Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Talent Will Out (4)

“What is that method?”

“I am planning to place a curse on Aron Bayonel here at Saengterminum Academy.”

A curse... Well, that certainly made sense.

Most curses were auxiliary effects meant to lower an opponent’s abilities.

Among supportive Black Magic, there was nothing quite as useful as a curse.

I feigned ignorance.

“I am not very familiar with curses, so how exactly are you planning to cast it?”

“I cannot tell you the details, but you should know this much: I plan to cast the curse using Aron’s hair and nails as the medium. I intend to obtain permission from the Lord of House Bayonel and bring a sufficient amount to Saengterminum Academy.”

Only the curse combat techniques developed by House Bayonel were unusual. 

Normally, just as Lloyd had said, curses were generally activated by using a part of the target’s body as a medium.

As they say, a bad feeling is never wrong.

Professor Dave had been steadily preparing to catch me here.

Still, it was not such a difficult situation.

Black Mages did not carelessly handle parts of their own bodies, such as hair or nails. 

They could easily become the medium for a curse, just like this.

The same was true for me.

He must have barely managed to scrape together those pieces of my body, even after securing House Bayonel’s cooperation.

At absolute best, he would only be able to use them once.

That was why he intended to cast the curse in Saengterminum Academy, where I was most likely to remain.

This kind of curse grew stronger the closer the caster was to the target.

“Thanks for the restaurant tip, but this is about as much information as I can give someone from the Holy Magic Department.”

“I see.”

I understood. 

He had probably exchanged words with Professor Dave separately regarding how to catch me.

It would naturally be uncomfortable for him to tell a Holy Magic Department student the details on his own initiative.

Though, that hardly mattered.

I chuckled inwardly.

He probably thought he had only let a little slip because he assumed I knew nothing at all about Black Magic.

But I was Aron Bayonel himself, a Black Mage who had even achieved a Return to the Past through Black Magic.

In my previous life, perhaps that would have been another matter, but if he was trying to place a curse on me now, he was already finished.

The family that specialized in the Curse Type was House Bayonel, the family I had belonged to.

Before my Return to the Past, I had mastered all four branches of Black Magic, but among them, I had been particularly exceptional in the Curse Type.

The Black Magic I had practiced steadily since childhood was the Curse Type. 

There was no way I would fall for a curse activated through such antiquated procedures.

A curse that was activated over a wide area using a part of the target’s body as a medium had a complicated activation process, so even an outstanding Black Mage would need at least a month to prepare it, no matter how quickly he worked.

Of course, I would need to prepare against curses in the meantime, but it was not a truly serious matter.

“That should be enough of an answer for you, right?”

“Yes. It answered quite a lot of what I was curious about.”

“I should express my gratitude as well. Thanks to you, I learned of a decent restaurant...”

Just as Lloyd and I rose from our seats.

BANG!

A palm suddenly shot out and slammed against the edge of the table.

The sharp sound drew the attention of the nearby diners.

“How rude!”

Lloyd twisted his face into a deep frown and glared at the person who had struck the table.

I followed his gaze as well.

“...That is what I would like to ask.”

With a frosty expression, Yulia was looking back and forth between me and Lloyd.

Viole stood behind her, scanning the room with an awkward smile as more and more eyes began to turn in our direction.

What? 

Why are those two here?

This restaurant was in a secluded place, so it was hard for first-years at Saengterminum Academy to know about it.

Did they hear about it from upperclassmen? 

They had already been warmly greeting second- and third-year seniors earlier, so the timing felt awfully convenient.

“What were the two of you talking about?”

“Why should I tell you that?”

“I do not believe you invited a first-year from our Holy Magic Department to this restaurant with good intentions.”

“What?”

“Huh?”

Lloyd and I exchanged looks.

Noticing the disbelief on our faces, Yulia also looked flustered.

“Uh... Did you not bring a first-year from our department here yourself?”

“I brought him here? It was the opposite, actually.”

“Excuse me?”

“He asked what kind of Instructor Professor Dave had been at Necropia. I was the one who suggested the restaurant.”

“I-I heard first-years do not really know about this restaurant. Since it was you, Lloyd, I assumed you had heard about it from upperclassmen...”

“Hah! Do you think the atmosphere in your department and mine is the same? Upperclassmen? Not a single senior came to the lecture hall I was in.”

Black Mages did not place much importance on senior-junior relationships. 

Rather than seniority, they tended to sort people above and below them based purely on skill.

That was why, even if a first-year belonged to one of the Four Great Houses of the Dark Empire, no one would bother seeking him out just to greet him.

Students from other departments needed a bit of time to understand that trait of Black Mages.

Which was why she had misunderstood things like this.

“Th-then... Brother Damon, how did you find out about this restaurant?”

“I heard about it too.”

Casting a sideways glance at Lloyd, I continued, “I happen to know an upperclassman who likes flavorful food.”

“Ah, I see......”

Now that she understood the situation, the muscles in her face stiffened.

Lloyd did not miss the opening and looked down at Yulia triumphantly.

“Well then, Holy Knight? Do you have anything to say to me?”

“Ugh......”

The corners of her mouth twisted.

Did she really hate apologizing that much?

At last, she lowered her head and forced out the words.

“I-I apologize. I misunderstood.”

“Kahahat! Exactly. If you misunderstood, then you should apologize. So you are not a completely ill-mannered woman after all.”

I almost felt bad for Yulia.

