The plaza of the Imperial University.
An afternoon under a clear sky, pollen drifting through the air.
—……As of today, I suppose I’ll be the former Chairwoman of the Magic Tower!
Adrienne stood atop the platform, delivering her retirement address. The audience listening to her was enormous.
After all, even if Adrienne looked far too young, and even if her personality was mischievous, she was a full-fledged archmage. Naturally, not only the Magic Tower’s mages, but also court mages and the addicts who had descended from the Floating Island had come to see her off.
—Was I in this position for a little over ten years?! So many things happened in that time, didn’t they?!
Ten years.
To me, it was a somewhat unfamiliar span of time.
—Our Magic Tower was so much fun! It kept me from getting bored! That’s why I liked it…… But of course, one cannot remain in the same place forever!
Adrienne spoke with a bright, innocent smile.
—I am very satisfied to be stepping down at the proper time! And even after I leave, I am certain the Imperial Magic Tower will develop even more brilliantly!
Then she turned toward me.
At the moment, I was standing on the same platform as Adrienne, though at some distance from her side.
—Then shall I introduce him now?
She stretched a hand toward me and cried out.
—The new Chairman! Deculein!
Adrienne stepped aside amid applause, and I stood before the podium as though exchanging places with her.
I looked down over the audience filling the plaza beyond the horizon.
“Pleased to meet you. I am the new Chairman, Deculein.”
The faces in the front row were familiar. Yeriel, Louina, Ihelm, Delric, Betan, Primienne, the elders of the Round Table, and even Lia.
However, Lia was nodding off.
“They say the longer a speech is, the more tedious it becomes.”
Of course, I had no intention of making my inaugural address long.
“Therefore, the words I leave here will not be many.”
I already knew, from personal experience, just how dull things like a principal’s dedication could be.
“I will merely establish a more sophisticated curriculum for the progress of the Magic Tower’s mages, spare no effort in gathering talent, and judge value by ability alone.”
On the surface, the University Magic Tower excluded social status. That was also the reason everyone within the Magic Tower was addressed only by name.
However, the sense of status at its roots remained firm, and family supremacy was extremely entrenched.
Even now, newly appointed professors with outstanding ability and talent could not rise from the bottom of the faculty simply because their status was low.
“The evaluation of Magic Tower mages, papers, and theories will be conducted solely from a magical perspective.”
Adrienne had been ignorant of such political aspects. She had no interest in them either.
“And I assure you.”
I was not.
At least within this Magic Tower, status would be abolished. There would be no crushing commoners beneath the weight of nobility and the authority of family.
The only criterion of evaluation would be ability.
“The Imperial Magic Tower will be remembered as the greatest educational institution in history.”
With that, the chairman’s inauguration ceremony was over.
My speech was only eight lines, and there was no noisy incident such as a bombing.
──Clap, clap, clap, clap.
Only the thunderous applause of the audience. The former Chairwoman, Adrienne, pinned the chairman’s medal to my chest.
The system rose as if confirming my inauguration.
[Inauguration Complete: Chairman of the University Magic Tower]
◆ Title Acquired: “Chairman of the University Magic Tower”
: Mana increased.
◆ Rare Trait Catalog Acquired
I nodded in satisfaction, but in the very next moment.
“…….”
Among the countless spectators.
Within that crowd of at least tens of thousands.
I saw someone’s face. A woman in a robe. She was standing as if hidden among the trees.
Beneath her hood, she was looking at me with clear eyes.
“……Julie.”
A person whom the eyes of the 「Iron Man」 instinctively caught.
However, a passerby crossed between us, and in that instant, she vanished without a trace.
“Good work!”
Just then, Adrienne extended her hand to me.
I silently turned to look at her.
“Keep up the good work from now on too!”
She said it with a fresh smile.
“You have also worked hard until now, Miss Adrienne.”
I took her hand as well.
“Chairman.”
While we were shaking hands, Relin called me from behind.
“Yes?! ……Ah!”
At the title of Chairman, Adrienne turned to him first, then soon scratched the back of her neck with an embarrassed smile.
“I’ll be going now! Everyone, rest well!”
Adrienne left in a hurry. Her voice trembled slightly; she must have been overcome with emotion in her own way.
I asked Relin.
“What is it?”
“Ah, yes. Chairman. It’s a report from the police tracking the movements of that wretched Epherene, but…… they can’t get a proper grasp on her at all. She appears and disappears like a ghost.”
Relin held out the documents. I casually unfolded them with one hand.
“It seems she is fleeing by some magical means. Shall we request a wanted notice from the Floating Island?”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“That will do. A wanted notice has already been issued across the entire continent. In truth, I do not like how noisy this has become, and borrowing the Floating Island’s hand would be unbecoming.”
