155. Delusion
A calm lake.
The surface of the water was suddenly shaken.
A wave spreading from the center of the lake.
It got worse and worse-
Kwaaang!
It spewed out a huge column of water with a roar.
At the end of the water column, there was a human figure flying up into the sky.
He traversed the lake in a parabolic arc and landed on the shore with a thump.
“Huh…”
The girl standing upright while dripping water, the great sage Tilpitz.
She lightly ran the internal circuitry of her system.
Then the hot heat heated her whole body and in an instant dried her wet clothes.
Til Fitz, who was caressing her messy hair, turned her head as she remembered the heavy feeling of her sudden grip in her own left hand.
“Ha.”
A sigh leaked out spontaneously.
It was a gigantic longsword that didn’t fit Tilpitz’s body, no, it wouldn’t fit anyone’s body.
Its blade, which had been buried in water for a long time, was covered with moss and dust.
Let’s rub the blade with her finger once-
“Ugh…”
A bright light emanated from within.
Till Fitz swallowed her saliva and rubbed the handle of her sword.
Then a huge red gemstone, shaped like an eyeball, appeared.
“I found it.”
Durandal.
A legendary sword that was lost thousands of years ago.
A weapon with a legend said to split dimensions was in Tilpitz’s hand.
I’ve been looking for it for so long, but I finally got it.
“Ha······ Ha ha······.”
A devastated laugh escaped Tilpitz’s mouth as he was so thrilled.
She was like that for a while, so she remembered something she had forgotten for a while, and Teal Fitz hardened her expression again.
“But how is this…”
It wasn’t just her effort alone.
Someone told me the location of this lake.
No, if it was just a lake, it could be dismissed as a coincidence.
Someone specifically said that it was embedded in the bottom of the lake in the middle of the lake.
A young man who said Alexia was unusual.
The Imperial University student who quelled the Southern Rebellion.
It was Schluss Heinkel.
“Stop it…”
How the hell did he find this location?
I wonder if his family knows where Durandal is, and has it been passed down through oral tradition?
No. He was obviously from a humble commoner background.
From noble mtl dot com.
The chances of that happening were slim.
No matter how much I thought about it, no other possibility came to my mind.
I couldn’t deduce the identity of Schluss Heinkel, who had superior intelligence than Mine.
No matter how many times I repeated my thoughts, I just got stuck in the same quagmire again.
“Mine’s subordinates…? No. It can’t be.”
Alexia wondered if Schluss had received the power of another demon, so she went looking for each demon.
That wasn’t the case.
I know the location of Durandal, but what kind of Mine would not covet?
If he was a ‘delivery man’ who had abandoned his lingering attachments to life, he would have done that, but he had already passed away.
He killed him by blowing his heart directly with his hand.
“Maybe…”
At that time, an ominous thought came to Tilpitz’s mind.
Durandal emits a brilliant light.
Durandal in legend can split dimensions and open doors to other worlds.
If that’s true, maybe Schluss Heinkel came from another world.
I wondered if he had come from a world higher than this one.
Ughhhhh
“What?”
At that time, my heart was beating wildly.
Clutching his chest and kneeling, Tilpitz immediately recognized what it was.
“Calling a meeting…?”
It was a signal that a demon could deliver to all demons once in a lifetime.
That means that there is a crisis related to the existence of this world or the devil, so attend the meeting.
“What the hell is this time…”
The last muster should have been serious.
It was a meeting that I hoped would never be convened again after I chased down and killed the same demon.
It’s not like Alexia summoned them for some trivial reason or something like that.
She knew when she was joking and when she wasn’t, no matter how playful or insincere she was.
Clutching Durandal in his hand, Tilpitz stood up.
***
Definitely.
This was largely my fault.
“So how to calculate the number of combinations of each element-“
“Did you see the article?”
“Yes. I saw it.”
“2000 To 1… Is it real?”
“Ah. That’s all propaganda.”
“There were a lot of witnesses?”
“It’s all about putting together and playing.”
“Tens of thousands of southerners?”
Bagak!
The eyes of the students, startled by the loud noise, all focused on the blackboard.
In that place, broken······ No, broken chalk powder was flying here and there.
“It can be calculated like this. Applying this formula to the magic formula-“
“·······.”
As Ludwig casually took out a new piece of chalk and resumed class, there were no more talkers left.
It was still the same as glancing at me.
The atmosphere of studying was completely ruined because of me.
Occasionally Ludwig’s gaze came toward me, and I don’t know if it was because of his delusions of persecution, but those eyes were chilling.
You’re not going to punish me for this, are you?
Ding dong dang dong······
“Class is over. Get out of here, trash.”
“·······.”
As soon as the bell rang, Ludwig turned around and muttered in a low voice.
Looks like I wasn’t the only one who felt like living there.
Seeing how everyone quickly packs up and rushes out.
I was just about to leave before sparks flew.
“Schlus Heinkel remains.”
“·······.”
Damn it. Caught.
