“Please be a good teacher.”
Rohakan smiled broadly at me.
“Your talent sucks. Your achievements at your current level can be called a miracle.”
“…”
“Of course, you must have put a lot of effort into it. However, your achievements would not have been possible without a change of soul.”
Change of soul. Somehow that bothered me.
“But don’t be heartbroken. Even if you kill me today, you will always be able to meet the past me here.”
“…You mean the Rohakan from the past?”
“Yes. I made this space to stay a little longer. I left the rest of my life in this space as much as I could. There is an older Rohakan in this vineyard.”
I looked around the vineyard. Mana and time intertwined, visible to the Vision. Suddenly, the letter Rohakan left came to mind.
[Deculein, the disciple I still will meet a lot…]
“That’s why you said that I’m the disciple you’ll meet a lot.”
“Yes. I have already met the future you many times here. You who killed me and came to see me again.”
The origin of Rohakan, the World Line. He had created his world line here and now. In other words, he stretched his past and future self.
“Is that so?”
“Yes. So, for now, kill me. I’ll be able to teach you after that. You, who came after killing me, had very strong mana.”
Maybe it was because the quality of mana increased. If I killed Rohakan and enhanced the quality of my mana with the store currency, I would reach level 3, which I could be proud of even in this world.
“…Then. I will not waste time.”
“Good. Oh, there are a lot of knights down that hillside, so take them with you. I didn’t kill them, just tied them up, so they must be wandering around in their memories. With your mental strength, you will be able to save them.”
“Yes.”
I stood and activated Snowflake Obsidian. Blue and white crystals formed a straight line as if frozen in the air, taking on the shape of a blade.
“Deculein.”
Rohakan looked up into the sky as I grabbed the sword’s hilt.
“When the time comes, tell Sophien.”
Whoosh—
The leaves of the vine trembled. White grapes fluttered like snowflakes from the long branches and fell gently to the grass below.
“…Your curse has made and will make everyone around you unhappy.”
Rohakan closed his eyes and whispered into the air. The passing wind picked up his voice.
“I enjoyed the time I spent with you.”
A smile appeared on Rohakan’s lips. He called my name again.
“…Deculein.”
“Yes.”
“Even if Sophien kills you in the future, you will always be by her side.”
“Yes.”
I answered without hesitation. Deculein would always be next to Sophien. Of course, this was partly because the existence of Sophien was closely related to the main quest, but that was also a function of my personality.
“…Right.”
Rohakan nodded.
“It’s a relief to have you. Let’s meet again, disciple.”
There were no words after that. The wind stopped as if to say farewell.
“Yes.”
I slashed Rohakan, the Snowflake Obsidian digging into his neck. Even at that moment, my heart was cold. At the same time, a certain scene came to mind like an afterimage.
—…Why?
The dark corridor of the Imperial Palace, blood flowing from her dead mother. While staining her feet red, young Sophien asked Rohakan.
Why. With that one word, Rohakan bit his lip and clenched his fists. But what he would tell the child had already been decided.
—I killed her.
…As I put the dead Rohakan’s head in a wooden box, I thought of who killed the Empress. Maybe it was Sophien herself.
* * *
…Meanwhile, Julie and Sylvia were lying in the vines.
“This is because you forced yourself in.”
No, they were tied. The more they tried to escape, the deeper their imprisonment grew. The two slowly gave up and began to speak comfortably.
“I am looking for a way to get out.”
Julie said. Sylvia glared at her.
“You forced yourself inside. It’s because you’re heavy.”
“…I’m not heavy.”
“You’re over 70 kg.”
“Yes? W-What? No. And, I mean, even if that were the case, it would be natural for a knight.”
Sylvia shook her head. As she leaned her back against the vines, she looked up to the sky. The space was clear enough to see the mana in the air. Just by breathing here, Sylvia was growing. Her mana volume was increasing every second.
“…”
Silvia turned her gaze without saying a word back to Julie. The knight grunted and tried to escape. But her hands and feet were already bound, and she couldn’t do anything more than wriggle.
“How are you going to get revenge on Deculein?”
Sylvia asked. Julie paused for a moment.
“…Revenge?”
“Yeah.”
Julie was thinking a lot of the revenge she could enact on Deculein. On a just way to avenge everyone.
“My revenge is simple. To make Deculein himself admit all his sins.”
“What sins?”
“He ruined a lot of people.”
Aside from the Knights of Freyhem, there were many wizards whose careers were ruined by Deculein. Julie was speaking of all of them.
“…Also, some have taken their own lives. I am gathering evidence.”
Sylvia looked at Julie for a moment.
“One of them is my mother.”
“…What?”
Julie wore her surprise.
“Deculein killed my mother.”
“…”
Julie was speechless. Not knowing how she should react, her expression hardened. A hasty consolation could hurt Sylvia.
