Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Escape (1)

After putting the items I had bought today into my bag, I headed back toward the Necropia dormitory.

“I was waiting for you.”

Lloyd was standing in front of my door.

Before I could even ask what he wanted, he spoke first.

“I heard you were talking with Instructor Dave and some young girl at a nearby shop?”

“And when did you see that?”

“I did not see it myself. I heard it from another cadet who was out in the street.”

“……?”

That was strange. 

There was no one in the Dark Empire who did not know of Rienna’s existence, but there were not many who knew her exact appearance. 

That went double for cadets.

At most, it should have looked like I had met a woman around my age. 

Was that really the sort of thing to spread from mouth to mouth?

Reading the puzzled look on my face, Lloyd averted his gaze awkwardly.

“A rumor spread among the cadets that Instructor Dave had arranged a blind date for you with some close relative.”

What a mess.

“What kind of nonsense has to happen for a rumor like that to start?”

“Whether it is a mage or a Black Mage, there is nothing to lose from broadening your connections with someone talented. You know that as well as I do.”

“It is not that I cannot understand it……”

This was an age when people were sensitive about that sort of thing, but it still felt as if the story had been twisted far too much.

“In the end, they were saying that you exchanged a few words, got rejected, and that the instructor followed her along to comfort her feelings, while you sat there sadly sipping your drink before coming out?”

I cannot understand it, my ass.

“Haha, who was the bastard who saw that?”

I would like to get a look at his face.

“What does it matter if it is not true? The cadets do not know what Lady Rienna looks like. You cannot blame them for that.”

“…You noticed?”

“I saw Lady Rienna a few times while I was staying with House Desmond.”

If he knew that much, there was no real need to hide it.

Though the fact that it had been less an offer and more a demand was almost laughably miserable.

“Yeah. Lady Rienna Baroness offered to take me as her disciple.”

“Hahaha! I knew it. There is no way Lady Rienna would leave alone someone our age who already reached the realm of Triple Class.”

Lloyd laughed heartily and slapped me on the shoulder.

“As a fellow member of one of the Four Houses, let me congratulate you. If it is her, she will be able to straighten out that personality of yours while helping you master Black Magic.”

To think he could say that after getting completely trounced by me yesterday.

Even seeing him again after returning to the past, he really was an incredibly diligent bastard.

“After the graduation ceremony, it will be difficult for either of us to see the other again. Unlike you, I intend to apply for admission to Saengterminum Academy.”

“Will House Desmond not object?”

“They will oppose it, but I intend to go through with it regardless. If I receive instruction at Saengterminum Academy and later win battles against powerful monsters and demons, I will be able to raise the honor of House Desmond even higher than it is now.”

His unblemished sincerity was enough to send a chill down my spine.

Then again, that was exactly the kind of man he was. 

That was why, in my previous life, he had enrolled in Saengterminum Academy alongside me.

As I passed Lloyd and opened my door, he spoke in passing.

“Then I shall see you at the graduation ceremony tomorrow.”

That will not happen.

I am getting out of here tonight.

***

Late at night.

Rattle, rattle.

Listening to the shrill sound of the wind slipping through the crack in the window, I carefully packed my things into the bag.

Imperial coins, clothes, preserved food, and various other daily necessities……

I was not particularly worried about the luggage. 

This bag was a subspace bag, one that reduced the volume and weight of anything placed inside it as much as possible.

It was an extremely expensive item, one provided by House Bayonel.

I never thought I would end up using it to run away.

I changed clothes and pulled leather gloves onto both hands.

Creeeak.

When I slung the bag over my shoulder and opened the window, snow blew in.

The snow that had started in the evening had only grown heavier, until even visibility was blurred.

“To think I have to go this far…….”

There was no helping it.

If I stayed under old hag Rienna, it would only be a matter of time before she discovered that I bore the Sacred Mark.

And if the existence of the Sacred Mark were exposed, then whether I was a child of one of the Four Houses or not, it would not be strange if the Dark Empire branded me an experimental specimen and cut me open.

“So it ends up being Saengterminum after all.”

