Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 374

374.

‘The Crown Prince isn’t someone who should be treated like this anywhere.’

It wasn’t just that. His status and abilities were top-notch. Honestly, I was quite surprised when I heard he created the teleportation magic scroll. I heard that mages who can use space-time magic are rare among humans. Saving a magic circle onto a scroll must also be a highly advanced skill that not just anyone can attempt. Considering his age, which wasn’t over twenty, it was even more impressive. They said he was a genius, and it seemed he really was a great mage.

But what good was it? His amazing magical skills failed to impress the person he needed to impress the most. His opponent was just too good. It was like refining sugarcane to find the deepest sweetness, only to offer it to someone who already lived in a gingerbread house made of candy and cream.

If it looked this bad to others, it must be even worse for him. Raon Hwizen was now staring intently at Alisa. Just as Alisa, feeling his burning gaze, was about to subtly hide behind Sibelius, Raon Hwizen quickly strode forward and stood directly in front of Alisa. Then, with a determined look on his face, he said to her, who flinched.

“Next time, I will devise a way to prevent motion sickness.”

“Yes? Ah, yes.”

“I will definitely succeed.”

“Okay.”

“I will make it happen.”

“……? Good luck.”

Only then did Raon Hwizen step back with a satisfied and excited face. He clearly had no idea that everyone behind him was looking at him with sympathetic expressions.

The room was generally dark, making it difficult to properly see anyone’s expression. They had lanterns, but to prevent light from leaking out, the brightness was reduced to a minimum and covered with thick cloth, so it only illuminated the immediate area. This was very fortunate for everyone, especially Serium and his group. If the light were any stronger, their disrespectful gazes would surely have been noticed. Thus, the scene of everyone sharing the same sentiment, unknown only to Raon Hwizen, seemed to pass like flowing water. However, his actions brought about an unexpected result. Alisa, who had been gazing at Raon Hwizen, chuckled.

“Crown Prince, you’re more interesting than I thought.”

“……!”

Everyone, including me, turned to look at Alisa with wide eyes. Raon Hwizen was also quite surprised, wearing a flustered expression before awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.

“Th-thank you.”

“Puhaha, why are you thanking me?”

“Well… it’s the first time I’ve heard someone say I’m interesting……”

“Are you even thanking me for that? Crown Prince, don’t people usually tell you that you’re eccentric?”

“No, it’s the first time……”

“Really? That can’t be. You really seem eccentric, though?”

“Hmm, sorry for not meeting your expectations.”

“I’m going crazy. Is it an apology this time? Ah, you’re really funny.”

It wasn’t a particularly great conversation, but Alisa laughed so hard she wiped away tears, as if she were at an age where she’d laugh at a falling leaf. Her eyes were full of unprecedented favor as she looked at Raon Hwizen. Anyone could tell that her attitude toward him had become much more relaxed. It was clear that Raon Hwizen’s clumsy side had lowered her guard. Oh, wait a minute. Could this be that effect where you feel attracted to someone when you discover an unexpected side of them?

‘Surely not such a cliché development…….’

No. Being cliché means it happens often. An ominous feeling began to creep up. Besides, Raon Hwizen’s face was somehow red, and he felt different from before. Until now, he had only been trying to win Alisa’s favor out of obligation, but at this moment, he was clearly showing his emotions. Whether it was a human aspect or romantic feelings, he definitely had a genuine liking for her. Is this another version of ‘You’re the first woman who hit me’? You’re the first woman who said I’m funny?!

‘Even so, this isn’t right!’

A danger alarm went off in my head. Being friendly is better than being on bad terms, but skipping steps like this is dangerous. I hadn’t been too worried because Isana had been doing such a good job on her own, but as soon as we were separated, this kind of flow! As expected, the stars of fate are the stars of fate. If someone hadn’t stepped in to break the flow, I would have jumped out without regard for my reputation.

“Alright, alright, everyone seems to have calmed down now. Let’s stop chatting and start planning the next steps. Unless you want to spend the night in this cramped room.”

