Chapter 25
The inner city of Res Limen, which I returned to after a long time, was the same as always.
As if it had completely forgotten that I had been here before, it greeted me with an appearance that was no different, not even slightly, from when I first set foot here.
Bustling people.
A diverse crowd walked the streets, so varied that even I, with my black hair and different skin color and appearance from others, didn't stand out much.
Among them were elves, dwarves, and even beast-folk I hadn't seen on my previous visit, creating a truly otherworldly scene beyond merely being exotic.
Even after what happened, this place remains the same.
The Abyss Worshippers' attack on the training center was just a few days ago.
The identities of those who were direct targets of that attack alone should have been enough to stir up the entire city.
Moreover, it was an unprecedented incident that caused dozens of casualties.
Yet the city was calm.
They controlled the information.
They probably couldn't keep it completely secret from everyone, but they at least succeeded in controlling it to a level where the city wasn't shaken.
It made me newly appreciate the City Guard's grip on the city.
Maybe I should have just gone to the City Guard and built more connections.
No.
I've already built enough connections.
It is said that connections were everything in life, but ultimately, it was me who had to handle the work brought by those connections.
Connections only created a favorable environment for exploring the Abyss.
The one doing the exploring would always be me.
Right now, improving my abilities is the right choice.
So, I chose the place that seemed most appropriate for me, a Devil Sorcerer, to grow.
The Telema School, a school of Devil Sorcerers.
It wasn't a decision I made in just one day.
I thought about it quite a bit.
I spent a few more days at the lodging I had taken in the suburb outside the city walls after leaving the training center.
There were other options besides just the Telema School.
Even excluding the City Guard and my classmates' affiliations, there were still countless guilds, schools, and teams in the city.
Even individual-to-individual training was possible if one had an instructor qualification.
Leaf was exactly this case.
Anyway, I still had things to do after leaving the training center.
The book and ring I got from the psychopath.
The core I collected while dealing with the necromancer and escaping from the underground.
I had to dispose of these.
And to cut to the chase, I no longer had any of the three.
I reported the book and ring to the Director.
According to Seir, they had no mana, so there was no need to go somewhere else and pay to have them appraised just for my own knowledge.
The book was apparently a scripture of the Abyss Worshippers, and the ring was like a symbol proving their membership.
But the ring's value was considerable.
It was made of magic alloy meant to contain mana.
I handed over the book to the City Guard and kept the ring as legitimate spoils of war.
Anyway, that was that for the book and ring.
I thoroughly hid the core.
While the City Guard wouldn't care much about keeping the ring as it was just an extremely expensive item, the core was a different story.
The value of an item that could interfere with space was difficult to even estimate.
If the City Guard knew I had taken the core, they would have tried every means to confiscate it.
This meant that using a core obtained through unofficial routes was no easy task.
If I tried to process it, rumors would spread, and if I entrusted it to the black market, I couldn't ignore issues of funds and trust.
Using the core as is?
Not a good idea.
The core itself could only be used as an installation type.
One could tell from the fact that the necromancer couldn't use spatial magic despite having the core.
To use it properly, the core needed to be processed.
The interference with space would weaken in the process, but that was unavoidable.
Anyway, I had a very simple way to solve this processing problem.
— I'll use the wish right now.
— Alright. What is it?
— Process this without anyone knowing.
— ...It's a dungeon core. Where did you... Ah, I see. I assume keeping it secret is included?
— Yes, please.
And that was that.
With the power of the Alexandria School, the largest in Res Limen, this much was simple.
That was a long story.
Recalling the events of the past few days while following the map, I finally arrived at my destination.
I checked the map one last time.
Yes, I had definitely come to the right place.
"Is this it...?"
Before entering, I surveyed the building's exterior from a slight distance.
It had a somewhat worn look, but the size and design weren't bad.
Judging by the area, it might be slightly smaller than the inn I stayed at in the suburb outside the city walls.
Honestly, that inn wasn't big either, but being inside the city walls made it incomparable.
But it was probably true that they were small-scale.
Usually, schools or guilds were located in the inner city.
It was more convenient for accessing the gate to the Abyss located in the center of Res Limen.
But because of that demand, land prices in the inner city were expensive.
However, the Telema School building I found following the map the Director gave me was in the outer city, not the inner city.
"Should I go in?"
Why am I nervous about this?
I guess any new experience was bound to come with some tension.
I was a Devil Sorcerer too, but ironically, even I didn't have a very good image of Devil Sorcerers.
Originally, I was neutral, but the first Devil Sorcerer I met in the city happened to be like that, so...
Still, if I've made up my mind, I should do it properly.
I grabbed the main gate of the Telema School and pushed it firmly.
Creeeeak—
A hinge sound that grated on my eardrums.
I guess it's not very well-maintained.
