Chapter 168 – Remaining Funds (5)

During the Great War, humanity’s goal was to reach the Demon King’s Castle with minimal fighting and cut off the Demon King’s head.
For him, the talent most needed in the death squad was not a wizard with enormous firepower, but a guide who could find the path more accurately than anyone else.
For that reason, Nova Latte was a companion that Hubblet found through prophecy in Sandalphonia Sand Canyon.
The old staff that only shepherds could use always pointed to the path of life, even in the middle of a demonic world full of enemies.

“Did you sleep well, Louis?”
“Uh, okay.”

As I stood up rubbing my eyes, two eyes stared at me while riding on top of me.
Burden.

“Since when have you been watching… ?”
“Since Lewis was sleeping.”
“I lay down with you.”
“From then.”
“…”

To be honest, Nova was the type of person that was difficult to understand even when we were together in Helzeb.
Although she had an expressionless face, she would always look up blankly at the sky with eyes that were completely different from Esther’s.
There were many times when I took care of even basic things like eating and sleeping.
Eris always got angry as if she didn’t like it.

“Work?”
“Uh. I have to open the door. By the way, are you moving it behind your pet store? “All the guests should run away.”
“… Huh.”
“And we’re going to start construction on the basement, so please be patient even if it’s noisy.”
“Are you going to take out the holy sword?”
“Because it’s difficult if you don’t have it when you need it. “Are you having any trouble?”

She quietly closed her eyes at my question.
It was an ambiguous expression that neither confirmed nor denied.
Just as the three Sandalphonia sisters kept an eye on me, she also did not try to tie what I was about to do with a transcendent message of foresight.
Fish floating in the sky cannot be caught by lowering the net.
It was a metaphor that Nova once created while referring to me.

“Yo, Yongie-yang…”

I went down to the first floor.
Just as the lecture ended, Adella burst through the door and literally froze when she saw the giant dragon perched on the counter.
The iron dogs and ice ducks, which had been fighting over territory, had already been pushed out by the ecosystem’s top predators and were forced to squat.
Even though it has an automatic recovery function, I feel quite sad to see it whining with an iron plate wrapped around its stomach.

Adela screamed, covering my eyes with her hair as I broke the ice on her with the end of the 〈 magic.

“Stop, teacher!! “It’s a dragon!”
“I know. They say he’s still young and can’t speak, and he’s a coward so he’s scared to go outside. “But I’ve trained you a bit, so you won’t attack me.”
“That’s not the problem! “How can you have so little common sense!?”

When I heard that Adela, as well as other people, lacked common sense, I was greatly shocked.
Am I inferior to Adela in terms of intelligence?
That can’t be possible.

“President. Good morning… Hiccup!”

Liv’s reaction after entering the cafeteria was also worth seeing.
Her face gradually turned pale and she walked towards me in her stride and placed her hand on her stomach.

“Please pinch my stomach…” … “I guess I haven’t woken up from my dream yet.”
“It’s not a dream.”

And I usually don’t even pinch there.

In fact, their reaction was completely normal.
Because dragons are already extinct on the continent.
It felt like I was digging in the sand at the playground and found a dinosaur fossil.

“Wait just a moment. Let’s just clean up here and start operating soon. Hey, you go to the temple.”
“Keuang——.”

As I pushed its heavy body into the door leading to the cafe across from the store, it let out a small cry for the first time.
The ice ducks that came running out of nowhere started chirping and kicking the dragon’s butt as if to vent their anger.
Ujijik! The threshold broke with a sound, but I couldn’t get him out, so I just pushed him in and closed the door.

‘How on earth did you get here?’

Bang!

As a result, the cafe will no longer be able to operate for the time being.
I’ll have to ask Lehel later to prepare a room for me in Sacreir.

“Say hello to both of you. “My former colleague, Nova Latte.”
“Yes?”
“… ?”

Lastly, while introducing Nova to the two people who came down from the second floor, I picked up the pickaxe in front of the basement.
And he said the same thing as when he first let Liv and Adela work at the canteen.

“I think I’ll be staying here for a while. Everyone is friendly.”

I’m sure we’ll become friends quickly since we have something in common.

***

“Sergei, are you serious? Are you going to go to war?”
“Yes. A great warrior never backs down when given the opportunity to show off his bravery! “I have already conveyed my intentions to the knights.”

Alexandr Sergei, a second-year student at the Parenzia Academy’s knight department, proudly displayed his aspirations while wearing his large axe.
In fact, there were many students at the academy who volunteered to participate in the war like him.
Of course, the student council did not sit idly by and took the stance that they were willing to risk expulsion, but these energetic students were ready to invade the castle at any moment.
On the other hand, Colin, who was next to him, was a weak man and kept worrying.

“Yeah, but war is dangerous! They say the dormitory will continue to operate just in case, so it’s okay to just stay at the safe academy…”
“Under!! “That’s nonsense——!!”

Sergei took out an ax and split the air.
Students who were going to have lunch after class passed by and glanced at him like he was crazy.

“You can look forward to it, Colin. “From now on, the name of Alexander Sergei will spread throughout the continent.”
“Really… ?”
“Okay!! But before that…”

The sharp ax blade pointed to a building in the center of the academy.

“We must cut off all past resentment.”

