Into the Master's Memories (2)
Into the Master's Memories (2)
Spring.
"...I see nothing."
Melina's expression did not ease.
What in the world was truth? What could it possibly be, that it denied her even a fragment of it?
It was difficult. So impossibly difficult.
Knock, knock.
"Gold Tower Lord. The apprentices have all assembled."
"...Understood."
Melina rose from her seat. At times like this, she had to do something—anything—to clear her head.
There were four mages who had entered as apprentices. All of them were visibly tense. That was only natural.
The woman in front of them was the idol of every mage, one of the few who had reached the pinnacle.
"These are the candidates. Allow me to introduce them..."
Melina raised a hand and cut off the secretary's words.
Melina's gaze was fixed on one girl standing at the very end.
She was young. Nineteen, at the absolute most.
Yet the mana she possessed was vastly greater than any other mage here.
Had it been only that, it would not have drawn Melina's attention.
That face with a faint smile playing about it.
Confidence? No. Arrogance? Not that either.
That was composure. The girl possessed an emotion a mage was never supposed to have.
It piqued Melina's interest.
"You there. What is your name?"
"Olivia."
Melina's eyes narrowed.
"...Olivia."
She remembered.
Melina turned away. There was no need to evaluate the rest.
They were small fry who would be chased out long before they were ever appointed as formal mages.
'How far will that one climb?'
It was their first meeting.
*****
Plop.
"Hah, heavy as hell."
Olivia dumped Melina onto the floor without ceremony. Shards of shattered ice littered the area.
The traces of her honest conversation with Kiel weeks ago still remained. The moment she brought her hand to Melina's head, a familiar message window appeared.
[Regressor 'Melina Diviae' has been subdued without being killed!]
[Clue #2 acquired!]
A grin spread across Olivia's face.
"Yeah, that's more like it."
Regressor perks or not, knocking them out was the real answer.
[Clue #2]
[Memories of Imperial Year 990]
— Once per run, can glimpse Melina's memories.
'Year 990? Was that right after I entered the tower?'
It was the period when she had graduated early from the Academy and was grinding away as an apprentice mage.
Unlike most Magic Towers, the Gold Tower was unusually meritocratic. Nobility counted for nothing; a mage without ability was not acknowledged.
No—in the Gold Tower, if you lacked ability you never even made it to apprentice.
A place that gathered only the best of the best. A graveyard of geniuses. That was the Gold Tower.
'Wish I could pinpoint exactly when this was.'
Whether it was right after entering the tower, when she was appointed a formal mage, or when she became Melina's secretary-slash-doormat.
Knowing just that would have been a huge help.
Olivia stared at Melina trapped within the ice.
'...How should I handle it this time?'
The cases of Kiel and Melina were different. With Kiel, they had been friends; with Melina, they had been master and disciple.
Both had shown the same minus-100 Favorability, but the reason for their differing attitudes likely lay there.
Being betrayed by a friend and being betrayed by a disciple carried rather different nuances.
A mage's master-disciple relationship operates on a different axis from that of modern society. Because a master imparts a lifetime's worth of secret knowledge, they invest enormous care into selecting a disciple.
Ability was the baseline; the disciple also had to be promising, of good character, and genuinely had to pass every conceivable criterion.
'In the end, it means you have to be someone they like.'
Yes. And that process of becoming "someone they like" was infuriatingly, absurdly difficult.
Worse, it wasn't just anyone—it was about being appointed the disciple of Melina, the continent's most powerful Archmage. How high could the cutoff possibly be?
'Remembering how much I struggled back then...'
It was different from the situation with Kiel. Back then, merely holding a conversation had been easy.
This time, even exchanging a single word would be hard.
Still, what choice did she have?
Olivia brought her hand to Melina's head.
She had to do it.
To survive.
*****
"What you apprentices have to do is simple. First..."
Olivia opened her eyes. A mage was earnestly lecturing from the lectern.
A familiar face. Travis, senior mage of the Golden Magic Tower.
He was in charge of educating the new apprentices.
"You there. Don't take notes. I don't know your name, but if you lack the ability to remember even this much, you're better off giving up right now."
"Y-, yes, sir!"
Travis had no intention of saying anything kind to the apprentices. He had his own research waiting. He had no time to spare teaching newbies.
If anything, he hoped the new arrivals would burn out and collapse. Then he could get back to his own research.
'This is real early. Have we even met Melina yet?'
Olivia looked around. There was no sign of Melina. But she was certain to be somewhere.
After all, this was inside Melina's memory.
[Olivia]
- Level: 55
— Class: Intermediate Frost Mage
— Titles: Academy Valedictorian, Golden Magic Tower Apprentice Mage
The status screen had been stripped down considerably, and she had become much weaker. She had expected it, but her chest still ached.
Of course, even in this state she could still beat the mage named Travis. If she spared no means or method, she could even take down the elders.
But that was it.
