The Sword and The Shadow

The Fork of Fate

Within the wood in the Stokian Magic Academy stood Logg's house. The magus seldom left his abode. While his house seemed quite run down and isn't catching to the eye at all, Jilroan had spent quite a lot to accommodate the man who could well be the only myth-realm human at the moment.

Underneath the plain exterior of the house was the royally furnished interior. Apart from basic living necessities, Jilroan also had his smiths constructs a whole complex of underground rooms for Logg to carry out his experiments. Naturally, it was also equipped with all sorts of magic materials and apparatus. As Saron had once said, the mana storage crystals the emperor had given Logg could fill up a rather large house of a peasant.

As a high-order magus and a powerful emperor, Jilroan knew well how truly terrifying a myth-realm magus was, so he didn't completely let his guard down around him. He had installed many magic surveillance devices in the house when he had it commissioned to be able to keep an eye on Logg.

The old emperor believed that he had full information about the magus's actions thanks to his little trinkets, however, he had forgotten that he was using magic tools against a myth-realm magus.

Logg sat within a pseudo plane of his own creation. While it wasn't that large, it was entirely private. Most of the things he wanted to keep from Jilroan were done there. As for the outer world, all he needed was a simple spell to fool the aging emperor's eyes.

"Don't rush, my friend. You don't seem to have any virtue as an elf at all. You really need more patience," Logg said as he bit into a snack. A magical screen of light floated in front of him, through which an elf with whom Leguna was very familiar could be seen.

"I've been waiting for more than a decade," Wayerliss said darkly, "Yet, you're currently playing hooky with me."

"Then, just imagine the time I had to wait." The magus didn't seem to be affected by the elf's impatience.

He left Wayerliss waiting as he sipped on his tea and snacked away. Two minutes later, he put down his cup, stood up, and looked into the screen. "Trust me, Wayerliss. My hate and desire for vengeance is far stronger than yours, and I've been waiting for double the time you have."

"Yes, so it makes me wonder whether you still have your original goal in sight?" Wayerliss snapped back.

"You have no other choice--" Logg shrugged. "--You know how strong he is. There's no way you can surpass him in this lifetime. There are few on this plane that can pose a threat to his life. So, if you want him dead, you can only rely on me."

"You!" Wayerliss, whom Leguna thought of as infinitely patient, seemed like he was about to throw a fit.

"Alright, Wayerliss. You should trust me more because I picked you alone out of the countless lives in the world. You've never truly been a friend to me, but at least, you've helped me out. Unlike those ungrateful rats, I am someone who pays my debts. You've helped me, so I will definitely give you a hand once I achieve my goals. I have nothing to prove, save for the word of a myth-realm magus. You can take it or doubt it. It's your choice."

Wayerliss gave him a look for a good moment and nodded in the end. "I only hope you don't forget the consequences of offending an assassin."

"Of course, a saint-realm assassin at that."

"Then, is there anything else I need to do?" Since he made up his mind, he would hedge all his bets with Logg. It wasn't that he trusted him; he simply didn't have another choice.

"The preparations are more or less complete. It's about time I reclaimed what's mine."

"Those three won't be easy to deal with, Annie especially so," Wayerliss said with a furrowed brow.

"Then, let's collect the glacier and shadow back. We can still let light stay for a while. I still need him to stabilize my formation."

"Alright, but I'll need your support."

"Of course. This is a seed we've planted long ago, after all."

"Then, I'll be taking action personally this time." He switched the screen off after he finished.

Logg took another sip of his red tea as he muttered in the direction of the floating screen, "Acting personally? Hehe… We're finally at the fork of fate. I wonder which path fate will choose this time?"

……

Larwin read Alissanda's letter and gradually furled his brows.

It was the first time he wrote to him in a personal capacity, something that surprised him quite a lot.

Alissanda had asked Larwin to give his blessings for his marriage with Lisana.

It wasn't that he hadn't taken note of that pink-haired daughter of a fisherman. He had long heard about the intimacy she shared with his son.

He considered his son to be a rational man who knew the best for himself. He thought that he would take Lisana into the palace, perhaps as a concubine or a lover, but not an actual wife. He didn't think that even he would fall for the rush of love. His second son usually wasn't that emotionally motivated.

'My dear royal father, Lisana is a real fine woman and I believe you'll grow to like her when you see her. Your humble son prays that you will offer us your sincere blessing,' he wrote at the end of the letter.

Larwin read it five times and read between the lines. He knew that it would be best for him to not go against his son's rare request of him.

"Well, it's not often he acts selfishly for himself. I'll let him do as he pleases then," Larwin said with a chuckle, before he drafted an announcement.

The next day, Melindor's subjects grew restless once more. The emperor had announced that the second imperial prince, Sacred Golden Eagle Alissanda's fiancee had been decided. She would be returning in a few days with the students of the magic academy.