Boy and Young Man

The Stibium Kingdom, with its capital city Lionheart City.

Aurora woke up from her dream and gradually became more alert.

She endured the pain and completed her advancement, reaching the Fourth Level. Now she has become a true "Calamity Splicer".

Feeling her body gradually stiffen and then soften... Aurora slowly got up, tilted her head, and looked at herself in the mirror.

She had long, soft, platinum-gold hair and wore a light purple nightgown. Her delicate, expressionless face had turned pale, lifeless like Doll. She reached out and made a few empty grasping motions, then sensed something.

She touched her heart.

—The heart has stopped beating. Or rather, the heartbeat has slowed to the point that it is no longer perceptible.

So Aurora tried holding her head in her hands. With a gentle twist, she managed to wring her head off.

She carefully cradled the head in her arms, yet not a drop of blood flowed from the neck. The cross-section was smooth as jade, shimmering with a warm, oily sheen like the cut surface of ham.

This is the unique ability of the Calamity Splicer —every part of their body can be freely removed, replaced, upgraded, or pieced together onto other corpses. From this point on, they no longer possess weaknesses in the traditional sense, making them very difficult to kill from physical attacks.

Before she could even sort out her spoils, she heard a piercing scream.

Aurora's heart tightened, and she immediately put her head back on her neck.

She rushed to the door, opened it, and dashed into the ritual room where her mentor was.

When Aurora reached the door, she Time Stop abruptly and couldn't help but widen her eyes.

Their mentor, Xiao Fernando., suddenly burst into flames—

He rolled around on the bed, frantically scratching his skin with both hands. He kept letting out shrill, hysterical screams.

Xiao Fernando. was covered in blood, his flesh torn open... an endless flame burned deep within his soul.

Albert was waiting by his mentor's bedside, chanting spells in hopes of giving his teacher a chance to catch his breath.

But what was being ignited was Xiao Fernando's soul—a fatal injury from the Promotion Ritual, the flames of which Albert couldn't extinguish no matter what he tried. Albert also tried various potions, but none of them worked. His hands were severely burned... yet, despite his best efforts, he could only temporarily halt the flames for a few seconds.

But he has done his best.

If it weren't for Albert's efforts, Xiao Fernando would probably have been burned to death in seconds. He wouldn't have lasted until Aurora arrived.

Aurora felt sorry for the senior student who was trying to save his mentor.

So she quickly stepped forward and firmly pulled Albert away, whispering, "... Let me try."

Albert turned around and subconsciously murmured, "Aurora..."

He is more skilled in necromancy and alchemy, but his talent for petrification and preservation is far inferior to Aurora's.

Trusting him, he stepped back a few paces and began to treat his severely burned hands with Alchemy Potion.

Aurora's pupils, on the other hand, glowed with a dim yellow light.

She clasped her hands together, and they turned into stone statues.

"Teacher... don't resist."

She spoke softly.

She then reached out and touched Xiao Fernando's body while softly chanting.

Petrification began to spread rapidly, encasing the agonizing Xiao Fernando within it. His body was completely petrified, his expression of agony frozen, forming a lifelike sculpture of suffering. It could almost be titled "The Person Who Was Burned to Death."

"... Let's leave it at that for now."

Aurora pursed her lips and said softly.

Let's petrify and seal him away for now, and figure out a solution later.

She then used a preservation spell to solidify the teacher's body again, in case it was accidentally broken or cracked during transport.

She looked down at Xiao Fernando., her expression sorrowful.

In that instant, she thought of many things she wanted to say. But in the end, she didn't utter a single word.

So she could only close her eyes and silently cherish the memory in her heart.

"... Aurora."

Albert looked at her and called her softly again.

"My teacher died for me."

She said softly, with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"The mentor isn't dead yet."

Albert offered a weak attempt at comfort, "Perhaps we'll find a way to save him later. Maybe we just need to extinguish the flame in his soul..."

Even the Fifth Level can't do it... but who knows, maybe the legendary Sixth Level is possible?

An awkward silence fell over the room once again. Albert paused for a long time—more than a minute—before speaking again, trying to make conversation. "Do you remember what our tutor told us? Did you write it down?"

"... I just woke up."

Aurora answered softly, "But I've been reading it silently in my mind."

She took out the paper and pen that she had prepared in her nightgown pocket and began to take notes.