“So I’m going to kill him too.”
Sylvia looked up at the sky again. Pale mana pooled in her golden eyes.
“He must die by my hand.”
Julie watched her. She had no sympathy or compassion. Even that, Julie already knew, was rude. From the time she became engaged to Deculein, she noticed the gazes from her fellow knights, who pitied her, and that rather made her feel small and even more hurt…
“I have the right to kill him.”
Sylvia’s voice was deep and low.
“…Yes.”
Julie softly nodded. She felt ridiculous. What she had suffered from Deculein wasn’t even close to what this young wizard had gone through.
“You have the right.”
Answering that, Julie’s heart froze. Of the many sins that Deculein has committed—
“Ugh!”
At that moment, the bondage of their vines was released. Julie fell to the ground, and Sylvia flew away with an eagle that arrived from somewhere.
Bang-!
However, all knights mastered their bodies. Her agility and coordination were above a cat’s, so when she fell, Julie put her legs down and stood on the path.
“…Huh.”
And then, she noticed a man standing on the other side, a professor in an immaculate suit. With a wooden box in his hands, he looked at her.
“What were you doing up there?”
“…Knight Julie?”
Another voice came from behind him. Julie looked back.
“Oh, vice-captain?”
Vice-Captain Isaac. Beside him was Lawaine, a knight that was her junior at the university. Lawaine smiled as he looked at Julie but soon stiffened in place when his eyes met Deculein.
“What’s going on?”
In response to Julie’s question, the knights of the Imperial Palace, including Isaac and Lawaine, felt quite ashamed. They wore their humiliation plainly on their faces.
“…We were defeated by Rohakan and rescued by Professor Deculein.”
“…”
Julie looked at Deculein and asked quietly.
“Is that so?”
“…”
Then, without a word, Deculein slowly scanned the knights’ faces, including Julie, Isaac, and Lawaine, with contempt.
“There are so many ignorant people who can’t even listen to orders.”
Eventually, he spoke his sharp criticism with a furrowed brow.
“The Emperor’s order was entrusted to me, but you were blinded by ambition and acted like fools….”
Despite that, the knights bowed their heads without saying a word. Julie, who could not understand the situation, suddenly looked to the wooden box Deculein held.
“That is…”
Deculein passed by Julie without answering, and the knights followed a short distance away. Julie approached behind them.
“May I ask you to explain the situation?”
“…It’s been a while, Julie. It’s not very pleasant to meet you in this situation.”
“Yes.”
Isaac was reluctant, but he replied simply in a whisper.
“…Rohakan is dead. Deculein killed him.”
“!”
Julie’s eyes neared the size of soccer balls as Isaac muttered.
“In the end, the answer was for a wizard to deal with a wizard….”
The sighs of the knights filled the air. Between them, Julie silently watched Deculein’s back.
* * *
“-Your Majesty!”
Meanwhile, back in the Imperial Palace.
Sophien, who was unraveling thoughts of Deculein’s life and death problem, frowned.
“What…?”
She was on the verge of finding the answer. Sophien stared at the sound’s source, ready to mete out severe punishment.
“What’s going on?”
“This is terrible, no, this is a happy occasion, Your Majesty—!”
“…”
Was there anything that could be called a happy occasion in the Empire? Sophien thought for a moment, but there wasn’t anything. Of course, she heard the news that Rohakan had been found, along with the blasphemy that the Imperial Knights had misacted.
“So what occasion-“
“Professor Deculein says he will return with Rohakan’s head!”
“…”
Sophien’s mouth closed for a moment. She looked at her servant’s face and again reviewed the problem presented by Deculein that she had been considering before speaking.
“…Rohakan’s head.”
“Yes! He will be arriving soon!”
“…”
“It’s a happy occasion! A happy occasion for the entire Empire! That Black Beast’s head-“
“I got it.”
Sophien interrupted him. The servant, who was trembling, quickly quieted.
“I got it, so go.”
“…Yes.”
The servant turned his body and left, and Sophien looked at the life and death problem again. This was the Go problem written by Deculein for herself. As she solved the problems, she thought again.
“…Rohakan. You bastard.”
She muttered.
“Did you die that easily?”
Strangely, she felt bizarrely empty.
“…”
When she gave Deculein this mission, she did not expect that he would catch him. She didn’t even dare to think he would be returning with his head.
“…Deculein.”
She called his name softly. Did he take the head of the one who was his teacher for her?
“I wonder.”
What kind of conversation did he have with Rohakan before returning?
“…Your Majesty.”
The court lady who was by her side spoke. Sophien glanced at her head held down.
“Isn’t it time to accept the Professor’s visit… now?”
“…”
The cheeky court lady raised her head after offering advice, not knowing her place. Sophien shook her head and sat down.
“When the Professor returns, tell him to come to the teaching room.”
