Portraits, Sculpture, Prints.
Portraits, Sculpture, Prints.
*Get me out of here. Get me out of here. Get me out of here.
Even now, the descriptions of the works bled endlessly across the white floor of the plaza as if it were a canvas.
─.
Silence.
Serena was still pounding on the surface of the frame like a madwoman.
[ Evaluation start! ]
The titles of the works were rather absurd.
"E-eva-evaluation...? This is?"
Becky's legs began to tremble.
"This is... an evaluation? What about demon beasts?"
"What in the world is this supposed to evaluate?"
The magical tool experience had already fallen by the wayside, and the students were slowly descending into chaos.
Fortunately, it didn't take very long for officials from the 'First-time' Section to arrive.
"Everyone, please calm down."
"It will be alright."
The officials' appearance — gray robes and a golden pin fastened to the chest — looked immeasurably reliable to the students at that moment.
They hurriedly examined Serena, who had been transformed into a picture.
The movement of her fist pounding against the frame, the descriptions of the work being inscribed according to the shape of her mouth.
By any measure, Serena was alive.
And yet, she was nothing more than a picture, not a living creature.
It was a phenomenon that could only be described as bizarre.
"This... is a bit different from magic."
"Is it black magic? Isn't this black magic?"
The officials whispered among themselves.
*Get me out of here. Get me out of here. Get me out of here. Get me out of here. Get me out of here.
The floor was already pitch-black. By now, the text had begun to spread onto the walls as well.
Louis spoke up calmly.
"By any chance... is it possible to stop this writing from spreading? I think my friends are growing more anxious because of it."
"That shouldn't be too difficult."
The gap between black magic and regular magic is vast beyond words, but such a countermeasure was well within their means.
The moment one of the officials placed a hand on Serena's picture.
"...!"
That person, too, stiffened upright.
Their soft skin gradually took on a sheen and hardened, until finally, they became a single mannequin.
A title was inscribed on their chest. [ The Price of Arrogance ]
"A ma... mannequin?"
"This time it's a mannequin, not a picture?"
Shock spread across the faces of everyone watching. Louis cautiously held a hand before the mannequin's nose.
"It's... breathing. It's alive."
At those words, both the students and the officials were alarmed.
Yet the officials were experienced, after all. They tried to keep the students under control without betraying their agitation.
"Everyone, please stay where you are! We will move to the hotel immediately!"
One of the officials drew a circle in the air with their staff. It was a motion meant to create a short-range warp gate.
"After returning to the hotel, you must not, under any circumstances, leave your rooms! Further schedules will be announced separate..."
Crackle—!
But only sparks flew, and no gate was formed. The official's face hardened rigidly.
"What in the..."
As he stood bewildered, another official urgently whispered to him.
"The entire First-time Section has been sealed."
"Sealed...? When, how did that happen?"
"Just now. Movement to the outside is impossible."
"Then what are we supposed to do...!"
The veins on the bewildered official's forehead bulged.
They had spoken as quietly as possible, but the fact that the officials were muttering amongst themselves with serious expressions was itself a source of anxiety for the students.
"Looks like something really went down..."
"What do we do?"
The students began to murmur again.
The formerly pure-white floor had long since turned black, covered entirely in printed letters.
The official looked around at the students and spoke, as calmly as possible.
"We will proceed on foot to the hotel. It will be fine. We will protect you..."
But then.
"...!"
She, too, widened her eyes suddenly.
"Uh... uhh...?"
With a soft puff, her physical body transformed into a doll. When it hit the floor, it made a soft, plush sound.
The title of the work was [ Protective Cushion ]
"E-even the officials are being affected..."
"No matter how you look at it, this isn't an evaluation!"
A picture, a doll, a mannequin... before long, all of the officials had been transformed into art pieces.
One student, finally overcome with terror, screamed.
"What the hell is this supposed to be, you crazy bastard!"
Simultaneously, that student was also trapped inside a frame.
"S-stop!"
The canvas of the picture was painted blue, and the trapped student flailed madly to survive.
*It's cold. Save me. I'm going to freeze to death at this rate.
The title of the work was [ Fine Words ].
The other party was listening to every word spoken here.
The moment you resist, you become taxidermy.
Realizing this, all of the students clamped their mouths shut.
In the First-time Section of Sapour, once a pristine white, black printed letters continued to multiply even now.
◈
Fifteen minutes elapsed since the start of the midterm evaluation.
