novelraw Chapter 136 : Chapter 136
Chapter 136 : Chapter 136
136
"How is it? Do you think it's a cross-dressing woman?"
Rozalin pestered Isadora, who had a long career of cross-dressing as a man, acting as Qantaii.
Isadora narrowed her eyes and observed with all her might but eventually shook her head as if unsure.
"Judging by appearance first, he just looks like a man."
"Really? With such delicate features, he's definitely a woman. Strange. This is my intuition as a woman, I tell you?"
Serris looked like a woman at first glance to the extent that Rozalin would say such things.
Having taken off all the Inquisitor armor, Serris was short, barely reaching 160cm, and every line from shoulders to arms was slender.
It was unbelievable that he had been wearing such heavy plate armor.
"Those Holy Kingdom guys were originally like that. That's why Old Man Spear God hates them so much."
"Originally like that, you mean they don't train their bodies?"
"Ganemia said so too. That they are barbaric. Those guys are people who think praying for even one more hour is more useful than training their bodies and exercising."
Spear God really has no choice but to hate them.
After all, he was an old man who scolded even me for having an unbalanced mind and body.
"And their armor and weapons all have weight reduction magic cast on them. Money is rotting away for them, you see."
"Holy Knights and Inquisitors have always been like that. They're all frail, practically scholars, and have faint presence. It seems like they want that, too."
"They want it?"
"Those guys are more secretive than the Empire's intelligence organizations. It's common for long-time village residents to suddenly be accused of heresy and die. Dying without even knowing who reported them, when, or how."
I looked at Serris again.
Even though they were rambling on about him right in front of him, he reacted nonchalantly as if he hadn't heard anything.
He just sat quietly, legs together, hands placed on top, staring blankly into the empty air.
Is he praying?
Even though his unfocused eyes weren't looking at anything, his somewhat strange attitude felt as if he were looking at something.
A very bizarre person.
'Yuria was similar too.'
Since she was a child whose eyes were always dead.
Though it seemed something came alive in the last battle.
"Anyway... it will take more than a week until classes at the Academy resume properly. Feel free to look around the Academy until then."
"Yes."
We left Serris behind and came outside.
Ganemia stuck to Yuria, dedicating herself to treatment.
No, to be precise, rather than treatment, should I say she dedicated herself to charging?
According to her explanation, after Yuria was designated as a Saintess candidate, the limit of holy power she could accept expanded.
Also, her body was undergoing a body change to emit holy power more efficiently.
And the remaining Inquisitors were going around treating those with moderate and minor injuries.
"I guess this means we just have to quietly focus on replenishing energy."
Ulf laughed, exhaling faint tobacco smoke from her long pipe.
She seemed slightly younger than when I saw her last time.
"It feels like snakes are crawling all over my body~ Ah~ I'm dying~ This isn't charging, it's a new kind of torture tormenting me~."
And Berlis, lying next to Ulf, complained while drooping.
It was a situation where the incumbent Saintess and the future Saintess were gathered in one place.
Since they had spread holy power all around the Academy under the pretext of purifying the air, it was natural to feel unpleasant.
"If it's too uncomfortable, you can leave for a while and come back."
"No need to worry. Since I poured out all the dark mana in my body, holy power will merely be annoying. Besides, my laboratory is defended well enough to block that level of holy power."
"Oh come on, what if you say all that~ Take this chance to grumble a bit~! Relax~ And slack off!"
Berlis spun her body around and complained while lying flat on the floor.
Ulf clicked her tongue and lightly tapped Berlis on the back of the head with her long pipe.
A groan of ow-ow flowed out.
It was a better combination to watch than expected.
"I will be leaving tomorrow."
So, at Ulf's sudden declaration, my body froze.
Ulf is leaving.
It was something mentioned since a few days ago, but tomorrow seemed a bit soon.
Farewells are truly like that.
No matter when they come, farewells always feel too fast.
Ulf also seemed to have similar feelings to mine, as a bitter smile hung on her lips.
Smoking the pipe since earlier seemed to be to hide such feelings.
"The Wolf King has accumulated all power. Now that he has gathered all the tribes of the West, he will march out soon."
"Is he going to start a war or something?"
"No. Rather than war, it's competition. Demons are appearing faster than expected. The demons appearing in the future will appear in the frontier kingdoms and the Empire."
Competition means he intends to monopolize the demons near the Great Forest.
"Is it about time for a demon to appear near there?"
"Haven't I explained properly from the fourth demon onwards?"
What I heard from Rozalin was only up to the third demon.
No, I think I also heard about a guy called Sacer in the Holy Kingdom last time.
"I don't know if it will be the end of this year or next year, but there will be five? Six? Demons appearing in the next year. Among them, none will cause direct damage to the Belmein Kingdom. There will be indirect damage, though."
"You are talking about the individual named Ocean Hall, right?"
Ocean Hall?
The name was unique.
Names like Giant-Block, World Eater, General, or Anti-Magic or Sacer had intuitive abilities.
Does it mean a space created in the ocean?
"To be precise, it's an Ocean Gyre."
If it's an Ocean Gyre, it must refer to a huge circular vortex appearing on the sea surface.
"But its size is extremely large. Roughly about 10km?"
"10km? What about the depth?"
"I don't know. Because it's a different world."
"A different, world?"
"It's called a Legion-type demon. Or a Mother-type demon. The demon's own ability is simple, but it spawns various monsters."
