I Got a Fake Job at the Academy
Chapter 480: The Fruit of Memory (3)

Chapter 480: The Fruit of Memory (3)

'Rene?'

For a moment, Rudger unconsciously held his breath at the familiar sight.

But he quickly remembered that the current situation was merely recreating an event from 500 years ago.

'No. No. That's not Rene. She just looks similar because she possesses the Judgment Eye.'

Having regained his composure, Rudger calmly analyzed his opponent.

'Looking closely, even the starlight in her eyes is weaker than Rene's. Although it's the Judgment Eye, I can't shake the feeling that it's like an imitation.'

Rudger's suspicion was confirmed when he saw the new people who appeared.

Four women appeared around the woman who looked like a saint.

They too wore white ceremonial clothes with hoods on their heads.

They each had different hair colors, but there was something in common - the starlight sparkling in their eyes.

'They all have the Judgment Eye?'

That's impossible.

There must only be one Judgment Eye bearer at any given time, that was the law of this world.

Yet there were five Judgment Eye bearers right now.

'Have they been conducting experiments since 500 years ago, no, even much longer than that?'

The holy knights of the Bretus Holy Nation, led by the saints, stormed into the kingdom's capital.

Under the name of public relief, they suppressed the chaos that pervaded the city.

Holy Law, the golden light they emitted suppressed the negative emotions of people that had been amplified by Basara.

It took less than half a day for the noisy capital to settle down.

Looking at just this part, the Bretus Holy Nation appeared to be good people who saved those suffering from demons but Rudger didn't accept it at face value.

As he expected, the holy knights and saints gathered in the central plaza of the capital and were doing something.

They drew a huge ceremonial formation, and the saints stood in five directions on it, joining hands and offering prayers.

'That's.'

As if signaling that the ceremony was reaching its end, light emanated from the formation drawn on the ground.

The light gradually grew stronger and larger, shining brilliantly enough to be dazzling even in daylight.

The light became a massive wave, spreading throughout the city in concentric circles.

People who were touched by it collapsed one after another.

They weren't dead but were breathing properly.

They had just fainted as if falling asleep.

After confirming that all common people were asleep, the holy knights invaded the royal palace.

What followed was a process Rudger knew well.

The Bretus Holy Nation tracked down and completely eliminated the royal family, including the king.

They showed no mercy to children, women, or the elderly.

Even those who weren't royalty but had any connection to this incident were executed without hesitation under the name of divine punishment.

In contrast to the quietly sleeping streets of the city, the royal palace was stained with blood.

Although they tried to resist in their own way, it was meaningless since they had suffered near-devastating damage from fighting the demon Basara.

The difference in military strength was overwhelming.

But would they have been able to stop this even if their forces had been intact?

The Holy Nation in its time of absolute power wasn't just superior in numbers.

Each one of them was powerful.

Especially the saints at the forefront were the most powerful.

"T-this..."

Sedina was speechless at the horrific scene.

"How could this happen? No matter how great the power of the Bretus Holy Nation was, how could they just come to another kingdom and purge all the royalty as they pleased?"

"Because they could do that."

When Ella snapped her fingers, the scene before their eyes changed.

The people who had fallen into deep sleep began to wake up one by one.

Despite the terrible events that had occurred, they began their usual day without any reaction.

Some had lost family, some had suffered irreparable wounds.

Parts of the city were destroyed or burned, and above all, the royal family leading the country had changed.

Yet people's reactions were strangely bland, like dolls.

Puppet dolls created to perform their given roles exactly.

Sedina shuddered at that alien sight.

"This is it."

Ella gazed with heavy eyes at the people living ordinary lives.

"The reason why the Bretus Holy Nation remained unscathed despite all their evil deeds."

"...So they did this with that ceremonial formation."

Watching the state of the people, Rudger realized what the Bretus Holy Nation had done.

"Mind control. The source of the Bretus Holy Nation's absolute power."

Why wasn't it recorded in history when the foundation of the country had changed?

Why did all this happen quietly without any resistance or words of resistance?

That was made possible by the power of authority held by the Holy Nation.

"They distorted memories, controlled information, and thus rewrote history as they pleased."

Now he understood why those who survived chose to flee rather than reveal the truth, because it was useless.

