Chapter 70
Chapter 70
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: Academy Difficulty Escalation Culprit 2
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"Hey, Lorey. Anything else special happen outside?"
"Tower Master. Didn't I even tell you the color of that beastkin thief's underwear?"
"Not that. Something... else."
"Something, huh..."
For the Violet Magic Tower Master, who was trying to squeeze every last bit of info on her junior, the so-called 'Face-Scar Senior' Lorey racked her brains through yet another flashback.
I think I already mentioned how my adventurer friend got launched by an ogre's fire club because of Junior. I'm itching to do my own research now—can't she just leave? Was there anything I hadn't told her?
Aha.
Lorey snapped her fingers.
"When I saw Junior didn't grasp how scary golems are, I thought it was a good chance, so I set up a fight with a cleaning golem."
"Gasp...! Why'd you do that, Lorey?! What if you traumatized the kid...?!"
"Illusion mages need a bit of golem trauma. Anyway, as everyone predicted, the fight ended with Junior's defeat..."
Junior's final incantation.
It got cut off by Finger Flick Attack, but Junior had been trying to do something to the golem. Since it was a spell I'd never heard before, I'd casually asked about it on the way back. What kind of magic was she trying to use?
Junior said it was a spell she'd whipped up on the spot.
"Old golems don't have egos, so illusion magic doesn't work on them, right?"
"Yeah, mostly."
"So, she said she'd create an ego and shove it in, then beat it down."
"...!!"
The Tower Master stiffened up like she'd been struck by lightning. It couldn't be an attack from the Azure Magic Tower, so it must've been a bolt of inspiration piercing her. What on earth had this little genius come up with?
Reading people's inner thoughts is tough, but reading the Tower Master's was easy. Just observe the illusions swirling around her, and you could figure out what she was thinking.
Illusions of all sorts bubbled up and danced around the inspiration-struck Tower Master. A deformed version of Junior, a spaghetti monster flying through space.
An image of Junior's head being cracked open, something pulled out, and stuffed into the spaghetti monster...?
"I'm gonna do some research now, so please leave."
Lorey decided to play dumb. Best not to get tangled in anything annoying or suspicious. She dragged the Tower Master out and slammed the door shut. That should keep her safe.
Lorey reclaimed her alone time.
The Tower Master paced her office frantically, muttering to herself.
"Right... yeah. If it has no body to hit, then give it one..."
An idea she'd never considered before. There was the key.
The thing lodged in his mind was a highly complex spirit-magic entity. It erased memories, drastically altered personalities, existed conceptually without form—untouchable.
Even Yuna knew little about its origins or true nature. After long observation and record-gathering, she'd pieced together only fragments.
So all she could do was slow its erosion and bide her time. Not telling him its identity was due to a common trait of such spirits: they turn belief into power.
Just like the illusion magic he'd created. The more you think and dwell on it, the stronger it gets.
The contradiction of avoiding thought while needing to counter it. The paradox of its formlessness. That complexity had left even the Empire's Emperor and the Magic Towers' archmages pacing helplessly.
Yuna had thought she'd need to play her trump card at a critical moment too...
"Give it form... and smash it."
Grant it a body, then attack.
It could be an effective preemptive strike. Maybe not erase it completely, but drain some of its power. So how? What to grant it?
The clue lay in the session.
In a simulation tied closely to the mind, she could suppress its phenomena to a minimum and deal with it.
A simulation world manifested by illusion magic. He was running a Cthulhu session with academy students. Yuna had sneaked in, hidden, observing closely.
A world under some evil outer god's influence. Fanatics worshiping it, protagonists trying to save the world. That seemed to be the setup.
"...Again, I... I'm too late again..."
And the players were getting wrecked in real time.
"This despair hits the spot. Lost loved ones, perfect motivation hook. Reactions are more intense than expected, but I threw in time travel as session fodder, so I can ramp it up more..."
