Chapter 105: Council Elections (18)
The Eagle Knight Kadek, The Brown Bear Knight Nox.
Two long standing knights of House Rothstaylor had become the obvious culprits of Ed Rothstaylor’s death.
The two of them were locked up in a confinement room in Trix Hall. The allegations against them seemed almost guaranteed, so once the school finished their investigation, they would be transferred to the imperial family to pay for their crimes.
“Shit…”
Kadek, with his arms tied behind his back, leaned against the wall of an old basement room as he swore.
Under the pretext of helping Tanya with her large amount of work, he had traveled all the way to the far-off Acken Island. Although his real goal lied in the expensive dagger that he possessed, which was engraved with an extremely deadly poison.
He could never have imagined that his plans for the assassination, which he had painstakingly prepared, would have ended up like this. What he couldn’t avoid was Lucy’s strength, which was at a level that one couldn’t deal with.
At first, Kadek didn’t understand Krepin’s intentions in assassinating the excommunicated Ed in such a way.
Kadek and Nox were both knights that had assisted Ed when he was the heir to the House, before ending up as secretaries for Krepin, who was working with imperial affairs. They were well aware of just how ruined Ed Rothstaylor had become after becoming the heir to the house.
Did power really have the effect of corrupting a person so easily?
Ed, who had been intoxicated with the sweet scene of becoming the heir, quickly became violent and showed the worse side of himself. Thus, the ever-benevolent Duke Krepin had come to the conclusion that it would be a good idea to send Ed to Silvenia, the land of learning, to become educated.
It had been a little over a year since his accident in Silvenia, which led to him being excommunicated… So, what was the reason behind his order to kill the old heir now, when he had already left the house?
But in the end, the two knights only needed to follow orders. Duke Krepin had always been a prudent and wise man.
“Kadek…”
On the other side of the wall, Knox was tied up like Kadek. Leaning against the wall, he spoke.
“No matter how much I think about it… I think Duke Krepin’s judgment was correct…”
The brown bear knight Nox laid his large body over on one side and spoke as if he were laminating.
Kadek quietly closed his eyes for a moment upon hearing Nox’s words before nodding.
Kadek and Knox were both valuable individuals with the skills at a level where, no matter where they went, they would never get pushed back. In fact, simply looking at strength there was never a need for the both of them to fight against Ed together.
Ed Rothstaylor didn’t have any talent in swordsmanship or magic, so just from basic specs alone they were more than enough to defeat him.
Still, they had both decided to rush at him at the same time to make sure that everything went according to plan. Yet, they couldn’t do anything.
Kadek was only able to kill Ed Rothstaylor because he had allowed him to stab his chest.
Kadek’s hands still remembered the moment he had driven the dagger through Ed’s chest. The feeling of the dagger piercing through his flesh wasn’t a pleasant one.
“He wasn’t yet fully developed in terms of his abilities, but his adaptability and mastery in combat… If he were still alive, he really might have become a great threat to House Rothstaylor.”
Even though they weren’t sure if Ed Rothstaylor would ever show any hostility or plot against House Rothstaylor … they were sure that if he were left alone, he really might have ended up becoming an issue for them.
They weren’t sure how Krepin knew of Ed’s situation in Acken Island when he was so far away, all the way in the empire’s capital. But his judgment was correct.
Besides his abilities in fighting, there are also the relationships he had around him. It seemed that he had become close to a few people while here.
The third-year top student, Yennekar Palerover, who was ready to burn all of her resonance to summon an ultimate spirit.
Then there was Lucy Mayreel who had become enraged at Ed’s death, going all the way over to Ophelis Hall in an instant wreaking havoc… Kadek and Nox realized just how heavy of a presence the person they had killed had.
If he had been left alone, he really might have become an independent force of massive strength that would act as a major obstacle for the house to overcome.
“It seemed that there were some aspects of his combat abilities that had not yet been polished… but if he could supplement that, we would probably be…”
“…Saying such things now is useless. What we have to worry about now is… we have to somehow report this entire situation to the head of the house.”
<Silvenia's Failed Swordmaster> Act 3 mid-boss, Kadek and Nox were loyal.
They continued to keep their mouth shut to the school, who was demanding and threatening them to reveal the entire story.
The two remained completely silent despite the threat that they could be sentenced to death if passed onto the Imperial Family. From the school’s standpoint, the fact that the investigation wasn’t making any progress was extremely frustrating.
