Imperial Palace, the Hall of Learning.
Sopien received Dekyullein’s message through a court lady.
“I am deeply sorry….”
“……I do not mind. That professor was always such a man.”
The message was that he would come not today, but next Wednesday, on the teaching day.
She could understand. Dekyullein was a man who placed great importance on principles and rules.
A man whose convictions and beliefs were as firm as they were extraordinary. A towering tree of a man who would never bend what he believed to be right.
“Moreover, now that I have seen this, my mood to meet him has vanished. Rather, it is for the better.”
The wooden box containing Rohakan. As Sopien looked upon it, her mouth tasted bitter for some reason.
It was truly a bizarre thing.
This bastard was clearly a beast that deserved to die. A cur that had assassinated the Empress, one that would go down in the Empire’s history…….
Clack—
Sopien opened the lid of the box.
And, for a moment, she closed her mouth.
“…….”
At first, she thought it was not Rohakan. Because the head contained within was that of a boy.
But before long, she was certain it was Rohakan.
The lingering aura of mana in the severed head with its eyes quietly closed. It was the remnant of Rohakan.
“……He is truly dead.”
Sopien gazed at Rohakan.
Even as a corpse, he did not look like one. It felt as though he might open his eyes at any moment and mutter something at her.
Just like that time, saying, ‘I killed her.’
“This damned bastard…….”
On the day Rohakan assassinated the Empress, Sopien’s memories were hazy.
She was a master of inferring developments and reading between the lines, but those moments simply could not be recalled. The moment she tried to remember even slightly, it was forcibly cast aside, as though a switch had been flipped.
“He died with a face younger than I.”
And yet, the one certain fact was that the Blue Moon—that is, the Azure Moon (靑月)—that had risen in the sky that day.
And Rohakan, who had confessed that he himself had killed the Empress.
“……You.”
Sopien raised her eyes and looked at the court lady. The court lady, who had been bowing deeply, flinched and answered.
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Then, Rohakan’s voice faintly echoed anew by Sopien’s ear.
—Sopien. You know it too. Everyone who has been with you becomes unhappy. Every single one, without exception.
Those she had wanted to keep by her side. Those she had wanted to be with.
Once, Rohakan had been one of them, and he had proven those words himself.
“What is your name?”
For the first time in her life, Sopien asked a court lady her name. The court lady answered in a frail voice.
“It is Ahan…….”
“Ahan. I shall grant you a command.”
At the Emperor’s words, Ahan pressed her body even more firmly to the ground.
“Yes, Your Majesty. Your grace is boundless. I shall accept whatever—”
“Avoid unhappiness as if your life depends on it.”
“Wha……?”
Ahan’s words trailed off into confusion. She stealthily raised her head, but when she met Sopien’s eyes, she buried her face again.
Sopien spoke once more.
“Never become unhappy.”
“……Yes, Your Majesty. But how could that be? Just by being here with Your Majesty, I am already…….”
She did not listen to the ceremonial words.
Sopien simply closed the lid of the box. She placed Rohakan in a drawer and opened *Advanced Life and Death* once more.
A collection of Go problems prepared by Dekyullein for her.
Click—
As she solved them one by one, a surge of unidentified anger suddenly flared up.
No, something she had been holding back had burst.
“……They say patience is a virtue. Yet he does not come when bidden.”
Dekyullein. Thinking of that sly bastard, she muttered and solved life-and-death problems, again and again, and before she knew it, she turned the final page of the book.
“…….”
After solving every problem, what remained was an empty, blank page.
Sopien gazed upon the two lines of text written in the very center.
[For you, nobler than any other.]
[Hoping it may serve as a diversion on that road where you wander in solitude.]
Curiously, a dedication left at the end of the book. Phrasing clearly devoted to her.
Reading those two lines, Sopien let out a short laugh—a bright smile pretending to scoff.
* * *
The Imperial University’s grounds were vast. It was large enough to be considered a city in its own right, and its facilities were so comprehensive that it could be self-sufficient even if it were separated entirely from the continent.
Excluding enrolled students, hundreds of thousands of people passed through daily, and the trends of the university district soon spread as the trends of the Empire’s younger generation.
The pride of the Empire, the center of culture, and the cradle of countless talents.
I was walking across the campus of such a university.
“……Hmph!”
Together with the Chairman, who was glaring at me with suspicious eyes, and Ipeurin, her face heavy with sleep as though she had no idea what she had done yesterday.
“That can’t be!”
After glaring for a long while, she asked as if shouting in a clear, ringing voice.
I answered simply.
“What do you mean?”
“How could Professor Dekyullein kill Rohakan! It doesn’t make sense!”
“Is that so.”
“Of course! I thought the professor would be defeated by Rohakan and come to me for help!”
Adeurinneu had quite a frustrated expression. Steam billowed from her nose.
Well, if you looked at sprites broadly, they were a warrior race.
“I used physical force.”
