Youngest 156
by CristaeEpisode 156
Something… feels off.
Crossing the Academy grounds, Rosetta Zevert thought to herself.
In one hand, she held a speed magic device she’d slyly taken from Balok’s luggage some days before.
Finding Ruby’s presentation is a hundred times more important than minding the house!
Of course, of course.
She had always wanted to be someone like a jack-in-the-box, a person full of surprises.
She liked being a source of unexpected joy after a moment of heart-pounding tension.
For a while, she’d only wanted to share that happiness with Leviathan…
But lately, she wanted to bring a little bit more joy to her daughter.
“Hm, Father seems to be near the lakeshore… Where could Ruby be? Hehe. If I pop out of nowhere, her eyes will get so perfectly round, won’t they?”
She turned, steps bouncing with excitement—when a familiar back caught her eye.
Gasp, secondary target sighted!
Eyes crinkling mischievously, she crept up to deliver a surprise—
Deng deng deng deng.
An urgent bell chimed out, its meaning clear.
Emergency bells? What…
Her gentle face went rigid.
“Leviathan!”
At last, Rosetta seized Leviathan’s arm, spinning him around.
“…Rose?”
“You…”
She was startled.
Leviathan’s face was pale as death itself. Looking closer, his breathing was rough and uneven.
As though he’d been frantically searching, tearing around.
Rosetta’s heart plummeted.
“What happened?”
“Ruby…”
The usually low and even voice was ragged, torn.
“We have to find Rubian.”
“…”
“She… magic…”
A shaky breath escaped him. Leviathan buried his head in his massive hands.
Between his fingers, a shabby little ribbon was tightly clutched.
“She’s… she’s the mage the Mage Kingdom is after…”
“…”
Rosetta seized up, his words sinking in after a long, delayed beat.
“…What? What are you…”
“I’m sorry. Let’s find Ruby first—I’ll explain later. For now…”
“…”
Rosetta’s face cooled, her expression settling into quiet.
She nodded, sharply, decisively.
“Alright.”
Now wasn’t the time for explanations.
Now was the time to move.
“Let’s go.”
She snatched a bow and quiver from knights patrolling nearby.
The two of them began searching every place the children might be searching for treasure.
But Rubian was nowhere to be found.
The signs were not good.
Then, out of the corner of her eyes, Rosetta spotted a familiar face.
“The Fourth Prince?”
Licht, running in some direction, turned, catching his breath.
“Duchess Zevert.”
“What’s happening?”
Without hesitation, Leviathan stepped forward.
“An intruder has entered the Academy.”
“An intruder?”
“It seems… she may be a mage. I need reinforcements…”
“…!”
The couple exchanged glances.
Boom!
Just then, a thunderous roar came from the direction of the library.
With a foreboding air, an unnatural, bestial cry—never to be heard in this place—split the sky.
“A magical beast…?”
Leviathan’s mind went blank.
Before he realized it, he was already running, a gale incarnate.
Not again.
Never again!
He refused to relive such nightmares.
Pant, pant.
I was fleeing in a blind panic.
The Second is absolutely insane.
Out of her mind!
How could she just take the Magic Beast Sealing Stone?!
Even wanting to save herself, this was too much!
Break that, and a sealed high-tier magical beast wakes up! She had to know that would turn everything to ruin!
Yikes.
My foot caught and I slipped, but I sprang back to my feet like a tumbler and kept running.
I was crossing the low rise behind the central library, an untidy stretch of hazel and ginkgo trees.
The Mage King’s magic…
He had taken over the Second’s body.
I’d finally been caught.
He’d realized the Second had come to Babylon on her own!
By moving my magic, I barely escaped the Second’s grip, but he managed to break the Magic Beast Sealing Stone from her possession.
Iglhius!
Two advanced magical beasts tore through the library ceiling, erupting into the air.
In the chaos, I bolted out the back route behind the library.
Just… I need to get away.
Thank goodness the old archive’s existence hadn’t been discovered.
That place, with its mysterious magic—Professor Yuliophe guards it, and countless Babylon scholars risked their lives to preserve its records.
Boom!
“Eep!”
The distant crash of a collapsing building nearly made my legs buckle.
At this rate, the Academy would be destroyed!
I scurried behind a huge tree and crouched down.
The comm circuit was still sputtering with static.
I knew it was Khalid, but I was doing all I could to block the link.
The Mage King was nearby.
I pressed my palms hard over my ears. My whole body trembled.
If I called Khalid, he’d be found out as a mage!
That, I would never allow.
The thought of that terrible crest being branded onto him—I absolutely, positively could not stand it.
“…!”
At that moment,
A nasty, guttural animal cry rang out, sending a chill up my spine.
A magical beast!
I tucked myself as tightly as I could behind the tree.
Iglhius is sensitive to sound… as long as I’m quiet…
Luckily, even a high-tier magical beast found it hard to manifest its power in this area, where the ambient magic was thin.
Its senses should be dulled, too.
Go away.
Rustle.
There was a prickling energy—a beast approached.
My heart hammered. My breath sawed in my chest.
Rustle.
The beast howled, slashing its claws. The tree right beside me shattered with a crunch.
Sca—mmph.
I clapped my hands over my own mouth.
Don’t say you’re scared.
It’s fine. It’s fine. It’s fine.
I’d fought Iglhius before, the one that wields fire. Sure, it burned most of my hair off back then…
A battlefield…
Was this a battlefield?
Could it be…
The war is not over yet?
For a moment, the thought crossed my mind.
Nonsense!
I shook my head hard and rummaged in my pocket. A couple of acorns.
I gripped them tight, ready to throw, hoping to lure it away by sound.
I peeked out and moved my arm—
“There you are.”
“…!”
A hand seized the scruff of my neck.
“My seventh. My precious child.”
Preoccupied with the magical beast, I’d failed to sense the Second’s presence closing in from the other side.
I struggled to break free as she tried to sling me over her shoulder.
“Let go…!”
“That’s enough adventure for today.”
The chilling surge of magic.
I squeezed my eyes shut. She looked just like the Second, but her strength and air were utterly different.
Not the Mage King himself. Just a fragment of his power. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be scared!
I tried to believe it, but I couldn’t stop the cold sweat from streaming down.
“No!”
My magic watch spun, and I concentrated all my power to launch a counter-spell.
Boom!
A tremendous roar rocked the earth.
Suddenly, a billowing cloud of pale smoke burst skyward, and through it, a huge hand shot out at the Second’s neck.
“What—!”
With a beast’s reflexes, the Second dodged.
Crunch, crunch.
A long shadow cut through the haze.
“Rubian.”
“…!”
That low, familiar voice.
“So you were off chasing treasure… turns out you were the treasure Dad was searching for.”
As if in a dream, my vision blurred. Dad was there, looking at me, smiling faintly.
“I finally found you, our family’s treasure.”