In the heart of the village, there was a quiet forest—a place where one could be alone, far from prying eyes.
“Fuck…” Julius collapsed onto the ground, completely out of breath.
“How is this spell supposed to work?”
A book lay open beside him, turned to the final page.
“I’ve mastered the other spells. Only this last one’s giving me trouble.” He pushed himself back up.
“One more time…” he muttered, focusing.
“HEY, JULIUS!”
Stier came running, slightly out of breath.
“There you are!” he panted.
“The carriage is on its way to pick you up. Did you lose track of time again?”
“Damn, is it that late already?”
Julius stuffed the book into his bag and left the forest with Stier.
“Do you want to go home one last time? Say goodbye?” Stier asked.
“No need. I’ve already taken care of that,” Julius replied.
They exited the woods and walked down the path toward Jin and Jina’s house.
When they arrived, Jin opened the door and led them into the room where Jina lay.
“Her condition hasn’t changed,” Jin said quietly, sitting on the bed against the opposite wall.
Julius stepped up to Jina’s side, knelt down, and looked at her face.
“I’ll find the bastards who did this to you… and they will pay.”
He rose slowly.
“They’ll pay for everything,” he whispered to himself.
“There’s supposed to be a great library at the Lidoris Academy,” Jin said.
“Maybe you’ll find something there about the sword.”
“A library?” Julius raised a brow.
“Yeah. A vast hall filled with books about magic and all the world’s knowledge,” Jin explained.
“Think they’ll just let anyone in?” Stier asked, skeptical.
“I don’t know. I only heard rumors that it exists,” Jin replied, his voice a little bitter now.
“Don’t worry. If they don’t let me in, I’ll force my way through.”
Julius summoned a small flame in his hand and grinned devilishly.
Stier tensed. “Whoa! You’ll get kicked out before you even get in!”
The flame vanished, and Julius sighed.
“Relax, it was a joke.”
His usual smile calmed Stier immediately.
“They say the library is guarded by warriors—some of the strongest on the continent,” Jin added.
“I said it was a joke!” Julius frowned like no one believed him.
“You sure know a lot about it. Where’d you learn all this?” Julius asked curiously.
“Oh… I just overheard it somewhere in the city,” Jin said, forcing a laugh that didn’t quite ring true.
Julius glanced down at his bag on the floor.
“And that book… without the spells in there, I’d never have come this far.”
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Jin gave no direct answer. He just smiled and claimed he bought it from an old man in town.
Julius had a suspicion—but chose not to push it.
“The carriage is almost here. Is there anything else you want to do before you go?” Stier asked.
“No. I’m ready.”
He grabbed his bag and headed toward the door. But Jin stopped him.
“Did you talk to Bon?” he asked.
Julius was caught off guard by the question.
“You haven’t spoken since the incident.”
“You can’t talk to a stubborn guy like that. He’s been avoiding me anyway.”
Julius sounded like he was defending himself.
“But did you try reaching out to him?”
Julius had no answer.
Jin gave him a sad look, but Julius didn’t turn back.
He knew—he couldn’t face him right now.
“See you, Jin… and thanks for everything.”
——————
Stier handed Julius a small box of food he had packed for the journey.
“You sure? I can stay here and wait with you,” Stier offered.
“It’s fine. You probably need to help your father out on the field, right?”
Julius gave Stier a solid fist bump on the chest.
“Thanks, Stier.”
Stier said his goodbye, leaving Julius alone at the edge of the village, waiting for the carriage.
That’s when he noticed something—someone watching him from a distance.
“Huh…” Julius sighed.
“Whatever.”
He followed the figure and arrived at the old firepit, where he and his friends used to meet.
Someone was already sitting there, back turned to him.
Julius stood behind the person—silent.
Until:
“Are you spying on me now or what?” Julius asked.
No reply.
“Is your thick skull so dense you can’t even answer me anymore… Bon?”
The person before him was once his best friend.
But after what happened to his sister, even that bond had cracked.
“You were always so carefree… and naive,” Bon finally said, standing up and turning to face him.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Julius stepped closer, tension rising.
“You only won that last fight by luck. If you hadn’t knocked his wand away at the last second, he would’ve had enough mana to block your final strike and beat you.”
Julius scowled.
He grabbed Bon by the collar.
“You bastard—did you come here to pick a fight with me?”
Bon grinned.
“You think you’ve become strong? You just got lucky beating someone who never made it to Lidoris in the first place.”
Julius’ anger flared.
“You bastard!”
He drew his fist back, ready to punch—but stopped himself.
Instead, he shoved Bon away.
Bon stumbled over a root and fell on his butt.
“Then why did you help me?” Julius asked coldly, glaring at him.
Bon avoided his eyes.
“I know the book Jin gave me came from you.”
Still, no reply.
“And those artifact leads… the library. Jin could never have figured all that out on his own.”
Bon looked down, silent.
“If you’ve got nothing else to say, I’m leaving.”
Julius turned—
But then Bon said softly:
“I really loved her…”
Tears welled in his eyes.
“When I heard she died… it shattered me. I couldn’t accept it.”
Julius turned back to him but said nothing.
“Out of desperation… I blamed you.”
Bon’s eyes were glued to the ground.
“But after a while, when I could think clearly again, I started looking into what really happened. And I noticed things… things that didn’t add up.”
He paused.
“It all pointed to those knights from Lidoris.”
“Then why didn’t you come to me?” Julius asked.
Bon still couldn’t meet his gaze.
“I was ashamed. I blamed you… didn’t believe you. We were friends—and I let grief and frustration cloud my judgment.”
Julius clenched his fists.
“You idiot… if you had just said something, then—”
But he stopped himself. He knew he wasn’t in the position to say that. He was just as stubborn.
“I started researching magic and Lidoris… but I realized something. I was just a pawn.
The gap between nobles and commoners is too wide.”
“Nobles aren’t anything special,” Julius growled.
Bon chuckled.
“I envy that na?veté of yours.”
“What did you just say?” Julius snapped.
“I tried learning the spells in the book—but I barely managed, and even then I didn’t have enough mana.
Eventually, I gave up. But watching you train every single day… made me feel pathetic.
So I told Jin to give you the book and not say it was from me.
I didn’t expect much—but… you surprised me.”
Julius stepped closer.
“When I saw you at the tournament, risking your life…
That’s when I realized what scum I was. I blamed you—but I wasn’t even willing to put my own life on the line.”
Tears streamed down Bon’s face.
Julius held out his hand in a silent offer.
Bon took it—and stood up.
BAAAM!
Julius headbutted him hard.
Bon staggered back.
“What the hell—?!”
“You idiot!” Julius yelled.
“You’ve always been weak!”
“I know I’m weak…” Bon tried to say—
“But you’re the smartest guy I know.”
Bon looked up, surprised.
“I wouldn’t have won the tournament without you.”
Tears welled up again in Bon’s eyes.
“Leave the rest to me. I’m going to get my sister back.”
Bon wiped his tears away.
“The students at Lidoris… they’re on a whole different level from the ones you’ve fought.”
“I don’t care. I’ll beat them all anyway.”
Bon chuckled.
“Your na?veté really is unbeatable.”
“What did you just say?!” Julius barked.
Bon extended his hand.
“Please… bring Anja back. You’re the only one who can.”
Julius gripped it firmly.
“Of course.”
A promise—sealed with a handshake.