Because people would never know the truth no matter how loudly they shouted.

That's why they ran away.

"Mind control. Not just simple holy law or mysterious power. Rather, this source is very similar to the authority of demons."

The peculiar abilities possessed by demons are called authorities.

From the demon Basara's authority of mental attacks to Helia's authority of manifesting illusions, they’re powers that are close to a miracle in itself, beyond any magical or scientific process.

The mind control used by the Bretus Holy Nation was the same.

"Apostle of God..."

That being, whom everyone called a demon, called himself an apostle of God.

That meant it was fair to assume that the power of authority flowed from God.

Rudger raised his head, it was like a habit of wanting to gaze at the sky.

Seeing that gesture, the fragments scattered in his mind came together like a puzzle.

After organizing his thoughts, Rudger spoke.

"So in the end, the birth of the Exilion Empire was brought about by the Bretus Holy Nation."

The origin of the empire was created by someone's hand from its birth.

"The previous kingdom tried to break free from the Bretus Holy Kingdom's control. They needed the power of the World Tree for that. Our Elf Kingdom didn't refuse because we also considered the Bretus Holy Kingdom the most dangerous ones. That's how we formed an agreement and executed the plan."

"But it failed. Like a trick of fate."

"It's quite unfortunate. But now I sometimes think. Is this really a trick of fate?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Perhaps there might be some hidden reason behind everything that happened."

Of course, Ella said she had no evidence but Rudger knew she wasn't making such statements carelessly.

Despite appearances, she was an elf who had lived for a very long time.

Not just someone who had grown old, but also an outstanding head who once led the most prestigious family.

"Maybe so."

That's why Rudger took Ella's words seriously.

Ella waved her hand and erased the recreation of the past.

The orchard scenery spread out again, and Ella quietly gazed at the red fruit that had returned to its original place.

If her eyes when first seeing it were filled with sorrow, regret, and bitterness.

Now, after facing the past once, she seemed somewhat relieved, as if she had put down a burden from her heart.

"You know what happened after that. Those who sensed the failure scattered in all directions. Some to survive, others to somehow preserve the truth and pass it on to future generations. In my case, I lost Plante's excellent vassals, and I couldn't resist the rebellion of the Lifrey family. So I fled and lived a life of constant wandering."

"So that's what happened."

"It's quite strange. To think that the man who saved my daughter would be of the bloodline of that Bretus Holy Nation. Say, Rudger Chelici. What exactly are you doing all this for?"

That's what Ella was curious about.

Why is Rudger doing this?

Isn't it too much for a single human to handle?

"What I'm doing isn't much different from the people of the kingdom that perished 500 years ago."

What Rudger wanted was simple, the destruction of the Bretus Holy Nation.

Additionally, he wanted this controlled and fixed world to return to its original state.

"Is that really true?"

But Ella didn't accept those words at face value.

There was no lie in Rudger's words.

Considering the path he had walked until now, Rudger's answer was true.

The only question was whether that truth was complete.

From Ella's perspective, Rudger was hiding his real reason, cleverly revealing only part of the truth.

"Why don't you force the answer out of me if you don't believe me?"

Rudger never intended to hide it in the first place.

From his interaction with Ella, he felt that it would be futile to try to hide anything from her easily.

He had felt something similar with his master.

Beings who had lived for a long time possessed insight that transcended common sense and reality by their very existence.

Superficial lies and deception didn't work on such beings.

Ella shook her head.

"No, it's fine. I don't have a hobby of forcibly looking into truths that someone wants to keep hidden. Moreover, I can't be so rude to the benefactor who saved our daughter."

"Now you're calling me a benefactor?"

Rudger let out a snicker.

That wasn't something someone who had been ready to kill him should say.

Of course, Ella had her own position.

Given that she didn't attack right away, one couldn't say she didn't have the intention of testing him in her own way.

"Don't you know what dangerous schemes I might have?"

"Usually, dangerous people don't say they're dangerous."

"You're making your decision based on just that?"

"I might not know your exact purpose, but as long as no harm comes to my daughter, I don't care. It's also funny for a dead being to arbitrarily oppress the living."

Ella said this while looking at Sedina with loving eyes.

