666 – 8. Testament (40)
It was quiet in the men’s dormitory in the middle of the day.
That was a strange statement. Unless it’s vacation, there are tens of thousands of people residing in the academy. Among them, the population that occupied the highest proportion was by far the ‘students’.
Since more than half of the students are male, it is inevitable that the male dormitory will be crowded.
Nevertheless, the men’s dormitory where I and my party arrived was oppressed by heavy silence. The crowd was still flowing, but should I say that the vitality unique to youth was not visible?
Of course, there were several other male dormitories besides this one. But no matter where you go, the atmosphere will not be very different.
It was the effect of a series of raids. Considering the humiliation the academy suffered over the past year, it was a natural result. There were no more students who felt that the academy was a safe place.
It wasn’t a problem I could solve right away.
The appearance of me, the princess, and senior Siene caused a shallow disturbance, but even that was helpless. I was able to reach the target place only after going against the current of silence like that.
“Leto!”
Knock on the door, and soon you can feel the presence of wriggling in the room.
The princess and Siene-senpai, who followed me without knowing English, were still looking bewildered. The amount that I don’t know what the hell my intention is.
I didn’t bother to add an explanation to the two. You’ll find out the answer soon anyway.
How long did you wait?
I heard an irritated sigh through the door, then staggering footsteps. How much for that
In place of the open door, a handsome man with brown hair filled my field of vision.
“…… What?”
With a very tired face.
It was also the reason why my body hesitated while trying to say hello. My friend, Leto Ainstern’s face looked just as serious as that.
Under the eyes that were black from fatigue, the whites of the eyes where the blood vessels were exposed.
Even without that, the curly hair was unorganized and a mess. The blurry eyes and protracted yawns were telling the truth.
Leto is overdoing it.
That’s for quite a long time.
While I was perplexed by the unexpected appearance of my friend, Leto waved her hand in annoyance. A slightly furrowed brow was a bonus.
“Because I am busy these days? If it’s too late, talk next time…….”
But then.
Leto’s gaze, which had been scanning the surroundings with tired eyes, stopped at a certain point. It would have been natural if it was natural, but Shien and Siene-senpai were standing there.
It was right after that that Leto’s expression hardened.
“What the f*ck.”
Leto was rarely able to hide his embarrassment. His gaze glanced behind his back, then a frowning face turned to me. Eventually, a rustling whisper mixed with fatigue and annoyance.
“Who the hell did you bring? Without any contact…….”
It was then that I came to my senses. I had forgotten about it for a while, but the status of the princess and Shiene-senpai was not normal. Unlike me, who had met face-to-face countless times, Leto had no choice but to feel the burden.
In the end, I had to fumble around and pick up excuses that didn’t work.
“Uh, um… I have a matter I want to discuss urgently.”
“It must be very urgent. Huh?”
The sound of gnashing his teeth was representative of Leto’s feelings.
It’s ruined.
My head was pounding at the thought of having to suffer from Leto’s nagging for the first time in a while. It is safe to say that Leto’s bruising, which has the aspect of a poison speaker, was violence in itself.
If there is one comforting thing, it is that Leto will not immediately rebuke me.
Leto was a polite gentleman. He didn’t have the chin to do rudeness in front of his guests.
As if to prove this, his hands quickly straightened his clothes, and his back bowed politely with a clearing of his throat.
“Nice to meet you, Your Highness Shien. And senior Siene from Alpenhauser… It’s a shabby place, but come in first.”
Only then did we enter Leto’s room.
I couldn’t hear anything, so I went to the room where it wasn’t even organized.
From ancient times, a wizard’s bedroom was a place that was as reluctant to be exposed to the outside as the workshop. I soon found out why.
“Wow… ….”
I don’t know if it’s admiration or sigh.
It was the sound made by Xian. If even she, the only sorceress in her party, was in awe, she knew what Leto’s room would be like.
Should we call it a ‘garbage dump of knowledge’?
Innumerable books were forming a tomb in one corner of the room, unable to fill the bookshelf. The geometric diagrams strewn across the desk and the unknown old books piled up on the bedside gave us an idea of Leto’s daily life.
