Chapter 11 – Failure

000

There are also several classes of accommodation in the city.

‘Mid-level accommodation’ for middle-aged adventurers such as Quon, Alvein, and Cleon, but also for those who earn a living every day economically.

A ‘lower-class lodging’ for those who, like Sasha, have just arrived in the city and are still in need of money.

And from the top of the academy.

An elite who earns enormous wealth by submitting a new thesis every year for a 7-year full scholarship.

‘Advanced lodging’ used by Lyla Flamewatch

Among these, only a handful of luxury accommodations are available.

Although not well known among adventurers.

Their accommodation was characterized by the freedom of room renovation to some extent, like a semi-private house.

Lila’s room. Her room, which she had never shown to anyone in the party—

The interior was decorated in a solid red color scheme.

Walls, ceilings, floors. Bed or carpet. Etc.

As I live, I think I will become crazy.

In Lyla’s case, all of this is an arrangement based on magical grounds.

She has a particularly good compatibility with the element of fire, so the more she is in a room full of red, the faster her magical power recovers.

Most of them were torn scrolls and scraps of tissue paper.

An inkwell that has been left unattended after writing a thesis.

Covered by ready-to-eat food containers, etc.

Rather, it gave off the feeling that it was a room where people lived.

The center of such a cluttered room.

Layla had been nervous since early morning, biting the thumb nail on her right hand.

Yesternight. After she sends Albein to Quon’s quarters, she continues to be like this.

‘Too many unexpected events have happened…`

As usual, after expelling Cleon and maintaining a moderately protracted relationship with Quon,

She thought of making Albein her own by judging the timing.

However. With the appearance of Sasha and Gala, Alban didn’t move as he wanted.

Also, Quon’s poor physical condition.

Her curiosity is stirred by a phenomenon that Laila herself is not aware of, and she is distracted.

She had no idea what the hell had happened to her.

And…

Yesterday’s work to be the decisive blow.

It was to keep her away from the mysterious sorcerer, but wasn’t it a mistake to send Alvein to Quon?

Quon, both physically and mentally weakened.

Albain is worried about Quon.

Midnight. Looking at a friend who has become weaker than before…

Reaffirm each other’s feelings.

Den. Young men and women. Crush.

Nothing can happen…

`No no. There can be no such thing. It’s that Albanian. Certainly. He couldn’t even read the atmosphere and made strange noises to ruin the situation.’

Lila shook her head, desperately justifying her own thinking.

But even if, what she thought had happened.

Smart

A knocking sound comes from the side of her door as if to cut off her accident of such Layla.

“Layla, are you awake!?”

Sasha’s urgent voice.

Lila looks back at her room for a moment and then waves her hand to obscure her room with her illusionary magic.

She then opens the door to her room as if nothing had happened and she greets Sasha lightly.

“Yes. What’s going on in the morning?”

“It’s a big deal! Mr. Albain passed out, Mr. Quon was kidnapped, and Mr. Cleon…”

Sasha, her fidgets and her eyes spinning.

Layla is on Sasha’s shoulders. She does and she beats down.

“Calm down. I don’t know what you’re talking about… Wait. What?”

“Mr. Cleon knocked out Mr. Alvein and kidnapped Mr. Quon!”

Momentary silence.

Lila’s ‘Haaaaa!?’ Sound resounded through her upscale quarters.

001

“…I mean. Albain and Quon were in a good mood… But Cleon broke into it, knocked out Albain, and took Quon?”

Layla organizes the information she received from Sasha.

Alvein, who woke up in the morning at Quon’s inn, seems to have been running around the city looking for Quon.

In the process, she meets Sasha and receives her story. Sasha, unable to see his ugliness any longer, entrusts him to Gala.

He came to Lila to solve her situation.

`What. In this case… Should I thank Cleon?`

Lila raises the corner of her mouth her little.

Regardless of whether Alban’s words were true or not, it seemed that he prevented them from crossing an important line.

“But Mr. Quon. Where did he go? I don’t think he’s in the city…”

“If you’re a shady Cleon, aren’t you sleeping outside the city?”

Laila answered Sasha’s words roughly, as she turned her gaze in the direction of the exit to the outside of the city.

