Planus Exarmatio (2)
“And an 8th Circle Mage at that.”
But it was hard to completely hide the surprise despite the proceeding explanation. Kyren didn’t usually react to these types of things, but his eyes went wide.
“But they are college freshmen this year?”
In all of Berine, the number of 7th circle and above mages was just about 200, and on top of that, 8th circle mages didn’t even reach 5%. More than anything, just because one had an exceptional amount of natural mana does not mean it is easy to become an 8th circle mage. Of the current ten 8th circle Berine mages, without fail, all are over their fifties. This means that to become an 8th circle mage, one needed decades of training.
In the recent ages, a 9th circle mage has not appeared in Berine, and the person who is thought to have the most mana in the world, Pite’s master, is a 10th circle mage. However, if someone that was barely 18 became an 8th circle mage, then how high could they climb? That was a little scary…
“Impressive.”
“It has been a full moon since I received that judgment. Pite’s master gave me the certificate himself. I went to study in Pite last winter.”
“Pite allowed a foreigner to train there?”
Kyren, who briefly made a face of incredulity, gave a small chuckle. Ah, sure. They aren’t regular nobility, they are royalty. Count Leihil married the old king’s daughter. This made the queen her older cousin. So should something happen to the queen, their multi-talented daughter is the third in line to become her successor. I didn’t grow up not wanting anything but they really were born with a golden spoon already in their mouth.
“Why didn’t an amazing mage like that go to Rogis?”
“That, I don’t know. Ah, here they come. Would you like to meet them?”
“I should. Well, there is nothing bad about being on good terms with a valuable lady.”
Kyren, who was answering with an unpleasant tone, started using his conversational smile. He stood up firmly. With a grin that had the confidence of never failing to win over anyone he met for the first time, he followed Ian’s gaze and narrowed his eyes.
His first impression of her was fierce. The first thing he noticed was her shiny reddish-blonde hair that shone under the sunlight. She wore a frown as if something was not to her liking but even from far away, it was clear that she was a thin and striking beauty. Based on her identity, her clothing was a little too plain but her appearance itself was so extravagant that it drew the gaze of those around her.
However, her clothing left a lot to be desired. Unlike the proper attire that the other freshmen wore, she had a robe that was casually draped on herself. This was far from the clean look that Kyren desired. It was still a little cold out but he immediately saw that she had the top of her shirt unbuttoned and her hair looked like it was just casually brushed. Kyren inwardly clicked his tongue.
Seeing as she still had hand marks on her face and she didn’t brush her hair. I’m betting 100 Scylon that all she did was wash her face this morning. Perhaps… Surely she did at least wash her face? Tsk, no matter how good her background is, why must she go around looking haphazardly… With still a pleasant face, he coldly rained down his judgment. What a lazy person. No charm at all.
The college students that were mostly made up of nobility, for the most part, normally dressed formally while they attended school. Even if it wasn’t anything beautiful or if a tie was too uncomfortable, it was within etiquette to at least wear a scarf. Kyren was the type of man who was especially sensitive to fashion so much so that he thought that the way a person dressed was an indication of that person’s thought and character.
A young lady showing her neck so brazenly… I’m scared that my daughter might walk around like that in the future.
“Hello, Miss Leihil.”
At Ian’s formal greeting, she turned her frowning face and slowly blinked with her big eyes, then switched to a slightly friendlier gaze. However, her heavily annoyed face and her frowned forehead remained. Her greeting manners are also terrible. Was she not taught by her parents to smile when greeting someone? I was told that her mother was a princess.
“Ian.”
“It has been a while. I heard that you’ve become a freshman at Moyen(?). I also heard that you passed the bureaucratic examination.”
“Ah, that. I heard that Ian passed that too.”
“Haha, I just barely held on. Congratulations on becoming the youngest successful applicant.”
“What’s there to be boastful about? I also just barely passed.”
At the lukewarm response mixed with annoyance from her, a crack appeared on Kyren’s perfect mask. What is with this girl? If someone congratulates you out of etiquette, then isn’t it normal to thank them? And even still if you are super close with Ian, what is with that tone in front of someone you just met for the first time?
And that ring… Ah, the hobbies of young women. Seeing that the ruby ring she was wearing was the type that old housewives wore, Kyren had to make an effort to not make a face at it. Ian, who was scoping out Kyren’s face, quickly introduced him.
“I shall make an introduction, Miss Leihil. This is my friend Kyren Night. He is the same age as me and is majoring in politics. Kyren, introduce yourself. This is Count Leihil’s daughter, Miss Evelyn Leihil.”
These two that just briefly made eye contact while Ian was making introductions, turned their heads instinctively at the loud sound made from above them. They both widened their eyes. Something that should not even be happening in the middle of a city just took place.
