episode_0072

In the end, Acel and Pascal personally went around the mansion, collecting the spreading flames one by one. He seemed displeased by the reprimand from the much weaker and younger mage, but once Acel fell silent and stepped forward, he simply followed him along sluggishly.

Acel glanced at Pascal, who was swaggering along behind him, then collected the flames that had spread into a space that looked like a bedroom, and thought.

‘Contrary to the ominous atmosphere, does it faithfully serve as a shelter?’

He looked back at the mansion as he collected the flames. Although there was no water, there was a bathroom, and decent beds and sofas were placed here and there. There were no significant traps, and aside from a few bugs, there were no hidden creatures.

In the dreadful place that was the labyrinth, a shelter of this caliber would be no different from a hotel. Perhaps because it was located quite deep inside the labyrinth, the scale of the shelter seemed considerable.

Given this much, staying for about a day to rest shouldn’t be a problem. Acel thought so, collected flames for a few more minutes, and returned to the lobby. Pascal chewed on his tobacco cud and stuck close to Acel’s side.

Pascal said.

“No matter how I think about it, it’s a shame.”

“…? What is?”

“You, I mean you. If you enter the Ignis Magic Tower, you’ll definitely be able to snag the position of Flame Emperor.”

“…Flame Emperor?”

“Ah, you don’t know?”

Pascal exhaled smoke and continued.

“The five pillars of flame who assist the Tower Master. They are called the Flame Emperors. They’re like errand runners who substitute for the Tower Master, who finds it difficult to move around carelessly. There’s just one position vacant right now, so if you entered the Magic Tower and some time passed, it naturally would have become yours.”

“Unfortunately, I belong to the Witch’s Assembly. I have no intention of entering the Magic Tower.”

“I guessed that from the moment you handled lightning spells. More than that, they say the number of men in the Witch’s Assembly is very small. Is that true?”

“I haven’t seen any other men besides myself yet.”

“Oh, fuck. So how many women have you met?”

Pascal made a circle with his thumb and index finger, and poked his finger through it as he asked. At that blatant expression, Acel’s face crumpled completely.

“Whether women or men. The Witch’s Assembly is a place where everyone is crazy about magic. There’s no time for that kind of thing.”

“Bullshit. Are you perhaps gay?”

*Bzzzzzzzzz!!!!*

As soon as Pascal finished speaking, 검푸른 벼락 burst forth from Acel’s entire body. Pascal chortled and raised both hands.

“It’s a joke, a joke.”

“…That is a considerably unpleasant joke.”

“My bad.”

Acel ignored him apologizing and turned his head towards Celine and Saya, who were clearing the debris scattered on the floor. The two people waved their hands, looking at Acel as he descended the stairs. Acel waved back and said to Pascal.

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

“What is it?”

“Do you know anything about the Sage?”

“…The Sage?”

Pascal repeated the question like that, holding the cigarette in his mouth with his hand and flicking it with an indifferent expression.

“He’s a strange fellow.”

“…”

“He’s a crazy bastard who believes he can change the world, that he can save this world from demons. However, you can’t deny that he actually has the ability to do so. He killed over 10 demons by himself.”

The epithet “Demon Slayer” is a greatly glorious title. An epithet for a hunter that can only be received by cleanly annihilating a fully manifested demon. How many heroes were shattered and scattered into history to obtain it. There were only a few Demon Slayers remaining currently.

Demons are fundamentally incomprehensible beings. They thoroughly deny common sense and are worlds unto themselves, establishing their own laws. For them, taking hundreds, thousands of lives with a single gesture was not impossible.

And he was said to have killed ten of these beings. Considering that most Demon Slayers killed only one demon, you could see how preposterous this was.

“But… he hasn’t been seen since some time ago. We don’t even know where he is, what he’s doing, or what kind of research he’s conducting.”

“…Is there a possibility he died?”

“I don’t know. But it doesn’t seem like he’s dead.”

Pascal gave a small laugh and continued.

“I can’t even imagine that bastard dying.”

The conversation ended there. As if they had made a promise, Acel and Pascal didn’t speak anymore, turning off their magic as they watched the two people walking towards them. After flicking off the electricity remaining on his fingertips, Acel said to Celine, who had a sulky expression.

“Why the face?”

“I explored outside for a bit while you were tidying up the mansion.”

Celine sighed deeply, looking at the thick darkness beyond the shattered window, and continued speaking.

“There was nothing around. Not a single living creature. The path going up was the same. The path going down was obvious, so I found it right away.”

“There’s no exit from the labyrinth in a shelter.”

Pascal took over Celine’s words.

“It’s not that kind of friendly place, you see. If you want to get out, go to the 16th floor and find the exit.”

“You know the location?”

“I know. Why, want me to go with you? Are you scared?”

“…Ha. I might actually kill you.”

“What a Star-wrapper says isn’t very scary, you see.”

Star-wrapper.

It was the most representative derogatory term used to belittle Star Weavers. The Ignis Magic Tower and the Aurora Magic Tower had a poor relationship due to a past conflict. While it had improved quite a bit by now, unfortunately, Pascal wasn’t a person of this era.

A flame mage living in the romantic era where they would immediately engage in a life-or-death battle if they even bumped into a Star Weaver on the street. It was perhaps natural that he wasn’t friendly towards Celine. But he ended at being sarcastic and didn’t go any further. It seemed he had a personality that avoided unnecessary excessive conflict.

Pascal ignored the fuming Celine and opened his mouth, looking at Saya.

“Well… anyway, I was planning to return tomorrow. Going into the 17th floor of the labyrinth alone is suicidal, so I’ll have to find companions later and come back again.”

