By Zephyria 
Another festival came to Merzel Academy after the end of the joint training.
After this festival period, they would go through a short but long vacation and move up from the 1st grade to the 2nd grade. The children looked back on themselves, who had grown one step further through their efforts, and were filled with anticipation for the festival and the next semester.
Here, Tom Simyurel was the same.
‘I’m becoming a 2nd grader soon!’
Looking back, a lot has happened in the meantime. Raymond, who accepted him as a friend even though he spoke in a slightly strange way. Herman, who was sometimes picky but righteous and kind.
Meeting those two people in the first place was probably lucky.
After that, he was able to make many friends….
If it weren’t for them, wouldn’t he have remained a student who was just timid on his own?
‘I’ll be able to have fun in the 2nd grade too, right?’
Raymond, Herman, and even Zeon and Ardian. He had a feeling that he would continue to have fun with them as he did now. But his expectant heart didn’t last long.
Why do bad things come so suddenly?
“I was going to keep quiet, but I thought you guys would keep looking for him, so I’ll tell you in advance here. Raymond seems to be unable to attend classes for the time being because his physical condition is not good.”
Tom felt that something had begun to go wrong. He didn’t know what it was. An unknown anxiety crept in, and Tom began to worry about Raymond at Polargehen’s words that his physical condition was not good.
That was not only Tom himself.
Herman, Ardian, and Zeon too.
Everyone’s expressions were not good, as if they had never heard of it before.
“Is Lord Raymond’s condition very bad? Why?”
Ibelia broke the heavy silence and opened her mouth. He had been fine until recently, so it was understandable that she had questions. Polargehen swallowed a groan as if it was difficult to answer, then continued.
“It’s because of a constitutional problem. I don’t know the details, but his body is not properly handling the Black Mana Heart. So, he’s holed up, saying he’s going to find a way.”
The children whispered at the unfamiliar story. Since not much was known about the Black Mana Heart, few people properly understood how serious this situation was.
And….
Ardian, one of the few people who clearly felt the seriousness of this situation, was lost in deep thought, and Zeon, anxious with worry, left the lecture hall as soon as the class ended.
After that, the place Zeon headed to was the Longcrew Library, where Raymond’s presence was strongly felt.
☠
There was nothing. I still couldn’t find a way.
I sighed softly as I searched every corner of the Longcrew Library. The range of books I could access had increased dramatically since becoming a Red Class, but I couldn’t find any meaningful information within them.
‘Was I expecting too much in the first place?’
There was almost nothing known about the Black Mana Heart among humans, so I was currently thinking, would a library that compiled the information of such humans be any different?
The pain caused by the Mana Heart, which was struggling, was getting worse, so it was a difficult situation because I didn’t have much time.
I groaned and rubbed my head.
‘If I look for information related to Gilbert, there might be an answer in it… but all the deep information related to that guy seems to be accessible only after becoming a Black Class.’
It was when I was lost in such thoughts.
It was during the time when classes were in full swing, so I felt a presence hurriedly entering the quiet library. When I turned around, a familiar face was standing there. It was Zeon.
“Raymond!”
Zeon, who found me, came running over in a hurry. He came to my side, who was sitting on the second floor reading a book, and fidgeted, looking at my face or carefully holding my hand.
I quietly watched Zeon like that before saying one word.
“Zeon. You must be quiet in the library.”
Then, a complaining voice returned instead.
“Is that important right now?! By the way, where’s Corso?”
“I told him not to follow me because he was annoying, so he’s not here. He was being stubborn, so I threatened to say something to Ardian, and only then did he listen.”
Wasn’t it uncomfortable that the lord he had to follow and the person he had to protect were separate? Well, I was sorry to Corso, but it was also uncomfortable for me to search for information in a situation where someone was watching, so I couldn’t help it.
Zeon nodded as if he understood, then soon drooped his eyebrows.
“What on earth is going on? I heard you were sick.”
It seemed he had already heard the story I had told Polargehen. When I thought about it, I didn’t seem to have told Zeon anything about my physical condition. I turned my gaze back to the book and said.
