The Academy Regressor is Obsessed

“We do activities to cultivate the mind.”
“…”
“First, we spread ink on a dish like this, and write letters through a brush. This way, you can relieve stress from studying and also build up your mental nourishment.”
“I’ll look at other places.”
“Ah, no! At least try it once!”

Celine shook off the senior’s hand trying to hold her back and left the calligraphy club room with Asel. A pitiful voice was heard from behind, but she ignored it with an indifferent expression and turned to look at Asel.

“Now we just need to visit the drama club and we’ll have seen them all.”

Time had already passed into the early evening. About three hours had passed since classes ended with history. They were starting to feel hungry, and had consumed quite a bit of energy visiting so many clubs. In some cases, they were held up for dozens of minutes for direct experiences, so now they just wanted to sit down somewhere and rest for a bit.

Even Asel, who considered himself to have good stamina for a magician, couldn’t hide the tired look on his face. But Celine, whose usual poor stamina had gone who knows where, still had an overflowing vitality in her face.

Perhaps she consumes energy slowly when doing activities she likes?

There were occasionally people like that. She seemed to have been looking forward to club activities at a glance, so it’s no wonder she couldn’t help but be energetic while going around and examining them one by one.

But seeing her happy appearance didn’t make him feel too bad. His stamina was precarious but still bearable. So Asel nodded with a bitter smile.

“Let’s go, drama club.”
“Come on, it’s this way. If we turn that corner and go down to the basement, there’s a theater, right? The club room is behind that.”

A theater in the basement, huh.

Asel recalled the considerably sized theater he had seen while wandering around the Academy alone and let out a groan.

The Academy has quite a lot of facilities. The theater used by drama club students or for inviting outside troupes to perform was one of them.

A wide stage, audience seats that could accommodate many people, and various devices illuminating the stage. Though Asel had seen an empty theater, its grandeur was still conveyed. It was a scale that even Asel, who had often watched plays in Weiheim, couldn’t help but admire for a moment. To think the drama club regularly rents such a place. It’s quite interesting compared to the other clubs they’ve visited so far.

“If we go straight from here… There it is!”

As they talked while walking, they soon arrived inside the theater. Celine, who had been walking along the path leading outside, spotted a solitary door at the end and shouted. Then she walked with quick steps and turned to look at Asel.

“Hurry up!”

She looked much more excited than when looking around other clubs. The fact that they visited the drama club last was probably because she had this place in mind from the beginning.

Asel grinned and stuck close behind her. Celine poked his side with her finger, then knocked on the drama club room door.

-Come in~

The answer came right away. Celine cleared her throat once with a “Ahem,” then carefully opened the door and went inside.

“Welcome~ Are you here to join or just for a tour?”

Perhaps because it was late, there weren’t many people left inside the drama club room. A female student with a relaxed impression waved her hand and spoke to the two. Celine answered in a confident voice.

“Just a tour for now. We’re looking around today and planning to apply tomorrow.”
“Hmm… I see. You have a cautious personality? Are you from the magic department by any chance?”
“Yes. I’m Celine, a first-year.”
“I’m Asel.”

Asel bowed his head along with Celine’s greeting. Then the female student let out an “Ah” sound and clapped her hands.

“Oh my, that Asel? The top student of the magic department? The disciple of the great magician who stirred up the Academy?”
“…Yes, that’s right.”
“Oh my, oh my, oh my. A celebrity has come. Are you alright? After what happened.”

She asked while getting up from her seat. Asel made a wry expression at her friendlier-than-expected attitude and nodded.

“I’m fine. Thank you for your concern.”
“No, no~ After hearing the whole story, it sounded like you went through a lot. It’s not like 8th circle necromancers are common, and it’s a miracle you survived that. You did well~”

Her speech was unusually drawling. But rather than being annoying, it was actually easy to listen to, perhaps thanks to her gentle voice. She gave the impression of being a very accepting person, as much as her appearance suggested.

It made him think of Evelyn, whom he had left at the mansion for no reason.

“Anyway, it’s awkward to talk standing like this, so shall we sit down? Come here~ Do you prefer coffee or tea?”

She said while pointing to an empty sofa. The two sat down and answered.