Thankfully, Sibelius stepped in to handle the situation. Fortunately, Alisa’s attention easily shifted to him when he intervened. Raon Hwizen glared at him slightly, seemingly disappointed. Of course, Sibelius, who clearly felt it, ignored him nonchalantly.

“Speaking of which, Sibelius, does your magic not have teleportation abilities?”

“Ah, there’s something similar called Shukuchi [a technique to instantly shorten distances]. But I can only use that spell if I know the exact appearance of the place I’m going to. Besides, only I can use it, so I can’t take anyone else with me.”

“I see. That’s a bit disappointing.”

“……Well, if I were to channel a god, it might be possible depending on the god’s abilities……”

The following words were closer to a mutter than a reply. Alisa, who had overheard his casual mumbling, looked at Sibelius with a puzzled expression.

“Channeling a god? What’s that?”

“Huh? You heard me?”

“Yeah, you said you could do something depending on the god’s abilities?”

“Um, no, it’s just something. I can’t do it anyway.”

Watching him smile it off with a slightly bitter expression, I recalled something he had said before. The unique power of the Rune bloodline, the ability to accept a god into one’s body, or something like that. Sibelius had the same expression when he explained that he couldn’t do it.

‘Ah, is this what Trowel was trying to say?’

He definitely mentioned Runes back then. I think I also heard the word ‘vessel.’ Perhaps he was trying to say that Runes are vessels for containing gods. He said he had only partially awakened, so maybe Sibelius was in the process of awakening his unique abilities. He doesn’t seem to know anything yet, so I’ll have to keep an eye on it for now.

‘But if he recovers his abilities, won’t he become even more powerful? What’s the point of Caryan finding out about that?’

Unresolved questions continued to pile up. I wish I could ask Trowel directly, but it was a shame I couldn’t. In fact, I had briefly stopped by the Spirit Realm while waiting for the group, but I couldn’t find him. The Earth Domain was completely covered in black mist. The entrance was tightly closed, and I couldn’t enter even with the use of Spirit Speech. Every time I tried, I felt a gentle push and a calm stillness. It seemed he had fallen into a deep sleep.

Being reverse-summoned affects not only the contractor but also the Spirit King. I knew he needed to rest for a while, but I didn’t expect it to be like this. Ifrit and Miné were also resting in their domains to recover their energy after creating the barrier, but not in this form. I used to jokingly threaten Lapis with reverse-summoning, but now I don’t think I can even joke about it. In Trowel’s case, his condition might have worsened because he had already consumed a lot of energy before being reverse-summoned. In any case, it seemed I had no choice but to monitor the situation until he woke up.

* * *

While I was lost in thought, the room entered a full-fledged preparation phase. Alex and the knights were the first to move. While Alex examined the area near the door, one checked the other room, and the remaining two checked the windows. I looked back at them, scattering to their respective tasks without any specific instructions, with a fresh perspective. Alex, being from the Royal Guard, was someone I naturally knew, but I thought the other three knights were strangers. On closer inspection, I had seen them all at least once. They were knights from the special reconnaissance unit that Isana called ‘Doves,’ who usually moved with Peris.

After a while, the knight who went to check the other room returned and nodded to Alex, who was watching. Then, the other two knights who checked the windows also nodded. Alex then took out a rolled-up leather from his luggage and spread it on the floor. It was a map that briefly depicted the structure of the academy and its vicinity, which was already familiar to me. I had seen them creating the map based on Asel’s explanations.

“The Crown Prince said that His Highness’s residence was close to the annex, but I was still worried. It turns out there’s really no one here. There don’t seem to be any patrolling guards around here. Is this the usual arrangement?”

“No. His Highness dismissed everyone. He declared that he would only keep those who usually attend to him as guards and forbade anyone from approaching the vicinity.”

“Those guards would be Sir Serium and Sir Dai, who are here.”

“Hey, how many times do I have to say it? I’m just a close aide! My main job is as an alchemy instructor at this academy!”

Serium, who had been silently listening to the knight’s natural address, flared up and retorted. Alex apologized with a completely unapologetic face.

