Countless gazes pierced through me and Citry, who was feigning sleep against me.
I wanted to get a handle on the situation first, but as usual, I hadn't a clue what was going on.
Still, since coming to the Imperial Capital and becoming a Hunter, I'd encountered this kind of scenario over and over — so I was completely used to it (in the worst possible sense of the word).
The flow of time in the Imperial Capital was simply too fast for me. That was surely it. They could see things I couldn't, so their words meant absolutely nothing to me.
Just what evidence did Sage — this teacher of Lucia's — have that I'd destroyed half the Academy?
The one who'd wrecked the Academy was that monster. No matter how unlucky people said I was, I couldn't have them thinking I'd summoned that thing. That would be going too far...
If anything, wasn't it far more likely that some mage in one of the research labs had conducted a bizarre experiment?
From what I'd heard, the Magic Academy was apparently still better than the Academy of Magical Science where Citry was enrolled — but as far as I, a harmless person, was concerned, they were two sides of the same coin.
The gazes directed at me were sharper than the time I'd come with Lucia to introduce myself. Back then, Lucia had only just turned fifteen and reached adulthood, so the looks had been more curious than hostile — but apparently, they now believed I'd done something truly terrible.
Having no idea what to say, I remained silent. Professor Sage continued in her characteristically flat voice: "According to our investigation, Level 8 Hunter, 'Thousand Transformations' Klye Andrich, sent an extremely dangerous creature — the natural enemy of mages with powerful mana-absorption abilities — into Zeblurdia Magic Academy. As a result, of the 127 legitimate barrier layers protecting this campus, 115 were completely destroyed. Under a rough reading of Imperial law, this may constitute one crime out of the 'three crimes and ten offenses' — specifically, 'introduction of an urban-infrastructure-destroying-class magical creature.'"
Oh, I see, I see... Could this Klye fellow possibly be "Thousand Ten Thousand Blossoms" rather than "Thousand Transformations"?
Even though I was being told all this solemnly, I had absolutely no recollection of any of it. I kept quiet and listened for now.
Citry was still snoring away — when would she ever go back to normal? Maybe it was because of the magic circle on the floor here?
"Among the 127 barrier layers, there were some that had never once been breached — layers employing techniques that have been lost to time. Those barriers were destroyed."
"Just like fragile glass."
The mage next to her interjected with a serious expression. The other mages — mostly elderly, from the looks of it — nodded along, while Sage Clasta, who looked like a teenager despite being at the center of it all, looked absolutely ridiculous.
Spiritfolk — I'd heard their aging was slow. Just how old was she, exactly?
Sage nodded meaningfully at her colleague's words.
"Exactly — like fragile glass. The barriers were outdated, yes, but they were academically invaluable. Thanks to 'Abyssal Flame Annihilation' and the faculty mages, the magical creature was reduced to ash — but numerous faculty and students fell prey to the creature's fangs, had their mana forcibly drained, and some still haven't recovered from mana depletion. This is a clear act of hostility against the Academy. Even against a Level 8 Hunter, such an act cannot be tolerated."
I see... But even if, hypothetically, I had committed such a crime — you're letting those "Abyssal Flame Annihilation" people off the hook, aren't you?
That old woman — didn't she go berserk against Akasha in the city while we were on vacation fooling around with hot springs dragons? Shouldn't you be prosecuting that first?
I wanted to clear up the misunderstanding, but I didn't know how. For some reason, they didn't seem to suspect my involvement in the incident. What an unpleasant form of trust.
I had no idea what kind of investigation they'd done, but it was absurdly unfair.
Sage's voice was cold, with almost no visible emotion. Part of that was just her personality, but she'd always had it in for me.
"And then — the sheer audacity — you, Lucia's brother, appear to be demanding compensation. From the most dangerous of magical creatures — if 'Abyssal Flame Annihilation' hadn't arrived, the remaining barriers would all have been destroyed, and who knows what chaos would have ensued. In the worst case, the creature could have escaped the Academy and brought ruin to the Imperial Capital."
I looked around at the dozen or so mages surrounding us. To be allowed into a gathering like this — I didn't know their names, but each one was surely among the Capital's most elite mages.
Yet with all this Imperial Capital wisdom gathered in one place, not a single person was willing to defend me. How curious.
Also, the one demanding compensation wasn't me — it was Citry.
...Well, I had Franz, at least. Franz. Unlike Citry, he wouldn't turn into deadweight.
I'd use a Resonance Stone to ask for help later. As I resolved this in my mind, Lucia's teacher made a suspicious expression.
