Episode 119. Presentation (3)

While the other scholars at the lab watch the Caldera open its nest, admiring its beauty.

In the dark hallway on the first basement floor, where neither the dragon’s glow nor the sound of people talking in ecstasy can reach… . Around the boy with the blonde hair, formulas began to spread.

Mel, who was putting on a fairy light, asked Carol, who was squatting in a place where the only light source was a dimly shining lamp, intent on calculating, in case the talented junior’s eyes would get worse.

“Are you sure you don’t mind going to see the caldera? The moment the dragon opens its nest and reveals its body, it may be difficult to see after today.”

Now, Caldera, which has opened its nest, casts a protective spell on the nearby area, so you can comfortably see such a gorgeous body.

After a series of measures to protect the nest, Caldera will sleep for several days to replenish the mana consumed to open the nest.

In other words, the mystery of the dragon, which has only a few days left to return to mana, means that if you don’t go out now, it will be difficult to observe it again.

Mel thought it was good to keep an eye on Seryl to make sure she didn’t do anything suspicious, but she thought it was just as important as the mission for young Carol to experience more.

“it’s okay.”

but… . Carol continued to draw numbers on the walls and ceiling with free magic, as if she didn’t care about anything other than magic.

“Because I hate places with a lot of people.”

“Well… .”

At least, if he had been able to keep up with Carol’s calculation speed, he would have been able to help with the work he was doing now, but Mel found it difficult to even interpret the magic formula that was spreading to devour the entire basement floor.

“uh… ? aha!”

Instead, Dana, who joined after discovering Carol and Mel on the 1st basement floor while scouting the inside of the hotel, followed the fast-growing equations and exclaimed.

“How did you come up with all these thoughts? It wasn’t empty words when your junior said you were a genius! May I help you?”

“… Whoa. No, thanks. It is almost finished now.”

Carol, who had finished preparing to activate the magic formula amid Dana’s fuss, said to Mel, wiping away the cold sweat from concentrating.

“A while ago, when I tried to use detection magic. Didn’t you say that if the opponent is a wizard with the ability to reverse the flow of mana, the location of the caster will also be known to the opponent?”

“Yeah. Kegar has excellent mana sensing ability among the Rubedo rank scholars, so you should be more careful.”

“Then, how about a detection magic that cannot be traced back?”

“… Yeah?”

Carol looked at the numbers in parentheses that were shining on the doorknob.

The detection magic is activated by generating a circular mana wave centering on the caster to find the target’s location.

As water droplets fall on the surface of the water and create a wave, the circle grows while maintaining a constant speed and shape.

Mana waves also spread with regularity like concentric circles, so if Kegar could read them, he could inversely calculate the opponent’s position.

“But, in other words, if we can give irregularity to the mana pulse, Kegar will not be able to properly pinpoint our location.”

“Student Carol said… . The detection magic has now been remodeled to scatter distorted mana waves-”

“Yeah. With this, wouldn’t Kegar be able to find us?”

Mel nodded at Carol, recalling the face of his father, Pav Gaur.

‘… They look alike.’

Like Fav, who opened up the possibility of rotation and direction to the circle, and made all the existing magic formulas into scraps.

Carol, too, was trying to present a surprising possibility that would shake the definition of magic to the world.

For wizards who have considered controlling mana to the will of the caster as the core of magic, his approach to utilizing irregularity is truly unconventional.

“Carl, that’s 100 points! I’ve checked it a few times, and it’s perfect. I think we should activate it like this.”

While Dana writes down the formula for generating random numbers, which is the core of the magic formula during calculation, in a notebook, she is thrilled at the thought of developing a magic that can fool Kegar.

Carol, who sat in the middle of the detection magic circle with her eyes closed, opened her mouth after about a minute.

“There is no one in the hotel but us.”

“Well then, Carol. Can you find out where Kegar or Seril are? I got a call from Professor Ian earlier, and he said that only Princess Frill is at the Caldera Nest opening site.”

“Wait a minute, hmm… . Oh, I found it.”

“where?”

“This is the lab. Uh, but… .”

* * *

When the world was fully lit, Caldera folded her spread wings and crouched beside the nest.

The wings that were covered with countless colors spread out in the dawning sky hardened into white, and the sharp scales covering the body turned like nettles… . The scholars regretted it and went back to the hotel.

‘Looking at it this way, it really seems like the mountain is alive and moving.’

The heart, which had been burning like a star, gradually reduced its beat, and the pupils, whose depth was unknown, became a deep cave.

Dana, who was watching the old dragon sleeping with me after scouting, said.

“When a dragon reaches the end of its lifespan, it becomes a part of nature as it is.”

Like a huge rock, a lake, a field, or a fire pit… . Dragons return to nature after scattering all the mana they have been embracing in the world.

