Chapter 32 – The First Day of School

The world flipped upside down.

Literally upside down.

The classroom turned upside down.

Everyone inside plummeted toward what had been the floor—no, toward what was now the ceiling.

“Are you alright?!”

And now I found myself in Yurasia’s arms.

Of course, I had reacted faster. The moment I sensed something wrong, I’d grabbed her tightly, but being smaller, I somehow ended up looking like the one being held instead.

How humiliating…

“Yeah, I’m fine. You?”

“I’m okay too.”

“…Then could you let go?”

“Oh! Yes!”

Only after Yurasia released her grip on my back and bottom could I finally stand up.

“Phew…”

I released my held breath and surveyed the scene.

Of the eight others besides Yurasia and me, two had lost consciousness from a bad fall, three were too stunned to move, and three remained functional.

Those three were: Princess Silina de Hermann. A squirrel beastkin hugging her tail. And a plain girl with round glasses.

Half down, half standing.

“What could this be…?”

Yurasia straightened her clothes and approached, picking up a broken desk leg from the chaos.

“…Not sure.”

I tilted my head and looked out the window.

Through the shattered glass, I could see the ground above and sky below.

Sand and various fixtures were falling upward from the earth toward the heavens.

I bit my tongue’s tip to draw blood.

Rolling the metallic taste around my mouth, I sharpened my senses. The taste was faint.

I’d assessed the situation.

This was illusion magic.

But not ordinary illusion magic.

This was magic that blurred the boundary between dreams and reality, forcing not just one’s own dreams but the caster’s imagination into another’s mind.

No—an Authority.

The Authority of Luxurina, Commander of Lust.

And yet.

Luxurina was already dead.

I’d taken her head myself.

At Luna’s insistence, we’d even burned the corpse.

So how was Luxurina’s Authority manifesting now?

A black magician? No, that made no sense.

Someone reduced to less than ash in this world couldn’t grant Authority to a black magician.

Perhaps a grand mage’s unique magic?

That possibility existed.

For now, that seemed the most likely explanation.

However.

I could sense dark energy—magi—in this space.

This wasn’t ordinary unique magic but black magic.

…Which means this could still be Luxurina’s Authority.

“…Lady Ellie?”

I loosened my clenched fist slightly, gathered the seeping blood, then closed it again.

“Yes.”

“Are you… alright?”

“Yes. I’m fine.”

There was no malice. No hostility.

The magi was docile, avoiding human bodies rather than trying to penetrate them. If anything, it seemed to be reading our movements from a distance.

Someone was watching us.

Testing us? With black magic?

“Hah…”

What bastard would pull a stunt like this?

I roughly pushed back my hair and met the gaze that had been fixed on me.

Silina de Hermann. Her platinum eyes stared directly at me.

Then her lips parted.

“Eliaernes Eustetia.”

“What?”

“Gasp.”

“Eek!”

Yurasia startled and the plain girl trembled. The squirrel beastkin remained dazed.

Silina’s eyelids twitched momentarily before she continued with a composed expression.

“You know what’s happening here, don’t you?”

“It’s illusion magic.”

Silina’s eyes narrowed.

“…You’re saying this is illusion magic?”

“Does this look real to you?”

“Oh my… Lady Ellie…”

“Hick…”

Silina, who’d been glaring at me with furrowed brows, followed my chin gesture to look out the window. After a long moment, she sighed softly and stood.

“It seems you’re right. I apologize for doubting you.”

“Um, so… you’re saying we’re in an illusion… right?”

The glasses girl asked awkwardly, uncertain whether to use formal or casual speech.

“We’re not quite in an illusion, but this isn’t reality either.”

“…Um, what do you mean by that?”

“Somewhere in between. And if you’re going to use casual speech, commit to it.”

“Oh, y-yes. I mean, yeah…!”

The glasses girl composed herself and slowly stood.

Now for the last one.

The squirrel.

I looked at the beastkin still clutching her tail.

Her eyes darted around—who is she looking at?—before realizing my gaze was on her. She jumped in surprise.

Then she scrambled to her feet and scurried over to me.

I didn’t tell her to come.

“So, um… what should we do about the others here?”

The glasses girl cautiously approached, glancing at the collapsed students.

“Leave them.”

“Eh…? Can we really do that?”

Silina seemed to agree with me, picking up some metal debris in both hands as she approached.

“They… won’t die, will they?”

“No.”

They won’t die.

This illusion wasn’t cast with the intent to kill us.

