Prologue
Prologue
A beautiful sight.
The Magic Tower — the very essence of magic.
The mages who followed me had gathered for one reason — to hear a single word from my lips.
That fence surrounding me flowed with my steps, naturally following my movement.
Wide-open eyes, roughened breaths, notebooks spread open as if ready to jot down even the smallest thing I might say.
All of it felt to me like a single melody. When your heart is pleased, the scenery beautifies itself — that's simply how it works.
One person fidgeted, glancing cautiously at my expression. That, however, was a dissonance.
"Ah... um..."
"Why so hesitant?"
When I glanced at her, she flinched and hurriedly continued.
"I-I was startled because you're so much younger than I expected...! An Archmage, and yet...."
"What is it?"
"Ah! Sir Kaplan! That paper on ancient magic you published recently! I've managed to interpret and summarize it up to the second page on my own. If you could spare a moment, please — just once, if you would read it..."
"Very well."
As I accepted it, its owner stood there stammering as if she couldn't believe it. Then she bent at the waist, a full ninety-degree bow.
Once I accepted one person's paper, the mages who had been watching seemed to find their courage. The fence surrounding me drew even closer.
Amidst it all, the fence parted like the Red Sea.
"Rumble..."
"It's Sir Rumble!"
Along with such murmuring, the one who strode up to stand before me was Rumble, a Beltra Mage of the 2nd Rank.
But he immediately forced a smile onto his face.
"Ah... Kaplan! Congratulations on your promotion to the highest rank. By any chance, have you considered taking up a professorship at the Academy? Naturally, the terms would be adjusted to suit your standing."
"No."
"Do consider it just once more! There are many students in need of your teaching. How delighted they would be if you came as a professor! This is a matter for the future..."
"I believe I said 'no.'"
As my expression contorted, he swallowed the rest of his words and retreated.
This time a different mage approached: a girl whose face still carried the freshness of someone who had only just entered the Magic Tower.
"Excuse me! Archmage Kaplan, will you be conducting your research at the Magic Tower from now on?"
"I've no particular intention of that, either."
The crowd of mages following me rippled like a great wave.
"M-most mages aim for promotion precisely because they want better treatment at the Magic Tower! What state of mind could possibly have led you..."
In spite of myself, I let out a snort of laughter at the girl who pressed the question.
She seemed to expect some grand reason, but the answer I had for her was far too simple.
"Because it's boring."
Everyone drew a horrified breath.
The authority of the Magic Tower, cemented as the preeminent institution for magical research, is absolute.
Who could possibly describe the Magic Tower as "boring"?
Only I could, I suppose. I enjoy such things. Things that only I can do.
I devoted myself, and devoted myself again, precisely to carry out such things. That is my intention going forward. And that is why I draw the line at remaining in the Magic Tower.
If it's something others could plainly do as well, it holds no interest.
"Boring, you say it's boring? The Magic Tower, where one explores magic alongside high-ranking mages, is considered the most joyful place for any mage... Might I ask in what respect you found it boring?"
"Banding together is a trait of the weak."
I am honest.
More inclined to pursue luxury and pleasure than frugality and thrift, more often moved by impulse than by diligence.
For someone like me, the Magic Tower is merely stifling. It's brimming with pretense.
The structure of it grates on my nerves: mages who have no further ambition shackle me with obligations, set their own arbitrary peaks, and then prop each other up with praise.
"Then what are your plans going forward..."
"I'll rest a while and think it over."
The mages reacted fiercely to every single word I spoke. Questions continued to flood toward me.
Among them were reprimands disguised as questions.
"I believe that promotion to the highest rank carries with it commensurate responsibility! For the advancement of magic as a whole, remaining at the Magic Tower is..."
"Märchen is a rank that can be reached without instruction. I guarantee it, as a Märchen rank myself."
At that, the mage who had been about to rebuke me shut his mouth tightly.
"See here! Even if you won't stay at the Magic Tower, at least release the analysis of this research! Are all mages not waiting solely for that analysis?!"
It was around then that I stepped onto the podium.
"Yes. Is that not the very reason I came to the Magic Tower today?"
The moment I drew the document from inside my coat, silence descended all at once.
This light thing in my hands — this was the reason for my visit to the Magic Tower today: the material for interpreting a paper on ancient magic.
"Well... first, I assume there is no mage here who failed to grasp the contents of the first page."
Everyone nodded and waited for my next words.
The more an interruption cuts things short, the more agonizing it becomes. They had been cut off at the most intriguing part, so their thirst would be greater than ever.
However.
Fwoosh—!
The sole copy of the material crumbled to ash in my grip. This was my answer.
"......!"
Everyone let out a silent, horrified gasp. With those stunned faces before me, I continued.
"If you have not reached the level where you can interpret it yourselves, then you are not yet prepared to approach ancient magic... that is my conclusion — my analysis."
At that, one mage scrambled over and seized the material that had turned to ash.
"Kaplan! What in the world is the meaning of this! If we could harness ancient magic, the world would become twice as magnificent...!"
