episode_0057

Until Norium’s letter arrived, Asel wasn’t particularly hoping for compensation from the academy side. It was a state where it would be good if given, but not a big deal if not. However, after hearing the story about the academy’s underground vault from Irina, he instantly reversed his attitude.

-If you go down to the academy’s waterways, there’s one shabby-looking prison door. Beyond that, all sorts of magic tools and scrolls remain in their original state. From what I remember, I believe there’s even a magic tool used by Cromwell, the first lightning mage.

Those words awakened all of Asel’s senses.

Cromwell, the first lightning mage. A transcendent being who achieved a new myth of destruction magic and a cruel grand master. Since Asel had also read the autobiography she wrote herself, he knew quite a bit about Cromwell.

She was born in a sacrificial storage facility for devil worshipers. The place where her memory first began was not within her mother’s and father’s embrace, but inside a corpse where organs were cleanly cut out, forming a pool of blood. There, to become a worthy sacrifice, she drank the blood of her own kind.

It was a series of repugnant days. Fortunately, it didn’t go as far as cannibalism, but starting with killing her parents with her own hands, she repeatedly committed murder.

It was a process to corrupt souls and use them as sacrifices to manifest the Moon Demon. Cromwell endured and persevered through all of it with a feeling like spitting blood.

Five years passed like that. The year she turned 7.

She happened to see magic being used by one of the devil worshipers. And she immediately copied it and made it her own. The time it took to build the core was just over a second, and the manifestation of magic occurred simultaneously with thinking of it. Moreover, she didn’t stop there; she reached the point of immediately understanding the characteristics of the magic she used and applying them.

That’s how she smashed the devil worshipers’ hideout. With a massive explosion, the cave collapsed, and she, the sole survivor, emerged by cleaving through the broken rocks. After that, there was a continuous description of how she traveled the continent.

Asel read that part carefully too, but he felt even greater interest in the process of creating lightning magic.

-I was raised by the servants of demons. Through their oppression, I killed those who gave birth to me, and even obtained negative mana that I did not desire. That process was by no means smooth. Even before my self was formed, I wished for my own death.

-But I am here. I remain alive on this land. If so, what I can do is not find peace through my death, but to directly grind and swallow those damnable devil worshipers. That is the mission given to me, and my life. However, with the magic I learned, it was impossible to kill even those who were deeply assimilated with demons. Humans had not yet built such a great magic system.

-So I helped them. With the knowledge and talent I gained, I completely revamped the overall methods of manifesting and learning magic. Then, by chance, I saw a flash of lightning in the sky. And that changed my life.

-Nature is great. No matter how great a superhuman, if you throw yourself into a typhoon, you will be torn apart alive, and you cannot withstand the lava of a volcano and the flames that melt iron. And the same goes for the lightning striking down from the sky. A spear of the gods that, in terms of instantaneous power alone, overwhelms all natural phenomena. As I was researching magic, I suddenly wanted to obtain it.

-So I attempted it. Enduring lightning directly with my body, I explored its power, and grasped how that power moved. I faced near-death situations dozens of times, and when I first succeeded in converting mana into the power of lightning, the electrical signals throughout my body ran rampant, causing me to die and be revived repeatedly.

-Nevertheless, I am here. In the end, I succeeded in making lightning my own. Although I haven’t yet created spells to wield the power of lightning, nevertheless, lightning now resided in my mana. Something other mages couldn’t even imitate, the first step of a special magic that required accepting death just to follow, resided within me.

-I named this magic, Lightning Magic. And confirming that all mages except me could not use it, I called such magic, which is extremely difficult to learn, Unique Magic. Lightning Magic was the first Unique Magic to appear in this world.

The autobiography ends like that. There was no mention of what happened to her after that, what kind of life she lived, or how she met her death. However, since the lightning spells she created were all focused on killing, it seemed certain that a thick smell of blood was steeped in her future.

“It’s been a while, Headmaster.”

Anyway, that wasn’t what was important. Although he was curious about the trajectory of Cromwell’s life, Asel was more interested in the artifacts she wore.

Cromwell was a mage who was also knowledgeable in crafting magic tools during her lifetime. Although she didn’t make many, according to remaining records, every magic tool she used was a top-quality item. Some of them were sleeping in the academy’s underground vault.

He didn’t know why such great magic tools ended up flowing into a place like this, but honestly, that didn’t matter. What was important was that he had the opportunity to obtain such magic tools.

‘Just as the Alliance Leader said, I’ll take out as much as I possibly can.’

Thinking that, Asel settled onto the sofa and sat down.

There was no such thing as a twinge of conscience. He almost died, so what conscience? It was right to do his best to suck out every last drop, down to the marrow, within the bounds of possibility. Both his mage’s reason and instinct were shouting that.

“Have you been well? I’ve been alright. Although I overcame a few crises, I’m fine now.”

“…I’ve been well too. More importantly, it’s a relief you’re fine. I was very worried.”

“Haha. For the Headmaster to worry about me. I’m truly overwhelmed with emotion.”

“…Haha.”

Friide let out a dry laugh. While talking with Asel, she glanced sideways at Ena and Norium sitting on his left and right.

They weren’t saying anything, but each was wearing their characteristic expression and staring intently at Friide. Just their gazes made Friide feel like her throat was being squeezed.

They were probably doing that to pounce immediately if she adopted an attitude of refusal or something like ‘That’s a bit much…’ during the main point that was about to come.

Just imagining it made her fingertips tingle.

