50. Noble Soul (17)
When a massive body moves, noise inevitably follows.
And what would happen when a gigantic flying pleasure ship four hundred meters long and fifty-five meters wide moved?
And yet, strangely enough, almost no sound could be heard from the white airship floating in the sky.
As though it were being considerate of wounded patients.
“‘Saint Holic,’ huh. What a ridiculously dull model name….”
Aryumun Bleushun, chairman of the Magic Society, had the unusual hobby of collecting airships.
And his obsession had reached such a level that, just by hearing the sound of an engine, he could tell what company the airship came from, what kind of tuning had been done to it, when it had been built, and what engine it used.
The Saint Holic was one of the airships Aryumun particularly disliked.
“And why exactly do you dislike that one?”
When a mage asked, Aryumun clicked his tongue and answered,
“Because it belongs to those Stella bastards.”
Stella Academy was infamous for doing insane things on the strength of its absurd wealth and technical prowess.
For example, it created a supermassive airship nicknamed the “flying notarized city” and used it as a resting place for students.
Or it built the semi-subspace “Stella Dome” and used it for nothing more than a training ground.
Or it installed dozens of miniature Warp Hall gates inside the school.
Things that no other magical institution could even dream of doing.
Saint Holic was one more example of that “Stella wasting money for no reason.”
It was an airship built like an ambulance of sorts, created to rescue students dispatched outside.
Saint Holic.
But really.
Was it that other magical institutions truly lacked the money to build something like that?
No.
Maybe they couldn’t go so far as to pull the insane stunt of plastering their school grounds with miniature Warp Halls,
but that level of thing was entirely possible.
They just hadn’t done it because there was no need, no meaning, and no practical use for it.
Would it really be such a disaster to just carry out a rescue operation with an ordinary combat-model airship?
It was all showmanship.
Stella’s headmaster, Eltman Eltwin, liked putting on airs, which was why he made ridiculous airships like that.
“Tch. He probably thinks carrying around an airship like that makes him look impressive. As if…”
As Aryumun sat there trash-talking Eltman with tired eyes, the mage beside him quietly shook his head.
‘You collect airships to show off too, don’t you…’
A little while later, the airship landed, and particles began gathering in the air, forming the shape of a staircase.
When two magic warriors revealed themselves upon the steps, Aryumun’s face lit with amusement.
“Well, if it isn’t…”
Lee Hanwol, instructor of Stella’s first-year S-Class.
Arain Blackswan, captain of Stella’s General Knight Order.
Those two were practically special-tier magic warriors even within the Academy itself, and now they had personally appeared.
The reason the Saint Holic had suddenly come to Namuhwaran’s orchard was to retrieve the injured Baek Yuseol in person.
Moving the Saint Holic for the sake of a mere single student was strange enough,
but on top of that, two heavyweight Stella mages had moved personally?
Even for Aryumun, that was enough to become deeply interesting.
Lee Hanwol stood before Aryumun and gave a brief bow of greeting, while Arain offered a handshake first.
“It’s a pleasure.”
“Yes… and all the more so for me. It’s not often one gets to see two young heroes standing together in one place.”
“We are a generation already beginning to fade.”
“Oh, careful now. Saying things like that in front of an old man who’s practically dying is dangerous. Kuh-huk!”
No sooner had Aryumun finished speaking than he began coughing violently, and a whole mouthful of blood spilled out, shocking the mages standing nearby.
Mages and nurses rushed forward to support him, but he waved them off and sent them back.
“Ah, it’s nothing. Just ordinary hemoptysis, so don’t mind it.”
Once someone had coughed up an entire mouthful of blood, calling it “ordinary” seemed a bit of a stretch, but if Aryumun said so, the mages had no choice but to step back.
“Where is Student Baek Yuseol?”
“Right, right. Two young heroes personally make their way here for the sake of one precious talent, and this old man ends up wasting your time.”
With that, Aryumun led them—including Arain and Lee Hanwol, along with the other mages who had come to accompany them—to the highest point of Namuhwaran Orchard, a place called the “Healing Fruit.”
The name sounded grand, but in human terms, it was just an ordinary hospital.
