〈 Chapter 315 〉 Junior and Descendant (1)
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Rania van Trias.
Her name no longer only signifies a genius who achieved outstanding results at a young age.
“The Trias family has produced two heroes…”
“Not merely treated as a magical family, but as one that dedicated itself for the nation and even humanity…”
“Hero, Rania van Trias.”
Not a genius, but a hero.
Heroes capable of protecting humanity from disasters are few and far between. Even the few individuals who have reached the realm of superhuman cannot drive away disasters, yet a mage has appeared to follow in the footsteps of the Ashen Mage.
The Hero of the Holy Spear, Galahal, is dead.
The Sword Master, Kuntel, has long fallen.
The Sword Demon, Draka, is out of his mind.
Even the Braver, Kelharlem, could not escape being weakened.
Amidst the dwindling of humanity’s power, a new talent has emerged. A talent even strong enough to face disasters. The public rejoices at this fact, thirsting for the birth of a new hero, even louder than before.
She doesn’t even have to express her willingness to step onto the battlefield.
Just the fact that such a power exists among humanity, that humanity has a trump card capable of dealing with disasters, makes the public ecstatic.
Her appearance and the mystery she possesses contribute to that excitement, as countless reporters churn out stories about Rania van Trias…
“Ugh, this isn’t right…”
Rania van Trias.
Her own work hasn’t changed one bit. Rania let out a long sigh. Nothing has changed. Ah, absolutely nothing.
As always, she prepares for her class.
Setting up assignments to gift to her students.
If she feels there isn’t enough for today’s class, she catches students trying to leave for a meal and extends the class.
“If someone is lacking, pull them along for extra lessons.”
It’s just a repetition of such daily life.
Comparing it to a year ago, nothing has changed at all. Ah, only the subject name has changed a little. From Mana Trading Studies (Basic) to Mana Trading Studies (Intermediate).
“You’ll handle the second-year class this year.”
“Eh? You’re not doing it, Master?”
“Considering what I saw last time, didn’t you set the curriculum perfectly? Don’t cause a fuss by opening one more additional lecture for a special class; just take it.”
Originally a class taught by Rosel, the reason for passing it to Rania is exceedingly simple.
“I’m just afraid something will happen if I let you teach the new students. Just teach the straightforward kids. I’ll teach the first-year class.”
Nightmares should not be inherited.
Rosel felt something while watching students die in Rania’s class. He was planning to pass on the title of Nightmare to his disciple completely.
“You teach it.”
Rania didn’t bother refusing.
With a bright smile, she ended up taking over the students she was teaching, and the students facing Apuria’s nightmare for the second year could only scream.
“Something’s just not right.”
As the days of teaching second years continued, Rania felt an inexplicable dissatisfaction. It was a shameful dissatisfaction to voice.
The new students look up to her.
They’re moved by the fact that such a person exists in Apuria, and when she’s sipping coffee in a café, she feels their gaze constantly sneaking looks at her.
But what about the students Rania has been teaching since last year? Even with such rumors spreading, their reactions are boringly mundane.
“Seriously, despite everything that’s known?”
I’m this amazing person.
I’m this grand of a person.
They should at least look at me with a bit of respect.
I allow it for them to do so.
The official successor who inherited the magic of the Ashen Mage has been publicly announced. Yet, despite that, the looks of the students haven’t changed one bit.
“Tsk…”
Rania absently smacked her lips.
She didn’t expect dramatic reactions. Still, she thought there would be a bit of a response. Like, “It’s such an honor to learn from Professor Rania!”
“Ugh.”
Without those responses, she felt a bit disappointed.
Feeling a sense of disappointment, she sighed deeply.
While she was sighing, someone knocked on the door of the professor’s office. Rania’s head snapped around.
‘Could it be…’
Could it be a student coming to see her?
Maybe a student too embarrassed to ask “Is that true in the newspaper? Is it really you, Professor?” in front of others, so they came separately.
‘Yeah, it would be strange if no one asked.’
Knock!
Rania, smiling brightly, set her coffee cup down.
“I’ll go, Master!”
