45. A Gamble Against Time (5)
Swaaaaah!!
Rain drizzled steadily down.
—…I see. So you’re saying you’re spending your summer break well?
“Yes. It’s a complete vacation.”
I contacted Instructor Lee Hanwol of Class S, who was surely still living through his sweltering workdays at Stella Academy, and reported my current location.
Whenever a Stella cadet went on dispatch or spent a vacation elsewhere, it was mandatory to send a letter home once a week, but with Kkotseorin’s help, I was able to report in far more conveniently by phone.
Well, some people might say calls are more inconvenient, but I was someone thoroughly seasoned in lying, so there was no problem for me.
—Is that so? Have you been doing well without any issues up to now?
Lee Hanwol knew as well.
Recently, I had barged into the Kingdom of Adolevit and done something rather ominous there.
But nothing at all about me had been written in the newspapers or any other media, so bringing it up directly was awkward.
Because.
“Yes. I was enjoying a sunbath at the seaside while drinking champagne… I mean cola.”
—…I see.
He would definitely be suspicious of something.
But just because someone had suspicions did not mean they could throw the culprit straight into prison. I had an extremely spotless alibi.
The third princess of Adolevit herself—the central figure of this whole incident—would testify to my alibi, so what could even Lee Hanwol do?
—Be careful while you play around, and then come back.
With that, Lee Hanwol ended the call, and I finally felt a weight lift from my heart.
I truly felt bad for him, but I had no intention of returning immediately.
“Are you… leaving now?”
“Yes.”
Kkotseorin moved her lips a few times as if reluctant, then pressed them shut.
It was understandable that she would feel some regret, since it had been a long time since she had spent time outside like this, but we had already finished our first “communion” through the relic, and there was no reason to continue roaming around the city together any longer than this.
I was busy, and Kkotseorin was busy too, so realistically, the right thing to do was for each of us to quickly go our separate ways.
“…Next time as well, could you make time for me like this?”
“Ah, if Her Majesty asked, I’d drop out of school and come running.”
“Fufu, there’s no need to go that far… but it does make me happy.”
Did she think I was just saying it to flatter her?
I meant it.
“Yes. It’s regrettable, but we should part here today. The knights looking for me have probably spread throughout the city already…”
Even if it was only for a single night, the queen’s disappearance would have been a disaster like a bolt from the blue for the knights.
Sneaking out without saying a word.
Contrary to appearances, she was giving off a surprisingly strong troublemaker aura.
“Then… I’ll be going now!”
Perhaps she was trying to shake off this lingering regret herself, because the queen ran toward the knights without even looking back once.
She still had not taken off her veil, but fortunately, her footsteps looked much lighter now.
To think that I’m still the only person who has seen Kkotseorin’s bare face.
This might actually be quite a unique experience.
“…Shall I go too.”
Swaaaaah—!
The rain was still falling steadily.
Stella uniforms naturally came with waterproofing, but getting rained on causes hair loss, so umbrellas were still necessary.
Hmm.
Does Aether World make an exception?
This world had a monsoon season too, and thanks to that, this trip would be accompanied by the sound of rain.
“Where are you headed?”
“Hawol Plains, to the Starcloud Merchant Company.”
After buying a ticket and boarding the train, I stared blankly out the window. With the raindrops mixing into the view, the scenery was blurred.
Even so, this world was still beautiful.
Too beautiful to let it be destroyed like this.
“Student. Want your fortune told?”
A fortune-teller wandering from train car to train car spoke to me. I answered while showing her the Stella emblem.
“I don’t believe in that kind of thing.”
“Tch, you pathetic little spell-slinger. Magic and astrology are obviously different things.”
Astrology definitely did exist as a subject at Stella, but it was still little more than folk belief. It hadn’t been magically proven, and unlike Divine Moon Studies, it didn’t show obvious results.
“I’ll listen if it’s free.”
So I played my unbeatable move.
Most people got offended and left at this point, while the types determined to squeeze money out of me would usually offer one free reading first to pique my interest.
“Mm, sure. Fine. What fortune shall I read?”
Apparently, this fortune-teller ajumma belonged to the second group.
“Hmm… my love life?”
The moment I mentioned the fortune everyone, young or old, was most curious about, the fortune-teller grinned, showing her uneven ugly teeth.
“You’ve got the face of someone who must never fall into love lightly. I guarantee it.”
…What?
“Don’t people usually butter you up a little at this point? And besides, you didn’t even ask for my name or birthday.”
“Asking for things like that is what the low-level hacks do. If I merely look at the heavens, I can read the secrets of fate, and if I meet a person’s eyes, I can see straight through their character. What use would I have for a name or birthday?”
“Ah, I see.”
I wasn’t the type to believe fortune-tellers, so I just nodded vaguely.
“So then, what exactly do you mean by I shouldn’t fall into love lightly? Usually people say something like I’ll start dating within a few years, or that I should meet a certain type of person, don’t they?”
“I mean exactly what I said. You must not get involved with people easily. A disaster on a continental scale will occur.”
“…Right. Of course.”
