Chapter 73
Celine stared at the old man.
The old man’s short gray hair flashed through the white robe. The black eyes set in the bloodless face looked even foreign. At the same time, the distorted scar covering one cheek revealed the fact that his past was not a scholar, but a warrior.
…Just like all the wizards in the past before Leonhard.
His mouth moved slowly.
“You are vigilant.”
“….”
Naturally, she was vigilant of this old man… no, she was vigilant of this entire space.
All of these people must be wizards belonging to the Imperial Family. Leonhard seemed to think that fact alone was enough to trust people, but Celine was different. In fact, didn’t he say that the wizards belonging to the Imperial Family would approach her to try her?
‘No matter what their purpose is, they won’t do me a pure favor.’
The corner of the old man’s lips went up.
“Celine Hunt… a woman taken to the North by Lord Leonhard to break his curse. Then, you manifested as a wizard and naturally performed missions together with him.”
“….!”
Celine’s body stiffened.
Rose, as well as all the wizards present here, were not at all surprised, as if it was something they knew from the beginning.
“…How did you know?”
“You don’t have to stare like that. It’s not even a big secret, is it?”
She couldn’t resist.
Until Agathirsus, Celine had guessed that speculation about her relationship with Leonhard had been floating around. It would have been easy to know the reason why he had brought her if people were to dig up information from the North with doubts.
‘…This old man said it was Leonhard’s curse.’
She felt a little relieved. They didn’t seem to know that she was the one who was cursed.
“Of course, you must not know much about Lord Leonhard, so you don’t even know why we’re doing this.”
Celine didn’t say anything.
This old man had something to say to her, and however she tried to retort, it couldn’t be more than a hindrance.
“Before Lord Leonhard appeared… Do you know who fought against the warlocks?”
“It must be wizards.”
The old man nodded his head.
“Still, most of those who fought against warlocks either died or lived worse lives. Obviously, there are people like me who are lucky enough to survive.”
As he spread out his wrinkled hands, her breath choked. It was because there were ugly scars tangled with wrinkles all over his hands.
“With this, my magic has become almost unusable. I retained my position with the credit for defeating the warlock, but I am only a wizard in name.”
She could keenly sense exactly what the old man meant.
…Even though he killed a warlock and even survived, he could not escape from the recoil of the dead warlock.
The old man smiled bitterly.
“It’s been a long time. After Lord Leonhard appeared… all of us could escape that fate.”
“…If Leonhard dies, you once again—”
“Yes, we will have to fight the warlock like before. Was this a good enough answer?”
Celine bit her lip.
His words were reasonable.
If they had only offered to help her because Leonhard was fighting for the empire, she would have thought about it for a long time. However, he said they would help him so that they would not have to fight the warlock themselves.
‘I can believe this.’
Having made up her decision, Celine opened her mouth.
“…I understand.”
“That’s a relief.”
Saying so, the old man disappeared into the crowd without saying a word, as if he had finished what he had to say.
Rose came abruptly.
“Now, you seem to believe it a little bit. I was really at a loss.”
“I couldn’t believe it.”
She smiled and began to introduce the people around for a while, half pushing Celine’s back.
An hour later.
Celine couldn’t quite remember the imperial wizards she had been introduced to, but she was sure that at least she had memorized their faces.
“Who is that person again?”
“Ah, you mean Lute Garcia. He was the one who insisted on helping you with me.”
“…There must have been quite a bit of opposition.”
“Of course.”
Rose answered briefly.
“So, get as much help as possible because that’s what makes it worthwhile.”
Celine nodded her head.
Even if she didn’t, she had to be stronger.
The final stage of the true ending route would be much more difficult than the final stage of the regular route. Didn’t she also feel the difference in skill during Rose’s movement magic that she felt while moving here? This was a great opportunity, and she wasn’t the type to miss her chance.
Celine gazed straight at Rose.
“I want to develop my full skills.”
“Did you learn from Lute Carl?”
“Yes.”
“Lute Carl is a good wizard, but… you must have had a hard time learning systematically.”
At those words, she nodded her head.
Rose got it right. Lute Carl abruptly left for a mission, even while teaching her with all his heart and sincerity. Besides, after she had grown to a certain extent, both of them were too busy to continue her education any further.
Soon, she led Celine out of the hall.
“Where are we going?”
“To the training ground.”
Instead of moving to another part of the building, Rose went outside again, and Celine couldn’t hide her surprise.
‘The flower garden… It was a training ground.’
It was only then that she sensed the powerful magic power of the flower garden, and Rose stopped after walking a long way out of the castle.
As she glanced all around, she still saw nothing but flowers.
“Rose was meant to be my teacher from the beginning.”
“Of course.”
A smile appeared on Rose’s face.