Seeing Rania dash off, Rosel pinched the space between his eyes. The intent was all too obvious. Watching his disciple run off with malicious anticipation, Rosel shook his head.
“Hmm, hmm.”
Standing at the door, Rania cleared her throat, then relaxed the smile she had maintained so firmly. With a blank expression, Rania opened the door.
“So, what’s the matter…”
“Professor Rania.”
Standing at the door was Chloe.
The next hero candidate who knows her identity. Disappointed by this fact, Rania relaxed her expression that had been held tightly.
“What is it, Chloe? What’s the matter… uh-oh?”
“Professor, Belnoa… Belnoa…”
Chloe was sniffing.
With a voice laced with moisture, Chloe exclaimed.
“Looks like Belnoa doesn’t like me…!”
What kind of nonsense is this?
When you all roam about Apuria, how many students roll their eyes at you?
“Um… why don’t you come inside?”
2.
Rania listened to Chloe’s sniffling for a while. It seemed more like relationship counseling, which was quite awkward for Rania.
‘What the heck is love…?’
Rania has never encountered love in her 28 years of life. Not even a commonly found romance novel has she read. Naturally, she has never felt a heart-thumping love.
‘No, I’ve felt my heart racing plenty of times.’
It wasn’t in a sweet scenario; it was when she thought she’d die if things went wrong.
‘So, did I date Ganikalt?’
Thinking such trivial thoughts while listening to Chloe’s words, Rania’s expression grew increasingly serious.
“Belnoa keeps looking elsewhere when talking to me.”
“Uh…”
“When I ask questions, she doesn’t answer well…”
“Hmm…”
“She nods a beat late, almost like she’s thinking of something else…”
Rania smacked her forehead.
‘Oh crap…’
Rania felt she might know the answer to this issue. She couldn’t possibly not know, as she was aware of the mysterious woman who hung around Belnoa.
“Hmmm…”
Rania swallowed hard.
Chloe looked at Rania, asking a question.
“Did I do something wrong? Did I do something that would make her hate me? I feel like I might have…”
“Um, Chloe?”
Chloe was digging herself into a hole.
Rania struggled to speak.
“Well, it’s probably different from what you’re thinking. Belnoa isn’t that sort of person.”
“But still…”
“It’ll really be fine. Don’t worry.”
As Rania reassured Chloe, she subtly turned her head. Just then, she spotted Belnoa taking a stroll in the square outside the window. Belnoa was walking while covering her ears, and someone was sitting on her shoulder.
‘Ah, we made eye contact.’
The Lord of Shadow Dragons perched on Belnoa’s shoulder waved at Rania. Reluctantly, Rania waved back at her.
*
[Contractor, what is the name of this place?]
“It’s Apuria. Apuria.”
[What is this?]
“It’s a flower, I guess.”
[Isn’t there a name for flowers? Everything without a name doesn’t exist. What is the name of this yellow and red thing?]
“I don’t know either.”
[Then how about this?]
“It must be a tree. I don’t know the name.”
[You know nothing. You ignorant man.]
Belnoa sighed inwardly.
The deity she serves spoke excessively, but the problem was she couldn’t ignore that voice.
“Um, how do I stop my ears from ringing?”
[Your ears are ringing?]
“Your voice is very unique. It feels like you’re whispering right into my ear…”
[Aren’t I actually whispering?]
Suddenly, with her face thrust towards Belnoa, she smiled. Avoiding the mesmerizing gaze, Belnoa sighed.
“My ears are ringing. How do I fix that?”
[Hmm, wait a moment.]
She cleared her throat a few times.
Then she opened her mouth again.
[Does it sound better when I say it like this?]
“That’s much better.”
[So, contractor.]
“Yes.”
[What is the name of this?]
“I don’t know either. Why are you so curious? Aren’t you supposed to be a deity?”
[It’s a bit awkward to still be called a god. I’ve fallen from that position long ago. I’m not even a tangible entity like before.]
She smiled bitterly.
[Are you curious about why I keep asking names?]
“No, not really.”
[…What?]
“I’m not really curious… I am curious. Yes.”
Unable to withstand the glare from Belnoa, who was glaring at her with wide eyes, she stumbled over her words. Only then did the Lord of Shadow Dragons shrug and continue speaking.
