Chapter 52: Wave Part 1

Since that day,

Yuna often found herself staring blankly into the distance.

There was something wistful about her demeanor, and people around her had started to take notice.

Yuna was deliberately controlling her presence through her expressions and gestures to conceal her appearance. She was using the gap between her looks and behavior to her advantage.

Because of that, even just sitting still, she possessed an undeniable aura that drew people’s attention.

Fortunately, no clueless guy had come forward to confess or ask her out, swayed by her looks.

All the oblivious idiots had ended up dead over the past year in the academy.

That was definitely a relief.

But not everything was good news.

“Their movements have been suspicious lately, don’t you think? It really feels like they’re deliberately walking into death.”

“I think they’re trying to contaminate the land itself, but while I can guess their goal, I just don’t understand it.”

Lately, the number of terrorist attacks outside the Cradle had increased dramatically.

The Imperial Knights were practically stationed there full-time, dealing with Under Chain’s dark mages, but sheer numbers were a problem.

Even if they managed to handle the attacks, the land was often already corrupted by the time they got there, and purifying it took a long time.

“This is all because His Majesty the Emperor—”

“Shh, watch what you say.”

There was no need to ask whose fault this escalating mess was.

The damn Emperor had thoroughly crushed religious organizations through his oppression.

Nothing was more effective than divine power when it came to purifying corrupted land, but now, the only ones who could use divine power were considered terrorists.

That’s right. Eden was the only exception.

“If they’ve caused this much chaos already, they’ll probably attack soon, right?”

“I don’t know if we’re ready; it’s been a while. What about the first-years?”

“We’ll just have to protect them while letting them gain some real combat experience.”

The reason Under Chain was contaminating the land around the Cradle—

It was likely part of a large-scale plan to launch a full-on assault.

But what didn’t make sense was why they would go that far.

No matter how large the group was, throwing away this many lives could only lead to losses. Did they have something they wanted so badly that they were willing to bear those losses?

If all of this had been orchestrated by the Great Sage, then it was worth suspecting…

This wasn’t something that happened in the game.

The reason I had aimed to hold out until my second year was because, by then, the Cradle would become a relatively safe place.

Of course, it wasn’t perfect.

Even characters like Jeff and Melana had run wild during that time.

But their scale was small.

It had only amounted to the level of side quests.

And even Tillis and Cult had stayed relatively quiet while inside the Cradle, so there was nothing more to say.

The reason the Cradle could become this quiet wasn’t because I blindly believed in the original storyline of the game, but because I trusted in the power of Olga Hermod.

No matter how much the future changed, people didn’t.

As long as Olga Hermod remained strong, the Cradle was an impregnable fortress.

She was one of the only three officially recognized Archmages of the current era. That kind of power couldn’t be ignored.

She was someone with the knowledge and skill to create entirely new magic.

A reason to attack the Cradle even while ignoring all those factors.

I looked over at Yuna, who was staring blankly into the distance.

She was someone connected in some way to the figure named Charybdis Saloth.

If all of this was a scheme centered around Charybdis, designed by the Great Sage, then it was highly likely that Yuna was the target.

If that was the case, did the Great Sage discover the identity of Safe Clown?

And was that why they had decided to eliminate Yuna, who could become a threat, ahead of time?

“Haah…”

I couldn’t afford to overlook any of it.

An attack on the Cradle was almost a certainty now.

I couldn’t just make excuses and run away to some safer place on my own.

It wasn’t about guilt. Under Chain was watching me closely as well. Given what had happened with Melana, they were likely keeping a very close eye on me.

In that kind of situation, escaping far from the Cradle alone? That would make me an easy target.

In the end, it meant I would have to face this upcoming attack from inside the Cradle.

The one bit of relief in all this was that Olga Hermod’s protection, compared to last year, was now nothing short of outstanding.

“Well, I guess I should start gathering some information…”

It was time to reconsider the connection between Yuna, Charybdis Saloth, and Under Chain.

And to find the answer, the first step was—

“Ah! Johan, where are you going?”

“Just going to see the headmistress for a bit. Want to come with me, Yuna?”

“…Hmm, I’ll pass. Unless there’s a specific reason, I’d rather not see her. It’s uncomfortable.”

Well, that made sense. Olga Hermod had subdued Yuna so easily.

For someone as free-spirited as Yuna, it was no surprise that she didn’t want to run into her.

I figured that would be the case.

