Chapter 59
Chaian protested, saying it was nonsense, but Luka didn’t even spare him a glance.
Instead, Kainel’s gaze shifted back to Chaian.
“Bluedol.”
“…Bluedol?”
“That thing you asked me about before. I want to hear more details.”
When he first met Chaian at the stew shop, Chaian had mentioned Bluedol.
And…
‘Her reaction.’
Ceres Drow, who had hastily crushed the Recording Orb.
Back then, he hadn’t paid much attention to it, but ever since he heard the words of Oselt, the head of the Ellsia family’s Elder Council who had recently sought him out, that moment kept resurfacing in his mind in an oddly persistent manner.
‘She’s the one who found the Head of House’s ring?’
‘Yes. And on top of that, the Spirit King of Fire seems to favor her quite a bit. I found it rather surprising myself.’
The Spirit King of Fire, Jubellios.
That ill-tempered bastard favored her?
And she managed to find the Head of House’s ring, something that even the head himself wouldn’t be able to locate?
There was something else that kept nagging at Kainel.
The Black Forest that had appeared in the capital.
And at its core—
A wooden stick embedded right at the center of the Bakura boss’s head, the very thing that must have been used to deal a final blow.
When Kainel saw that wooden stick, his mind went blank for a long time.
Because he had found traces of a swordsmanship that was far too familiar.
The swordsmanship of the Ellsia Count’s Estate.
More precisely, the swordsmanship of Grace.
A swordsmanship that had disappeared long ago—
Why had it suddenly reappeared?
How?
Strangely enough, in that moment, Ceres came to mind.
At the end of this gnawing unease, she was always there.
Why? Why was that?
And another memory kept bothering him.
‘By any chance, have you seen our Bluedol?’
‘…Bluedol?’
Boom!
‘Ah, sorry. My foot slipped.’
‘…Could you at least come up with a more believable excuse?’
Ceres had cut off Chaian before he could ask him anything.
Why did that memory keep surfacing?
What exactly was Bluedol?
In the end, Kainel had no choice but to head to the Magic Tower.
Using the secret passage they had always used as children—
The one Arthia had created for Grace and himself.
Even he hadn’t expected that space to still exist.
“What is Bluedol?”
“Uh, why are you suddenly curious about that?”
“Just answer me.”
“It’s a magic stone.”
Chaian, now seemingly more composed, resumed speaking politely.
“A magic stone containing immense magical power.”
“Then why did you ask me about it?”
“Because it was an ice-attribute magic stone.”
“Ice attribute?”
“Yes. A mystical blue ice-attribute magic stone.”
“That…”
…Couldn’t be, right?
It was obviously impossible, yet Kainel couldn’t stop the absurd thought from creeping into his mind.
“Was it smaller than a fingernail?”
“That’s right. Despite its small size, it contained an incredible amount of magic power. It must have come from the Duchy of Persia, but do you know anything about it?”
“……”
‘Give it to Alti.’
‘I don’t want to. Why should I? If you don’t take it, I’ll just throw it away.’
‘Alright, alright. Give it to me.’
A long time ago, there had been a blue magic stone from a monster he had slain.
Despite being so small, it contained an extraordinary amount of magic power, which had intrigued him.
He had grumbled, asking why she would give such a valuable thing to someone who wasn’t even a mage, but in the end, Grace had carefully stored the magic stone in her subspace.
“Why are you asking about that magic stone?”
“Ceres took it to a magic shop to sell it but lost it. We’re looking into whether we can find another one.”
“……”
It was undoubtedly an absurd thought, but—
Ceres kept poking at his memories.
The one who found and returned the Ellsia Family Heirloom Ring.
The one who possessed an ice-attribute magic stone.
The corpse of the Bakura Boss that he had seen not long ago continued to linger in Kainel’s mind.
The footprints imprinted around it, the trajectory they formed, the force behind the weapon—
It all bore the unmistakable traces of the Ellsia Family’s swordsmanship.
