Chomp— chomp—
Ifrin lay on the study room floor, chewing squid.
Then, seeming a little thirsty, she drank from a beverage.
Gulp— gulp—
After taking three sips, she rummaged through the plastic bag as if something was still lacking.
Her eyebrows wriggled when she found chocolate.
“You bought a lot of tasty stuff. I can eat it, right?”
“Uh… yeah. Since you guys have a bigger share of the assignment, I figured I could at least do that… But aren’t you hurt?”
Eurozan said, looking at Ifrin as if slightly dumbfounded.
“Hm? Ah~ well… This time, it’s my fault for saying something stupid.”
Dreams and whatnot. It was not something a mage who focused on reality should say.
Chomp chomp— Ifrin chewed the chocolate and looked at Sylvia.
Still, they didn’t have this flavor out in the countryside. What kind of chocolate was white?
“……”
Sylvia had her eyes closed.
She was sharing her vision with Speedster outside the Mage Tower. Speedster flew near the Mage Tower, sweeping its gaze over the area.
At first glance, the Mage Tower looked perfectly fine. The people at the university did not seem particularly interested either.
However, when mana was infused into that vision… almost the entire lower level was buried in ash.
Bzzzt— bzzzt—
The connection with Speedster was also precarious, as if it would soon be severed.
After giving the command to “return home,” Sylvia opened her eyes.
“It’s serious.”
She spoke expressionlessly.
““““Serious?””””
The four of them widened their eyes and asked back.
“The Mage Tower is engulfed in ash.”
““““The Mage Tower?!””””
“Then we’re trapped?!”
Dein asked. Sylvia nodded.
“The lower levels have been encroached upon, and the entrance is completely blocked. It seems no one knows about this situation.”
“No one?”
“The ash itself appears to be mixed with the nature of ‘bewitchment.’”
“What about the professors? Couldn’t the professors help us?”
The ash covered everything from the first floor to the twenty-fifth floor.
The mid to upper levels, where the professors stayed, likely did not even know about it yet, and even if they did, most of them would be outside due to preparations for the final exams.
Boom—! Boom—!
“Uwah!”
At that moment, the door to the study room shook.
Boom—! Boom—!
Outside, Roton was pounding on the door. Having been encroached upon by the ash, he seemed to have forgotten how to open it, but the embers spreading from his fists were slowly scorching the wall.
“What the hell happened to that crazy bastard Roton?”
“……Hoo.”
Ifrin took a deep breath.
With her eyes closed, she constructed a spell formula.
The elements were “wind” and “earth.”
Boom—! Boom—! Boom—!
“I-Ifrin. What are you going to do? Just leave him like that!”
“If we leave him like that, the door will burn.”
Ifrin grasped the doorknob. Roton’s unfocused eyes were grotesque, but she did not flinch as she opened the door.
At the same time, she manifested magic.
“Invisible Shackles.”
A spell that imbued wind with the nature of earth to restrain the opponent.
Kraaaaaaah───!
The moment the door opened, Roton lunged, but the wind generated from Ifrin’s hand wrapped around him.
Roton’s body shrank as if trapped inside a coffin.
“Done now—?!”
The bastard suddenly spewed ash from his mouth.
Fwaaaaa—! The black powder pouring out stopped right before their noses.
It was Sylvia’s barrier.
“……Hah. That scared me.”
“Move.”
Sylvia clicked forward and examined Roton’s face.
Unfocused eyes.
Black, bulging veins.
And bare feet covered in ash.
“……”
His bare feet were stuck to the floor.
As if they were connected to each other…
“He’s being controlled.”
Based on those clues, Sylvia reached a conclusion.
She did not know where this unidentified ash had originated from, but it was controlling a mage’s brain, however incompletely.
“Controlled?”
“A type of ‘Puppetization.’ He’s no different from a zombie.”
Nodding, Ifrin quietly stepped outside and looked around the corridor.
The ash clinging to the corridor’s ceiling and walls was writhing like blood vessels. As though the whole place had been encroached upon by embers, a rush of intense heat pressed in.
“It’s hot. It feels like the entire corridor is burning.”
Ifrin closed the door and turned back to Sylvia.
“This place is dangerous. We need to find somewhere as safe as possible until rescue or help arrives.”
“Somewhere safe.”
“Yeah. I think…”
The safest place was something both Ifrin and Sylvia could easily think of.
