Prepare (6)

[End of Test]

Krrrzzzzz───!

The capsule's lid opened.

"...?"

I looked around from inside the capsule. Everything was dark.

"Is it all over?"

There was no response. Even the air felt heavy and silent.

"What..."

As I crawled out, I surveyed the capsules. All were empty.

"...Am I the last one?"

What on earth happened? If the ranking is determined by who finishes first, does that mean I can't go to the Knight Academy?

"Ah, I'm stiff."

I stretched first. I checked the time on my smartphone in my pocket.

8 PM.

I had been in this capsule for almost half a day.

"...Hello? Excuse me?"

I waved my hands towards the glass observation room on the second floor. I even jumped up and down, but there was no response.

Even if I'm the last one, shouldn't at least one person wait?

I walked towards the exit. But there was no handle.

"How do you open this-"

Krrrzzzzz───!

It opened automatically. It was an automatic door.

"Oh, that startled me."

I took a step back in surprise. There was a person in the darkness beyond the corridor. She walked towards me, her heels clicking.

"..."

Theia Esil. Holding a tablet PC in one hand, she approached and spoke.

"Shion Ascal, you scored 9 points."

"...Out of 100?"

"Out of 10."

"Oh, that's a relief."

Theia was busy operating her tablet with her long fingers. I just watched her silently.

"Your subconscious was excellent in many ways, but..."

Thump-.

Theia closed her tablet. Her sharp gaze swept over me.

"You should focus more on yourself."

"...Pardon?"

"Devote the time you spend admiring others to your own development, and make 'yourself' the purpose of your life."

She rubbed her eyebrows with a rather tired expression.

"...It would be better for you as well."

As Theia turned around, she was the very image of a professor. Her attitude towards undergraduates was the same.

Perhaps, this means I've passed.

In fact, she was like this during our first meeting before the regression.

She always wears a mask.

When she kills a person, when she deals with a person, when she handles animals, when she deals with a case, when she focuses on her work, she switches her behavioral principles with different masks.

「Switch」.

That is her Spectrum, her defense mechanism to hide herself, and the reason she is called a sociopath.

Click─

Theia's footsteps stopped. She only slightly turned her profile.

"Do you remember?"

"Pardon?"

"The contents of your subconscious."

"Uh... It's vague."

I scratched my jaw.

"I think I wasn't alone."

I'm sure I was with someone.

The existence of that person is vaguely remembered, but the rest is blurry.

"I'm not sure. I can't remember well."

This is the first time I've had an experience where something doesn't come to mind since the regression. I wonder if things that happen in the subconscious escape the influence of the 「Notepad」.

"It's an afterimage. It's a phenomenon close to an echo. You'll forget it in a week at the latest."

"Ah. Yes."

Leaving such a business-like comment, Professor Theia left me.

....

A dark night.

Theia Esil sat alone in her office. Resting her hand on her chin, she closed her eyes in silence, retracing the afterglow of the subconscious.

─I'm on borrowed time.

His calm confession that he wouldn't live long, his words wouldn't be a lie. Because the subconscious cannot lie.

Theia didn't ask him what kind of disease it was.

Even she, who doesn't deeply ponder others' psychology, found the situation pitiable enough.

His words, that he wouldn't live past his 30s, were hard to fathom even for her, who was always analytical.

─A stalker... no. I was just a fan.

Moreover, Shion said he was a fan of Theia.

Fan: A person who is passionately fond of sports games, players, or theater, movies, music, actors, singers, etc.

It was understandable.

Theia had been a star since she was young. She grew up envied by all her peers, and the media observed her every move.

A genius who stirred the jealousy of nobles with her talent alone.

A hero of the common people.

"...Wait a minute. Ascal?"

Suddenly, Theia repeated his surname.

It seemed like a name she had heard somewhere before.

Did I meet his clan at some point?

She couldn't remember clearly… anyway.

Now, she had other work to do.

Who the hell were the ones who infiltrated the test? And what information did they steal?

She had to trace them back, catch them, and tear them apart.

Tadadadadak──.

She drummed on the server computer's keyboard like a piano.

* * *

──The next day.

Edsilla, Section 0 of the Aerial Garden.

"...Hmm."

Jade, the second son of Libra, was reading the [Unconscious Dialogue] in his office.

"I wonder if I should praise him at times like this."

He spoke with a neutral expression.

"He even does unconscious censorship for us."

"Yes. You're right."

His secretary chimed in.

The [Unconscious Test] is legally permitted only to national universities. The very reason being 'the security of institutions operated with the nation's taxes'.

