episode_0067

The day after receiving the letter. Ena quickly finished preparations to return to Wihame. She put on the shirt and robe she usually wore and pulled her stiff hat down deep. As she had prepared from dawn, Asel was also able to watch her leave.

It was a sudden return. That Ena, who had been acting as if she would stay here indefinitely, had to leave just because of one letter. What on earth was written in the letter that made her leave so hastily? Since she wouldn’t give a clear answer when asked, Asel could only feel frustrated.

“It’s family matters.”

Even if he pestered her, that was all the answer he got back.

‘Family matters, huh.’

He had known for a long time that Ena had no parents. While it was natural considering her age, her race itself was a long-lived species. Therefore, even excluding her status as a Great Mage, her parents also needed to be long-lived. If not, Ena could not be a pure-blooded long-lived species.

So, her parents must have been free from the concept of time. If such people did not exist now, what would that mean?

They were murdered. Or they committed suicide.

Either way, it wouldn’t have been a good thing for Ena. If she mentioned family matters, it was highly likely that she wasn’t simply making an excuse.

“……”

Suddenly, the face of Virsia, who had called Ena her sister, came to mind. A Great Mage like Ena, but one who followed a different path. An existence standing on the opposite side. She must surely play a part in Ena’s complicated family matters.

…Many things came to mind, but nothing was clear. Asel sighed deeply and looked down at Ena approaching him.

“I’ll be back.”

“Please don’t get hurt.”

“If I were to get hurt, a city would have already been blown away.”

“…That’s true, but I still worry.”

Instead of answering Asel’s words, Ena smiled gently and opened her arms. Asel realized what she wanted and laughed back.

Hug.

Asel lightly hugged Ena’s wide-open arms. Ena rested her chin on Asel’s shoulder and whispered softly in his ear.

“You don’t get hurt either. Let’s go to the beach or something when the semester break comes.”

“Are we going for fun?”

“Yeah. Just the two of us.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

Ena smiled and lightly kissed Asel’s cheek. Then she gently pushed Asel away and immediately threw herself out the open window.

Crackle!!

Her body turned into a pure white lightning bolt and tore through the sky. Asel stood at the window, watching her, then smiled wryly and went into the bathroom. The person who was always by his side had disappeared, but the day still began.

It was the second day of the academy semester.

***

“I’ll join!”

The day after the club tour. Celine took Asel and visited the theater club room once more, shouting that. Raine smiled brightly and handed the two of them application forms. The content was quite simple.

There were no major restrictions except for limitations stating that club drama content would not be leaked outside and assigned roles would not be revealed to others. Celine immediately took out a pen from her pocket and signed the application form, and Asel also chuckled and inscribed his name.

Honestly, it didn’t matter much which club he joined. Since there was a set activity time, he could secure enough time for magic research and experiments as long as he fit his schedule to it. In that regard, the theater club was a decent choice.

Although it was a quite active club, practice was voluntary outside of club hours, and the atmosphere was friendly. There was also almost no bullying from seniors, so there was no burden. The male-female ratio was also appropriate, so compared to other clubs that basically had more women, he wouldn’t feel intimidated.

Simply put, it was a place where you just had to do what you were supposed to do. Asel smiled and handed the signed application form to Raine.

“I’m done writing.”

“Thanks~ Now you’re a proper theater club member too. If any kids from other clubs bother you, tell us right away! We’ll smash them!”

Raina said, clenching both fists tightly. Asel let out a hearty laugh, and in response, Celine also handed her completed application form to her.

With this, the two of them had settled on their place.

At that moment, Raine nodded with a sly smile. Simultaneously, five seniors appeared from behind the sofa where the two were sitting. They each put a hand on Asel and Celine’s shoulders and said to Raine with clearly excited expressions.

“Senior, they’re new members, right? We can hold the initiation, right?”

“Go ahead and do it.”

“Yahoooo!”

Raine answered, laughing like a schemer. Then the five people cheered and forcibly pulled the two startled individuals to their feet.

“Hey! You come out too!”

As a female student with a clear, ringing voice shouted, golden fox ears twitched out from the corner. Asel recognized the owner of those ears and unconsciously mumbled her name.

“Saya?”

“Oh, it’s been a while, Asel.”

Thump-thump, making sounds, Saya appeared from the corner.

It wasn’t her footsteps. It was the footsteps of a certain muscular woman who was holding her up. A giant taller than Asel by a head, whose pumped-up muscles on her whole body seemed to writhe as if alive. She was an impressive woman with chest muscles that rippled grotesquely and an ill-fitting short skirt.

