Cog

Conrad, known to the world as the World Adjuster, was reminiscing as he walked around the campus after a long time. He belatedly remembered his appointment and hurried to the headmaster’s office.

Entering the headmaster’s office, Conrad was surprised to see that the office, which had maintained its chaotic appearance for decades, was neatly organized. The broom that used to float around in the air was hanging on the wall, and all sorts of snow globes and artifacts had been stowed away somewhere, nowhere to be seen.

,You’ve come. Sit down and wait. I’ll bring tea and chocolates soon.”

Nelson’s voice came from somewhere in the headmaster’s office.

“…Okay.”

Conrad, sitting in a chair, felt a strange sense of unease at the sight of the headmaster’s office being so neatly cleared out. Then, realizing that the headmaster’s office was quieter than usual, he belatedly noticed that the fairies who used to harass visitors had disappeared.

As Nelson brought in a tray with tea and chocolates, Conrad casually asked the question he had been waiting to ask.

“I don’t see the fairies.”

“I sent them to a better place.”

“The fairies…? You were quite fond of them.”

“There’s no place as free and good for fairies as the World Tree. It’s better than being trapped in a cramped headmaster’s office.”

So that was the reason. Conrad nodded as if he understood and drank the tea Nelson had brought. It was bitter, but the aroma and the heavy finish were decent. Conrad frowned as he put a chocolate in his mouth.

“What’s this? Not cheap chocolate?”

The chocolate that melted softly in his mouth was not the cheap chocolate that was usually offered to guests who frequently visited the headmaster’s office, but the high-end chocolate for guests who visited the headmaster’s office occasionally or for the first time.

“I have a favor to ask of you.”

“Oh, a sweet bribe!”

Conrad, who was about to grab another chocolate, shouted playfully and quickly took his hand off. When they were alone, the two returned to being old friends Conrad and Nelson, not the meeting of the Adjuster and the Sage.

Nelson chuckled as he put a chocolate in his mouth and looked at Conrad with a faint smile. Conrad, who had known Nelson for a long time, sighed at that expression.

“Sigh, what are you up to again?”

“Huh?”

“Are you pretending not to know with that face you always make before you cause trouble?”

“Haha, you can’t fool an old friend, after all.”

“Heh, as if you ever intended to.”

As Conrad pouted and ate the chocolate, Nelson took something out of a drawer in his desk.

“This is my favor.”

Conrad took what Nelson handed him and was surprised to see what it was. It was a letter of appointment as the headmaster of Transcendence Academy. Even the seal of the newly crowned Empress Bella was stamped at the very bottom. It was a letter of appointment that was ready to take effect as soon as Conrad signed it.

“This is… what?”

Conrad looked up at Nelson with a bewildered face, and Nelson gave him his usual kind smile.

“Take over as the headmaster of Transcendence after me.”

“Wait, headmaster… then what about you?”

“I can’t continue the work any longer.”

“…Are you thinking of retiring or something?”

“Something like that, and today will be our last meeting.”

Conrad stared at Nelson’s nonchalant words with a dumbfounded face. He had been summoned on the pretext of an urgent matter, handed a letter of appointment as headmaster, and told that today was the last day… After thinking about it for a moment, Conrad narrowed his eyes, thinking that Nelson had always been like this.

“…It’s a talent to only age on the outside. You’re still the same as you were back in your Captain days.”

“It would be a problem if a student felt a generation gap with the headmaster. It’s thanks to my efforts to stay young.”

Conrad snorted at Nelson’s brazen answer and put the letter of appointment on the desk.

“Should a great talent like an Archmage be just the headmaster of an academy? I’m not ready to retire yet.”

“I know. It’s not easy for you, who likes to wander aimlessly, to stay in one place.”

“So you already knew I would refuse…”

“So just take it for one year.”

Conrad scratched his chin at Nelson’s serious gaze as he cut him off. He glanced at the letter of appointment on the desk again and saw that the term of appointment was exactly one year. Conrad felt a strange feeling about this and asked with a dubious look.

“No, why one year…? Not that it’s bad, I’m just curious.”

Nelson smiled and answered Conrad’s question.

“Leora the Vice-principal needs one year to be qualified to be the headmaster.”

“…So, you’re saying you want me to be the temporary headmaster until Leora is qualified to be the headmaster.”