Since I was frozen, Iris silently smiled at me and turned her back.
A heartless guy…
Still, Iris couldn’t have done much better, so she understood.
“Erika.”
“Hmm…. Do you have strength?”
Erica also waved her hand to me and left.
I was the only one who was caught, so it was a relief.
I’m going to die of shame.
I’m going to call Celine today and ask her to give me information about her surveillance of Erica.
I felt that this resentment would subside a little if I found a weakness for him.
“Schlus Heinkel. Come closer.”
“Yes.”
The last person exited and the door closed.
I answered with my eyes closed and turned around.
Ludwig, with his hands behind his back, was still looking up at me with expressionless eyes, but with a slightly angry look.
I dare say that Ludwig is the only person who can radiate that level of awe even looking up from below.
I slowly descended the stairs and stood on the podium, facing Ludwig.
“Schlus Heinkel.”
“Yes, professor. What are you doing-“
At that moment, my voice stopped.
No, my lips were moving, but my hearing was lost.
With that, even the vision went out, and darkness fell over the whole area.
Damn it. Is it a barrier made of mana vacuum?
I have to quickly find the magic formula and destroy it…
Perfect!
“Ugh.”
As I was trying to find the spell, a chestnut stuck in my forehead and my eyes and ears opened again.
Ludwig, who had struck me on the forehead, was looking at me calmly with his hands behind his back before he knew it.
“You’ve been hiding it well.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Are you going to do 20 questions with me?”
“·······.”
Ludwig openly showed his annoyance.
Are you telling me to admit defeat instead of fussing?
Yes. It was already clear that he had been caught.
Otherwise, you wouldn’t have imprisoned me in a barrier all of a sudden.
On top of that, standing calmly as if nothing was wrong led to the side effect of being unable to react at all overnight.
My eyes and ears were discovered without any further excuses.
“How did you know?”
“That doesn’t matter. If anyone paid attention to your gaze or gait, you’d know you weren’t looking with those eyes.”
“·······.”
You’re the only one who’s done something so unimportant.
Anyway, Ludwig’s problem was that everything in the world revolved around the earth.
He thinks that others can do what he knows how to do.
Anyway, what are you going to do by letting me know you noticed my handicap?
If you thought I was begging you to stop spreading rumors, you were very mistaken.
It was a fatal weakness in the past that I couldn’t handle my sixth sense freely, but now I’m observing the world transcending my eyes and ears.
“The important thing is that you deceived the judges in the entrance exam.”
“Oh.”
That’s right.
It wasn’t that you overcame the barrier of fear, you just found out you weren’t seeing anything.
“What do you mean? I didn’t cheat.”
“Yes. You just canceled the barrier spell, and the judges made the decision. You have nothing to deceive.”
“So what-“
“However, how the public accepts it is another matter. The moment the word deception spreads, people lose interest in the whole story. They will only focus on provocative words. There will still be people who dismiss them as cheaters and liars. If you repeat this a few times, your enemies will increase like crazy.”
“·······.”
Regardless of the facts, is it possible to incite the public to undermine my reputation?
I thought it was a threat.
But Ludwig said she naturally would prefer to shorten her words.
If she was intimidating, she only talked about the purpose, not the type of person who spoke at length like this.
“What do you mean?”
It would be better to hide your weaknesses better than “. I, a count, can bring you down. How much more so if you are a duke, a major minister, or… Your Majesty the Emperor. Don’t make even the slightest b*tch to be blamed for. Resistance. If you don’t want to fall into the abyss without a chance to do anything.”
“Did you give me any advice?”
“Think wildly. It was meant as a warning.”
“·······.”
With those words, Ludwig turned his back and left the classroom through the door on the first floor.
It was clear what kind of warning it was.
Ludwig dared to mention the emperor.
I did something that could be punished for blasphemy just by recklessly putting it in my mouth.
I’m sure the emperor noticed that he didn’t trust me.
In the press, I was always busy airing myself as a direct subordinate to the Emperor, but Ludwig seemed to have done a cool analysis.
‘If it’s enough to be visible to Ludwig, there must be more people who noticed.’
Ludwig passed by, but what about the other counts, dukes, and members of the imperial family?
I wonder if he noticed it long ago and was just looking for an opportunity to attack me.
He might try to purge me by finding fault with something really trivial.
I had to buy myself.
According to Ludwig’s words, act perfectly without even the slightest bit of fault.
If it had been said by someone else, they would have laughed at it, but all of it was really annoying because each and every one of his words and actions were from Ludwig, who was clean and perfect.
“It’s not easy…”
I felt like I was out of breath already when I started chanting names.
It would be nice if the emperor died soon and Arya ascended the throne.
Then, if she becomes Aria’s cherished lover, she won’t be able to purify me.
“Foot·······.”
I laughed out loud at the absurd delusion.
At that time, everything Arya talked about about marriage was a joke, but I don’t know what she was thinking seriously.
I decided to get rid of unnecessary thoughts and think more about how to avoid the purge.