Telma School Has No Doors!

The inner streets of Res Limen after my long absence welcomed me as they always had.

The fact that I had been here once before slipped from memory as if it had never happened, yet the city greeted me with almost the same face, unchanged in the slightest.

Crowds bustled everywhere.

People walked the streets in every color and style imaginable, so varied that even my black hair and the slightly different skin tone that set me apart barely made me stand out.

Elves, dwarves, and even the beastmen I had never seen during my previous visit all mingled together, creating a landscape that went beyond exotic and felt truly otherworldly.

*Even after all that happened with the terror at the Training School, this place is still the same.*

It had been only a few days since the attack on the worshippers’ training ground.

Just the names of the victims alone would have shaken the entire city.

Hundreds of casualties, a catastrophe of unprecedented scale.

Yet the city lay quiet.

*They must have controlled the information.*

They couldn’t have hidden it perfectly, but they had succeeded in keeping the disturbance at a level that wouldn’t jolt the city.

The Empire’s grip on the capital felt all the stronger for it.

*I should have just gone to the Empire and built up my connections instead.*

No.

I already had plenty of connections.

Everything came down to connections, but in the end I handled the work myself.

Connections only created a good environment for descending into the Abyss.

The one doing the exploring, after all, was always me.

*Right now, what mattered was strengthening my own abilities.*

So I had chosen.

The place that seemed most suitable for the growth of a demonologist.

The demonologists’ school: Telma.

The decision had not been made in haste.

I had spent several days in the suburb, pondering it carefully after leaving the Training School.

Other options had existed.

Even excluding the Empire and my guild, the city held countless guilds, schools, and teams.

And if I only held the Explorer Union license, I could apprentice with any individual.

Leaf was the perfect example.

Still, after leaving the Training School there had been things left to do.

The book and ring I had taken from the psychopath.

The core I had taken from the lower floors after defeating the summoning mage.

I needed to dispose of them.

And the result was simple: right now I possessed none of them.

I had informed the book’s owner.

Seir had handled the magical power personally, so there was no need to spend money elsewhere for appraisal.

The book was the scripture of the Abyss worshippers, the ring a symbol proving membership.

Yet the ring held considerable value.

It was made of magic-conducting alloy.

The book I handed over to the Empire.

The ring I claimed as legitimate plunder.

The book and ring, of course.

The core, however, I kept hidden.

The ring was nothing more than a very expensive trinket; the Empire would not have minded claiming it as plunder.

But a core was a different story.

The value of anything that could interfere with space was almost impossible to evaluate.

If the Empire had known I had taken the core, they would have tried every means to seize it.

That meant using a core acquired through non-standard means was no simple task.

No matter how I processed it, the rumors would spread.

Handing it to the black market would raise issues of funds and trust.

Use the core as-is?

Not a good idea.

A core could only be used in installed form.

I had already seen how the summoning mage could not use spatial magic even while carrying one.

To use it properly, the core had to be processed.

The process would weaken my interference with space, but that was unavoidable.

Fortunately, I had a simple way to solve that problem.

*Wishing Stone, I’ll use it right now.*

*Good. What for?*

*This… process it for me without anyone knowing.*

*…A dungeon core. Where from? Ah, there. And the secrecy too?*

*I’m counting on you.*

That was how it had gone.

If the Alexandria School was the strongest in Res Limen, this much was nothing.

The story had been long.

I walked the map after recalling the events of the past few days, and finally reached my destination.

I checked the map once more.

*Hmm, exactly as shown.*

“Here…?”

Before entering, I surveyed the building’s exterior from a short distance away.

No sign of age, yet the size and design were decent.

By area, it seemed smaller than the inn I had stayed at in the suburb.

Honestly the inn had been small too, but the difference was enormous.

Inside the capital, it could not compare.

Yet it was not grand.

Normally schools and guilds occupied fortified buildings.

That made them easier to access from the gate to the Abyss in the city center.

But demand drove up the land price.

The Telma School building shown on the map, however, stood not in the fortified district but in the outer suburb.

*Time to go in.*

Why did stepping through a door always feel like entering the unknown?

Any new experience came with tension, it seemed.

I was a demonologist, yet oddly my image was not the best.

It had been average at best, but the first demonologist I met in the city had been exactly that.

Still, I had made up my mind.

I grasped the handle of the Telma School gate and pushed hard.

*Creak.*

A hinge that sounded neglected.

*My evaluation of Telma School: [Penalty 1 point: Poor maintenance] added.*

“Excuse me…”

The moment I stepped inside, the thick mana that poured in like an incoming tide silenced my words.

*Here, is this some kind of magic realm…?*

The density was even thicker than the mana I had felt in the basement of the Training School where the Abyss environment was reproduced.

It was not ordinary mana.

It had nothing to do with the refreshing mana I had sensed from Reina and Leaf.

It was closer to the dense mana of Seir, the demon I used.

I could handle something denser than this, of course, but the average mage would have fled the place in discomfort.

*Is this a test? Only accepting other demonologists?*

Even though every member of this small school was precious, they did not forget their purpose…

Yes.

A school like this had to have at least this much arrogance.

If this was a real school, even if the numbers were small, every member would be a genuine demonologist full of pride.

I stepped forward with high expectation.

The interior view behind the gate came into sight.

It resembled looking into a bar.

The lighting was dim, and a long table with a raised counter stood near the wall like a bar.

Two people sat facing each other across the table.

Two pairs of eyes turned toward me.

Aware of their attention, I continued the sentence I had been unable to finish.

“Ah, excuse me. Is this the Telma School?”

The two faces were completely different yet somehow similar.

The one standing inside the table wore an expression of pained endurance, brows furrowed.

Reddish-brown hair was tangled, and dense purple eyes held so much worry that it was hard to tell if they were truly seeing me.