"The bastard appears on the coast of the Kingdom of Namress and completely destroys the Kingdom of Namress's naval power."
"Seafood. And trade. Those two stop."
I recalled the appearance of the demon Rozalin and Ulf described.
The coast of the Kingdom of Namress.
Suddenly, a huge ocean gyre with a radius of 10km appears there.
And various monsters start pouring out from within.
"That's tough."
Since it wasn't just a simple hole but an ocean gyre, approaching with ships was difficult.
That meant mages or fleets centered on cannons couldn't approach either.
"How did you solve it?"
"Three 6th-circle mages combined their power to bombard the place with magic. But the problem wasn't the demon."
"Then?"
"That demon was rotating a huge ocean gyre as a passage connected to another world. Those waters, the flow velocity burst all at once."
"A huge tsunami swept through the coastal cities of the Kingdom of Namress. The nation's power, finances, and overall manpower were blown away in an instant."
"The demon coming right after is also powerful. It's a guy appearing in the territory of the Traivan Kingdom, named Iron Eater. A guy that eats everything made of iron and shoots fire."
"It's a guy meant to exterminate humanity's weapons. The Traivan Royal Family's armory, which had stockpiled powerful military weapons, was looted overnight, and the Traivan Royal Family collapsed."
......Just hearing the story is horrible.
The scale of casualties and property damage far exceeded my perception range.
The three types of demons we faced were truly just simple guys.
"Those are only the guys we experienced in the past. We don't know what kind of guys will come out again."
Ulf rummaged in her bosom and took out a book.
It seemed to be a recently made book, as it had the unique feel of something new from the cover and the string binding the paper.
"This time, I was able to access books related to Mana Roads in the Imperial Library. This is a book I organized based on that. It would have been desirable to discuss it together, but I don't think there will be time for that."
"Thank you."
I preciously received the book Ulf handed over.
Since Ulf said she organized it herself, right and wrong must have been primarily filtered through the eyes of a 6th-circle mage.
It was a far better comprehensive book than just reading books.
"And take this too."
What Ulf held out was a black jewel, much thicker and darker than other Fantasies I had seen.
It was almost the size of a fist, and inside, black energy spread vastly like the universe.
It was merely a jewel, but staring at it for a long time made me feel like I would be captivated by the jewel itself.
"It's the General Fantasy."
"Is the verification of its ability finished?"
Compared to the previous demons, the third demon called General had a somewhat ambiguous concept.
In a way, it was just a demon that appeared out of nowhere to kill me.
"Honestly, it was an ability even I coveted. This Fantasy's ability is education and growth."
Education, growth.
Indeed, just hearing the words made my heart resonate.
What does that have to do with a demon?
"An old literary figure said this. Short-legged lizards make one dream of winged dragons."
It was an aphorism I had heard before.
Humans have much greed.
But human abilities have clear limits.
So humans exercise imagination.
To be vicariously satisfied and happy with things they cannot have, appearances in spaces they cannot reach.
"The fact that the demon is specialized for you means, in the end, your desire crystallized into a Fantasy. Your desire, so what was the Sword Intent you spoke of?"
I want to create a properly structured swordsmanship manual.
To do that, I needed a standard for a good sword.
I wanted to find what the ultimate sword is and raise the level of humanity's swordsmanship through it.
"It's a Fantasy that helps and assists with that. It increases the students' educational efficiency, clears their mental state, and improves learning ability."
"To what extent?"
At my question, Rozalin, who was listening from the side, quickly answered.
"Even a fool like Sordian could emit Sword Aura within a month, probably?"
That's an incredible effect.
"Then does efficiency increase if I attach this to something like a blackboard or chalk while lecturing?"
"It could be used in that way too. But what's better is decorating it on architecture."
"Can a Fantasy go into a building too?"
"Because it's a Fantasy. Weapons, armor, jewels, buildings. Anything is possible."
I recalled the city development plan Lord Murray talked about.
He said he would turn Akarind Academy into an Academy City.
If I install this Fantasy at the center of it.
It was clear that the educational level of students entering Akarind Academy would rise exponentially.
It could be used in other ways too.
I was currently receiving physical training through Hati.
If the efficiency of that training also increases, I could train my body quickly.
Good.
"Of course, that probably isn't everything. Since it's an individual that acted as a general, there might be more hidden functions. Time is insufficient to see all those functions. I hope you uncover the rest."
"Thank you."
Smoke slowly faded from Ulf's pipe.
She tapped off the ash once and then WHOOSH, exhaled the smoke inside her mouth.
A faint scent of herbs wafted.
"Classes will resume from tomorrow. Did you say it will be in the New Building?"
"Yes. We will rotate students there temporarily."
"You'll be able to experiment with the Fantasy."
"Actually, someone just came to mind."
Among the demons Rozalin and Ulf talked about, there was a guy called Iron Eater.
They said he appeared in the Traivan Kingdom.
The moment the kingdom's military power weakened.
What would happen if the rebel prince Dwayne Traivan, who had accumulated power for a short time, returned?
Probably something worth seeing would unfold.
Shall I torment Dwayne Traivan plenty until then?
* * *
Dwayne, getting some fresh air in a secluded corner of the Academy's New Building as usual today.
He suddenly felt goosebumps all over his body.
'What is this? Why do I feel this terrible feeling?'