“…”

“So I’ll go with you. Don’t whine and cry because you’re scared, Star-wrapper.”

“Shut up.”

“How fierce.”

Pascal gave a small laugh, patted Acel’s shoulder, and turned towards the direction of the bedroom.

“We’ll depart tomorrow. I need to sleep for a bit and then move.”

“…I also have the intention of going down to the 20th floor, though.”

Acel mumbled in a low voice. Pascal’s face immediately crumpled.

“Are you an idiot? 20th floor alone? Or everyone here together? Either way, it’s a perfect situation to die a dog’s death.”

“…”

“If you’re going to die, die alone. I absolutely hate being sacrificed by following someone else’s greed.”

He said that, then disappeared into the bedroom as if he had no regrets. Acel glanced at his retreating back and sighed deeply.

He was right. Acel wanting to go down to the 20th floor of the provisional labyrinth was purely out of personal greed. Proving whether the Sage’s tomb was truly here and delving into the truth that followed was of interest only to Acel. To others, his interest was merely someone else’s business.

He wanted to break through to the 20th floor alone if he could. However, Acel knew very well how preposterous that would be. If he didn’t want to die a useless death, stepping back here was the right thing to do.

Whether one could truly lose their life in the provisional labyrinth installed at the academy was unknown. Meaning, it wasn’t certain. Acel wasn’t so crazy as to gamble his life on such uncertainty.

‘There’s always another opportunity.’

He recalled what Roselle had said. She had clearly said that the club that discovered the provisional labyrinth would be granted entry permission for a year, hadn’t she? If that was true, then escaping this time and coming back later wouldn’t be a big problem. As long as he belonged to the drama club, he could enter anytime.

Yes, let’s escape first. Celine and Saya seem to want that too, so let’s come back later with people who share the same goal and try to conquer it again. Grace would definitely cooperate.

Acel thought so and nodded his head, telling the two people to go inside and rest for now. Celine sighed deeply and trudged towards an empty room, while Saya tidied up the lobby a bit more before lying down on a sofa in the corner.

When it seemed like there was nobody around, Acel took out Aleph, which he had kept in his arms, woke her up, and asked about the person named Pascal Theron.

Aleph immediately poured out information about him.

[Pascal Theron. A Great Mage belonging to the Ignis Magic Tower, and after taking the position of Flame Emperor, a figure who was active as the Ignis Tower Master for approximately 15 years. Although he died in a fierce battle against the elves during the Race War, 70% of the elves’ Great Forest was burned and vanished by his hand, making him one of the figures who greatly contributed to their defeat. The number of elves he burned alive is said to be in the tens of thousands.]

“…So you mean the person here right now isn’t Pascal himself?”

[Recalling the Master’s memories… that’s probably the case. He would be a Thought Form he left behind, or something equivalent. Although he would think of himself as Pascal.]

Acel made a thoughtful sound and closed Aleph again.

Pascal Theron. A high-ranking flame mage whose skill was beyond doubt. A talented mage who would reach the realm of Great Mage and even ascend to the position of Tower Master in the future. What did it mean that such a person remained in the provisional labyrinth in a 7th-rank state?

Perhaps, the provisional labyrinth arbitrarily created a phantom of the actual Pascal who was lost in the labyrinth in the past.

There were many conjectures, but no certainty. Acel leaned against the wall, slid down to a sitting position, and took a long breath while looking at the dark ceiling.

***

Dark bedroom. Roselle was reading a small book that didn’t fit her frame, shaking her legs. From afar, it looked like she was revving up to grab and throttle someone, but in reality, she was just excited while reading the climax part of a romance novel.

Regardless of her appearance, she was also just a girl who had recently become an adult. It was natural to have at least one favorite romance novel.

“Ohh…!”

A page where the scene of the protagonist and heroine kissing was vividly described. Just as Roselle was entering that chapter. The door of the bedroom opened and Reine appeared. As soon as she saw the dark room, she frowned and activated a magic lamp.

“It’s too dark. Are you guys children of darkness?”

“Kyahhhhh!!”

“Kieeeeeekk!!”

As the bedroom lit up, two drama club members who had been lying on the floor screamed. These were people who had not been visible until then because they were wearing dark robes. Reine looked down at the two people and shook her head.

“Twins! Stop interrupting the initiation and get out!”

“This is a scene of tyranny. Ah, is this the emotion called sorrow.”

“Brother, do not grieve! We shall one day be freed from that witch!”

“If you keep saying strange things, I’ll make you write reflection papers?”

“We’re leaving.”

“Me too.”

At Reine’s threat, the identical-looking man and woman left the bedroom. Reine sighed deeply and sat down next to Roselle. Roselle didn’t even look at her, opened her mouth while staring intently at the novel.

“You’re here.”

“I came straight here as soon as club activities ended. Are our new club members doing okay?”

At Reine’s question, Roselle slightly lowered the book she was reading, looked at the massive bed, and wore a smile.

“They’re perfectly fine. Their body temperature rose sharply in the middle, but they got better after I splashed some water on them.”

“Really?”

Reine chuckled softly and met Roselle’s gaze.

On the massive bed, large enough for five people to lie on comfortably.

“…”

“…Not a Star-wrapper…”

“Must… help…”

Celine was sprawled on top of Acel, who was at the bottom, and Saya was burrowing into Acel’s arms.

The soft sounds of breathing clearly showed that the three people were deep asleep. Reine wiped away the drool flowing from Celine’s mouth and wetting Acel’s cheek, and wore a gentle smile.

“Have a good sleep, sleepyheads.”