Episode 333: White Lion (1)
"How did you do it?"
"It's a simple sealing magic. I just blocked the force trying to seep out."
"Simple? Really?"
"It's not perfect, so be careful. Your awakened power will grow stronger over time, and once it surpasses a certain level, the seal will easily break. But for now, it buys us some time."
"A sealing magic, huh. Unbelievable."
Rine may appear this way, but she is a student who boasts considerable knowledge in theoretical aspects.
Even for someone like Sören teacher who has devoted sufficient time and effort, sealing magic is considered quite advanced.
It's not a magic that can be immediately unleashed in such a short time.
'Well, it's Mr.Rudger, so it's not that surprising anymore.'
However, Rudger's attitude, nonchalantly treating it as nothing out of the ordinary, was somewhat peculiar.
At this point, it seemed almost intentional.
"Rine, I've explained everything to you, but remember, you must not tell anyone that you possess the judgment eye."
"Why ?"
"If news spreads that you have the judgment eye, the Lumensis Church will do whatever it takes to take you away. And the demon that appeared this time is no different. We can't guarantee that there won't be others targeting you."
"That's… I understand."
Rine nodded, seemingly accepting the explanation.
However, she suddenly remembered that there was one more person who had seen her changed iris.
"Um, Teacher."
"Why? You're not considering revealing that it has already been discovered, are you?"
"…."
Rine instinctively averted her gaze from Rudger's eyes and a cold sweat ran down her forehead.
"Who saw it?"
"I-It was just one person. Senior Erendir."
"Erendir von Exillion, you mean?"
"Yes."
"Hmm, I see…"
Since the two of them were often together, it wouldn't be strange for Erendir to notice Rine's changes.
However, the problem was her position.
If she was an ordinary student, Rudger could handle it casually, but Erendir was a member of the royal bloodline.
No matter how you look at it, even Rudger hesitated to warn her about it as a personal matter.
'But if I were to ask Princess Eileen, I would have to explain the judgment eye to her as well.'
It would have been better if fewer people knew about the existence of the judgment eye.
Even if it was Eileen, Rudger wouldn't go as far as telling her about it.
Considering Eileen's personality, she would probably try to use Rine in some way.
It was best to keep it hidden.
"Rine, do you consider Erendir as someone you can trust and follow?"
"Yes? Me?"
"I want to know your opinion."
"Well…"
Rine hesitated about what to answer.
She could either evade the question or even tell a lie.
But Rine knew that's not what Rudger wanted.
At the same time, she didn't want to give a superficial response.
"Senior… I can trust her."
"Is that entirely your own judgment?"
"Yes. Of course, I don't know everything about her. There may be aspects of her that I'm unaware of. But still, I want to believe."
Rine answered honestly while her heart trembled with anxiety.
Even if Rudger were to criticize her for being naive and ask what she could do with such careless thinking, it wouldn't be strange.
However, Rudger readily accepted Rine's answer with a surprising level of trust.
"Alright. If you say it with such conviction, I won't probe any further."
"Oh, you understand?"
"Didn't you mention that you have faith in her?"
"Yes, but…"
"Then that settles it."
Rudger believed that if Rine expressed such strong conviction, he could place enough trust in her words.
It was closer to trusting in the power of the judgment eye than trusting her judgment.
'She won't associate with someone who has a negative impact on herself.'
Of course, as Rine, she was overwhelmed by deep emotion, thinking that Rudger trusted her and spoke so easily.
"But Rine, even if you trust her, you never know when news might leak. So be cautious as much as possible."
"Yes!"
"If someone unfamiliar approaches you, be on guard. If they are overly friendly, be even more suspicious."
"Yes? Yes."
"Don't follow someone just because they offer you food."
"….Teacher, aren't you treating me like a child?"
Rudger realized it in an instant.
As he conversed with Rine like this, he suddenly saw glimpses of her childhood self overlapping with her current appearance.
Because of that, he unintentionally spoke to her as he would to a child.
Rudger let out a light cough.
"That was just a way of saying to be careful. It's not a bad thing to be cautious and prepared."
"Well, I guess that could be true."
Rine smiled brightly at Rudger.
"But still, if I were to be in danger, you would come to save me, right, Teacher?"
"…"
In her voice, which carried a hint of expectation, Rudger responded coldly.
"We'll see."
"Yes? What does that mean?"
Rine puffed up her cheeks and turned her head quickly.
Rudger chuckled lightly at her reaction.
"Well, that's a relief."
At his words, Rine turned her head back to look at Rudger.
"I thought you would have a hard time because of that. But seeing you, it seems like I was worrying for no reason."
"I received help in dangerous moments. From Senior Flora and also from you, teacher. I can't thank you enough, to the point where I don't know how many times I should say it. I feel rather sorry for not being able to be of help."
"Just having such thoughts is admirable in itself."
Rudger said so and stood up from the bench.
"Oh, are you leaving?"
"Yes. It's a rare moment of free time. Since the field study was canceled, make sure you take enough rest and enjoy yourself, even if it's within the palace."
Rudger left those words behind and departed.
Rine couldn't get up from the bench until Rudger completely disappeared from her sight.
"Haah."
When Rudger was no longer visible, Rine let out a small sigh.
'In the end, I couldn't ask.'
She had already asked enough things she was curious about, but there was still one lingering question in Rine's mind.
'Whether we really haven't met in the past, I wanted to ask.'
* * *
Rudger walked through the well-maintained park within the palace.
The picturesque scenery was delightful to the eyes, as if it came straight out of a painting.
Within it, the students of Seorun were all enjoying their picnics.
Some of the students saw Rudger and waved their hands cheerfully.
