The Black Mage Hungers for Mana (2)
'What the hell is with her?'
Raban picked up the pens and pencils the flustered student had dropped, sizing her up all the while. She had an unusually high amount of mana. Most students at Lux Tierra High School had plenty, enough to make him suspect the mascot faction was stockpiling them as potential recruits for new magical girls. But this unfamiliar girl stood out even among them—her mana was exceptionally dense.
"Um, who might you be?"
"School security guard? Janitor? Something like that. The city guide called it 'Lux Tierra High School general handyman.'"
Dine eyed the name tag reading Raban. He must be a new hire, brought on while she was away.
'One of the fairies' lackeys?'
It was obvious that most of the school's staff were either fairies in disguise or people touched by fairy influence, like former magical girls.
'In that case.'
A shadow mage had appeared recently, and this handyman had been added afterward. If he was deployed to handle the emergency, he had to be a high-ranking fairy.
'Showing himself right in front of me—is this a warning?'
The Ivory Tower had been targeting students who used the counseling room to create villains, as evidenced by their battle records with the magical girls. Now that Dine's true identity was exposed, this was probably a message to back off from the counseling room.
"...That place is dangerous."
For once, Salamandine set aside her hatred for the fairy faction. With a common enemy in the shadow mage, they needed to share information. She couldn't blurt out talk of magical girls or dark thoughts with normal students passing by, so she phrased it obliquely. The shady fairies would get the hint.
'Huh.'
Dangerous counseling room out of nowhere. What was her angle?
"It's a place where people's grudges gather. Grudges should quietly fade away once spat out, but the one hiding in the shadows will try to drag them back out."
Raban's head started to ache. Grabbing a total stranger—a janitor, no less—and reciting end-of-the-world poetry?
'Kids these days... No, is this just how kids are in this world?'
In a world with magical girls, average teen sensitivity might run a bit... unique. Or maybe.
That red-haired girl was a magical girl herself. If she'd spotted someone suspicious heading for the counseling room and come to head her off, her weird mannerisms made sense. Given how quick on the draw she was, the Ivory Tower's odd templar spirits must have already schemed something using students' dark thoughts.
Now it clicked why the redhead had such an absurd amount of mana. A magical girl could have that kind of density without raising eyebrows.
'This is a problem. Already drawing a magical girl's attention?'
He hadn't even crossed the counseling room threshold, and here was a bad event. Raban lamented his rotten luck.
'Provoking a magical girl for no reason isn't smart.'
He imagined a magical girl acting like an ordinary civilian who'd only read about them in news articles.
"Oh, there was a villain like that? I had no idea our school was such a dangerous place."
'Damn fairy scum!'
Dine seethed at the fairies' evasive bullshit. "Was there a villain like that?" was a jab implying even an Ivory Tower exec like her couldn't be trusted. And not knowing the school was "such a dangerous place"? A sneer at how lax their security looked. She herself infiltrating as a high schooler was proof of that sloppiness.
They'd probably counter: 'So you figured out who the magical girl is?'
The Tower hadn't unmasked the two Magisters until Dine Ifrit's identity as Salamandine was blown. Her teeth ground together.
Dine summoned patience from the depths of her soul.
"...I see. Understood."
She dipped her head briefly, posture radiating ladylike grace. Maintaining that poise, Dine turned sharply and strode down the hall.
Raban rubbed his chin.
'Dropped her suspicions?'
Whether a sliver of doubt lingered or she'd bought him as a regular handyman, it didn't change what he had to do. With the pesky magical girl out of sight, he infiltrated the counseling room!
Gripping his dustpan and broom, Raban marched in with purposeful steps.
From afar, something resembling cotton candy watched the two.
Dine Ifrit was under guardian fairy surveillance.
Raban was also a guardian fairy surveillance target.
Contact between two persons of interest was enough to draw the eyes of the school's assigned guardian fairies.
Most fairies, however, were tied up with staff duties during school hours. Thus, only one fairy had been able to check the scene of their encounter.
The fairy watched their conversation from a distance. Unfortunately, voices didn't carry that far.
Her great senior Papirun had mastered lip-reading for such situations, but an ordinary fairy was hard-pressed even to hide her presence or change shape. Eavesdropping spells were banned due to abuse potential—what a shame. Mother's decree, so no arguing.
'What are they talking about mo-hu?'
A random student bumping into a staffer on the road wouldn't chat that long. Especially not with Raban, a newbie hired while Salamandine was on leave.
Had they crossed paths before he joined the school?
The fairy wrote up a frank report including her questions.
After school, the senior fairy who reviewed it assembled available fairies for a brainstorming session.
The fairies tilted their heads. An Ivory Tower Heavenly King taking interest in an ex-homeless guy? Did Raban even have enough dark thoughts to make a villain?
To sum it up like that was unfair to Salamandine. She'd gone in the sea to avoid suspicion, and the villain seed sprouting—the key evidence—was due to circumstances beyond her control. Still, the snowball started with her going swimming with friends, so among fairies, her "innocence"—bluntly, her stupidity—was accepted fact.
The fairies plunged into chaos!
"Hey, long time no see, mister!"
A silver-haired girl waved at Raban with familiar ease. He waved back, feigning casualness.
Was Nai Hyun here for counseling too?
'Her family situation seems messy...'
Nai Hyun's family was probably tied to the Na Ju Pharma owners. Being close to those behind the dissolution incident meant she'd have plenty bottled up. Maybe drawing others' grudges too.
In that sense, she was a prime source of dark thoughts.
'But too risky.'
Mess with a chaebol heiress and cause a scene? The fallout would be huge. Unlike some average kid from a normal home. Even if he could magic away the aftermath, best not to stir trouble in the first place. That's why he'd planned to lurk amid the Ivory Tower-magical girl feud, quietly siphoning mana.
Raban craved safety above all. He desperately wanted his black mage side to stay hidden.
It was occupational hazard, really.
'Demons are always gunning for true names.'
"Hey, I-hyun. Where's the counselor?"
Raban planned to burn his remaining mana on a subtle suggestion for the counselor. Nothing fancy—just make her think it was normal if he took extra time cleaning. As long as she didn't sense anything off until he grabbed the records.
I-hyun's answer was unexpected.
"Huh? The teacher? She's in the hospital right now, I think?"
"What?"
"Got caught in a villain incident. She's recovering."
"Wait, no counselor and you're still hanging out in the counseling room? Skipping like a delinquent?"
"Who're you calling a delinquent! I'm a peer counselor!"
"What."
He'd heard of it on Earth. Some schools had peer counselors for issues kids wouldn't tell adults.
But.
"...You?"
"Mister, what does that mean?"
Raban looked away. This town was lax on hair colors, but that bright silver and golden eyes stood out. Add the knuckle keychain on her phone like a cute accessory, and she was even more noticeable.
"Nah, you just seem more the athletic type."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Doesn't suit me. But what can I do? Got picked somehow."
Nai Hyun shrugged, venting her woes. Her assigned days had way fewer cases, she was covering teacher duties with zero perks like bonuses, and so on.
She left out a few facts. The counselor was a fairy, and quite a few peer counselors per grade were former magical girls. With only her and White as active magical girls left at Lux Tierra, the ex-ones were easing their burden by tending at-risk kids' hearts via the counseling room. Their coordinator fairy was away for rest in Fairy Kingdom, leaving operations a bit haphazard.
"So, mister, here to clean?"
Pat, pat. Nai Hyun dusted her skirt as she stood, flashing a playful grin.
"Or maybe counseling? Someone giving you trouble?"
Raban pondered.