Chapter 503

To. My beloved pupil

Are you well? This master, fortunately, is at peace.

Now that place must be in the prime of ripening grain. Meanwhile, the Great Forest is hot and humid all year round, and I only wait with a bored heart for time to pass. A world with no changes is so dull and peaceful.

Perhaps that’s what makes it feel even stranger.

Everything about me has changed, yet this Great Forest remains the same. Sometimes I wonder if I’ve returned from a sweet daydream. Would a dog that has lived its life on a leash look anything like me when released into the yard?

I’ve lived my life in a narrow world tethered by a leash. Every time I step outside it, everything feels so unfamiliar and fearful.

Isn’t it amusing? A great witch who once grasped all the workings of the world is, in fact, just a clumsy and flawed woman like this.

Feel free to laugh if you wish.

Just know this: you are the only one in this world I can rely on. Among all the people in the continent, you are the only one I do not need to boast before.

Did you think I was cowardly?

It’s just inevitable. As I have taught you repeatedly, every action carries a responsibility.

On reflection, this is not even your fault, is it? You have taken my heart, which I never intended to give to anyone.

Looking back, it is indeed a strange connection.

When I first heard news about you, I truly did not want to acknowledge it.

This is a vision I’ve hidden for hundreds of years. I know better than anyone that no one can steal or imitate my skills. That’s why it was even more of a question.

Did the Heavenly Deity of the Holy Kingdom have a misunderstanding?

I never imagined that this fleeting curiosity would turn into such a significant incident. Who could have known a vampire was hiding in the Academy?

Yet, the workings of the world are quite mysterious. Fate always leaves a way out; remarkably necessary connections became intertwined.

First, there was the swordsman, that brat.

After that, the second and the youngest, and even the vampire’s bloodline gathered in the Academy. The fact that you were at the center of it all need not be elaborated further.

You may not feel the same, but I still believe in ‘fate.’

Was I not bound for hundreds of years until recently?

At one point, I even felt resentful of the tragic burden that I had to take the life of my foolish sister. Countless times I wanted to cry out, “Why does it have to be me?”

But that day I realized something.

That fate truly exists.

Having walked a long path, I finally met you.

And my poor other pupils too.

I just regret your childhood friend. I heard after returning to the Great Forest, but I recall being at a loss to help, pacing back and forth.

As you know, the wounds of the heart are not easily healed. I too suffer when my foolish sister occasionally crosses my mind.

But what can we do? Like wounded beasts, we have no choice but to lick each other’s wounds.

Next time we meet, let’s have a drink.

As night falls, the forest stirs. Perhaps it’s the moonlight being unusually bright today.

I will end it here.

P.S. Setting the second aside, I’m curious about how the youngest has been doing lately. Despite pretending to be innocent on the outside, they are not an ordinary child, so pay special attention to them. They are so filled with jealousy that they even try to devour this master now. Such a troublesome brat.

P.S. 2: Also, forget about the incident regarding the drinking last time. Since we were both drunk, there’s no point in blaming anyone. If this keeps up, I won’t know how to face the second and the youngest when a child pops up.

From. Your master.

Year 571 of the Empire, on the seventeenth day of the month of the sickle.

——

Inside the room.

The silence after sending Lupin out was overwhelming. I was reading through the letters from the future amidst that stillness.

Eventually, a deep groan escaped my lips after skimming through all the letters.

No matter how thoroughly I searched, there wasn’t much meaningful information. The only bit that stood out in my mind was the whereabouts of the ‘vampire.’

A vampire hiding in the Academy?

If true, it was a major incident that required immediate response. Although I had encountered a few mages, even I could not help but feel solemn in the face of the weight carried by the name ‘vampire.’

The master of all blood and water lurking at the center of the Great Forest.

For hundreds of years, it had reigned as the strongest and worst mage. Its power was beyond imagination; one of the few masters on the continent had to mobilize barriers just to barely suppress it.

