Comma
“……Urk!”
Ifrin jolted awake with a twitch, her eyes flying open. She hurriedly scanned her surroundings.
“……”
The view of the 77th floor of the Magic Tower.
It was Head Professor Deculein's office. Neat and serene, without a speck of dust.
“What the……”
Wasn't I in the imperial palace?
With Deculein, Adrienne, and Ihelm.
In some white room.
“……Hmm.”
It felt strangely familiar, yet the progression was off somehow.
Ifrin placed her hands on her cheeks. She muttered blankly.
“Was it a dream?”
“……”
At that moment, a gaze pierced her. Naturally, it was Deculein. His face screamed disappointment.
“Wipe your drool.”
“……Huh?”
“Not even a dog does that.”
“A dog? That seafood that walks sideways? Tastes great, though.”
“……Shall I kill you?”
Deculein's reaction right now. Her own bewilderment. And……
Did I regress again?
Ifrin checked the calendar.
But the date was spot on. Yesterday was yesterday, and today was today.
“Then it really was a dream……”
Ifrin turned back to Deculein. She spoke to him as he furrowed his brow slightly.
“Professor. I had a dream about going to that event.”
“A dream?”
“Yeah. I went to the event, and it was some white space. All around, just white. With Adrienne and Ihelm and you and me. And there, you said something about a death variable? Death variable, and then I woke up from the dream. What's a death variable? Did you develop some new theory?”
——Yaaawn.
Ifrin let out a massive yawn and pulled out her pocket watch from her waist. The hour and minute hands gleamed purple.
“……”
Deculein stared at her intently before rising from his seat. He straightened his suit and gripped his cane in one hand.
“Where are you going?”
He left the office without a word in response.
Bam—!
The firmly shut door.
Ifrin narrowed her eyes for no reason.
“What the heck. Why's he like that? Just 'cause I'm sleepy? It's not like it's the first time…… Yaaawn——”
But she felt inexplicably tired again. Her mana reserves seemed a bit low too.
“Oh right. I have class too.”
The lecture schedule for today suddenly popped into her head.
Tax law class. Lately, with all the money handling, taxes and such had piled up, so she'd picked this one on purpose.
“Gotta go sleep there. No, attend class.”
Ifrin stuffed her textbook and writing tools into her backpack and stood up.
* * *
“……It's foresight.”
The moment he left the office, he headed straight to Rohakan's vineyard.
I asked him to diagnose Ifrin today.
“The same power as you possess, elder?”
“Must be. Why else would I take that child as my disciple?”
“……I see.”
Of course. Ifrin was a future archmage, after all. This level of mystery was par for the course.
Rohakan asked.
“So, what're you gonna do about it?”
“I'll look deeper into the event. Now that Ifrin's given me a hint.”
A death variable appears at the event. And with Ihelm—no, Ihelm, Adrienne.
Knowing that much in advance was an enormous clue.
“……But I'm worried about Sophien. Who knows what that one's scheming or what she'll do next. Once her mind turns, there's no predicting afterward.”
I nodded and continued jotting notes on the magic paper.
“But what's that?”
Rohakan glanced over with interest.
“The final exam for my advanced lecture. It's been delayed amid all the chaos, but I still need a comprehensive theory test to separate the passers from the failures.”
“Can I take a look?”
“Certainly.”
I handed him ten sheets of magic paper. A total of 1,000 pages.
“Whoa. That's a lot.”
Rohakan flipped through the pages, reading the magic circles.
“But y'know, Deculein.”
“Yes.”
“That Julie knight wanders this vineyard now and then.”
“……”
I fell silent for a moment. It was quite unexpected.
“Knight Julie, you mean.”
“Yup. Probably thinks there's evidence or clues about you here, eh?”
“……I see.”
Julie. The woman Deculein loved.
But whether that love truly belonged to Deculein or had transferred to Kim Woojin as well—I no longer knew.
The distinction had grown blurry.
“You love that woman that much?”
“Yes.”
I answered without the slightest hesitation.
“Its depth is unknown even to me.”
“Even if she brings you down?”
Rohakan's eyes, once on the magic paper, now fixed on me.
“……”
Silent vineyard. Sweet scent tickling the nose.
“……Julie cannot bring me down.”
I smiled faintly and nodded.
“For Julie to live, she must hate me. But Julie is too kind a woman; if she brings me down, she'll abandon her hatred.”
“……”
Rohakan returned his gaze to the magic theory.
“I shall not fall, and Julie shall live on.”
“Because of that curse?”
“Yes. If her heart's temperature rises too high, the curse will melt and flow. If her heart freezes solid, it will be fine.”
“Surrendering to fate?”
