······One hour earlier, in the dark of dawn.
Thanks to Rozerio’s “Silence,” the society building was as quiet as the grave, and Epherene, who had been with Allen in the conference room on the second floor, stealthily glanced around.
“Assistant Professor. Are you asleep?”
Allen, covered with a blanket, repeated soft little breaths. Kooo······
Fortunately, they were irregular. Proof that he had not been taxidermied.
“······.”
Epherene shouldered her bag and carefully stood. The thick backpack had been packed full of food.
Right now, more than her fear of being taxidermied, her thoughts about her future self weighed heavier on her mind.
She must be hungry, just like me.
“Oh, right.”
She had almost forgotten. After putting on another piece of equipment—her “platform shoes”—Epherene crept outside. It was to make Kaidezite confuse her with the future Epherene.
But then.
“!”
In the middle of the corridor, her eyes met Professor Relin’s, who had appointed himself a vigilante—in order to look good to Deculein.
“E······. E······. E······.”
Epherene flinched in surprise, but Relin only repeated a single syllable, rhythmically, with a startled face.
He had been taxidermied.
“E······.”
Epherene looked up at him and placed a hand on her chest.
“······Professor Relin.”
She had suffered at his hands plenty of times, and she had badmouthed him plenty as well, but seeing him like this made her heart ache.
Epherene gave him a brief bow, then went down the stairs.
“He’s asleep?”
The employee at the information desk on the first floor was dozing off. Epherene went straight down to the [Underground Archive Storage Room].
—Epherene. Epherene!
As soon as she reached the basement, she whispered in a small voice. It felt a little funny for her to be calling herself.
—Epherene! Where are you, Epherene!
Adult Epherene was nowhere to be seen, and Epherene first hid behind a bookshelf.
Then.
“This can’t be!”
—!
Epherene flinched and looked back.
Thudthudthudthud—
Society President Rockralen was running out in a desperate hurry.
—What’s with him?
Without thinking much of it, Epherene took out the lunchbox.
Bite by bite, as she ate, she mulled over what adult Epherene had said.
—······She told me not to hate him.
She had told her not to hate Deculein.
It was truly strange.
Gindalf was the same, and so was her future self. Just why, exactly······.
“Epherene!”
Suddenly, a voice dropped down from above her head. Startled badly, Epherene craned her neck upward.
Atop a tall bookshelf, adult Epherene was looking down at her.
“Y-you scared me!”
“Hehe. Thanks to you, I finished things up well.”
“Finished what?”
“I caught the host.”
“Really?!”
Epherene’s eyes, nose, and mouth flared—growing wide. Adult Epherene smiled brightly and landed lightly beside her.
“Of course. It was thanks to you.”
“Thanks to me? Why?”
“Your shoes! The two of us are fundamentally the same person, so if we both wear robes and are the same height, of course Kaidezite would be confused. So while Kaidezite was focused on you, I went outside and caught that thing.”
“Ah. I see! Haha. Actually, that’s what I was aiming for too.”
Epherene proudly showed off the shoes on her feet. Adult Epherene chuckled too.
“Yes. As expected of me. Smart, so smart.”
It was praise pleasant to hear. Epherene puffed herself up and took off her backpack.
“Wait. I brought something else too.”
Ziiip— She opened the zipper and held out the lunchbox.
Adult Epherene’s eyes widened into circles.
“Oho~”
“Unfortunately, there’s no Loahawk.”
“Ah, Loahawk······ I’d only just managed to forget about it.”
At that, as expected, adult Epherene smacked her lips too.
Epherene grinned and asked.
“Loahawk still exists in the future, right?”
“Of course. It becomes famous as a delicacy. Personally, it tasted best when I ate it with Professor.”
At those words, Epherene’s face stiffened.
“With Professor Deculein?”
“Yeah. But it’ll take a very long time before you can share a table with him, you know? That professor has a pathological dislike for food that isn’t neat.”