Plan had arrived at the Witch-themed cocktail bar on the second floor of Sapour. It was after he had forcibly shoved the resisting Trixie inside the hotel.
[ ▶ The second-floor cocktail bar is our hideout. ]
He had arrived after checking the report from Teresa who was in Trivia, and the cocktail bar was already filled with blood demons.
Impeccable attire, red eyes that rippled calmly like a campfire, the pressure exerted by their souls.
The moment they spotted Plan, they all rose from their seats. Teresa bowed politely as their representative.
"You've arrived."
Plan merely nodded lightly in response.
Most of the blood demons looked upon Plan with expressions of wonder. Among them, Plan spoke to one blood demon who was eyeing him most blatantly.
"What are you staring at so intently?"
"M-my apologies. Your Disguise Art is beyond anything I imagined.... Truly like a human!"
The fellow immediately bent at the waist. Teresa smacked the back of his head with a thwack, admonishing him.
A moment later, the furnishings of the cocktail bar rearranged themselves with a witchy flair.
A table stretching out long. And a single seat of honor crafted for Plan.
Only Plan took a seat; the rest stood in their places at a respectful distance. Teresa spoke.
"...Yes. Well then, now that Lady Maeve is here as well, we shall review the operation once more."
Teresa glanced anew at Plan. With every single word she uttered, she watched his expression carefully.
"As you know, our ultimate goal is to produce an exhibition that will satisfy the Princess."
She clapped her hands twice. A large sheet of paper unfurled in midair.
Mannequins 32
Dolls 25
Pictures 64
Storybooks 20
.
.
.
Detailed quantities corresponding to each category were written on the paper. Teresa continued.
"You needn't worry about the above orders. Lady Maeve will personally create the taxidermy pieces according to those numbers."
Her index finger pointed further down.
Blue Flame 1
"Thus, we will concentrate on collecting the Blue Flame. I ask everyone to bear in mind that this exhibition deals exclusively with 'living things' as you go about your tasks."
Teresa nodded slowly.
"Furthermore, the First-time Section is currently sealed, so you can rest assured. There is no danger of our activities being discovered."
Plan quietly rubbed his chin.
Taxidermy of mages while they're still alive, collecting Trixie... it's all, in the end, for the sake of satisfying the 'Princess.'
That was, if anything, welcome news. In other words, it meant the students' lives were not in any danger.
"You."
At the two syllables Plan uttered, Teresa flinched her shoulders.
"You mustn't leave out the story about the magical tools."
"Ah, yes. I was just about to explain that! I am absolutely not objecting to what you just said."
Teresa clapped twice. This time, the paper split into two.
What appeared first on the left sheet was a rough map of Sapour. The largest space within it was painted in red.
It was undoubtedly the space that housed the magical tool called 'Dream.'
And on the other sheet, quantities were written down again.
Joy 11
Despair 22
Regret 33
Anger 44
.
.
.
Rather unusually, the quantities this time were attached not to objects but to 'emotions.' Teresa moved her lips.
"To enhance the quality of the exhibition, we plan to use 'Dream' to adjust the emotions of the works."
"...Interesting."
Plan's interest was piqued.
The magical tool 'Dream' seemed to be related to the Illusion school. At the very least, it possessed the ability to alter emotions.
They weren't satisfied with merely creating taxidermy of living things. They intended to control even their emotions, to create works that would completely satisfy the Princess.
It meant they viewed human mages purely as 'materials.'
That concept, that arrogance, was a little amusing to Plan.
"Teresa. Do you know how to make visual records."
"Yes.... I'm not so worthless as to be incapable of that. I am not talking back with this answer. I just have a slightly blunt way of speaking naturally...."
"Enough. Then."
Cutting off Teresa's words, Plan decided to revise their plan. Tailored strictly to his own tastes.
"You lot will record the moments the students are turned into taxidermy. Don't concern yourselves with the Blue Flame."
"Eh.... Weren't we giving the Blue Flame our utmost priority?"
But then.
Bang! A blood demon kicked the door open with a slam.
The blood demon, who had entered while closely scrutinizing Plan, soon murmured flatly,
"Everyone, that isn't Lady Maeve."
Everyone's eyes instantly turned toward him.
"Taxidermy has already begun. That one's a fake. The real Lady Maeve has already moved into action."
"...."
Every blood demon inside the cocktail bar looked back and forth between me and that fellow once each.
The informant stared at Plan with a twisted expression.
"In other words... that's a human bastard whose limbs should be ripped apart and killed."
Even as the fellow kicked up a fuss, Plan's gaze was calmly directed at Teresa.
