[V11C1] Rose Lays the Groundwork
Translated by Jodas 11: Envoy of the AbyssSpiremaster Abel chanted, running her finger across the pattern on Rose’s wrist. To the side, Sophie watched with abated breath.
Slowly, there was a faint sound like paper-thin pane of glass shattering, and the seal on Rose faded away.
Sophie, whose seal had yet to be undone, nervously asked Rose:
“Hey Rose, what does it feel like when the seal is undone? It doesn’t hurt or tingle, does it?”
“It didn’t hurt at all! Come on Sophie, let’s get that seal off of you.”
Rose answered casually, opening and closing his hand to show he had no numbness.
‘Really? I’m not gonna like it if it hurts!’ While uneasy, Sophie nonetheless held out both arms in front of her.
Abel chanted once more, and ran her fingers across Sophie’s wrists.
Apparently these unsealing formulas were set on an individual basis, and until just a moment ago, Assistant Headmaster Miriam had kept them to herself. However, she was moved by Hütter’s persuasiveness, and it was said that she wrote down the unsealing formulas on her deathbed.
(Wow, Mr. Hütter’s really amazing, huh… His illusions made such lifelike pigeons as well.)
A sharp sound came from her wrists, then the pattern disappeared.
She really wanted to try casting some kind of spell to see if it had worked, but Sophie couldn’t use anything aside from deadly curses.
“Why don’t you try doing some magic, Rose~?”
“Sure thing! Watch this!”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Rose started chanting. It was the formula for a defensive barrier.
Right before Rose’s feet, a defensive barrier emerged at a sloped angle. It was the same barrier he used to let Sophie escape from that second-story window.
“I did it! I didn’t even have to tilt my body this time!”
“…Wait, Rose, aren’t you supposed to be some kind of super amazing mage back home?”
“Yeah, I’m a sage!”
“Should you really be celebrating just because you made a barrier at an angle?”
She was pretty sure the Seven Sages were supposed to be unbelievably outstanding mages.
Things like punching a hole straight through a dragon’s body, casting the most advanced magecraft without any incantation, or knowing how to use over two hundred kinds of curses… Every rumor she’d heard was so outlandish she could only think ‘You’ve gotta be joking, right?’
And yet Rose was apparently one of those Seven Sages.
Abel gave Rose a look of suspicion, then said:
“…As promised, we will have you take the lead in our operation to retake the Wedge Tower.”
“What kind of promise is that!?”
Sophie was stunned, but Rose responded in his usual laid-back tone of voice.
“That’s what I promised them. I said ‘If you get rid of this seal, I’ll do everything I can~!’ or something like that.”
Under his fuzzy red hair, his brilliant green eyes stayed locked on Abel.
“In exchange for my hard work, you won’t lay a finger on the Apprentices… You’ll keep your promise, won’t you? Julius will remain unharmed. Sophie won’t have to curse anyone unless she wants to. That was also part of our promise.”
Sophie’s jaw hung open and she gaped at Rose.
There was no way Abel would ever agree to a promise like that. And yet, Abel nodded without hesitation.
“Indeed. So long as you provide the labor you’ve proposed, I will honor that agreement.”
“Could you write up a contract for me? You know they say when you make an important deal like this, you’ve got to get it in writing.”
“Very well.”
Abel rose from her seat. She was probably off to go get that contract written up.
Sophie waited for Abel to leave the room, then walked right up to Rose.
“Hold on, you can’t do this, Rose! Just because you can make an angled barrier doesn’t mean you can win against Monsters!”
Rose was on his way to sacrifice himself to protect the Apprentices.
Just imagining Rose fending off attacks from Monsters with a measly angled barrier was enough for tears to well up in Sophie’s eyes.
No way! Sophie didn’t want anyone to sacrifice themselves.
“I won’t let you go out there and sacrifice yourself, Rose!”
“It’s okay, don’t worry. If anything, I’m lucky that it’s Monsters we’re up against. That means I don’t have to worry about holding back.”
His nonchalant tone sent a shiver down her spine. She shuddered to imagine what his casual attitude implied.
As Sophie felt the goosebumps on her arm, Rose hunched over his towering body and lowered his voice.
“More importantly, you heard my conversation with Abel just now, didn’t you?”
“Well yeah, I heard it, but…”
“Then listen close.”
Rose whispered in Sophie’s ear.
What he said, Sophie could hardly believe.
“Rose, you were planning that far?”
“Yeah, I’ve decided to do everything in my power to keep you guys safe.”
Rose said it with a smile. Now that was the Rose Sophie knew.