“Ku, Mr. Cleon is not shady!”

“How about it. Actually, the traces of magic are pointing outwards.”

“Do you see something like that?”

After Layla. She smiles and focuses her magic in her eyes.

Her magic expands her field of vision.

She is able to confirm with her own eyes the reverberations of her magical powers that she has seen before.

‘Magical City’.

For a magician of Layla’s level, she could clearly follow the trail even after several hours.

Layla gave her a moment of trouble.

She opened the window of her room and jumped into the air.

“Ah!? Laila-san?”

Startled, Sasha follows and peers out her window.

Lila was floating in the sky with a levitation spell.

Seeing such a situation, Sasha sweeps her heart.

“I’ll go check it out.”

“Me, what about me?”

“Do whatever you want. Deliver it to Alvein.”

She says so and she flies straight through the city at high speed.

As she flew, she was organizing this and that thought in her head.

Cleon’s purpose. Quon’s condition. Alban’s actions.

If by any chance something happened between Quon and Cleon…

As an Albanian with a strong desire to monopolize her own

Her feelings for Quon will turn negative.

If so. It was a good opportunity for me.

It’s not what I planned, but if things go roughly that way.

And in the process, if you make an unnecessary person come off the stage…

`It’s just fine. This puts an end to an unexpected situation. Stupid Cleon, to hasten my own name.`

Layla follows the trail of her magic into the dangerous zone of the Living Forest.

The road that followed led to the count’s mansion.

“Hey, you’re hiding here. Sincerely to the barrier.”

Layla doesn’t chant and creates a huge fireball.

Red-hot flames form and rush into the mansion.

“Come on, I’ll burn you to death, Cleon.”

002

As soon as Lila opened her eyes, she naturally frowned at the sight before her.

A space that can’t be said to be very hygienic.

Stone walls and ceiling. An old iron grate.

And she is herself trapped in it.

It’s probably a prison in the basement of the mansion.

I understand your situation.

Behind the bars, a man sitting on a chair quietly looking this way.

Cleon.

He hadn’t disarmed, but he already had a winner’s margin.

Lila moves her limbs as a test for him.

The wound on the shoulder that was half healed, and the fracture from the fall.

And the final blow that pierced the abdomen.

The wounds caused by the black arrows were also completely healed.

The only thing that didn’t come back was empty magic power.

A magician without magical power is not as scary as a child with a sword.

“This. Did Quon do it?”

Lila opened his mouth, acting as cool as he could.

If the man in front of him lost his cool even a little bit, he didn’t know what would happen to him.

“Yeah. Thank her for her.”

“Hmm… You should know better what would happen if you killed me.”

Layla snorts at Cleon’s words.

True to her words, killing Layla wasn’t the best idea.

She is an academy student.

She is now out of school and working as an adventurer, but her status is still valid.

Above all, the position of chief.

Killing her will turn her entire academy into enemies.

It was too much of a burden for Cleon, who was neither a noble nor a person of power, but an adventurer.

Lyla, too, because she knew that, she was able to show some great attitude toward Cleon.

However, Cleon does not change from his nonchalant expression, as if he is not interested in Lila’s words.

The reaction was unexpected, but Lila needed to fully understand her situation first.

“What about Quon?”

“Sasha came and we are responding. I’ll talk to you above and come back.”

Sasha…!

Hopeful observations passed through Lila’s mind.

She’s a good kid

Seeing this situation, I couldn’t help but resent Cleon.

In such a situation, Cleon decided that he would have no choice but to free himself.

Smiled mischievously.

“It’s pretty… You’re relaxed. Lila.”

“I just thought it would be exhausting to fit into a play like this. Too bad! Cleon. Quon may have been coaxing, but I’m not that easy.”

Cleon stars at Layla’s face for a moment, then turns to sit in his chair.

Then, he took something out of his pocket and looked at it.

It was Lila’s usual necklace.

A type of magic tool characterized by red jewels.

There are various geometric patterns engraved on the inside.

Even a person unfamiliar with magic could tell that it was that kind of thing.

But as soon as Lila saw it, her complexion turned blue.

She quickly puts her hand to her chest. She already understood in her head that the things she wanted were not there.

