The next day.
During class, Ern was pondering how to handle the situation with Sierra.
Though it was a mistake, what she did was enough to insult the royal family.
Even if a severe punishment wasn’t given, an example needed to be made so that such behavior wouldn’t happen again.
Ding—! Ding—! Ding—!
The bell that signaled the end of class.
As Ern thought it was time to wrap up the lesson, he put down the chalk.
Today, he didn’t plan to take any questions.
After yesterday’s incident, he felt he should stay by Epherna’s side.
As Ern turned down students who wanted to ask questions and headed to his office, a man blocked his way.
Solendril Clearie.
The headmaster of the Academy stared at Ern with a vacant expression.
*****
In the headmaster’s office.
Ern sipped the tea that Solendril offered him.
“Do you like it?”
“It’s not to my taste.”
“That’s unfortunate. Belladriel said it was delicious.”
“Are you talking about Lady Belladriel?”
“…”
Whenever Solendril brings up someone, he always serves tea.
This habit of his usually signals that something serious or strange has happened, and this time was no exception.
“You’ve been to the North before, haven’t you?”
“Yes, but that was months ago.”
“Have you been to the Closed Sector?”
“Why would I go there? It’s crawling with monsters.”
“Then this is the first time you’ve heard about this.”
Solendril handed over a scroll from his desk.
It was a visual scroll, handcrafted by Belladriel, one of the seven heroes and the greatest mage-alchemist. When Ern activated the magic, a scene appeared.
The setting was the Closed Sector in the North.
The magic device captured a Grey Wolf monster.
One of its legs was missing, likely eaten by other monsters, and it was bleeding heavily, seemingly on the brink of death.
But then, Ern saw something unbelievable.
The missing leg regenerated in an instant, and the wounds all over its body healed.
The video didn’t end there.
Another video followed, showing a wolf severely injured, appearing to be completely dead.
However, as if time reversed, the wolf’s grave injuries healed, and it opened its eyes.
Ern asked.
“What is this? How is this possible?”
“I don’t know either. Belladriel said this phenomenon is happening only in the Closed Sector, and I was told to inform you of this.”
“Does Duke Lemea know about this?”
“He does. It’s been troubling him lately.”
The Grey Wolves in the Closed Sector have gained immortal bodies.
That would be the conclusion one might draw from this video, but if that were all, Belladriel wouldn’t have bothered to craft a video or Duke Lemea wouldn’t consider it such a problem.
“Is this phenomenon happening to all monsters, not just Grey Wolves?”
“Fortunately, it’s only occurring in the Closed Sector. It seems that once they cross the Karun Mountains, the immortality ability disappears.”
This is not fortunate.
The monsters in the Closed Sector now had immortal bodies.
This meant that the number of monsters in the Closed Sector would never decrease.
Whether or not they still had reproductive abilities, within one generation, the Closed Sector would become a hell filled with monsters, and in another generation, an unprecedented crisis of monsters invading the continent could occur.
Ern suddenly recalled something the Prophet had said in the past.
– Don’t come here for a while. Some lunatics have used the Demon King’s power to spread a curse, making it dangerous.
A curse spread using the Demon King’s power.
If that’s what this is, then it all makes sense.
If the phenomenon Belladriel recorded and the curse mentioned by the Prophet are the same, then the culprits behind this phenomenon are those crazy people the Prophet mentioned.
Who are these crazy people the Prophet spoke of?
“This doesn’t seem like a natural phenomenon. Do you think it might have been caused artificially?”
Ern casually mentioned the Prophet’s words.
“That’s possible. Belladriel also suspects that, which is why she showed this to you.”
“Are you asking me to find the ones responsible for this phenomenon?”
“The decision will be up to the Princess.”
“Have you not told Her Highness yet?”
“The Princess is in class, isn’t she? I have to leave on a trip soon, so I’m informing you in advance.”
“Understood. I’ll discuss this with the Princess.”
