I had actually seen Relics, and I had a fragment of Relic.
I couldn't say that all Relics were all the same, but I still knew why it was called a 'Relic'.
So I could be sure.
This Omnipotent Stone was not a Relic.
‘The principal told me that someone had stolen the Omnipotent Stone.’
And she said that the stone was a Relic.
But the Omnipotent Stone that I held, in reality, wasn't like the Relics that I knew of—it was just a stone that possessed a lot of magic power.
At that moment, I was had to assume the worst.
Shiver!
And at the same time, an eerie sensation flowed down my spine.
The Silent Forest was not worthy of its name, as countless vengeful and wicked spirits wandered around and wept.
Sometimes, mutated beasts, or spiritual beasts, also roamed around.
But at some point…
All the sounds were snapped off.
It suited the name of Silent Forest.
‘My surroundings become quiet.’
I looked up at the sky.
Far above the dense, grey coniferous forest…
Underneath the sky that was hidden by the clouds of the night sky…
Something was floating.
It was far away, but I saw it clearly.
—And even the fact that it was gradually gathering power and light.
“…!”
I immediately invoked my mana.
At the same time, I summoned the magical beast of Ater Nocturnus and quickly wrapped it around my body.
Whiiirrr!
A shadow that was similar to a black cloth wrapped around me like I was a mummy.
At the same time…
A star fell from the sky.
***
Booooooom—!!!
A white and dazzling explosion occurred in the center of the Silent Forest.
The white light that burned through the darkness spread in the form of a huge dome and reached the edge of the forest.
A huge storm struck the forest, and debris from branches and stone splinters splashed everywhere.
The white dome, which was spreading as if to devour the entire Silent Forest, soon stopped its explosive expansion and slowly disappeared.
Shaaaa.
There was nothing left in the place where the light had been.
The trees that formed the Silent Forest, the wicked spirits that were floating in the air, and the spiritual beasts who were eroded by the forest's energy…
—Because they had also stepped down in fear and awe of one being.
"That's the end."
The clouds lifted and the moonlight fell from the sky.
Her white hair shone faintly in the moonlight.
—Principal Elisa Willow.
She descended from the sky and landed in the center of the ruins she had created.
It was a terrifying view as if a star had fallen from the sky.
There was only one thing that was left in shape where everything was gone.
“And I brought the fake Omnipotent Stone.”
The principal muttered so and looked around. At the same time, she lightly scattered her mana, but nothing was caught.
In other words, she had dealt with the guys who were hiding within Sören in a single blow.
It was all thanks to the 'bait', which had the name of the Omnipotent Stone.
'I wanted to catch bigger fish, but I can't hope for it.’
The principal shook her head lightly from side to side.
She didn't want to stay there for long. Thanks to the high-tier spell that she used a while ago, the surrounding area had become quiet, but the Silent Forest would fill the ruins back into its own space.
‘I wish I could completely erase this forest.’
No matter how she was a high-ranking wizard, she was not enough to destroy that forest alone.
But if someone entered the Silent Forest with their poor skills, they would become crazy due to the magic power of the forest.
It was annoying, but she had no choice but to leave it alone.
‘I can just say to the other people that I've taken care of it properly.’
Elisa deliberately asked the other professors for help in order to deal with the matter in secret.
Ludger Chelysie was a representative example.
She had asked him for help because he seemed competent, but she still had suspicions on him that she had yet to erase.
She had thoughts that maybe Ludger had even been in that place.
‘How did he end up in the end?’
The magic she used was not easily blocked, even by a wizard of the same rank.
Moreover, it was more like a surprise attack, so it was even more impossible to avoid.
Even if they were a wizard, they couldn't escape death if they got caught there.
If Ludger was there, he would also be dead.
'I hope that’s not the case.’
It was a personal admiration.
She hoped that a man that great was not a traitor to Sören.
Elisa thought so and flew back up into the sky while carrying her 'bait'.
***
‘To be honest I was surprised.’
Ludger, who had confirmed that the principal left her position from a faraway place, wiped off the cold sweat flowing on his forehead.
‘I didn't expect the principal herself to come forward. It would have been a disaster if I had been even the slightest bit late in reacting.'
The magic that was used by the principal… It had been an explosion of light as if a meteorite had been dropped.
The sight that seemed like a missile exploded and blew up the whole forest made his skin crawl, even though it was far away from him.
Was that the magic of a sixth-rank wizard?
Ludger couldn't believe he had been there a little while ago.
He had managed to escape thanks to the Ater Nocturnus that he used.
'It's a good thing I set the coordinates in advance.’
There was no teleportation magic in this world.
No, it would be right to say that the magic actually existed, but there was none of it that was known 'externally'.
That was also why the students were surprised by Ludger's coordinate designation spell in the middle of his lecture.
It was astonishing to them that magic could be expressed beyond space.
Even when the magic itself was like that, it was also impossible according to people's common sense for spellcasters to teleport through space.
Although in fantasy novels that often existed in his past life, there was a magic called 'Blink' or 'Teleport'.
There was no such magic in this world.
But Ludger had used that.
His method was simple—it was due to the characteristics of the magical beast that he used.
A magical beast was both a Summoned Beast and a spell in itself.
Unlike most Summoned Beasts' shapes, Ludger's magical beast was an attire, and it maintained its shape by wrapping around Ludger's body.
When this Ater Nocturnus was moved by a coordinate designation spell, Ludger himself also became a mechanism that moved together with it.
He knew how to use the coordinate designation spell, and teleportation was possible thanks to the characteristics of Ater Nocturnus.
In other words, it was a unique teleportation technique that only Ludger could use.
‘I feel dizzy.’
With a slightly trembling hand, Ludger took the pills from his inside pocket and poured them into his mouth.
