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Chapter 260 [Illustration]

She would realize over time that my words were true.

She seemed to somewhat understand why I was trying to contact the magic societies and why there was so much that was strange about me. Thus, discussing the details of these matters with Eleris became a bit easier.

I was trying to prevent a massive future crisis.

With that overarching premise, there was no need to hold back in our discussions.

But there was a problem.

“... You don’t know?” Eleris asked.

“That’s right.”

“But didn’t you say you know the future?”

“That’s why I said I don’t know everything. There’s more I don’t know.”

“But still, you can’t lie about something like the Black Order!” Eleris shouted in exasperation.

‘Uh, this feels... It’s like I’m getting scolded by my mom for causing trouble...’

“What do you mean? I only knew that Aaron Mede was a member of the Black Order, not where to find them. So, I threw it out there, believing that if I missed this chance, I’d never find a way to get in touch with them.”

Eleris sighed. “Your Highness... What should we do...? So, you don’t know much about Cantus Magna either?”

“That’s right.”

Another long sigh.

When writing a long story, the length of it causes certain problems.

When a story goes into long-term serialization, limits to human memory lead to inevitable issues.

You might forget the plot threads you introduced, or you might find it too difficult to tie up those loose ends, so you just leave them hanging.

In my case, the magic societies were one of these unresolved plot points. I didn’t forget them, but the scope of the story became so large that I just... couldn’t deal with it.

The way they were now was a product of my irresponsibility.

The Black Order appeared once in the Aaron Mede incident and was mentioned in relation to the Forbidden Spell Hunters, but that was it.

I described them as something impressive, and I had certain ideas about them in my head, but they never appeared again. When the Gate Incident exploded, all the minor plot threads were either sucked in or forgotten.

I never even mentioned what those guys did during the Gate Incident, and all I had leftover were the thoughts I had when I’d initially set up the idea of magic societies.

Magic societies acted according to their own standards, regardless of societal morals. Just like the Black Order, the Forbidden Spell Hunters—Cantus Magna—would follow their own beliefs.

The Black Order made a singular appearance in the novel, and Cantus Magna was only ever mentioned and never appeared.

In the end, this was a mess I’d created, so I had to figure it out myself.

If the magic societies caused the Gate Incident, I needed to know more about them.

The issue at hand was that I’d pretended to have information that would interest the Black Order when I actually had nothing.

That was why Eleris was looking at me with such disdain.

“Well... I don’t know much about Cantus Magna. But I do know how to set up a meeting with them.”

“Do you really know of such a way?”

‘Ah. But if I say this... I might get scolded really badly...’

It wasn’t complicated at all; the strategy was very simple, and it was probably even the best option.

“They’re Forbidden Spell Hunters, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then if we use a forbidden spell, they’ll come, right?”

“...”

Eleris’s expression turned icy. It felt similar to the occasions when Ellen would give me a chilling look.

However, Ellen’s face was usually expressionless, and so it wasn’t that bad. Seeing the ever-smiling Eleris offer up such an expression... It truly felt like a crisis.

All you had to do to summon the Forbidden Spell Hunters was to use a forbidden spell...

The logic itself was sound.

“What am I going to do with you?!” Eleris finally yelled, and smacked me on the head.

Thwack!

“Ouch!”

“Oh! Wh-What have I done...!”

Eleris, shocked by her own actions, started patting my head and apologizing profusely.

The idea of using a forbidden spell to summon Cantus Magna was, of course, rejected.

“Eleris, think through this rationally. If the Black Order finds out I lied, we’ll end up fighting them anyway. Either way, we’ll end up in conflict with one of them, right?”

“Be quiet!”

Eleris sighed heavily, still fuming. “Someone on the Council might know something. Let’s start by looking for clues there. Some of their families are deeply intertwined with the human world.”

“Really?”

“Old vampires inevitably become mages. There’s nothing like difficult studies to pass the time.”

We would leave the most dangerous strategies on hold for the moment, and try to obtain some information from the Vampire Council.

What happened next would largely depend on whether we could bring them into the fold or not.

***

While life at Temple continued on, I gave Eleris instructions for what had to be done outside.

We had not yet gathered any information on Cantus Magna to offer to the Black Order, but the likelihood that we would have to fight them was very low. If push came to shove, I could always threaten to use a forbidden spell to summon them. The Black Order must have had their reasons for not using that method themselves, though.

For the time being, the matter with Aaron Mede had been settled, and Eleris was the only one with whom I shared this secret.

However, a problem arose...

“...”

“You know, you two are pretty easy to read.”

“What do you mean?”

