Silence.
The large halls were shrouded in silence, every head bowed in submission before the figure that stood at the center.
It was as if the very air had changed under his presence.
No one dared to utter a single word, the air growing heavier with each passing moment, each breath feeling increasingly suffocating.
All High Seats found themselves swallowing hard, their minds questioning the same thing, ‘Why is he here?!’
“That’s not a hard question to answer.”
Sithrus began speaking, his voice resonating softly through the hall, effortlessly reading the minds of everyone present.
“…Dreamist told me all about the situation. I had no choice but to interfere knowing Dawn’s temper. He still seems to be in the dark regarding what you’re trying to pull, and it is good that he doesn’t.”
Everyone was well aware of Dawn’s temper.
In spite of this, they still chose to act. They weren’t really scared of Dawn considering that he was only one person, but the aftermath would indeed be quite troublesome.
“Oh, it looks like all of you severely underestimate Dawn’s temper.”
Yet again reading their minds, Sithrus shook his head.
His features remained void, his face completely faceless, and yet, through the subtle movements of his body and the tone of his voice, everyone could vividly picture the expression he must have been wearing.
It was one filled with amusement.
“I’ll just put it this way.”
Sithrus’s calm voice quietly reverberated throughout.
“His temper is the reason why I had no choice but to step in. After all…”
His gaze swept the entire hall, a terrifying pressure mounting on everyone present.
“…I don’t want to lose any of you.”
Though his voice was quiet, it carried a chilling weight that made the entire room feel as if it had frozen over. All heads remained bowed, not a single soul daring to lift their gaze toward him.
The meaning behind his words was clear.
…They might be able to take down Dawn, but that would be at the expense of several of their
own.
Was Dawn really this strong?
A few of them had their doubts, but they tried their best not to think about it. In fact, none of the people in the room even tried to entertain a single thought.
After all, Sithrus could see right through their minds.
“It seems like we’re all on the same page.”
As Sithrus’s tone lightened, he glanced around before clapping cheerfully. He strode over to the nearby projection and began replaying the projection everyone had been watching. Though their heads remained bowed, unable to witness his expression, his next words were enough to make his reaction unmistakably clear.
“He’s not bad at all. It seems like his Emotive Magic has gotten even stronger.”
He seemed impressed, and the hearts of the people in the room trembled.
“There’s still a lot of room for him to improve, but not bad, not bad.”
Each one of his praises felt like a dagger to their hearts.
“Reward him generously when you’re negotiating for your disciples’ return,” Sithrus said with a casual cheeriness that felt oddly out of place. “I’ll make sure to keep things quiet so Dawn doesn’t catch wind of what transpired.”
Pausing for a second, his gaze suddenly paused on a certain person as his head coked to the side.
The figure trembled.
“Now that I think about it, I never asked why you were chasing after it. Was it because of your failed mission, or was it because of something else?”
Raising her head cautiously, Seraphina found herself face to face with Sithrus. Her breath hitched as she swallowed hard and responded, her voice trembling slightly.
“No…”
“Oh? Then why did you try to attack him?”
“Because…”
Seraphina swallowed again.
“…I feel like he might be a spy planted by my husband.”
***
“They sure are taking their sweet time.”
Leaning against the tree, I could feel several pairs of eyes fixed on me, their stares burning holes in my direction. I chose to ignore them, closing my eyes to focus on regaining my
strength.
An hour had passed since the fight had ended, and I still hadn’t heard anything from the those of the Nocturne Order.
I was also starting to become a little nervous.
“They’re not going to discard them, right?’
The thought made my heart race a little faster. Given the kind of organization I was up against, that thought only grew stronger with every passing second.
While the people in front of me were undeniably talented, they still ended up losing to me.
If this organization was anything like the one from the Nurs Ancifa Empire… then…
‘It’s a very real possibility.’
Sitting up, I focused on the three people in front of me, holding my breath. Just as I was about to speak, a rustling sound grabbed my attention, and I instinctively turned to my right.
Rustle~
My body tensed and my hand twitched.
Just as I was about to rise, a dark silhouette draped in a black hoodie emerged, their figure briefly lingering on me before shifting to focus on the three people in front of me.
“I’m here to negotiate.”
