“Restricted Area”
Epherene was creeping down into the basement of the Magic Tower library. In truth, the Magic Tower library itself was beneath the Magic Tower, so the basement of the Magic Tower library was, in other words, the basement of the Magic Tower.
Which meant Epherene was descending into the Magic Tower’s underground.
“……What kind of stairs are these?”
Why are they so long?
She checked Deculein’s map once more.
“This is the place.”
There was definitely something down here. She still didn’t know what it was, but the epicenter of the earthquake had been this very basement.
There was no way the professor’s map could be wrong……
Tap—
Just then, her foot reached level ground.
Epherene carefully looked around.
First of all, it was dark. But it was clean.
Like an office with the atmosphere of an underground prison.
“……Where is this?”
It was a space whose purpose she couldn’t make out at all.
Epherene crept forward. As she did, she focused all her nerves into her eyes, but there were no magical devices related to security.
Tap—
In that instant, a sharp finger touched her shoulder.
“!”
A silent scream surged up from within her dantian.
Epherene clamped both hands over her mouth. Trembling, she turned to look that way.
“…….”
There stood a woman in a black suit—or rather, a suspicious figure. The figure looked at her and twisted the corner of her mouth.
As if she were pathetic.
“Stupid Epherene.”
“……?”
For some reason, it was a familiar greeting.
It was far too rude to be called a greeting, but a greeting nonetheless.
“Who……?”
“It’s Sylvia. Who else would it be?”
Sylvia.
Even after her own introduction, Epherene still looked bewildered. It couldn’t be helped; she looked far too different from before.
“As expected, a fool like you can’t recognize me.”
Sylvia took off her glasses. Only then did Epherene’s eyes widen.
“What the.”
How strange.
Sylvia was clearly the same age as her, but right now, even her outward appearance was far too mature. As if she alone had aged.
“Did you dye your hair?”
“Is that important right now, stupid Epherene? What are you doing here?”
“……Ah, well—”
Suddenly, Sylvia narrowed her brow.
“More importantly, you stole it, didn’t you?”
“……Huh? Stole what?”
She spoke while glaring at Epherene, who was tilting her head with an innocent face.
“The painting I drew on the island. You stole it.”
The canvas of Deculein that Sylvia had painted on the Island of Voices.
One of them had been stolen.
It was quite some time ago, but according to the investigation, the most likely culprit was……
“Epherene. Answer me.”
“What painting? What are you suddenly talking about?”
“……Playing dumb.”
Sylvia twisted her lips and shook her head.
“Your mana was already detected.”
“Fine, whatever. For now, shh.”
Epherene placed a finger over her lips.
Clank—
From the floor above, not far away, came the heavy sound of the restricted area’s lock opening.
“……Huh? How is the lock—? I cut it.”
“I remade it with the Three Primary Colors. Hide for now.”
Saying that, Sylvia manifested the Three Primary Colors.
The part she painted over was the floor beneath their feet. She carved out the ground in a circle like a manhole, then hid their bodies beneath it.
Once she made a lid and covered it again, their ultra-simple concealment was complete.
—Wow. Your talent’s still the same. This is seriously convenient.
Sylvia snorted at Epherene’s whisper.
—You’re still stupid.
—……I compliment you and you still act like a bitch. You haven’t changed, huh?
—I would’ve treated you kindly if you’d just admitted you stole my painting.
—Ah, damn it. I told you I didn’t steal it.
—I said your mana was detected.
While they bickered, footsteps approached, thud by thud.
It wasn’t just one person. There were several.
“……How very fascinating.”
Fascinating.
The voice was familiar to Epherene as well. Professor Siare of the Destruction category.
What’s fascinating? Epherene’s ears perked up.
“It truly is.”
The person answering “it truly is” was Professor Relin.
What is that fatty up to now?
“As they said, after consuming the elixir, the quality of my mana is changing.”
At Relin’s words, Sylvia and Epherene looked at each other.
“Yes. Indeed. The first to consume it was Fedel, wasn’t it, Professor Relin?”
“That’s right. Seeing a nobody of a newcomer now being called a supernova or what have you…… It is a bit insolent, but still.”
Siare and Relin. The conversation between the two was extremely suspicious.
Could both of them be involved with the Altar?
“Even so, we’re in the same boat now. We just need to share it quietly.”
Siare smiled faintly.