The only difference was that, thanks to the World Tree bearing mystical fruit, if elves rested inside, their wounds healed and their fatigue recovered simply by being there.
Baek Yuseol did not receive such a special effect, but they said a medical mage had treated him.
“This way.”
When they opened the door to the innermost hospital room and entered, a woman sitting by the head of the bed reading a book looked up and met the eyes of the mages.
Her entire body was wrapped in a black robe and dress, and a white mask covered her face, but Arain and Lee Hanwol recognized her identity at once.
“…We greet the king of all divine beasts and fairies.”
“Ah… it’s nice to meet you.”
Kkotseorin rose from her seat and gave the mages a light bow.
“You sure came in dramatic fashion. Don’t you think so, Elf King?”
“Tomorrow’s paper’s going to have this splashed across the front page again, won’t it?”
Neither Arain nor Lee Hanwol reacted to Aryumun’s mocking words, but they knew it too.
The fact that moving the Saint Holic just to pick up one student, and even coming in person themselves, would cause an enormous stir in the press.
Still, it couldn’t be helped.
Their deployment had come by direct order
from Stella’s headmaster, Eltman Eltwin.
Until recently, he had never done anything like this, and yet today, he had suddenly issued an order that almost felt like overprotecting Student Baek Yuseol.
His intentions were highly questionable, but in the end, an order was an order, and they were merely carrying it out faithfully.
“How is the student’s condition?”
“He’s much better. The attending physician said his regenerative ability is several times greater than that of an ordinary mage.”
At Kkotseorin’s answer, Lee Hanwol nodded as if to say, just as expected.
He had known for some time that Baek Yuseol’s regeneration was exceptional, since the boy had been hospitalized so absurdly often already.
“…What became of the opponent Student Baek Yuseol fought?”
The one who spoke this time was Arain.
At his polite question, Kkotseorin hesitated a moment, glanced around, then answered cautiously.
“The opponent was… Absolute Invincible Cheolribeon. Mr. Baek Yuseol left a fatal wound on his chest, but he was defeated and collapsed.”
“What?”
At her words, Arain and Lee Hanwol were struck speechless.
Even Arain, who normally controlled his expression with near-perfect discipline, failed to hide his shock.
“If it’s that Cheolribeon…
surely you don’t mean the one I’m thinking of…?”
“Yes. The very same Cheolribeon you’re thinking of.”
Aryumun rubbed his abdomen, perhaps because the wound there was still throbbing, and spoke.
“It’s a truly bizarre thing. Even when the Elf King and I attacked together, we couldn’t land a proper blow on him… and yet some mere student managed to leave him with a fatal wound through the chest. If the Elf King hadn’t shown me a fragment of memory herself, even I wouldn’t have believed it.”
The tales surrounding Cheolribeon were famous.
The only dark mage to survive after fighting the Dark Mage King.
The one who single-handedly brought down the impregnable fortress of Kanadan after three hundred years.
The man who possessed an absolutely invincible body…
Baek Yuseol had fought powerful dark mages before and had successfully brought them down, yes—
but that much was the sort of feat any elite magic warrior might display.
Cheolribeon was different.
To face him meant that even a highly capable magic warrior had to wager their life.
No—whether even then they could leave so much as a scratch on him was doubtful.
He was that kind of strongest man.
“You know…
personally, I think it would be better if this matter didn’t become known to the world. For the sake of that student’s safety as well.”
Lee Hanwol and Arain agreed with that.
It was true that Baek Yuseol had inflicted a fatal wound on Cheolribeon, but in actual ability, he absolutely did not stand at a comparable level.
He was a student with a remarkably sharp mind, and by combining that advantage with the peculiar nature of Blink, he produced synergy far beyond what anyone imagined.
This duel with Cheolribeon, too, was probably nothing more than one such lucky outcome.
If someone like Baek Yuseol were to receive the title of “the mage who wounded Cheolribeon”…
it was entirely possible that dark mages seeking that glory might come after him.
“Even if we all try to keep it hidden, the people who need to know will find out. Still, let’s do our best to let this pass as quietly as possible… understood, friends?”
