“...Is it true that you received this gift from a demon? Jin Prach.”
“Yes.”
The day after the grimoire incident.
Early that morning, I had been summoned by Professor Ran, who had come with Isil, the latter looking at me with worried eyes, and was now having a meeting with her.
Twilight Hall, the dormitory for students of the Faculty of Mysticism.
In one room on the top floor of the dormitory, built from trees that shone with a reddish-brown hue, was the office of Professor Ran Tiyu, the dormitory supervisor and the representative professor for the first-years of the Faculty of Mysticism.
The warm air of the room, faintly imbued with the scent of tea, contrasted with Professor Ran’s gaze as she looked at me with eyes that, at a glance, seemed chilly.
“...Do you know how surprised I was when I heard yesterday that Student Jin Prach had skipped his first class? When we had our interview, you certainly didn’t seem like that kind of student, so for a moment I wondered whether my eye for people had been wrong.”
“I have no excuse.”
“Hmm. Your face doesn’t look as if you have no excuse at all, but for now, I understand. This time, too, it seems to have been beyond your control.”
Thump!
Professor Ran snapped shut the white grimoire in her hand and placed it on the large table between us.
“For the moment, there is nothing wrong with that grimoire. At least, that is the result of the examination within the limits of my abilities.”
“You’re not giving me a definite answer that there’s no problem, Professor Ran.”
“...I am a mage as well, after all. If it were someone with the Headmaster’s level of skill, they might be able to determine it more conclusively than I could… Unfortunately, the Headmaster had business to attend to, so immediately after the entrance ceremony ended, he went to District 1 the very next day. It seems he will only return to Academia after quite some time there. Once the semester begins, there is a great deal of work he must do as Headmaster.”
“...District 1?”
“The place where His Majesty the Emperor resides, Student Isil.”
Professor Ran looked at Isil, who had questioned her words, and at me, who quietly nodded, then let out a faint sigh.
“Phew. In the case of both Student Isil and Student Jin Prach, since you are not from the holy capital, you are not very familiar with its geography.”
“Well, I’ve heard bits and pieces from the newspapers, so I know roughly… roughly.”
“...I don’t know.”
“Until your first year, it is difficult to leave Academia, so it is fine. But once you become second-years, you will have to leave Academia and travel around various parts of the holy capital. So before then, I recommend you learn about the holy capital from other students or at the library.”
Professor Ran said that, especially due to the nature of the Faculty of Mysticism, first-years built up knowledge about the mystical, while from the second year onward, they went out on many external activities where they had to directly resolve or encounter mystical disasters.
“It is not for nothing that I set the resolution of a mystical disaster as your punishment. All of you are talents who possess the seed of a mage. To make that seed bloom, sooner or later, you must come into frequent contact with mystical disasters or mystical beasts.”
“Ah, you did say that magic comes in desperate moments, Professor Ran.”
“You remember that well, Student Jin Prach. Yes. I hope you do not forget those words. They are an old maxim passed down among mages, and words of truth.”
“That said, it would be troublesome on my end if you were to face another danger after just one day,” Professor Ran added with a sigh deeper than before, then pushed the white grimoire toward me and said,
“First, carry that grimoire with you as you go about your school life.”
“Pardon?”
“In this case, Student Isil moved Student Jin Prach and the grimoire far apart, but originally, that was an extremely rash decision. It was a decision that could have caused Student Jin Prach’s mind, which had been sucked into the grimoire, and his body to be severed from each other.”
“...”
“There is a very high probability that the situation Student Jin Prach described, where his mind was sucked into the grimoire, will occur again. This is purely hypothetical, but if such a thing happens once more, and the grimoire and Student Jin Prach are separated far apart like this time, then next time it may become irreversible. For example, only an empty shell with its mind gone might remain.”
Nod, nod.
Isil and I nodded deeply as if to say we understood Professor Ran’s warning, listening closely to her words.
Perhaps our attitude eased Professor Ran’s anger a little.
Words somewhat gentler than before flowed from her mouth.
“Well, no matter what happens, in the end, Student Jin Prach will become closer to a mage than the other students. That is a good thing.”
“Me?”
“Yes. Student Jin Prach, who became entangled in two mystical disasters as soon as he entered Academia, will experience even more mystical disasters from now on. Whether by his own will or by the will of others.”
“...That doesn’t sound particularly good.”
“What are you saying? Mystical disasters are not something we can experience just because we wish to. They are disorderly phenomena that do not come to those who desperately desire them, but rather seek out those who wish to avoid them. That is why they are called ‘disasters.’”
