Chapter 136
Chapter 136
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 136
Chapter Title: Strange Spring Semester (2)
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Izmel came down from the second floor, where she could overlook the entrance, via the stairs to the first floor.
Today, her hair was loosely braided and draped over her shoulder, with a decoration at the end made by weaving gold thread and red thread—presumably another magic tool.
"Alright, underclassmen, step back. Return to your classrooms and lock the doors."
Like a herding sheepdog, Izmel shooed away the low-year students who were still bristling and lingering in place, then approached us.
"Can't you at least tell us what kind of alert this is?"
"..."
One of the two servants, the one in the middle-left, glanced around cautiously before speaking.
"It's an unauthorized departure alert."
"Unauthorized departure, huh."
At this point, it was hard not to piece together the situation.
All cadets at Aegis Academy were confined to the island due to its geography, but entering and leaving wasn't strictly forbidden.
It was just rare for cadets to leave the island without permission anyway.
On the other hand, the professors and servants dispatched from the mainland had their access strictly controlled.
The reason was that Aegis Academy aimed to train elite soldiers, so contracts with professors who held various cutting-edge military secrets included confidentiality clauses.
'It feels a bit stricter for them than for us...'
In any case, if a servant or professor left the island without authorization due to such management protocols, this departure alert would sound.
-Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding...
Izmel curled one corner of her mouth at the successive alerts, making a 'well, well' kind of expression.
A professor who didn't return to the classroom.
And successive unauthorized departure alerts.
Amusingly enough, the first escape wasn't from me—who wanted to flee this island more than anyone—but from the professors, the 'adults.'
"Well, I get it. We can't make trouble for someone just doing their job as instructed. So, how long do we have to stay like this? We need to make an announcement."
When Izmel pressed, the servant—who had hesitated moments before—responded immediately.
"Until the movement restriction order is lifted."
"You're not letting the kids eat? Some cadets missed meals according to the schedule."
"I'll get instructions on that."
"Yes, please do."
After sorting out the situation, Izmel turned to me and Theodor.
Cleverly turning her back to the watching cadets, she made a subtle expression and said,
"It seems more serious than I thought. It's a break time anyway, so let's talk separately."
.
.
.
We found an old classroom in the most secluded spot of Thorn Crown House and entered.
It was cleanly swept, but the stored supplies were all over five years old, clearly unused for quite some time.
'Weight changes in soulless bodies: myths and realities, types of magical traces observed in the deceased... What the hell is this...'
The bookshelf filled with major textbooks that made my head spin just looking at them was a bonus.
Reading my expression, Izmel replied in a casual tone.
"Some were revised due to ethical issues, so we don't study them anymore."
"Like what, for example?"
"Deleting names of the deceased who never consented to research, that sort of thing..."
'What changed? Nothing important did? You guys studied this stuff?'
I averted my eyes from the black-covered books that gave me chills and plopped down in an empty seat.
-Snap.
Izmel snapped her fingers once, then instead of sitting, leaned obliquely against the lectern opposite me.
Whatever she did to the space, just the snap changed the feel of the air.
"Alright, then... It'd be better if Camilla Summer, the real class rep, were here instead of me, the dorm rep. But this doesn't seem like the time."
"Camilla Summer?"
"You know her?"
Izmel looked surprised at my retort.
Know her? I'd just seen her exchange greetings with Judith at graduation when she was in the honor guard.
I remembered her as a glamorous beauty with black hair tinged red.
"No, not really. I just know the name... She's the class rep, huh."
"There's no place where 'class rep' means less than at Aegis Academy, but Camilla holes up in her lab most of the time, so she's even harder to see."
Makina, the student council president, and Judith, the Wooden Cross rep, were famous to almost everyone, but not Camilla.
This was one of the few amusing differences in atmosphere between classes at Aegis Academy.
"Anyway, I've never experienced anything like today. I broke it up before it turned into a big fight, but what the hell is going on?"
"Hm. First, one thing I want to ask. Were you in the classroom until just now, Izmel?"
"No, I was in the workshop. It got noisy, so I came up and found servants blocking the door, insisting we absolutely couldn't leave."
"So you pretty much saw it all."
Leaning against the lectern with arms crossed, waiting for my answer, I gave Izmel a simple rundown.
Professor Melberry hadn't shown up for class without notice, and when we tried to check the entrance, armed servants were waiting as if they'd expected it.
What happened after, she'd seen with her own eyes, so I just added briefly.
"Professor Melberry does run late sometimes due to chronic illness, but skipping entirely? First time for that."
"I've never seen it either. What bothers me is, I don't think Professor Melberry is the only one who skipped class."
