Chapter 194

“Ground Zero?”

“That’s right.”

Jacqueline doubted her ears.

“But… that’s the kind of place that only shows up in adventure novels, isn’t it?”

“It is a place that’s often used as material for stories. But it does exist.”

“Stories about adventurers who went to Ground Zero and came back after meeting their deceased parents, or went back to the past and saved the world, or gained wealth and glory only to wake up the next morning and realize it was all an illusion, or fell in love with a living statue…”

“All of those things really happened.”

“..….”

Jacqueline, for her part, really liked explorers’ journals left behind by adventurers or creative works pretending to be such journals.

Pioneers exploring mysterious and unknown lands, the wondrous yet dangerous nature they encountered, and the wisdom and cleverness they used to overcome those challenges.

Of course, what Jacqueline truly liked was lying in bed and reading about those things.

Stories that are eerie and full of tension are only fun when you’re not the protagonist.

Who in the world would actually want to run into winged spider monsters or naked cannibals?

But now that’s me…

Professor Winslet had said they would go to Ground Zero to obtain a medium used in summoning.

Jacqueline suddenly asked,

“By the way, the course description said we’d be learning dimensional magic. What does dimensional magic have to do with summoning?”

“Summoning is a technique that calls something that does not originally exist in this world. If so, where would you call something from that does not exist in this world? Naturally, from another dimension. That’s why summoning can be considered a type of dimensional magic.”

“Can’t we just go to the market and buy that ‘medium’ you mentioned? There’s no need to walk into a dangerous place ourselves, right?”

“Do you know how much materials from other dimensions, harvested in Ground Zero, sell for?”

“No… not really.”

“Even if you sold this entire Magic Academy building where you take classes, it would be hard to buy even a fingernail-sized piece.”

“Wh-What? It’s that expensive?”

“And even if you managed to buy one, there’s no guarantee it would be a valid item for a familiar contract. It’s better to obtain it ourselves.”

“Is there a reason the place to get the medium has to be Ground Zero?”

Then Rita raised her hand and asked a question.

She also seemed quite worried about going to such a dangerous place.

Professor Winslet answered.

“Ground Zero is the place where a massive magical disaster occurred several hundred years ago. Because of that, distortions formed in reality, and through those distortions, things that originally do not exist in this world like objects from other dimensions sometimes cross over. That’s why Ground Zero is the optimal place to obtain a medium for summoning. Any other questions?”

Jacqueline raised her hand again.

“Is it very dangerous?”

“Basically, I will be leading you and dealing with any dangers… but there is no place in this world as unpredictable as Ground Zero. I can’t say it’s completely safe.”

“That means we could die.”

“That’s why you’re writing a will.”

“…….”

“If you die during the expedition, a generous compensation payment will be given to your bereaved family, so rest assured.”

“That really doesn’t comfort me at all…”

“It certainly involves taking a risk. But when this journey is over, each of you will have your own familiar. It’s an opportunity worth a fortune.”

“What’s so good about having a familiar?”

“That depends on what kind of being you form a contract with… but in general, a familiar fights to protect the one it has contracted with and grows together with the mage. It’s far more useful than servant magic, which can only control creatures weaker than yourself.”

“Is that so?”

“It will become a great asset in your life as a mage. Of course, anyone who doesn’t want to take the risk is free to drop the class at any time. It’s not mandatory.”

Gulp.

Jacqueline swallowed nervously.

Instinctively, she could feel that this was an opportunity that would not come often.

There was danger involved, but there might also be a reward great enough to surpass it.

What should I do?

As her hesitation grew longer, someone tapped the back of Jacqueline’s hand.

It was Shannon.

“Jacqueline, the dimensional magic and summoning that the professor will teach us are things you couldn’t learn even if you went to Karaf.”

“Not even in Karaf? Why?”

“Because there’s no one there who can teach it. No one has completely understood dimensional magic.”

Summoning, which deals with external dimensions and the laws of causality, could be considered the most difficult and complex form of magic that exists. A culmination of the latest magical theories.

Shannon said that if they didn’t learn it now, they would regret it for the rest of their lives.

Jacqueline rolled up her sleeves as if she had made up her mind.

“Alright. Fine, I’ll do it. What’s the worst that could happen…death?”

“Then each of you should write your will and submit it.”

At Professor Winslet’s words, Jacqueline confidently picked up her pen.

But she couldn’t bring herself to actually write anything.

For someone who had far more days ahead of her than behind her, imagining her own death was surprisingly difficult.

“What am I even supposed to write?”

“That depends on the person. Some people write how they want their assets distributed after they die. Others just leave a message for the family they’ll leave behind.”

“A message for my family… That sounds better.”

Jacqueline thought about her parents and younger sibling back in her hometown.

Just imagining that she could leave them only one final message made her nose sting for some reason.

After scribbling a few words on the paper, Jacqueline took a breath and looked around.