Albert had apparently woken up earlier than her.

He pulled out his small notebook, which he had already written in, clearly having noted down all the keywords that needed to be written.

"While we still remember, let's exchange information... Is there anything new that I don't know?"

"Have."

Aurora replied briefly, "The teacher said, 'Do not be an enemy of Iver, he is the blessed one of the Twin Mirrors.'"

"... I only remember what my teacher told me. Iver and Queen Isabel are not in cahoots. If there is danger in the Spirit Tower, just go to Iver."

Albert flipped through his notebook. "And also, a thorough investigation into the Shadow of Avalon Ritual is needed..."

"I've already met the last one."

Aurora added, "That ritual is real. Lancelot was indeed resurrected, and then he ate Iver. Then he went mad... He was incredibly powerful when he went mad. But Iver's soul seems to be inside him. I must have been saved by Iver. Otherwise, I would have died too."

She honestly recounted everything she remembered at the end.

Although Grape rarely spoke so much in one go, Albert still blinked in confusion.

To be honest, he didn't understand.

Aurora was usually quiet and didn't talk much. She often sat quietly in the corner of the classroom, flipping through her textbook. When it came to the practical classes that other students looked forward to the most, namely "Human Anatomy" and "Modification and Assembly," she would always stand quietly at the very edge of the crowd, never pushing her way through, and never snatching the precious cadaver materials from other students.

Every time the body was dismembered, by the time it got to her, all that was left were the unwanted parts.

Later, it was because she demonstrated an exceptionally strong talent for preservation that her teacher recruited her as an assistant. Her main responsibility was preserving corpses—whether it was keeping fresh corpses or preserving already reassembled bodies, an assistant skilled in preservation was needed. Aurora's talent in preservation was the best.

She and Albert were in the same laboratory at the time. Albert was meticulously piecing together the corpse, while she either huddled in a corner reading or stood at a distance watching Albert. She never spoke or disturbed him.

Sometimes Albert would think she had already left. But when he looked up, he would find that she was still there, and that she was aware of his gaze and looking up at him with a puzzled expression.

... Quite cute.

Albert thought this at the time and remembered the girl.

As they became more familiar with each other, their mentor, Xiao Fernando., also recognized this studious and talented student. On Albert's recommendation, he took her on as his student. Although Aurora wasn't like Albert, able to directly assist her mentor with research projects, she always meticulously and diligently fulfilled her duties as an assistant whenever needed.

Unlike his harsh criticism of Albert, Xiao Fernando. still cares about Aurora.

Knowing that Aurora's parents had passed away and she didn't have much money, he not only brought her snacks and drinks regularly, but also invited Albert to treat her to meals—something Albert had never received when he was her student.

After Aurora became more familiar with them, she started talking a little more. But while she talked a little more, it wasn't a lot, and Albert basically couldn't understand her... The tutor, on the other hand, was surprisingly able to understand her.

—I could sense that she was trying to express herself, but I always felt that she omitted a lot of things.

It's like having the words in your heart, but not saying them out loud.

... If he were her mentor, he would surely understand what Aurora was saying. Albert was somewhat frustrated.

Now that my mentor is gone... I have to take good care of Aurora.

Albert made up his mind.

After watching the final summary screen, he had a vague feeling that... his mentor might have been deceived.

Because Albert saw the group on the ship from the Grand Guardian's griffin. Almost everyone who had gathered at the Moriarty Manor was here.

In that instant, Albert realized a new possibility—

A very simple process of elimination.

There are six settlement screens in total, and Grape is not among them. If the knight who died fighting in the Silver and Tin Palace at the beginning of the settlement screen is the Pirate... then the only characters who are not explicitly shown are Fox, Physician, Lu Lu, and Cheese.

However, "The Fox" was the first among everyone, and Albert immediately ruled out the possibility that he would be ridiculed and forced to leave. The mentor had also said that Bishop Mathers should be the Fox... Considering Mathers's retrograde behavior at the time, the final explosion could very well have been his doing.

The remaining three had never seen the ship, and the only blank image they had was of the flying vessel. One of them had made a contribution second only to their own.

Albert could only think of one person.

That is "Lu Lu". She is the third, and also Path of Beauty. Princess Isabel is also Path of Beauty.

