Chapter 65: Practical Experience (3)
[However, Epherene gets a penalty point.]
“…”
Epherene stared blankly at the sentence, forgetting the extremely dire situation around her for a brief moment. Her number of penalty points appeared in the air.
-14 points.
One more point, and she’d be assigned to cleaning duty every day for the dirtiest comfort room.
If she accumulated more than 25 points, her dormitory scholarship benefit would be canceled. The expected amount she’d lose would be 50,000 Elnes… per semester.
She quickly picked up the chalk.
[Epherene wasn’t the one who wrote ‘Deculein, you fool.’]
A reply arrived quickly.
[Who did it?]
“…”
After hesitating and contemplating, she wrote, [Sylv]
“What’s going on?”
Sylvia approached her before she could finish it, causing her to rattle like a wagon caught in a stony path.
“Uh? Uh, um, this! this!”
She said, erasing the letters with her robe sleeve.
“I think this blackboard is connected to Professor Deculein!”
“…?”
Fortunately, Sylvia looked at the blackboard, seemingly unaware of her plot.
“What’s going on? Why the blackboard again?”
“Ifi, what’s going on?”
Lucia and Julia soon approached her as well. The other wizards couldn’t afford to pay attention to it.
────!
Another powerful shock made the classroom tremble. Epherene wrote another message quickly.
[Now’s not the time for this. The classroom is on the verge of being destroyed, and we don’t know the barrier’s code.]
Tak— Tak— Tak Tak—
A formula consisting of circles and lines began to be written on the blackboard.
CRRRKKK─!
The wall rumbled once more against yet another devastating blow. With the damage it had accumulated, they knew it wouldn’t last much longer.
Some wizards had already fainted, and many were terrified, but Epherene, Sylvia, and Lucia looked only at what was being written.
CRRRRRKKK─!
Their opponents had already delivered lethal attacks against their only line of defense dozens of times.
However, right before the wall collapsed…
[Initiate the spell.]
The formula was completed.
Sylvia moved first, releasing mana and drawing a magic formula on the floor.
Grrrrrr…
Their classroom’s floor and ceiling were made entirely of mana stones. Inscribing them with a code, she activated the crystal ball, the source of their mana, unlocking and activating the barrier.
Boom…
The sounds of ruination subsided, and the space around them changed in an instant.
A peaceful meadow swallowed the ashes’ darkness.
Such was the greatness of their classroom that cost 10 million Elnes to build.
“Phew…”
Epherene plopped down and placed her hand against her pounding chest.
“…”
Sylvia also breathed out and looked at the blackboard. Letters were still appearing in it.
[Don’t panic. Calm down and focus on the situation. You’re no longer in class. Welcome to reality.]
“Ask him when the rescue will come,” Lucia said.
Deculein had already answered it before they could even ask, however.
[Hundreds of debutantes are being held hostage, so it is impossible for us to enter right now.]
[The best course of action here is for you to solve it yourself.]
“No. Isn’t that too irresponsible of them?”
Sylvia fiercely glared at her, causing Lucia to shrug in surprise.
[According to an external analysis of the different mana concentrations, the source of this disaster is hypothesized to be on the 23rd floor. ]
“Who’s on the 23rd floor?” Epherene asked, looking at them.
Lucia answered with her arms crossed.
“Well. There is one external professor’s office on that floor, but I don’t know who occupies it.”
•••••••.
The 23rd floor, engulfed in ashes, had been turned into a huge nest. A large cocoon pulsated at its center, and a spider web that stretched out in all directions fed it.
─Listen…
Louina heard a dry, crumbling voice within the cocoon.
─Complete erosion is required…
Complete erosion meant to devour the brains of the debutantes dominated by the ashes. They would absorb all mana and nutrients, eliminating any chances of them being revived.
─Complete erosion is required…
“No.”
Louina refused. Even though she allowed the Ashes’ parasitism, her most primal personality was still strong. Her beliefs and convictions held her instincts together.
─Complete erosion is required…
Louina opened her eyes, her black pupil dawning upon the cocoon’s skin. The world was dark, but her mana felt infinite.
