Published: August 10, 2026
Dunkelfelger should also be heading to the Arensbach Dormitory for now. Since it is our job to find the detached palace hidden by the god of concealment, Fairburken, it is the most suitable place to rendezvous with them from the Central Building and the Dunkelfelger Dormitory.
"Lord Ferdinand, is it all right for you to go to the detached palace? Um, if it makes you feel unpleasant, you can just give instructions from outside."
From what I have heard, it should not be a place with any good memories for Ferdinand. He probably would not want to step inside the detached palace. There was no need to go out of his way to a place he disliked. When I said that, Ferdinand let out a deep sigh.
"You are the one here as aub, yet you want me to run away in front of you just because I dislike battle and do not want to go? There is no need to worry about me. Rather, I would like to smash that detached palace to pieces."
"Hold on a moment. Smashing the detached palace to pieces, turning Arensbach into flat land, saying it would have been fine if either lanzenave or the royal family had been dealt with already... Lord Ferdinand, your thoughts have become rather violent lately."
Wasn't that dangerous line of thought being caused by fatigue that a little rest could not shake off? That was what I worried, but Ferdinand only gave a wry smile.
"I merely did not bother to say it out loud. My thoughts have always been violent. This is nothing new. Do not worry."
"That is precisely the part that sounds wrong when you say 'do not worry'!"
"Then you may worry on your own."
...Don't say it like such a nuisance! It's about you!
For now, I understood that Ferdinand was not avoiding Adalgeisa's detached palace, but rather wanted to destroy it. When I had brought up Gervasio, his expression and tone had been awful, so I had worried quite a bit, but it seemed he did intend to go.
"Come to think of it, Lord Ferdinand, do you know where the detached palace is? On the map it is diagonally down to the right of the Arensbach Dormitory, but when I look from the pitch-black sky, I really have no idea where anything is. I cannot even tell which way the Arensbach Dormitory is."
Once we left the central area of the noble academy, where the Central Building and various specialized buildings were gathered, all that remained was a vast black forest in the darkness, with only the occasional dormitory of each duchy and the faintly glowing cylindrical collection sites. I truly could not even tell whether we were actually heading toward the Arensbach Dormitory right now. I was impressed that the knights leading us could tell direction so well in this sky and black forest alone.
"...You, in a state where you cannot even understand a map enough to know where the Arensbach Dormitory is, were proudly telling Aub Dunkelfelger that you knew the general location?"
"I said the general location, so I did not lie. I merely cannot connect the map and the actual land. That does not mean I do not understand it. Since it is diagonally down to the right on the map, all I need to do is head southeast."
"That does not count as knowing if you cannot even head southeast. What will you do, holding the Gultrishite and giving orders, if you are in such a state?"
Ferdinand said I could not understand a map, but that was not much of a problem. Even if I did not understand, there were people who did.
"If I know I can leave it to Lord Ferdinand, then it is fine if I cannot tell southeast. Lord Ferdinand, you were investigating the shrine locations in the twenty mysteries of the noble academy, weren't you? There were materials in Lord Hilsure's research room. Since you actually investigated the shrines, you should know the general locations, yes?"
When I looked back and said that Gultrishite's presence had nothing to do with it at all, Ferdinand made a thoroughly displeased face and said, "Look forward."
The Arensbach Dormitory came into view in the distance. Dunkelfelger's knights were in the sky. Their Mounts faintly glowed, and the trees in the forest surrounding the dormitory were rustling, birds taking flight from the approach of those with different mana, while small demonic beasts scurried about in panic. Their presence was overwhelming.