The Extra’s Academy Survival Guide - Chapter 278

Fortunately, the inspection ended without any problems. I was worried that Princess Selah, who didn’t treat me kindly, would find something to complain about. Surprisingly, she quickly finished her inspection without any real complaints.

As I watched Princess Selah inspect the school’s facilities, she looked surprisingly calm and relaxed. I wondered whether she simply had little interest in the state of the school and its academics.

Still, even if she wasn’t interested in such things, Princess Selah wasn’t one to slack on her duties.

Once the inspection was complete, it was time to go into her large carriage as she had ordered me to do.

Amputator Zellan.

It was time to meet the war hero.

“I’m going, too.”

Lucy Mayreel didn’t hesitate to say she was coming along. At that point, if she wasn’t right next to me, I felt like something was missing. I thought about it for a moment. After all, Princess Selah had ordered me to go by myself.

“Once you tell her that you know Glockt’s previous residence, she’s going to want to meet with me, too.”

Lucy had a point. Princess Selah might not have been happy with it, but she was strangely uncomfortable around Lucy. I didn’t think it would take much to convince her to allow Lucy to tag along.

In the end, Lucy came along with me as I went into Princess Selah’s carriage. In truth, this was hardly a carriage at all. It was large enough to be considered a house—certainly bigger than the first cabin I had built in the forest.

There were thirteen horses attached to it. It was so large that it was more like a moving fortress than a mere carriage. It took a while just to climb up the stairs. The soldier standing guard in front of the entrance of the carriage saluted us politely, as if he had been notified of our arrival in advance.

I bowed my head back as I went inside. There were more people waiting inside than I expected there to be. The first person I saw was Princess Selah, who was sitting at the head of the table. That was only natural—it was her carriage, after all.

“You’re here.”

A middle-aged man with his head bowed was sitting quietly beside her. Next to him was a petite magician. Since they were wearing a large robe, it was hard to get a good look at their face. However, from the size of their body, I figured they were either a little boy or girl.

“You can sit over there. But…I thought I told you to come alone.”

“Yes, you did. However, I am going to need this girl.”

I held Lucy’s hand as I brought her over to me. The two others in the carriage glanced our way. Lucy looked around the carriage for a moment before climbing up on my lap to sit down. After all, she wasn’t the type to care what others think.

“Lucy Mayreel. Right now, she is perhaps the only one who knows the exact location of the Archmage Glockt’s previous residence.”

Upon hearing those words, the old man started to tremble. The same was true of the person who was wearing the large robe. They both reacted rather strangely.

“If you are curious about the Archmage Glockt, there is no one more suitable than Lucy to answer your questions.”

“…It seems you already have some idea what Zellan is after.”

“It was briefly mentioned to me by her old colleague, Professor Kaleid.”

“It seems like that old man is still opening his mouth carelessly like always. I guess it’s a relief that nothing much has changed about him.”

Her voice was clearer than I expected, and there was something surprisingly playful in her tone. At the same time, she seemed completely at ease.

As she took her hood off, a young girl appeared, as I expected. Her hair was tied up neatly, falling down on both sides of her shoulders like a pair of wings.

I frowned for a moment as I took in her slightly violet-white hair. Unlike what I had heard, she looked extremely young.

Professor Kaleid definitely said she was old, but…

“Nice to meet you. My name is Zellan Allendark. Though, I am better known as ‘Amputator Zellan’ after cutting the northern Olpend Mountains in half completely. However…”

The girl who introduced herself as Zellan—there was no way that someone could consider her old. She twisted her hair as she continued to speak in a relaxed voice, similar to that of a young girl.

“…I don’t particularly like that nickname.”

“…”

“You look a little surprised. It must be because I look different than you imagined, right?” The girl fixed her hood that she had taken off as she continued to casually explain. “Even though I look like this, I’m actually one hundred and forty this year, young man.”

* * *

“I am a person who challenges what’s considered taboo.”

I had heard about such a thing before, during the Glast subjugation. There were three areas of magic that a magician should never pursue. Three major areas that twist the world provinces and disrupt the order of souls.

The pursuit of eternal life, the resurrection of the dead, and the reversal of time.

Of course, there were magicians who continued to research such subjects while riding a fine line between the boundaries, but it was hard to find someone who so openly broke the rules of magicians.

That was because most of them were disciplined heavily by magic towers and organization, even to the extent of one’s magic powers being sealed.

Since Silvenia Academy had to set an example as an educational institution, naturally, research into such taboos was forbidden.

