The Magic Exposition is divided into three tiers. Simply put: the Lower Hall, Middle Hall, and Upper Hall.
The standard for assigning these tiers is usually the “rank” of the responsible mage, but if one receives a good evaluation, even a Lower Hall exhibit can be promoted to the Upper Hall.
And I am one of the judges who gives those evaluations.
“Professor, weren’t you a judge?”
The judges’ private waiting room. Epherene, who had tagged along with light, pattering steps, scratched her cheek as she asked.
“I was.”
I nodded. Of course, at first, I had no intention of participating.
“However.”
I paused for a moment and examined the materials I had purchased from the Ashes. They were far too precious and rare to handle in an ordinary waiting room like this.
Epherene said,
“……However?”
“Quay is”
“Ah. He’s looking around on his own. He said he wanted to meet some people.”
“…….”
I frowned slightly. Epherene hurriedly made an excuse.
“He says he’s not going anywhere. He says he’s just people-watching.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he said so himself. And……”
If he said it with his own mouth, then it likely wasn’t a lie.
“I think that person’s kind of fallen for me, you know?”
“…….”
I tilted my head for a moment.
I was dumbfounded.
“I’m not lying, it’s true. He kept saying he wanted to earn my trust—”
“Shut your mouth. We’re returning to the Imperial Magic Tower for a while.”
“Huh? To the Magic Tower? Now?”
“Yes.”
“How…….”
I placed my hand on the full-length mirror in the center of the waiting room. Then the mirror reflected a scene other than the waiting room.
The so-called “Mirror Passage.”
A single “opening” had consumed a lump sum of four thousand mana, but if anything, I felt proud. This, too, was the result of my progress in mana.
“Hold on to my clothes.”
“……Your clothes?”
“Yes.”
Epherene hesitated, then grabbed the hem of my coat. Together with her, I stepped into the mirror.
Wiiiiiiing──
A strange resonance tickled my ears, and amid the sensation that the world had been turned upside down, when I looked around again—
The 77th floor of the Magic Tower.
The office of Head Professor Deculein. This empty, silent space welcomed m……
“Uweeeek—!”
Epherene vomited on the floor.
* * *
One of the many facilities on the Head Professor’s 77th floor, the “Laboratory.”
As I laid the materials out on the experiment table there, I said,
“It was mirror magic. One of my attributes.”
“……I still feel nauseous.”
Epherene had her face buried in the table, gurgling.
In any case, the Imperial University Magic Tower has quite a variety of facilities. The “Laboratory” is one of them, but I have not used it much.
Originally, this sort of “experiment” is handled by assistants, and my assistants are only Epherene and Drent.
For reference, Louina has a total of thirty-three assistant professors and assistants.
“What are you going to do?”
Epherene asked. Her complexion was still purple.
“I will create a ‘magic core’ that will minimize the volcanic damage in Yuren. And you—take these.”
I threw three mana stones to her.
“They are mana stones to which I applied a slightly modified conversion formula. You should be able to do it again.”
“Ah, yes. I’ll try.”
Epherene nodded.
“Good.”
First, I examined the materials on the experiment table.
A kraken’s sucker, the blood of a dark troll, the fingernails of an evil spirit, the heart of a Memerlen, and so on. They were materials obtainable only by killing all sorts of boss monsters.
Whoooosh─
First, I applied “Psychokinesis” to the kraken’s sucker. At the same time, using a spell called “Extraction,” I drew out only the “core component.”
Merely a few drops of ink from that sucker.
I placed it into a reagent bottle.
“But, um.”
Then Epherene spoke. She glanced at me and pouted.
“Can’t you take off that muffler?”
“What does it matter?”
“It’s too clingy. And we’re indoors.”
“…….”
I took off the muffler.
“……That’s a bit better. I’ll start too.”
Then, tick-tock tick-tock tick-tock tick-tock──
The sound of a wooden pocket watch rapidly moving forward.
Keeping time with that rhythm, I also ground the evil spirit’s fingernails finely into powder, and stimulated the Memerlen’s heart with mana to induce it to beat again.
Thump, thump. I incised the beating heart.
Craaack──
“Hmm.”
The muscle split open, revealing the structure inside the heart. I could see the intricately intertwined blood vessels and pericardium.
“……This will be troublesome.”
After clicking my tongue briefly, I soon moved the scalpel with “Psychokinesis” and began reconstructing all the “blood vessels” within.
