The Academy's Savior

With Ryu Hana standing before me, I poured mana into the Azure Dragon Spear ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in my hand. Water formed around the weapon, defying gravity as it swirled in every direction. Watching those unreal currents, I almost felt as though we were already underwater.

I accept.

The currents gathered into a single ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠point in midair and formed a gate leading into the dungeon.

I looked at Ryu Hana. Resolve burned in her eyes as she nodded. She grabbed my shoulder, and the dungeon swallowed us both ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as if it had been waiting for exactly that.

Another ??? special dungeon… Laplace's handiwork again, no doubt.

I clenched my teeth. If I ever got the chance, I would kill Laplace.

Ryu Hana and I stood atop Namsan Tower.

Once again, the dungeon had placed us in Seoul. Of all the places I knew, this city was the most familiar—the natural stage for my trials.

The last dungeon had used Seoul for the same reason. Before she started living in the dorms, Ryu Hana had spent her entire life here as well.

"Ryu Hana. This time, we stick together."

Last time, I hadn't known about the variable called Laplace, so I'd let her move on her own.

"Understood."

She nodded calmly. Her eyes, though, blazed with fighting spirit.

I raised the Azure Dragon Spear and looked out over Seoul. It wasn't quite the city I knew. There weren't enough tall buildings, and even accounting for a weekday, the number of people on Namsan Tower was sparse.

Seoul is… a mess. Whole sections of the city are wrecked. Don't they ever rebuild?

The atmosphere of what should have been the most vibrant city on the peninsula hung cold and heavy.

I asked someone nearby for the year.

"Ryu Hana. You've probably already figured it out, but this dungeon is set in the past. Anywhere you want to go?"

Her gaze drifted toward Seocho-dong.

"…No. Nowhere in particular."

"Then how about this—want to check out the Academy? It's the old Academy. Aren't you curious?"

My real target was Seong Ha-ri. In this year, she would still be enrolled there.

"This is just a dungeon. Does it even matter?"

"I'm curious what the old Academy was like. Changing things here won't rewrite reality… but we might learn something that's been forgotten. Of course, if this is a parallel world, it could be completely different."

"Fine. Let's go to the Academy."

We came down from Namsan Tower and headed for the parking garage. I scanned the lot, then walked straight to a luxury sports car, smashed the window, and forced the door open. Ryu Hana blinked at the violence of it.

"…Is that okay?"

"This world has nothing to do with reality. People, objects—everything here is fake. Don't forget that."

I took the driver's seat; she climbed into the passenger side.

"How are you going to start it?"

Fair point. Breaking in didn't mean the engine would turn over, and starting a car required a key.

Hacking would solve it, but…

I tapped the watch on my wrist. With a metallic clatter, it seemed to shatter—then reshaped itself into a tiny human form.

"Behold! I have arrived!"

Makina appeared with both hands on her hips, chin tilted in pure arrogance. Summoning a contracted spirit inside this dungeon was normally impossible, but bringing one in with you was another matter entirely.

"…A fairy?"

A cute little figure about sixty centimeters tall. Given that adorable appearance, it was no surprise Ryu Hana thought of a fairy before a spirit.

"She's a machine spirit. A pretty special one."

"Hi! I'm Makina! ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Who're you?"

"……Ryu Hana."

"Your name's Hana! That's a great name! Nice to meet you!"

Makina raised her tiny hand. Ryu Hana, caught off guard, lifted hers as well. Two palms of wildly different sizes met with a soft clap.

"Makina. Start the car."

A trickle of mana drained from me.

The engine roared to life. I gripped the wheel.

"Can't even start a car yourself? Want me to drive instead?"

"I'll handle the driving. Just sit still. Please."

"Hmph."

Makina whipped her head away from me and plopped herself down on Ryu Hana's thigh. Ryu Hana looked flustered and unsure what to do, but she didn't seem to mind. Makina's cute looks worked on her too.

"Let's go, Holy Knight! I'll be watching how well you drive!"

"I'll give you a smooth ride."

I was confident behind the wheel. I wasn't the old me anymore. If I entered a racing competition, I was sure I could take first place.

I floored the accelerator and brought us up to a hundred kilometers an hour in a single breath.

"Oh, not bad."

"…Too fast."

Makina was delighted. Ryu Hana's face went rigid. She held Makina's stomach with one hand and clung to the door with the other.

Whoops.

I eased off immediately. We weren't here to joyride. A police tail would be a headache.

"What? Why'd you slow down? Speed up!"

"Shut it."

I ignored Makina's grumbling and held a sensible speed.

"Hana, the Holy Knight is a terrible driver, isn't he? If I'd been driving, we'd be going twice as fast. Ah, I really want to show you my skills. Holy Knight! Let me drive!"

