31. Stella Knights (3)
Dark Mages, Azmick and Kalaban.
After failing their mission, they had no choice but to cancel their vacation and return immediately.
For Azmick, it was enough to make tears of blood flow. She had tried to secure extra leave, only to end up losing the leave she already had.
But what could she do?
She had failed to catch even mere Stella cadets.
—Kikikik.
—What a disgrace. A disgrace to all Dark Mages!
—What? You let a bunch of brats get away?
—Puhahahaha! Even a passing goblin would laugh at that!
Normally, creatures that would not even dare squeak in front of her were especially noisy today. But Azmick endured it. Killing those bastards would come later.
"Azmick Costalin."
"…Yes."
At the voice that rang out, Azmick lifted her head. Before her sat the man known as the Black Knight, lounging upon a lofty throne.
'The Ruins of the Valkamic Royal House.'
Valkamic—
a kingdom that had once won renown as a royal house descended from one of the twelve disciples of the Founding Mage, only to collapse overnight.
And the very man responsible for destroying that place and leaving it so dead that life itself could no longer survive there was the man before her now: Blackkingdon.
"There has been an unfortunate incident recently."
"I am sorry. I'll go find him again at once and cut off his head—"
"No. That won't be necessary."
When Blackkingdon cut her off mid-sentence, Azmick lowered her head again.
"I told you not to lay a hand on Stella's cadets."
"…A mission came down."
"I know. A mission from the Moon Shadow Sect."
But Blackkingdon said that in a tone that suggested it displeased him even more.
"So then, are you the Moon Shadow Sect's hunting dog?"
That single remark was enough to enrage even Azmick, who had been suppressing her real feelings with all her might, and she burst out shouting.
"…No! I am not the hunting dog of those bastards!"
"Oh? Is that so? And yet you obeyed their words quite well."
Having nothing to say in response, Azmick bit down harshly on her lip and bowed her head.
"But that's all right."
"…Pardon?"
"Through this incident, I've learned how the leader of the Moon Shadow Sect—that sly snake of a man—intends to move."
"What do you mean…?"
Azmick looked as though she did not understand, but Blackkingdon offered no further explanation.
'Moon Shadow Sect. To think those insolent fools would dare strike at the throne of the Dark Magic King…'
Just as humans did not all share the same beliefs simply because they were all human, Dark Mages were no different.
They shared a common purpose—to dye this world into the Reverse Side—
but even within that, subtle struggles for power were quietly taking place.
And at the very center of it all stood a boy named Ma Yuseong.
A mysterious child who possessed both the powers of the real world and the powers of the Reverse Side.
There was no doubt that the boy would serve as a stepping stone bridging the dark world and the mortal world.
Yet for some reason, the Moon Shadow Sect did not want that to happen.
'I've learned something very interesting…'
Blackkingdon smiled crookedly.
"You two may go. And summon one person immediately."
Once Azmick and Kalaban were dismissed, two mages in black robes ran in at once and bowed their heads.
"Yes! What kind of personnel should we prepare?"
"You. Raise your head."
At Blackkingdon's order, the mage in the black robe raised her head. Gender meant little among Dark Mages, but that mage appeared biologically female, and perhaps because she had undergone darkification at quite a young age, she had a youthful face.
Moreover, she was a rather high-ranking Dark Mage, capable of controlling her own mana to an impressive degree.
…In other words, she was a perfect fit for this plan.
"Your name?"
"Anella!"
"Good. You'll do perfectly, Anella."
"…Pardon?"
"Prepare to infiltrate Stella Academy."
"…What?"
Had she really heard that correctly?
Anella, a 5-Class mage and also a 6-Risk Dark Mage, could only stare blankly, having just heard something so completely out of left field—but Blackkingdon was serious.
"Immediately."
—Read only on MugenCodex.—
As Aizel walked beside Arain, she kept stealing glances at his profile.
With that unusually pale skin and those eyes always shadowed in darkness, he looked less like a living person than a corpse.
And yet, he was undeniably alive.
Judging by the fact that he kept his hair—slightly long for a man, falling neatly to his shoulders—in such careful order, it did not seem he was entirely unconcerned with his own appearance, so she could not help wondering how he had ended up maintaining such an impression.
'The General Commander of Stella's Knights…'
Back in the days when the Morf family had been one of the greatest noble houses in the world, Aizel's father, Isaac Morf, had on rare occasions spoken to her about Arain.
'He is a person more human than anyone else.'