“······True.”
Imagining Deculein holding a Loahawk in his hands and tearing into it······ It was impossible to imagine in the first place.
No, more importantly.
“But that professor and you—no, me—no, us—we’re enemies, aren’t we? Can you at least give me a hint about what on earth happened?”
Epherene asked carefully.
Adult Epherene closed her mouth for a moment. Her face looked as though she were choosing her words cautiously, and also calmly.
At last, she smiled bitterly.
“Yeah. That’s right. We are enemies.”
“Right.”
“But······ in my world, Professor isn’t there. So don’t hate him too much. And if possible, I’ll ask you to make sure Professor stays in your world for a long time.”
“······!”
Those words stabbed the back of her head like an awl. A great wave of dizziness arose.
Adult Epherene supported her.
“You won’t be able to accept any more detailed knowledge than that······ You’re dizzy even now, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, uh-huh······ I’m kind of sleepy.”
“Then sleep comfortably. I’ll enjoy this lunchbox.”
“Ah······ okay.”
Epherene rubbed her hazy eyes and spoke.
“Sleep well. When you wake up, everything will be over.”
“Yeah······ But what will be over······?”
At that question, adult Epherene smiled bitterly. No matter how long she waited, no answer came back.
Epherene simply sank into a peaceful sleep.
* * *
[According to the witness who observed the meteor in the year 953, it was brilliant, as though two streaks of light had pierced down into the earth······ The nearby region was named Rockralen, after the meteor’s scientific name.]
[The Floating Island purchased the rights to Rockralen for one billion elne. That enormous transaction sparked debate throughout the academic world. Rockralen was land on the ground, not in the sky, and if an accident were to occur during the Floating Island’s research······ In particular, the Empire’s newspaper, “The Journal,” denounced it as “the dark desire of the magical world.”]
[Society President Jesen changed his name to Rockralen.]
Deculein devoted himself to investigation all day long. The mages who had been with him, including Rozerio and Kreto, had already gone to sleep, but there was no such thing as rest or sleep for him.
With tension and concentration added to the body of “Iron Man,” he threw himself into the task as if he meant to dig up all of Rockralen······.
Then, suddenly.
“······Hey, you.”
He looked at the “addict” standing silently in a corner of the third-floor discussion room. The addict pointed at himself with a finger.
“Do you mean me?”
“Yes. You. You said there were five hundred addicts in Rockralen.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Where are they all?”
“On the day of the conference, they’re all inside here.”
“Without a single exception?”
“Of course. We are ‘Rockralen’s addicts,’ after all. Even if we’re working at the hotel, at the store, or as employees, when the day of the conference comes, we all come here.”
Deculein nodded wordlessly.
“Then there must be no one outside this society building right now.”
Aside from Drent, who had collapsed inside the hotel.
“Yes. That should be the case.”
At the addict’s answer, a thought flashed through Deculein’s mind.
A spark lasting no more than an instant.
It was not decisive, but it was enough to function as a hint······.
“Professor Deculein!”
The door flew open and an addict came inside.
“The Society President has been struck too!”
A frantic shout. Even so, Deculein’s composure and ease did not change.
After neatly straightening his collar, sleeves, and tie, he stood.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, yes.”
There was no need to walk far.
Rockralen had been taxidermied right on the third-floor staircase.
“Huuuk, Deculein······!”
Deculein looked at Rockralen, who was calling him.
“You. How did you know? Huuuk, Deculein······! You. How did you know? Huuuk, Deculein······! You. How did you know?”
Rockralen’s taxidermy was quite grotesque.
Deculein asked.
“Since when has he been like this?”
“When we checked this morning, he was already like this.”
At that moment, another shout rang out from behind.
This time, it was Rozerio.
“Deculein! Big trouble! Kreto, Grand Duke Kreto’s been taxidermied too!”
“······.”
Rozerio ran over in a fluster. Deculein glanced at her, then focused his attention back on Rockralen.