He gazed at the suffering trio with a warm smile. Hard to believe this was the guy who'd turned into a maggot, crawling the floor after failing to kiss Second Prince Irid.
"Still not enough, though. Too lenient. Maybe send in a reporter NPC to build some rapport, then trigger the event."
He was even planning to hit them harder. Their mental states were already dust, but he said true regret had to hit the ceiling for the second chance from zero to make a great climax.
His empathy seemed seriously dulled.
Saintess Tara and Niore's eyes were glazed over. Yet he showed no sign of easing up. Happiness after despair is sweeter, sure, but wrecking people and slapping on a band-aid isn't normal.
This wouldn't do.
Yuna surveyed the world.
If possible, give it a frail NPC body that couldn't even control its limbs properly. Beat it to a pulp, and exorcism would be simple.
But she couldn't assign just any character. It needed common ground with it—personality, abilities, narrative, beliefs, settings, whatever.
Because the spell Yuna prepared essentially tricked it into a misconception. It needed a vessel with high sync rate that it'd mistake for its own body.
Capacity mattered too. Bigger capacity meant holding more of it.
An NPC named Isaak caught her eye. Mid-boss design, probably. Transfer it to her? No, bad idea. Her capacity wasn't that high.
What about the cult leader? Fitting for a final boss, decent capacity—maybe 2% of it. Settings matched too: madman worshiping the evil god, killing without hesitation for his goals.
But for real effect, she wanted at least 5%...
"...Ah."
Yuna looked up at the sky.
A starry night sky with the moon shining, but with Game Master privileges, Yuna saw something else: a colossal cosmic monster made of countless bubbles. A fictional evil god borrowed from cosmic horror novels.
"...This could work."
Put it in the evil god, and she could cram in 7%. High sync rate too. Manipulates space-time, views humans as ants or dust—an inscrutable evil god it would covet as an avatar.
Using the evil god as vessel had extra perks.
It erased his memories, but affected others' memories of him too. Changes it wrought spread to the world. Yuna didn't know the exact mechanism, but she knew the phenomenon occurred.
That's why she was acting inside the simulation. Virtual world, so less likely to affect the outside.
But there's always "what if." If she used the cult leader's avatar, some real-world lookalike might suddenly meet with an accident.
Hence, the evil god.
A complete fiction that doesn't exist, no serious believers. Use it as vessel, exorcise it, and this mess ends cleanly.
The only issue with this plan?
"The investigators mentioned a secret hideout... Departing in 10 minutes."
"Of all times, now."
It'd make those three hardworking kids suffer more. Session difficulty would skyrocket. Not an empty data blob evil god, but one loaded with it, actually trying to kill people—a real deal.
"......"
Her conscience prickled.
But she needed those poor students' help. The strongest way to damage a spirit was mental fortitude. Like how an incubus fears a priest honed in spiritual discipline.
Courage, friendship, love, rage—emotions brimming with willpower...
They smash spirits effectively.
Still.
Better than him fully eroded, gone mad, unleashing horrific illusion magic that topples the Empire and society...
Than that apocalypse, having three shoulder the burden was preferable...!
"S-Sorry, Bennett. Sorry, Tara, sorry, Niore... B-But I'll do my best too...!"
She planned to wield her sub Game Master powers to the fullest.
Even so, it'd be a grueling journey. Forcing extra pain on those who'd jumped into adventure with good intentions was undoubtedly immoral. Yuna squeezed her eyes shut. But.
The Violet Magic Tower Master could cut away the less precious for the truly precious.
Yuna felt her throbbing conscience fully as she pushed the plan forward.
To extract it and inject it into the outer god, he needed to stay in the simulation. At session end, Yuna appeared before him.
"...Huh, Tower Master?"
"Oh, yeah. It's me..."
"It's been ages."
He widened his eyes in surprise, then smiled. Pure joy at seeing her after so long transmitted directly. Even eroded by it, he still cherished Yuna.
