Chapter 62: The Sky in June (Part 1)

The afternoon of the day after Jiang Zhe and Allen withdrew from the competition, the champion of the event was finally determined: Casper Rollins, a sixth-year student at Rexox Academy, on the verge of graduation and already selected for admission to the Imperial Royal Academy. Skilled in blue fire magic and enchantment spells, he emerged as the winner.
The runner-up was Albin Karden, a sixth-year student fromMil Academy Academy, who lost narrowly in the final showdown.
Eddie, who had faced Jiang Zhe in the second round of the finals, finished in third place. However, some professors believed he was hiding part of his true strength.
Galer, who had claimed to be competing for the championship, ended up in fourth place, Gert in seventh, and Katerina in thirteenth. Regardless of the actual situation, these four would be among the top ten outstanding students fromMil Academy Academy, spending a year at Rexox Academy on behalf of their school. In return, the top ten students from Rexox Academy would also have the honor to study in Salonia for a year at the end of the year—provided both sides agreed, as the generational gap between the two countries was not easy to bridge.
Of course, all of this had nothing to do with Jiang Zhe and his team anymore, as they had already announced their withdrawal after the second round of the finals.
Like dark horses, Jiang Zhe and Allen flashed by like meteors, yet even so, they left a deep impression on everyone else.
Jiang Zhe and Lavia, who specialized in blue fire magic; Vincent, who focused on summoning spells; Allen, who excelled in enhancement spells; Scott, who specialized in curses and illusions—these second-year students’ abilities surprised everyone.
Especially Jiang Zhe. Both students and professors were amazed by the outstanding performances during those two days. He and Lavia had clearly become the leaders in the lower grades’ blue fire magic courses, while among the higher grades, the undisputed champion was Casper Rollins.
After thinking for a whole day about whether to go to Salonia to broaden his magical knowledge, Casper ultimately decided to sign his name on the list of those going. After all, as a qualified magician, extensive knowledge was essential.
The white magic of the Church…
Recalling the final match, Casper carried several sheets of parchment filled with notes as he headed toward the dean’s office. At a corner, he accidentally collided with someone coming toward him, causing the parchment to scatter across the floor.

“Don’t you watch where you’re going, you brat!” the man laughed, bending down to pick up the parchments for Casper.
“Uh, I’m very sorry,” Casper apologized quickly. When he looked up and saw the man, the stiffness on his face faded, replaced by familiarity and warmth.
“Professor Hode?”
“Hehe,” Professor Hode said with a smile, handing the parchments to the tall boy in front of him. “Well done, Casper. That last match was excellent!”
“Thank you, Professor Hode,” Casper replied humbly with a smile, then added shyly, “I’m sorry, Professor, but about what you mentioned…”
“It’s not your fault,” Professor Hode said with a slight smile, glancing at the sky through the corridor window before shaking his head. “That little brat gave up on his own… It’s better this way; it saves him from getting arrogant once he achieves some success… I actually guessed this outcome, but I was just not sure, so I told you in advance to give that kid a good lesson when you saw him. Magic isn’t something that can be explained by just mastering one or two techniques! I really hope you can teach him a lesson and show him what senior students are really like…”
Looking at the smile in Professor Hode’s eyes, Casper scratched his head and said shyly, “Professor, please stop praising me. To be honest, when I heard you mention it that day, I thought I should talk to junior Sos too, especially his…” He paused, gesturing with his right hand as he said in disbelief, “Before that day, I really couldn’t believe that someone could control dozens of fireballs at once… I might have lost in the end!”
Professor Hode playfully rubbed Casper’s hair and asked with a laugh, “You’d lose?”
“That’s hard to say,” Casper replied, winking mischievously. “If junior Sos can master [Flash], I think I’d only have a 60% chance…”
“Flash, huh…” Seemingly pondering something, Professor Hode shook his head and changed the subject. “How have you thought about that matter?”
“Are you referring to going to Salonia, Professor?”
“Yes!”
At that mention, the smile vanished from Casper’s face, replaced by embarrassment and hesitation. He glanced secretly at Professor Hode’s expression and said awkwardly, “Um… What do you mean by that, Professor?”
After all, at Rexox Academy, almost everyone knew that Professor Hode had always held biases against Salonia.

