Compared to a Mage, a Knight Is Nothing.
Compared to a Mage, a Knight Is Nothing.
"Hmm?"
Sepia cocked her head to the side. She looked completely lost.
She slid another business card onto the table.
"You did see my card properly, yes?"
[ Sepia Whisper — Deputy Head of Merhen Daily Magic Department ]
"I saw it."
"Huh? You're not even startled? I thought you'd at least flinch."
Her eyes were brimming with question marks.
"You don't know me? You've never heard my name? Or at least of the Magic Department journalist team?"
I nodded.
This was the first time I'd heard her name, and even if I'd known her, I wouldn't have been surprised.
"I don't know you."
When I closed my mouth after that short answer, she hurried on.
"Huh? The academy newspaper launches next week, and the deputy head of the journalism team is onto your fake identity?"
"Yes."
"I can't tell if you're saying that because you really had no clue, or because you knew this was coming... Which is it? I can't figure it out."
Sepia muttered this and placed something besides a business card onto the table. It was a newspaper.
"One of last year's issues. Take a look."
[Gratitude for club members' efforts... Club profits to support junior members]
*Frozen Club Leader Kenneth
*10,000 Van in preparation and operation to hold 10th place in rankings
[Ruling of 'Knight victory by decision' deemed unreasonable]
*Magic Department claims fairness issues, demands Chejeon rule changes
.
.
.
I skimmed the front page and set it back down.
Looking it over, it covered not only Magic Department affairs but all manner of incidents within the academy. There was no slant toward any particular department either.
I finally understood why Sepia was tilting her head. The Magic Department journalism team carried real weight.
'She handles magic too, then.'
She acted like a young tomboy, but the qi sense I felt from her was excellent. Her level surpassed that of the professors, at minimum.
Well, with real strength backing you, you could report however you pleased. The only thing a weak journalist can do is transcribe what they're told.
I'd been caught by a troublesome breed of human. For now, I answered calmly.
"Is there reason to be surprised."
"Of course there is! I'm the one who decides exactly how every article gets published!"
Sepia grinned, then raised a hand and called the server over.
"Shall we have a cup of coffee? I think this conversation might run a bit long. Do you like coffee?"
I had no particular need for coffee's awakening effects. I shook my head, but Sepia stubbornly ordered two cups.
I spoke first.
"What is your main point."
"See, we journalist types~ we're absurdly obsessed with three things, you know?"
"Exclusive, breaking, flash."
At my words, the corners of Sepia's mouth shot up.
"Correct! Goodness, how did you know?"
There was no way I wouldn't know. In my previous world too, journalists staked their lives on those three. Clearing them away had been profoundly annoying.
"Right now, my journalist's instinct... is telling me this is a flash."
"Flash?"
"That's right. A flash! An anomaly occurred inside the Magic Labyrinth. That's a perfectly ordinary story. Just a 'huh, interesting' sort of thing that gets forgotten after a while."
Sepia's eyes grew meaningful.
"But what if there's a student who endured three minutes inside a labyrinth whose terrain had completely collapsed? Is that also the sort of thing that gets forgotten after a while?"
"Yes."
What's the big deal. I could probably do it in my sleep.
Sepia jumped in protest.
"No, no! How could anyone forget that? Inside a collapsed labyrinth, the mana flow becomes absurdly complex. Enduring three minutes in that state is difficult even for a professor!"
"Here are the two coffees you ordered."
Right on cue, two cups were placed on the table. Sepia picked hers up immediately and took a sip.
"We call that a flash. A sensational report that no one can help but fixate on."
Sepia's smile widened.
"Just imagine. A student appears who lasts three whole minutes inside a labyrinth turned to chaos. And they're young, too. A freshman, they say."
Sepia's expression as she spoke was thoroughly entertained.
"The academy would give them all kinds of support to help them grow, and the guilds would scramble over each other to recruit them. A future brilliantly clear to see, yes?"
—Clack.
Sepia, who had been talking, abruptly set her coffee cup down.
"But that's literally a flash. Something with a vanishingly slim probability of ever happening."
