Chapter 99

C99: Source of sounds (1)

I couldn't post during the weekend because I've been super busy but I have good news. The Discord server is almost done and will be made public this week.

The fire giant had completely disappeared, and the case was quickly closed. The wounded were treated and all healthy people were sent home but the outside was cluttered with citizens who flocked to see what was going on.

Rumors of a fire giant appearing at the banquet hall have spread widely. Reporters flocked to try to figure out what was going on, and the police stopped them with their bodies.

"Are all the students safe?"

"Oh, Mr. Rudger."

In the temporary clinic that was made to treat the injured Selina and Merylda, who were waiting nearby, brightened their faces when they saw Rudger approaching.

"Mr. Rudger! As expected, you're safe!"

"Yes, are you two all right?"

Merylda replied, waving her hand.

"We're fine. I only helped students and guests evacuate."

"I see. Where are all the students?"

"I sent them all back. They were just doing part-time work at the banquet so there was no need to have them stay but why are you asking?"

"I just wanted to make sure everyone is alright."

If he persists in asking about Joanna Lovett's whereabouts here, they'll get suspicious so Rudger made up an excuse.

Merylda smiled gently as if Rudger's answer was unexpected.

"Mr. Rudger is really interesting, too. When I first saw you, you looked like you wouldn't bleed even if I poked you, but you worried a lot about the students, I guess you care a lot about them."

"I hear that a lot."

Rudger looked around and saw that the injured were taken to hospitals, and the remaining people were cleaning up the scene.

Some people were talking to the police about how the incident happened.

The incident was clearly defined as a terrorist attack, causing 12 deaths and about 80 injuries. And considering that most of the casualties are people with considerable status in society, the damage could be said to be even greater.

'If Esmeralda was aiming for this,, I'd say she was half successful.'

While the president was away, she used a summoning medium to summon a supreme spirit of fire. She should've had the intention to kill everyone around using the spirit. Fortunately, the victims were few because of the strong resistance of the guards and wizards.

Although the incident wasn't big it wasn't without damage. The fire spirit might've been summoned through a medium but it was comparable to a sixth rank wizard.

The impact of this incident was beyond description because it imprinted in people's minds that no matter how high the security attacks will happen somehow.

"Mr. Rudger?"

Then someone approached Rudger and called his name, it was Vierano Dentis, one of the wizards who fought against the giant of fire until the end at the scene. The elf teacher played a big role with Angela until Rudger came forward.

"Yes. May I help you?"

"Can I talk to you for a moment?"

"It's possible, but......."

Rudger slurred and the quick-witted Merylda immediately grabbed Selina's arm and slipped away.

"Miss Merylda?"

"Selina, let's go this way."

When the two were left alone, Vierano bowed to Rudger.

"Thank you. You helped us end the situation before there were any more victims."

"I just did what I had to do."

Rudger got to know the elf teacher a little better. Although at first glance he seemed a little soft, he was the one who played the biggest role in fighting the supreme spirit of fire.

In particular, as the fourth-grade teacher, he seemed much better at dealing with spirits than Angela, the fifth-grade teacher.

'In terms of skills, he is superior to Angela Anderson, but is he deliberately staying as the fourth grade teacher because he feels burdened by such a position?'

Elves are a long lived species, so they are actually older than their outward appearance.

He had the skills but he was not in charge of the fifth, so he most likely refused to take the position.

"So you came to me to say thank you?"

"That's true, but I have one question."

"What is it?"

"You know how strong that fire spirit was, right?"

Rudger nodded his head.

He knew the power of a supreme fire spirit without fighting it. Although the medium could not properly handle the power of the spirit, only his upper body came out and his essence was a little twisted but his power was the real deal.

"How did you do it?"

At Vierano's sudden question Rudger asked back with a wistful smile.

"What do you mean?"

"You knew the spirit was summoned through a medium, right?"

"Yes. To be precise, I found out later."

Rudger explained to Vierano how he knew that the fire spirit was summoned through a medium.

"The lower body didn't come out properly."

"Perhaps the spirit's power was so strong that it couldn't be summoned properly through the medium. It was a coincidence that I realized it."

"I see. But you're still amazing. Even if it was a coincidence, Mr. Rudger noticed the weakness at a glance."

"Whoever was there would have known right away. I don't think it's because I'm special."

"No. If it were me, I wouldn't have noticed right away as you had seen it."

