32. Aslan Seminar (1)
Until the next episode began, I continued going regularly to the residence of Ha Taeryeong, who was as good as my master, and trained there.
He was the only person in this world of nothing but magic who had researched both the sword and Mana Leakage Constitution, so even though I did not know what his face looked like, I felt a strange sense of kinship with him.
And yet, even now, I still could not grasp his sword.
It was said that once I had mastered Mana Leakage Constitution to a certain level and gained the proper qualification, I would be able to learn swordsmanship through the sword Ha Taeryeong once used…
But I had no idea what that so-called qualification actually meant, so the whole time I trained, I felt lost.
Of course, just because I could not hold the sword did not mean I had made no progress at all.
Now, I could activate [Taeryeong Divine Art] without delay. If I were given even a brief moment to concentrate, I could gather explosive mana into my sword as much as I wanted. Though its duration was still short, I was confident in its momentary offensive power.
And on top of that—
“Here, a present.”
Not long ago, I had given Alterisha an extremely rare substance called Moonlight Stone. I had hoped she would handle it however she pleased and make something even better with it, but…
“I coated your Stella uniform with Moonlight Stone. You’re always getting dragged into dangerous incidents, Yuseol.”
“This is…”
Moonlight Stone was a material that was both extremely lightweight and highly conductive to mana, so while its raw durability was not particularly high, it was very easy to enchant with high-grade magic.
Stella uniforms already had multiple layers of protective magic on them by default, but compared to alchemical magitech, there were bound to be shortcomings here and there, so Alterisha had practically rebuilt my uniform from the ground up.
“It has temperature-regulation built in, of course, and I also added partial self-repair for damaged sections, plus a function to clean off dirt. I even put a Level 3 protective barrier on it, so it should be able to withstand most magic at least once.”
“Wow… thank you so much, Assistant.”
I had not expected to receive something like this, so when I made a genuinely moved expression, Alterisha gave me a rare mischievous look.
“I’m not your assistant. How long are you going to keep calling me that?”
I stared blankly at her.
She probably wanted something like Chairwoman of the Society or Doctor as a proper title, but I decided to joke around a little.
“Then should I call you Noona?”
“N-no, absolutely not!”
Smack!
“Ghk!”
I made a joke for no reason and got hit in the head for it.
In Aether World, there existed something called the Four Great Floating Cities.
That was the term used collectively for the four largest floating cities. Excluding the Mysterious Celestial Realm, which one could only reach after attaining a transcendent state as a mage, that left three cities.
The City of Magic, Arcanium.
The Sky City, Elvedia.
The Founding City, Camelon.
Among them, Camelon was famous as the place where, in the distant past, the Founding Mage had written the first line of history and raised an entire city into the sky by his own power alone. Even now, a thousand years later, one of the great mysteries was the fact that the Founding Mage’s power still lingered there.
As befitted the birthplace of mages, Camelon was a place where things like law and politics meant absolutely nothing, and every rule was governed solely by magic. Each year, a great conference of mages was held there.
And among them, the only mage conference where youths served as the main participants was the Aslan Seminar.
Even attendance as an observer was not granted to those who were not full-fledged mages, and every year, this seminar produced a great many talents. This year in particular attracted unusual attention because especially many geniuses were attending.
Jeremy Scarlven, the golden crown prince of the Scarlven Empire.
Hong Biyeon, the princess of Adolevit born with the blessing of fire.
Flame, the girl who carried the blood of both angel and fairy.
Hae Wonryang, successor of the Full Moon Tower, the greatest magic tower in the world.
And even Aizel, born with the blessing of ice and also a descendant of the traitorous Morf family.
Not only that, but because all the geniuses of every race gathered at Camelon’s Aslan Seminar, it was quite common to see young mages from the beastfolk, elves, dwarves, and the like.
“The human mages are drawing quite a lot of attention.”
As much as everyone was making a fuss over how many talents had emerged among humans who deserved to be called geniuses, the other races naturally found it less than pleasing.
Though it had already been over a hundred years since racial alliances had formed, the subtle competitive instincts between races had still not vanished.
Zeliel, the High Elf and only daughter of the head of the Starcloud Trading Company, spoke as though none of that mattered in the slightest.
“Well, that’s only natural. Humans have short lifespans, so they run frantically and rush through everything. Ah, Seong Taewon. Aren’t you human too?”
“…I am half human and half elf. But following my mother’s will, I wish to live as an elf.”
Zeliel’s bodyguard, Seong Taewon, was a half-elf, and as was always the case with those of mixed blood, he was not treated particularly well by either side.
In the midst of that, Zeliel had noticed his unusual talent and kept him at her side as her guard.
Thanks to that, Seong Taewon’s life had turned around completely, and he now spent twenty-four hours a day with her. Perhaps because he had remained by her side for so long…
Seong Taewon no longer viewed Lady Zeliel as merely someone he was guarding.
…Zeliel, of course, had already noticed that fact.
But well, was there any tool more useful than feelings like that, gently exploited, when it came to making use of people?
