Chapter 101
Chapter 101
Chapter 101
EP24 - Professors of Illusion Magic (1)
Ezekiel Hyakium von Hyaka. The Department Head of the Magic Department raised his teacup with an elegant posture and took a sip. It was noon. He savored the subtle aroma spreading through the chilly weather. Wishing this peaceful tea time would last forever…
…I shouldn’t have thought that.
-
The Empire is targeting Head Professor Kain.
At the voice beyond the 「crystal ball」, he scowled.
The source of the information was one of Hyaka’s elite assassins, planted near the Imperial family’s inner circle.
I knew it. These damn Empire folks.
“…Targeting Head Professor Kain, does that mean an attempt at kidnapping?”
-
It’s not kidnapping. According to what was overheard a couple of times in the Imperial family’s council, they seem to be contemplating appeasement tactics.
“Appeasement tactics? With what are they trying to appease him?”
-
Hmm…
A reluctant voice came from the other side of the 「crystal ball」.
-
…They say it’s candy?
Ezekiel grew serious.
Just like the Empire folks.
They know exactly what is needed where.
Head Professor Kain is, in reality, merely Dante’s Illusion Magic.
But if one were to see that face,
Wouldn’t anyone think he’d follow if you offered him candy?
“Understood for now.”
After ending the [Communication], Ezekiel pondered alone. For the time being, he felt he needed to further reduce Head Professor Kain’s appearances and external exposure.
It wasn’t due to the threat of kidnapping or appeasement. After all, someone who was merely an illusion couldn’t be kidnapped.
However, there are people in the world who, the more they understand someone, the more they lose respect and approach them carelessly.
The Empire would continue to try and understand Head Professor Kain. And the more they understood, the more they would covet him.
And Ezekiel knew how to handle such delicate interpersonal relationships.
‘I need to reduce external exposure itself.’
It would be best if it were eliminated entirely, but that wasn’t possible. However, even just reducing external exposure could make the Empire cautious.
What animal do humans fear and become most cautious of?
A fearsome tiger? Or a large bear?
Neither.
It’s an ‘animal they don’t know what it is.’
‘I need to minimize the gaze upon Head Professor Kain as much as possible. It should be for those who are desperate and interested professors only. The important thing is the transmission of knowledge, so it would be better for the professors who learn to guide each other.’
With that judgment, he made a phone call.
“Ah, it’s Ezekiel. Regarding Head Professor Kain’s special lecture, I’m going to change the content slightly.”
-
How will you change it?
“I will hold an exam.”
⋮
Upon this, the professors of Illusion Magic were in an uproar.
“What? An exam?!”
It was because their pride had been wounded.
For mages are precisely the kind of people who hate being evaluated by others the most.
“No, how can you do this now? You used to say anyone who was a professor of Illusion Magic could attend!”
“You. Did you hear that correctly?”
“Y-yes…”
The administrative assistant for the Magic Department was sweating profusely.
Head Professor Kain’s special lecture!
The professors of Illusion Magic had been anticipating learning that Illusion Magic of the highest realm, and they felt as if they had received a grand gift when told everyone could attend.
To take away that opportunity?
“Who in the department made this decision!?”
“…D-Dean Ezekiel…”
“……”
The professors fell silent.
They could no longer grumble.
If it was his directive, they had to comply, regardless of their pride.
However, with the acceptance of students depending on the exam results…
……From this moment on, the professors of Illusion Magic began to glance at each other.
“……”
“……”
Assassins live by money.
Warriors live by their beliefs.
And mages live by their pride.
To explain this pride precisely, it is the desire to protect the feeling of one’s own superiority.
And superiority applies to all aspects: money, fame, belief, magical attainment, research achievements, etc.
I am superior to others.
I am different from these other ‘low-level’ professors of Illusion Magic here.
Those pig-like riff-raff professors seem to have all secured their positions through luck or innate talent, but my life is built on far more desperate challenges and achievements.
Everyone thought so.
“……”
“……”
Up until now, they had lived maintaining a suitable distance, pretending to be friendly, but with the situation as it was, it was now unavoidable.
‘I must attend Head Professor Kain’s special lecture. Still, it should be manageable since the competitors are these kinds of people. My ranking is the highest, so it should be easy.’