Though they appear to be in pain, once they lose consciousness, they’ll likely return to reality.

“R-Right? Since it’s illusion magic… Yeah. The professor must be testing our abilities.”

The glasses girl muttered to herself, nodding reluctantly as she tried to rationalize the situation. Though it wasn’t really rationalization—more like self-hypnosis to convince herself everything was fine.

The squirrel pressed against my side, terrified.

Yurasia looked ready to follow whatever I said, while Silina appeared annoyed.

I wondered what expression I wore.

Probably similar to Silina’s.

“Eliaernes. Do you know how to get out of here?”

I did.

I could leave right now if I wanted.

But I didn’t want to. Shouldn’t, in fact.

I couldn’t reveal my full strength to a black magician who was overwhelmingly more powerful than my current self.

Even if this was just to gauge our abilities, I wouldn’t show my true power.

Information had to be concealed from potential future opponents.

If they learned I could break this illusion instantly, they might use different methods when they eventually faced me.

So now, I needed to suggest another way.

The direct approach.

“We go to the end.”

Silina tilted her head slightly.

“The end?”

“The end of the illusion.”

“And you know where that is?”

I completely undid my messy twin-tails and retied them.

“We’ll have to find out.”

***

Three vanguard, two rear guard.

Fortunately, we had a good balance.

Yurasia, me, and Silina.

Yurasia had her sword, I had my fists, and Silina had… something. Two weapons, at least.

The squirrel and glasses girl.

The squirrel wasn’t doing anything—supposedly an archer, but who could tell? So we put her in back.

The glasses girl used magic.

Her power was pathetic without a staff, but she could cast something at least.

An hour after establishing these positions.

About a dozen monsters had appeared, all dispatched by Yurasia alone.

Each time, Silina wore a strangely disappointed expression, while the glasses girl sighed in relief.

Meanwhile, the squirrel who, like me, hadn’t lifted a finger, clutched my uniform nearly hard enough to tear it each time a monster appeared.

I couldn’t understand why she kept hiding behind me.

If she wanted protection, shouldn’t she stick close to Yurasia, who clearly looked strongest?

By appearances alone, I probably looked weaker than the squirrel.

“By the way, what’s your name?”

Just then, having killed the latest monster with a desk leg, Yurasia wiped blood from her cheek and asked kindly.

The glasses girl’s face went pale at the sight.

“G-Gailan. It’s Gailan. I don’t have a family name.”

“Gailan? I see. And you are?”

The squirrel girl, ears folded and curled tail in her arms, opened and closed her mouth repeatedly.

“Hmm? Sorry, I couldn’t hear that. Could you say it again?”

Her mouth kept moving silently.

Yurasia’s expression grew peculiar.

Gailan’s face showed confusion.

Even the disinterested Silina glanced over.

So I looked too.

The squirrel trembled violently and covered her eyes with her hands.

I’d been wondering—why did she keep covering her eyes?

I wanted to ask but held back.

She seemed ready to hyperventilate whenever I spoke to her, so I’d decided to stay quiet.

Yet oddly, she listened to Yurasia perfectly well.

She clung to me but only talked with Yurasia.

How irritating.

“Is it… difficult for you to speak?”

At Yurasia’s careful question.

The squirrel’s eyes lit up.

She nodded vigorously.

Yurasia’s face instantly darkened.

Gailan’s expression fell too.

Silina, seeming to have solved the mystery, looked straight ahead.

And I muttered:

“If you can’t speak, you could just say so—oh. You can’t speak. Er, sorry about that.”

The squirrel’s breathing grew ragged again.

Yurasia gave a bitter smile and assured her it was fine, while Silina glared at me.

“…I said something stupid. Sorry.”

Sheepishly scratching my head, I picked up a pen and paper that had fallen to the ceiling.

“Here. Use this to talk. I mean, to… uh… just write.”

Nodding so hard her head might fall off, the squirrel trembled as she scribbled something.

The writing wavered like she had palsy.

[Pina. My name is Pina. I have no surname.]

“Ah, so it’s Pina. Yes. Pina. I’m Yurasia Espilot. Nice to meet you.”

[Hello, Lady Yurasia Espilot.]

“Oh, um… haha. You can speak casually…”

[No. This is comfortable for me.]

“Ah, well. If that’s how you feel. Shall we keep going then? If you get tired, just let us… I mean, just let us know. We can rest whenever needed.”

[Yes. Thank you.]

After that awkward exchange, we resumed walking.

Three floors remained above us, two below.