“It happened a long time ago.”
That was Orphion’s response to my question about Karian.
Of course, I wasn’t entirely convinced, so I turned to the Spirit King sitting right next to me for confirmation.
“…Reiter.”
[It doesn’t seem like a lie.]
“Then what the heck? How do you even know about Karian?”
“I just observed for a moment. When you left me alone in the faculty office.”
Eventually, Orphion spoke.
He said Karian had dealt with some humans who had sinister intentions.
They were small fry, not worth my concern, so he hadn’t felt the need to mention it to me.
“Do I really need to report every little hobby that guy indulges in?”
“A hobby… Well, I guess it is….”
I could more or less guess what kind of people they were.
Probably the cultists who had put a suggestion spell on Iris.
It seemed they had run into Karian for some reason and hadn’t even been able to put up a fight.
Since they were people I had planned to take care of anyway, Karian must have thought he had free rein to deal with them.
‘It’s a relief, I suppose… Hmm…’
I had intended to lift the restraints placed on Iris first and handle the rest step by step, but thanks to Karian, part of the burden was already taken care of.
Whether he would finish off the remaining ones was still uncertain.
***
That aside, both the train attack last time and now these cultists—
They had an oddly terrible sense of timing when it came to carrying out their plans.
‘Then again, who could have predicted Orphion would show up…?’
Pure coincidence.
From their perspective, it was simply a series of extremely unlucky events.
With Orphion involved, no matter what tricks the cultists tried to pull, everything was bound to fall apart.
Not that the lizard in front of me was some noble hero of justice or anything.
But he wasn’t particularly fond of having his reputation tarnished either.
If a bunch of cultists managed to succeed in their terror plot despite Orphion’s presence, that would mean their level surpassed that of an ancient dragon.
And knowing Orphion—who pretended not to care but was secretly sensitive about these things—he wouldn’t just sit back and watch.
Not that I had any intention of sympathizing with the cultists.
If they were trying to do something they shouldn’t, maybe the heavens had simply decided to punish them.
***
“Now, can we finally send this little ice brat back?”
His face was full of displeasure.
At some point, a high-level barrier had formed around Orphion’s body.
However, I still had something left to ask him.
“By the way, what happened with Lilian this time?”
Instead of dismissing Reiter’s summoning, I chose to ask why Lilian had been growling at Orphion.
His response came soon after.
“I played with her.”
“You… fought with her?”
“I played with her. What, was I supposed to just leave a bunch of brats whining about their missing master alone?”
“…Brats?”
“Ah.”
A brief look of awkwardness crossed his face.
Not that I cared in the slightest.
By now, it was obvious I had to get to the bottom of this.
I listed the worst possible scenarios in my mind and threw them at Orphion, one by one.
And every time, I got nothing but affirmatives.
“You mean, on the day the will-activated spell was triggered?”
—Nod.
“All four of them?”
—Nod.
“In your lair?”
—Nod.
“I heard you mentioning something about healing Lilian earlier. Did you fight them seriously?”
“Only the brats.”
“…You’ve got to be kidding me….”
“Still, it was entertaining. It’s been a while since I’ve drawn blood.”
At this point, I started thinking it was a miracle my disciples were still alive.
‘How could they have decided to pick a fight with an ancient dragon—’
Not even a full day after I disappeared.
Not even a full day—just a few hours.
All of them.
And if Orphion himself said blood had been spilled, then the fight must have been intense.
If they were reckless enough to go after Orphion like that, they had probably sought out anyone else who might have had clues as well.
In other words, by now, my study was probably overflowing with letters from all over the continent.
Just imagining the number of apology letters I’d have to send in the future was already exhausting.
“Unbridled foals…”
“You’re alive, so isn’t that enough?”
“Haha… Yeah, as long as we’re alive… Haa….”
I regretted it.
I should have kicked Karian’s shin a little harder.
I should have nagged Lilian a bit more instead of just letting her go.
“Then now, can we finally send this little ice brat back? I have nothing more to say.”
“…Alright….”
After bidding farewell to Reiter, I collapsed onto the sofa.
‘Maybe it was because I had learned things I would have been better off not knowing, but my head throbbed on its own.’
Long white hair spilled down over the sofa.
A small hand pressed against my forehead.
Every ten seconds or so, a groan escaped.
“I’m not going to survive this….”
What the ancient dragon saw before him was the image of a girl sprawled weakly across the couch.
To be honest, it was quite an amusing sight.
***
-Poke.
-Poke, poke.
“A lady shouldn’t just lie around like that.”
“Lady, my foot….”
