I Got a Fake Job at the Academy
Chapter 471: Crown of Thorns (3)

Chapter 471: Crown of Thorns (3)

Rudger gripped the crown of thorns tightly.

He had strengthened his body with magical power and reinforced his strength by wrapping Aether Nocturnus around himself again.

The current Rudger could tear through steel with his bare hands but the crown of thorns didn't budge at all.

Rather, the crown created a fierce repulsion trying to push Rudger away.

The crown of thorns, or more precisely, the World Tree that placed it, didn't want to hand over Sedina.

Rudger gritted his teeth against the enormous force pushing him away.

"Fine. Let's see who wins."

Rudger gripped the crown of thorns even more strongly.

While the crown didn't cause any injuries to Sedina, when Rudger applied force, its sharp thorns dug into his palms.

-Drip. Drip.

Drops of blood trickled down his wounded palms.

The intense magical power emanating from his body collided with the crown's repulsive force, swirling like a storm.

Ambella, leaning against the wall at the entrance, faintly watched this scene with her eyes.

'The World Tree is rejecting it.'

At first, she thought it was Ventmin’s doing, but that wasn't it.

It was the World Tree's inherent will that wanted Sedina because she was the last survivor of the Plante family who understood the World Tree more deeply than anyone else and could use its power.

The World Tree didn't want to let go of that child.

'It's over.'

If it's the World Tree's will that wants Sedina, no one can refuse it.

She acknowledges that Rudger is a great magician.

Even though he's human yet has spirit and possesses superhuman mental strength.

But even so, he is ultimately just a human.

A weak individual who cannot resist the enormous will of the World Tree.

There has to be a difference because the years lived and power accumulated are different.

How could a firefly win against the sun?

Realizing this, Ambella felt skeptical about whether this was meaningless from the start.

'That human must know this too.'

And yet Rudger wasn't giving up.

Like a praying mantis charging at a carriage he was engaging in a test of strength against the World Tree without retreating an inch.

-Crack. Crackle.

The protective artifacts wrapped around his body cracked and broke one by one.

The crown of thorns' resistance was the World Tree's resistance.

Since the World Tree was deliberately trying to push Rudger away, he was taking the full brunt of the recoil from forcibly trying to endure it.

Though he looked fine on the outside, Rudger's insides must have been shaken by the continuous impacts.

He should let go and retreat right now.

It would be right to recover his wounds and calm his insides.

But why?

"Why aren't you giving up?"

Had she lost too much blood from having her arm cut off?

Before Ambella could be surprised by her own question that came out unconsciously, Rudger's answer came back.

"Because I've lost too much until now."

Rudger answered while gripping the crown of thorns.

"I've repeated losing, regretting, and grieving several times."

So he promised himself.

"I'm sick of it now."

That's why he couldn't give up.

If you let go of one thing, from then on you start compromising everything else.

Starting with small things and gradually getting bigger until.

Eventually, you let go of even important things.

As you let go one by one like that, you become unaware that you've changed…that you weren't like this before.

This wasn't simply about saving Sedina.

It was Rudger's struggle to not lose himself while being swept up in this world.

"You..."

Ambella opened her eyes wide that had been faintly closed at that sight.

-Cough.

Blood trickled down the corner of her mouth but at this moment, Ambella's eyes burned stronger than ever before.

"Those are good words."

Ambella put strength into her body.

Having lost one arm, she kept staggering due to the imbalance in her body.

Ambella spat out the blood pooled in her mouth.

Get up, you damn body.

You were fine even when pierced by bullets, hit by shrapnel, and cut by swords.

What are you trying to collapse for now after doing everything you needed to do?

Blood vessels strained in her neck as she propped up her body with her remaining hand on her knee.

"Yes. I'm sick of losing things too. So I'll help you."

Staggering over, Ambella gripped Sedina's crown with her one remaining hand.

-Crackle!

Along with the stinging pain felt in her hand, an enormous force pushed her body away.

The impact felt quite significant to her body that was already severely injured.