"Why aren't you saying anything? If you have any objections — I'll hear you out. Otherwise, we'll proceed with disciplinary action under the Academy's laws, in accordance with proper Imperial legal procedures."
So this Academy had extraterritorial jurisdiction...
Come to think of it, Lucia had told me about this. They'd been granted autonomous authority in case a mage went berserk and caused a major incident. What I'd walked into was just plain bad luck, but I'd ended up in a terrible spot.
Objections? When had pleading innocence ever gotten me anywhere? I wanted to resolve the misunderstanding as diplomatically as possible without making them any angrier — but...
Just then, one of the mages surrounding us raised his hand and spoke: "But, Professor Sage. He's Lucia Roje's brother — wouldn't it be a problem to punish him without Lucia's consent?"
He looked quite serious. At his words, the other mages also raised their voices.
"Thousand Transformations possesses talent rivaling Abyssal Flame Annihilation. Moreover, unlike Rosemary, who was feared for setting everything ablaze with fire techniques, he's been a model of conduct. He's developed multiple new techniques."
"If you punish Thousand Transformations and it causes any change in Lucia's feelings, that would be a problem. And who knows how the students who admire her would react —"
At the same professor's words, Sage's brow furrowed. Apparently, my little sister was quite popular.
Lucia... I'm so proud of how well you've done. Keep it up, Lucia! Keep pushing harder!
As I sat there — pinching the cheek of Citry, who had her eyes shut and was clinging to me while going "snore" — and cheering my sister on in my mind, the debate between the mages escalated on its own.
"To begin with, Thousand Transformations was personally appointed to guard the Emperor. Even though independent disciplinary action is permitted, that should be a last resort. In this case, it would be far too dangerous."
"...The charges against him are not in error. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth — that is the mage's creed."
"The one who transported the creature was Lucia. Punishing Thousand Transformations without punishing Lucia defies all reason."
"If you're going to say that, then Anna, who recklessly handled that staff, also bears some responsibility —"
"One would think Professor Sage's lab has no oversight at all."
"Could it be... that you're taking revenge because she skipped the Advanced Composite Spirit Staff Certification Exam you recommended her for?"
The Advanced Composite Spirit Staff Certification... That was the one that clashed with the Martial Emperor Festival schedule, and she said she couldn't take it.
I wasn't the one who lured the monster in, but... I'm truly sorry for the trouble back then!
When they finally started making absurd accusations, Sage glared at the other professors.
"...What nonsense! I am merely exercising my legitimate authority! A mage's own territory — its time-honored barriers — breached! Is that not outrageous!?"
"...Well, with all due respect to 'time-honored,' those barriers had been left unattended for decades with people saying they needed to be renewed. Couldn't one argue it's actually a good thing they were destroyed?"
"That's pure hindsight! Who in their right mind would thank someone for breaching their barriers without any prior consent? The method was far too violent!"
Lucia's brother correction factor... was too strong. At the very least, Professor Sage's argument seemed more correct to me.
The only part that didn't feel right was the fact that I bore absolutely no culpability.
The one objecting wasn't me, yet Sage was glaring at me anyway.
Standing next to her, a female mage who — judging by appearance alone — looked three times Sage's age, pointed at me and tried to persuade Sage in a high-pitched voice: "But please, consider this calmly, Professor Sage. He is — Lucia Roje's brother!"
Heh. That's right, I'm Lucia Roje's brother. So what? — though in truth, we barely shared any blood...
Looking at the faculty, they seemed split between the "Thousand Transformations should be let off because he's Lucia's brother" camp and the "That has nothing to do with it, make him pay for his crimes" camp. The "Thousand Transformations is innocent" camp's arrival was eagerly awaited.
Not knowing where to begin, I simply smiled helplessly. Sage looked at me with the same icy stare that Lucia's cold gaze seemed distilled from.
"...Why have you been silent this entire time? Do you have nothing to say, Thousand Transformations, Lucia's brother? Others may have spoken out of turn — but Lucia belongs to my laboratory. The authority is mine. Unlike those other people, I will not be conciliatory — not even for the brother of my beloved student. Besides, I've heard quite a lot about your antics from Lucia. Inside that barrier, you could barely move, and your precious Treasure Weapons and magic would have been useless."
I hadn't even tried to move, so I hadn't noticed.
And then — I realized something. My eyes went wide. Sage snorted.