Seeming to notice the actions of this tall boy before him, Professor Hode gently patted Casper’s head and said softly, “My opinion isn’t important. What matters is your own opinion… Setting aside my personal thoughts, as a professor, I recommend Salonia. After all, white magic and black magic hold equal status in the world of magic, and profound knowledge is the most valuable weapon for a magician. When you return, you can be appointed as a Royal Magician. But remember one thing: the Empire is the Empire, and Salonia is Salonia. Even though the two countries are currently in a temporary truce, we must not forget our identities… Enough about that. Are you heading to the dean’s office now?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Coincidentally, I have some matters to attend to as well. Let’s go together!”
“Sure, Professor!”
And so, Professor Hode and Casper arrived at the old dean’s office door. Before Professor Hode could knock, they heard the old dean say from inside, “Come in, Hode!”
Professor Hode opened the door as instructed. There, the old dean stood by the window, holding a pipe. For this old man, his only source of pleasure and distraction was smoking while watching the students in the garden through the window.
“Old Dean!”
“Dean…”
“Hmm,” the old dean turned his head, nodded at Professor Hode, then smiled at Casper and said, “Congratulations, Casper. What an excellent match!”
“Dean, please don’t praise me too much…” Casper scratched his head shyly before respectfully handing over the scrolls in his hands.
“This is… oh, the list of names, right? Hmm, give it to me,” said the old dean as he took the scrolls, adding kindly, “You’re still young. Go out and see more of the world. It’s not a bad thing… By the way, Professor Manhert and I suggested that he organize a dance party for the students in a few days, so that the students from our school and those from Salonia can get to know each other… Well, let’s leave this task to you seniors in the sixth grade. I’ll assign you the hall on the first floor of the castle as a sort of pre-anniversary celebration, because soon…” At this point, the old dean looked up at Casper and said with a smile, “That’s it. Go now. Later, go to your grade’s office and tell Professor Manhert about what I said…”

“Okay, Dean,” nodded Casper. As if struck by an idea, he raised his head and said awkwardly, “Does that mean it’s entirely up to us sixth-graders to organize this dance?”
“Of course!”
“Hmm… won’t the professors participate?”
“Hehe, there’s no need to hide anything… Rest assured, this dance is yours! I guarantee those professors won’t come and ruin it for you…”
“There’s no way…”
“Then let’s make it clear—no excessive trouble, understand?”
“Understood, Dean!”
Watching Casper leave with enthusiasm, the old dean turned to Professor Hode. Noting his serious expression, he pointed at the office door and said, “Close the door first, Hode!”
“Yes, old dean!” Professor Hode nodded and gently closed the door. Then he turned around, took out a magical letter from his pocket, and said in a grave voice, “Old dean, this was delivered just now. The rebellion in Jacosenbu is getting worse and has spread to Brownhill. This is a letter sent overnight by Brownhill’s treasurer to the local branch of the Magic Association…”
“Hmm!” The old dean took the letter from Professor Hode, opened it, and after reading just a few lines, his brows furrowed.
“Has something else happened, old dean?”
“Sigh!” The old dean nodded and sighed, looking at the letter in his hand. “It says that Casimir Sakison, the lord of the Brownhill region, was also assassinated by someone of unknown identity… This is the second lord to be assassinated! And…”
“What?” Professor Hode looked shocked, glanced at the old dean, and asked tentatively, “From your tone, old dean… could it be that both were assassinated in the same way? Killed by an arrow to the heart?”
“That’s exactly it!” The old dean sighed and paced around the room a few times before closing his eyes in thought. “I believe Count Casimir Sakison already knew about the assassination of the lord of Jacosenbu, so he always had trusted guards with him. Yet they still failed to stop it…” As he spoke, he seemed to remember something and walked straight to the bookshelf in the far corner of the room.
It was clearly an ancient bookshelf that wasn’t often visited. Perhaps even the old dean himself hadn’t taken care of it, as it was covered in dust and cobwebs.

“After Count Casimir Sakisen was assassinated, the local nobles took control. They quickly sealed off the entire area and hunted down suspects…” As he spoke, the old dean narrowed his eyes as he scanned the books on the shelf, his right hand tracing the spines of the books.

“…According to the letters, within three days, they captured over two thousand rebels. Most of them were killed on the spot for resisting, while the rest were imprisoned. Alas, I hope they didn’t undercount… During this time, one person managed to escape the local army’s pursuit… Well, not exactly escape—since that squad of over three hundred people couldn’t stop him, it means he’s no ordinary person.”

“Over three hundred people and they couldn’t stop one?” Seeing the old dean seemingly searching for something, Professor Hod expressed confusion and asked, “Is it a magician?”

“If it’s a magician, that would be good,” the old dean said with a wry smile, shaking his head. “According to the accounts, that suspect dressed like an archer, wearing green archer’s attire, carrying a bow of normal size, with an ink-green quiver tied to his waist. His eyes were extremely sharp, like those of a vulture…” As he spoke, the old dean’s finger suddenly stopped on a book that appeared very old and tattered.