This was an act of modifying the heart’s blood vessels into a “magic circuit.” A work of drawing the formulas of “Art Magic” with countless veins and arteries.
An extremely delicate task, requiring the utmost meticulousness.
Tick—
Tock—
Tick—
Thus, after immersing myself so deeply that I even forgot the passage of time.
“This should do.”
The core was complete.
I looked at the clock. Five hours had passed before I knew it, and I had only five hundred mana remaining.
“Now.”
The next process.
The kraken’s ink, evil spirit fingernail powder, dark troll blood, and the other materials, along with my mana, were gathered together and injected into the heart’s blood vessels.
───Thump!
At that moment, the heart beat violently. Tentacles sprouted from its surface, and it writhed on its own as though it had come back to life.
“Professor. I’m done too…… Ugh. What is this? It’s completely disgusting.”
“It is the ‘magic core’ conceived by Dicaillen. To be precise, it is a demonic beast.”
Tap— I touched its body with woodsteel. It immediately moved its tentacles. Quite violently.
Epherene let out a hollow laugh.
“Looks like it’s angry. Hey, you. What are you? Keep that up and you’ll strangle us, won’t you? ……No, but wait a second.”
Tap, tap— After touching a tentacle with her finger, she turned back to look at me.
“You’re saying you’re going to present this? At the exposition? This horrifying thing?”
Smack─!
A tentacle slapped Epherene across the cheek.
“Ugh! Are you crazy?! You want to die?!”
“……This thing is made of monster materials, so the source of its power is demonic energy. Naturally, it is violent and repulsive. I have no intention of showing it to anyone.”
Just looking at this magic core caused an instinctive disgust to accumulate in my body.
To the point that I wanted to blow it up immediately.
“There is still one process left.”
I glanced at Epherene.
“Yes. Here.”
She handed me the mana stones.
“Hmm?”
The result of the conversion was purer than expected. The mana stones, which had clearly been rough and lumpy, were now as beautiful and orderly as obsidian.
Epherene explained.
“I ran them not for three months, but for a year. So, how are you going to use those?”
“A conversion formula has been applied to these mana stones. They are mana stones that purify ‘demonic energy’ into ‘mana.’ Therefore……”
Thud─!
I embedded the mana stone into the center of the magic core.
——!
It trembled violently for an instant. As though in pain, it thrashed its tentacles every which way. It emitted dark red demonic energy.
However, its resistance lasted only a moment.
“……It’s turning blue!”
As Epherene shouted, the demonic energy it emitted slowly became tinged with blue. The tentacles that had been moving violently also gradually stopped and settled down obediently.
“Oh…….”
The mana stone converted the core’s demonic energy into mana.
As a result, its repulsive appearance also changed. The tentacles disappeared, and like a miniature Saturn, only a single ring floated around a clear blue core.
“This is Dicaillen’s ‘Art Magic.’ A name like ‘Magic Crystal Core’ should suffice.”
If I granted it “Midas’s Hand,” it would be complete.
“Wow…….”
Epherene, who had been admiring it blankly with her mouth open, suddenly turned to me and asked innocently,
“What do you use this for?”
“You give this thing a ‘purpose.’ Once a single purpose is set, it learns and moves on its own accordingly. First, I intend to have it stop Yuren’s volcano, then submit it to the exposition.”
“Aha. If you show this at the exposition, it’ll cause a complete uproar, won’t it?”
Dicaillen’s legacy, which would have taken a year, shortened to a mere week thanks to Epherene.
It would likely create quite a large stir even in this worldview.
“Then, we will rest in the Empire today and return tomorrow.”
“……Huh? We’re not going right back? Through that mirror passage or whatever.”
I shook my head.
I had no mana. Of course, “Iron Man” did help with mana recovery speed, but yesterday I had spent mana studying the divine language, and today I had exhausted it again with the Magic Crystal Core.
“Are you perhaps…… feeling unwell right now?”
Epherene asked.
She was needlessly perceptive at times like this.
“……Are you all right?”
The night had grown dark. Her voice became damp with a certain worry.
It was an emotion I did not wish to hear.
“I am fine.”
“No, Professor, I can see the future, you know.”
Whether she knew that or not, Epherene clasped both hands to her chest.
“In that future, you die, Professor.”
She looked up at me with unnecessarily sorrowful eyes.
“……Are you really. Really all right?”
“You are being impertinent, Epherene.”
I shook my head.
I merely lacked mana; it was not yet time for me to die.
