Chapter 235

Chapter 235 - Two Kinds of Westerners

Tolan fell asleep in his private cabin.

Since even the people of Wisdom all lived in their own rooms, there was no one to disturb his sleep.

He was not someone the family had ever sought out much. There was no reason anyone on an Eastern ship would seek him out either.

He had just taught the Fifth Son’s Clone magic, but that was the end of it.

And yet, in his dream, the meeting with the Family Head that he had thought to be their last in the distant past took place once more.

“…What brings you here?”

[Tolan. My cousin.]

…Cousin? Had he been the Family Head’s cousin?

Although he was a collateral-branch blood relative, if one wanted to find a connection, one would probably have to go all the way back to their ancestors.

Even if they were close kin, the Family Head was absolutely not the sort of person who would mention such a thing.

Especially not to save face for a collateral branch.

[There is something you must do there.]

After “cousin,” what followed was, as expected, an order. The order had merely been delayed a little in sequence; nothing else was different.

[The daughter of my blood betrayed me, and the child I picked up from the filthy streets betrayed my grace.]

Frost clung to the Family Head’s voice.

[As a loyal servant of the family and a blood relative, your role is of great importance.]

“What do you want from me?”

In the surroundings filled with dark blue darkness, the Family Head gave his command from beyond it.

[The direction of Millesdusk’s first attack. If you tell us that direction, we can concentrate our forces at the nearby Tower of the Sky.]

“…Understood.”

[I will connect again in one week.]

“Family Head. There is something I wish to ask.”

Before he woke from the dream, Tolan continued speaking.

“If I tell you the direction, will the family accept me again?”

[Of course. To begin with, are you not a prisoner of Wisdom captured by Millesdusk? You have never left the West, so even saying we will accept you again is not quite correct.]

“…Thank you.”

It was benevolent to a degree that was hard to believe it was the Family Head speaking. That awkwardness strangely twisted his insides.

[I have great expectations for you. If you complete this task successfully, I will recommend you, Tolan, for a position educating mages in the Magic Tower.]

“I will do my best.”

[You are now a mage of Wisdom standing alone on the front line. Do not lose your pride or dignity.]

…He woke from the dream.

The dark blue darkness lifted, and when his eyes opened, he saw the ceiling of the private cabin.

“…….”

He raised himself and rubbed his throbbing head.

“…What good is a Magic Tower mage instructor position being offered? There is no way I can obtain such information.”

The Family Head must have known that fact as well. Even so, he had come all the way into his dream and delivered an order.

Tolan had a fair idea why.

“If it goes well, good. If it does not, there is nothing to be done. To you, Family Head, I am exactly that sort of being.”

A self-mocking laugh kept slipping out of his mouth. Even when he tried to stop it, he could not.

“In your eyes, I still look like a dog.”

In truth, it was only natural.

“It has been seventy years….”

Until the age of seventy, when Wisdom told him to roll, he rolled. When they told him to die, he pretended to die.

It was truly the sort of thing a dog would do, and he had done all sorts of things to somehow catch their eye.

It might have been fine to live that way when he was young, but now he was tired of it.

“If I have devoted myself to the family until this age, I have done more than enough. Now that things have come to this, is it not time I lived a new life?”

His had been a life of rubbing his palms together before the strong, flattering them, and surviving by doing so.

He did not think the future would be greatly different, but at least after retirement, he wanted it to be different.

So he went to find the former student who had escaped the West before him. It was shameless, but she was the closest path.

KNOCK KNOCK—

“Josephine. Are you there?”

The signs of movement inside came to an abrupt stop.

“I did not come to apologize, nor did I come for some personal matter. It is information that may be useful to the Fifth Son.”

CREAK—

The door slowly opened.

“…What is it?”

“The Family Head came into my dream.”

“…….”

“He came and told me to inform him of Millesdusk’s direction of advance. He said he would concentrate forces there.”

It was not something to discuss while leaving someone standing outside the door, but Josephine did not open the door completely.

