Kleio Asel, registered at age 17 (6)

The conversation between the man and woman sitting in the quiet café was rather dry, though both looked at the other as if they were gazing at a lover. It was a happy union of one with information and one with the ability to turn that information into money. Kleio sipped at the alcohol remaining in his glass, a strong scent of anise clinging to his nose. The strong green liquor he had found at the shabby bar and café in the Orails district had the taste and aroma of absinthe. After enjoying a sip, Kleio gazed happily at the other side of the street, looking at the iron fences around the demolition site. He was happy to see it.

‘In the future, when the war breaks out, the price will rise even further… In the meantime, I can accumulate rent, so it was a good investment.’

It wasn’t easy to make money with information, funds, or personal connections in both worlds.

‘I may have to stick to the protagonist all the time, but shouldn’t there be such a reward?’

After checking the first down payment, he stopped by the bank and immediately paid the full fee to Dione. The two, excited, left to check the grounds. He had visited the Orails district several times, but today was the first time he felt like he loved the dirty alleys and the dug-up dirt.

‘Thanks to that, I don’t have to lean on Gideon Asel’s money.’

Even now, pocket money was piling up in his bank account, but he never touched it. As he considered those things, an unfamiliar and unpleasant smell reached his nose.

‘What? Something like grass or rotten dirt. No, what smells of rancid grass in the middle of the city?’

Dione’s expression also stiffened as she noticed the abnormality.

“This is, somehow… I learned at school that there is only one thing that smells like this… But is that possible…?”

Unlike usual, Dione didn’t seem confident at all. Only then did Kleio realize what her doubts were about. He used Memory to find the corresponding description.

-The blood of the beast stinks like rotting grass. The smell spreads far and wide in all directions.

‘Surely!’

“…The smell of evil blood?”

“That’s right. In theory, that would be the case. But the last time a demon appeared was a thousand years ago.”

“To remember everything you’ve learned in school… Lady Dione is awesome.”

“I heard the tradition and history of the Door of Mnemosyne every year, so how could I forget it?”

In the old days, the kingdoms of Brunnen, Carolinger, and the continent of Meridis all had Doors of Mnemosyne. Some say that a gate had existed even on the continent of Chentrum before the river dried up and the civilization there was destroyed. However, all those doors had been closed for a long time. The Door of Mnemosyne on the banks of the Tempus River was the last remaining gateway to other worlds. The school and the Defense Forces had been originally established with the purpose of guarding and observing those gates.

‘And in the last manuscript of -Prince of the Kingdom of Albion-, the door in Lundane would open again in a thousand years. In Arthur’s time…’

Kleio hastily turned on Perception, making his sense of hearing and smell grow explosively. It clearly captured the footsteps of a huge four-legged beast raging six blocks away and two roars mingling together.

the two-headed wolf? It’s a beast Arthur catches when he is nineteen, but this is two years early! Ugh.’

to emerge from the gates in a thousand years. Kleio was amazed at the existence of such a huge monster, but when he listened quietly, he could sense the presence of the swordsmen following it. Those had to be the knights.

‘Thank god…! If the knights are there, they will take care of it.’

Looking around, he noticed few people were on the street outside the window and only a few people in the café. They looked relaxed as if they hadn’t noticed what was happening yet.

‘I don’t know what path the demon will take, but it might be dangerous to go out right now.’

Kleio drank the rest of his alcohol to calm his trembling heart. He could feel the liquor going down clearly.

“Lady Dione, do you have any magic memorized that could be used in battle?”

“I’m a magic stone processing wizard. I forgot [Fire] and didn’t memorize anything like [Stroke].”

“Regrettable.”

“I’m busy memorizing the formulas useful for my field; why would I memorize what I don’t use? But, something dangerous is happening, right?”

“One beast being chased by four knights will come.”

Dione’s face hardened.

“Ah! I can’t see or hear anything. Was that also predicted?”

“It’s similar. Although it’s a bit different from my expectations.”

“No, if you had such a prediction, we should’ve avoided this place today!”

