“No, this bastard?”
Was it because I hit the nail on the head?
Senior Elsi immediately lowered her stance and began to show hostility towards me. If she had a tail, it would probably be raised defiantly in a show of caution.
However, the woman’s anger did not turn into violence.
Not long after, Senior Elsi burst into laughter with a chuckle and released her tension.
The girl spoke with a sneer.
“And what about you?”
It was a short retort, but it was the most piercing question that struck my heart.
I unwittingly felt a surge of emotion and tried to counter.
“What do you mean…!”
“You got dumped too? Judging by how this body is still mine.”
It was a pointless endeavor.
In the end, after mumbling for a while, I could only let out a deep sigh.
She was right.
I failed to persuade Senior Elsi. I didn’t know if it was an illusion conjured by my unconscious mind or truly the deep-seated personality of my fiancée retreating into the recesses of my heart.
Ultimately, the fact that I was being expelled remained unchanged.
Soon, my expression became gloomy like the sky during the rainy season. Senior Elsi was no exception, and the atmosphere around us began to radiate the heavy ambiance characteristic of a broken couple.
It was a fight full of nothing but wounds.
Moreover, there was another figure that contributed to the heavy air.
“I… I can do it… I can do it, I can do it… I’ll do it, ugh!”
At that tiny groan, both Senior Elsi and I turned our gazes in unison towards somewhere.
There stood Shi-en, clearly nervous, murmuring to herself. Cold sweat glistened on her brow, and her unfocused eyes indirectly revealed her feelings.
Eventually, she even bit her tongue slightly.
It was a sight reminiscent of Ceria from a time long past. Shi-en seemed to be in so much pain that tears were nearly welling up, wiping her eyes with her sleeve a couple of times.
Senior Elsi’s response to this was simple.
A sigh that exhaled frustration.
“Is that something you can use in real combat? It’s so evident that she grew up pampered as an imperial princess.”
“Well, she did have an experience in real battle once…”
“Was she like this then too?”
Instead of answering, I exercised my right to remain silent.
The imperial princess’s only experience in battle was the fierce conflict with the elves in the Northern Region.
During that time, the princess couldn’t fulfill her role because she was too busy heaving. And now, there wasn’t even a capable replacement for her.
As my silence dragged on, Senior Elsi’s eyes narrowed even further. Unable to bear it, I eventually had to let out a sigh mixed with exasperation.
“There’s no other option…”
This was the reality we were facing.
The vampire had installed the core of the barriers throughout the academy. Just like when we faced the vampire before, there was no chance of victory if we couldn’t break these barriers.
Even that ‘mage’ didn’t match the vampire’s prowess.
To destroy it, we would need at least three personnel. The master had to restrain the vampire, and in the end, only three people were left.
Me, Senior Elsi, and the imperial princess who possessed the ‘Eye of the Dragon’.
It was an undeniable fact that I wanted to deny.
Even Senior Elsi, who was heartbroken after being dumped by her boyfriend, had no retorts. She simply covered her face with her palm and lamented.
“Damn it, seriously…”
Unexpectedly, Senior Elsi’s despair did not last long.
A sharp, clear sound rang out.
“Ah!”
Shortly after, Senior Elsi had to let out a short scream while clutching her head. It was a justified reaction to the intense blow, enough to dent her hat.
However, one impressive detail remained: the weapon that struck Senior Elsi.
A smoking pipe.
The acrid scent of drugs tickled the nostrils. There was only one person in the academy who would possess such an item.
One of the three masters on the continent, the ‘Great Witch’.
The small girl, an absolute being, exhaled a puff of smoke.
“Tsk, tsk, and look at how you speak… can’t you refine your language a bit more?”
Who could dare to rebel against such a solemn reprimand?
Only someone as bold as a swollen person might attempt it. Unfortunately, Senior Elsi was one of the rare individuals who met that condition.
“What does an old hag have to do with anything…!”
Of course, even that had its limits.
As the Great Witch’s gaze sharpened, Senior Elsi soon began to mumble and avert her gaze. After spending several years as her disciple, it must have been difficult for her to raise her voice at her master.
Having calmed the atmosphere, the Great Witch spoke in a serene tone.
“Now, now, let’s not whine too much. If we can’t stop this, thousands will die and be injured anyway; isn’t attempting something better than nothing?”
“That’s reassuring to hear…”
To my sigh-laden voice, the Great Witch merely patted my shoulder a few times with a ‘Isn’t that right?’ gesture.
Then her inscrutable gaze shifted towards my eyes.
“Why do you look so hopeless?”
“Honestly…”
“I heard you wandered around here and there all day yesterday.”
At that single statement, I fell silent.
Did she know? After all, if the Great Witch was determined to track my movements, there was no way to prevent it.
The Great Witch continued questioning, her expression still inscrutable.
“Where did you go, and whom did you meet?”
She was someone I couldn’t possibly deceive anyway.
As I hesitated for a moment, the truth spilled from my mouth.