***

Olga Hermod readily accepted my request for a meeting.

As soon as I stepped inside, the fragrant scent of black tea reached my nose.

At that moment, I could tell. Olga Hermod knew I would come.

Her reaction made that obvious.

Olga Hermod had at least met with Charybdis Saloth.

I had figured as much, considering Charybdis was a war hero and it looked like I’d been right.

“Which question would you like to ask first?”

“Hmm, I see.”

She didn’t shy away from my questions.

That part, I especially liked. It meant there wouldn’t be any unnecessary beating around the bush or attempts to deceive me.

“First of all, how are the Cradle’s defenses holding up? To be honest, I’m feeling a bit uneasy. As you know, I’m rather… fragile.”

“For a student, I’d say you’re in pretty good shape, Johan… Though, understandably, it’s easy to feel small next to some of the others.”

“Right?”

See? I wasn’t out of shape.

Even the Archmage certified it.

“To be honest, I’ve been struggling with this as well. Things have been developing so blatantly that I requested the Imperial Knights be dispatched to us.”

“They must’ve rejected it.”

“Yes. The reason given was that they couldn’t afford to tie the Imperial Knights down to one place. In reality, they’re already being sent all over the place.”

She wasn’t wrong.

When you hear “Imperial Knights”, you might imagine stiff-necked types too proud to move, but in truth, they were more like human butchers who lived on the battlefield. They were brutes constantly itching for a fight.

In other words, they were doing their jobs very diligently.

“Then, is there no other support coming?”

“Unfortunately, most of what we received was more or less useless. Still, I accepted it all for now. I suppose I’ll just convert it into money later and hand it out as scholarships to the students who are working hard.”

“Is there really a need? Doesn’t a fair amount of money already come down from above?”

“I plan to give it out personally to students I find promising.”

Could she mean me?

“It won’t be you, Johan, so don’t get ahead of yourself.”

“I figured.”

Well, it was true I didn’t have good grades or a strong work ethic.

The only notable thing I’d done was the development of the Elixir for the Archmage’s Disease, but that was still incomplete and the manufacturing process was far from perfect. So there hadn’t been any concrete rewards yet.

“So in the end, protecting the Cradle will fall to me and the faculty.”

“How reassuring.”

This academy was doomed.

“Still, I hope you’ll at least know that I’ve made my own preparations. You can rest easy. As long as you keep your head down, no one will get hurt.”

“…….”

What incredible confidence.

Well, I didn’t know what she was preparing, but it had to be better than me stumbling around trying to help.

Unless she said she was going to sit around doing nothing like someone with no sense of danger, the fact that the Archmage herself was taking measures was enough for me.

“Then…”

“You’re probably going to ask about Charybdis Salos next, aren’t you? After that, his relationship with student Yuna.”

“…You’re spot on.”

“Are you worried about student Yuna?”

“I can’t exactly say I’m not.”

“I see.”

Olga Hermod gave me her usual warm smile.

Every time, I felt that Olga Hermod was a genuinely good person.

“This might end up being a bit of a long story. I should probably start by telling you what kind of person Charybdis Salos is.”

“Is it important?”

“Well… just think of it as me rambling. If I only gave you the conclusion, my old comrade would come off as nothing but a bad person.”

“Wasn’t he a bad person?”

“He was.”

She let out a dry laugh.

And a sigh.

“But not everyone starts out bad. I’d like someone to understand that, at least.”

“Does that someone have to be me?”

“You’re student Yuna’s friend, aren’t you?”

“…Are you asking me to tell this to Yuna?”

“That’s up to you, student Johan. It’s not really something I should interfere with.”

Olga Hermod set down the teapot and laid out the refreshments.

“You don’t have any afternoon classes, do you?”

“Well, even if I did, I’d skip them.”

“That’s quite the student-like attitude.”

She actually laughed at my bold declaration of skipping class.

And just like that, the conversation began.

***

Charybdis Salos was a mage who had the awakened ability of “waves”.

He was called the Mage of Waves because the variations of magic he created using his awakened ability were exceptionally skilled.

He was the cleaner of the battlefield.

The wall of fire he conjured swept through enemy lines like a tidal wave, and instead of pure white foam, only pitch-black charcoal filled the space where the wave passed.

“Damn it……”

“Shouldn’t you be used to this by now, Charybdis?”

Olga Hermod and Charybdis Salos were among the longest-surviving conscripts drafted from the common folk.

