The Academy’s Crude Pink-Haired Martial Artist

Staring at the symbol of the Labyrinth for a good while, I let out a sigh and leaned back.

“…Did you find the corpses of your subordinates?”

“I couldn’t find them.”

“Did the snake eat them?”

Ophelia’s eyes went wide.

“…How… did you know?”

“I don’t need to know that. Anyway… what happened next?”

“We dispatched twenty staff and five mercenaries. However… only one person made it out.”

Ophelia handed me a new document.

It depicted the shape of a gigantic maze. But it wasn’t perfect; there were empty spaces here and there, smudged parts, and holes that didn’t connect.

“After that dark mage appeared, such a vast and complex maze came to be in the underground of the institution. Hence… we couldn’t find the corpses of the staff who weren’t killed by the dark mage either.”

It’s a labyrinth.

But… it’s a maze crafted by the Labyrinth that loves to create mazes, which eliminates the barrier between the outside and the inside.

The scale is also enormous.

It seems like a space distortion magic has been cast.

The empty parts here and there probably indicate teleport portals, and the broken paths… well, they seem to be areas where the maze is undergoing a transformation, hence they couldn’t draw them.

This is on a different level from the shabby maze created in the Museum.

This is the Labyrinth’s maze that I have seen and experienced countless times in Gebihenum.

Could it be related to the museum incident?

It’s not impossible. There must be a connection.

What’s the reason for causing such a noticeable incident?

To draw attention.

Why did they have to draw attention?

-Hmm. I’ll always be inside Pina’s soul. However, I can’t come out like this all the time. Even now… thanks to you catching the demons, I could sneak out.

-Pina hasn’t grown enough to hide spirits.

-Ronan. Be careful in the underground.

To erect a barrier to deceive the spirits.

Creating such a barrier to fool the spirits requires an immense amount of magic.

If that amount of magic is manipulated, even ordinary citizens of the Empire will be able to feel the waves of magic.

Thus, they diverted people’s attention and manipulated magic to create a barrier to deceive the spirits.

Meanwhile, they cooperated with the royal family’s minions and extracted information as well.

Silina’s assassination isn’t their main objective.

The main objective is the spirits.

If there are spirits, can they open that door?

Given the circumstances… it seems very likely.

For now, it must be something arranged by Arisa, so if I go, that door will surely open.

However, by what principle will it open?

It can be said it’s because of the spirits.

No matter how great Arisa is, she cannot use magic or miracles.

So, she probably couldn’t put any special magical processing on that communal door.

But it must be concealed.

After all, how many important things are inside?

So how can it be concealed?

Using the powers of the spirits.

As Flora said a while ago, in my past life, I was someone who attracted the interest of numerous spirits.

And that still applies to me as Eliaernes now.

If I think about what spirits are following me, it’s my soul. Ronan and Eliaernes’ souls are the same, as Flora said.

And Arisa must have known that too. Even if I were to be reborn, my soul would stay the same.

Thus, to hide the provisions for me, she erected a door imbued with the spirits’ seal on the communal path.

The seal on the door… was probably something received from the World Tree lady.

Therefore, in order to open that door, a spirit is needed.

A multitude of spirits that are drawn to my soul or a single entity with strong power — a light spirit.

The light spirit is represented by Flora.

“Sigh…”

A sigh escaped involuntarily.

Neither Stella nor Pina nor Silina is a girl who isn’t dangerous.

Has Muyeong started to move?

Would it be good to pass this matter to Muyeong?

No, the guys running the Information Guild wouldn’t be unaware of the information they’ve obtained.

At best, they would’ve found out earlier than I did.

Then… it’s unnecessary to say anything.

So, how skilled is the dark mage fiddling around inside that labyrinth?

If they could implement such a maze, they must be at least a 7th Circle.

At most… an 8th Circle.

Should I go before Muyeong?

There’s no supporting force I could take with me…

Letting out yet another sigh, I tucked away the documents Ophelia handed me.

“Can I take this?”

“…It’s a copy…”

“Is there no other information you can give?”

Ophelia’s face crumpled.

“I’ll pay you fairly, so bring everything you have.”

“…Just kill me. If I keep leaking information like this, I’ll be killed by the cartel anyway. So just kill me here.”

“Why are you acting all high and mighty when you’re just a bunch of thugs? Tsk.”

I tossed the wad of cash I had prepared onto the table. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven…

Ophelia’s eyes went wide seeing it.

“…Wh-what is this?”

“Info payment. Why, do you need more? You’re not thinking of charging for hospital bills too, are you? If you do, I’ll give you a condolence fee instead of hospital expenses.”

For a moment, Ophelia gulped—gulp—and dove into thoughts. But her contemplation didn’t last long.

Shaking her head, Ophelia smiled brightly.

“Enough! No, more than enough! I’ll provide more information that matches this price, Lady!”

Now I’ve become the “Lady.”

Why did she act all high and mighty from the start if she would end up like this?

Well, still… it’s better to reel her in with money than to scare her into submission.

The money I just took out is only less than 30% of the allowance my Father gave me for the first semester.

Of course, the cards are separate.

Ophelia, who started moving quickly, presented a variety of documents and books in front of me within thirty seconds.

“Here you go!”