"It's too late for that expression now. Crime demands punishment — breaching the barriers of Zeblurdia Magic Academy is unprecedented. The specifics of your punishment will be decided in a meeting involving the heads of each research department — but given the scale of the damage, you'd better brace yourself."
Treasure Weapons and magic would be useless... Does that mean Citry was my Treasure Weapon...?
Perhaps my expression betrayed something, because Sage's cheeks twitched and she began jabbing the floor with her staff.
"!?! Hey — what are you thinking!? Listen to what I'm saying! And as for that — Anna claimed you wanted a珍蔵品 of the Academy, but that's merely a rumor! A mage would never leak information about珍蔵品! You've all been dancing to worthless gossip — right now, I'm having the damage from that magical creature assessed! Until the formal verdict is rendered, you're confined here! If the rumor spreads, it'll cause problems for Lucia too — reflect on your actions!"
...Were Lucia's mannerisms inherited from her teacher? Or was it the other way around?
And so, I spoke for the first time. On reflection, if I wasn't released, that would be a problem.
"Um... if you could let me out, I'd appreciate it... I have a problem."
There was a cake nearing its expiration date sitting in the fridge in my room.
"Feel free to be as troubled as you like. We're the ones with the real problem."
Cold words. I understood they were troubled — but if I'd known this would happen, I never would have come. My bad habit was that even though I lacked any ability to resolve this kind of trouble, when pushed, I'd just act anyway.
"Good grief — as if the Astrology Division's inquiries about some supposed curse weren't enough to deal with... causing trouble at a time like this is the most despicable harassment imaginable."
"Oh, Professor, you're going through that too? What a coincidence."
"...Silence. I'm Lucia's teacher, not yours! As you well know, Spiritfolk are strong not only in mana but in curse energy as well. The strength of one's will is on a different level. Most of what's been called calamitous curses have been the work of Spiritfolk. That said, it's equally troublesome for me to be bombarded with inquiries."
Sage pushed her bangs back and let out a somewhat exaggerated sigh. She looked exhausted.
Even a mage of the caliber to be personally scouted by the Emperor and earn the epithet "Immortal" wasn't without her worries. I actually felt a hint of camaraderie.
Shrugging, Sage turned and walked toward the door. I tried to stop her and stood up for the first time — but I couldn't move a muscle.
It wasn't just that I couldn't move — it was as if the commands from my brain weren't reaching my body. I could talk, and I could pinch a cheek, but... Was this the power of this latest-generation barrier?
This was bad — if things stayed like this — Hey, Citry, how long are you going to keep snoring? My body won't move!
It looked like struggling was futile. I'd just about resigned myself and let out a deep sigh when the door burst open.
The person who entered wasn't Lucia, dashing my expectations. Instead, it was a student mage wearing a sleek robe. Sage furrowed her brows.
"What is it, suddenly?"
"I've finished assessing the damage. There's something I'd like you to hear."
The mage glanced at me once, then hurried over to Sage and whispered in her ear.
Sage had been glaring at me with the look of someone staring at their parents' murderer, but — "...Hmm, that's... I see —"
"That's — no, but that's about the outcome —"
It seemed something quite unexpected had happened. The color of her gaze as she looked at me shifted.
Sage's eyes went wide, and then her expression twisted violently.
"...It was the Sword Saint who...!? That brat — what is he thinking —"
"...That's — indeed. It's a shame to lose, but —"
"...No, no, that's clearly wrong. How does that add up?"
"..........................."
Voices thick with heat. What on earth was going on?
I sat there blankly, waiting for the conversation to end. The whispering mage stepped away, and Sage approached me with a sour expression.
She stood over us for a moment, looking down from up close, then let out a theatrical tongue-click and poked the magic circle with her staff.
The glowing light of the magic circle faded as though drained of power.
Holding onto snoring Citry, I blinked. Sage spat out her words: "Damn it. You're released, Lucia's brother. The situation has changed."
"Released? What happened?"
Sage shot a resentful look around at the other professors and said, with great reluctance: "I am absolutely not satisfied — but... the ash from that creature — there's a possibility it could serve as an extremely valuable catalyst. I am absolutely not satisfied — but most people will accept it, and it's the Dean's decision. If I were to punish you, it would make it harder to assert ownership of the ash. The scales don't balance. By human rules —"
"Will you share some with me too?"
Citry suddenly returned to normal. Sage looked at her for a moment as though questioning her sanity — and I felt the same way.
She used to be so much meeker than me. How had she become like this?
Sage completely ignored her request and said in a cold voice: "...Lucia is waiting downstairs. Don't go making your sister worry any more."
