The overseas territory, far from the Empire’s mainland, the desert development area, is an enormous military city.
Even in peacetime, it’s already a tense atmosphere, but now with mercenaries and soldiers from all over the continent gathered here, it feels even more threatening.
And to top it off, with my arrival, the guards have become even stricter, raising suspicion that we might actually be at war.
A catastrophe that could burn down such a desert development area…
Not much comes to mind.
First is the attack by the Majin.
But even if it’s just one Majin, I should be able to resist it with the forces of the desert development area.
If there’s magic powerful enough to wipe the city off the map, that definitely means more than one Majin has come.
‘Are Alexia and Tiltitz coming together…?’
I didn’t want to suspect Alexia.
After all, she’s the chairwoman of the Imperial University.
Also, as far as I know, she hasn’t given up her position yet.
This should at least be taken as a sign that she won’t be siding with Tiltitz.
So, could it be the combination of Tiltitz and the Madman?
Hmm, not sure.
The Madman prefers close-combat attacks; he wouldn’t ever combine his mana to carry out large-scale magic.
“Obelisk…”
“Huh? That?”
I looked up toward the main gate of the campus.
There stood a tall stone tower.
Hearing my words, Erica rushed over and began reading the description in front of the tower.
“An ancient relic, presumed to be a structure erected to showcase the authority of royalty. Considering the civilization of the time…”
An unidentified ancient stone tower.
That’s how the Obelisk is known.
However, very few know that the Obelisk is actually a great Majin weapon.
To be precise, it’s the ignition device for the great Majin weapon.
When the humans were busy conceptualizing the annihilation cannon, the Elf race envisioned a weapon utilizing sunlight.
The ultimate weapon that converts the entire desert into a massive spell.
Although it has the drawback of needing to lure the target to focus, theoretically it could unleash power on a different scale than the annihilation cannon.
But the Obelisk was ultimately never completed.
During the war with the Majin, those who went to seal the last part of the spell went missing.
Aside from them, no one knew the overall structure of the spell, and as the war with the Majin wrapped up, interest in the Obelisk itself faded away.
Thus, the Obelisk gradually became forgotten, and there were no efforts to reinterpret its spell and complete it.
‘Someone is going to complete the Obelisk…?’
If what Iris saw in the future is indeed due to the Obelisk, it means someone is going to finish the spell of the Obelisk.
Only one person has the ability and funds to interpret and complete the massive spell etched across the entire desert: the Duke of the Desert Development Area, Damien.
Aside from that man, no one else can activate the Obelisk.
‘Could it be…?’
The Duke of the Desert Development Area wouldn’t suddenly turn his city into ashes.
Could someone have secretly activated the Obelisk right after its completion?
Or does Damien have a reason to destroy his own city?
For now, I decided to keep all possibilities open, since Damien is not someone I can fully trust either.
“Erica, want to head back to the institution now?”
“Why so suddenly?”
“Because it seems like things are going to get really dangerous.”
“Do you think you can handle it without me?”
“What?”
“Can you get through that risk without the genius barrier magician?”
“Ah…”
Seeing Erica flip her hair, I couldn’t help but chuckle a bit.
It seems she was fully charged with confidence after checking the university’s level.
The genius barrier magician.
While it’s definitely true, it was a bit funny coming from her own mouth.
“I just said it to see if you’d get scared.”
“Me? Scared? No way.”
“Iris said so. She saw the whole city burning.”
“Oh, right… I see…”
“So you’re definitely not turning back, huh?”
“Of course not…”
Erica’s voice was trembling.
She seemed to be genuinely scared.
Perhaps I shouldn’t have mentioned it.
‘Things have gotten pretty complicated.’
Starting with Jin’s unpredictable actions, various variables have completely disrupted my plans.
There are already several variables I need to worry about, and now I also have to keep an eye on Damien.
It seems it’s about time to set a new goal.
The third goal: survival.
Perhaps just getting out of the desert alive might be a miracle.
*
“Oh crap… Oh crap…”
*Step, step* echoed repeatedly.
Serika was pacing around the room, biting her lips and couldn’t stop moving.
Watching her, her subordinates exchanged glances, hesitant to speak.
“Your Highness, please don’t worry too much.”
“It’s fine. Your Highness is definitely not a woman who sells her body—”
“Sell my body? Ha! You think Schlus Hainkel called me to his room for a hug?”
“Then, what exactly…?”