“An archer?” Glancing at the old dean, Professor Hod suddenly remembered something and exclaimed in shock, “Could it be…”

“Hmm,” nodding, the old dean gently blew on the dusty ancient document, then flipped through its pages. After about ten seconds, his movements stopped. He stared intently at the document, frowning as he read aloud, “Dressed in green, wielding a long bow, with a quiver at his waist… Possessing eyes as sharp as a vulture’s. Once he sees someone’s face, no matter who they are or how far they run, they can’t avoid his arrows… Directly to the heart, hitting every time. If hit by his arrow, even if not killed on the spot, they will die from the wound infection within a day or two… Wherever he goes, war breaks out… One of the twelve major demons who ‘bring war’—Lerajin! Could it really be him?”

“Lerajin? A demon?” Professor Hod looked at the old dean in surprise and asked doubtfully, “Who is he? Why have I never heard of his name?”

“Hehe,” said the old dean with a wry smile as he shook his head. “Hod, not to mention you, I think there aren’t many people in this world who know this name. Even among our generation, we might have only heard our mentors mention it a few times during our childhood. Hehe, I remember when I was young, the most popular stories were those of legendary knights. By chance, I learned some legends about the demon gods from my mentor. They’re just legends… No one can prove that those demon gods actually exist in this world…”
“Those… demon gods? Are they demons?”
The old dean shook his head and explained solemnly, “Demon gods and demons are two completely different concepts. In legends, those who break through space and enter this world through spatial gaps are called demons, while demon gods are more like heroic spirits, but much older—perhaps tens of thousands of years ago, or even earlier. Maybe many brilliant civilizations once existed in this world, but as history progressed, those civilizations declined. Yet some powerful figures from those ancient civilizations survived in unknown ways. That’s the legend of the ancient Seventy-Two Demon Gods. And this Lelajin is the twelfth among those seventy-two demon gods… I really hope I’m wrong. If that legend is true, then this world could be destroyed by them…”
“Destroy the world?” Professor Hod stared at the old dean in shock, unable to believe it. “Seventy-two… Just seventy-two people can destroy the world? Even great magicians can’t do that, right? Could they be… gods?” It took Professor Hod great effort to utter the last word.
“No, not exactly,” the old dean shook his head and walked straight to his desk. He added some tobacco to his nearly extinguished pipe, took two deep puffs, and said, “There have been countless legends on this continent. No one can prove whether those gods really existed, but those demon gods… seem to have appeared around the Alchemy Age.” As he spoke, he turned to look at Professor Hod and asked, “Hod, do you know Theland?”
“Theland? Yes, I do…”
“No, no, no. I’m not talking about the Theland region of today, but Theland from hundreds of years ago, during the Alchemy Age—the legendary Land of Miracles, one of the most powerful nations of that era, even more powerful than the ancient empire!”
“Uh, are you referring to that… ancient kingdom that supposedly perished in three days, Theland? Isn’t that just a legend?”

“I originally thought it was just a legend too,” the old dean sighed deeply, leaning on his desk and gazing at the sky outside with concern. “When I was young, my mentor told me about it as a legend. Back then, I just regarded it as an uninteresting story. Now it seems… if those legends are true, I’m afraid we’re in big trouble… It was just one of the seventy-two demons who completely destroyed the ancient kingdom of Theraland—Hampa, one of the thirty-eight archdemons! Just one demon destroyed a kingdom with hundreds of thousands of people…” As he spoke, the old dean turned to Professor Hod and said in a low voice, “Still can’t get in touch with Veston?”
“Hmm,” Professor Hod nodded and said softly, “I asked people from the Royal Magic Association. The great mage Veston Malagigi Hastings left with his apprentices a year ago. He appeared at Ron Fortress in the west half a year ago, and since then, there’s been no contact. Perhaps the distance is too great, beyond the range of communication stones…”
“That old bastard,” the usually kind-hearted old dean couldn’t help but curse under his breath, frowning and saying, “The problems with those orcs in the west haven’t been resolved yet, and now such a big crisis has arisen in the empire. Where on earth has that old fool gone? Can’t anyone send him a message?”
“Well…” Professor Hod hesitated for a moment before stepping forward and saying softly, “Actually… Old Dean, I’ve recently noticed something seems to be wrong in the Saxon imperial city. Last time, I heard from a royal mage delivering messages that someone seems to be deliberately avoiding talking about Great Mage Hastings. The mages in charge of communication have also been reassigned, replaced by some strangers…”
“Hmm? Strangers?” The old dean looked at Professor Hod in confusion and pondered, “Mages from where? Are they from our Riox? Or from Vandell?”
“It seems not. They were temporarily assigned from various branches of the magic associations…”
“Hmm? Is that possible?” As he spoke, the old dean seemed to remember something and raised his head, asking in confusion, “By the way, Hod, there have been no messages from Saxon these past couple of days. Do you know what’s going on?”

