Chapter 26: Niflheim
"...."
At Vera’s boot lay a familiar figure.
The figure’s uniform had been torn beyond recognition, his body was riddled with burns and soaked in blood, and the sword still clutched in his hand had long since lost its owner.
Even without kneeling to check, Ilya already knew there was no life left in him.
"...Sir Fritz."
It was Sir Fritz.
Vera’s eyes slowly traveled over his battered body.
His clothes had been reduced to little more than bloodstained rags, and frost had spread across his skin to such an extent that it almost seemed as though he were slowly turning into ice himself.
Even within the already frigid clearing, the cold surrounding Ilya was so overwhelming that it felt as though winter itself had chosen to gather around him alone.
She lowered her gaze to the trail behind him.
Every step Ilya had taken remained etched into the snow, as if it were a path consumed by frost, as though a blizzard had followed him wherever he went.
"You’re from the Magic Department, aren’t you, Senior?"
"I am."
"I see."
The signs had been there from the very beginning.
At the time, each incident had seemed insignificant on its own, nothing more than harmless coincidences that Ilya never felt the need to question.
Only now, looking back on everything as a whole, did the pieces begin to fit together.
——Huh. No wonder Anastasiya looked so gloomy throughout class today. Seems you really managed to break her heart.
It had been a simple slip of the tongue.
Vera was a member of the Magic Department faculty, yet she had somehow known what had happened inside the Knight Department building despite the two departments occupying entirely different parts of the academy.
At the time, Ilya had dismissed it without much thought, but looking back now, it had never really made sense.
——Skipping classes isn’t a good habit. I’ve overlooked it before, but at this rate, it’s starting to become a concern.
Of all places, Vera had repeatedly appeared near the bridge closest to the Knight Department rather than anywhere around the Magic Department, as though she had been loitering around.
——I happened to glance over the Knight Department’s practical schedule. The very first day evaluates Iron Reinforcement, which, unfortunately for you, happens to be your weakest area.
A mere teaching assistant from the Magic Department had somehow managed to review the Knight Department’s practical examination schedule, something she had neither the authority nor the necessity to access unless she had intentionally pulled strings behind the scenes.
——Kill yourself, Ilya Valentinovich Belozersky.
And that hatred toward the sword. Her insistence that the knight within him should die.
Perhaps it was fate, or maybe just a coincidence, but one fact was certain.
Vera Adelheid Lischke, a mere teaching assistant belonging to the Magic Department, had no reason to involve herself with the Knight Department as often as she did, yet somehow she was always there, lingering nearby, and now...
"...."
...Sir Fritz lay dead at her feet.
"...Did you kill him, Senior?"
"I did."
Ilya’s gaze lingered on Sir Fritz’s lifeless body for a few moments before shifting back to Vera.
"...Were you also responsible for what happened on the mountain?"
"No," Vera answered. "Although it appears to be quite the incident. Still, nothing the academy’s professors and instructors shouldn’t be capable of handling. If anything, I would say the commotion served as a rather convenient diversion."
"...The Crown Prince is dead."
"That is unfortunate. I fear this Empire has just taken a rather large step toward a bleak future."
Ilya fell silent.
Without another word, he slowly resumed walking until he stood beside Sir Fritz’s body. His eyes rested upon the old knight for a long moment before he finally raised them to meet Vera’s.
"...."
After nodding to himself, he lowered his battered body into a crouch.
"Magic leaves traces, Senior," he said. "If you’re going to kill someone, you should avoid leaving magical evidence behind. Once the professors investigate this place, they’ll immediately realize a battle took place here."
"That won’t be a problem," Vera replied. "It will never lead back to me. As far as everyone is concerned, I was never here to begin with."
"Even so, you can’t afford to be caught."
He slowly extended his only unbroken arm.
Frost spread from his fingertips, creeping over Sir Fritz’s body until the veteran knight was completely entombed within a solid block of ice.
