Theo froze. He had made sure there was no scent, but Veronica had sensed what had happened between him and Aquilo. It might have been a magician’s insight, the senses of a quarter dragon, or even the intuition of a woman.
Veronica’s thin arms started to silently tighten around Theo’s body as the temperature around her rose. The rising temperature was a sign of her magic power going out of control.
“T-That.” He shouldn’t lie. Theo desperately thought and managed to come up with a convincing excuse. “We spent three, almost four, days together while crossing the sea.”
“Hrmm.” It was a weak excuse, but Veronica made a sullen expression before sighing. She was going to let it go, rather than being convinced. “Well, this is fine… It’s not like I was there, and I’m too tired to make a fuss…”
The war had only been going on for a month, but her face had lost its usual brightness. She was an 8th Circle magician who had inherited the blood of a red dragon. The strongest human making an expression like this, though only in front of Theo, let him know how hard the battlefield was.
Veronica hugged Theo tightly one more time before letting go.
“Kid.” There was no playfulness in her voice. “There aren’t many people who can teach you anything anymore. Vince is decent, but he can’t see everything because he trusts you completely. So this has fallen to me.”
A half-breed wasn’t just an intermingling of blood, but also of nature. A half-elf lived three times longer than humans, was friendly with nature, and had gentle personalities. Meanwhile, half-orcs were larger than humans, lacked intelligence, and had violent tempers.
In Veronica’s case, she had obtained the wildness of the red clan and the insight of a dragon who had lived for thousands of years. So, she saw a weakness that Theo was yet to be aware of.
“Theo, you experienced a civil war in Soldun. You acted in your own way and probably thought that you adapted.” 𝐞𝗻𝐨𝘃𝗹.𝐜𝐨𝗺
Theo stared into her eyes. “That isn’t the case?”
“No.” Veronica patted Theo’s cheeks in a friendly manner. “The only thing you did in the Soldun war was face a few masters, Marquis Fergana and Pan Helliones. You didn’t face an enemy. You didn’t experience leading a group or bearing your enemies’ hatred on your shoulders.”
“That…”
It was undeniable. Theo had been a third party in the Soldun civil war. He had only acted to prevent Andras from interfering. However, his position in this unification war was different.
Theo would stand on the frontlines as the hero of the Meltor army, and he would be the target of hundreds of thousands of enemy soldiers. It was completely different from defeating one powerful person. He would have to step over mountains of bodies and lakes of blood for victory.
.
Veronica had seen countless talented youths falter in front of this pressure.
“Well, I don’t have to be afraid if it’s you,” Veronica continued with a soft smile. “We just have to be careful not to allow our hearts to be hurt. Keep an eye on the ground when you’re in the sky, and don’t get drunk on power when you kill a thousand people with a single spell. Have a sense of fear when you are above someone.”
“… I think I understand.”
Humans were naturally emotional. Those with power would naturally consider themselves superior to those without power. The Andras Empire was a place that wholeheartedly espoused that kind of principle.
Theo admitted privately that he had also daydreamed sometimes. He wanted to see his former classmates, who had treated him with open disdain, bow to him. Just knowing it wasn’t the answer wasn’t enough.
Moreover, the battlefield was a breeding place for corruption. Law and order lost meaning when strength was the only qualifying standard. It was a hell that turned lives into numbers and resources, and it was a slippery slope to get drunk on the feeling of superiority caused by the slaughter. Those who got carried away by their wartime achievements would often turn callous and actively participate in murder.
Theo murmured, “But in the end, aren’t we magicians?”
So, as Veronica said, Theo should take care of his mind.
Veronica cradled his face in her hands. “Don’t forget that while you can use power to fight, you can’t use it for murder. Understood?”
Theo closed his eyes at the warmth coming from his cheek and nodded. Her hand was warm, but her voice was warmer. He reflexively responded, “I’ll keep that in mind, sister.”
“… Uh!” Veronica’s face reddened. She cleared her throat and turned Theo’s face away to keep her own expression from him. “Y-You really caught me off guard! Where did you learn this technique? Are you really a player?”
A confused Theo stuttered, “P-Player…?”
“Don’t act like you don’t know!” Veronica stepped back. “… It’s time to go.”
The sun had started to descend, and the sky had turned a brilliant crimson. Veronica’s face was in shadow, like she was looking at the distant battlefield over the horizon.