─Complete erosion…
Pow!
Louina hit the cocoon with her fist. The loud voice stopped, but the anger she felt grew stronger.
In the shattered consciousness, only one person’s face came to mind.
She recited his name.
“Deculein…”
* * *
Epherene laid out their food supply on the table.
Three chocolates. Two big cans of drinks. Two squids. One gummy candy. Five bags of chips. Two cream pies. A pack of gum. Five tangerines.
If there were only five of them, it could be considered ample enough, but…
“How many of us are here?”
No one answered. More than half of them had fallen asleep.
“…”
That was understandable. They had just been through terrible suffering, after all.
Sylvia replied, “51 people.”
The biggest hindrance to their survival was the amount of food they had.
The basal metabolic rate of a wizard with magical powers in his body was comparable to that of a strong farmer.
“…Sigh.”
Reluctantly, Epherene sent a message to Deculein.
[I don’t think we’ll last long in this place. We’re running out of food. I’m thinking of going to the basement canteen…]
A reply arrived quickly.
[Look at the toolbox at the back of the classroom.]
Epherene did as instructed. The space changed due to the barrier, but the toolbox and other equipment were still where they were before.
She ran and opened the door.
“Whoa!”
Stocks of frozen meat, water, canned goods, and many other sources of nutrients were revealed. If they ate sparingly, they could last for about two days.
Epherene muttered in admiration.
“How did the professor know when to do this…”
“He must have prepared it in advance, you idiot. The tower’s a common target for terrorism. Anyway, go make food already.” Lucia laughed in disdain and ruffled Epherene’s hair, causing her to bite her lip as she glared at her.
“What are you looking at? Do you want me to do it? I don’t know how to cook!”
“… You’re useless even in this kind of situation, huh?”
Feeling pissed off, Epherene rolled up her sleeves but soon saw more messages coming in.
[Rest for now. I’m trying to figure out a way to fix this externally.]
[If any of you fight while you’re in there, I’ll be giving penalty points later based on the witnesses’ stories.]
“…”
‘How did he know?’
Epherene reluctantly prepared a meal. Grumbling, she used magic to create fire, which she then used to roast meat and cook soup. She then put both dishes on the table.
One by one, the wizards who caught a whiff of her cooking’s delicious scent began to wake up.
* * *
I went directly to the Yukline mansion’s warehouse as soon as I left the imperial palace.
[We just ate. We’re resting now. ]
[These monsters took possession of our colleagues, so we can’t use violence against them. Moreover, on the 23rd floor, there is an office of an external professor.]
“… Louina.” Standing up, I stared at the blackboard.
Of course, the Baron of Ashes parasitizing her was a huge problem, but it was also quite questionable.
Louina had to be a Named character with a mana rating of ‘3’.
“Is it because of our contract?”
Did it affect her mana rating?
Or was it because the way I tormented her made her mental fortitude weaker?
Regardless, it wasn’t just a bad situation. The ‘Baron of Ashes,’ whose mana rating was lower than hers, shouldn’t be able to completely encroach on Louina.
Knock, knock—
Just then, Roy came in.
“Master. Everyone has arrived.”
“Tell them to come in.”
“Yes.”
Roy returned with the professors I had called.
I was about to greet them, but I frowned.
“… Head Professor. We’re here.”
Those who were talking up front were the tenured professors such as Relin and Ciare. The younger professors, including Kelodan, whom I had been looking for, squatted behind them.
“Here are the Ashes gathered by the knights.”
Relin held out a reagent bottle filled with the parasites.
After analyzing and understanding them, I planned to create a ‘custom magic’ since for as long as the Baron of Ashes was still parasitizing Louina, it wouldn’t be easy to fix the situation through normal means.
Subsequently, several pieces of equipment flooded into the warehouse. Microscopes, tables, mana stones, related magic books, magic tools… They just kept coming. All items were directly airlifted from the Isle of Wizard’s Wealth.
I neatly arranged everything with [Psychokinesis].
