Chapter 116
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 116
Chapter Title: The Archmage of the Basement (6)
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As we ventured a little deeper, the rubble of a collapsed building came into view.
"Eh? There's a ton of clothes here?"
Scattered across the dust-laden floor were clumps of gray fabric here and there.
Upon closer inspection, they turned out to be robes emblazoned with the Elterion Academy emblem.
An outdated design that might have been trendy a century ago.
"Whoa... Look at this!"
Claire suddenly let out an exclamation of awe.
"There are gems embedded here!"
"Gems?"
"Yeah! Amethyst, maybe? Isn't this purple hue just gorgeous?"
The soul-fearing duo—Claire's words drew even Thomas, the sub-vice-president, creeping closer to examine the clothes.
Sure enough, the dull gray robes had clusters of purple crystals clinging to the cuffs.
"I've never seen crystals like these before. They don't look like typical mineral gems..."
"Anyway, it seems embedding gems in clothes was a trend back in the day."
"These could fetch a pretty penny if we took them, right? Huh?"
"...Didn't Lunaris say earlier not to touch anything here carelessly, Vice-President?"
Even as he spoke those words, curiosity got the better of Thomas, the antique enthusiast, as he leaned in close to the robes.
Well, as long as he wasn't touching them, it didn't matter what he did.
"..."
Still, this sense of unease... What was it exactly?
I narrowed my eyes and scrutinized the robes.
Those "gems" didn't seem merely decorative on the fabric... They looked like they'd sprouted from within, piercing through the fibers. Or like scabs formed from congealed blood.
But more than that, their shape was off.
The sleeves and collar were unnaturally swollen, which kept nagging at me.
As if an invisible person were wearing the robe.
Or something stuffed tightly inside.
I stroked Arke, floating behind my back.
The staff tip trembled faintly, and a eerie scream echoed in my mind.
Then, visions formed in my eyes: a person's body convulsing in agony.
Flesh bursting open, sharp crystals protruding from the gashes—the horrific afterimage of torment etched itself in.
"...Get away."
A harsh voice slipped out unbidden.
Thomas let out a shrill yelp and stumbled back.
"L-Lunaris?"
"Those aren't gems."
"Huh? Then what..."
"Mana stones."
Not the kind that formed naturally in the environment.
"Made from human flesh and blood."
"...Huh?"
A stunned silence fell.
Claire and Thomas's faces drained to pale blue in real time.
"H-Hyaak!!"
"Kyaaak!!"
They soon screamed in unison and toppled backward.
"...Oh, right. I've heard of this."
Amid the commotion, Princess Celestina spoke gravely.
"Until a few decades ago, black mages allegedly used living humans as catalysts to synthesize mana stones for their research."
At her words—that these were likely the victims—senior Thomas shuddered violently.
"Th-Then... this 'Witch of Greed' kidnapped students into this space and turned them into mana stones?!"
"Probably! That's why she's called a witch!"
Even Sylvia, the club president who loved ghost stories, rubbed her arms as chills ran through her.
"...No."
I stepped forward to the scattered robes and shook my head.
"It's the opposite, I think."
Lifting the rigidly stiffened cuff revealed stark purple crystals.
Around them, discolored yellow fabric scraps were tightly wrapped.
Hastily tied tourniquets, remnants of failed attempts to melt the crystals with herbal poultices.
This was far too gentle for handling kidnapped test subjects.
This was... the desperate struggle to save lives.
"The witch—Raverna—wanted to heal these people."
*
Even after transferring to the Magic Department, Raverna's academy life didn't change much.
She still attended Alchemy Department classes, hung out with her alchemy peers, and pulled all-nighters on experiments.
The only notable difference was skipping major classes more often, earning reprimands from Magic Department professors.
But blowing up tools and burning buildings was daily life with alchemy profs anyway, so nothing new.
She figured these chaotic days would continue through graduation—and beyond.
...She believed that.
Third year, second semester.
The anomaly began in the smallest way.
"Hey, don't you think your hair's got a lot of dandruff lately?"
"That's dandruff, idiot! Wash up, you freak."
"Seriously. Bathe at least once a week. Let's live like humans."
At first, they chalked it up to seasonal dryness.
But complaints turned to groans of pain.
Scratching shifted from scalp to skin.
When nails came away not with blood, but purple crystals, everyone realized the gravity.
