Chapter 70
“Our mission is to investigate the abnormal events in the Fairy Forest. Specifically, why the undead are appearing.”
At Rauta’s words, Lunia raised her hand.
“I heard Death Knights have been seen in the Fairy Forest. Senior Rauta, have you ever fought a Death Knight?”
“Yes.”
“Then you must have prepared countermeasures against Death Knights.”
“Is it even necessary to prepare for Death Knights?”
“What? What do you mean…?”
Rauta’s response left Lunia confused.
“If Death Knights have truly appeared, then yes, we’d need countermeasures. However—”
Rauta glanced briefly at Leo.
“There’s only one person who claims to have seen a Death Knight.”
“Are you saying Leo lied?”
“I doubt he lied. But he probably mistook some other undead for one. Skeleton Knights can look like Death Knights.”
“Still, it’s only right to prepare for the worst. Strategizing against a Death Knight isn’t that difficult, is it?”
“As a proud representative of Seiren, you know some things but not others.”
Rauta gave a smirk.
“High-class undead like Death Knights can only exist as long as a necromancer continually supplies them with magic power. So wherever there’s a Death Knight, there’s always a demon. But this is the capital of Elsalbekia, Velkia.”
“……”
“As a Seiren student, you should know this: there’s a massive Star Magic field surrounding Velkia. Thanks to the great Founder, Lady Luna, demons can’t even get close. And even if they tried, their location would be detected instantly.”
Rauta spoke as if completely convinced that Death Knights couldn’t appear.
While Lunia hesitated at his words, Leo spoke up.
“But a necromancer doesn’t have to be a demon.”
“What?”
“Anyone can use dark power, not just demons.”
After hearing Leo, Rauta replied,
“Now you’re just talking nonsense. You think an elf with any pride would do such a thing?”
Rauta snapped, turning his back.
“No more wasting time. Let’s move out.”
Watching Rauta walk ahead, Carr whispered quietly,
“Isn’t his attitude totally different now?”
“It means there’s nobody left to watch him,” Leo replied.
“I really don’t like guys like that,” Carr muttered.
Not long after—
Kehehehek! Kyahahaha!
A band of goblins appeared.
“Let’s see what the Lumene kids can do,” Rauta said, nodding at the goblins. “Why don’t you two handle this?”
As Leo started forward, Carr stopped him.
“Leo, do you really need to step in for something like goblins?”
Carr grinned and pulled out his magic staff.
“Leave the small fry to me.”
‘Carr’s combat… come to think of it, aside from the start of the semester, I haven’t really seen it.’
From the beginning, Carr’s goal was to be a supporter.
So even in combat classes, he mostly played a supporting role instead of standing at the front.
His magic too was focused on support and enchantment rather than direct attack.
“Goblins are nothing.”
With a playful grin, Carr spun his short staff between his fingers—then fumbled and dropped it.
“Oops?”
Lunia looked at him with disbelief as he scrambled to pick it up.
“What’s with him?”
Carr picked up his staff and grinned at the goblins forming a circle around them.
“All right, time to show off my work.”
He opened his subspace.
Weapons poured out.
Eiran’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Weapons…”
“Well, he does specialize in alchemy magic,” Leo muttered.
As Leo tilted his head, Carr began channeling his magic.
Rauta snorted.
“What a pathetic amount of magic power.”
It was true—Carr’s magic barely reached the Lumene average.
He was talented, but in a school full of the best, it seemed lacking.
‘But Carr never gave up.’
He knew his limits, but didn’t quit.
Instead, he chose a different path.
Vwoom—
Carr’s magic caused the weapons to float in midair.
Leo’s eyes widened slightly.
“What, just telekinesis magic?”
Lunia, who’d been watching with mild interest, looked a bit disappointed.
Using weapons with telekinesis is a common method of attack.
“No, that’s not telekinesis.”
“What?”
The weapons began emitting magic of various elements.
Eiran was surprised.
“What’s happening?”
“It’s an enchantment.”
“Enchantment?”
“Yeah.”
Leo instantly saw through Carr’s magic.
‘He engraved a telekinesis spell on the weapons, and the enchantment magic is reacting to that.’
Enchantment magic is a simple spell any mage can use.
Engraving a telekinesis spell onto weapons is also straightforward.
But executing enchantment magic in such a complex way is difficult, even for veteran mages.
‘Were those weapons made through alchemy? Not bad.’
“Go!”
At Carr’s command, the weapons flew toward the goblins.
Various enchanted weapons filled the air with magical colors.
Krrk?
Kyaaaah!
The goblins shrieked and scattered.
“Not so fast!”
The weapons, directed by Carr’s will, moved in intricate patterns.
They cut down the goblins in no time and returned to Carr.
He put them away, looking proud.
