Guikyung (1)

The boys in the back quickly ducked their heads to avoid making eye contact with Ezra. Even the model student, Isiel, seemed weary of Ezra’s antics, but she decided to deal with the situation calmly. Isiel’s solemn and clear voice resounded clearly through the lecture hall.

“On the first day of lecture, you mentioned you need frankincense and myrrh, three tablespoons of white sugar, cardamom pods, a four-leaf clover, a handful of white rabbit fur, vanilla beans, and mana stone quartz as a core, vice-captain Sergey.”

“Right! Completely accurate! So, even when attacked, fantasy creatures smell good! Your name~?”

“I am Isiel Kision.”

“Yes, as our Kish here said, a fantasy creature needs an associated material to embody its characteristics. The right combination of substances increases magical efficiency!”

Kleio sat in the back row, couldn’t see Isiel’s face, but he could practically feel the dissatisfaction radiating off her from how her name had been shortened.

‘Who the hell thought it would be a good idea to invite him as an instructor?’

A year and a half had passed since the first demon waves ended. Even though the incidents weren’t as massive as before, the number of demons being discovered seems to be gradually increasing once more.

Accordingly, the Capital Defense Force was preparing for a second large-scale attack. As part of that prep, a demon specialist had been introduced to lecture senior students who would soon join the Defense Force.

‘Yet the specialist is only telling us stories of fantasy creatures from books.’

If there were a lecture evaluation, Ezra would be noted as a wasteful instructor deserving of the lowest points. The special lecture was organized initially for a week to provide basic knowledge. However, Ezra boasted of how he found of digging up mana stones, the history of his beloved Tosuni series, and other odd things that couldn’t be included in official materials.

‘If this was how the oral tradition was, all of the legends must be mixed up. Ezra’s temperament is weird, but there must be a reason for it.’

“Now, everyone! The difference between messy monsters and the pretty Tosuni, I won’t let any of you forget it!”

His loud voice seemed to shake the whole lecture room, and Kleio corrected his thoughts.

‘No, it must be beyond God’s fault. This Ezra is simply strange.’

Kleio glanced over the 400-page thick hardcover on his desk. It had been released just last month by the Defense Force, the 『Demon Encyclopedia』. It was a valuable book that contained pen drawings of each species of demon, the location of their strategies.

‘He petitioned a hundred-and-thirty-seven times to make this and boasted it had entered the King’s Library… I wonder if Melchior did it because it was too bothersome not to.’

Twenty copies of this book had been donated to the school library, but the one placed before Kleio was a gift from Ezra Sergey, the book’s first author.

‘He researched demons to make fantastical creatures, making him an authority on demonology.’

Except for Grendel, the beasts that appeared in the book were ones that had existed even a thousand years ago. Albion, which had thoroughly preserved records, had more data on the matter than any other country on the Dernier continent. Ezra was more passionate about collecting those records than anyone else.

“…So, the beast doesn’t have any meaningful material other than the mana stone that forms the core~. It’s like dust and debris made out of ether residue. The body is destroyed once the nucleus is removed! Only the spilled blood remains, and it reeks.”

“But, vice-captain, on the second day of the special lecture, didn’t you say that there is a demon that distributes its core over its whole body rather than a single piece of mana stone?”

Again, Isiel stopped him. Her efforts to return the lecture to the main subject were tearful.

“Oh, my Kish student has a good memory! That’s a very, very, very rare exception for a guy called a golem. Giant igneous rock beast~!”

Ezra’s ivory eyes glittered as he placed his hands on Isiel’s desk.

“Golems have diamond mana stones. A thousand years ago, one was found on the shore of Lake Nineveh! Among the other stories that haven’t been published in the book, there is also info that the golem is actually human-made ~.”

For the first time today, Ezra began to say something useful.

“It’s a stone doll that is said to be undefeatable until Leonid the First came to the lakeside~> Well, this is also a story without a good basis. One thing to keep in mind! When you meet a golem, you have to open its mouth and inject ether into its ear to get rid of it. Everyone knows that, right?”

Kleio saw Isiel’s pen move with a blur.

“Then, you’ve got it. It’s a monster as big as a horse, but once the jaw is broken, the whole body crumbles. Imagine finding mana stone diamonds of that size. One would be worth three houses! I hope that you have the luck to meet that~. Then, the class is over!”