“That, that…”

“At first glance, it’s a magic tool that helps control magical power. It’s well made. Did you use this to report what happened?”

A shock like a heavy stone falling deep into the chest.

Cleon—- noticed.

When? Where? How?

The worst-case scenario that can be imagined quickly builds up in my head.

“Now the mask has come off.”

Cleon looks at Layla’s pale face and looks at her necklace.

That necklace is a kind of transceiver.

Through Layla’s will, the various events that occur during the adventure with Alvein are transmitted to the academy along with magical power.

Layla had a duty to report.

A student at the academy.

At the same time, as an attendant of the mission to capture the hero.

“I thought it was strange. You, the head of the academy, no matter how brave you are, would come looking for Alvein in a village like this.”

The hero of the continent is not one.

Among them, Alban was a young rookie who belonged to the unknown side.

It reminded her of the greeting she had given when Layla first came to see Albein.

‘My name is Lila. Lyla Flamewatch. I am the head of the proud academy. Hero Alvein. I came here after hearing your rumors.`

“Was the risk too great to bring someone who was too famous or strong to the academy? Alvein might have been a suitable target.”

“That, that’s-“

As Cleon’s words continued, cold sweat welled up all over Layla’s body.

This man knows everything.

A secret of his own that must never be hidden.

Darkness linked to the secrets of the academy.

“Alvedo would be surprised. If he knew that Laila saw him as her lab animal and approached her.”

“—T, wrong. I don’t see Alvein that way.”

As much as this was true.

Of course, ignorant at first, but brave,

He thought he was just a human with a little more power than others.

But this one year.

A friend to Albain while staying with him and Quon,

And it was true that he had feelings beyond that.

Regardless of that.

Trick everyone to do the mission

Excluding Cleon, who was in the way, from the party was also an unchanging fact.

“Yes… I must have been a hindrance. In your mission. The constant gossiping of me to Quon and Alvein. That was the reason.”

“…I’m sorry…”

Cleon’s guess was correct.

Alvein, the center of the party.

However, at the age of a boy, he possesses strong powers and has a temperament that runs amok.

It was Cleon’s presence that acted as the reins to control from the side.

Disrupt the party as naturally as possible

It’s for Lyla, who has to make Albein her own and take her back to her academy.

Cleon’s presence to keep Alvein cool was a thorn in his eye.

“That, what are you going to do?”

Lila’s voice trembled, she asked Cleon.

According to common sense, it wasn’t a very good idea to tell Alvein about this.

Upon hearing the truth, Alvein might go berserk and run amok. In the process, people may get injured.

The scale of the incident may be too large for personal revenge.

“It would be right to report to the guild.”

So, the correct answer is this.

Lila collapses in her seat as her legs give out in desperation at hearing the answer she least wants.

“A guild has an obligation to protect the adventurers it belongs to. Especially if it is an adventurer who is treated as a key member of a national class like a hero.”

“That, stop…”

Lyla’s voice tinged with fear contrasts with Cleon’s calm voice.

But regardless of that, Cleon’s story continues.

“If you hear a report about the academy. The guild will make a formal complaint to the academy… Your mission will end in failure.”

“Stop…!”

Tears well in her eyes.

Cleon didn’t stop.

“If that happens… What kind of ending will be left for you who have destroyed the academy’s face?”

“Please! Stop it—!”

It was rare for Lila to lose her composure this far.

But Cleon knew why.

Previously, used for Sasha,

The ability to read the past of a target connected by magic.

Cleon looked at her with the intention of giving her the upper hand in her story with Lila.

She couldn’t help but stick her tongue out at her acting, which had been fooling them for a year.

What about Layla who failed her mission?

Something like that, Cleon already knew.

In her memory, all the answers were there.

‘Enforcement Division’. The same position as the punitive unit belonging to the academy.

He visits students who failed in their mission or betrayed the academy and deal with them.

In terms of skill, Layla might be ahead.

However, their true value lies in their brutality.

Not only himself, but each and every one of the people around him.

Cut off the helping hand and come to the prison.

At some point, in the remaining solitude, the failure collapses.

In her memory was also the memory of another student who was executed.