“Hmm,” Professor Hode lowered his head and thought for a moment before shaking his head. “I’m not sure about the details, but I heard a few things from some royal magicians I know. The Royal Magicians’ Association held a meeting recently regarding leadership and decision-making during the time when the Grand Magician Hastings is away from Sassen. It seems that several magicians are handling things together, like in a round-table meeting…”
“I see…” The old dean frowned and nodded, then said with a wry smile, “I knew this would happen. It was fine when that old fool Wiston was around, but now that he’s gone, he expects me to deal with the internal affairs of the royal magicians. It’s really unreasonable. But I’m worried that something might happen… Well, I hope nothing goes wrong!”
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
The old dean turned to look and said in a deep voice, “Come in, Professor Manhet!”
With a creak, Professor Manhet pushed the door open and entered. He nodded at Professor Hode, then closed the door behind him and said anxiously, “Dean, something terrible has happened. Ap Til and René Wet—those two children are dead…”
“What?” The old dean’s eyes widened in shock as he stared at Professor Manhet. Frowning, he said, “If I’m not mistaken, those two children were graduates of our Riox Academy five years ago, right? They’re now royal magicians. What exactly happened?”
“Don’t you remember, Dean?” Professor Manhet glanced at the old dean and said softly, “A month ago, Ap Til, René Wet, and Maliz Abbott—these three children went to Jacosenbu as magicians accompanying the 3,000 Royal Knight Army…”
“Hmm, I know about that. They went to investigate the rebellion in Jacosenbu, right?”
“Yes, Dean. But ten minutes ago, I suddenly received a letter sent by Maliz using a magic pigeon… I’m sorry, Dean. I was curious, so I opened it without permission…”
“That’s fine. Go on!”

“Yes, Dean. The letter says that after arriving in Jacforestbu, they discovered some very suspicious things. It seems the local civilians and soldiers were somehow bewitched, which led to the rebellion. While the Royal Knights were massacring the locals, the three of them followed clues to Brownhill and found that the chaos there was much similar to that in Jacforestbu. During the days when Brownhill’s lord, Count Casimir Sakison, was assassinated, they spotted a suspicious archer in Brownhill. At that time, Ap Tier, as a Royal Mage, tried to arrest him, but…”

“But in the end, those three children were killed instead, right?” The old dean shook his head sorrowfully as he looked at Professor Manhet.

“It was two… Maliz managed to escape…”

Interrupting Professor Manhet, the old dean sighed and said, “If that guy is really the one in the legends, then no one can escape his arrows. Even if they happen to hit the heart and keep someone alive for a while, it’s still… Lelarkin!” The old dean covered his forehead in pain. Suddenly, he raised his head and asked with a frown, “When did this happen?”

“When?” Professor Manhet lowered his head and thought for a moment before hesitantly saying, “Including the time it took to get here, the letter must have been sent three days ago…”

“Three days ago?” Seemingly recalling something, the old dean walked back and forth in the room with a suspicious expression and said in a deep voice, “Manhet, Hode, don’t Royal Mages carry a magic stone linked to their life signals when on mission?”

“Yes,” Professor Hode nodded and said oddly, “Normally, they do. In case something goes wrong, the Royal Magic Association can stay informed as soon as possible…”

“Hmm, I see!” Nodding, the old dean said with an uncertain expression, “Professor Manhet, take care of this later. When the Royal Knights bring back the remains of those three poor children… Ah, inform their families then. Also, it would be best to retrieve that broken magic stone from Sassen and return it together…”

“I understand, Dean…”

“Hmm,” nodding again, the old dean turned to Professor Hode and said, “Hode, go to Sassen tomorrow and ask those Royal Mages who are from our academy about whether anything unusual has happened in the Sassen royal city. I have a bad feeling…”

“Yes, I’ll remember!”

