Book 6 Chapter 21

Chapter 145

"Yes, this is the robe our progenitor always wore during their adventures seeking truth. Now it's your turn to wear it."

"Huh?"

As if he wouldn't tolerate any argument, Father took down the quietly shimmering red robe from the hanger and draped it over both my shoulders.

"Alright, give me that hatchling for a moment. Put both your arms into the sleeves."

"No, wait a minute. Father?"

"Hurry before it wakes up. Didn't you say it cries if it's even a little bit away from you?"

Pushed by the sudden situation Father created, I thrust my arms into Seresia's sleeves.

Then Seresia, who had been showcasing her aristocratic beauty with a cool demeanor, immediately changed the size of the robe to fit my body.

Perhaps because it was made of magic, the robe was as light as a feather yet cozy, and it felt pleasantly cool, as if filtering out the summer humidity.

"Yes, it suits you very well. Perhaps because you're my son, everything you wear looks stylish."

Father held my shoulders, lightly surveyed my attire, and then smiled with satisfaction. That smile felt undeservedly great for me.

"Father, I don't think I can. How can I possibly wear the heirloom of a magic family…?"

"What do you mean you can't? You just have to come back and put it back here. If you don't return, the Ludwig family will fall anyway."

"What?"

"Brim will cry herself to death, and I'll mourn my wife until I die of loneliness. Then Seri and Bran, who won't be cared for, will also die…"

What cruel things was he saying? As I stammered, taking Aki back, Father gave a wistful smile.

"It means I want you to come back. This is both a wish for your safety and a curse to ensure you have no choice but to return."

Then he suddenly hugged me tightly and patted my back.

"It's alright even if you lose Seresia during your journey. Just come back. That's enough for me."

That warmth was so comforting… it was probably the first time my vision blurred because of my family.

"Please impose a gag order on the guards and servants regarding my visit here."

"I will… Your school friends came to pay their respects. Five late-term disciples from the Eight Great Schools, and even Christa Warden. To them too?"

Those guys came to pay respects?

It wasn't just absurd; it was incredible.

At the same time, a nostalgic smile appeared. School life with those guys… it was more fun than I expected.

"Yes. To no one."

Now that it's November, would final exams be in full swing? Or would they be over?

Even taking exams was a truly enjoyable experience… the memory of conquering the labyrinth with Logan quietly came to mind.

And Christa, who used to crush modeling clay, saying she'd flatten my nose in every exam…

- Then let's reunite in our city when we head south, Rain! Aki too!

Kasena said that when we parted in the central empire, but I couldn't let her accompany me on this incredibly dangerous journey. Now, it's time for us to go our separate ways.

"Not only that, don't tell Aunt Serina Elin either. Grandfather might be alright… but those two are too honest; they won't be able to hide it even if they try."

"Seri and Elin too? Even so, they're family; shouldn't they at least know whether you're alive or dead?"

"I'd like to, but… if they know whether I'm alive or dead, they'll think they also know where I am, and then those two will be in danger."

Valensidius, who said he'd take my family hostage to secure a perfect victory—there's no guarantee there isn't someone worse than him now on the side of the Black Church.

Raida said she'd impose a gag order on the imperial soldiers who saw me. A rumor might spread because of some loose-lipped person, but it would only be a rumor.

For now, all that matters is that it's not revealed as truth that I'm alive.

"When I finish this journey and come back, when everything is settled, I'll greet them myself."

Father remained silent for a long time. Then, a smile mixed with a sad sigh returned.

"Alright… if Bran tells Seri he saw you, can we just say he dreamed it because he missed his brother?"

Not from Father, but from Mother.

Father and I turned our heads toward the door of the secret room with surprised expressions… and there stood Mother, with a mournful smile.

She wasn't even empty-handed; she had a basket containing Mirngadia. When Mother coughed, Father rushed to support her.

"No, why did you come all the way here in your unwell state?"

"I was worried Rain might forget this. He said it was very important…"

Mother, who handed the dragon egg basket to Father, clasped my hand tightly.

Suddenly, a childhood memory I hadn't thought of or remembered until now revived in my mind. Mother's warmth, which had always embraced my small, delicate hand until it grew large.