Is it possible that Princess Isabel was played by Lu Lu? If so, it would explain why the Bishop Mathers said that "Iver and Isabel have a close relationship." This is information known only to outsiders.

And Albert thought of something else.

As they entered, the last little girl to appear, named Cheese, said something.

She said—

"Is that Sister Lu Lu? And Brother Fox —it's me, Cheese, long time no see!"

In other words, Cheese was once in the same Promotion Ritual as Fox and Lu Lu.

It's highly unlikely that it's such a coincidence that the three of them would be lined up in a row. Therefore, it's extremely probable that the Fox and Lu Lu are together!

So the three of them were together, but the Fox and Lu Lu stole the meeting point. And if the Fox and Lu Lu were together, the second "Pirate" would definitely be with them too. Considering the Pirate is very likely from the Avalon Bureau of Supervision or the Inspectorate, then the Fox and Lu Lu must also be from Avalon.

—Could it be that Iver and Isabel are playing themselves? This thought suddenly popped into Albert's mind.

No, that's unlikely.

He dispelled this ridiculous conjecture.

If Lu Lu really is that Her Majesty the Queen, how could the Pirate dare to treat her that way? And if that's the case, the people who came in to accompany her in the advancement are too weak... they died at the very beginning.

Since it can be confirmed that "Isabel" is an ascendant in disguise, the information obtained by the mentor is most likely inaccurate. This is because it is highly probable that "Isabel" had already seen through his disguise as Sherlock and was giving a misleading impromptu performance.

...but.

After much deliberation, the stranger decided to keep the secret to himself.

If the information brought by the mentor is false, what's the worst that could happen? It would be that the information is the opposite— that Iver and Queen Isabel are in cahoots, and that one shouldn't directly seek refuge with Iver Spirit Tower is in danger.

... However, he now does want to join Iver.

Or rather, Iver didn't care...

But he had some longing for that Grand Guardian.

"—There's no reason why, because you are a commoner. Because I am a knight—a knight honored by Her Majesty the Queen, and I will protect her honor until my death."

[This has nothing to do with your background, nationality, or will. You did not participate in this war, so you are not a soldier. You are a civilian.]

"Whether you're Stibnite Person or Iris People, as long as you're not a giant, I will protect you! I can safeguard you!"

... Just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes and fills me with longing.

Exhilarating, tenacious, and straightforward—

That's a man! That's a knight! The line, "You are not a soldier if you did not participate in this war," undoubtedly saved the somewhat depressed Albert. Although even if he escaped Star Antimony, the Armored Gargoyle might still be developed... but the outcome was irrelevant to his personal will.

Now it's his own choice to go to Avalon. And his mentor's "last words" are undoubtedly a powerful and persuasive excuse, allowing him to bring others along.

Although Star Antimony now values and respects its technical personnel far more than Avalon, that respect stems from self-interest. Their wisdom only gains value because their work translates into profit. And this profit, however, comes at the expense of the well-being of others.

For a moment, Albert couldn't think of any research that could definitely help others.

He remembered that Lord Kuroko had said something very moving to the students at the opening ceremony.

Necromancy was never created for the purpose of war or killing.

"That is the technology that brings the dead back to the world, that is the miracle of reversing life and death and forging eternity! It is the technology that makes decay into immortality, makes the incomplete whole, makes separations reunite, and allows the people of the past to meet the people of the future—the technology that exists to obtain infinite time within the finite destiny!"

The Black Speaker's speech instilled in Albert a belief in and pride in necromancy.

It once made Albert doubt himself, but now it has become a new goal in his heart.

"Let decay become immortal, let the incomplete become whole, let separation be reunited, and let those of the past reach the future..."

Albert murmured, a dim yellow light slowly shimmering in his pupils.

His life was undoubtedly happy.

Unlike Aurora, he had no one he particularly wanted to resurrect, nor any memories worth cherishing.

But now, looking at his mentor, frozen in stone, he felt pain and longing for the first time.

He seemed to understand Lord Kuroko's philosophy.

—So that people from the past can reach the future.

The Calamity Splicer has the potential to create a complete body without a soul, while the Amber Artisan can implant one person's soul into another. Combining the two—isn't that a kind of resurrection? Let's begin our new research with...prosthetics.

"—First, make the incomplete whole."

On this day, the naive boy transformed into a young man with his own ideals.