Seeker of First Light - Chapter 29
Chapter 29
That was the final step of the ritual. Originally, it was what Sol Noctis should have done. However, everything he demonstrated appeared to skip the intermediate stages of the ritual and proceed directly to the final step.
As the intense and potent magic subsided, Naskan’s previously tied-up hair came loose. His long, vibrant blue hair swirled in a tempestuous display of unstoppable mystical energy.
It was a flawless conclusion, accompanied by a splendid performance.
“Whooaa!”
“Did the ceremony end a little early?”
“Thank you! Thanks to you, I will enjoy the festival even more!”
Despite Naskandeolux, the Dawn Dragon, making an unexpected appearance as the stand-in representative for the ceremony in Sedition, and despite deviating from the usual procedures, no one found it peculiar.
Everyone was awestruck by the overwhelming display of magnificent and powerful power of destruction exhibited by the Dawn Dragon, the rightful successor of the Lord of the Divine Realm. The intensity of his magic emanation left most spectators speechless, unable to even utter a single exclamation.
What he did wasn’t intended to cover up Sol Noctis’ part.
Before the observers could even realize it, the cracks that had just begun to form were swiftly sealed shut.
There was only one way to close the crack.
…A way to forcefully seal the space, preventing the cracks from widening any further.
Similar to mending broken pieces of pottery, an abundance of concentrated magical energy was employed to seal the cracks. Although it was somewhat rudimentary, immense amounts of mana were required to fill even the tiniest crack.
This was also why Twilight, lacking magical abilities, was never assigned missions involving interdimensional rifts.
“Wow! Dawn!”
The ceremony, which was shorter than ever, ended with tremendous shouts.
“Dawn! You’re so cool!”
“As expected, he is the next Lord of the Divine Realm!”
Thanks to the performance by Naskan, who is always the main character.
With the ceremony concluded, the inhabitants of Sedition would soon immerse themselves in the festivities for the following days. Amidst the bustling crowd, Chryselua hurried towards the designated location for the ritual.
The existence of a rift in Sedition seemed unbelievable, but it wasn’t her responsibility to address the crack in the first place.
Now, Chryselua was more concerned about other things.
Sol Noctis.
‘…That, no matter how I look at it, is because of me.’
Why hadn’t she thought of it before?
Merely increasing the dosage of the drug didn’t guarantee amplified effects. In certain cases, severe side effects would manifest instead. The peculiar behavior exhibited by Sol Noctis was undoubtedly a result of the drug’s side effects. There was no other plausible explanation.
She had been recklessly using drugs that tampered with memories, naively assuming that it would merely erase a few more of his memories.
If she had known it would escalate into such a significant issue, she would have found a way to manage or persuade him through words instead of resorting to memory erasure and concealment, even if she couldn’t fathom how or which words she would employ to convince him that they had all been together intimately on that day.
After a brisk sprint, Chryselua arrived beneath the altar and scanned her surroundings in search of Sol Noctis.
To her surprise, she discovered a large gathering of fairies.
“Gasp!”
“Why are you so surprised? Twilight.”
“What. Why did you guys follow me?”
The Skylte trainees were pouring in.
“Ah, I just followed you, hoping you’ll take us somewhere fun because you were running in a hurry.”
“Yepp. That’s right.”
With their eccentric tone, they were already holding one or two snacks in their hands as if they really wanted to have fun. Even while talking to her, their pronunciation jumbled as if they were eating some grilled skewers. They even held a skewer with meat still hanging from it.
“I wondered if it was because of that little crack earlier.”
“What. Did you see it too?”
“Yes. Dawn handled it nicely.”
They were really odd guys. She doesn’t know why they rank the lowest among the twelve platoons despite having such good eyes.
“Well… If you’re going to follow me, follow me.”
Walking around the altar, Chryselua quickly spotted Sol Noctis.
Naturally, Sol Noctis was already a target for the fairies with good eyesight.
“If you had good eyes, you would have seen it. It was a crack.”
“If it hadn’t been for Dawn, how the hell would this have ended… It is terrifying to think about.”
Around the pale Sol Noctis, three or four fairies stood and sneered. They might just be municipal servants though judging from the cloaks and shoulder decorations they were wearing, they were quite high-ranking people.
“For a sanctuary like Sedition to have a crack is outrageous. As expected, did someone do something crazy today?”
“How dare you serve as the representative of the parent tree and hold the ceremony in that way?”
Fairies always had to be perfect. If they don’t do that, they’ll get treated like this.
“You shouldn’t trust the dry branch.”
“This is something that can be disposed of immediately.”
Moreover, such a fairy was the type Chryselua hated the most.
After thinking deeply for a short time, she gestured behind her back and gave them a look to help.
“Hey, guys. Now. What we promised.”
She originally intended to solve problems with Axen Arc, but she did not know that she would ask for a favor in this case.
“….”
The trainees of the Skyte faction remained unresponsive, showing no inclination to offer assistance.
Chryselua tightly shut her eyes.
If they were to lay blame on Sol Noctis not only for disrupting the ceremony but also for being the root cause of the rift, the situation would escalate unfavorably.
It was evident that the fairies would seize this opportunity to discredit and undermine Sol Noctis through political maneuvering. She had only used the drug once, but she was unaware of the unpleasant consequences it would entail like this.
However, just as Chryselua resigned herself to the trainees’ unhelpfulness, a voice suddenly reached her from ahead.
“…By talking about the honor of the parent tree, aren’t you actually encroaching on the authority of the parent tree?”
“If you want him to be punished, tell the parent tree what happened today and wait for the official punishment.”
‘Huh…? Are you really on my side?’
The voice startled her, causing her eyes to widen, and to her surprise, the trainees had positioned themselves in front of her. Gripping their meat skewers like makeshift swords, they confronted the hostile fairies who were antagonizing Sol Noctis.
The fairies laughed.
“Who is this? Aren’t they the 2nd losers?”
“There’s a crack in the sanctuary because of that guy, can you cover it up?”
“What, a crack because of that guy?”
Twenty people giggled in unison, so the fairies’ faces blushed brightly. They were high-ranking fairies, and in Sedition, the side was the strongest.
“The cause of the crack has not yet been identified, so why not write a paper and submit it?”
“What are you doing without quickly proving that if you ruin the ceremony, there will be a crack? If you use it properly, you will become the closest aide to the parent tree this time.”
“Huh! I see all of you guys taking the side of the dry branch!”
“What… After all, that guy isn’t dry yet. She was already recognized by the parent tree, so he wasn’t even a dry branch.”
“No, even if he’s a dried branch, he even served as the representative of the ceremony, but what are you?”
“Are you rotten because you are worse than dry ones?”
“Haha! Rotten branch!”
Saying that, the trainees chuckled.
It seemed that they had shared a laugh over the same dried branch in the break room, speaking so casually. She couldn’t help but think that surviving in the shameless world of fairies would be quite shameless.
The fairy, whose face had flushed with embarrassment, hastily cleared their throat and regained their composure with surprising speed.
“…There is no doubt that he ruined the second half of the ceremony.”
That was right.
As for that, even the trainees could not properly refute it.
“Anyway, Sol Noctis, you will be severely punished sooner or later. Please, be on guard for the time being and wait for the disposition.”
The prickly fairies turned around and left.
As soon as the Skylte trainees walked away, they awkwardly scratched the back of their heads. They realized that Twilight had quickly caught onto their vulnerability, making it a little embarrassing to address it using the same words.
“Twilight, is this okay?”
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