Act 9

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After my meeting with Odwin Valadir, the leader of the “Closed Eyes,” I headed towards my private office arranged within the building.

Creak!

As I opened the door, the room’s interior welcomed me.

Seeing this, I frowned.

“Crazy fool.”

What came into my view were extravagant artworks and crafts, similar to those that filled the Julian mansion, now scattered all over this place as well.

Ceramics, frames, and accessories encrusted with jewels.

Yes, this madman had decorated his workplace just like his own residence.

A strong display of ego.

It was evidently clear here as well.

“This is worse than the mansion… Are you insane?”

Why leave accessories that will never be used here, along with mannequins!

Could it be he made impulsive purchases and, finding no space in the mansion, moved them here?

I couldn’t tolerate this any further.

I decided to thoroughly clean up the office.

I grabbed a box and put in a frame and most of the accessories.

“This should be enough.”

Members of the “Closed Eyes” typically have little need to wait around, so there’s neither reason nor necessity to allocate rooms to each individual.

Yet, Julian had an office in the “Closed Eyes” exclusive building.

It gave me a rough idea of how significant Julian’s position was.

Knock, knock.

Just as I finished cleaning up, I heard a knock.

Who could it be? Someone from the royal palace, perhaps?

“Come in.”

With my permission, the door slowly opened.

Razlot, an apprentice of the “Closed Eyes,” stood there.

“Ex-excuse me, Lord Julian!”

Razlot greeted me with a tense expression.

I smiled as if his timing was perfect.

“You’ve come at a good time, Razlot.”

“Ye-yes?”

“Yes.”

“Could you please load this onto the carriage I came in? It shouldn’t be too heavy.”

I pointed to a box.

The box I had just filled with the luxury items that had cluttered the office.

“This is…”

Seeing the box filled with crafts, Razlot’s eyes widened as he looked at me.

“Ah, understood, Lord Julian.”

“And what brings you here?”

At my question, Razlot seemed to remember something, and began rummaging through his belongings.

He soon handed me a letter sealed with the royal insignia.

“The royal secretariat sent a letter to congratulate you on your return!”

A letter from the secretariat?

As I reached out, Razlot bowed slightly and slowly approached to hand me the letter.

‘To the esteemed member of the Crypart family and member of the Closed Eyes, Lord Julian.’

The gist of the letter was as follows:

We’ve heard your injuries have somewhat healed? So, isn’t it time to get back to work?

That was the polite gist of the message they had sent.

Well, I anticipated something like this would happen. Among the members who could be utilized by the “Closed Eyes,” there’s no one as loyal and competent as Julian.

“Even so, they’re quick to put me to work.”

The mission written in the letter was “Repair of the Resonance Stone.”

To be precise, it was a mission to escort a wizard who would repair the Resonance Stone.

In the game “Let’s Kill the Demon King,” there exist monsters called “Demons.”

After the death of the Demon God Barbatos, the remnants of his malevolent thoughts became parasitic on living beings or took form, and these entities were called “Demons” in this world.

They could well be called humanity’s archenemies.

While there’s a clear difference in strength among them, even the lowest-ranked demon could easily kill an ordinary person.

The mentioned “Resonance Stone” is used to suppress the activities and emergence of these demons.

It disperses the remnants of the Demon God’s malevolent thoughts with a special wavelength to prevent their approach.

Due to this process being closely related to “mana,” a 4th rank “Leo” grade or higher level wizard is needed for the repairs.

“Repair of the Resonance Stone, huh…”

After reviewing the mission content once more, I began to weigh my options.

There was a risk of encountering demons, but it was an issue that needed to be addressed sooner or later.

Moreover, the mission seemed suitable to test out the unique trait I acquired.

Trait, Incomplete Moonlight Sword

Grade: Unique

▷ Your aura appears as if imbued with moonlight, elegant.

▷ Your sword, filled with the light of the moon, deals additional damage to demons.

▷ It is still an incomplete trait.

It was also a good opportunity to publicly announce that Julian had resumed his duties with the “Closed Eyes.”

“There’s no reason to refuse.”

I decided to accept the mission.

Furthermore, other soldiers would be mobilized for the escort of the wizard.

If I find myself daunted by the demons’ prowess, I could leave it to them.

Hmm, yes.

“Understood. I will speak directly with the leader about the rest.”

“Yes!”

Razlot responded loudly and then lifted the box.

“Then, I’ll move this to the carriage!”

As I nodded, Razlot, carrying the box, exited the room.

“Whoa!”

In the process, he tripped over the threshold, causing his body to wobble.

Fortunately, he didn’t fall, but a loud noise emanated from the box as if something had broken.

It sounded like something had shattered.

Silence enveloped the room for a moment.

Leaving a pale-faced Razlot behind, I began to inspect the items inside the box.

“Oh dear, the frame is broken.”

It seemed Razlot’s stumble caused the accessories placed on the mannequin and the frame to collide.

“I’m, I’m so sorry, Lord Julian…!”

“It’s okay. These were meant to be disposed of anyway.”