Joints stiffened and creaked.
Skin began covering in translucent crystals.
Mana stone disease.
A malady turning people into mana stones while alive.
In eras before black mages' dangers were known, it was dismissed as an incurable mystery illness.
And it hit mostly Alchemy Department students.
People clicked their tongues.
Those gloomy troublemakers brought curses on themselves with reckless experiments.
No pity for self-inflicted disasters.
Ironically, only Raverna Crowell remained unaffected.
Her sole difference from peers? Innate mana reserves, perhaps.
Being the only healthy one tormented her more.
She wished she'd turned with them—less miserable.
She loathed herself for not sharing their pain.
That guilt peaked when Noel dropped a tool.
-Crash!
The moment she saw Noel's rigid, unflexing right hand.
"Ah... Aaaah... Aaaaah!!"
Raverna's eyes rolled back.
She barricaded herself in the lab, forsaking food and sleep.
Every potion at hand poured into the stones—useless.
New reagents slowed; peers' crystallization accelerated.
"Seal the building! Isolate the patients!"
As it worsened, the academy resorted to last measures.
Fully crystallized students quarantined separately; Raverna dragged out like luggage.
"L-Let go... Let me go!"
She resisted to the end.
Nails breaking, knees bruising, yet her gaze fixed on the Alchemy building.
Noel was inside, hardening on that bench.
"The experiment's not over... Almost! It's almost done!!"
I can't leave you behind—
With that forlorn cry, the lab doors shut.
*
"Your face is a sight, Miss Raverna Crowell."
Even as the voice swirled overhead, Raverna merely blinked vacantly.
Honestly, she lacked the energy to respond.
How long since she slept?
Two days? Three? Her foggy mind couldn't recall.
Dark circles hollowed her sunken eyes.
Her hands trembled uncontrollably on her lap.
Her advisor, Professor Bain, kept addressing the near-wreckage she was.
"Still, it's a relief you're unscathed, Raverna."
"..."
"Well, your foundations differ. Unlike those dimwit alchemists, you're a prodigy shining even in our Magic Department. Naturally, your immunity..."
"Don't badmouth them!"
Raverna rasped through her cracked throat.
Her glaring eyes bloodshot.
But the fire faded quickly.
She hung her head, sighing.
Sorrow and lethargy left no room for anger.
"...Sorry, Professor. I got worked up."
"I understand. I know your character is upright."
Professor Bain nodded with feigned benevolence.
His eyes, however, weren't smiling.
Narrow pupils slithered over her like a serpent eyeing prey.
"Well, I don't think there's no way to save those you call friends."
Her head snapped up.
Life flickered back into dead eyes.
"I-Is there a way...?"
She clutched his sleeve like a lifeline.
"If you know, please save my friends... Noel... I'll do anything... anything!"
"Haha. Calm down, Raverna. If a sure cure existed, it'd have been used."
Professor Bain gently pried her hand away and continued.
"But I can suggest a direction."
"A direction...?"
"You've relied solely on alchemy to heal them, haven't you?"
"Because... I don't know other ways..."
"Broaden your view. You're a Magic Department student."
"Magic..."
"A magical approach might yield answers more easily."
Raverna murmured "magic" under her breath, chewing it over.
"Don't aim to cure outright—advance step by step. First, halt progression."
"..."
"Mana stone disease is flesh overreacting to ambient mana, crystallizing."
Mana acting as catalyst, he explained.
Professor Bain lectured smoothly.
"So, inversely, create a mana-free environment around patients?"
"A mana-free... environment?"
"Yes. The academy sealing the building was just a stopgap to reduce external mana interference."
Her eyes quivered rapidly.
It made sense.
If mana caused it, block mana.
"How to remove ambient mana?"
"That's what we'll research now. Perfect for your thesis topic, no?"
Save friends, achieve academically.
How ideal, he smirked.
"Oh, I recall ancient kingdom magi-golems with cores that forcibly absorbed surrounding mana for power."
"..."
"Delve into that principle—answers await."
His subtle suggestion fell on deaf ears.
"Mana, removal, block, absorb, space..."
A soft "Ah—" escaped her muttering lips.
"No need for cores or absorption..."
Her head whipped back.
"Just create a space devoid of mana from the start."
Her enlightened eyes gleamed with budding madness.