Chapter 222: Mobius (6)

“Why are you doing this? Is it because I learned magic?”

Mobius did not answer. Sylvia, her face filled with anxiety, could only be dragged along by him. The magic she had diligently learned, the mana she had gathered, were all powerless before Mobius. With mana as vast as the sea, he suppressed Sylvia’s resistance, moving her body as easily as one might carry a basket of fruit.

“Welcome, Mobius-nim. Who is that woman?”

Mobius didn’t answer the mages who greeted him. His stern face and white beard lent his steps a weight and authority that made his silence feel oppressive. The mage turned away with an awkward expression, and Mobius reached for the elevator.

“W-why are you doing this?”

Sylvia mustered her courage and asked again. She was afraid because Mobius offered no answer, but she kept talking. Although Mobius had dragged her here with a menacing attitude, he hadn’t harmed or abused her body; in fact, he had created the most comfortable environment possible during their trip to the magic tower.

[Moving to the top floor]

With a monotonous voice, the elevator ascended. Beyond the translucent elevator, busy people and complex experimental equipment flashed by. Before Sylvia could get a good look at the experimental tools, the glass rapidly showed a different scene.

Blurred by the streaking condensation, the tools and people looked like a failed watercolor painting on the glass before vanishing, replaced by a room filled with antique furniture and soft lighting. Sylvia blinked rapidly, trying to shake off the lingering colors, while Mobius moved his fingers, guiding her body towards the drawing-room.

“W-what on earth…!”

As Sylvia repeated the same words, Mobius moved in silence. When his fingertips brushed a secret room switch, revealing stairs before her eyes, Sylvia trembled as she faced the faint blue light emanating from within.

Mana surged and receded like waves pushing against beach sand. Like bringing a small candle close to one’s face and then pulling it away, the mana’s energy momentarily washed over her warmly before vanishing as if it had never been there.

Mobius gathered mana at his fingertips, formed it into a sphere, and slowly sent it down the stairs. The space, which had been shrouded in dim shadows between the wall crevices due to poor lighting, was enveloped in bright light the moment Mobius touched it, revealing its true colors.

Only then could Sylvia see that this staircase was made of white bricks.

Once upon a time

Immediately after this magic tower was built, this white path, inheriting the pristine white walls, was guiding her and Mobius. Sylvia descended the stairs, holding her breath. Mages are beings who cannot overcome their curiosity. Sylvia, too, was more intrigued by the new sights Mobius was revealing than by the danger threatening her body.

While she twisted her body, trying hard to break free, her gaze couldn’t help but follow the stairs descending deeper.

As they descended the stairs, matching the height they had climbed, their footsteps grew deeper and the air grew thicker. The air was so chalky and dry it left a bitter taste in her mouth, and white particles floated gently in the dim light. Sylvia covered her mouth and posed a question to Mobius.

“Where is this place, anyway? What do you want?”

How many times had she asked? Since being dragged from the magic tower, Sylvia had repeated the same question like a parrot, and Mobius had ignored every query as if he were deaf. And now, Mobius turned as if he had heard her voice for the first time.

“Sylvia. You said your name was Sylvia, didn’t you?”

He spoke to Sylvia in a softer, gentler tone than she expected. His voice, like that of a kindly old neighbor, was enough to make her feel comfortable. Sylvia thought that if the situation were different, she might have asked him to teach her magic.

She certainly would have, if she hadn’t been bound by mana like this.

“…Why, why did you drag me here? Is it such a terrible crime for me to learn magic?”

“No. It is not a crime. In fact, seeing it this way, it’s a good thing.”

Mobius said the opposite of what he had done so far. Those who had to give up their dreams of magic due to his unreasonable restrictions must have sighed upon hearing Mobius’s answer. Sylvia, despite her good nature, had to take a sharp breath.

Why had she been learning magic in secret all this time? Why had she been kicked out of the magic tower, where she could have attended normally?

“Then, then why did you prevent me from learning magic at the magic tower?”

“I saw the books you studied. You’re just a novice fresh out of the magic faculty, but you learned the basics quite solidly.”

Mobius seemed to be answering Sylvia’s question, yet he was rambling about something else. Sylvia felt her patience wearing thin watching his attitude. The reason her basics were solid wasn’t because she or her teacher emphasized them. It was because the only way to learn without getting caught in the dormitory was to master the advanced basic curriculum.

A mid-level mage from a small magic tower would teach the basics rigorously within their limits, then pass the next stage to another mage. Sylvia had to go through such troublesome steps because of Mobius’s restrictions.

“Having solid basics also means you absorb subsequent applied courses more quickly.”

Mobius said that and tapped on the firmly shut iron door. When he lightly struck the iron door with his staff, the entire room trembled slightly, and the door began to open. Sylvia couldn’t understand what Mobius was talking about and could only sigh, clutching her head.

The mysterious experimental equipment and complex magic circles inside the room were merely unsettling elements to her.

“Wh-what…! Huh?”