Certainly, it couldn’t be called a nice view.

However.

Because of that. The avenger doesn’t stop.

Even if Layla despairs and trembles with her fear.

There was no reason for him to stop.

Because. He and Layla are not colleagues.

From scratch.

Lila looks up at the shadows cast over her.

Standing with his back to the prison fire, Cleon looks down at himself.

Those eyes unchangingly radiate a cold darkness, and the heart of mercy was not shown at all.

There was no such thing as sympathy for Lila.

Because the revenge isn’t over yet.

“You cheated and trampled on others with your circumstances. Did you think you would be safe?”

A voice filled with icy fury. Layla flinches in horror burning down her spine.

As I listened to his story, I couldn’t control my body properly because my breathing quickened.

Even so, for a moment she tried to step backwards to get away from Cleon.

Cleon’s hand, which had reached beyond her bars, grabbed Layla’s wrist.

“You can’t run away. Neither from me nor from the responsibility for what you did.”

“S-I don’t like it… !”

“Regret. I don’t want reflection. You won’t be able to afford that. Stay in constant fear of the approaching ending.”

“Ahhh…!”

Layla saw.

The demonic female laughter wriggling in his shadow.

The silhouette that seems to have been seen somewhere before.

However. There was no time left to worry about such things.

This man will kill me

Even if he himself does not touch his hand her.

There was no assortment of escapes for Layla.

“Cleon.”

At that time. A low-pitched female voice.

A crack opens in the dark tension between Cleon and Lyla.

At the same time, the two of them looked at the entrance of the prison where the voice came from.

There, I could see Quon’s figure.

Did you hear the story of Layla and Cleon?

Her expression was a little dark.

There was pity in her eyes that Cleon lacked.

“Ku, kuon…!”

Leila looked at her own companion with her quivering voice.

She appeared in this situation now.

It was her only ray of hope her for herself.

If it was Quon, she might be able to stop Cleon.

“Cleon. You decided not to be too hard on Layla.”

“…Ah. I did. Sorry.”

At that, Cleon let go of Layla’s arm and fell from her grate.

Lyla, who kept trying to get away from Cleon, couldn’t overcome her momentum and she fell.

“What about Sasha?”

“I made you wait upstairs. It’s not a sight I want to show you very much.”

As Quon approaches,

Layla weeps as she thrusts her head through the bars of her prison cell.

“D-listen to me, Quon! I, I’m sure I fooled everyone, but… But, I’m a colleague—”

“Yes. I know. Lila.”

Quon patted Lila’s hair and spoke quietly.

Her voice was as sweet as ever.

The Quon she hadn’t seen in a long time seemed to have already regained her original state.

Lila looked like a real saint like that.

If she’s a kuon, she might be able to save herself.

From a demon named Cleon.

“So. Let’s properly apologize to Cleon.”

“Uh?”

But it was different from her expectations of her.

Quon said with a voice like that of a saint.

With a smile like her mother’s her, Layla despairs.

The magic that returned a little bit restored Layla’s magic poetry her.

Then, at the same time, what can be seen is the passage of magic that connects Quon and Cleon.

Is that so, these two have already

There was no hope here.

There was not one path of magical power leading from Cleon’s body to her.

Through the ceiling, probably the girl in the mansion up here.

Sasha must be the same as Kuon.

It wasn’t the kind that manipulated the will.

Just. Beings who understand each other from the depths of their souls.

Loneliness. Loss. Despair. Wound. To understand negative emotions

More than those who only share the positive side—

It’s like a colleague.

It wasn’t something that a traitor like himself could dig into.

So Layla decided to relax.

Even if I cry more than this Even roll her head her.

She came to the realization that there was no way she could defeat Cleon.

Lyla stumbled away from Quon and looked at Cleon.

And. Lila’s waist her. Her knees her. Put her head her down her fell to the ground

“Please… I beg you… Mr. Cleon…”

A proud mouth that used to memorize incantations.

Noble soul.

But-

Now, all of them are swallowed up by fear and despair.

One word, one word. Every time you exhale.

“Yo, please forgive me… Help me…”

Layla was wise.

She acted because she was wise.

But she failed.

The cost of failure was too great.