‘Hmm… Seong Taewon’s value is starting to drop.’
Was it because he was a half-human, half-fairy? His lifespan being short compared to hers was the problem.
She had discovered Seong Taewon when she herself was only eight, and they had already been together for ten years, yet compared to back then, his magic had not advanced all that much. In the end, that seemed to be all there was to his potential.
If he were an elf, she could invest far more time into him and raise him to a higher realm, but a human mage could not do that.
‘…Humans are innately inferior, after all.’
It was probably about time to dispose of Seong Taewon and bring in a new human. Unlike elves, humans had short shelf lives, fell in love easily, and were simple to use.
‘What if I took Baek Yuseol in as my new guard?’
Zeliel, too, was an elite student attending the prestigious Starlight Tree Magic School, one of the greatest academies in the fairy world, and had come to attend the Aslan Seminar.
She had long since bribed her way into acquiring the participant list, so she already knew Baek Yuseol would be present. If not for that, she would not have bothered coming here at all. For her, immediate business mattered more than something like Aslan.
In that sense, Baek Yuseol was a fairly useful… no, potentially tremendously valuable business asset.
Even just looking at the surface, what was he?
The first mage capable of controlling Blink magic, co-developer of an item together with Alterisha, and despite being only seventeen years old, a genius among geniuses who had encountered Dark Mages multiple times and resolved the incidents around them.
Merely keeping him close would surely have a very positive effect on the public image of the Starcloud Trading Company.
…And beyond those surface reasons, there were even more important reasons why she absolutely had to keep him by her side.
‘All I have to do is wait quietly.’
A smile naturally crept onto her lips.
Sooner or later, Baek Yuseol would end up in her hands—it was only a matter of time.
Until that day came, she intended to lay a little groundwork.
“We have arrived at the Mont Bleu Castle Hotel, milady.”
In Aether World, hotels existed all the way up to seven-star class.
The Mont Bleu Castle Hotel was one of the seven-star hotels in Camelon, and this ultra-luxurious place—used by upper nobles, major corporations, and great merchants—charged more for a single night than an ordinary commoner’s yearly salary.
Of course, to someone like Zeliel, it was merely a temporary place to stay.
“Milady. At fourteen hundred, you are scheduled to meet with Mage Alexaron of the Magic Society. Immediately afterward, the young lady of House Marcayu is holding a small birthday banquet at the hotel, so I have already prepared a dress for your attendance.”
Seong Taewon recited Zeliel’s schedule one item after another.
Though she was a High Elf, she had lived as a merchant, so she had no choice but to involve herself deeply in the societies of other races.
She had only come to Camelon to attend the Aslan Seminar, yet she had to fill even the tiniest minute of her time with scheduled obligations.
“…Let us go at once.”
As a fairy, she possessed an ironclad constitution, so this much did not tire her physically.
But there was no helping the mental strain.
Still, Zeliel was thorough in all things, and especially when it came to important matters, she could not rest unless she handled them herself.
She had been so busy and yet had even written her own thesis for Aslan rather than leaving it to someone else, which said everything.
Compared to the so-called regular participants, most of whom quietly pilfered research from established magic scholars, Zeliel could at least be called fairly honest where magic was concerned.
In any case, the moment she set foot in Camelon, Zeliel spent the entire day making time to meet countless mages, businessmen, and nobles.
She had not actually accomplished the reason she came here yet, but she thought it would be fine to postpone it a little.
“Whew… I’m tired.”
Late that night.
Zeliel boarded her private vehicle after fending off the underhanded attempt of a noble who had suggested she at least stay for a late meal and subtly tried to introduce his handsome son in the process.
“Where shall I take you?”
The day’s schedule was over.
Zeliel was just about to say straight back to the hotel, when something came to mind.
“…Where did you say Baek Yuseol is staying?”
“At the Latanel Hotel.”
“A hotel named after a fallen angel? As expected of the homeland of magic, even arrogant names like that are accepted.”
“I imagine it suits your taste perfectly, milady.”
“That’s right. I hate angels. Take us there at once.”
Compared to the seven-star Mont Bleu Hotel where Zeliel was staying, the Latanel Hotel was far smaller in scale.
At first glance, it was enough to make one think, What kind of place is this?
To Zeliel, even setting foot in such a cheap hotel would have been unpleasant.
But more irritating than that was the fact that Baek Yuseol—someone who would someday become hers—was staying somewhere so shabby.
“Can anonymous sponsorship be arranged?”
“You wish to move Baek Yuseol to another hotel?”
“You really do understand me well.”
“…Naturally. We have spent many years together.”
Seong Taewon added those last words with deliberate meaning.
Normally he would have swallowed words like that and kept them to himself, but lately he had begun subtly flaunting a sense of intimacy.
‘Oh…?’
Having realized that Zeliel was showing strong interest in Baek Yuseol, he had started feeling a quiet jealousy.
‘How insolent.’
If she had drawn the line long ago and made it clear that someone like him could never be on her level, he would not even have thought to say such things.
