Chapter 26 (1/2)
Chapter 26
“As expected of Head Professor Deculein!”
A high-ranking police officer wearing a polished uniform approached me with a salute.
“Oh, I’m Superintendent Roppa! Waah~ The way you lowered your leg makes it look like you were in a photoshoot! This fucking killer! Should I hit him more?!”
“No, leave him alone.”
“Oh, sure!”
His ability was lifted the moment he fainted. I scooped up some dirt on the road using psychokinesis and, mixing in two elements, lit a fire on top of it. The mushy soil quickly stretched thin, duplicating the properties of a metal. It was the effect of the [Foundation of Ductility] that I memorized a few days ago. Through it, I bound Rock Hark’s wrists and ankles.
The polices’ jaws dropped.
“Ohhhh…I’ve seen a lot of magic, but this is the first time I’ve seen such an elegant manifestation of it. It was as if it was dancing.”
“Bring him to the station.”
“Ah, yes! Thank you for your hard work!”
The Superintendent pulled out a band from his waist, which suppressed the wearer’s magic.
“That’s useless against him; he nullifies magic. Just leave him cuffed with the steel wire.”
“Oh?! Is that so? I didn’t know about that! No wonder he often escapes prison and has eluded magic radars!”
His questions didn’t end there.
“But, how did you see through him so easily? No, more importantly, how did you even defeat someone who nullifies magic?”
“I’m leaving.”
“Oh, sure! Hey! What are you lot doing standing there absent-mindedly?! Salute to the Head Professor!”
The dozens of police officers gathered in the middle of the cemetery and sharply saluted. A message from the system came up at that moment.
[Actual Verification: Linked Characteristics]
[Due to Mana Quality Reinforcement (Stage 1), your Characteristics have been partially raised.]
I was aware of that system feature. Essentially, it meant that the limit of one’s Characteristics was overcome, and, more fundamentally, it meant its ceiling had been raised. It was like an engine only generating fifty horsepower due to the poor quality of its oil despite being capable of generating up to a hundred horsepower. However, now that it had been equipped with a better oil, it had pushed its limits to sixty horsepower.
Still, the engine had been stuck at fifty for so long that he had grown used to it, raising the need for an awakening process. That was what the actual verification just now was for. As expected, one real combat situation was better than a hundred training sessions.
“Professor.”
A familiar voice called me, which I easily identified: Julie. She had a few strands of hair in her mouth, which made me think she was in a rush to come here.
“…Thank you for your hard work. I hope you have a nice rest.”
I simply nodded and walked past her, looking at the sky and watching the crescent moon through the overgrown greenery as I walked away.
Rustle— Rustle—
From the overgrown woodland to the dark and scary path leading to the cemetery, this road where the leaves were pitifully trampled on looked like the path I walked with her…
…The day I lost my little sister.
She walked with me and cried with me as she was buried. Her beautiful face came to mind whenever I closed my eyes. I would only remember this today and forget about everything tomorrow, but…even so, I didn’t want to kill anyone in this place where I kept finding traces of her.
*****
Late at night, at Sylvia’s mansion in the system’s golden dust land of Haylech.
Glitheon arrived as soon as he received the report. Sylvia remained calm as if nothing had happened, but her father wanted to set Rock Hark on fire and kill him.
“Deculein saved you then, child?”
In a subtle tone, he questioned her. She replied with a frown.
“You’re baiting me, aren’t you?”
“Hmm? No, no, child. Never. It’s just your father’s way of talking. Hahaha. Baiting?! Not.”
“That’s enough.”
Sylvia pouted to show how upset she was at the end of the dining table, where a sumptuous feast was set.
“That’s not what I meant—”
After making Glitheon feel restless with her nitpicking, Sylvia cut him off.
“I’m also going to the Bercht conference, father.”
“…”
The Bercht conference. As head of the Iliade, Glitheon was summoned to the conference, which the families considered an honor to participate in, and was accompanied by one escort and one chauffeur.
“…Ahem.”
He avoided his daughter’s gaze. Bercht was too dangerous of a mountain range to bring her. He tried to avoid the topic as much as possible until then, but…
“I’m going.”
“Haaaa…”
Glitheon sighed. On the brighter side of things, he thought it would be a great experience for her and that there would be no particular danger. In the first place, there was an unwritten rule that each of the Twelve Families had to be accompanied by their successor or their best student. Their relationships as Households also weren’t nearly as bad as they were fifteen years ago.
If he didn’t take Sylvia by claiming it was too dangerous, he might be teased not as a doting father but as an idiot of a ruler.
“…Okay, okay. Fine. If my child is coming with me, who should—”
“Oh, my lady, my lord! I shall be your escort!”
A man sitting and eating at the same table stood up boisterously. It was Syrio, the vice-captain of the Knights of Iliade. Sylvia’s eyebrows twitched.
“No thanks. You’re too noisy.”
“Hey! Come on. I’m better than that guy Jayron!”
“Haha. That’s right, Jayron takes everything too seriously. I’m also against taking him with us.” Glitheon chuckled. “He’ll stay at Bercht’s third building anyway and can’t come to the fourth building where we’ll be staying at.”
“That’s unfortunate, but my lady, that means we won’t be staying in the same place. It’s the principle of behavior. If I’m too close to someone with similar blood, just like Lord Glitheon, our blood will clot together~.”
“I know. Be quiet.” Sylvia responded, clearly annoyed by Syrio’s frivolous tone.
“We’ll be leaving a bit earlier, though, child. Our trip will begin on Thursday, which is two days from now. Will that be okay?”
“That’s four days earlier than initially planned.”
Sylvia’s eyes narrowed at her father.
“I received classified information.”
“Classified information?”
“Yes, very expensive information at that.”
Among the Twelve Families, only Glitheon probably held such knowledge right now. Deculein would’ve been the first one to know, but for some reason, his connection with the underworld had been cut off. He was still suspicious of its cause since the Yukline Head’s obsession with safety was close to paranoia. Was he simply confident in his abilities, or did he trust the Assistant Professor that he chose that much?
“Can we go after 6 P.M.?”
“Hmm. It doesn’t matter, but why?”
“Wednesday is a five-credit class, so I have to review it the next day.”
Glitheon nodded.
“Are you talking about Deculein’s lecture? I see. But how is his class, child? Is he good at teaching?”
“Yes, it’s good.”