Chapter 86: Each One’s Future (2) (1/2)

After completing the Emperor’s lessons, I walked along the corridors of the Imperial Palace with Julie, who maintained a vigilant posture despite where we were. Amid our way, Jolang appeared.

“Sir Yukline. There was an incident in the basement.”

Agreeing to come with him, we headed underground through the only passageway leading to the [Demon’s Mirror], this place’s darkness.

However…

“It’s closed. That’s the problem.” He frowned.

The door to the basement was covered with dry tissue as thick as tar.

“Since when has it been in this state?”

“Just today. It used to be an ordinary door before it became like this.” He grabbed the doorknob and shook it randomly, but it didn’t budge. “Even the knights couldn’t open it, so I had to send them all back.”

I nodded.

“Then perhaps the right time hasn’t come yet.”

“You mean… Sir Yukline, do you know what’s in there?”

“…”

What lurked in this basement, and what the quest ‘Darkness of the Imperial Palace’ meant.

I didn’t only witness it. I also cleared it as a player.

Ultimately, it pointed to the darkness embraced by the owner of the Imperial Palace.

In other words, ‘Sophien’s past’ awaited us beyond this door, and the mirror was a passageway to it.

A demon desiring to get involved with it was only natural. After all, her death would mean the end of this world.

As I said before, if she died, it would be [Game Over]. That was how the system worked.

Since Sophien was a regressor, there were dozens of quests offering opportunities to explore the past. Among them, this was an extremely important quest, but surprisingly enough, it didn’t need to be treated with urgency at the moment.

“How would I know if I haven’t even gone in? I’ll be taking my leave now. Inform me when it opens.”

“Yes. I’ll do that.”

As Jolang turned around with a bitter expression, in suspicion, Julie murmured, “That’s strange. Why was the basement of the Imperial Palace like that?”

“You don’t have to know.”

“What?”

“Don’t even think about interfering.”

“…”

Her eyes narrowed, but I paid no heed to it. She should never know what lurked in this place.

Sophien’s death.

The former Freyden Head, her father, was also partly involved in it.

“Let’s go. I have a lot to do today.”

“… Alright.”

We left the Imperial Palace together.

Ren, waiting in the car near the castle gate, took a look at his notebook.

“Your next agenda is in Rohalak of the Yukline County.” His voice sounded different from usual.

Showing no signs of noticing it, I entered the vehicle.

“Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

*****

Epherene, Sylvia, and Carixel arrived at the Isle of Wizard’s Wealth, finding its mystical scenery now somewhat familiar.

“Whew…”

Epherene felt nervous and excited at the same time. To get to the Training Island, the site of the Solda Promotion test, they had to board an aircraft called an airship, which was why they were standing on its platform now. Of course, she had never seen one before, let alone board one.

“Are you all going?”

Fortunately, although Sylvia was quiet, the adventurer, Carixel, was erudite and talkative.

“Do… Do I just go in? Or do I have to do something beforehand?”

“No, no. You just need to board calmly, like you’re entering home. I’m going first~”

He climbed the high stairs of the platform ahead of them. Staring blankly at his back, she followed.

But Sylvia grabbed her robe’s hood before she could.

“Whoa—! Hey! What’s your problem?”

“Stupid Epherene.”

“Huh?”

Her eyes narrowed down at Sylvia, who was looking at her shoes in silence.

“… Oh~”

Epherene grinned, realizing what she meant.

“You mean my shoes? I already know that. Do you think I’m stupid?”

She confidently pounded her chest.

Since Carixel said, “like you’re entering a home,” she thought she should take her shoes off.

“I’ll be going up now~”

Epherene scaled the steps gracefully like a noble, then took off her shoes before boarding the airship. She then looked around, looking for a shoe closet.

“… Huh.”

There was none.

‘Do we have to take care of it ourselves?’

One other passenger soon giggled, noticing her feet. Finding such a reaction strange, she looked around.

… Everyone was wearing shoes.

“Pff.”

Sylvia’s disdainful giggle entered her ears as she passed by her with her shoes on, causing Epherene to blush in shame.

“That girl! Seriously!”

She put her shoes back on and ran until a familiar figure caught her eye.

“… Assistant Professor Allen?”

“Epherene. I see you’ve put your shoes back on.”

Sylvia took her seat, her big cheeks seemingly filling up with laughter.

“Oh~? Yeah, okay~ Was it fun~? I pretended to be fooled on purpose to make you feel happy. You seem depressed these days, you know…”

Epherene tried to keep her pride as she sat on her assigned seat as well, which was next to Sylvia.

—Please fasten your seat belts. Airship 305D will now be leaving.

She did as the voice instructed. Sylvia, paying close attention to her gestures, mocked her.

“I guess you know how to wear a seat belt.”

“Humpf. As I said, I did it on purpose to brighten your mood up.”

Whoooong—

The airship rose.

“Ugh!”

“What’re you doing?”

Epherene instinctively grabbed Sylvia’s shoulder, who did her best to push her away out of sheer surprise.

Whoong—

“Whoa, whoa.”

The more the aircraft shook, the more strength she applied to her grip, and the harder Sylvia shoved her away.

“Let go of me.”

“Whoahaha, it’s floating. It’s floating, whoahoho…”

“You idiot. I told you to let go.”

Epherene clung to her body even more instead, however, with her arms now wrapped around her waist tightly and her forehead pressed against her forearm.

“Don’t cling to me, idiot.”

“Wait, airsickness. I’m feeling airsick.”

“…!”

