Chapter 18 | The Assassin Apologizes
Unfortunately, I ended up not being able to apologize to Epona.
I had planned to catch her before classes began the day following the battle with the orcs. However, she’d already been summoned for another mission and had departed the academy. Unlike last time, Epona had gone off alone on this assignment. Naoise, Tarte, Dia, and I hadn’t even been told about it.
…The academy probably thinks less highly of us after that battle with the orcs.
Dia, Tarte, and I had lunch out in the courtyard. Tarte was humming as she poured us some tea.
“Are you sure you’re feeling better? I asked.
“Yes. You treated me all night long, my lord, so I’m in perfect shape.”
Tarte flexed her arms to prove her point. As she’d said, I’d stayed up until morning, speeding up her recovery and healing her injuries. Still, I was surprised to see how unruffled Tarte was. Wounds as bad as hers should’ve at least left her feeling tired. That bothered me more than any of her physical injuries.
Despite everything that’d happened, Tarte got up early and made our lunches as she always did. Even her mood seemed unaffected.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I pressed.
“Yes, I’ve never been better. I embarrassed myself yesterday. I’ll train even harder to prevent that from happening again! I need to master the eye you gave me,” she replied.
Whether enthusiasm or mana, I couldn’t say, but Tarte’s one Tuatha Dé eye shone visibly from behind its colored contact lens.
“I wonder if I’ll ever get those eyes,” Dia said, gazing at Tarte’s right eye in obvious jealousy.
“I’ll have to think about it. Tuatha Dé eyes are indeed useful, but you leak mana until you get used to them. You have a lot of mana, Dia, but the eyes might run you dry in a battle like yesterday’s. I’m not sure they’d suit you,” I explained.
“Hmm, yeah, I might not have mana to spare for the eyes at first, but I can learn to control it through practice, right? They’re also significantly better than normal eyes even when not enhanced by mana,” reasoned Dia.
“That’s true,” I replied.
“Then I do want them. If I get those eyes, I’ll have to get used to them as soon as possible. By the way, there’s something I don’t get. Even though Tarte has way less mana than me, I’ve never seen her collapse. She’s used to managing the eye now, but if she was leaking mana before, then how come she never had any trouble?”
Dia noticed. Can’t say I’m surprised.
“Oh, that? Lord Lugh has been regularly replenishing my mana. I’ve gotten much better at controlling the eye recently, though, so he hasn’t been doing it as often,” Tarte admitted.
Dia turned to me and smiled. Something was terrifying about that expression.
…This is bad.
I’d told Tarte not to tell anyone about the mana transfer spell because it was a secret House Tuatha Dé technique. I’d foolishly forgotten Dia was now part of the family and therefore privy to its knowledge.
“Hey, Lugh. I’ve never heard of a method capable of replenishing someone’s magical power. If you can do that sort of thing, why didn’t you use it on me during the battle yesterday? If you had, I would’ve been able to keep fighting.”
“Because it’s Tuatha Dé confidential information. I can’t just do it out in the open,” I shot back.
“Hmmm… But how would you do something like that in the first place? Linking mana wavelengths would be difficult to pull off, but not impossible… Even Lugh’s precise control of mana would probably drop to around twenty percent. Ah, but that wouldn’t matter with his near-limitless mana. The problem would be the method of transmission. Direct contact would be essential… To increase transmission efficiency and prevent the mana from transforming after the wavelengths are joined, that would be the only choice… I see how it is. Hmph, it’s not fair that you’ve only been doing that with Tarte.”
Dia was terrifying. She’d figured it all out after merely hearing I’d been replenishing Tarte’s mana.
“So, Lugh. I’ve been wanting to practice advanced spells that use a lot of magic power, but because advanced spells drain me very quickly, I never make much progress. I’ve been stuck,” Dia said.
“Got it. I’ll supply you with as much mana as you want,” I agreed, taking the hint.
