Chapter 48: The Eve (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 48: The Eve (1)
We were given free time. For today, at least, we could legally skip class.
We had a perfectly valid excuse.
The idea was for mentors to take their mentees on a tour of Gaon's facilities and show them the ropes of school life, with plenty of time allotted. The volunteer points were a bonus.
However, I was in a bit of a bind. Yoon Chae-ha was, from the very beginning, a student outside the norm. It was highly likely she had already mastered most of the academic and magical knowledge available at Carlos.
If that was the case, was there anything at Gaon—an academy whose magical standards weren't superior to Carlos's—that could possibly interest her?
…I couldn't come up with an answer. So, I figured it was best to ask her directly.
“Is there anywhere on campus you wanted to go?”
She was walking quietly beside me.
“Not really… I'm not sure.”
Her answer wasn't much different from what I'd expected.
An attitude that suggested a distinct lack of interest.
In that case, I'll decide.
I nodded. A place she might like did come to mind. Since she didn't seem to have any strong preferences anyway, I could just take her where I wanted.
“Then, let's head out.”
I led her to the portal terminal.
To leave the school grounds, we had to go through the terminal.
A terminal staff member was seated there, and I handed her my name tag, speaking casually.
“Place of Exchange, mentor activity. We're heading out for some field experience.”
The staff member checked my face against my name tag. There seemed to be no administrative issues, as our departure was quickly approved.
“The public portal back to the academy closes after 10 PM, so you'll need to be back before then~”
“Got it.”
I planned to be back long before that anyway. What would I even do with her until 10 PM?
Beside me, Yoon Chae-ha looked at my face. Her eyes held a look of vague curiosity.
“Let's go. Just what you wanted.”
I was probably right.
*
After passing through the portal and exiting the terminal, a familiar scene unfolded before us.
Yeouido.
The streets were as bustling as ever.
And we headed toward one of the more incongruous buildings in the area.
“…Where are we?”
Yoon Chae-ha asked. Standing before us was a massive penthouse. The same place I'd come to test my Fragment. It was Vanquisher's base. I walked right up to the iron gate and reached out a hand. Before I could even touch it, the gate opened automatically.
“Come on in.”
“…”
Yoon Chae-ha continued to scan her surroundings. Pure curiosity.
The reason I brought her here was simple. From her perspective, Gaon had nothing interesting to offer. This place, however, was different.
I led her past the garden and into the building. It was unusually quiet today.
“Hello~”
I called out casually as I entered, but there was no response.
Is no one here?
There was no sign of anyone. All the better. I slowly began to explain to Yoon Chae-ha.
“Gaon, Carlos, they're more or less the same. There's really nothing for you to do on campus.”
She nodded.
“This place, though, will be a little different.”
I stood before the door to the deepest room on the first floor.
The library. Vanquisher's mage, Yukal Perman. The materials he and the Old Man had collected over many long years were stored here. It could probably rival even the finest collection in the Magic Tower.
And they had opened the library, allowing us to acquire knowledge from it. Though the Old Man was the only one who ever used it.
I opened the door and said, “Feel free to look arou— Ah.”
A man was sitting quietly in a one-person sofa. Gray hair and a robe that dragged on the floor.
A book in one hand. He didn't even look up.
As if he hadn't even noticed us, he was quietly turning the pages.
“Oh, you're here?”
He was usually away, so I thought no one was here, but there he was.
He didn't stir at the sound of our presence.
I swallowed and continued quietly.
“Can she… read some of the books? I became her mentor, but there's nothing to see at Gaon—”
“…”
At that, he rose from his seat. His robe trailing, he approached us.
He didn't make a sound.
And then, he stood before Yoon Chae-ha. She looked surprised. Yukal was a famous mage, after all. Though not from the Magic Tower, he was second to none of its mages.
Just then, Yukal's sky-blue eyes glowed faintly. As if in response, Yoon Chae-ha's orange eyes also shone brightly.
And then, a brief silence. He slowly closed his eyes.
Yukal nodded once more and quietly turned away. He said nothing.
Opening his book, he sat back down.
I looked back at Yoon Chae-ha. She still had a surprised expression.
“He said you can go in.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah.”
He was busy reading, but that was his way of giving permission. He was a man of few words.
We walked quietly into the library.
The distinct smell of an old bookstore hung in the air. Already, her eyes were sparkling.
“…Memoirs of the Carlos Arcane School?”
It seemed they even had a book written by the founder of Carlos Academy. That thing was probably priceless.
“Necromancy?? Entropy and the Irreversibility of Mana???”
She was already lost in her own world. I watched her turn the pages, one by one.
Unlike her usual cool demeanor, she seemed like a completely different person. Her fingertips, calm yet urgent as they flipped through the pages; her state of hyper-focus. I suddenly had to stifle a laugh.
Good call, bringing her here.
I said quietly, “Keep reading. I'm going to step out for a bit.”
But she didn't answer. She was even performing the feat of reading two or three books at once.
