novelraw Chapter 122 : Disguise (4)
Chapter 122 : Disguise (4)
Chapter 122: Disguise (4)
“Is today the day the long lifeline of the Ed Family finally snaps?”
Livia spoke in an intrigued voice.
It was true that it was troublesome, but at least dealing with the Ed Family was something enjoyable for her.
Ever since her days as a Disciple of Arkis Aimer, the mage Ed Etar had never been on good terms with her.
The discordant performance that began back then still had not ended and continued on even now.
Moreover, with the Underworld already divided into the Mage’s District and the Swordsman’s District, there was no justification to interfere no matter what happened within each other’s territory.
The reason the Ed Family, which had shown suspicious movements, managed to maintain its tenacious lifespan of 300 years was precisely because of the swordsmen.
Tyrant, who was always itching to erase the Ed Family, had constantly sought opportunities, but could not act due to the swordsmen coexisting in the Underworld.
If he were to ignore that and recklessly start a battle, and even a single swordsman were to suffer the slightest damage, it would give the swordsmen justification to intervene.
Since such an incident had occurred 250 years ago after attacking the Emmet Family, Tyrant had been even more cautious and careful as he waited for the right opportunity.
However, now even that shield had disappeared.
Thinking that today marked the end of the Ed Family, Livia hummed to herself.
“If you hate the Ed Family that much, then why did you send one of your own children to the Ed Branch School? I really can’t understand you, Livia.”
She was referring to Lamic Vir.
Vir was currently in the 3rd Class at the Ed Branch School.
“Ah, Vir? He’s a useless child to me anyway. There’s no justification to just throw him out, so I thought I’d use him as a spy at the Ed Branch School and then clean things up.”
She held no affection whatsoever for her own child, Vir.
The Magical Society was a place where treatment differed strictly based only on magical talent.
For the Lamic Family as well, in order to maintain their position as the representative family of the Water Element and the tightly held power and authority they currently possessed, they needed stronger mages to emerge, and they could not afford to show any weakness.
Yet, regrettably, Vir was precisely the kind of mage who left a blemish on the Lamic Family.
Despite being a mage of the Lamic Family, compared to his siblings, he truly had no talent at all.
In any case, his chances of success as a mage were as small as a grain of sand in the desert.
No, it might even be more accurate to say that a grain of sand in the desert was larger.
And then, as if on cue, the Ed Branch School had intentionally not sent any students to the main school for as long as 50 years, so Livia pretended to shower Vir with affection and coaxed him into being sent to the Ed Branch School.
“I’m really worried about when my pretty Daemon will wake up.”
Lamic Daemon, who held the position of Captain of the Royal Guard.
To her, it seemed as though that one child was the only child she had.
With Daemon serving as the Captain of the Royal Guard, the prestige of the Lamic Family was nothing to be envious of, even compared to Arkis Aimer in a past life.
Moreover, the one who had reduced Daemon to that state was the child of Ed Etar.
That was why, even though this order was troublesome, it became something enjoyable for Livia.
“Somehow, I feel like I’m just here as a stand-in.”
Kabir spoke.
After all, she had no friction with the Ed Family.
“I could handle this alone. Why would they send you as well?”
“I wouldn’t know. It’s an order, so I’ll follow it. By the way, when are we going?”
“Well…….”
Livia checked the Mob’s message once more.
“Well, there’s no command about what time to go, is there? As long as it’s done sometime today, that should be fine, right?”
“That’s true.”
“Let’s go at night. Night is a good time that comes along with looseness.”
I went to Vise’s tavern.
But perhaps because it was daytime, the door was firmly shut.
It was when I cautiously knocked on the door.
The door burst open, and a girl younger than me came out to greet me.
“Who are you? This isn’t a place for a brat like you. This is a tavern.”
But the way she spoke was quite rude.
Her curt, poking tone, as if she were picking a fight, grated on my ears.
“……A brat? You’re younger than me, and you’re here too.”
“I’m here because I’m the owner’s granddaughter.”
“Granddaughter?”
Did Vise have a granddaughter like this?
Black hair and black eyes.
Judging by her appearance alone, she was definitely not a mage.
One thought crossed my mind.
‘Did this kid also drink a potion that changed her appearance, like I did?’
If that were the case, she could be part of the Sculptor.
I leaned close to the girl’s ear and whispered quietly.
“Are you, by any chance, a Sculptor?”
The moment I asked, the girl’s shoulders visibly twitched.
“……Who are you? You? I don’t know a kid like you.”
Judging by her reaction, she was definitely a Sculptor.
“I came to see Vise, so let’s go inside first.”
“……Who do you think you are to casually say Elder Vise’s name? And in informal speech, at that?”
“Let’s just go inside for now.”
This wasn’t a situation where we could talk things out properly outside.
Even after confirming that we were both Sculptors, the girl didn’t budge an inch from the entrance.
“You think I’ll let you in without knowing who you are?!”
“Why is it so noisy?”
At that moment, another voice came from inside the tavern.
It was a young man. He stood in front of me, his sagging neck fat and belly jiggling.
It was a figure I couldn’t have possibly anticipated.
“……Who are you?”
“You?”
When I asked, his expression twisted.
At a glance, it seemed like he was about to scold me for speaking informally despite being younger.
“Sigh.”
Since I didn’t know who was who, there was no need to waste effort arguing.
