Chapter 516

Episode 516. It’s Not Easy… (1)

The second son of the House of Duke Kadenmeyer. Delgard Kadenmeyer.

Originally under the command of the Emperor, his family currently supported Princess Serdea of the Eastern Empire, which granted them immense prestige. Delgard had also inherited much of that family honor, due to the fact that the firstborn of the Kadenmeyers had passed away because of the Divine Blood.

Therefore, although he was the second son, Delgard was in a position where he could devour the family legacy as the de facto successor to the Duke. Naturally, his authority did not diminish in the academy; on the contrary, his status was even higher here than within his own house. The heir of Duke Kadenmeyer, who enjoyed the Princess’s trust. The fact that he possessed such a clear and unambiguous right of succession made him stand out exceedingly.

Of course, there were other nobles of similar status in the academy. However, unfortunately, none had a succession structure as perfect as Delgard’s, as most had siblings to compete with. Thanks to this, from his first day, Delgard’s popularity was astonishing. Most nobles flattered him to strike up a friendship with the future Duke. Even those who did not go to the extreme of sycophancy were careful not to fall out of his grace, as nothing good came from being his enemy.

Delgard certainly enjoyed a pleasant life, and that had not changed. However, Delgard Kadenmeyer’s mood was not entirely good due to what happened yesterday.

‘How dare she reject my proposal?’.

He recalled the incident with the young lady of the Arsena family. More exactly:

“It is a pleasure, Miss Arsena. If it suits you, would you like to have dinner with me?”

“I am sorry, but I am afraid that will be impossible.”

He remembered the woman who had rejected his offer flatly, without a shred of doubt.

“Ha…” Delgard let out a dry laugh.

In his entire life, with the exception of his father, he had never been rejected. A “proposal” of his meant that if he said to do something, it was done; if he said to go somewhere, they went. That is to say, he had never heard an answer other than “yes.” And for someone like him, the rejection of a young lady from a family of Counts, a rank considerably lower than his…

“…And to think she was abandoned by that stupid-looking Baron…”

It was enough to hurt Delgard’s pride.

“We shall see how this ends,” he declared.

While Rine forgot the incident, considering it something trivial, Delgard ruminated on it over and over in his mind.

In the depths of the night, Alon was sitting in his bedroom organizing the day’s events in his own way.

‘Although the unexpected happened, the situation is not bad.’

The sudden appearance of Yutia Bloodia was an absolute surprise, but thinking about it now, her arrival was quite timely. Thanks to her, he had obtained vital information.

‘A ritual during the Grand Imperial Festival.’

It might seem like simple information, but for Alon’s group, who still had no clues, it was fundamental. There is an abysmal difference between having a reference point and searching for something blindly. Of course, not everything was resolved. The crucial thing was to discover where the apostles would carry out the ritual and, given that the Grand Imperial Festival technically lasted four days (although it was said to be three), they had to pinpoint the exact moment.

‘The second day, when everyone gathers, is the most likely.’

As long as he did not know how the apostles of the Religion of War would act, he had to find the ritual site at all costs, even if he already had an approximate date.

Alon looked out the window into the darkness of the academy and used a minuscule amount of divine power in his eyes. With an almost imperceptible vibration, the world Alon saw changed. For an instant, he glimpsed the traces of the Divine Blood —or rather, of the Religion of War.

‘…They certainly seem to be moving everywhere.’

Because the power was limited, the vision disappeared quickly, but the traces were there. The problem was that with only that, he could not locate the exact site of the ritual.

‘If I could use a little more divine power…’

As he meditated, he remembered Yutia Bloodia’s words from a few hours ago:

“Master.”

“The real answer to your previous question… I will give it to you the next time we are alone.”

“It’s just that… I don’t want to be a liar to Master.”

“Truly.”

He remembered her small smile and her anxious look as she waited for his response.

“…’When we are alone,’ huh?”

Technically they were alone at that moment, but the problem was that Penia and Rine were listening through concealment magic.

“Yutia Bloodia…” Alon stroked his chin involuntarily.

