“Johan Damus is indeed an Oracle… I signed it.”
“I’ve confirmed it.”
In the end, I signed the humiliatingly unequal contract Lobelia proposed. I intended to try meeting Ariel, but unfortunately, that wasn’t possible.
“It seems her family is busy with the marriage arrangements. If you really want to see her, you’ll have to visit the Ether Duchy.”
“…I’ll pass.”
They say if you want to catch a tiger, you have to enter its den. But I had no desire to visit the Ether Duchy.
Think about how I’d look.
If the servants saw me and started spreading rumors like, “Oh my! He must be here to see the young lady,” it would only make things harder to explain later.
On the flip side, if I took actions to deny those rumors, that would be a problem too.
It’d turn into something like, “How dare a mere Damus Count family?”
Either way, it would be the worst-case scenario. So the best course of action was to stay away.
So then… what do I do now?
“There’s nothing I can do…”
I had already met with Lobelia.
Yuna had gone off to dig up some leverage based on information about the Ether Duchy and hadn’t returned yet.
My attempt to talk to Ariel was blocked from the start.
And my father still had a long way to go before arriving.
“Haah…”
I used to dream about sleeping in all day, but now that I truly have nothing to do, all I feel is anxious.
Go to class? In a time like this?
And if I was going to do that, I wouldn’t be stuck worrying like this in the first place.
“Should I just run simulations in my head or something?”
I sat on the edge of my bed and tried to picture what it would be like when Father arrived.
Even though I was the one who called him, he wasn’t coming to negotiate with me.
This was a matter of marriage between noble houses. He was probably just hoping to meet face-to-face and talk it out.
Above all, the Ether Duchy had proposed generous terms. Responding only with a letter would seem insincere.
Anyway, Father’s goal would be to make sure the marriage between Ariel and me goes smoothly.
He would likely start by coaxing and persuading me. But I wouldn’t give in.
Meanwhile, I have to persuade him to break this engagement.
Honestly, that was a tall order.
Overcoming the towering wall that was the Ether Duchy won’t be easy. That’s why I left the mediation to Lobelia…
“…But there’s no way Lobelia will act according to my wishes.”
She was ambitious.
She didn’t even try to hide her ambition.
Finding a mutually agreeable compromise? A solution that satisfies everyone?
No such thing exists. One of us will have to give something up.
“In that case…”
Thud.
After sitting on the bed and thinking for so long, my back started to hurt, so I lay down.
Alright, let’s rethink this.
“Maybe I should just…”
And then I fell asleep.
***
When I came to, I was standing under a sky where the Milky Way flowed above me.
In that moment, I realized…. I was dreaming that dream again. The one I’d been having repeatedly lately.
This time, I was lucid. I knew I was dreaming.
Blazing flames. Twinkling starlight.
And the child version of myself, gathering countless shining stars.
The content of the dream never changed.
At least, not until the moment I, the observer, stepped onto the stage.
“……”
I took a step toward the younger me, who was picking up stars.
His hands were already glittering with an abundance of starlight.
But with such small hands, it didn’t look like he could gather any more.
Ssshhh—
The child version of me held out the stars clutched in both hands toward me.
As I received them, the stars seeped into my body.
Then, the young me began gathering stars once more.
And with that, I awoke from the dream.
***
When I came to, it was morning.
I must’ve fallen asleep during the day yesterday, but judging by the sound of birds chirping outside, it seemed to be early morning.
“Am I seriously sleeping…?”
I asked myself.
The answer? Yes, I had slept soundly.
To think I could sleep so peacefully in a situation like this….I felt so pathetic it almost brought me to tears.
“Haah…”
Still, at least now I had something to do.
After stretching and washing up, I headed out of the dorm.
This time, it wasn’t to see Lobelia or Ariel.
And not Yuna either.
I was headed somewhere I hadn’t gone in a while. It was the library.
That’s right. Today, I was actually planning to study.
And not just anything…
[The Fundamentals of Chaos Magic]
Advanced-level illusion magic.
As soon as I told the librarian the name of the book I was looking for, she gave me a long, dubious once-over.
