A brief silence.
Soon, Charon abruptly stood up and opened a portal, fiddling with the bookshelf, leading the way to the research lab.
"Follow ."
As I followed him inside, he furrowed his brow, seemingly lost in thought.
I prepared to summon Nickel, just in case of any potential attack from Charon, while consciously noting the sword at my waist.
Among the artifacts existing in the present world, it was a highly contested item.
Suddenly, a desire arose in , thinking that he could attack .
Though it was unlikely for the calculating Charon to do so, I couldn't be completely at ease, considering the possibility.
As I observed Charon's reaction, I noticed his breathing and muscle movents gradually relaxing, which eased my mind.
"How do you know about Codex Apocalypse?"
"I heard about it from that sorcerer. He said what he possessed was 'Sloth'..."
"Where is the object now?"
"I stored it in a pocket dinsion along with the skeleton I obtained during the battle that day."
"You managed to hide its true nature without being exposed. Not like you."
I felt slightly embarrassed, but I nodded as if it didn't matter.
Charon, seeming lost in thought again, paced around the research lab before sighing.
"Describe its appearance."
"It was a cube with six sides. It was black and could be turned like a Rubik's Cube."
"Well, I guess I can't ask you to bring it out."
I couldn't tell if it was his murmuring or sothing he said to , but Charon propped his arm, leaned on the research table, and continued to sigh.
"It's a pity. But you must be full to bursting."
He seems to have the sa worries as .
Yeah, how can you, a professor, have such a monstrosity? Just give up cleanly.
"Will you report this at the congregation?"
I finally asked the question I had been waiting for.
I had thrown the bait to Charon for this very reason.
If I couldn't make use of it, selling it at a reasonable price at the eting would be a hundred tis more profitable.
The problem was that I had no ans of contacting the congregation, but that was where Charon ca in.
I had always been used by him, but now I'm finally making use of you.
Charon, having heard my words, sighed without giving a clear answer, as if the conflict was not over, but eventually nodded.
"Fine. That seems to be the best option. Instead, I will take everything I can get from the congregation."
Looking at the self-assured tone, he spoke as if he had found Codex Apocalypse himself.
"I will arrange for contact with the congregation. Keep your schedule open so that you can attend the eting at any ti, just in case."
"Understood."
In the end, it went as I had expected.
While it may be different for other sorcerers, my prediction that Charon, always rational and logical, would beco obsessed with Codex had turned out to be correct.
"Now, leave and give it so thought."
"Yes."
"But, Adrius."
"Yes?"
"What is that black thing?"
Charon looked at the sword hanging from my waist and asked.
I awkwardly scratched my head and replied, "Since I almost died this ti, I got it as a self-defense weapon."
"You're still up to your foolish antics. Now, leave."
Both Dianne and Charon, why are they mocking ?
Wait, even that noble sorcerer from our neighborhood, GandalX, used both a sword and a staff?
I definitely saw it with my own eyes!
Nevertheless, it was fortunate that it still left an impression of being foolish, just like before.
.
.
.
.
The contact ca much sooner than I expected.
The next day, Charon's summons ca, and we imdiately prepared to attend the congregation.
Since it was an important item, the eting was called in a hurry.
"Are you ready?"
"Yes, Professor."
He said it wouldn't take long.
I just nodded in response to his statent that I would be able to return within the weekend.
'Well...'
If it gets delayed, there's nothing I can do.
Although it may be more important than attending lectures to have sothing related to Codex at stake.
Co to think of it, if the page of Sloth goes to the congregation, wouldn't the crisis co even faster?
I didn't know much about the current state of the congregation, but it wasn't that long ago, so I could roughly guess how many Codex pages they had collected.
They probably had the core of Codex Apocalypse and maybe one or two more pages.
Even if one more page is added, the world won't be destroyed imdiately.
Whether turning the page of Sloth is the right thing to do is a different matter. For now, I have to survive.
Any events that will occur later are for future to handle.
'Maybe I don't even need to handle them.'
This isn't a ga.
As such, the playable characters who actively move will undoubtedly beco significantly stronger than in the ga.
One issue is their direction, but I'll have to adjust it well later to prevent the world from being destroyed.
