DMHS 15

There were three gates to selecting a mate. Of those, the final gate could not be cleared with a pass.

Kian liked that as well. Since his only goal was to become a final candidate, using his pass on this test meant he could achieve everything without effort.

As time passed, other candidates also realized how to break the stones. But only a handful of knights could handle mana, and even among mages, few could control mana alone.

Faced with such a difficult problem, one by one, signs of giving up appeared. Amid the heavy atmosphere, the first person passed.

“Gavin Gray, passed.”

In Gavin’s hands were small fragments and the remaining broken piece of stone.

He bowed to Frederick and left the hall. Not long after, the second to pass appeared.

“Daisy Bernstein, passed.”

It seemed she had activated aura at her fingertips in the manner of wielding a sword. On the magic stone were marks like it was cut by something sharp, and the broken-off fragment was thinly sliced as though shaved by a blade.

Now there was not much time left. Everyone’s eyes turned naturally to Frederick.

Chased by the time limit, Frederick muttered while sweating.

“My luck is filthy. Not here either! Damn it. This side… not here either… that side wasn’t it. Where the hell is the damn core hiding?”

“Three minutes remain.”

“Damn it all!”

At that moment the goddess of fortune smiled on Frederick.

“…No, praise the Lady Goddess! Forever let us sing and honor her! Her goodness has saved my life!”

Frederick ran to the official, holding the powder fallen from the core.

“Frederick Erlesia, passed.”

Frederick shouted with joy.

“Uaaaah! I passed! Passed! I made it as a final candidate!”

The South Party people who had given up on the test clapped. Frederick received their congratulations with a smug face. Then suddenly, with a displeased expression, he looked at Kian, then turned and left.

“One minute remains. If there are no more successes in one minute, the rest will be eliminated automatically.”

The remaining ones sighed, bracing themselves for the coming elimination. Kian also sighed to appear helpless and stepped back from the table. But something strange happened.

Crack.

A small fissure ran through Kian’s stone.

“……?”

It was such a tiny change that only Kian noticed it. He looked down at the stone with a dazed face.

But even when he rubbed his eyes and looked again, nothing had changed. His stone had indeed developed a thin crack in that brief moment.

‘How could such a thing happen…?’

If it had been someone else, they would have shouted with joy and rushed to the platform. But for Kian, it was only absurd. He had planned to use his pass in this test.

He had to use it anyway, and passing without showing his strength was the best way. Kian wrapped the cracked stone with both hands to hide it from others.

‘If I just make it through one more minute unseen. No, now time has passed again, so only about thirty seconds. Thirty, twenty-nine, twenty-eight…’

While Kian was counting numbers in his head, something even more unbelievable happened.

Boom!

A loud explosion burst from within Kian’s hands. Everyone nearby, even the official, turned shocked eyes toward him.

White smoke drifted from Kian’s closed hands. All eyes were fixed on Kian’s hands, more precisely on the “something” within his palms.

Under the silent pressure of their stares, Kian carefully opened his clasped hands.

“Wow.”

“This can’t be…”

“Impossible.”

The stone in Kian’s hands was shattered beyond recognition. Dark blue particles, fine as sand, poured down his spread palms. It was clear to all present that these were the remains of the magic stone.

“…Kian Semes, passed.”

After a moment of silence, the official announced. From among the attendants standing apart from the candidates, Ibrahim jumped up.

With a voice full of emotion, he shouted.

“I knew Sir Kian would pass! I believed Sir Kian could do it!”

Ibrahim noisily threw his arms around Kian. But Kian only stood there blankly, unable even to brush the magic stone dust from his palms.

He was not in the mood to smile. Far from happy, he had not felt this foul in a very long time.

‘Just now, someone from outside broke my stone with mana.’

That “someone” had hit the core with mana precisely enough to cause a massive explosion. Even more shocking was that, once again, Kian had not sensed the person’s presence.

He felt a tingling shiver in the back of his head. The instincts of a swordsman facing death boiled up. A man who could not detect the enemy’s presence could die at any moment.

That was the law of the battlefield.

“Long live Kian Semes! Long live Sir Kian!”

Leaving Ibrahim’s shouting behind, Kian closed his eyes. Threads of mana stretched from him like a fine net. Surrounding the palace was the capital. Countless people’s presences flowed through the field of mana. Kian analyzed the life responses one by one.

If the one had that much control of mana, their own mana must be immense.

‘But… there is nothing.’

Despite his urgency, Kian could not find any conspicuous presence. Like searching for a needle in a haystack, it was difficult to distinguish each person in detail.

Kian changed his approach.

‘Perhaps the person has not fled far. Narrow the range.’

Limiting his perception to within the palace, Kian checked each person’s mana. Then he found one life form with a presence far too weak.

‘Is there a newborn child in the palace?’

Curious, Kian sent a faint trace of mana toward the life form. If it were an infant, they would only feel a breeze and giggle. But…

Flash!

Kian’s eyes flew open. As though bouncing off an invisible wall, the consciousness carried by his mana had suddenly snapped back into his body.

When he tried to extend his senses again, he found Ibrahim staring up at him with wide eyes.

“Sir Kian, did you just nod off for a moment?”

“……”

“You are not unwell, are you? You only feel faint because you used too much strength, right? Should I call a physician? Or shall I prepare food?”

Perhaps thinking something was wrong with Kian, Ibrahim’s eyes turned moist as he asked again and again.

Kian reassured him first.

“I will go rest in my room.”

“Then I will escort you to the palace chambers!”

When Kian reached his room, he sent Ibrahim away and spread his senses again. But the trace of the life form he had found earlier was already gone.

Kian was disappointed, he clenched and unclenched his fist.

***

At that time, in the Freesia palace.

“Ugh…”

Lucien, grimacing, waved his arm like he was chasing a fly. Walter checked if something was wrong.

“What is the matter?”

“I thought a gnat flew by just now.”

Walter reproached him calmly.

“If a noble like you keeps transforming into little birds, of course mere insects will be drawn to you.”

“That is…”

Lucien seemed about to add something, then sighed and leaned back on the sofa.

“But if I want to approach the tournament hall unnoticed, a bird is the safest choice.”

“Did you truly have to go there in person?”

“Of course. Otherwise, what would be the point of asking Eddie to change the test for me?”

Walter’s hand, dusting the desk, stopped.

“You changed the second test?”

“Yes.”

“And just now you went out to make sure your mate passed?”

“That is right. I made his magic stone explode splendidly.”

Walter returned to his dusting.

“Goodness… As before, you are involving yourself far too much in that person’s affairs.”

Was it a few days ago? Walter had seen Lucien out on the railing of the third floor. Following his gaze, Walter had noticed the vacant lot not far from the Freesia palace.

Amid swirling dust, two people had been facing each other.

‘A duel?’

Walter had not gotten an answer. By the time he turned his head, Lucien had vanished. But Lucien had soon returned to his place.

‘So that’s why.’

At the same time, the duel in the lot had ended. From the way people were calling for a physician and fetching a stretcher, it was clear Lucien had intervened. Today, however, Lucien seemed deflated by Walter’s words.

“If I help, will he hate me?”

Walter cursed his own careless tongue. Lucien, who had met his mate, was in a worse state than a son in puberty.

One moment he was sure everything would work out, then the next he despaired that nothing would.

The old saying went that if one cried then laughed, horns would grow. If it were true, Lucien’s backside would already be covered in hundreds of horns.

‘This is not strange behavior. He has only met his mate.’

Walter recalled again a passage from his father’s diary.