Into the Master's Memories (3)
Into the Master's Memories (3)
"H-hand it over this instant!"
The paper in my pocket had vanished.
By the time I noticed the strange flow of mana, the paper was already in Melina's hand. But I made no move to snatch it back.
I simply watched in silence.
"..."
Melina hurriedly checked the contents. She constantly glanced back and forth between the paper and the air, scribbling something. The golden formulas traced in the void grew more and more numerous. The formulas stretched on without end. The golden light grew brighter, illuminating the surroundings like a lighthouse.
Then, at some point, Melina's hand stopped dead.
The knowledge permitted to her ended there.
"More..."
Melina started to speak, then stopped. Her throat burned.
"Show me just a little more. Th-this isn't enough. I can finally see it. Just a little more and I can see it..."
Her golden eyes trembled madly.
"I won't ask how you, no. I won't ask how you know this. I won't ask who you are either. So, so please..."
"Just a little, just a little more, please."
Melina's hands shook. Her posture lowered even further. She was a person who could kneel to an apprentice mage without hesitation, if only she could know the Truth.
Now she looked as if her head would touch the ground.
A demon wearing a girl's skin? No, demons cannot reach the Truth. Beings made of desire could offer everything else, but they could never offer the Truth.
If demons could have shown her the Truth, she would have fallen without a second's hesitation.
"P-please..."
Thump.
"Get up."
I seized Melina's shoulders and pulled her upright. Melina normally permitted no physical contact, but in that moment, she had no choice.
I met Melina's eyes. She was slightly taller than me.
"Hup, there. Now we're on eye level. From now on, when you talk to me, don't lower your head."
I gave Melina a reassuring smile. I didn't know how she would take it, but at least she could infer my general disposition.
"Wh-what do you want? I'll do anything..."
"And don't use formal speech with me from now on. What would other people think of me?"
"B-but..."
"Please treat me casually. That's how I'll be comfortable."
"Underst—understood. No, understood."
I slowly opened my mouth.
"I have a condition."
"Y-yes. I'll grant anything."
Melina nodded frantically. She was practically ready to agree to anything. If it was something she could give, she intended to give it. If it was something she couldn't give, she intended to obtain it somehow and present it.
"I'll obtain it somehow, somehow..."
"Stop."
I lifted Melina's drooping head again. I straightened her shoulders and made her stand tall.
"Act like you usually do. It'd be even better if you smiled, but... We'll work on that gradually."
I stroked my chin.
"Anyway, I have only one condition. Accept me as your disciple."
"O-of course I accept! Not a slave, but becoming a disciple is nothing..."
Melina, who had been about to take my hand, froze.
Then she slowly replayed my words in her mind.
Melina's expression grew strange.
"Just now... What did you...?"
"I asked you to accept me as your disciple."
Melina's eyes widened. It looked as if she was asking, 'Why?'
"Can't you?"
"N-no! Of course I can!"
Whether the request to be accepted as a disciple was mockery, or a roundabout way of saying she would enslave me, it didn't matter.
Nothing mattered.
"Then take me as your disciple right now..."
"Not right now, in a little while."
Why...?
Melina was bewildered but nodded for now.
I sat down on the edge of the roof. As if telling her to come sit, I patted the spot next to me with my hand.
Outside had grown completely dark. Melina sat beside me as instructed, but she couldn't focus on the scenery at all.
'...Why?'
No matter how she thought about it, the girl before her was no mere apprentice mage. Even she, who had lived for hundreds of years, had never dared glimpse the Truth. Not even a Fragment of it.
But the girl before her was different.
'She's touched it.'
Though she appeared weaker than Melina, she had undoubtedly touched the Truth.
She considered whether she might be a polymorphed dragon, but that made no sense either.
She knew because she had met dragons who had obtained the title of Lord. They were certainly powerful, capable of killing hundreds of thousands with a single spell, but they were not vessels fit to reach the Truth.
Dragons were indolent and lazy by nature. A species that devoted most of its life to sleep and such, they lacked any sense of purpose in the first place. Naturally, they had no will to perceive the Truth.
Neither a demon nor a dragon.
Then all that remained was a human.
But no matter how she thought about it, that was impossible. This wasn't a matter of talent or genius. The Truth was not so cheaply bestowed on someone who had lived a mere day or two.