We were quietly having breakfast. Riana was biting the end of her fork and looking back and forth between Ellen and me.

“Did you two fight again?”

“No. And what’s with the ‘again’?”

“We didn’t fight.”

‘They fought,’ was the prevailing sentiment on everyone else’s faces.

“These two don’t usually talk much, but you can tell when they’ve fought.”

At Riana’s words, Adelia laughed awkwardly and scratched her head. She probably thought I might throw a fit if she said anything.

Since the last incident, both Ellen and I had grown strangely silent, as if we had fought but also hadn’t.

Ellen was angry at me, and I was angry at Ellen.

We were both worried about each other, but all that worrying only resulted in an increase in negativity.

‘What should I say?’

Both externally and internally, there were so many things to consider that made my head feel like it was going to explode.

Ellen wasn’t the only problem.

Riana looked at the person sitting next to her and asked, “And what’s up with you lately?”

Harriet, who had been picking at her breakfast with a gloomy expression, shook her head. “Nothing. I’m fine.”

Harriet was suffering from something like PTSD because of the shocking scenes she’d witnessed at Aaron Mede’s mansion.

Harriet hadn’t participated directly in the fight. After setting up the Anti-Magic Field, Ellen had taken care of everything, but Harriet had still seen humans controlled by homunculi collapse when she triggered her anti-magic spell.

It wasn’t murder, but Harriet seemed to think of it as such.

And the horrific chimeras she’d seen in the underground workshop... That alone was enough to be the direct cause of her trauma. I hadn’t gone into the laboratory myself, so I didn’t see them, but Ellen seemed to never want to think about it again either.

Something like that was unavoidable. I too suffered from nightmares for a while after seeing the horde of zombies.

Considering how delicately Harriet had been raised, it was somewhat fortunate that she was only suffering from nightmares and trauma after witnessing such sights. In fact, it was a relief that she could still manage to carry on with her daily life.

What had happened there was a secret, so very few people knew about it.

Aside from Vertus, no one else understood why we were in such a state.

As expected, Riana, who couldn’t stand seeing us like this, suggested something to lift the mood.

“How about a change of scenery? I heard a lot of autumn flowers are blooming by the Irine River. Let’s go see them after class.”

No one seemed particularly enthusiastic, but everyone nodded, likely thinking that refusing her would result in them getting an electric massage from a smiling Riana.

***

After class, Ellen, Harriet, Riana, Adelia, and I left Temple.

Ellen walked a slight distance away from me, and Harriet was with Adelia.

Because of this, Riana and I ended up walking in front.

“So, did you manage to resolve that last issue?”

“... More or less.”

If it hadn’t been resolved, I wouldn’t be out here like this. Riana was strangely perceptive yet oblivious at the same time.

“It seems like that incident left you all in this state...”

She could guess that another incident that she didn’t know about had occurred somewhere, but didn’t inquire further.

That aside, why suggest a flower-viewing trip all of a sudden?

I had no interest in such things. Come to think of it, Adelia, who was deeply into magic, wouldn’t care much for flowers, and neither would Ellen. Of course, Harriet had grown up in a palace with gardens, and might actually enjoy it.

“Do you like flowers?” I asked.

At my question, Riana tilted her head.

“Not really? Unless it’s about clothes.”

So, it was clear that this was just for a change of scenery, and she had no real interest in flowers.

‘Who exactly are we doing this for?’

***

The Irine River... In other words, the Han River of the imperial capital, Gradium.

It was a place I went to often while the Rotary Club still had its headquarters nearby, but I hadn’t had much reason to visit since the headquarters was relocated.

Autumn flowers were blooming everywhere, and many people were out for a stroll.

The world was at peace after the Demon King’s death.

We watched people enjoying the flowers without a care in the world.

We were just like them.

Everyone had come to see the flowers without much thought, and Riana was no exception.

Since we were there, we walked along the paths, admiring the flowers in full bloom.

Riana grabbed my arm and pointed to a type of flower that was most abundant.

It was the most common flower in bloom.

“What kind of flower is that?” Riana asked.

“... That’s a cosmos,” I replied.

“... Huh. How do you know that?”

“Um... Because it’s common knowledge.”

‘How can you suggest a flower viewing trip without even knowing what a cosmos is?’

However, it seemed like Riana wasn’t the only one who didn’t know; everyone else looked puzzled too. They were all looking at me slightly differently.

‘Why does this feel like an isekai plot twist out of nowhere?’

“Wait, you all didn’t know either?” I asked, bewildered.

Adelia scratched her cheek. “Oh... It’s not that we didn’t know it was a cosmos...”