“You’re too light. Eat more rice.”

She said, tensing her cracked thigh muscles. Saya mumbled, covering her face with both hands, as if embarrassed.

“I ate two bowls this morning…”

“Eat five bowls!”

“That’s a monster, Senior Hargelin!”

Unable to hold back, Saya yelled loudly. Asel repeated the giant’s name she had blurted out and tilted his head.

“…Hargelin?”

An familiar family name. The same surname as Ellen. But unlike Ellen, who was so small she was almost petite, she had a sturdy body comparable to an orc. It was enough to make him doubt if they truly shared the same blood.

“Hmm? Seems like you know me.”

As if confirming his reaction, she put Saya down on the floor and walked towards Asel. Asel looked up at her with an uncomfortable expression and replied.

“I have a relationship with Ellen. So I must have mentioned the family name without thinking. I apologize.”

“No, that doesn’t matter. I’m not an idiot who gets angry just because someone casually mentions a noble’s surname. More importantly, Ellen…”

She bared her teeth and wore a cheerful smile.

“You’re friends with our cute youngest? This is truly a joyous occasion. Has the child who used to follow me around saying ‘Sister, Sister’ already entered the academy?”

“…Is she your younger sister?”

“Of course. She’s the youngest in our family. I even have a picture. Want to see?”

Without waiting for Asel’s answer, she took out a small picture from her pocket and showed it to Asel. Asel let out a hollow laugh upon seeing the members of the Hargelin direct line in the photo.

Every single one of them had bodies that were no joke. Exaggerating slightly, they were big enough to be mistaken for an orc family, all boasting massive physiques.

Within that, Ellen was noticeably small. Her appearance, hanging on the shoulder of the man who seemed to be her father and wearing a bright smile, looked naive yet her height seemed no different from now.

“It’s already a picture from 5 years ago. Nostalgic days.”

She said, wiping away a tear.

5 years ago? Had Ellen not grown at all since then?

The moment Asel recalled Ellen’s slender body and burst out laughing, the woman in front of him completely hardened her face and placed a large hand on Asel’s head.

“You. You seem to be thinking something strange. You weren’t imagining anything that would make fun of our youngest, were you?!”

“…I thought she was cute.”

“She is cute. You have good taste.”

She grinned and retrieved the hand she had placed on Asel’s head. Then she put the photo back in her pocket and looked down at Asel, opening her mouth.

“She’s a child with an unusually weak disposition. Since you’ve become friends, take responsibility for her to the very end.”

“You must cherish her a lot.”

“Because there’s no reason not to cherish my sister.”

Asel chuckled at the pure answer.

“I will keep that in mind.”

“Good! Then, shall we go do the initiation!”

She lifted Asel up and shouted loudly. While he was saying ‘whoa, whoa’. Saya and Celine were also grabbed by other members and dragged out of the club room.

“W-What’s the initiation? Where are we going?”

“Ugh, I’ve been held for so long my stomach is…”

Ignoring the grumbling Celine and Saya, they followed the giant woman out of the club room. The giant woman turned to Raine and shouted loudly.

“Raine! We’re going and coming back!”

“Hehehehehe…”

She let out a dark smile.

***

The giant woman’s name was Roselle Hargelin. She was known as one of the strong individuals rumored to be the top student in the 3rd-year Knight Department and who wielded a large greatsword as if it were her own body. Her level was Intermediate Expert, but thanks to the Hargelin family’s unique monstrous strength, she was an excellent warrior capable of fighting even High Experts.

Perhaps she was quite reputable, as Leona chattered away towards Asel, who was being carried on Roselle’s shoulder.

“Despite her scary appearance, she takes good care of her juniors. Unlike typical nobles, she’s also terribly fond of her family. No need to be scared.”

“Hahahaha! This is straight-up buttering me up! Leona, think about what you want for dinner tonight beforehand! I’ll buy it!”

“Yay!”

Leona jumped up and down on the spot, expressing her joy. Asel let out a hollow laugh and looked down at the scene.

Behind Roselle, who was walking at the very front. He could see Saya and Celine walking, held by both arms.

The atmosphere wasn’t that tense. Saya was carefully answering a senior’s question about popular cosmetics these days, and Celine was explaining the ecosystem of the Aurora Mage Tower to a fellow mage senior.

It was quite a relaxed atmosphere. Everyone’s expressions were bright.