“……Ah, of course. Understood. My thinking was shallow!”
Relin flattered me with all his might, and I read the file tracing Epherene’s movements.
I understood somewhat what they meant by “like a ghost.”
One day she was found in Leok, another day in Yuren, and another day back in the Empire.
In any case, is she with Allen?
“Tsk.”
Tap—
I clicked my tongue and closed the file.
* * *
……The time of “Time” was flowing. The continent’s time was no different.
It had already been two months since Epherene ransacked Deculein’s office, so each day seemed to flee by quite quickly.
“The theory of the ‘frame-dragging cylinder,’ huh…….”
Epherene was reading a science book and conducting experiments again today.
The sanctuary “Time” was filled with all manner of Deculein’s highest-grade machinery, so unless necessary, there was no need to take even a single step outside.
“Frame-dragging cylinder. If I can understand this a bit, I think I might be able to time travel…… even with my own body.”
“Miss Epherene~ Please eat first—”
“Yes, yes, yes, yes!”
The moment Allen mentioned the meal, everything she had been doing came to a complete stop.
Epherene ran to the dining table and sat down.
“Knight Julie!”
As she sat, she called Julie.
“…….”
Julie, who had been sleeping in a hammock, slowly opened her eyes. Her complexion was pale as always, but she rose with a smile and approached.
“The sicker you are, the better you have to eat.”
“……Yes. You are quite right.”
Julie sat in a chair and picked up her fork and knife. Watching her, Epherene’s heart ached considerably.
Julie had will now. The will to live.
But she was dying. Without even the slightest improvement.
“Today’s menu is Rohawk sirloin steak~ Take as much as you’d like.”
Eight pieces of Rohawk steak.
At that moment, Epherene’s eyes widened, and just as she stabbed a large piece of meat with her knife—
Whiiiiing—
A beam of light settled in the passageway of “Time,” and Idnik appeared.
For reference, Time used magical passages like the Floating Island.
She said,
“Hey, Epherene. A new book came out.”
“Really?!”
Epherene’s eyes widened so much that she put down her knife.
The scientist of the era whom Epherene ardently followed, Casey.
His new book.
“But it looks like publication will be difficult this time.”
“Because of the Floating Island?”
“Yeah. Every other publishing house rejected it. They’re probably watching the Floating Island and the Magic Tower.”
“Ah…… Really? I need to read it. If I’m going to save Knight Julie.”
Epherene’s face fell.
Each and every book, the knowledge he published, was like her own flesh and blood.
“Then I can’t get it?”
“Who knows. Deculein should have it, for now.”
“The professor?”
“He’s the Chairman now. Anyway, Yukline operates the largest publishing house on the continent, doesn’t it?”
“Ah, right!”
Black Hound. The most famous publishing house on the entire continent, established by the Yukline family.
“That scientist named Casey must have sent the manuscript to Black Hound as well, and if it’s a problematic book, then of course it would have been delivered to Deculein too.”
“…….”
Epherene sank into thought for a moment.
In that case, sneaking into Deculein’s mansion again and stealing it was……
“For reference, Deculein is currently preparing to go to the desert.”
“The desert?”
“Yeah. That great emperor’s Imperial Guard has finally begun to move. Each one of them is worth a hundred, so there’s no need to bring along a large number.”
Epherene sank into thought again.
Idnik snickered and added,
“If you’re going to steal it again, now’s the time.”
“……Yes. First, I’ll eat…… Uwaaaaaaah—!”
“Ah, you startled me!”
Idnik was greatly startled by the sudden shriek, and Epherene placed both hands on her cheeks as if wailing.
There was no Rohawk on the table.
There had definitely been eight pieces, but there were already only five left.
“What is the matter?”
Julie, who had been eating meat, opened her eyes wide and asked. Her cheeks were full of meat.
“…….”
Epherene could not bring herself to say it was because of her, and only swallowed her saliva before speaking.
“L-Let’s eat slowly, okay?”
“Ah, yes. The meat is very delicious. It has been a long time since I had an appetite.”
“……If so, that’s a relief, but…….”
At the sight of Julie smiling kindly, Epherene quickly reached out with her fork.
“Oh, is that so? Let me have some too. I was hungry anyway.”
Even Idnik joined in on the Rohawk, which had been reduced to five pieces.
……I kind of want to turn back time for this.
But complete time travel was impossible. If I time traveled to five minutes ago, the me from five minutes ago would be there. It would be nice if I could just turn back the time of the meat Knight Julie ate and revive it, then we could eat it fairly again……
As she was thinking such trivial thoughts—
“!”
