The moment I stepped into the dorm, I must have blacked out, because I only regained consciousness at dawn.
It wasn’t because I had slept a lot.
By nature, if I have the time, I can sleep for hours on end.
Maybe it’s a side effect of all the nights I’ve stayed up due to research.
“Ugh…”
Anyway, the reason I woke up at such an early hour was simple:
Pain.
The anesthesia must’ve worn off, and now the injured area was throbbing.
“I’m low on painkillers.”
The medication I was prescribed wasn’t enough. Well, it was based on second-year standards to begin with.
And for second-years, the prescription didn’t even include painkillers.
Last year was such a disaster that there was a general shortage of medicine.
Even though everyone at the alchemy workshop worked hard to make more,
Painkillers naturally got left out of prescriptions. Apparently, pain is something you’re just supposed to endure.
Unless the pain is enough to send you into shock, of course.
In other words, unless it’s that extreme, painkillers simply aren’t prescribed.
Though things have improved a bit now,
It was probably fair to say the remnants of that old system still remain.
Or maybe there’s still a medicine shortage due to all the alchemy club members quitting after last year.
Anyway, the bottom line is—
I needed medicine.
“Damn, I’ve got a bad feeling. Like the bullshit’s about to start again.”
I needed painkillers.
But to get some right now, I’d have to go to the alchemy workshop.
More accurately, I’d probably have to make them myself.
This natural progression…
An invisible force guiding me to the workshop.
I couldn’t resist it.
Because before I could even worry about future pain, the pain right now was already unbearable.
***
Early dawn.
As I passed by students in training, glancing at them from the corner of my eye, I arrived at the workshop.
The lights were on. Someone must be inside.
I knocked carefully, then stepped in.
“Oh, Johan. Long time no see, huh? How’s the research going?”
Inside was Professor Georg, quietly continuing his experiments and research. That man’s really dedicated.
Well, I guess that’s why the Cradle went so far as to invite him as a teacher.
“My research is finished.”
“Huh…? You’re done?”
“Yes. I came to inform you of that today. And while I’m here, I figured I’d also grab some painkillers.”
“Ah, so that’s what you’re really here for?”
“Yes.”
As expected of someone who’s known me a long time. He instantly figured out my priorities.
If we’re being honest, the research report was secondary. I’m on the verge of dying here.
“Anyway, I’ve decided to scrap the research results.”
“What! Why would you waste something so valuable…?!”
“With His Majesty the Emperor still alive and well, I figured it wouldn’t be wise to submit a drug capable of mass-producing Archmages to the academy.”
“Ah, yeah, that would be a problem!”
He’s so deeply immersed in research that things like this never even cross his mind. Exactly the kind of person I expected him to be.
“Anyway, do you have any painkillers?”
“Uh… yeah, I think there should be some on that shelf over there. I made a batch to keep on hand. If you need it, take half a tablet. It’s prescribed for adults.”
“I’m not a kid, so I’ll just take a full one.”
It’s not like my body’s that different from an adult’s anyway.
After swallowing the pill with water, I let out a deep sigh and sat on a nearby chair.
I figured I’d rest for a bit until the medicine kicked in. Naturally, I started assisting Professor Georg with his experiment and asked,
“By the way, Monia’s back.”
“Hmm? Oh, yeah, she is.”
“Do you know why she returned? It felt a bit sudden to me.”
“Huh? Wait, don’t tell me you don’t know?”
“I’m asking because I don’t know.”
“Monia only just woke up from a coma recently, you know.”
“…I didn’t realize it was that serious.”
“What do you know, anyway? You’ve been keeping everyone at arm’s length this whole time.”
“You’ve got me there.”
“I think it was near the end of last semester? There was a terrorist attack by Eden outside the Cradle. She got hit by some unknown force while trying to protect the others.”
Eden, huh…
The organization may be dismantled, but it clearly left scars all over the place.
“She just barely woke up a little while ago. On the same day the Prophet died.”
