Chapter 99: Family (1)
The Imperial Magic Tower, 77th floor.
Yeriel visited the [Head Professor’s Office] while Deculein was on his business trip. Perhaps because its owner was away, security magic was set all over the place, but each spell stopped working when a certain someone snapped their fingers.
“What request did you take?!”
Chairman Adrienne. Yeriel was caught by her in the middle of trying to sneak into the office room. However, this was better.
“I can’t tell you that. It’s work-related.”
“…Hmm! Then, I can ask Professor Deculein myself!”
“Yes. Please.”
Yeriel nodded calmly and put the papers from her handbag on the desk. She had brought along documents related to the underground opening and Rohalak concentration camps as a pretext. Each was sealed with a magical security mechanism that would open after recognizing Deculein’s fingerprints and iris.
She turned to regard the Chairman, who was still watching her.
“Could you go now, please?”
“…That’s suspicious!”
That raised the antennae of the Chairman’s busybody personality. It seemed that her intuition was reacting. It was funny how she stared like a predatory mantis, but Yeriel shook her head.
“It’s work-related anyway, so that it won’t be much fun.”
“…Humph, okay! I’ll go for now!”
The Chairman licked her lips but complied, walking outside. Only then could Yeriel begin in full. She had something to look for.
“…I like his personality at moments like this.”
She found what she sought quickly. Thanks to Deculein’s cleaning obsession, it caught her eye as soon as she opened the drawers.
[ ]
It was an untitled note. On the surface, it looked like something you could buy for 3 Elnes at a stationery store, but it was by no means an ordinary notebook. This was one of the many items given to them by the former head of the family, Decalane, and she had her copy.
“As expected, it was here.”
Searching the mansion had proved fruitless, but the tower she came to as a last resort was the right choice. Yeriel was going to figure out Deculein’s intentions with this.
“…With this.”
Her heart was still weak and cautious, and there were a lot of practical problems. Therefore, she chose this diary as a surefire way. Instead of moving hastily, she was trying to look into Deculein’s last feelings.
“Hmmmm…”
Yeriel put her diary in its place. As both were magical artifacts created by her father, there was no difference in appearance or function. And, above all, Yeriel was convinced that Deculein would not look into this diary.
The only one Deculein feared. That ‘father’ could be seen in this diary anytime he looked upon it.
“Now…”
So, the moment she came out of his office.
“!”
Yeriel ran into someone she didn’t want to see. The person approaching quickly noticed Yeriel and glanced at her with wide eyes.
“Solda Yeriel?”
It was Louina, beelining toward the head professor’s office with some students.
“…”
Yeriel thought about Louina. Deculein had kidnaped her under some circumstances she wasn’t aware of, but strangely, she had grown quiet these days. Rumors were now circulating that she had become Deculein’s henchman. Yeriel was curious about the story behind that bizarre event.
“…Professor Louina, what’s happening on the 77th floor? It’s my brother’s… hm. It’s Lord Deculein’s floor.”
“I thought the professor was back because the security magic had stopped working. I have documents that need to be re-approved.”
“-Ah! That money-eating hippo!”
From behind the wall, the Chairman appeared with a wild look in her eyes. Louina took a step back out of surprise while Yeriel let out a sigh. What did she want to accomplish by eavesdropping like that? What a mess.
“Professor Louina! Do you know how much you’ve spent so far?! Still, you want more?! Those documents waiting for approval are for payment this time too, right?! Approval to spend money!”
“What can I do if it costs a lot, Chairman? And, this is the keynote manager’s responsibility anyway, isn’t it? You can just leave it to him.”
“…We shouldn’t have created the Planning and Coordination Office!”
“Hey~, apart from my project, the keynote makes a lot of money, right? The projects carefully selected by the professor were all successful.”
“Louina, you are eating all those profits!”
“Hey~, it can’t be that much~.”
“Are you kidding me?! It is that much! It’ll reach over 100 million Elnes at this rate!”
“Oh, my. Is it not yet at 100 million Elnes? It’s less than I expected.”