“Young Lady Tanya…”
However, if one thing did bother them it was Tanya Rothstaylor, who was being looked at in suspicion.
Originally, they had planned to take care of it without getting found out, then take care of Tanya by helping her with her work and lightening her load, before leaving Silvenia.
But with things becoming twisted up like they had, they felt sorry for Tanya, who was taking all the heat.
But there was no way for them to apologize, nor was there a way to atone. They were locked away with their limbs tied up, sitting in a corner of a room and waiting for their punishment.
There wasn’t any way to report the situation to Krepin or atone to Tanya. It was a complicated situation they were stuck in.
Clink.
Then, the sound of a lock to their door opening.
Wondering if they were being brought food to eat, they looked towards the door. However, the person there wasn’t a guard.
“Y-You…”
A young man. Wearing a crude leather tunic and a thin jacket… It was the first time they'd seen him.
The money bag that hung around his waist looked heavy as it jangled a bit each time he walked.
Seeing someone carry that much money around with them looked suspicious.
Just as they were going to ask who the hell he was, the man raised his index finger, making a ‘shhhh’ sound and quickly quieting the two of them.
He took out a dagger as he loosened the bindings on their arms and legs. He carefully spoke with a quiet voice.
“I go by Dune. I’m a decoy for the Elte Company.”
Elte Company. As soon as they heard the name, Kadek and Nox had a puzzled expression across their faces.
“I understand why you would make such a face. This situation must not make a lot of sense. How did an informant for the Elte Company end up entering such a place? Well… does that even really matter? We are a business that always appears like a ghost where the smell of money is.”
There was someone behind all of it. A black curtain that no one could see.
Even though they knew as much, the two of them didn’t say a word.
“Anyway, the way out through the south of Onyx Hall will be loosely guarded tomorrow at dawn. If you run down the south shore and keep going down the shoreline, you will find an old boat.”
“…You want us to believe that?”
“Do you have another option?”
Kadek and Nox didn’t answer.
“Don’t worry. When chaos erupts when the two of you escape, there will be people who will benefit from it. That’s all it is.”
Nox lifted his head looking at the door that was slightly open. Obviously, the security guard was still sitting in the hallway. However, he was just staring out the window with his head tilted while holding onto a javelin.
He looked to be a security guard that had been working there for a long time. Just how much money was needed to buy out someone like that?
Of course, Kadek and Nox didn’t care about that.
* * *
Living in the cave by the cliff side was a period of intensive training for me.
Back in the camp, where I had to maintain both my academic school life and survival, most of my day consisted of taking care of my food, clothing, and shelter.
It was all because I had to save up as much money as possible. I wanted to pass the entire school year with excellence, and I didn’t want to give up on living in a decent environment.
However, in the brief period where I was living in seclusion, I no longer had to spend such time and effort to maintain a basic life.
Yennekar took care of my food, clothing, and shelter. And for the time being, I couldn’t even participate in classes. Plus, I had to leave the camp alone.
However, I couldn’t just play around all day. So, I decided to think of it as a precious time where I could fully devote myself to training.
It wasn’t in my nature to waste something. That was especially true when it came to the valuable commodity known as time.
I had to take advantage of this period to have a meaningful and productive growth. Determined, I trained my body really hard all day long, fighting mock battles with the spirits and indulging in magic books.
Now that my efforts, which were once divided into academic life, survival, and keeping the storyline in check, had all been completely focused into one area—my training—the results had become more evident than I thought.
The sun rose and set. The moon rose and set.
Cumulus clouds filled the blue sky, and the dazzling stars filled the night sky.
All the while, my routine didn’t change at all.
After waking up in the morning and repeating my basic strength training, I ate with Yennekar. Then, I indulged in magic books all day long until the late afternoon, where I repeatedly went into combat against the spirits that Yennekar summoned.
Also, I constantly repeated the process of disassembling and reassembling magically engineered items to help memorize the basic designs in my head. I also continued to raise my proficiency with the bow.
Simply repeating training day after day seemed to have weak results at first. After all, it was difficult to tell if there was any meaningful change that came with constant effort.
The important thing was that change would steadily come, little by little. Progress tended to be that way.
Even as time continued to pass, my daily routine didn’t change.
The time I spent doing physical fitness training with buckets of water on my shoulder, training in magic, and working on my magically engineered… The daily routine I had stayed the same, and the only thing that changed was the news that Yennekar told me.