I never imagined that monster would escape us.

I felt a drop of sweat running down my spine. Few had laid eyes on the vampire’s force firsthand, but most opinions rated it on par with a master.

I had already engaged in fierce battle with a ‘Saint.’ Naturally, the memories of the previous battle flickered through my mind.

To be honest, it was no match.

I had experienced countless deaths, yet only two effective hits, and neither were fatal.

The battle with a vampire would likely be little different.

Moreover, there were two more factors causing chaos in my heart.

First, the hurried scribbled words on the back of the letter.

“Mix the seed powder of the moonflower, crushed leaves of the world tree, and fog flowers from the Great Forest in a 3:1:2 ratio. Then boil them in the clear water from a well with abundant mana for 3 minutes and strain the essence. The residue should be dried quickly with a hot, dry wind…”

As someone specializing in swordsmanship, I couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

Moreover, the amount of explanation was considerable. Previous letters had barely filled a line, but this mysterious recipe filled an entire page.

Perhaps because of that, the handwriting seemed even more frantic. I could feel the urgency of the person who left this note.

Ultimately, I could only let out a sigh, mixed with exasperation.

“What is this…?”

It wasn’t a line directed at anyone in particular. It was merely a mumbled remark, yet at that moment, I didn’t even have the freedom to lament alone.

Because the girl before me was watching.

“That’s exactly what I wanted to say, junior… huh?”

Her face was adorable, beaming with a smile.

However, the voice that leaked from her clenched teeth and her unnaturally still eyes made it clear that she was not altogether comfortable.

No, to be precise, she looked extremely uncomfortable.

And rightly so.

The article held by the girl bore an absurd title.

“Shock! Elsi Rainelle declares ‘Pet’ to the second son of the author?! A black hand reaching for the flower of the Academy, Ian Fercurus!”

I couldn’t help but subtly avert the woman’s gaze.

This little girl sitting before me was yet another source of turmoil in my heart.

Elsi Rainelle.

My invaluable companion and the one I was to be engaged to.

Yes, the original ‘Senior Elsi’ was.

The woman in front of me, angrily restraining her emotions, was, without a doubt, not the ‘Senior Elsi’ I knew.

Her disbelief was evident as she repeated back to me what I had just said.

“Huh? What did I just say? …Pet, pet…?”

Her tone was perilously shaky, as if she might break at any moment.

The Elsi I knew wouldn’t react this way. That ‘pet declaration’ was something that Senior Elsi had done willingly.

Thus, my heart grew heavier.

I instinctively realized who this ‘Senior Elsi’ before me was. The oppressive heat and fierce sunlight were triggering memories of a particular day.

The Great Forest.

While I had never been there myself, memories intertwined with it lingered like echoes in my heart.

They weren’t my own memories, but those of some man.

Perhaps from when I had faced the ‘Corpse Giant’ in Perkus Manor.

Indeed, there was a strong possibility that ‘Senior Elsi’ was possessed by the ‘Senior Elsi’ I had seen that day in the future.

Though I couldn’t fathom the reason behind it.

Just as I fell into that brief recollection, the girl could no longer contain her rage and stood up. The sound of the desk being slammed down rang loud.

“Don’t be ridiculous! That, that… Elsi Rainelle would claim to be a pet?! That, that too, your pet?!”

The wild flicker in her eyes betrayed her emotions.

She wouldn’t want to believe it.

But what could be done? There was no way to take back the words that had already been spoken.

In a way, I thought about how trivial the ‘pet declaration’ was.

A vampire was hiding in the Academy, and humanity was facing a crisis of existence. In the face of all this, an individual’s pride hardly mattered to me.

I needed to find the vampire first.

My focus was entirely on that, so my reaction to Senior Elsi could only be apathetic.

“Calm down, senior… It won’t change the reality by getting worked up.”

“Would you be able to say that?!”