--- Leaving the room at the top of the tower, I descended the spiral staircase.
The sudden abduction and interrogation had left my body exhausted. The density of this one day was far too much. Give me some peace.
Fully recovered now, Citry walked beside me and spoke with an expression befitting a victim: "Truly, we were treated awfully, Klye."
Citry, all you did was snore! That was the most incompetent display I'd seen in years. Not that it would tarnish your reputation or anything.
I shot her a reproachful look, but Citry just tilted her head in puzzlement. Our mental fortitude was simply too different.
Come to think of it — why were we heading to Sage's office in the first place? We didn't even have business there — Oh right. Because Citry had said so. And the reason Lucia couldn't come along was because Citry had set Kirukilu on her. Could it be that everything terrible that happened today was all Citry's fault?
"In the end, she wouldn't give us anything... Professor Sage is really stingy. Spiritfolk who live that long are supposed to lose their material desires. I wanted that ash too... I should have secretly taken some. I was trapped by the preconception from hearing Lucia's story that we could get contributions from the other party. If only you'd told me in advance, Klye —"
I could never tell if Citry was joking or being serious.
But in the end, I still didn't understand why Sage and the others had thought I was at fault.
"...Before questioning my crimes, shouldn't you have investigated your own people first?"
I was pretty sure some mage in one of the research labs had been running dangerous experiments.
"Absolutely!"
Citry agreed with disturbing enthusiasm.
...Well, all's well that ends well. I'd head back to the room and eat that cake.
As I descended the stairs with these thoughts, a door beside me suddenly burst open.
Something wrapped head to toe in a brown robe lunged out in front of me.
"I'm sorry! I've reflected! I can't believe you'd sic a monster like that on us — I've reflected, so let me off the hook!"
The figure thrust a metal flask into my hands before I could even stop, then vaulted over the spiral staircase railing and jumped down.
I froze for several seconds, then hurried to check below — but there was no trace of anyone. ...Was that some kind of yokai?
This Academy was genuinely terrifying. I was never coming back here.
"What is that...?"
"...No idea."
Citry's eyes lit up as she looked at the forcibly delivered flask.
If Rids had been here, she definitely would have caught them — though whether that was a good thing was another matter entirely.
I handed it over, and Citry cautiously opened the flask's mouth.
I waited for a moment, but she made no particular comment, and since it didn't seem dangerous, I peeked inside.
— What swished around inside the flask was a liquid the color of strawberry milk, with no transparency.
Or rather, it smelled like strawberry milk. I liked strawberry milk — I drank it pretty regularly and kept some stocked in the fridge.
But leaping out of nowhere, shoving a flask of strawberry milk into someone's hands, and running away... Was that person really a yokai?
Even I had enough survival instinct not to drink strawberry milk from a stranger. As I stood there exasperated, I noticed that Citry had fallen silent, still holding the flask.
I poked her shoulder, and she seemed to snap back to reality. Her cheeks were flushed, and her voice was charged with emotion.
"...This color, this fragrance — could this be the legendary Magic Potion, 'Strawberry Blaze,' which was buried in darkness because its effects were far too powerful and dangerous? Surely not — everything was supposed to have been erased, yet it actually exists?"
"...Huh... Is it something amazing?"
She said "Strawberry" — it was completely strawberry milk!
Surprising as it was, I couldn't imagine her — an accomplished Alchemist — joking about potions. Citry closed the lid with even more caution than usual.
Well, it was nice that her mood seemed to be improving.
Lost in these carefree thoughts, I was caught off guard when Citry, trembling with excitement, dropped an incredible piece of information on me: "Yes! A single drop can make any person — body and mind — submit completely. A domination drug. A genius Alchemist created it — it destroyed three nations, and the neighboring countries cooperated to erase the method, the product, and the Alchemist's entire family line. And yet — the actual substance still exists..."
"...Is it that impressive?"
"If it's the genuine article... and if the manufacturing method were restored, one could potentially take over the world. No one has been able to recreate it to date, but if the substance itself exists —"
"Mm-hmm, yeah."
Perhaps due to her overwhelming excitement, she held the flask with an embrace far more gentle than usual, her face beaming with delight.
Citry looked at me blankly for a moment, then said in a wheedling voice: "Klye... that... you'll give it to me this time, right?"
"Mm-hmm, sure. Later."
"Yes!"
Citry grabbed my arm and nuzzled her cheek against it. I nodded, patting her head.
This was something I absolutely could not give to Citry. I'd dispose of it secretly later.