He was fuzzy and a little unreliable, but when it mattered most, Rose could be a very reliable adult.
“From here on out, we’ll have to split up. Now that my seal is undone, the big-shots aren’t gonna let me do whatever I want now. I’m not gonna be able to stay here much longer anyway…”
Detecting that his words sounded too much like a goodbye, Sophie raised her eyebrows.
“…Does that mean this is goodbye?”
“Hmm, I’m not sure… If possible, I’d like to see everyone one last time, but I do have to go once everything’s settled down…”
Rose stroked his fuzzy beard, then softened his face into a smile.
“So just in case, I’d like you to let the others know what I told you just now, Sophie.”
At night, Sophie returned to the room where the Apprentices were being held and relayed the message from Rose.
Every one of her fellow Apprentices listened with expressions of disbelief.
The first to speak up was Sevil.
“How dastardly of him, that Rose… Even while joining hands with my brother, he still plans on protecting me?”
That statement made Wren tilt his head. “Huh?”
Wren had already heard all about how Rose was actually one of the Seven Sages, the Fifth Thorn Witch, who was working with the Black Lion Emperor to retrieve the Ancient Magical Artifact ‘Chromatic Garden.’
“Wouldn’t he be trying to protect you because he’s working with the Emperor?”
“Wrong. My brother cares nothing for my well-being, and the Wedge Tower would rather be rid of me as well. Yet thanks to the contract Rose signed with the Spiremasters, they no longer have a reason to hand me over to my brother.”
That meant that Rose drew up this contract with the Wedge Tower solely out of his personal desire to protect his fellow Apprentices.
And Sevil was one of those he wanted to protect.
“Both Mr. Hütter and Rose are on my brother’s side… I am very fortunate that both of them refuse to do everything my brother says, instead acting on their own free will. If possible, I would love to have them working for me instead.”
There was a dark glint in Sevil’s eyes as she said that. Wren trembled internally.
(She seriously plans on getting them to work for her… The Dream Mage and one of the Seven Sages, of all people!)
Would Rose really be able to make it back to Ridill in one piece?
If Sevil tried to catch Rose and force him to her side, Wren promised himself that he would try to stop her. Rose had helped Wren a whole lot these past few months, after all.
(I won’t be able to play card games or study with Rose anymore, I suppose.)
Wren stuck his hand in his pocket. Inside was a bottle, but not the one filled with candies that the Witch had given him.
This one contained a secret magic medicine that Rose had entrusted him with. It was a potent liquid imbued with magic.
Wren had wondered if such things would be better entrusted to someone like Julius or Roswitha who knew much more about magecraft — if perhaps this was just Rose taking pity on Wren who lacked a means to be effective in battle, but when Wren voiced those concerns, Rose shook his head and said:
“That stuff works better the less mana you have. You’ve got the least mana out of all the Apprentices, right? Just think of it like a lucky charm, okay? It’ll come in handy when things get tough.”
Wren was self-aware enough to figure that he was probably just trying to be nice to him. Nevertheless, Wren felt glad.
For something he called a ‘lucky charm,’ apparently this medicine made some crazy things happen if you actually used it. So, if he could at all help it, it would be best to avoid using it at all.
Whether or not to use this item required someone who could consider the consequences cautiously and thoroughly. Knowing that, Rose chose to entrust it to Wren.
Ella looked everyone in the eyes and began to speak.
“From here on out, Rose will be operating separately from the rest of us. It’s going to be just us doing this now. Let’s confirm the plan one last time.”
The preparations had already been made. Roswitha had packed her cloak with all the sticks she could fit in it, and Julius had fine-tuned Agniol’s firepower.
Rukiye had prepared as many devices as she could in the time given, and Tia’s Magical Flying Device was in perfect condition.
Wren, as well, had equipped himself with the paper, pens, and throwing tubes he needed for inscription magic.
“I’m sure all of you have your own objectives. I want to talk with Finn one more time; Roswi wants to beat the Primordial Beast; we all want to retrieve the Ancient Magical Devices if we can.”
As he listened to Ella’s speech, Wren glanced at Tia out of the side of his eye.
Tia surely had an objective that she refused to tell anyone.
After being rejected by her sister, what would Tia do if she met that sister again? What did she hope would happen?
What was there that Wren could do to help her?
Ella concluded in a stern voice:
“With all of that in mind, our priority should be to remove the crystal rivets embedded in ‘Chariclea, the Wedge Tower’ and deactivate the crystal contamination. Please take this into consideration and act accordingly.”