As I walked out from between the bookshelves, I spoke to Yukal.
“Yukal, is the Old Man around?”
Without even pausing from turning a page, he answered curtly.
“Until just now.”
Meaning he was here until just now. Which meant he wasn't here now.
I quietly left the library and looked around the main building. I walked on, then stopped abruptly in front of a certain room. The Old Man's office.
I hesitated at the door for a moment.
Then, I turned the handle and went inside.
A quiet room.
Heavy bookshelves and neatly organized documents.
And on the desk lay a single document.
I quietly picked it up.
[Operation Plan]
I turned the cover.
The moment I skimmed the contents,
alarm bells went off in my head.
It was about time. This was one of the reasons I'd come here, after all.
“…”
I read the document quietly. This was no simple mission.
It was the event I had to be most wary of, the one I had to prevent.
The annihilation of Vanquisher.
The plan detailed a Mine extermination operation requested by the Association.
The details were simple. A region in Hamgyeong-do. Intelligence reported that a Mine faction was active there; the mission was to raid and eliminate the colony.
I checked the list of participants.
Excluding the members on dispatch—everyone was participating.
The date and time… three weeks from now.
I closed my eyes and quietly added my name to the list of participants. Not for real, just in my mind.
I'll stop it.
I will stop it, no matter what. According to the original story's flow of events, this mission ends with Vanquisher being wiped out. I had no intention of letting that ending stand.
“Philip, are you there?”
-Hoo?
A white eagle-owl quietly emerged from the shadows.
I held up the document and asked, “This is going to the Association, right?”
Philip nodded.
This document would be sent over to the Association soon.
There was still time.
I put the document back down and leaned back in the Old Man's chair. My mind was a mess. I slowly glanced down at my waist. An empty space. Ever since my spear broke, I still hadn't acquired a new weapon, even though I'd decided on one. So this feeling of emptiness was only natural.
I couldn't stay like this for long. Several options came to mind.
Durandal.
It's a holy sword, but it's in a French museum.
Longinus.
It's good, but someone's already using it.
Gungnir. That one's a bit… too picky.
There were several choices, but none that truly satisfied me came to mind.
Just then, something that perfectly matched the weapon type I'd recently decided on flashed through my mind.
Catastrophe.
“Right, there's that.”
The conditions are a little tricky, but if I can wield it, it'll be perfect.
It was time to go find my weapon.
I turned on the Old Man's computer and started quickly organizing my thoughts in a notepad.
How much time had passed? I looked outside and saw the sun was already setting.
There was more to prepare than I'd thought, and a good deal of time had gone by.
After sending the plan I'd finished writing to my own email, I shut down the computer.
Then I went out and headed for the library.
As I quietly opened the library door—
“Ugh, seriously. This Arcane School nonsense.”
…?
I could hear the sounds of an argument from inside.
“Your perspective is too narrow.”
Yukal's firm voice.
Across from him was Yoon Chae-ha, a mountain of books piled beside her. With a book open and a quill in one hand, she retorted, her face flushed with agitation.
“So you're saying it's an illusion—the primordial entropy? Can you even prove that?”
“It has already been proven.”
Yukal calmly refuted.
“Arcane magic is the purest form of magic. Elemental magic, curses—they are all but fragmented streams derived from the arcane. The shaping (形象) and control (制御) you pursue are, in the end, nothing more than derivatives.”
“No, but…”
The air in the library had grown heated.
She let out a sharp sigh and turned her head. Her eyes met mine, and she flinched in surprise.
I spoke quietly.
“Looks like you had fun.”
Yoon Chae-ha flinched again and turned away. A faint blush colored her cheeks.
“Sorry, Yukal. I think it's about time I take her back.”
“It's no matter to me. This passionate mage is the only problem here.”
“Hah…”
She was clearly incensed by his words. But she wasn't the only one who was worked up. Yukal, too, had the slightest smirk on his lips. I'd never seen him like that before.
“Read enough?”
“…Yeah.”
I didn't need to ask. A mountain of books, seemingly marked as read, was piled up next to her.
At a gesture from Yukal, the books all rose into the air at once. Then, one by one, they flew back to the shelves.
“W-wait!”
Yoon Chae-ha shot to her feet and snatched one of the books.
[Memoirs of the Carlos Arcane School]
It was the book from earlier.
“I'd like to… borrow this.”
“Didn't you say you weren't interested?”
“…”
“Do as you please.”
Oho, he's even letting her borrow a book.
“…”
With that, she began to inch her way toward the door.
When she reached it, she stopped for a moment and quietly bowed her head.
“Thank you.”
A neat, short farewell.
And then she was gone.
It seemed she'd taken a liking to this place. After she left, Yukal spoke to me quietly.
“…Where is she headed?”
“Well, probably the Magic Tower…”
“Is that so.”
-Thump.
“A shame.”
He closed the book he was reading.
His expression, uncharacteristically, held a trace of disappointment.