I shoved aside the girl who was blocking the entrance, went inside on my own, and shut the door.
“You…… did you just put your hands on me……? Why are there so many people these days who completely disregard me, it’s so irritating…….”
As the door closed and we were cut off from the outside, the girl’s expression twisted strangely.
Moreover, when the girl became angry, the fat man looked utterly horrified.
It was as if the girl were his superior.
‘What kind of relationship do they even have?’
Whoosh!
Drip, drip.
Ssssss-!
Soon, the girl manifested magic.
Flames wrapped around her body, and those flames soon transformed into lava.
Sparks of lava fell onto the floor, creating small holes.
“P-Professor……! Fix it in place!”
The man shouted urgently.
‘Professor?’
Judging by appearances, the man looked more like the professor, but it was completely the opposite.
And only then did I realize why he was being treated like a superior.
That aside, using magic so casually in the Underworld.
No matter how much it was just us here, using magic in the Underworld was one of the acts I had forbidden since long ago.
Just as ants get crushed to death while walking without a second thought, even if we manifested extremely weak magic, civilians could be harmed by the aftermath.
And above all, since it was a space of harmony where swordsmen were also present, I had emphasized since ancient times that magic should not be used for the sake of peace between the two factions.
‘Ah, does it not matter anymore now? Swordsmen and mages are completely separated.’
Still, civilians were living together here.
Around this tavern, various kinds of shops run by civilians were lined up as well.
The girl’s magic was of quite a high level, which, for civilians, was no different from a disaster.
“You must not abuse magic in the Underworld. A mage must know when and where to use magic.”
I said to the girl, placing my hand on her shoulder.
And in that state, I used Flewd to completely suppress her lava.
“……Huh?”
“Huuh?”
At that, the eyes of both the girl and the man widened to an unbelievable degree.
“Oh my, I was wondering what all the commotion was about. It seems a distinguished guest has come to visit.”
Only then did Vise reveal himself.
He had come up through the stairs connected to the basement.
Vise appeared with the same curly hair and thick mustache that I had seen when I first met him in the 6th Class infirmary.
“Vise, who are these kids?”
“Ha ha, please be generous with them. These days are unstable, so everyone’s just on edge.”
“Even so, using magic this recklessly in the Underworld?”
“They are friends who are unaware of the ancient precepts of mages. I offer my apologies on their behalf.”
As Vise treated me with utmost respect, their faces were filled with doubt.
“What are you doing? Greet him. This is Lord Arkis Aimer.”
“……?”
Once Vise’s introduction ended, their pupils shook violently.
“……What? Who did you say? Are you saying you’re that Clear White……?”
The girl asked.
“No…… wasn’t he said to have passed away 300 years ago?”
That question came from the man.
“Quiet, and hurry up and introduce yourselves. Lord Arkis is curious.”
When Vise pressed them again without answering, the girl bowed her waist at a perfect right angle first and spoke loudly.
“Ah, n-nice to meet you! My name is Ed Sparkle!”
Oh?
I had thought she was just a girl with a strange personality, but to think Sparkle would be here.
Now that I knew her identity, I even felt a sense of familiarity.
“Nice to see you, Sparkle. It’s been a while.”
I extended my hand for a handshake.
“……What? I’m meeting you for the first time. When have we ever met……?”
“Ah.”
I told her about how, when Banshi’s interview was conducted in the 2nd Class, I had been hiding in that auditorium while using invisibility magic.
“My goodness…… I didn’t notice at all! I know invisibility magic is a fairly high-level Flewd magic, but to completely hide your presence even while using such a spell! As expected…… are you really Lord Arkis?!”
Her rude demeanor vanished entirely.
All that remained was the bright voice of a cheerful girl.
Then she looked at the man.
When our eyes met, the man hurriedly bowed his waist at a perfect right angle just like Sparkle and continued his introduction.
“Nice to meet you, my name is Rezi!”
“Hm? Teacher Rezi?”
I knew that Rezi had joined the Sculptor, but meeting a teacher I had parted ways with in Class 0 like this brought about new emotions.
“Please wait just a moment, Lord Arkis. I will bring the antidote right away. It would be better for us to greet each other in our true forms, wouldn’t it?”
Saying that, Vise went back down to the basement and returned with three bottles of antidote.
We each took one and drank them at the same time, and not long after, we returned to our original appearances.
Sparkle looked exactly the same as when I had seen her in the 2nd Class.
The same was true for Rezi.
However, when Rezi saw my appearance, his pupils shook violently once again.
“Hey! Artel! Why are you here?!”
At that moment—
Smack-!
“Aaagh!”
Vise struck the back of Rezi’s head hard.
“Are you insane? Didn’t I say it was Lord Arkis?”
“No, but this student is someone I taught for five whole years in Class 0……!”
“Vise, you didn’t explain?”
I cut off Rezi’s words and asked Vise.
“Yes, isn’t it top-secret information? I thought it would be too early to tell them already.”
“Why bother with that? They’re Sculptors who share the same purpose anyway. What secrets are there between us?”
“Isn’t it enough that they know now?”
Vise replied shamelessly.
“No…… how could this be…….”
Still, Rezi looked unable to believe it.
“Well, Rezi and Sparkle can hear the details from Vise later. I came because I have a favor to ask you, Vise.”
“First, let’s change locations.”
With that, Vise guided me down into the basement.