Chapter 166: Ghost Story (3) |
Whoosh....!
A black wind blew.
The wind itself had no color, but here, all the blowing breeze were imbued with a deep black hue.
Perhaps because this place itself was saturated with dark magic.
Sharp black cliffs rose up as if to pierce the sky like thorns, and amidst them, a towering fortress as huge as the Stella Academy stood there slightly tilted. It made the scene appear more precarious.
Caw... Caw...!
Flocks of crows flew up, and packs of bats blinked their eyes, watching over the land.
It was a space where ordinary people were forbidden to approach due to the swirling dark magic.
Wailing Cliffs, Black Castle.
"Father. I will take my leave now."
Mayuseong knelt at the center of the Emperor's Hall and spoke with his head bowed.
In response, the man sitting on the high throne gently lowered his head.
His red eyes gave off an eerie feeling; it was said that a typical dark mage, regardless of will, would involuntarily kneel in front of him.
"Come closer."
"Yes."
As the Dark Mage King spoke bluntly, Mayuseong approached him like a doll, devoid of any emotion.
The emperor looked at his son for a while.
"Son."
"Yes, father."
"You... are destined to become a king."
"I know."
"No, you don't."
After pausing for a moment, the Dark Mage King continued.
"You are the weakest among my sons, both in strength and character, and you even have diluted blood. You... are the worst as a successor to the throne."
"But, your eyes resemble your mother's eyes very much. That's why you are destined to be a king. Unlike me, who forcibly took the throne against destiny, you will naturally receive everyone's love just like your mother..."
Mayuseong looked up.
Although he still appeared like a doll, there was deep anger in his eyes, making the Dark Mage King unable to continue the conversation.
He knew very well that stories related to his mother were the heaviest burden for his youngest son.
Especially, he disliked nothing more than him speaking about it...
Yet, he had no choice but to speak.
He still didn’t know.
How rapidly this world was changing.
The Dark Emperor arguably possessed the strongest power in this world.
But how long would that last?
He doubted his own strength.
In the next 5... or 10 years, he was sure some being would emerge surpassing him.
When that happened, the society of dark beings would crumble and be destroyed.
So, a new king was needed.
A perfect king who could embrace both humans and dark mages. Someone like Mayuseong, who possessed both bloodlines.
Mayuseong was born with the qualities of an emperor.
This quality was so rare even among humans, and undoubtedly manifested as a divine decree.
According to the destiny bestowed upon him by the gods, Mayuseong must become the ‘Emperor of the World,’ ruling over everything.
However, Mayuseong was still unaware of his true intentions.
He seemed to have no intention of becoming a king.
Sending him to study humans at Stella Academy might have been a mistake; he became too involved in human society.
The emotions occasionally revealed within him proved it.
"Do you dislike me pressuring you to become king?"
Mayuseong shook his head.
"I dislike you, Father."
If any father heard such words without hesitation or any hint of emotion from their child, they would be hurt, but not the Dark Emperor.
He had already endured enough pain and suffering both physically and mentally, so it wouldn’t budge him.
He endured it.
"I have driven you to your limit without any compensation."
Although Mayuseong's will was firm, he was still too young.
It was because he was too young to understand the ways of the world.
What more could he know at the age of seventeen?
So, the Dark Emperor chose the easiest way to sway his young son's heart.
"Son. If you decide to become a king, I will grant you one wish."
"A wish, you say?"
"Yes. Do you have any desires? Or is there something you want? I can fulfill anything."
What I want...
Seeing the hesitation in Mayuseong’s eyes, the Dark Emperor subtly raised his lips.
Even though he was powerful, Mayuseong was still a child.
The effect was evident.
"Alright. Tell me what you want. I'll grant it immediately."
At his words, Mayuseong lifted his head, met the Dark Emperor's gaze, then slowly parted his lips.
"I... "
He hesitated for a moment, then breathed out as if determined.
"I want... your head."
"...”
As expected, things didn't seem to resolve easily.
