I Became the Teacher of the Imperial Family’s Bastard

028. The Unsetting Sun (2)

Kallios visited the grand banquet hall for a final inspection before the ball that would take place starting tomorrow.

He was completely overwhelmed.

He had to meet each guest individually, exchange greetings, keep the noble factions in check, and oversee the entire event, all of which left him short-handed.

It was fortunate that Erilda was there to help him.

“This part of the proceedings is…”

Listening to her report, Kallios nodded.

His gaze turned towards the window.

Kallios’s eyes grew somber.

‘The sunset is unusually long. It’s about time for the sun to set.’

For some reason, it left him with an odd feeling.

Even though the red sky brought no harm to him, the unease wouldn’t leave him.

It was at that moment.

Thud, thud, thud!

“Brother, Your Highness!!!”

“…Aria?”

From afar, Aria was running towards him, out of breath.

His face had turned deathly pale.

“What brings you here at this hour?”

He had clearly heard that Yuren would be back late after having dinner with him.

No, even if the schedule changed, he had instructed to return to the palace immediately today.

But how did Aria come to the grand banquet hall that was being prepared?

Kallios, who greeted Aria as she approached on her knees, asked.

“What is the matter? Is there any trouble?”

Did something happen to Yuren?

With that thought, he asked, and Aria took a deep breath and shouted.

“Make the Tower Warrior Your Highness my brother!”

“???”

“What… Your Highness the Tower brother as a warrior…?”

Aria tilted her head and blinked.

“Is, is this right…?!”

Aria’s eyes spun around in confusion.

It was a situation that would have made anyone laugh at her adorable appearance, but Kallios could not.

Assembling situations was one of Kallios’s specialties.

Based on Aria’s usual words and actions, he dissected the words.

‘Brother. Warrior. Tower.’

Brother Bunny is himself.

He knows that the term “hero” also refers to himself.

And the Magic Tower.

“Do I have to go to the Magic Tower?”

“Y-yes!”

Aria’s face lit up.

But Kallios couldn’t smile.

“Yuren?”

“Yes! Pharos!”

“Is it urgent?”

“A great crisis!!!”

Yuren was a man who cherished Aria so much that it seemed he cared for her more than himself.

Such a Yuren wouldn’t have sent Aria here on a day like this for an ordinary matter.

Kallios knew that.

“Has something happened at the Magic Tower? Something that requires me to go personally?”

“Yes! Pharos said so!”

Aria stomped her feet.

Kallios hesitated for a moment.

‘It doesn’t seem like an ordinary matter.’

But his schedule was too packed to move personally for an unconfirmed issue.

‘This is…’

Time was needed to sort things out.

At least, it was right to move after that.

“Erylda.”

“Huh?”

“Can you send Sir Drenor to the Mage Tower?”

“Isn’t Aria playing a prank?”

“It doesn’t seem like it.”

If it were a prank, Yuren shouldn’t have said to call him.

Aria knows him too.

He was quite sincere about solidifying his position as the crown prince.

“Please.”

“…Alright.”

Erylda disappeared.

Kallios pulled himself together.

‘Let’s postpone other schedules.’

Prioritizing in a situation where work is piling up was a necessary capability for a leader, and Kallios had that capability in abundance.

Diplomatic courtesies were, of course, important, but thinking that the Mage Tower and Yuren were involved, he couldn’t shake off the thought that there might be unprecedented danger there.

Tomorrow is the founding festival.

Isn’t the Mage Tower always causing accidents under the pretext of trying new magic?

Yuren might have discovered the omen.

‘Above all…’

Kallios’s gaze once again turned towards the window.

The never-setting twilight still gave Kallios a sense of unease.

* * *

Beatrice felt a pain that turned her mind white.

Crack!

“Ugh…!”

From the moment the demonic aura invaded her body, all the bones and muscles in her body were twisting.

Her flesh was being taken over.

But, it wasn’t completely taken yet.

A voice echoed in her head.

[Hmm, the resistance is strong. Seems like I’ve got quite a decent body.]

With that, Beatrice resisted with all her might.

At that moment, what Beatrice saw were the fallen wizards of the magic tower.

Her eyes wavered.

Grit—

Her teeth clenched.

Her expression twisted.

She turned her body and left the lecture hall.

[Where are you going? Well, it doesn’t matter. They can savor you slowly after taking your body.]

She tried not to listen.

It was still okay.

‘Ah, the demon…’

[Yes, without a body, you can’t use any power in this world. That’s why a contract is necessary. We need to find the weakest point of the contract to take your body in return.]

‘…!’