Feeling the force pushing her away, Ambella found herself looking at Rudger anew.

This human was enduring this force alone?

Ambella put even more strength into her hand gripping the crown and pulled it forcefully.

"Resisting the World Tree's will. Should an elf be doing that?"

Hearing the voice from beside her, Ambella smiled as if finding it ridiculous.

"I'm already disqualified as an elf. Since it's come to this, I'll resist whether it's the World Tree or whatever."

-Crack.

A sound came from the crown of thorns.

Like a crack forming on one side of large glass the crown of thorns that hadn't budged at all started moving little by little.

The crown of thorns violently exerted force saying this couldn't happen.

The blood-soaked crown was dyed bright red, looking like a symbol of curse.

Rudger squeezed out all of his remaining magical power.

There was no time to take out new artifacts at this moment.

He had to settle this with all his remaining magical power.

"Just a tree, how dare you."

As Rudger's voice growled like a beast, a certain energy began to frost over.

As magical power rapidly depleted, Rudger's blue eyes turned red.

"You..."

Ambella felt a chill run down her spine.

Above Rudger's head a black halo formed and soon a small hole appeared.

Ambella instinctively averted her gaze.

She had an intuition that she must absolutely not peek into that black hole.

That was the right judgment.

The crown of thorns reacted more sensitively.

'The pushing force, has it weakened?'

Along with the change that occurred in Rudger.

Though confused by this, Ambella considered this her chance and she put all her strength into her remaining arm until it felt like it would fall off.

With a cracking sound, the crown of thorns began to come off Sedina's head.

Just a little more.

Just a little more and...

As the hole above Rudger's head gradually widened, the crown of thorns' screams grew louder.

When the two unknown forces were wrestling with each other, Ambella squeezed out her last bit of strength.

"Ahhhhh!"

With a resonant shout, the crown of thorns came off from above Sedina's head.

"Now!"

Receiving Ambella's signal, Rudger immediately grabbed Sedina's hand.

* * *

Sedina's consciousness had sunk to a very deep place.

She couldn't think about why she was here.

At first she struggled against the suffocating feeling of falling into the deep sea, but that disappeared and one scenery began to reflect around her.

"This is..."

A world dotted with white from warm light.

Blue sky, a yard covered in grass.

In that place full of fragrant flower gardens and grass scent, Sedina overlapped a nostalgic scene.

It was a place in her memories.

The garden where Sedina often played with her mother in her childhood.

-Mom!

At that moment, a child's voice was heard from the side and a small brown shadow passed by Sedina.

Brown bob cut and small build, even the back view running away happily with pitter-patter steps.

Sedina instinctively realized that was herself from childhood.

Sedina's gaze followed where the child was running to.

The moment she saw the nostalgic woman's figure there, she unconsciously shed tears.

"Mom..."

Ella Plante hugged the young Sedina who was running towards her and spun her around.

Her childhood self laughs with delight at whatever makes her so happy.

Sedina silently watched that scene.

She missed her.

She wanted to see her so much that she wished for it countless times in her dreams but realizing she couldn't see her, she despaired.

She thought she had let go of everything but.

'This is, this is an illusion. This is fake.'

Sedina kept telling herself that.

At that moment, she met eyes with her mother.

The one who should have been an illusion put down young Sedina, held her hand, and walked together towards her.

-Sedina.

The moment she heard that sweet voice and spring fragrance tickling her nose, seeing Ella Plante's eyes speaking directly to her.

-You've really grown so much.

Sedina absolutely couldn't deny the existence before her eyes as fake.

Clutching her painfully throbbing chest, Sedina spoke with difficulty.

"Is it really you, Mom?"

-Sedina...

Ella Plante seemed unsure what to say seeing her crying daughter.

Instead, she held Sedina's head with both hands and embraced her tightly in her arms.

Sedina couldn't stop her tears at the warmth felt on her skin.

Though it should clearly be a happy thing, it was hard to suppress these overflowing emotions.

"I, I really missed you. I wanted to see you so much, so many times, so many times I wanted to meet you. But, but I couldn't see you even though..."

