The Extra’s Academy Survival Guide - Chapter 279

It was a childhood memory.

Lucy, who was practicing with magic power on her own, accidentally knocked over the container beside the wall. It held the ashes taken from the fireplace, and because of Lucy’s mistake, Glockt’s entire cabin ended up covered in ash.

Not only Glockt—who had been sitting by the fireplace reading a book—but Lucy as well—who had been lying on a wooden bed—ended up completely covered in ash.

Lucy was startled, quickly trying to shake off the ash. Glockt quickly used wind magic to send the ash flying away.

No matter how insensitive and emotionless Lucy usually was, she could not help but feel bad about her mistake. She approached Glockt with a guilty look on her face. Seeing that, Glockt burst into laughter and stood up.

He brushed off his clothes, but the ash all over his body showed no signs of clearing off completely.

“Thanks to you, I’ve come to my senses. But I thought I told you to be careful when practicing magic power in the cabin…”

Glockt had been about to scold her for a bit, but seeing Lucy’s expression, he changed his mind. Lucy was always doing her own thing, yet now she was fiddling with her fingertips and looking up at him apologetically. Glockt put a hand on her shoulder. Seeing her like that, he felt there was no need to scold her further.

“Everyone makes mistakes.”

He tried to console her, but Lucy seemed depressed as she continued looking down. Sometimes, it was necessary to severely scold a child. However, upon seeing her act like that, it was too much for him to do so. Glockt thought about how he could make Lucy feel better.

He then opened his mouth again, saying in a brighter tone, “We’ll have to find something to brush off the ashes first.”

Having said as much, Glockt entered the cellar under the cottage. It was used as a storage space and private laboratory. Lucy was left alone as she brushed her clothes off in the messy cabin. She was thinking about how she should apologize to Glockt.

The entire cabin was left in silence for some time. Eventually, Glockt came back up from the cellar.

Thunk.

He put something on Lucy’s head.

What he had put on top of Lucy’s hair was a large witch hat that was nearly the size of Lucy’s upper body.

“It’s a gift.”

Lucy held the hat as she looked up at Glockt blankly.

“I’m giving this to you now.”

“This is…”

“Cherish it. One day, this hat will be your most precious item.”

“…Why…?”

“…Well, you’ll find out one day.”

* * *

“And that’s the hat I received back then.”

Inside the gently swaying carriage, only four people were leaving Acken Island for the lawless region of Kohelton.

Amputator Zellan, her assistant Wilhelm, Lucy, and me.

“Then… Does that mean that hat is also a keepsake of Glockt’s?”

“Yes,” said Lucy quietly, nodding at Zellan’s question.

I figured as much. Lucy always carried that hat around wherever she went. I wondered just how many layers of defensive magic were put onto that hat… Despite the countless fights and the chaos Lucy found herself in, that hat was never severely damaged.

For Lucy, it was one of her last memories with Glockt, so she naturally treasured it dearly.

Aside from the hat, there are a few more items of Glock’s that Lucy kept. In particular, at Glockt’s tomb—which was hidden in a coastal cave on the west side of Acken Island—there are all sorts of items left behind.

Well, most were just random keepsakes without any real value. Some items had no value in terms of magic, but there were also some really valuable items as well—like the Introduction to Celestial Magic book that I owned.

“If there really is something, it’s most likely to be down in the cellar.” Lucy continued to kick her feet in the air as she sat on my lap like usual. “When he passed away, I wasn’t in my right mind, so I left the cabin without looking through everything.”

The memory of Glockt’s passing wasn’t a pleasant memory for Lucy. Surprisingly, Lucy spoke as if it didn’t bother her.

“He kept saying that he didn’t want to do anything academic in the final days of his life, but once in a while, he would go down to the cellar to research something. I… I was never really interested in it, so…”

There was something that the archmage Glockt had researched that his pupil, Lucy Mayreel, was unaware of. Lucy wasn’t one to have much curiosity about things like that. However, it seemed that Zellan and Wilhelm weren’t the same.

