I Got a Fake Job at the Academy Chapter 138

◈ Episode 138 Roteng Fire (2)

The fire giant Quasimodo.

As if to prove that Ludgar was not mistaken for being the highest level spirit of flame, he annihilated the soldiers with overwhelming firepower.

The soldiers melted together with the armor did not even leave a corpse.

The soldiers who perpetrated the unilateral massacre received their actions intact.

Now that the nobility and elite forces had left together, no matter how well-trained soldiers were, they were nothing more than firewood in front of Quasimodo.

A spark arises.

Fueled by life and fueled by death, it burned bigger and more terribly.

A rain of flames rained down on the fleeing soldiers.

Esmeralda shed tears as she watched the scene.

– Why?

Until just yesterday, she was having a normal day.

The daily life of waking up to the chirping of birds, going out with spirits, and greeting friendly villagers.

The dream of dancing, singing, and laughing non-stop.

But the tears did not fall to the ground.

The tears that flowed down her cheeks could not stand the heat around them and evaporated.

Only dry traces of tears remain.

Like her daily life that has now disappeared.

Esmeralda got up from her seat. Soon after, she got to her feet and started walking.

Quasimodo, who was watching her, eventually turned into a small flame and was absorbed into Esmeralda’s body.

So Esmeralda left the burning village behind and disappeared into the black darkness with staggering steps.

without knowing where you’re going

slowly.

“I couldn’t do anything then.”

Pierre stared in the direction where Esmeralda had disappeared with a sad face.

While painting outside that day, he belatedly realized what had happened in the village and came to help. However, as a rookie wizard, there was nothing he could do.

“These two eyes were also lost in the fire that day.”

The landscape has changed. Pierre, who had been blinded in both of her eyes, was fortunate enough to hold her lifeline in this terrible fire.

However, since he was blind, he couldn’t even walk properly, and it was only a matter of time before he was swallowed up by the fire.

Just then, someone grabbed Pierre’s hand and pulled him.

– Hey, wake up!

A young but delicate voice. The owner of the voice was presumed to be a young girl.

But Ludger couldn’t see her. Only the sight of a blurry, black silhouette of a person grabbing Pierre’s hand unfolds.

Because it is a painting magic that draws only what the eyes see, it is not able to properly draw the situation after the blindness.

With the girl’s help, Pierre was able to get out of the fire safely.

-Go, thank you. I live thanks to you.

-Thank you. Because she just did what she had to do.

– What about the others? Are there any people alive?

-… … no. because they all died

-that… … .

Pierre stared blankly at the burning village of Roten.

I couldn’t see the snow, but the heat emanating from it told me that there was a village there.

How blankly did he look at that scene?

He felt the girl who had saved him approach him.

-You’re the painter who came a while ago, right?

– Did you know?

-I remember the dumbfounded appearance.

-… … sorry.

– There’s nothing to be sorry about. No, it’s not something you should be sorry about in the first place.

Anger dripped from the girl’s voice when she said that.

Pierre asked cautiously.

-What are you going to do now?

-I have to take revenge.

-plural… … yo. this?

-Isn’t that obvious? All the villagers died. The soldiers set fires and slaughtered people. Just because he offended himself.

-I, I… … .

Pierre did not dare to fight.

The girl sighed and approached Pierre.

– Are your eyes okay?

– I can’t see anything.

-… … The burns are severe. If you’re a painter and you can’t see, isn’t it a big deal?

– You should be grateful that you are still alive.

– Thanks… … . Unlike him, I can’t do that.

ah.

At the girl’s words, Pierre couldn’t say anything.

He had only been in town for a short while, but this girl must have been around much longer than that.

There must have been people close to him, maybe he had a family.

-… … Are you going?

In a situation where he couldn’t even take care of himself because of his blindness, Pierre was worried about the girl’s future.

– I have to go. Of course, I have no intention of forcing you to join me in revenge. However, I can’t do that.

-… … .

– You can also leave on your own. I don’t know if people will come here.

Having said that, the girl left Pierre and left.

ah.

Pierre stretched out his hand toward the back of the girl who was absent-mindedly walking away.

I tried to tell him to tell me his name, even if he didn’t know anything else, but I couldn’t help it.

Left alone like that, Pierre continued to sit there.

Until the fire has nothing more to burn and goes out on its own.