“······Strange.”
He still felt a certain sense of incongruity.
This “taxidermy” certainly had contagious properties. However, if it truly was contagious, then it would be normal for [Death Variable] to manifest.
Was it because this taxidermy did not mean death?
But if the taxidermy was eternal, how was it any different from death?
Deculein thoroughly examined Rockralen.
“Huuuk, Deculein······!”
Rockralen lunged forward while shouting so.
Near his collarbone was a necklace.
However, it was only the “chain.”
The core of the necklace seemed to have been removed by someone······.
At that very moment.
Something appeared on Deculein’s retina.
It was a system message announcing [Quest Complete].
His eyes widened in surprise, and at the same time, the sentence he had read today crackled like static.
[According to the witness who observed the meteor, it was brilliant, as though two streaks of light had pierced down into the earth······]
Two streaks of light.
“······Rozerio. Rockralen’s meteor was not one. Kaidezite was not one either.”
“What? What’re you on about?”
“Follow me.”
Even in that moment of realization, Deculein was perfectly calm and composed, and without another word, he went down to the first floor. Rozerio, as befitted a high-ranking mage, quickly regained her composure and followed.
“We must get out! We can’t rely on Professor Deculein forever! We must trust our own intellect—”
“Prepare magic!”
“Start with destructive magic······.”
“We must get out! We can’t rely on Professor Deculein forever! We must trust our own intellect—”
“Prepare magic!”
“Start with destructive magic······.”
The area by the first-floor exit had somehow become an utter mess. A dozen or so mages, taxidermied in an instant, were repeatedly manifesting magic.
“We’ll be like that soon enough too.”
“Professooor!”
Rozerio muttered cynically, and Assistant Professor Allen came panting down the second-floor stairs.
“This is bad! Assistant Epherene has disappeared!”
“······What? Deculein. Isn’t Epherene your disciple?”
Rozerio whipped around to look at Deculein. Deculein himself showed little interest. He merely moved toward the [Underground Archive Storage Room].
“Professooor! I’ll come with you toooo, ah!”
Allen, who had been running toward them, sprawled onto the floor. Deculein did not spare him a glance, as expected, but Rozerio belatedly ran over and grabbed his shoulder.
“······Deculein! Look behind you!”
Only then did Deculein glance that way.
“Professooor~! I’ll come with you toooo, ah!”
Allen reached out to him, but fell before he could touch him.
And then, returning to the past again, he reached out toward Deculein.
“Professooor~!”
“That kid’s ended up like that too.”
At some point, he had been taxidermied.
“I’ll come with you toooo, ah!”
A repetition that would never reach him. Even at that quite pitiful sight, Deculein remained calm.
Rather, as though that taxidermy were only natural, he muttered this.
“What do you want me to do about it?”
“What? Deculein, you—”
“Just follow me.”
Deculein went down the stairs without hesitation. Even after reaching the [Underground Archive Storage Room], he did not stop. He advanced down the middle of the corridor.
“Deculein! Over there, your disciple is there!”
Rozerio pointed to one side of the bookshelf. Epherene was taxidermied as though asleep.
“So she is.”
“What? What kind of reaction is that? You cold-blooded bastard.”
Rozerio was horrified, but Deculein, who had only nodded, walked on again. There was no hesitation or reluctance whatsoever in his stride.
“······Is it here?”
Like that, the two of them reached a staircase leading to an even lower basement. Deculein suddenly turned to look at Rozerio.
“Rozerio.”
“Hey. By the way, don’t call me by my name from now on. Put Aether in front of it. Mage Aether Rozerio. Try saying it.”
Rozerio had completely confirmed Deculein’s lowest depths today, and as of today, she intended to cut ties with him. To her extremely curt manner, Deculein said,
“Mage Aether Rozerio.”
“Huh. You actually say it just because I told you to?”
“You stand there.”
Rozerio frowned and asked back.