Friide cleared her throat deliberately, going ‘ahem, ahem’. Then, looking at Asel, she opened her mouth.

“Regarding this incident. I am truly sorry. Representing the academy, I wish to sincerely apologize.”

“Ah, it’s alright. Although I was severely injured, I’m still alive.”

“That’s not what’s important. What’s important is that you were placed in a dangerous situation due to the academy’s mistake. Representing the academy, I am truly sorry. I will ensure this never happens again.”

Friide lowered her head slightly and spoke in a sincere voice. Whether Norium and Ena were conspicuously standing firm or not, apologizing to Asel was the natural duty as a human. In matters like this, her head was not that heavy.

Asel accepted her apology with a smile, then began the conversation in earnest.

“I heard you’ve already read the letter.”

“That’s right. You want to go to the underground vault?”

“Yes. And I understand you’ve already given permission.”

“Yes. Honestly, it’s not a difficult matter. I’ll hand over one of the magic tools in the vault right away.”

“Just one? I didn’t say one.”

“?”

Friide tilted her head. Asel smiled subtly and leaned his upper body slightly forward.

This was a transaction with a clear superior and inferior party. There was no need to engage in the transaction from an equal footing.

“One magic tool for the damage inflicted on my body. And another as compensation to soothe my disappointment towards the academy. Finally, one magic tool to appease my master’s anger. I wish to take these three.”

“Are you a bandit?”

Friide unconsciously retorted that, but upon confirming Ena’s face turn grim, she immediately nodded her head.

“‘Bandit,’ that’s a bad word I shouldn’t say. Three. I have clearly noted it. You may take them.”

“Thank you. As expected, there’s no one like the Headmaster.”

Asel said with a bright smile. Friide wept tears of blood inwardly.

The magic tools, scrolls, and potions in the academy’s underground vault are astronomical in price. A vault primarily composed of artifacts found in ruins or items gifted by renowned strong individuals just before their death. Accordingly, it is filled with tools possessing powerful and rare effects.

Selling just one would be a tremendous help to the academy’s finances. And three of those amazing items were completely taken by Asel.

In a situation where the academy’s finances and her own wallet immediately had holes punched in them, with the vault also being raided, Friide’s glass-like heart trembled as if it would shatter any moment. But she quickly composed herself.

Right, this is compensation for a student who nearly died because of her fault. It wouldn’t do to act like she was doing him a favor or show that she was displeased with something like this. It was clearly not the right thing to do, both as an educator and as a person in charge.

Thinking that way, her heart felt at ease.

She smiled gently and opened her mouth towards Asel.

“Is there anything else you need?”

“I don’t have any. This seems sufficient.”

“Good. Then let’s depart for the underground vault right away. I’ll just prepare for a moment.”

The moment Friide said that and stood up from her seat, Norium quickly opened his mouth.

“Oh dear, what’s the rush, Headmaster? Even though the conversation with Asel is over, we haven’t even started talking about the compensation for ‘Wirheim’. Please sit down again.”

“…Norium.”

“You can’t call me in such a pathetic voice. Now now, I have a contract I brought in advance. Please read it, and just sign here and here.”

“…Heeing.”

“Ugh, listening to the whining of a centuries-old elf is tough. Senior, be careful in front of Asel too.”

“Shut up.”

Ena fired lightning towards Norium. Norium opened a sub-space and lightly received her attack, then spoke towards Friide.

“Anyway, there isn’t much content that harms the academy. And to maintain a friendly relationship with the Alliance, putting your seal here will be much more helpful. Don’t forget that my term is still quite long.”

“…Hmph.”

Friide puffed out her cheeks and whispered that, then began signing the contract.

Norium immediately scrunched up his face as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have.

“Kuaaaak!”

***

The path to the academy’s underground vault was located in the waterway connected to the basement of the main building. If you descend the moisture-filled stairs, a wide waterway where clear water trickles flows out, and if you go deeper inside from there, another set of stairs going down appears.

At the end of the stairs, there was one shabby-looking metal door. It had a similar appearance to a prison door for housing inmates. However, unlike its outward appearance, the magic enchantments placed on the door were numerous enough to easily exceed dozens.

Their power was not something to be ignored. Asel stood right behind Friide, who was starting to open the door, and quietly examined the enchantments placed on it. Then he let out an exclamation of admiration.

The method to open the door before them was not using a key or speaking a specific phrase. Only by drawing the mana circuit used when the door was first made and installed, in reverse order from the beginning without any error, would the enchantments on the door not activate and it would open quietly.

Moreover, you couldn’t know the circuit just by going near the door. Only a very small number of individuals permitted access by the academy were given the opportunity to memorize the circuit in their minds.

It was an incredibly tricky method. Even if the person trying to open the door was an authorized staff member, just one mistake would activate all sorts of magic, showing no mercy to the point of rendering the staff member incapacitated.

Nevertheless, it was better to have secure protection than loose protection. Asel quietly waited until Friide opened the door.

“It’s open.”

Soon after, Friide opened the vault door.

With a creaking sound, the door opened.

Hwaaak!!

Beyond that, an overwhelming gale of mana blew out. A powerful wave of mana that was enough to momentarily overwhelm even Asel.

A gleam appeared in Norium and Irina’s eyes, while Ena stood with a bored expression, keeping a slight distance from Asel.

“Let’s go.”

Friide said. Asel’s lips twitched, and he stepped across the metal door.

The treasure hunt begins.