Nia Ryan arrived at Lake Delrin. The emerald lake, sparkling and shining as always, was beautiful.
“…there is none.”
However, Nia did not smile as brightly as usual. Because there was no one here as always.
“I guess I’ll never come again.”
Nia shook her head and shook off her gloomy thoughts. She came to collect Adrane’s flowers. Although it was late in the morning, it was urgently needed during research.
It was the moment I crouched down to collect Adrane’s flowers. My pupils shook when I saw that there were far fewer flowers than before.
-You can only collect three per day. No more than that.
…I feel like I’m hearing someone’s hallucinations.
“They just took it because there was no one to take care of it. If things continue like this, it will disappear soon.”
Nia smiled bitterly. I gave up collecting flowers.
I looked at the protective shield that softly wrapped around my body. It was a protection spell that Ruid cast on himself in the past when he was having a hard time.
Thanks to this, we were able to collect rare items from Delrin’s lake without being affected by the enormous magical power.
“I didn’t get to say thank you once.”
Nia drooped her small body.
“Should I ask Hersi? “I want you to meet me.”
But Hersey remembered that he gets asked that question dozens of times a day.
Anyway, let’s stop.
“If we are meant to be, we will meet someday!”
Instead, I fought and moved to another place. It was chicken instead of pheasant, and I was just about to gather other magic ingredients.
Grumble—.
I turned my head to see something making an eerie cry. Nia’s eyes were filled with fear. A vicious-looking, three-headed black dog was staring at Nia.
** After training
at ‘Robin Hood’s Steakhouse’ located in the center of the island,
the knights had a dinner here.
“Try this too, Ruid.”
Ruid sat at the head table and received luxurious treatment. The female knights showed great interest.
“I would have asked you to stop paying attention.”
visor.
Amelia blocked Irina’s fork with her fork.
“Hey, don’t be petty.”
“And when did you act like you were friends just because you saw each other? “I understand this is your first meeting with my younger brother.”
“But, we’ll be relatives in the future, right?”
“Whoever wants…!”
Ruid was cutting steak to use as a side dish. I cut it into small pieces and put it in my mouth with a fork.
‘It tastes awful.’
Still, it was a little better because I sprinkled salt on it beforehand. But it’s still not as good as the inn I went to last time.
“Luid. Now, please go back quickly.”
Amelia said, wiping the corner of Lloyd’s mouth with a handkerchief.
It’s already 5 am. It was too early for a 12-year-old to be walking down the street. More than anything, it feels quite unpleasant to feel that these beasts are targeting Ruid.
“What about Sister Ame?”
“…Sister, I have to go investigate the scene.”
‘They’ll say no again.’
-Aren’t you bored?
-It’s fun.
The training of knights is nothing special. Just repeating the same actions countless times. So I thought I would leave after a few hours, but Ruid ended up saying that it was fun. I thought he might not want to go back. But now I had to go solve the case. Although she had never defeated Lloyd with words, Amelia prepared a hundred-word rebuttal in advance.
“Isn’t it okay if I follow you?”
At that time, Irina joined in with a bright smile. I put my chest on the table. Amelia looked indignant and covered Irina’s chest with her arms. It’s not good for children’s emotions.
“We were all tired, but with Ruid around, we’ll all become more energetic. “Just looking at dark-skinned kids purifies my eyes.”
The female knights nodded their heads in agreement. The men sitting a little distance away flinched.
“Besides, isn’t Prince Ruid a genius? “I don’t know why the leader is protecting me.”
Irina smiled brightly. It was a smile that almost made me close my eyes.
Amelia glared at Irina. Irina didn’t care.
In fact, everyone was in agreement. This thought occurred to me because Amelia was also human. ‘Am I being too protective? ‘I wonder if Ruid hates it.’
“I want to go home after eating.”
“uh?”
However, unexpected words came out of Ruid’s mouth.
He looked directly at Amelia and said.
“Because what your sister says is more important.”
“ah.”
