One hour earlier, around the time Ashen had just entered the labyrinth.
Cecilia looked down at the magic circle drawn on the floor.
Inside the square were intricate geometric patterns, and outside each of its four corners was a circle.
What Cecilia was watching among them was the pattern engraved within.
At a glance, nothing seemed to be wrong, but this was a magic circle used to control humans.
Even the slightest mistake could lead to irreversible consequences.
‘To think they would go so far as to use magic this complicated just to make people into slaves. What in the world kind of country was the Republic?’
If the talent used for something like this had been directed toward something more beneficial to society, they might have achieved a feat that would have gone down in history.
With feelings half pity and half disgust toward the ancient mage who had designed this spell, Cecilia raised her head.
“Is it finished?”
No sooner had she lifted her head than Lena sent her an anxious look.
Lena was always lively, but perhaps even she could not be so in this situation; her hands were damp with sweat.
“The magic circle is finished. What matters now is receiving permission from those four.”
When she shifted her gaze, the four people who had been suddenly summoned were looking at her with puzzled expressions.
“Are you done now? I thought I was going to die of boredom.”
The bronze-skinned beauty, Euphoria, exhaled cigarette smoke with a bored expression.
She had come here because Cecilia had pleaded with her earnestly, but for someone like her who hated waiting, it must have been a truly irritating stretch of time.
“Please maintain your dignity, Professor Euphoria.”
“What’s the harm? From the look of it, I don’t think I was called here as a professor. Ah, are you sulking because I’m smoking by myself? Eleonore, do you want one too?”
“I’m sorry, but I have no interest in cigarettes.”
“Mm, that’s a good thing. They don’t do the body any favors. Well, we’re fine thanks to divine power, though.”
Watching Eleonore turn her head away from the smoke, Euphoria cackled.
But only for a moment.
Returning to a serious expression, Euphoria turned her gaze toward Cecilia.
“So, can you tell us why you called us? If the reason is boring, I think I’ll be disappointed in you, Miss Cecilia.”
“Don’t worry. I’m certain it will be interesting even for you, Professor.”
“Hm. Then let’s hear it.”
“Then I would like to ask everyone here. Do any of you know about the forbidden magic used in the ancient Republic?”
“Of course I know. So what about that magic?”
“One of the Academy students is currently under that spell.”
Snap.
At Cecilia’s words, the cigarette holder in Euphoria’s hand broke.
As if her usual languid gaze had been a lie, Professor Euphoria’s eyes turned serious.
“Are you being serious right now?”
“I swear on the name of my house that it is true.”
“Then the caster? Don’t tell me it’s another Academy student.”
“No. The culprit is…”
Cecilia stopped speaking for a moment and looked at the four of them.
Though the four belonged to different orders, they shared the commonality of being members of the Church of the Six Great Gods.
Would telling them the truth help?
After hesitating briefly, Cecilia chose to trust the four of them.
At this point, even if she did not trust them, there was no other way.
“The Church of the Six Great Gods. In particular, I believe the Orders of Justice, Light, and War are deeply involved.”
“…You’re joking, right?”
“I’m not enough of a troublemaker to gather professors here as a joke.”
“Haa.”
Professor Euphoria swept her bangs back as if her head hurt.
“I knew the Church was a bit rotten, but I didn’t think it would be to this extent. Eleonore, did you know?”
“I did not. I never imagined the Church would be going so far as to do such things.”
With her face flushed by an emotion that might have been anger or shame, Eleonore spat the words out through clenched teeth.
Judging by that reaction, it was certain the two of them had not known.
Cecilia nodded inwardly and looked at the two people who had remained silent.
“Is that so? Well, it’s a story that doesn’t interest me.”
One of the two, Ragnar, picked at his ear with an expression of disinterest.
“I only came because I was told that if I helped this time, that fellow Lena and that fellow Ashen would give me a proper fight.”
His attitude was that no matter what state another student was in, as long as he got to fight, it did not matter.
She had felt it when he sparred with Lena during the entrance exam as well, but the only thing this person thought about was combat.
He did not seem to have any intention of looking into the complicated politics of the Church.
‘Then the only one left is Professor Peter.’
Cecilia’s gaze turned to the last person.
Professor Peter.
A professor of divine demonstrations at the Academy and, excluding the headmaster, the oldest professor, he was still maintaining his silence.
Cecilia looked at the priestly robes he wore.
The Order of Light.
One of the orders likely to be directly connected to this incident.
‘Professor Peter is someone whose identity as an Academy professor is stronger than his identity as a priest, but…’
Would he help them even while going against the will of the Church?
Just as Cecilia was lost in thought, Professor Peter opened his mouth.
“Those insane bastards.”
“Pardon?”
“I came to the Academy because I couldn’t bear to watch the Church go mad, and yet they’ve fallen that far. I told them that whatever the will of God may be, they must never stray from the way of humanity. Was it ultimately fated to come to this?”