“He recognized me. Schlus Hainkel recognized me.”
“What do you mean by recognized? Do you perhaps know him?”
“No! He recognized me as the princess of Aias! Atatürk wasn’t even there!”
The subordinates’ eyes widened.
They thought she was called just because Schlus Hainkel was interested in her.
Just when they were hoping to gauge his intentions through some pillow talk, an emergency alarm went off.
“S-So what did he say?”
“He said he would help with the rebellion…”
“What do you mean rebellion?”
“He said he’d reclaim the desert development area and return it to us… Schlus Hainkel said that.”
“Your Highness, that’s—”
“I know, I know. It’s obviously a trap, luring me in with sweet words to expose the location of the remaining forces.”
Serika sighed, her frustration evident.
Even if she dreamed of ridiculous fantasies, she didn’t think of herself as a fool.
This was definitely a trap.
A type of trap she should never step into.
Although her toes were already caught, she had to cut that off.
This time, the toes in question belonged to Serika herself.
Of course, she trusted her subordinates to avenge her father even without her, that was a given.
But more humiliating was—
‘I could have threatened him at least once… Damn bastard.’
To Schlus Hainkel, it felt like she wasn’t seen as a woman at all.
How could he just treat her like an object, throwing her onto the floor and do nothing to her…?
There was no other explanation.
Schlus Hainkel is a eunuch.
That’s the conclusion Serika reached.
“So, what should we do now?”
“I guess so…”
“Stop pretending to think. If I get caught, that’s it.”
“Your Highness! You should run away!”
“Do you think I can? From the second-in-command of the Empire? What? Am I supposed to just disappear into a pile of sand?”
“Your Highness…”
“I’ll stall for time. I’ll pretend to foolishly fall for his tricks, to cooperate while buying time. Schlus Hainkel has no interest in us. He just wants to clear out annoyances as he comes to the desert. If he thinks we are foolish and sloppy, he’ll lose interest in capturing us and leave the desert. From my perspective, Schlus Hainkel isn’t the type to do extra work for Damien.”
So her strategy was to hold on until Schlus Hainkel lost interest.
After all, everything he said about helping with the rebellion and returning land was probably just hot air.
Pretending to be fooled and showing that they are harmless and lacking the ability to carry out a rebellion was essential.
*Ding-dong…*
At that moment, the bell rang.
“Leave it. It’s probably the postal deliverer. They’ll just leave it.”
*Ding-dong…*
The bell rang again.
Despite this, Serika and her subordinates remained silent.
A moment later, a shadow beneath the door disappeared.
Then a letter slipped through the gap with a loud voice from beyond.
“A message from Schlus Hainkel to the princess of Aias.”
“What? That’s nothing special…”
Serika’s face, which had been smiling ironically, went stiff.
From Schlus Hainkel to the princess of Aias?
That meant they must have already noticed this as a stronghold.
“I’m ruined…”
It turned into a state of emergency.
*
It didn’t take long to find the remnants of Aias.
Maybe Serika was overconfident in her disguise ability and didn’t pay much attention to being followed.
What’s the use of changing clothes and accessories?
That body was practically an ID.
I sent Jin to tail Serika and easily found their base.
I remembered the faces of all her subordinates and followers.
Now Serika couldn’t help but trust me.
If she didn’t, her subordinates would all die.
“What are you doing?”
While I was deep in thought, I was interrupted abruptly.
Looking up, Hertlocker stood at my desk with a pouty expression.
“I’m writing a letter. Why?”
“To whom?”
“To your sister.”
“What… Why not just use a normal communication magic? Oh, saving mana, huh?”
“No.”
“Scared of being eavesdropped?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“A letter is just more romantic.”
“……”
Hertlocker’s face twisted.
It was a contemptuous look, much like seeing a dirty bug.
“Your face really makes me want to hit you.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“No… I thought what you were doing, grinning while writing, was something else. Ugh, I’m nauseous.”
Throw up if you want.
I continued to write the letter regardless of what my brother said.
If I didn’t, Emilia would be super worried again.
I didn’t want that girl to suffer from heartache any longer.
-Your employer here. Are you available for a call?
At that moment, a mana ripple was received.
That annoying voice and tone could only belong to Jin.
“Speak.”
-I’ve received a message from the remnant of Aias.
“What did they say?”
-They’re planning a terrorist attack on the Prime Minister’s residence.
That was a pleasant surprise.
I could finally advance a new plot.