“I heard that Tanya has reappeared at school. She had been hiding in the Royal Residence, but she seems to have decided to actively cooperate with the investigation in order to prove her innocence. Still… the public opinion of her at school isn’t very good. Everyone seems to believe that Tanya was the one that killed you. It makes sense, but… It’s still upsetting… I really hope things will finish up quickly so we can go and defend her… Ah, that’s right… I’m going to make a vegetable salad today. Ed, are there any vegetables that you don’t eat?”
The day I was walking around the rocky cliffside with buckets of water in both hands.
“Princess Penia seems to have officially declared her support for Tanya. Although it’s not the election period yet, once it’s certain that Tanya will run for the seat it seems that Princess Penia will be completely on her side. But… Doesn’t that mean Princess Penia won’t run? Ah, that’s right. I got detergent from Ophelis Hall, and it completely removes stains, right? Look, look at this! The shirt is completely clean~”
The day I read through a magic book that dealt with the theory and practical application of intermediate magic three times.
“Students that are in support of Lortel within the school seem to be gathering now. Thinking of it now, Lortel would probably be better at representing student’s rights and their interest if she became the student council president. As expected… she does have that very perfectionist type of impression to her… The nominees haven’t even been finalized yet, but it already seems that conflict is brewing from the atmosphere… But Ed, the last time, when Lortel had come to the cave… What did you do…?”
“……”
“A-Ah, no… It’s not something I should meddle in, but…!!”
The day I spent the entire time extracting the most useful materials from the broken Dell Heim’s Hourglass and drawing blueprints to craft a different legendary grade magically engineered item, ‘Glockt’s Eye.’
“Ed! Look at this~! Ta-da~ I brought over leftovers from Dex Hall’s canteen.~”
The day I set up a target to practice my bow.
Suddenly, looking back at Yennekar that day… Something felt strange.
A bright blouse full of energy and a dark blue skirt. Her sleeves were rolled up with confidence… As if she was going to start cooking, she had a piece of cloth tightly tied around her head in the shape of a triangle.
Looking at her now, it was hard to say if she was really the best elementalist in the school or if she was just some housekeeper.
The person that had been helping me the most during my period of seclusion and intensive training was none other than Yennekar. Realizing that fact, my heart was suddenly touched.
Seeing Yennekar like that, I could almost mistake her for having wings on her back.
Wiping my face as I tried to settle those strange feelings, Yennekar smiled as if she was waiting for me to say something.
No matter how I saw it… receiving that much help from her while only reaping the benefits… It was weighing way too heavy on my conscience…!
“Yennekar. Is there something you want?”
“Hm?”
“I wanted to give you something. Suddenly seeing you like this… I just… Had that thought.”
Yennekar tilted her head before quickly starting to blush.
“N-No… A present… That’s…”
“…Never mind. I’ll think about it myself.”
“Uhmm. Huh?”
Yennekar suddenly shrugged her shoulders as she trembled. She then began to press down on the corners of her mouth.
In the first place, Yennekar was the type of person that wasn’t good at asking others to do things. Asking her what she wanted would be too much of a burden on her, so I’d have to think about it on my own first.
At the same time, there was an object I had in mind that came as a result from my training in Magic Engineering. It was pretty tricky to gather all the materials for it, but soon it would be summer so it probably wouldn’t be all that difficult to finish.
“I-If I say I’m excited, would that be too burdensome? I-I won’t have any expectations in the slightest, then! I really won’t expect anything…! Since I shouldn’t get excited… I’ll just forget about it all!”
“……”
“…Saying that out loud it was quite rude… Sorry, Ed…”
The way she was stomping around nervously like that was very much like her, so I didn’t say anything about it.
“A-Anyway, are you practicing the bow today? It doesn’t look like you’re going to do a practice battle with the spirits. If that’s the case, I’ll just be reading a book over here by the campfire…! I’ll just cut some of the ingredients first…!”
“No, I’m going to do some practice battles today, but… I don’t really need you to summon a spirit. There was a person that came by to say hello, so they will help me with my training.”
“Hm? But you supposed to be officially dead no, Ed? Who came to say hi…?”
Then, a boy came out from inside the cave patting his clothes.
A boy in a neat school uniform with long hair that hung down to the back of his neck.
“It’s been a while, Yennekar. It seems you come here to this cave often.”