No, to begin with, in this state I could live for several decades more. Even inside the demon’s mirror, even with “a body whose heart had already stopped,” what endured to the end was my “Iron Man.”
Meaning, for now, I was excessively healthy.
“……Huh?”
However, at the end of this worldview, and at the conclusion of the main quest.
My future likely had a high chance of being exactly what Epherene worried it would be.
Even so.
“I do not accept my death so easily. I do not conclude that the future you saw is fate.”
“…….”
“It means I am preparing. More thoroughly than anyone else.”
“……Ah.”
As if convinced, Epherene nodded.
And then.
Flop—
She collapsed before I did.
“……Are you all right?”
I asked her. Lying face-down on the laboratory tiles, she blinked and said,
“This is weird. My body won’t move.”
“It is mana exhaustion.”
“Mana exhaustion?”
“No matter that it was applied to an object, you still turned time forward by an entire year.”
“……Ah.”
I was about to use “Psychokinesis” on her robe…… only to realize belatedly.
I was also suffering from mana exhaustion.
“……Wow. My mind is perfectly fine, but my body won’t move. This feels really strange.”
Epherene chattered as if her soul had left her body.
I quietly looked down at her, pondered for a while, and in the end, sighed.
“Uh, uh, uh? Wh-what are, whaaaat──?!”
I lifted her up in both arms.
The thing commonly called a princess carry, that damned, utterly insane—
“Why, why are you doing this! What’s with you all of a sudden! Why are you doing thisss——!”
She could not even move a finger, but her mouth was busy. She was also very good at shrieking like a pterodactyl.
“……Put me dooown—!”
“Shut your mouth and go to sleep.”
“…….”
* * *
The next day.
At Yuren’s airport, countless mages were arriving one after another. Roserio, Ihelm, Gindalf, Creto, Essensil, Betan, Louina, and so on…… Not only the continent’s leading mages, but even an elder of the Round Table and the addicts of the Floating Island had flown in to see the “exposition.”
“Professor Louina.”
“Hmm? Ah, yes, Elder.”
Louina, who had been walking toward the exposition grounds, widened her eyes when she spotted “Jektain” behind her—an “elder of the Round Table”—calling her name.
“Have you heard the news?”
“……What news do you mean, head of the Pagon school?”
Jektain smiled faintly. Louina clicked her tongue inwardly.
The three pillars of the magic world.
The Floating Island, the Magic Tower, and the Round Table. However, most elders of the Round Table were old fogeys, so if you didn’t treat them properly like this, they would sulk.
“I mean the Emperor’s proclamation of an expedition to the Extinction Zone, and the bizarre rumor suddenly seeping through it.”
“……A bizarre rumor?”
Louina furrowed her brow. Jektain gave a dry cough and added,
—A rumor related to the Yukline family.
“Yukline?”
—Shh. Lower your voice.
—Ah…… yes, Elder.
Deculein’s Yukline and Louina’s McQueen.
The two families had been bitter enemies, but that ended when Louina entered the Magic Tower as a professor, and Deculein permitted it.
Of course, there were few people who considered it a “reconciliation” publicly. Louina herself still did not think of it as reconciliation.
It was merely that there was no longer any need to forcibly drag this grudge along.
And she had received much help from him as well.
—I mean Deculein’s younger sister.
The sight of an elder of the Round Table whispering gossip so cautiously was quite laughable, but Louina played along for the time being.
—Do you mean Yeriel?
—Yes. There is a rumor that the younger sister…… is not a true child of Yukline.
—……What?
What the hell kind of nonsense is that? Louina unconsciously narrowed her eyes.
─Luina. I know well that you and your house have much resentment built up against Yukline and Deculein. Even now, holed up in the Imperial Magic Tower, is it not terribly humiliating?
─……No—
─That a house with as long a history as McQueen must humble itself before Deculein over matters concerning the Magic Tower—personally, I find that truly regrettable.
─…….
In any case, most of the magical world thought the same way as this elder of the Round Table.
That McQueen had surrendered humiliatingly to Yukline, and in return had gained nothing more than a professorship at the Imperial University.
─An opportunity to repay them will come soon. The details can wait. Take this crystal orb.
Before Luina could say anything, the elder slipped the crystal orb into her pocket.
─If the chance comes, do not hesitate.
Then he quickly walked ahead and vanished from sight.
“Honestly, what sort of person is he…… I understand wanting to keep Deculein in check, but still.”
She understood the feeling that if Deculein was not checked, something terrible might happen. After all, Deculein’s name had already been put forward as a candidate for ‘elder of the Round Table.’
