Research Material
The old mage had appeared without warning, and the place he'd dragged me to was a sheer cliff face that stretched impossibly high. Carved into one section of that rock wall was a cave that looked for all the world like a giant bird's nest. The old man stepped inside as if he'd done it a thousand times. My body, of course, remained suspended in midair.
The others are going to be worried sick.
I smiled bitterly, thinking of those three rascals. They'd assume I was dead, no question about it. I'd have to clear that up later. I didn't want them carrying that kind of guilt around for no reason.
Of course, surviving this place comes first.
I couldn't so much as guess at this old man's identity. The one thing I knew for certain was that he was strong — strong enough that I didn't even need the Third Eye to tell. He felt like someone who sat high even among mages. One wrong move, and I was dead.
"Sir, if it isn't too much trouble — might I ask why you brought me here?"
"Impatient, aren't you. I never understand why you commoners are always in such a rush. Just follow me. We'll talk once we're inside."
The mage didn't slow down. I had no choice but to trail after him — and then a wave of nausea rolled through me without warning. I thought for a second he was attacking me, but that didn't seem to be it. Something about this space itself was giving off a sensation I couldn't put into words.
In that instant, the Third Eye etched into my arm snapped open. The sickness wrapping my body vanished all at once.
The Third Eye can do that, too?
"Hm?"
The mage turned, and the eye slammed shut.
"Hey. Did you just do something?"
"Pardon?"
I blinked, just as lost as I sounded. The mage narrowed his eyes at me, then let it go.
"Well. Not like you could do anything anyway."
The courtesy in his manner was starting to pick up a layer of contempt. To him, I was a monkey. Still, it meant he didn't suspect a thing — and from that little exchange, I'd learned something important.
This mage can sense the Third Eye.
He was on a completely different level from the eccentric mage who'd been staying at the hospital. Other mages might be able to do the same. I'd have to be more careful from now on.
"We're here."
The world lurched. I squinted, forcing my vision back into focus, and found myself standing in a room. Elegant furniture lined the walls, interspersed with strange instruments I'd never seen before. There were books, too — an astonishing number of them. I'd heard the capital had a library that was supposed to be a paradise of books. I imagined it looked something like this.
"Sit."
I took a seat as instructed. The mage flicked his fingers, and a pair of chairs walked over to us as if they were alive. So this was his home, then. I'd never set foot in a mage's house before. Everything about it felt strange and new.
"You can look all you want. Doesn't mean you'll understand any of it."
"That's fair."
"Quick to accept things. I like that."
He sank back into a plush sofa, and the thing swallowed him like water. I hadn't known a sofa like that existed in this world.
"Ohh. A mage drags you here, and it's curiosity lighting up your eyes instead of fear. Even a commoner is a different breed when he's got mana in him."
"You can sense my mana, sir?"
"Ha. A mage who can't sense mana is nothing but a husk. Those types are a disgrace to the profession."
For a mage, he had a surprisingly human way about him.
"Which school do you belong to, sir?"
"Oh? A commoner who knows about the schools?"
"I'm a monster hunter, so I run into mages now and then."
"As if those pint-sized brats could hunt monsters. The mages these days are just too damn lazy. That's the problem."
So even mages had a "kids these days." As far as I could tell, they were beings who lived with something close to infinite lifespans.
"To answer your question — I left my school a long time ago. Those places were never any fun."
A lone-wolf mage, then. Same breed as the eccentric one.
"I've answered plenty of your questions. My turn now, I trust."
"Ah — yes."
"Same question I asked you at the start. Commoner. How can you see the Dragon's Eye?"
"The Dragon's Eye?"
"That's right. You said it yourself. That the monster was covered in red eyes."
"Yes, it was, but—"
"Those aren't something your kind can see."
Damn. So that was it. Now I understood why he'd brought me here.
"Even the worthless husks among us mages can't see them. There aren't many left in this era who can."
Even mages can't see them?
The fact hit me like a blow to the skull. Cold sweat ran down my back, but I held my expression steady. If I slipped up here, he might tear me apart and dissect me on the spot. The man sitting across from me wore a kindly smile, but he was a mage. I'd sooner trust a gambler.
"Well? Answer. If you don't know, I could always flip your brain inside out and take a look — but then I wouldn't be able to put it back. I'd rather not lose a valuable research sample, so tell me everything that comes to mind."
He said something that vicious as if he were commenting on the weather. That was how much a commoner's life was worth to him.
His eyes settled on me, perfectly still. My body flinched on instinct from that gaze alone. Pressure. A wrongness that didn't belong. From somewhere deep in my gut, a primal, animal terror began to rise.
