episode_0070

“Who are you guys?”

His shaggy hair poked at his forehead. One ear seemed to be cut off, and a messy beard covered his lips. He looked like a beggar, literally. However, the aura emanating from him was clearly indicating that he was by no means a simple beggar.

‘Upper 7th Rank…….’

Although I had my doubts about him wearing no armor at all, he was a mage as expected. And a high-rank mage, standing on the verge of becoming an Archmage. The characteristics of the mana flowing out were almost identical to those of a Fire Mage.

The fierce and hot aura unique to mages affiliated with the Ignis Magic Tower. Ashel swallowed and slowly gathered mana at the appearance of a high-rank Fire Mage he was seeing for the first time.

A makeshift labyrinth installed at the academy. It was still a hypothesis, but a place where the Sage’s Tomb might be located. In such a place, a middle-aged man, neither a student nor a professor, had appeared. The possibility of him being an intruder could not be ruled out.

If you ask if there’s a specific reason for a Magic Tower mage to infiltrate the academy, the answer becomes ambiguous, but you couldn’t let your guard down either. Ashel openly displayed the gathered mana outwards, glaring at the man.

“……Hooh.”

Then the man’s indifferent expression changed. His dim eyes, which had looked at him like a rookie, regained vitality, as if seeing a peer. A blazing flame seemed to be reflected in those eyes.

“A Lightning Mage…… Did Cromwell take on an apprentice without my knowing?”

“……Cromwell?”

The moment Ashel retorted at the familiar name that suddenly popped out. The man grinned and rummaged through his shabby robe.

“It’s strange. For that eccentric woman to take on an apprentice. Hmm…… Seeing that your face is decent, maybe she took you on as a husband candidate rather than an apprentice? But the aura is quite high-level for that……”

“Do you know Cromwell?”

“This punk? Just dropped informal speech. But I don’t mind.”

What the man took out was a cigarette. Tobacco made by appropriately mixing cheap narcotics. The man lit the tip and put it in his mouth. The sound of inhaling smoke resounded explicitly, and he smiled while exhaling a long breath.

“A rude mage is a prime example of a mage. You learned well from Cromwell. Because she was also quite rude.”

“……I don’t know what you’ve been talking about since earlier.”

Crackle!!

Lightning surged around Ashel.

“Why are you here? What’s the reason you infiltrated the academy?”

“Academy? What nonsense are you talking about? What’s that?”

“……What?”

“Did you hit your head on the way here? If not, why look for the academy in the labyrinth? I just came down the labyrinth through legitimate procedures.”

The man said so in a voice as if dumbfounded.

It was a conversation that felt misaligned somehow. Not knowing about the academy, and speaking as if Cromwell was alive, were very bizarre sights. To call him a lunatic, the rank he had accumulated was proving his sound mental state.

Then…… there was only one possibility left. Ashel asked him with a faint hope, just in case.

“Is the Magic Kingdom doing fine?”

“Suddenly?”

The man asked back, exhaling cigarette smoke. Then, seeing Ashel’s serious expression, he chuckled and nodded.

“Thanks to our benevolent king, it’s running just fine. Why are you curious about that?”

“…….Ha.”

Doubt turned into certainty at the man’s words.

Hundreds of years had already passed since the Magic Kingdom was destroyed. What could it mean that he said such a country was running just fine?

“No way.”

Selin’s mumbling voice, as if guessing, was heard near Ashel’s ear. Ashel furrowed his brow as if troubled and reached a conclusion.

That man was not a mage living in the same time period.

He was a mage living in the past, during the time when the Magic Kingdom was still glorious.

***

“So.”

The man spoke.

“You entered the 5th floor of the labyrinth and ended up here?”

Inside the eerie mansion. A wool carpet laid under a grand space like a luxurious hotel lobby. The chandelier hanging dangling from the ceiling gave off no light, and because of the curtains covering the windows, it was a gloomy place where external light could not enter.

Underneath it, the man continued speaking, increasing the size of the flame he had conjured.

“It’s absurd. This is the 15th floor of the labyrinth.”

“The 15th floor?”