“Did your looks change dramatically? Up until just now, there was some… vibe of a hunting dog, or at least a wolf, but now you just look like a mongrel?”

“Ha ha ha! You sure say that in a funny way!”

“…Yeah. Well, you do as you please.”

Shaking my head, I roughly scanned through the information Ophelia handed me.

It included the investigation process of the human who commissioned the request in the past, as well as summaries of the combat with the dark mage underground.

…Their information level seems better than I expected.

“Not bad.”

“Ha ha ha! Despite how we look, we do work pretty well! So you can always b—”

“That’s enough, this is too much. Don’t you have a bag to carry this stuff?”

“Of course! Bags are 500,000 sel—”

“Hey, do you still see me as an idiot?”

“—but it’s complimentary for VIPs!”

With a cold sweat running down her forehead, Ophelia quickly sprang up and retrieved two types of bags.

“Just hand me the one in your left hand.”

I picked a hefty duffel bag.

It’s big enough that I think I could fit in it if I curled up.

“Sure. I’ll pack it for you.”

Ophelia, without receiving payment for the bag, cheerfully began stuffing documents into the duffel bag with quick movements.

I took it and immediately got up from my seat.

Just as I was about to head outside, I tossed another wad of cash and added,

“Look into the side branch of Eustetia.”

“Side branch… which one…?”

“The backing behind those bastards.”

“…The backing… you say?”

“Yeah. Two days. Sneak the information to Karela Academy. I’m under house arrest.”

“…Under house arrest…?”

Ophelia’s expression turned strange.

I moved on, regardless of her reaction.

*

Upon arriving at the Academy, I finished a quick shower and flopped onto my bed.

It had been a long, long day.

An incredibly long, complicated, and chaotic day.

“Guuuh…”

I enjoyed the feel of the blanket wrapping around my body, hugging the big pillow. While I was at it, I carefully held onto the doll my Father had made and gifted me long ago.

“…Arisa. Arisa Eustetia.”

What on earth were you expecting to leave behind with that illusion?

To let me know there are things down below that will help me?

I don’t know. I can’t fathom it, but I don’t think it’s just for that reason.

Arisa’s actions were always unexpected, but they often had unexpected depth.

‘Still… yeah. After all, Ronan is Ronan.’

‘I’m just glad that it’s the Ronan I know this time too.’

But still, that sounded strange no matter how I thought about it.

“Ronan is Ronan” is something she always said.

Ronan is Ronan.

Ronan is always Ronan.

Ronan is consistently Ronan.

Thus, I didn’t feel much strangeness.

However, the phrase that followed.

“This time too.”

“What the hell does ‘this time too’ even mean?”

I caressed the pink hair, reminiscent of Arisa, but distinctly different, brushing it off my face.

“You crazy woman. If you’re going to raise a disciple, at least teach me some martial arts. Why the hell are you passing on my techniques?”

Did she realize how embarrassing she looked?

No, it can’t be.

She didn’t completely erase her own skills.

The lion beastman, Leona Meganberta.

Leona was also using Arisa’s martial arts.

It wasn’t altered like Eustetia’s techniques, but completely the same as Arisa’s.

And that question still remains unanswered.

There was no trace of Leona in any information in the Forbidden Library.

However, there were no signs of intentional erasure in Leona’s information either. It simply felt like she had just popped up out of nowhere.

Arisa’s disciple. A descendant without blood connection.

It felt like she just suddenly appeared, like the second head of Eustetia.

That means Arisa deliberately hid Leona’s information.

No… no, it’s too early to assert that.

Leona may not be a direct disciple of Arisa. There’s a possibility she could be a disciple passed through several connections.

“…It’s complicated.”

Letting out a deep sigh, I burrowed into the blanket.

The soft sensation of the blanket and the plush bed wrapped around my body.

I raised my hand and pressed the button beside my head.

The lights in the room all turned off at once, only the soft orange indirect light illuminated the room.

In the comfortable darkness, I closed my eyes.

I recalled Arisa, who was crafting a shabby tomb underground. I recalled her cold expression transforming into a bright smile. I remembered her voice, her mannerisms.

I recalled the words she left behind.

‘Ronan, I miss you so much.’

“I don’t miss you at all.”

My rebirth. The erasure of Kaloso’s traces.

The information she has left behind and the provisions she has arranged.

The demons targeting Stella. The labyrinth in the institution’s underground.

Illusions.

All of it.

It revolves around me.

But I am merely the center.

I am not the master of that flow.

I’m being swept away in it as well.

And it’s really annoying.

“…Dare you try to wield me?”

Get lost.

Whatever you’ve arranged, whatever you want, whatever you’ve hidden.

I will do as I please.

Still… I’ll gather what Arisa left behind.

“It would be a shame to throw that away…”

I chuckled softly and fell asleep just like that.

*

That night, I had a dream.

I can’t remember what it was about.

But, the feeling lingers.

A familiar yet unfamiliar feeling.

It was a dream of something I’ve never experienced, yet somehow felt I’d experienced once… a disquieting feeling.

In that dream, a voice emerged, telling me this.

-A beautiful flower is precious because it wilts. But I don’t particularly like the word prized. It feels a bit… I don’t know. Hard, I guess?

-So I prefer the expression cherished.

-Because the word cherished can contain emotions.

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