“I’ll have coffee.”
“Me too.”
“Alright~ Just wait a moment~”

She started making coffee in the corner of the club room while humming a tune. First, she poured hot water over the cups, then took out coffee beans and ground them directly. Asel watched the scene and inwardly marveled.

It wasn’t because she made coffee well. It was because both making the water and grinding the beans were done through magic. She formed high-temperature drinking water with the most basic magic, then formed a high-pressure water stream with the remaining residual magical power. She put the coffee beans in and ground them with that.

It was quite a systematic use of magical power. Unlike her gentle impression, the magic she used belonged to the aggressive side among water-type magic. Considering that most of the water magic Asel had seen focused on defense, this was quite unusual.

‘Is she from the Cordelia Magic Tower?’

The Cordelia Magic Tower, which mainly deals with water-type magic. Unlike other magic towers that pursue only one path, it’s a unique organization that continues research by dividing water magic into two factions: defensive and offensive. She probably belongs to the faction researching offensive magic among them.

Currently, the only water magic that can be learned without belonging to a magic tower is defensive magic. It’s probably because the characteristics of water magic known to the public are defensive and passive, so the magic tower only released that knowledge.

As such, there was no need to doubt her affiliation.

The first magic tower affiliated magician he had seen since Celine. Asel’s eyes lit up as he tried to remember the magic formulas she was showing.

“Hey, you might burn a hole in Reine’s back at this rate. What are you staring at so intently?”

At that moment, a man with a cheerful impression sat opposite the two. His bright blonde hair sparkled in the light, and the two people’s faces were clearly reflected in his inorganic blue eyes.

He smiled broadly and continued speaking.

“Or what? Did you fall in love at first sight? Is that type your preference?”
“…”
“…If you respond with silence, it makes me feel more awkward. These are some unfunny juniors.”

He said that, then crossed his legs and picked up a snack placed on the table.

“Wyman Ormond. I’m a 3rd year in the knight department, belonging to the drama club. You came for a tour, right?”
“…”
“Um… kids? That was just a joke earlier, so could you please answer? If you keep doing this, it makes me feel like I’m the bad guy.”
“Stop bothering the new students and come out, Wyman. Why are you acting like an idler when it doesn’t suit you?”

Reine, who had brought coffee by now, sat next to Wyman and spoke. Wyman answered with an aggrieved expression.

“The role I’m taking on this time is a third-rate villain. I need to practice like this in daily life too…”
“If you’re going to do that, you might as well practice while looking at the script. And when are you going to practice swordsmanship? Do you know there’s an inter-year competition next month? What if you lose to a junior at this rate?”
“Ah, enough with the nagging! Goodbye, juniors! I’m off to practice!”

Wyman appeared suddenly like that, then disappeared suddenly. He was like the wind. Asel watched his retreating figure, then took the coffee Reine handed him and bowed his head.

“Thank you.”
“No problem~ I should at least offer this much hospitality when you’ve come all this way~ Anyway, a tour… There’s not much I can show you since there’s still a lot of time left before we perform on stage. Do you want to watch our members practice?”
“Yes, that would be great!”

Celine answered. Reine looked at her as if she found her cute, then chatted with them until they finished drinking the coffee she brought, and got up from her seat.

“Then let’s go. I’ll show you around.”

What is a soul? Is it the body or the soul that constitutes the essence of a person? How can we define a soul in the first place? Is it a free spirit trapped in the prison of the body? Or is it an intangible energy reconstructed to fit the body?

Necromancers thought of the soul as the essence of existence. That’s why they knead the souls of the dead to exert power similar to when they were alive, or modify them to obtain even greater power. They believe that since the body is a prison that contains the limits of the soul, there are no limits to power once it’s gone.

On the other hand, corpse mages thought of the body as the essence of existence. Their approach of raising already dead corpses to exert the same or greater power as when alive may seem similar to necromancers at first glance, but the inner workings are completely different. They believe that since the soul has disappeared from the body, filling that empty space with death energy allows them to grasp a higher transcendence through death.

Similar but different. The same but not the same.

That’s why the two types of mages fundamentally did not get along well.

Virsia and Zerbil were no exception.

The capital of the Empire. The continent’s premier city, with vast buildings and all kinds of luxury and intrigue everywhere.