After finishing class, Ezra passed the table with a round hole in the middle and tried to exit through the door. It was then that the wizard under Ezra, who had followed him as a class assistant, gently grabbed him. She had her hair braided cutely, and it bobbed to the side as she moved calmly. She seemed to be explaining something quietly to him, as suddenly he made a 180-degree turn and returned to the school table.

“Oh, I almost forgot. I will check the completion of this special lecture through a test tomorrow.”

A repressed groan was drawn out from the students as Ezra laughed.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. I hate studying too. I’m only going to give you five questions, but you don’t have to read the book~. If you write about the weaknesses of the five kinds of beasts I mentioned in class, you’ll pass unconditionally! Now, go eat!”

At that moment, the clock tower rang out.

Ding-

Ding-

.

.

.

Tatatata-

Feeling the presence of someone rushing by at a tremendous pace, Kleio turned to the side of the hallway to avoid it. Unfortunately, it was Ezra. Kleio tried to escape as soon as the class finished, but Ezra caught him.

“Junior? Junior? Junior? Kleio?”

“Yes. Long time no see, Vice-captain Sergey.”

“Ah~ junior! Why is it so hard to see your face these days?! Did you take a short leave of absence? Where did you go~?!”

“I worked hard in connection with what was happening in the Kision territory for several days.”

“Kision territory? What is that? Where is it?”

“… Don’t you usually read the newspaper? No, even if you didn’t see it, haven’t you heard others talking about it?”

“Why look at the newspaper? Others are talking about it, but how do you remember what the nobles say?”

Ezra, with his zero political sense, was oblivious to others. Because of that, he had no clue what had happened to Kleio.

‘Well, he did seem to hear the name Isiel Kision for the first time ten minutes ago.’

Ezra had no room in his head for such things, given all the myths, legends, and folktales he had memorized in his pursuit to create fantasy creatures.

“Well, it’s not that important.”

“Okay. Not important. I have an important story, but would you like to join me for lunch?”

“If it’s an important story…?”

He was the vice-captain of the magic corps, so it was likely he actually had something important to discuss.

“I mean, I really made an alpha version of this!”

…That expectation was quickly shattered.

“Wow… alpha?”

“Behold, junior, my unicorn horn fossil! You gave me an evaluation. At least, it’s a fossil by-product of a creature belonging to the horse family! Huh? Your feelings were really right! It will be a unicorn!”

Kleio’s expression quickly cooled.

“It sounds exciting, but today I have a prior promise. Sorry.”

“But Dione likes horse racing… When you’re done, come see me….”

“Once your perfect creature is finally fully created, I’ll go see it. Enjoy your meal.”

“To be perfect, it should have a horn. The horn is still…!”

“I believe that vice-captain Sergey will surely be able to create a beautiful unicorn with horns and an iridescent luster to its fur.”

Ezra began to mutter, falling into a state of thought as he stood still. Kleio took the chance to escape quickly. He had said several times, both directly and indirectly, that he couldn’t get Dione’s attention like that, but Ezra didn’t understand. That said, she had given him an order not to mention her current situation so that he couldn’t tell him much.

‘I’m very motivated to keep the Grayer Chamber of Commerce open to me. I have to live too, vice-captain Sergey.’

***

Kleio biked hard, arriving at Lundane East a few minutes before 3 pm. After he hung his bike in the storage room behind the station, he hurried down to the platform. The train was entering platform two with a loud horn blaring. A few passengers were disembarking, and soon they filtered out, leaving only one person left to get off.

It was Fran. He found Kleio immediately, the two gazing at each other through the dust drifting in the light. It was the first time they had seen each other’s faces in the past two years. Fran glanced over Kleio before speaking.

“… You’re taller now.”

As Fran’s words broke the silence, the awkwardness and distance scattered. Kleio smiled as he moved up to him.

“You’re the same. No one would believe you were the age of a student.”

“Is that what you have to say? Don’t come too close; my neck hurts because I have to look up.”

Fran wasn’t exaggerating, as now Kleio was a good head above him.

“Ahaha, alright. Then, let’s walk. Have you had lunch? Shall we head to the pub?”

“Alright.”

The two fell in step with each other. Kleio glanced at Fran, walking energetically with a suitcase in hand. With his short gray hair and flat cap pressed down, Fran still looked like a boy. Two years of hard work and adventure hadn’t changed his appearance much.

‘He’s skinny, and his hands have grown rough, but he still looks like a child.’

This baby-faced young man had traced the information that would shake the two great powers of the Dernier continent alone.

Fran had finally returned to the capital after investigating Hydra’s poison.