“I really didn’t know it would be today. Still, the knights of the Defense Force are following closely, so the commander will take care of it…”

Kleio couldn’t finish that gray wolf as big as four horses combined, jumped over the café and landed on the road in front of them. It let out a fierce roar.

Crumble-

Its eyes held madness and rage as blood ran down its back legs. Promise flashed out as Understanding started to work.

[Varg

-Category: Evil

-Level: 5]

Both Kleio and Dione stiffened. The others in the café were too surprised even to cry out. Light began to radiate from the beast’s eyes as it noticed the people in the café.

Klang-!

The windows of the café broke a moment later as Kleio urgently summoned his defensive magic. He couldn’t think of a mantra as the beast was too terrifying, so he ignorantly filled all four slots with simple magic.

“[Defense] [Defense] [Defense] [Defense]!”

A wide circle shone around the café’s guests, including Dione and Kleio.

Kwaaaang-

The wolf revealed its sharp teeth as it encountered Kleio’s defense magic. Whenever it struck the barrier, golden sparks of ether sputtered out. The beast couldn’t set a single paw into the circle. Excited, Dione came close to Kleio, moving in front of him to protect him.

“Thank you. What do I do now? If the opponent were human, it would be possible, but this…”

“Same as before. The knights are chasing it, so let’s wait.”

Kleio was nervous, but Dione was visibly shivering, so he pretended to be calm.

‘Yeah, focus. I have Perception, so I can track its movements. I still have enough ether, and the knights are headed this way. I can hold it off.’

The demon’s body bounced off the defense magic and struck the barbed wire around Kleio’s land across the café. The iron fence was easily torn, and the demon fell into the dug-out land being prepped for demolition. Blood welled out from the snout of one of the heads.

‘It seems like its life is running out. How relieving… isn’t it?!’

It was okay for the demon to die, but it should’ve died in the land owned by Kleio! He used Memory at a breakneck pace. In the last manuscript, the beast was chased down by Arthur and killed at a demolition site. Rank purplish blood scattered across the land in a hellish sight. Since no one could know what side effects could be caused by the blood of the beast, the Defense Force closed the site and dispatched research wizards to investigate the situation.

‘Of course, it didn’t harm people! The research wizards wasted a lot of time researching the evil blood!’

Wizards were very interested in the beast that had appeared, and it had taken them eighteen months to complete their investigation. Of course, the construction work had to come to a full-stop. He couldn’t postpone the hotel’s construction for that long!

‘Fuck, no! Don’t die on my land!’

Before his head could catch up, his body moved. Kleio, grasping Dione’s parasol instead of his wand, jumped out onto the road through the broken window.

“[Leap, like the feet of a messenger!]”

Kleio filled two slots and floated up with [Leap][Fly]. It was one of the combinations he had practiced during vacation. The wolf, who had collapsed, stood up as if stimulated by Kleio’s ether exploding out. Though it’s whole body was ragged, it shook fiercely. For a eyes met with Kleio’s gaze.

‘Now!’

Kleio spread his circle to its maximum range and jumped as far as possible as he attracted the beast.

‘Yes, follow me!’

The wolf screeched as it chased Kleio.

Klomp, klomp, klomp-!

Residents quickly moved away from the beast.

‘You have to get out of here!’

Gradually, the beast’s cries and footsteps grew closer. Thanks to his Perception, the appearance of the wolf was vivid. He was so scared he couldn’t look back. Kleio continued to entice the wolf, using his magic formula several times. His chest felt tight as his breath came out ragged. He rummaged through his jacket pocket, fumbling to pull something out of his subspace pocket. It was then…

Kaaaaaaah!

The beast passed by Kleio, who was still in the air, and blocked his path at his landing point.

Gaooooooooo!!!

As the wolf turned its head and cried fiercely, its blood-stained teeth were revealed.

“Woah!”

Kleio also screamed inadvertently, but thankfully the wolf’s movements were visible thanks to Perception.

‘What can I do even if I see it?’

He turned off his [Aircraft] magic to avoid the wolf. He landed promptly in a pile of bricks in the ruins of what had been demolished, still struggling with his pocket.

‘Why can’t I open it?!’