The Second Strongest Has Returned

Chapter 83 : Revelation-6

Blue Magic Tower

Among the four towers responsible for different kinds of magic, the Blue Magic Tower was the group overseeing the realm of blue magic.

Following the intention of the first Tower Master, who aimed to lead the pursuit of wisdom in magic, the Blue Tower focused on research and development of new spells.

While they were extremely rigid when it came to the essence of magic and acquiring knowledge, they were known for making academic progress through the creation of new spells.

In other words—

“When is that guy coming out?”

—they were a group of magicians who had the worst relationship with priests, their complete opposites.

“Uh, please… just calm down for a moment…”

Thud

A woman expressed her irritation by striking the ground with a long staff near the entrance of the temple.

“Calm down? If you want me to calm down, bring me Leonardo!”

“But right now, we’re trying to get someone—”

Approaching the scene of the disturbance was a black knight who was also a magician. He was the cause of the commotion but also the key to resolving it.

“…You really showed up all of a sudden.”

Leonardo spoke softly, looking at her from the entrance of the temple.

“…So, you finally decided to show your face? Quite the expensive one, aren’t you, Sub-Tower Master?”

Leonardo’s eyes slightly narrowed at her overtly mocking and sarcastic attitude. He hadn’t expected her to be friendly, but he hadn’t thought she’d openly display such hostility either.

“…If you have matters to discuss, isn’t it polite to send a message ahead of time, Magician Platous Blanc?”

There was no need to respond kindly. With a tone as cold as Ain’s, Leo posed a formal question.

“…Your words have gotten sharper, haven’t they? Junior? ”

[…Ah, that jerk… Doesn’t she ever get tired of this…?]

The Sage, who had been quietly hiding to avoid Ain and the Saint, glared at Platous with a voice filled with animosity. Since she was acting as usual, it almost felt less out of place.

“Unfortunately, I can’t speak kindly to an uninvited guest.”

“But I still remember how you used to follow me around, calling me ‘senior.'”

[What nonsense… She was the one clinging to me like a leech.]

The Sage glared at Platous, completely siding with Leo, practically scolding her with his eyes and mouth. Considering the usual dynamic between the Sage and Leo, it was easy to get an idea of that woman’s temperament.

“…Really? So that woman… she’s your senior, Leo?”

At some point, Ariasphil, who had been standing beside them holding Ain’s hand, hooked her other arm around Leo’s. Platous scoffed at such a blatant display of behavior.

“…Now I understand.”

Whether it was a scoff or a sneer, she acted as if she had the right to make such remarks.

“You’re just toying with people…”

To Leo, she was not even worth playing with.

“What do you mean? Since earlier?”

“If you wanted to switch rides, you should have done it quietly… instead of causing all this trouble.”

[Why is she spouting nonsense the moment she sees him?]

For Leo, who had never even been on the metaphorical “ride,” that kind of nonsense was utterly absurd. It was an expression that would have been offensive even to a well-behaved canine.

“…What did you just say?”

Leo glared at her, his eyes going beyond a mere frown to a look of pure disdain.

“So, am I wrong? You drain people of their worth, and when they’re no longer useful, this is how you repay them?”

[Like she could drain anything if there was nothing to drain, you wretched woman.]

As she said, Leonardo hadn’t really been indebted to the Blue Magic Tower. At most, he had received permission to access their specialized archives or sought advice a few times.

The extent of her help was essentially limited to confirming whether or not certain books could be checked out.

Moreover, he had made similar requests to other Tower Masters on occasion, and the Blue Tower Master never expressed any discomfort or refused his requests.

“You falsely accuse me, beat up my father like that, and do you realize that because of you, the Blue Tower is now faltering?”

At this point, calling her words “speech” was too generous—it was just noise.

From the beginning, Platous had no grounds to accuse him. It was practically self-destruction on her part, and while it was a bit regrettable that the Blue Tower was affected, it was essentially a mutual agreement since the duel had been conducted fairly.

“Hey…! Since earlier, you’ve been—!”

“Must be nice, huh? Getting to cozy up with the Hero of the Reinhardt family?”

Everyone’s expressions turned serious in an instant. That comment could be interpreted as blasphemy.

“…Ha…”

She had crossed the line long ago, and now she was playing with fire on the other side of that line. It was impossible not to sigh.

“So, playing house with that doll and pretending to be family…”

“Is getting dumped so humiliating that you’re throwing a fit like this?”

Therefore, he no longer felt the need to hold back.

“…Wh-what…?!”

“If you had confessed properly and caused this mess, that would be one thing, but who gets the idea to confess in a courtyard with at least ten people around?”

There was no reason to stay quiet after she had insulted his family.

“And draining people dry? From the moment you started flirting beside me, even before you confessed, I could feel bile rising up my throat.”

Leaving a piece of trash like her alone went against his very nature.

“Thanks to you tormenting me with your public confession, you only ended up embarrassed, but I had to suffer for nearly a whole year. Do you know that?”

The public confession had been the trigger.

The situation was fundamentally different from what had happened with Eilyn Tempeius.

In the eyes of others, it was simply seen as, “A beautiful, kind noble senior earnestly looks after him, but this commoner guy just gets annoyed, thinking he’s too good for her.”

* * *

People whispered and harassed him.

-“What makes that guy think he’s so great?”

Some students mocked him, loudly enough for him to hear.

-“Poor Senior Blanc.”

Materials he had stored in his locker were found in the trash.

-“He seduced the Hero and even treats his senior like that. This is why commoners are—”

There were even times when books he had bought separately were torn or scribbled on.

It took a very long time for him to stop that harassment on his own and erase the prejudice against him.