Right now, Olivia was utterly weak.
'With this, there's practically nothing I can do.'
Producing a performance dramatic enough to impress Melina was out of the question. To startle her with magic, Olivia would have to be at least a high-ranking mage.
[A reward is granted for acquiring 2 Clues!]
[From now on, the timer only runs when you are together with a regressor!]
[Remaining Time: 5:00]
The one fortunate point was that the timer wasn't counting down.
'So I've got plenty of time to think.'
How could she attract Melina's interest?
The first thing you did when you entered a memory was make your own presence stand out.
By doing so, you made them see the Olivia of the Genocide Run and the current you as different people.
Truthfully, that part wasn't very difficult. You simply did the exact opposite of everything you'd done in the Genocide Run. But that alone wasn't enough.
'I have to make myself into the victim.'
She had to frame the Olivia of the Genocide Run as the worst bastard alive, and herself as the tragic heroine.
This was the most crucial part.
She could tell just from the way Kiel, who had come at her swinging a greatsword without warning, had swallowed his rage and withdrawn.
"That will be all for today."
The moment Travis finished speaking, one of the apprentices raised her hand. She had the unmistakable look of a gently raised noble daughter. But here in the Gold Tower, at least, she occupied the absolute bottom of the hierarchy.
"If it is not too much trouble, may I ask one question?"
Travis did not bother to hide his irritation. He checked his wristwatch and gave a nod.
"Thirty seconds."
"Why are the senior mages so terribly busy? Is it to advance your realms? Or does the Gold Tower hold something like a monthly seminar?"
"That's a stupid question."
Travis frowned.
"Listen well, newbie. If you want to brag to the world about how brilliant you are, get out right now and go to another tower. That sort of thing is worthless here. Our only goal is truth. Nothing else."
The young noble flinched. Travis ignored her and headed for the door.
"And I am not your 'senior.' Know your place—if you're an apprentice, act like one."
"...!"
Slam!
The door closed. The noble daughter's body trembled visibly. She had probably never imagined she would be humiliated this badly.
Watching the scene from the back, Olivia privately marveled.
'Wow, how the hell did I ever become friends with these bastards?'
It was enough to make her respect her past self.
When she had watched through a screen, she hadn't realized it, but now that she was here in person she could see they were completely merciless.
It was said that a tower followed the disposition of its Tower Lord.
Meaning, the Gold Tower mages had all become cold-blooded because Melina was a sociopath obsessed with truth.
So, anyway.
"Tch."
Olivia clicked her tongue and rose from her seat. She needed no directions. She knew the layout perfectly.
There was no way she'd forget a path she had walked thousands of times—it wasn't just once or twice.
Olivia climbed the stairs. And as she climbed, she thought.
How could she sear the name Olivia into Melina's memory?
Melina was a person who cared about nothing except truth. The only reason she remained the empire's Tower Lord was that the empire provided the most generous support, not because she had any other, external reason.
In the end, it came back to truth.
That was why, in the Genocide Run, she had proposed this:
—If you take me as your disciple, I will reach the truth in your stead.
Melina had accepted.
Because even Melina could see that Olivia was a genius, and at the time, Melina was in a state where she would have clutched at a straw.
She would have wanted to see the truth by any possible means.
But this time, she couldn't use that approach. At a mere level 55, she couldn't display such unparalleled prowess, and more to the point, it wouldn't distinguish this Run from the Genocide Run.
'It would only backfire.'
Then what should she do?
How could she make a proposal more enticing than that one?
Olivia went straight up to the top floor in a single stretch. Her destination was not Melina's office. It was literally the top floor—the rooftop.
In a place where nothing was visible but a golden roof, a ladder, and the setting sun, a single person was sitting.
At the same moment, time began to flow.
[Remaining Time: 4:59]
Melina did not even turn her head. She had no interest in the first place.
Only when Olivia had approached directly behind her did she issue an order to leave.
"Go back..."
"Truth."
Melina whipped her head around. Rage flared across her face.
A look that said: How dare you speak that word in front of me.
"You dare..."
But the next instant, Melina's eyes shifted to an expression of disbelief. She stared blankly at Olivia's hand.
It held a sheet of paper inscribed with a magic circle.
It was only paper.
Only a piece of paper scrawled on by a mere apprentice mage who had just entered the tower.
"..."
But on it was a fragment of the very truth Melina had so desperately craved.
She knew, because she had researched for hundreds of years. Those few words scratched onto the paper, those few lines, could not be exchanged for a thousand pieces of gold.
Olivia shoved the paper into her pocket.
She could not use magic. But her enlightenment remained as it was, and that was what made this stunt possible.
"How could you..."
Olivia smiled.
To become the tragic heroine, you first had to become an irreplaceable existence.
Only then, when you disappeared, would you be craved all the more and leave a greater void.
Olivia was certain.
"I can help you."
Melina could never refuse this offer.