263th Chapter
Izhise.
The Empire’s premier military education institution.
Even though a major accident had recently occurred, war was imminent, and many students had suffered injuries of varying degrees, classes couldn’t be postponed indefinitely.
After the decision to resume classes, Nelson gathered the second and third-level students for a moment to refocus their minds—not too harshly but enough to settle their confused spirits.
Nelson entered the classroom with such counsel in mind and made eye contact with Ray, who was already inside.
“…”
“…”
Nelson blinked before asking hesitantly.
“Wh… Why are you here?”
“Oh, I just stopped by before leaving. It’d be sad to part without seeing each other.”
In any case, he had to depart for Phillip’s County within a week.
However, considering that Johanna and Delun were also around, and that Izhise needed some morale boosting, Ray shamelessly returned to Izhise in student attire.
Though Ray’s intentions were good, Nelson internally thought this person was causing trouble until the very end.
Ray waved his hand at Nelson.
“Ignore me and do what you planned.”
“…”
Ray was sitting like any other student.
Only, he wasn’t using a regular chair.
He had removed the original chair and instead used Berden, who lay face-down on the floor, as his seat.
Berden, who had been in this position for quite some time, was sweating profusely on his forehead.
Because of the sweat, an unfortunate cycle began where he had to exert even more force on his abdomen to prevent slipping.
Had mana been allowed, the situation might have improved, but naturally, it was forbidden.
“Grrr… Huhk…”
“…”
Nelson turned away from Berden, who was struggling to breathe, and stood at the podium.
He quickly delivered the prepared speech and then glanced at Ray.
“Wh… Do you have anything to say?”
“Ah, something from me?”
Ray rested his arm on the desk and propped up his chin.
Of course, the desk in front of Ray wasn’t made of wood or metal; Loen and another second-level student were bending backward, supporting each other’s shoulders to form a human desk.
When Ray placed his elbow on Loen’s stomach and leaned on it, Loen nearly foamed at the mouth.
As always, Nelson ignored Loen.
Ray looked around at the students and briefly said,
“You’ve all done well.”
At those words,
the students felt their hearts pounding.
Despite still not understanding why Ray had bothered to come all the way to Izhise,
Ray was a hero admired and worthy of admiration by all citizens of the Empire.
The brief praise from the hero was enough to stir the emotions of the Izhise students.
After stirring them up, Ray suddenly expressed irritation.
“And, brats, get rid of that useless military discipline nonsense. Starting from the bathhouse, how many unnecessary rules are there? Why do you keep doing this?”
It was ironic coming from someone sitting on Berden.
Still, the students couldn’t retort and had to bow their heads.
*
Ray gradually completed his preparations to leave Izhise.
Of course, he could have quickly wrapped things up and left abruptly, but he didn’t.
With Luna present and sufficient forces stationed in Phillip’s County, Ray could afford to take his time.
That said, he wasn’t planning to stay in the Imperial Capital indefinitely.
He intended to arrive at Phillip’s County before the Empire declared war and before its residents fully commenced evacuation procedures.
“Haa…”
Sitting on a bench in the inner park of Izhise, Ray inhaled the cold air.
While reflecting on the complex, difficult-to-discuss thoughts that others wouldn’t understand, Saria approached.
“Nephew.”
“Yes, Aunt.”
Tension mixed with happiness filled Ray as he wondered if Saria would again stick her hands under his armpits.
Instead, Saria stretched out both hands with a somewhat proud expression and firmly grabbed Ray’s cheeks.
“I got permission.”
“Hmm? What for?”
His pronunciation was muffled because of the pressure on his cheeks.
After releasing him, Ray asked again,
“Permission for what?”
“I’m going with you, nephew.”
Ray’s expression turned skeptical.
*
“Hum~”
Near the Sigini Mountain Range in Phillip’s County.
Ropheiren whistled while dragging the corpse of a demon using magic.
Lately, several pleasant events had happened.
First, thanks to Ray’s intervention, the restrictions on the contract seals required when leaving the Royal Magic Tower were relaxed.
Regular reporting procedures were skipped, and now he could roam freely without the Royal Magic Tower’s approval.
This meant vastly increased freedom of movement.
Moreover, Ropheiren recently reached the 6th Circle.
Now, no one could deny that Ropheiren was an accomplished high-ranking mage.
Circles function less as a power source and more like mana processors.
During his efforts to assist Luna’s research and synchronize with her pace, Ropheiren’s circles naturally split and increased in number.
The development of his magical abilities and enlightenment led to the circles catching up later, which was quite a rare phenomenon.
In any case,
Ropheiren had enjoyed life over the past few years.
Thus, as he cheerfully dragged the demon’s corpse, he turned his head toward the forest.
“…Keep sneaking across the border, and you’ll get hurt.”
“Misunderstand me. If we had intentionally infiltrated, we would have been detected much later.”
Brandil waved his hand as he approached Ropheiren.
Of course, he didn’t come too close, maintaining an appropriate distance while facing Ropheiren.
“War is imminent. Conflict is unavoidable. Of course, our Rangers can temporarily collaborate with the Empire to drive out demon worshippers, but if the situation twists…”
Brandil brought his two fists together with a tap.
The meaning Brandil wanted to convey was simple and correct.