A place made with cutting-edge magic engineering design and mana stones, where the heat of ash could not seep in.
Only the Head Professor’s lecture room.
Third floor, A-Class.
* * *
Peek—
Ifrin’s face popped out from beyond the door.
Peek—
Sylvia appeared above her.
The two of them observed the situation, rolling only their eyes— ziiing.
The corridor was eerie, completely covered in ash, but there were no zombified people like Roton.
“It’s okay.”
At Ifrin’s whispered words, the three men came out. Each of them wore a gas mask as they crept along.
The study room was on the fifth floor.
Using the elevator in a situation like this would be madness, so their route was the emergency stairs.
Swish— swish swish—
As Ifrin moved, she glanced at the windows of the study rooms. Perhaps everyone had fled as soon as the incident occurred, but there were no Debutants left in any of them.
“!”
As they advanced, Ifrin at the lead suddenly stopped.
Sylvia asked.
“Why?”
“There are a ton of monsters in the corridor. Looks like more than ten.”
Not only the entrance to the emergency stairs, but also the corridor near it was swarming with monsters.
Ifrin bit her lip.
“We can’t kill all of them…”
If they were actual monsters, she would have killed or smashed them with an easy heart.
But since they were all fellow Debutants, there was nothing she could do.
“Sylvia. Can’t you make a passage down through here?”
“The floor structure of the Mage Tower is designed through magic engineering. Even I can’t interfere with the ceiling or floor. Instead…”
Sylvia drew a map on the floor.
│Emergency Stairs││★│
│Central Corridor│Study Room 1│Study Room 2│
It was roughly the structure of the fifth floor.
There were many monsters in the space leading from this central corridor to the emergency stairs.
“If we can just reach this ‘Study Room 1,’ I can make a passage at the star mark (★) and enter the stairs.”
“What if there are those monsters on the stairs too?”
Eurozan asked. Ifrin answered resolutely.
“Then we’ll subdue them. For now, I’ll draw their attention, so you guys enter the study room.”
Ifrin infused mana into her bracelet.
Then, she hopped out into the corridor.
“Haaah—!”
She manifested a strong wind. A powerful current like a typhoon surged through the corridor, and the monsters were helplessly pushed back.
Taking advantage of that opening, Sylvia and the members entered the study room. Ifrin, who had caused the commotion, also followed safely.
“Ifrin. Are you okay? You didn’t get bitten anywhere or anything, right? You’re not going to turn into a monster too, are you?”
At Eurozan’s question, she only nodded.
Sylvia had already drawn a passage on the wall of the study room.
“Let’s go.”
They walked through that passage and reached the emergency stairs for now.
However.
Graaaaaah─── Graaaaaah───
There were many monsters on the stairs. Far more than they had imagined. There was practically one on every step, so at the very least, it was not a number they could subdue.
“There are… there are way too many, aren’t there?”
“Sorry. I didn’t expect this.”
Ifrin frowned as if flustered, but Sylvia did not. She placed her index finger against her lips.
“Shh.”
Then she gathered mana in her retinas. Her eyes became dyed in vivid colors.
It was the embodiment of the three primary colors.
“……”
Sylvia glared at the stairs. Then the perfectly fine stairs surged greatly in an instant, wavered like an illusion, and were soon completely erased.
As if an eraser were wiping away pencil marks, she had erased the stairs with nothing but her gaze.
Kuuuuung—!
The countless monsters wandering the stairs fell in one mass. Sylvia restored the stairs again and closed her eyes.
Cold sweat had gathered thickly on her forehead.
“M-Miss Sylvia. That was seriously, total grand magic…”
“We don’t have time to chatter.”
They descended the stairs together.
“Stop.”
The entrance to the emergency passage on the third floor, which they reached in that manner.
However, they did not make the mistake of going inside.
Sylvia created another door some distance away from the entrance. Through Sylvia’s door, they stepped onto the third floor.
As expected, the emergency passage on the third floor was blocked by monsters.
“Let’s go.”
First, they searched for the A-Class lecture room.
It was a path they took every week, but today there were especially many obstacles. The monsters wandering the corridor seemed to number in the dozens.
“What do we do?”
“I’ll draw their attention. You guys open the door.”
Ifrin said. Crack crack— loosening the joints in her body and looking around, she soon broke away from the formation.
“───Hey, guys! I’m over here──!”
