Agoris continent, Atlas.
Right now, there was an untimely commotion here.
“......So at the moment, Teacher Frondier has gone back to his homeland.”
In the classroom, Principal Carla explained to the students.
The students let out sighs and groans the moment they heard it. From that reaction alone, one could tell just how much trust Frondier had earned from them.
“Then what about Teacher Elodie?”
“Teacher Elodie is a promising magician, so she often has to go on business trips.”
Carla explained with the feeling that she had, at the very least, not told an outright lie.
......No, to be honest, the explanation that “her family’s health had suddenly worsened” could hardly be called the truth no matter how you thought about it.
'She said his older brother had died......'
The news Carla had heard from Elodie and the others. She had heard that, as soon as Frondier heard that, he had flown to the other continent.
Naturally, Carla did not know who Atjie was.
So all the more, she had no idea what Frondier must be feeling.
No matter how much she sympathized, what Frondier felt would be several times more.
“Then when will he be back?”
“......Hmm. I’m not sure.”
When would ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) Frondier return? Carla had no way of knowing.
Frondier had already left for the other continent. Gregory could not send crows beyond the continent.
When, exactly, would Frondier come back?
Or rather, would he come back at all?
'......For now, focus on work. It’s Mr. Frondier we’re talking about. There’s no need to worry.'
Carla pushed her thoughts aside and looked around at the students.
“So for the time being, I’ll be taking over Teacher Frondier’s Mana Theory class. It’ll be for a short while, but I look forward to working with you.”
She had decided to take responsibility for Frondier’s Mana Theory.
There were other magic teachers, but Frondier had quietly raised the students’ level. The one best suited to handle the class smoothly was none other than the principal herself.
“......Teacher.”
Just then, someone raised a hand.
It was Vasileo.
“What about the Magic–Weapon Combined Use class? Has it been canceled?”
Originally, Frondier had been in charge of three classes.
Mana Theory, Combat Theory, and Magic–Weapon Combined Use.
Of these, Carla had taken over Mana Theory, and Combat Theory had already been taken over by Aster earlier.
That left one. The elective Magic–Weapon Combined Use.
Since it was an elective, was it canceled because it wasn’t important?
“Ah, that class—”
To Vasileo, who was thinking that, Carla gave an unexpected answer.
***
“Hmm, from today on I’ll be in charge of the Magic–Weapon Combined Use class. Name’s Ludovic. Nice to meet you.”
In front of the students gathered for the Magic–Weapon Combined Use class, Ludovic spoke.
Vasileo, Pielot, Aias, and Glaukos. The four of them stared blankly at Ludovic.
Glaukos tilted his head.
“......It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Mm.”
Ludovic pulled his lips back a little, as if pricked.
When one attended Atlas, one usually picked up the teachers’ faces in passing even without taking their classes. But this was the first time Glaukos had ever seen Ludovic’s face.
Naturally so. He was an emergency stand-in prepared at the last minute. Ludovic was not doing anything except this class.
Pielot spoke with his eyes half closed.
“......Lord Ludovic.”
“Call me Teacher.”
“......”
Pielot let out a deep sigh and spoke again.
“Zodiac, Lord Ludovic de Fabre.”
“Pi, Pielot!”
Ludovic shouted in a fluster.
Not knowing what he meant, the remaining three looked at one another and shared their confusion.
“Zodiac?”
“What’s a Zodiac, Pielot?”
Aias asked, and Pielot replied,
“Simply put, it’s like a Paladin.”
“Paladin? Palma’s 12 knights?”
“Right. But there’s something similar on the continent I’m from too. Twelve Imperial weapons.”
At that, someone’s mouth fell open.
Ludovic’s.
“P-Pielot! If you talk about that so carelessly......!”
“Another continent?”
“An Empire?!”
Vasileo, Aias, and Glaukos each lit up their eyes and stepped closer to Pielot.
“So there really is one! Another continent!”