“Th-that’s not what I did…”

“…Is that really something you should be saying?”

Not just Leo, but even the people from the temple side, especially Ariasphil, emanated a deep murderous intent, as if they wanted to kill the woman more than the Clay Shaper did.

“…But… but the damage you caused to the Blue Tower…! What are you going to do about it…!?”

Her excuses were trivial, hardly enough to be called a justification. Just by looking at the current situation, there was no one willing to take her side.

“Is that so? Did you really come here for the honor of the Blue Tower?”

At those words, Leonardo drew a knife from his pocket.

“Then come at me. This will be enough.”

The dagger was, quite literally, just a blade.

It wasn’t a renowned sword forged from special metal, nor was it a magic-enhanced sword.

It was simply a dagger, about the length of a paring knife, made of decent steel.

The condition that Leo set was that he would only use this dagger.

“…Sir Leo…! No matter how it is, that’s…!”

“I’m sorry. It’s my business, but I seem to have dragged the temple side into it.”

That wasn’t what they were concerned about. No matter how arrogant and haughty she was, as the daughter of the Blue Tower Master, she was still a major figure among magicians.

In fact, she was a 5-circle magician, recognized not only in the Blue Tower but also throughout the Magic Tower.

“That’s not what I meant…!”

Even Ariasphil tried to dissuade him, but Leo smiled and spoke softly.

“Miss, it’s okay.”

Then, he whispered quietly into her ear.

“I don’t want to lose to anyone other than you, either.”

Hearing that, the worry that had filled her face turned into a blush, and her hands, which had been holding onto Leo, naturally loosened. With Ariasphil’s implicit approval, Leo turned to face the woman and proposed a bet.

“If you win, I’ll apologize to the entire Blue Tower, to the Tower Master, and to you, just as you demand. And I’ll do it in the public manner you like so much.”

Leo was giving the detestable woman a chance. Considering the conditions and what she stood to gain, there was no way he would come out at a loss.

“But if you lose, you’ll have to apologize without any complaints about this matter. And don’t ever pretend to know me or the people around me again.”

That was a fair price to pay. After all, his goal from the beginning had been to restore his honor through this duel, so there was no way he could lose out. On the contrary, imposing restrictions on himself only worked in his favor.

“…Fine. Now we can finally talk, can’t we, junior?”

“And don’t call me that in such a way. It makes me feel sick.”

For the record, this was a warning unrelated to the outcome of the duel. Perhaps she had forgotten about her past misdeeds and insults, as she grabbed her staff, her hands trembling with rage.

“We don’t need a separate location, do we? Since you’ll be down with a single strike anyway…”

“You’re still as thoughtless as ever, I see.”

Saying that, Leo extended one hand and cast a protective spell. With the formation of the barrier, people naturally moved beyond the circular boundary, finding safety on the other side.

“Why? Still feeling irritated when someone hits a nerve?”

It was, as always, Platous who couldn’t resist reacting to the provocation.

What came flying at him was a barrage of rocks.

It was a display of magic that could easily fracture bones and pierce through flesh and bone with each strike.

The problem lay in the fact that she executed this series of spells in less than a second. Even if she was infuriating, she was still a high-ranking magician, and that didn’t just mean she could use advanced magic.

Among her five rotating circles, the extra ones served as auxiliary mechanisms, allowing her to cast even lower-tier spells at high speed.

[Tempest Blast]

Since evasion was difficult, he used a storm spell to scatter the shower of rocks. If he had simply set up a shield, he would have been trapped, attacked like a rat in a trap.

“Kehah…! Hahahaha!”

Platous let out a mocking laugh, as if the defense had amused her rather than displeased her.

“You did try, didn’t you? If you’ve reached the 4th Circle in just four years, that’s impressive, right?”

The earlier barrier, and the wind magic he had just cast—considering their quality and speed, one could judge him to be a skilled 4-circle magician at best.

Of course, reaching the 4th Circle in four years was, by common sense, an extraordinary growth, but to someone like her, who had continuously trained at the 5th Circle, it was nothing but laughable.

“Oh, did you think that because you were using a dagger, I’d drop my guard in close combat?”

She added that taunt as she drew a magic circle on the ground, and massive golems made of earth and stone began to emerge one by one, revealing their hulking forms.

“Did you think I just played around while studying abroad? I’ve already accounted for close combat.”

Saying that, she began preparing her next spell behind the golems. Her plan was to use the golems to buy time while she set up a high-powered spell to finish things off.

“…Ha… I expected this, but…”

Leo let out a quiet sigh at the sight of the golems.

“…What should we do…?! Sir Leo’s sword won’t be able to…!”

“No. It won’t be a problem.”

Despite the unfavorable situation, Ain calmly countered with a confident gaze.

“In his battle against the Tower Master, he sliced through iron golems in mere seconds.”

With a small sigh, Leonardo’s dagger moved. By the time Leo, who had vanished from sight, landed back on the ground, the stone golems’ bodies were already split apart one after another.

“…What the…!”

But it didn’t end there. The dagger, its blade extended with flames, left a trail of red lines. While it was merely an afterimage, the shape of the line wasn’t just a visual effect.

“Fire Storm.”

As Leo called out, he swung his blade, and a storm of flames surged forth. The resulting explosion far surpassed what one would expect from a 5th Circle spell, reducing the golems to nothing but ashes.

“That’s my father’s unique magic.”

Right now, Leo’s magic circle was integrated into the form of his swordplay.

“It’s called ‘Aria of Martial Arts and Magic.’”

It wasn’t just an illusion that the name evoked the image of a woman.