Thanks to that, the book got in the way every time I took a step.
Leto awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
“Sorry. If he had been contacted, he would have sorted things out a bit…….”
“No, Senior Ainstern! Rather, they barged in without contacting me, but to show me the lab… Thank you.”
I was the one who came in unexpectedly, but Shien was the one who politely bowed his head.
I wondered if something was wrong, but I shook my head and brushed off my thoughts. It seems that wizards have something in common.
I also thought it went well. Rather than being blunt, Shien, who is charming, will have an advantage in soothing Leto’s heart. Thinking so, I pulled out a chair from the reception table and sat down. In the meantime, I had to put away some papers like graffiti.
I couldn’t blame Leto. Because it was always me who was at fault. Instead, I silently looked through the by-products of the problems Leto had been preoccupied with.
Is it an illusion that there are a lot of toxic bloody letters?
Leto was still having a conversation with Shien and the wizard.
“How many great topics can you deal with at the student level even if you say research? I’m just preparing for the time when one day I can become a wizard for one person.”
“Is that so? It looks pretty serious.”
Only Siene-senpai, who couldn’t fit in anywhere, came to my side like a loner. After Dalton’s appearance, she, who had lost her spirits, asked me with a somewhat uneasy look on her face.
“I, I… Didn’t I say I had something to do?”
“Yes, it is. I came to ask her advice about him.”
My eyes weren’t looking at the person I was talking to. It was because there was one object that caught my attention on the desk where all kinds of books were piled up.
Only one document.
It looked empty at first glance, but I could feel the faint bloody magic rising from it. It was a funny thing to say that I could distinguish colors by intuition.
Nevertheless, this was the unmistakable truth. My gaze, fixed on the unidentified document, remained unmoved even after that.
I wasn’t the only one who noticed the suspicious magic power. Shien also glanced after my gaze, and she immediately asked Leto in her clear voice.
“What is that paper? By any chance senior Ainstern’s research results?”
“Well, you could say that. Should I say it’s a small achievement… Should it be a last resort?”
Then, the yellow-green pupils quietly turned towards me.
It was said that it was something related to secrets. There were countless secrets that Leto and I shared, but recently there was only one subject that could be drawn out as a magical result.
Forbidden magic, ‘contract’.
While I was fighting Celine, Leto wasn’t playing around either. He was also trying his best to find the means, and he had already begun to produce results.
I was in the mood to ask for that commentary right away. However, there was one person who was hesitant to share the secret.
Siene Alpenhauser.
I brought him because he said he would listen to me, but I didn’t trust him enough to share an important secret. Leto must have winked at me because he was well aware of this.
Senior Siene, who has a great reputation, was quick enough to notice.
“I, that… Should I leave?”
He looks so downhearted to the point of being servile.
He had such a pitiful expression that any man could feel pity for him, but he wasn’t alone in this place.
The corners of Shien’s mouth held a straight line.
“Yes, please leave.”
So Siene-senpai waited outside her door for a while.
Shien even tried to secure her by setting up a soundproof barrier. Is it because he comes from the imperial family, where one secret is exchanged for one life?
Leto’s gaze turned to me without a word. To the unspoken question, “Can I speak now?”, I answered the question with a simple nod.
Only then did my best friend’s heavy mouth open.
“Some people are waiting outside, so I will explain only the essentials. Simply put, the purpose of that paper is…….”
Leto’s fingers snapped.
Then the paper hums and rings, revealing a bloody figure. The geometric painting eventually rose into the air, rotated, and formed a three-dimensional figure accompanied by complex movements.
A sinister sight at first glance, but the meaning it contained was different.
“Ian’s treatment.”
And silence.
The princess, who was staring at the bloody figure with a still gaze, asked back with her deep doubts.
“Is that a story of possibility? If we continue our research in the future, we can cure binocular vision…… ?”
“No.”
However, Leto’s answer was as unwavering as his expression. With terribly tired eyes, he reaffirmed.
“It is still possible. Ian’s treatment.”
The achievements he achieved were beyond imagination.