Inside a fairly upscale restaurant within it. Zerbil, surrounded by perception-hindering magic, opened his mouth while looking at Virsia sitting opposite him.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Have you been well?”
“Shut up. Your mouth smells like rotting corpses.”
“My, my. I’ll have you know I brush my teeth diligently. I apologize for the offense.”

Zerbil shook his head with a bitter smile at Virsia’s curt reply.

Zerbil’s temperament changes depending on the grade of drugs he consumes. If he takes cheap drugs, his brain function slows down a bit but he becomes aggressive, while if he takes high-grade ones, he becomes calmer than usual and his magic power doubles.

The current Zerbil had consumed the highest grade among high-grade drugs. His mind was settled enough to generously overlook Virsia’s disgusted attitude.

He looked most similar to Zerbil when he could still call himself “human” before changing his body into a corpse. Virsia momentarily overlapped the image of Zerbil from a few years ago and clicked her tongue.

A gentlemanly yet cruel, merciful yet alien magician. A madman who abandoned his humanity in pursuit of transcendence and challenges divinity by sacrificing himself. The perpetrator of an unprecedented massacre in history.

Unlike his neat appearance, he’s a man rotten to the core from the beginning. Similar to Virsia, but a mage with a different feel. That’s why Virsia didn’t like him much, regardless of his magic type.

If it weren’t for the call of the ‘Saint’, she wouldn’t have met him like this in the first place. She let out a deep sigh while pressing her aching shoulder with her hand.

Then Zerbil glanced at her bandaged shoulder and burst into laughter.

“It’s still not healed? Looks like you were hit by quite an impressive magic.”
“I was hit by my own magic. I didn’t know they had an artifact that reflects attacks.”
“You should have been more careful. I told you, didn’t I? It’s good to play with your opponent, but you need to thoroughly crush them first. I don’t know the opponent’s capabilities well since you won’t tell me who you were beaten by no matter what, but there’s a saying, right? What was it… Even a cornered mouse will bite a cat?”
“Not a proverb I particularly like.”

Virsia let out a deep sigh and leaned back against the chair. Though a feast was laid out on the table, she didn’t touch it and looked at the empty seat.

The Saint, the person who called this meeting, had not yet arrived. Though she knew he was busy with personal matters, she couldn’t help feeling displeased. She crossed her legs and muttered in an irritated voice.

“Damn it… When is he planning to come?”
“He’ll come when he does. Just eat. It would be a waste to leave it.”
“I don’t eat such cheap food even if it’s given to me.”
“Oh… As expected of someone from royal lineage. You have quite particular tastes.”
“Royal lineage…”

Virsia spat that out, then soon grinned and turned to look at Zerbil.

“So, how’s the investigation into my sister’s disciple’s identity going?”
“It’s going well. Our loyal demon worshippers have been bringing information diligently.”
“…”
“Fortunately, it’s the person I’m looking for. I didn’t know he would have grown so well, it’s quite moving. How regrettable it would have been if I had killed him there.”
“So? Now that you’ve got the information, what are you going to do? Is that the end of it?”
“Of course not. Since he’s a child I let go. I should see the results of his growth myself.”

Zerbil continued speaking with a grin.

“I’m thinking of launching a raid or something.”
“…That’s just like you.”
“Thank you for the compliment. What about you? The plan to exterminate the royal family. When do you plan to finish that? Ena is still walking around on two healthy legs. When are you going to kill her and reap her?”
“That’s why I came to this meeting.”

Virsia turned her head towards the presence she sensed approaching and said.

“The Saint said he could help me.”

Where her gaze was directed.

A man wearing pure white priest robes and with fluttering red hair walked towards the two. Virsia clicked her tongue while looking at him with a disgusted expression.

Though his appearance is one, what constitutes it is not one. A being who serves a parasitic demon and directly receives its grace. A cluster of hundreds of thousands of parasites that call themselves a saint, where all organs and body parts repeat individual egos and actions as separate parasitic bodies.

[It’s been a while, everyone.]

The perpetrator who brought down the magic kingdom smiled at the two.

Crunch.

Beyond his parted lips, spider-like parasites clung and crawled about.