Her voice full of tears couldn't properly speak words.

But because that heart was conveyed, Ella embraced Sedina even more strongly.

-Mom is sorry. For not being able to protect you. For not being able to be with you.

The small Sedina standing beside looked up at her grown self and asked.

-Don't cry.

Sedina looked down at her childhood self through tear-blurred vision.

A cute and pure child who laughed better than anyone.

But her current self had changed, changed too much.

A child abandoned in Roschen.

The Black Dawn Society's discarded card.

A half-blood neither elf nor human.

"I want to stay here. I want to stay with Mom."

-Sedina...

"I want to eat the food Mom makes. I want to walk through the flower garden with Mom again. I want to hear lullabies again while falling asleep in bed. I want to stay here forever."

Sadness clouded Ella's gaze towards Sedina.

Sedina raised her head and looked up at Ella with her tear-streaked face.

"The world without Mom is too scary. It's too cold, lonely, and everyone hates me. Why? For me, I just needed Mom. Why do I have to suffer like this?"

-It must have been very hard.

Ella stroked Sedina's head with a benevolent smile.

Sedina's tears stopped at that nostalgic touch.

Perhaps realizing Sedina had calmed down a bit, Ella carefully asked.

-Are you okay?

"..."

Instead of answering, Sedina shook her head left and right.

Ella smiled gently at her grown daughter's cute sulking.

-It must have been very hard. But you've grown up so wonderfully like this.

"No. I..."

-I know it's hard. Yes, how could I not know my daughter's heart? But Sedina, that's not all there is, right?

"..."

-The outside world is scary and hard, but there are still things there. Besides me, there are new precious people.

"That's..."

Suddenly the image of one person flashed through Sedina's mind.

The teacher who came all the way to the elven kingdom to save her.

Seeing Sedina's expression, Ella smiled mischievously.

-Our daughter. You've grown up.

"W-what?"

-Mom was like that too. There were times when everything was really hard and painful and I wanted to give up everything. But then I met him.

"Dad is..."

-That person, he probably deliberately distanced himself from you to protect you. I know. How much he loves me and how much he cherishes you. Even though he couldn't express it and only thought about it inside. But one thing is certain. Sedina, love changes everything.

Sedina gradually realized her body was being pulled by something.

As if her sunken consciousness was rising, her body slowly began to float.

"M-mom? Mom!"

-It's time to part now. You can't stay here forever. If you do, you'll never be able to escape.

"No! We finally just met! Why!"

-If there is meeting, there is parting, and if there is parting, there will be meeting again. So don't worry. We'll be able to meet again.

Ella smiled brightly with a face full of love, though parting must be sad for her too.

-So our daughter, live strongly until then. Meet good people, don't cry, be bright like before. Okay?

The distance was gradually growing and even their held hands separated.

-I'll always be watching over you. Yes. Forever and ever.

Ella Plante said that to the distancing Sedina, then took young Sedina's hand.

Where she was heading, blood-red energy was rippling like thorny vines.

The moment Sedina saw that sight, she realized.

If she had stayed here, she would have been captured by those blood-red thorny vines.

Sedina could only watch her mother's retreating figure while crying.

The world turned dark again.

Like when she first lost consciousness, Sedina was in a state of sinking in pitch-black water.

Where is this? What's happening outside right now?

Though she tried to struggle, nothing could be seen.

It's cold.

I'm lonely.

I don't want to be alone.

Being lonely is painful.

She missed her mother's touch.

Regret washed over her thinking she should have stayed there.

But there was one person Sedina didn't forget.

The precious person her mother mentioned.

The person waiting for her outside.

[Wake up! Sedina!]

Sedina's eyes flew open at that shout.

At the same time, she felt someone grabbing and pulling her hand.

Pulled by that force, Sedina fell into someone's arms.

In those dependable and warm arms, Sedina carefully raised her head.

She saw a sculpture-like man with long black hair looking down at her with a faint smile.

"Teacher?"

"You're awake. Sleeping beauty."