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CHAPTER 07
Once upon a time, there were three dragons.
When the world perished and all things returned to nothingness, the surviving dragons recreated the world anew.
Sel, who possessed black scales, created the earth.
Ren, with crimson scales, created the sky and the seas.
And Hon, whose scales shimmered violet, created all living creatures that would inhabit the land.
Among them, humans gathered together according to those most compatible with them and eventually split into six tribes. The dragons blessed them and each bestowed gifts upon them.
Sel realized that some humans could sense the flow of mana, and taught them magic.
Ren taught them how to properly cultivate all living things, whether plant or animal.
And Hon…
“…shared his own power with the humans who followed him. To prevent any remaining corruption, and to stop destruction from descending upon the world once more.”
Honestly, if one treated it as actual history, it was a rather chilling story.
Del smiled bitterly as she lightly shook the book.
“This could actually work well as class material. If it’s for the students taking ‘Ethics and Philosophy of Magic,’ it’ll mostly be freshmen anyway.”
In the end, Del had decided to resume teaching both of her classes. After all, even after taking a full three-year sabbatical, she wasn’t shameless enough to insist she wanted even more time off.
Of course, that didn’t mean she’d truly rested during those three years, but still.
“Come to think of it, Nike. What about the magic I told you to master before I left?”
“Pfft, I finished all that ages ago.”
Nike puffed out her chest proudly.
Del had already known that, but Nike’s learning speed was still astonishing. Tucking the fairy tale book under her arm, Del began selecting advanced textbooks for Nike.
“That’s good. Since you’ve completed intermediate-level magic, it’s time to start learning advanced spells. Starting tomorrow, we’re studying again.”
“Hiiing…”
“What do you mean ‘hiiing’? Speak properly like an adult.”
“Hing.”
Watching Nike openly recoil in horror gave Del a strange sense of déjà vu.
When she was young, she used to whine to her own master exactly like that.
Then she met Theo, and her competitive spirit burst into flames, eventually leading her all the way to where she stood now.
Del carried the textbooks and the books Nike had picked out to the register and paid for them. Sweeping the books into a handbag connected to another dimension—known as “Helen’s Pocket”—she left the bookstore together with Nike.
Apparently dreading the thought of studying, Nike grumbled the entire time they walked. Still, at least she always did what she was told, which made her a good student overall.
“If using magic already works fine, why do I have to learn all those boring theories anyway?”
“Because if you’re going to live pretending to be human, you need to at least know the basics. Though honestly, I’m still not sure whether bringing you out of the forest was the right decision…”
“Then let me attend the academy too! Staying home is boring! I want friends!”
“No. The gap between you and the other students is way too big.”
Del shuddered as she recalled how, after Theo disappeared, she’d enrolled at the academy out of sheer frustration and utterly crushed the morale of every classmate around her before graduating early in only a year.
Though at the time she’d still been somewhat weak in theory, so there had actually been one or two subjects where someone managed to outperform her.
She hadn’t heard any news from them lately. Wonder how they’re doing now?
“And if your identity gets exposed, things will become annoying. Do you want to be separated from me?”
“T-that’s not it! I can just be careful! I can transform perfectly now!”
“You lose control whenever you panic. It’s still too soon—”
At that moment, the ground suddenly began to shake.
“Huh?! What’s happening?!”
“Kyaaa!”
While people panicked in confusion, frozen in place, a handful sensed something strange and quickly looked around.
The tremors intensified, and slowly, the center of the stone road began collapsing inward. Bricks rattled downward as something enormous burst upward toward the sky.
The very first person to react was Delsia.
Green light spread rapidly beneath her feet. From the enormous magic circle completed in an instant, thick vines erupted from the earth and tightly bound the monster rising from below.
“KWOOOO!”
“AAAAAH!”
The moment people saw the black creature baring its teeth, chaos erupted as they fled in terror. Only Del and a few individuals presumed to be mages remained standing their ground.
The remaining mages retaliated by firing flames and beams at the monster as it struggled violently against the vines. Though the attacks didn’t seem especially effective.
Fortunately, everyone appeared to know the guideline that layering another magic circle over one already in operation could damage the original formation.
Nike sniffed the air before abruptly turning toward Del.
“There’s a horrible smell coming from that direction too!”
“Nike, I’ll handle things here, so go over there! Deal with the situation!”
Instead of answering, Nike let out a strange cry and dashed into a narrow alley. Soon, a huge white mass shot upward over the alley and flew into the distance.
Del’s face remained calm as she summoned more and more vines, but her thoughts raced.
Anywhere else would be one thing, but this was Pinessa—the capital of Rosa. The most heavily protected place in the nation, guarded by the country’s strongest barrier.
And yet monsters appearing in the middle of the city? How could that possibly make sense?
