Rather than persuade Sarkegaar, I simply threatened him. I couldnt hide the fact that I valued Ellen, so I had no other choice but to threaten Sarkegaar with my own life on the line.

With that, he wouldnt be able to lay his hands on Ellen.

I didnt think hed be willing to call my bluff, but the truth about Ellen had come to light.

Although Sarkegaar wouldnt do anything to her, he could still decide to monitor her without my notice.

Sarkegaar would keep a close eye on her. If Ellen happened to find out who I was and ended up trying to do anything to me, there was a good chance that he would make a move.

Eleris didnt ask me anything for the moment because the situation got a bit complicated.

Sarkegaar went back with both anxiety and fear in his heart, and so did Eleris.

That wasnt the end.

I was back to square one, and I had to somehow come up with an excuse for Aaron Medes death.

To be honest, rather than me, it was Ellen and Harriet that caused it.

Those two actually ended up fighting him in his own house. Of course, it was also them who spread the Antimagic Field and chased after him.

It wasnt actually me who killed him, so I didnt have anything to confess.

However, I was a lot more reluctant to tell anyone that I had contact with a wizard of the Black Order. They would, of course, oppose the crazy things I was planning, and they didnt even know that Aaron Mede was a member of the Black Order.

I felt a little strange when I heard how Ellen had gotten to that point.

It might have been possible to cover up Aaron Medes death, but that would still leave Harriet and Ellen under scrutiny.

Since Aaron Mede died after those two went at Mr. Mustrangs recommendation, it was inevitable that people would notice the probable connection between Aaron Medes death and those twos intervention.

If we couldnt hide it, then it would be best to reveal it.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, there were no living employees in Aaron Medes mansionthey were all controlled by homunculi to begin with.

Ellen and Harriet went to Aaron Medes mansion and saw a lot of inhumane experiments on various life forms being carried out, and that was why Aaron Mede tried to kill them, but the situation reversed.

I was going to explain it a bit like that.

You want me to take care of it?

Youre not asking me to do that, are you?

Bertus smirked with his arms crossed at my request.

Just when I was wondering what other big trouble youve been causing, now it has to do with chimeras and homunculi? Your life sure is eventful. Its certainly a bit annoying to get involved now.

Its not my fault this time, okay? He tried to kill me.

Regardless of whether you were in the right or not, this is a difficult problem to solve.

Thats true.

In the end, only Bertus or Charlotte were capable of wrapping up the problem in such a way. What I said wasnt far from the truth because Aaron Mede actually tried to kill Ellen and Harriet, not to even mention how he tried to kill me before that.

I thought about telling him about the Black Order, but I stopped myself from doing that. One could come to the conclusion that Aaron Mede was somehow involved with them just by looking at his underground lab.

It sure is disgusting. I cant believe a Temple teacher was doing such things. Just what are wizards?

Bertus clicked his tongue in contempt. He seemed majorly annoyed that there were people like that among the teachers of Temple.

It would have been taken care of even without you requesting this of me, so you should just stop worrying.

What about the others?

You three wont even be investigated. Theres nothing good about this incident getting revealed.

It wouldnt be good for Temples image if the fact that one of their teachers was involved in many taboo experiments, human experiments being one of them, was revealed.

The incident would get covered up, Aaron Mede would just be considered a missing person, and all the problems involving him, including his assassination attempts, would just get buried with him.

Those in power would put it all to rest before it even reached them so that they could avoid a troublesome situation.

That, at least, seemed to be a constant in both worlds.

Regardless of my wishes, the case would disappear once and for all.

[Quest Complete - Assassination Threat]

[You acquired the characteristic Qi Sense.]

With that, the assassination event that made my blood run cold for quite some time came to an end.

Characteristic : Qi sense

Description : A characteristic that lets you detect threats to the hostfrom small ones to life-threatening ones. Its an ability that supports you in battle and lets you detect killing intent at the same time. Risk factors can be sensed and identified in advance.

The feeling is abstract and not absolute.

Characteristic quests usually gave out great rewards, and the same rang true that time as well.

***

The incident was settled. No, it wasnt completely resolved yet, but I passed the task over to Bertus, so it would be taken care of on its own.

The stage of the incident was outside of the Imperial Capital, and there were no eyewitnesses because it happened inside the mansion, which meant there was nothing to worry about.