******
After class, in the dormitory.
As Epherna was having her hair dried by Ern, she was making a decision regarding Sierra’s punishment.
“I don’t intend to give her too severe a punishment. It wasn’t a major incident.”
“She used drugs on a member of the royal family. The punishment can’t be too light.”
“I understand. It won’t be too lenient.”
Eperna told Sierra that she had something she wanted to do personally.
Epherna mentioned that there was something she wanted Sierra to do for her personally. Sierra was also the top student in the Department of Magic and the biological daughter of the great magic-alchemist Belladriel.
Epherna judged that it would be more beneficial to forgive Sierra graciously and build rapport rather than imposing a harsh punishment. However, to avoid problems, she decided to give a minor punishment.
“Oh, and by the way.”
Ern spoke about the strange phenomenon in the northern Closed Sector that Solendril had mentioned earlier in the day.
The monsters with immortal abilities and the crazy people suspected of using the Demon King’s power to curse the Closed Sector—Solendril, Duke Lemea, and Belladriel referred to them as “Evergreen”.
How to deal with them was up to Epherna.
By the way, the Second Prince had been bedridden for a long time, unable to open his eyes for a month.
This was, of course, a closely guarded secret, with Schneider and Epherna working together to conceal it, while the loyalists of the Second Prince handled his affairs.
In any case, with two out of the three royals incapacitated, Epherna effectively became the de facto ruler and the true power behind the throne.
This was why Solendril had deferred the decision to her.
“They’re a group we’ve never heard of, even during the war. They must have been hiding their identity all this time.”
The fact that these people, with the ability to curse using the Demon King’s power, had managed to stay hidden until now wasn’t just due to ordinary patience or determination. It was human nature to want to reveal and flaunt one’s power if one had it.
“The headmaster thinks Evergreen might be a religious group. Otherwise, it would be impossible to hide their presence for so long.”
The perseverance and drive that stem from fanaticism were beyond what could be easily explained.
“Is it impossible to find and eradicate these Evergreen people?”
“Impossible. We probably won’t even be able to find them.”
Religions are like parasites buried deep underground.
Even if you think you’ve eradicated them, you never know where they might resurface.
“I can guarantee this: even if we catch some of them, we will never reach the core leadership, especially with the limited information we have right now.”
Epherna fell into deep thought. It was hard to make a decision with so little information.
Even if she made a wise judgment, it could still lead to missteps under the current circumstances.
“…I need to meet with Belladriel.”
Epherna thought that, for now, the priority was to meet Belladriel and gather as much information as possible about the Closed Sector.
Instead of looking too far ahead, she would gather what could be learned step by step.
After repeating this process enough times, she believed the pieces would eventually start to fit together.
“Mister, what’s the situation on the plains?”
“It seems like it’s starting to settle down.”
“There are a lot of complaints, but they think they can hold out for about one more generation. It seems like they’re about to make a move, but there’s been no word on when exactly.”
“Really…? Then we’ll have to wait a bit longer.”
In her mind, Epherna began to sketch a small picture on an imaginary canvas.
Although the drawing was still faint and barely outlined, she felt that once she had the key information, she could draw the rough lines.
‘It’s still too complicated.’
There were too many things to draw, and the task was daunting.
However, Epherna had an inexplicable conviction that all of it would eventually come together to form a single, complete picture.
“Mister, from now on, use the secret forces to investigate the things I’m about to tell you.”
*****
Belladriel Rirelstan.
One of the Empire’s seven heroes and the head of the Rirelstan County, the foremost alchemical family.
She arrived at the Academy’s front gate on the orders of the Princess.
And there to greet her was a nineteen-year-old girl.
“Mother, what brings you here?”
“I came because I wanted to see my daughter.”
The young student, with black hair like Belladriel’s and eyes that glowed a deep purple.
“How’s school life going?”
“It’s fun these days. Something interesting has come up.”
It was Sierra, the president of the Magic and Alchemy club.