Carrying Charon's baggage and so of my own in the carrier, I followed behind Charon.
Just by looking at it, it seed like I was his assistant.
'If it continues like this, I might beco his assistant after graduation.'
Unfortunately, Adrius' longest survival period was the 5th year of the Academy.
Most of the ti, he died before that, and only during the first playthrough did he die just before graduation.
Back then, I didn't even know that Adrius was the villain, so I kept him alive for quite a while.
"Adrius."
"Yes, Professor."
"After we return from the congregation, let's check your magic."
"What?"
Surprised by my question, Karone made a pitiful expression and spoke again.
"How long will you be satisfied with having only one summoning spell? Anyway, just know that."
Although he was speaking in a roundabout way because we were outside the research lab, it ultimately ant that he would teach a new dark magic spell.
It was a relief since during the previous battle, I had struggled to distinguish whether I was a sorcerer or a warrior.
'Anyway, I probably won't be able to use it recklessly.'
Lately, I had been studying magic diligently, so I was always welcoming the opportunity to learn new magic.
Even though, in terms of the ga, I was gradually becoming a supporting character, it didn't matter.
Survival was the priority.
'If I can just cut ties with Charon, at least the minimum survival will be guaranteed. But now, in order to learn dark magic, I need this guy...'.
I sighed at the reality of following Charon like a puppy, but what could I do? If I didn't want to die, I had to follow him.
.
.
.
.
We traveled for quite a long ti on the train.
It took over 10 hours, and Charon's claim that we would return within the weekend turned out to be half false.
'That bastard.'
But I couldn't say anything about it.
I had already suspected it from the beginning.
Even after getting off the train, I pondered the hole in my attendance rate for a while, but soon erased it from my mind.
It wasn't important right now.
Charon bought a carriage and horses in the city where we disembarked and gestured for to co.
"Get in."
"Um... yes."
He's going all out with this.
The problem was that I had never driven a carriage before.
"Professor, um..."
"What?"
"The truth is, I've never driven a carriage before."
"...Useless."
Then why did you buy a carriage so confidently?
Do you have overflowing money or sothing?
However, contrary to my expectations that he would sell it later, he personally climbed onto the driver's seat.
"Sit next to ."
I did as he said and sat next to the driver's seat, but I had a feeling that there was another reason for him to buy the carriage.
"Professor, is there a specific reason you bought the carriage?"
"Quiet. From here on, we'll go without talking unless necessary."
Now that I think about it, Charon seed particularly sensitive.
At the sa ti, I ca up with a hypothesis.
'Could there be a possibility of an attack?'
Seeing him being so tense, there didn't seem to be any other reason.
He seed strangely energetic just from attending the congregation.
Although I didn't have definite information on who or why, I could still speculate.
'There might be people targeting Codex.'
No matter how secretly they contacted and organized the congregation, there were bound to be defectors within the congregation itself.
Moreover, even if the sorcerers were united, how united could they really be when it ca to money?
In the end, they would all try to secure their own interests.
There could be rcenaries hired by the sorcerers within the congregation, or even the sorcerers themselves could directly attempt to seize it.
'But why did he buy a carriage...'
That point still puzzled , but I decided to let it go, assuming there was so aning behind it.
So, starting from the city, we continued heading east.
It was already a city near the eastern end, and as we went further east, I could think of one place.
"The Clinging Forest, Witch Morsha."
It was a forbidden forest.
It was a place where all sorts of bizarre phenona occurred due to mana anomalies. For example, if you walked on two feet, the plants in the surroundings would coil around your legs, so you had to move by horse or so form of transportation.
'So, he bought the carriage for this.'
There was one more anomaly.
Inside the forest, every ti you spoke, mana would be drained, and if your mana was depleted, it would trigger ntal manipulation that only occurred within the forest.
It wasn't to the extent that you couldn't speak anymore, but at my current level, speaking for about an hour would probably deplete my mana.
It was a ridiculous anomaly.
The reason for going to such a place was probably because Morsha, one of the Elders in the Black Magic PCongregation, was staying there.
The congregation always randomly selects the location and timing, and it seed that Morsha's lair was chosen this ti.
Just as I was about to think about Morsha, a person suddenly sprang out from the bushes and blocked the path of the carriage.
