CHAPTER 195: THE WILL TO LEAVE

"What's going on? Guards!"

"What happened? Was the automated defense array just activated? Something's wrong—go check it out, now!"

The explosive surge of magic energy startled all the nobles present, as well as the guards they had brought with them.

Then, the sudden descent of a blinding pillar of lightning filled everyone with dread. What had just happened? Was this a surprise attack from an enemy kingdom targeting the nobles of Aleisterre?

The nobles clustered together, with their guards, then immediately dispatched their subordinates to investigate the situation.

Thankfully, no further chaos followed. It seemed that the sudden accident had subsided just as quickly.

"Attention, please! Remain where you are. The royal family will be conducting an investigation. Do not approach the site. Anyone who does will be considered an accomplice and taken into custody for questioning."

The voice of the royal representative, amplified by magic, echoed through the space once more.

Where his tone had once been courteous and relaxed, it was now icy, almost murderous.

An attack on nobles, under the very nose of the royal family—and a successful one, at that—had roused their ire.

"Damn it, what the hell just happened?"

Wang Yu had begun to frown the moment the lightning fell from the sky. Calm as ever, he quickly realized how serious the situation was.

An attack on nobles, in the royal family's own domain—and it had succeeded. Anyone remotely connected to this mess was going to be in big trouble.

What was worse was that, not long before the incident, he had been negotiating benefits with Clement, one of the victims. That would be a huge problem.

Wang Yu stayed perfectly still, deliberately avoiding anything that might draw suspicion.

He glanced at the rotating magic array that had manifested overhead and the countless fine threads of mana descending from it, almost relieved by its omnidirectional surveillance.

That was sufficient to prove that he, Wang Yu, had nothing to do with this at all.

The royal guards stationed around the palace, including the magicians patrolling the skies, swiftly arrived at the scene of the lightning strike.

After casting a brief glance at Wang Yu and Clement's corpse on the ground, they wasted no time. The magicians quickly worked together to raise a barrier, enclosing the area struck by lightning and the corpse within it.

One of the royal guards, a grand knight, approached Wang Yu and placed his gauntleted right hand on his shoulder, his voice cold and stern.

"Wang Yu of the Nightblades special ops team, you'll have to come with us."

Wang Yu clicked his tongue silently. This was seriously bad. If he went with them, he'd lose his freedom. If the nobles failed to find the real culprit, they might just pin it all on him—this kind of scapegoating wasn't uncommon at all.

But what could he do? There were three grand knights and a mage in his vicinity. How could he, Wang Yu, resist?

"I'll handle things here. You go help the magicians. I'll inform Royal Astrologer Selene to determine whether this man was involved.

"Detaining him now only gives the real killer time to act. The only reasonable move is to identify the truth as quickly and accurately as possible."

Just as Wang Yu was preparing to grit his teeth and comply, another armored knight, taller and more imposing than the others, walked over and interrupted the one trying to detain him.

Wang Yu didn't know what had just happened, but he breathed a sigh of relief. He'd met Selene before, and it seemed as if she would go easy on him.

"Of course, Lord Uller. As you say."

The knight bowed to the tall Uller, then turned away from Wang Yu to join the magicians. They were searching the scene for any clues about the culprit.

"As for you, come with me," Uller said curtly, sparing Wang Yu a glance.

The name Uller was more than familiar to him.

The captain of the royal guard, the most gifted knight of Aleisterre in recent memory, and the youngest grand knight ever—all that was his legacy.

Wang Yu hadn't expected Uller to be the one who would step him and help him out of a tight spot, almost as if by coincidence.

Edward, who had been about to rush forward, halted in his tracks when he saw Uller stepping in. He frowned briefly.

Charles elbowed Edward from the side, but for once, Edward didn't respond with his usual banter. He simply shook his head, indicating that everything was fine.

Charles visibly relaxed and put aside the emergency communication crystal that he'd been about to use to ask for help from Sieg and Hugin.

"The automated defensive array wiped clean all traces of the invader. Both the patriarch of the Hahn family and his son's killer were annihilated by a near-seventh-tier lightning spell, leaving no traces behind. My memory magic didn't work at all. How about yours?"

"No effect either. There's simply too little residual data, just like with his son's body. The killer was shrouded by some sort of substance that obscured him, and he left no evidence when he killed Clement as a result.

"Damn it. He deliberately unveiled his magical presence only after dealing with the Hahn patriarch so that they'd be erased together by the defense array. He never planned to survive. Damn it all..."

Within the raised barrier, the magicians discussed their findings. There was no progress whatsoever. Every spell they tried to use for tracing the past had failed. The killer had perished alongside the Hahn patriarch and his son, leaving nothing behind.

The royal magicians dispelled the barrier, then jointly cast a spell to extract a portion of the scene. Along with the royal guards, they transported the evidence back to the palace for further analysis.

With the lockdown lifted, the nobles who had frozen in place after the royal decree and dared not move were finally allowed to leave.

They dispersed quickly. None of them wanted to remain in a place where a killer could appear from nowhere and strike them down.

By daybreak, news of the disturbance outside the palace had spread across the city. A viscount or higher-ranked noble had been slain openly. The head of the Hahn family and his son had both been killed outside the palace, in front of a multitude of witnesses.