“Indeed. Besides, the University Magic Tower is on the verge of becoming an institutional arm of Yukline. What importance does that have now? Our necks are in the hands of that ‘plagiarist professor’.”
And then, Relin properly revealed his true feelings.
“Ah. The elixir delivery should arrive soon.”
Siare said. Relin also turned to look somewhere.
It was the center of this empty space.
“Those people keep their appointments to the second. So now, three seconds, two seconds, one second—”
Ziiing—
Something magical resonated, and two bottles of elixir appeared.
Just as Relin had said, the “delivery” had arrived.
“……Then let us return now.”
“Yes. Let’s go.”
Relin and Siare each took one bottle and climbed the stairs again.
Epherene and Sylvia watched the two of them with extremely serious expressions.
* * *
“……No. I told you I didn’t steal it. Why do you keep accusing an innocent person?”
The two who had returned to the ground floor were bickering with each other at the café on the first floor of the Magic Tower.
“If it wasn’t you, there’s no one else who could have stolen it. Your mana was detected—”
“Then the detection was wrong. What exactly disappeared for you to act like this?”
“…….”
She couldn’t bring herself to answer that.
How could I say with my own mouth that it was a painting of Deculein?
Could it be that this girl knows that and is acting so shameless?
“Brazen.”
“What are you talking about? More importantly, Sylvia. Can’t you make me an ID so I can stay here?”
“……An ID.”
Sylvia’s brow narrowed slightly.
“Yeah. Can’t you do it with that Three Primary Colors or whatever? I can’t keep going back and forth like this. Something big might happen at the Magic Tower.”
“That’s true. Your identity has already been ruined.”
Sylvia had heard about Epherene some time ago.
That she had severed ties with Deculein over the matter of her father, and in resentment, completely looted Deculein’s office.
“……Yeah. If I get caught, I’ll probably be arrested on the spot.”
At those words, Sylvia twisted her lips. Then she made an ID card.
A cleaner of the Magic Tower.
Epherene shook her head.
“No, not something like this. Can’t you make me an affiliated mage?”
“You want a lot. Why does it have to be a mage?”
“So I can attend Relin and Professor Siare’s classes. We have to know what changed in them to properly respond.”
Sylvia found herself agreeing with that, at least a little.
“Fine. But I have a condition.”
“A condition? What is it?”
Making an ID card with the Three Primary Colors was easy.
Of course, if someone dug deeply—searching through the Magic Tower’s personnel documents or checking the student roster—it might be exposed as a fake ID, but as long as she didn’t stand out, that itself wouldn’t happen.
“Take my class.”
“……Class?”
Epherene frowned.
“Yes. I’m an instructor too. It’s still within the drop period anyway, and the class is short on people, so mid-course enrollment is possible.”
“…….”
“And one more thing.”
To Epherene, who looked dumbfounded, Sylvia added one sentence.
With an unnecessarily solemn and serious face.
“Give my course evaluation full marks.”
“……What?”
Just then.
Into the café where the two were sitting, a Magic Tower employee entered carrying a poster. Epherene and Sylvia’s gazes naturally turned that way.
Shak, shak—
The contents of the poster being pressed onto the café wall were as follows.
[Notice of Selection Examination for Her Majesty Sophien’s Tutoring Mage]
◆ Qualifications: All mages of the Empire registered on the Floating Island.
◆ Examination Process: First-round theoretical exam, second-round practical exam, final interview with Her Majesty Sophien.
◆ Reward for Passing: 3 million elne, and an artifact personally crafted by Chairman Deculein.
◆ Reference List for the First-Round Theoretical Exam: For each category, all magic books of at least “advanced” grade or higher.
“…….”
“…….”
The person who had put up the poster was already gone, but the two of them still had their eyes fixed on that paper.
Epherene coveted the 3 million elne, as well as the chance to display her magic before His Majesty the Emperor.
For Sylvia, there was only one thing she coveted: the artifact personally crafted by Deculein.
Gulp—
Epherene swallowed first and said,
“……Wait. If Relin or Professor Siare gets chosen for that, wouldn’t it be a big problem?”
“It would be.”
“…….”
“…….”
It was an excellent pretext.
After a brief silence, the two looked at each other and nodded.
……Fifteen minutes later.
Back at the Magic Tower library.
“It’s been a while since I studied. Studying for an exam—it brings back old memories. Doesn’t it?”
“Epherene. You’re stupid, so I don’t think you’ll pass anyway.”
