Chapter 85 - Taking a Breather (1)

Res Limen was divided into the suburbs, outer district, and inner district based on its walls.

While the central plaza where the Gate was located was sometimes separately classified as the central district, it was still technically part of the inner district.

However, there was another way to divide Res Limen's territory.

That would be the districts divided by the X-shaped main road that crossed through Res Limen's walls.

It was largely classified into four districts.

Earlier, when I explained that the Telema School was located in the eastern district of the outer district, the term “eastern district” followed this latter classification.

The eastern district was essentially a research district, housing various magic schools, Golden Intellect—the heart of alchemy, the grand library operated by the city hall, and independent magical research institutions like the Key Tower.

The northern district was the administrative district, containing the Grand Duchy residence, city hall, Union headquarters, and memorial cemetery.

The western district was the residential district, naturally centered around living and lodging as it housed the most people.

As for the southern district...

"Kuh, sseeeeh! Roman, why do you drink this?"

"Right..."

"What do you mean, 'Why do you drink this?' That's blasphemy. This is like the water of life."

Especially for me as a former student, americano was more essential to my body's composition than the blood flowing through my veins.

After immediately countering Rei's question, I picked up on what Leaf had tried to say earlier.

"By the way Leaf, I cut you off earlier. Sorry. What were you trying to say?"

"Ah, no? Ahem, Rei is still young after all. T-this much is what all adults enjoy drinking, you know?"

Though she said that, Leaf's trembling lips cruelly betrayed what she'd originally meant to say.

Though I noticed and maturely chose to overlook it, the lion whose whiskers had been tickled thought differently.

Rei mercilessly poked at it, repeatedly jabbing Leaf's side.

Kids, honestly.

Well, as one could guess, we were at a café.

Some might wonder how there could be cafés in another world, but those people were third-rate.

Those who think, "Ah, so this world has cafés too!" were second-rate.

And those who tried to introduce modern amenities that didn't exist yet were first-rate.

Well, my goal was returning to Earth rather than settling into this world anyway.

Returning to my earlier thoughts.

The southern district was the commercial district.

One could think of it as a downtown area.

The southern district housed everything from basic large markets to auction houses, gambling halls, grand theaters, docks, and trading markets.

That was just listing the landmark-level places; including specialty areas like café streets and luxury fashion streets that took more than two hands to count.

Naturally, the southern district boasted the highest floating population among the four districts.

Even Explorers obsessed with the Abyss couldn't help wanting to enjoy leisure time.

Even now, countless people were passing by the café terrace.

Sitting quietly, sipping americano while watching such scenery, somehow... 

It feels like the southern district belongs to a different setting.

While other areas felt medieval, this place felt more Belle Époque?

Full of vibrant energy, with an incredibly peaceful atmosphere underlying it all.

"Already day three since returning..." I muttered in a languid voice.

It had been three days since returning to the city after completing the expedition launched under the pretext of closing the shortcuts opened on the Second Floor and hunting down the Abyss Worshipers who artificially created them.

Despite being a major incident involving the Cult of the End, the death of a Master-rank Explorer from one of the five major guilds, and casualties exceeding half the Explorers on the Second Floor, our daily life remained unchanged from before.

It was thanks to two people.

Viola, who properly shouldered responsibility and acted as a shield as expedition leader, and Fiona, who quietly pulled strings with the city hall and Union to get us out quickly.

Thanks to them, our team only had to give statements on the first day.

Honestly, considering what we did on the Second Floor, we probably should be in Viola's position, but she said she'd handle it.

Being called around everywhere was tiring.

It was better to avoid it if possible.

It wasn’t like our team was seeking fame or trying to raise our value and reputation anyway.

"Slurp, kuh, that’s it. If you can't drink it, give it to me and buy something else. You've got money now."

Our team hit the jackpot, as they say.

Even just grabbing what looked expensive while riding the rapids, we collected quite a few items.

We got plenty of valuable things like Sentinel mana cores, said to be the most expensive magic stones available on the Second Floor.

Since we split what we caught by headcount, our share was larger than Arthur and Deina's due to having one more person.

Anyway, Leaf's wallet, which had been emptied buying equipment and potions before the expedition, was now bulging as if about to burst.

"I guess I should. Here, Roman. You drink this."

"Ah...! That's..."

When Rei tried to pass off her coffee and stand up to order something else, Leaf reached out to stop her but couldn't catch her.

I looked at Leaf wondering if there was a problem, but it mustn't have been important as she just fidgeted with her fingers.

"Leaf, aren't you going too?"

"I-I'll drink this...!"

You don't need to hold it so defensively, no one's going to take it.

"You're here early."

"Oh, you came?"

As Rei left, her empty seat was taken by someone else.

It was Arthur.

"Where's Blair?"

