Advent of the Three Calamities

Chapter 248 Diary [4]

"Cough."

Coughing, he covered his mouth with a tissue.

"Pardon me."

Wiping his mouth, he dabbed his mouth a couple more times before passing it onto one of the servants.

"Thank you."

From start to finish, his actions were refined, carrying a certain elegance that only belonged to the very top of the aristocracy.

"Cough...! That\'s a little better."

He turned to smile at Delilah who sat still in her seat without saying a single thing.

It was hard to tell what she was thinking with her expression, but Gael was aware of what she wanted.

"You want permission to search for the missing cadets, am I right?"

"...."

Delilah didn\'t answer, but the intent behind her expression, or lack thereof was quite clear.

Gael stared at her for a few short seconds before lowering his head and nodding it.

"Alright, I understand."

He turned to look towards one of the servants.

".....You can go ahead and tell the Royal Guards that our guest over here would like to oversee the situation. Using the little power I have, I would like to grant her wish."

"Understood."

Noting down Gael\'s words, the servant furiously nodded their head before turning around to leave the room.

Just as they were about to leave, a change occurred.

Clank—!

The doors burst open all of a sudden as multiple figures came in.

"Emergency Report!"

Wearing thin silver armor, they all rushed towards the Prince, who remained seated without as much as a change in his expression. Delilah stared at the scene from the side, her brows coming to a slight furrow as the clatter of metal and the thunder of boots echoed around her.

Thump!

One of the guards knelt.

"We have something to report!"

"....Go on."

Gael waved his hand in order to hurry the report.

"Reporting to his highness... The cadets, they have been found!"

"Hm?"

Surprised, Gael\'s brows raised slightly. Once he was done processing the information, he turned his head to address Delilah.

"Ah."

But it was much to his surprise to see that the seat where she had been sitting was empty. It wasn\'t the first time Gael had witnessed this and thus wasn\'t too surprised.

Instead, he found the sight to be amusing.

"....Such hurry."

But above all, he sighed in relief.

\'She\'s gone.\'

With that tyrant gone, he could finally relax.

Or at least, he wanted to, but he soon stood up.

"Let\'s go."

He walked towards the door.

"....It\'s been a while since I\'ve last seen my little sister."

***

"…."

"…."

My current situation was a little bit difficult to describe. Standing before one of the most powerful people in the entire world, I felt like a child who was being scolded for having done something wrong.

The only problem was that I really didn\'t do anything.

"….I am innocent."

"Mhm."

Delilah nodded, her deep black eyes scanning every part of my body.

It was obvious from the tone of her voice that she didn\'t believe me at all.

"Every time you go out something happens."

She went on to say.

I wholeheartedly agreed with her. This was indeed the case and I was helpless about it.

But of course, just because that was the case, that didn\'t mean I had anything to do with it.

Delilah probably knew this too.

And so, the words that came out of her mouth took me aback.

"Jinx."

"….?"

"You\'re a jinx."

She repeated a lot more confidently.

Dumbfounded, I looked at her at a complete loss for words.

It wasn\'t like she was wrong, but…

"…."

I closed my eyes and accepted my fate.

Looking around, I glanced at my surroundings. We were still in the forest, and shortly after we were found, a multitude of guards came our way and provided aid to those in need.

I was relatively fine so I didn\'t receive any medical care.

It was also then that Delilah appeared and took me to the side where no one else was.

This was how I ended up in this situation.

Despite it, my thoughts couldn\'t help but drift elsewhere.

\'….I still need to handle that snake.\'

He was currently talking to his own professor who seemed ecstatic by the sudden reunion, but if only he knew…

\'I should get the situation sorted out quickly.\'

Kaelion\'s personality was that of a snake. He never loyally picked sides and only picked the side that benefitted him the most.

In this case, he was tame because just a single word from me would get him in a whole world of trouble, but that was only for now.

Who knew what he would plan later?

For that reason, I needed to act fast.

Thankfully, I still had time and I knew exactly a way to keep him from betraying me.

"….."

A certain gaze bore down on me and I was suddenly reminded of my situation.

Helplessly I looked back to Delilah.

Her expression was the same as usual, but I found myself able to read it. She seemed unhappy, and so, knowing this, my hand reached for my pocket, only for me to realize my mistake.

\'Right, I don\'t have anything.\'

"….?"

In the moment that I reached out for my pocket, Delilah\'s hand was already outstretched towards me.

"…."

As if realizing as well, Delilah lowered her hand while silently mumbling, \'Jinx.\'

My face twitched slightly before I changed the topic.

"I\'m healed."

"….?"

Delilah blinked a couple of times at the unexpected piece of information. Then, registering it, her expression showed signs of changes as she neared me.

"You are healed? How?"

She went on to touch my face and I felt a cool sensation wash over me.

Her expression changed further as she looked back at me in what seemed to be shock. Or at least, what I thought looked like shock.

She didn\'t really show it as she touched my body.

