The Empire was quick to act.

With information about the Rock Dragon, coupled with the confirmation of the Mirror Crack, a new team was sent over in a matter of hours.

The situation was no longer under control as it had been in the past due to the necromancer.

Thus, the town of Ellnor welcomed new faces as an army of knights poured in from the entrance of the city walls.

Beneath the sun's glare, their golden-plated armors gleamed brightly, presenting an imposing sight to onlookers.

".....Not bad."

Sitting at the top of the castle walls, I breathed the fresh air while looking at the scene from above.

The collective pressure coming out of their bodies made me shudder.

But if that wasn't all, a new group emerged from behind. Wearing black robes with purple stripes, they trailed behind the knights.

"They should be members of the Magic Tower. Judging from the purple stripes, they should be [Curse] specialists?"

While most cadets aspired to join a Guild through the draft, there were two other destinations that the cadets wanted to join.

The Magic Tower, and the Knight's Council.

Under the direct control of the Megrail family, they only recruited those who had a certain level of strength and were amongst the very top in the Empire with regards to talent.

".....Sounds interesting."

Either the Guilds or the Magic Tower.

Such were my options for the future. I wasn't limited to joining them after graduation. I could join right after the first year.

For now, I was still unsure of which one to join.

Not that it currently mattered to me.

'I need to get in touch with Aoife later.'

There was something that I needed to ask her. It wasn't anything important. Just wanted to ask her about a certain book that I wanted to buy.

"Haa."

Taking my eyes away from them, I looked to my right side.

"What?"

"What? What...?"

I rolled my eyes.

"You're the one that showed up out of nowhere."

"So? I'm just enjoying the scenery."

"....Okay.

"Good."

"...."

"...."

Silence returned to the surroundings and I leaned back slightly to take in the breeze. As my hair fluttered, a lock of silver hair fell on my face and I looked at Kiera.

She looked back at me with a growl.

"Bastard, what?"

I brushed her hair away from my face.

"Move away. Your hair is getting on my face."

"It happens. It's long and shit, you know?"

"That's why I'm telling you to move."

"Tsk."

Kiera clicked her tongue. With a slightly angry look, she aggressively placed her hand in her pocket and shoved something onto my chest.

"Here."

".....?"

I looked down in confusion. When I did, I blinked several times to make sure I was seeing correctly.

Kiera's voice came shortly after.

"So, like..."

"...."

"That, shit you know?"

"....?"

"Ah, fuck. Whatever. I just owed you and stuff. I thought you had died and I felt shitty for not having paid you. Kind of felt like I robbed you and shit."

"...."

"What?"

In the middle of her speech, she bit her lips.

"Just wanted to make sure that the next time you die I won't owe you shit."

This girl...

"I'll take it."

Holding back my laugh, I put the money in my pocket.

In the end, she did all of this because she felt bad she never had the chance to pay me for the tutoring lessons.

'Usually people are happy to not pay for stuff.'

I guess she was different.

"Thanks."

".Sure."

I thought she'd leave after that but she continued to stay. Meeting my line of sight, she pursed her lips and leaned forward to stare at the scenery beneath.

"....."

"There's still a few things that I need you to teach me."

"Teach you?"

"Uh, yeah. It's likeUkeh!"

Kiera let out a strange sound as my fist came smacking against her head.

Holding onto the top of her head, she glared at me.

"The fuck was that for?!"

".....I said it before. Stop relying on me."

"No, that"

"You should already know how to study by now. You don't need me."

"....."

Still glaring at me, Kiera remained silent.

"Kiera."

"What...?"

"Nothing."

"Uh?"

There was actually something that I wanted to ask but realized she probably wouldn't know either. It was about the thing with Aoife but recalling her relationship with her, I realized it was meaningless to ask.

"What? Don't leave me hanging like that?"

"I said it's nothing."

"No, fuck... You can't just say that after making me curious."

"I just did."

"Ah..."

Her mouth closed to a pout.

'Fucking shit,' muttering curses under her breath, she eventually let it go.

"Whatever, I'm leaving."

Waving her hand in dismissal, Kiera finally turned around to leave.

I stared at her back for a brief moment before finally shifting my attention back to the scenery beneath. Or so I thought.

"Oy."

Hearing Kiera's voice, I turned my head.

"....."

The words that I was about to say never left my mouth. How could they when I didn't know how to react at what I was seeing. Standing a few meters away from me, Kiera held her middle finger in the air.

"Take that you scum."

***

Below.

Near the entrance of Ellnor.

"It's nice to see you again, Princess."

Aoife stared at the man kneeling before her and then the several dozen kneeling behind him. She had vague recollections of him, but that wasn't important.

".....There's no need for such formalities with me. Right now, I'm a cadet at the Haven Institute. Treat me as such."

"I'm sorry but that's a difficult quest for us."

Aoife pursed her lips.