They called it an initiation, but it didn’t seem like they would make them do anything terrible. Only then did Asel relax his expression and slump onto Roselle’s shoulder. Then he looked at Saya’s face and became lost in thought without speaking.

‘Is this the first time I’m seeing her face since the group project?’

He had heard the news that everyone was lying in the academy infirmary after forcibly evacuating them during Virsia’s attack. But he hadn’t visited, so today was the first day he saw her since then.

The reason for not visiting was nothing special. He had thought he would visit later, but then he got into serious Eye of Magic research and forgot. Thanks to that, when he rushed to the infirmary, she had already been discharged for a long time.

Visiting the dormitory seemed a bit much, so he thought he would talk to her when they met later, and that’s what has continued until now. Since their departments were different, there was no chance of running into each other at the academy, so it couldn’t be helped.

Still, it was a relief to meet like this. He never dreamed she would choose the theater club, but considering her beautiful appearance, it didn’t seem particularly unfitting either. Perhaps she chose it to experience popular culture as a merchant.

Whatever it was, it didn’t matter.

Her abdomen, which had been completely perforated, looked fine. It seemed the injury wasn’t irrecoverable. It was truly a fortunate thing.

But separately, Saya seemed to feel indebted to Asel. When their eyes met, she would hang her head low like a sinner. Since he understood why, Asel sighed deeply and closed his eyes.

‘I didn’t particularly intend to say anything.’

There’s a saying that even if clothes sleeves brush past each other, it’s destiny. Similarly, Asel intended to continue his friendships with those he met in the group project. However, with Saya acting like that, it seemed he would have to forcibly keep his distance for a while.

Ultimately, it was a problem that time would solve. Perhaps it could be resolved during this initiation.

‘Hopefully sooner rather than later.’

Asel thought so, fiddling with the Ice Peony ring he wore on his left index finger.

“We’ve arrived.”

Just then, Roselle, who had been carrying Asel over her shoulder, put him down and spoke. Asel opened his closed eyes and scanned his surroundings.

“……?”

His face changed subtly.

The smell of bookshelves brushed his nose clearly. The rustling sound of turning pages was heard from all directions, and various magic books flew through the air on their own, finding their places. Spirits coiled on top of the bookshelves half-opened one eye each and stared intently at those standing on the floor.

It was a place he was extremely familiar with. Celine blinked her eyes and mumbled softly.

“…Library?”

As she said, this place was the academy’s public library. A quiet place that didn’t fit the word ‘initiation’. It was not a suitable place to cause a commotion.

‘Surely they’re not planning to make us read dozens of books about plays as an initiation, are they?’

The moment Asel thought that and looked back at Roselle. A librarian wearing glasses approached Roselle and whispered softly.

“Y-You’re here for the initiation, right? Please do it quickly… We can’t cause a commotion…”

“Hmm. I know. We’ll do it quickly and leave.”

Roselle nodded to the librarian, then led her party down to the library basement.

Compared to the upper floors, the basement had fewer books on the shelves, and they were filled with dull content. Thanks to that, there were far fewer people than on the upper floors.

“Hmm.”

Roselle stood still for a moment, scanning the bookshelves, then reached out her hand and said.

“To your positions.”

“To our positions.”

The theater club members followed her words and moved in a disciplined manner. They each grabbed a bookshelf, picked up one book placed there, and nodded their heads. Then Roselle grinned and turned to face the three people, opening her mouth.

“Let’s go.”

“What on earth are you planning to do?”

Unable to contain his curiosity, Asel asked. Instead of answering, Roselle stood in front of a certain wall and tapped it.

Simultaneously, the theater club members pulled out the books they were holding, and

Grrrrd!!

The wall in front of Roselle began to open upwards. The party’s mouths dropped open at the sight of the wall opening like a castle gate, and Roselle entered it, answering.

“The academy has one labyrinth whose structure changes every year.”

“……”

“A labyrinth where the entry method and what’s inside all change. Starting from January 1st every year when everything is reset, the location where entrance tickets for one year are given to the club of the person who finds the entry method first.”

“…This is.”

“We were the first to find it this year.”

Roselle grinned and sent the three people forward.

Below their feet. A pit filled with darkness, whose end was invisible, was dug.

“Its name is the Simple Labyrinth.”

She hugged the three of them simultaneously and continued, whispering softly.

“We decided to do this year’s initiation here.”

“…Just a moment.”

The moment Celine, feeling an unusual current, spoke.

“Go and come back.”

Roselle picked up the three she was hugging and flung them over the pit.