"The world would become magnificent. But the mages are not yet magnificent."
Professors stood pale with shock, their lips opening and closing uselessly. The gratifying sight of faces who had only ever lazily pursued easy fruit.
I turned my back on those faces and prepared to leave the Magic Tower.
"Whatever choice you make, I support Kaplan's choice."
That voice was eerily clear.
In an instant, it turned every other sound into silence, delivering only its own message directly to my ears.
And so I had no choice but to halt my steps.
"However, there is one thing I'd like to hear. I would be grateful if you would tell me your honest feelings right now."
Feelings. Feelings, was it.
Before I knew it, I opened my mouth again.
"It's empty."
I had been about to say there was nothing much to it, but standing before other mages, I moderated my phrasing.
I still love magic. The path of the mage who pursues truth and wisdom remains, for me, a noble royal road.
Only. Having reached the summit, it is emptiness, precisely as the words suggest.
With that single-minded resolve to rise to this position, I set countless subordinate goals and achieved them through sheer stubbornness.
I thought I would not attain it even in death. Or perhaps, that I would only just attain it on the verge of dying. Yet it ended so soon.
The clear voice continued.
"Then, Sir Kaplan, how would you feel if you were placed in a position where you had to prove yourself all over again?"
Proving myself, was it.
Having grown up without parents, I proved early on that I lacked for nothing compared to others despite that upbringing.
Then I proved my magical skill, my courage in facing difficult problems, the creation of theory...
Countless tasks were given to me over the course of my life, but all resolved into the same conclusion. In the end, I proved everything and ultimately became an Archmage.
Looking back, it wasn't so bad. If there's another task to prove, I'd welcome it.
"That sounds interesting."
"Are you sincere?"
"I am."
It was around then that I realized the reporter I'd been conversing with had no face.
More than displeasing, it was uncanny.
Where a face should have been, there was only a pitch-black circle — nothing of what one would normally expect on another person. No eyes, nose, lips, ears. None of it.
I had no time to dwell on that dissonance.
"......!"
In an instant, my vision bled white.
A vile ringing filled my ears and my breathing grew labored.
What school of magic is this? I tried to approach it as I would a formula, but I sensed no magic at all.
It isn't magic? Then I understand it even less. I should be the sole Great Mage to have attained the Märchen rank.
Every sense faded away. In the void, only my thoughts remained, floating adrift.
Could this be that new task I must prove?
If so...
'Interesting.'
◈
"I'm sorry."
"I'm truly sorry to go back on my word... but I don't think I can go out with you after all."
As the vile ringing subsided, the first thing I heard was the voice of a woman I did not know.
Someone was informing me of an incomprehensible breakup.
I wanted to examine my field of vision, but it wasn't easy. It took time for my eyes to adjust to the light.
I drew in a breath and let it out. Breathing is possible. It seems I'm still alive, fortunately.
"Honestly, you must have expected this, Plan? Oh dear, was it too much of a shock?"
The sensation of someone tapping me on the shoulder. It was only then that my eyes flew open.
The person who had touched my body was a stranger. A woman I had never seen before was looking down at me with an expression of apparent regret.
I don't know who she is.
I don't know where this place is, either.
"......"
While I don't know where this is, I do know what sort of place it is.
The blackboard at the front, and the desks and chairs arranged at regular intervals.
Even without anyone explaining it to me, this is a lecture hall.
'A lecture hall?'
Across from me, the woman was still studying my complexion.
Golden hair blazing brilliantly in the light from the window, eyes as blue as a lake.
A beautiful figure — but I had no leisure to admire it. The problem was that I did not know this woman at all.
"Honestly... I want to date a man I can respect. A man like Louis."
I have no memory of recently confessing to anyone, nor of receiving a confession.
And yet what is this strange atmosphere? It grates on me severely.
"That's still too much for you. I've thought about it, and I just can't see you as a man."
Amid this confusion, the young woman extended her index finger and pointed at my hand.
Now that I looked, there was a book held in my hand. On its cover was written 『Basic Magic Theory』.
'Basic magic?'
Basic Magic Theory. Kaplan reflected on his own past.
He had studied it so long ago that even the memory was faint. Though its foundations were engraved into his very soul, of course.
"Even if I tried to like you, watching you struggle with magic... I think the affection would just gradually fade without my even noticing."
She continued calmly.
"So, the promise we made to go out — it's canceled. Let's just be the kind of acquaintances who exchange greetings around the academy."
Academy?
The cradle of learning that raises mages. It had been a very long time since I graduated from the Academy.
Now that I looked, the woman before me was wearing an academy uniform. The nameplate near her chest read 'Hailey.'
I needed more time to grasp the situation, but more than anything, I wanted to first correct the preposterous misunderstanding that I didn't even know basic magic.
"I know all of it, you see."
"Huh? You don't know it."
"I truly do know all of it."
The moment I spoke that far, I startled violently. Because my voice was the voice of a boy whose voice had only just begun to change.
"Ah. Ah."
Yes. This is not my voice.
Something, it seemed, had gone very seriously wrong.