"This is Rabena."
"Hello!"
She was a cheerful friend, every bit as bright as her shimmering golden hair.
"And this is Hio."
After regretfully sending off the sweet potato girl, Claire introduced the newly arrived Rabena.
"To think Claire has a friend... I'm so grateful. I look forward to getting along with you."
After all, wasn't Claire the girl who hadn't had a single friend even back in the village?
For such a Claire to have a friend.
It was nothing short of a miracle.
Taking Hio's outstretched hand, Rabena spoke brightly.
"I've heard so much about you from Claire!"
"Claire talked about me?"
"Of course! She talks about you in her sleep, and while eating, and ah, please speak comfortably! And also while doing her business... Mmph!"
Claire let out a sigh while covering Rabena's mouth.
So this was the level of sociability it took to be friends with Claire... He understood in an instant.
"...You don't believe this, do you?"
"Hahaha! What does it matter? As long as it's not cursing, it's fine."
"It's not entirely a lie... Mmph!"
Still covering Rabena's mouth, Claire naturally asked Hio.
As if she hadn't been worried at all, she asked as if it were no big deal.
"Did you see me sparring?"
It was Hio who was taken aback by that.
"...Huh?"
After all, he had forgotten about Claire while talking with Silbert.
"Y-yes!"
"Liar. I saw that you weren't watching at all."
"...Sorry."
He scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"I was talking with Silbert... so I couldn't focus."
"What were you talking about?"
"Just... this and that. Nothing important."
"I see."
Claire nodded.
For no reason, strength entered the hand covering Rabena's mouth.
Nothing much, my foot.
Their expressions had been so serious.
...Right.
This was the extent of it.
She was still no more than this.
The skills she had honed through effort didn't even catch his eye.
Wouldn't it look like child's play to Hio?
She had to become... stronger.
Strong enough to be acknowledged.
Enough that he would widen his eyes in surprise at the sight of her flames.
Enough to wear grave expressions together and share important matters.
And so, someday... she would definitely stand shoulder to shoulder beside him.
Claire made that vow once more.
And Rabena had been watching Claire's steadily stiffening expression head-on.
Gently removing Claire's hand, she poked her head out and asked Hio.
It was an attempt to soothe Claire's feelings.
"Ahaha... Still, you came all the way here to see Claire, right?"
Sending Hio a signal to play along appropriately.
She scrunched and unscrunched her eyes, using every method imaginable, yet...
"Huh? Ah, well, while I was at it?"
This idiot nodded with a blank expression, completely failing to understand.
He said he came while taking care of something else?
Far from improving her mood, it had made things even worse.
Claire's expression hardened to the point it couldn't get any stiffer.
As if catching it from Claire, Rabena's expression grew similarly stiff.
"...While you were at it...?"
"Yeah. Actually, there's a building I'm looking for. Do you guys happen to know a building that might have an underground level..."
Having heard that much, Rabena ultimately couldn't hold back.
"You idiot!"
She swung her foot and kicked Hio in the shin.
* * *
Rabena bowed her head gracefully.
"I'm sorry!"
Having kicked his shin out of nowhere, here she was apologizing immediately.
"Uh... it's fine. That can happen..."
Hio accepted the apology in a bewildered daze.
Avoiding Rabena, who was still bowing her head, he secretly whispered into Claire's ear.
"We should be careful around her. I think she might have bipolar disorder or something?"
Because those words were so absurd, Claire burst out laughing without resistance.
It was a hollow laugh born from sheer disbelief.
"Right... anyway, what is this building you're looking for?"
It was something she could do if she worked hard.
All she had to do was become stronger and make Hio need her.
Come to think of it, wasn't it only natural?
After all, she was still of no use to Hio.
So if she was useless, all she had to do was become useful. That meant there was no need to be depressed already.
"A building that might have an underground level. A building that feels somewhat ominous, or seems like it might be hiding something... Well, something like that?"