She exhaled slowly as she fixed her disheveled hair, and waved to Theo. “I won’t be able to come see you again. Rest for three days, and let’s meet again on Karul Plains.”
Theo smiled. “Yes, Sister should also take care.”
She smiled back. “Yes. You take care, Theo.”
Theo listened to her footsteps fading away until he couldn’t hear anything. He stood in his room, staring blankly at the empty chair.
A real war… huh?
He had been taking it too lightly before. Theo acknowledged his own arrogance. He had only ever fought people who were stronger than him. Sometimes, they had been monsters, not humans, so there was no room for conscience and morals. How could he consider the opponent’s circumstances when his own life was in peril?
“I have to think about it from now on.”
In a war, he would have to kill people who weren’t a threat, like moths flying toward the flames. It would be a massacre the likes of which even the war hero, Alfred, had never experienced. Theo couldn’t be sure that his mind would be safe without adequate precautions. So, he had to be ready for this moment.
It was for the sake of his parents and younger brother who lived in Meltor…
For his fellow magicians who would be shedding blood…
For Veronica who was struggling, Orta who was injured, and the companions who would accompany him.
Hmm?
At that moment, something flashed through Theo’s mind.
Is it possible? No, it is quite possible. If I time this correctly, it will be an effective opportunity.’
He still had 70% of the bag left, and 50% of the materials from Paracelsus’ laboratory. Neither Meltor nor Andras knew about the resources he had, so he decided to keep it that way. As the adage goes, in order to deceive the enemy, first deceive your friends.
“Okay, let’s try it.”
Theo forgot his fatigue as he made his decision.
***
Belfort Castle in the capital of the Andras Empire
“―Hoh,” the man looked down at the kneeling knight in admiration. His gorgeous blond hair was only accentuated by his crimson eyes. The presence of his blood-soaked sword gave him away as Fermut, the 3rd Sword who had returned to Belfort after defending Rutben.
“He’s back?”
The knight reported, “Yes, he came through Ribenda Port with the sea dragon, supposedly Aquilo. The dragon dropped him off and headed back to sea.”
“… Sea dragon. It must be that woman who was at the meeting.” Fermut clenched his fists as he recalled the disastrous encounter.
After escaping from Veronica’s bombardment, Crowd had explained why he had chosen to step back. The blue-haired beauty who had accompanied the witch was supposedly a dragon. Therefore, Fermut couldn’t reprimand the 1st Sword. Although it seemed like that dragon had been involved in that brat’s return?
“That damn lizard dares to interfere!”
Still, Fermut couldn’t admit that he was afraid. His arrogance had made it so that Fermut wasn’t really afraid of Aquilo, just angry. Of course, the only witnesses to the unconscious pressure he released were the shadows of the hall.
Fermut calmed down enough to ask, “That is enough for the report. What did the emperor say?”
The knight bowed his head. “He will leave commanding the front lines to you.”
Fermut mused, “I see… He doesn’t want to go to the front lines at his age.”
Fermut had grown up seeing the strength of the present emperor, his father. Despite being an elderly sword master, the emperor was powerful enough to subdue all Seven Swords.
Whether it was the Witch of Heat or Sage of Water, Fermut was confident the famed magicians of Meltor would fall before his father..
“It can’t be helped.”
Fermut wasn’t willing to give up. He could almost smell his era coming. It wasn’t necessary to send the fallen sun back to the battlefield to revive his glory. After this unification war was over, Fermut would be crowned.
He suppressed his fear of the emperor and started analyzing the war that had broken out.
Wounding the White Tower Master in Rutben had been a major blow. After all, Andras had always struggled to deal with that masked magician. Since he had landed the blow, Fermut had a reasonable guess as to how long it would take before Orta recovered.
At least two, maybe three weeks. He won’t be able to move for that long.
Fermut had wanted to kill him in Rutben, but his plans had been spoiled by that traitor. He smiled grimly as he thought of the Clovis family.
I have to finish this war in a fortnight.?
The White Tower Master wasn’t just an assassin and secret agent. He was the conductor of a thousand spies, deftly controlling information across the north. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that Meltor’s army had lost 30% of their efficiency once he had been removed from the front lines. If he didn’t take advantage of this time, the whole world would laugh at Fermut.
“I have an order for the entire imperial army,” Fermut rose from his seat, malevolence dripping from every word. “I want every soldier, except for the bare minimum of guards, mustered and ready. We march for Karul Plains to bury Meltor’s army once and for all!”