Magic Academy's Genius Blinker - Chapter 253

Chapter 253

The Noble Soul (6)

***

Sa Yelan Orkan.

She was the eldest daughter of the Orkan Dukedom, one of the two major pillars of the Adolevit Kingdom. Inheriting the unique magical tactics known as the “Magic Combat Judicial Techniques” passed down by the war hero Aslan Orkan, she was trained from a young age to be a master of magical warfare.

It had already been three years since she enrolled at Stella Academy, destined to inherit the Orkan family.

Now a third-year student, she stood proudly at the top of her class. She excelled in both practical and theoretical studies, maintaining an A+ grade in everything, and was eagerly awaiting her graduation day.

“Miss, Professor Magellan has contacted you about preparing the ‘graduation album.'”

In Sa Yelan’s private clubroom.

Despite not being part of any official club, the professors had personally arranged for her to have this grand office, where she managed the affairs of the Orkan family. When a student spoke to her, she shook her head dismissively, as if irritated.

Most Stella students took their graduation album photos alone. However, in rare cases where a student was exceptionally outstanding, they had the honor of taking the album photo with a professor. This often came with opportunities to co-author a thesis or even secure a research position at the Mage Towers, which many students desired.

Of course…

For someone of Sa Yelan’s caliber, the situation was reversed, to the point where professors would sometimes cling to her instead.

In an ironic twist, it wasn’t the professors who acknowledged the students but the professors who sought recognition from the students, hoping to appear in their graduation album.

“Decline.”

Sa Yelan spoke indifferently, lowering her gaze. She had already finished university-level studies at the beginning of the semester, and her graduation thesis had been completed long ago.

At the moment, she was dealing with a significant backlog of family business, which she was managing while still attending school.

A graduation album? How laughable.

She had no intention of engaging in such a pointless task.

The moment she graduated, she planned to cut ties with everything related to Stella Academy and return to the Orkan family to focus on her true responsibilities.

“Miss, the ‘Purification Ritual’ is scheduled soon. Shall I apply for vacation on your behalf?”

The Purification Ritual.

It was a ceremony conducted jointly by the Orkan family and the Adolevit royal family once a year. It began ten years ago when Morf Forest was contaminated by the dark mana of Grand Duke Isaac Morf, and it had been held regularly ever since.

Led by Princess Hong Si-hwa, the ritual involved the Orkan family’s purification techniques, and only a select few could participate. All matters related to the ritual were strictly confidential.

In fact, the participants were even subjected to one of the forbidden spells, the [Restriction], to ensure secrecy.

While everyone knew that the forbidden magic of Restriction was being used behind the scenes, it was obvious that if this became public knowledge, it would cause a massive uproar. This secrecy demonstrated just how crucial the Purification Ritual was.

Naturally, none of the students assisting Sa Yelan in her clubroom knew anything about the ritual.

They only knew it existed, that it was something the young lady was involved in, and that they were required to support her.

‘Purification Ritual…’

Sa Yelan put down her pen and fell into thought.

This would be her first time participating in the ritual since coming of age, but she had already learned about its secrets from her father.

‘The true story behind the incident in Morf Forest.’

The world believed that ten years ago, Grand Duke Isaac Morf had gone on a rampage with dark magic, plunging Morf Forest into complete contamination. However, that was a lie.

In truth, the Adolevit family had forcibly resurrected the White Tiger Flame Spirit, and Grand Duke Isaac Morf had sacrificed himself to thwart their efforts, choosing the path of a dark mage…

That was the truth.

Sa Yelan harbored no personal feelings about this. She had no grand sense of duty to eradicate dark mages to protect the magical world, nor did she feel any burning ambition to become a great mage.

Her only goal, her “imposed life mission,” was to place Princess Hong Si-hwa on the throne. She had never, even once, had a personal sense of purpose in her life.

However, since learning this story, Sa Yelan’s mind had become oddly unsettled.

‘Why did Princess Hong Si-hwa have to do such a thing?’

While she was aware that there were hidden secrets among the Adolevit princesses, she did not know the exact reasons, making it impossible for her to understand the events of ten years ago.

What could they have hoped to gain from resurrecting the White Tiger Flame Spirit?

And… why did Grand Duke Morf choose to sacrifice himself?

‘Too many questions.’

As Sa Yelan began jotting down her questions on a blank piece of paper, a student approached, making her look up.

“Miss, you have a visitor.”

“Send them away.”

“Um… it’s Princess Hong Bi-yeon.”

No wonder her subordinate looked so uncomfortable. An uninvited guest had arrived. But Sa Yelan simply nodded calmly and stood up.

Though Princess Hong Bi-yeon was an adversary of the princess she served, she was still royalty, and ignoring her would be improper.

Sa Yelan was someone who could distinguish between personal and official matters, and she was adept at concealing personal emotions in formal situations.

Click!

As her attendants opened the door, Sa Yelan stood to greet Princess Hong Bi-yeon.

Unlike usual, Hong Bi-yeon had come alone. She immediately entered the clubroom and glanced around with mild interest.

“It’s modest.”

“Thank you.”

“It wasn’t a compliment.”

“I know.”

“Sit.”

With that, Hong Bi-yeon plopped herself down in what was clearly Sa Yelan’s seat and crossed her legs.

Resting her back against the sofa with her arms crossed, it was obvious she was trying to annoy Sa Yelan, but Sa Yelan did not react.

“Shall I bring out some tea?”

“No need. I’ll just say what I came to say and leave. You’re participating in the Purification Ritual this time, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“I’m going too. Keep that in mind.”