“... Is it just surprising that I know anything about flowers?” I asked.

Ellen, Harriet, Adelia, and Riana all nodded.

Of course. It was shocking that someone like me, who they probably saw as a delinquent, even knew the name of a common flower.

‘Damn it.’

I didn’t have a deep interest in flowers, but I knew a bit.

Of course, there was a time when I’d tried to expand my vocabulary by memorizing the names of all the flowers and their meanings, a pointless endeavor that didn’t help my writing at all.

Still, I ended up memorizing the names and meanings of several common flowers. The kind of flowers everyone knew.

“Hey, what’s that one?”

“A chrysanthemum.”

“And that one?”

“... That’s also a chrysanthemum.”

“But they’re different colors. The first one was white, and that one’s yellow.”

“Seriously, don’t you know that both red roses and white roses are still roses? Are you really that ignorant?”

“Oh, right. They do look the same now that I think about it.”

Even though it was nothing special, everyone looked at me as if I was some kind of marvel.

‘What exactly do they think of me?’

I probably didn’t need to ask.

Riana seemed to find it amusing and kept asking me about the names of various flowers whenever she saw one she didn’t recognize.

While I rattled off the names of various flowers, there were still many I didn’t know.

There were flowers that only existed in this world, ones that might only exist in my original world, and also ones I just didn’t know the names of.

Naturally, I couldn’t recognize all of them. More often than not, I didn’t know them.

As the sun began to set, though, everyone was looking at me strangely.

It was as though they were seeing a completely different side of me.

“Seriously, why are you all acting like this? Is it that surprising that I know a few flowers?”

“Of course it is,” Riana said on behalf of everyone. “The more I see you, the less I understand you.”

At least they didn’t see this side of me in a negative light.

For some reason, Harriet’s face was flushed.

‘These punks... It seems like there’s a big misunderstanding about me. I need to break this atmosphere.’

“But you know, I find flower viewing a bit strange.”

“Why?”

Everyone seemed curious about what I would say next.

“Flowers are basically the reproductive organs of plants, right?”

To be precise, I was talking about the pistil and stamen.

I looked at the wildflowers scattered around.

“Isn’t it funny that all these people have gathered here to look at reproductive organs?”

“Oh...”

“...”

“...”

“You’re really a crazy lunatic.”

I had successfully ruined the mood.

***

I wasn’t sure if the flower viewing had really lifted anyone’s spirits. As we were about to head back, Ellen grabbed my arm.

“A little longer.”

“... What?”

Ellen gave me a look.

“Let’s stay a little longer.”

She wanted to be alone with me. Everyone else seemed to understand and left us alone without much fuss.

They probably thought we needed time to talk, given their mistaken belief that we had fought.

Without saying much, they left us behind.

It was an autumn evening, and with the sun setting, we sat on the steps near the Irine River.

“...”

“...”

We had both been angry at each other.

I would continue to get involved in dangerous matters, most of which I couldn’t tell Ellen about. I didn’t want to ask for her help. These matters were too dangerous.

There was no way Ellen could know even a little about what I was going to do. If she did, the problem wouldn’t just be that I was doing something dangerous; she would learn my secrets.

If that happened, I didn’t know what would come after.

I didn’t want to imagine it.

“It’s strange,” Ellen said softly.

“What is?”

“When someone is precious to you, you should say nice things to them, do nice things for them.”

“...”

“But when someone is too precious, you end up saying hurtful things and causing them pain.”

Ellen looked out quietly at the calm surface of the river, tinged with the red hues of the setting sun. “It’s foolish.”

“... Yeah, it is.”

I picked up a stone and threw it into the river, watching the small ripples it created as it sank beneath the surface under the burning autumn sunset.

“I’m sorry.”

“Me too. I’m sorry.”

We apologized to each other.

Ellen leaned her head on my shoulder.

It was something she hadn’t done in a long time.

“Reinhart.”

“Yeah.”

“Aaron Mede. You didn’t kill him, did you?”

“...”

Ellen already knew.

She had to know.

It was a lie I had concocted. Aaron Mede had died because his head had exploded. There was no way I could have inflicted such a wound.

Even though I had hidden the body, Ellen might have seen it.

“Yeah,” I responded.

Ellen didn’t press further.

“When I become a Swordmaster, will you tell me your secret?”

“...”

Even if she became more than a Swordmaster, there was no way I could tell her.

I couldn’t give her an answer.

The moment when Ellen would inevitably learn my secret seemed to be approaching.

It felt like an unavoidable fate, even if we could avoid the Gate Incident.