The second-year magic department’s runner up student, Ziggs Eiffelstein.
The timing was perfect.
Now that so much time had passed, I wanted to check the results of my training.
* * *
“Originally I came here to tell him some news about the student council president election, but… there was also some news about Miss Tanya and Princess Penia.”
The cliffside where the waves crashed. The rocky terrain, which had been here for a long time, was relatively flat but not very wide.
It wasn’t a great place to fight, but the battlefield wasn’t always going to be a clean and spacious place.
Either way, since both of us had to fight in those unfavorable conditions, there wasn’t any unfair advantages.
“Before I tell you, having a light match between us seems like fun. I haven’t done much fighting recently, so it’s about time I loosen my body up.”
Ziggs drew his sword as he stood facing me. He threw the scabbard aside as he lightly shook the tip of the sword in the air a few times.
“Alright. It’s a good day.”
After I said that, the two of us started to distance ourselves from each other.
Ziggs held the sword in both hands as he took a deep breath.
“Then, I’ll get started.”
He lifted the sword straight up swinging it down vertically all at once. A clean slash came crashing down like a storm.
Single Slash. Although the most basic of combat skills, it was an honest technique in which the power of it was represented by the wielder’s capabilities.
Boom!
There was a chance for me to avoid it, but I instead cast basic defense magic to block it. That was because I wanted to test my mana resonance level, which had become faster.
Ziggs’ attack was blocked cleanly as it dissipated.
However, the first attack was meant as nothing more than a way to create an opening.
Ziggs lowered his posture as he pushed through, into my blind spot, while holding onto his sword with the blade pointed backwards. He flipped it to slash it towards me. I quickly bent my upper body to avoid his attack while simultaneously pulling out my dagger from my thigh pocket, holding it from the grip with the blade pointed to the side.
Ziggs fixed his stance to block my incoming dagger attack as my dagger fell to the floor.
Clang!
Then, from the dagger that fell onto the ground, Explosion was cast.
Boom!
9 of the 10 spiritual skills cast on the dagger exploded into a surprise attack. However, the moment Ziggs, who had already heightened his combat senses to the max, realized that the number of targets he had to deal with were low, he leapt backwards and widened the distance.
Fwooooosh!
All of the smoke that had risen was swept away with just one swipe of his sword. Ziggs then jumped forward, narrowing the distance.
No, he was just pretending to.
As I quickly pulled out my sword to counterattack, Ziggs stopped his body as it was leaping forward midway.
A movement that appeared to violate the laws of physics. As if it were completely against the law of inertia, the direction he was moving to and the direction it changed were complete opposites.
That strange movement… The key principle behind it was using telekinesis magic to forcibly break the direction of movement of one’s body.
It was not an easy feat to use magic power as such to precisely adjust one’s movements in a fierce battle. It was a move that could only be learned with dozens, or hundreds of practical experiences rather than simple theory or comprehension knowledge.
Intermediate magic, Ice Spear. Not just one, but three spears were cast.
Thinking that I would still be able to handle that much, without resting he fired off the ice spears while at the same time gathering the flow of magic power to cast another magic spell.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Barely evading the ice spears, I checked the magic power that was surrounding Ziggs’ body. Seeing that Ziggs, who was already quite talented in terms of magic power resonance, was taking his time to chant the spell like that… It definitely wasn’t going to be a magic that could be easily dealt with.
Whatever magic it might be, it would be meaningless if the casting itself was stopped.
I quickly picked up my recurve bow firing out three magic power arrows.
Kakagak!
Ziggs dispersed all the magic power he was casting and quickly lowered his stance to dodge them.
Then, from the floor where the arrow had pierced, the spiritual skill Manifestation of a Water Source activated. Little by little, water began to flow out of the bare floor.
“……”
Normal people wouldn’t worry about missed arrows. However, Ziggs never missed even the slightest hint of magic power movement.
Quickly realizing that even the missed arrows were dangerous, he used the beginner fire magic Ignite to burn all the arrows that were stuck in the ground.
“I can’t get careless.”
Then, Ziggs released all the magic power that was accumulated inside his body, casting his trademark advanced magic.
Since he was only a second year right now, the fact that he could deal with advanced magic was a ridiculous achievement.
However, as if it were all too natural for him, Ziggs started to emit bluish magic power from his whole body… creating a massive sphere of magic power.
Ziggs cast the advanced magic Advanced Mana Armament.
Fwooooooosh!