Only then did the tremors of his body subside as pure mana was supplied to his brain.
The downside of such teleportation magic was that the number of its uses was extremely limited.
Ludger suddenly remembered that the principal had asked him for help.
‘No way, was she aiming to do this?’
He shook his head immediately after thinking that far.
Then there was no way that such a bothersome method could have been used by her.
Even though she had said that she would leave it to the other professors on the surface, the case must have been very secretive for her to take care of it by herself directly.
The only thing Ludger overlooked was that he had come into contact with the enemy faster than the principal had assumed would be possible for an innocent.
Elisa, the principal, must have intended to take care of things by herself and was going to tell Ludger and others later.
She wouldn't think that Ludger would find the enemies before her in that Silent Forest.
'And even that Omnipotent Stone was fake. As expected from the leader of Sören… I can’t let my guard down.’
Even if he was a professor in Sören, she should hide the truth from him for efficient work.
Ludger's body shivered a little bit.
Again, he remembered that she was an extraordinary human being.
'I'll have to be more careful to not get caught.’
If the principal found out that he had a fake identity or if he was caught by the Black Dawn Society…
It didn't seem that the outcome would be good if he got caught by either group.
He definitely realized it even more after seeing the blow from the principal a while ago.
He must be careful of that person, too.
‘The only benefit I could gain from this mission was the Omnipotent Stone, and even that stone was fake, huh?'
No matter how he looked at it, he only suffered a loss.
Ludger didn’t feel regretful.
‘A trace was left.’
The Omnipotent Stone that Demires stole was a fake one made by the principal, it wasn’t a real Relic.
However, he could not affirm that the Omnipotent Stone did not exist just by that.
When the principal called him out and told him about it privately, Ludger hadn’t found her words strange at all.
* * *
* * *
‘Demires and other members of the Black Dawn Society couldn't have been fooled around like that just from a fake item. There must have been a real item that they were bound to be attracted to.’
When the principal found out that they had discovered the real item, she had made the fake one and wiped them out.
It meant that the real item still remained.
'Since I have left a trace on the fake item, I'm sure the principal will go to check the real stone. I can just remember the trace that I left on the fake one.’
That was why, when the principal was on the verge of dropping her attack…
Ludger had carved a trace on the fake stone by himself that even the principal wouldn't be able to notice.
The fake stone itself emitted such powerful mana that even the principal would not be able to notice that.
‘I moved at the right time.’
The moment he was about to exit the Silent Forest while thinking so…
Crack.
There was the sound of someone stepping on a branch that echoed from behind him.
“Professor?”
“…”
Ludger slowly turned around.
There stood Flora Lumos, who was staring at him with trembling eyes.
‘Did she see it?’
Ludger did not question why Flora was here.
Just the fact that she now encountered him in that Silent Forest was all that mattered.
Ludger clenched his fist and released it again so she wouldn't be able to see that.
‘What should I do here now?’
He thought of destroying the evidence immediately, but Ludger opened his mouth while thinking it was too much.
“Flora Lumos. Why are you here?”
“Pa-pardon? N-no. Well that’s…”
Flora Lumos could not answer why she had entered the Silent Forest hastily.
That was because…
‘How can I just say that I followed him because I smelled a nice scent for the first time?’
And if even the someone that she encountered at the end of the scent was Ludger Chelysie…
Wouldn't she look like a pervert if she said it like that?
“Aren’t you going to answer?”
“Th-that… Why are you here, Professor?”
In the end, that was all Flora could say.
Ludger sighed low at her confused response.
Seeing that she didn't quibble over it seriously, she didn't seem to have seen the scene that happened in the darkness.
Even so, people were guarding the Silent Forest outside, did she accidentally arrive there by using the other path?
“Flora Lumos. This forest is dangerous for a student like you. Hurry and go back.”
“…I’m not that weak.”
The Silent Forest was a dangerous place. Even more so for students.
However, if it was a student like Flora, she could endure the Silent Forest.
Moreover, because she had a unique physical type of 'magic synesthesia', she was able to avoid it if the mana of the forest was dangerous.
Flora wanted to ask since she came all the way there.
Was it right that he came all the way here using magic to cover his appearance?
And what on earth was that magic?
Flora, who was about to ask that, found out that Ludger was holding a medicine bottle in one hand.
“Professor. What’s that?”
“…It’s nothing.”
Ludger said so and put the medicine bottle into his pocket.
Flora stared suspiciously at Ludger.
She had come into the forest after chasing the scent, but there was a big light flashing from a distance.
She went all the way here to follow the scent, and there was Ludger.
“I…”
“Flora! Where the hell are you? Huhuu!”
At that moment, Cheryl Wagner's weeping voice echoed as she searched for her from afar.
Flora and Ludger both shut their mouths at the same time.
“Floraaaa~! I’m scared! Where the hell did you go~?”
“…Haah.”
Ludger sighed and walked.
“Follow me. I'll help you get out of this forest safely with your lost friend."
“…”
Flora also calmly followed Ludger because she had given up on questioning him in a situation where the mood had been broken.
Ludger saved Cheryl, who was being bullied like a ring around the rosie by the vengeful spirits, then took both of them out of the forest.
Just in time, the guards who were exploring the outside of the forest found the three people and approached them then asked for the whole story.
“The students entered the forest and got lost. That’s why I took them and led them to the way out.”
Ludger then replied that it wasn't a big deal to them.
The tracking party who had been stationed near the forest were dissolving at the order of the principal.
Cheryl repetitively said, 'I'm sorry~' while crying, but Flora wasn't like that.
‘Why was Professor Ludger in that forest?’
‘And what on earth was the magic that he used?’
Flora couldn't erase her suspicious gaze as she was looking at Ludger's back.