“What?! Physical magic?!”
“I cut him with a sword.”
“…….”
It was not a lie. At that, the Chairman gaped and pinched my forearm with her fingers.
“……Oh.”
Her admiring eyes went wide.
“You certainly have a fine physique! But is it truly a victory if you ambushed Rohakan when his guard was down?!”
“I never said I ambushed him.”
“But you did!”
“Haaaaaam— ugh!”
“You did ambush him!”
Adeurinneu repeated “You did! You did!” and Ipeurin stumbled while yawning.
Even amid that crisis, we steadily walked and arrived at the Head Professor’s office.
“But you did!”
Ignoring Adeurinneu, who persistently followed and shouted, I sat in the office chair.
“But you—”
“More importantly, it seems the Order will make its move soon.”
“……The Order?”
“Yes. The force that incited Namha.”
“…….”
At that, Adeurinneu’s expression became quite subtly strange.
“……Incited Namha?”
“Yes.”
Since Rohakan was dead—though of course not completely dead, and his range had been limited to the vineyard—the Order would now begin to move in earnest.
“……I never thought Professor Dekyullein would believe in such conspiracy theories!”
Her words carried a slightly pitiful tone. I thought for a moment and nodded.
Currently, on the continent, the Order was similar to the Illuminati of the modern era.
Of course, this did not mean ‘the Illuminati actually exists,’ but rather that most people dismissed the Order as merely some religious order ‘that exists somewhere,’ or something like a cult.
Massacre and suppression of the Jeokgwae, agitation that intensified Namha’s power, and nearly all other societal chaos—there were only a few named individuals who knew for certain that these were actually the Order’s schemes and deeds. And there was no way to prove it.
“Yes. In any case, if there is no other news, please leave now. I have much to do.”
“……But there is!”
Adeurinneu pulled out a roster from within her clothes.
“This time for the entrance exam! The bloodlines of the Grand Duchies and Kingdoms will be taking the entrance exam at our university! The rest are documents related to the entrance festival!”
I read the contents.
Grand Duchy of Yuren, Kingdom of Reoku, Gahalla, and so on…… There were many names of high nobles and even royalty from various nations.
If they gathered in the Empire, unexpected quests would naturally be inevitable.
“You are the examiner!”
“Is that so.”
“Yes! Please evaluate them coolly! There are donation admissions too?! I’ve marked them with golden stars!”
Golden stars. They seemed to be divided into one, two, or three depending on the donation amount, but donation admissions were nothing unusual in this world.
“Please be a little nicer to those people!”
“It would be best not to ask me for such favors.”
“……Aww! Still!”
Slam—I closed the roster.
“If they have skill, they will pass on their own.”
“……You really don’t know how the Magic Tower works! We need to accept donation admissions for money to circulate in the Magic Tower?! Is this how you become Chairman?!”
“Yes. That is sufficient. Please leave now.”
“Goodness! Professor Dekyullein has become no fun lately!”
By this point, I wondered if she was picking a fight just to get a rise out of me.
The Chairman narrowed her eyes drowsily and glared firmly before—hwp—turning her body. Ignoring her as she stomped out, I picked up my fountain pen.
“Ipeurin.”
“……Yes.”
Ipeurin, who had been dozing off, nodding away at the assistant’s seat, turned to me with half-closed eyes.
“Submit your thesis.”
“Ah…….”
She shuffled over and handed me a bundle of papers.
It was now the season for earnest spring thesis revisions and evaluations.
As Head Professor and head of the planning office, I would personally inspect all theses—not only from assistants such as Ipeurin, but also from various professors of the university, and even mages on the level of graduate students.
“But why do you look so wretched again?”
“……Why do you keep forgetting. Professor, you said I shouldn’t sleep if you’re not around. So I didn’t.”
Ipeurin’s puffy, sulky face glared at me intensely.
“……You obey well. Rest.”
“Yesh.”
As soon as she said that, Ipeurin returned to her desk and buried her face in it, and I began reviewing her thesis.
* * *
……The next day.
The University Magic Tower was in an unprecedented, unheard-of chaos even before the semester began.
“Professor Rellin. Have you submitted your thesis?”
“……Right now—”
“Professor, could it be that Head Professor Dekyullein—”
“I know! That’s why I’m rewriting it right now, dammit!”
It was because of an official document issued from the office of the Head Professor—who was practically confirmed as the next Chairman—on the 77th floor of the University Magic Tower.
[Professors of the Magic Tower, or affiliated mages currently enrolled with aspirations toward magic and professorship, are to submit this spring’s thesis to the 77th floor.
All theses will be inspected by me, Dekyullein, and if there are deficiencies, they will be revised, and if there is no potential, they will be discarded.]
The statement that the Head Professor would ‘personally’ inspect the theses of the professors and graduate students.
No one knew how it could be ‘personal.’ If you combined the theses of the professors and the graduate students under them, there would be hundreds, if not thousands, of pages.