Anyone could tell she was thinking, “You? Seriously?”
Honestly, was that necessary? I’m not that hopeless.
The librarian lowered her gaze and took another look at the student ID I handed over.
Printed in large letters on it was “Class F”.
Yeah, I’ll admit it. That would raise suspicion.
An underachiever branded with the Class F label asking to check out an advanced magic text? Anyone would be skeptical.
“This book is extremely valuable.”
“I know.”
“Please don’t use the book for anything other than its intended purpose…like a pot stand or something. The loan period is one week.”
“I know that.”
“Then why are you looking at me like that?”
“No, it’s just…”
Seriously? After giving me that condescending look, now you take issue with my attitude?
“…Sorry.”
Fine. Picking a fight would only end with me losing.
The librarian, after all, was a fellow student and an elite from Class A.
If we fought, I’d be out cold in one hit.
In the end, I endured her scornful gaze and checked out the book.
***
I didn’t suddenly start studying because I was anxious about the future.
It was last night’s dream—
Lately, I’ve been having it more and more often. That probably meant the time was drawing near.
In the dream, I was young, and my hands were so tiny I couldn’t pick up many stars.
That symbolized my talent.
It meant that when it came to breaking down and analyzing the spells she left behind, I was far too small and insignificant.
Well, to be fair, I’ve never really had a knack for magic.
To what extent? Let’s just say I couldn’t even cast a basic spell like [Fireball] properly.
So when a part of my mind, split through Thought Splitting, managed to gather those stars in both hands, I had to collect them.
And collecting them meant I must go through the process of internalizing them into my own knowledge.
That’s why I was trying to learn advanced magic now—
Because what mattered most was whether I could make use of that knowledge.
Wouldn’t it be meaningless if I were to completely decipher the magic she left behind, only to not even know how to use it?
No magic revealed its true effects until it was used… unless you’re the one who created it.
“Illusion, huh…”
I was still an idiot who couldn’t even cast a basic [Fireball] properly, but when it came to illusion magic, I could use spells classified up to the intermediate level.
With this, I might even step into the realm of advanced magic. And from that, there were a few things I could figure out…
“What kind of ability did you even have?”
One thing was clear: the magic she left behind belonged to the illusion school.
And even advanced illusion magic doesn’t compare to what she created.
It became even more absurd when you consider that an Archmage like Olga Hermod only created illusion spells classified as intermediate.
“What did you want to leave behind for me?”
I’ve been deciphering her magic all this time to find the answer.
Because I ran away that day.
Now, all I can do is piece together her final moments based on what she left behind.
“Hmm…”
The moment I opened the book, I was able to instantly interpret about half of what was written there.
But… Could this really be called advanced magic?
The results of analyzing her ability to its absolute limit… those aren’t things you can understand just by looking at them.
“Is this her way of saying I need the advice of someone more talented?”
I had suspected it for a while, but there’s a limit to what I could do alone.
I knew the material, but I couldn’t make sense of it.
It’s kind of like math. Just knowing the formula isn’t enough. Without a flash of insight, you don’t even know where to apply it.
“Magic… Magic, huh…”
Obviously, they teach magic at the Cradle as well.
But the magic taught here lacked depth. It wasn’t for people like me who focused obsessively on just one thing.
More than anything, my knowledge was uneven.
I couldn’t even use a basic [Fireball], yet I could cast intermediate-level illusion spells.
How many people were actually capable of teaching someone like me?
Only two came to mind.
One was Ariel Ether. The very person who was driving me to the brink of death.
“This isn’t right.”
Ask her to teach me magic, after everything that happened? In that situation, I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep my distance from her.
On top of that, the perspective of a genius might differ from that of someone ordinary.
Just because someone was good at magic didn’t mean they’d be good at teaching it.
I had already experienced that once.
She had failed to teach me [Fireball].
Utterly incompetent.
So, on to the second.
“Honestly, asking the Headmistress right now would be shameless.”
Olga Hermod, being the kind and perceptive person she was, might be able to identify my personal shortcomings. Unlike Ariel, she was a skilled mage who had progressed steadily and methodically.