How could one little romance cause a continent-scale disaster? At that point I was so dumbfounded I didn’t even want to listen anymore.
“So? Anything else you’re curious about?”
“I don’t have any money.”
“Tsk, as though money were what matters. Fine then. I’ve had enough amusement myself. Kehehe. We’ll meet again.”
“…Pardon?”
I was about to ask her what that was supposed to mean, but the fortune-teller ajumma, who had been standing right in front of me just moments ago, had vanished without a trace.
Only an empty space remained.
“W-what the hell?”
I hurried out into the train corridor and looked in both directions, but there was absolutely no sign that anyone had passed by.
Movement so ghostlike that it could deceive even the sixth sense of my Mana Leakage Body.
“Seriously… what was that…”
The thought that some unidentified being had just passed through left my guts turning cold.
Zeliel’s expedition, meanwhile, had succeeded in discovering the Ancient Carmenset Ruins and was steadily conquering them.
By drawing on her father’s connections, she had even brought along a full 7-Class mage, and veteran adventurers highly skilled in dungeon conquest had opened the path ahead.
The traps laid with ancient magic were difficult to properly detect with modern magic, and resentful spirits with deep grudges constantly gnawed away at the expedition’s mental strength, but despite all of that, they pressed forward without wasting time.
This was all the power of wealth.
This was the result of gathering together the best adventurers in the world.
Boom!!
_We… grant… pas…sage….
After they defeated the guardian protecting the final gate of Ancient Carmenset, the 7-Class mage Kaderfilt approached Zeliel and said:
“My lady. Now only the final gate remains.”
“…You’ve worked hard.”
It had been a journey no one could call easy, and so Zeliel’s appearance was in terrible shape as well.
Her finest robe and adventurer’s suit had long since been torn apart and dirtied beyond recognition, but her face was bright with light.
‘Finally, finally, finally…!’
Her heart pounded.
When Zeliel stepped forward, the mages and adventurers split to both sides and made way for her.
The final gate.
A Soul Chess match with Ancient Carmenset.
In this place, there was only one person who could stand before that great being and play chess with him.
‘I’ve practiced for this day alone.’
With her genius mind, she had neglected even magic itself and studied and researched Soul Chess alone, all in order to reach the very highest level in the world.
A bleak mist rose up, and two red dots floated in the air. Instinctively, the adventurers understood that they were the eyes of something.
Everyone drew their wands and aimed, but Zeliel raised a hand to stop them.
—…A pitiful and miserable soul has come seeking me. For what reason have you awakened me?
A deep, heavy voice seeped out. Just hearing it made her knees tremble, but she somehow managed not to collapse.
“Immortality. I want immortality.”
—Yes, of course you do.
She wanted immortality.
Was it because she wanted to live forever?
No.
She had to obtain immortality, no matter what, in order to save her father, whose lifespan was nearly at its end.
—I shall grant your wish.
However.
—Only if you defeat me in Soul Chess… kehehe.
Rumble!!!
The ground suddenly collapsed, rose, crumbled, and formed itself again and again, and the adventurers shouted toward Zeliel in confusion.
“M-my lady!”
“Stay still!”
She did not panic. She did not move even a single step from where she stood.
After waiting for a short while,
…the ground beneath Zeliel had turned into one enormous chessboard.
Behind her were a great many chess pieces, but among them, there was one most important piece missing.
The King.
Carmenset let out a creepy cackle.
—You yourself shall move as the King. And if you are defeated… your soul shall become mine.
A great many legends and tales were recorded about Carmenset. He would lure people in by saying that if they only won at Soul Chess, he would grant them any wish—
and then he would steal their souls.
Most likely, the countless resentful spirits that had tormented Zeliel’s expedition all throughout their exploration of this ruin…
were the souls of those who had come seeking Carmenset and lost a game of chess to him.
‘A being who grants any wish.’
And yet, a legend drenched in such terrible infamy that not a single case had ever been recorded of someone successfully making that wish.
—Kehehe. Even so, will you still play Soul Chess with me?
Was there any reason to hesitate?
She had lived her whole life for this moment.
“Of course.”
Zeliel nodded without hesitation, and Carmenset cried out in an excited voice.
—Excellent! Just imagining the moment I seize and devour your noble soul thrills me as well! Come, let us begin our Soul Chess!
Rumble—!
Carmenset’s chess pieces moved on their own and arranged themselves. Zeliel stepped backward, climbed into the King’s position, closed her eyes, and raised a hand.
At once, the chess pieces began moving and arranging themselves according to her direction.
—I’m not going to lose.
Soul Chess begins its strategy from the very moment the pieces are placed on the board.
Zeliel arranged a very special formation. It was a tactic she had never once used before, one she had learned after suffering a crushing defeat at the hands of Baek Yuseol.
The loss had certainly been painful, but thanks to it, she had been able to grow another step stronger.
—Now then, shall we begin? I find myself curious about the young lady’s skill!
Kkiiiing—!
As Carmenset’s chess piece moved, the true Soul Chess, with souls on the line, finally began.
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