Epherene’s eyes widened.
An idea flashed through her mind and ran down her spine. That realization crackled—burning through her brain.
“……I think I know.”
The Rohawk was decreasing from four pieces to three, but Epherene paid it no mind and looked at Julie.
Idnik asked while eating meat,
“What do you mean?”
“A way to save Knight Julie.”
““…….””
At that, both of them froze.
Idnik looked bewildered, and Julie looked at Epherene seriously.
“Truly……?”
“……Yes. I’ve only thought of the method for now, but it should be possible. No, I’m confident that I can make it possible.”
The sanctuary grew quiet. Julie even put down her fork and knife completely.
Epherene put a piece of Rohawk into her mouth. Chew, chew—she swallowed.
Idnik asked,
“You’re lying so you can eat the meat alone, aren’t you?”
“No. I’m serious. But…… if this method is possible, and if we use it.”
There was no way for Julie in this current timeline.
That despairing diagnosis was something Epherene had no choice but to acknowledge.
She had poured an enormous amount of effort into it for a month, yet she had not found even a clue.
If time continued to pass like this, Julie would certainly die.
“What sort of method is it?”
Idnik asked again, as though frustrated.
Epherene said,
“We turn back Knight Julie’s time.”
“Temporal transfer,” different from time travel, which she had thought of from the meat that had already been eaten.
In other words, regression of existence.
Rewinding the time of Julie’s current body and mind to more than ten years ago.
“What? Is that possible?”
“……I can try. I think it will work. But if we do that.”
However, put in the coldest terms,
It meant “discarding” the current Julie.
“Knight Julie will forget all of her memories after ‘that incident.’”
Discarding the current Julie, yet still allowing her to live.
At the very least, preventing her from dying.
“Both her body and her mind will return to that time in her twenties. To the time when she and the professor…… had not yet accumulated ill fate.”
It was a cruel yet singular idea that had flashed through Epherene’s mind like lightning.
* * *
At the same time, on the 77th floor of the Imperial University Magic Tower.
“Hm-hm~ hm-hm-hm-hm~”
Louina was sitting in the office chair there, humming. She stroked the nameplate on the desk—[Head Professor Louina].
“After all those twists and turns, it ended up like this.”
Louina murmured, suddenly overcome with feeling.
Deculein had kept his promise to make her head professor, and for some reason, she had become something resembling Deculein’s close confidant.
“They were right when they said giving up makes life easier.”
She had resisted Deculein and been driven to the kingdom, but once she submitted to Deculein, she became head professor.
It was a little bitter, but what could she do?
I’m getting older too. I can’t fight every single time. This is how you rationalize and live on.
“Mm-hm. That’s right.”
Louina nodded, rose from her seat, and opened the office door.
—Hey! That’s the assistant professor’s research room. We made separate rooms for assistants and undergraduates, didn’t we? Use those.
—What about the lounge?
—We’ll make one soon. No, hey! Be careful carrying the lab equipment! I told you not to use telekinesis for moving things! Those supplies are sensitive to magic!
—Assistant Professor. Please correct my theory.
—Later, later. Move the luggage first.
A scene different from Deculein’s 77th floor, which had always been empty.
The sight of Louina’s faction, numbering around two hundred, filling the 77th floor was quite satisfying to see.
“How could I fight like this?”
There was too much to lose. All my assets are these kids.
Because of that, Deculein was now closer to a benefactor than an enemy to her.
“Head Professor!”
Just then, someone approached while calling Louina.
It was Zeko, her secretary and loyal assistant professor.
“Mm. What is it?”
“Didn’t we say we were hiring a few part-time lecturers for our Magic Tower this time? These are the résumés of the mages who applied.”
“Ah, right~ That was my job, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. Please check them just once.”
The résumés Zeko handed over numbered a full 1,000.
A thousand people had rushed in for only five positions.
“Mm. I’ll check them.”
Holding the résumés in her arms, Louina returned to her office desk and sat down.
“A thousand…… These days, people are even clinging to part-time lecturer positions like this.”
Beoran. Prahan. Deten.
Louina was reading through the names written there one by one when, suddenly—
“……Hm?”
She somehow found a familiar name and opened her eyes wide.
“Wait.”
She muttered softly and looked closer.
Narrowing her eyes to see whether it was really that child, or someone else.
“……Sylvia?”
Name: Sylvia.
However, there was no other résumé history, nor was there a photograph.
For reference, our Magic Tower résumés originally did not have photographs. Because of Chairman Deculein’s policy, something called blind hiring or whatever.
“It must be someone with the same name~”
Louina murmured as though it was nothing important, but just in case, she set the “Sylvia résumé” aside separately.