A pure white cloak fluttered behind Delsia’s back as a grin spread across her face.
It’s been a while since I’ve had such a good research subject!
Determined to capture the creature alive somehow, Del rapidly constructed another magic circle in her mind.
The vines grew explosively, swallowing the monster whole. Twisting and shrieking, the creature gradually disappeared beneath the mass of plants, its body shrinking smaller and smaller.
Arms crossed, Del calmly watched as the plant-covered mass slowly began sinking into the magic circle.
Just as it completely vanished and the circle started fading away, hurried footsteps sounded behind her.
Turning around, she found members of the capital guard standing there in uniform, exactly as expected. Since she’d occasionally acted as an advisor or personally reported magical incidents before, Del recognized several of them and greeted them politely despite her indifferent mood.
“Good evening, Professor Hendel. We received reports that a monster appeared here.”
“Yes, that’s right. As you can see, this happened.”
Del gestured toward the enormous crater in the road. At a signal from the apparent captain, guards quickly cordoned off the collapsed area.
“But why are there no traces of the monster…?”
“Oh, well, the citizens seemed to be in danger, so I used a bit of magic.”
She deliberately answered vaguely, and the captain nodded as though he understood.
“Since you were the closest witness, we’d appreciate it if you could stop by the guard headquarters later and give a statement about the situation.”
“Then I’ll visit tomorrow evening. I have other matters right now, so today would be difficult.”
“Understood.”
Since she was being cooperative, the captain accepted her answer without suspicion.
At that moment, one of the guards standing to the captain’s right fiddled with what looked like a communication earring before suddenly shouting in surprise.
“R-right, what happened over there— Huh?! A giant wolf appeared?!”
Hey, that idiot’s a fox. Completely different species.
Remembering Nike’s deeply offended face whenever she insisted she was cute and adorable and absolutely not the same species as those savage, bad-tempered wolves, Del nearly burst out laughing.
She barely held back the urge to correct them.
“Uh, have they identified the person over there yet?”
The guard standing on the left quietly whispered with a serious expression. Del, secretly listening in, widened her eyes curiously.
“Secure witness testimonies and clean up the scene first. Have all the remains been collected? Prioritize transporting everything back to headquarters—”
“What happened?”
“Uh, well…”
When Del questioned him, the guard glanced toward the captain as if asking permission to speak. Only after the captain gave a small nod did he hurriedly explain.
“According to what we’ve confirmed, there were three monsters total across the capital. The squad sent elsewhere reported that someone suddenly charged at one of the monsters and sliced it to pieces. Apparently they used a sword, so they think it was a swordsman, but it happened so fast they couldn’t even see the person’s face…”
No way.
No, I’m overthinking this. Why would someone who insisted on lying low suddenly pull out a sword there?
“Ah, they also said there was a faint black aura around the sword. It might’ve been their imagination, but if true, it was probably sword aura.”
We’re screwed. That bastard really did it!
Though inwardly horrified, Del desperately maintained a shamelessly calm expression.
You insane idiot! Do you seriously not want to get caught? Magic swordsmen are already rare enough as it is!
The number of so-called magic swordsmen—warriors who used both swordsmanship and magic—was even smaller than the number of mages. Since the basic requirement was being able to manifest sword aura through one’s blade, the average nation only had around five known magic swordsmen.
Because they possessed exceptional magical ability while also being physically trained, they were notoriously difficult opponents to counter compared to ordinary mages.
Of course, none of that applied to Del. She’d never once given anyone an opportunity to exploit her weaknesses.
“Well, that certainly is surprising.”
“Indeed. Judging from the size of the crater, someone capable of cutting down a monster like that in one strike wouldn’t be common.”
“And with manpower shortages lately, if the person isn’t already affiliated somewhere…”
While the others quietly speculated among themselves, Del casually pulled out a pocket watch and pretended to check the time.
“Ah, I really should get going now. I’ll see everyone tomorrow.”
“Yes, please take care. Thank you for your hard work today.”
After giving a brief farewell, Del turned away from the guards, her cloak fluttering behind her.
Her pace was slow at first, but the moment she rounded a corner into an alley, she quickened her steps.
Good. They don’t seem suspicious yet.
Del thought about the monster she had secretly transported to a designated location.
From what she sensed earlier, the corruption level had been severe. Once purified, she’d be able to determine exactly what it was. Maybe related to one of those cult organizations? It felt likely she’d receive a request for cooperation soon.
Still, the land itself feels far more corrupted than before. I need to find “that item” quickly…
Lost in thought, Del was just about to pass another alley when a hand suddenly shot toward her.
Instead of resisting as she was yanked into the shadows, she allowed herself to be pulled in.
Then something large wrapped its arms tightly around her from behind.