While it was true that she was the Princess of the Empire and the people before her were her subordinates, Aoife felt their attitudes to be rather burdensome.

Especially when she took note of the way the cadets around her were looking at her.

It made her want to sigh.

Still, holding herself back, she acknowledged their presence.

"Alright. That's fine, I guess."

Her gaze swept over the dozen members of the Knight's council and Magic Tower.

Each and every one of the people present boasted incredible power, and with just a single command from hers, they'd move at her command.

While she did have the authority to issue them orders, it was only limited to her title.

Perhaps, one day she'd be able to fully command both the Magic Tower and the Knight's council.

"How are the preparations?"

".....We are ready to depart at any time. We've already sent several scouting teams in advance, and the reports are true. A Rock Dragon has been found."

"I see."

Aoife nodded her head slightly.

Even though she was still stuck in Ellnor, she could more or less guess that the Empire was in a state of uproar.

It had been a long time since a 'Dragon' type species had appeared within the kingdom.

They were extremely rare, and at the same time extremely fierce.

But that wasn't the reason why the Empire was in uproar. The reason why the Empire was probably in uproar was because there was a high likelihood that the Rock Dragon would have a transfusable bone.

Unlike most creatures that had a small chance of containing a transfusable bone, 'Dragon' type creatures had a greater chance of dropping such bones.

Not only that, but the [Innate] ability they would grant to the user would also be in a league of its own.

....And coming from a Terror Rank creature, Aoife could already foresee the trouble that was destined to come in the future.

'I wonder what they'll do with the bone.'

In a way, the news was both a blessing and a disaster for the Empire.

Terror Rank bones were extremely rare let alone one that belonged to a [Dragon] type creature.

Whoever came into possession of such bone would most likely soar in the future.

The other Empires were probably aware of that.

The likelihood of them doing something in the future was rather high. Especially when considering that such events had occurred in the past.

As such, Aoife found the situation to be both a blessing and a disaster.

Aoife could already feel the incoming headache.

And all of this was because of one person.

"....."

Raising her head, Aoife stared at the city walls above her. At that moment, her gaze paused on a certain person. Lazily leaning on top of the walls, his cold gaze swept the area beneath with no regard.

He was someone that should've been dead and yet wasn't.

If not for him, none of this would've happened. Even now, she was curious as to how he had done it.

For some strange reason, the more Aoife knew about him, the more mysterious he became to her.

His skills, which she had previously thought were lower than hers, proved to be superior to hers.

Not only that, but he was also able to survive an encounter with several Terror-rank creatures and a necromancer.

It was ridiculous.

He was ridiculous.

"Haa..."

And yet, letting out a long sigh, Aoife couldn't help but be impressed.

And that was also,

".....Ridiculous."

***

That night.

Leon returned to his room and immediately slumped over the wooden chair.

"...."

He sat there in silence.

He liked the silence.

Today, he had come dangerously close to his death. The memories of his childhood flashed before his eyes in those moments.

Such memories...

"....Never again."

What do I even do about it? Leon pondered about the situation. It had been manageable before, but things took a drastic turn at 'his' arrival.

"It's as if there's two of him."

He was already having a hard time dealing with one. How was he going to deal with two of them...?

It was impossible.

Holding back his frustrations, Leon sighed and prepared to get to bed. It was late, and he was feeling extremely tired.

In particular, his head ached.

"....."

He had just arrived at his bed when he frowned.

There was something about it that didn't seem quite right about it. By nature, Leon was a paranoid person.

It had been something that he developed over the years of being hunted.

For that reason, he noticed the slightly dispositioned cushions, and wrinkles that hadn't been on his bed before he left.

"....Someone's been here."

Leon deeply stared at his bed before his head flicked to look around. His eyes quickly scanned the room for anything else that seemed out of order, but it was all just as he remembered.

The only difference was his bed.

'Did a cleaning lady stop by...?'

It was a possibility. Yeah, it was...

Swoosh

With quick movements, Leon flicked the bedsheets up and gripped his sword. He was ready. He was prepared.

....Or so he thought.

"H-ho."

His entire body froze at the sight that greeted him.

An innate fear he hadn't experienced in a very long time took over his entire body as his expression crumbled.

Splash

Just faintly, he could hear the sound of something splashing in the distance. But that didn't make sense.

There was no river nearby.

"O-oh, no..."

Leon took a step back.

"C-cursed. I-I knew it... I-was right..."

His entire hand was trembling.

He just couldn't understand how this was possible.

Leon blinked to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Unfortunately, the image didn't change.

"H-ha..."

His chest trembled as a result.

A book rested on his bed. It was wet, staining the sheets beneath it. But that wasn't the problem.

He recognized the book.

How could he not when he distinctively remembered throwing it in the river.

<Fun Jokes that will make you laugh all day>

With a pale face, he took several more steps back.

"Cursed..."

It really was cursed.