‘You insects. You don’t have the qualifications or the skill to attend the class of that great Head Professor, with your paper citations not even reaching 2,000.’
‘You are all living by inertia, carried along by habit. Your lives have simply been a repetition of doing because it was done, and doing because it worked, to reach this point. You cannot possibly contend with me, this year’s recipient of the Hyaka Academic Research and Education Award, in a true contest like this.’
After such thoughts flowed, one professor let out a hearty laugh.
“This won’t be easy. Competing with fellow professors. Haha.”
“Right. Still, I must do my best. Haha.”
“Please go easy on us. Hahaha.”
* * *
It was 11 PM when I returned to the professors’ mansion. Adele had walked for nearly 40 minutes as she had no car.
Upon returning home, I headed to Ran’s room.
For reference, when I went to the Empire, I had left him with Ezekiel just in case, but I had been monitoring him closely ever since.
He was sleeping soundly on his bed. It was unusual. Ran, like Cinderella, always fell asleep precisely at midnight.
“……”
As I turned to leave, I paused.
Upon further thought, it was very strange. According to my understanding, Ran’s regularity was almost mechanical. For such a person to sleep at 11 PM?
My concern was inadvertently piqued by what was placed on my head: the ‘Cross Band Model.’
One of the bands was missing.
Therefore, this was no longer a cross (+) band model.
It was a straight (-) band model.
“……”
Adele was currently in the Imperial capital for research preparations. To obtain research materials for curse studies.
She hadn’t gone alone; she had left with six assistants who were conducting similar research. It was a week-long trip.
The disappearance of a band from the Cross Band Model might mean something, or it might not.
For now, I decided to talk to Ran when he woke up.
⋮
“I think I almost died.”
The next morning, Ran said.
I didn’t understand his words for a moment.
“Not ‘I think I almost died,’ but ‘I think I almost died’?”
“Yes.”
“…Explain in detail.”
Ran showed me the band model he wore on his head.
“This ‘Cross Band Model’ is an auxiliary device that completely heals me up to two times, no matter what kind of injury I sustain.”
“Your words are a bit ambiguous. If it’s ‘any injury’…”
“It revives me even if I die.”
Was it that powerful?
I thought it just healed injuries.
“My hypothesis is as follows.”
Ran drew a V with his thumb and index finger and placed it on his chin.
Then, he spoke in a lifeless voice.
“One of the two cross bands disappeared, and I have no memory of its disappearance. This means the storage device was destroyed. In other words, my head was shattered.”
“……Wait a moment.”
“Yes.”
There were many points I wanted to clarify.
After organizing my thoughts, I opened my mouth.
“Aren’t you afraid of death?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because the end is a new beginning.”
“……I’ll let that pass. Does the band regenerate?”
“It’s a consumable.”
“How does it recover if you died?”
“It is treated as if the injury never occurred.”
“……Confirmed. Next.”
“At the time of the incident, I was in an error zone of Star Gazing Mountain. My head wouldn’t have shattered on its own, so I must have been attacked by someone.”
“Who was it?”
“I don’t know. Circumstantially, it could be the witch of Star Gazing Mountain. Or, as you mentioned, it could be Assistant Adele.”
I had told Ran everything about Adele.
As she was someone sent by Systematicity⧉, she could be trusted.
But how could Adele, who was currently in the Empire on the other side of the continent, attack Ran?
“Furthermore, there are a few things I need to tell you.”
After that, Ran began to talk about the ‘something’ he had seen at Star Gazing Mountain.
“Cocky Turkey?”
“Yes.”
“Did you win?”
“Yes. I won.”
“Well done.”
“Also, either Vomittekka or Trappycche is landing in each country.”
“What?”
“Huh?”
“No, wait a minute.”
This is driving me crazy.
Is that what you bring up after the Cocky Turkey?
“Explain in detail.”
As I listened to Ran’s words, I narrowed my eyes.
The status window came to mind.
< ⧉ Global [Erosion] begins. >
What was coming had arrived.
[Erosion]
This refers to the onslaught of Demons.
Separate from the main story, it is a contingency planned by the Demon King solely to attack humans.
In [Hell Difficulty], the final boss, ‘Professor,’ indiscriminately terrorizes the entire Academy.
