Chapter 18
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 018
Chapter Title: First Encounter #1
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Estelle is a scary person.
And yet, for some reason, scary Estelle was free.
It felt like all the blood in my body was draining down to my soles.
‘Never provoke her!’
What I was worried about was Hermit.
Tremble tremble tremble.
She was so tense that her staff in her hand was rattling.
‘There’s this thing called Victimology.’
The study of who becomes victims of crime.
Research on victims.
For example, wandering around with doors unlocked in a slum teeming with thieves.
Or a woman traveling alone to a distant land full of lecherous men.
Victimology is the study of guys like Hermit, who’s trembling in front of the mad mage Estelle!
“…R-Reverse Heaven Archmage Estelle… She doesn’t seem to have her staff… If I strike first, maybe I can…”
You idiot, I said don’t provoke her!
No helping it.
“…Teacher!”
“Yeah? What is it, my disciple?”
“Last time we met, you were tied up tight, so this disciple is dying to know how you got free. Heh heh heh… I mean, I’m someone who ends up captured and restrained pretty often myself…!”
“That’s simple. After meeting my disciple, some people came looking for me. A huge guy with an axe, a hunter, and some white-bearded old geezer…”
Huge axe.
Hunter.
White-bearded old geezer.
Isn’t that the Handricks party we ran into at this academy last time?
“They seemed like they wanted to score big here at this academy. So I said if they let me go, I’d tell them about a spot with an insane reward.”
So that’s the deal that went down!
Who’d have thought the Handricks party we met would pull off something like this.
“Then it’s my turn to ask questions.”
Estelle soon crossed her arms.
Then she circled around Hermit.
Sniff sniff—she smelled her, or poked her side.
“Eek!”
At that moment, Hermit’s reaction was so good even I thought it was hilarious!
…Wrong!
I was doing everything Victimology says not to do.
“Wearing that pointed hat, you look like a magic tower graduate. A tower grad coming to the Great Wall? Pretty rare, huh? Not that I should talk.”
Srrr.
From between the tightly wrapped bandages, Estelle’s blood-red eyes gleamed thinly.
The vibe from those bloodshot eyes was pretty menacing.
Estelle raised her hand.
And smacked Hermit on the head.
Bonk.
“Ow!”
“You raccoon-faced wench. You’re the one who lured my disciple here, aren’t you? Curiosity-killed witches have been a problem in every era.”
“Ugh…!?”
Hermit clutched her head, the knuckle sandwich hurting that much.
Estelle continued in a stern voice.
“You two exploring the ‘Night’ alone? No way. Twin moons are up today, so you lucked out and made it this far. Just head back. I’ll open the exit for you.”
Estelle extended her palm.
And as she muttered a spell, a magic circle began glowing on the floor.
Perfect!
Time to bail outta here!
Never coming back!
That’s what I was thinking, but Hermit was the problem.
“…We even burned an ‘Ether Torch,’ we can’t just go back! The ‘conference’ is coming up soon.”
Hermit’s eyes, which had been shaking just moments ago, now shone with resolve and determination.
“You’re from the magic tower, right, Senior Estelle? Then you get what I mean.”
“Conference? No idea. It’s been too long since the tower; I’ve forgotten it all. This night’s demonic allure does that—makes you forget a lot.”
Srrr.
Estelle’s eyes slid back into the bandages.
“And I hate mages. But for my cute disciple’s sake, I’ll help you this once. You’re the one who gave my disciple my book, right? Consider this paying that debt.”
Estelle’s a mage.
But she hates mages?
“So. What does brave junior want from me, coming to this cursed land? I’ll answer anything. Anything. Just one.”
“…Familiar!”
Hermit shouted like she’d been waiting for it.
“Is there a familiar egg in this academy?”
“Hmm, that’s really what you want to know? I doubt it. With Reverse Heaven Archmage Estelle right in front of you, you’re really asking about a familiar?”
“…Familiar!”
Hermit shouted with hardened resolve.
Estelle chuckled in satisfaction. Heh heh heh.
“I thought you’d be some reckless kid, but you’re wiser than I figured. Scribbling big letters on small paper just dirties the paper. Some knowledge is better left unknown…”
Estelle waved her hand like fanning herself.
Feather pen and parchment popped out of thin air.
Scribble scribble.
“Here. Secret research wing address.”
“Then, Teacher! This disciple will take his leave! Have a peaceful night! Next time, I’ll bring tasty snacks!”
“Heh heh heh, sure. This teacher still has business at this academy, so I can’t leave yet. Everything’s great here except the food’s so lacking.”
“W-We… survived…”
Hermit let out a huge sigh after escaping the basement.
Like she’d been holding her breath the whole time and finally exhaled.
“Surviving in front of Estelle… I can’t believe it. It’s a miracle.”
“That bad?”
“Yeah! Know why Estelle got exiled from the tower? They say she killed mages and ate their brains. I almost got my brain eaten too…”
“Brains?”