[Deduction: 1 point for poor maintenance] was added to the Telema School evaluation sheet in my mind.
"Excuse me..."
The moment I entered.
I stopped speaking as I felt a dense mana flowing in like a tide.
Is this some kind of magical realm...?
I could feel on my skin a concentration of mana even denser than when I first entered the underground level of the training center, which was said to recreate the environment of the Abyss.
This level of mana wasn’t ordinary.
It was far from the refreshing mana I felt from Rei or Leaf.
Rather, it was a dense mana closer to Seir's.
For me, who handled even more concentrated mana than this, I'd just be a bit surprised, and that was it.
But an ordinary mage would leave this place immediately, showing full disgust.
Is this a test? To only accept fellow Devil Sorcerers?
Even though they were a small school where each member was precious, they did not forget their primary purpose...
Right.
A school should have at least this much integrity.
A school like this, even if small in number, must have members who were all genuine Devil Sorcerers.
With high expectations, I took a big step inside.
Then, the interior scene that had been hidden by the door came into view.
The interior looked just like a bar.
The lighting was dim, and there was a long table with a level difference, like a bar counter installed near the wall.
And across the table, two people were facing each other.
Two pairs of eyes turned towards me.
Recognizing the two people's attention on me, I continued the words I couldn't finish earlier, "Ah, excuse me. Is this the Telema School?"
The impressions of the two people were completely opposite, yet somewhat similar.
The one standing inside the table had a face that seemed to be enduring pain somewhere.
Her reddish-brown hair was thoroughly disheveled, and her deep purple eyes were so full of anguish that I wasn't sure if she was even looking at me properly.
That decadent appearance seemed to fully reveal the darkness inherent in the Devil Sorcerer class.
The atmosphere exuded by the other person was no less intense.
She was sitting in a chair in front of the counter seat, and even though I couldn't see her whole body, I could tell she was small in stature.
Moreover, she had dark skin and long ears, different from the reddish-brown-haired woman.
The pointed ear tips were similar to Leaf's, but their length seemed to be twice that of Leaf's.
An elf.
Not half, but a pure-blood.
And not just any elf, but a dark elf.
The dark elf with long, deep purple hair had bright and clear amber eyes in which my figure was clearly reflected.
Those eyes held a unique gaze that was sharp as if trying to penetrate all the knowledge in the world, while simultaneously containing a somewhat empty light.
The dark circles heavily cast under her eyes added a strange sense of weariness, accentuating that mysteriousness.
Indeed, she gave off an "elf-like" feeling.
From outward appearances, she looked younger than Rei, but her actual age was probably at least twice mine.
Neither of them were ordinary mages.
To begin with, the profession of mage itself was a hundred light-years away from ordinary, but even among them, these two could be said to have quite distinctive impressions.
I wonder what level they are. In terms of explorer rank, they seem to be at least Expert class.
While I was guessing their identities based on their impressions.
The dark elf's small lips parted, "Who are you?"
"Did you perhaps not receive the message? I sent word through the Exploration Union. I've come for training after obtaining my Abyss license."
"Trainiiiing?"
At my words, the reddish-brown-haired woman drawled as if she didn't understand what I was saying.
With her deeply furrowed expression added, it created quite an irritable feeling.
I prepared to raise my mana in case of any eventuality.
This is a school that laid out demonic mana from the entrance.
Perhaps that pain-soaked face was due to enduring the inevitable price that came with being a Devil Sorcerer.
If so, that Devil Sorcerer's mind might not be normal.
It wasn’t uncommon for Devil Sorcerers to go mad and rampage, after being unable to endure the price they paid.
In the quiet tension, I locked eyes with the reddish-brown-haired woman for a while.
Because of this, I was able to witness from start to finish the process of alertness gradually returning to her dull eyes.
The moment her focus became clear.
She showed an extreme change in expression that was hard to describe.
The weary melancholy soaked in pain disappeared, replaced by a bewildered expression as if she didn't understand what was going on.
"I, I don't remember hearing anything about this?"
"...Because I burned everything that came from the Union."
"Aheh? I did? Huaaah... I see. Training, training... Huh? Wait a minute!"
Where did the woman, who was so on edge that I was worried she might go berserk, go?
This person who seemed to be either a fool or a klutz...
Then, as if she suddenly realized something, she slapped the counter and leaned towards the dark elf, whispering in a small voice.
Not realizing I could hear her.
"M-Mea... do you have an instructor qualification?"
“I don't!”
The confession that was close to a scream uttered in a small voice made me realize one thing.
Well, this place.
It's not really a normal school, is it?
"I don't know. Did I have one?"
"Oh, no. If you don't have one either, we're really doomed..."
"Oh, I didn't know there was still room for us to be more doomed. I learned something new."
The dark elf's answer and the woman's words that followed drove the point home.
Um, I think I'll just leave.