“Why?”
“Kaidezite is behind you.”
“What? Then—”
“Then you should obediently let yourself be taxidermied.”
“You, you madman, don’t tell me—”
Rogerio gathered mana in her grip as if horrified, but that was the end of it.
“You, you madman, don’t tell me— you, you madman, don’t tell me— you, you madman, don’t tell me—”
She was taxidermied just like that.
You, you madman, don’t tell me— you, you madman, don’t tell me—
Listening to those curses, Deculein descended the stairs.
Step—
Step—
He could afford to be a little more at ease now.
Straightening the buttons on his sleeves, his disheveled collar and tie, and the dust on his body, Deculein descended the endless spiral staircase.
At the end of it, most likely, that girl would be waiting.
Tap—.
A foreign sound, different from the stairs.
The ground beneath his shoe heel was hard as stone.
“······.”
Having reached the lowest depths of Lokralen, Deculein looked ahead.
The enormous door that Epherene had said was blocked by a “rift in time.” That door was already open.
Deculein walked in, his posture still perfectly upright.
“······You.”
The damp, chilly air of the underground, the cold wind whipping through the cavity, the two meteorite fragments embedded in the road surface, the monster of time lurking beyond them······
And.
The future Archmage standing firm between them.
“So you were here.”
“Epherene Luna” said to him.
“Yes. It’s good to see you, Professor.”
* * *
[ Quest Complete: The Archmage’s Request ]
◆ Acquired 1 Advanced Trait Catalog
Lokralen—the host of Kaidezite was Lokralen. The hint had been in the name itself. If its name was Lokralen, then of course it would be Lokralen’s host.
The problem was that there was not just “one” Kaidezite.
“So there were two Kaidezites.”
I said as I faced Epherene.
“Yes. One went to Lokralen, and the other came to me. Lokralen was quite good at running away, so I had a bit of trouble until now, but thanks to you, I succeeded.”
Epherene smiled brightly and shrugged.
“It kept going back and forth between the future and the past······ so I aimed for the most decisive moment.”
“······.”
Now, I thought I understood.
What “disposal of Lokralen” meant.
And what this impudent girl was trying to do.
Step—
I took one step closer. Epherene, her expression hardening, shook her head.
“Don’t come any closer.”
I ignored her and walked. But before long, some transparent barrier blocked my advance.
“A carbon barrier. Magic the Professor invented, and I refined. No one can break through it.”
Epherene freely manipulated carbon magic and divided the space.
I stopped at the closest point and stared at her.
“Epherene. What do you intend to do now?”
“I’ve captured Kaidezite and Lokralen, so I’m going to release them. Then they’ll spread throughout all of Lokralen and spend their life force—in other words, their ‘time’—to their heart’s content. It’s a peaceful solution.”
“······Is that why you taxidermied everyone?”
Epherene gave a bitter smile.
“Yes. That’s right.”
The reason the death variable, 「The Villain’s Fate」, had not activated from this taxidermy.
It was because taxidermy was not death, but salvation.
“This is how Lokralen’s disposal was decided.”
Due to the nature of Lokralen, where the past and future always coexist, it is impossible to send everyone inside out.
“And the one in charge is me, Archmage Epherene.”
This place was never meant to host something like a conference in the first place. It was a place humans should never have entered.
Literally, a great disaster brought about by the greed and desire of the magical world.
“But if you unleash them, time will overflow throughout all of Lokralen, will it not?”
Kaidezite was a monster that devoured time.
Therefore, if she released it, the result was easy to predict.
If a skein of thread that had been tangled—no, compressed beyond mere tangling—were undone in an instant, that thread would expand, spreading in every direction.
Time was no different.
“That’s right. The inside of Lokralen will be filled with time.”
“That time could be a hundred years, two hundred years, or three hundred years.”
Epherene shook her head.
“I calculated it as 385 years. Only inside Lokralen, 385 years will pass. Ten seconds in the outside world will become 385 years inside Lokralen.”