But because Zeliel had, little by little, pretended to accept his feelings and kept him dangling, Seong Taewon too had apparently begun misunderstanding things and subtly expressing himself.
“Well, no matter. Baek Yuseol should have enough money himself, so if he is deliberately staying here, there must be a reason.”
“I see.”
“Yes. So—”
Zeliel had been about to say that they should go back, when something caught her eye.
‘Hong Biyeon… Adolevit?’
For some reason, the princess of the strongest nation in the world had appeared in front of the cheap Latanel Hotel.
‘Hmm?’
It was an interesting sight.
Hong Biyeon was a woman more vain than most, one who strained herself constantly in order to appear strong before the world.
A woman like that would never stay in a cheap place like this.
So if she was here, it could only be to meet someone.
Most likely, Baek Yuseol.
‘…Come to think of it, hadn’t they said the princess of Adolevit had taken an interest in Baek Yuseol?’
Even Zeliel had to tread carefully when it came to information from inside Stella, but the fact that Hong Biyeon showed unusually distinct reactions only toward Baek Yuseol was something anyone could have found out quickly.
“Raise the window and let’s move closer—slowly.”
“Understood.”
Hong Biyeon was wandering alone in front of the Latanel Hotel entrance, with not even a single escort at her side.
After activating the private carriage’s presence suppression magic, as well as its magnification and auditory enhancement functions, Zeliel had it parked in a suitable spot.
If Baek Yuseol happened to come out, she intended to eavesdrop on the conversation between him and Hong Biyeon.
But after a while, the one who came out of the hotel was not Baek Yuseol, but a cool and beautiful girl with pale blue hair—
Aizel Morf.
“Hmm…”
Morf and Adolevit ought to have been bitter enemies, so the very fact that they were meeting in secret like this was interesting information in itself. Zeliel was disappointed Baek Yuseol had not come out, but she listened carefully anyway.
—Why did you call me out here? To this cheap-looking hotel?
The moment she saw Aizel, Hong Biyeon spoke sharply.
—And yet you still came. Just as I thought—you would come if I said this was about Baek Yuseol.
—Wh-what are you talking about…? I only came because you called me here in that arrogant way, and I was curious.
Aizel glanced around cautiously, then sighed as though realizing there was no need.
After all, if someone wanted to find out, it was the sort of thing anyone could uncover eventually.
—I heard you’ve been running around trying to cure Baek Yuseol’s limited lifespan too.
Flinch.
Even Zeliel had not known that Baek Yuseol was living on borrowed time, so her body tensed.
She still could not perfectly grasp all the information circulating inside Stella.
—I… did that? Who said so?
—I have eyes too. In any case, that’s not the point. I have something to tell you because of it.
—…Did you find a method?
—No. I found out there’s no need to.
—What?
Zeliel focused even more intently.
And yet, for some reason—
—I accessed the ■■ ■■ and found out about his ■■. But I couldn’t learn anything beyond that.
Aizel’s words blurred as though concealed behind a hazy fog, and the key terms would not come through clearly. It was as though something refused to let anyone else hear them.
After that, Aizel kept trying to persuade Hong Biyeon of something for quite a while, but Zeliel could not understand any of it.
At last, Aizel concluded.
—I can’t explain any more than this. There’s some kind of prohibition on it.
—…And you expect me to believe that?
But Hong Biyeon, unlike Zeliel, seemed to have understood all of it.
Her expression turned deathly cold, as though she had just heard the most unbelievable lie imaginable.
—Yes. Whether you believe me or not is up to you. But you know this too, don’t you? I hate you Adolevits with all my heart. And yet I’m the one personally asking you for this. I’m even lowering my head to do it.
Hong Biyeon fell silent, and Zeliel’s frustration burned hotter and hotter.
She had missed a few of the most important words, and as a result she could not tell what in the world they were talking about.
—Whew… Fine. All right. I’m not saying I completely believe you. But if what you said truly turns out to be true…
Hong Biyeon and Aizel looked up at the sky at the same time.
Or perhaps not the sky.
Perhaps the stars.
—…Then let’s speak again.
That was where the conversation ended.
Hong Biyeon strode away down the street like a flame.
Aizel remained behind, staring blankly at the sky as she let out a sigh.
Behind that bitter, faintly wistful expression—
what kinds of thoughts and secrets was she hiding?
“Milady.”
“Yes. Speak.”
“Shall I immediately begin gathering information on those girls?”
Quickly sensing that her mood had turned sour, Seong Taewon asked.
“Do not touch the princess of Adolevit. But… Aizel Morf. Investigate that girl. Only to the extent that it doesn’t offend Stella. Even for me, Stella is still a burden.”
“Understood.”
“Let’s return to the hotel.”
Without a word, Seong Taewon set the carriage in motion, while Zeliel leaned her head against the window and sank into thought.
‘…What exactly were they talking about? And what is this about Baek Yuseol being on borrowed time?’
That night, Zeliel did not sleep a single moment.