Anger and bitterness. Those two emotions mingled in Professor Peter’s eyes.
‘Should I call this fortunate?’
Cecilia, who had been flustered by Professor Peter’s unusual appearance, soon returned to a serious expression and continued explaining to the four.
“Republic-style forbidden magic is extremely powerful. But as such, it has many restrictions as well. First, someone connected to the contract must always remain within a certain distance of the slave.”
“Ah, so that’s why!”
Remembering her earlier chase with the priest of the Order of Justice, Lena nodded.
“The Academy as a space solved that point on its own. All they needed was for them to be fellow students. But they couldn’t solve the weakness inherent to Republic magic itself.”
“The weakness inherent to it?”
“The ancient Republic, despite its name, was a nation run by a powerful bureaucracy. That is why a hierarchy is engraved into all of their magic. The orders of someone in a higher position take precedence over those of a lower command authority. And if the command authorities are of similar rank, the side with the greater number is treated as the higher command authority.”
Cecilia stopped speaking briefly and pointed to each of the four in turn.
“The subordinate handlers of the brainwashing that I know of number three. And they are ordinary priests of the Orders of Light, Justice, and War, respectively.”
“In other words, that’s why you called the four of us, who are ordinary priests or above.”
“Yes. If all of you help, then at the very least, we can nullify the commands issued within the Academy. So please, everyone, help me.”
Cecilia bowed her head to each of them in turn.
The first to answer her request was Eleonore.
“If the Church is doing such a thing, then stopping it is only natural. That would not change even if you had not asked for my help, Miss Cecilia.”
“A fine thing for a young person to say. I agree as well.”
Professor Peter stepped forward, nodding at Eleonore’s words.
Watching the two of them, Euphoria shook her head as if she had no choice.
“Ah, I hate troublesome things, you know. Still, since it’s a request from my cute student, I suppose I’ll have to listen.”
“As I said earlier, I don’t care as long as I can have a proper fight afterward. So let’s not waste time and get started.”
“Thank you, everyone.”
“So what do we have to do?”
“Please have one person stand inside each of the four circles. Then I will activate the magic circle.”
No sooner had Cecilia finished speaking than the four moved to their respective positions.
After confirming that all four were in place, Cecilia immediately activated the spell.
Vwoom—!
The magic circle began operating, emitting blue light.
Feeling the mana inside her body being sucked away, Cecilia clenched her teeth.
‘Kuh. As expected of forbidden magic. It uses more than twice as much mana as ordinary magic. The consumption is so severe that my recovery speed can’t keep up at all.’
In this state, she might somehow be able to keep it running, but activating it could take hours.
‘Is this the limit with my mana alone?’
Then what should she do?
Cecilia took a glass bottle out from within her clothes.
An elixir that, when drunk, would increase one’s mana for an instant. But in exchange, it had the side effect of shaving away one’s life force.
She had been carrying it ever since the dungeon incident in preparation for an emergency.
‘I never thought I would end up using it for something like this.’
Just as Cecilia was about to swallow the potion, a hand stopped her.
“You said that was dangerous medicine, didn’t you?”
Golden eyes resembling the setting sun looked straight into Cecilia’s deep green eyes.
“Are you so short on mana that you have to use that?”
No sooner had Lena spoken than the color of the magic circle began to scatter.
‘No! If the mana scatters now, everything is over!’
Cecilia hurriedly tried to swallow the medicine again, but Lena’s arm did not budge.
“No, there’s no need.”
With those words, a soft sensation covered Cecilia’s hand.
The moment Cecilia looked at the bronze hand covering the back of her own and wondered what was happening—
“I have mana too.”
Sunset-colored mana was drawn into the magic circle.
“Doing something so reckless!”
A knight’s mana and a mage’s mana were the same, yet different.
To activate magic using a knight’s mana, condensed for battle, would require far more of it.
Perhaps Lena would be unable to use mana for some time.
“Still, it’s better than shaving away your lifespan.”
Lena said that with a slightly pale face and smiled.
In response to her smile, the magic circle too performed its role splendidly.
“It’s done!”
After confirming that threads of mana had connected the magic circle to the interior of the labyrinth, Cecilia cried out.
It was a flawless result, without question.
“We succeeded, we succeeded, Miss Lena.”
“Yeah, I get it, but isn’t sending the signal to Ashen the first priority right now?”
“Ah!”
At Lena’s words, Cecilia realized she had forgotten something important and shot a magical flame into the sky.
With this, Ashen must have noticed as well.
Now all that remained was for Ashen to pull it off.
‘Then, Mr. Ashen. Please take care of Miss Theodora.’
With that final thought, Cecilia and Lena collapsed on the spot from lack of mana.
And the two of their hands remained overlapped.