Chapter 254: Déjà Vu (5)
0% They rebuilt the shanty town with a transmutation circle. Although they were only some mud huts, it did the job of sheltering them from storms.
They gained the favor of the Golden-Eyed in the process. Aether became somewhat friendly with them with the help of Leninya.
Gentle or not, Golden-Eyeds were intelligent beings first, weren’t they. They rejected the bitter things and accepted the sweet. Compliments and help were the best weapons anywhere.
“Your eyes are lovely and beautiful so everything that you do will be blessed.”
Aether said things that she didn’t mean.
No, she meant it a little as she herself was of the same race.
It was strange. Hadn’t she decided to exterminate all regardless of race? In Aether’s eyes, there was no more hope for a cleaner world.
If a turbid current was the mainstream, she would become a cold, northerly winter wind and destroy the world line. There wasn’t even a hint of malice in this. Yet today, Aether could only offer words of encouragement in front of these ‘pure’ kinsmen who she hadn’t seen in a while.
That was how pitiful the Golden-Eyeds of the shore were. It was the result of remaining steadfast in their beliefs until the end instead of joining the Demon Army.
“If it was me, I would’ve been so angry about this that I’d have gone to set the Parliament on fire.”
“Still, you shouldn’t do that. There are lines that shouldn’t be crossed, after all.”
“......You all have outstanding character.”
Aether let out a sigh.
What a doormat of a race.
“You’re a human yet you don’t discriminate against us.”
“What race in the world can be seen as lesser?”
“You said your name was Heisenberg, correct?”
“Yes.”
“We’ll soon come by and repay you.”
Aether smiled gently and said it was fine.
She was uncomfortable with receiving any favors from a race she was soon going to destroy. Yes, it was only because it made her uncomfortable.
Rather, Leninya.
Her only immediate concern was Leninya.
“Um, Miss. My home is.......”
“I know.”
Leninya’s house had overturned in the early morning. It was fixed to some extent but it was still worrying.
Aether wasn’t good at architecture. She was able to get by this time, but there was no guarantee that it would be safe next time.
If Leninya were attacked by Leviathan, how would she react?
Would she be sad?
Would she get angry?
Or....
“...Haah?”
Why am I worrying about this?
Her mouth tasted bitter.
Aether pulled herself together and asked Leninya.
“Did you lose all your necessities and textbooks?”
“I found some of them but they’re unusable now. The books were all wet and tattered.”
“Okay, I see.”
Leninya was looking downcast.
She could pay for necessities somehow with part-time jobs, but the textbooks... were too expensive.
A thin 200-page textbook cost around 100 ellans.
That was 120 000 won in Korean money. Really, they were just money-grubbing bastards.
“Why didn’t you keep the textbooks in your locker?”
“I did last year, but.......”
“But?”
“.......”
Leninya curled her lips inward, and her long ears drooped weakly.
“It’s fine, you don’t have to tell me.”
Aether chewed on her lip and shook her head.
The more she saw this country, the more she wanted to destroy it.
“In some ways, this country is worse than the Empire.”
The Empire, bordering the Demon Kingdom, was always in need of talents. There weren’t many who could use Elementals, either. Because of such geopolitical factors, Aether had been able to live comfortably after escaping being a slave.
That wasn’t the case for Iliad.
Most elves were baptized by Elementals.
The same ‘Fire Ball’ would have multiple times the power if assisted by an Elemental. It was an environment in which mages could be raised to better defend against the Beasts’ attacks for the same amount of effort.
Kaurelia was well-located, even.
The coast made for good defense. After positioning mages horizontally with artillery, all they had to do was scatter land and naval mines like mustard seeds. That alone was good enough preparation for war.
These conditions made the elves arrogant while making them think of the Golden-Eyed as old-fashioned calculators.
Leninya was.
Now Leninya was....
“...Come with me.”
Aether nudged Leninya’s shoulder.
“Where are you going?”
“To buy new textbooks.”
Leninya’s eyes turned stunned.
Sorry? she blurted out in bewilderment. But Aether didn’t care and pushed Leninya.
They bought textbooks and writing utensils at the bookstore and came back while she was still trying to process it.
The destination wasn’t the southwestern coast where the containers sat in rows.
“Um, Miss. Why are we at the lab.......”
“From now on, think of this place as your home.”
“Huh? But....”
“You said you were going to intern here anyway.”
Graduate students ate and slept at the lab 80% of the time. Nobody knew where this statistic came from, so believe it or not.
Anyway, the important thing was that she could use this incident as an excuse to keep Leninya by her side.
“Miss, there’s only an hour left until the morning meeting.......”
“I see.”
There were shallow little lines around Leninya’s eyes, and shadows had developed beneath them as well as if she was tired.
“Are you tired?”
“...A bit.”
“Then, well.”
She was teaching today’s first period. A whole three-hour long lecture.
The students would be completely spent after she taught like that from nine to noon. It was a poisonous schedule for her beloved pupil.
