Chapter 123: The Hearing (3) (1/2)

“Kagan Luna, your father.”

The Chairman’s words quieted the hall, causing all sound to die out as everyone turned to stare at Deculein.Sophien was no different; this situation was unexpected for her as well.

What do you mean by a co-author?

Wasn’t that opposite to Deculein’s personality?

“We’ve been together for more than a hundred years… yet the more you open him up, the newer he becomes.”

Sophien rested her chin on her hand, watching Epherene’s face. The emotions crossing over her face were hard to describe. Ihelm was dumbfounded.

“Deculein, you? You, what… what? Co-author?”

The broken and choppy voice proved his bewilderment.

“Still, I think we need an explanation about the co-author! Professor Deculein?!”

Deculein nodded and replied with indifference. His tone was of narration rather than defense.

“The base idea is from Kagan. It was a creative and genius idea that no one else could think of.”

Deculein looked to Epherene, whose eyes were now sunken and teary.

“Kagan Luna established the framework for this thesis, and my share was its development and completion. Therefore, it was only right to mark both of us as authors.”

“I see! Continue your questions then, Ihelm!”

Ihelm spoke as if his spirit had fled him entirely.

“…Hmm! I’ll do it instead! I don’t think Ihelm is in a good situation right now!”

Adrienne stepped up instead of Ihelm with a smile.

“This isn’t the first time Professor Deculein has harassed his assistants, right? There are a lot of people that have been ruined! Some people committed suicide! So why in the world are you considerate of your past assistant now?!”

“It’s not just now. I slowly realized something, and I now acknowledge my past mistakes.”

“Is that so! Does Epherene have something more to say?”

Epherene flinched under Adrienne’s bright smile.

Epherene swallowed.

Then, she looked to Deculein, Adrienne, and Ihelm one after another.

She was confused. She didn’t know Deculein would do this, but she couldn’t limit what she felt to a one-dimensional feeling like that.The fact that Deculein honestly admitted her father was his co-author, that he would be remembered forever in the magic world, gave rise to certain complex concerns.

She felt like… a stone-headed fool.

“…No. I have nothing more to say.”

Clang—! Clang—! Clang—!

The Chairman swung her gavel.

“Let’s have a short break! Take a rest!”

There was a terrace in the high-level area near the meeting hall. Standing at the guardrail decorated like trees, one could see the entire university spreading out below them.

Right now, that whole world was soaked in the light of the full moon.Not long after, there was the sound of someone approaching, stepping so as to be heard. Their greasy blonde hair fluttered in the wind, and the thick scent of cologne wafting from them tormented my nose.

“…I don’t know what your ulterior motive is.”

Ihelm. He walked slowly and spoke while looking over the same scenery as me.

“Did you know? Whether there was hidden magic in the thesis or not?”

I nodded. I had found out while I was developing it; it was a very clever trap.

“What did you do?”

“I left it as it is.”

It would have been easy to dismantle; it didn’t take a little more than gently adjusting the circuit bit by bit.Ihelm grabbed the railing tightly until it made a sound.

“Why? Didn’t you hate Luna?”

I looked back at Ihelm. This guy was once the closest to Deculein. Therefore, he would have known Deculein better than anyone else.

“You must have hated Luna… and Luna’s daughter.”

Suppose I had lived as Deculein. Sometimes, memories that weren’t familiar rose to the surface, triggered as time went by, or sometimes by certain experiences. However, since all of them were mere fragments, cross-verification was needed.

“…Decalane couldn’t be satisfied with me.”

I spoke to Ihelm as if I were talking to myself. Ihelm’s deep red eyes stared back at me.

“My talent must be lacking, as I didn’t grow as much as he expected. Or, perhaps, the greed of his departed spirit was too great.”

“Whatever it was, Decalane was dissatisfied. I was not at the talent of the Archmage he wanted.”

Ihelm nodded a couple of times. Then, he answered.

“That’s right. If Decalane hadn’t died, you would’ve lost your seat as the head to Luna. But it’s still dubious. Would it have been that easy to put a child of a different family line at the head of the Yukline household?”

No, Decalane didn’t intend to make them the head. He just needed a container, one suitable for carrying someone’s dying mind.

“Decalane is already dead. Everything has changed.”

“Still, the you that I know must have hated Luna’s daughter. You wouldn’t have been able to forgive Kagan.”

“Kagan and you, there was enough reason for both of you to hate each other. If that guy hadn’t kissed Decalane’s ass….”

I looked into the sky far away, where the full moon hung heavy.

“It’s in the past anyway, and this study hasn’t been completed yet. Its completion is up to Epherene, not me. And also…”

“His suicide is my fault.”

Ihelm’s jaw dropped, making a rather goofy expression.

“I can’t hate the daughter after killing the father.”

Ihelm managed a response, a layer of cold sweat forming over his forehead.

“Did you feel sorry for Epherene?”

“Then? Then, why in the world?”

I thought, unmoving. Presumably, it wasn’t sympathy or compassion. However, it wasn’t easy to know. My emotions couldn’t be seen with [Vision].

“I don’t know.”

But, I read it in a book some time ago, and got the impression that a wizard must feel like this at least once in his life.

“I guess I think of that kid as a disciple.”