A place that belonged to neither the Holy Empire nor the Dark Empire.

If it was Saengterminum, where a race beyond all standards—a dragon, and specifically a Blue Dragon Hatchling—ruled as the headmaster,

then it would accept someone like me, who no longer belonged to either the Holy Empire or the Dark Empire.

“…Let’s go.”

Having made my decision, I kicked off the windowsill.

***

Aside from the road leading into town, Necropia was surrounded by forest on three sides.

There was no proper path, and the terrain was rough, so if one wanted to move without attracting notice, the safest way was to cut through the coniferous forest.

…Or so I had thought.

{Where do you think you are going, Cadet Aron?}

How long had I been walking after entering the forest?

Instructor Dave’s voice came from above, in the trees.

I flinched and looked up to see a hand-sized skeletal bat flapping its wings as it stared down at me.

‘Bonribet.’

Instructor Dave’s voice came out of Bonribet’s mouth.

That undead was clearly one of Dave’s summons.

He must have confirmed me crossing the forest through Bonribet’s eyes.

“I was just out for a walk.”

{Do you really think that is an excuse?}

“Tch. If you already know, then do not bother asking.”

To get caught red-handed in a forest this wide and deserted.

There was only one possible explanation.

{Lady Rienna gave the order. She said Cadet Aron might try to run away before the day is over, and told me not to neglect the watch around Necropia.}

Damn it. 

That old hag was more than capable of thinking that way.

Since she believed I was a Black Mage who had contracted a top-rank demon at an absurdly young age, she must have issued those orders out of concern for the condition I was in.

Ha, this was irritating. 

Things had become troublesome in every possible way.

{It is not too late yet. Return.}

“Get lost.”

{Has the demon already taken control of your body? Pull yourself together.}

Bonribet’s voice rose, perhaps because he had mistaken my irritation for proof that I had fallen for a demon’s temptation.

{I do not know what sort of power the demon granted you, but a top-rank demon is far too much for the current you to bear. Without realizing it, your mind may already be under the demon’s control.}

I told you, it is not a top-rank demon.

It seemed he had misunderstood and assumed I was trying to flee Necropia to avoid Rienna because I did not want to lose the demon’s power.

Honestly, how maddening. 

Would it kill them to let me leave quietly?

{If you refuse to change your mind, then there is nothing to be done.}

Crunch… crunch……

The sound of snow being stepped on echoed from all around me.

And it was not coming from one or two places.

There had to be dozens nearby alone.

{I have already summoned undead throughout this entire forest.}

Grrrrr……

Along with the growl of teeth scraping at throats, countless shapes rose from beneath the snow.

Sharp fangs and dull silver hide drained of blood.

From the skin, red flesh and bone jutted out here and there.

“…Undead Wolves.”

There were more than ten visible even at a glance.

Considering Instructor Dave’s ability, the actual number summoned was probably several times that.

Awooooo!

At the same time the Undead Wolves threw back their heads and howled, violet light swelled and trembled ominously through every tree in the forest.

Phantasmal Curse.

A Curse Type Black Magic spell that only the instructors of Necropia were permitted to cast, in order to stop intruders trying to approach Necropia unlawfully through the forest.

The moment the Phantasmal Curse was activated in this forest, one lost all sense of direction, wandered aimlessly, and ended up circling the same paths over and over again.

{If you have truly contracted a top-rank demon, I thought at least this much preparation was necessary.}

Sway.

For an instant, my head spun, and I pressed a hand to my forehead.

My vision wavered like a heat haze.

{No matter what you try, you will not be able to leave this forest.}

Even though a powerful curse had been laid over the entire forest, the Undead Wolves prowled around me without the slightest disturbance.

A veteran of the Argent Great Rift, indeed.

Even the movement patterns of his summons were far from simple.

“Heh heh, Lady Rienna really is… terribly worried. She went this far just to stop me?”

{I only wish to keep you from being consumed by the demon.}

“What pointless concern.”

It really was pointless.

This was because of the Sacred Mark, not some top-rank demon.

Hoo……. Fine. 

Since they wanted to misunderstand things however they pleased, I might as well use that misunderstanding however I pleased.