Vierano laughed bitterly as if he realized his lack of ability in the incident.

"I'm an elite in spirit science but because this was so unexpected I couldn't realize it in time."

"......."

Rudger didn't bother to blame him. In the first place it is very rare for someone to use a medium to summon spirits so it was an unexpected situation.

Spirits are nature's beings, and signing contracts with them and summoning them is the power of Mother Nature and the energy of the contractor. On the contrary, in the case of a medium, it is said that most spirits hate it because it is an artificial summon.

In particular, the higher the rank, the stronger their pride, so spirits reject summons through mediums even more. It is not a forced contract between contractor and spirit, but an equal contract with each other that can never be done.

"I overlooked it because I thought it was too obvious. I didn't think there was someone who could summon a supreme spirit through a medium.

"The opponent may have so much power."

"There's definitely that, but I think the fact that the spirit was different from the ordinary spirits played a part."

Rudger felt that it was different from ordinary spirits.

"I've never heard of a spirit that hates humans."

"Isn't that the case with ordinary spirits?"

"The spirits are the image of the energy of nature itself and nature energy is the source of this world."

"I know."

"Spirits are part of nature and Mother Nature doesn't think about the species that exist inside her."

Rudger suddenly remembered a lesson he had learned in a previous life.

—The pursuit of the heavens and the earth and all things.

It comes from Laozi moral scriptures. People want to influence heaven's will, but heaven doesn't have a will. All things are just beings that live in harmony with nature like grass or dogs.

Even if something goes wrong and something terrible happens, nature does not become a particularly frightening thing.

Even if there's a typhoon, a flood, a drought and countless beings die, nature it's just nature and so are the spirits. But the fire spirit was different. Rudger could clearly sense his hatred for humans.

"I didn't think there would be such a spirit in the world. It hates humans and doesn't care about being summoned through a medium. And even the fact that there is a person who made a contract with such a supreme spirit."

"......That's pretty serious."

"Although it's too late to understand the situation Mr. Rudger did his best Especially the magic you used at the end."

Vierano immediately noticed what magic Rudger used.

"It must have transcended space, right?"

"......."

"You don't have to be too sensitive about it. Because I'm an elf and I've seen as many things as I've lived for a long time. So what I saw is correct, right?"

"You're right. It was a coordinate designation magic, a method of fixing magic in a specific space and manifesting it in that place."

"Setting the coordinates. Was that possible?"

"It's hard at first, but it's easy once you get used to it."

"......."

Vierano didn't quite believe what he said. Others might not understand it but he was an elf. Although he may look like a small boy in his mid-teens, he has lived more than a century.

Even if his main interest was spirit science, he could confidently say that his knowledge of magic was second to none so he knew that the coordinate designation magic that Rudger used was not ordinary magic.

'There's no way it can be done that easily.'

Recognizing everything in the world as 'coordinates' and designating a formula there, can't be easy.

If anyone can do it it's either because they were born with an excessive perception of space compared to others.

'Or the brain's limiter is completely off.'

The average person would think it was the former, but Vierano could not dispel his doubts. He thought that Rudger might belong to the second category.

Can a person with good brains designate space coordinates leisurely in such an urgent situation? Besides, he invented an extraordinary magic called source code.

Vierano asked, slightly concerned.

"Are you okay?"

"When you use magic do you feel worse than usual?"

Rudger, who was trying to ask back what it meant, realized that Vierano's expression was very serious.

"This may be an old man's nosiness but please keep it in mind. There's a story that I heard when I was very young."

"What are you talking about?"

"There are some people who think too much compared to others."

Vierano took a breath and spoke again.

"They're often called geniuses, but they're a little bit different from real geniuses. Geniuses break through their specialized abilities within a given framework, but they are completely different."

"What's the difference?"

"There's no given framework."

"......."

Rudger lost his words for a moment and then opened his mouth.

"That's a good thing."

"If you don't have a frame, you don't have limits. You might think you're blessed in a way, but you're not. People don't know that the frame is in fact, a strong barrier protecting them from the outside."

The moment the word "outside" came out Rudger clenched his fist unconsciously but Vierano didn't realize the strangeness of Rudger.

As if preoccupied with his explanation, he asked, staring at Rudger with a serious gaze.

"I'm asking just in case. Mr. Rudger do you sometimes hear strange sounds?"