“Uh… Ugh. What’s wrong with me? Am I allergic?”

“There’s no such thing as an airship allergy, stupid. Oh, no. Don’t vomit. Resist it. If you vomit, I’ll kill you… Ahh.”

*****

… They arrived at the Training Island at night, prohibiting Epherene and Sylvia from looking around since it was already dark outside.

“Debutante Sylvia and Epherene. You two are in room 503. Your exam starts in 48 hours. Please feel free to rest until then. Before that, however, you must first give this document your seal and put it in the [Goro’s Mouth] outside the door.”

Immediately heading to their assigned room according to the staff’s instructions, Epherene grew surprised by how spacious their accommodation was.

She thought it would be like a college dormitory, but it was much larger.

“… This is better than my house.”

In it were two beds, desks, and refrigerators. There were also two bathrooms and one couch.

Everything was symmetrical.

Epherene walked over blankly to the window and looked outside.

“Woah… There’s a cliff right in front of us. I can even see the clouds.”

Grrr—!

A sudden roar echoed due to Sylvia’s magic, which built a wall in the middle of their large room, dividing it into two spaces.

“… Gosh.”

Epherene thought it was ridiculous, but she soon understood.

Since she recently just got dumped, Sylvia would need some alone time.

“Alright.”

Focusing on unpacking her items, she stored her Roahawk in the refrigerator and her emergency food, which included chocolate bars, in the inner pocket of her robe.

Afterward, she looked at the documents handed to her by the testing staff.

───[Solda Promotion Test Confirmation]───

◆ Examination Director: Rose Rio, Gindalf, Adrienne.

◆ Supervisors: Ropal, Mimic, Relin, Deculein, Ihelm, Crancia, and 13 others.

◆ Security Officer: Deculein.

◆ Videos and reports recorded while taking the test can be purchased by various magic towers, the Isle of Wizard’s Wealth, and families on the continent. This will be used as a scouting resource.

◆ The Isle of Wizard’s Wealth cannot be held responsible for any injuries sustained during the exam.

◆ Your fingerprint: [ ]

───────────────────

“… They take no responsibility whatsoever.”

That frightened her a little.

Knock, knock—

Startled, Epherene cautiously asked, “Who is it…?”

—It’s me, Carixel. I have something to give you.

“Oh~”

Opening the door, she found the adventurer smiling softly.

“Epherene… your room is a bit unusual. Mine’s different.”

“Sylvia did this.”

“Ohh. So these are the three primary colors? She has a truly creative talent.”

In admiration, he looked around the dorm that Sylvia perfectly divided in half and even installed two doors in.

“What brings you here?”

“Ah. I’m here to give you these.”

He handed over cylindrical containers. When she tilted her head in confusion, he explained.

“These are called cup noodles, a pretty popular food in the South. Just dissolve its powder by pouring boiling water over it. Please give one to Sylvia too.”

“Oh, I see~ Thank you. I was just starting to get hungry.”

“Haha. Well then, see you tomorrow!”

When he left, she stared blankly at the two cup noodles before knocking on Sylvia’s door.

Slam—

It opened.

“Hey. This is a gift. Take it.”

“…”

Sylvia passed by her without even looking at what she had in her hands.

“Where are you going?”

“Goro’s Mouth.”

“Oh, right.”

Epherene also came out with the documents.

[Goro’s Mouth] was in the dormitory hallway. It was as black as could be and had huge lips.

Sylvia put her set of papers into it first, followed by Epherene.

Chomp— Chomp—

“This is funny. It’s chewing them.”

[Goro’s Mouth] spat out two crystals after devouring their documents, one for each of them.

“What’s this?”

“A personal crystal ball. You can communicate through it, and in a critical situation, it sends a signal to the chief security officer. It has several other functions, so please be careful not to lose it.” The wizard standing next to [Goro’s Mouth] explained.

“Oh~ okay. Thank you.”

“…”

Epherene put it in her pocket while Sylvia stared at the crystal for a while first. Maybe it was because the chief security officer was “that professor.”

Melancholically laughing, she noticed someone familiar on the other side of the hallway.

“…?”

She initially thought it was Assistant Professor Allen but realized otherwise after closer inspection.

“She resembles him.”

The woman looked like Allen, but she had a voluptuous chest, unlike the assistant professor. Even with a robe on, they swayed quite noticeably.

That was an inconvenience Epherene was familiar with.

Her attire always being a bit larger than her actual size wasn’t a coincidence. Not only did she do it to avoid others’ gazes, but wearing fit clothes also brought her discomfort since they were too tight on her chest.

“Oh. Do you know about this food called cup noodles…?” She asked, but Sylvia had already disappeared.

“… It’s really hard to get closer to her. She’s like a stray cat.”

Taking a deep breath, Epherene went back to her room.

*****

Yukline County, early morning.

—Keep in mind that today’s an important meeting.

“I will.”

Lilia Primienne, the Deputy Director of Public Safety Bureau, answered the director’s crystal ball lazily.

—Don’t say anything that might offend the Professor. Be careful with your words.

“Alright.”

—Professor Deculein is the most influential person on the continent these days. He is by far nothing like the ordinary noblemen you deal with.

“I know. I’ll hang up.”

—No, Deputy Director! If you say something wrong, not only you but the entire Public Safety Bureau─

Click—

She hung up.

As the director said, today’s meeting could prove to be quite difficult.

The topic to be discussed was the Demon Blood Repression, and the location was the Rohalak Concentration Camp. Essentially, it was a meeting called by Deculein in the guise of a camp audit.