———
It might be truly pitiful for Jeremy, who had diligently collected rumors about the Seventh Main Tower. However, Edna wasn't particularly interested in the rumors.
Even among countless rumors, she knew which ones were true.
She knew the whole story and not just the outcome. It was what made her different even from Baek Yu-Seol.
It was Edna’s unique strength, something even Baek Yu-Seol didn't possess.
Lunchtime.
Jeremy sat down in front of Edna, who had been accompanying Anella for investigation and even joined her for meals.
Without paying much attention to Edna’s expression, which crumpled like a soggy paper, Jeremy grinned and spoke up.
"Edna, I've got an interesting story. Would you like to hear it?"
"Ah! Interesting."
"Come on, it's about the Seventh Main Tower rumors. Aren't you even a bit curious?"
".... What?"
As Edna opened her eyes wide, Jeremy chuckled.
He expected as much.
But there was a reason she reacted like this.
*'Is Jeremy involved in the rumor in this story?'*
Whether it was a novel or a game, there was always one inevitable aspect.
Not all characters could have significant roles in every episode.
Whether it was a game for women or men, it applied to all.
And this episode... Jeremy's role was quite minimal, and instead, Mayuseong’s role was quite prominent as far as Edna remembered.
Yet, Mayuseong returned home, and there was no sign of him, while it was Jeremy who took the spotlight.
*'Sigh. Once again, something must have gone wrong with the original.'*
This wasn't a one-time occurrence, so there was no need to be surprised, but still, it was genuinely shocking.
"Oh, let's hear it. Go ahead."
As if he had been waiting, Jeremy blinked and began unraveling the Seventh Main Tower rumors he knew.
Of course, most of it was utterly pointless, so Edna couldn't help but yawn, but for Anella sitting beside him, it appeared to be an interesting story.
"Really? There's a demon with seven heads in the Seventh Main Tower?"
"Yeah. That’s right."
"Oh, how fascinating... Oh my. I’m really..."
Occasionally, Anella would try to maintain her composure, making somewhat unnatural sounds, but from Edna’s perspective, it was more amusing and cute.
Honestly.
Everything Jeremy talked about was utterly useless.
There wasn't a single proper rumor, and sometimes Anella would react, but Edna just sipped her drink with a blank expression, causing Jeremy to look crestfallen.
"Not entertained?"
"Hmm. Let's go now."
"Yeah..."
He rose from his seat weakly, then suddenly his mouth twitched as if he remembered something.
"Edna. Just in case, I wouldn't recommend delving too deep into this rumor."
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
".... There are people who don't see you favorably. A lot of them."
With a sly smile, Jeremy's expression darkened slightly, sending a shiver down Edna’s spine.
It was the first time she had seen such an expression on the boy, but... she had seen it occasionally described in the original novel.
Sometimes shadows lurked behind Jeremy's smile.
No one else noticed, but the girl with the blue hair did.
"Jeremy, why are you so angry?"
He was furious.
He smiled calmly...
It was like the calm before the storm.
But his anger would surely engulf everything around him.
She wouldn’t be an exception either.
In the original novel, Jeremy rarely expressed genuine anger.
Perhaps the moment when Eisel’s heart completely surrendered to Mayuseong and they finally kissed was the occasion which sparked his greatest rage...
It might not have been as intense as that moment, but Jeremy was feeling quite furious at the moment.
*'Am I being distant?'*
No. It didn't seem like that.
At least... Jeremy wasn't the type to get angry at the lady he had feelings for.
He would torment her until she said she wanted to die with her own lips.
In the original novel, Jeremy's anger mostly arose when he was on the verge of losing the unrequited love he had for Eisel.
In reality, his feelings had shifted to Edna instead of Eisel...
*'Is there something related to me?'*
She had no idea.
Even when dealing with unrequited love and fake relationships, Jeremy didn't get angry.
It appeared like there was something he couldn’t control his expression over.
"Hey. Wait...!"
She tried to grab Jeremy to ask again, but he had already left.