The sky… It was opening up.
After coming home late, late enough for it to be time for the sun to start rising, Evelyn, who has not even closed her eyes for two hours, had to get up. It was usually a terrible experience to get up, but recently, for the past weeks, there was not a single day where she slept the recommended amount of hours. It was barely the beginning of the day, yet her head was heavy and her eyes were so dry it felt like they were about to pop out.
“Damn it. It’s not like they are going to put me in the lab right away but they sure use me like a dog.”
After annoyingly swearing a little more using words that came to her mind, she washed her face and wore whatever she managed to grab from the dressing room. Her clothing for casual wear all had similar designs, so there was not much to ponder about. The nanny, who would nag to her about not wearing any makeup, was thankfully not present because of her daughter giving birth.
“Haa… I have a class with professor Nathan today… Do I have to wear a scarf for them?”
Evelyn, who briefly pondered about that in front of a mirror, frowned and threw the scarf she was holding. Just by looking at it, it felt like she was being choked. It’s fine, let’s just live how I want. What did I study desperately and make it to Moyen(?) for? The reason for giving up on Rogis college, a place where certified advanced mages can transfer without any test, was because they had to wear ties as part of the uniform.
Evelyn made her way down to the cafeteria while pressing on her throbbing head. Cecilia’s, who was waiting for her, darkened her expression. The fingertips running down her daughter’s rough face were shaking slightly from rage. My word, what happened to my daughter’s face that was akin to a white jade?!
“My daughter, did you get some sleep?”
“Yes, about two hours.”
“Two hours? Why? How many days has it been like this?!”
“I have no time now. It has already been a full moon. If I want to find it in a living state, I can’t let it go past 3 weeks.”
“Your mother knows that too. But why do you have to do that? You aren’t an official worker yet and the magic department has 70 advanced mages!”
“I’m the most competent one out of them all. And also because someone’s life is on the line.”
Cecilia closed her mouth at Evelyn’s nonchalant response. A wave of anger arose from inside her every time she saw her daughter’s emaciated face. She could go and say that she is giving up on the missing person. But even then, her anger towards the head of the magic lab for using her daughter simply for being the top disciple did not fade.
Should I just kill the bastard Andre Vilope? After seeing his wife shrug and let out a big sigh, count Leihil also let out a short sigh. He was worried about the health of his only daughter and at the same time, he was also concerned about his wife who was about to explode.
“I shall meet with Vilope today.”
“Don’t do that, Father. The manager is even busier than I am.”
“Evelyn.”
“It will be another three or four days at the most. The longest someone can live eating a scant is three weeks. We either find the missing person in that time, or we never find them… In any case, the matter will be resolved within the week.”
In all honesty, Evelyn was the most desperate to grab the neck of the head of the magic lab but because the lives of 6 people were on the line, she couldn’t back out now. Evelyn’s mouth was so dry that even drinking water was difficult yet she ate the breakfast made for her. Her condition was awful, so she had to at least eat to maintain her energy.
“So you have to finish this business by this weekend?!”
“I am at the very least coming home to rest because I have to go to school. Other people are sleeping outside during this weather and getting barely any sleep. There are even those that are close to retirement.”
Evelyn, who was answering nonchalantly and measuring her mana amount, creased her fair forehead. There has rarely been a time where she was pushed to the brink like this. Could she survive another two days like this? The mana that she had been using like water was almost depleted but there was no time to rest.
A full moon ago, some mid-tier academy student mages found an unclosed gate and made a mess by making the entrance bigger. If one had a concept of ethics and basic logic of thinking, they wouldn’t even think of opening a gate that had a high chance of spawning A rank monsters near where people live. But youths these days have little to no sense of fear for committing an offense.
For movements within Berline, a person approaching a gate in the designated area without permission or handling a gate opened by a monster are both strictly forbidden. Only permitted advanced mages capable of dealing with monsters are chosen for rescues. If one spots a gate, they are to leave that area immediately and report to the magic department.
But the youngsters who wanted to show off the fact that they had reached one of the higher circles, found a gate in a creepy location and thought that it was a good opportunity to use their magic which they may never have the chance to use again in their lives. They snickered and used enlarging magic. Six of the nine kids got sucked into the gate before they could even scream and before the remaining three could do anything, the gate closed.
Unlike the manmade gates that mages could monitor the opening and closing of, the randomly closing monster gates cannot be opened once they are closed. Waves of mages came and inspected the gate for days, but they had made no progress. Finding those that were sucked in the closed gate was like finding a needle in a haystack.
When Evelyn heard the news as soon as she returned from Pite, it had already been a week since the incident.
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