Chapter 77. Rival (1)

Weekly Chapter (6/7)

There was a square with a fountain in the center of Rigveda.

Unlike other large towns, it was not possible to have a large military parade there.

At most five or six carriages could pass at the same time.

Lilith looked out the window.

She had never seen such expensive surroundings in Rigveda as the square had.

In front of the fountain was the branch of the Magical Society of Eternia.

There were some black carriages bearing the Eternian seal parked there.

Lilith’s desire was awakened.

Even a stay in Rigveda’s most expensive mansion didn’t mean much to her.

Since her teenage years Lilith had wanted to enter Eternia.

Soon, she might be able to get it.

She wondered when would be the day she would use that carriage.

She closed her eyes to imagine that day.

When she opened her eyes again, she was confronted with stark reality.

“Haa.”

She couldn’t put off what she had to do because she was lost in her dreams.

The desk was littered with letters from the Empire.

She sat down at the desk.

These letters had arrived at the Empire embassy next to the mansion.

Lilith opened the cards one by one to answer.

Although she was tired, she could not ignore them.

She knew their intentions.

She could intuit this because of the gender of the people who sent these letters.

Nine out of ten were men.

They pretended to show their sincere support for her admission to Eternia.

Lilith knew this. If she had been a man in this situation, she would never have received these letters of support. These men only planned to build a close relationship with Lilith, to try to obtain her beautiful body.

Most men were predictable.

They had never conquered Lilith’s heart. And they never would.

Just as Lilith finished her response to the fifth Prince, someone knocked on the office door.

Knock knock

“Come in.”

It was the leader of the knights.

He politely greeted Lilith, then reported,

“I found no trace of the masked one.”

She nervously swallowed. Her order did not have a good result.

But Lilith calmly replied.

“Alright. You can go.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll send more knights to look for him…”

“That man is not the enemy. I’ve simply been unlucky.”

She let the knight leader go.

Her damaged self-esteem had long since recovered as she wrote the replies to the letters. There was no need to overreact to this.

She didn’t know if the man was a student or a future student like her, but she was sure she would see him again someday in Eternia.

She also didn’t know how much power this man had. Swords did not rule the world because politics was what made the world go round.

The Emperor who ruled the Empire didn’t even know how to fight.

Even if she wasn’t the best at magic, she was confident that she would be a valuable connection within Eternia.

She was sure the man would regret ignoring her.

***

He was followed by some people after he nabbed the robbers.

He did not want to be identified, so he took off his mask and put on a cape to cover himself completely.

After his wooden sword returned to the shape of a sapling, he bought medicinal herbs to camouflage it.

Fortunately, he was able to reach the Magical Society without mishap.

Sylverine saw him outside the building.

“Didn’t I tell you to go to Philine’s Blacksmith Shop?”

“No. I went there.”

“You didn’t end up in the wrong place and get ripped off?”

“……”

He handed her back the bag with the money.

She realized it was still heavy.

“And the sword?”

When he grabbed the sprout by the root, it transformed into a wooden sword.

Sylverine nodded with her arms crossed.

“You chose something suitable.”

“Then again, I had to change my appearance because things happened.”

“Really? Let’s get in the carriage. There are too many eyes in the square.”

He put the medicinal herbs in the back of a wagon, and got into the carriage with Sylverine.