Makina chattered without pause. Ryu Hana seemed to find her adorable—she stroked Makina's head with the careful gentleness of someone petting a fragile kitten. Makina didn't pull away. Seong Ha-ri had ruffled her hair so often that she'd grown used to it.

To escape Makina's endless noise, I turned on the radio. Instead of upbeat music, a calm female announcer's voice filled the car.

Boring news. I changed the channel.

Static crackled.

More static.

Harsh static.

Static.

I kept flipping through the stations. Not a single one played music. All of them were news. Roughly three-tenths of it was good news; the rest was monster disasters.

I knew the nineties were chaotic… but this bad?

I looked out the car window with fresh eyes. Cracked asphalt, partially collapsed buildings, toppled streetlights and trees, overturned sidewalks. Seen again, Seoul was desolate enough to send a chill down the spine.

And for Seoul, there are far too few people. Recovery from this kind of damage wouldn't be easy…

An unplaceable unease settled over me as I drove steadily toward Maruhan Academy in Gangwon Province.

The Academy buildings were a little different from the modern ones as well.

The location was the same, but the structures were older and smaller. Where a commercial district should have been, there was only empty space.

The shopping strip in front of the Academy doesn't form until the early 2000s, so this scenery makes sense.

I drove straight through the Academy entrance without hesitation. A guard was posted there—an active hero, by the look of him. He ambled over toward the car.

"This is Maruhan Academy. Are you affiliated with the Academy?"

"Can't you tell from our clothes? These are Academy uniforms."

"……Why would a student have a car— ghhk!"

I used Charna and drove a strike into the guard's throat. In that single moment of carelessness, he died instantly and crumpled. I got out, stuffed the corpse into the trunk, and Makina handled the entrance CCTV. Being lunchtime, there was only one guard—convenient.

I opened the gate and got back in the car. Ryu Hana's face had gone hard as stone.

The favorability I'd built up over two weeks of sparring had dropped by four points.

"…Did you have to kill the guard?"

"We're outsiders. We have no identities. And like I said before—this world is fake. Don't forget that."

"……There must have been a way to sneak in."

"The barrier makes that impossible. You know that."

"……."

Ryu Hana looked ready to argue, then seemed to give up and pressed her lips shut.

The sports car rolled into Maruhan Academy. I parked in the lot.

Stepping onto Academy ground, I felt a strange awkwardness. The Academy of roughly twenty years ago had a different air entirely—heavy, maybe, or stifling. I scratched my neck for no good reason. Makina fluttered up and latched onto the back of my head.

If I said anything, she'd snap right back, so I decided to ignore her.

"Ryu Hana. Anywhere you want to go?"

"Not really."

She truly seemed to have no interest in the past Maruhan Academy. I nodded.

"We need to get a sense of the layout first. Let's wander around a bit."

My destination was the Spear Department.

In this era, the Spirit Department would be at its peak—but Seong Ha-ri, with her Spirit Devourer trait, had enrolled in the Spear Department instead of the Spirit Department.

I'd rather avoid the crowded main building… and since it's lunchtime, better skip the cafeteria too.

I headed for the Spear Department building as I remembered it. A large, newly constructed building stood solidly in place. I checked the interior through a window. Students holding bows. The Archery Department.

I called out to a passing Archery student.

"Hey. Do you know where the Spear Department is?"

The student looked at me with puzzled eyes.

"You don't know where the Spear Department is?"

"I'm not in the Spear Department. I'm Magic."

A crackle of current sparked between my index finger and thumb. The Archery student saw the electricity and nodded, mistaking it for magic.

Surprisingly, people who weren't mages themselves often couldn't tell a trait from actual magic.

"If you're Magic, I guess it makes sense you wouldn't know. The Spear Department is over there."

"…On the back mountain?"

"A friend in Spear told me the mountain's a good environment for training, or something like that."

"Thanks for the tip."

I thanked the Archery student and headed for the back mountain.

At the Maruhan Academy I attended, there was no back mountain. The Sword Department stood there instead. They must have leveled the mountain a few years later and put up a new building.

Never mind clearing the mountain—seeing the Sword Department go up there means something big must happen in a few years.

The Spear and Sword Departments were mortal enemies. They snarled at each other on sight. Cooperation between them was vanishingly rare.

As we drew near the back mountain, the Spear Department building came into view. The rustic structure was large enough to rival the main building.

Just then, the entrance to the Spear Department opened and someone walked out. Long black hair, a pale face, and an exceptionally fine figure—a female student.

Seong Ha-ri.

She saw me, and her eyes went wide.