“Yay! Hmm-hmm. I can’t wait. I can practice magic to my heart’s content and kiss Lugh at the same time… If you’re reluctant to do it that way, there is another method of direct mucous membrane contact we can use,” proposed Dia.
“You can’t do that until you get married!” interrupted a deeply blushing Tarte.
While Tarte wasn’t used to talking about that sort of thing, she still understood what Dia had been suggesting.
That method is actually more efficient, but I’ll keep quiet about that.
“Well, actually, let’s not use that one. I don’t want to upset Tarte. I’m also a little scared of it, so just keep it as something to look forward to in the future. Please kiss me to supply me with mana for now,” Dia decided.
It seemed I had no way out of this.
It’s not that I didn’t like kissing. I loved Dia, and kissing her was great, but there was a reason I’d been avoiding restoring her mana.
Namely, I knew it would be difficult to stop myself if I started up with her. Kissing Dia and stopping there was sure to be agony. Young bodies were so challenging to control.
“Back to what we were talking about before. You want those eyes, don’t you, Dia?” I asked.
“Of course. The ability to see mana would make controlling magic much easier. There is no doubt I would get better at spellcasting. You can normally only feel mana, so that would be very helpful. Detecting gathering magical power would also be useful to read the flow of battle from the rearguard. That’s likely to be my main use for them.”
Spoken like a real sorcerer. Being able to see mana was just as big of a boon as seeing objects moving at high speeds.
“All right, I’ll get ready for both of your surgeries,” I declared.
Thus it was determined that I would not only give Tarte her remaining Tuatha Dé eye, but I would also provide a pair to Dia. I was looking forward to seeing how this enhanced their growth.
Epona returned a week later and began avoiding me at every turn. It wasn’t just me, either. She also kept her distance from Dia and Tarte.
There was no doubting that something had happened while she was off on her solo mission.
I’d tried to approach Epona on multiple occasions, but she always ran away. She’d been skipping our study group, too. Left with no other choice, I decided to visit her room at night. If things continued as they were, I wasn’t going to have a chance to apologize.
Just as I was about to reach Epona’s room, a siren began to blare.
Does this mean the Royal Academy is under attack?
Attacking the school was insane. It was home to over one hundred mages. Even if some were inexperienced, that was still a massive force.
“…Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a force of monsters led by a demon.”
An announcement echoed throughout the dormitory. It said to gather in the cafeteria right away. It also mentioned that a horde of monsters was headed for the academy. It wasn’t just orcs this time, either. The incursion was comprised of many different species. This was shaping up to be a much larger battle than the last one.
“I knew those orcs were a trick.”
I’d been suspicious of that orc attack right from the get-go. They’d behaved very strangely, and it’d led me to believe their real purpose had been reconnaissance. If that was correct, it didn’t take much to guess what sort of information they’d been after.
The most probable answer was Epona’s weaknesses. Their goal was to break the hero, and they’d achieved it. That’s why those orcs had retreated when they did and why they were attacking the academy now.
Whoever was commanding the orcs must’ve deduced that Epona had trouble controlling her power and that it led to her hurting her allies in battle.
Epona was going to have a tough time fighting monsters in the academy. Undoubtedly, she was going to be afraid of hurting her peers.
“If we assume the goal of their attack is to weaken Epona, then we’re in trouble. Even one hundred mages won’t bother them if that’s all they care about.”
Monsters were beasts that acted on nothing more than instinct. Records showed that demons possessed higher intelligence, however. They could summon monsters and were very skilled commanders. Even so, I hadn’t expected an attack quite this bold.
“Epona!”
After hearing the siren, the hero had rushed out of her room, and I called out to her. She started to say something, swallowed the words, then searched for something else to say.
“I’m going ahead. Please fight as far from me as possible.”
She was still pushing me away.
“I’m sorry about before… Let’s fight together again. I’ll show you that I’m strong enough to handle it. You don’t have to go it alone.”
I didn’t want to be a burden to her anymore.
Epona ran off without turning around to face me.
I’d said what I’d needed to. Now I had to see my promise done. Given the invasion, I definitely had the chance.
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