The door to Wang Yu's home on Redmaple Street opened with a soft creak. It always did that, thanks to some flaw in the door—he'd never bothered to fix it.

Inside, a mana crystal lamp glowed, lighting the dim space.

Avia sat at the dining table in the living room, tinkering with some small alchemy components on the table. She looked visibly tired—as if she had waited for Wang Yu all night without sleeping.

"Sorry. I should've listened to you rather than go to the Elder Council—I got caught up in that mess."

Wang Yu scratched the back of his head, visibly apologetic. Seeing Avia's tired face made his heart ache. He hated making her worry like this.

"Who could've seen this coming? It's not your fault. I was just pulling an all-nighter to work on this new alchemy part. It's no big deal."

Avia didn't bring up the meeting again. She just smiled and picked up a small alchemical component from the table that she handed to him.

"You..." Wang Yu sighed. He didn't know what to say. The more time he spent with her, the more he realized how mature she was—she was so thoughtful it hurt. Not that that was a bad thing, but...

Wang Yu couldn't help but pinch the young woman's soft cheeks. He pulled her into a hug until her face flushed red and she made muffled, incoherent protests.

Wang Yu pressed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes.

"If you're upset about something, just say it straight to my face. Otherwise, it'll make me kind of off. You can even say I deserve a punch or two."

He let go of her cheeks and looked her straight in the eyes, trying to make her realize that he meant it.

"Can you please stop getting yourself into these dangerous and troublesome situations? It really worries me... and, honestly, it kind of makes me a little angry."

The girl's complaint came out softly—it couldn't be called harsh no matter how you looked at it—but her meaning was clear.

"Alright, I'll try. But I might not be able to pull it off all the time," Wang Yu replied with a faint smile.

"Huh? That's it? That's such a lazy response."

Avia looked baffled. Wang Yu's answer wasn't quite dismissive, but it sounded like he was pacifying a child. Avia punched him lightly in the chest, somewhat irritated.

"Haha, sorry. Isn't this better though, Avia? If you're unhappy about something, just tell me. Don't worry about causing trouble for me. Believe me, you're no trouble. All that chaos in the capital, on the other hand..."

Wang Yu let her fists fall against his chest with a smile. He wasn't trying to annoy her—he just wanted her to express her feelings more directly. That mattered to him.

"I promise, alright? I won't put myself in danger unless there's absolutely no other choice." After the laugh, Wang Yu finally gave a sincere answer.

"Mm, alright. And if you do end up in danger... then I'll save you, just like you saved me before." The girl nodded in satisfaction and crossed her arms as she looked at him.

Wang Yu frowned, then glanced over at the pile of alchemical components on the table. Could she have been...

"Thanks." He gave Avia a hug, then sat down beside her. She leaned gently against his shoulder.

"Wang Yu."

"Hm?"

"I was thinking... maybe we don't need to stay in the capital anymore. I thought this place was pretty nice when I first arrived, but the longer I stay, the more I feel like... it's just so much trouble.

"It's not like everything here is bad. The Stevenson Academy of Magic, your Nightblade friends, the Church of Nightfall in the capital's shadow, and that interesting and kind goddess, Lady Darkness—they're all really wonderful.

"But I always feel like my hands are tied here. And not just mine—yours too. Don't you think you've had to worry about way more things lately? So many things to consider, so many rules to follow. Honestly, I don't think this place suits you, Wang Yu."

"Haha, yeah. I feel that too. The capital has lots of opportunities to grow stronger, but man, the nonsense you have to deal with... it's just too much. The world's a big place. I think it's about time to go see more of it. What do you think, Avia?"

"That's exactly what I was thinking. Even though it's super convenient to study magic in the capital, and there are tons of alchemy resources... I still want to go out exploring. I guess that's one of my passions, too."

"Let's see—maybe we should wait until the war with Selwyn ends. Leaving now would be too chaotic. The nobles would probably take the opportunity to pin some ridiculous blame on us or something. But once Aleisterre and Selwyn are done fighting, we can go."

"Sounds good. But Wang Yu, do you really think Aleisterre will win?"

Her question made Wang Yu rub his chin thoughtfully. He reflected on the intel he'd gathered about Aleisterre's current situation, and some of Selwyn's history.

He also drew on the knowledge he'd learned back on Earth. After thinking for a moment, he replied with conviction, "I don't see how Selwyn could win against Aleisterre. To me, the outcome of this war has been pretty obvious from the start."

The resource gap, the technological gap, even the moral high ground—Selwyn was at a disadvantage in every way...

"That'd be good, wouldn't it?"

Avia nodded in vague understanding. She was smart and well-read, but when it came to matters of war, Wang Yu, armed with his Earth-born experiences and understanding of this world, had the edge.

"Wait, hold on." Wang Yu took out his communications device. A message had come from Charles.

When he read it, Wang Yu's eyes widened slightly. A flash of disbelief crossed his face—it seemed absurd.

Charles' message was displayed as glowing text across the surface of the device: "The Ryder family and a bunch of major houses didn't get seats in the Elder Council. They actually based this re-election on nothing but the votes that were cast? Has the royal family lost its mind?"