"She'll come separately."

Arthur took a sip of his drink.

A manly gulp without using a straw.

When Blair's name came up, Leaf carefully spoke, "It's fortunate that Deina was there."

"...A silver lining in misfortune."

Blair's brother, Grant Dexter, was killed by the Professor.

Given that he fought even Viola considerably, Grant probably couldn't have overcome him.

It was cruel news for Blair, but fortunately, Deina was able to salvage part of the soul remaining in his corpse.

It was possible because she was an Evoker.

Through this, Blair was able to share a very brief farewell with her brother, even if only through a fragment of his soul, little more than lingering thoughts.

Afterward, Grant's soul would become one of the spirits Deina could summon, becoming her power.

From Deina's perspective, she just happened to be there, but she gained a powerful connection.

"Poor Blair."

"She got her revenge."

"That's what makes it more pitiful."

If at least the target of revenge remained, that could serve as a driving force to live on.

However, the Professor who killed Grant was ultimately killed by Viola, who ripped out his tongue.

It was admirable that he tried to eliminate the variable that was Viola by taking her to the Third Floor through shortcuts, but wasn't the price of his own death too steep?

It wouldn’t have been if he had succeeded in creating a definite killing field on the Second Floor for mass slaughter, but that failed too.

Though that was mostly due to our team's influence, the Professor did witness that I was a spatial magic user.

Did he ignore it thinking it was just a weak ability regardless of being spatial magic?

It's a bit unsettling, but Viola said she definitely crushed his head and pulverized his body.

Unless he’s a necromancer like Jegan.

"Ah, what! Move!"

While I was mulling over past events, Rei returned and pushed Arthur.

After finally reclaiming her original seat, Arthur moved over and asked, "What are your plans going forward? Though Master eliminated the witness, there's the Jegan case too, so we should probably address this."

I recalled Viola's advice.

Since the undead Jegan had the ability to revive, my secret would eventually be revealed, so I should secure reliable protective forces before then.

"Isn't it enough already? The professor will help too."

"The Golden Intellect's branch head? Golden Intellect is an eight-headed dragon, with the central Circulus branch having slightly more voting rights. Even if you've secured one branch head, Golden Intellect is likely to maintain neutrality. They might even covet your power while claiming those connections."

"You mean it could be a double-edged sword?"

"That's right."

Arthur nodded heavily.

Ah, it's gotten complicated.

First, my current affiliation, the Telema School, didn't have enough power to protect me definitively.

I feel bad for Hecate and Mea, but that's the unavoidable truth.

One might think it was fine because of my classmates' influence, but they were just bridges—they couldn't represent the collective will of their organizations.

The only real possibilities were the Alexandria School with the Headmaster's daughter Alexandra, and the Frontier Guild which had definitely become my ally through this incident.

Though Fiona was the Grand Duchess, she had older siblings above her preventing her from representing the Grand Duchy's will.

Being third in line for succession also indicated Fiona's share of influence within the Grand Duchy.

"Maybe I need to find a guild."

Enigma did try to scout me too.

Though the recommender was a bit unreliable.

"Or maybe we should just go down to the Abyss? Wouldn't it be better to be completely away from the center of events?"

"Rei..."

"What? Why? Why are you looking at me like that? I can think things through too, you know?" Rei spoke with annoyance at Leaf's moved gaze.

It was actually quite a good idea, especially coming from Rei, but...

"For now, rather than going down to the Abyss, I'm thinking of doing some training."

"Training?"

"Suddenly?"

Leaf and Rei leaned their upper bodies toward me at this news they hadn't heard before.

"Don't you know practical experience is the best training?"

"Right. Everyone developed so much this time too! Everyone can even do double-casting now!"

We'd all gotten used to double casting—casting two spells simultaneously.

However, I still needed to concentrate and cast Ghost by itself.

Still, my opinion hadn't changed.

"That's why I think we need a refining process. And honestly, we learned from this incident. If we just keep going down like this, we won't be able to handle real dangers."

The Professor's Power Word Kill.

When we heard the command to die, the three of us were as good as dead.

Without Viola, even if we'd survived, we would have been incapacitated and died to the next attack.

"And we need to properly change our equipment too."

Yesterday, the Blostma School’s message finally came.

I finally received confirmation that they’d send the Chromatic Fiend's leather.

"So Arthur, tell me about some good leather processing places."

§

Viola boldly propped both feet up on the desk, maintaining a straight chin and staring back at the hostile gazes directed at her.

"So, you doubt me? Even after I brought back the Professor's head?"

"Not doubt. We just need a more detailed explanation."

"Isn't that the same thing?"

Viola asked irritably, then after a breath, named the identity of the person who spoke to her.

"Heir."

At those words, the man sitting before her, the Heir of the Grand Duchy, faintly smiled.