“You came from there, Pielot? No wonder! You were so skilled, and yet I’d never heard of your family name!”
“You said ‘Empire’, right? An Empire? Does that mean there’s an Emperor there?”
They were all just talking over one another.
Without Pielot getting any chance to answer, they were busy letting their imaginations run wild among themselves.
Ludovic, flustered, spoke.
“Pielot! What are you thinking, saying such things so carelessly......!”
“Lord Ludovic.”
Pielot called him in a calm tone that contrasted with Ludovic’s.
“Please look at this.”
Pielot turned his body.
He gripped his scabbard, lowered his stance, and drew up his aura.
Sshk!
And then, a single strike cleaving the empty air.
An unsheathing so fast you could not see the sword leave the scabbard or return to it...
“......That’s what it looks like, but it’s not. This is aura.”
Ludovic was impressed.
To be able to cut by firing aura alone, leaving the sword itself behind. And on top of that, his hand did not move. A high-level technique that required neither a cutting motion nor a resheathing motion—only the firing of aura.
'Truly incredible. If only this attack could be chained into consecutive strikes, then even I—'
Sssshk!
A triple strike that brought Ludovic’s thoughts to a halt.
Pielot, in that very stance, slashed the air three times in succession and then released his posture.
By then, Ludovic was at a loss for words, just staring at Pielot.
There, Pielot said,
“These three,”
He pointed at the three students with his finger.
“Please consider them to be on the same level as me.”
“......What?”
At that, Ludovic’s gaze changed as he looked at the three.
On the same level as Pielot.
You could not judge everything from a single technique of firing aura in consecutive strikes.
However, Ludovic knew all too well that a single high-level technique meant countless prerequisites stood before it.
“They’ll be helpful.”
By the time Pielot said that much, Ludovic had understood his intent.
“......You, do you know what’s going on?”
“I don’t know the details. But I’ve at least been in something like a war.”
Pielot, who had watched countless demon clouds come and who had cut them down beyond number.
At that time, Pielot had clearly prepared himself to die, and yet he had returned alive.
“When something smells similar, you at least learn to catch the scent.”
“......I see.”
Ludovic nodded.
He looked at the other three students.
“You three, are you really that strong?”
At that, the three of them grinned and said,
“Nope!"
***
After Frondier left Agoris.
“We consider the descent of the gods to be just before us.”
His house had now become a conference room.
Ludovic had gathered everyone and begun to explain. The students of the Magic–Weapon Combined Use class were there as well.
“Atjie is dead, and Frondier has gone back to the Falind continent.”
“The gods would surely have predicted Frondier’s actions.”
Aster spoke, and—
“That’s right. Or rather, it’s highly likely they attacked Atjie precisely to force Lord Frondier to move.”
Arald nodded, carrying the thought further.
“A being capable of killing Atjie. That alone makes it likely the culprit is a god. On top of that, there’s a mountain of circumstantial evidence.”
“The motive is obvious, and they attacked while Frondier was across in Pandemonium. Only a god could know that timing.”
Riri spoke.
She let out a sigh.
“......In other words, this is a declaration of war. Against Frondier.”
“For a god to declare war on a single human, it’s ridiculously grandiose.”
“The gods know. That declaring war on Frondier is the same as declaring war on humanity.”
Frondier had Elodie, and he had Aster, and House Roach, and the trust of the Emperor and Empress.
The risk of angering Frondier lay not only in Frondier himself, but also in the connections he had forged.
From where he had been listening, Gregory spoke. It was the man himself, of course.
“Everyone. We’ve each done all kinds of things with Frondier. That doesn’t mean we completely understand him. We couldn’t possibly understand that lunatic completely anyway. But there’s one thing every single person here is thinking right now.”
At that, Aster nodded. His eyes were calm.
“Frondier will not forgive whoever it is.”
“Even if Atjie is alive.”
“Even if the opponent is a chief god.”
Everyone thought the same thing.
What would Frondier do when Atjie was killed? It was all too obvious.
