Are We Losing?

Her arms and legs would not obey her, as if she had been shoved underwater. The world before her eyes was black. Endlessly black. Was this what the deep sea looked like — that place the fishermen of the southern port cities told stories about?

Inside a pitch-black liquid so thick she could not even properly see her own pale fingers, Ermia's mind raced. Faint as it was, she could feel it with perfect clarity. Somewhere beyond this deep, deep dark, mana was colliding with violent force.

A mage of Ermia's caliber could read a battle from the ripples of clashing mana alone.

The one casting has to be that piece of trash in the revolting robe. The wavelength answering him is steady. Single bursts, never scattered, razor-sharp. A knight. Expert at the very least.

Mages, as a breed, were uniformly out of shape; even casting left them panting. A well-trained battle mage showed less of that, but a wavelength like this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠belonged to a knight and no one else. Knights were stubborn fools who tried to solve everything with brute force first — and yet their unshakable stamina and willpower were worth acknowledging.

In any case, the traces of that fight were reaching her. That alone proved this sealing magic did not flow in only one direction.

Ermia projected her mana, trying to break free of the suffocating stillness. But just as rain glances off a waterproofed leather cloak, the black substance wrapped around her shed her power without yielding an inch. She was furious enough to want to drop a meteor on the whole thing and smash it to pieces, though if she did, she herself would hardly walk away unscathed. Mana flung back by the black substance would not leave her be.

Unable to bear the frustration, Ermia kept forcing her mana outward whether it rebounded or not. And in that instant, a memory surfaced.

Kang Jinwoo — the black-haired chef she had long since grown used to. The day of the hardtack contract, their first meeting in the principal's office, flickered through her mind. More precisely, the peculiar mana she had sensed in him then. That mana, like water sliding off a waterproof cloak, tickled at her now with the itch of déjà vu.

This seal's mana... and Kang Jinwoo's mana. The alien feel of them is exactly the same.

Ermia Belfast had mastered every magic currently extant in the Empire. The mysterious sealing spell that had caught her only because she herself had not known it, and the mana of the outsider Kang Jinwoo, shared the same nature. Could she really write that off as simple coincidence?

Of course not.

The instant a spell was cast, it leaned heavily on the mage's state of mind and body. Coincidence and luck might slip in then. Not so when one studied magic, or researched it. The magical theory of the present day had been built strictly upon logic and calculation. Before she was an archmage, Ermia was a traveler walking the path of magic — and a disciple who missed a master gone too far ahead of her. If someone like her accepted this as coincidence, it would not be strange for the master buried in the Imperial National Cemetery to rise as an undead and bellow at her.

Was it because she had been swallowed by a darkness where, though her eyes were clearly open, it felt as if they were shut — a dark in which she could not see an inch ahead? She could not afford to waste a single further attempt at escape, and still the old memories kept rising, again and again.

A soft ripple — and with it the musty smell of Grendel's study, her master's deep voice, even her own excitement at the time. Ermia recalled that single sentence with perfect clarity, and in the same instant she sensed a ripple spreading through the mana vessel inside her.

The trait of divine mana her master had described. The unidentified group that had dared attack the Academy, and the mysterious magic they wielded. A spell that repelled the mana of the strongest mage among humankind, and Kang Jinwoo's mana, whose very principle looked identical. And last of all, the wondrous, miraculous food Jinwoo had shown her.

Ermia clenched her teeth until they creaked. She could feel the mana vessel in her heart rocking, shallow and uneasy — the past in which she had declared that any further ascent was impossible. The Ermia of the present met that past head-on. And without a care for whether her body burst from a runaway of mana, she spun her power to the absolute limit.

Ha... haha. Hahahaha!!!

"Glrk— gurgle!"

Driven into a corner for the first time in ages, Ermia grasped the crux that divided human from god. She forgot she was even trapped in the black substance and laughed out loud. Speaking as if underwater, all that emerged was the scrape of windpipe and vocal cords, and Ermia did not care in the slightest.

Her mana rose until it lapped just beneath the rim of the vessel. The very place where her past self had stopped. One single ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠step forward. One stair. The thickness of a sheet of paper. To put it another way...

It's a difference of one glass of Milk Peach.

Milk Peach — that outrageous drink Kang Jinwoo had created. If a single glass of that liquid filled the vessel, she felt she could cross this limit.

And I drank ten glasses of it by myself.

As it happened, Ermia Belfast was the principal of Arcadia Academy. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠A principal: the highest authority within the Academy. With power like that, drinking about ten glasses before she ordered the sales halted had not been difficult at all.

Once this incident is fully settled... I really ought to make him an honorary professor, at the very least.