And her dazed thoughts were broken by the shriek of an old man. When she finally came to her senses and looked up, she saw a gaunt old man tied up. Sylvia felt a sense of familiarity with the old man. The old man, too, looked at Sylvia’s face and trembled, his expression one of disbelief.

“Wh-what…! Aaaah! You, you bastard…! Isn’t, isn’t enough with me? Huh! You, you locked me up, and that’s not enough…! You, you beastly bastard!”

Mobius ignored the rampaging old man. Sylvia tried hard to recall the old man before her. Had she seen him somewhere before? She was sure she’d seen him somewhere, but she couldn’t remember. Then the old man shouted.

“Sylvia! It’s me! Me! Your grandfather!”

“Ah! G-grandfather?”

Only then did Sylvia nod, as if remembering. She had never met him in person according to her memory, but he was definitely her grandfather, whom she had seen in photos several times. Her grandfather, whom she had never met because his research was too demanding and the facilities too dangerous.

The old man said with a desperate face.

“Y-yes! You probably don’t remember because you were too young when I saw you…! I, I even changed your diapers!”

“B-but you were definitely dead…!”

“I didn’t die! Th-that crazy bastard locked me up here and covered it up, saying I was dead!”

Mobius was silently fiddling with a magical device. Sylvia thought Mobius would now explain why he was doing this. Mobius manipulated a few more controls and infused mana.

As he infused a bit of mana, a blue liquid flowed down the test tube. It traveled across the ceiling towards the old man’s body and seeped into the mechanical device attached to his side.

Then.

“Kuaaaaaaaak!”

Sparks flew from the old man’s body as he let out a scream of agony. Mobius watched the old man silently, while Sylvia gasped in shock and covered her mouth.

“Did you think you’d die peacefully after my granddaughter died?”

“Kuaaaaaa! Haven’t, haven’t you already given me all the pain imaginable! Is this not enough! My apologies! The deaths of my disciples! Were they not enough for you?!”

The old man shouted back, undeterred by the pain. Mobius retorted, his eyes blazing.

“Of course it wasn’t enough! Even if you howl! Even if your disciples couldn’t learn magic! My granddaughter did not return! My granddaughter’s death! How could you possibly repay that?!”

The old man shook his head at Mobius. It wasn’t a look of denial, but one of pity. Before things had come to this, the two had been colleagues who even debated magic. Even after suffering a fate worse than death, the old man pitied Mobius.

“…I know your pain. I had a granddaughter too. But, but, that won’t bring the dead back. It’s all in vain. The research of the past few years has only proven that obvious fact! Mobius, stop now. Stop thinking about harming my granddaughter too, and let’s end this now. It was my mistake back then for being negligent in managing the laboratory.”

The old man said, closing his eyes.

“Now, kill me. Kill me in front of my granddaughter, and release her.”

Silence fell. Had Mobius truly changed his mind? A sliver of hope bloomed in the old man’s heart.

“Huh? W-wait a minute…!”

From the darkness, Sylvia’s flustered voice rang out. When the old man opened his eyes again, he saw magical devices attaching themselves to Sylvia’s body. Her body stuck to the wall, bound by intricate magical apparatus. Sylvia, not understanding the situation at all, could only utter questions repeatedly, while Mobius silently reached out and manipulated mana.

The old man shouted.

“Wh-what are you doing, Mobius!”

“Who said I was killing your granddaughter? My friend. I realized that I cannot live without my granddaughter. Every time I realized she wasn’t here, I felt like I was going crazy, and now, I truly have gone mad.”

Mobius looked at the old man. He was smiling, but tears streamed down his face.

“Did you think I was researching how to revive my dead granddaughter? No. I, I just want to go back to the past. I just want to spend time with my granddaughter.”

Sylvia’s mouth was covered, and a giant test tube enveloped her body.

“My friend. What do you think defines a person?”

Mobius pointed to his head and continued.

“Memories. Memories. We define someone by their memories and experiences. I don’t want to believe the fact that my granddaughter died, or that I can never meet her again. So. I decided to erase the memories. I will erase your granddaughter’s memories and my own, and write new ones in their place. That my granddaughter didn’t die. That Sylvia is my granddaughter.”

The old man struggled as if trying to break free from the device. He shouted.

“You’ve, you’ve become a madman! Mobius! Don’t try to take someone else’s granddaughter!”

As Mobius activated the machine again, the old man screamed in burning pain.

“Kuaaaaaaaak!”

Mobius’s voice echoed amidst the blue radiance.

“Didn’t you take my granddaughter! That’s why I intend to take what is rightfully mine! If you can’t bring the dead back! Then just think that the dead person never existed in the first place! You just have to believe my granddaughter is still alive!”

Mobius took a step forward.

“Don’t worry.”

His hand slid across the test tube glass. Sylvia, unconscious and with her eyes closed, floated beyond the glass. Mobius’s reflection in the glass showed a distorted expression, his mouth and eyes contorted, making it impossible to tell if he was smiling or crying.

“Grandfather will take good care of you.”