[Because I have no name.]
“Why don’t you have one?”
[I lost it. There’s no reason to hold onto it.]
She laughed.
[In this land, there are no more of my children, the Shadow Dragons. So, there’s no reason for me to exist… no reason to have a name. In the end, I forgot it.]
The wind blowing is dry.
In the dry wind, the master of the Shadow Dragons laughed.
[That’s why I keep asking. Perhaps the things blooming in this reborn world might bear my name.]
A name.
“I don’t know the names of those plants…”
Belnoa slowly opened her mouth.
“I’m Belnoa.”
[I know that. Didn’t you say so last time?]
“It means abandoned child.”
[Did it have such a meaning?]
“Yes, it’s not a name I like. All of my parents who gave me that name are long dead. No, how can an abandoned child give a name to my own son? An abandoned child?”
Muttering, Belnoa sighed.
“Still, nonetheless it has a meaning.”
It’s a name she dislikes, but it has its own significance.
Belnoa looked at the fallen deity beside her and asked.
“Did the name you used to have have meaning?”
[It did.]
She smiled as if she missed it.
[There must have been meaning once upon a time. Though I forgot it.]
“Seems your memory isn’t very good.”
[That’s how it is for anyone who lives long.]
Belnoa smiled as she moved onward.
“You will soon face a trial.”
[Trial?]
“Yes, it will happen in a rather unique space… I think you might run into someone named Belial.”
[How can I meet someone who has already died and fallen to dust?]
“I don’t know. The explanation is a bit difficult.”
Anyway, Belnoa said.
“Before that, let’s talk a bit.”
[About what?]
“The Black Tempest, Belial. About the person you contracted with for the second time.”
The Lord of Shadow Dragons smirked.
[Sure, why not.]
She looked up at the sky.
Gazing at the stars floating in the sky, she mumbled.
[To the point where that meticulous child allows it, I shall share.]
3.
Lac von Grace closed his eyes and recollected.
What he recalled was the person he had encountered at the Holy Site.
The name of the individual was Grace.
An individual who makes up the name of the house Lac belongs to, its emblem, and everything that constitutes its existence. Facing the trial, Lac thought of his reunion with that individual.
“I’m a Sword Master, but I don’t particularly like swords. An axe suits my hand better.”
The crumbled statue.
A place where light flows like a stream.
In that place, Grace spoke to Lac.
“Even so, Master taught me about swords.”
“I have talent.”
“Whether holding a sword or an axe, this teaching will be useful.”
He drew his sword.
He aimed it at Lac.
“That was true.”
“What the Master taught me wasn’t about handling swords. It was about cutting what you want to cut. It was about downing what you wish to bring down.”
He tossed the sword aside.
“I’ll teach you too.”
“How a person who doesn’t fit with a sword became a Sword Master.”
Then he grasped the air again. It wasn’t a sword that was caught there. It was a crude axe.
“Let’s start from here.”
He smiled.
“I mean, northern people didn’t fight against men. They’ve been fighting against nature since birth. So, a sword fit for dealing with people wouldn’t suit me.”
Grace is the guardian of the North.
The North has always fought against nature.
“What I faced was always nature.”
“What blocked me was also nature.”
“I don’t cut people. If there’s something I must cut, it is the nature itself.”
What he unfolded with the axe is what Lac recalls.
When it reached its peak, he also showed the techniques he had displayed through a great sword. Lac hasn’t fully mimicked the latter yet. But for the former.
With the axe he was familiar with.
He could completely demonstrate one technique.
“………”
Lac quietly closed his eyes as he recalled it.
In his mind, he depicted that movement, and he drew his axe from his waist. Then, he exhaled shortly as he swung his arm.
Galatrix Style, Dog (?)
First Technique, Fast Slash.
Lac’s axe traced an unusual trajectory.
With that, a crack, followed by a thud, echoed as something fell. Lac opened his eyes.
“Oh.”
Lac let out a short admiration.
He had carved a part of the dense forest. The sunlight that had not been able to break through the branches now beamed brightly on Lac’s axe blade.
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