"Mommy is sorry. You must have had the hardest time, and I just flared up like that…"

"No, it was my fault. Oh, by the way, this time I'll write letters frequently so you worry less. Of course, I'll have to send them under a pseudonym, pretending to be an acquaintance or a subordinate."

The letters I detested so much when I entered school, this time I would personally…

Brim was proud of her son's growth and felt a pang in her chest at the thought of having to send him off again.

The boy scratched his head awkwardly for a moment, then stepped forward and embraced his mother's frail body.

"Mother, I'll be back. Please get well soon, so I can do a lot for you when I return."

If there was one regret that lasted a lifetime in my previous life, it was not saying a proper farewell when I left the academy.

I should have said it properly, "Dean, thank you so much for everything"… why did I think I would definitely return then?

The promise I couldn't make then, and even if I had, wouldn't have kept, I decided to make this time. So I wouldn't regret it again, so I wouldn't cry again.

"Yes, okay… I will, my son… always dress warmly in cold places, don't catch a cold. And sometimes sleep in an inn; if you only sleep outdoors, your body will suffer…"

"You don't need to worry about the clothes because it's Seresia. I'll take plenty of money with me. I'll stop by inns sometimes, as you said. …Mother, you too, please eat well and rest well to get healthy."

At my words, uttered despite my shyness, Mother finally burst into tears again.

Next was Father.

I had already said my goodbyes before Mother arrived, but perhaps, just perhaps, this might be the last time, like in my previous life…

"Father."

As I approached, Father suddenly lifted the hem of Seresia's robe and placed the dragon egg basket into an inner pocket.

Then what was this…?

The shape of the basket reflected in my retina seemed to refract here and there, then disappeared as if sucked into another dimension?

"What, how did this… what just happened?"

As I blinked like someone whose mind had gone blank, Father quietly smiled.

"It's one of Seresia's hidden functions."

"Hidden functions?"

"It can use a sub-space (亞空間) manifested by the progenitor's magic. It's not that big, probably about the size of that basket. Fortunately, it fits perfectly."

How could it have such a function…?

The era of Ryuken Ludwig was when research into spatiotemporal transference technology, known as 'magic of the gods,' reached its golden age, so it wasn't entirely unbelievable.

However, as strong as the light was, so was the shadow; it was also an era when mages corrupted by the abyss emerged one after another, and ironically, the Papal State banned its research.

For a relic from a thousand years ago to still function so perfectly… Excavated items are extremely rare, and most are damaged or lost.

"It will be a long journey to the South Pole, and I was worried that your shoulders would hunch if I made you carry that around the whole time."

Father gave a pained smile, then, as if to hide it, hugged me tightly and patted my back.

As if wanting to hold onto this moment for just a little longer, the hand patting my back grew slower and slower and slower still.

Now, it would be another farewell… I had to bite my lip to suppress my emotions as much as possible.

"Father, I'll be back. Please live a long and healthy life."

Having left the mansion, just as I was about to mount the excellent horse personally selected by Guardian Knight Swan, Pipi, whose belly was plump from corn, flew down and landed on my head.

"Don't tell anyone. Not even the kids who are off duty today. Especially not Aunt Serina Elin. Understand?"

"Yes, Young Master. I will make sure everyone keeps quiet."

"Please look after my parents and siblings."

"Don't worry, Young Master."

Our always trustworthy Guardian Knight… I nodded and was about to turn the horse's head when Swan spoke with a voice tinged with a slight tremor.

"I am truly happy that you have returned alive like this, Young Master. Truly."

At that moment, I had to look back at Swan with surprised eyes.

As Swan smiled faintly, the other guards saluted with excited faces.

"We, too, will be waiting for the day you return, Young Master!"

"Young Master, fighting!"

"Young Master, please return safely! You also promised to arrange a house for me! I'll be counting on you!"

Oh dear… I gave a thumbs-up with a chuckle that escaped me. With that, I gave the excellent horse a strong kick to its flank.

Rista said.

When I kept looking back at the magic tower that was slowly receding over the horizon, she said it was because I liked that magic tower and my schoolmates.