“Yeah. It’s a place where people next to you die instantly in the blink of an eye. The ecosystem is also bizarre to no end. All the flora and fauna act as if they’ve been modified to kill humans, and even the walls and floors occasionally split open and thrash around to claim blood and flesh.”

“……..”

“You guys have fallen into such a place. It’s unfortunate, but you’ve been subjected to the labyrinth’s transference.”

The party did not explicitly tell the man that he was a person from the past and they were from the future. There was no reason to deal with what might happen if they did, and unless the man asked first, there was no obligation to answer.

Anything can happen in the labyrinth. It is possible to encounter people from the past. The party let the current situation pass like that and were having a conversation with him for now. As long as the man had no intention of fighting, there was no need to step forward and shed blood, so they exchanged information through conversation like this.

It would be different if he were a fallen mage, but he was a mage who followed the right path, affiliated with a Magic Tower.

There was plenty they could gain through conversation.

“There’s no means to resist the labyrinth’s transference. It sucks, but it just does what it wants. You just have to accept it.”

“……More than that, I’d like to ask your name first.”

Ashel asked, interrupting him. Only then did the man realize he hadn’t revealed his name and wore a grin.

“Pascal Terron. Affiliated with the Ignis Magic Tower and currently working as a labyrinth explorer.”

“If you’re affiliated with a Magic Tower, there wouldn’t be a reason to come all the way into the labyrinth.”

“That’s right. But there’s something I’m personally looking for.”

“Is it an artifact?”

“No.”

The man answered with a bitter smile.

“It’s my wife’s memento.”

“…….”

“I was just trying to find my wife’s body and wedding ring, who died on the 17th floor. And for that, I’m playing the role of a labyrinth explorer, which isn’t suitable for me.”

“……Have you been down to the 17th floor?”

“Once.”

Whoosh.

The burning flame intensified for a moment.

“The party I came with all died at the entrance. They were guys who were quite capable in their own right, but they couldn’t do anything and all died. Only I survived and managed to escape.”

“…….”

“That place…… is hell. That’s the only way I can express it. Because it’s a place teeming with creatures that only live to kill, created directly by a fallen transcendent being. You’ll probably die the moment you set foot in there. Don’t question it. Don’t act arrogantly either. Just accept it.”

“…….”

Instead of answering, Ashel glanced sideways to look at Selin and Saya.

The expressions of the two people, who had been relatively cheerful until then, had instantly darkened. They probably lost a lot of motivation after hearing Pascal’s words.

It was natural. Even a mage’s curiosity is ultimately meaningless in the face of death.

But Ashel did not forget.

This space right now is a makeshift labyrinth installed at the academy. It’s open to the extent that it can be used for club initiations. Could dying in such a place even be possible? Surely they wouldn’t have created such a space and opened it without thinking.

‘Even if Pascal’s words are true, whether that applies to the makeshift labyrinth is uncertain.’

Ultimately, it was something that could only be known by going down there oneself. Pascal told me not to question it, but well. Ashel had to see the end of this labyrinth, if only to find out the words etched on Aleph.

If this labyrinth exists up to the 20th floor like the real labyrinth, transferring from the 5th floor to the 15th floor in one go might be an unexpected gain. Since it became possible to check for the Sage’s Tomb with only 5 floors left.

‘Since there are no records of the Sage visiting the real labyrinth, Pascal probably wouldn’t know about his whereabouts either.’

Therefore, asking him about the Sage’s whereabouts was pointless. So Ashel asked about something completely different.

“A fallen transcendent being? I thought the one sealed in the depths of the labyrinth was the Demon of Genesis, not a transcendent being.”

The labyrinth was a kind of world created at a very ancient time point and hasn’t been conquered until now. Historical records stating that at its end, a sealed demon slumbers, and the labyrinth’s ecosystem is strangely twisted under the influence of that demon, are being accepted as the established theory.

It was actually the same. After it was proven that the waves emanating from the depths of the labyrinth matched those of a demon, everyone accepted it.

The term “fallen transcendent being” was a word completely unrelated to the labyrinth. I had never even heard the term “fallen transcendent being” before.