However, Amputator Zellan was challenging all three areas head-on.

“…Professor Kaleid mentioned that you were going to be an old lady…”

“Ahh, well… That’s what I looked like back then on the battlefield.”

I was quiet.

“Well, it’s not easy magic to use, but… It was something I needed to do.” The girl spoke as she continued to fiddle with her hair. “In fact, I don’t age. At the age of fifteen, I broke a taboo and was able to use magic to stop the effects of time on my body.”

“…Is that possible?”

Even with Celestial Magic, there were limitations.

Time Prison could forcefully stop living objects, but there was no such thing as stopping one’s growth. If such magic existed, all of the rich and powerful individuals of the world would never stop trying to get their hands on it.

“Why wouldn’t it exist? After all, I’m a genius.”

“…”

“…Yeah, I can tell what you’re thinking just by looking at your eyes. I did exaggerate a bit. It was through sheer coincidence and partial insight… That’s how I ended up living forever. I don’t want to go into the details, so let’s just say that I got lucky.”

“The reason why you were hidden all this time…”

“That’s right… I am guilty of committing a grave sin. If I am found out, I will be executed immediately. My name, Zellan, is just an alias.”

Zellan, a war hero in history, was actually a criminal who broke the rules of magic. After hearing the shocking truth, I could see why Princess Selah had told me to come alone.

It wasn’t a truth that could easily be allowed to be known.

“Sometimes, I lived a life as an elderly archmage. Other times, as a precious child of a family that knows no better. But… With the name Zellan, I lived a life doing various different things. At this point in my life, it’s rather confusing to remember it all.”

“…Then what are you going to do now with this new appearance?”

“…Well, what do you think?”

Zellan had an eerie smile on her face. It wasn’t easy to figure out what it meant. I pressed my hand on Lucy’s head for a moment as I thought about it deeply. After meeting Zellan, I was able to sort some things out to some extent.

One who challenges the forbidden.

Amputator Zellan.

“You are trying to find Glockt’s relics that he left behind to further challenge the forbidden, all for the sake of satisfying your personal academic greed. After all, there is nothing more precious than Glockt’s artifacts when it comes to trying to twist the providence of this world. After all, he was a master of Celestial Magic.”

“That’s…only half correct.”

“Which half was wrong?”

“I do want Glockt’s relics he left behind to further challenge the unknown, but not to simply satisfy my academic greed.”

“Then?”

The girl thought for a moment before saying, with a large smile on her face, “It’s just… There’s something I want to observe. But not for academic reasons.”

After saying that, she went quiet. I took a sip of the black tea on the table as I tried to organize my thoughts once more. I looked at her quietly for a moment before looking towards Princess Selah.

“Does the Imperial Household all know the truth about Zellan?”

“Yes. Not just me, but also my father, Penia, Persica, and brother Lindon all knew.”

“…It seems as if the royal family was protecting a famous criminal who challenged the forbidden.”

“How much do you think a mere criminal within the magician world would affect the royal family?” Princess Selah spoke with her legs crossed, fanning her face. “We are the royal family. It would be arrogant to think that a mere criminal within the magician world would be enough to shake the authority of the Imperial Household.

“…But you didn’t want the truth to be publicized because it might cause a dispute with the magic towers?”

“That wouldn’t mean anything to us. Scholars like you always talk big, but what’s the point of trying to threaten us by exposing the truth about Zellan? That doesn’t just affect me, you know. That would also put Penia in a troublesome spot.”

Even though she said all of that, she wouldn’t have called me there if she didn’t have faith that I wouldn’t tell others about it. There was no way someone as thorough as Selah wouldn’t have thought things through.

Selah had intended to share the secret about Zellan with me. Naturally, the question ‘why’ followed.

“So why would you reveal to me such a big secret?”

“This isn’t a grand secret. However, the existence of Zellan is indeed a bit troublesome. After all, she keeps causing all sorts of trouble in the lawless region of Kohelton, which I am in charge of.”

“Haha. That was just an incident that came from my research…”

“Keep your mouth shut.”

Selah had a brief tantrum as she told Zellan to shut up. Zellan smiled as she shrugged her shoulders, taking a sip of her black tea.

“I made a small promise to Zellan. If I introduced her to someone who would solve her problems, she would move her lab to another region.”

“And you promised to introduce her to me?”

“Is there a problem with that? You needed Zellan’s help too, right? Since you two can benefit from each other, you should be thanking me.”