'More human? Do you mean he is warm-hearted?'
'Daughter. Why do you think humanity has advanced this far?'
Even the dwarves, who possessed the finest technology. Even the elves, who attained high-level magic through their long lifespans. Even the beastfolk, with their powerful bodies. Even dragons, who possessed all those strengths at once. Even angels and demons.
None of them could stop it.
They could not stop humans—who possessed nothing—from ruling the world.
'I'm not sure…'
'The answer is simple. Because they possessed a conviction to move toward their goals.'
The other races all fixed themselves upon a single destination, and moved only toward that.
The dwarves were content merely to create beautiful craftsmanship and fine equipment.
The elves and angels, blessed with long lifespans, wished only to enjoy leisure and peace day by day.
The beastfolk desired nothing more than to live together with their own kind in closed-off lands.
Humans were different.
'For more. For higher places. Humans never ceased striving.'
Even if what they desired belonged to someone else, humans were the kind of beings who could become more serious than anyone in order to take it.
'That is what it means to be human.'
'Ah…'
After hearing that much, Aizel had sensed something.
'If that's true…'
'Then Arain is, among such humans, a human more human than any other.'
That was what her father had said.
'Be careful of humans.'
'Be careful of humans who are truly human.'
And now, in the present, she had at last come face to face with the human called Arain.
'…I still don't know.'
Even now, Aizel's understanding was too narrow to truly grasp her father's meaning.
'Still… I should be careful.'
The way Arain walked ahead of her was calm and quiet, giving off no dangerous feeling.
And regardless of what her father had warned, Arain's achievements and reputation were not something that could simply be dismissed.
The greatest knight in Stella was not a title one could obtain easily. Excluding the 9-Class mages called Archmages, it would not be an exaggeration to say he possessed the greatest combat power of them all.
In fact, during the famous incident known for generations as the Majestic Wall Sinkhole, the sight of him slaughtering Dark Mages by the score, taking the enemy general's head, and returning as though nothing had happened remained legendary to this day.
That was why it puzzled her.
Why was the General Commander interested in Baek Yuseol? He was not a man likely to concern himself with the doomed lifespan of one mere cadet.
Or perhaps, rather than Baek Yuseol himself, he was interested in Mana Leakage Constitution as a phenomenon?
After all, in Aizel's investigation at the library, many mages had shown interest in bodies incapable of retaining mana, calling them a violation of the laws of nature.
If Arain's goal was not to save Baek Yuseol, but to perform some kind of experiment in order to uncover the secret of Mana Leakage Constitution…
'N-no, of course he wouldn't…'
Even so, with that thought lingering in the back of her mind, Aizel forced herself to speak.
"…Sir Commander."
Arain did not answer. But Aizel did not give up.
"Why are you interested in the limited lifespan of a mere student…?"
"No, I mean… if perhaps what interests you is Mana Leakage Constitution itself…"
"Are you the sort who cannot rest until you drag your curiosity out into the open?"
"Wh-what? N-no…"
At Arain's bored dismissal, Aizel's shoulders hunched down.
Just as she was about to give up, thinking he had no intention of answering—
"I am considering that child as a candidate for the next General Commander."
"…What?"
The answer was so far beyond anything she had expected that Aizel's thoughts froze on the spot.
'A candidate… for the next General Commander…?'
Had she heard him wrong?
"It has been a long time since a candidate worth using appeared. If he can be saved, then he should be saved."
She had not heard wrong.
Arain truly was considering Baek Yuseol as one of the candidates for the next commander of the Stella Knights.
More than that—he was interested enough to personally try to alter a constitution that was all but incurable.
The position of Commander of the Stella Knights was one of the very few titles in the world worthy of the phrase greatest knight in the world, and the idol of all mage knights across the globe.
And yet someone sitting in such a place had taken notice of Baek Yuseol.
It did not feel real to her at all.
Then again, if not Baek Yuseol, who would suit the title of knight?
Unlike the modern mage knights, who merely imitated the knights of old, Baek Yuseol was the only true knight in the world who wielded a sword.
And his talent shone like the sun even in Stella, where the greatest geniuses in the world were gathered, so it was not hard to understand why Arain, one of the world's greatest knights, had taken such an interest in him.
"Attention! Commander Arain is entering!"
After following him for quite some time, they arrived at the sparsely populated Stella Orion Magic Tower.
Only Stella's most elite knights and researchers were allowed to enter Orion Tower, so ordinary students could not even set foot there.