“We definitely need to check that,” said Zellan’s assistant, Wilhelm, as his eyes flickered. “It might be something extremely valuable in terms of academic research. Given that you are a professor yourself, Ed, you must also be interested in what it is.”

I looked at Lucy as I nodded my head. Lucy looked happy for some reason. She was probably just happy that the two of us were leaving for a long trip. Looking out the window at the scenery, she seemed to be quite excited.

Of course, it was hard to tell for sure how she felt from the outside. It was all just an assumption of mine after having known her for so long.

“By the way, once I finished helping you investigate the Lamelin Mountain Range… I need your help processing an artifact I have.”

I quickly jumped to the main point. Zellan was the best in the world when it came to processing such artifacts. I spent a long time studying magic engineering myself, but I couldn’t handle an artifact like that on my own.

“Yes, there is nothing I can’t handle. By the way, young man, you must be quite talented in magic yourself. What kind of artifact do you possess that you are unable to process yourself?”

It would be easier to show her than to explain. I pulled out Tyrcalaques’s body from my pocket and showed it to her.

It was only a small marble-sized object, but someone as skilled as Zellan was able to instantly recognize its value. She smiled as she looked at it intently.

“That is quite the ridiculous thing you have there. What are you going to do with it?”

The use of artifacts was important. That was why Zellan had to take care of it for me. So, I decided to say what was on my mind without beating around the bush.

“Among the spirits I have contracted, there is a high-ranking wind spirit called Merilda.”

“A high-ranking wind spirit… You must be well versed in Elementalism.”

“At this point, I am already quite capable of using her power…”

Hearing what I said, Zellan looked at me with a large grin and a dumbfounded expression at the same time.

“So, I’m going to make her become an ultimate-rank spirit. Right now, the position of ultimate-rank wind spirit is vacant.”

Her reaction was understandable. I was basically declaring that I planned to be able to freely use an ultimate-rank spirit. I was well aware of how ridiculous I must have sounded.

“You’re quite an interesting young man.”

However, Zellan Never said that I was planning to do something completely ridiculous and stupid. I was sure of it. Zellan wasn’t in her right mind, either.

* * *

Everything after that was rather boring.

We listened to Zellan’s story about when she traveled across the lawless region of Kohelton with her assistant Wilhelm. We would occasionally take breaks and step out of the carriage to get some fresh air.

We would also stop by every village we met to get some sleep in an inn. Like that, the boring carriage ride to the Lamelin Mountain Range continued. My journeys to Pulan and Oldek were also quite long, but the Lamelin Mountain Range was on the other side of the empire from Acken Island.

Lucy had told me before that she had come all the way to Acken Island on her own while carrying Glockt’s body. I started to realize just how absurd that was.

In a high-speed carriage, it would take several days. Despite that, she had traveled the entire distance without canceling her magic for even a moment. I couldn’t help but have my mouth open in awe at her feat.

Chances were Lucy hadn’t returned to the Lamelin Mountain Range since, and it was hard to be sure if the cabin was still going to be there as she had left it.

After a long and tedious journey in the carriage, we eventually reached the Lamelin Mountain Range. However, our journey was still far from finished. In a small village at the entrance of the mountain range, we purchased various supplies before our hike.

The Lamelin Mountain Ranges was a massive section that crossed through the northern part of the continent. One had to be thoroughly prepared to climb a mountain that high. Of course, the goal wasn’t to reach the top, but rather a cabin in the middle.

As if Lucy was happy to be back here after such a long time, she used her magic power to fly to the top of a tree, looking around.

Then we finally started our hike.

Zellan and Lucy were small in stature but were talented at using magic power. Because of that, they did not consume much energy during the climb. As for Wilhelm and I, we used our physical strength and endurance to survive that long hike. Whenever we were having a hard time, we could also use some magic as well.

Sometimes, spirits would be summoned to help guide us, and we would camp in the middle of the trail. We continued like that for almost two days.

