Episode 152
* * *
“I’m so happy that I can finally learn magic from my brother!”
Seven-year-old Lize smiled without hiding her joy.
“So, it’s not something that can be done overnight.”
Dale smiled, unable to hide his delight, as he looked at his lovely little brother.
Dale had formed a piece of mana at the age of four, and he built his first mana circle at the age of eight. If he had wanted to, it wouldn’t have been impossible at the age of four or five, but Dale waited for the right time to preserve the ‘common sense of this world’ in his own way.
In comparison, the young Lize first became aware of the Mana Fragment at the age of five. As expected, her talent was not lacking as she was from the bloodline of the Black Magic Tower.
So, as the years passed and Lize turned six, she cried and threw a tantrum, saying that she wanted to become a great wizard like her brother.
However, learning magic is never easy. Unless you are an extremely exceptional being like Dale, learning magic can easily lead to the threat of destruction.
However, seeing that the ‘Fragment of Mana Circle’ embedded in Lize’s heart was expanding day by day, Black Gong and Dale also came to the conclusion that they could no longer just sit back and do nothing.
A talent that is eroding away at a pure and innocent girl without her realizing it, rather than a state where she can thoroughly control and govern herself like Dale.
That is why it is even more dangerous.
It was in this context that he decided to teach magic earlier than Dale, who only began practicing magic when he was eight years old.
‘What would Mr. Sepia say in a situation like this?’
Dale’s heart was very complicated as he watched Lize innocently rejoice at finally being able to learn magic. He unconsciously recalled Sepia’s wisdom that guided him when he was young.
“Brother, can you show me that again?”
Just then, Lize asked Dale to show her the thing as usual. Dale nodded with a bitter smile.
I spun the circle to generate blue magic and snapped my fingers.
“Wow!”
Ice crystals began to scatter along Dale’s fingertips. The scattered crystals shone like stars around Lize, enveloping her. Like a planetarium in a space theater.
The magic of memories that he showed as an older brother, protecting his younger sister whenever young Lize couldn’t sleep and whined.
Even now, whenever she saw that sight, Lize would smile and get excited like a child, and she would begin to admire Dale’s magic.
At least in Lize’s eyes, Dale’s magic is literally close to that of a wizard from a fairy tale.
It’s not a formula for murder or dark magic to thoroughly kill people.
If Lize were to ever say that she wanted to learn the black magic of the Black Duke, I could finally imagine the Saxon family being turned upside down. And it wouldn’t just be her father or Elena who would be turned upside down, even Dale would be no exception.
“I also want to quickly become a great wizard like my brother!”
“What do you want to do as a great wizard like me?”
“──I will become great like my brother!”
“… …like me?”
“yes!”
Dale asked, and Lize answered without a moment’s hesitation. Dale held his breath for a moment.
“I want to use cool and amazing magic like my brother and surprise people in the world!”
“… … .”
The words of a young girl who knew nothing stabbed Dale’s heart like a knife. This was just what a normal seven-year-old would do. She couldn’t even imagine it.
“I’m not as great a wizard as Lize thinks.”
“No way! Everyone says that my brother is the greatest and most wonderful wizard in the empire!”
I couldn’t know how Lize would grow in the future, and what path of magic she would finally walk when she made decisions with her ‘true will’. However, she too is a member of the Saxon clan who inherited the blood of the Black Tower Lord.
“Yes, I am also very much looking forward to the day when you will be reborn as a wizard even greater than me.”
“I will work hard!”
Dale just stroked Lize’s black hair and smiled bitterly.
Inwardly, I hope that Lize will not repeat the darkness of Saxony and will escape from the darkness of blackness.
This is what is meant by the saying, “A frog does not know when it was a tadpole.”
“Then let’s start by feeling and accepting the mana in the air.”
Dale opened his mouth, leaving the constellation of crystals surrounding Lize behind.
“After that, you will repeat the practice of rotating mana around the heart.”
“Yes, brother!”
She once told a story that her teacher, Sepia, had taught her.
The wise elf’s disciple had grown to the point where he could boldly stand shoulder to shoulder with the strongest of the empire. And he had upheld his master’s will from an early age, and was passing on that will to his new disciple.
Now leaving behind the void left by his old teacher.
* * *
To the horror of learning magic from Dale, Lize never awakened the Circle.
It was truly a blessing.
* * *
“Today, my brother taught me a lot of magic!”
In the great hall of the Saxon Duchy, Lise happily chattered as she ran to her mother Elena’s side.
“So, what magic did you learn from Dale?”
“Well, I’m not ready to use magic yet. That’s why I’m starting with training to be able to use magic!”
Lize reported today’s events as if she was enjoying them, and Elena smiled quietly. It was a smile that seemed very complicated for a mother.
“Don’t worry, Mother.”
Dale opened his mouth at the sight.
“Unlike me, Lize will become a very great wizard who brings joy to the people of the world.”
Elena took in the meaning for a moment and swallowed her breath.
“Dale.”
But Dale, who was in front of her, was also her son. That was why Elena silently hugged Dale.