“What nonsense…….”
Luina shook her head.
Just then.
───.
A small vibration trembled through the road. It was not large, but enough to make one stumble.
“……Oh?”
Luina was slightly startled. But only for a moment.
It shook once, and then it was over.
“Hm?”
─Welcome. I am Curator Wurei.
From the entrance of the exposition hall came the voice of the curator greeting the mages.
─It is an honor to welcome such eminent mages from across the continent.
Without thinking much of it, she joined the others.
* * *
At the same time, at the volcano of the Ashes.
Epherene and Deculein had returned there, preparing to prevent the volcanic eruption as they looked down into the crater.
“Oh…… how resplendent it is…….”
Al Ross’s eyes gleamed in rapture as he gazed at the 「Magic Crystal Core」, the item they had prepared.
Epherene, on the other hand, kept thinking of last night and felt mortified. How she had been carried in Deculein’s arms and laid down on the sofa…… Aaaagh.
“Anyway. This is supposed to stop it on its own, right?”
Epherene asked. Deculein nodded.
“You do it, Epherene.”
“……Pardon?”
“The 「Magic Crystal Core」 will act according to your purpose.”
At Deculein’s words, Epherene pondered for a moment.
Kwaaaaaaaa──!
A thunderous roar sounded from the crater behind her.
Epherene asked again.
“You really want me to do it?”
“Stop asking.”
“…….”
If that was the case.
Ahem—she cleared her throat.
“Hey. You should have ‘goodwill.’”
She muttered, then glanced at Deculein and Al Ross, who were watching her. Hoo—— she took a deep breath and nodded.
“Professor is trying to protect only Yuren and let the Ashes burn. But I want you to stop both. All of it. I’ll help with my magic.”
There was no response. Not from the 「Magic Crystal Core」, nor from Deculein, who intended to let the Ashes be swallowed by the volcano.
She could not tell whether they were listening to her or not.
“Got it? I’ll help you. So we can protect not only Yuren, but the Ashes too, all together.”
She wasn’t sure, but she continued steadfastly.
“Protect everything. Got it? Ignore what Professor Deculein says.”
Right in front of Deculein, she openly told it to ignore Deculein’s words.
“You raised your disciple well, Professor Deculein.”
Al Ross smiled as he looked at him, and Deculein only snorted without saying anything.
“Then now…….”
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaa──────!
In an instant, the volcano blazed. Sulfurous fire surged upward violently.
The gases within the magma exploded, and a great tremor shook the earth’s axis. At that moment, the 「Magic Crystal Core」 responded. It resonated with Epherene’s will.
A blue barrier wrapped around the entire crater. The 「Magic Crystal Core」 decomposed all the ‘ejections,’ including sulfur and magma, down to the particle level, and…… they leaked out.
“Huh?! Professor!”
Was it defective?
Epherene urgently turned back to Deculein.
“It’s not working!”
“…….”
“It’s not being stopped! Look! It’s leaking out!”
However, he said nothing.
He did not seem flustered.
He simply said nothing.
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaa─────!
A second explosion. This eruption pierced straight through most of the Magic Crystal Core’s barrier, forcing its way out and scattering all manner of intense heat and volcanic ash across the Ashes.
“Professooor! It’s not woooorkiiing—!”
Epherene shouted as if in desperation.
Only then did Deculein furrow one eyebrow.
“I am certain I told you.”
“Told me wh-what?!”
“That the damage to the Ashes could not be prevented. That stopping it only as far as Yuren was the best we could do. And yet…… because you indulged in the useless greed of trying to protect both, now we have no choice but to abandon both.”
Deculein shook his head as if she were pathetic, and Epherene’s mouth fell open. Belatedly, she glared.
“……Th-then, then what do we do?! It turned out like this! Professor, you told me to do it!”
She asked with the most desperate face in the world, but……
In the very next moment, Deculein’s reply was something else entirely.
“Why are you asking me that?”
“……Eh?”
Kwaaaaaaaaaaa────!
A third explosion. But Epherene lost her words and stared at Deculein.
What he had just said was so…… Is he really my advisor?
“This is what you brought about.”
Whether he knew her thoughts or not.
In an even colder, icier, and utterly emotionless voice.
“You solve it.”
“…….”
As if warning her—no.
As if giving her a trial.
“If you do not want to die. And if you do not want to kill.”
Deculein said.
“This is all yours to bear.”