Let’s Block the Ruined Route in Advance Chapter 76

It was late afternoon when Felix, the final candidate, confronted Eileen.

 

“I’m not too late, am I?”

 

“No. The darker the better.”

 

Eileen’s face puzzled at that.

 

‘The darker the better?’

 

Felix took Eileen to the training wing of the School of Magic.

 

“Eileen, there’s something I wanted to show you.”

 

Stopping at the entrance to one of the training rooms, Felix turned to Eileen and smiled. His violet eyes were so full of kindness that she felt her breath catch in her throat and had to look away.

 

“Well, yeah, I can’t wait. I can’t wait to see you.”

 

He laughed wordlessly and reached for the doorknob, then held out his non-doorknob hand to Eileen.

 

“Can you close your eyes and hold my hand, and then wait a minute until I tell you to open it?”

 

Eileen nodded, closed her eyes, and gave him her hand. He wrapped his fingers around hers with ease and carefully opened the door.

 

It swung open and she took a few steps inside, leaning on Felix’s hand, and soon heard the door close behind her.

 

“Wait.”

 

There was a moment of silence, and then he whispered in Eileen’s ear.

 

“Now open your eyes.”

 

She opened her eyes slowly.

 

“Ah.”

 

Sometimes when you see something so beautiful, you’re so overwhelmed by it that you don’t know what to say. That’s where Eileen was right now.

 

In the darkness of the training room, with the windows sealed and all the light fixtures turned off, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of lights that resembled white flowers floated in the air.

 

Large and small pieces of light that looked like they were created by magic. Upon closer inspection, they weren’t just lights at all, but meticulously crafted petals that mimicked flowers. Eileen knew a flower that looked exactly like this light.

 

“Kite…”

 

It was the luminous flower that had bloomed in the darkness when she and Felix first met. Shards of light filled the room, sparkling brilliantly before fading away. Eileen’s eyes filled with wistfulness at the fleeting beauty, just like a real kite.

 

“Eileen.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“It will bloom again, again and again.”

 

The light, shrinking and fading, swelled again. Eileen’s mouth dropped open at the brilliance that filled the room again, and not just because the sight before her was beautiful.

 

Those were the words Eileen had spoken to the young Felix herself. The sincerity of that day, when she’d clutched the empty child and hurriedly shot it out, had swelled and returned to her.

 

Felix squeezed her hand. Eileen suddenly realized she was still holding his hand.

 

“I’ve been waiting for you.”

 

Felix’s violet eyes lit up as he said it. Countless petals of light, once Eileen’s, now Felix’s, filled the space between them.

 

What she was waiting for, she could not say, but in the presence of those light-filled eyes, she could not say anything but yes.

 

 

***

 

 

The opening of the festival was three days away.

 

The imperial family had sent four transcendents to the academy to ensure the festival went off without a hitch. Prioritized were Duke Gaudium and Bella Kamar, both of whom had family members enrolled in the Academy, and two others who were added later.

 

“Why.”

 

The duke pressed a hand to his throbbing head.

 

“Why not!”

 

“We lost the youngest title to Bella, but we were the youngest Transcendents a few years ago?!”

 

The , wearing shirts with palm trees embroidered on them wherever they had bought them, stood proudly in front of the duke.

 

“What’s with the clothes, you don’t think we’re here for a festival, do you?”

 

“Festival! It’s just in keeping with the theme of youth!”

 

 

The duke wondered how those two could be so hard-headed when he was only two or three years older than them.

 

“Still, I wonder if the Academy sent those two, the youngest of the Transcendentals, to the Academy?”

 

Bella shrugged, and the duke clicked his tongue.

 

“Those two are not good for education.”

 

They didn’t get along, but in a group of transcendents, some of whom were over 90 years old, they were on the younger axis.

 

And the Duke did not like to be lumped in with the lunatic Herreros.

 

“Now, I know you’ve traveled a long way and are tired, but may we begin our meeting?”

 

Albert asked, turning his attention away from his embarrassment. The faculty, including the headmaster of Verotanis, entered the room, glaring at the confrontation.

 

The Duke glanced around and nodded, taking a seat. Brief greetings were exchanged, and then the headmaster began.

 

“Our greatest concern right now is that a mind-affecting or mind-altering creature, such as the Mongma whose existence has been confirmed, will slip into the Academy. No matter how much we increase security, if it’s wearing a human disguise, we won’t be able to tell the difference.”

 

Several professors sighed. With thousands of students and their relatives visiting, it would be nearly impossible to detect the dangerous molecule through screening.

 

Bella raised her hand.

 

“Isn’t holy power most effective against psychic demons? What about the temple’s cooperation?”

 

The headmaster wiped a sweat from his brow.

 

“It’s… replied that it would send a solution, but we haven’t heard from them since.”

 

“What? A solution?”

 

The question was met with a mixture of frustration and curiosity. The door to the closed conference room slid open, and soon it was Aire, his eyes shielded by an eye patch emblazoned with the goddess’s symbol.

 

“Aire!”

 

“Greetings, Sixth Shield of the Empire!”

 

The faculty began to stir at the appearance of the hero who was said to be a member of the Clan of the Living Gods. Raising his hand lightly to calm them, Aire spoke.

 

“I know what you are worried about. That’s why I’m here on such short notice, hoping you wouldn’t mind if I took one of the toasts for this festival.”

 

“A toast?”

 

Albert repeated, and Gavil, one of the two priests who had followed him in, spoke up.

 

“The opening ceremony of the festival is an important event, a gathering of students and visitors, and Lord Aire wishes to use the moment to spread his divine power far and wide, to identify any demons that may be present.”

 

The professors’ faces lit up at that.

 

It was an honor for a hero to attend the festival in person, and if he could also help identify the demons, there was nothing to fear. Aire glanced back at the few who still showed signs of unease and spoke in a calm, clear voice.

 

“Don’t worry afterward, either. I’ll be keeping an eye on Verotanis myself until the festival is over.”

 

At his words, the headmaster’s face contorted with emotion, as if he might burst into tears at any moment.

 

“I thank the hero for his mercy and the goddess for her blessing.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

The meeting ended with the greatest of concerns relieved. The priests and faculty left to organize the next round of cooperation. The Duke waited for them to leave, and when he and Aire were alone, he asked.

 

“Why do you go to such lengths?”

 

With children in Verotanis, it was true that it was comforting to have a hero. But with so many missions, the duke knew how busy he was.

 

“You may have monstrous strength and divine powers, but you’re still only nineteen.”

 

He could still remember the hero’s genuine smile from the dungeon so long ago.

 

Aire did not reply, but slowly approached the window. The meeting hall was located on the top floor of the tower that housed the Headmaster’s office, giving him a panoramic view of Verotanis.

 

There were students his age milling about the academy, and after a quick glance at each of them, he spoke in a dry, emotionless voice.

 

“I don’t know, is this also a blessing from the goddess?”

 

It was a question, but he didn’t expect an answer, so he bowed slightly and left the room. The duke did not follow him, but turned to look out the window.

 

“A hero.”

 

The Duke remembered the words he’d heard from Eileen not long ago.

 

‘Urzar. A hero. A promise. The brightest thing to come out of the darkness.’

 

To unravel this clue, the three humans captured by Eileen’s actions in Verotanis were being interrogated.

 

It would be a while before they were fully informed, as they might have self-destruct spells or explosive spells triggered by the mention of certain secrets to make it easier to cut their tails.

 

‘What a headache.’

 

Staring at the empty space in front of him, the duke closed his eyes with a tired expression.