We weren’t so weak that we were in danger of wild animals, and we had more than enough supplies. It wasn’t a difficult hike—in fact, it was more of a sightseeing tour than anything else.

As I had heard, the Lamelin Mountain Range was really beautiful.

It was the place where Lucy ran around spending her childhood. It wasn’t difficult to imagine Lucy as a child, flying around the tops of all those trees.

However, the mountain was enormous. It was much larger than I heard. I could see why no one had dared to try and find Glockt’s cabin despite the rumors of his treasures being there.

The sheer size of the mountains was much larger than the Alps. If we were trying to reach the top, I would have had to prepare much more in advance. Even from where we were, the mountain peak still seemed so far away. We could only just see the peaks of the mountain, covered in pure white snow.

“We’re almost there.”

Finally, Lucy told us some good news.

It took about a week of traveling in the carriage to reach the mountain range and three days of hiking to reach the cabin. I could see why Glockt chose such a place to live a secluded and remote life.

Anyway, the forest that seemed to stretch out forever…eventually ended at some point. What was beyond it was a sunny field. It wasn’t all that large—in fact, it seemed rather strange for such an area to exist on this large mountain full of trees and snow.

In the middle of the field…was a shabby cabin

“Ohh, finally! That’s… Archmage Glockt’s Cabin… Is this where he lived after retirement?”

Professors who majored in magic history would drool at the sight. It was the last residence of one of the greatest men in history.

* * *

“When he first built the cabin, he must have used magic to set things in place. It’s not like an old man of his age could have built a cabin on his own… Of course, it was only natural that he had to use magic to do so.”

Despite the cabin being neglected for years up in the mountain, his cabin was more intact than I anticipated. When he built it, he must have used magic to keep the building’s structure maintained. Given that he was an archmage, it wasn’t all that surprising.

Zellan slowly walked towards it as she glanced at the door. When she pulled on it, it let out a squeak as it slowly opened.

Inside the cabin, there was dust everywhere. Aside from that, it wasn’t particularly messy. It was the same as when Lucy had left it.

Suddenly, I felt that my wrist was being held tightly. Looking down, I saw Lucy holding onto me. I watched her slowly look around the cabin. It seemed as if her childhood memories were slowly coming back to her.

“…Are you all right, Lucy?”

“I’m fine.” I was worried, but Lucy reassured me, “Because you’re here.”

Clasping my wrist tightly, Lucy brushed away that feeling of loneliness. What was lost was lost. It had already been a while since she had said farewell to that feeling of emptiness.

That was why Lucy could enter the cabin without being bothered.

Returning to Glockt’s Cabin years later… Yet as if she had only returned a day later, she casually went over to the rocking chair near the fireplace. She sat down and held her body tightly, letting out a sigh.

That was it.

* * *

The first thing we did when we entered Glockt’s cabin was blow away the dust with Wilhelm’s magic.

It didn’t take long for Wilhem to clean the interior of the cabin. He gathered all of the spoiled ingredients in the kitchen that had been left unattended for a long time, burying them in the ground outside.

We then refilled the kitchen with the groceries we bought, then started preparing a meal.

Once everything was done, Zellan went into the cellar that Lucy had mentioned before to look for what Glock had left behind.

Lucy and I… We just sat together in a rocking chair by the fireplace.

That was because we had no obligation to help Zellan search for the relics. From that point on, it was something for Zellan to do on her own.

I enjoyed the warmth of the fireplace with Lucy on my lap. The sun had already set as the early fall’s cool wind flew by… Then, Zellan quickly came up from the cellar.

“I found Glockt’s relic. But…it’s a little different from what I imagined.”

“What?”

“Can you come down for a moment?”

We went down to the cellar while using Ignite to light the way. The area was used as a storage area and was full of all sorts of junk. We continued to go deeper inside before finally turning the corner and reaching Glockt’s personal lab.

“The archmage Glock that I knew was a man who hated doing anything forbidden. He was a magician who always respected magic and the world’s provinces, as well as one’s destiny.”

