Chapter 92

Chapter 92: Overestimation (2)

There had been a minor disagreement with Yulia, but in any case, I ended up going with her to the lodging where Elysia was staying.

This place was a fairly luxurious lodging and restaurant even within Saengterminum. 

Maybe it was because she was a princess, but she certainly had money.

‘I never used to pay much attention to things like this.......’

Like Lloyd, I was a direct-line scion of House Bayonel, one of the Four Great Houses. 

Before I Returned to the Past, the family’s financial power had been so ample that I had never once worried about money.

But now that I had thrown my family aside and left?

All I had was the money I had scraped together from my dormitory room at Necropia and shoved into my Subspace Bag.

Even that was a considerable amount, so I had thought I would not need to worry for close to a year or two even if I spent freely.

‘But I lost a damned huge amount on the repair fees after making a hole in the Training Hall lobby last time.......’

I still had plenty of financial leeway, but if I spent too thoughtlessly, I would end up displaying a beggar’s instincts I was never meant to have.

There was nothing wrong with saving from now on.

Sip.......

In that sense, the cocoa this restaurant served as dessert had quite a rich flavor. 

Was food bought with someone else’s money always this delicious?

Sitting across from me at the private room table, Elysia glanced to her right with an unexpected expression.

“...I did not say you had to come alone. Still, I did not expect you to come with a Grade 1 Holy Knight.”

“Ah, would I be imposing?”

“No. I heard about you from Franz and Bella. They said you are quite a devout Holy Knight, so I thought it would not matter much.”

“Hehe, I’m glad you think well of me.”

These two women treated each other completely differently from how they treated me.

Yulia also seemed to think it would be rude to eat too much in front of someone she had just met, so she was restraining herself in her own way.

“By the way, you do not look well, Yulia. Was there something about the food you disliked?”

“Haha... of course not.......”

No, that was not it. 

She was gloomy because the food that had just come out had not been enough to satisfy her.

Expensive food was originally geared more toward quality than quantity. 

For Yulia, who ate so much by nature, it must have felt lacking.

“You were eliminated from the tournament, so aren’t you going back to the Great Forest?”

“I was eliminated, but I still need to watch the remaining matches of my fellow elves. I have to report to my father.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

“...On that note, there is something I want to ask you.”

So she was finally getting to the point.

“You made an oath with me. If I lost, I would acknowledge Karin having anything to do with Black Magic.”

“I did.”

I lifted my half-finished cup of cocoa.

Let’s hear what she has to say.

“Does that mean I must acknowledge it even if Karin learns Black Magic?”

Cough.

Yulia, who was beside me, coughed softly.

I also stopped raising the cup and set it down.

“...And if it does?”

“You know that elves like us avoid Black Magic, do you not? The same goes for Karin.”

“I know that.”

“If it is you, you should also know that Dark Elves are vulnerable to the side effects of Black Magic, yes? And yet you are saying that if Karin learns Black Magic, I should acknowledge that?”

“As long as she can handle Black Magic properly, isn’t that enough?”

“Because there has never been a Dark Elf who could.”

Well, that was probably true.

In fact, Karin from the previous run had also ended up becoming a member of ‘Abyss,’ so Elysia’s words were not entirely absurd.

However.

“Have you ever tried?”

“...Pardon?”

“I asked whether you’ve ever properly tried it.”

“That is.......”

I smiled derisively at Elysia as she held her tongue.

“Well, of course you haven’t. The moment a Dark Elf appears, you immediately throw them into exile.”

“......”

“I’m not asking you to accept it unconditionally either.”

I lifted my cocoa cup again.

“That only applies if Karin becomes able to handle Black Magic well.”

“What if she cannot?”

I would have to kill her... but there was no need to go out of my way to say that.

“There’s no need to get so grave about it. Karin doesn’t even intend to learn Black Magic right now in the first place, does she?”

“That... is true.”

I also had no intention of forcing a child to learn if she said she did not want to.

It was true that Black Magic was a highly dangerous form of magic. 

In fact, if there was hesitation in learning it, Black Magic would dig into that opening and break the user’s mind.

“Did you call me here to ask that?”

“You staked your convictions for Karin and even made such an oath, so I wanted to know the details of that oath as well.”

“Ha, is that how this turns out?”

I let out a small laugh.

She really was the noble princess of the elves. 

Seeing how she wanted to know something like this in detail.

“...Well, fine. Now let me ask you one thing too.”

There had been one point I had wondered about ever since I heard that Elysia had entered the tournament.

“Elysia, about you. You’re not even a student, so how did you participate in the tournament?”

“...Did you not hear? I participated to see Karin’s skills as a Grade 2, as well as the skills of the other elves, for myself. I do not think that would be much of a problem.”