“If I can’t find a way to control the Black Mana from going berserk, I’ll die.”
“…What?!”
“It’s too much of a burden to endure with this body. Humans are such weak creatures.”
And that was the truth. I was just explaining the truth to him because he asked what was going on. But Zeon was quite shocked and made a hurt face again.
“Don’t say you’re going to die with such… a nonchalant face.”
He looked like he was about to shed tears at any moment, so I couldn’t say anything. I felt like I had done something wrong for some reason. I looked around and put my hand on top of his head and patted it after a while.
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep looking for a way.”
It was because I felt like I had to give him some comfort like this.
Zeon raised his eyebrows that he had been lowering, and our eyes met. I was not avoiding his gaze as he was looking at me without saying anything, when suddenly, I felt an abnormality.
“……!”
Zeon also felt the abnormality, and his eyes flashed for a moment before he looked up at the sky. If I wasn’t mistaken… the Barrier that surrounded the entire academy, which only reacted to Fiends, fluctuated for a moment.
‘Could it be.’
Was there a Fiend that had directly invaded the academy, which was no different from an enemy camp? If it was Ramble, it meant that there was someone else who had given it Space Transition, but that intention was too unclear at this point, and if it was Balkan, who could use Space Transition directly, it would be a foolish act.
I thought it didn’t make sense, but that absurd thing happened before my eyes. The Fiend that had used Space Transition to come all the way into the Longcrew Library revealed its appearance.
“I have been looking for you.”
The identity of the Fiend that had appeared in front of me with a polite attitude was Balkan. As Zeon quickly took a defensive stance, the children who felt something strange at the strange commotion also looked this way and began to scream.
The Longcrew Library was very spacious, but the location where I was sitting was the front, facing the entrance of the library, so it was easily noticeable to the eyes of the children coming and going.
“What’s your business? You have a lot of nerve showing up like this.”
“I came to see you because there is something I must tell you.”
Balkan, undeterred by my sarcasm, approached step by step. Zeon, ready to pounce at any moment, manipulated his Mana, and only then did Balkan stop approaching and continue speaking.
“It’s useless to try and find Gilbert’s case for reference.”
“……!”
“Let me give you a piece of advice. If you can’t endure it with a human body, then discard the human body. Don’t think too hard about it. And I’m here to help you with that.”
I don’t know what he’s talking about.
But one thing is clear.
How does this Balkan, whom I’m meeting for the first time, know my situation so well? Especially since Balkan appeared not long after the story was conveyed to Polargehen and spread among the children.
Just as strong suspicion was taking root in my mind, the ceiling of the Longcrew Library began to shake. It seemed to be shaking from the influence of something external.
“Seek out the ancient races. I have clearly delivered the message.”
It was when Balkan muttered in a composed tone, unfazed by the anomaly.
Patzzut!
Someone appeared with a flash of Space Transition. And I could understand why the Longcrew Library was shaken. That someone was Cloud, who had appeared already using Lightning God Summons.
He seemed quite wary of his previous mistake, suppressing Balkan without any mercy. He didn’t even think of taking him as a prisoner, blowing his head off in one go, so the commotion that had arisen subsided relatively quickly.
Balkan didn’t put up much resistance until that happened.
I realized that he had really come to the enemy lines, prepared to give up his life, just to deliver those words.
‘But why….’
Around that time, Cloud, having released Lightning God Summons and returned to his original state, looked back at us only after confirming that Balkan was dead.
“Are you okay? Did anything happen?”
“…I’m fine. But was it okay not to take him as a prisoner?”
“Ha, it can’t be helped. It would be too dangerous if this guy did the same thing as the last Balkan on campus. There’s a limit to what I can protect, too.”
That’s true.
It was when I got up for a moment, watching Cloud trying to collect even the corpse. Suddenly, my vision spun. I saw Cloud turning to me and trying to say something, but my consciousness fading came first.
“Raymond!”
“…Hey!”
I felt a pain as if the inside of my chest was tearing apart and sank into darkness.