Of course, the Senior Elsi, regaining her old spirit, was not easily subdued.

The way she pointed at me and raised her voice suggested that if this humiliation didn’t get washed away, she might act out.

“This is scandalous… That a junior dares to assume the role of their senior’s master?! Hey, you! What do you have to say for yourself?!”

“I denied it, you know.”

“What? You actually lie every time you open your mouth… Hey, if you investigate, everything will come out. What on earth did you do to make me like this?!”

What had I done?

It had been so long since I had received such a question that I involuntarily began to reminisce about the past.

The first meeting with Senior Elsi was quite dramatic and remained etched in my memory. After all, it was my first time witnessing someone get hit with a hand axe in the middle of the Academy.

Murmuring through my nostalgia, a faint confession slipped from my lips.

“The first day we met… Senior Elsi peed herself.”

“…What?!”

In an instant, Senior Elsi, who couldn’t understand my words, jumped as if floating before crashing down.

Her azure gaze was wildly wavering.

Whether she liked it or not, a faint smile appeared at the corners of my mouth as I recalled that old memory. Looking back, it was that day’s bond that led us to where we were now.

“She unexpectedly had a cute side. She loved getting her head patted, even begging for it later…”

“…Liar!”

Then it happened.

A crack, and a bolt of blue energy shot forth before me.

Instinctively, I dodged and rolled across the floor. Flare erupted where I had just been sitting.

Bang!

It was a small sound, but it was loud enough to fill the room. While the power of the blast wasn’t too strong, I found myself momentarily spellbound, staring at the explosion.

“Liar… Did I really do that? Even if I’m a few years younger, I’m Elsi Rainelle! There’s no way I would throw my pride away like that…”

It wasn’t just lightning.

At the last moment, flames had definitely intertwined with the electricity. It was a scene that shattered common sense.

A mage’s elemental control usually pertains to a single element.

While there are mages with talent in multiple elements, the essence of mana usually specializes over time, ultimately leading to a single element being mastered.

However, the magic that ‘Senior Elsi’ wielded was an exception.

Flames and electricity.

It was a new type of spell, a small magic that was merely used for restraint, yet with those two elements intertwined.

Involuntarily, a voice filled with confusion escaped my lips.

“Senior Elsi, what is that magic…?”

It was right after.

A sharp headache struck my skull. It felt as if an awl pierced my temple and slammed into my brain.

As my body slowly rose, I staggered, trying to regain balance.

A man’s voice was penetrating my eardrums.

“…You still haven’t unraveled the mysteries of bloodletter runes?”

It was a reproach akin to a sigh.

My field of vision gradually narrowed, and the realms of unconsciousness began encroaching on my retinas one by one. On a desolate wasteland, a man with weary eyes was watching me.

His gaze looked desperately hopeful.

“Can I ask you for a favor?”

Before I could respond to what he meant, a small hand yanked me back from the other side of unconsciousness.

“Hey, hey… open your eyes! Did I go too far? This is strange… I adjusted the power, it shouldn’t have been more than a sting…”

With her perplexed words, my heart began to thump again.

Amidst a clearing vision, I saw Senior Elsi looking down at me with worry in her blue eyes.

Only then did I realize that I had momentarily lost consciousness.

My upper body suddenly shot up.

My mind was buzzing, trying to discern some knowledge. Just as I was attempting to articulate this unbearable sensation into words…

Bang bang bang!

The knocking on the door echoed again.

“C-Crisis! Sir Ian!”

It was a familiar voice.

The Fifth Imperial Princess of the Empire, Shi-en.

I was momentarily unable to respond to the dull pain that still lingered. In the meantime, the princess’s urgent voice continued.

Why are so many people looking for me today?

Such complaints were soon erased by the princess’s next words.

“Father wants to see you, Sir Ian!”

It was truly a statement that would bleach my mind white.

Even Elsi, who knew nothing, stiffened in shock.

It was the start of a new incident.