"Did you sneak in? Nah, doesn't matter. What happened at the academy──"
Yuna raised a hand to stop his flood of words. She tugged her hat brim down to shade her eyes and asked,
"Hey. Do you... still trust me?"
"Of course. You need something?"
"I'm putting you to sleep. For... about two weeks."
"Tch... Wrecking the session schedule for personal reasons goes against gamer etiquette."
Two weeks asleep, and he was worrying about the next session, not why or how. Must've been that fun.
"I-I'll...! I'll take over as GM. The session keeps going."
"Stealing someone else's lovingly prepped delicious bits...!"
"N-Not like that...! From the start, I like love, not despair and pain!"
He grumbled for a while. Disappointed not to see his finale staging, wondered if she'd hype the players right, said sudden stops were bad.
When she begged as a once-in-a-lifetime favor, he relented in exchange for one wish from her.
"Gonna be a long break. Hm, well... Tell Pingbalrez I'm skipping this week's debate. And here's the plot outline for future developments. Lots planned, so it should run itself, but with all their wild actions. Next lecture, I was gonna do tentacles labyrinth this time..."
He spilled all his preparations, even shoved a pamphlet Beginner Masters Can Do It Too!: 11 Ways to Induce Player Curveballs into her hands.
"Mental barrier released."
He entrusted everything to Yuna. A bit long-winded, but his trust touched her. Eyes misty, she reached out.
"...Thanks. Yeah. See you... soon."
"Log it properly."
"...Can't you let the mood linger when someone's moved...?"
With a gesture, Yuna blurred his consciousness and sank it deep. Unwakenable by external shocks. She layered defensive spells thickly.
Then steeled herself. She'd make this plan succeed.
After, Yuna cloaked herself in illusion magic to change appearance and stepped before the three.
Yuri Lanster lay on the bed, wiggling her toes, then shot at the dawdling mad mage.
"Not getting ready?"
"Huh...? Oh? What prep?"
"I gave you the official notice. Dungeon exploration practical's coming up."
"Ah, haha. R-Right?"
"......"
Yuri Lanster's eyes narrowed. She sidled up to the mad mage and sniffed. Not the usual scent—soft, fluffy floral.
Not even close by normal standards, but the mad mage flinched hugely. Even clasped her hands lightly under her chin, shoulders hunched.
Female pheromones detectable from 10 meters. Yuri pushed up her glasses seriously.
"Mad Mage. You trying to seduce me?"
"...W-What?!"
"Looks like you're begging me to eat you up. I distinctly recall telling you I like passive girls."
"Eek, hick...!"
"That voice. You know it well enough—what that moan means..."
Provocation?
They traded barbs daily, but gentlemanly, never crossing lines. Yuri hadn't unsealed her suit jacket seal. That'd cross lines.
The mad mage sealing her TS magic was for the same reason. Line-crosser.
But now, in a cold-weapons-only battlefield, the mad mage started lobbing fireballs. Broke the treaty. If she crossed first, Yuri would cross too—into attack mode.
Unseal...? Seduce her?
Or gut her silent entirely.
As Yuri roughly loosened her tie and reached for her shirt's top button...
The mad mage vanished into thin air like erased from the world.
"Tch."
Crosses lines then chickens out.
But tradition: one hit taken, one returned. Yuri loaded a nuke: Sneak into bed in thin clothes at midnight. I'll kill you, mad mage.
Retied her tie, straightened clothes. Yuri printed a new cooperation notice. Dungeon exploration practical for academy students sequentially. Supervise as monitor.
The dungeon was safety-checked by adventurers, but faculty tagged along for contingencies.
Schedule: two days out. First batch departs academy.
Glanced at the roster. Bennett Hilton, Niore Restman, Saintess Tara included.
After traveling a fanatic-riddled harsh world, a dungeon's a stroll. Their faces looked bad last time...
A brief respite before the second session.
Yuri Lanster hoped this dungeon trip would refresh them.