I just had to sort out the rest.

I heard all about how Ellen and Harriet found Aaron Mede, however, I only heard about it, and I hadnt organized the information yet.

I first went to look for Harriet.

She wasnt in the Magic Research Societys clubhouse or the magic research laboratory inside our dormitory, but she was in her own room.

Hey.

Harriet looked pretty pale.

Lets talk.

Okay

Harriet carefully opened the door.

Do you want to come in?

Normally, she would never let me in, but she looked worse for wear.

She hadnt actually killed anyone, but what she saw must have been horrifying.

Whatever she saw, it would have far exceeded her imagination. Just hearing about it was a lot different from seeing it with ones own eyes.

Sitting across from each other at a table, Harriet was clearly only looking at the empty table.

Originally, I wanted to get angry at her and ask her why she did something so dangerous. Just as those two had a lot to say to me, I had a lot to say to them as well.

Why Would someone even make something like that?

There is no need for such things. A worm that can manipulate people, and beings made by mixing humans and beasts Just why? Why would anyone need to make such things?

Chimeras

When Harriet saw the things Ellen had cut down, she seemed close to a mental breakdown.

She was appalled by the wizards twisted malice.

Reinhardt

Yeah.

This time, I know that you didnt mean to get involved in this

Harriet was shaking and carefully grabbed my hand.

These things These scary things Could you not get involved in them anymore? Im so scared I cant understand it I dont care about anything else Fighting with the other students is fine, but these kinds of things cant you just stay away from them?

Harriet shivered before eventually bursting into tears.

I Im afraid that youre drifting too far away from me. No, Im scared because it seems like youre already too far gone

I was far too calm in the midst of that situation, and Harriet seemed to be afraid of that as well.

Id like that as well.

Harriets hands were sweating as they held my own.

Ill try."

That was a lie.

They were words that could only be seen as a lie, and she also recognized them as such.

I had no other choice.

* * *

Translator - KonnoAren

Proofreader - ilafy

* * *

In the dormitory

When I went to see Ellen in the training room, it was already midnight.

Harriet was able to clean up the bloodstains on us with her purifying magic, so we were able to return to Temple without arousing suspicion.

It was just Ellen and me in the training room. Ellen didnt say anything and just looked at me.

-Kachak

Ellen silently locked the door to the training room.

I had an inkling as to why she did that.

Summon it.

What?

Tiamata.

-Chiing

Ellen summoned Lament into her right hand.

Why?

Just do it.

Ellen stared at me with her dark-blue eyes.

Do it.

I summoned Tiamata into my right hand.

Ellen jumped towards me, her body enveloped in blue flames.

-Pierce!

I tried to strengthen my body to its limits, but in just a matter of seconds, Tiamata escaped my grasp and Ellens Lament was placed against my neck.

It was an overwhelming difference in skill.

Did she want to show me that?

Ellens eyes were seething with anger.

"I might have died without Harriets help.

Even Ellen, in her magic-strengthened state, could have died inside that alchemists house without Harriets Antimagic Field. Ellen spoke calmly.

You shouldnt have come.

Ellen, who didnt know that I was accompanied by Sarkegaar and Eleris, couldnt help but be angry.

-Kang!

Not knowing how to vent her anger, Ellen threw Lament to the floor of the training room.

The Holy Artifact rolled on the ground like a piece of trash.

I told you not to do anything dangerous! Ellen shouted.

I Just how many times How many times did I tell you? I told you so often. Why? Just why? Why?

Ellen trembled.

Tears welled up in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks.

Why are you always doing these kinds of things Why?

She thought I would have died if she and Harriet hadnt arrived first, and Ellen was right with that assumption.

If I had gone alone, I would have died.

Ellen was bound to feel frustrated because I couldnt tell her about my situation.

She couldnt help but think that I was a madman who couldnt control his desire for revenge.

Ellen wept as she held my hand.

You should have taken that gray-haired aunty with you. Just why did you Why did you go there all by yourself?

It seemed like not taking Loyar with me was a mistake on my part.

Ellen felt like she was about to go crazy because I got involved in something dangerous. She had to feel like I was continuously crossing the line without even knowing where the line was.

It just seemed too much to bear for her.

Are you angry?

Yes. Im angry.