Her heart started pounding.
She was completely different now than when she was learning, starting from the beginning from Lute Emile or Lute Carl. Celine now knew her own strengths and weaknesses, and she was ready to become even stronger.
“First of all, I need to know Celine’s skills… Would you like to try some magic? The one you are most confident in.”
Celine closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. In fact, the most powerful of all the magic she could use was fire-attribute attack magic. Nonetheless, her favorite, which she studied so zealously, was the magic of creating various structures out of ice.
The magic wriggled around her.
It wasn’t her original magic nor Lou’s magic, who was still quietly groaning around her wrist. It was magic that felt a little strange.
‘…It’s a flower.’
She knew right away.
In each flower, she could feel magic as pure and refined as the magic stone. No, it was similar to the magic stone though with a cleaner and brighter feel.
Celine smiled softly. It was a blessing as a wizard to have the opportunity to use this much magical power at once. As she opened her eyes, a block of ice, the size of a castle, was floating in the flower garden.
“Not bad.”
Rose nodded her head, her face a little impressed.
“To create this much ice and float it in the air… It takes a lot of magic.”
Meanwhile, Celine focused her mind without answering.
This was just the beginning.
“….?”
Rose, who felt the swirling magic even though the ice hadn’t cracked, made a surprised look. Ten minutes had passed, but the situation hadn’t changed at all, as the magic was still only swirling. Now staring blankly at the sky with a flustered look, she opened her mouth cautiously.
“If something is wrong, tell me. I will help you.”
Right then, the ice began to break on its own with a crackling sound.
Rose’s eyes widened.
The ice did not break, only turned into simple pieces. When the surface of the ice, which she thought was simply a huge rock shape, shattered, an elaborate castle was revealed.
A castle made of ice.
‘Rather than a castle…’
She realized. Rather than a castle, this structure, which looked like a tangled arrangement of huge towers, was Bernoulli Castle.
“…It’s Bernoulli Castle.”
“It’s a bit smaller than it actually is.”
Celine’s face flushed red, and her voice was full of excitement. She looked more like a girl who was so happy that she didn’t know what to do rather than a wizard who was having a hard time pouring out huge magical powers.
“How long can you keep it?”
Celine blinked her eyes quickly, a little embarrassed.
“Uh… all day if we’re here.”
“Why ‘if we’re here’?”
“These flowers act as magic stones, right?”
Rose barely managed to straighten her face, which was distorted in surprise.
There were many magicians who detected magic in the flowers that protected Flua. However, flowers, unlike magic stones, were living creatures so it took a lot of training to use them like magic stones. Or perhaps, she had a natural talent for sensing and extracting magical powers.
Celine built a small pier between them and the castle.
“I paid considerable attention to it. Would you like to go?”
Rose nodded her head. The most important thing for her right now was to grasp Celine’s skills accurately.
“Awesome.”
She then inspected the recognizable ornaments, furniture, carpets, and structures that were all made of ice.
“Right?”
Celine’s voice was not all that bright.
“I tried to make it as similar as possible. Of course, there may be things I remember incorrectly.”
Saying that, she let out a small sigh, careful not to let Rose notice. Even though the time she stayed in the North wasn’t very long, and it had been long since she had left the North… why did the North feel like home to her?
The corner of her eyes reddened slightly as Celine gazed at the familiar structure she had created.
“It’s rare for a wizard to create a structure like this. Do you know how to use the earth attribute?”
“No. Earth attributes are still…”
“That’s unfortunate. Usually, this ability shines in the earth’s attributes. If you have enough time, it would be nice to learn about the earth’s attributes though… it seems a little late.”
Lute Carl used most of the attributes freely, but he was reluctant to use the earth attribute.
“I can’t help it, because ice alone makes tolerable structures.”
“That’s true. Above all else, what Celine will mainly use is offensive magic.”
Rose glanced up at the ceiling.
The sunlight reflected off the elaborate ice chandeliers and glistened.
“Celine, would you like to blow up the whole ceiling? With attack magic.”
“Alright.”
Celine answered without hesitation.
—BANG!
The next moment, the entire ceiling was engulfed in blue flames in an instant and disappeared without a trace.
“I evaporated it because it was ice. Is it okay?”
Meanwhile, she stared at Celine’s face, momentarily lost for words.
‘…How could Lord Leonhard come to be with such a monster—’
She cleared her throat.
“If you do this, it seems that I have seen enough of your skills.”
“How is it?”
“To be honest, if you want, you can become a wizard belonging to the Imperial Family right away.”
Rose thought she would be pleased, but Celine’s reaction was the exact opposite. She could not hide her darkened complexion and cast her sullen gaze to the ground.
‘Why is she like that?’
She frowned as she thought.
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