“It looks like the caldera wants to become a mountain.”

“I don’t know what the person concerned might be like, but as a human being I think, if death goes back to nature like that after living for a thousand years… . It might not be too bad.”

“Yes? I think so.”

“… If Professor Dana were to die like that, what would you like to be?”

“I want to be a star. If possible.”

A falcon floated high above the head of the caldera, whose intentions were unknown at the time, and started spinning around.

Not long after Dana started following the direction it was moving with her eyes, the frills that had finished rearranging the knights’ borders approached us.

“Sorry, guys. have you waited long? Where are the other kids?”

“Everyone is waiting in their rooms.”

We moved to the guest room, encouraging Frill, who was in command of the troops for the first time at a young age.

* * *

“I will report how we managed to infiltrate the laboratory in the morning and the results of our reconnaissance.”

Mel, who was discussing something with Carol and Mina, lowered his head to Frill and opened his mouth.

“… Seryl sister’s enlisted men sent secret servants into the lab?”

Frill, who listened to his story, tilted his head.

“Yeah. And, after rushing out with torn clothes, bringing new clothes. Picking up bath salts from the hotel… . He was behaving incomprehensibly.”

“… Hmm.”

While Frill was lost in thought for a moment, Mina and Carol began to discuss their reasoning.

“Could it be that Princess Seryl is trying to appear at this banquet?”

Princess Seryl was famous for being reluctant to appear in public, to the point where even her portrait was unavailable.

At this banquet, I wondered if she was going to throw off her veil and come forward, and try to energize public opinion.

Frill shook his head at her story that it was obvious that he was putting a lot of effort into dressing up as he had to appear in front of people for the first time in 10 years and without a plan.

“Very few people know about Seryl, so it’s understandable, but… . Seryl will not show up because of this.”

Frill couldn’t tell what kind of secret Cheryl was holding.

However, since they were sure that Cheryl would never reveal herself and step forward, everyone believed Frill’s words and started thinking about other reasons.

If it wasn’t Seril, who would tear the clothes off the lab… .

‘… no way?’

An ominous feeling passed through my mind.

“I guess… . Seryl seems to be trying to put Rane in this banquet.”

* * *

Along the long railroad tracks with the setting sun, a train carrying numerous observers from afar stopped in front of the institute.

Before the train even stopped, the observers who had been clinging to the windows and watching the caldera who fell into a deep sleep flocked to the hotel while being warmly welcomed by scholars and servants.

Mel, who was looking down at the scene from a high-rise window, told me.

“The banquet will begin soon.”

“We have finished our preparations, but… . Rane’s location can’t be determined.”

Rane wasn’t caught at all even by Carol and Dana’s hours of search.

As long as the reason for Seryl’s intention to send Rane to this banquet has not been clarified, it is necessary to consider even the possibility of one in ten thousand.

“There’s no way she’ll ruin the event she’s hosting herself, so it’s not like Seryl is going to let Rane go wild in the banquet hall.”

Whatever it was, it was certain that I had gamblers for my ambition.

“… There doesn’t seem to be much point in exploring more than this. Let’s go down to the banquet hall quickly and read Seryl’s intentions.”

At my words, everyone came out of the room and came down to the second floor of the hotel, to the banquet hall.

Aristocrats, professors, and scholars from other societies, who did not even think that a bloodthirsty monster had lurked here, were already sitting at the table and drinking.

The orchestra continued to play songs praising the grace of the imperial family, and servants busily went around and delivered food prepared half a day earlier.

The atmosphere that was so slightly excited… . Ten knights broke through the crowd and went cold.

“… Everyone who responded to the invitation of the Imperial Academy had a hard time getting here. I hope you get rid of the travel poison that has been on the train for a long time here.”

The guardian knights were spreading the screen covering the wagon all around her.

In the darkness, where not even Meriel could see, Seryl, who watched everyone bow their heads, continued to speak.

“… I have to get out of here so that you can enjoy the banquet in peace. But, isn’t it also the case that the host of this dinner doesn’t show up at all… .”

“… .”

“I hope that the eternal glory of the imperial family will be with you, and I will empty my glass and leave. Would you like to join us?”

The observers, who had been buzzing for a while, soon accepted the drinking glasses placed in front of them.

Suddenly, something unexpected happened in the banquet hall.

“Everyone is waiting for me. Lane, please.”

“… !”

Rane, who cautiously emerged from between the screens, received a drink from the lady-in-waiting and entered the screen again.

‘A vampire girl came into Seryl’s side, who is famous for taking a hard line against other races.’

In order to grasp the hidden meaning behind the figure, the professors and nobles had to squeeze their thoughts out.

Seryl didn’t even look at their reaction, and spoke calmly.

“Cheers, cheers.”