“How was that for a finishing move?”
“You’re amazing, Carr!”
Eiran shouted excitedly.
Leo was impressed too.
“Why didn’t you present that spell as your [Original Magic] during midterms?”
“It’s just simple enchantment and alchemy-made weapons. Doesn’t really count as [Original Magic].”
“Even being able to approach magic this way is worthy of being called [Original Magic].”
“You think so? Honestly, I just tried anything I could think of.”
Carr specialized in enchantment—imbuing objects with magical properties.
But being just an enchanter usually made it hard to succeed as a mage.
‘But Carr focused on his strength from the very beginning. That’s how he completed this spell.’
“If you show it to Professor Len, you’ll get tons of praise.”
“Really? Maybe this’ll help me survive until next semester!”
Carr looked cheerful at Leo’s assurance.
Nothing was more reliable than Leo’s endorsement.
Leo smiled, watching Carr’s motivation.
Lunia and Rauta also stared at Carr in surprise.
“Hmph. Still just simple enchantment,” Rauta scoffed, but Lunia thought differently.
‘For our school, that’s the kind of spell you’d expect from a lower-class student.’
Lunia looked at Carr with a complex expression.
“All right, let’s move again.”
After that, there were several more monster battles.
But not a single undead appeared.
“A Death Knight, huh? How ridiculous.”
Rauta’s mocking voice rang out.
But Leo’s expression was serious.
The group had reached the entrance of the old Fairy Land.
The barrier set by the former Fairy King still held, and everything seemed the same as a few days ago.
But—
‘There’s a curse on the land.’
Only Leo, who lived through the Age of Catastrophe, could sense the subtle curse.
‘Curse of the Dead.’
Among all the curses used by demons, this one was special.
It could only be used by one person.
The commander of Tartarus’s army who survived the Age of Catastrophe.
Erebos’s most loyal servant, and the most terrifying among the demons.
‘Necroking Hell Kaiser.’
He was the true commander of Tartarus.
‘There’s no way he’s moving in person.’
If Hell Kaiser was acting directly, things would be truly dangerous.
‘Records after the Age of Catastrophe show he never acted personally. Still, at the very least, one of his subordinates must be here.’
Leo stared grimly at the entrance to Fairy Land.
‘Beyond this… there’s something Silload wants to protect.’
As Leo pondered, Lunia spoke to Rauta.
“Senior Rauta. Since there are no signs of undead, should we return for now?”
“No. We’ll search the area further.”
“All right.”
“From now on, everyone split up and search the surroundings.”
Lunia hesitated.
“On our own?”
“What, you want me to babysit you?”
Rauta gave her an irritable look.
As Lunia hesitated, Rauta snorted and got serious as he began to search.
“Wasn’t he supposed to be our supervisor? What is he even doing?” Carr grumbled, while Eiran looked puzzled.
“Forget it. Let’s just ignore that jerk and do our own search.”
Sticking her tongue out at Rauta, Lunia led her group, then stopped as she looked at Leo.
Leo was watching Rauta search intently.
Lunia, seeing Leo’s narrowed eyes, sensed something.
‘He knows something.’
—
That evening.
After returning from their search mission, the Lumene and Seiren students were confused.
“Chelsea, your group didn’t find any undead either?”
“No. Not just us. None of the groups found any.”
“Is that so?”
The appearance of undead had already been confirmed by the Elsalbekia council.
That’s why the official commission had been given to Lumene and Seiren.
‘But the undead disappeared in a single day?’
If the undead themselves had vanished, it wouldn’t be strange.
Without a supply of magic, undead can only be active for so long.
But in the center of the Fairy Forest, the [Curse of the Dead] was cast, creating endless undead.
‘But now, they’ve vanished. As if there’s a necromancer controlling them.’
“Professor Herdeum.”
At that moment, Rauta approached Professor Herdeum, who was hearing reports from the Seiren students.
“What is it, Rauta?”
“There may be no undead now, but the abnormal events are real. The Fairy Forest is sacred to the elves. I believe all evil should be rooted out as quickly as possible. Even if it’s dangerous for the first-years, the second-years can search the forest at night. Please allow us to investigate tonight.”
Some of the other second-years grumbled irritably at those words.
“There he goes again, sucking up.”
“Such an annoying guy.”
With all the other second-years being from the lower or intermediate classes, they didn’t look kindly on Rauta.
“Thank you for your suggestion, Rauta. But even for the second-years, searching the forest at night is dangerous. Night is when the power of the undead grows. I cannot grant that request.”
“But Professor—”
“Rauta. Too much enthusiasm can cause problems.”
At Professor Herdeum’s firm reply, Rauta clenched his teeth and backed down.
Seeing this, Leo muttered to himself,
‘He’s getting more and more suspicious.’