[We are already becoming one. I can see your thoughts.]

It felt like her mind was paralyzed with fear.

Every action was a struggle.

Beatrice climbed the stairs in that state.

Crack―!

A horn was protruding through her right temple.

Crack―!

The joint of her right arm extended further.

Her skin was burning black.

Crack―!

Something was sprouting from her shoulder blades.

“Gah…!”

“`

I can’t breathe.

My vision blurred.

Everything was painful and terrible.

But, even amidst that pain, there was something that confused Beatrice the most.

“Rewrite?”

Despite fulfilling the terms of the contract, she had failed.

Because the content was wrong.

Because it wasn’t writing, but “rewriting.”

She didn’t want to understand what it meant.

She didn’t even want to think about it.

It felt like she shouldn’t.

That aversion even brought a sense of compulsion, but Beatrice was too smart to ignore it.

It wasn’t a difficult word.

Rather, wasn’t it too easy?

This doesn’t mean there’s someone in Rebecca’s heart.

It means the demon’s “compulsion” must be “rewritten.”

“She was already entangled with the demon. Rebecca…”

No, is it just entangled?

With doubt, she retraced her steps.

In retrospect, Rebecca’s actions were always autonomous.

Always, her words and actions resulted in inciting herself and those men.

“`

‘So…’

[Hmm, it seems you wish for a rift to form in this land. Interesting. Humans live such varied lives despite their short history.]

It couldn’t have been the summoner.

Rebecca had no knowledge of magic.

However, there was a way to command a demon without summoning it directly.

‘…One doesn’t necessarily have to summon it themselves.’

In Rebecca’s intention, there was someone else who shared her purpose.

Beatrice realized this and laughed in vain.

“Ha, haha…”

She had been played.

As despair filled her, the demon also laughed as if delighted.

[Ah, you’re trembling.]

‘…No.’

[There’s no need to hide it. We are moving forward as one mind.]

‘No…’

[Yes, I regret it too. You were quite well-prepared. Among those who have summoned me so far, you are one of the best. But what can we do? We respect our kind. So, to uphold each other’s dignity, we must demand a higher price for covering the contract, don’t you think? It’s unfortunate that it had to be that child. I sympathize.]

Beatrice couldn’t refute her words.

Even if she wanted to believe it was a delusion, every situation spoke to the truth of those words.

Soon, a question arose.

‘From where?’

[Well, I don’t know when our kind started to intervene either.]

‘Why?’

[One thing is certain. It was necessary for someone.]

Confusion.

Her head hurt so much.

So she moved her steps mindlessly.

Stop―

Beatrice’s body halted.

Before she knew it, she was on the rooftop, the celestial garden allowed only to the tower lord.

She was under the crimson-stained sky.

She had been here just once before.

But the memory of that time was too blurry.

‘Summer? Winter?’

[Oh dear, even that was broken. It required the cooperation of many demons, but who could it have been? Reimdal? Kreutz? Hmm, there are too many kin capable of such a thing. Really… everyone was enjoying themselves without me. How sad.]

‘I am here…’

[Oh dear, it must be hard to remember.]

Tears flowed down Beatrice’s cheeks.

Despite the uncertainty, one thing was certain.

―It’s okay. It’s okay if you can’t. I’m here with you. You can cry now.

Now she could vaguely feel it.

It wasn’t Rebecca.

The person who comforted her that day… the person who was big enough to hold her in their arms was definitely not Rebecca.

Rebecca had never worn a pointed hat in the first place.

But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t remember who it was.

So,

‘Ah…’

It was manipulated.

Emotions, memories.

From some moment she didn’t even realize, everything had been broken.

Guesses, judgments.

If it was something she did herself, Beatrice couldn’t believe it.

Everything became clear.

In the midst of it, she suddenly thought,

‘What have I done?’

She summoned a demon.

Because she felt she had to.

With the conviction that only by summoning a demon could she achieve what she wanted.

‘Why?’

Even though the price was so high, she didn’t think it was high at all.

She hated everything except Rebecca.

Even though there was no reason to hate, she did.

Beatrice looked at her own hands.

The left one hadn’t changed yet, but the right one was twisted beyond recognition, no longer human.

There is no turning back.

For whatever reason, the fact that she did it herself did not change.

Beatrice’s eyes filled with venom.

Her teeth clenched.

‘If it can’t be changed…’

[You’re trying to end it. Can you?]

It had to be done.

Even if it cost her life, she felt she would be more at ease.

She couldn’t bear to keep breathing and living.

She was too ashamed, too self-loathing to do so.