“I met Senior Delphine who remained in the North, and I talked a little with Emma at the workshop…”
“What were you plotting?”
Silence again.
As I desperately tried to avert my gaze, the Great Witch shook her head as if she expected this.
“Right, well… there must be circumstances. Haven’t you triggered miracles several times already?”
In the end, I couldn’t provide a reliable answer.
Yet, a small hand patted my shoulder again.
“…I believe you.”
There was no way I could say I didn’t believe her now.
However, I felt that the Great Witch’s one sentence carried a heavy sincerity. It felt deeper than mere formalities or unavoidable words.
Of course, it might be an illusion. I was not particularly quick-witted.
Ultimately, the only thing I could muster was a common excuse.
“I did my best.”
The Great Witch nodded and started walking again.
Perhaps that meant she would trust me to handle whatever I did next.
The next person the Great Witch spoke to was the youngest member of our group and our greatest weakness.
“Princess Shi-en.”
“Yes, y-yes! T-the, Great Witch…?”
The girl, who had been muttering with her head down, suddenly straightened up as if struck by lightning. It was a quick reflexive action.
Even though she had only been addressed, it was clear how tense she was just by looking at her.
Just as the mood was about to darken again between Senior Elsi and me, the Great Witch unexpectedly spoke.
“You carry the blood of a dragon, don’t you?”
“W-well… um, it’s sealed right now, so I don’t have that much strength…”
Perhaps nervousness had kicked in, as the princess stammered her excuses out. By the end of her sentence, she looked at me with a tearful face.
Even so, there was nothing I could do to help.
Above all, the Great Witch didn’t seem to blame Shi-en at all. It meant she didn’t require any assistance.
The woman who had searched for the truth for hundreds of years let out a low breath.
“Dragons are the ancestors of all magic.”
It was a universally known fact among those who practiced magic.
In fact, it was common knowledge among all people of the continent, not just magic users. The creation myth, the divine war, and tales of dragons were known by everyone.
Especially, dragons were deeply associated with the founding myth of the empire. As a subject of the empire, and as a member of the royal family, the princess could not possibly be unaware of that fact.
Yet the princess froze suddenly.
It was because the Great Witch’s gaze had settled calmly. As if imparting a significant piece of advice.
“Dragons are different from humans. While humans can only handle one element at a time, it is said that they could control all elements that exist in the world freely.”
I wondered why the Great Witch brought up such an old story.
I couldn’t guess, but Shi-en seemed to have caught onto something, her eyes sparkling with understanding. Her previous hesitance had transformed into an unbelievable quick-witted attitude.
And now, her voice, filled with anticipation, was overly inflated.
“Then, could it be that I…?”
“No, that won’t work. You aren’t a dragon, are you?”
Of course, it was just a delusional fantasy.
With the Great Witch’s resolute answer, the princess’s shoulders fell again. Her appearance of dejection resembled a plant that hadn’t seen sunlight for days.
Seeing that, the Great Witch let out a faint laugh, much like a mischievous child ready to tease.
Yet it seemed her words weren’t finished, as her lips, having exhaled a puff of smoke again, started moving once more.
“Don’t be too disheartened. That just means the blood of dragons holds infinite potential… And who knows? If you become my disciple, you might learn to control two or three elements.”
The infinite potential of the ‘dragon’s blood’.
Now that I think about it, the man from the future had also left such words with me. He seemed to have talked about the hidden powers of the dragon-kin script.
Shi-en also appeared to be just as enticed by the Great Witch’s mention, yet our points of focus differed.
The small girl, unable to contain her excitement, clenched her little fists and asked.
“Are you accepting me as your disciple?”
“Well… I don’t know, so if you’re really curious, you can ask that guy over there.”
That one indifferent remark was enough to uplift the anxiously tense girl.
After all, the chance to become the Great Witch’s disciple was rare.
It was only natural not to want to miss out on such an opportunity as a mage. In reality, I was unable to meet the princess’s gaze.
It was because the conversation I had with Bulteon continued to weigh on my mind.
Dragons can never be happy.
They are too strong, and can’t allow anyone close to them.
Only a very few individuals would be able to tread that path.
Would the princess really want to become one of them?
While I was lost in various thoughts, a distinct sound shook me from my reverie.
“Now, now. Everyone, pay attention.”
The sound of clapping hands snapped my senses back to reality.
Naturally, the source was the Great Witch. The puff of smoke she let out briefly clouded my vision.
“Our operation is simple. Each of you will scatter and find the core of the barrier to destroy it. When I send the signal, we’ll all attack the vampire at once.”
It was a straightforward, succinct, and remarkably clear plan.
Since it was something we had known for a while, no one was complaining now. The only one raising their hand to question was me.
“What about Seria and Celin? Or the students who have joined the vampire’s retinue?”
“What do you think we should do?”
Her eyes were sunken.
The profound gaze had an overwhelming presence. Even I flinched for a moment when I met the Great Witch’s light green pupils.
What was her intention?
But since I had already spoken, after a moment of hesitation, I ultimately voiced my unhidden truth.