There were even rumors that the source of Stella's astonishing and secretive technology lay in Orion itself, and Aizel—who had never dreamed she would one day come here—stood frozen with her mouth slightly open.
"Follow."
"Ah, yes!"
Following Arain inside the Orion Magic Tower, Aizel took the elevator all the way to the highest floor.
But strangely, it felt as though the elevator continued to rise even after passing the roof of the tower.
And then, at some point—
Thud…!
The elevator came to a stop with a heavy sound, and the doors opened.
"…Wow."
Before her spread a library of absurd size.
It was an enormous place reminiscent of a vast cavern, and every corner of it was covered in books.
Even the Stella Library, famous for its immense size, could not compare.
But before she could even finish that gasp of admiration, unease surged through her.
"I-is it really all right to show a place like this to a mere student like me…?"
Perhaps because he found that amusing, Arain gave the rarest of smiles.
"What kind of information do you think this library contains?"
"Uh… just… all sorts of things…?"
"Yes. Truly all sorts of information in this world."
When Arain repeated the very vague phrase she had used, Aizel felt suddenly embarrassed, as if the words all sorts of things sounded terribly cheap.
"But in the end, that still does not mean 'all information.'"
"…Pardon?"
"How much do you know about the Library of Stars?"
The Library of Stars.
It was a kind of legend passed down as tradition in the magical world, said to contain all the history, mystery, truth, knowledge, information, and secrets of this world.
How vast was its information?
Legend said it had everything recorded right down to which fly beat its wings how many times, and where, and at what exact second, in what year.
But that was precisely why it was just a legend.
All the information in the world?
Surely that had to be fiction.
"This place was made in imitation of the Library of Stars. But it is absurdly lacking. So lacking that there is no point in even comparing their capabilities."
Aizel could not understand this situation at all.
"…Why are you telling me something like this?"
"Mana Leakage Constitution lies outside the knowledge we possess. It is a 'supernatural phenomenon' that cannot be explained through magic at all."
In order to explain something that existed outside the knowledge held by mankind, one had no choice but to rely on something outside that same category.
But to Aizel, the very idea sounded absurd.
To invoke a legend just to cure Mana Leakage Constitution—a mere incurable condition…
It was so ridiculous that she could scarcely believe this was the same Commander Arain she knew of, and she simply kept her mouth shut.
As if he had expected exactly that reaction, Arain continued.
"We have already found it. No—more than a thousand years ago, it was already beside us."
"Th-that can't…"
She could not believe it.
That the legend of the Library of Stars, which held all knowledge, was not fiction but fact—even if it came from the lips of Stella's greatest knight, it was not easy to accept.
And yet, no matter what Aizel thought, Arain spoke nothing but truth.
"The true name of the Library of Stars is the Constellatio Project."
Turning back to her, Arain said in a flat tone:
"And only the descendants left behind by the twelve disciples of the Founding Mage may access it."
"Ah…"
The twelve disciples of the Founding Mage.
And if it was their descendants…
Only then did Aizel finally understand why someone as great as the Commander of Stella's Knights would ask assistance from someone like her.
Because the Morf family, too, was descended from one of those twelve disciples.
And if Arain had heard that one of those descendants was striving desperately to save Baek Yuseol, how could he not try to use her?
Especially when it meant he might even be able to make use of an enormously valuable storehouse of information known as the Constellatio Project.
"It contains all the truths of this world. However, after the twelve disciples accessed the Constellatio Project and beheld the 'truth,' it is said they sealed it away so that it would never again be revealed to the world. They made it so only their descendants could approach it."
"…Why would they do that?"
"I don't know."
Arain seemed to have little interest in the truth contained within the Library of Stars itself.
"Such things are not especially important to me. What matters is that you may be able to read at least a small part of the information in there."
Looking at his face, she could tell for certain.
Commander Arain truly intended to access the Library of Stars.
For the goal of saving a single student, he was the kind of man prepared to do absolutely anything.
"…Yes. I'll try."
"Good. Then we begin immediately. Prepare yourself."
Aizel nodded, and a group of mages dressed in gold robes led her away.
Looking at it now, this place was less an ordinary magic tower…
and more like a lighthouse.
A tall lighthouse surrounded by constellations.
'…I'm going to find it. No matter what.'
The Library of Stars?
The Constellatio Project?
Honestly, she had no idea what any of it really meant.
But if it was the one and only thing only she could do…
then she had no intention of failing.