Chapter 68: Framme: You Little Brat, Your Targeting Is Way Too Obvious

"So why haven't you left yet?"

Inside the Magic Academy, in the laboratory designated for Toland, Roland looked at Caria, Iluvia, and Flam, who were still lingering.

Just moments ago, after he shared his thoughts with Toland about strengthening the academy's security measures, Toland agreed that it made complete sense and hurried off to argue the case with Headmaster Hern.

After all, having suspicious individuals repeatedly break in to launch assassinations within the span of a few days was simply absurd.

The academy's security truly needed an upgrade.

However, once Toland left, the others showed no intention of departing.

Whether it was Iluvia, Caria, or Flam.

With Toland gone, all three of them stared at him in unison, not saying a word.

Five full minutes had already passed.

"Do you want to chase me away? No problem at all. As long as you don't want me to stay here, I'll leave right this instant."

"But I am your creditor, you know. Think carefully about the consequences of driving me away."

Iluvia rested her elbow on the table, cupped her chin in her hand, and smiled as she looked at Roland.

Caria very naturally grabbed Flam to use as a human shield: "My mentor is right here, so I'll just stick with her."

Roland: "..."

"And what about you, Lady Flam? Why aren't you leaving?"

Flam did not answer Roland's question.

Her eyes shifted back and forth between Iluvia and Caria.

This was the first time she had ever seen two witches with such strikingly similar experiences sharing the same room.

Both possessed extremely dangerous abilities, and both had triggered a loss of control over their powers the exact moment they were born, bringing about terrifying disasters.

Yet, compared to Iluvia, Caria was perhaps the more fortunate one.

After all, her hometown was merely a tiny village nestled in a mountain hollow.

It was so small that the governor of the nearby city-state sometimes forgot anyone even lived there.

A village like that could vanish without drawing much attention or causing any major ripples.

Not to mention that she had happened to be passing by at the time, managed to suppress Caria's innate spell runaway just in time, and brought her to the deep forests of the Blackthorn Territory for secluded training.

If not for that damned shut-in blood demon and that damned prelate of the Absolution Society, Caria likely wouldn't have appeared in any human settlement other than the town near the deep forest until she could completely control her spells.

Iluvia, however, was different.

The incident involving her had taken place right in the royal capital.

The power of decay radiated outward from the royal palace in an instant, engulfing nearly half of the capital's central district.

This catastrophe affected countless high-ranking officials and nobles, shaking the very foundations of Salah's rule.

Fortunately, the military and the Hatter were competent enough; through iron-fisted suppression and the logic that "if you won't do it, someone else will," Salah III quickly pacified the turmoil within the capital.

Of course, while Salah III could suppress rebellions and riots, he could not suppress the power of rumors.

The terrifying legends surrounding Iluvia quickly became common dinner-table gossip among the citizens of the capital.

She became the villain used to frighten crying children into falling asleep at night.

Still, compared to Iluvia's loss of control, Caria's power was perhaps even more terrifying.

Having finished sizing up the two of them, Flam finally turned her gaze toward Roland.

This fellow still seemed completely oblivious to everything.

Iluvia's past could be easily found out in the capital with just a bit of casual inquiry.

But Caria... if neither she nor Leia spoke of it, Roland would likely find it very difficult to ever know.

Flam still did not answer Roland's question.

She simply looked at the two young women whose minds were currently entirely focused on the young man, then lowered her head onto the table and let out a soft sigh.

"What a pair of completely untruthful children."

After a moment, Flam raised her head and looked at Roland, who was sitting by the table: "Roland, have you given any thought to what we should do next?"

"The situation in the capital is about to descend into chaos."

"Even an elf like me can see that the nobles in the National Assembly, led by Grand Duke Wellington, are reaching the limit of their patience."

"A conflict might erupt at any moment."

"You, Iluvia, and even Leia will no longer be able to attend classes properly here at the academy."

"Even Toland won't be able to protect you."

"We need to take the initiative and do something."

Flam's declaration, sounding almost like a call to arms, stunned all three of them.

The previously relaxed laboratory instantly grew heavy with tension.

Even Caria lost her appetite and stopped eating.

Roland smiled: "Is this why you stayed behind, Lady Flam?"

"Yes. The task Salah gave me has already been completed."

"Iluvia has already inherited the royal heritage, and we have seized the advantage of striking first."

"Sometimes, one must be decisive when taking action."

Flam expressed her perspective.

Strike first to gain the upper hand, making a move before the enemy even had time to react.

At the very least, they needed to formulate a battle plan.

Yet Roland felt rather helpless: "Matters like this aren't something you should be discussing with me, are you?"

"Wouldn't it be much better to discuss this with Iluvia and the experts in the military, and then mobilize an army all at once to crush the enemy by surprise?"

Upon hearing Roland's words, Iluvia let out a helpless sigh as well: "Roland, the situation in the military isn't as simple as you think."

"If the powerhouses of the military were truly willing to obey my commands unconditionally, those nobles wouldn't dare harbor any ulterior motives."

"The number of strong individuals I can truly control is very limited—only three eighth-ring experts."

"And..."

Seeing Iluvia stammering, Roland sighed as well: "They're all the puppet-type thralls you control, right?"

"Yes."

"Doesn't the military have three ninth-tier legends? Is there really not even one left behind to guard the capital?"

Flam answered on Iluvia's behalf: "Because Salah transferred all three of them to the border. How else do you think Iluvia manages to control the military?"

As soon as Flam said this, Iluvia visibly panicked.

The implication behind those words was far too heavy, and she genuinely feared what conclusions Roland might draw from them.

Roland, however, showed no particular reaction, simply letting out an enlightened "Ah": "I see. So the peak combat strength doesn't stand on Iluvia's side?"

"No wonder the other party dared to openly tamper with the examinations."

"Still... in a grand scheme like this, can a fledgling little mage who only just broke through to the fourth ring really be of any use?"

Flam shot Roland an exasperated look: "You know better than anyone. I'm well aware that you're still hiding some trump-card spells up your sleeve."

"You are a creature born entirely to counter mages."

"Your targeted utility is simply too strong."

"It's no problem for me to handle multiple opponents of the same rank simultaneously, which is why they want to use other methods to deal with me."

"And I believe that as long as I can draw their attention for a single split second, you are fully capable of assassinating a ninth-tier mage."

Roland offered a dry, awkward smile.

He had to admit that his skill set did indeed possess a rather formidable degree of specialization against mages.

Moreover, after acquiring the Silent Sword, that specialization was likely even greater than Flam imagined.

Yet, after being knocked around by Toland earlier today, he felt that participating in battles of this caliber was still stretching his capabilities a bit too thin.

However...

If things truly unfolded as Flam described—with her drawing the enemy's attention and creating an opening—he seemed to genuinely have a chance.

Even in the worst-case scenario, he could rely on the invincible effect granted by the World Tree's blessing, spell disruption via spell interference, area silence, and the anti-magic combat specialization of the Silent Sword, utilizing Blink to execute the assassination.

Tch, thinking about it this way, it really did seem like he had pumped all his points into anti-mage skills.

Still, there would only be a single chance.

If the enemy sealed off the space, or used primeval mana to disrupt spatial fluctuations in the surrounding area to prevent him from casting Blink smoothly, once he lost his close-combat approach, it would be extremely difficult for him to participate in battles of this scale.