Before that, though, she had to smash this damned seal steeped in a god's mana.

Light tore free in a brilliant torrent. The mana vessel within Ermia surpassed its limit and was forged anew, pouring out a radiant blaze. She drove that power straight into the nauseating black substance.

The dark detonated.

It was the moment a mage was born who stood beyond the authority of nations — a natural disaster given human form.

"Everyone! You're safe!"

"You made it too, Kang Jinwoo. That's a relief."

"Hnya. What in the world is all this, nya? Still, it looks like it got cleaned up pretty fast, nya..."

Eilenna and I had been guided to the center by Ishilla. Brunok, Ruri, James, and Jerry — the shop's staff — were huddled there together. We confirmed that every one of us was unhurt and let out a breath we had been holding. Ishilla, meanwhile, was already bickering with Kariel, who had arrived at some point.

"I got twenty-five! Kariel, how many did you get?"

"Heh. Shame. I got twenty-six."

"L-liar! You have proof?"

"Proof? Right here. I only cut off the monsters' ears and brought them. Well? Exactly twenty-six, isn't it?"

"U-uuegh..."

Ishilla stared at Kariel with open disgust. Kariel, for her part, looked thoroughly pleased with her victory. I turned to Ishilla.

"Ishilla. So what now? Is it over?"

"Hmm... I think we've killed all the monsters that scattered through the festival grounds. All that's left is the fight in the central plaza, but..."

The words were barely out of her mouth when a furious clash erupted from the direction of the plaza — boom after boom, the sound of paving stones and fountain and everything else being smashed to pieces. I couldn't see it, but the racket never let up. Whoever was in there was having a hard time of it. I looked to Ishilla and Kariel, the strongest forces we had on hand.

"Who is fighting over there?"

"My escort knight and Sir Arthur. It doesn't look like they're wrapping it up easily."

"Even with the two of them, it's still this fierce. That's a little dangerous."

Kariel answered with a cool, clear gaze. She was an imperial princess, and Ishilla a duke's daughter. Neither of them had any reason to risk themselves in that fight. They had already run around in person hunting down the stragglers, which hardly suited their stations to begin with.

"Kariel. The other students are gathering. Shall we go?"

"Mm. We've got the numbers. Time to finish it."

"You're going yourselves?"

And yet, for some reason, Ishilla and Kariel set off at the head of the group, straight for the central plaza. The other students crowded after them in a murmuring rush, eager to follow.

"Huff... huff..."

"Hey, what's wrong with him?"

"No idea. Something about unconsciously awakening Lightning Breathing, or whatever he said. His lightning magic got stronger."

"Ahh... We will not stop until every monster has been wiped from this world..."

One of them was muttering about lightning. Another had gone completely white-eyed, tears streaming, as he prepared a rock spell. Their condition looked anything but normal... but they also looked strong enough to be genuinely terrifying. Why, though? Peel back a layer and the Academy's students were all children of distinguished houses. They had every right to be outraged and protesting a disaster like this, and instead they were pushing forward, competing to be the ones who ended it. I stared at the procession in bewilderment, and Ishilla spoke up.

"Hehe, Master. That look says you're wondering why we're walking into the fight on our own two feet."

"You know me too well. The students don't need to put themselves in danger. We could wait here for the guards..."

"Come on, Mister Toast. This Academy holds all the memories of us crying and laughing."

"That's right. Shouldn't you be the one to protect your own home?"

I didn't know their names, but they were students who came by often enough that I remembered their faces. The others seemed to feel the same; they looked at me with their minds already made up. These kids. So they did know what romance was — the old-fashioned kind. The guards still hadn't shown up anyway, and I hadn't seen anyone particularly skilled among them. Which meant that, for now, the safest place was wherever these students were. We attached ourselves to the procession and headed for the central plaza. We had already been rallied nearby, so it took almost no time at all.

And in the plaza that greeted us, a battle was unfolding the likes of which I had never seen.

Arthur's swordwork was nimble; Betz fought with the weight of a bastard sword. Each of them cut down the monsters rushing in, playing to his own style, driving forward with grim persistence toward the fountain at the plaza's heart. There, black smoke the size of a person was billowing up, and a human in a black robe stood as if to guard it.

"They just keep coming, no end to them!"

"Truly... it is exactly as you say!"

Their blades moved too fast to follow, and still there were just as many monsters. They had not even opened a path to the black robe they were aiming for. Then the students' magic, fully prepared, slammed into the swarm. Ice spears, hurled stone, firestorms, Wind Cutters — attack spells of every kind tore the monsters apart. At the same moment Kariel shouted.

"Betz!! Now!"

