Side Story 10. The Magic School and the Monster in the Basement (9)

Milpia said it was irregular for a magic circle to open to the secret library of the first emperor. However, irregular magic could not exist. In cases where it appears irregular, it is either where the rule exceeds the scope of observation, or environmental conditions that are difficult to recognize are included in the rule.

Firstly, since it’s confirmed that it opens when it's a full moon if you read the mana flow the moment it opens, you should know where it opens. However, there are two problems: one is that there are too many basement laboratories and the other, these two were here so I couldn’t move freely.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Alice felt my gaze and asked curiously.

I answered with a light smile, "They're moving separately, so why don't we also spread out and search? I think we'll find it much faster than if we stick together."

Of course, no matter how much we look for it, we won't find the coin because it's already in my pocket. It was a match-fixing that trampled on a boy's innocence, but it was none of my business. Compared to the benefits that would enter my hands, the pureness of the bowl cut was not worth even a speck of dust to me.

The two of them agonized over my opinion and refused.

"Well, I don't think it'll be fun if we split up and find it."

"That's right. We came to school in the middle of the night for the first time in a long time, so it'll be fun to be together."

Do these two know what the bet is about? Or did they notice that I already have the coin in my pocket?

No, perhaps if it was the quick-witted Alice, but Yuria seemed to sincerely think that it would be fun to go around together.

"Excuse me. Isn't Milpia in trouble if I lose the bet?” I asked.

Alice stroked her chin with her index finger as if recalling the bet. "Oh, that's right. It was a bet with the intention of getting rid of Pavlov.”

"What?! Really?" Yuria was surprised as if she didn't know.

"Why are you surprised? Not just our class, but the entire grade knows that Pavlov likes Milpia," Alice said.

Yuria nodded.

How bad is the bowl cut at hiding his feelings? I heard that he was the eldest son of the marquis, but he’s someone who shouldn’t enter the political world full of snakes and raccoons.

Ah, is that why he's at the Magic School even though he’s the eldest son?

The eldest son of a considerable noble family, at the age of 17, should be taking classes in his territory to become the successor instead of attending school. In other words, he was a child who had been given up. Or his magic talent was so prodigal that classes for succession had been postponed. Unfortunately, however, the bowl cut didn't seem to have that much talent.

Blessed guy.

Someone ran away because they didn't want to be a bothersome successor, but his leisurely life was guaranteed. I shouldn't have sympathized. I should have just beaten him until his head broke during the battle practice.

While I was regretting within, Yuria, who heard Alice, wondered aloud. "I know that, but why does she want to get rid of Pavlov?” she innocently asked.

Alice sighed. "Because Milpia doesn't like Pavlov."

"Really? I see...”

Yuria looked really pitifully towards the bowl cut’s group, who were ahead. "That's too bad."

"Right."

The two sincerely sympathized with the bowl cut.

Alice, who paid a silent tribute for a while, glanced at me. "But why are you working so hard for the bet? Normally, you would have refused because you’re lazy."

At the sharp question, I smiled and made a circle with my index finger and thumb. "It doesn't look like it, but Milpia is rich."

Dumbfounded, a stunned Alice asked slowly, "...How much are you going to get?"

"Roughly...”

When I whispered half of the amount I was supposed to receive as a commission, her eyes opened wide.

"That much?! Do you know how many of those precious Mt. Olympus spirit stones I can buy with that?!”

Perhaps because she was also a spirit magician, she calculated at once using the price of magic materials that were good for spirit magic.

"If you help me, I'll buy you a spirit stone from Olympus later with the money I receive," I suggested.

Alice's eyes shook and swallowed dryly.

"Really…?"

"Really."

My pocket space was overflowing with spirit stones. In my hometown, any random stone on the ground was a spirit stone. I’ll just give a large one later.

"What about me? Anything for me?" when the talk about magic ingredients surfaced, Yuri also asked with sparkling eyes.

"I'll buy you an alchemy ingredient that grows only in Olympus Forest,” I said.

Alice and Yuria shouted vigorously.

"Let's go, Yuria!"

"Yes! Alice!"

The two dispersed and went in and out of the laboratories. As expected, probably because they hadn’t experienced the dirty side of society, they didn’t seem to have noticed that the coin was hidden in my pocket from the beginning.

"Okay, then I'll look for it, too.”

If the door to the secret library of the first emperor was not roughly located, it might not be possible to enter before the door closed. Since there was still a lot of time left, I slowly opened the nearest laboratory.

-o-

After going in and out of 20 laboratories, I reckoned I vaguely knew the identity of the magic here. If my prediction was right, the magic wasn’t cast on some part, but rather the entire Magic School building itself was a huge magic circle. The form of the magic circle was quite similar to the magic circle of the imperial palace, so it was not difficult to notice.

I looked at the drugs in the drug storage and spoke towards a laboratory where there seemed to be no one.

"Milpia, was there a big construction at the Magic School recently, no, about 50 years ago?"

When there was no answer, I sighed and pointed near the school table.

"I know you’re there."

When I spoke with certainty, Milpia appeared, clicking her tongue.

"Tch! I thought I definitely hid my presence well this time."