After saying that, Hio let out a deflated laugh all on his own.
It sounded strange even to himself.
They must be wondering if such buildings even existed.
In truth, he had asked without much expectation.
Because he planned to wander around a few questionable places while sifting through his in-game memories.
But the response he received was outside of Hio's expectations.
"A building that can go underground, seems like it's hiding something, and feels somewhat ominous?"
Claire and Rabena exchanged glances.
"Isn't that this place?"
"...Huh?"
None other than this very building where they had conducted practical training.
"Here?"
Claire and Rabena nodded.
"A few months ago, there was an accident during combat practice that left it a wreck."
Which is to say, a few months ago, the floor of the first floor happened to crack open, revealing stairs leading down.
"So it was quite the commotion for a while, but when they actually went down, there was nothing underground. And the problem is..."
A few students who went down out of curiosity kept claiming they saw strange things, talking nonsense.
If it had been just one person, they would have overlooked it, but quite a few students complained of the same symptoms.
"They ended up sealing it off so people couldn't enter. Well, there was nothing there anyway, and it just felt creepy, so now people don't even go near it."
"...Is that so?"
Underground stairs revealed when the floor cracked.
The underground first floor space, which was said to have nothing despite being hidden so secretly.
'What do you think?'
In response to Hio's question, Purnel's answer came immediately.
"No need to even look. It's a wizard's house. Though it should be hard for the passage door to break like that... I suppose it's not impossible, seeing as it hasn't been maintained for so long."
"Putting aside the entrance, people saw things. Isn't it a Necromancer hideout?"
"That is unlikely. It's not as though I wouldn't know of a Necromancer branch."
If it wasn't a Necromancer branch, yet they saw things...
"I do have some idea. We'll know once we get there."
He had asked without much expectation, but the wizard's house was unexpectedly close by.
"It's that way."
Rabena pointed to a corner hallway of the training hall, and upon heading there, they saw the floor of an inconspicuous spot blocked with wooden planks.
"To think a passage to the underground of a wizard's house is blocked by wooden planks. One truly feels the decline of magic anew."
Hio agreed with those words as well.
He hadn't lived during an era when magic flourished, but... this was far too shabby.
"To leave such an important place so carelessly..."
Claire and Rabena looked at Hio fixedly as he muttered to himself.
"You're going down?"
"I have to go down. I came here to find this."
At Hio's words, Rabena stepped forward.
"But there are rumors about ghosts down there? You might not have seen it, but those kids spouting nonsense looked really strange."
"Yeah. Even if you go down, there's really nothing. It just feels gloomy for no reason."
At that, Hio smirked without realizing it.
Ghosts, huh.
The real ghost was inside his own body, wasn't it?
Far from scary, it was a filthy-mouthed old codger crazy about ancient stories...
"Ahem! I can hear everything."
"Anyway, I'll go down and come back, so stay here. If I don't come back up... just go back."
With that said, he ripped away one of the wooden planks sealing the passage.
He inserted his body straight down into it.
"Ah, and if possible, please don't tell anyone I went in here."
Covering his head with the wooden plank again, Hio went down the stairs.
The thudding sounds of his descent grew distant and soon, it was quiet.
"...See, I told you there's nothing."
"Yeah. He'll come back up soon."
So Claire and Rabena waited right there, believing Hio would return shortly.
They knew well that the damp underground room was empty.
But... Hio, who they believed would return shortly, had no intention of coming back up.
"Hmm. Why isn't he coming up?"
"Could something have happened?"
"...Should we go down?"
Carefully lifting the wooden planks, they headed toward the dark staircase.
"Eek. It's scary."
The dark stairs where the sole light was the faint glow from mana stones embedded in the walls.
There had definitely been nothing in this underground.
So many people had come and gone since its discovery, yet nothing had ever come out of it.
It was just an empty hall.
So the two descended into the underground chamber, clutching each other's hands tightly.
And what they could see there—
"...Huh?"