Once the freezing was complete, Ilya reached down, wrapped his hand around Sir Fritz’s sword, and attempted to bring it crashing down against the frozen coffin.
Clang——!
The blade barely moved, his strength giving out before the swing could even begin.
Unable to muster the strength, Ilya stumbled forward, collapsing onto the snow as the sword slipped from his grasp.
"My apologies... it seems I’ve overexerted myself."
"That’s enough. You’re going to die soon."
"That was the idea..."
Ilya let out a slow breath before glancing toward the frozen coffin encasing Sir Fritz.
"If my signature is left all over the scene, the investigation will naturally focus on me instead. By the time anyone figures it out, I’ll probably already be dead, and no one will have any reason to suspect you, Senior."
"How foolish."
Without another word, Vera raised a hand.
The discarded sword rose from the snow under the influence of her telekinesis before crashing into the frozen coffin again and again.
Each impact shattered more of the ice until Sir Fritz’s body, still sealed within it, was broken into countless frozen pieces that scattered across the clearing.
Ilya watched the scene unfold.
Then, after several moments, he let out a weak chuckle.
"...You must really hate him, Senior."
"What makes you say that?"
"You’re trembling... from excitement..."
"...."
"Like you’ve been wanting to kill him for a very long time... And the expression on your face... It’s the same one you always make whenever you throw rocks at me..."
The floating sword paused.
"So... you must hate me too, Senior."
"...."
"I always assumed that expression was simply one of your strange habits... But now that I’ve seen you kill someone... I finally realized it wasn’t a habit at all... That’s the face you make whenever you’re hurting someone you genuinely want to hurt..."
He met her gaze without looking away.
"...You wanted to kill me all this time, didn’t you, Senior?"
"...I won’t deny it."
Vera lowered herself into a crouch.
She calmly rummaged through the satchel hanging at her side before retrieving a small glass vial and uncorking it.
After tipping a single pill into her palm, she gently placed it against Ilya’s lips, waiting until he swallowed it before softly brushing a strand of hair away from his face, a faint smile tugging on her lips.
"But you made me a promise."
Her fingers lightly caressed his cheek.
"So I restrained myself. There’s no reason to harvest an unripe fruit when waiting a little longer will make it all the sweeter."
The warmth came immediately.
The moment the medicine slipped down his throat, heat spread through his body, reaching places that had remained frozen for so long he had nearly forgotten such a sensation even existed.
The frost that had continuously seeped from his body gradually receded, and the oppressive cold surrounding him slowly dissolved.
After satisfying herself that the medicine had taken effect, Vera looked directly into his eyes.
"Tell me, Ilya Belozersky. Are you tired of being weak?"
"...Yeah."
He let out a slow, weary breath.
"I’m tired. Everyone’s completely fucking insane. Everything’s gone to shit... and I don’t understand what’s happening anymore..."
"Oh?" A faint smile spread across Vera’s face. "So you can curse. Good... hold on to that feeling. Don’t suppress it."
Ilya genuinely had no idea what came next. The story he knew had completely fallen apart before his eyes, and every certainty had been ripped away alongside it.
Siegfried Tobias Bismarck, the protagonist, was dead.
"...Even if it kills me from the inside, I don’t care anymore, Senior. I... desperately need power..."
Whatever awaited a world that had lost its protagonist, it certainly wouldn’t be merciful.
"...I finally understand the true nature of your Domain."
Vera gently placed two fingers under Ilya’s chin and lifted his head until their eyes met.
Her gaze wandered past him toward the frozen landscape surrounding them, observing the winter that was gradually dissolving, then returned to him once more.
"A world shrouded in mist and ice, where endless winter reigns under eternal darkness. According to ancient legends, even the roots of the World Tree, Yggdrasil, reached into that realm."
Vera’s fingers slowly left his chin as a faint smile appeared upon her lips.
"The Frozen Hell, Niflheim."
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