"What’s going on?"
——-
Stella's faculty consisted of hundreds of members, some of whom had no connection whatsoever.
Conversely, it wasn't uncommon for professors to form groups and get along well.
"Professor Raiden, I heard that Professor Chekeren caused some trouble before."
"I've handled it well, so don't worry."
"Handled it... heh."
Raiden was known for being antisocial but attended faculty gatherings every week.
'Sunshine Professor Fellowship'
There was no need for a grand name for the fellowship.
It was just... about forming relationships with those of similar age and interests regardless of their subject.
Here, too, the Sunshine Fellowship was just like any other gathering.
Despite the vast differences in age and gender among the professors, they maintained a strong bond. There was not a single member missing from the weekly meetings.
Well, there was one common thing.
They were all hidden dark mages.
"... Recently, there have been more absentees, and the seats are empty."
Eltman Eltwin somehow managed to weed out the infiltrating dark mages from the academy.
Although they didn’t know how he found out about it.
Due to this, the Sunshine Fellowship also saw a slight increase in vacancies, and they couldn't help but feel bitter.
Among the hundreds of professors, there were about thirty undercover professors.
Infiltrating Stella as a professor, especially as a dark mage, was never an easy task and required significant sacrifices and costs, yet in an instant, ten professors were swept away.
However, since they were aware that their colleagues could quietly die the moment they infiltrated Stella, no one felt sad.
They were just a little taken aback.
"So, Professor Raiden... I heard you've been assigned to this project. Do you think you can handle it well?"
The project they were referring to was related to the Seventh Main Tower.
It was a plan formed by dark mages when they first infiltrated Stella, and it involved retrieving relics belonging to Abeline Staberg, who was also known as the former Dark Mage Lord.
At that time, it wasn't the right time, so they just waited, but now it was time to start looking for the Seventh Main Tower and retrieve the relics.
… But unfortunately.
Despite their efforts to infiltrate, they couldn't enter directly as professors.
They could only enter the Seventh Main Tower as students, so they had no choice but to spread rumors related to it throughout Stella.
"The students are asking a lot of questions."
"Perhaps soon, a student who meets the entry requirements will appear."
"But recently, there's been one student causing concern."
... It was obvious who they were talking about.
The commoner girl, Edna.
Recently, she had been wandering around Stella Academy not as the subject of rumors but as the one spreading them, so naturally, her actions couldn't escape the notice of the parties involved.
"Should we take care of her?"
"Since she's such a self-important little brat, I think it's quite alright to play with her a bit."
"Yes. We're already keeping an eye on her. The moment she crosses the line... we'll catch her immediately."
Colleagues began to whisper in a gloomy tone.
Clearly, there was no one in their right mind among them.
Raiden glanced around the room and then said decisively, "No. With Eltman's heightened vigilance, it's best to lay low for now. Besides, it's impossible to find out anything just because one or two students are running around."
"Hmm... That's true."
No matter how much Edna was praised as a genius, she was just a seventeen-year-old student.
Since the status of professors within the academy was much higher, there were significant limitations to what she could do.
"... So let me take care of anything related to Edna."
Raiden was always diligent and if something went wrong, he would immediately take responsibility, earning him the nickname of a go-between among his colleagues.
Who would stop him from taking care of something that seemed bothersome?
"Hmph. I wonder if Professor Raiden is doing something interesting on his own."
"That's good. If it's Professor Raiden, we can trust him to handle it."
"Give her a lecture as a professor. We'll step back for now."
"Oh, I have a class soon too."
Without any special signal, the meeting disbanded, and one by one, colleagues left, including Raiden, who quietly got up from his seat.
*'... Edna.’*
While colleagues thought Ladin would handle Edna, he actually had the opposite idea.
That girl was closer to the secret of the Seventh Main Tower than anyone else.
So.... wouldn't it be right to use her if possible?
With that thought in mind, Raiden finally left the room.
In the luxurious cafe room where everyone had left, silence lingered.",