Bang, bang, bang—
In no time at all, the warehouse turned into a magic tower laboratory.
I did all this simply because I couldn’t stand a dirty and inefficient environment.
“Whoa! This is great! If you need any help, just let us know!”
“… Help would be nice.”
I answered Relin’s words. He took a deep breath solemnly and ferociously.
“Yes. The tower being attacked is an unprecedented situation. We’ve already determined—”
“However.”
I pointed to the young professors behind them.
“Only the three of you will remain here.”
Kelodan the glasses holder, Jennifer, a master of harmony magic, and Grant, a former addict.
Allen seemed to be trapped inside the tower, but I wasn’t worried at all.
“The rest may go.”
“… Huh?”
Having too many cooks spoil the broth. It was far more efficient to exclude them altogether since they would undermine the motivation of the new professors with their useless political quarrels and their sense of sympathy.
“Uh, um, Head Professor, they’re not yet very experienced, so they’re extremely lacking—”
“Hmm. I must’ve said something wrong.”
Relin’s expression brightened.
“Check the condition surrounding the tower, professors. This is an extremely important task, so, please. If the situation escalates over there, I’ll be needing your help to suppress it.”
“…”
I pushed the old professors out with [Psychokinesis].
After that, I looked at the ones that remained without saying a word.
“W-What should we do?” Kelodan asked cautiously.
“That’s obvious.”
I laid down dozens of magic books on their desk, all of them related to ‘puppetization.’
Bang, bang, bang—!
“Understand the gist of each of these.”
Bewildered, they looked at the magic books piled up like a mountain before them.
* * *
[We’re currently formulating magic that’ll be effective against the ashes.]
“Damn! That doesn’t make any sense. It’ll take them several weeks to create new magic!” Lucia exclaimed nervously. As a result, the atmosphere in the classroom grew darker again.
“Ask him how long we’ll have to wait—”
“Be quiet, Dorothy.”
“…!”
Greatly surprised by Sylvia’s remarks, Lucia held her breath as if her heart had stopped. She ran toward Sylvia and shoved her face beside her ear.
“I definitely told you not to call me by that name. Why did you suddenly do it again?”
“Dorothy? Who’s Dorothy?” Behind her back, Epherene muttered innocently. Lucia put her hands together and begged Sylvia.
“Please…”
Lucia was actually her pseudonym, and her real name was Dorothy.
Her true name was so sloppy that she convinced, no, forced her father to change it!
“Only if you keep quiet.”
“Sure. Sure.”
Sylvia pushed Lucia away and got up.
“We’re going to help Professor Deculein from our side.”
“H-Help? Yes, yes, okay. I will do that~” Dorothy, no Lucia, agreed before Sylvia could even say anything.
Epherene tilted her head.
Sylvia’s next words terrified them.
“I’m going to catch a debutante and dissect it.”
* * *
… Sophien Ekater von Jaegus Gifrein asked, ‘Do you know how it feels to die year after year? Do you know the misery of being twisted by an incurable disease that not even the entire continent is aware of? Of making your way through the darkness, never knowing what lies ahead of you? Do you know the pain brought by a disease that engulfs your whole body?’
Indeed, her pain made her feel like her ribs were being broken while an awl was piercing through her entirety.
‘Do you know the feeling of resurrecting every time you die and enduring the same pain from the beginning? Do you know of such a damn curse?’
She died dozens of times at the age of eight. There were times when she waited for a year to die, and there were times when she couldn’t stand it and cut off her own throat.
However, no matter how many times she succumbed to death, whenever she opened her eyes, it would be the 1st of January, and she’d be a kid again lying on a luxurious bed and looking out her window, where the gardens of the imperial palace, forever in spring, awaited her gaze.
Her brain had already matured, but her body couldn’t escape youth.
Sophien often had that weird feeling like she was garbage floating in the ocean, reaching an impasse where even if she rotted away, she wouldn’t be able to escape.
It was said that all human beings desired life.
However, she wished for death. She longed to disappear even after she had died.