“I will surely find the answer. Until then, let her hate me.”
“And after?”
Still reading the theory, Rohakan asked.
“What then? After you find the answer.”
I thought quietly.
Perhaps this relationship's end was decided long ago. Not by fate or destiny.
“……We break off the engagement.”
In no scenario do Deculein and Julie end up together.
Deculein's nature probably sensed that instinctively.
I loved Julie, yet I'd never consciously imagined being with her.
“Why?”
“If I must give a reason…… my remaining life isn't long. I feel it somewhat, this not-so-long future.”
Not far off. Ifrin returning after witnessing my death.
A body that had died hundreds, thousands of times already—but true death would be that one.
“Now, I hope that Julie stops loving me as much as I love her.”
A bizarre love, blending Deculein's fanatic obsession and Kim Woojin's gentle heart.
No, a complete love.
“So she's not tormented when I leave.”
“……Good grief. You really Deculein?”
Rohakan scowled. I looked back at him.
“The Deculein I know would've boasted he'd overcome it all.”
“……I don't know. Here in this vineyard, I become even more myself.”
Mist flowing through the vineyard. Rohakan's creation—not the afterlife, not this world, but a ‘world-line space’.
This eerie energy softly disarms my mental defenses.
Intentionally, I let go.
Thus, right now, I resemble Kim Woojin more than Deculein.
“It might change once I'm out.”
“……Could be.”
Rohakan handed back the magic theory.
“Anyway. Those floating island junkies'll love this to death.”
“Is that so.”
“Yup.”
I tucked the magic paper into my briefcase.
Rohakan handed me a few bunches of grapes.
“Take care of Sophien. Whatever the emperor's event is, don't dodge it. You won't forget our promise, right?”
“……I am Deculein.”
I rose slowly.
“I do not flee from anything. I simply prepare a ‘sure victory’ first.”
Rohakan smiled at that.
* * *
……Beyond the Imperial University, now famed as the empire's top eatery: Pig's Blossom.
Ifrin was there, devouring roahawk.
“Nom nom— nom nom—”
With new friends. Liberal arts classmate Soliet, and her old pal Julie.
For the record, Julie—daughter of the barbecue joint owner—was decked head to toe in accessories. Robe, earrings, necklace, cane, shoes, bracelets……
Pig's Blossom must be raking it in lately. Spending like water.
Ifrin smacked her lips enviously—then Soliet popped a piece of meat into her mouth.
“How is it? Good?”
Ifrin asked eagerly. Soliet nodded.
“Not bad.”
“Not bad? This?”
“……”
Soliet—Emperor Sophien—was taking the same tax law class as Ifrin. Not on purpose, of course, but the chance encounter intrigued her, so she'd approached casually……
And this one latched on like a puppy the moment she spoke, begging to eat together.
“……Yeah. It's good.”
“Right? Obviously delicious…… Huh?!”
Then Ifrin pointed somewhere, eyes bulging.
“What's up, Ipi?”
“What now.”
Julie and Soliet turned that way.
“Knight Julie!”
The white-haired knight, Julie. She and her comrade Reilly were peeking in from Pig's Blossom's entrance.
“Ah…… Ifrin.”
Julie spotted her too, her face lighting up like a deer's. Ifrin waved frantically.
“Come here!”
“No, we're fine—”
“No seats anywhere else! Hurry!”
She jumped up, dragged Julie and Reilly inside, and sat them down.
“Eat. Roahawk. Waste not to miss it. How'd you know to come?”
“Reilly said it was the empire's best…… I was a bit curious.”
“Oh~ So you came up to the capital just for this?”
“Not quite. Staying while waiting for the event.”
“The event…… His Majesty's thing?”
“Yes.”
Ifrin piled meat onto Julie and Reilly's plates. But Julie looked guilty.
Not without reason—she could barely meet Ifrin's eyes now.
Deculein was a villain, yet she felt inexplicable guilt toward his disciple Ifrin.
“Eat.”
“……Yes.”
She took a piece anyway.
Chewed once.
The meat vanished.
More precisely, it melted in her mouth.
“……?!”
Julie's eyes widened. Reilly beside her too.
They exchanged glances, exclaiming in unison.
“Incredible……”
“Holy crap.”
“Right?!”
Ifrin giggled. Then asked Julie.
“Julie, can we order more?”
“Sure. For Ipi. Daddy~”
Julie called her dad, and Julie pulled out her wallet, plunking it on the table. It was thick.
Eyeball scan: about 5,000 elne.
“Truly delicious.”
“Yeah. But pricey, as good as it is.”
As Ifrin casually mentioned the cost, Julie……
“It's fine. I'll cover it.”