Izmel brought a finger to her chin, falling silent with a thoughtful expression.
Her long, narrow eyes sharpened like a snake's for a moment.
But noticing me, she relaxed her face again.
"Right, the alert bell rang twice. After the first, I was distracted elsewhere and didn't pay much attention."
"Elsewhere?"
"Ask Theodor."
"She says ask you?"
Following Izmel's lead, I turned to Theodor, who hadn't said a word since we entered the empty classroom.
Theodor pretended not to hear at first, then soon opened his palm.
"Chalk?"
What Theodor held was the attachment chalk he'd carried everywhere since magic use restrictions were lifted.
He'd been prepared to draw magic circles for a serious fight.
"I'm confiscating that chalk for real. Hand it over."
This guy... He looks so doll-like and meek, but why does he do this the moment I look away?
Even with me right there, Theodor had been fiddling with the chalk, gearing up for battle.
With that perfectly innocent expression!
Snatching the chalk from his palm, Theodor pouted his lips.
At times like this, he seems like a pure kid, but he's tricky to handle.
"Well, taking that away won't solve the root problem... Anyway, I get the situation. I'll look into which professor didn't show. I'll talk to Camilla first."
-Snap.
Izmel snapped her fingers again, just like when we first arrived, and straightened from the lectern.
Then, as if it just occurred to her, she added,
"About that magic tool. Wouldn't it be better to call Maha to fix it?"
"...Pardon?"
"Once more? Or maybe it won't work at all. Anyway, in its current state... Better to repair it before it fully breaks; it'll be cheaper."
Only then did I realize she meant the bracelet on my wrist that had saved my life.
"Maha, as in the Labyrinth Tower's Tower Master?"
"Yeah. She made that, right? You must have her card for warranty or something."
"I didn't buy it myself; it was a gift. How should I contact the Tower Master?"
"Oh, really? Then I'll contact my aunt for you."
"......Aunt?"
Was the niece of Maha, the pinnacle of modern magic engineering, standing right in front of me?
More than that, calling the Tower Master 'aunt'—what audacity?
Mind your manners with your aunt, not me.
My impression of Izmel's usual politeness shifted.
Seeing my expression, Izmel shrugged and said,
"She's my aunt, but the age gap isn't that big. Anyway, once this blows over, I'll set up a meeting."
Theodor didn't seem surprised; he must have known already.
I'd wanted to learn more about this bracelet anyway, and getting a line to Tower Master Maha was lucky.
"See you later, then."
Izmel hurried off to find Camilla, and as I started to stand to follow—
Theodor grabbed my sleeve as I rose.
"What's up?"
Theodor rolled up my sleeve to check the bracelet.
"This?"
"It's a magic tool from Lord Alfredo Spencer, Shirley's father, the provincial count."
"Not that."
This guy hadn't noticed something, had he?
I subtly pulled my arm free and brushed it off.
"There was an incident at the Full Moon Festival. This bracelet saved my life."
It also seemed to block damage every time I received holy power treatment, but I didn't mention that.
It wasn't certain, and telling him would just empower whatever was 'eroding' me.
"......This bracelet—it's not one that blocks death. You know that, right?"
"Yeah. It spreads out the pain from a hard hit to make it less intense."
"And you know how that's possible?"
"Not up to there."
The curricula for Thorn Crown Class and Wooden Cross Class were too different.
Izmel and Theodor got so much info just looking at a magic tool, while I—paying similar tuition—knew nothing.
Theodor stared intently at where the bracelet was now hidden under my sleeve and said,
"It absorbs the impact that's already hit and releases it bit by bit. If it breaks midway, the remaining damage comes all at once."
"If someone had removed this bracelet when I was hospitalized, it could've been bad."
"Ah, it's more complex than that. Ask Maha later. Anyway, if the magic tool hadn't done its job, we wouldn't be chatting here unscathed. You've been walking around in a really dangerous state."
Only then did I understand why Theodor was so concerned about the bracelet's condition.
I'd only worried about its color changing, not that it absolutely couldn't be removed.
This tattered bracelet holding out without breaking throughout my illness was pure luck, letting me wander around fine.
"For now, let's do a temporary fix."
Theodor pulled my arm again. And chanted a spell.
"〔We shall bear the cross of wounds together.〕"
Whether black or white magic, mages' incantations still reached me untranslated.
I checked the bracelet Theodor had carefully repaired and thanked him.
"Now, let's head out too."
Theodor nodded and followed me out of the classroom.
But the tense atmosphere, which I'd thought had subsided, had grown even more hostile.