The sighs of the members who could not hide their disappointment were heard.
Amelia was very happy.
‘Still, I come first.’
It’s not easy to like someone while listening to their nagging. But as expected, Ruid was a deep-thinking child.
Amelia smiled happily.
It was a moment when I thought I should hold his hand affectionately and send him back.
Quadang!
The restaurant’s door burst open.
“This is a big deal!”
——————
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A knight wearing full plate mail came in and shouted urgently.
“Oh, one of the academy students has gone missing.”
Ruid chewed his chewy steak and chewed his tongue.
‘it hurts.’
Tears welled up.
**
[January 5 – About 20 children disappeared from the slums. No trace]
[January 12 – Three children disappeared from Redin, a nearby village. No trace]
[January 17 – Four children disappeared near the Leibnyo blacksmith shop located on the outskirts of the capital. No trace]
[On January 24th, a child disappeared from the ‘Wind Staying Bar’ in the center of the island. No trace]
[February 15th, a warlock’s minion appears in the secret passage of the Imperial Academy, and the sleeping guardians of the Cup of Magic awaken.]
[February 22nd, Nia Ryan disappears from the Imperial Academy’s ‘Lake of Delrin’. being. Traces of an intense magic battle]
Ruid put the pen in his mouth and stared at the book. I wish I had moved a little faster, but I didn’t have the same regrets.
Because Nia Ryan’s disappearance was a preordained future.
However, questions were raised about the fact that the location of the disappearance was Lake Delrin, and why an episode that was supposed to take place later in the episode was played now.
“…70s, near the Grand Wizard, strong desire to rise above, psychopath with no qualms about exploiting young children.”
His guess was definitely not wrong. But there was just one thing left out.
“…Warlock.”
A servant of the warlock who was witnessed during the ‘Every Library Occupation Incident’.
I knew one was the appearance of Nia Ryan, but the other was clearly an outside intrusion. I ended up dropping out due to the president’s actions that crossed the line, so I was paying no attention to it.
The dark curtain was tearing through the system. It may still be the beginning, but I didn’t know that I would be craving the big episode that came in the middle.
Ruid admitted his mistake. The reason the two were not connected was an error resulting from distinguishing between ‘plot in a novel’ and ‘events that occurred in reality’.
It’s ridiculous. Both of these are stark realities to me. Whether it is the original content or something outside the original.
“What should I do with this?”
Ruid looked up at the ceiling of the mansion with bored eyes.
**
Archmage Clifford is a thing of the past.
The body has aged to the point where it cannot be held by magic, and the ability to think is not as good as it used to be.
So, in reality, he did not have the abilities of an archmage. In the first place, Clifford was a genius born of hard work. Because his growth was slow to begin with, his prime was also short.
If I had achieved my achievements 20 years earlier, I wouldn’t have had an old body. But Clifford did not regret it. That was also one of his achievements.
But these days, I feel a lot older. It’s hard to walk, and I can’t even see the documents I’ve been repeating for ten years.
Clifford was sleeping in the bedroom. He tossed and turned as if he was dreaming.
It was the moment when his elaborate hook came together. Clifford opened his eyes brightly.
“Tsk.”
The pain stayed in my heart. Clifford groaned and clutched his heart as if he was going to tear it out.
At that time, someone came into his bedroom.
“Ah, father.”
It was Phoenicia. She took a breath, as if she had something urgent to say. Clifford stood up.
Phenicia stiffened as she looked at Clifford clutching her heart. He quickly approached me and helped me.
“Uh, where are you hurting? Okay, call the priest right now-”
“…I had a dream.”
Phenicia had something to urgently say.
However, I couldn’t bring myself to say anything because Clifford was acting like he was going to die at any moment.
It seems as if this will be his last will. Phenicia held the old man’s hand with sad eyes.
“It’s a story from an old legend. “It was the life of a very foolish adventurer.”
Phenicia did not want to miss a single word of his somewhat rambling start.