“……”
Then, could that unknown power that struck Monia have been Kult’s?
If she only woke up after Kult died, that lines up pretty well.
Still, how the hell did Kult end up fighting Monia in the first place?
Did she somehow stumble upon his identity by accident? So he just… put her to sleep?
Well, considering that guy doesn’t usually kill people outright, it wouldn’t be surprising if that’s how he handled it.
Honestly, I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks that’s even more twisted in its own way.
“She was out cold for about half a year, but apparently her skills haven’t dulled one bit. I heard she got transferred into Class A within a month.”
“Damn, she must be incredibly strong.”
“Right.”
And that incredibly strong person sees me as an enemy.
Which complicates things…. a lot.
The original plot’s already been thrown off, so there’s no telling where her path is headed now.
In the original story, Kult wasn’t supposed to die until much later, so Monia wouldn’t have woken up until then.
But now it’s different.
Someone from the past has been dropped into the middle of a now-peaceful Cradle.
“This doesn’t feel good.”
“Well, she’s still in that wild, unstable phase. You be careful too.”
“I don’t think being careful is going to do me much good.”
If she’s set on seeing me as the enemy, there’s not much I can do.
At best, I’d hide behind Yuna and use her as a shield.
But really, I don’t even know why she’s hostile toward me, so I wouldn’t know how to respond anyway.
“I’ll keep it in mind for now.”
“Do that.”
And so, I ended up assisting Professor Georg with his experiments until morning.
…Ah, right. I came here to tell him I was quitting.
But in the end, I just helped with his experiments.
Guess I’ll save that conversation for another day.
***
A week passed.
A week filled with pain.
And now, the third exam was about to begin.
Only a week of rest? Life in the Cradle is seriously exhausting.
“Let’s see here…”
I looked over the chairs set up in the auditorium, where all the students had gathered.
The content of the third exam was exploration.
That’s all we’d been told, but I had a rough idea of what was coming.
It was probably going to be something like the test at the start of the semester where illusion magic would throw us into some kind of mental world.
And the one capable of that kind of magic was Olga Hermod.
“As expected, there’s a magic circle drawn here.”
A magic circle was etched directly into the chair, supporting Olga Hermod’s spell. Just how massive of an illusion was she planning to create…?
Whatever it was, I figured it was safe enough.
Even if we were to “die”, we’d probably just wake up from the nightmare sitting right here in our chairs.
That aside, it did feel like they’d been trying out a lot of new things lately.
How should I put it? It’s like things were starting to become automated.
I couldn’t tell whether it was because they were getting used to things or because they suddenly had more free time.
“Looks like everyone’s here.”
Soon enough, Olga Hermod appeared on stage.
It seemed the test was about to begin.
I leaned back in my chair and quietly closed my eyes.
And when I opened them again—
I was standing in the middle of a forest.
***
Let’s take a moment to assess the situation.
No doubt I’ve been hit with magic.
Yuna, who had been sitting right next to me, was nowhere to be seen.
That probably means the locations are randomized or predetermined individually.
Nearby, there was a bag filled with dried food and a few bottles of water.
“What the… How long is this exam supposed to last?”
Time might flow differently in the real world, but at the very least, this didn’t seem like the kind of test that ends in a single day.
Of course, if I get eliminated early, I’ll probably wake up early too. That actually sounds kind of nice.
Not that I’m planning to go so far as to off myself in here or anything.
“Hmm.”
Before doing anything, I took another look at my situation.
More precisely, I examined the very structure of this world itself.
Despite how I might seem, I was someone who could use advanced-level illusion magic.
It was best to double-check whether this was truly an illusion or not.
Lately, I’ve had this weird, lingering unease. Like I might end up in one of those clichés where “I thought it was just an exam, but turns out it was a real terrorist attack.”
I needed to make sure that wasn’t the case.
“It is illusion magic… and there’s nothing particularly off.”