Our eyes collided in the air.
"Plan."
Instead of answering, I nodded. Even in this situation, the obligation to use honorifics toward others grated on me.
"What did I say at the very beginning? I said I know that Plan is a member of the Yudit family, right?"
She placed three more newspapers onto the table. I examined them quietly.
[Kinneck, claimed to be a "natural," turns out to be a soul contract]
[Stepping into death's seat]
*Recently, many humans choosing the extreme of soul contracts
*Decision made to execute without exception
Contract, execution, contract, execution.
The thread running through the three newspapers Sepia handed over was clear. They all dealt with 'soul contracts,' and the content stated that those discovered had been executed without exception.
"Do you think it's precedent for someone born of a knight's bloodline to enroll in the Magic Department and earn excellent grades?"
"I am the precedent."
She whispered, soft.
"That may well be... but I'm envisioning other possibilities. A journalist's intuition? Something like that."
"And what is this contract made through the medium of a soul."
"It's exactly what it sounds like. A contract with an evil one, mediated by your soul. Good heavens, you simply offer up your soul and they grant you power."
I understood at last.
Sepia found it suspicious that a mere freshman like me had endured three minutes inside a collapsed labyrinth, and she was even considering the possibility that I'd gained power through a contract with an evil one.
"Ha."
I let out a scoff without meaning to. Two things were laughable.
First, that this world also had those weaklings who contracted through the medium of a soul.
Second, that Sepia suspected me of being that sort of wretch.
I stared at her wordlessly. At that, Sepia burst into laughter and waved her hands from side to side.
"Aigoo, how scary. I'm merely curious about the truth, that's all. A journalist who publishes falsehoods has no right to the title."
I gazed steadily into Sepia's blue eyes.
Inside those eyes, there was truly nothing but curiosity. There was no malice toward others.
'She's sincere.'
She was more curious than anyone, and there wasn't a shred of falsehood in the way she chased down the truth to satisfy that curiosity.
As a human being she might be eccentric, but as a journalist, she was superb.
She resembled one of my disciples, the one who had been more curious than anyone. Uncannily so. Now that I looked, even her features held a slight resemblance.
Uncharacteristically intrigued, I asked Sepia in a low voice.
"How does it look to you."
Perhaps because it felt like talking to that disciple, the formal speech simply wouldn't come.
Sepia tilted her head.
"You've dropped the honorifics... no, never mind that. If I offended you, I apologize. I didn't mean to, hehe. Could be a contractor, right? Couldn't they? Or maybe it isn't a person at all, but an evil one. Anyway."
I asked once more.
"I dislike asking twice."
"Well? If they made a contract, then they did, and if not, wouldn't that just mean they're a far better mage than anyone imagined? Either way, I don't really mind. It's material for a story either way."
Sepia nodded and pulled her chair a little closer toward me.
"So, Plan~ what's the truth? I'm so curious."
Sepia's eyes sparkled brightly with curiosity. She truly resembled my disciple.
For a moment, I was lost in memories of the past and hesitated to answer. Sepia jumped to conclusions.
"...A contractor, right? You're a contractor, aren't you? What reason did you have for forming a contract? Ah, I've got a mountain of things to ask...! What ability did you gain? Was the price just a single soul?"
Sepia, who had been speaking in a rapid tumble, suddenly cleared her throat.
"Sorry, I was rambling. Let's go step by step— may I first ask about the circumstances? Was it because of an inferiority complex after all? Your elder sister is such an exceptional person, you know. The famous Knight of Embers."
The famous Knight of Embers.
Surely she wasn't talking about Scarlett.
"You mean that shabby woman."
"I fully understand. Evil ones exploit negative emotions like inferiority or rage to induce contracts... huh?"
Sepia's words cut off mid-sentence. Her eyes went perfectly round.
"Just now... those words... you said that about Scarlett, Scarlett Yudit? Did I mishear?"
"Who else would it be. A woman who can't even observe proper table manners."
"Um, excuse me? Plan! What are you suddenly saying?"
"Why so flustered. As if you've heard a forbidden word."
Sepia nodded without a moment's hesitation.