As a result, they had no choice but to grow stronger, and in doing so, they lost many comrades.

In exchange, the two became exceptional mages.

It was a result earned only after massacring at least thousands of people.

“I heard a scream.”

“It was your imagination.”

Olga Hermod had grown accustomed to killing people by then, but Charybdis had not.

He had nightmares every night.

He carried guilt for those he had killed.

Back then, Olga Hermod considered Charybdis to be far more human than herself.

While Olga Hermod had become hardened and worn down by war, Charybdis remained the same.

And that kind of tender heart was a fast way to get oneself killed.

Then one day—

“Haa… Here we go again.”

When Olga Hermod heard news of Charybdis’s desertion, she began searching for him. It wasn’t surprising; he often deserted, since he couldn’t bear the weight of his guilt.

Fortunately, Charybdis Salos was found in a village not far away.

However, he appeared quite differently than she had expected.

“…What happened here?”

Olga Hermod had assumed Charybdis would be alone, screaming in guilt as usual.

But what she found was Charybdis inside a small cabin, covered in blood and gasping for breath.

There were three corpses nearby.

They must have been the owners of the cabin.

“Ha… Hahaha! Damn it… I guess I’ve piled up too much karma.”

“……”

Olga Hermod examined the three bodies lying on the ground. They appeared to be a family, and it looked like they had been strangled to death.

It wasn’t hard to understand the situation.

“We really have gotten famous, haven’t we? Olga Hermod.”

“More likely, word’s just spread about how often you desert.”

“They should’ve handled me under military law.”

“Indeed.”

According to Imperial law, desertion during wartime was punishable by death. However, Charybdis’s power was far too valuable to be discarded that way.

And so, they always ended up sending Olga Hermod to retrieve him like this.

There was nothing more troublesome for her, but for Charybdis, it was a living hell.

“They looked like an ordinary family.”

“So it seems.”

“I stumbled across this cabin and asked if I could stay the night. They agreed without hesitation. I thought they were good people, but then they tried to kill me.”

“…That’s a common tactic.”

“One of them was still a child. And even that kid tried to kill me!”

“The Empire uses child soldiers too. You should’ve been more careful.”

“The old bastard didn’t even die quietly. He struggled and thrashed around like an animal. That’s how things ended up like this.”

“Haa…”

Olga Hermod rubbed her eyelid as if she were exhausted. Keeping someone in the army who should’ve been discharged long ago…of course it would lead to mental breakdowns.

From her perspective, Charybdis already looked close to his breaking point.

“Who were they, and why did they try to kill me? How long had they been lying in wait?”

“No idea.”

“For them to hate me that much, it must be karma catching up to me… but I’ve done so much wrong, I can’t even tell anymore. Kuhuhu…”

Charybdis staggered to his feet.

He had killed people that day.

It wasn’t like the usual massacres, where he swung his staff and slaughtered hundreds. This time, it was just three people. But this killing took place far closer than any before…both physically and emotionally.

“Olga.”

“Yes.”

“We’re all going to die. Karma always comes back around eventually.”

“That may be true. I’ve never expected to die peacefully, either.”

“Then do you think I’ll be able to accept that?”

“……”

“Even someone like me, who flailed so pathetically just to survive in moments like this? I won’t run anymore. I’ve realized I’m afraid to die.”

From that day on, Charybdis did not run, just as he had said.

Each time, he was crushed by guilt and fell deeper into sickness.

And one day—

The war ended.

***

After the war, Charybdis was plagued by paranoia.

He reacted with extreme sensitivity to everyone who approached him, constantly trembling in fear.

He was afraid of strangers.

That fear was as immense as the karma he carried, and he sometimes failed to overcome it. He attacked people, and in the worst cases, he even killed them.

And he was tormented by guilt.

He bowed and begged forgiveness from those he had killed out of fear.

Yet the Empire never imprisoned him.

On the contrary, they granted him a title, gave him a luxurious mansion, servants, and even pushed him to make public appearances regularly.

The war was over, but the time still called for a deterrent.

Charybdis couldn’t disobey the Emperor because he knew he feared death.

Yes, it was always the same.

“You think… you think I’ll just lie down and die for you bastards?!”

Once again, driven by his madness, he grew suspicious, attacked, and killed.

It was a young man. And when the man’s wife tried to protect him, she met the same fate.

And there—

She was there.

“……”

The pink-haired girl watched as her parents were brutally murdered.