Upon hearing those words, I fell back into thought for a moment.

“Yes… You definitely have a point.”

Selah was quiet.

“Thank you, Princess Selah. Thanks to your kindness, I saved a lot of time and effort.”

I expressed my gratitude towards Selah with an honest heart. I thought she’d act arrogant hearing my thanks, but her response was surprisingly tame.

“…I never thought you would be so honest and grateful towards me…”

“…Pardon?”

“Never mind. I was just a bit flustered to hear you speaking so honestly. You always hide what you’re really thinking and say strange things.”

“That’s…”

I was going to say, ‘Aren’t you talking about yourself?’, but I swallowed my words. Making such a provocative remark against the imperial family wouldn’t do me any good.

However, it seemed that she could guess what I had been thinking, as Princess Selah looked at me angrily.

“You have a talent for making me angry.”

“…I apologize.”

“Hearing you apologize with that expression only irritates me more.” Selah let out a sigh as she continued to explain. “I will give you special permission to pass through the lawless region of Kohelton.”

I was busy, as it was the middle of the semester. However, if she gives me an ‘imperial order’… It wasn’t like I could refuse it either.

“The two of you will help each other with whatever you need, and then you are to quickly leave my territory. And don’t get distracted with Zellan’s strange research, Ed. Just finish things as quickly as possible.”

That was the imperial order Princess Selah gave me.

* * *

“Let me introduce you, this is my assistant, Wilhelm. He’s a pretty reliable guy, so you’ll get along fine.”

After getting out of Princess Selah’s carriage, Zellan introduced the assistant she was accompanied by. The large man, who I didn’t recognize, lowered his head with a gentle expression on his face as he introduced himself. I nodded my head, greeting him in return.

“Being surrounded by young kids again, it feels as if I’ve gone back to the old days.” It wasn’t convincing to hear her say all of that while looking like a kid herself. “Now that we have been given an order, it would be best to take care of things as soon as possible. Once you help me find Glockt’s old relics—Ed, was it…? I’ll help you with whatever you want.”

“I will need some time to get ready to head to the Lamelin Mountain Range first.”

“Well, take your time.” Seeing her smile like a kid, I started to think she was purposely acting more mature and polite in the carriage because Selah was there. “And did you say her name was Lucy Mayreel? I’ve heard that name before. The genius magician.”

Zellan looked down at Lucy, who was glued to my waist.

“…She’s hanging onto you like some accessory.”

“I like holding onto him like this.”

“Wow… I respect that. Well, you’re going to guide me to Glockt’s old residence. I look forward to working with you.”

“…I don’t want to.”

An unexpected answer came from Lucy. At Lucy’s brief refusal, Zellan tilted her head. It seemed she was also completely taken aback by Lucy’s answer.

“Oh?”

“You are hiding too much.”

Glockt Elderbane was like a father to Lucy Mayreel. We were going to search for that man’s last home. Obviously, it wasn’t something she would easily agree to. Even though she may have said she would help me before, there were some things she couldn’t do.

“How you ended up with an eternal body, why you are breaking the taboos of the magic world, and what are you planning to observe with my old man’s relics… You haven’t told us anything.”

It was true. Zellan was keeping quite a few things secret, so it made sense that Lucy was unwilling to tell Zellan about what she knew.

“If you don’t tell me everything, I won’t help you.”

“…Even if this blond young man you care so dearly about asks for it?”

Hearing those words, Lucy trembled as she looked my way. She was looking at me, waiting for my answer on whether I really wanted Lucy to help me by giving all the information she knew to Zellan.

If I really wanted her to, she would be willing to tell Zellan about Glockt, regardless of how Zellan was acting. Lucy looked at me anxiously, awaiting my response.

It went without saying, but I was always on Lucy’s side.

“Unfortunately, I also agree with Lucy.” Lucy hugged my waist as she buried her head into me. She seemed happy that I agreed with her. “If we want to help each other, we will just have to show each other the cards we hold. Don’t you think so?”

Wilhelm, the assistant next to Zellan, frowned upon hearing that. However, Zellan smiled cheerfully, completely disregarding how Wilhelm felt.

“You’re right, young man.” She stretched for a moment as she put her hood back on and continued. “As I said, it is not for any academic reason that I want my hands on Glockt’s relics.”

She struggled to speak, as if she didn’t want to recall unfavorable memories again.

“I am a failure.” The girl went on to explain. “Everything I’ve ever tried to achieve in my life, I’ve failed. There was one long-cherished desire that I held deeply… But I had failed there as well.”