"Understood! Let's go, Arthur!"

"Yes!"

The students' support opened a path for a single instant. Arthur and Betz leapt with enough force to shatter the ground beneath them. Every eye — ours, and every student's — locked onto them. In a blink they were within arm's reach of the black robe, and without slowing their charge they raised their swords high.

"Waaaaah!!"

"Just cut him down, Sir Knights!!"

"Goooo!!!"

Leaving the excited students' cheers behind them, the two knights swung. Neither attack reached the unidentified figure. More precisely, they clearly did — and it did no good. Like trying to cut murky smoke, Arthur's and Betz's blades passed straight through his body. The man in the black robe did not even seem to notice he had been struck. He muttered like a madman.

"Where... where did it go wrong? I suppressed that damned disciple of Grendel's. So why? Why are a bunch of wet-behind-the-ears brats this strong?"

"Quit your yapping, terrorist!!!"

Betz laid into him with sheer grit, a storm of indiscriminate cuts. The bastard sword had a broad blade, and he swung it with frightening speed; the wind pressure alone rocked the man's body.

"You're in the way. Die for a second."

"Sir Betz, look out!!"

The robed man made no effort to hide his irritation as he gestured at Betz. Arthur reacted on instinct, wrapped himself around Betz, and went down with him. A black beam lanced through the exact spot where Betz's head had been. It was as thick as a water cannon, yet as fast as a lightning spear, and every bit as destructive. If it had landed clean, the horror that would have followed was easy to imagine. Sprawled on the ground, Betz and Arthur stared blankly up at the black robe.

"Aaaah!! Leave Uncle Arthur alone!"

Ishilla fired ice spear after ice spear. The moment they touched him, they scattered into mana and bounced away. The man in the black robe did not so much as glance at her. He simply raised a finger toward Betz and Arthur, the way one crushes a bothersome insect.

"Because of you lot, the seal's come a little undone. Filthy humans."

"Seal, my ass. You monster!!"

Arthur, the first to regain his stance, charged the black robe. But just as before, a casual gesture from the man sent a shockwave like black lightning crashing into him. Arthur took the blow head-on and was flung far, slammed into the ground. He twitched now and then, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so at least he seemed to have kept his life. Betz, given the chance to pull himself together by Arthur's sacrifice, drew forth his sword aura. Brown light blazed along the blade with terrifying force, roaring like a savage bear. But even that trump-card aura was swallowed by the man's black smoke. Stripped of any means to strike back, Betz stared at his own sword in blank despair.

"How... how could this—"

He never finished. The impact planted him beside Arthur. The robed man did not spare either knight a thought. He only went on fuming.

"Silbaerin, Nuardel — same story. There's a variable. Something seriously wrong..."

Despair began to rise in the eyes of the students who had been so confident. They were still casting, still cutting down the monsters that rushed them, but it was nothing more than buying time. The Empire's finest knight and an Expert knight had fallen. What help could Academy students, only just reaching their final year, possibly be?

"Arthur!!! No!!"

"Damn it, Betz! Get up! Snap out of it!!"

Ishilla and Kariel cried out in desperation, and still the two knights could not rise.

"Haah... I have to maintain the seal, but clearing out the surroundings should be fine enough."

With those loaded words, the man in the black robe came toward us. With every step he took, the smiles drained from the students' faces. Ominous mana condensed at his fingertips. None of us — not me, not the students — could bring ourselves to resist that power. Even if every one of us raised a barrier with all we had, it would not hold for long. In the midst of that despair, someone murmured.

"P-Principal Ermia... where did you go? Don't tell me... you lost...?"

And then something changed. The black smoke he had been fixated on all this time gave off a pulse that was anything but ordinary. The man, who had been closing in on us, flinched and whirled around.

"No. That's impossible. It was more than enough to hold a human mage—"

The black smoke tore apart, and the whole world was dyed white. Something burst forth, shining like a lighthouse on a pitch-black night sea. Only after the glare eased could we tell who it was. She answered, voice low.

Snow-white hair lifted of its own accord, buoyed by a vast tide of overflowing mana. Deep lake-blue eyes narrowed sharply as she revealed herself. Ermia Belfast, the Empire's strongest archmage. No... it seemed more accurate, now, to call her the pinnacle of humankind — a mage on the scale of a natural disaster.

When Ermia appeared, anger burning all the way to the ends of her hair, the students stared at her as if they could not believe it. The man in the black robe, who had wanted that seal more than anyone, was no different.

"First we clean up. Then we begin."

Ermia flicked her fingers, light as anything. In the same instant, every monster around us was crushed flat. It seemed... there was no longer any need to worry.