The History of Humans
Though the 'uninvited guests' known as the Cabal's underlings had forced their way in, the fortress war in the Frigod Autonomous Region ended in victory for humankind.
The people of the Gahal Tribe sang praises of their miraculous triumph.
But the Mimics would come again. Even with their forces slashed this time, unless the seeds of the Mimics hiding in the remaining thirty-nine fortresses were rooted out completely, it was a foregone conclusion that this war would someday end in humanity's defeat.
And then, an unexpected someone stepped forward.
Someone entirely surprising.
— Looking after the people's welfare is a noble's duty, isn't it? I needed to restore the Ivory Tower's tarnished honor step by step, and here's the perfect opportunity.
It was Serne.
She contacted the New Ivory Tower Headquarters and brought in several time artifacts recovered from the collapsed Tower of Time.
What she did next was simple.
She just scattered the time artifacts around the fortresses. The Mimics came swarming in droves and stood gazing blankly at the displays of human behavior the artifacts presented.
And the next day.
Something astonishing happened.
The Mimics began fighting among themselves.
To seize power. To secure food. To claim property for their own.
Within each fortress, they killed and were killed in an endless cycle.
Then the individuals who took a fortress and cemented their authority grew unsatisfied even with that, and led their Mimics to attack other fortresses.
A great war broke out among the thirty-nine fortresses.
One Mimic did manage to seize more than ten fortresses and build a powerful force — only to be betrayed and killed at the hands of a Mimic he had believed an ally.
The faction sustained by a single powerful Mimic's charisma collapsed, and its members started fighting among themselves all over again.
The monster scholars who observed this spectacle could hardly contain their shock. The Mimics' population had dwindled to an almost unbelievable degree — all because they were too busy killing each other.
They asked Serne. What on earth had she shown them?
She answered with a smile.
— Human history.
No doubt the Ivory Tower had filtered out the positive aspects of humanity, but what the Mimics had witnessed was undeniably history — real events that had truly occurred.
The monsters who had flourished by imitating humans were now, by imitating humans, plunging down the road to their own extinction.
The three-day, two-night Dullahan boot camp had come to an end.
The Butcher, defeated by Simon, had been escorted to Kizen headquarters, and the students — after enduring a brutal second night — had to rest briefly and then push straight through the third day's schedule.
Thus the Summoning Department students arrived back on Roke Island in the evening of the third day.
Everyone dragged themselves back to the dormitory, utterly spent.
"So in the end, Professor Rin and Professor Loon never showed up, huh."
Toto muttered as he flopped face-down onto his bed. Simon sat down on the neighboring bed and picked up the thread.
"The boot camp's over, but the Dullahan Special Lecture isn't. That's a separate thing."
This expedition had merely been one component of the Dullahan Special Lecture's curriculum. Starting next week, the lecture would resume its normal schedule on Roke Island.
"By the way."
Toto yawned, his face heavy with drowsiness, and went on.
"We fought so hard at the fortress, but we couldn't get a Guardian. Such a shame. How about you, Simon?"
"I, uh... did get one."
Simon gave an awkward smile and scratched the back of his head.
"It doesn't have a head."
"Huh?"
Toto bolted upright.
"Th-then what are you going to do? A Dullahan only carries its head — it's not an undead that literally has no head!"
He was right.
The corpse was effectively a useless, over-damaged loss.
The sensible choice would have been to simply scrap it and purchase a corpse of the other Dullahan materials — an Ogre Lord or an Abaddon — from a necromancer's shop.
But.
"I'm going to find a way to make it work."
Simon had no intention of taking the easy road.
"I'll substitute another undead's head."
"Wh-what are you talking about?"
Toto jumped up the moment he heard the idea.
"You learned this too, Simon! The Dullahan's Rune of Linking only works because the head and body, though severed, belong to the same undead! Building a Dullahan out of mismatched parts is impossible!"
Simon leaned back slowly against the headboard.
"And we learned something else, too."
— You may laugh at me now, but history will prove my research right.
"The first necromancer to create a Dullahan. In his day, the common wisdom held that a decapitated corpse was worthless — but he overturned that wisdom and ended the age of knights."
Staring up at the ceiling, Simon's eyes gleamed.
"I want to change the common wisdom too."
The next morning.
After their major classes, the students had a general-education course waiting for them — Jane's Dark Magic Mechanics — for the first time in a while.
And it was the final Dark Magic Mechanics lecture before midterms.
Simon arrived at the lecture hall early, took a suitable seat, and stretched luxuriously.
He was savoring the peaceful routine he hadn't enjoyed in so long, lazily pulling out his textbook, when—
"Simon~"
He turned his head, and his face lit up at once.
"Ah, Cami!"
Camibarez came trotting toward him, her adorable bat wings fluttering furiously. Stopping at the seat beside his, she beamed.
"It's really been forever, Simon!"
"Yeah."
Simon smiled awkwardly.
"The dispatch evaluation, then the boot camp back-to-back — we haven't had a single moment to even say hello. You've been well?"
"Yes! It was midterm season, so nothing too major happened at the Student Council!"
"That's a relief."
The wings of Camibarez, who had been chattering away with a bright smile, drooped slightly.
"W-was there... anything unusual at the Ivory Tower?"
"Ah."
Simon scratched his head.
"I'll explain everything, step by step, once Dick and Mayrin are here too. Why do you ask?"
"It's just..."
Camibarez fidgeted with her hands and feet.