What do those even taste like.
Just thinking about it made me wanna hurl—ugh.
“There was a rumor that eating a mage’s brain lets you steal the ‘blessing’ inside them. You need that blessing to become a mage, and it determines your rank too.”
“So if she ate your brain, could I use magic?”
“As if! It’s just a stupid rumor.”
Even if it wasn’t, I had zero desire to eat brains.
Heard somewhere that human bodies are full of heavy metals.
Stuff like that gives you heart disease and kills you.
Anyway, I got a fresh reminder of just how unhinged my teacher Estelle is.
Still, she really seems to cherish me as her disciple—her guidance was legit, and we made it to the academy’s first-floor research wing.
Not sure if it’s really the research wing or whatever, but since Hermit, who was deciphering ancient languages, said, “It says research lab,” it’s probably right.
Meaning Estelle didn’t lie to us.
“But how do we find an egg in a place this huge and wrecked—gah!”
Something caught my foot, and I faceplanted.
Heh, talk about bad luck.
As I rubbed my butt thinking that—something odd caught my eye.
“Power cable?”
A thick electrical wire stretched under my foot.
Cut this up and sell it to a scrap dealer, I’d get good money for the copper.
That’s what I was thinking when I followed where it led.
Blink, blink.
A lit-up tank, like an aquarium or something.
Bubble bubble.
It was filled with bubbling water, and in the center, floating round object grabbed my attention.
Ostrich egg-sized.
Smooth surface with colorful golden patterns.
“Fa… Familiar egg!”
Hermit was thrilled.
We hurried to the tank.
“Looks like we gotta solve some weird puzzle to open it.”
Hermit eyed the numpad like a keyboard, tense.
She grumbled.
“Can’t we just dispel it with magic? It’s gotta be a magic device.”
No keyhole meant it wasn’t a lock I could pick.
But? I’ve always been good with mechanical stuff like this.
“Step back.”
Bam!
I smashed the keypad with my gauntleted fist.
Crackle!
Sparks flew with a loud zap.
At the same time, the tank’s light died with a hum, cracks spiderwebbing the glass.
“Works like a charm.”
Crash!
Shwaaaa.
Glass shattered, a small wave rushing out.
And with it, the egg washed free.
“Let’s go! Hurry! Octopus spawn have sensitive hearing—they’ll come swarming at that noise.”
I stuffed the egg into my Black Satchel while scanning around.
Sure enough, from the empty halls that’d been dead quiet moments ago, slimy, sticky, creepy tentacle sounds started slithering.
“Hermit, hop on my back! Don’t make a sound!”
I hoisted Hermit onto my back right away.
She was so tense she clung tight—soap scent mixed with a bit of sweat.
This moment surprised me in several ways.
Even neat girls like Hermit sweat like me, huh.
And the soft squishy feeling against my back was pretty nice.
“Ooooh.”
“W-Why…!?”
“Shh.”
Hoo.
I steadied my breath.
Then, with Hermit on my back pointing the way with the Ether Torch, I moved slowly, super carefully.
Fwoosh… fwoosh.
The problem was our Ether Torch’s light was fading fast.
‘Meeting Estelle and finding the secret lab took too long.’
2 hours.
We were hitting the limit of time we could spend in the Night Land.
What happens when this torch goes out?
Curious, but I didn’t wanna know at all.
So where’s the exit?
Was there one within findable distance in like 10 minutes?
That’s when, as we wandered—
“Newbie, exit.”
Hermit whispered super tiny, eyeing a magic circle on the wall.
A round magic circle really was drawn on the wall.
But the light was flickering.
“The circle’s unstable. Twin moons messing with it? Looks like only one can go… What do we do? There’s two of us…”
Hoo.
Hermit sighed.
“Newbie, you go. I dragged you here anyway. You escape first; I’ll find the next exit.”
—What?
Her yielding like this here.
Added a line to my Hermit evaluation.
‘This girl’s a good one, despite the prickly first impression.’
Prime pushover material.
But the offer sucked.
“Hermit, if I go back without you, what was the point of coming? You said you’d reinforce my gear with spirit gold. What happens to that debt if you flop here?”
“…W-Well, yeah?”
“We gotta find a way out for both of us.”
Toss Hermit in the Black Satchel?
Might count as an item, letting me carry her out.
Of course, maybe not.
As I pondered options—
“…Actually, it’s not like I have zero ideas.”
Shh.
Hermit shoved the map Estelle drew in my face.
She dropped a bombshell.
“Map says there’s a boss room nearby. Bosses sometimes drop return scrolls, low chance. Newbie, if your blessed ‘luck’ shines again…”
“We both get out? But… can we two take down a boss monster?”
“You think I came here with no plan? You think Estelle’s the only mage who peeked at taboos?”
Hermit gripped my shoulders tight.
“If it’s do-or-die resolve—I do that every damn day!”