According to records, almost all transcendent beings that existed are said to have gained divinity and ascended to the heavens. Only the Sage, who uniquely chose to remain a mortal, passed away on the ground. The rest all left this land.

How could such a transcendent being have created the labyrinth’s ecosystem?

“They say information distortion has been severe lately. Maybe it’s because you’re young, but you also have the wrong information.”

“……?”

“Anyway, damn demon worshipping bastards. I should clean them up someday. There are too many cases where they’ve seized high positions. That’s why kids like you don’t even know what demons are exactly.”

“……Aren’t demons creatures born in hell?”

“No.”

Pascal shook his head.

“Demons were mortals. Beastmen, humans, elves, dwarves, dragons, etc. They were originally creatures living rooted to this land.”

“……What?”

“Then, by performing a certain ritual, gaining an opportunity, or growing to the extent that their level reaches the heavens. Only then do they gain the qualification to challenge divinity. Simply put, if you fight and defeat an existing god, you become a god.”

“…….”

“And gods, until now, have never once been defeated. Just by looking at why the name of the church/faith hasn’t changed even once, you can tell.”

Pascal continued speaking, lighting a new cigarette.

“Then where did the defeated transcendent beings go? Those who were defeated after fighting gods can never set foot on land again. Where are they and what are they doing?”

“……Ah.”

“Your guess is probably right.”

He grinned while looking at the three people who were staring intently at him.

“All transcendent beings who didn’t die in battle chose to survive miserably by distorting their own level. But the distortion of transcendent beings who had once gained divinity had an equally massive backlash. Their very source of existence was warped.”

“……Is that a demon?”

“The first vampire became the Demon of Blood, the first saintess who denied god became the Demon of Benevolence. The elf who presided over the Tree of Knowledge became the Demon of Knowledge, the most outstanding physician on the continent became the Demon of Genesis. Countless other demons exist besides these.”

“……Is that a possible story? I understand that the number of officially recorded transcendent beings in history was small.”

Saya asked, and Pascal answered while flicking his cigarette ash.

“Of course, that’s impossible. But the impossible became possible when a strange guy appeared.”

“……Who appeared?”

“The Demon of Possibility.”

Pascal continued speaking while looking intently at Ashel.

“It’s not certain exactly what ritual they performed to achieve transcendence or what abilities they possessed, but it’s certain that the number of demons significantly increased after their sudden appearance. It’s information that demon worshippers try to hide thoroughly, but those who already know, know.”

“…….”

“Has your curiosity been satisfied? Dummy?”

Pascal asked with a grin. Ashel stood up with a bitter smile.

“I’ve heard your personal opinion on demons well. But I can’t completely believe it. Because there’s no evidence.”

“Suit yourself. Whether you believe it or not is none of my business. Anyway, your master will tell you everything if you ask, so why bother?”

“I was late in saying this. My master is not Cromwell.”

At Ashel’s remark, Pascal furrowed his brow and scanned him up and down.

“What? Then how did you learn the Lightning magecraft?”

“I had another master. Her name is Ena Renatus. Do you know her?”

“No idea. What kind of nobody is that?”

“If you don’t know, then never mind.”

The period when Cromwell was active was much earlier than when Ena actively began her work. It’s not strange that Pascal doesn’t know Ena.

“More than that, there’s something I’m curious about.”

“Again?”

“Because there’s something I really wanted to ask a Fire Mage from the Ignis Magic Tower if I ever met one.”

Saying so, Ashel forcibly took control of the flame Pascal manifested and overlaid his own magic on top of it.

[Fireball]

Whoosh!!

The gathered flame was molded into a spherical shape. Ashel placed it on his palm and asked, looking at Pascal’s dumbfounded expression.

“I self-taught the Fire Magecraft side, so I’ve never heard a professional opinion. So I’d like to ask for your opinion.”

“……Self-taught? A Fire Magic spell that a Lightning Mage learned by self-teaching, forcibly took control of my magic?”

Pascal, who mumbled that, instantly changed his face to an expression of interest and stared intently at Ashel’s magic.

“You, what kind of guy are you?”