Sidestory: The chaotic devil and the mercenary (4)

"What?! You rejected another guy?!" One of the girls in her class laughed as she clapped on Acedia's back. "Gosh, you're such a heartbreaker! Hahaha!"

"Jeez," Acedia rolled her eyes. "It's not that bad."

"But you're the most popular girl in the academy, aren't you?" Another girl said, stating the fact that everyone already knew.

"Right! You get one or two confessions every single day!"

When Acedia turned 14, she got an offer to be the disciple of the Overworld's western empire's mage tower.

Although her dad originally wanted her to be the heir to the leviathan household, he couldn't hold her back, as getting accepted into the mage tower would just fit Acedia's personality way more.

It was a place where she could freely explore her potential as a mage and gain the right environment to improve.

A perfect place for a prodigy, such as Acedia.

Of course, she was hesitant at first, but in the end, she thought that it wasn't that bad of a deal.

For one, she could freely exploit her potential due to all the tools that she had at her disposal, and secondly, it was a good way to get her head away from 'him'.

Although getting over him was still difficult, she slowly started to manage...at least that's what she wanted to say.

She couldn't get over him for some reason, like a girl trying to leave their toxic ex.

She wasn't even sure if 'Voidwalker' was his real name, so why would she get so worked up over a guy who left her without warning?

'Well...he probably had his own reasons...'

Acedia didn't know if it was to convince herself or if it was a logical assessment she made, but she hoped that it was the latter.

After all, there was no way that such a kind person would leave her, was there?

His smell, his eyes, his lips, his faint smile, the way he talked, his grumpy personality, his deep and soothing voice..—Urhg!

She just loved everything about him!

So why did he have to leave her?!

He could have at least warned her!

Frustrated, Acedia buried her face in her arm, grumbling in annoyance.

Two years had passed since the incident and she joined the famous 'Sylpheon' academy at fifteen years old, thus being the youngest person in history to ever join the academy.

She was now in the second year and although she was a higher-tier mage than all the students and teachers of the academy —excluding the principal—, she had to get her graduation to get a promotion in the mage tower ranks.

Her life at Sylpheon was boring.

Although she was popular due to her stunning looks and outstanding talent, she just couldn't help but find it boring.

Most of the students were all just shallow people, trying to suck up to her and gain her favor.

With only 16 years, Acedia managed to break through the ninth tier, thus belonging to one of the most powerful mages on the continent.

"I bet you would look good with Jason, wouldn't you?" A girl squealed in excitement, as she imagined them both being together. "Oh, you guys would look sooo goood together!"

Jason was the crown prince of the empire and, thus, one of the most popular guys in the academy. Just like in Acedia's case, many girls — and sometimes even boys — would confess to him on a daily basis.

Although he had to confess that he wasn't bad looking, not at all, with his blonde hair and striking red eyes, he was quite a looker.

These two features were the two most prominent features of the Royal family's bloodline, after all.

However, that was nothing against what Voidwalker had to offer.

"Never." Acedia glared at the girl. "I'm not a cheater."

"Come on, Acedia," One of the girls rolled her eyes. "You're still not over this 'Voidwalker guy, are you?"

Acedia didn't respond and just glared at her as the surrounding atmosphere began to feel wet and ominous.

"Seriously, why would you want him? Who in their right mind would just leave a lovely girl such as you alone?" Another girl continued.

"Yes! He's probably having some fun with other girls, anyway!"

Acedia's heart fell, as the girl said that, freezing and just blankly staring at the girl with widened eyes.

After he had left her two years ago, she had always worried about him meeting another girl and forgetting her, which was also one of the reasons why she triggered her 'curse'.

For the first time in her life, she felt scared and a sense of jealousy towards anyone he would spend his time with.

"H..He wouldn't do that.." Acedia laughed nervously, a sour expression glued on her face. "H..He isn't that type of person.."

"Really?" Another girl crossed her arms. "All boys are like that though..."

"Yes, like my pig ex! He left me for another girl!"

"Oh my, I'm so sorry for you."

Sighing, Acedia buried her head into her arms again, ignoring the lingering worry that built up inside of her.

*

It was night, and Acedia returned to her dorm.

Although many people believed that inside of Sylpheon, equality existed, it wasn't true.

In the end, power was everything, and the empire's mage tower had enough of that.

By abusing their power, they manipulated the room distribution and somehow managed to give Acedia a single room.

Tiredly, she jumped onto her bed, creating a telephone to call her parents.

Although the telephone was a fairly new invention and, therefore, very expensive, Sylpheon and many other rich families had it. Including the leviathans.

Tired from the whole day and emotional exhaustion, she slowly typed the phone number of her parents into the phone.

She did it so often that she already became used to it, being able to type in the number without even looking at the phone.

However, due to her tiredness, she misclicked.

The phone beeped.

Click.

-Hello, here's the mercenary guild. How can I help you?

Instead of the gentle voice of her father or the sweet voice of her mother, a rough manly voice spoke up.

She froze up as she heard what the voice said.

The mercenary guild?