A month ago, during the festival, Sergei was training alone in the school’s training hall when he saw it.
Parencia Academy’s 1st political debate.
In the discussion hosted by the Red Flag, the face and name of the person who attacked him during the field training was clearly mentioned.

A certain Viscount who bribed the jury with numerous gold coins ended up winning, but that didn’t matter at all.
The same man who smashed the doll that was the only sign of their relationship with his sister.
The store he runs only resumed business today.

“I’ll kill you.”

How long have we been waiting for this moment?
Sergei gripped the handle of his ax so hard that it threatened to break it.

“Mind his muscles, break his bones… !”

With each step, my killing intent grew stronger.
When he arrived in front of the store, the mana of his entire body had already taken on the shape of an evil spirit that no one could stop.

“I will let you sleep forever so that you will never see me again!!!”

The moment Sergei flung open the cafeteria door, Colin, who was standing behind him, felt something strange.
Come to think of it, it’s lunch time, so why isn’t there a single student?

“Die, canteen owner… !!”

The first thing Sergei felt when he opened the door was the terrible cold wave and chill.
It was a red illusion symbolizing hell and an unknown fear.
The sight seen through frozen eyelids was three women sitting side by side at the counter.
What their screaming skin warns of is an overwhelming storm of mana coming from them.
To live.
Murder.

And it was death.

“…”
“…”
“…”
“… “I was going to buy flint, but I forgot and didn’t bring any money.”

Naturally, he looked at the ax blade against the sunlight and closed the door again.
And, somewhat unnaturally, he muttered in a loud voice.

“Now that I think about it, I don’t think there’s any need for grooming at this level! “Because it’s enough to rip off those Seongguk bastards!!”

Colin approached his friend who was sweating like rain.
Sergei stood up again, breathing heavily.

“I think I found the wrong address by mistake.”
“Sergei… ?”
“Hmm! I’ve never been to the store before, so I guess I entered the wrong passage leading to the Demon World. “Oh, that door over there is real.”

There happened to be another door in the annex at the back of the building, so Sergei confidently walked towards it.
He stood in front of the locked door, determined to tear Louis to pieces this time.

“Hey, you.”

Kwasik!
Gently driving his ax into the center of the wooden door, he twisted the blade to create a small gap.
And he remembered the time he had exterminated the giant centipede on Hover Mountain, and he peered through the gap with his eyes.

“Are you there…?” … ?”

.
.
.

A flash of light.

***

— The Academy is accepting leave applications from teachers who will be participating in the war. According to the treaty, Yunhoegong decided to step forward when the invasion of the Holy Kingdom occurred in earnest.
“Is there anything wrong with the western border?”
— There have been casualties on our side recently. The Night Watch of the Knights of Blackrock was quickly defeated, and Goliath went to investigate as enemies may have infiltrated the kingdom.

Erzsebet was holding a meeting to prepare for war with the Holy Kingdom through communication.
It was a fairly large meeting, with the royal military minister, Parenzia’s administrative chief, and leaders of each magic tower gathered together.

“Okay, is there anything else to report?”
– I… Today, during the day at the academy, a student fainted and said nonsense, saying he saw a yellow pupil. Could that also have something to do with Seongguk?

Mark, who spoke carefully as the Academy’s security captain, quickly lowered his head due to the silence of the people.

— Sorry, that didn’t fit the case.
– Okay. Because it means that the guards are carrying out their duties well.

Because the one who protected Mark was none other than Adalbert, the former leader of the Knights of Hooksclaw, the others could not say anything.
Erzsebet was also nervous when he, who had remained silent throughout the meeting, opened his mouth.

— More than that, when I think of Parencia, wouldn’t it be better not to have fireworks this year?
“Oh, you mean introduction work?”
— I am saying this because I am worried about taking unnecessary risks when the atmosphere in the kingdom is turbulent. It is also better to avoid provoking monsters.
“Um, but…”

Erzsebet hesitated.
The reason Darling Tokarev ravages the forest every year is to find the remains of his late father.
Will you be able to convince her?

If war breaks out, the value of Parencia, the center of distribution, is higher than anything else.
It is clear that the Ruhilen Merchant Marine, the largest in the central part of the kingdom, will also be of great help in transporting war materials.
Therefore, there was no noble present here who could hastily tell Darling that the search operation you led in your territory should not be carried out this year.
The reason she, the representative of the Lion and Iron Merchants Association, did not attend this important meeting in the first place was because she was busy burning the forest.

— Hmm, I have some information that might be helpful…

At a time when everyone was hesitating, Osborne, president of the Royal Meteorological Society, spoke.

— According to our society’s data, I remember something similar happened during the monster wave that swept Parencia 7 years ago.
“What does that mean?”
— Fire. Ha… Although it was not properly photographed because it was obscured by the telegraph wire launched by the Lighthouse of Horus, there is data showing the magical waves of the fire that occurred in the western forest at the time.

As he said, the photo he presented was of poor quality.
The photo was dark, as if it had been taken on a sunless night, possibly because the observation ship’s aperture was broken, and the flickering that appeared to be fireworks was also strange.

“Is this a black and white photo?”
– No. The flame itself is black. This phenomenon occurs when the proportion of karma is extremely high, even in the same white magician.

Darkened sun and black flames.

— Princess, how about persuading Viscount Ruhilen with this?

Erzsebet felt like she had seen that magic somewhere.