“You mean to bear that time alone?”
“Yes.”
It was an immediate answer.
“There’s nothing for you to worry about. Time will pass, but there will be no aging. Kaidezite is a monster made solely of ‘time,’ after all. Even if 385 years pass here, only ten seconds will pass in the outside world.”
If Kaidezite left Lokralen, the world would end.
The victims would be the entire continent.
But if it were unleashed inside Lokralen, the time of this space itself would be stretched into hundreds of years.
The victims would be everyone inside Lokralen.
Epherene, who had not wanted to sacrifice anyone at all, had found her own method in her own way.
“Only those taxidermied in the past can escape that eternity of time.”
Epherene nodded forlornly.
“Yes. Taxidermy is instantaneous. If I just endure 385 years, everyone will be safe. To them, it will be nothing more than a brief instant. They won’t even realize they were ever taxidermied, you know?”
—They won’t even realize they were ever taxidermied, you know?
That was the crux of it.
Everyone in this Lokralen.
In other words, she had chosen a method of taxidermying everyone except herself.
Because during the time they were taxidermied, they would not be conscious of those 385 years.
“For that, everyone had to be inside this conference hall. ‘Taxidermy’ is a technique that consumes quite a lot of time energy, so they had to be close to Kaidezite’s meteorite. I used you ‘on purpose’~ Professor Deculein. Because I know your personality so well~?”
The girl even winked, unlike herself.
I glared at her, dumbfounded.
“······What about Drent?”
“Hehe. I already dealt with that senior. His mental strength is so weak, you see.”
After nodding, I gathered mana in my grip. Then I scraped at Epherene’s carbon barrier.
Epherene merely smiled.
“It won’t work. I told you. It’s magic the Professor invented, and I developed—”
Ripple—
In that instant, the barrier wavered. Epherene’s eyes widened.
“How insolent. Since I invented it, my 「Understanding」 of it would naturally be much faster.”
I was full of confidence, but in the very next moment—
Wooooooong──!
Epherene poured mana into it. Because of that, the barrier became ten times sturdier than before.
“My rank is Eternal, Professor.”
“······.”
There was no way through like this.
I said to her,
“Do not take the weight of hundreds of years lightly. You will spend a time far longer than a human lifetime all alone, in a place where there is no one.”
Epherene did not answer.
“You will be unable to prevent the collapse of your mind. It will erode, be swept away, worn down like sand until it crumbles.”
“I know.”
Epherene puffed out her cheeks. As if pretending to sulk.
“But who could possibly endure that much time easily?”
“One is standing before your eyes.”
I looked at her. Epherene, who had narrowed her eyes playfully, slowly went blank.
“Huh······.”
“I will take your place.”
“······.”
Epherene only opened and closed her lips.
385 years.
I did not know what would become of me over that long passage of time.
However, not even the slightest trace of fear arose in me. Even that tremendous span of time would not be able to put so much as a scratch on my ego.
Therefore, it was a time far more suited to me than to Epherene. I would simply spend it alone honing 「Psychokinesis」.
“I happened to need time to think and grow as well.”
“······Think, for 300 years?”
When I nodded, a small smile rose to her lips.
“Ah······ so this happened to me, did it?”
Small droplets gathered at the corners of her eyes. Before I knew it, the tip of her nose had reddened, and she sniffled, wiping her tears with the sleeve of her robe.
I let out a hollow laugh.
“How can a girl who cries over something like this endure 385 years?”
“······No. This isn’t something small, not to me.”
Saying that, Epherene dismantled the barrier.
I accepted what that meant.
“We switch.”
“······Yes, Professor.”
Epherene strode up and embraced me. It was a sudden hug, just like last time.
To her, I tried to say something.
But my mouth would not move.
“Thank you.”
······I.
“But it’s all right.”
Should never have allowed her to approach.
“Farewell, my Professor.”