“Ah, I’m sorry. Your appearance is so much like that of a great warrior that I couldn’t help it……. Why do you have such a confusing physique? No one would ever see Serium-nim as an alchemist.”

“What am I supposed to do about being naturally muscular!”

“You’re actually good at fighting too.”

“Well, it’s a waste to let my talents rot, so I learned a bit.”

“That’s a good attitude. So why don’t you just change your profession? It seems more suited to you.”

“Ha! What nonsense are you talking about? You don’t seem to know, but if I quit alchemy, it would be a national loss!”

“Well, even if that’s true, I don’t really care.”

“Ah, right! You’re from the Swalt Empire!”

There was a friendly atmosphere between them, freely exchanging jokes as if they had become quite close. Come to think of it, I hadn’t paid much attention, but now that I looked, one of the Crown Prince’s two guards was missing. Judging by the feeling that they were consciously avoiding mentioning it, it didn’t seem like he had just left for a moment. It seemed something had happened in the meantime.

“Well, anyway, thanks to you, things have become easier, so we’re fortunate. You said that the Crown Prince’s residence is on this side, so we’ll have to go left to get to the main building where the headmaster’s office is. You said that the Sage Danimel’s house is visible right from the main gate, right?”

“Yes, it’s a building built entirely of red bricks, so it won’t be difficult to recognize. Are you leaving right away?”

In response to Asel’s question, Alex, who was looking at the map, smiled and nodded.

“First, we’ll do some reconnaissance. We need to figure out the number of patrolling personnel and the shift times within the school. We also need to find out Danimel’s current location and the movement of the security personnel.”

“I’m sorry. I wish I could have been of more help, but I don’t know that much……”

“No, the information you’ve given us so far has already been a great help. If it weren’t for Asel-nim, it would have taken us a long time just to figure out the structure of this place.”

With his reply, Alex stood up and took off the outer cloak he was wearing. Underneath, a uniform armed entirely in black was revealed. Seeing that the other three knights were all wearing the same uniform, it seemed they had deliberately matched it for infiltration. After carefully putting on their masks, they were left with only their eyes showing. They looked like they could be mistaken for assassins anywhere. After nodding to each other to signal that they were ready, Alex again lifted the curtain by the window and looked outside.

“Let’s see. It’s a little past midnight, right? It’s about time for the security to be at its weakest. As I mentioned earlier, I’ll leave a mark on the windowsill here every morning. If nothing is left, you can assume that something has happened to us.”

He said it cheerfully, but it was not a story to be taken lightly from the listener’s point of view. Everyone’s expression quickly darkened. Raon Hwizen also asked with a firm face.

“Are you really not going to take any magical tools? I’ll give you as many auxiliary tools as you need.”

“Thank you for your kind words, but it’s okay.”

“Do you not trust my skills?”

“How could that be? It’s just that I know that magical items can be traced back to the creator through traces of mana. In case we are caught or killed, it’s best not to leave anything that could be a connection to His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“……!”

“If you happen to find out where our bodies are being dumped, please sort through our belongings and send them to His Majesty. Then, even if our bodies perish here, our spirit will be by our lord’s side. That would be enough.”

Raon Hwizen’s eyes wavered at the following words. It was also the moment when the already heavy atmosphere sank even deeper. Seeing Alisa’s face become tearful, Alex quickly waved both hands.

“Ah, of course, I don’t plan to die easily. Don’t worry. Actually, we’re just investigating, so there’s a greater chance that nothing will happen. I’m just telling you the worst-case scenario.”

“……To have people like you by his side, I envy His Majesty the Emperor.”

“His Highness also has good people by his side.”

“That’s true, but…… too few.”

As Raon Hwizen muttered bitterly, Alex slightly narrowed his eyes and smiled.

“Your Highness, if I may be so bold as to say something.”

“What is it?”

“This is only the case for the Royal Guard to which I belong. We naturally protect His Majesty the Emperor because we are his knights. But it hasn’t been long since we began to sincerely serve him, apart from our duties.”

Raon Hwizen blinked blankly, as if he hadn’t expected those words. I also focused and listened, as I hadn’t had the opportunity to hear this part of the story.