That shout drew the corridor’s attention. Ifrin immediately ran away, and Sylvia and the members crept forward at a run and grabbed the doorknob of the A-Class lecture room.
Rattle— rattle—
The door was locked. Eurozan and the men went deathly pale. Sylvia also bit her lip.
“Wh-what now? We’re totally screwed…”
However, Sylvia soon heard a whispering sound from inside.
“There are people.”
“Inside here?”
Boom—! Boom—!
Sylvia knocked on the door.
“Open.”
Did that voice reach them? A commotion arose in the lecture room.
Boom—! Boom—!
Eurozan and the men also joined in and pounded on the door.
“Open up! Open the door!”
“Miss Sylvia is here too, you know?! If you don’t open, you’re all dead!”
Sylvia.
At that name, the commotion turned into an uproar.
Boom—! Boom—!
“Uwaaaah!”
Just then, Ifrin, who had been drawing aggro, came running from that passage. The monsters trailing behind her appeared to number at least over a hundred.
“Open the door—!”
The moment Ifrin shouted that.
Bang—
The door opened. The one who opened it was the commoner Julia. They hurriedly entered.
“Me too—!”
Lastly, as soon as Ifrin barely made it in, they closed the door.
Ifrin clutched her heart and plopped down onto the floor.
“Wow, hah, hah, wow… Somehow, we made it…”
“Iphy! Iphy, are you okay?!”
It was a voice familiar to Ifrin—Julia’s.
“Juli!”
She smiled brightly and hugged Julia.
“Honestly… if Miss Sylvia hadn’t been with you people. How can you bring all the monsters here? Good grief, how stupid.”
But there was also a grumbling voice. It was Lucia, who had recently been becoming Ifrin’s new nemesis. Her long purple hair was especially annoying today.
Boom—! Boom—! Boom—!
Outside, the monsters pounded on the door. Julia flinched and looked at it.
“……Iphy. What do we do now?”
Boom—! Boom—! Boom—!
“We have no choice.”
Boom—! Boom—! Boom—!
“We have to wait for help.”
Rustle— Ifrin took out a bundle from her chest. It was a bag filled with snacks. She had held it tightly against herself even while running.
In a situation like this, food was life.
“But what’s that?”
Ifrin suddenly looked at the blackboard.
──[ Four Things to Keep in Mind ]──
1. See through the core of the barrier.
2. Refrain from head-on confrontation.
3. Survive.
4. Keep in mind that this blackboard is the only connection between you and me.
────────
“It’s nothing. Looks like a summary of the test from last time?”
“Hmm…”
Even after Julia’s answer, Ifrin stared intently at the blackboard.
The only connection between you and me.
And the chalk placed beneath it.
“……”
Ifrin picked up the chalk and wrote words.
[ Deculein is an idiot ]
Boom—! Boom—! Boom—!
“Ah, shit, that startled me.”
Then, without thinking much of it, she returned to her seat and sat down.
* * *
“Your Majesty. It is Lord Deculein, the tutoring mage.”
The Emperor’s tutoring space—the Hall of Learning.
When the attendant knocked on the door knocker set in the maw of a golden lion, the Emperor’s voice flowed out solemnly.
—Let him in.
When the door opened, Emperor Sophien was sitting in a somewhat slovenly posture.
Those rotten eyes, still steeped in ennui.
Her head, tilted at an angle, looked me up and down.
“I greet Your Imperial Majesty.”
“Hmph. They say your attire is the trend of the imperial capital. Indeed, it is different from those lowlifes wandering around the court.”
Without a word, I approached and sat before her. In front of the Emperor was a chessboard.
“Chess again today?”
“No. Before that, let us talk first. I’m slowly growing tired of chess too.”
I nodded. It was not incomprehensible.
For she was the sort of person who could not immerse herself in anything and cooled off all too quickly.
“I hear you met Rohakan.”
“Yes.”
“And lost him, regretfully.”
“······My skills were lacking.”
The Emperor gave a faint snort of laughter.
“Then how lacking must those knights be, when they did not even manage as much as you? Ah, I hear Rohakan was your master?”
“I learned nothing from him that would warrant calling him that.”
“······Yes. I suppose there was nothing to learn. The previous Emperor’s health worsened because of that damned bastard. He may as well have killed not only the Empress Dowager, but the previous Emperor too.”
There was no anger in the Emperor’s voice as she murmured those words. She was merely pretending to be angry.
