Chapter 49

Chapter 49

“Hmm, if I quickly step on these at the same time, the whole pattern will glow, right?”

Luciel also had an intuition that there would be some kind of change if the pattern was shining.

“Luciel, will you start from this side and I will start from the other end?”

“No. I think this will do.”

Luciel summoned her transparent wand with her mind. Tightly holding the wand with both hands, she gathered mana and cast the magic spell.

“Magic bolt.”

Luciel’s pure mana was churning, and the magic that was engraved in the Innocent wand activated.

Pah, Pah, Pababat!

Several clumps of light hit the stone.

It is the most basic magic because it consumes less mana and is easy to train. Above all else, Luciel had not manifested any attributes so she could only use non-attribute magic.

“Ha, ha, ha! Luciel. It’s the first time I’ve seen such a spicy magic bolt.”

Gillard laughed wildly.

“Grandpa, please join me.”

Not long after the two of them hit the floor stone with such magic, all the patterns shone.

Kugugugung!

It was a dazzling light that made her frown, and there was a loud roar that made the forest vibrate.

Birds and beasts were frightened and howled as they ran away. The stones on the floor moved like cogs, and a path with a staircase appeared leading downwards. It was a relic. Judging by the flame-shaped symbol written on the surface, it must have been related to fire.

“Grandpa.”

Surprised, Luciel looked at him and called. Gillard took Luciel’s hand and used the detection magic again.

His expression was unusual.

“I don’t think this is ordinary. I can feel a very strong energy inside. It seems that the energy I felt earlier started right here.”

He had trained his mana so much that for him there was no problem at all, but the energy was so strong that ordinary people could not bear it. This is probably why the children passed out earlier.

Luciel also had strong and pure mana and didn’t seem to faint, but Gillard let out a long deep breath with a face half-mixed with anxiety and anticipation.

“I’ve been through a lot, but this is the first time I’ve encountered such a strong energy. Maybe if you go inside, you can really meet the legendary being, Phoenix.”

“……I can feel the intense energy too. My heart is beating fast.”

Luciel looked up at him and said.

If the legendary being, Phoenix, was really there, it was impossible to predict what would happen.

You really had to take on the challenge. On the one hand, he was also thrilled to be able to meet such a legend.  He couldn’t bring Luciel into an unknown area where he didn’t know what kind of danger lurked. If something happened, it was his responsibility.

Gillard, who had made up his mind, said to Luciel,

“Luciel, you better stay around here. I will go down.”

But Luciel shook her head.

“No. We still haven’t found Kizef, I can’t go back and leave Grandpa behind and alone.”

Luciel’s transparent eyes emanated a strong will to protect the two of them.

‘Grandpa and Kizef. I’m going to protect you two.’

Gillard was a precious family member to Luciel, and Kizef was the one who even married her to protect Luciel. It was difficult for her to get close to him, but it was equally difficult for her to leave him alone.

Luciel clenched her small fists and made a firm commitment. At that moment, Luciel’s heart started beating loudly.

“……What’s wrong with me?”

Luciel suddenly took a deep breath, and collapsed on the spot. Surprised, Gillard ran to look at her.

“Luciel! Are you okay?”

“Ah. I’m fine. Suddenly, my heart was pounding too much, and I was short of breath.”

At those words, Gillard looked at her with deeply concerned eyes. It was very disturbing that the child’s breathing was still irregular. Her small body was trembling from tension.

“Luciel, we can’t do this.”

“No. I’m going to go save Kizef and find out what secrets lie inside.”

Luciel found it difficult to even walk because of the tight feeling in her heart, but she forced herself to stand up.

“……I guess I’ll have to use this one. Wait a minute.”

“Yes.”

Gillard pulled out a blue communication device and contacted the Duke.

-Father? Can you see the stars well?

Hearing that he and Luciel had gone to see the stars, the grumpy voice of the Duke flowed from the device.

“Louis.”

– …..Where are you? What happened?

“Well, that’s…”

― Take Luciel and go home safely right now…… No, in that case, you would not have used the communication port. Be honest with me.

He seemed quite angry at the fact that Gillard had a problem while bringing Luciel around.

Luciel, too, was frightened and nervous for no reason.

“It’s a long story to tell. Kizef has disappeared inside the Academy’s Prohibited Area and we are looking for him now.”

-What? Are you kidding me? Why there?

“I came here looking for the Phoenix Rose to wake Evelyn from her sleep. And we discovered a relic with tremendous energy. It looks like an altar of fire. Maybe we will meet the real Phoenix.”