Ellen looked at me, her eyes bloodshot.

Then do you think Im not angry?

Just as Ellen had said

Had it not been for Harriet, Ellen would have been killed in that alchemists mansion. She would have died without even getting to fight due to all of the magic traps.

Ellen was mistaken in thinking that I was the one who was lucky to still be alive.

It was Ellen

Sarkegaar had found out about Ellen.

If I hadnt threatened him with my life, Sarkegaar would have killed her right away, and she still wasnt safe enough for me to not worry.

She was exposed to a long-term threat.

Just as Ellen was angry, so was I. I couldnt even blame Ellen for it because she put herself in danger for my sake.

Even still

I couldve done it all on my own.

Just why?

My heart skipped a beat when I saw Ellen coming out of the secret doorway of Aaron Medes mansion.

Why is she there?

Shes still alive, though.

How did she get there?

What if she dies like this?

Sarkegaar saw Ellen.

What should I do?

Just what should I do?

My rationality almost flew away because so many different thoughts were tangled up in my head.

However, I couldnt tell Ellen all that.

I couldnt tell her that she had exposed herself to danger and that she would be threatened in the future as well because of it.

Im stronger than you.

Ellen glared at me as she spoke.

"Does that mean that you cant die?

No, but I can protect myself far better than you can.

She was right.

But

Even if I took Sarkegaar knowing about Ellen out of the equation, it was still true that Ellen and Harriet overdid it.

At that point, no matter how strong Ellen was, she was still below Loyar, and no matter how strong Harriet was, she was still inferior to Eleris.

They recklessly fought with their lives on the line without even completely knowing their opponents capabilities.

I was pissed off.

I was more than capable of taking care of it, but they thought I shouldnt.

Someday, all of them might get thrown into the fiery pits of battle, so there was no need to go through those kinds of things beforehand.

However, a more fundamental question arose in my mind

If Ellen became a Swordmaster and Harriet became an Archmage

Would I be willing to let them risk their lives for me?

I didnt think so.

Im grateful that you said that you were willing to risk your life for me, but you really dont have to.

I had no other choice but to speak coldly.

Do you want me to watch you die? You could have told me what you were thinking at least. You could have told me what you were going to do. We could have talked about it, and then we could have gone together

Ellen had no intention of backing down. It was something I couldnt talk to her about. I couldnt even tell Sarkegaar why I specifically named Aaron Mede as the culprit, so there was no way I could have convinced Ellen.

Why didnt you tell me anything?

Just as I didnt tell Ellen anything, Ellen went to investigate herself without telling me anything as well.

Ellen and I were the same, in the end.

We couldnt tell each other because we were afraid that, if we told each other, neither of us would have let the other actually do it.

We didnt tell each other because we thought the other would jump right into danger without knowing just how dangerous it was.

I could have lied by telling her that I wouldnt do anything dangerous anymore, but she wouldnt have believed me. Actually, I was about to get involved in something even more dangerous.

I see, no matter what I say, its no use.

Ellen looked as if she had given up.

She couldnt convince me. I wouldnt live like I did if simple words could shake my resolve.

If you die, then Ill die as well, Ellen warned me.

If you put your life in danger, that means youll also put mine in danger. Keep that in mind.

Was she warning or threatening me?

It was a warning, maybe a threat, but in the end, it was nothing much.

They were just words that came and went.

However, wasnt that what life was all about as well?

"Thats my line.

I returned those words right back to her. Ellen stared at me. I wanted to have the last word, so she seemed angry in a different sense than before.

Ellen sent Lament back and picked up her training sword while throwing one toward me as well.

Listen

Ellen pointed her training sword at me.

If youre planning on overdoing it with that weak body of yours, you should practice a lot more.

Ellens provocation didnt really work on me.

I was actually weak, after all.

Yes.

-Kakang!

Ellen rushed at me, and I parried her sword,

I saw many emotions swirling in Ellens eyes as she was scanning me to find any openings.

In the end, the practice that day didnt go that well.

It wasnt actually practiceit was just a fight.

-Ching!

Kuhk!"

It seemed we realized that speaking anymore would just leave permanent scars on our hearts. It was something we couldnt ever undo.

Rather than hurting each others hearts, we chose to break our bodies instead.

Of course, it was my body that got hurt more.