Therefore, although unconscious data is immediately discarded after the test, if it's stolen before that, it's fair game. Libra has the manpower for that.

"Zia."

Jade called Zia.

"...Yes?"

He was buried under all sorts of dialogues on the sofa. Most of them were records of Shion Ascal.

"What part are you reading?"

"Libra... The part where he talks about Libra..."

She showed him the dialogue.

[Tei: Professor Theia hates Libra, doesn't she?

Shion: ...Yes. So, she'll probably become my enemy someday.

Tei: ....

Shion: It can't be helped. Her methods are wrong.

Tei: I'm sleepy. Let's go to sleep.

Shion: Yeah. Sleep well.]

A section where Shion's unconscious loyalty can be seen.

Jade chuckled.

"I also liked that part."

"Um... But... Is there... nothing next...?"

"Next?"

Jade looked at his secretary. The secretary asked with a tense face.

"What next are you talking about?"

"The 'secret' that Shion Ascal said he would reveal... It's not there...."

"Ah... That's because... Professor Theia reset the programming and traced back as soon as she came out of the unconscious, so there wasn't enough time. The download was cut off in the middle."

Libra, or more precisely, the 'insider' of the university that receives Libra's orders, put Professor Theia into the unconscious.

Of course, it was pure coincidence that the unconscious was Shion Ascal, but the insider installed a program on the server to transmit [Unconscious Information] to Libra while the professor was trapped, but Theia discovered it in just 10 minutes.

That's why the information is sporadically cut off.

"...."

Zia looked disappointed, but Jade twisted his lips in a smirk.

"What secret could there be? It must be love."

"...Love?"

"Actually, I've come to like you, Tei. Something dramatic like that."

Jade. He surprisingly believes in love. Perhaps because love has come to him as well.

"Don't try to dig out secrets."

Jade rose from his office chair. He looked out the window.

"Every person has at least one secret related to love...."

As he muttered this, a soft sigh flowed. A pale memory flickered in his eyes that followed the void.

He might be reminiscing about his old love.

"Well then. I'll be going."

His secretary quickly vacated the spot.

"..."

Jade silently looked at his own palm.

...Aaaaaaaah!

A scream from a certain moment reverberates like a hallucination. The illusion of blood and flesh splattering induces a headache.

This is the only pain that can torment him.

Thus, Jade believes in love.

Even if... it's a love he himself shattered.

"Zia."

Jade looked at Zia reflected in the window.

"Read the documents here. Do not take them outside, and burn them after reading."

"Yes...."

"I have some business to attend to."

He briskly left his office.

* * *

[Under Construction]

Near Edsilla. A completely empty shop not far from the national university.

I smirked at the construction sign hanging there.

"What."

This is the right place for today's meeting.

"What do you mean what? It's a game room."

Someone sneakily appeared and stood next to me.

Is it Elise... or not?

"Who are you?"

"It's Elise. I'm in disguise, so shush."

She was disguised like some private detective. A burberry coat, sunglasses as big as a fist, even a pipe.

"Why the sudden disguise?"

"...You don't read the news at all, do you?"

"Ah~ That love affair? Does anyone believe that?"

"What?"

Then Elise let out a faint sigh.

"You might think that way. No, everyone might think that way. But for me, the fact that such a love affair rumor is spreading... Anyway. Did you bring the game console?"

"Yeah."

For some reason, Elise had reserved a space for gaming herself.

It's safer to gather in one place or something.

I took out the game console and Grawl from my bag.

Meow─ Meow─

As soon as he came out, he rubbed his face against Elise's ankle.

"A cat, huh."

Elise blinked her eyes.

"I brought him to serve as a guard while we play. Oh, right. Hey. I intentionally invited Soliette late."

"...What?"

Elise's shoulders flinched. She fiddled with her sunglasses and asked while biting her lips.

"Why... Why did you do that? Did you want to have some time, just the two of us?"

"What are you talking about."

I opened the door. Contrary to the construction sign, the interior was neat.

There was a sofa, several monitors, game console stands, even a conference table...

"What the. It's neat?"

"...It's my building."

Elise shrugged her shoulders a bit proudly.

"Your building?"

"Yeah. Officially, it's the first real estate under my name. A gift for entering university."

"But the admission announcement hasn't been made yet?"

"Hmph."

She crossed her arms as if amused.

"I heard in advance. By the way, you also passed."

"...I did?"

My eyes widened slightly.

"Admission to the Department of Knight Studies?"