More precisely, the swordsmanship of Grace Ellsia.
And then…
“Ceres is really something, isn’t she? Not only did she have a magic stone, but she also had this.”
“That is…”
“It’s a Defensive Stone. A stone imbued with powerful defensive magic.”
…Arthia’s Defensive Stone.
How could he not recognize it?
‘Grace, this is a Defensive Stone! Keep it with you at all times, and if you ever find yourself in danger, use it immediately!’
‘I’ll always be by Grace’s side. There’s no way she’ll ever be in danger. This is unnecessary.’
‘Just shut up already!’
‘You shut up.’
“She said it was given to her by a magician she knew long ago. Apparently, they were incredibly powerful. But… they’ve already passed away.”
“……”
“Uh… Hello? Are you even listening to me…?”
Chaian never got to finish his sentence.
He had never seen the Ice Grand Duke wear an expression like this before.
He hesitantly called out to Kainel, who was still staring at the Defensive Stone as if struck by a powerful realization.
But Kainel didn’t respond.
‘Just who…’
Kainel clenched his fist tightly.
‘…are you?’
***
“Haah… Haah…”
“Damn it…”
“Am I… still alive?”
“No, maybe we all died together.”
At the edge of a cliff, where white snowflakes whirled violently—
There lay Antonion and the B-Group students, sprawled across the ground.
Just as they had finally grown accustomed to rocky mountains, they were forced to climb a snow-covered peak.
Even in this freezing cold, their bodies were drenched in sweat.
“You still have the energy to talk?”
“……!”
The students’ pupils trembled violently as they spotted someone approaching them.
It was Ceres.
‘When did she get here?’
‘Why does she look completely fine?’
‘Is there another route we don’t know about?’
‘What route? Didn’t you see her last time we climbed the rocky mountain? She was practically flying.’
Unlike them, Ceres looked as if she were merely out for a casual stroll, which made them shudder.
‘…Monster.’
Before they knew it, their gazes shifted toward a single person.
Antonion.
‘What the hell is your sister?’
Unfortunately for them, Antonion had no answers.
Of all the people here, he was the one most bewildered by his sister.
‘Is she really my sister?’
He had already accepted that she had lost her memories and changed a lot—
But this was an entirely different matter.
This mysterious place—
That superhuman stamina—
That expert-level instruction that left them unable to resist—
Since when did she even know anything about swordsmanship?
“Why? Do you want to climb down and back up again?”
Shake! Shake!
The moment she said that, the students frantically shook their heads before anyone could even think about it.
Antonion was no exception.
“Shall we call it a day?”
“Yes!”
“Alright. Tomorrow, you’ll be climbing up and down twice.”
“…What?”
T-Twice?
They had to climb this snowy mountain twice tomorrow?
Please tell us that was a joke.
Please!
“Head back down.”
“Yes……”
“The last one down has to do double the climbs tomorrow.”
“AAAAH!”
“Move! Move!”
The exhausted students, who had been dragging their feet, disappeared in an instant.
Watching them with amusement, Ceres soon turned her gaze to a specific spot.
“Come out.”
She looked toward a shadowy area between the snow-covered trees.
When there was no response, she picked up a small rock nearby.
Whoosh!
The rock flew precisely toward the hidden spot—
And a man swiftly emerged from the shadows.
“Damn it… Why do you keep throwing things at me?!”
It was Ben, a member of Sky who had been tailing her.
“I told you to come out when I call you.”
On her first day here, after sending the students off, Ceres had caught Ben following her.
Since she needed to filter out what kind of information he was reporting back, she had decided to deal with him herself.
At first, Ben had yelled at her, demanding to know how she had figured it out, why she had suddenly decided to confront him, and so on—
But after a while, he had calmed down significantly.
“Do you remember what I told you?”
“…Yes.”
‘You can report everything back.
Except for this place.
I don’t want any rumors about it spreading.’
“But, uh… what happens if I ignore that and report it to my superiors?”
—
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