This was Agoris. Falind continent was too far away. No information was coming in.
Was Atjie really dead right now? They didn’t know.
Could he be saved? They didn’t know.
Was the culprit truly a god, and a chief god or something of equivalent rank? They didn’t know.
But no matter how any of that turned out, Frondier would not forgive the culprit.
In other words, the clash between Frondier and the gods had now become unavoidable.
“If I were a god, I’d attack humanity.”
Riri spoke.
“It’s the only way to stop Frondier.”
At that, Aster asked,
“But even in the Manggot war, Frondier moved forward alone. Will attacking humanity really stop him?”
“That’s because in that war, humanity was only hurt to the extent Frondier could bear.”
“......Ah.”
“At that time, the barrier never completely collapsed, and humanity never truly suffered a full-scale monster invasion. But this time is different. Frondier will accept a greater number of sacrifices, but once it surpasses his own threshold, in the end he’ll come back to humanity’s side.”
Aster tried to refute Riri’s words, then closed his mouth.
─Were you hurt anywhere?
Because he remembered that line.
“The gods will try to inflict the greatest possible damage on humanity. Which means,”
“......The gods will descend upon this Agoris continent as well.”
Aster’s voice dropped heavily, as if delivering a conclusion.
In the end, this was a clear war between humans and gods. The Agoris continent would not escape their grasp.
“We should inform the King of Palma of this. But......”
“There’s no way to convince him.”
Arald lowered his head.
It took far too long for the situation on that continent to be conveyed to this side. By the time that happened, this place would already be a sea of fire at the gods’ hands. At the very least, their preparations had to outpace the gods’ descent.
“To begin with, even we don’t have enough information right now. Last time, Zodiac Monty flew over and told us about Atjie’s situation, but the only ones who can relay information that fast are Zodiacs. And we can’t use such precious forces as messengers.”
At Ludovic’s words, everyone racked their brains.
A way for the situations here and there to be conveyed instantly. If such a thing existed, it would be easier to prepare for war, and all the easier to persuade the King of Palma.
Then—
“......Urk.”
Someone let out a sound.
Gregory scrunched one eye and pressed his temple with his palm.
“Wh-what is this? One of them......”
“Gregory? What’s wrong?”
Riri’s worried voice. Gregory blinked rapidly.
“No, something’s off. One of the crows I control is, somewhere, wrong—no, this is, I’m the one who’s, wrong......”
Gregory was seized by a strange sensation.
At first, it was close to pain. It felt like a sting around his eye.
Then, among the many crows he controlled, one of them could no longer show him a proper field of vision.
Blink, blink.
A flickering view. An irritating sensation, like a single dot in the corner of his eye was blinking.
In that instant—
[Hello.]
“......What the hell.”
Gregory’s eyes flew wide as he was lost for words.
[We meet again, nameless little spy.]
The crow’s vision changed in an instant. And a voice could be heard.
This was—
“......Malia.......”
[My, so you know my name, do you.]
Malia de Roach.
The voice of Frondier’s mother could be heard.
But how? What sort of trick was this? How could she, who should be beyond the continent—
[Good thing I set this up in advance back then.]
“......Don’t tell me, back when our crows crossed paths!”
[Yes. I was surprised. I’d thought the crow was my son’s taming, but it turned out someone else was controlling it.]
In other words, Malia still had not released the sensory sharing she’d set up back then.
Right now, things were reversed for Gregory.
Without Gregory himself realizing it, Malia had been sharing the crow’s field of vision.
Now it had changed so that Gregory was seeing through Malia’s eyes.
[You haven’t forgotten that you owe me, have you?]
Because he was seeing through Malia’s eyes, he could not see her face.
And yet, for some reason, it felt like she was smiling.
And he felt like he had seen that smile somewhere before.
......You really couldn’t hide blood,
[Listen carefully, Mr. Spy.]
And so Gregory, through Malia’s vision,
Saw a large map unfold.
[This is the Empire’s situation.]