Perhaps, no. Most likely, the girl before her was not a girl at all.
'One of the sages unrecorded in history?'
The only remaining possibility, no matter how she thought about it.
Then the question returned to square one.
Why would she share enlightenment obtained through such hardship with Melina, a total stranger?
Melina simply could not understand.
"Um..."
Just as Melina turned her head to dare ask a question, a voice came from behind.
"In a little while, I'll come up here."
At some point, I had moved near the ladder leading to the rooftop.
Already up here, yet coming up again? Melina couldn't grasp my meaning at all.
'Is there some hidden meaning?'
Seeing Melina's blank face, I let out a small laugh. I demonstratively put my foot on the ladder.
"I'll go down to the first floor and come back up, so please wait a little while until then."
"Y-yes..."
"What did I just say?"
"...Head up, shoulders back?"
"Right. You know it well. If possible, please look as dignified as you can. That suits you better, Master."
"..."
The sound of me climbing down the ladder grew distant. I heard the soft thud of my feet landing in the corridor. I heard the sound of me using Blink.
Melina listened to the fading sounds.
One minute, two, three...
About ten minutes passed.
Just when she began to wonder if she had been made a fool.
Clunk.
She heard someone climbing up the ladder.
'Sh-she's coming!'
She was convinced it had been the longest ten minutes in her two-hundred-year life.
Melina hastily straightened her appearance. She smoothed her crumpled robes with magic and took out an oak staff she didn't normally even use.
It felt like playing the clown, but what was a little shame compared to being shown the Truth?
If she could just be shown the Truth, she would somersault all the way from here to the eastern port city.
Thump.
At last, I stood before her again, the girl she had waited and waited for.
I flinched.
I stared at Melina standing before me with a surprised face, as if I hadn't expected this situation.
'...Did I make a mistake?'
Inwardly tense, Melina kept her face as solemn as possible and simply waited for me to speak.
"Gold Tower Lord. Please accept me as your disciple."
"Very well. I shall accept you as my disciple."
"...?"
"...?"
A brief silence flowed. I was the first to speak.
"Uh, um... You're just accepting me? With no other conditions?"
Melina's face grew strange.
What in the blazes was this situation now?
"Conditions?"
"Yes, conditions. You haven't taken a single disciple in over a hundred years, Gold Tower Lord."
"...That is true. Is that a problem?"
"No, it's just... Hmm..."
I gaped for a long moment. Watching me, Melina wondered what on earth could have displeased me.
"Uh... Then am I really your disciple, Lady Melina?"
"Y-yes. Correct. From now on, you are my disciple."
"..."
"...Shall I make it head disciple?"
There probably wasn't much difference anyway.
*****
Melina opened her eyes. Though she couldn't see outside because of the blackout curtains, it was clearly morning.
Exactly two days had passed since that strange incident.
And the previous morning, Melina had publicly acknowledged me as her disciple in front of everyone.
'...Nngh.'
Melina frowned and rummaged through her pocket.
The paper with the wondrous formulas.
This paper flatly denied that the events of that night had been a dream.
That made it even harder to understand.
Just what on earth was Olivia thinking?
'Is she testing me?'
Tilting her head, Melina stepped out of her office. The secretary waiting to greet her at the door flinched.
"Y-you're awake?"
"Never mind that. Where is Olivia?"
Looking for her disciple the moment she woke up in the morning.
The secretary simply could not recover from the shock.
"Olivia is currently in the dining hall."
"Was her room moved up?"
"For now, to the forty-third floor. There were no other available spaces, so... My apologies."
From the fortieth floor onward, rooms are assigned only to elders.
So the fact that Olivia's room had been assigned to the forty-third floor meant she was already afforded authority equal to the elders.
No, wait. As a disciple, wouldn't her actual rank be higher than that?
'She only arrived three days ago!'
There had never been such an outrageous case of parachuting.
But no one could object. It wasn't just anyone who had pulled strings for her—it was the Gold Tower Lord herself.
To object would be to declare Melina's judgment flawed, so knowing that, everyone could only fall all over themselves to stay in line.
"Understood."
-Fwoosh.
Melina's form vanished from sight. Watching her head to her disciple without a moment's hesitation, the secretary considered the matter seriously.
'...Is it her time to die?'
They said people died when they started doing things they had never done before.