“What!!!”
Listening carefully to their useless, but still related to the tower, talk, Yeriel sneakily boarded the elevator.
* * *
A blue summer afternoon without a single cloud in sight. After completing the entry and exit procedures for Locralen — marking exported items, search and inspection, etc. — we boarded the train and arrived at [Hairich Station].
“Whoa! We’re finally back!”
Allen let out the exclamation while stretching. I looked up to the sky outside the car window for a moment. It was just an ordinary business trip, but it felt like a long journey had ended for some reason.
“…I didn’t know they would take my diary too.”
“They’re just doing this because they’re afraid you’ll have a problem with your memories.”
Allen responded to Epherene’s blunt self-talk.
“Yes, I understand… and, fortunately, I remember a bit. I guess my mental power isn’t that bad.”
“Right~. I don’t remember much of the lectures, but what happened that day and the daily parts are fine.”
“…I only remember fainting.”
We disembarked the platform while chatting. Rose Rio and Kreto, who happened to be on the same train, approached. Kreto held out his hand first.
“Professor Deculein. You helped us this time again.”
“Yeah. Hey, Professor Deculein, your skills are great. Why are you still a Monarch?”
“Sir Kreto, thank you. Rose Rio, you as well.”
I bid goodbye to them. Allen, Epherene, and Drent stuck around to have a brief chat, after which we split up and headed down the
“Oh, my?!”
Now in the heart of Hairich, Epherene suddenly pointed off in a direction.
“The Pig’s Flower.”
Epherene stared blankly at the restaurant’s entrance. It was a little different from the Pig’s Flower restaurant near the Imperial University. It was an extremely high-end branch decorated in a much more luxurious way according to the style and concept of Hairich, the wealthiest village in the empire.
“…Slurp. I. Sluurp. Sluurp. Ah. Why can’t I stop drooling? Julie said they would open a new branch this time, but I didn’t think it would be in Hairich….”
“Is it that delicious?”
At Allen’s question, Epherene nodded. Not once, not twice, but three, four, five times. I produced my wallet.
“Allen.”
“Yes?”
“Buy her a meal and then send her back.”
When I easily handed over a check for 10,000 Elnes, Allen accepted it with a look of shock.
“That’s too-“
“You will end up using it all on eating. Hairich’s prices are beyond imagination.”
“Oh… yes, yes. Thank you, professor!”
Allen took the check with trembling hands. Epherene, watching me from the side, couldn’t contain her smile.
“I will go first.”
“Yes! Thank you! Bye, Professor!”
“Bye, Professor.”
“Goodbye~!”
Farewells from Allen, Drent, and Epherene, respectively. Without paying attention to them, I climbed into the prepared car. Looking outside the window, I could see Allen leading them into the restaurant.
─Let’s go~, hurry up~.
Epherene’s steps were light, a bright smile covering her entire face.
“…That Epherene.”
Does that mean that in the future, she will become an archmage? I smirked.
“Professor, how was your business trip?”
Julie, sitting quietly next to me, asked. I looked at her and nodded.
“Not bad.”
Julie smiled broadly, and I told the driver.
“Let’s go to the tower.”
* * *
Arriving at my tower office, I first produced the 「Advanced Attribute Catalog」.
“…It’s a good reward.”
Unlike the item catalog, the attribute catalog was an immensely important item. There weren’t many opportunities to obtain it in the game.
However, advanced was a bit vague. The order of attributes was [ ordinary – low-grade – intermediate – advanced – rare – unique – intrinsic ]. Here, ordinary and low-grade were bonuses that couldn’t even be considered attributes like Psychokinesis Master, and only from intermediate and advanced onward could they at least be considered as such.
[1. Common License ]
[2. Tiger’s Throat]
[3. Aggressive Attack Stance]
No matter how far I scrolled down, I couldn’t find anything useful. My eyes kept scanning down, down, down…?
“What is this?”
I discovered an attribute with an unfamiliar name.