But she was busy. Extremely busy.
Classes had resumed at the Cradle, but the aftermath of the recent terror attack still hadn’t been fully addressed. Until Olga Hermod resolved those issues, she probably wouldn’t be able to leave her office.
I wondered if I was putting too much pressure on an old woman, but what could I do?
The proud Archmage wanted her students to lead upright lives.
“The best method usually comes with the biggest risks…”
In fact, there was a third and fourth option….but I had already dismissed those, knowing I wouldn’t actually choose them.
One involved another Archmage.
It was the most certain method, but also the most dangerous.
“…Faust is probably the best in this field.”
Just a few days ago, the very person who had trampled the Cradle in spectacular fashion. He was called the “Great Sage”.
Of course, I had decided to keep it as a thought only.
I wasn’t prepared to take such a risk, and more importantly, I had no idea where that monster even was.
And the fourth was a wandering mage with the ability of teleportation.
In the end, I had to put this matter on hold.
I had no choice but to go as far as I could on my own.
***
By afternoon, Yuna had returned.
“I came by yesterday, but you were asleep, so I came back after class today. Also, Johan, isn’t it getting risky if you keep skipping classes?”
“I’m still a patient. Sick leave is different from being absent…it’s fine.”
“Always finding loopholes, huh!”
“I do my best.”
Yuna looked at me with a face full of exasperation. Now that I thought about it, she seemed to be enjoying school life even more than I was.
Well, if she liked it, then that was good.
Olga Hermod would probably be pleased to see the current Yuna.
She might not be as pleased with me, though.
“So, did you find anything out?”
“Mhmm! I found out who’s behind this engagement.”
“Ooh…!”
“Of course, the whole thing started with Lady Ariel, but still…”
Yuna clicked her tongue as she spoke.
Something clearly didn’t sit well with her.
She shrugged her shoulders and continued.
“It looks like a man named Rascal Ether took the lead in most of it.”
“Who’s that?”
I didn’t know him.
And I’d said it many times before. I was just a casual player of this game.
Unlike those who knew every event in the story inside and out, I wasn’t one of them.
So when it came to minor characters, even if I’d seen them once before, I usually couldn’t remember them at all.
At best, I might recall them later and go, Oh! That guy?
“He’s the next head of the Ether Duchy. Lady Ariel has completely stepped out of the line of succession, and since Tronius Ether doesn’t seem interested in remarrying, it’s more or less confirmed.”
“I see.”
Thankfully, this time the name didn’t ring any bells.
Probably just a background character, right?
“So what kind of person is he? Is he a bad guy?”
“Hmm…”
Yuna paused for a moment as if she was thinking, then smiled brightly.
“Mhmm! He’s a total bad guy!”
Maybe it was because we’d gotten a lot closer lately.
For some reason, her judgment this time felt very personal.
I decided to just ignore that comment.
“So, Johan…”
“Oh, do you know how to go about it? What should I do?”
“You’ll have to pay me first.”
“Ah…”
What was she planning to make me do?
I waited for a while to hear what would come out of her mouth.
But she just gave a little laugh and said casually,
“Have lunch with me! You’re buying! Got it?”
“The student cafeteria okay?”
But even if we went to the cafeteria, we probably wouldn’t get a proper meal.
They’d probably just throw some ingredients at us again.
“Nope! We’re eating out.”
“But there probably aren’t any open restaurants out there right now…”
“There are, though!”
Wait, why are there any open at all?
It hasn’t even been two weeks since terrorists trampled all over the Cradle and the surrounding area!
“Andva… something-something company quickly filled the gap!”
“You mean Andvaranaut?”
“That’s the one!”
I nodded at the top-tier information Yuna had just dropped so casually.
I got it, loud and clear.
“They’re already up and running?”
“You know the place?”
“Sort of? I’ve heard their stuff is good.”
Andvaranaut.
The ring that makes gold.
Well, it’s nothing surprising at this point…
Andvaranaut was an organization aiming to seize financial power and overthrow the Empire.
Ugh, what a great place to live, this Empire.
Why does it feel like there are more terrorists than cockroaches?
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