursuers and escape to this extent, but in any case, it was clear that the situation was frustrating.

,It’s dangerous to return to the castle. I have to entrust myself to Kyle.’

His main house, the Drake family, was like an hideout for the Eyes of Dawn.

It would be perfect to be killed if he went to such a place in this state.

In the end, he decided to move his residence to Kaintreche Castle, the main castle of the Lyarde family, and looked back.

Fortunately, he can hardly feel the pursuers anymore.

His stamina has reached its limit, so from now on, the first priority would be to hide his breath as much as possible and shake off the pursuit.

,Fortunately, I can see the end of this shitty forest.’

As light began to appear from the other side of the forest path, which seemed like it would never end, Vermillion dragged his tired legs and somehow moved his steps there.

With the hope that if he got out of there, he would somehow be able to hide among the villages or cities where people lived.

However.

Cheolssok─!

,Damn it…!’

His expression crumpled as he confirmed that the place he had reached was a dead end cliff, and that a strong current was rushing below.

Apparently, this place was near the Brin River, which is also called another sea in the Empire.

The distance to the crossing is also quite far.

If he had a lot of magic power left, he would have come up with a way to go somehow, but he didn’t have the time to do so because he had arrived here while fighting off the pursuers.

In the end, he had to redraw the route, and at the moment he was lost in such worries.

Swish─! Puuk!

,Keo, heok…!’

A wind hole was created in his abdomen, and thick blood spurted out of Vermillion’s mouth.

,This is…?’

Vermillion trembled as he looked down at his abdomen, which had a hole in it, as if he had been hit by an invisible bullet.

This must be a magic called Ventusfo, located in the 6th circle of the wind system.

It is a magic that crushes the enemy by firing invisible, colorless, and silent magic bullets from the fingertips.

Magicians evaluate it as one of the most optimized magics for assassination.

However, befitting the fame of the 6th circle, there are not many who can use it freely.

Does that mean that there is such a skilled person among the pursuers?

Seureuk.

,You’ve run away far. Vermillion Drake.’

,You are…!’

Vermillion’s pupils widened at the man who appeared from beyond the bushes.

The opponent was none other than the old man he had met when he visited one of the Eyes of Dawn’s hideouts in the capital a while ago.

He thought the aura he exuded was unusual, but he never thought that this bastard would come all the way to kill him.

,I didn’t expect you to be attached to that side. It seems that Duke Drake didn’t educate his children properly.’

,Bullshit…. Keulkeok!’

,I have a lot to say, but it’s a waste of time to recite it in front of a traitor. Looking at the way you look, it doesn’t seem like you’ll last long, so how about quietly accepting death at my hands?’

As blood that Vermillion couldn’t hold back flowed out like a bomb exploding, the old man smiled mockingly and spoke to him provocatively.

Certainly, it would be right to say that he couldn’t live like this.

His magic power was almost exhausted, and even if he rushed at the enemy in front of him, the difference in skill was clear.

But Vermillion couldn’t give up like this.

What was the reason why he chose to hold hands with Kyle Lyarde, not the Drake family, in the first place?

Simply because he was threatened by him and was in an unavoidable situation?

No. It was because he was sick of the family’s situation, which was just moving like a puppet, and he wanted to crawl up with his own strength rather than the power given by others.

,I haven’t even reached the position of Magic Tower Master yet, I can’t die like this.’

Vermillion gasped for breath and assessed the situation.

Should he gather even the little magic power left and use it to escape?

Or should he accept death quietly and end the story, saying that this life is over?

Or should he propose a new choice to himself, not the two visible choices?

,…Stop talking nonsense and wait, old man. I’ll be back to grind that worthless face of yours.’

In the end, Vermillion chose the third option and raised his middle finger towards the old man in front of him.

Swish─! Pungdeong!

Without a moment’s hesitation, he jumped off the cliff and plunged himself into the swirling Brin River.

,…His pride doesn’t allow him to die at the hands of the enemy, does it.’

Seeing this, the old man thought that Vermillion had chosen the second option, smiled coldly, and turned around lightly.

There was no way he could swim with such a hole in his stomach, and even if he reached the land, there was no way to do it after that.

If his body is found by ordinary people, there is a possibility that strange rumors will spread, but the Drake family will take care of that.