"Yeah. You passed. You're in the top 120 nationwide. Congratulations? You survived."

"...Ahem."

I coughed awkwardly.

I thought she only knew how to say annoying things, but that wasn't the case.

"More importantly, Elise. Sit here. In front of me."

I said, sitting at the conference table. Elise asked with a somewhat suspicious tone.

"Why are you asking me to do that?"

Her face was slightly flushed. What's with the blush? Did she catch a cold?

"You know the 'Protection' formula, right?"

"...'Protection'?"

"Yeah. Can you teach me that quickly?"

"...."

Then Elise bit her lips tightly. She was like a sulky bulldog.

"You. Do you know how much my tutoring fee is? You're always asking me to-"

"I've helped you too."

"Haah.... We don't have much time."

She shook her head and put something on the table. Most of it was academic journals, but one thing bothered me.

"Hey. Wait. What's that?"

It was the Magic Spell─「Delivery Box」.

"Why do you have that?"

It's the formula I submitted. Why does Elise have it?

"Ah~ this?"

Elise chuckled. She proudly waved her hand. It was a gesture of a somewhat elegant noble.

"A mage should always follow the trend. This is a formula released in Trick City three days ago, it was quite hot. I brought it right away to study."

"...Is that so?"

It was released three days ago.

"Literally, it's a 「Delivery Box」. If you put a mana stone in this formula and complete it, a box is assembled. If you set the coordinates, it delivers to the desired place...."

Elise recited the details related to the 「Delivery Box」 with an excited face.

"...So, is Trick City full of flying boxes now?"

"Soon? It will probably be like that soon. This formula is not only academically valuable, but it's also very practical and versatile."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. These days, even the Magic Tower is showing interest in this mage named 'Dale Kal'. There are rumors that he's an exiled mage. And...."

Elise chattered tremendously about the rumors about a mage named Dale Kal circulating in the Magic Tower.

"...Anyway. I'm curious about who he is too. He's probably someone who isn't bound by rules? He must have left for Trick City because he didn't like the procedures of the Magic Tower."

He's right in front of your eyes.

-Of course, I swallowed those words.

"Okay then. Now teach me the Protection formula."

"...Sigh. I guess I shouldn't have offered to teach."

Elise sighed.

"What did you say?"

"Never mind, just watch. Protection is a bit different from Barrier. If 'Barrier' forms a shield of magic, 'Protection' is a concept of putting a glove on an object..."

* * *

The National Magic University's Records Room.

Theia Esil stood in front of a bookshelf, flipping through some confidential documents, when she suddenly froze. Her fingers tightened on the page.

"Dale Ascal."

She laid her finger on a page with various names.

[…123. Villanova Tineer

124. Dale Ascal

125. Velukan Skindor…]

Dale Ascal.

The name Ascal.

She remembered seeing it somewhere, in an operation document from about ten years ago.

"…Am I some kind of unbelievable genius?"

A name that seemed vaguely familiar.

But she had actually met him. They must have crossed paths at the operation site at least once.

She couldn't recall his face, but what level was this momentary memory?

Swallowing a hollow laugh, Theia gathered the documents. She stepped out of the records room-

"Excuse me, Professor."

An assistant professor suddenly appeared at the door.

"…What is it?"

Theia frowned. Had he been waiting for her to come out all this time?

"Well… it's about the magic formulation experiment you assigned."

The red-haired assistant professor kept rubbing the back of his neck, his head bowed low.

"There was a bit of a mistake."

"…What kind of mistake?"

Theia asked first.

"Well… we ended up using external magic."

However, she couldn't stand the assistant professor's next words. A vein popped on her temple.

"I've told you countless times to induce magic purely scientifically during experiments-"

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

If all he can say is sorry, what's the point of his existence?

If he can't even conduct such a simple experiment properly, what's the point of living?

As Theia Esil was pondering these thoughts…

-Why bother creating enemies? It's the same with superiors or subordinates. Just say, 'I understand', turn around and leave. Don't tire people out by pointing out every single mistake.

Someone's voice came to mind.

Ebert of the Snow Mountain, from Shion Ascal's unconscious… the harsh words that no one else dared to say to her.

"…Understood. Just don't make the same mistake next time."

That's all Theia said.

"I'm sorry… Pardon?"

"I said, don't make the same mistake. Do I need to repeat myself?"

"No, no. I'm sorry. I won't make the same mistake next time."

There's no need to pay attention to this stupid assistant professor who just stands there blinking.

Theia Esil quickly made her way to her office.