“Alice would sigh if she saw you like this.”
“Like I care….”
Even as he approached and gently poked her soft cheek, she only waved her arm dismissively.
To an outsider, it would have been an utterly bizarre scene.
A young girl, still carrying traces of youth, lying carelessly in front of an ancient dragon—not only that, but treating his words and gestures as a nuisance.
For most, it was an almost unimaginable and unrealistic sight.
If it had been any other human, they would have been reduced to ashes without so much as a chance to explain themselves.
And yet, the girl remained completely unharmed.
Because, in truth, she was not just any ordinary human—she was a friend of the dragon.
‘…She looks similar.’
‘Was it just a coincidence?’
‘Or perhaps a fleeting illusion?’
***
“What are you looking at…?”
The sight of the girl lying on the sofa beneath him was not unfamiliar.
Especially those light indigo eyes.
‘Ah, whatever. If you’re going to eat me, just do it. I’m going to die anyway, so why should I care about your mood?’
‘…Pretty bold for a sacrifice.’
She reminded Orphion of a girl he had parted ways with some seven hundred years ago.
A girl whose once-elegant face no longer stirred any emotion within him—like the dry bed of a long-forgotten river, with only faint traces left behind.
Of course, fundamentally, they were two completely different people.
One of them hadn’t even been a girl to begin with.
But that didn’t really matter.
What mattered was that, for the first time in a long while, Orphion had found an unfamiliar form of amusement.
***
“The academy sincerely thanks our esteemed guests for attending this event and hopes to witness the outstanding achievements of our students—”
“Just endure the boredom a little longer, Godfather. It’s almost over now.”
“Hah. That’s the seventh time you’ve said that.”
Finally, the day of the Ascension Ceremony had arrived.
Seated quietly beside the newly appointed professor, Orphion remained uncharacteristically well-behaved.
If he caused a commotion, Letter would have to write up an incident report for every single complaint.
A mere glance from Letter, paired with a subtle request, was enough to get Orphion to play along—begrudgingly.
Letter had thought she had completely forgotten about it, but perhaps that wasn’t the case.
The resemblance between the girl in her memories and the one beside her was enough to make him unconsciously overlay the two.
Not that she had any intention of indulging in sentimentality or lingering attachments.
“And with that, I hereby declare the official opening of the Ascension Ceremony!”
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the long-winded speech ended.
Letter, now heading off to oversee the students as a professor of Mana Engineering, turned to Orphion and spoke.
“Please stay by Dreven’s side while I’m gone… No, actually, stay with my father and cheer for Isabelle.”
“Why would I?”
“Because you’re her godfather. Besides, once the tournament starts, you’ll be able to walk around with me anyway.”
With that, Letter glanced at Dreven, who had begun making his way toward the academy with Isabelle.
“Just wait a little while,” Letter added before disappearing into the crowd.
Shortly after, a small figure approached Isabelle as she conversed with her biological father.
“Your godfather will be watching too. Good luck.”
“…Okay!”
At Isabelle’s determined response, Letter smiled faintly before vanishing into the bustling academy grounds.
Her destination—the Tower.
The first stage of the Ascension Ceremony, as previously announced, was a series of challenges set by the professors of each subject.
Due to some unexpected circumstances, the Mana Engineering challenge, which was supposed to be first, had been moved to the final slot, but so far, things were proceeding smoothly.
However, as soon as the exam officially began with the deep voice of the proctor, and as the top students swiftly cleared the earlier challenges, they finally reached the base of the Tower—
-Shiver.
“I… I have a bad feeling about this….”
A sinister aura seeped from the entrance, wrapping around the students’ ankles.
But they couldn’t back down now.
Taking a deep breath, they stepped forward into the Tower.
And then—
-Wriggle.
-Wriggle.
Fwoooosh!
“A—A magma turtle?!”
“What the heck is that? Is… is it real?”
At the sight of the monstrous creature awaiting them at the entrance, the students’ eyes widened in shock.
As they hesitated before the looming beast, a soft rustling sound followed.
From seemingly empty space, Letter’s figure emerged, offering his first and final piece of advice.
“Before you proceed, let me assure you—your lives will not be in danger. So, don’t be afraid….”
Try every possible method.
Wearing her usual calm expression, Letter vanished before the students could ask any questions.
And not even ten minutes later—
“Th—The ice is cracking! Run!!”
“AAAAAHHHH!!!”
“T—The ground is melting! The ground is melting!!”
Screams erupted from the students as their carefully planned strategies crumbled before their eyes.
Unlike last year, when the challenges had been simple quizzes, this time, things were different from the very start.