To her, even emotion was nothing but tedium.
“Deculein. The eunuchs tell me you are one of the greatest minds on the continent.”
“Me, Your Majesty?”
“Yes. A genius who earned hundreds of millions through auctions alone, or so they say.”
Lately, there were many rumors about me that even I did not know. Rohakan’s archenemy, the smartest man on the continent, and so on······.
“Thus, I ask you. I intend to set out on an expedition.”
“By expedition, you mean?”
“I shall conquer ‘Myeolji.’”
The Emperor placed a map on the desk.
“To do so, I must first eliminate the internal troubles that may come later. I shall punish the Jeokgwe.”
It was a rather grating statement.
I lifted my head and looked into the Emperor’s eyes.
“What is it?”
“······I do not believe the Jeokgwe are an internal trouble.”
“How would you know that?”
“Because I am the greatest mind on the continent.”
“······.”
At that, Sophien silently closed her mouth.
Those eyes of hers, always indifferent and half-lidded, curved into arcs.
“Ha─ ha─ ha─”
It was a somewhat robotic laugh.
“You are an amusing fellow.”
“It is not a lie. I see the world differently.”
If I could stop the massacre of the Jeokgwe, I did not mind becoming the continent’s greatest intellect.
The Emperor twisted her lips.
“Hmph. Then you must know. No matter what you say, the Jeokgwe will not be to my liking. I intend to crush the Jeokgwe first, then personally depart for the Myeolji expedition.”
“······Personally.”
“Yes. I will stand on the front line myself. I will swing my sword and wield magic. That is the way I will leave myself in history.”
The Emperor’s mischievous eyes fixed on me.
She seemed to be awaiting my reaction, and I read the “Authority” displayed on her character magnifying lens.
──「???」──
◆ Rank
：Authority
◆ Description
：???
───
Even the magnifying lens could not read the Authority, but I knew the Emperor’s secret even without such a trivial lens.
······「Death Regression」.
The reason for the tedium she carried was the lack of death.
Humans live with vigor because death will one day come to them, but Sophien, bereft of that death, was filled with sloth and ennui.
That was why the Emperor was dangerous.
In-game, the moment the Emperor died, it became “game over,” and likewise there would be a regression such as loading a save, but I was not a player.
Therefore, the Emperor of this world must not die, no matter what.
I must not allow her to give up on life by her own will.
The existence known as the Emperor itself was my “death variable”······.
“I see. However, Your Majesty speaks as though death does not exist for you.”
······I asked in that manner.
In that instant, the Emperor’s face stiffened. Her eyes, which had only been mischievous, changed like a crimson flame.
“······What do you mean by that?”
“The only meaning Your Majesty should seek from me is magic.”
“I asked you what you meant.”
“Once you have learned enough magic, and I can no longer give Your Majesty any further meaning in that regard, you may seek ‘another meaning’ then.”
Once she had learned enough magic.
I was saying I would tell her after that.
Bang─!
Sophien struck the desk.
“······Do you mock me? I clearly told you to state your meaning.”
The gaze glaring at me burned with murderous intensity. It was sharp, as though it would tear out my insides.
“Your Majesty.”
I did not avoid the Emperor’s gaze.
I merely sat there and endured the pressure spreading from her.
“I am Deculein.”
Her brow twitched.
“Once I have embraced a will, it will not be broken by anyone.”
The words were delivered almost like a smile.
A vein stood out on Sophien’s temple.
* * *
Tick······ tick······
Epherene looked at the clock.
Ten at night.
Twelve hours since the incident occurred.
No, perhaps twenty-four hours.
The windows were already covered in ash.
There was nothing but darkness everywhere, so it was impossible to gauge the passage of time.
Thud─! Thud─! Thud─!
The rescue that was supposed to come did not.
Only that sound of pounding on the door continued endlessly.
Thud─! Thud─! Thud─!
“Ah, I’m seriously going insane, that fuck······”
Thud─! Thud─! Thud─!
The door did not break, but the sound itself was extreme stress.
A damned reverberation that pierced through even when she covered her ears.
“This barrier, can’t we activate the barrier? Fuck, seriously. Fuuuuuuuuuck!”
Beck screamed as though having a seizure. Epherene answered like a sigh.
“We don’t know the password. Only the Professor knows it.”
“Shut up, fuck!”
“You’re the one who asked, so why are you cursing?”