The first words that left their mouth instantly put me at ease, and I could feel my shoulders
relax just a bit. But only a bit.
I couldn’t fully let my guard down against them.
“What do you propose?” I asked, my face stoic as I tried my best to look calm.
“Here.”
Instead of answering me, the hooded figure tossed something in my direction. I reacted quickly, catching it in my hands. When I opened my hands, my brow jumped up in surprise.
This…
“Is that enough for you?”
“…It is.”
“Very well.” The hooded figure walked forward, heading toward where my three victims stood. Throughout the entire movement, their gaze remained fixed on me, never once straying.
I cast a brief glance at them before pulling away my threads, allowing them to regain control.
Even though they were now free, I wasn’t worried about them attacking me. Not only were they still weakened by my curse magic, but each one of them had an emotive tag attached to
their body.
Without their necklaces to protect them, just a single thought from me could send them
crashing to the ground.
Just as I expected them to leave in silence, the hooded figure suddenly turned to face me. I caught a faint glimmer beneath the hood, just enough to make me pause.
“All forces have retreated away from the forest. Nobody from the Nocturne Order will obstruct your path anymore. I wish you a pleasant journey.”
He bowed slightly before mumbling,
“Low Seat of Madness.”
“Uh?”
What did he just say?
Before I could even ask for clarification, the hooded figure gripped something tightly, and in
an instant, his figure-along with that of the three others-began to fade, vanishing
completely.
By the time it took for me to blink, they were gone, leaving me at a complete loss.
What in the…
“Did he just say Low Seat of Madness?”
What sort of name was this?
No, more than that… “Wasn’t I supposed to be the Low Seat of Dawn? Why did they-“
“What did you receive, human?”
Suddenly, Pebble appeared right in front of me. As if sensing something, it stared at me with
an expectant gaze, waiting for a response.
It seemed even more exciting than I was.
‘I’m surprised it could tell without even looking.’
I opened my mouth, but soon closed it and directly displayed the item that I
received. Pebble’s eyes immediately grew the moment I displayed the item as it looked at me.
“I know, I know.”
I tossed the item in Pebble’s direction, revealing its form-an oval-shaped egg.
“Take it, it’s all yours.”
At first glance, the item seemed unremarkable, nothing impressive about it. Yet, I knew
better. This wasn’t something cheap. In fact, it was extremely rare and somewhat unexpected.
It was likely a gift for Owl-Mighty, something they were aware of.
As long as I gave the egg to Owl-Mighty, it would grow even further. Though I didn’t know
exactly what kind of egg it was, I could tell it came from some rare, possibly dangerous, monster.
It would indeed be wise to give the egg to Owl-Mighty considering its strength, but there was
another use for it.
And that was…
“Finally.”
Pebble mumbled, its gaze hovering over the egg.
“…I won’t be left behind by that darn Owl anymore.”
With a joyful laugh, Pebble snatched the egg as if it were the most precious thing in the world,
gently cradling it. Then, it turned its gaze toward a distant tree where an Owl rested, and with
a loud shout, called out.
“Just you wait until I get my own body! I’ll make sure to destroy you! By then, see who will
have the last laugh!”
|| ||
Owl-Mighty remained silent, but its gaze seemed to hold a mocking air as if saying, ‘Body or
not, you’re still stupid.’
I shook my head at the sight of the two.
I was already used to their antics. In any case, this reward was indeed great. From the moment Owl-Mighty returned to its body, its strength rapidly increased. It had now grown to the point where it could even threaten top figures.
If Pebble also could grow to such an extent then…
“Haa.”
I looked ahead of me and stretched the side of my neck.
‘It’ll be great, but it’ll probably take a long time. For now, I should head back.’
It had been a while since I had entered the Kasha, and I was starting to miss the Academy.
With the mission completed, and everything else settled over here, I didn’t see the need to
stay here any longer.
Stepping forward, a thought suddenly occurred to me.
“I wonder how the others are doing…”
Thinking about it, by the time I returned, their fight was probably going to be over.
“…I hope they win.”
I wasn’t too worried, but it still did concern me a little.
After all, a lot of money could be made from this deal with the Kasha, and one of the things
that I was currently extremely low on was money.
Take tournament money aside, and what could I buy?
One Leon?
“Tsk.”
I was very poor.