The decadent look made the darkness inherent in the demonologist class seem all too real.

The aura from the other was no less heavy.

She sat on a chair in front of the counter, yet her small frame was unmistakable even without the full view.

Reddish-brown hair, dark skin, and long pointed ears.

The tips were like Leaf’s, but longer, reaching her waist.

An elf.

A pureblood dark elf, not a half-elf.

Long, deep purple hair framed her bright, clear amber eyes, which reflected my shape cleanly.

Those eyes were sharp, as if they saw through every piece of knowledge in the world, yet they carried a hollow, strange light.

Dark circles beneath them added a faint sense of exhaustion and heightened the mystery.

*Yes, an elf.*

She looked younger than Ray at a glance, but her actual age was probably twice mine.

Both were not ordinary mages.

Mages were already far from ordinary, but these two stood out even among them.

*How much? Looking at their appearances, at least Expert-rank in the Explorer Union.*

While I guessed their identities through ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠their looks, the dark elf’s small lips parted.

“Who are you?”

“Could you not have received my message? I sent word via the Explorer Union. I have come to apprentice after acquiring my Abyss license.”

“Apprentice…?”

The reddish-brown-haired woman stretched her words as if my answer made no sense.

Her furrowed expression deepened into something clearly irritated.

I readied my mana as a precaution.

*This school is steeped in demon mana ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from the entrance.*

The pained face was probably enduring the price that came with being a demonologist.

If so, that demonologist’s mind could not be stable.

It was not rare for a demonologist who could not bear the price to lose control and rampage.

In the tense silence, I held the gaze of the reddish-brown-haired woman for a long time.

Thanks to that, I could watch from beginning to end the moment her cloudy eyes slowly regained focus.

When her focus sharpened…

She showed an expression change too extreme to describe.

The weary decadence that had been soaked in pain vanished, replaced by pure confusion.

“I-I’ve never heard of anything like that?”

“…All messages from the Union were incinerated.”

“Ah? Me? Haaaa… so that’s why. Apprentice… huh? Just a second!”

The woman whose eyes had been sharp enough to worry about her losing control was gone.

The person who looked like a fool for missing the point…

Then she suddenly noticed something, slapped the counter, and leaned toward the dark elf, whispering with a small voice.

Completely unaware that I could hear.

“M-Mea… do you have an ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Explorer Union license?”

I don’t!

A scream-like confession shouted in a small voice made me realize one fact.

*Ah, here.*

This was not a truly normal school.

“I don’t know. Was there one?”

“Ah, no! If you don’t have one we’re really finished…”

“Oh, there’s still more ground to fall apart here. I learned something new.”

The dark elf’s reply and the woman’s words struck like a hammer.

*Uh, I’ll just leave.*

I turned toward the exit, but the dark elf’s voice stopped me.

“Wait.”

Her voice was monotone, extremely brief, yet it carried the politeness reserved for me alone.

“Master.”

A single word, and the tension in the room shifted.

Mea. The dark elf who had just spoken.

She was the servant and ally who had contracted with me through the brand.

She was also a member of the Revengers guild and a close friend of Hekate Cley.

But right ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠now she was looking at me with those amber eyes that held both detachment and loyalty.

And she had just used the word “Master.”

I had not expected that level of formality from her.

She was usually so brief and playful, even teasing.

Yet in private she always addressed me that way.

*Interesting.*

I had to remember this.

“Master, the man at the counter is also a demonologist.”

Mea’s statement was delivered without emotion, but the way she said it made me pause.

I turned my head toward the reddish-brown-haired woman.

She was still sitting at the counter, now looking at me with a complicated expression.

She had clearly heard everything.

And yet she had not reacted.

*So that was the test.*

A test to see if I would accept only other demonologists.

And Mea had passed it by calling me Master.

She had recognized me as the one who mattered.

I took one step forward.

My voice came out calm, almost gentle.

“I am Roman Sun. A demonologist.”

The woman’s eyes narrowed slightly.

She studied me for a few seconds, then gave a small nod.

“…I am Lirael Voss. From Telma School.”

Her voice was still sharp, but the irritation had faded.

She glanced at Mea once more, then looked back at me.

“Tell me your purpose here, Roman Sun.”

I smiled faintly.

*Purpose.*

That was exactly what I had come for.

To grow stronger, to find the price I was willing to pay, and to become the demonologist the city feared.

I had come to Telma School for that.

And now that the test had been passed, the door was open.

I took another step and the thick mana around me seemed to part slightly.

*They really do have the power of the Alexandria School.*

But that was not the only thing that had changed.

Mea’s presence beside me had become more solid.

*She had chosen to stand with me.*

I felt something warm in my chest.

A small, quiet feeling.

*Comradeship.*

It was still early, but I already understood.

This city, this Abyss, these demons and mages, would not be easy.

But I had comrades now.

And I would not face them alone.

I looked at Mea and Lirael in turn.

“Shall we begin the tour of the school?”

Lirael’s expression softened a fraction.

Mea simply nodded once.

The tension of the moment lifted, replaced by something almost like anticipation.

*This was what I had come for.*

To build something real here.

To turn the price into strength.

To become the demonologist who would one day change the world.

And if I could do it with these two at my side…

Then perhaps, just perhaps, I might succeed.

I walked forward into the dim, thick mana of Telma School.

Behind me, Mea and Lirael followed without a word.

But the silence was no longer cold.

It was warm.

It was the warmth of comrades.

And for the first time since I had arrived in this world, I felt like I belonged.

*To something.*

*To someone.*

*To this.*

I took another step.

And the thick mana finally parted completely.

*Telma School welcomed me.*

*And I was no longer alone.*

The journey had only just begun.

But for the first time, I walked it with a smile.