In an instant, the spherical magic power had dispersed… becoming a shape of a bow, which Ziggs grabbed
As he pulled the string and fired, a powerful magic arrow flew at my body. As soon as I rolled out of the way to avoid it, the place I was just at exploded where the magic arrow struck.
Wasting time rolling around and dodging was no different than giving your opponent the freedom to take additional action.
Then, in the hands of Ziggs—who had jumped forward quite a bit at some point,—who was reaching right in front of me… the magic power that was definitely in the shape of a bow had changed into a large rapier.
With a bullet-like speed of a stab, I found that I couldn’t stop him
Fwoosh!
“Keuk!”
However, the wind that wrapped itself around my body deflected Ziggs’ body, sending him flying. Ziggs, who had crashed into the rocks a far distance away, shook his head as he stood up and fixed his stance.
High-ranking wind spirit’s passive skill, Storm’s Blessing.
After it activated, there was a considerable amount of time before it could activate again. It’s safe to say that I didn’t have another out like that anymore.
However, the chance Storm’s Blessing gave me was enough time to gather magic power for my next spell.
I didn’t miss the chance and fired my magic power, sending Mugg flying.
Fwoooooosh!
As the flames rising from Mugg’s body obscured his vision, Ziggs clicked his tongue and took a defensive stance.
I took advantage of the chance to shoot arrows, but Ziggs, who could barely see anything, was able to deflect the arrows by reading the flow of the magic power. His senses were at a level where it was like he transcended the limits of a human.
Ziggs then took a big leap forward, narrowing the distance again. But that time, he held two daggers with the blades pointing out.
For Ziggs, who could handle nearly any sort of weapon without constraints, Mana Armament gave him the ability to adapt and respond to literally any sort of battle pattern. It was rare for regular magicians to be able to use such a variety of weapons, so it was safe to say that the skill was unique to Ziggs.
Clash! Clash!
Craaaaaaaaaassssh!
The basic defense magic which I had cast in a shabby manner was shattered in just two strikes. Ziggs then dug himself into the gap of the shield, but I had already cast Wind Blade in that brief moment, slamming it into Ziggs’ face.
Of course, Ziggs had cleanly blocked it.
Clang!
However, that brief moment was enough. Unfortunately, all around me now was just the sea.
Five magic power arrows were then shot my way. This time, the timing I had to counterattack was so tight that he probably didn’t even consider it.
Lacia the Lioness, who was running around behind, Ziggs opened her mouth and bit his shoulder. However, it wasn’t a shoulder that Lacia was biting. Quickly turning around taking a defensive stance, it was Ziggs’ dagger that he had blocked it with.
Kagagagagakak!
Ziggs had guessed from intuition the moment he received the attack. Lacia the Lioness’ attack was just a fake to create another chance.
The moment he quickly kicked Lacia’s abdomen pushing her away, he quickly turned towards me when… my magic was already done casting.
Boooooooooooom!
Intermediate fire magic, Point Explosion.
In terms of casting speed, it was an intermediate magic that couldn’t be compared to any other.
Boooom!
Ziggs had then become worn out, crashing down onto the rocks.
Crash.
Dust rose with the occasional sound of choking and coughing being heard.
“That was really… amazing. I really can’t drop my guard against you, Ed.”
Ziggs coughed a few more times before barely managing to stand up.
“Then… I’ll be taking this a little more seriously.”
Fwoosh!
The energy of magic power then began to cover Ziggs’ body again.
The second advanced magic, Mana Armament – Convergence, was overlaid onto the magic power sphere.
The flow of magic power split into several branches before coming together again… soon becoming a huge spear in Ziggs’ hand, one that emitted a crackling sound.
Ziggs could handle all sorts of weapons, but the one he was most confident in was the spear. A massive weapon made up of the energy of magic power that covered the entire area. Also known as ‘The Spear from Nature.’
With one swipe, all around him a storm swept. The once-bluish magic power energy had turned green. Little by little, it began to wrap itself around Ziggs’ body.
He was floating in the air. The magic power that wrapped around him even resisted the force of gravity that bound his body.
<Silvenia's Failed Swordmaster> Act 4 Chapter 7. Before the Invasion of Gregore Cathedral.
That’s when you faced off against him, the mid boss… Ziggs’ final battle pattern.
‘Spear from Nature’ Ziggs.
“Phew…”
I took a deep breath as I gathered myself.