What do you want me to say?
“Sorry, Lucia’s coming, so I gotta cut this here.”
“H-Hey! We’re not done—”
“Krai, let’s make a break for it while Killiam buys us time!”
Why?!
Hearing Sitri’s words, Killiam followed her orders and quickly put himself between us and Lucia. My sister was briefly caught off guard, but then her expression darkened considerably.
“Brother! Siddy!”
“Come now, Krai!”
Uhhh. But, uh, I want to talk to her!
Lucia called for us to stop. The Abyssal Inferno gave orders. Killiam roared. Sitri jabbed my back with unusual force as I allowed myself to be taken into the tower.
Perhaps because of the rampaging monstrosity, there was almost nobody inside the tower. They must have all gone out to help fight the thing.
“The Zebrudia Academy of Magic is a treasure trove!” Sitri gleefully told me, still pushing my back. “After all, it’s one of the oldest institutions in Zebrudia, and doubles as both a research institute and an academy! There are rumors that their vault houses a Relic that would startle even a hunter. It’s definitely worth collecting!”
“Oh, I see.”
What’s this about collecting?
We walked down a hall that was quite old, or to put it in polite terms, exuded history. Then up a spiral staircase that went to the upper portion of the tower. As all the Magi at the academy could fly, this staircase was famous for going largely unused.
It had been a while since I was last here, but I could still vividly remember how it felt to accompany Lucia to her initiation. The portraits of famous alumni on the walls and the intricate statues of dragons placed here and there were both tasteful and wonderous. The atmosphere inside the tower was noticeably different from the outside, which was apparently a result of the dense mana given off by the students and professors.
As we walked along, I reflected on old memories. Lucia was normally quite composed, but that had been one of the few occasions I saw her somewhat nervous. Still, I’ll admit I had been a hundred times more nervous than she.
Suddenly, I didn’t feel Sitri pressing against my back.
“Oh? Nobody’s here?” she said in a voice quiet but clearly excited. “Maybe we’ll take not just one Relic, but the whole vault? Is that our plan?!”
“That’s not our plan...”
What an absurd idea. Taking the whole vault would just make us robbers. Maybe this wasn’t really Sitri, but a post-haircut Liz? No, not even I could mistake the two with such good lighting. Besides, despite being a Thief, Liz wasn’t greedy.
Sitri made a very disappointed face. I was afraid she might snatch something if I took my eyes off her. Before she could think of any other devious ideas, I grabbed her hand and dragged her up the stairs with me.
“Ah.”
“C’mon, we gotta hurry up and go see Lucia’s instructor.”
Huh? By the way, why were we going up this tower? It’s not like we have business with Lucia’s instructor.
This was bad. I couldn’t stop myself from getting swept up in Sitri’s flow. I had found myself using the word “collect” without thinking anything of it. I don’t know, maybe my head wasn’t operating right.
“I see,” Sitri said. “So we’re going to go collect it directly from Lucy’s mentor!”
“In some ways, I think your good intuition works against you.”
It was so good, I couldn’t even understand what she was talking about. Or maybe my intuition was just really bad.
I want to go home.
The moment I let out a deep sigh, a glowing magic circle formed at our feet. Strange letters packed together circled us.
“What’s this?!” Sitri said as she frantically looked around.
“Oh, we’re just being called.”
There had been a similar magic circle when I first visited with Lucia. They could only be used within the academy, but these teleportation circles, as they were called, could be used to forcibly bring someone to you. I had panicked when I first saw one, but this was my second time around, so I was used to it.
I was about to explain this to Sitri when my body gave out and I fell to my knees. My limbs felt weak. Likely in the same situation, Sitri collapsed against me.
Huh? I thought this was the same one as last time?
Unable to even cry out, I felt faint. Then everything faded.
When I came to, I was sitting on a crimson carpet that looked very expensive. The first thing I felt was something tickling my cheek. I tilted my neck and looked to my side, where I saw a familiar shade of pink. It appeared Sitri was leaning against me. I then tried to move my arms and legs, making me realize they were bound with chains.
Man, what the heck happened? Whoa, it’s not often I recover before Sitri.
Everything was too sudden. I couldn’t manage more than idle thoughts.
“You’re awake at last, Lucia’s brother,” said a somewhat cold female voice. It sounded vaguely familiar.
I looked up, and my head finally began to work as it started to process the scenery before me. I recognized this room. It had a high ceiling, and sunlight came in through the otherworldly stained glass. The room was cylindrical, its walls lined with bookshelves that almost reached the ceiling. Between the shelves were windows, from which all I could see was the sky.
We were surrounded by numerous stakes driven into the ground. They were probably enchanted or something. Beyond the stakes were Magi, men and women of all ages, standing around us in a circle. Directly in front of us was Lucia’s instructor, an indecipherable smile on her face.
A foremost professor at the empire’s greatest castle of the arcane, the Zebrudia Academy of Magic, Lucia’s instructor wasn’t a pure human. She looked a few years younger than Lucia. She had long silver hair, which she kept tied back to stay out of her way, and golden eyes. She wore a bulky robe that hid her body’s outline. Even someone who knew nothing about her would still feel like something was off.