She had said she would give the real answer later. That meant what she said previously was not the will of The Wanderer. Then how on earth did she know how to create the Consecration Matrix?

…Alon had a vague suspicion about the reason. No, he couldn’t help but suspect it.

‘If Yutia retains the memories of the first time…’

The whole story would make sense if that were the case. After being absorbed for a moment:

“Fuu.”

Alon lay back on the bed. It was no use agonizing now when he would receive the answer from her later.

‘First, let’s focus on the Religion of War.’

With that thought, Alon closed his eyes and instinctively went to stroke Blackie…

“?”

His hand stopped as he noticed the emptiness on his chest. He should have felt 그 familiar texture, but there was nothing. Disconcerted, he looked down and remembered that Yutia had asked to borrow Blackie.

“Master.”

“What is it?”

“Could you lend me Blackie for a moment?”

“…Blackie?”

“Yes, there is something I want to check through him. Is that okay?”

Alon remembered Blackie’s face when he handed him over after that brief talk. He was no longer trembling with fear like last time, but he looked at him with an expression of evident reluctance.

‘Well, it will be fine.’

If Blackie had been trembling like a leaf, Alon would have thought twice, but since he wasn’t, he shrugged and closed his eyes. It was a deep night.

At that same moment, in the hallway of the female dormitory of the Imperial Academy. Being nighttime, the hallway should be deserted except for the proctor who patrolled every hour or two. However, there were two women there.

Penia and Rine. The reason why they, who should avoid drawing attention, were out at these hours was simple: they had an objective.

“—Ready?”

“—Let’s go.”

Their goal was to see Blackie!

Both knew that Blackie was with Yutia, as they saw Alon hand him over when leaving his office. And was that all? They also knew “how” Yutia would use Blackie. After all, Yutia, who could monitor Alon’s surroundings at will through the brooch, would know perfectly well how to take advantage of him.

That is, the purpose of meeting so late was to go to Yutia’s room to find Blackie with her. While Blackie was with Alon, something like that was impossible for various reasons.

Someone might think that, being so late, Yutia would already be sleeping instead of playing with Blackie. But Penia and Rine —or at least Rine— were sure: Yutia, having checked the situation with the brooch over and over again, would undoubtedly be “playing” with him.

Although being discovered by the proctor would be dangerous, they had full confidence in their concealment skills, so they headed to the teachers’ dormitory pavilion. Upon arrival, in front of a building that looked more like a luxury penthouse than a common dormitory, both moved with agility toward where Yutia was.

Suddenly, Rine wore an expression of bewilderment.

“?” Penia stopped upon seeing her. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s just… it seems that ‘Detection’ is not activated…”

“Detection?” Penia asked confused.

Rine did not find it strange. It was natural that Penia did not understand, for the detection Rine referred to was not “mana.”

‘She certainly should have felt it at this distance…’

Rine tilted her head. Although others did not know it, she did: Yutia Bloodia always emanates an energy around her. It was not mana or divine power, but something indefinable, but Rine vaguely knew its identity and knew that Yutia always used it to monitor her surroundings. However, now that energy was not felt anywhere.

‘Has something happened…?’ Rine thought.

It was the first time this had occurred. Although she knew Yutia was not someone who could easily get involved in trouble, she decided to act.

“Let’s go in immediately.”

Rine arrived in front of Yutia’s lodging and climbed without hesitation toward the third-floor balcony. And there, Rine and Penia could see it through the glass:

“Ahhh…”

Yutia, with a smile of absolute satisfaction, was lying on the bed hugging Blackie—who had transformed into Alon—rubbing against him as if she herself were a cat. She looked genuinely happy.

Seeing this, Rine had a revelation: the detection was not off because of some problem. Simply, Yutia was enjoying such pure happiness that her constant vigilance had been completely deactivated.

While both watched her dumbfounded, Yutia slightly opened her eyes with a dreamy air and locked eyes with Rine and Penia, who were on the other side of the balcony. A stifling silence fell over the room, interrupted only by Blackie’s exhausted voice:

[…Kkyu…]