Thud─! Thud─! Thud─!
Again.
The sound was driving people mad.
Thud─! Thud─! Thud─!
Was it because of the mental stress, or was the ash occupying the Magic Tower draining their mental strength?
It felt as though they were going to lose their minds to some insane mental illness.
“Whew······.”
Epherene took a plastic bag from inside her clothes. It was a snack she had prepared for times like this.
At the rustling sound, every Debutant in the lecture hall turned to look at Epherene.
“Wh-what’s that?”
“Epherene. Where did you get that?”
Their eyes, worn down by the long ordeal, gleamed with hunger.
“Yeah. I was going to share it anyway—”
“······Wait. Th-that’s mine!”
Suddenly, Eurozan reached out and grabbed the bag.
“Eurozan? Wh-why are you suddenly acting like this?”
“I bought it with my money!”
Eurozan’s eyes were bloodshot.
“O-okay—”
“I said I bought it!”
Epherene flinched at the sight of him, as though he had lost his mind. But soon, anger rose in her.
Why are you taking it out on me?
“I bought it!”
“I said okay, so let go!”
“You let go!”
“Why are you being so childish? Are you going to eat it all by yourself in this situation?”
“I said I bought it! Fuck, just give it to me! You penniless beggar bastard!”
Riiip─!
The plastic tore, and snacks, chocolates, and drinks spilled out.
Tap, tap, tap······.
Following the food as it rolled and fell, the mages’ eyes rolled as well.
Just as a commotion was about to break out.
“Stop.”
Sylvia restrained them.
“How pathetic. Over mere food.”
“······Hmm~”
At that moment, a somewhat insolent sneer cut in.
It was Lucia.
“Then what shall we do, Miss Sylvia?”
Lucia asked. A rotten smile hung at the corner of her mouth.
“I am curious what kind of solution a noble aristocrat like Miss Sylvia would come up with in this situation~”
Sylvia stared blankly at Lucia and thought.
What would “he” have done?
······Probably.
He would have done this.
“The nobles yield.”
“······What? If anything, the nobles should eat, gather their strength, and lead the commoners—”
“That dignity you are always so obsessed with. Preserve it at times like this.”
“······Hah.”
Lucia and the other nobles glared at Sylvia with distorted faces.
In the meantime, Epherene gathered the snacks and stepped forward to the lectern.
“I’ll distribute them fairly.”
“What do you mean, distribute?! I told you I bought those!”
“Ah, you shut up already!”
When Epherene snapped back, Eurozan flinched as well.
“Stay still. Instead, I won’t eat either. I’ve already eaten a lot—”
Ruuuuumble───!
At that moment, a tremendous sound shook the entire lecture hall. It was like thunder.
“What is it!”
Everyone looked at the door in shock.
Thud───!
The entrance was shaking.
······A-Class was surely supposed to be the sturdiest lecture hall.
Thud───!
Ominous debris was trickling down from the wall.
“B-barrier. I think we need to put up the barrier?”
Kwaaaaaang───!
A roar as though it would shatter at any moment.
The lecture hall blackboards fell to the floor.
Kwaaaaaaang───!
“Kyaaaaaak!”
Screams filled the lecture hall. The sobbing cries grated on the ears. Come on—come on—! The bastards shrieking in terror were noisy.
In the midst of that hopeless chaos, Epherene clutched her head.
Kwaaaaaang───!
However, at some point.
Epherene looked at the blackboard behind the lectern.
“······.”
While all the other blackboards had been ripped away.
One alone stood firm.
──[ Four Things to Keep in Mind ]──
1. See through the core of the barrier.
2. Refrain from direct confrontation.
3. Survive.
4. Keep in mind that this blackboard is the only link between you and me.
────────
“······Keep in mind that this blackboard is the only link between you and me.”
Keep in mind that this blackboard is the only link between you and me.
The only link······?
“Ah!”
It was the very moment Epherene realized something.
Scratch, scratch······.
Certain letters began to be carved onto the blackboard.
Thud───!
The vibrations grew worse and worse.
Blows that seemed ready to break down not just the door, but the entire wall.
Amid that tremendous pandemonium where screams, cries, and shouts mixed together wretchedly.
At last, one sentence was completed.
[ This is Deculein. Speak. ]
At that moment.
Epherene felt as though she might cry.
[ However, Epherene receives penalty points. ]