-Wait. Did you just say Phoenix now? Phoenix isn’t a duck waddling next door…

“Yes, I’m not sure, but…… I have never felt such a strong energy in my life.”

―I’ll go right away, so please wait.

“There’s no time for that. We have to hurry up and find Kizef.”

Before the conversation got any longer, Gillard cut off communication first. His sphere flashed a few more times, but he put it in his pocket without hesitation.

“Let’s go in, Luciel.”

“Grandpa, but can’t you reach Kizef through that port?”

“If you want to link communication ports, you have to meet in person and connect some of your opponent’s mana to each other’s communication ports. Louivid took all the stuff by himself and sent it to Kizef, only connecting his mana. That punk.”

“Oh, then…… we should ask father-in-law to call Kizef.”

“He must have already tried.”

“Don’t we need to tell where this place is……?”

When Luciel asked such, Gillard said not to worry about it and held the child in his arms.

“Of course. Louis has a knack for tracking magic. In fact, he would have come here even if I hadn’t sent any communication. He’s a scary hunting hound…… No, it’s nothing. Hm-hmm.”

“Ah…… yes.”

Gillard thought it was lucky that Luciel was naive. Because not knowing Louivid’s tenacity was happiness in itself.

* * *

On the other hand, Louivid who had lost communication with Gillard had a bunch of problems floating around in his head, like tangled spider webs.

Which one should I untangle first?

First of all, he called his one and only deputy. Then he asked with a cold, blood-washed face.

“Why didn’t you watch over?”

Ellington’s spine grew chilly at the random question. Something very unpleasant must have happened to make him in such a very bad mood.

“Are you asking about the outing of Little Madam with Elder Master Gillard to see the stars?”

“…….”

As the Duke’s expression grew colder, Ellington quickly tried to think of something else.

“Kizef is missing.”

“What?”

Ellington was startled and fell flat on the spot.

“I couldn’t understand the Lord’s questions. The communication port of the young master…!”

“No contact.”

“……I’m sorry.”

“Fine, let’s start moving. Track down Kizef and Luciel. Wait for wizards of the 5th Circle or higher, and prepare a mobile portal. We will move to the altar of fire.”

“Yes, would you like to deploy the Black Wings as well?”

“No…. the first priority goal is to safely collect Kizef, Luciel, and Father. The second priority is…… Maybe it will be to capture something very special.”

Louivid rubbed his chin with shining blood-red eyes.

If it was a Phoenix, it was such a rare existence that even the imperial family would pay close attention to. That such a thing was hidden in the academy… It is said that the Phoenix’s feathers can bring the dead back to life, and the Phoenix’s heart gives eternal life.

If such a thing really existed in the academy, the Headmaster would have been the first to covet it.

Louivid decided to think a little more rationally. Because none of the birds that have ever appeared as the Phoenix have been real.

***

As soon as we went down the stairs, the first thing in sight was an entrance made of stacked white stones.

Upon passing through the entrance, the stone slabs had the shape of a flame drawn on them, and ancient characters were written down. Gillard looked at it for a long time, and then managed to interpret it.

“The first altar of fire. Offer what makes the fire grow.”

A black bowl that looked like a jar was placed on a flat and wide floor. Seeing that the door leading down to the next floor was firmly closed, it seemed that this kind of riddle had to be solved.

“What makes fire grow?”

“……It must be firewood.”

“It may be the wind. Seems like Kizef passed through here.”

Kizef had the wind attribute. Even Gillard was able to use wind magic skillfully up to the 4th circle.

“I see, this jar seems to be the brazier.”

He activated the ‘wind’ magic and filled the furnace with wind. Then, the fire started to ignite inside the furnace, and a bright yellow fire came up outside the furnace.

Soon, the blocked door opened with a gurgling sound.

“Wow, we got it right!”

When it was solved more easily than expected, the two went down to the next floor with joy. On the second floor there were three braziers. The fire was burning brightly. Gillard looked at the slate.

“The second altar of Fire. An unquenchable fire.”

“Is that all?”

What do you mean by a fire that never goes out?….

“I see. I think we should put out these lights.”

“I think so. We have to spray water or block the air to put out the fire.”

“Yes.”

Gillard immediately activated water magic.

Splash!!

Cold water poured over the brazier, but the fire was still there.

“I don’t think this is right. Shall we block the air next?”

“But the fire in the brazier is quite large.”

“I think it’s possible to summon a blanket, and I’ll need some sand.”