- Rin, that's what liking something means.

Then now, if you saw me constantly looking back, even though I thought I'd left without an inch of lingering regret, you would have said the same thing.

Rin, you liked that mansion, and the people in it…

Then I, unlike that time when I couldn't be honest at all, would have answered you like this.

Yes, that's right…

* * *

On the ceiling of that ancient corridor, the world of creatures consumed by the abyss in prehistoric times was depicted with chilling explicitness.

On the floor, roughly carved by the ravages of time, impious letters and numbers spread out, forming geometric cracks, and at their center stood a man and a woman.

No, perhaps it should be said one person… for the other was slumbering within pale blue ice. For a staggering 300 years.

Tureina, the shamaness in the old conical hat, who had been gazing at the boy in the ice for a long time with melancholic eyes, suddenly turned her head.

From that direction, the darkness seemed to rustle, and soon a man with a swaggering smile walked out.

"Hmm-hmm, it seems it's still not enough, is it?"

"Get lost."

"Oh! It's a shame, I, your master, personally came to teach you some supremely good information."

Tureina's subordinates knew him simply as 'Number 7'… but the truth was different.

An incredibly chilling magic current, as if thousands of snakes were coiling around his body and flicking their tongues, along with a terrifying amount of magical power…

He wasn't Tureina's subordinate, and being assigned the number 7 was, in fact, an insult to him. He had repeatedly refused, saying it wasn't necessary, but they arbitrarily interfered and gave him the number anyway.

"You are not my master."

As he subtly approached and stretched out a hand to embrace her waist, she struck his arm with her kiseru (pipe), and his hand was enveloped in dark blue flames.

Flames of the Abyss…

Anyone should have screamed from the searing pain of flesh rotting and burning simultaneously, yet he merely grinned even as his hand melted away.

"Sigh, I taught you magic so diligently, but you're still only devoted to that little kid, now as before, so your master is very sad."

"I told you to get lost."

"I'm telling you, I'll teach you how to make that kid unable to move an inch on the bed when he wakes up."

'Number 7,' who never directly interacted with other members, always changed not just his face but his entire body.

He isn't a prodigy of disguise or counter-attack. He merely changes the body he controls. More accurately, he should be called a master of possession magic.

His true identity was the 6th Archmage, Zernix, who became an Archmage at a young age about a thousand years ago, then disappeared, causing a stir in the world. He was, so to speak, a great senior figure to Rin, the 11th Archmage.

Such a figure was now one of the three pillars of the Black Church. He was also the one who taught Tureina magic and black magic.

"Enough with the jokes, I'll give my cute disciple a good lesson today. To awaken that fellow, you need more dragon blood, don't you?"

"I don't need your teachings."

"Hmph, would you still say that after hearing it? The hatchling's guardian is coming to the southern empire. He'll cross the Republic's border soon, won't he? It would be perfect to snatch the hatchling from him then, wouldn't it? A true dragon, no less."

"The hatchling's guardian…?"

She knew that an enormous commotion had occurred in Harvadonia and Trident Point.

She also knew that Zernix had made some mistake in the process and was reprimanded by the first pillar of the Black Church (she knew this because he came and blabbed about it arbitrarily).

Does that mean he's such an incredibly skilled individual that he quelled all those situations and even formed a contract with a dragon?

"Doesn't that make your mouth water? With your skills, you could kill him without leaving any significant wounds on his body, so give his body to your master as tuition."

"Why don't you do it yourself with your boasted skills?"

"As you know, your master has work to do in the South Pole right now. That guy, wouldn't you know it, he's a descendant of my damn teacher and quite good at magic. I couldn't defeat him in a possessed state."

Tureina bit her kiseru for a moment and fell into thought.

A true dragon's hatchling…

If it were an adult true dragon, she wouldn't even dare to think of hunting it, but a hatchling is a different story. If she could use its infinite power, it would be more than enough to awaken her master.

Finally, Tureina, having finished assessing the situation, exhaled the smoke she had deeply inhaled into her lungs, and raised her eyes provocatively.

"So, who is he?"