“Don’t pick a fight.”
The two of them were studying together as they had once done in the past. Epherene was studying the Manipulation category, while Sylvia was studying the Harmonization category.
“How hard do you think the exam will be? I think the professor will make it.”
At Epherene’s words, Sylvia seemed briefly lost in sentiment, then soon smiled.
“……If it’s hard, that’s even better.”
Deculein.
The midterm he had given them—whenever Sylvia felt depressed, she had solved it, solved it, and solved it again, and through it, she had often overcome herself. She had often endured the surging waves of emotion.
Perhaps it was the most decisive reason. The reason she had come to want to become a professor—someone who taught.
—Hey. I heard you’re taking some new class.
In the midst of that, the voice of an unknown female mage drifted over from two tables away.
Sylvia and Epherene paid little attention and focused on their studying.
—Yeah. It’s damn weird. Maybe because it’s taught by a part-time instructor.
“…….”
But for some reason, those words made Sylvia uneasy.
A new class taught by a part-time instructor.
Don’t tell me that’s—
—What was it, the Seams of the Four Great Elements? First of all, even the course name is kind of lame, and the teaching is total crap.
Even the course name is lame.
The teaching is total crap.
—I’m seriously amazed she got hired at all, even as a part-time instructor.
Sylvia clenched her teeth hard.
Pfft—
A laugh came from in front of her.
Naturally, it was Epherene.
“……Ah, sorry.”
—Seriously, she teaches it so damn confusingly. Honestly, I don’t even know what she’s trying to teach. From what I can tell, she seems to be from commoner stock. Are all commoners like that?
“Pfft!”
Epherene’s laughter grew louder.
Sylvia’s face turned incomparably red.
—Kekeke. Well, that’s true. You, the child of a count’s family, should endure it.
—Ah, seriously. I guess I have to. I tried to fill in some missing credits and ended up stuck with something weird. It’s so annoying. Part-time instructors usually don’t deal with such idiotic topics. Who does she think she is, pulling this crap?
—I know, right? Outside instructors usually just give easy lectures that hand out good grades.
Snap—
Sylvia’s pencil broke.
Epherene clutched her stomach.
—Anyway. You know this, right? This time, my father is challenging the selection for Her Majesty the Emperor’s tutoring mage.
—Yeah, I know. Your father works at court.
—Because of that, it’s been absolute chaos lately……
It seemed the gossip about Sylvia had ended, but Sylvia’s heart hurt.
No, she was furious.
How dare that empty-headed fool.
“Now, now, Sylvia. Hold it in. If you want to become a good professor, you have to endure things like this too~”
“…….”
“Ah, but an idiotic topic? That was too much~”
Sylvia wanted to kill Epherene, who was smiling slyly and taunting her.
“Hmm~ So that’s why you’re so obsessed with course evaluations, Sylvia? If things go wrong, you’ll get fi—”
“Shut your mouth before I beat you to death.”
“……Ooh~ You’re copying Deculein’s way of talking? But rather than his way of speaking, it seems more urgent that you copy his teaching abili—”
“I said shut it. Before I take away your ID.”
“……Yes, ma’am.”
* * *
Meanwhile, in the Imperial Palace of the Empire.
“The population of the Empire and the kingdoms—that is, the continent—is flowing out to the Land of Extinction.”
Emperor Sophien murmured about the state of the continent while reading a book.
“It is because of the apocalypse spread by that thing called the god of the Altar, and because every last one of those revelations is coming true.”
Sophien’s enemy was the god of the Altar.
The reason Sophien was honing herself now was ultimately because her final goal was “godslaying.”
“My subjects tell me to suppress them, but can religion ever truly be suppressed by pressure?”
Sophien shook her head.
“Rather, it is religion that revels in oppression. Oppression only makes religion stronger. Therefore, for now, I shall leave them be.”
It does not matter if we leave it be.
The population outflow may be severe at the moment, but if we were to legally forbid it, that might only worsen the phenomenon.
For humans are creatures who yearn for “what must not be done,” and take some useless pride in “themselves doing what must not be done.”
“The reason it does not matter if we leave it be.”
It was simple.
So much so that no further explanation was needed.
“Because I shall kill the god. I shall kill the god, then bring the residents there back. That will be the end of it.”
Sophien’s face as she said so was filled with confidence.
“It will not be long. A mere god will not be able to defeat me.”