I stirred the mana condensed within my heart and refined it into a curse.

The target of the curse was my right arm.

Crrrack!

My right hand, covered by a leather glove, grew hot from direct contact with the curse.

The gloves hid it, but holy power was already pouring out from the Sacred Mark.

The heat that began on the back of my hand climbed my arm and reached my head in less than a second.

The dizziness that had spread all the way to my head melted away under that heat as though it were snow.

My blurred vision sharpened once more.

‘The Sacred Mark’s effect really is reliable.’

The reason I had come into this forest even while knowing about the Phantasmal Curse— was because I could purify the Phantasmal Curse.

Curses are purified by holy power.

In other words, the mere existence of the Sacred Mark weakened the effect of the curse placed on me.

I could not properly use the Sacred Mark, so fully regaining my freedom of movement was difficult, but escaping this place would be possible even in my current state.

Maintaining the curse cast over my right arm, I spread the curse to other parts of my body.

This time, I cast it over both legs.

Crrrack!

{Cadet Aron?}

“You underestimated me too much, Instructor Dave.”

Eight Undead Wolves noticed the change, bared their teeth, and lunged at me.

But I had already finished every last preparation.

“If you wanted to stop me, at the very least……”

After putting strength into the transformed tips of my feet,

“Rienna should have come herself.”

Bang!

Accelerating in an instant, I burst out of the Undead Wolves’ encirclement and began to run.

***

“To spread demonic armament over such a wide area.”

Watching Aron’s situation through Bonribet’s eyes, Instructor Dave’s expression turned tense.

The parts Aron had covered in demonic armament were his right arm and both feet.

To think that a cadet could activate demonic armament over such wide portions of the body with only a cadet’s level of skill.

It was truly frightening talent, but— ‘No matter how hard he tries, he will not get out of this forest.’

In a forest where the Phantasmal Curse had been activated, even if one tried to leave, one would unknowingly lose the way and wander in circles.

On top of that, the number of Undead Wolves summoned throughout the forest easily exceeded a hundred.

Aron’s position had already been fixed through Bonribet, and orders had been given to every Undead Wolf spread throughout the forest to move toward Aron’s location and stop him.

Most of the Undead Wolves had already been ordered to move in the direction Aron was running.

‘With this much preparation, the undead might catch Aron before I even get there.’

It was only a few seconds after that thought crossed his mind.

“…Hm?”

Instructor Dave’s brow narrowed.

The Undead Wolves in this forest were Dave’s summons, and because they were linked to his mana, that meant Dave could grasp both their locations and their condition.

“What kind of nonsense is this…….”

That was why Dave could only trail off in disbelief.

Snap.

One.

Snap-snap-snap.

Three.

Snap-snap-snap-snap-snap.

Five.

Craaaack!

Ten?

The mana threads connecting him to the Undead Wolves were being severed without pause.

When they broke this violently, it only happened when a summon vanished under the enemy’s attack.

But— ‘How can it be this fast?’

They were undead.

Undead that could not be completely killed through ordinary attacks.

And yet he was advancing while eliminating them at this speed.

And that was not all.

When Dave checked the coordinates where the connection to the Undead Wolves was being cut, Aron’s path forward showed not the slightest trace of disorder.

Even though he was receiving the full brunt of the Phantasmal Curse.

‘He is killing Undead Wolves this quickly, and he is not even losing his way?’

This had gone beyond anything a mere cadet should have been capable of.

No matter how skillfully one handled Black Magic with a cadet’s level of mana, movements like these made no sense.

Yes. 

Unless one was borrowing the power of a powerful demon.

‘Just what kind of demon did you contract with, Aron……?’

A chill ran down Instructor Dave’s spine, but only for a moment.

Soon, Dave noticed something strange about Aron’s route.

Looking at it now, he was not moving to escape the forest.

‘Why is he going deeper and deeper into the forest?’

It was not as though he was searching for something in there.

“No way?”

As something flashed through his mind, Dave clicked his tongue.

If his suspicion was correct, then Cadet Aron had already secured a certain means of escape from Necropia long ago.