“I see. So you met Lloyd to get information about Professor Dave. I can understand that.”

After moving her lips for a moment, she addressed me.

“Even so, Damon, please stop going out of your way to meet Black Mages from now on.”

“Stop?”

“Yes. In the Holy Empire, Black Magic is treated as Forbidden Magic. If this were not Saengterminum Academy, you would have no grounds to complain even if an Inquisitor arrested you for having contact with a Black Mage.”

***

I hesitated for a moment.

What I was about to say to Yulia would definitely irritate her.

If I simply said I understood and then kept my distance from Lloyd and the other Black Mages... 

I could probably leave a good impression on her here.

But... what would be the point of having returned to the past if I did that?

If I sat back and did nothing, war between the Dark Empire and the Holy Empire would become inevitable.

Because I knew the future, I had a responsibility to improve the relationship between the Holy Empire and the Dark Empire.

More than anything, it did not suit my temperament.

I was also a Black Mage, just like Lloyd.

For a Black Mage to acknowledge Black Magic as Forbidden Magic and distance himself from fellow Black Mages......

Heh.

Even I found the thought absurd, and a short breath escaped me.

“I appreciate the advice, but I do not particularly want to follow it.”

“What did you say?”

A look of bewilderment crossed Yulia’s face.

“You do understand what the relationship is like between the Holy Empire and the Dark Empire, do you not?”

“How is that my problem right now?”

“It is your problem. You have awakened Holy Power as well. That is why I call you brother. Even if not now, once you graduate from Saengterminum Academy, you can surely become a proper member of the Holy Empire.”

“Do I really need to join the Holy Empire after I graduate?”

As the argument dragged on, every student in the restaurant turned their attention to Yulia and me.

Lloyd watched with interest, stroking his chin, while Viole pressed a hand to her forehead in concern.

“Ah, honestly......”

Yulia, sensing all those stares, stepped closer and whispered in a lowered voice.

“Do you even know how many people from the Holy Empire are in our department? If you say things like that here, you will be treated like a heretic in the Holy Magic Department......!”

I appreciated the concern, but it did not matter much.

I had no intention of changing my stance from the start.

I replied coldly.

“That is none of your concern. It is for me to decide.”

“No, you really......!”

The words she had been about to continue were cut off by a tray that suddenly appeared between us.

“Um......”

Sensing how disorderly things had become, a female server working at the restaurant stepped between Yulia and me.

Long, nonhuman ears drooped down from the sides of her head.

“If you are going to fight, could you do it outside? You are being really loud......”

Her eyes were half-lidded and her tone was languid, but her tail, standing stiffly upright in a way unique to Beastfolk, made it clear that she was quite angry.

...Hm?

After taking in her appearance, I narrowed my eyes.

That was because this Beastfolk looked very familiar to me.

“Excuse me, but could your name perhaps be...?”

“...Why do you ask?”

She briefly grew wary at my sudden question, but soon answered in a tone that suggested it was no great matter.

“Lucia Dorg. I am at least a year ahead of obvious first-years like you.”

That was right. Lucia Dorg.

I had known she had been a student at Saengterminum Academy, but... was she working here too?

I should remember this. 

I had gained an unexpected harvest.

“I am sorry......”

Yulia apologized in a voice that barely came out.

I also dipped my head lightly in apology before leaving the restaurant.

Since far too many eyes were on us, Yulia did not try to stop me.

After that, lunch ended, afternoon classes passed, and even during the occasional break, Yulia and Viole only glanced at me without saying a word.

Time passed on and on.

And the academy’s first day of classes came to an end.

***

After school that day.

Yulia blinked as she looked at Damon standing opposite her.

...What is this?

This was one of the training halls within Saengterminum Academy.

True to its name as a prestigious institution, even first-years could reserve a training hall as long as they applied, and each training hall provided its own separate space.

In other words, only Damon and Yulia were inside this training hall.

The moment classes ended, Damon had approached her as if he had been waiting, asking her to teach him the flaws of Holy Light Forging, and had brought her here.

She had followed him because she had promised, of course, but......

“I was just getting restless waiting until after school.”

Damon stretched as he loosened up.

It was hard to believe they had argued in the restaurant just a few hours ago. 

He showed no trace of awkwardness whatsoever.

...What is this, really?

It made no sense rationally, but she felt the need to confirm it again.

“May I ask you one thing?”

“Ask as much as you want.”

“We did fight at lunch today, right?”

“Yeah, we did.”

Damon nodded without hesitation.

“And we fought in front of all the other students too, right?”

“That is right.”

It had not been a fistfight, only an argument, but a fight was a fight all the same.

That was why Yulia had been cautious about how to speak to him from now on.

But what was with that completely unbothered attitude?

“Is it not awkward for you to deal with me?”

“No, not really?”

Damon instead sounded as if he could not understand the question.

“That is one thing, and this is another, isn’t it?”

In his previous life, he had fought Yulia countless times with their lives on the line.

Compared to that, a mere argument with Yulia could not possibly sour his mood, but Yulia had no way of knowing that.

“......”

Her eyes flattened into a line.

“Ahem. Surely a member of the Holy Order is not about to break a promise? Come on, surely not.”

At his downright irritating behavior, Yulia calmed her body and mind by reciting a prayer inwardly.

“O God, why did You bestow Holy Power upon such a shameless man......”

Yulia found herself, just a little, resenting God.