So, today–
“I’ll have to cancel.”
“...Huh?”
Aether put Leninya down on the cot.
“Sleep.”
“B-but...!”
She couldn’t continue.
“Haaaahm....”
A long, deep yawn went on for a few seconds.
She’d be tired from evacuating her people and using magic at night. It would’ve been like going on a night march.
Leninya passed out as soon as she lay down on the comfy bed. Not long after, the sound of soft breathing could be heard.
“Still a child.”
She only had the title of professor, but she felt like she was realizing something as she taught the students.
Aether smiled slowly and stood up.
Even if it was going to be a free period, she had to go to the morning meeting. Because that was the role of a homeroom teacher.
But the speed at which Cecil was getting things done was like light as most problems could be solved right away with enough mana.
“Is there anything else I need to do?”
“No, I believe there’s nothing more inside the academy.”
Her body relaxed at the assistant’s words.
When she checked the statistics afterwards, she found no casualties. While a few buildings were slightly damaged, there weren’t any big losses.
“Anyway, I’m worried. What do we do if things continue like this and Iliad comes under a large-scale attack?”
What do you mean ‘what do we do’.
“We turn them all into barbecue.”
Cecil frowned and rolled her hands into fists. Her eyes burned like embers meeting oxygen.
“It isn’t over yet. Tell the higher-ups to stay vigilant instead of trying to get things back to normal soon as possible.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Clack.
After her assistant left, she was given actual time to rest.
I’m exhausted.
Her head was spinning.
There were more than a couple things she had to think about even while her body was resting.
First, the Demon Army.
This incident confirmed it–the Demon Army was targeting the World Tree again.
The Lodestone of Wind located in the World Tree must not be taken from them no matter what. If things went wrong, the Demon King was going to rise again.
If the Demon King manifested on earth, even Cecil wouldn’t be able to stop him as the Demon King in the stories easily tore apart the Elite Elementals. Cecil, who had four of them, would be the perfect prey.
But they couldn’t not show the World Tree to the Iliad students, either.
Baptism through the Elementals, oracle of the Goddess, purification at the spring, etc–it was because they had to visit the World Tree at least once in order to become a mage of higher rank.
“Who should I entrust this time....”
Cecil held her head and struggled.
There needed to be a professor accompanying the children on the trip, but the criteria was tough in many ways.
The professor must not be a Beast or their minion, and know how to work for the greater good rather than personal gain. They especially needed to be good enough a person to look after the students.
There weren’t many professors who met all these criterias. Not that there weren’t any, but as far as Cecil knew, they had all been killed or injured badly during the last attack.
As she pondered all this, one person flashed through her mind.
“......If it’s her.”
Cecil left an ‘away’ note and hastily put on her coat.
There was something that she still needed to check. She moved her legs in a hurry.
Where she was headed was north to the Fire Magic research wing.
Asteya Heisenberg.
Cecil found the lab where she was.
I knew it.
It was as she expected.
Leninya was sleeping soundly on the bed. Asteya had personally brought this girl who had lost her home and put her there.
Before parting ways with her on the coast, Cecil had detected another ‘malice’ from Asteya. It was an aura that the Elementals hadn’t picked up on.
Of course.
She’s planning to make Leninya her student.
Because the malice that Cecil had detected was one that any professor would have!
She understood. This much was considered an affection. Cecil let out a snort.
Rather, there weren’t many professors who let their students ‘live’ in the lab. Meaning, treating them like their daughter like this instead of simply keeping them in the same space to use like a slave.
“Ah.... President.”
“Ah, you’re back?”
Just then, Asteya returned from the morning meeting.
“Do you need to see me about something?”
“Well, it’s just that....”
Pause.
Cecil stopped for a moment and pondered.
She understood that Professor Asteya valued the students. Otherwise, there was no way that the High Elf, Yufiel Vierbein, would have supported her like that, and Leninya wouldn’t have welcomed her so enthusiastically upon seeing her, either.
But there was one thing that wasn’t clear.
“That ritual you held this early morning.”
That the rain caused by the Sea Dragon had stopped the moment the ritual was over.
“How long were you at it for?”
“About thirty minutes.”
Thirty minutes.
It was far too short.
What if the flashing at the time had been sending a military signal....
Shake, shake.
For a moment, a profane thought crossed her mind. Even as Cecil shook her head, she couldn’t get rid of the doubt.
It wasn’t a good habit to be suspicious of others. But didn’t they also say that the end of doubt was trust?
She wasn’t trying to make Asteya out to be a Beast. Rather, she wished that she had nothing to do with them.
That is.
She hoped that it wasn’t a humanoid Beast blowing smoke because it would be difficult to find a true professor like this.
There were two options.
Believe or not believe.
The answer was simple, wasn’t it.
“Huu.”
Cecil took a deep breath and opened her mouth.
“I have a favor to ask you.”
Footnotes
1. Part of military training, marching with gears