She declared confidently. Ifrin gasped dramatically, hand to mouth.
“Eeeeeh~? It's super expensive though~?”
“If not for you, no seat—we couldn't eat. Reservations take a month—”
“About a month. Right, Julie?”
Ifrin had dragged Soliet here for this exact reason. She looked loaded, and even splitting, Ifrin would eat more anyway—profit.
“Nah~ A month's old news. Now it's three months. Only Ipi sits without waiting~”
Acting like some noble lady.
“Oh. Is that so? Then I must treat.”
Julie said, eating a piece. Ifrin smirked slyly.
Plan.
Goes.
Perfectly.
“Thanks for the grub~”
……30 minutes later.
“You said…… how much now?”
At the counter, Julie's face went ghost-white upon hearing the bill.
Well, it was already pale, but paler still.
“3,000 elne.”
3,000 elne.
Over half her travel funds from coming to the capital.
For one meal.
“……”
Gulp.
Julie swallowed, glancing back. Ifrin was still chatting with Reilly; Soliet dozed in her chair.
“Ma'am?”
The staff prompted again.
“3,000 elne. Discounted.”
“……Ah. Yes. Discount……”
Julie straightened up again.
Right. Right.
Deculein was the villain, but Ifrin had done nothing wrong. If anything, she—the one plotting to topple Deculein—might be the villain to Ifrin.
So, treating her to this much is……
“Yes. Here, he-here, here it is.”
She handed over the wad of bills.
“Got it.”
The staff snatched it, rang it up. Julie felt dizzy. The ground swayed.
“Oh, you already paid?”
Ifrin approached right then, as if waiting. Julie and Soliet trailed behind.
Julie stammered, staggering.
“Yes…… I said I'd treat……”
“So sorry…… Then I'll get dessert~”
Ifrin beamed, leading Julie, Soliet, and Reilly outside.
* * *
……That day, Soliet—no, the emperor—crashed into bed upon returning to her chambers.
Passed out cold.
“Deculein's disciple talks way too much. Annoying.”
The next day, Wednesday noon.
Ahan smiled faintly at Sophien's words.
“How was the street tour? That barbecue place is hugely popular, even among nobles.”
“Tasty enough.”
“If you wish, I can procure it for a meal sometime.”
Knock knock—
Right on cue.
Obvious who. No need to open.
Tutor mage Deculein.
“Enter.”
—Yes.
The door opened, and Deculein entered. He pulled out textbook and magic paper from his briefcase…… then suddenly frowned.
“……Your Majesty.”
“What.”
“Have you…… met Ifrin by chance?”
“……”
Is he a ghost?
Sophien's sleepiness vanished in an instant, but she asked coolly.
“Why think that?”
“That one always carries a faint, familiar meat scent. Your Majesty has never had it before.”
“……Tch.”
Concrete evidence. She'd skipped a proper bath for magic, too sleepy and lazy.
Sophien tapped the table with her foot irritably.
“Yes. Met her. Fed me meat. She didn't know who I was, of course. Anyway. Event prep done? Less than a month left.”
“Yes. I have a decent idea of how it begins.”
“……You know the start?”
“Indeed.”
Sophien's expression twisted oddly.
“First, Adrienne, Ihelm, Ifrin, and I. Gathering us four, yes?”
“……”
Sophien glanced at Ahan. Ahan shook her head vigorously.
“How do you—”
“Then now.”
“No—”
“We begin magic tutoring. No off-topic questions.”
Deculein cut off the emperor, presenting the magic theory.
Sophien looked displeased but played along for now.
“Behold this circuit.”
“I know. No need to look. A fivefold circuit, heavily interwoven incantations.”
“Correct. Impressive.”
“Hmph. Impressive? You gave me something too easy.”
Deculein's lessons were tough. Even Sophien couldn't afford to look away, or it'd bite her—tensing, yet fun.
“This fivefold interwoven incantation makes magic circles far sturdier. Same grade magic differs vastly with or without this theory. The magic world's ‘Iron Man’. Part of my ‘advanced lecture’.”
“Yes. I see from the theory. Adaptable to rune language too?”
“Considering it. Or shall we try together?”
“Bring blueprints, and I won't refuse.”
Sophien grasped all Deculein said; Deculein grasped all Sophien said.
“Now, this incantation……”
Their talk delved into hyper-advanced academia—geometry and numbers entangling beyond most continentals' ken. Even Ahan, recording like a historian, gave up midway……
Anyway, mid-lesson.
“……But, Deculein.”
“Yes.”
“Not curious what exactly happens at the event?”
“To say no would be a lie.”
Death variable. How could one not wonder?
Sophien sneered.
One word.
“Julie. That woman denounces you.”