“Yes, Leora truly loves the students. I’m sure she’ll be a good headmaster. She’s a bit strict, though.”

“…Hmm.”

Conrad pondered Nelson’s proposal. It was a request from an old friend. He could certainly grant this much of a request. But right now, he thought that being by Ross’s side and helping him was more important for the world than being the headmaster of the academy.

Just as Conrad was about to open his mouth to refuse the offer, Nelson spoke first.

“If you become the headmaster, Ross will be relieved too.”

Conrad made a disgusted face at Nelson’s mysterious smile.

“…I warned you that people who see through other people’s minds don’t look good.”

“Since this is our last meeting, I trust you’ll forgive my rudeness with our friendship over the years.”

Conrad sighed and took the pen Nelson handed him and signed the letter of appointment as headmaster. Conrad put down the pen and narrowed his eyes.

“So, what are you planning to do from now on?”

At Conrad’s question, Nelson stroked his well-groomed beard and said calmly.

“I have to fulfill my role.”

***

Elly, who had returned from the labyrinth, went straight back to the academy without resting. Elly had not yet reached the realm of the Archmage. She had a lot to study, and she had realized her shortcomings in this labyrinth.

Thanks to the Adjuster’s joining, the party was able to receive various magical assistance. If the Adjuster hadn’t been there, it would have taken quite a while to get through the first floor.

Elly, who was looking for practical magic that could be used in the labyrinth and to solve the homework that her teacher Nelson had given her, slowly walked around the forbidden section of the library, examining the books one by one.

Elly, who had found several practical magic spells that were good for use as synthesis magic, put a few books on the table and tried to use the librarian’s book to find what Nelson had given her as homework.

But there was no book with the name Nelson had told her anywhere in the forbidden section. Just in case, she checked the librarian’s book in the general section as well, but the result was the same.

Then it was likely that the book was not registered in the librarian’s book. Elly believed that her teacher would not have given her a book that did not exist as homework.

She checked the book’s classification table and headed to the bookshelf where the first letters of the name Nelson had told her were gathered. After looking around for a while, Elly was finally able to find a book lying horizontally on top of the books on the bottom shelf.

[About the Secrets of the World]

The appearance of the book was more like someone’s diary than a book. Elly returned to the table where she had brought the book and opened it to look at the contents. She was reading the contents with interest when she was surprised and straightened her back.

What Elly had been looking for was in the book. The black area that seemed to have taken away the color that Ross had seen when the academy collapsed in another world. The book contained information related to that.

“…Chaosification.”

The origin was not written, but the explanation in the book was the same as the memory Ross had shown her. Even the next chapter of the book contained records of research on chaosification. After carefully examining it, Elly wiped her face once and got up from her seat, forgetting about the other books she had taken out.

“If this is true… I have no choice but to check it myself.”

If the contents of this book were true, it would explain everything about why the Demon King was trying to destroy the human world. She had to see with her own eyes whether Ross’s memory and the chaosification in the book were the same, and find a way to fight chaosification based on the research in the book.

“…It could be a good gift for Ross.”

Elly immediately took the book and left the library. And a little later, the raccoon, who was tasked with hiding the book in a suitable place so that Elly could find it, looked in the direction Elly had disappeared and nodded, then hurried out of the forbidden section.

***

I returned to Modest from Bold Mountain and fell asleep for a whole day. Whether I wanted to forget my mistake, or whether I was just tired… I don’t really know. The expression “my head is blank” is correct.

It wasn’t because I had a lot of thoughts, but because I was really in a blank state where I couldn’t think of anything. I was just stupidly waiting to enter the labyrinth again. Then someone knocked on the door.

I pulled myself together and opened the door, and Danger… no, Amy was looking up at me with a shy face. Did she come looking forward to a sweet dessert? I opened the space warehouse and took out candy and chocolate and held it out, but Amy shook her head and handed me a letter.

“This is…?”

“The raccoon wants you to have it.”

“…Raccoon?”

After exchanging what we were holding in each other’s hands, I turned away from Amy, who was walking away with a happy face, and checked the letter. The content was short, but I moved immediately like someone who had been burned.

The content of the letter was,

A warning that Elly’s life was in danger as she headed to the Canyon of Death.