But [Hell Difficulty] was on a different scale.
‘…Indiscriminate terror against the entire world?’
[Professor of the Heroic Tale] is, after all, a DLC depicting the confrontation between humanity and the Demon King.
However, according to Ran’s words, there was a criterion.
It was one per country, and she had seen the ‘concept of an offensive coming’ through the symbol⧉. The exact timing was unknown, and it was said to erupt simultaneously in each country.
‘The Demon King’s strategy is twofold.’
One is to kill me.
The other is to reduce the human population.
Ultimately, to achieve victory in the ‘Demon King Battle,’ the Demon King would deploy these two strategies at the right time and place.
‘Vomittekka or Trappycche, these are the entities with the largest body mass.’
Their danger level is lower than Jinxite.
Jinxite, with all seven hands protruding, is literally a disaster on the battlefield.
However, just because Jinxite’s danger level is absurd doesn’t mean the other two are weak.
“Should I inform them in advance?”
“We must. I will tell the department.”
At that moment, Ran asked a very difficult question.
“What about other countries?”
“……”
I fell silent.
What about other countries?
Of course, it would be good to inform them, wouldn’t it?
When, where, and what kind of Demons would come.
If I could inform them of the Demon’s characteristics, weaknesses, and strategies, wouldn’t that be truly good?
They could prepare, and the damage would be less.
‘…That is not the case.’
Ironically, the moment this is revealed, the situation will spiral uncontrollably into chaos.
It’s because of the Empire.
The current Empire, Hattengrad, has a habit of trying to bring any excellent human to the Empire by any means necessary.
Even a mere [Challenger]-class warrior receives numerous temptations.
In that context, what if a prophet of an unknown monster appears?
And what if that unknown monster grows stronger and eventually emerges as a global threat?
The Emperor will send [Constellation]-class warriors to kidnap me.
And the moment I am kidnapped to Hattengrad, the information will belong to the Emperor.
He will use that information to maintain continental hegemony. This was certain, as there was a main story related to it.
‘Unless there is a way to anonymously convey that information…’
However, such a thing does not exist.
The material world is reached by the power of stars everywhere.
For example, Kingdom National Treasure No. 4, [Book of the Underworld⧉].
With it, the Hyaka royal family can find even a [Constellation] who is determined to hide.
If Hyaka possesses such an item, what about the Empire?
“Still, I cannot just stand by. Before the final battle, all humans are allies. Even Kreutz.”
“We will have to find a way gradually.”
“Indeed.”
For now, we observe.
“Stay as close to me as possible from now on. Don’t go losing that precious life of yours anywhere. Always keep the band attached to your noggin.”
“Noggin.”
“Noggin is your head.”
“Understood.”
That’s all for now.
Adele and the One-Horned Demons are important, but today, there was something more important.
Ezekiel had requested it of me.
-
Ezekiel: I’ve put the professors of Illusion Magic to the test, so please evaluate them and choose just three.
Three out of thirty people.
The competition ratio is 10:1.
-
Me: Will professors with such strong pride accept an exam?
I asked with slight concern. It’s tiring if they become emotional.
I haven’t avoided fights up to this point, but it wasn’t because I enjoyed it.
It is tiring when someone tries to fight me.
Ezekiel’s answer to that was surprisingly simple.
-
Ezekiel: If they act up, remove them.
Ah, so that’s how it’s done?
The lives of those in power are surprisingly simple.
* * *
However, an hour later, when I entered the large lecture hall in Magician’s Hall, Sector 2, I realized there was no need to do so.
I guarantee that if a Graduate Student were called here, they would suffocate and die from the sheer spiritual pressure alone.
“……”
“……”
About thirty professors of Illusion Magic sat gathered, their faces scowling and radiating killing intent.
【 ‘Choose me. Not these insects.’ 】
【 ‘Head Professor will be able to see through the truth. Who is truly superior.’ 】
【 ‘It must be me. It must be me. It must be me. It must be me. It must be me. It must be me…….’ 】
【 ‘To show a competition of this low level, the department’s standards are shameful. It’s an insult to Head Professor Kain.’ 】
The Magic Department desired Head Professor Kain far more intensely than I had imagined.