"In a sense, it might as well be a forbidden word... How many mages are there who can speak so recklessly of a knight, and a knight of such high standing at that."
This time, I tilted my head.
It struck me as odd that she didn't reproach me for lacking the proper courtesy a younger brother should have. Why was she reproaching my attitude as a mage?
"Compared to a mage, knights are beneath notice."
"Plan, what are you saying... No, could it be an evil one inside you speaking now?"
She began scrutinizing every inch of my face. She even went so far as to wave her hand in front of my eyes.
I spoke once more.
"Compared to a mage, are knights not beneath notice."
"No? Aren't knights innately far more advantaged than mages? There's no way a knight family would teach such humility... Oh, my apologies, hehe. Please forget what I just said."
Conflicts between different professions had been common in my previous world as well. People can never perfectly understand one another, after all.
But in this world, did knights hold superior power over mages?
"You know that the Chejeon, where the departments clash, is coming up soon, right? Just looking at the combat event win rates, it's an obvious fact that knights hold an overwhelming advantage."
So that's how it was.
The fact itself that knights held the advantage— that I could generously overlook. This world may simply never have had a mage like me, and it was never my original world to begin with.
But what mattered to me was the attitude of the mages. I asked Sepia, with a feeling of surely not.
"What of the mages of the Academy Magic Tower."
"What do you mean?"
"I am asking if they accept this reality as given."
"Wouldn't most of them? Mages keep the wheels of civilization turning, but the ones who dispose of demon beasts and evil ones and safeguard peace are mainly knights, after all."
...What.
Immediately after hearing that answer, I pressed hard on my temple with my hand. My head throbbed so sharply I couldn't bear it.
Just how far gone was this world? I couldn't even begin to get a grasp on it.
A mage is a being who lives by intuition.
An intuition not bolstered by effort and self-assurance is bound to lose its way.
How could an intuition that takes bowing to others for granted look at magic, and how could it ever walk the path of truth?
"Haa."
I let out a deep sigh, then rose from my seat.
The academy's very foundation needs to be torn apart and restructured. No — I will tear it apart and restructure it.
Students, professors, the scholars of the Magic Tower... I will not discriminate by status or age. If they are mages, I will change them all, in the most literal sense of the word.
No, I will make it so they have no choice but to change. By inspiring it into them.
I must ensure that mages never lose their self-assurance in any situation, that they bow to no one, and I must lay the foundation that grants them the composure of the strong.
"You said Chejeon is soon."
"Right around the corner. It's two weeks away."
"What would happen if a mage won a combat event. That, too, would be a flash, I imagine."
"Well, it depends on the specific event and opponent... but an overwhelming victory would be a tremendous flash."
I nodded, satisfied. That was one more thing to prove.
I took my leave without hesitation. Once the task is set, there's no time to waste in pointless delay.
"Uh, excuse me? Plan! Wait a moment! Where— where are you going!"
But Sepia cried out urgently and stuck close. I answered shortly.
"Things need changing."
"What things? Ah, did the coffee not suit your taste? Though you didn't even touch it... Drinks, then? Alcohol is the best for a serious talk. Alright, let's go to a pub. It's on me."
I shook my head.
"The mindset of mages, and the structure of power. All of it."
"Ah... hearing a contractor say that is a bit scary, you know?"
"I am not a contractor."
"Huh, really? Hearing a young magic prodigy say that... Huh? That's a little scary too. Wait, so what really happened inside the labyrinth?"
"Let's talk again next time."
I cut her off as she cocked her head. It was about time to head to the club meeting place.
Unexpectedly, Sepia nodded readily this time as well.
"Alright. I'm busy too, you know. I need to investigate the identity of the monster competing with Miss Trixie on the Agora Board... But we did just promise to talk again next time, right? We definitely did? Then I'll be off."
Before I could say anything, she whooshed away and vanished.
'Chejeon, in two weeks, is it.'
What sort of events were there, what were the entry requirements— as I walked along thinking over such things, the club's promised meeting place was right in front of me before I knew it.
In the distance, the gathered students were coming into view.