“The adventurer was a commoner with ordinary talent. “He lived off a few goblins for a day… One day, while trying to hunt goblins as usual, the adventurer entered a cave.”
Clifford’s dream he had just had was so vivid that he could see it in front of him.
“Dragon. There was a dragon. “A huge dragon that only existed in legends was sleeping.”
Phenicia swallowed her dry saliva as Clifford spoke in a tone as if he had seen reality.
“But the fear was short-lived. The adventurer was fascinated by the huge scale that had fallen near the dragon’s body. The scales sparkling with emerald color looked more precious than any jewel he had ever seen. “I started to believe that if I could take just one of those things, I would be able to make a living for the rest of my life.”
“The adventurer mustered up the courage to pick up the scale and take it with him. His prediction was correct. He made a lot of money, and people praised the third-rate adventurer, calling him ‘Dragon Slayer’. However, as he was just an adventurer with no powers, it was difficult for him to maintain the legend. So, the adventurer goes looking for the dragon again.”
Clifford sneered.
“At first, I was planning on taking a few scales – but for some reason, the dragon seemed very formidable. Is it because I started receiving praise from people around me over the years? He seemed like he really had the power to kill dragons.”
The adventurer raised his spear. Filled with magical power. He climbed onto the dragon’s neck. It seemed possible. The dragon was sleeping as if dead. No, I thought maybe he was already dead.
The adventurer imagined his future. A brilliant future. The future when you really carry the dragon’s body.
And he stabbed the dragon’s neck with his hopes and dreams.
The price of that foolishness.
-Ahhhh.
“That was the end of the adventurer. It was a repayment for the uninvited guest who disturbed his sweet sleep. “I know it was a dream, but I felt foolish watching it.”
Clifford said as if it were pitiful. A slight loathing lay dormant.
“Why do you mess with a sleeping dragon that does nothing? That adventurer just brought his own death. Tsk tsk. If I had seen that adventurer, I would have given him a hard time-”
“President.”
Phenicia lowered her head and spoke.
“…Nia Ryan, first year at the Ministry of Magic.”
“Why would you do that, baby? “He looks so sad-”
“He’s missing.”
Clifford’s eyes widened as if torn.
**
Clifford laughed as he looked at the miserable scene of Delrin’s lake.
“haha.”
Traces of a fierce magic battle remaining in Delrin’s lake. Nia Ryan’s magic remains everywhere. It was clear that I could feel the reverberations of black magic. The one who took Nia was a warlock. Clifford was extremely dizzy and staggered.
“father!”
Phenicia quickly helped him up. Clifford trembled his hands slightly.
“…This is my first time. My student went missing. Shia, is this my karma? Is that something like that?”
“….”
Phenicia couldn’t say anything. The fear in Clifford’s eyes. Because it was a feeling I had never experienced before.
“I have never regretted anything in the past. Even though it took 20 years longer for him to become a great wizard due to having an inexperienced teacher. Even when a big storm hit the family. “But now I regret it.”
Everything goes back to that time.
A month ago. Around the time when Louis Christopher left the academy.
It was disappointing, but I didn’t think much about it. It’s already in the past. There is no way it can be stopped.
That kid, even if he wasn’t himself, would become a great wizard in the future.
It was a miscalculation. It was the academy that needed help. It was himself.
Luid Christopher was already having a huge impact just by existing. They were protecting students from warlocks and eliminating any possible danger.
“If there had been that bastard sleeping quietly in Delrin’s lake, this wouldn’t have happened.”
Delrin’s lake was empty.
Clifford’s eyes were stained with deep regret.
“…I guess I woke up the sleeping dragon in the forest. I was the foolish adventurer.”
In Phenicia, Clifford seemed weaker than ever.
“…Send a message to the imperial family.”
Clifford hesitated and lost his balance. What you need to do now is clear. Be sure to rescue missing students. For that, I will endure any sacrifice and cost.
“The Academy does not have the ability to solve this incident on its own.”
“…!”
What Clifford means is that he will admit his incompetence. That meant the president’s resignation.