──「Encryption」──
◆ Rating
: Advanced
◆ Description
: The ability to encrypt the target by consuming magical power. (However, living things cannot be encrypted)
: The output of the attribute is affected by the owner’s mental power.
────
“Encryption.”
The explanation was quite vague, but I liked that the trait was affected by mental power. Mental power was Deculein’s only strength.
“…?”
But, suddenly, I found a small note on the desk. It was a note that wasn’t there moments before.
“…How did it appear?”
It was suspicious, but I glanced over its contents before tucking it away.
Knock, knock-
“Professor!”
When I opened the door with 「Psychokinesis」, Allen entered with excitement written over her face.
“Professor! They have completed the grading evaluation on the Floating Island! It’s an advanced lecture!”
Behind her were Epherene and Drent. Drent bowed, and Epherene hesitantly followed along.
“You’re awesome, Professor.”
I turned to Allen, who was making the biggest fuss about it.
“Good. Then, let’s start preparing for class in earnest.”
“Yes!”
“You, the two assistants, leave.”
“…Yes?”
I told the assistants to leave, but Allen tilted her head in doubt.
“Why… the assistants…?”
“Drent and Epherene. They both signed up for my class.”
“Oh. Right. That’s right.”
“Right, me too.”
Drent and Epherene nodded. I naturally looked to Allen.
“So, it’s up to you and me to prepare for class.”
“…Ah.”
Allen looked disappointed. She must have been thinking of leaving the chores, including class preparations, to the newbies.
“Yes. U-Um, then… I, oh.”
Allen glanced behind her. The two assistants had already disappeared.
“…Okay.”
She smiled again with resignation. I put a hand on her shoulder.
“Don’t worry. Your name will be marked as a supervisor for this lecture too.”
“Whaaaat?!”
Her eyes widened in an instant.
“E-Even though it’s an advanced lecture, for an advanced lecture…?”
“Yes.”
“Huh, um, er, I mean, this is….”
Looking at Allen, fidgeting restlessly, I thought quietly to myself.
“How could I… an assistant professor… ugh.”
…She had a natural talent for acting.
*
…The upper part of the Floating Island was a space that no wizard dared to imagine. More precisely, it went against the common sense of everyone in the world. The Megiseon was the core and engine of the Floating Island, a building that stretched endlessly into the sky above the island. However, as each floor went up, it showed aspects of topography and the world rather than being inside a building.
Some Floating Island levels were large enough to accommodate tens of thousands of people, while others only opened up to the sea, yet others still…
“The lecture submitted for examination by Professor Deculein of the Monarch rank 「The Pure Use of Earth and Fire: Manipulation Series」.”
It was a cramped conference room.
“We authorize the Unrestricted Advanced judgment of the course.”
The ratings were taking place in front of many addicts and executives of the Floating Island. Deculein’s lecture ‘The Pure Use of Earth and Fire: Manipulation Series’ would be considered an advanced lecture by magicians of all ranks. The course itself would be recorded as a career achievement.
“However, the lecture is to be attended by a recorder dispatched by the Floating Island, and the lecture information will be stored in the Floating Island’s archives.”
Gindalf chuckled as he stroked his chin. Adrienne, also present, nodded with satisfaction.
“The lecture will be recognized as Deculein’s work, and the protection period will last at least ten years. In addition, accepting a handful selected from the Floating Island, Deculein will choose the attendees.”
The protection period for Deculein’s work was set at a minimum of 10 years. Considering that the maximum was 15 years, it was a tremendously high valuation of his efforts.
“The Floating Island promises conveniences such as providing a place Deculein wants and subsidizing the costs, additionally storing Deculein’s lectures…”
…That day. The Advanced lecture judgment made on the Floating Island was sent directly out to the world. Famous wizards such as Rose Rio and Kreto, Betan, and Ihelm showed different reactions ranging from admiration, jealousy, and distrust. However, there was a small disturbance around each of them, regardless of how they felt.
There was one wizard who couldn’t even hear the news.
Wheeeeing-!