"Since the Ivory Tower incident, Mayrin's been a little off."
Simon's heart lurched.
Come to think of it, Mayrin had crossed over to the Ivory Tower right after the dispatch evaluation to find out what had happened. Even after returning to Kizen, she hadn't seemed like herself.
"What do you mean, off?"
"...Ah, n-no, she still smiles and acts like normal. It's more that she seems to have a lot on her mind. Like the worry has deepened on her face."
Apparently, he would need to set aside some time and talk things through with Mayrin, slowly and properly.
For now, he had arrived early and time remained before class. Simon stepped out of the lecture hall to visit the restroom first.
"Oh, Simon! Long time no see!"
Jane's Dark Magic Mechanics course drew most of the entire A-Class, so there were plenty of familiar faces around. Apart from the department students who addressed him as 'President' or 'Top Seat,' the A-Class students simply called him by his name.
Simon was exchanging warm greetings with them as he walked along when—
Ta-da-da-dak!
A familiar head of sky-blue hair came into view. Simon flinched and ducked behind a pillar.
That's Mayrin!
But she wasn't alone. She was dragging someone along by the wrist.
"Mayriiin! You're hurting Serry's wriiist~"
The one being dragged was none other than Serne. Mayrin was hauling her somewhere with a face so rigid it was frightening.
What's going on?
Simon quickly masked his presence and followed.
The two of them went outside and rounded into the deserted back of a building.
Thud!
Mayrin shoved Serne against the wall and spoke in a voice like a blade.
"Tell me exactly what happened at the Ivory Tower."
"Scary~ Mayrin."
Serne trembled her shoulders in mock fear.
"If you push Serry around that roughly, I won't be able to say a single word."
"...Haah."
Ordinarily she would have answered with a look of pure contempt, but Mayrin pressed a hand to her forehead, let out a long sigh, and stepped back.
"Talk. I have every right to know about this too."
"But, Mayrin. You went to the Ivory Tower, didn't you?"
Serne tilted her head.
"You'd have heard everything from Lady Daniela. That's all I know."
"Is that so."
Mayrin's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Then how about the Frozen Clock?"
For the first time, a hairline crack ran through Serne's smile. Simon, eavesdropping in secret, felt his heart lurch too.
"You came back knowing everything, so stop dodging and talk."
Mayrin said, twin flames kindled in her eyes. Her two small fists were clenched hard enough to crush stone.
"Dismantling the Absolute Seal on the Frozen Clock was the Ivory Tower's long-cherished project, wasn't it? A plan from before I was born — before my father and grandfather were even born. The project to relocate the Ivory Tower to the Neutral Zone."
Serne bit her lip lightly, and Mayrin's blue eyes flared.
"But only an Absolute Seal can undo an Absolute Seal. And breaking one requires the sacrifice of the caster's own life."
"......."
"Am I right?"
Serne let out a small sigh.
"True. So what?"
"Could it be that you—"
Mayrin's voice began to tremble with unease.
"—tried to claim the Tower Master's seat because... maybe..."
Serne silently held out her open palm.
Shaaaaaaaash!
A magic circle drew itself in the air, and suddenly a vast array of ice-domain formulas unfolded overhead. Mayrin flinched and looked up at them.
"Formulas for breaking the Absolute Seal."
Serne smiled sweetly.
"Former Tower Master Vermund developed them personally. If you have talent for the ice domain, these formulas let you dismantle an Absolute Seal without any side effects. The fact that the seal came undone this time was thanks to them, too."
"......."
"Please. The notion that only an Absolute Seal can undo an Absolute Seal is three-hundred-year-old common knowledge. Question answered?"
Mayrin's pupils wavered, her expression a tangle of emotions — and then—
"Ugh, I want to scream!"
She exploded.
"I was an idiot for thinking, even for a second, that you might— that you might— do something like that!"
Back to her usual self, Mayrin spun sharply on her heel. Serne hurried over and looped her arm through hers.
"Oh my, and what exactly is this 'something like that' I supposedly might do? Leaving already? Come play with Serry~"
"Get off me!"
Mayrin shoved Serne away and pointed at her face with her index finger. There!
"You! Postponing your appointment as Tower Master was a mistake! Just you watch! After I graduate from Kizen, I'll be the one sitting in that seat!"
Serne snickered — keke — and ran her tongue over her lips.
"Good luck with that~ mediocrity."
"Shut up!"
Mayrin stomped off in a huff, and Simon let out a long breath of relief.
Thump.
Then his head snapped back around. Serne was sliding down against the wall, her back to it, and sank to the ground, exhaling a long, long breath.
Hidden behind the curtain of her long hair, whatever expression she wore could not be seen.
"......."
He had no right to comfort her.
Not he. Not anyone on this continent.
Hang in there, Serne.
Simon rose slowly to his feet and moved on.
And a little farther off, he saw a sky-blue-haired girl crouched low, one hand pressed to her chest, her shoulders shaking.
Hang in there, Mayrin.
The same moment.
Roke Island's dock.
"Step aside for a moment, please!"
"Coming through!"
A crew of sailors who had just disembarked from an enormous ship were swiftly moving something wrapped in heavy packing.
Whatever it was, it was dangerous — layer upon layer of sealing magic shimmered across the packaging.
"Right on schedule."
Behind them stood a girl whose cream-colored hair fluttered in the sea breeze.
Having finished signing off on the safe delivery, she gazed at the sealed crate and smiled.
"I wonder — will you all have it ready in time, before class lets out?"