"How did you do it?"

"….It just happened."

I was a little hesitant to tell her about the Ring of Nothingness. It was after all one of the seven artifacts of evil.

Even if Delilah was on my side, I couldn\'t guarantee that she would help me.

….Or at least, these were my initial thoughts before I ended up showing her the ring on my finger.

"It\'s thanks to this."

"…."

Delilah stopped to stare at the ring in my hand. Then, as if recognizing it, she looked back at me.

"Why is that with you?"

"…..Took it from the \'cult leader\' who kidnapped us."

Was it even a cult to begin with?

The Archbishop was the only follower with everyone else merely a puppet of his.

I didn\'t quite think that it was a cult.

"I see."

Delilah nodded in understanding. Then, taking her eyes away from the ring, she looked away.

"Give me the ring. I will give it to you later."

"Okay."

I didn\'t hesitate to take it off and hand it to her.

It wasn\'t that I blindly trusted her, but I somewhat knew her personality well.

She didn\'t care at all for material things.

Delilah was the strongest beneath the Zenith. What would a ring matter to her?

It was for that reason that I didn\'t worry about her taking the ring. In fact, it made things a lot easier for me.

"….It\'s nice."

Delilah said as she took the ring from my hand and looked at it. A strange glint crossed her eyes as she looked at the ring, and for a brief moment, I started to regret my decision.

\'She\'s not going to…\'

"Ah—"

I was never able to take the ring back as she disappeared right before my eyes.

Reaching out the area she had been in, all I grasped was air.

"Haa…"

I sighed then.

\'She probably won\'t take it.\'

Right?

*

Following Delilah\'s departure, we were all brought back to Bremmer under the protection of the Royal Guards.

Nobody said a thing on the way back. Understandably, everyone was tired and we were soon escorted towards a temporary residence.

The first thing I did after entering the room was lock the door and head towards the study desk where I turned on the lamp and took out the familiar diary.

\'I didn\'t get a good look before, but now that I have time, I should spend some time looking through it.\'

….I had a feeling that there would be a lot of important information.

There was also another reason why I locked the door.

"It should be soon."

I looked at the quest window.

Indeed, the quest was going to end any time now. I couldn\'t wait to receive my rewards.

"After all of this, I expect something."

I would still be lagging behind some, but it would make me a lot closer.

Especially since Leon had already reached Tier 4.

He was one step away from creating his own domain and catching up with the first-year professors.

"Anyways…"

Flip—

I flipped the diary open and skimmed past the first page.

My eyes immediately laid on the words written.

\'I am not a tyrant. I never was a tyrant. They made me a tyrant.\'

The first passage alone was enough to arouse my interest.

From what I knew, the records stated that the Emperor of Nothingness was a cruel and merciless ruler who tried to once dominate the world with the ring, hence why it was labeled as one of the seven evil artifacts.

But perhaps, there was more to the story.

\'I touched what I shouldn\'t have touched, and turned the world against me. No… I turned him against me.\'

Touched what I shouldn\'t have touched…?

Turned him against me?

Who was he talking about?

My eyes scanned the page faster as my mouth suddenly became dry. I had an inkling as to who he was talking about, but wasn\'t this something that happened a long time ago?

How could it be possible…?

\'I thought it was a blessing when I found it. To be able to live longer, and heal all injuries… I thought it was a massive blessing, and decided to share it with my people. But it turned out to be a curse.\'

I suddenly felt my spine tingle as I read the text. I started to have a bad feeling about the situation.

\'They eventually came and took everything back. They called themselves the collectors. They took everything. From me… and from the people who had used the blood. None were spared, and in my desperation, I turned my people into what they were in order to fight back. But…\'

I swallowed my saliva and flipped over to the next page.

\'It was useless. I still lost and barely managed to hide a few vials of the blood that I found inside of the ring. To whoever finds this and reads it…\'

I paused, feeling my pulse quicken slightly.

\'…Don\'t ever consume the blood. The collectors will come for you, and there\'s no escaping them.\'

"…."

\'Sithrus\'s influence is everywhere.\'

The second page ended there.

Swallowing my saliva, the questions in my mind grew more numerous, but at the same time, I found a few answers.

For example,

"Sithrus."

A name.

I had a feeling this was the real identity of the Faceless Man.

I didn\'t know what exactly he wanted the blood for, but I knew that he was looking for the sword in my possession.

Was the sword also related to these gods?

Just the thought of my encounters with him made my blood run cold.

Still, reading the first page, there was something that still made no sense to me.

"If the ring was in possession of the Archbishop, then why did he still end up using the blood? And why did he not follow Mortum, but another god?"

What was his name again?

Oreclues? Orac…?

I pursed my lip and shook my head.

\'I\'ll know soon enough.\'

I nervously reached out for the next page, knowing that I would find an answer there, but just as I was about to turn the page, a notification flashed my vision, and a familiar sensation coursed through me.

"Ah."

The quest.

It had finally completed.