—was still an empty hall with no one in it.
* * *
"So they saw illusions after all. As I thought, that was it."
The underground second floor, which he'd reached from the empty first floor with Purnel's assistance.
Unlike the first floor, the second floor bore traces of dense mana.
"It was an Illusion Mage's house."
A single stone statue situated in the center of the second floor.
"There's usually one of those in an Illusion Mage's house. It must have served as the axis for the illusion barrier."
But perhaps because of the long years.
The statue was worn, pitted and grooved in places.
Therefore, the illusion barrier had weakened, the underground entrance was exposed, and the people who came down had seen phantoms.
"Tch, a bust, a complete bust. Those illusion bastards wouldn't have left anything in such a place. Hurry down to the fourth floor and head for the Magic Tower."
As Purnel said, floors 2 and 3 had nothing of consequence remaining, much like the empty first floor.
"Is 'Illusion Mage' one of the schools?"
"It's less a school and more a mage who specializes in illusion magic. Though related schools certainly exist."
"Illusion magic, huh..."
Having reached the third floor, he took out the symbol of House Pavlenko.
He took out the necklace with a green gleam.
The path the necklace indicated was the path leading down to the fourth floor.
"Speaking of which, it's about time you decided as well."
"Decide what?"
"Didn't I say from the 3rd Circle you're a proper mage? You must decide what kind of mage you will be."
"Decide a path... Can't I just learn magic as I come across it?"
"Tsk, tsk, such ignorance. Didn't I say the number of spells differs from the 2nd Circle? Those who specialize in specific magic like those illusion bastards have their reasons."
When he held the necklace against it, the wall rumbled and split open with a *thud* and a *crack*. Stairs appeared anew.
"For starters, the efficiency is incomparable. If you learn magic from similar lineages, similar runes will inevitably overlap."
He followed those stairs down as he listened to Purnel.
"I'll admit your talent, but to learn every magic is too inefficient. As the Circle rises, the number of runes you must inscribe increases exponentially. Normally, concentrating on one is the right path."
Having reached the fourth floor, a long hexahedral portal revealed itself.
"Elemental magic is the same. There's a reason they're divided into Flame Mages, Earth Mages, Ice Mages, and the like. The gap widens as the Circle rises... Though given your talent, two or three should be manageable."
Standing before the portal, he asked Purnel.
"So you're saying from the 3rd Circle, it's best to decide on compatible magic and focus on that?"
"Exactly."
"With my talent, up to three types should be okay?"
"That is only my humble opinion."
To think he had to categorize magic and focus intensively.
It was unexpected.
"Just give me a few examples."
"Examples, you say... If you look closely, there are tremendously many. Starting from Necromancy to Chronomancy which studies time, Shadow Magic, elemental magics like Flame, Water, and Wind, Gravity Magic, Blood Magic which is a type of Black Magic, Conversion Mages, Enchanters, Psychomancy, Illusion Mages, mages who mainly handle Summoning... That's about all I can think of right now. Anyway, with your talent, anything is possible. Think carefully."
There were more types than he'd expected, and simply hearing the names made many of them sound appealing.
"For efficiency's sake, I must choose something that fits me well..."
Muttering so, he placed his hand on the portal. Rotating his Circle, he poured mana into it.
The portal began to activate.
「The region connected to this Portal is the Ancient City of Tetradia - 'The Wizard's Tower.'」
「Do you wish to enter the Portal?」
Bright light burst forth brilliantly.
Closing his eyes naturally, he thought.
What suited him the most.
In truth, the answer was already clear.
The magic that would mesh best with his abilities.
The magic he had to focus his research on and hone.
「The Portal is activating.」
"As expected, that's the best choice."
「Transferring to the Ancient City of Tetradia - 'The Wizard's Tower.'」
The brilliant light snuffed out in an instant, and Hio vanished.
The fourth underground floor was once again engulfed in silence, as though nothing had happened at all.