“So?”

“I think we can use this. The Fifth Son will immediately understand what I mean.”

“You came to me because you want me to tell Dante in your place?”

Tolan nodded slightly.

“The Fifth Son will trust your words more, will he not?”

“Have you not considered that I might not trust your words?”

“You do not have to trust me. Just think about the treatment the family will give me when I return to the West, and the eyes of the mages.”

“…….”

The wariness in her blue eyes lowered slightly.

A collateral-branch blood relative who volunteered to become a Pursuer and boldly stepped forward to catch the family’s traitor.

It had been the last desperate struggle of an old man trying to catch the family’s eye, but the result was failure. He had even been taken prisoner.

Because of him, the Communications Unit had been destroyed, and in the chain of events that followed, even the Elixir had been taken.

It was obvious that all the arrows of blame would pour down on Tolan.

“The Family Head promised me a high position, but how long would that last? A year, perhaps. To the family, I am a dog to be used and thrown away.”

“So now you truly intend to come to the East?”

“In the East, at least they treat me as a person, not a dog. I came to find you so that I could erase the family name trailing after my name.”

CREAK—

The half-open door now opened completely.

Josephine, who walked out through that open door, spoke quietly.

“I have not forgiven you yet. And I have no intention of forgiving you in the future either.”

“I know. I am not shamelessly hoping for that.”

“I am only helping as a westerner who settled in the East before you.”

“…Thank you.”

Josephine pulled up the hood of her gray robe.

“Let us go to the Head Maid. She should know where Dante’s Clone is.”

***

Cos sat alone on a broad field of the Sky Island.

She held a cube in her hands, diligently twisting it instead of solving it with mana.

She herself was not the one who would solve the cube. Therefore, whenever she was not reading a book or sleeping, she kept twisting it.

Usually, she would have done this inside her room, but today, she had come outside.

Because there was someone—no, a dragon—she was waiting for.

SHWAAAAAAA—

At the sudden gust of wind, her bangs and robe fluttered fiercely backward.

The Sky Island was already a place with strong winds, but the appearance of this being raised their force by another level.

“Cos. You impudent human. It has been a while. By human standards, of course.”

A young man with long white hair swept back stood before her.

Having arrived with the gust, he showed a refreshing smile, like the wind from a moment ago.

“To think you, not your Family Head, summoned me here. I had not expected this.”

“Since you came, go to Pia. I only said I would summon you.”

“Pia? Your younger sister? She is no fun. Your younger brother is even worse.”

Unlike the talkative dragon, Cos rose from where she had been sitting and turned around as if it had nothing to do with her.

“You called me here first, and you will not play with me?”

“No.”

“That hurts.”

The Wind Dragon draped an arm over Cos’s shoulders as she walked.

“What am I supposed to do here? Why not at least tell me that?”

“I do not know much either. Only that Millesdusk is coming.”

“Millesdusk? That great family of the East?”

“Yes.”

The dragon, who was as uninterested in worldly affairs as Cos, laughed brightly.

“This should be fun for the first time in a while.”

“You may die.”

“Are you worrying about me? I am so grateful that tears are coming.”

The Wind Dragon stretched and loosened his body.

“So, you said I should go find your younger sister?”

“Yes.”

“But that light. Should you not go as well? Well, I know you intend to ignore it as usual.”

The Wind Dragon pointed at the sky.

A light had been fired into the sky from the center of the Sky Island. It carried the same meaning as the light fired from the Magic Tower.

Cos, who had intended to do only what she had to do as usual, raised her head again and looked at the light.

“…Ventus. Please take me as well.”

“What is this? You are going too?”

“This time.”

“It is not difficult, but this is unusual.”

Wind Dragon Ventus placed his hand on Cos’s forearm.

“Hold on tight. It will be over in an instant.”

The Wind Dragon, famed as the fastest of all dragons, was like a single streak of wind.

Even in human form, he crossed the sky in an instant by using Wind-Attribute Magic.