"I'm already grateful just for being able to meet like this in the current situation."

The atmosphere suddenly became strange.

"...This is somewhat embarrassing."

Ella scratched her cheek with her finger.

It would have been fine if she were alone with Sedina, but having an outsider watching made her feel unnecessarily hot-faced.

Ella immediately changed the topic.

"Anyway! So are all your questions answered? Is this what they call a parent-teacher meeting?"

To reduce the witnessing of the hidden truth from 500 years ago to a parent-teacher meeting.

While thinking that this elf had quite an unusual personality, Rudger pointed out something that hadn't been resolved yet.

"There's still one item I'm looking for."

"Ah, right. I thought you'd mention that. The Relic fragment, right?"

Instead of answering, Rudger nodded.

One of the Relic fragments was right here in this kingdom.

"What exactly is this Relic fragment?"

Sedina revealed the doubt she had been harboring all along.

She had let it slide before, but having come this far, she couldn't pass it by without knowing.

"What are you trying to do by collecting them...?"

"I don't know the exact purpose either."

At Ella's answer, Sedina pursed her lips as if finding it hard to believe.

"It's true. Actually, it was the human kingdom that tried to use it, and I just helped with cultivating the World Tree. However, one thing I can be certain of is that those people were confident they could stop the evil deeds of the Bretus Holy Nation."

Ella's gaze turned to Rudger.

"You know that too, right?"

"Yes."

"What exactly do you want?"

"I think I've said enough already. The fall of the Bretus Holy Kingdom."

"I saw all sorts of magicians clinging to that Relic. I don't know what the complete form can do, but it's definitely not something ordinary. It might be dangerous enough that my daughter could get caught up in it if something goes wrong."

Ella spoke while looking straight at Rudger.

"Still, since you want it, I'll hand it over."

"You trust me?"

"I feel like the proper owner has come for it. But what a twisted fate. For the Relic fragment meant to destroy the Bretus Holy Nation to end up in the hands of the Bretus Holy King's bloodline."

Perhaps this too was fate and karma.

"Here. Take it."

Ella held out something toward Rudger.

When he received and checked it, it was a seed of some fruit.

This was the fragment he had been searching for so long.

Rudger carefully grasped the seed.

"All your curiosities have been resolved, and you've gotten what you came for, so I suppose all business is finished?"

"Yes."

Rudger stepped back, putting Sedina ahead.

Sedina naturally faced Ella and shared an embrace.

"It's farewell again. My daughter."

"Don't worry. I'll visit again later."

"Yes."

Ella whispered into Sedina's ear so only she could hear.

"Next time, bring him as a son-in-law rather than a teacher."

"...!"

Sedina's face turned red at Ella's teasing.

She stared at Ella with trembling eyes but couldn't firmly deny that it wasn't so.

Ella saw off her daughter with a mischievous smile at her lovely reaction.

Sedina waved her hand to Ella before approaching Rudger.

"Let's go back."

"Alright."

Their consciousness rose back to reality.

Rudger felt a feeling of lightness as if freed from gravity's influence.

They opened their eyes at the sensation of night wind blowing across their skin.

On the outdoor terrace of the guest room at the Dentis family, looking at the night sky, it seemed not much time had passed outside compared to the time spent inside.

The warmth in his hand disappeared.

Sedina had hurriedly let go of the hand she had been holding.

She bowed her head to Rudger, seemingly embarrassed, and said.

"I'll... I'll see you tomorrow."

Then she went outside with quick steps as if running away.

Watching her retreating figure, Rudger let out a snicker and naturally opened his clenched fist.

The hand that had been holding the seed received from Ella.

On it lay the Relic fragment he had been searching for so long.

'Now.'

Only one piece remained.

The last fragment whose whereabouts had not been revealed.

Rudger took out the Relic fragment he wore as a necklace and brought it close to the newly acquired one.

'If I make these two resonate, I should be able to find the approximate location of the last fragment.'

He had wandered all over the continent to find it.

If there was anywhere he hadn't been to yet, it would be the polar regions but that didn't matter.

Even if it was there, he intended to go find it no matter what.

However, that determination proved futile.

"...What is this?"

After confirming the location of the last fragment, Rudger could only utter words filled with bewilderment.

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