The only thing that made her happy every time she went back was her brother’s face, but even that feeling eventually faded.
She had a limit on how much she could hold on, after all.
There was always the smell of iron from a knight, the sweet scent of a eunuch, the aroma of money from a merchant, the smell of disinfectant from a doctor, and the smell of grass from a herbalist.
Sophien had no regrets about life, which to her was just a hellish cycle.
She had no passion. No emotion.
How could she?
However, she hoped that her whole life, marred by her pain, would become dull.
She prayed that it would collapse without agony.
It was said that this continent was truly harmless, which was unfortunate for her, who lived in a cramped imperial palace and a body that did not grow.
She had become so crippled that she became unaware of her own misfortunes.
‘… The me who died over and over, the me who killed all that I had within, Deculein. Do you know of her? No, How could you know?’
With nobody else that could understand her, she prayed and complained to the only one who understood her every night.
She prayed to him, the one who gave her her fate and cage, the one who growled while watching her boredom from the highest points of the sky, a place no one could reach or in the deepest depths below the earth where not even the tiniest ray of sunlight could shine.
She sent her promise.
She would kill God.
“I must have met Deculein when I was a child, but he wasn’t a noteworthy person then. Aside from his face, nothing about him really stood out.
Of course, Sophien overcame the incurable disease of the past and survived to the end. Since then, she had made countless assassinations and poisoning attempts and had died several times, but she defeated death each time.
Thanks to that, she found out that this damn regression was a ‘1-year cycle’.
If she died at the age of nine, she regressed to January 1 of the year she turned nine. If she died at the age of ten, she’d regress to the edge of 10.
‘Your Majesty speaks as if there is no death awaiting you,’ were Deculein’s words.
“As if there is no death…”
Was it just a sentence to express her recklessness?
“No.”
The nuance his words gave off was quite different. Moreover, he also stated, ‘I see the world differently.’
Was she included in his definition of ‘differently?’
“Keiron.”
“Yes.”
Sophien called her knight.
“Yukline should have been one of the families who attended ‘That Day.'”
The incurable disease that killed her dozens of times was actually poison. She felt disappointed when she heard the story.
“Yes. All the counts of the continent were there.”
The suspect was probably one of the families who attended the day she ascended to the throne.
Sophien intended to find the criminal and kill him, tearing his limbs apart and annihilating his family and relatives.
However, after being engrossed in it for about three years, she grew bored with it, causing her to cut it off.
After all, they only died once.
It didn’t matter how many times she regressed after death. They only had one life.
She didn’t get anything worthwhile for what she suffered and compared to the effort she put in. Soon enough, she grew bored of it as well.
Even revenge began to feel cumbersome.
“If you have any questions for Deculein, you must learn magic first.”
Keiron’s voice sounded joyful, causing Sophien to clench her teeth.
“You’re not any better than me, though. Not too long ago, you decided there was something wrong with Deculein after just hearing some rumors.”
He lowered his gaze.
“… Admittedly, I made a mistake then. Deculein’s honest today. You, who can see through people, should already know that.”
Sophien looked over the desk, where [Yukline: Understanding Elemental Magic], a book left behind by Deculein, was placed. Its hardcover, adorned with gold leaf and jewels, had a note attached to it.
[Please prepare up to Chapter 1.]
“Please, study.”
“… Keiron.”
Sophien stared at him as he responded emotionlessly.
“Yes?”
“Fuck you.”
She raised her middle finger at him.
Keiron smiled silently, closing his eyes to pretend he saw nothing.
“I’m going to bed. Do not bring anything into my room today.”
“Take the book with you.”
“Piss off.”
Sophien went straight up to her boudoir. The court wizard and servants said something about an incident happening over the Imperial University Tower, but she ignored it.
She lay on the bed and looked up at the ceiling, sorting out the thoughts that popped into her mind.
All those thoughts resulted in a single emotion.
… Curiosity.
“Did they say Imperial University Tower incident…”
Suddenly, the words of her servants came to mind again.
Laughing in disdain, Sophien got up from her bed again.