After a bit of cautious probing, I confirmed there were no abnormalities in the spell.
Sure, I might’ve missed something if I wasn’t skilled enough, but at the very least, this space was clearly the work of Olga Hermod’s magic.
And realistically, there’s no one who could tamper with it.
We’re talking about someone who reached the rank of Archmage through illusion magic.
Even if another Archmage stepped in, beating Olga Hermod in her own field just wasn’t possible.
“Well, I guess I’ll start by looking for Yuna.”
If I wait around, she might find me on her own. But I’ll probably find her faster if I go looking.
It’s not like this was a survival test where only one person could make it out, so it should be fine.
Not that I even know what I’m supposed to be looking for in the first place.
There’s not a single clue in the supply bag, either.
There wasn’t a single clue to go on. In that case, I had to start by tracking down clues one step at a time and the more people I had, the better my chances would be.
“I really hope I run into someone. Anyone would do at this point.”
I was scared.
The atmosphere around me felt eerie and desolate.
***
I once thought, “I really hope I run into someone. Anyone would do.”
I’d like to take that back…. even if it’s a bit late.
“Hi, Johan.”
“……”
Please don’t count people who are openly hostile toward me.
I’d only been walking along the path for a short while when I ran into Monia.
Staring at her, with all that hostility radiating off her, just made me feel miserable.
What did I even do to deserve this? Why did I always end up being the target of this kind of unreasonable hatred?
“Just my luck.”
“Luck? No, Johan. I was the one who found you. A place like this… I’m very familiar with it.”
“Oh, I see.”
Familiar with a place like this?
So she’d been in a coma all this time, but it seemed like she’d actually been trapped in some kind of illusion.
The clearer the boundary between illusion and reality, the more things you can perceive and the more freely you can act within that illusion.
If she really had been inside one, I could more or less guess what had happened to her.
And I was starting to understand why she resented me.
“Monia, you didn’t get caught up in the Eden terrorist attack by accident….you walked into Eden of your own will and took their hand, didn’t you?”
“……”
Monia was the traitor from the Cradle. One of the survivors Olga Hermod had supposedly taken care of.
She got lucky. She only came to her senses after the storm had already passed.
From Olga Hermod’s perspective, there would’ve been no way to confirm whether a student in a coma was a traitor or not.
“Johan, I hate you.”
“I know. You make it pretty obvious. It’d be hard not to notice.”
Maybe she thought she was hiding it well, but from where I stood, it was plain as day.
Well, I guess being exposed to multiple terrorist attacks recently didn’t help, either…
“So what? Are you that upset that I dismantled Eden?”
Was it really that painful to wake up from the sweet illusion of paradise?
“That’s news to me. You dismantled Eden?”
“Mhmm.”
Now that I thought about it… yeah, that made sense.
Not many people actually knew about my deep involvement with Eden.
And considering she’d been bedridden until just recently, there’s no way she could’ve known.
That was a mistake on my part.
I had so much information swirling in my head that I just assumed she’d know, too.
But if that wasn’t it, then there was still something I didn’t understand.
“Then what is it? What exactly is your problem with me?”
“Hmm… yeah, good question.”
Monia reached for the spear strapped to her back.
She was clearly shifting into combat mode.
“Just knowing that someone as weak as you survived… it makes my skin crawl.”
“……”
“Why did it have to be you? How could someone as weak as you be the one to survive? My sister Ruda died. While you were hiding away in some place no one knew about, my sister died fighting to protect everyone!”
“…So that’s what happened.”
It was the kind of thing that could have happened.
I had turned a blind eye to reality for a long time, and because of that, there were probably a lot of people who died horrible deaths.
So I could understand how Monia felt.
“I guess you got discharged a little too early. You should’ve stayed in that bed a while longer.”
If I just chalked it up to the ramblings of a lunatic, it was easier to process.
God, what a mess I got myself into.
How was I supposed to empathize with something like that?
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