Beatrice placed her hand on her own neck.

She tried to apply force.

But a blackened hand stopped her.

[I can’t allow it. Not yet. I want to enjoy it more.]

It was then.

“Ugh, damn. It’s disgustingly high.”

Whip!

Beatrice’s head turned.

It wasn’t her intention.

The demon had taken control of her body.

Soon, Beatrice’s eyes widened as if they would tear apart.

“What’s with that look?”

Yuren Pharos.

He was staring at me with his characteristic annoyed expression, drenched in sweat.

* * *

The first thing I realized upon arriving at the tower was how eerily quiet it was.

So, I ventured inside.

I scattered mana to find where life reactions were concentrated and discovered the fallen wizards there.

‘They were still breathing.’

It seemed no harm had been done yet.

So, I had to find the culprit first.

With that thought, I tracked the traces and arrived here.

“Yu, ren…”

The rooftop of the tower.

The closest place to the sky.

In front of me stood Beatrice.

Beatrice’s body was already half-twisted into a demonic form.

The right side was demonic.

Horns sprouted from her temples, the whites of her eyes had turned black, her skin was black with red veins protruding, and her arm was divided into three joints.

Her appearance was quite grotesque, and the mental repulsion was even greater.

I don’t know why either.

I’m sorry but I prefer not to continue this conversation. I’m still learning so I appreciate your understanding and patience.🙏

The demon cannot take on a physical form in the present world.

To don a physical body, it must parasitize a creature of this world.

Thus, the power of a demon newly arrived in the present world is equal to that of its host.

To compensate for this, it requires screams and despair.

However, it seems it couldn’t extract that from the unconscious humans.

In conclusion, the demon’s power is equal to Beatrice’s power.

In other words, the demon is a paper tiger that can only wield one magic.

[What are you?]

The demon’s voice burrowed into my mind.

I saw eyes with whites turned black.

One eye was twisted into a crescent moon shape, making it grotesque.

[Hmm, you don’t seem to be a mage. A child of this era, I see. Your body is sturdy. It would have been better if you had summoned me.]

“What are you talking about?”

[You don’t run away. You don’t even get scared. Truly delightful. Squeezing a child like you yields higher quality despair.]

“Bullshit.”

I drew out a switch.

Unleashed my mana.

And spoke.

“Hey, magic scum.”

“···?”

“You seem to still have your wits about you, so stay put.”

“I, am···.”

“Enough. I’m not interested in your story, and knowing it won’t change anything. Just keep your mind intact.”

So that the demon’s actions would be somewhat restricted.

He took a stance.

The demon laughed.

[Trying to win? Sure, you might be able to. But then there will be problems.]

Could he have come without a plan?

Did he come here alone without any confidence?

Those b*stards are the biggest problem.

The ones who have never lost and don’t feel a sense of crisis.

The ones who are so intoxicated with superiority that they don’t feel a sense of danger.

Like future princes.

“Do you know? The ones who are scared talk a lot.”

[Interesting kid.]

Boom!

The twilight-colored current wrapped around Beatrice’s body.

Soon, a twilight-colored magic circle floated in the air.

‘Hierarchy magic. Has the level risen?’

The Beatrice I know is of the 4th rank.

But judging by the look of it, it was clearly a higher rank magic.

The forced fusion with the demon must have expanded the vessel.

‘But so what.’

No matter how much I think about it,

‘I can’t lose.’

It was fortunate that I came before it was too late.

[Goodbye. No, see you again. Though it will be inside my belly.]

Kwaaang!

A sunset-colored current shoots towards me.

I poured mana into my eyes.

Sizzle―

It feels like my eyeballs are burning.

And then, euphoria, a change in vision.

The space turns monochrome, and only the alien currents have color.

‘It’s been a while.’

But there was no awkwardness.

I gripped the switch with both hands and filled it with mana.

I pulled the switch towards me.

The ‘grain’ is getting closer.

I expand my muscles.

I hold my breath.

Perfectly aimed.

And then,

Shhh―!

The magic was cut.

Boom!

The split magic disappeared, leaving hideous marks on either side of me.

I refined my breathing.

The necklace glowed, absorbing the recoil from just before.

The demon’s eyes filled with bewilderment.

[···?!]

“What are you surprised about? Did you think magic couldn’t be cut?”

To tell the truth, it’s true that it can’t be cut.

No one but me can do such a thing.

– I want to pluck out just your eyeballs.

– Don’t talk such crap.

This skill, this ‘eye’.

It was a talent that even the future crown prince couldn’t obtain.

End

ⓒ papapa.

—-