In chaotic war situations, stabbing someone in the back—or getting stabbed—was commonplace.
No one knows when or how the situation might flip. Yesterday’s ally could become today’s enemy.
So, Brandil was warning and advising Ropheiren not to recklessly wander the Sigini Mountains with war looming.
However, Ropheiren replied sarcastically,
“Thanks for your unnecessary concern.”
Ropheiren resumed dragging the demon’s corpse towards the slope.
As Brandil followed alongside, inspecting the dead demon—it was a Wildboar—he teased,
“Isn’t this already the umpteenth Wildboar?”
Recently, countless Wildboars captured alive by Ropheiren had returned dead.
Brandil had personally confirmed over ten corpses, so the actual number slain was likely three times that.
“The Wildboars in Sigini Mountain will soon go extinct. Need intestines? Is someone opening a large restaurant? Or is it for experimental materials?”
Usually quiet while observing the mountains, Brandil was unusually talkative today.
Ropheiren paused mid-motion of rolling the Wildboar down the slope and looked at Brandil.
“Anatomically, the heart structure of Wildboars is among the most similar to humans among demons.”
“…?”
“So, I’ve been using them for experiments, but since the structures aren’t identical despite being similar… To achieve perfection… Isn’t it about time we need real humans?”
“Whoa…”
Brandil instinctively took a few steps back.
“Thanks for the chills, mage. That doesn’t sound like a joke.”
Though reluctant to admit it, Brandil was honestly a little scared.
Ropheiren twisted his lips and continued,
“Don’t worry; I won’t capture you.”
“Hmm… Hopefully, we don’t end up clashing.”
“If you want to survive, you should hope for the same.”
Ropheiren’s response was as arrogant as ever, and Brandil chuckled softly.
That was their farewell.
They turned their backs and went their separate ways as usual.
Hastening his steps, Ropheiren arrived at a small basin within the Sigini Mountains.
Ropheiren and Luna had set up a new laboratory right here.
It was to prevent civilian casualties in case of a ‘minor accident.’
Ropheiren continued humming as he walked.
“Hum~ hum~”
Lately, Luna had been focusing on biological experiments related to the heart.
Specifically, she was researching heart enhancement using the Dragonheart artifact obtained from Valerius, or reducing heart strain from certain factors.
Therefore, numerous Wildboars were consumed for these experiments, but almost all the data extractable from them had been gathered.
Of course, Luna wasn’t solely focused on heart-related studies.
She simultaneously conducted various other research projects whenever she had time, and frankly, keeping up with even one of them was overwhelming for Ropheiren.
Especially the research related to particles forming matter deviated significantly from existing magical theories, so Ropheiren had almost given up on intuitive understanding or insight.
Something about particle interactions leading to charge reversal phenomena…
He often wondered where Luna had learned concepts that weren’t even properly defined in the Royal Magic Tower.
Anyway, Ropheiren found life interesting lately.
He had always been a theoretical magician obsessed with academic pursuits.
Tsik!
Ropheiren entered the boundary after opening the protective barrier surrounding the basin.
If crucial research was ongoing, Luna would heighten the barrier’s defenses.
However, since the barrier was currently calm, Ropheiren entered the lab without any worries.
“I’m back~”
Ropheiren had started addressing Luna respectfully, calling her “Master,” believing that since he could never surpass her, it was better to acknowledge her superiority upfront.
Luna simply nodded once when Ropheiren tried to flatter her with this gesture.
“Luna? Are you inside?”
Upon checking the surroundings, Ropheiren noticed Luna quietly seated alone in the lab.
“Luna, what are you doing here… Oh…!”
In front of Luna floated a detached space in the shape of a tetrahedron.
Creating a space detached from external interactions was shocking enough, but Ropheiren paid it no attention.
He stared into the interior of the detached space.
Where light shouldn’t penetrate and the inside should remain dark,
Ropheiren perceived a dim glow emanating from within.
“Could this… be what you mentioned?”
“…Yes.”
“Ah, you’ve finally succeeded…!”
In the past, Luna had told Ropheiren that Meteo was inefficient.
Although no magic equaled Meteo in destructive power,
Meteo required immense effort, time, and risk to deploy and strike enemies.
Moreover, Luna could no longer freely utilize the Obelisk system.
Thus, she needed a contingency plan—a magic that could be prepared beforehand, granted instant activation if necessary, and possessed firepower comparable to top-tier annihilation magic.
Starting as a side project during her particle research, she initiated and completed this current study.
However, the “result” fell short of Luna’s expectations.
It was harder to store than anticipated and more challenging to handle.
Mass production within a short timeframe was impossible, making its firepower somewhat… ambiguous.
Luna was disappointed with the outcome of her research but didn’t show it outwardly.
Meanwhile, Ropheiren excitedly shouted to Luna,
“This is entirely Luna’s original magic! It’s truly regrettable that it can’t be published in academic circles!”
It diverged entirely from existing branches of magic.
Although Luna had occasionally used spells close to original ones in the past, they were mostly applications or variations of pre-existing techniques.
But this newly created magic was genuinely, as the word implies, Luna’s “original.”
Ropheiren emphasized this repeatedly and then asked eagerly,
“What’s the name? What will you name this magic?”
“…”
After a brief silence, Luna calmly whispered the name of the magic.
“Antimatter.”
