The Obsessive Regressor of The Academy

48. Sanctuary (2)

“Still looking at that?”

Irina said, blowing out a puff of cigarette smoke. She casually shoved aside a corpse rolling around by her feet, and approached Ena who was sitting on a rock, a faint smile gracing her lips as she read a letter. Ena cleanly ignored her.

Because the sentence written on the last line of Asel’s letter resonated perfectly with her.

[I miss you, Teacher.]

“Ugh, how cheesy.”

Irina mumbled, dropping her chin onto Ena’s shoulder. Ena pushed her face away, hard.

“Get lost. You smell like cigarettes.”

“Cigarette smell or whatever. You’re a goner, you know? How many times a day are you reading that letter? If Asel saw you like this, he’d be so disgusted he’d run screaming.”

“Asel wouldn’t.”

“What do you know.”

“What do *you* know? He’s my apprentice.”

Ena said this as she stood. She brushed the grit from her rear and turned her head towards the survey team emerging from the forest.

Weighed down by heavy armor, they seemed unconcerned with wiping the blood that stained them. A palpable stench of gore emanated from them as they approached the two Archmages.

The Empire’s knights, radiating an aura of austere order. The man at the very front removed his helmet and spoke.

“The remnants within the cave have been dealt with. The escaped demon worshippers…”

He deliberately trailed off. Instead of answering, Irina pointed the end of her smoking pipe at a corpse sprawled on the ground. It was enough. The knight nodded and ordered his men to gather the bodies into a pile. Then, using an ignition device, they burned them all.

Among the demon worshippers, those who used mana often bore the marks of ritualistic human sacrifice on their bodies. Leaving them be, or simply burying them, could sometimes lead to their resurrection through dark rituals. They had to be destroyed utterly.

Fortunately, Ena had already reduced several corpses to ash with her lightning, so the burning didn’t take long. The knight crushed the remaining bones underfoot, then turned.

The cremation of those who had died within the cave was also complete. No demon worshippers remained anywhere near the Empire’s borders.

These were the ones they had hunted down, even searching the lawless territories where nations held no sway. They had lived with blood staining their armor and blades for quite a while, so it seemed the need to be wary of demon worshippers would subside for the time being. Of course, he had no intention of letting his guard down.

Demon worshippers were the kind to appear again from anywhere at anytime . Even after being killed, they wouldn’t get completely eradicated, and there were even those with the ability to regenerate.

A tenacity that was tiresome and loathsome. A level of sheer stubbornness that even druids, who drew life from nature itself, would find overwhelming. A place swarming with such people would be a demon worshipping cult.

No matter how much cleaning they have done, they can’t be careless. Thinking so, the knight nodded slightly towards Ena and Irina.

“Thanks to your contribution, the subjugation was completed even faster than expected. As the representative of the special task force who was entrusted with this task, I would like to express my gratitude to Weiheim on behalf of the Empire.”

“Whatever. More importantly, can we go back now? I’m a little tired from killing the riffraff playing around Weiheim, then helping out here.”

Although Ena and Irina were currently in a lawless zone near the Empire, they hadn’t been there from the start.

Along with the wizards of Weiheim, they had been dealing with the riffraff around the city, and then, upon the Empire’s earnest request, only the two of them had been dispatched to help. They had received compensation, so they had handled the task, but they wished to go back home even a little bit sooner.

Both of them had a mountain of things to do back in Weiheim. Irina had to participate in a project being carried out by the League, and Ena wanted to see Asel’s face for a bit before leaving to search for information about the Gluttonous Demon.

Neither of them were free. Therefore, they openly expressed their desire to wrap things up.

The Empire’s assigned tasks were already complete, and there were orders not to offend the Archmages, so the knight readily nodded.

“Understood. Might you have any interest in attending a banquet being held by the Empire?”

“No.”

Ena answered. With a sour expression, she gathered the letter and adjusted the position of her slightly disheveled hat.

“…?”

That instant, she knew Acel was sending something to her.

A sudden connection. Ena felt the faint resonance of mana, the echo of a teleportation spell. And then, she smiled softly.

“Acel wants to come to me.”

She said, looking at Irina with a triumphant expression. Irina, as if to say ‘so what?’, puffed out smoke from her pipe.

“He said he wanted to see me, and it seems he couldn’t bear it. You were wrong.”

“What are you talking about? Didn’t you pester him?”

“No. Shut up.”

“Can’t you be nice to me like you are to Acel?”

“Become my disciple, then.”

“Creepy.”

Ena ignored Irina, who began to stroke her arm, and immediately responded to the magic Acel was sending. The subtle resonance sharpened, and Acel abruptly appeared before Ena, collapsing to the floor.

The heavy smell of blood overwhelmed them.

“Cough…! Urgh…!!”

Collapsing upon arrival, Acel gasped for breath, violently vomiting blood. The recoil from pretending to be okay in front of the necromancer, and the magic he forced into being, gnawed at his body. Blood streamed from his mouth and ears, and his pierced hands trembled.

“Swords out!”

The knights, mistaking Acel’s appearance for a surprise attack by a demon worshipper, drew their swords in unison. But Irina’s expression hardened fiercely as she projected mana towards them.

“Stay still. Unless you want to die.”

“Honorable Yeonhwa…!”

“It’s not what you think, so don’t move.”

Irina snapped, then assessed Acel’s condition.