Zellan looked down at Lucy, who was still wrapped around my waist.

“Lucy Mayreel. You care so much for this young blond-haired boy. Maybe he is the reason for your life?”

As if it were embarrassing to say, Lucy nodded her head as she softly said, “I decided to live for his sake. He’s the only reason I’m alive.”

“Isn’t that a bit much, Lucy…?”

“It’s fine. I don’t hate it.”

Lucy spoke as if she didn’t care about anything else. Zellan paused for a moment before responding.

“I see. But I am not like you, Lucy Mayreel. I don’t have any reason to continue living anymore. I have lost everything I had, and I have failed in everything I’ve done.”

Hearing that, Lucy frowned. Lucy knows the pain of loss better than anyone else, so I wondered how Lucy saw Zellan after hearing that.

There were many people who had lost a lot, but for Zellan… Not only did she lose everything, but she failed to protect them.

“I wanted to make the non-humans acceptable members of this empire. However, I ended up in a position where I had to kill countless numbers of them with my own hands. I had to stand at the forefront of the war against the non-humans as a magician of this empire.”

With her head lowered, Zellan spoke in a low voice.

“When I came to my senses, I was covered in their blood. The empire even called me a war hero who slaughtered countless non-humans.”

Suddenly, I remembered the non-human nuns in Cledric Monastery. Those young non-human survivors, whom Zellan had entrusted to the monastery, were perhaps her last remaining guilt.

“It is said that once you reach the height of Celestial magic like Glockt used, you will be able to observe the countless flows of both the future and past.”

Finally, she explained what she was trying to observe.

The only one who has ever reached such heights was the Great Sage Silvenia. She was the only one who had observed the countless flowing paths of both the future and the past.

It was probably impossible for anyone else to reach that level. However, even if it was much less than Silvenia… Perhaps Zellan would be able to at least see the flow of a few different pasts and futures.

“It might be a little hard to understand, but all I want is to observe one of those diverging flows where I finally achieved a future I wanted… I just wanted to find out if it exists.”

A world where Zellan didn’t slaughter the non-humans. Could such a possibility exist? Zellan wanted to confirm that possibility.

I wanted to ask what the point was of such a thing, but as if Zellan knew what I wanted to ask, she spoke with a smile on her face.

“Yes, you might think it’s meaningless.” The girl reached out towards the sun floating in the sky. “It’s like a butterfly that can never be caught. Even though I know it can’t be possible, I keep chasing after it.”

I remained quiet.

“I just want to see if such a future is possible. That is the last secret of my life.”

“…You speak like you’re about to die.”

“Well, what do you think?” Zellan lowered her arms as she looked at Lucy. “Did that answer your question, strict cat lady?”

She didn’t answer everything, but… She did tell us something.

Lucy looked at Zellan as she slowly nodded her head. That was because, in Lucy’s eyes, Zellan’s relaxed appearance actually looked empty.

* * *

“So.”

We promised to meet after getting ready to leave for the mountains. Lucy and I said farewell to Zellan as we walked down the street as the sun set on the horizon.

“…What is it?” I asked.

“Hug me.”

Hearing that, I looked down at Lucy.

“Was it hard to walk so much today? If your legs hurt, do you want me to carry you…?”

“It’s not that. I just want a hug.”

Even though she was still a little embarrassed, after spending so much time together it seemed that Lucy was getting a bit bolder when she asked for such things.

Was there a change in her heart? I looked at Lucy, trying to figure out how she felt, before stopping after changing my mind.

That was because I already knew what Lucy felt.

The school at sunset.

A deserted street.

I sat down and hugged Lucy tightly.

Lucy hugged me back as she whispered in my ear, “Thank you.”

“You must have recalled a bad memory,” I said.

I felt for Lucy. Was it because they were former comrades? Those empty eyes of Zellan’s… They also looked similar to the eyes of Professor Glast, who had left the world.

None of which was a good memory for Lucy Mayreel. It left a bitter aftertaste in her mouth.

The memory of Professor Glast closing his eyes forever as he died underneath that tree… Unable to overcome the pain of loss, that lonely professor ended up tying himself to the chains of death.

For Lucy, it was a memory that reminded her of the days she also fought against loneliness.

But she overcame it, and now, I was next to her. Lucy quietly hugged me as if she wanted to be reassured of that fact.

The sun continued to slowly set. Beneath that falling sun, I continued to hug Lucy tightly for some time.