“No. No matter how much the Headmaster permitted it, it isn’t fair. I don’t think the Magic Department professors would have accepted that so easily.”

Elysia was Grade 1. 

No matter how I thought about it, letting someone like that participate in a first-year tournament was a rather unreasonable measure for the first-years.

Before I Returned to the Past, even Yulia, who was also Grade 1, had lost to Elysia in the tournament, hadn’t she?

Yes. 

As if.......

It would not be an exaggeration to say the stage had been arranged so that Team 1, the team Elysia belonged to, would win the Magic Department Tournament no matter what.

If so, there had to be someone with a clear intention to make Elysia win the tournament.

Elysia spoke with a face that seemed to ask why I was even asking such a thing.

“When I requested to participate, the Magic Department did set one condition. In exchange for participating, I would not receive the tournament reward.”

“And you agreed to that condition?”

“Of course. I thought it was actually for the best.”

She smiled bitterly in self-mockery.

“Because no matter what, I did not want to take away the department students’ reason for trying to win.”

***

After finishing the meal, I sat on a bench placed in front of the building and sank into thought.

“So it was like that after all?”

I took out the Pocket Watch Artifact from inside my coat.

The reward for winning the Magic Department Tournament was the right to view the Magic Department’s research achievements.

And this Artifact was closely related to ‘Abyss,’ a Demon Order, while also currently being researched at Saengterminum.

If one won the tournament, one would be able to view even the research related to this Artifact.

Since they said that the Magic Department Tournament had traditionally offered viewing rights as a reward, it would have been difficult to change the reward itself.

After all, even if they were students, no one knew what would happen if they went around blabbing about research achievements. 

They must have considered the worst case.

But if Elysia won the tournament, they could prevent that worst case.

Since Elysia had agreed not to receive the tournament reward, they could make the reward of viewing rights itself effectively disappear.

Of course, this was only an inference.

An inference based on the assumption that a member of ‘Abyss’ was hiding their identity as a professor in the Magic Department.

That said, it was not as though there was no way to prove this inference at all.

Click.

I opened the lid of the Pocket Watch.

[Artifact Activated.]

I stared intently at the wavering string of text before my eyes.

This Artifact was an Artifact created by ‘Abyss.’

If my inference was correct, Elysia’s elimination from the tournament was a Sudden Variable ‘Abyss’ had not anticipated.

Therefore, ‘Abyss’ would be deliberating over how to resolve this situation.

And before long, they would think of it.

That they should try using ‘Aron Bayonel,’ who was hiding in Saengterminum.

Bzzzt—!

[Did you receive my message properly, Lord Aron Bayonel?]

Seeing the string of text change, my lips curved into a smile.

“How’s that for timing?”

[If you see this, please activate the Artifact in a deserted location using the method shown below. I will tell you the details there in person.]

[We have prepared an offer that you, Lord Aron, will surely be satisfied with, so you may look forward to it.]

This was a new incident, different from before I Returned to the Past.

However, now that Abyss had contacted me first, I was able to find out how the flow of events would change.

I had brought my Subspace Bag just in case, so I could move into action right away.

Rising from the bench, I walked down the street to find a suitable place.

***

A few minutes after Damon disappeared into the crowd on the street.

Bang!

“What is this.......?”

After parting with Damon, Yulia finished paying and came outside, then looked around here and there with a face full of worry.

She placed a hand over her chest.

‘It feels like my Holy Power is trembling a little.......’

Soon, she stared in one direction.

It was not... her imagination.

Because from that direction, her Holy Power was still reacting, however faintly.

There were too many people around, so she could not pinpoint it properly, but whenever her Holy Power trembled, it was usually related to that.

Black Magic.

Whenever Black Magic was cast nearby, ten times out of ten, the Holy Power inside her body trembled.

It could be that a Black Mage nearby had used Black Magic, but if so, she would not have sensed it this faintly.

To that extent, it was an unusually strange sensation even for her, and there was more than enough room to interpret it differently instead.

‘Did someone intentionally try to conceal their Black Magic casting.......?’

If so, it would not be strange for her to feel this sensation.

And if there was someone who would secretly use Black Magic in a place like this.......

Yulia’s eyes narrowed.

‘Could Aron Bayonel be here.......?’

It was not entirely impossible.

After all, Aron, who was hiding in this Saengterminum, might have happened to pass by here while casting Black Magic.

If so, this was not something she could ever overlook lightly.

She considered calling someone separately, but there was no time for that.

The reaction was far too faint, so if she tried to call someone, this trembling of Holy Power would cut off.

If she wanted to follow it, now was her only chance.

She carefully stepped through the crowd, heading in the direction where the trembling continued.

In exactly the same direction Damon... Aron had walked.