I didn’t particularly feel a loss.

After all, I hadn’t purchased them.

Moreover, the items reflecting ‘Julian’s’ taste were too different from my own, making them nothing more than cumbersome clutter.

“I’ll make sure to repay for the damage!”

“No need for that.”

“No, no… I must, I absolutely must!”

Razlot was adamant about compensating, his face marked with tension.

Seeing his expression, I felt a surge of sympathy.

It would be troublesome if our interactions were always this tense. So, I decided to ease his nervousness.

“Hehe. It’s okay, Razlot. It’s a mistake any apprentice might make.”

“Ye-yes?”

Razlot’s gaze wandered aimlessly, lost.

“Lord Julian…”

“Yes.”

“Am I… going to be dismissed from the ‘Closed Eyes’?”

Why would that happen all of a sudden…?

***

“Take care.”

After greeting the guards at the Second Gate of Reverence of the royal palace, Aileen exited.

Her voice was the same as usual, but she appeared exhausted.

Aileen was exhausted from writing papers again today. Although she was a recognized professor teaching “Gold Elementology” at the Bayel Academy, as a mage affiliated with the Mage Tower, she had to continuously submit papers to prove herself. 

Otherwise, she wouldn’t be recognized for her degree and as a mage in terms of ‘rank’. Truly, it was a detestable system according to someone.

“Aileen, are you on your way back?”

Hearing her name called, Aileen turned her head.

“Diana?”

Seeing Diana, a fellow Bayel Academy alumnus and a female mage affiliated with the Imperial Magic Tower, brought a faint smile to Aileen’s face.

“Are you heading back too?”

“Yeah, oh! It’s been a while since we walked back together. Do you want to stop by the new cafe at the crossroads?”

“No, I’m good.”

“Don’t be like that! We used to go together all the time during our school days!”

Diana complained.

Watching her familiar whining, a smile unwittingly formed on Aileen’s lips.

“No, I have some work today. Anyway, Diana, you haven’t changed at all from the old days, have you?”

“People should be consistent, right? Right…?”

Suddenly, Diana stopped talking, prompting Aileen to look at her quizzically.

As if wondering what was happening, Diana pointed to a carriage with her index finger.

“Isn’t that Julian’s carriage?”

“Eh?”

“Look, that carriage standing over there. It has the Crypart family’s emblem drawn only halfway.”

It was true.

Where Diana pointed, a carriage was indeed parked, with the Crypart family’s ‘sword and rose’ emblem only half depicted on it.

It was a symbol used exclusively by the ‘Frason,’ a collateral branch of the Crypart family, a symbol of humiliation and oppression.

“He must have returned! I heard he even served as an instructor for the entrance test.”

“Indeed.”

Aileen, who had a gentle smile on her face until a moment ago, responded indifferently.

Then, a playful expression appeared on Diana’s face.

“Wow. It hasn’t been that long since we graduated from Bayel Academy, but it’s been quite eventful, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

Aileen turned her gaze away as if uninterested, just as she was about to decline the offer to go to the cafe later.

“That time, our Aileen was quite naive.”

“Me?”

“Yeah. You believed the silly rumor that confessing under the king cherry tree behind Bayel Academy would guarantee success and confessed to Julian…”

“Diana! Diana! Cafe… Shall we go to the cafe!?”

Aileen, flailing her arms in desperation, interrupted.

Diana chuckled.

“Eh? Why the sudden change? You didn’t seem that interested a moment ago. Why the sudden change of heart, I wonder?”

“Uh, well… I just remembered the old times.”

“Really? That’s great! Shall we hurry then?”

Seeing Diana’s beaming face, Aileen sighed inwardly.

She felt completely outmaneuvered.

“Yeah, such a fun memory! To be able to tease a 5th rank mage like this, what a memory.”

“For me, it’s a dark history…”

“So what? Julian was really cool back then.”

That was true.

Julian at Bayel Academy was a true senior and role model, leading the charge against the inequalities faced by the noble branches.

He was more noble than the nobles themselves, a man of true nobility.

But after returning from the northern front and joining the ‘Closed Eyes,’ that image was nowhere to be found.

There was only the emotionless dog of the royal family.

“But are you okay with it?”

“With what?”

“The fact that Julian has returned means you might run into him often at the royal palace, right?”

Certainly.

As Diana pointed out, it was inevitable that they would cross paths at some point. 

Naturally, for Aileen, who still harbored unresolved feelings, this was a rather unwelcome situation.

Seeing him, so changed, seemed to starkly highlight the unchanging reality of the cruel treatment of the collateral branches.

“Well, what can you do? Just greet him and move on, right?”

“That’s true.”

“And, I won’t be going to the royal palace for a while.”

“Oh? Why?”

At Diana’s questioning, Aileen took out a document she received from the Magic Tower and showed it to her.

It was prominently marked with ‘Repair of the Resonance Stone’.

“I’ll be on a business trip to the Special District for a while. The Resonance Stone there has reached the end of its life and needs repairs.”

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