Shannon had already put down her pen and was idly looking elsewhere.

“You’re already done?”

“Me? I didn’t write anything.”

“You didn’t write anything?”

“Yeah. Even if we go to Ground Zero, I don’t think I’ll die.”

“….”

That was very much like Shannon. Full of confidence.

Jacqueline turned to the left.

“Rita, what about you?”

“Oh, Jacqueline. Things like this aren’t meant to be shown to other people.”

“Come on, don’t say that between us. I’ll just use it as a reference, a reference. Okay? Or did you write something embarrassing?”

“It’s nothing like that… I just wrote that if I die, they should burn the box under my bed back at my family home.”

“Why? What’s in it?”

“Something.”

Rita simply smiled in a way that revealed nothing.

The corner of Jacqueline’s mouth drooped.

“Hmm… That’s not very helpful as a reference.”

“So what did you write, Jacqueline?”

“Huh? Mine isn’t finished yet…”

As Jacqueline tried to hide the paper in embarrassment, Rita quickly snatched it away.

“Since you saw mine, it’s only fair that I see yours too, right?”

“C-Couldn’t you just let it slide this once?”

“Let’s see. Ahem… To my mother, father, and my younger sibling. I… hmm.”

As Rita read the words, she let out a small groan, then quietly pushed up her glasses and said,

“Jacqueline, you’re surprisingly full of emotion.”

“I told you it’s not finished yet!”

Jacqueline’s face flushed bright red.

After some twists and turns, everyone finally finished writing their wills. Professor Winslet collected the papers and spoke.

“We will depart for Ground Zero at this time next week. I will prepare everything necessary for the journey, so make sure you are not late.”

“Oh, right…Professor, I have a question. How long will it take to go to Ground Zero and come back?”

“More than two weeks for the round trip to Ground Zero. Add about a week for exploration, so you can assume roughly a month.”

“A whole month?”

Jacqueline’s mouth fell open, and Professor Winslet scoffed.

“What, did you think Ground Zero was somewhere like the hill behind the academy?”

“But… if it takes that long, we won’t be able to attend the academy. What about our other classes?”

“I’ve already told them to mark them as completed.”

“Wow… that’s actually possible…”

***

One week before departing for Ground Zero.

I headed to the academy’s botanical garden.

It was because of a letter they had sent me not long ago.

“Welcome, Professor. This way, please.”

“I heard a branch of the Frosthorn Crown Tree has grown.”

“That’s right. The very tree you saved last time, Professor.”

Moose, the head caretaker of the botanical garden, led me to the special maintenance room.

When he opened the door, cold air and pure white mist flowed out from inside.

Amid the fog spread across the floor like a carpet, a single tree with a white trunk had taken root.

“As you can see, it’s very healthy now. But there’s one problem…”

“A problem?”

“Didn’t you say that once the Frosthorn Crown Tree recovered from its illness, we should cut off the first branch that grows?”

“That’s right.”

That was also the reason I had come to the botanical garden.

Moose said,

“So I tried to prune the branch, but the moment I brought the blade close, something strange happened. The shears started to freeze, and in an instant the cold crept up my hand…I almost ended up tearing my hand apart.”

“That’s the tree’s instinct for self-preservation. You did well to call me.”

The fact that it attacked someone who tried to damage it was proof that the tree was that healthy.

And when a tree was healthy, the materials harvested from it were bound to be highly effective.

I approached the tree and unfolded my mana field.

Slowly, so as not to startle it.

At that moment, the mist coiling around the tree twitched in response.

At first it wrapped around me as if on guard, but as time passed, it gradually retreated.

“That’s right. I’m not here to harm you. I’ll just take one branch.”

As if the tree understood my words, it completely withdrew the mist.

I wrapped mana around my hand and snapped the branch off in a single motion.

Crack.

For a moment the surrounding mist seemed to tremble, and then it began to rush toward the place where the branch had been broken.

Crrrk.

In place of the branch, ice of a similar shape began to grow there, filling the empty space.

Moose let out a hollow laugh.

“Haha. So it really was that easy?”

“It helps that I’m a powerful mage. And it likely sensed my ice-attribute mana and lowered its guard.”

Moose nodded.

“People think plants have no will of their own, but if you raise them for a long time like I have, you come to realize that’s not true. It seems this tree properly recognized the benefactor who saved it. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“No, this will be enough.”

I carefully secured the branch I had snapped off from the Frosthorn Crown Tree and tucked it inside my robe.

It was something that would be used for an important purpose at Ground Zero.

Normally, when forming a contract with a familiar, you cannot freely call forth whatever familiar you want.

But with this, it becomes possible.

To call forth a creature from Albedo, a frozen dimension that contains nothing but a snowbound land and an endless sea.

And within the dimension of Albedo, there exists an otherworldly being regarded as the highest level in Judgment of Candela.

An EX-ranked phantom beast that rules over that realm.