"Hehehehe!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!"
Charon urgently scolded the person.
"You arrived just in ti."
The man who blocked the carriage spoke.
And from the man's appearance, I could recall a certain individual.
'No way?'
Although the graphics were slightly different from the ga, I recognized the distinctive features, and a thrill ran through my body.
"Can I get on?"
The man who smoothly spoke naturally had untrimd facial hair, but his white hair was neatly combed back with pomade, making him a clean-looking middle-aged man.
There was a long object wrapped in a cloth on his back that looked like a staff, and I knew what was inside.
Charon swallowed his saliva and asked, "Are you... participating in the congregation?"
"Hmm, why? Am I not allowed?"
"No, it's not."
"Then, can I get on?"
Charon seed taken aback by the unexpected person as well.
We didn't even bother to object as the person calmly boarded the carriage.
Well, we couldn't really do anything about it.
The person in front of us was none other than one of the strongest individual on the continent.
If it were a ga, we would have encountered them in a late-stage battle or at so ruins. It's still hard to believe.
I couldn't believe it to the point that I had to confirm it two or three tis.
"You bought such a cheap carriage."
The man who opened the window leading to the driver's seat, grumbled.
Then, he looked at and happily waved his hand.
"Hello, kid. What's your na?"
"I'm Adrias Cromwell."
"Cromwell? Hoho."
What? Does he know our family?
"Hey, Charon."
"Yes, did you call?"
"Did you already ss with Cromwell?"
"..."
Wait a mont.
Wait, what are they talking about?
It felt like they were talking about a family that I didn't know. My head started spinning like a motor.
"Well, um, you see..."
"No, it's fine. You don't have to say it. It's obvious. Hey, Adrias Cromwell."
"Yes?"
"Work hard and struggle. Haha!"
The man, Salem Edidia, who rambled on with incomprehensible words, laughed heartily and then took out an eye mask from sowhere and fell asleep.
It was all so sudden and filled with unfamiliar information that it was hard to follow along.
I glanced at Karone, and he quietly said, "That's Salem Edidia. You probably know, so I won't give a detailed explanation."
"... ..."
It wasn't because I was curious that I looked at him.
I contemplated whether to ask Charon about the family, but in the end, I held back.
I had no clues or indications that he would reveal anything even if I asked.
But one thing was certain.
There seed to be sothing unknown about the Cromwell family.
Lost in my own thoughts, Charon called my na.
"Adrias."
"Yes."
"Soon, we'll reach the forest. It's called the 'Ensnaring Forest.' You might have heard of it at least once."
"Yes, I know that speaking depletes mana, and we shouldn't walk on two feet."
"That's right. Knowing that is enough."
However, we encountered unwelco guests even before reaching the forest.
It started with the horses.
Hee hee.
Suddenly, the horses began whimpering, and their speed gradually slowed down.
'They're still nobles, after all.'
"At least they're nobles."
My thoughts coincided with Charon's.
The attack that began more gently than expected was quite polite, and it seed that Charon had the sa impression.
The horses eventually ca to a stop and collapsed on the ground.
Then, a sinister aura gathered around us, filling the air with damp humidity.
Only one dark mage possessed these characteristics.
'The Abyssal Dragon.'
A more formidable opponent than expected erged.
Although their appearance was still concealed, the gentle thod of attack and the dampness in the air suggested that it was likely the Abyssal Dragon.
If Charon was the mid-boss of the early chapters, the Abyssal Dragon was the mid-boss of the mid-late chapters.
Naturally, their strength was on a different level.
"Greetings, Charon Dephlen. It's been a while."
In no ti, the figure erging from the ground was indeed the Abyssal Dragon, as expected.
Wearing a fedora hat and a tuxedo, they had kind-looking smile behind round glasses.
Charon frowned.
"Abyssal Dragon. I didn't expect you to launch an attack."
"An attack? No, I've co to make a proposal."
Words sound nice, but it was clear that they had co to target the pages of Sloth.
That's when it happened.
"What's going on? Why did it stop?"
Startled, Karone and I turned around with tense expressions, looking at the source of the voice.
Salem Edidia, a demonic being shunned in both the light and in the dark, was stretching and getting up.
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