“…Kgh… Ggrr…”

A half-severed ear. Clothes and face covered in blood. Chunks of organs smeared around his mouth. Savagely torn hands gushing blood and a shattered wrist. His upper and lower body dyed red from the blood pouring from his back.

With ordinary mental fortitude, he would have long since fainted from shock and died. It was strange that he was even alive.

Which was another way of saying, it wouldn’t be strange if he died at any moment.

Figuring out what had happened and where would come later. Irina quickly regained her composure and poured the recovery potion from her bosom all over Acel’s body. As she did, she shouted at Ena, whose lips were trembling.

“Ena!”

“Uh, uh…”

“Ena, you crazy b*tch! Get a grip and move! Are you going to let your disciple die?!”

Disciple. Death.

Those two words consumed Ena’s mind. Something that should never happen was crashing into reality.

Her blue eyes reflected Asel. A precarious figure teetering as if about to breathe his last. Just looking at him stole her breath and sent her mind into a frantic frenzy. All the reason of a grand mage was utterly useless. Her brain throbbed, and her tear ducts malfunctioned like broken things.

Where, where did she make a mistake? Did she err in the process of resonating with Asel’s magic? Or why was Asel so badly wounded? Where had he been, what had he been doing?

Why?

Why?

“Why?”

“Ena!”

The question was cut short by Irina’s voice. Irina grabbed Ena by the collar, forcing their gazes to meet head-on.

“I understand you’re shocked, but if you want to save your disciple, snap out of it. Unless you want to be weeping at his funeral!”

With Irina’s shout, the light returned to Ena’s pupils. The fog that had clouded her mind cleared, sharper than before. She bit down on her lower lip until it nearly split and threw her arms around Asel.

So cold. She could feel the life draining from him, a tangible certainty. Tears flowed from tear ducts she thought were long dried.

Ena, oblivious to the blood welling from her fiercely bitten lip, became a bolt of lightning and vanished with Asel.

“…Tch, damn it.”

Irina spat out the curse as she watched them disappear. Asel, a presence she’d grown fond of despite having no disciples of her own, had returned a corpse.

Rage simmered within her.

*

Her arrival was, as always, sudden.

Her movements as unpredictable as a lightning strike, coupled with a headstrong, self-assured personality. A peculiar human who would suddenly appear, demanding information about demons or the locations of discovered demon worshippers.

But her looks were rather adorable, and she’d glance at you apologetically when she genuinely got angry, making it impossible to completely dislike her. A mage, yet one who didn’t show animosity even toward the clergy, a unique type of long-lived being.

Ena Renatus.

Because of her, no one truly hated or disliked her, even when she burst through the Cathedral doors. Older clerics would often bring her cookies or cakes, chatting with her. The young and devout followers were the same.

So, during their prayers, they simply smiled wryly at the now familiar, even comforting, rumble of thunder.

As far as they knew, only one person could call down lightning from a clear sky.

As if to prove their guess, the prayer room door burst open, and Ena rushed inside. The Archbishop, who had been leading the prayers, was about to scold her with a smile, but he hurried towards her when he saw the young man cradled in her arms.

The commotion drew the eyes of all the worshippers praying, but Ena didn’t seem to notice their gazes as she cried out to the Archbishop, tears welling in her eyes.

“S-save him. He’s my disciple. Please, please save him. I’ll kill if you ask. I’ll destroy if you ask, so please…just save my disciple…”

“…Heavens.”

The Archbishop sighed in pity.

To think that Ena would show such a broken appearance. Even he, who prided himself on knowing her for so long, had never seen her in such a precarious state. That meant her disciple was more precious to her than anything else.

For someone who had acted as if she would live her whole life alone, having someone precious was something to celebrate.

But the circumstances were unfavorable. The Archibishop, having confirmed that priests with knowledge of medicine were approaching, examined Asel’s condition. Simultaneously, he manifested Divine Power.

Whoosh.

Golden energy blooming from his hands gently permeated Asel’s entire body. His ragged breathing gradually steadied, and some of the external wounds began to heal.

But it was not complete. The Archbishop sighed softly and spoke to Ena.

“He was attacked by a rather high-ranking necromancer. Because of that, it’s impossible for me to heal this brother completely with my current abilities. It seems we will have to monitor his progress for a few days, rotating our priests.”

“Does that mean he has to be admitted?”

“Yes. Fortunately, there are a few vacant rooms in the cathedral, so we can use those.”

“Ah, I understand. I’ll pay a hundred, even a thousand gold coins, just, just save Asel.”

“We will not accept money. It is simply our duty to heal when a patient is before us.”

The Archbishop spoke those words with genuine sincerity and instructed a sister to guide Asel and Ena to a clean, empty room. Ena, fidgeting anxiously, followed her into the room.

The sister removed Asel’s blood-soaked clothes, wiped the blood from his body, and dressed him in appropriate, pristine white garments. Then, she gently laid him on the bed.

“I will remain here in case of any unforeseen circumstances. Is that alright with you?”

The sister asked as she covered Asel with a blanket. Ena nodded once, took Asel’s cold hand in both of hers, and pressed her skin and lips to it, as if trying to infuse it with her own warmth.

Not stopping there, she moved her hands to his forehead, cheeks, and neck, continuing to transfer warmth. Until tears fell steadily, pooling on the floor. Until Asel regained consciousness.

For a long time.