The magic ended there.

The painting world disappeared after the burning village, and what replaced it was an empty reality.

The hot flames disappeared, and the people who were dying were erased without a trace.

Now, only the remains of the village, which cannot even recall the past, remain.

“I couldn’t bear to leave.”

Standing in the center of the ruins, Pierre muttered in a self-deprecating voice.

“All the people I was close to died, and I couldn’t even draw the picture I wanted to, and now it’s a place where only nightmares remain.”

“Why?”

“Maybe there is still lingering regret. Because it was the first town that accepted me. Or maybe it’s a sense of duty. Someone has to protect this place.”

That’s how Pierre was left in these ruins.

I stayed and continued painting and drawing again. Reminiscent of the scenery at that time.

I went through countless trials and errors because I couldn’t see my eyes, and sometimes I desperately endured my broken heart.

He continued to sit and paint.

“As I continued to live like that, things changed. Because I, who didn’t know much about magic, was able to put magic into my brushstrokes. Maybe this was my talent.”

A painter who had to paint what he saw with his eyes, only after losing his eyes did he draw a proper picture.

It was ironic indeed.

But Pierre showed no regrets or gratitude for his blindness.

The only thing that bothers him is that he doesn’t know what happened to Esmeralda, the survivor of that day, and the girl who saved him.

“I see.”

Rudgar stood in the center of the desolate ruins and closed his eyes.

The night wind that blew from somewhere tickled his face.

He pondered the scene he had just seen.

The fire destroyed the village.

And after that, Durmang Kingdom would have used the word great fire to cover up what happened in this village.

‘I would have prevented rumors from spreading abroad, but I wouldn’t have been able to stop the anger boiling inside.’

There must have been someone who felt suspicious about the sudden fire.

And if you look a little, you’ll realize that someone set the fire on purpose.

It was inevitable that the Kingdom of Durmand would decline after the Great Fire of Roteng.

The anger of the common people toward the vested interests of the aristocracy, which had been piled up for a long time, ignited and exploded with this incident as the fuse, and raised the flag of revolution.

However, even so, the vested interests of the Durmang kingdom would not have collapsed because they had the power.

If everyone carries guns and gunpowder equally, like the previous Earth, the one with more numbers has no choice but to have an advantage.

However, this world is a place where there is an asymmetric power of magic and knights.

No matter how much the common people rose up, there was no way that the revolution would have been as easy as it sounds.

‘However, once the fire spread, it was not easily extinguished.’

The culmination of this incident was the ‘Bloody Night’ that took place in the city of Durmang Kingdom, Jebodang, five years ago.

An incident in which the kingdom of Durman, which had maintained its dignity as a nation even though it was in danger, completely lost trust.

‘Those who justified the corruption of the vested interests based on the divine right of kings, they couldn’t do anything about the cryptid.’

The divine right of the king.

In other words, the authority of the king was given by the heavens, that is, God, so everyone was told to obey the authority.

Durmand, who made the religion of Lumensis the state religion, followed it most ardently.

However, as the cryptids spread and the monsters of Jebodang ran rampant, their prestige plummeted in an instant.

The cryptid, which is now known as the remnant of the disappeared monster, was not properly resolved by Durmang Kingdom.

Rather, the fact that it was not the wizards and knights belonging to the country that killed the cryptids, but the wandering hunters, further fueled people’s distrust.

-What did the state do?

-What did those proud knights and wizards do?

In addition, the response of Bretus Castle, which could be called an ally, was also a problem.

I don’t know what’s going on, but the Bretus Castle closed its doors 20 years ago and didn’t dispatch the Holy Knights to the outside world.

At the same time, citizens’ distrust of the Lumensis religion, which collected huge religious taxes every time, pierced the sky.

It was the moment when faith in God collapsed.

Thus, the flames of the revolution were rekindled.

Bigger and hotter than before.

Now, five years have passed since then.

The Kingdom of Durmang lost its former glory, and most of the nobility fled or exiled abroad.

The royal family still remained, but it was no different from a candle in front of the wind that might collapse at any moment.

The kingdom of Durmang was still suffering the measles of change.

And the end of that change will definitely be in a better direction than before.

But there were too many incidents along the way.

The Great Fire of Roten did just that.

How many lives are there for those who have perished like fireworks in the shadows of history?