“This is absurd, truly absurd.”
Because of this, the professors including Rellin were full of complaints.
Originally, during the spring season, most things were glossed over with ‘all’s well that ends well.’ Moreover, this admissions season, they were already overwhelmed preparing to receive the royalty entering the university.
“……Goodness, at my age, rushing to write like a student.”
Rellin picked up his hastily revised thesis. The assistant professor beside him added in a subtle tone.
“Indeed. Besides, a full inspection is no different from a comprehensive audit, is it?”
“Yes. Whether that makes any sense…… Follow me for now. We should go submit. With that professor’s personality, there’s no telling what he’ll say if we’re late.”
Rellin came out into the hallway, twirling his mustache. Even so, his complaints did not cease.
“How can he say he’ll personally inspect tens of thousands of pages of theses…… If that professor truly becomes Chairman, I’ll have to leave for a kingdom.”
“Yes. I’ll simply follow Professor Rellin.”
“Yes. Naturally you should…… Huh? Hey! Professor Siare!”
Professor Siare, met on the way to the elevator.
She too did not look well. She appeared extremely tired. She was completely wilted, like a withered scallion.
“You too pulled an all-nighter revising your thesis?”
“Yes. That is how it turned out.”
“Truly…… what is going on.”
Rellin shook his head and boarded the elevator with her.
“I heard Professor Rellin has formed ties with Reoku?”
Siare broached the subject enviously. Rellin let out an ahem—a pointless dry cough.
“They say they’ll give me the position of Head Professor if I come to the Kingdom’s Magic Tower. I’m still contemplating it, but…… if Head Professor Dekyullein keeps pushing so unreasonably, I intend to go there as well.”
“How enviable…… Why must Head Professor Dekyullein make people suffer so with this full inspection?”
Personal inspection, that is, a full audit. Dekyullein himself stated he would ‘review’ all other professors’ spring theses.
It was nonsense. To begin with, even fellow professors needed quite a long time to examine another professor’s thesis. At least a week was necessary.
That was because their magical fields differed, and understanding the highly developed theories of another field was extremely difficult.
Yet Dekyullein was…….
Ding—!
The elevator stopped, and they arrived at the 77th floor. Rellin and Siare stood before the office on the 77th floor and let out deep sighs.
After exchanging glances, Rellin nodded and knocked.
—Enter.
Deculein’s voice came from within. The Head Professor who had settled matters in the North and executed Rohakan.
At present, the prestige of Yukline was stirring the very heavens. Even if he were to depart for the royal palace, one would have to present a flawless appearance before him.
“Yes. It’s Relin and Siare.”
Relin straightened his tie and opened the door. The first thing he saw was Deculein, seated in his office chair and staring in their direction.
The most imposing and terrifying blue eyes in the Magic Tower. Relin approached with a servile smile.
“Head Professor Deculein! I heard the news. Rohakan—”
“Just hand over the paper.”
“……Yes.”
Relin and Siare stepped forward in turn and submitted their papers. Deculein skimmed through Relin’s first.
Watching his gaze and gauging his mood, Relin asked cautiously.
“Professor. Page 13 may be a little complicated. Even I had quite a bit of trouble with the figures when I was calculating that…… part.”
At that, Deculein glanced up at him, then turned to page 13.
“Even for you, Head Professor, I expect it would take quite some time…… Perhaps you truly intend to inspect the papers all by your—”
“13%. 173.”
“……Pardon?”
“The mana concentration of the required mana stone and the number of circuits. Was that not what you were asking?”
“…….”
Relin swallowed hard.
A mana stone containing at least 13% mana by composition, and exactly 173 spell circuits.
It was the correct answer.
It took me three days.
“A-Ahahaha…… Yes. That is correct, but calculating it by ordinary means takes quite a long time. As expected, Professor, you have already mastered ‘Deron’s Reverse Calculation’—”
“I calculated it normally.”
“……Pardon?”
“Has it been about three months since Deron’s Reverse Calculation was announced? That formula has many problems. It is a theory full of flaws. It is not the royal road, but a shortcut, and if you rely on such things, problems will inevitably arise. At the very least, in equations, use the most ordinary calculation possible. Walk the royal road.”
“…….”
It took me three days calculating it normally. No, even after three days I couldn’t manage it, and only barely solved it using Deron’s Reverse Calculation.
Relin turned to Siare with a face that said he understood nothing at all.
“……Ahem.”
Siare looked back and forth between Deculein and Relin, then quietly stepped forward and retrieved her own paper.
“My paper seems to be lacking in many areas, so I’ll return and revise it once more before coming back. Professor Relin, good luck. Head Professor, you too.”
After saying that, Siare fled, and Relin watched her in disbelief.
Bang—!
The door closed on the Head Professor’s office.
“…….”
“…….”
Relin was left alone with Deculein.
Beads of sweat began to form on his forehead.