At a speed fast enough that she almost dropped the cube in her hand, they arrived at the center of the island, the Center.

“To the top floor of that tower.”

“Understood.”

The Wind Dragon flew to the tower at the Center and thrust his hand forward.

BOOOOM—!

The gale that unfolded from his palm flung the window open.

When the two figures entered through the newly created door, both were people who could not be treated casually or looked upon lightly.

“Sorry. I came as soon as I saw it. I am a little late.”

The Wind Dragon said nothing, but his vertically slit pupils said everything for him.

“Lord Ventus, please go stand in some corner.”

“That is harsh treatment. Fine.”

He withdrew without complaint, and Cos looked over those present.

Pia, Ryan, the Master of the Tower of the Sky, and other important figures were all seated, looking at her with startled eyes.

However, there was no empty seat.

“My seat.”

“P-please sit here.”

The Master of the Tower of the Sky sprang to his feet and offered his seat.

“Not your seat. My seat.”

The Tower Master quickly glanced to the side. A sharp-eyed subordinate hurried out and brought back a chair.

“Th-this was the only proper chair we had….”

“It is fine.”

Cos sat beside Pia and Ryan.

“How far had you gotten?”

The Master of the Tower of the Sky, who had been guiding the meeting, cleared his throat and stood before the mages again.

“We were discussing the positions of the Towers of the Sky.”

“Continue.”

“U-understood.”

The Tower Master checked Pia’s expression, and she nodded faintly.

“Ahem. I will continue.”

SNAP—

The Master of the Tower of the Sky snapped his fingers.

Light entered the crystal orb at the center of the round table in the conference hall.

The light rising from it showed the Towers of the Sky deployed throughout Wisdom’s airspace.

“There are one hundred Towers of the Sky in total. As you all know, they are weapons that can defend the sky while simultaneously bombarding the ground. Furthermore, what we must decide is this.”

SNAP—

When he snapped his fingers once more, the light divided into two branches and formed two shapes.

“Should we deploy the one hundred towers evenly? Or should we concentrate their deployment according to Millesdusk’s direction of advance? That is the issue.”

Third Son Ryan spoke.

“If we do not know the direction of advance, is that not a meaningless issue?”

“That is correct. Therefore, we organized the Sky Mages into scouting units and sent them to the western neutral zone.”

Second Daughter Pia raised one hand.

“That is a good response, but even with that, it will be difficult. Millesdusk is likely to come by sky rather than by land, and if the weather creates many clouds, it will become difficult to confirm their movement.”

Around this point, Pia looked at Cos.

Since she had come all the way to the meeting, Pia wondered whether she had some thought, but Cos was only looking into the air.

Pia let out a faint sigh and spoke to her.

“Big Sister.”

“Yes?”

“Could you ask Lord Ventus to push away the clouds around our airspace?”

Hearing that, Cos only turned her head.

It was in the direction where the Wind Dragon was, and because her gaze was also a question, Ventus shrugged.

“It is not difficult. It is annoying, but Wisdom has given me things, after all. I will manage it once.”

The Master of the Tower of the Sky, Pia, and Ryan bowed deeply.

“Thank you, Wind Dragon.”

Since the topic of dragons had come up, the Third Son brought up what he had seen in the Empire.

“We also need to prepare a countermeasure against the Fire Dragon.”

“…Fire Dragon?”

The one who reacted to the Third Son’s words was the Wind Dragon, who had been about to withdraw from the conversation again.

Pia and Ryan met each other’s eyes for a very brief moment.

The Wind Dragon had taken the bait.

“There is a young Fire Dragon who serves the Fifth Son of Millesdusk as his master.”

“It may be nothing much to Lord Ventus, but to us humans, he is a difficult enemy.”

The Wind Dragon leaned against the outer wall and laughed brightly.

“It is an obvious trick, but I cannot help falling for it.”

With his arms crossed, he waved one hand.

“Fine, fine. I will play with the Fire Dragon, so you humans fight among yourselves.”