As Lia looked at Sophien, she thought.
If there was anyone who could kill a god, it would certainly be Sophien.
To begin with, this was one of the main quest branches. If only Emperor Sophien could be made into a companion, the player could reach the ending even without especially great martial power.
“……Hm.”
Sophien set the book down with a thud. It was a kind of signal.
Lia bowed her head and said,
“The Count is likely sponsoring the arts.”
“Sponsoring the arts?”
“Yes. He will certainly be offering support, even if anonymously, and he will occasionally visit exhibitions as well. Seek him out then, and show him Your Majesty’s discernment.”
The same had been true of Gim Ujin, Deculein’s model. He was the sort of guy who had that cute side to him—going to some exhibition hall every day, staring at paintings all day, then coming back.
Deculein, too, would probably visit an exhibition hall when his head felt a little muddled.
“The Count is sincere about art. Also, sharing a hobby is much the same as sharing feelings.”
For an instant, Sophien’s eyes went round.
“……Indeed. Sharing a hobby is sharing feelings. You speak rightly. Very well. Keiron, if the professor visits an exhibition hall, tell me at once.”
Keiron said,
—Now.
“……Now?”
—Yes. Deculein is at an exhibition hall right now.
* * *
……Haillech, the wealthy district of the capital, which I had visited for the first time in a while.
In its most splendid exhibition hall, I was leisurely appreciating the artworks.
There was not much time left for such peace, so I should enjoy it while I could.
“This is a work by the artist Bahal. Recently, it has been especially spotlighted by critics…….”
Letting the curator’s words pass in one ear and out the other, I looked at the work solely through the eyes of 「Aesthetic Sense」.
“……All show and no substance.”
“Pardon?”
The curator flustered at that. I passed by without saying another word to him.
I was about to leave the unremarkable exhibition hall as it was, when someone suddenly caught my eye.
She, who had been walking down the corridor, looked at me as well.
“Hm? Deculein?”
She was dressed in a robe as though trying to conceal herself, but I had seen her for far too long not to recognize her.
“……Your Majesty.”
“Shh. I merely came quietly to appreciate art. Quietly. I do not wish to cause a commotion.”
“…….”
I nodded. Sophien approached my side and said,
“To think we would meet in a place like this. First, guide me.”
“There is not much worth seeing.”
“Hm. Is it merely too gaudy?”
“Yes.”
Haillech.
There is no emotion in the exhibition halls of the wealthy district. No soul of the painter. At the very least, it is not the type I like.
Sophien nodded as if she agreed.
“There is nothing more unpleasant to look at than art concerned only with outward appearance. I hear there is a city called Rahal.”
“If it is Rahal, is it not a slum?”
“There are artists in slums as well.”
“…….”
The sanitation of slums is disgusting, but their art suddenly piques my interest.
Then again, Gogh, too, was an unfortunate master who lived his entire life in poverty.
“Hoot.”
Sophien gave a small laugh as she looked at me.
“By the way, Professor. When will the teaching mages who are to instruct me arrive?”
“I am preparing the theory exam first.”
“The theory exam?”
“Yes.”
The theory exam.
I am currently creating the exam that will be given to mages of each category.
“I heard that as soon as you posted the announcement, tens of thousands from mage towers all across the Empire, and even thousands from the Floating Island, swarmed in.”
“Yes. Becoming Your Majesty’s teaching mage would be an extraordinary credential.”
“……Hm. How many do you expect to pass?”
Pass.
At that word, I gave a small smile.
“……Who knows.”
Because I had broadened the target for the teaching mages to “all mages of the Empire,” I was considering a difficulty that most trash would not even dare attempt.
And on top of that, the reviewer would be Rohakan.
“For the first exam, ten per category…… I expect about that many.”
“Ten? Only that many?”
“Yes. This is the process of selecting mages who will teach Your Majesty, however briefly. It cannot be an ordinary exam.”
“……Hoot.”
Sophien laughed under her breath.
I suppose so. Muttering that, she held out her hand to me.
“Take it. Let us go to Rahal together.”
……It was then.
─────!
A tremendous explosion shook the earth. At the same time, demonic energy–tinged mana seeped to the tip of my nose. It was gunpowder smoke.
I said,
“……It appears to be terrorism.”
Sophien clicked her tongue—tsk—and nodded.
“Go and deal with it quickly. I shall not wait long.”