This was the Knife Orbit, where a sharp and cutting gust of wind constantly blew. As one of the neighbors to the Floating Island, it was a dangerous area made of several smaller islands sparsely connected in the air. At one of those islands, a hand rose from a sheer cliff.
Crash-!
The creature grabbed dirt and rocks. Its fair and white hands were covered with scars, and blood was oozing from its nails. It must be painful, but it only focused on the will not to fall.
Whooooosh–!
“…Ugh.”
The owner of this hand was Sylvia. She did not lose sight of the ground she held tightly even as the wind caused her to sway.
“You lived bravely.”
At that moment, black high heels walked up to her. The heels pushed into the ground directly in front of her, causing grains of sand to spray around her in a mist.
“…”
Sylvia looked up at the woman standing there. Dressed in a robe, she looked down at her as she applied lip balm.
“Give up. You’ll be crippled.”
Despite her harsh words, Sylvia shook her head.
“I’m not giving up.”
“…You are eager to learn something. I understand why Rohakan, that old man, entrusted you to me.”
The woman smirked.
“Then… let’s see.”
She mused to herself in a heavy and husky voice for a moment. Then, bring up her foot, she set her heel down upon Sylvia’s hand upon the edge of the cliff.
“!”
With the sound of her fingers cracking and her bones breaking, Sylvia fell down the cliff again.
“Are you Iliade’s lion or just a broken wolf?”
The woman placed a cigarette in her mouth.
Tss-!
She lit it with magic, the smoke blown out quickly whisked away by a gust of wind.
* * *
The residence of Yukline.
Yeriel was with her faithful vassals. The butler Roel, the knight David, the wizard Regilon, and the maid Rachel… their heavy breathing subsided in a fog as a tight tension settled over them, a sharp air that could break at any moment.
“This notebook was an item my father gave me.”
Yeriel explained, pointing to Deculein’s Diary placed on the desk.
“This diary is filled with the soul and magic of each of our days. No, in the first place, the material of this diary is… our flesh.”
The vassals stopped breathing for a moment. Yeriel held a frown as she recalled the events of the distant past, recalling the pain of being torn apart. The anesthesia hadn’t helped, and she wept half-mad with pain, but Yeriel endured because she was a Yukline.
“Flesh… what do you mean?”
Butler Roel asked the question with a slightly startled tone.
“…Right. It’s made from our skin and contains part of our circuits. A Remote Circuit, it’s a monumental task to make one. Isn’t my father amazing?”
Father Decalane gave his children countless tasks, not only during his lifetime but also after his death. Those countless trials might still be going on.
“Even if we don’t keep the diary, send it far away, or even throw it away or try to tear it apart… our days and actions are specifically recorded.”
Her father said, ‘it’s an artifact that helps you develop yourself,’ but…
Yeriel was not stupid. Of course, she knew. The real purpose of this diary was to monitor and evaluate them.
“Of course, the recorded memories are selective and unconscious, but at least they cannot be faked. As far as artifact production goes, it’s the work of my father, who was said to be on the level of the Eternal-Archmage.”
Decalane, the artist wizard of the century, sublimated the artifact itself into specialized magic. Although many of the artifacts he produced were magically weathered by time after his death, the things he left behind to his children with a medium, their ‘flesh,’ were still the same.
“This key is for opening that passage.”
Yeriel took out the key of Decalane. It was a treasure brought from the underground vault of the Yukline lord’s castle.
“It will be dangerous, but this is the only way for me to know right now.”
To put it simply, Yeriel was about to enter Deculein’s diary. But no one knew what kind of memories it held or how one could see them.
“Will he be the same as he was one year ago? Is he trying to use us and throw us away? Or did he change?”
Yeriel pointed to Deculein’s diary.
“I want to know that. Will you follow me?”
The vassals nodded with hardened expressions.
“Thank you.”
After a deep breath, Yeriel put the key in the diary. The diary’s cover was solid, but the key slid down as if slipping under the surface of the water.
Whoooosh–!
At that moment, the magic was awakened, and Yeriel turned the key completely.
────!
The diary swallowed them up.