"You've definitely gotten better than before. So, what's your answer to my question?” I asked.

Milpia sat at the school table and grumbled. "Do you think it's been only once or twice that this old building has been remodeled? It’s been done at least ten times in the last 50 years."

I put the drugs I was looking for into my pocket space. "During that time, there should have been a time when the school site was completely overturned?”

"Well, according to records, they dug the ground about 45 years ago to expand the research complex. How did you know that?” she asked.

If it's a research complex, did that mean the graduate school on the right side of the Magic School? Come to think of it, Alice said she would enter graduate school if she failed the court magician exam after graduation. It was not a bad goal because even if it fell short of becoming a court magician, graduating from graduate school would make her able to enter a magic tower.

I took all the rare drugs and smiled. "In order for the door to enter and exit the secret library to open arbitrarily, there must be something wrong with the magic circle. Well, if the ground near the research complex collapsed and something went wrong with the magic circle there, then I can imagine where it will open today."

She looked at me with surprise. "Is that something you can predict? How?”

"Hmm... Can you understand even if I explain it?"

Milpia choked up as if her pride had been hurt, but she shut her mouth. She knew well that with her level of knowledge, she wouldn’t be able to understand even if she heard the explanation. Her level could be said to be top-class but that was only among magicians. Far from being a madosa, her skills were barely even at the great magician level, so it would be too difficult for her.

"Why are you bringing those potions?" She pointed out in a grim voice, looking at the potions entering my pocket space.

"What can I do when the potions made at the Magic School are not released on the market? And it’s only about a 10mm sample. Please overlook something of this level. Even though I say that, isn’t what you’re going to do also stealing?"

After taking all the potions, I gently placed a Lupin card and put magic on it to maintain transparency until 15 days later. Even if it’s found out that there’s some missing, they’ll think that Lupin stole them. Instead of paying for the potion, I’ll just donate to the scholarship foundation later.

"So where is it going to open?” she asked bluntly.

I lightly tapped the laboratory floor with the tip of my shoe. "This place?"

"Probably. The error range has been reduced due to the previous information. From 16 meters to 1 meter."

The margin of error decreased from three laboratories to the space between desks.

"It'll open soon, so if you don't want to get caught up in it, step back."

It would be midnight soon. Milpia still grumbled but hid. As soon as she hid, the bowl cut opened the laboratory door and came in.

"What, you! I heard Milpia's voice just now."

He had better ears than I thought.

"No way. Or are you trying to say that Milpia has committed fraud?” I shrugged and said.

Milpia sent me a sound transmission while hiding.

- Don't say nonsense!

"There’s no way!” The bowl cut got all worked up.

Really, what a poor guy. If he knew the true nature of the woman he liked, he would try to get away. I sighed inwardly and kindly suggested, "I was looking in this place first, so can you leave?"

The bowl cut snorted. "Hmph! I don't think there was any rule about anything like that!"

I tried to let him walk out on his own, but he kicked away the goodwill. I guess I have no choice but to knock him out and throw him out the window.

"Ah, darn."

Suddenly, the mana around the laboratory began to fluctuate.

"What, what's going on?!" The bowl cut, being a magician, was surprised by the fluctuating mana.

"Tch, you said it'd open on time." I clicked my tongue.

The current time was 11:57 p.m. The error was as much as three minutes. It was my fault to have trusted Milpia and not calculated the time the magic circle would activate. It seems they messed with the magic circle quite a bit while doing the construction than I thought. I guess, if it was just a little bit of damage, then it wouldn't even open on its own like this.

The floor shone faintly and the bowl cut and I were teleported.

"Huh?! Huhhh?!"

The bowl cut was surprised by the sudden teleportation, lost strength in his legs, and collapsed on the floor.

"Wow, that's cool."

I admired the size of the secret library where we were teleported to. It was an ultra-large library beyond just the size of a normal library. This was two or three times that of the Imperial Central Library.

As I looked around, I couldn't feel Milpia's presence at all. She must have run away as soon as she felt the mana. Well, I liked it better since she would only be an interference if she was here.

"Oh my god, that ghost story was real?! This is a big discovery! You may not know, but you might get a big prize if you let them know about this discovery!"

I sighed as I watched the excited bowl cut making a fuss. Should I just knock him out?

I was seriously thinking about it, but I heard a strange sound from far away.

- Lalalala... Lalala... Lalala la... Lala....

It was a strangely sleepy, but sweet voice. To compare, it was like the song of Sirens in an old legend.

"Hmm? What's wrong with you?"

“…….”

Unlike the look of excitement just now, the bowl cut suddenly calmed down. No, when I saw that his eyes were blurred, it looked like he was possessed by something.

"Hey. Hey! Bowl Cut!!"

"I have to… go…" Muttering, he began to slowly head somewhere, walking sluggishly like a zombie.

"He’s completely gone. Oh, come to think of it, they said the people went missing for several days and lost all their memories."

He’s supposed to be a magician but didn’t even set up a mental barrier, which is the basics of the basics. He’s disqualified as a magician. They said no one had lost their lives, so anyway there won't be a problem.

I clicked my tongue and followed the bowl cut. It's been a while since I had fun.