With those words, Aryumun patted Arain and Lee Hanwol on the shoulders and left the hospital room.
The two remained there for a moment, looking at Baek Yuseol.
“…He’ll become something great.”
“He’ll also become something dangerous.”
Perhaps that was why Headmaster Eltman Eltwin had begun taking direct interest in this student.
They didn’t know the full story…
but whether or not it had been a hassle to come all the way here in person, they thought Eltman’s judgment had been the right one.
“Then we will take our leave with Student Baek Yuseol.”
After offering Kkotseorin a respectful farewell, Lee Hanwol departed with Baek Yuseol, and she watched their backs for a long time.
To be precise…
she watched Baek Yuseol.
‘In the end, we never did get to spend time together…’
She had made up her mind, had steeled herself, and had hoped to spend a pleasant time together during the short two-day weekend.
And yet, in the end, not a single thing had gone as planned.
That fact left her bitter and hollow, but she comforted herself by thinking there was no helping it.
After all, what mattered more than anything right now was that Baek Yuseol had returned alive.
‘Ah, Iphanel…!’
Then, suddenly remembering her close friend, Kkotseorin quickly rose to her feet.
Since Iphanel had been the very cause of Namuhwaran Orchard beginning to be stained with turbid energy, she had to deal with the matter immediately.
Now that everyone had left and she no longer had any reason to remain here, Kkotseorin also hurried her steps toward Iphanel’s garden.
And so, no one remained in the hospital room anymore.
…Or so it seemed.
Ripple!
Until the curtain’s shadow wavered, and a pair of pure white eyes appeared.
—Mm…? Was I late? I came to see a child named Baek Yuseol, but was I too lateee…?
It was the voice of a young girl.
But anyone who heard it would know with certainty.
She was by no means an ordinary girl.
After all, she had lightly pierced the temporary barrier Aryumun had set and sent her thoughts through it, which meant that she too was at least a 9-Class mage.
—By the wayyy… that little brat Eltman sure is possessive when it comes to what he considers his things. Windy? Are you here now?
When the girl called out, a gust of wind blew once, and a woman revealed herself.
It was the same woman who had once come to deliver a message to Soya before.
Windy Melsirun.
Letting the robe that barely covered her nearly naked body flutter, she welcomed her master with a seductive smile.
“Yes, Mother. Did you call for me?”
—Before, did you really deliver my message properly to Toaaa?
Toa Legron.
The girl spoke of the Lord of the Pale Green Tower as if addressing a child, but Windy reacted as if that were only natural.
“Of course, Mother. I delivered it properly. You said you were interested in Baek Yuseol, and that he was to be presented in a clean and intact condition, didn’t you?”
—That’s riiight? Then what, exactly, is that supposed to be…?
The girl let out a laugh.
There was something strange about that clear, fresh voice carrying the atmosphere of an old woman, and yet somehow it did not feel out of place at all.
—Is he resisting, perhaps…?
As a spatial mage, Eltman Eltwin had, as far as she knew, only recently reached 9-Class.
Now that he too had become 9-Class and stepped into the realm of the heavenly sphere, he would not be easy to deal with.
—Hngh, I hate troublesome things too…
She herself was old and tired, and could not win in a frontal fight against a young mage like Eltman.
But Eltman was in a position where he had something he must protect.
She, on the other hand, had nothing of the sort.
So if she simply forced the issue one-sidedly…
then Eltman would definitely be the first to throw up both hands and surrender.
—Heheh, let’s see just how far you’ll go to protect a mere student, little boy.
After saying that, the girl closed her eyes, and the wavering eyes within the curtain vanished as though they had only ever been an illusion.
Windy quietly watched that happen, then rose and looked out the window.
The quiet engine sound of the Saint Holic, which had only just taken flight, drifted in from outside.
“What exactly is so special about that brat…”
That such great mages, beings who might as well weigh the world itself on scales, would take this much interest in him?
With her narrow perspective, Windy could not understand it.
But whatever the case, she only intended to follow Mother’s will.
Because that way…
it seemed like it would be much more fun.
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