Mages were beings who had stepped beyond the limits of living things. Even monsters were nothing but prey and playthings before them. And humans — the ones those monsters fed on — were even less than that. I knew that better than anyone.
But if I gave ground here, it was over. I straightened my back. Show fear against a monster and you lose. A mage was no different. An ordinary human facing a creature like that had no choice but to stand tall. No fear. Just conviction.
"I have Mana Stone Sclerosis."
A rare disease, famous even among commoners — and fatal enough that most patients died before anyone could study it. And then, carefully:
"I was attacked by a monster not long ago, and the sclerosis appeared after that. Couldn't that be the cause?"
I wove the monster in on purpose. I'd heard that even for mages, monsters weren't a fully deciphered domain. There was a reason they spent day and night collecting monster mana stones. If something strange happened because of a monster, they wouldn't find it all that surprising.
"Hrm. A monster, you say."
He stroked his chin slowly. I had told him only the truth. I might have left things out, but I hadn't lied. What happened next was up to him. I'd been dragged here — I didn't have a choice. All I could do was claw for whatever scrap of survival I could find. I had no power to do anything to a mage. Not yet.
But if.
If he decided to kill me — then I would bite back, like a cornered rat. Even if it was meaningless. I wouldn't let my life go to waste.
My fighting spirit aside, the mage had sunk into thought.
"A case where a monster's mana flowed into the body? But an ordinary commoner's body shouldn't be able to withstand that. Ah. Hence the sclerosis."
He was working through it out loud. I could only hope he landed somewhere that didn't involve me dying.
After a long while, he finished arranging his thoughts and looked at me steadily. I didn't look away. I wanted to read whatever was moving behind those eyes.
"Shall I dissect you?"
The instant the words left his mouth, I quietly coiled every muscle I had, careful not to let him notice. The second I saw even a hint of magic, I would lunge.
"No. Never mind. No reason to waste a valuable sample. You there — you said you have Mana Stone Sclerosis."
"Ah. Yes."
"And you know how to cure it?"
"...I was told it would be resolved if I became a mage."
Simple enough to say. Practically impossible to do.
"Heh heh. Some backwater fool must have taught you that. Well, he's not wrong. Become a mage and you're fine."
So it was the same answer here. I was starting to feel a little bleak about it when the mage grinned.
"What's with the long face? It's a simple solution."
"I'm sorry? A simple solution, sir?"
"Exactly what I said. Become a mage and it's over."
I stared at him, dumbfounded. That was the whole problem. It was hard. Maybe he thought anyone could become a mage just because he was one.
"Of course, the commoners who can actually become mages are vanishingly rare. Nothing matters more to a mage than talent."
"Yes. And so?"
"But you already have that talent."
I blinked at him, dazed. I had no idea what kind of nonsense I was hearing. I had a mage's talent?
"Mana."
Points of blue light began to well up one by one from the mage's palm. They lifted off and started orbiting around him like a swarm of fireflies.
"There's mana in your body. That means you've already met the minimum requirement to become a mage."
The meaning clicked into place. Mana Stone Sclerosis only existed if there was mana already inside you. And that was the first condition for becoming a mage.
"Those school types, bloated on their own privilege, love to make being a mage sound grand and exclusive. But they're all the same in the end. Husks only ever see other husks. Anyone with the talent can become a mage."
"...Then you're saying I can become one?"
"From here on, that depends on how hard you work."
My heart started hammering. Of course it did. To me, mages were hateful, arrogant creatures — untouchable monsters, tyrants, every last one of them. And yet somewhere deep in my chest, there had always been a longing. A pure, simple yearning for mages — for the ones who held enough power to do anything they wanted.
Overwhelming strength was the finest instrument of justice there was. Justice without power was just words. To see justice through, you needed strength more than anything else.
"I can do it."
And now a mage had looked at me and said, with certainty, that I could become one of them. A shiver ran through my entire body, raising every hair I had.
I can do it. I can become a mage. I can take strength into my own hands. I can see justice through.
"Sir. I'll do anything."
The sclerosis was just a pretext. I wanted to become a mage more than anyone. I wanted to be someone with the power to carry out a justice that didn't bend.
"Would you tell me what I need to do to become one?"
The mage had taken a liking to me. He wouldn't have bothered mentioning that I could become a mage unless he'd done it on purpose. He'd been testing my will. So I grabbed hold. I would seize this chance and make it mine.
The mage met my burning eyes and the corner of his mouth curled up.
"I don't take disciples."
The orbs of mana orbiting around him shattered all at once.
"But raising research material isn't so bad."
It was an extremely unsettling smile. But I'd already stepped into this. There was no way back.
"...I'll learn like my life depends on it."
"That's the spirit. Work hard. Otherwise I'll dispose of you."
Now I had a real reason to try.