"Teacher! Hello!"
"Have a nice day!"
Rudger was momentarily taken aback by their different reactions.
At first, he thought it was because there were other teachers around, but that wasn't the case.
The students were genuinely speaking to him.
As Rudger, it was a phenomenon that was hard for him to understand, but the students had their reasons for it.
The students who were now cheering for Rudger were eyewitnesses who had personally witnessed Rudger saving them in front of the Crystal Palace that day.
Rudger, who had dealt with countless hordes of chimeras with splendid magic and ensured everyone's safety, was admired by the students in the Crystal Palace, to the extent that he was almost an object of idolization.
Since then, Rudger had received greetings from passing students multiple times.
Although there were still students who were afraid of Rudger and couldn't even meet his eyes, compared to before, the ratio was less than half.
"Still, receiving the medal seems to have helped improve my image."
While having such pointless thoughts, Rudger spotted a familiar face across from him.
"Oh, Sedina. Are you resting well?"
"Yes, it's all thanks to Teacher Rudger."
"Are you here alone?"
"I don't have any close friends, so yes."
As Sedina answered like that, she discreetly gauged Rudger's reaction.
It seemed like she was trying hard to act nonchalant, but it was a habit of Sedina's to show it whenever she had something she wanted to ask.
"If you have something you're curious about, go ahead and ask."
"Yes, um?"
"That's why I'm encouraging you."
"Well, um, you see…"
Sedina felt flustered but remembered the conversation she had with Julia earlier.
She didn't completely doubt Julia's words, but she thought there might be some misunderstanding.
However, since she had noticed Rudger having separate conversations with Rine, her uneasiness had been gradually growing.
'Teacher, did you really kill the mother of that student, Rine?'
There was no reason not to ask if she wanted to.
After all, it was an event unrelated to her.
But if Rudger were to inquire about who told her, Sedina would have to mention Julia's name.
If that happened, the conflict between the two would undoubtedly escalate like wildfire on dry straw.
At the moment, Julia held a strong hostility towards Rudger.
As someone who cared about Sedina as a friend, Julia couldn't view Rudger, the murderer, in a positive light.
And what about Rudger?
Rudger wasn't the type to stay quiet when facing someone hostile towards him.
Especially if the person knew his weakness, there was a possibility that he would use somewhat extreme means to shut their mouth.
'What should I do?'
Sedina hoped that neither of them would get hurt.
Both of them were precious to her.
"Sedina, do you have something to say?"
"Oh, no. Well…"
In that fleeting moment, Sedina agonized over whether to ask or not, more than a hundred times.
"Just, it's nothing. I think I must have been mistaken about something."
Sedina's final choice, as she mumbled it as if it were nothing important, was to dismiss the matter.
Rudger also noticed that Sedina's behavior was somewhat awkward, but he didn't bother to pry.
He thought there must be a reason for Sedina to act this way.
"Oh, right. Hans senior sent a message."
"Hans?"
"He's currently waiting, but he said he wants to see you as soon as possible."
"He wants to see me quickly?"
"Yes. He didn't explain the exact reason, but judging by his urgent tone, it seems like something has happened to him…"
Rudger pondered what could have happened to Hans.
The answer came to him quickly.
"Oh, I see."
He recalled who Hans and Bellaruna were currently with.
Grander.
His eccentric mentor was with them at the moment.
'I wondered why my mentor didn't come to see me. He must have found another target to torment.'
As it was, Grander had been quite intrigued by Hans for a while.
A person who accepted the beast's nature and transformed accordingly.
Even for Grander, who had lived for a long time, Hans was an interesting subject.
"However, it's not pleasant to be the target of my mentor's interest."
Hans urgently wanting to meet must be to ask Rudger to intervene with his mentor.
Rudger shook his head.
He felt sorry for Hans, but at the moment he couldn't leave the palace.
There was no justification, and calming down his mentor's boredom, which had fallen into monotony, was quite a burden for Rudger as well.
"Send a reply asking Hans to wait a few more days."
"Yes, understood."
After Sedina left and Rudger was alone, he tried to recall what else was left to do.
There was nothing.
He had received all the compensation from Eileen, and he had been in contact with President Elisa.
He had finished all the conversations with Rine, which had bothered him the most, so it was safe to say that he had completed everything he needed to do during his stay at the palace.
'The only thing left is sending news about Bellaruna to Mr.Chris.'
Should he at least take a look during the remaining time?
With that thought, Rudger returned to his assigned residence and narrowed his eyes when he saw a doll standing awkwardly at the entrance.
"What business do you have in my room, Mandelina?"
"Uh, uh?! Weren't you in the bar room!"
"I stepped out for a moment to have a conversation with the President."
"Oh, you went to the external communication room."
"Yes, so if you came looking for me, it must mean something has happened."
"W-Well, that's true, but…"
Mandelina broke into a cold sweat and avoided Rudger's gaze.
She still found Rudger intimidating.
Even though she knew he had no intention of killing her, the deep-rooted fear engraved in her memory didn't easily fade away.
Rudger had no intention of reassuring Mandelina either.
Knowing that once you give her an inch, she takes a mile, it was better to keep this tension intact.
"So, what brings you here?"
"W-Well, I wouldn't call it a business. A guest came from outside."
"A guest? Did someone come to see me?"
"Oh no, not you. They came to see the emperor and the first princess."
A guest significant enough for the Emperor to personally come.
Rudger sensed a strange uneasiness in Mandelina's attitude and her words.
"Although the First Princess told me not to say anything, I can't help but worry a little."
"So, who came to visit?"
After hesitating, Mandelina answered.
"It's the Kingdom of Bretus. They sent an envoy."
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