“Dale, you are already the proud eldest son of our Saxon family. You are my son who will not yield to the burden of what you have built for our Saxon family and the burden of what must be borne as a Saxon.”
“mother…….”
“Your path is never wrong, so be proud of that fact.”
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There was no doubt or hesitation in the heart of a mother who trusted her son. That was why Dale also stretched out his arms and hugged Elena.
* * *
That night, in the office of the Duke of Saxony.
“… … This is the list of units heading to the Demon King’s Territory to carry out the Crusade.”
“It’s a temple.”
Hearing Dale’s report, the Black Knight smiled bitterly.
“I remember the time when the great armies of the warriors and the Empire came against our House of Saxony.”
“It won’t be the same as it was then.”
Dale just shook his head sharply.
“The Northern Demon King’s Territory is already the center of imperial trade, and there are too many watchdogs for the empire to unilaterally impose tyranny like it did back then.”
Rather than hiding it behind a high wall, paradoxically, breaking down the wall and revealing it to everyone.
“Is that why you implemented the policy of opening up the Northern Demon King’s Territory?”
“Yes.”
Dale nodded, and the black ball smiled silently.
“I just have a few questions.”
After a silence, Dale spoke again.
“Father, how much do you know about the ‘high-ranking demons’ of the Demon King’s Territory?”
“Are you talking about the shadow magician?”
“… … While the main force of our Great Demon Alliance was dispatched from the Northern Demon King’s Territory, there was some information that we secretly obtained.”
“Tell me.”
“Why does a high-ranking demon use the ‘language of the empire’?”
It was a lie. That was information that he had obtained when he was a warrior of another world, not Dale. As the strongest man in the empire, he had gone deeper into the Demon King’s territory than anyone else and confronted the Demon King and his high-ranking demons.
“The fact that their intelligence allows them to understand human speech is not strange. However, isn’t it strange that the demons from the Demon King’s Territory use the ‘language of the Empire’?”
The high-ranking demons mocked the otherworldly warrior in the language of the empire, and mocked the hunter’s leash that was tied around his neck. At least, that was a fact that could not be known unless one reached the inner workings of the empire, and especially the empire’s deepest secrets.
But how do those from the dark land called the Demon Realm know this and speak the language of the Empire?
“How did you get that information?”
The black ball asked coldly. The air around them froze.
“Even if I tell you, you won’t believe me.”
“It’s up to me to decide.”
“… … A high-ranking demon appeared before me. He spoke the language of the empire very fluently.”
Once again Dale lied.
“What did he say?”
“They called me the ‘golden dog.’”
“Was that the end?”
“──This place is nothing more than the ruins of the old Shadow Empire that has already fallen, so I warned you to turn your troops around and leave.”
The high-ranking demons said that to the warrior of the other world, not to Dale now.
The conflict between gold and shadow, the ancient conflict and secret that once existed on this continent, was something I could not understand at the time. But not now.
“Now it is your turn, father, to speak.”
So Dale asked, searching through his memories of those days, putting together the pieces of the puzzle with the knowledge he had gained as a member of the House of Saxony.
“What are ShadowCasters? What is the connection between those high-ranking demons and our Black Tower of Saxony?”
And Dale knew the answer would not be easy. That’s why he asked.
“If the Second Crusade is to advance to dispel the darkness of the Demon King’s Territory, I at least need to know the truth beforehand. Please answer me.”
“… … .”
“Father, I’m sure you know the answer.”
Dale asked, and silence fell like a feather.
“Do you remember that in ancient times, black and white were one magic tower?”
Dale nodded to the Black Duke’s question. The fact that the Black Faction, led by the Black Tower and the Immortal Lord ‘Frederick of Saxony’, had risen up and been defeated, and were exiled to a remote area in the north.
“When the Blacks were driven out of this land of Northern Saxony, there were those who reached out to the Immortal and his clans.”
“Who are they?”
“There is no record of what they were or what they called themselves. Only a few passages from Saxon’s ancient books can be inferred. One thing that can be said for sure is that they were the ‘first foreigners’ who came from the land of darkness beyond the Demon King’s territory.”
“In the Demon World… … .”
Dale swallowed his breath.
“However, the son of the Immortal who decided to stay here instead of following them, and the Black Faction loyal to him, created the current Saxony and Black Tower.”
“Then who followed them?”
“The Immortal Frederick and his clan.”
“… … !”
After hearing that, Dale finally took a deep breath.
The secrets of the high-ranking demons, the shadow magician, the tower of shadows, and even the true nature of the demon world beyond the Northern Demon King’s Territory. I could finally understand.
“no way.”
“That is exactly what you said.”
The black ball nodded softly.
“High-ranking demons, and furthermore, beings beyond the Demon King’s territory, known as shadow magicians… … .”
He nods and continues speaking calmly.
“There is another Saxony there.”
A true Saxon clan who does not hesitate to become monsters of truth.
“And the Lord Undead still sleeps in the deepest darkness of the land.”
Just like the Yuris clan, they were reborn as beings who could no longer be called human.