She had spent the last years looking for any clue of them, but could never find them, as her parents didn't want her to get entangled with such guys, and nobody else knew about them.

Although she knew that some people in the mage tower had contact with them, it was mostly the higher-ups and she never really had a chance to ask any of them.

However, now, due to a complete accident, she called their number.

"..Uhm.." Acedia's hand trembled, and she began to stutter, as her mind went blank.

She didn't know what to say.

Her heart was beating so loud, that she feared the person on the other side could hear it.

'Have I finally found him?'

A sense of hope began to well up inside of Acedia, as she finally gained a clue about where he was.

-If you have nothing to say, I will hang up.

"No, no!" she hurriedly exclaimed, not wanting to let such a chance slip. "..Is there a Voidwalker?"

The man on the other side went quiet for a while before responding with a laugh.

-Haha! You've got good taste, girl! Yeah, we have a Voidwalker here, but be warned. He is very expensive!

Acedia gulped. She was ready to sacrifice every single coin of the funds she got from the mage tower.

Hell, she was even ready to beg her parents for money if she didn't have enough.

"That'll be no problem. When can I meet him?"

-You won't be able to meet him, as that brat doesn't like talking to customers very much. I think he's also on a mission right now, so that's a big, fat double-no.

Although Acedia was disappointed, that was enough for her for now.

For a split moment, she thought about using her fake name 'Aura' to talk with him, but she decided that she wanted him to recognize her, without her saying anything when they met again.

'I mean..that's the bare minimum, isn't it?'

She had already waited for two years.

A bit more time wouldn't hurt her.

After all, she wanted their reunion to be special.

She wanted him to be surprised and jump directly into her arms and tell her how much he loved her.

"That's okay. Can I at least give him a mission?"

-Yes, of course, you can! Just come to the mercenary guild and create a mission for him there!

"I see. Where is the mercenary guild, then?"

-Oh, a first-timer? I'll tell you.

Carefully listening to the man's explanation, she noted everything he said. After making sure that she noted the right thing, she hung up.

With a smile on her face, she stared at the piece of paper for a while.

Then she picked up the telephone again, typing in the number of the mage tower.

She still had a few preparations to do.

*

On the next day, she skipped school.

Acedia was tired, as she couldn't sleep a wink last night, being too excited to finally find the guild.

After she had called the mage tower and picked up her money and a cloak to conceal her body, she set off to the guild.

Arriving in the middle of a forest, far from the empire, she spotted a secluded wooden guild house.

As she stood in front of the large wooden doors, she knocked on them.

Not long after, the door opened with a loud creak, revealing a gigantic guild hall filled with many men and women sitting at tables, laughing, drinking, or fighting with each other.

'Soundproof magic.'

Acedia thought as she entered the guild, explaining the reason why, contrary to its quiet outward appearance, it was so loud inside.

She looked around, trying to spot Voidwalker, but unfortunately, she didn't find them.

'That's not surprising, though.' She mused as she turned her head around, facing the receptionist. 'It isn't a place where he would spend his time.'

She shrugged her shoulders. 'Well, at least he can't cheat on me if he doesn't spend his time with other people.'

Although she knew that her worry was unfounded, her 'jealousy' curse was acting up, and thus she couldn't control her thoughts.

Walking to the receptionist, she started a conversation.

"I'm here to make a request for Voidwalker."

The receptionist widened her eyes in surprise.

"Oh, really? You do know that he's very expensive, right?" She scanned Acedia from head to toe, looking at her skeptically.

Acedia gritted her teeth, annoyed at the receptionist for two different reasons. The first being that she was a woman that could get to meet Voidwalker anytime she wanted and the second was her attitude.

"It's alright. I can pay for it."

"Is that so?" she stopped her skeptical look, putting on an enthusiastic fake smile. "Then what kind of request do you want to make?"

"Monster elimination on the outskirts of the kingdom of Albion." She recited the mission one of the mages of the mage tower gave her.

With this, she would hit two birds with one stone.

First, make a request for Voidwalker.

And second, gaining money from the mages due to making him clear her mission.

She essentially found a way to effortlessly make money and request his services.

"Alright." The receptionist said as she finished noting everything. "Anything else?"

"Yeah. Give him this when he finishes the mission." Acedia gave her a small mana device that could save the voice of someone, even though it was slightly distorted.

"And tell him to give a message back, reporting the details of his mission."

The receptionist nodded. "That'll be ten gold coins then."

Although that was very expensive for the average citizen, ten gold coins were nothing but pocket change for a mage of the mage tower.

'I expected it to be worse.'

Acedia thought, not realizing that those were the thoughts of a spoiled brat.

"Here." she said, as she handed over the money.

"Alright. Under what name do you want to make the request? Or do you want to do it anonymously?"

Acedia shook her head.

"No, I want to use a name..."

She put her hand on her chin, stroking it thoughtfully.

As Acedia wanted Voidwalker to call her by that name, it had to be something cute...something that would make her heart flutter...

"...call me.."

"Yes?"

"Cutest magician girl."