Who should be held responsible for the monsters born there?

First Order Esmeralda and the fire giant Quasimodo

In a way, it was like a monster created by a terrible era.

The monster created by the world joined hands with the Black Dawn and flowed into Ceorn.

“Are all your questions answered now?”

“To some extent.”

“Then I’m glad.”

“Are you not suspicious of me?”

Rudger couldn’t understand why Pierre had told him everything.

In addition, the magic he used was something that other wizards would roll their eyes at. From Pierre’s behavior, it seemed that he had been hiding his abilities.

Even so, he showed Ludger his painting magic intact.

“I doubted it at first.”

“Initially?”

“But there was something I felt from Mr. Rudger who saw the past I showed him. The emotions of anger, pity, pity.”

“I never showed it.”

“You wouldn’t believe it, but I felt that way. Because you can’t see the front, there’s something you can feel more sensitively. So now I believe. That Mr. Rudger is not a bad person.”

Are you saying that you have opened your eyes to your sixth sense while losing your eyesight?

“What would you do if it was all your own misunderstanding?”

“If so, it must be because I was lacking. But I have no regrets.”

“and.”

“and?”

“Really bad people don’t say things to confirm that.”

Pierre smiled softly and spoke in a relieved voice.

Rudger, who saw this, took his hands out of his pockets and bowed to him.

“It must have been the past that was a painful wound to me, but thank you for letting me know.”

respectfully.

with respect

Rudger lowered his head, and Pierre shook his head saying it was okay.

“On the contrary, I am more grateful. I’ve never been so honest with someone. Maybe it’s because I’ve properly faced the wounds I’ve been ignoring until now, so I feel more comfortable this way.”

Pierre, who said that, was not the stupid young man he was shown in the world of painting.

He was a full-fledged wizard who overcame scars and trials.

“So please. Mr Rudger. Please help the lady and the girl get through this sadness. They may still be fighting an uphill battle somewhere in the world.”

Perhaps the reason Pierre told Rudger everything was in the hope that he might help.

But Ludger felt bitter pity for Pierre’s attitude.

The girl named Esmeralda is a vengeful arsonist who burns people to death.

Will Pierre really know the truth?

Should I really tell this to him who knows nothing?

“… … I will try as far as I can reach.”

In the end, Rudger had no choice but to blurt out an answer.

That was the best consideration he could give to Pierre.

“That is enough.”

Now that we had served our purpose, it was time to part.

Pierre was about to return to his cabin, as if he knew it.

Then Rudger asked Pierre’s back.

“Are you going to stay here?”

“yes. I want to stay here and continue painting.”

“Why?”

“Because one day new people might come here. When people gather one by one, a new village will be created here. Someone has to be there for that. Someone who can tell you that there was once a beautiful village here.”

“Right.”

The conversation between the two ended with that.

Pierre said goodbye to Ludger.

He will stay here and paint. Keep going until someone else comes here.

Because that was the only way he could repay the people who once reached out to him.

That lofty belief caused a small ripple in Ludger’s calm mind.

When he came out of the lungfish, Hans, who was waiting there, found Ludger and hurriedly approached.

“older brother. Did you do your job well? Did you find out anything?”

“I found out something, but it didn’t help much.”

All he found out was the reason why Esmeralda was the way she was.

“Then you weren’t just fooling around?”

“Not really.”

Still, the clue was obtained, so it was not a meaningless step.

“Hans. I have something to look out for.”

“Tell me.”

“I want you to find out who is a noble family among the noble families who once lived in Durmand Kingdom and went into exile elsewhere.”

“That is a bit too much. Do you have any characteristics that might narrow it down?”

“That the family has been born with blonde hair for generations. That the current family head is a man in his early 30s now.”

“Hmm. I still feel vague about something, but it’s not to the extent that I can’t do it. I see.”

Now that the errands were over, it was time to go back to Seorn.

* * *

Time passed and the second test was right around the corner.

The students, who normally waited in the lecture hall, stood in the open court with slightly nervous faces.

And in front of him stood Rudger Celish, the teacher and general manager who led the test.

“Since it was notified in advance, I believe that everyone has been preparing diligently.”

No students answered the question.

Everyone is just waiting for the upcoming second test with determined faces.

“Then, let’s start the test.”

The second test [The manifestation of magic based on the magic square] has begun.