Glancing at the two figures leaving, the old dean turned around, stared at the sky outside the window, and murmured, “I thought it would be a while longer… Sigh!” With that, he headed straight for the door, called out to a professor in the hallway, and said, “Jerkley, could you please ask Father Andrew to come here? I need to discuss something with him!”
“Yes, Dean!”
Meanwhile, Jiang Zhe was dozing off in his dorm room out of boredom.
To be honest, after Scott left, neither Jiang Zhe nor Allen could adjust to the sudden silence that replaced the once lively and noisy dorm room.
Normally, as part of his daily training, Allen would swing his enchanted knight’s sword hundreds of times to strengthen his arm and wrist strength. But these past two days, he clearly didn’t have the mood to train either. He simply tossed the enchanted sword into a corner of the dorm room and left, probably off to “invite some beautiful ladies for afternoon tea” somewhere in the academy.
Jiang Zhe, on the other hand, wasn’t in as good spirits as Allen. Even though he had an exceptional healing ability, just two days wasn’t enough time to recover from the injury to his right hand.
For him, the best way to heal his wounds wasn’t through potions or Ravia’s so-called bandages—it was rest, in other words, sleep.
Fortunately, it was just his right hand that was injured, and fortunately, Ravia understood Jiang Zhe’s unique abilities. So, at his insistence, Ravia finally gave in. After all, seeing the injury to his right hand, she felt somewhat guilty.
Thus, Jiang Zhe could finally rest peacefully for a few days. At least until his right hand healed, Ravia wouldn’t force him to memorize things or recite anything.
“Knock, knock, knock!” Someone knocked on the dorm room door.
Allen? No, he would just walk in directly.
Ravia? Also not—she knew the spell to enter the dorm room and didn’t need to knock. Besides, she had just come to check on her own wound healing, just a few minutes ago.
Who could it be?
Bored, Jiang Zhe controlled a small fireball to float around the room. He stood up and opened the door, only to be surprised by the person standing outside.
“Lilith?”
“Aren’t you happy to see me?” The senior, two years ahead of Jiang Zhe, smiled as she looked at him.
“No, no, I’m just surprised. Please come in!”
“Thank you,” she said politely before stepping into the room. She glanced around and smiled, saying, “A boy’s room isn’t as bad as people say…”

“Hehe, by the way, how did you know about our dorm? Did Dia tell you?”
“No,” Lilith seemed preoccupied; the smile on her face faded as she said with a faint smile, “You and Allen are quite famous here in Riox now. It’s easy to find out where you are just by asking around… Tsk tsk, giving up in such a crucial final match—I really admire your openness of mind, hehe!”
“Heh,” Jiang Zhe shook his head with a bitter smile, saying half-jokingly, “It’s not really like that. I was just injured, so I couldn’t continue competing…”
“Really?” Lilith asked cheerfully.
“Of course…” Jiang Zhe shrugged, giving an ambiguous answer.
“Alright,” Lilith casually leaned back on the sofa after spinning around. She removed her smile and spoke seriously, “Sos, I didn’t come to see you about the competition today, you know? Dia has returned…”
“Hm?” Jiang Zhe looked at Lilith in surprise and asked, “When did she return?”
Lilith crossed her arms and glanced at the furnishings in the room. She ran her slender fingers along the long table and then looked at her fingers, saying, “The day before yesterday, during dinner time. It must have been around the time you gave up the competition…”
“Huh? Then why didn’t I see her these past two days?”
Blowing away the dust on her fingers, Lilith glanced at Jiang Zhe, sighed slightly, and shook her head, saying, “Of course you wouldn’t have seen her, because she’s been locked in her room the whole time…”
“Hmm…” Jiang Zhe frowned in confusion and asked, “Did something happen?”
“I’m not exactly sure what happened,” Lilith said with another sigh, crossing her arms again. “But anyway, we’ve known Dia for almost four years now. Even if she doesn’t say anything, it’s not easy for her to hide things from us… When she went home this time, she was a bit down, but overall she was fine. But after returning… So we guess something must have happened at home…” She paused, thought for a moment, and shook her head. “Never mind. If you want to know, go ask Dia yourself. If she doesn’t want to tell you, it’s better if I don’t say anything…”
“Where is she then?”

“That’s why I came to see you. Since she returned, Dia has been in a low mood, locking herself in her room the whole time. No matter how we ask her, she won’t talk. So I thought… at the academy, aside from us, she has the best relationship with you, so I was wondering if you could…”
“Ask her? But… if she won’t even tell us, how is she going to tell me?”
“You idiot!” Lilith said helplessly, giving Jiang Zhe an annoyed look. “In some cases, our comfort doesn’t help at all. Do you understand?”
“I don’t understand…”
“You… fine, fine,” Lilith clearly gave up. She took a deep breath and said softly, “You know what? The sixth-grade students are preparing to hold a masquerade ball…”
“And then?”
Glancing at Jiang Zhe, Lilith whispered, “Ask her out and invite her to that ball!”