“Though, once you become a mage, resolving mystical disasters allows you to obtain high-quality ether, so everyone goes looking for them,” Professor Ran said, taking a sip of the tea before her, then continued.
“So, whether it was the matter of Jude the ghost last time, or the matter of the grimoire you experienced this time, from now on, resolve these things while thinking that Student Jin Prach is walking an elite course toward becoming a mage. If you think of it that way, you will feel a little less wronged.”
“...Right. There’s also a saying that if you can’t avoid it, enjoy it. It won’t be easy, but I’ll try to enjoy it, I suppose.”
“If you can’t avoid it, enjoy it. That is a good saying. Is it a western maxim?”
“Ah… Well, it’s a phrase from an old book in my family.”
“Mm. The habit of reading is a good thing. Especially for those of us in this line of work.”
After ending her words like that, Professor Ran glanced briefly at the clock behind us and gestured for us to leave.
“It will soon be mealtime. Student Jin Prach does not know where the dining hall is, so Student Isil, please guide him.”
“...Yes.”
“And I trust you won’t do so, of course, but you won’t skip today’s classes as well, will you? Student Jin Prach?”
“Ahaha, surely I wouldn’t do that, Professor.”
“Mm, good. Today, in particular, there is a class introducing the general outline of our Faculty of Mysticism, so you especially must not miss it. If you do, it will cause major difficulties when choosing your department.”
“Department?”
“You will understand once you attend the class. Then, we shall see each other again later.”
Rattle.
Isil and I bowed our heads at the professor’s farewell and left the room.
To be precise, I bowed my head to the professor, and Isil, seeing me do it, followed along after reading the room.
Thump.
Once the second meeting with the professor, in which only the atmosphere of the room had been warm, was over, I let out a sigh toward Isil, who was looking at me.
“Phewww. Somehow, I feel drained.”
“...Jin, are you all right?”
“What do you mean? The professor’s piercing stare? Or my exhausted mind after waking up early in the morning?”
“...You said you were sucked into the grimoire.”
“Ah… that?”
I first gestured to Isil that we should head downstairs.
Step, step.
As the sound of our feet on the wooden floor mingled with the creaking of the stairs, I opened my mouth.
“Well, it was an interesting experience.”
“...Interesting?”
“Yeah. Inside that space, I could summon anything I wanted, you see? So I used that to exterminate the demon.”
Rather than extermination, it was closer to self-destruction, but since I managed to escape, wasn’t it more like, all’s well that ends well?
“Ah, but if someone other than me had been sucked in, the situation might have been a little different.”
“...Really?”
“From what the demon was saying, he wanted to use me as a ‘sacrifice’ for, what was it, resurrection? Something like that.”
Isil, who had been coming down the stairs, suddenly stopped at my calm words.
Having stopped, Isil looked at my face with trembling eyes.
“...The demon tried to resurrect using you as a sacrifice?”
“Yeah. The demon sealed in the grimoire wanted revenge on the high-ranking demon who had sealed him. So, well, he tried to resurrect using me as a medium. It didn’t work, though.”
I don’t know exactly how a demon’s resurrection works, but maybe it would burst out of the stomach like in Alie*n?
“So you don’t have to look at me with a face like you’re about to cry and feel so sorry. It’s not like you did anything wrong, Isil.”
“...B-but. Because I touched the grimoire for no reason, you got sucked into it—”
“I don’t know. I doubt the seal of a high-ranking demon would be that flimsy. And even if the grimoire’s seal was undone because of you, it all worked out, didn’t it? So it’s fine.”
It was just an accident, with no malice behind it.
And how could you, still so young, have figured out a situation like that?
You’re a student, just like me.
Swallowing those unspoken words bitterly, I looked up at her, and she nodded faintly.
“...Okay.”
I held out my hand toward Isil, who stood still, and after looking back and forth between my hand and my face for a moment, she carefully took it.
Her hand, which I held for the first time in a while, was cold just like the hand I had held when we first met, but unlike before, I could now feel a slight warmth beginning to stir in it.
Was it an illusion I felt because I had gotten a little closer to her?
“Ah, I’m hungry. Did you know I didn’t eat anything all day yesterday? In this state, I feel like I could eat three servings.”
“...If you eat too much, you’ll get an upset stomach.”
“I don’t care if my stomach gets upset. I just want to shove anything into my mouth.”
“The dining hall is this way, Jin. Follow me.”
“Got it.”
And so I followed Isil toward the dining hall inside Twilight Hall.
Still, seeing her face look brighter than before, it seemed I had been right to exaggerate a little.