"Teresa."
No answer came back.
His voice grew a shade cooler as he called her again.
"Teresa."
"Y-yes...."
Teresa barely managed to open her mouth. She was trying to read the reactions of both the blood demons and Plan simultaneously.
"What's that bastard's name."
"Me? It's Gabe. Why."
The answer flowed directly from his own mouth.
Snap—!
With a single snap of Plan's fingers, the entire structure of the cocktail bar was completely overturned.
From the entrance to the windows, every single 'door' vanished in an instant. As a result, darkness settled inside.
"...!"
Several blood demons swallowed dryly.
Red eyes began to glow here and there, and among them, Plan's eyes shone with a peculiar brilliance.
Human. Blood demon.
He was something strange, something that couldn't be expressed by species alone.
Plan quietly murmured the fellow's name.
"Gabe."
"...What's this bastard on about."
That had just been his last chance.
Snap—!
Snap—!
Plan snapped his fingers precisely twice.
Crrrack— Four chairs that rose into the air were whittled down in an instant.
By the time one could register what was happening, they had been perfectly trimmed into the shape of a picture frame.
He quietly drew formulas in his head.
The reason he kept them invisible within his mind was that the color of a black magic formula and an ordinary magic formula were starkly different.
On one side of his mind, he drew the formula for 「Malleability」 to craft the frame, and on the other, he drew the formula for 「Manipulation」.
He would manipulate Gabe as a single 'material.'
Crunch—!
The four frames each attached to the east, west, south, and north of Gabe.
Gabe hadn't even grasped the situation yet. From calculation to the manifestation of magic, the speed was like a lightning bolt.
He unfolded two 「Illusion」 spells simultaneously.
The subtle art of dual activation. To make the audience perceive Gabe as a 'work.' To make even Gabe himself recognize that he was a 'work.'
"...!"
Gabe and the blood demons finally realized the situation.
The fellow trapped in the frame shrieked with all his might, but no sound escaped. For he was already a picture.
Gabe struggling on a black canvas. A short title was assigned.
[ Failure ] ─ Portrait
Everyone's eyes went blank.
For just a moment, it felt as if time flowed slowly, and the corner of Plan's lips drew an arc.
His face seemed to speak thus:
The likes of you, are a failure.
"...!"
Sensing an ominous turn of events, Gabe pounded on the frame's surface like a madman. But Plan did not stop.
He malleated a landscape onto the canvas of illusion.
The black background vanished, and in its place, countless sculpting knives appeared.
Snap—!
The blades plunged into Gabe's flesh without hesitation.
"...!"
Blood splattered, flesh was carved out, bone was whittled down, and Gabe screamed, but throughout this process, not a single sound was produced.
A name is assigned even to Gabe, whose body was wretchedly gouged out in places.
[ Knowing One's Place ] — Sculpture.
...There was silence for a moment.
Because it was a sight even the blood demons had never imagined, everyone's heads were dazed.
Crunch—!
Finally, a desk wholly crushed the frame.
[ The End of Foolishness ] ─ Print
This entire process took a mere two seconds.
The blood demons stared blankly at the scene. They registered the situation three beats late.
Lady Maeve's black magic. It was a little different from 'Taxidermy.' No, perhaps it was something beyond it.
'Taxidermy', 'title of the work', 'description'. It was equipped with all the same elements, but... it was still different.
Was it black magic? No, was it just magic? But could such a thing be realized even with just magic?
Their bodies completely frozen, the blood demons began busily exchanging glances.
A blood demon was needed to take responsibility and speak up, and there was only one person suited for such a role. Soon, everyone's eyes focused on Teresa.
Teresa shook her head rapidly, but it was no use.
She had no choice but to open her mouth. To utter just a few syllables, she had to wring out her insides.
"E-excuse me...."
Plan's cool gaze touched her. Teresa hurriedly raised a hand.
To appear even slightly more polite.
"Are you... the r-real Lady Maeve... perhaps? Ahaha...."
Plan tapped his fingertips on the armrest of the chair—thump, thump, thump—before he spoke.
"Are you the material this time?"
"M-my, my, my deepest apologies!"
Teresa immediately bent at the waist.
"It's not that I was doubting you or anything! It's just that this taxidermy is so splendid as well! Yes!"
Blood seeped out from under the desk that was smashed into it. Before long, the floor was entirely awash with gore.
The moment it was just about to touch the tip of Plan's shoe.
"Let's just continue the meeting."
He said.