“…That is not for me to decide.”

This was troubling.

Although Sa Yelan’s expression didn’t change, Hong Bi-yeon noticed her discomfort.

“I know. But I’m going. There’s no reason for the princess of Adolevit to be excluded, is there? Right?”

Sa Yelan quietly nodded.

The reason Hong Bi-yeon was informing her of this was most likely because her father was the one in charge of the Purification Ritual.

Unfortunately, Princess Hong Si-hwa would not be attending this year’s ritual due to some urgent matters, leaving an empty seat.

Preventing Hong Bi-yeon’s involvement would be difficult.

‘This is troublesome…’

Hong Bi-yeon was an enemy of Hong Si-hwa.

Morf Forest was undoubtedly a weak point for Hong Si-hwa. Exposing it to Hong Bi-yeon would be like laying bare all her vulnerabilities.

‘I have to stop her.’

But how?

Hong Bi-yeon twisted her red lips into a smirk as if daring Sa Yelan to come up with an excuse.

‘She already knows everything…’

The Queen would not intervene.

This was something that Hong Bi-yeon and Hong Si-hwa would have to resolve between themselves.

No matter what Hong Si-hwa might do to interfere, Hong Bi-yeon had no intention of backing down.

Besides…

She planned to use the [Compass of Memory] in that place.

A relic from ancient times, of which only seven remained in the world, it allowed the user to glimpse past events, but the cost of using it was so high that even the royal family refrained from using it unless absolutely necessary.

However, Hong Bi-yeon had the right to use the Compass of Memory once a year, and she intended to use that opportunity this time.

‘I’ll find out exactly what happened, from start to finish.’

Her red eyes gleamed coldly.

***

In various parts of Aether World, there are World Trees born from the seed of the primordial tree, the Heavenly Spirit Tree.

In ancient times, there were said to be more than ten of them, but now only seven remain.

The Cradle of the Heavenly Spirit Tree was the homeland and root of the elves, the only place where a king could reside. The other World Trees, lacking a royal residence, were instead home to elders who lived in modest, woven houses of wood.

So, I was honestly surprised.

In the game, I had never visited the house of an elf elder, so I wasn’t expecting it to be so… simple.

“I apologize for inviting you to such an insignificant place…”

The elder’s name was Suhak San.

He bowed his head in apology as he invited Flowerseorin into his humble cabin, but she shook her head.

“Not at all. As an elf, I admire how natural your home feels.”

Flowerseorin sounded as though she truly meant it. Knowing her personality, she likely wasn’t one to appreciate overly lavish or extravagant things.

“Would you care to sit here?”

The wooden chair was hard and uncomfortable, yet surprisingly, I felt at ease sitting on it.

Strange.

Was it a luxury chair disguised as a cheap one?

I turned my head slightly and peeked out the window. While the elder had described this place as a simple cabin, it was actually located at the highest point of the World Tree, with roots sprawling protectively around it, making intrusion virtually impossible.

Moreover, magic warriors kept a strict guard, clearly marking this as the home of someone of great importance.

“So… could you tell me the full story?”

At Flowerseorin’s request, Elder Suhak San let out a deep sigh, bowing his head even further.

“The first discovery was ten days ago.”

The Orchard of Flower Radiance was aptly named, as it bore fruit from the World Tree. Since the entire city was made of wood, they could harvest any type of fruit from all over the world. But at some point, the fruit stopped ripening.

They sent a group of magical gardeners to investigate the roots of the World Tree, and what they found was shocking.

“The roots of the World Tree… had been invaded by dark mana.”

“How could that be…”

“We tried every possible method to resolve the issue. But none of them worked.”

Since spirits and divine beings were particularly vulnerable to dark mana, the elves had developed exceptionally advanced purification techniques to protect them. Their purification magic was far superior to human methods, and they had succeeded in cleansing the dark mana from the roots.

But that wasn’t the end of the problem.

“The following day, we returned to check for any remaining traces of dark mana… and for some reason, the roots had become corrupted again, in just one day.”

They concluded that someone must have been injecting dark mana into the roots every night.

They assumed an intruder was responsible and stationed guards, but…

“It was no use.”

No intruder was found.

No matter how advanced their purification magic was, the next day, the World Tree would be tainted again by dark mana on its own.

Elder Suhak San, along with the other elders, had all witnessed this phenomenon firsthand. His words were undeniably true.

“And so, after ten days of this, we had lost all hope of finding a solution… until Your Majesty arrived. We finally see a glimmer of hope.”

“Ah…”

Flowerseorin’s expression stiffened in response.

She seemed to have misunderstood.

It appeared she believed that, as the only high elf who could directly communicate with the Heavenly Spirit Tree, she had been summoned by the tree itself to solve the issue of the corruption in the Orchard of Flower Radiance.

But she had come here without knowing anything at all. After all, Flowerseorin’s abilities, no matter how great, couldn’t extend to communicating with World Trees located far away.

“I’ll… try talking to the World Tree.”

“Haha, the fact that Your Majesty is willing to help gives us great comfort.”

I quietly sighed as I listened to their conversation. While speaking with the World Tree was a natural step in the process, I had no intention of stopping her. However, I was almost certain it wouldn’t work.

After all, the root cause wasn’t something the World Tree could fix.

‘It’s almost certainly related to Leafanel…’

I hadn’t anticipated that this episode would be triggered so early. I wasn’t expecting this event, [The Black Spirit], to occur for another one or two years.

An incident that was meant for top-tier players to face had jumped forward by dozens of episodes and now confronted us head-on.

End of Chapter