Listening to Zellan, Lucy nodded quietly.

As we made our way further inside, Zellan continued, “Lucy Mayreel. This might be a bit of a shock to you, but… It seems that the archmage Glockt…actually studied what is considered taboo in the later years of his life.”

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

Three areas of magic that magicians all over the world considered taboo. Did the Archmage Glockt, who was strongly against such taboos, actually begin to research them in the final years of his life?

“…I have trouble…believing that…”

Lucy shook her head at Zellan’s words. In Lucy’s memory, Glockt was a magician who accepted fate as it was. He greatly respected the world’s providence. Even though he was able to use Celestial Magic, he only lived the life he was given.

He was a magician who lived with no regrets. After doing everything he was destined to do, he left the world. That was why Lucy Mayreel did not revive Glockt with Professor Glast’s Resurrection of the Dead spell.

It would be an insult to revive him using such forbidden magic, given that he was a magician who had pride in not researching such fields.

However, Zellan responded in a serious tone, “Me, too… I am having a hard time believing it as well. The Glockt that I knew wasn’t one to do such a thing. But…in this underground lab…”

Zellan injected more magic power and cast Ignite to further lighten the room.

Thanks to that, we could see the entirety of his lab, an area that Lucy Mayreel had never bothered to look into because she was lazy and indifferent at the time.

There were numerous different artifacts left behind. There were also various magically engineered devices that Glockt had worked on at some point.

“There is clear evidence that he was researching one of the three taboos. ‘Time Traveling.’ Look at the large crystal ball in the center of the lab. It’s a device that is used to gather Celestial magic power. And if you look at the other magic engineering devices next to it, it’s not hard to guess what he was trying to do.”

Lucy frowned as she looked at it. Glockt was a magician who would never do what was forbidden. That was something he took great pride in. There was no way Glockt would make such a thing.

However, for Lucy, who understood magic… No matter how many times she looked at what was in front of her, she couldn’t come to a different conclusion. It was clearly a device that used Celestial magic power to cross through time.

Whether it was the future or the past… Glockt had jumped through time at some point.

“Given the situation we see here, it’s safe to say that at some point in his lifetime… Glockt Elderbane messed with time. In other words, he committed the taboo of traveling through time. Looking at the magic power circuitry, it’s clear that it has been used before. Given that all of the consumables were not replaced or refilled, it seems he only used it once.”

Did he really jump through time before? All without Lucy knowing? If so, was it the past? Or was it the future?

There was no way to tell for sure, and it was even harder to figure out what made him do such a thing, despite him having such strong beliefs.

Everything about the situation was a mystery, because Glockt Elderbane, who was the only one who knew the entire truth, was no longer alive.

* * *

“There is good news and bad news. If you ask which one you want to hear first, naturally you would say the bad news first, right? Well, I’ll just come out and say both of them at the same time then.”

She was saying whatever she wanted. It was hard to tell her otherwise at this point. Zellan then spoke to us as she continued preparing a salad in the kitchen.

“After staying up all night to examine what was left in that cellar, I think there is enough equipment for me to observe the other possibilities of my life that I so desired. However, some things seem to have aged poorly and need to be repaired.”

We listened to her speak.

“The items that he built were truly fitting of one of the greatest archmages to ever exist. They aren’t easy to research and repair. After all, it’ll take quite some time just to examine each and every one of them. Fortunately, there are two people here who are skilled in magic engineering.”

Wilhem and myself, Ed Rothstaylor. We were both skilled in magic engineering to some extent.

“I don’t really understand what they do or how they work, as they are objects that use Celestial magic power. It might be a rather dangerous task, but if you are willing to help me…”

Zellan put down the fork as she looked up at me and spoke.

“I’ll take full responsibility and make sure you become the master of an ultimate-rank spirit. I am also quite curious about your plan to try and become capable of using an ultimate-rank spirit as you wish. So, let’s help each other out. It’s a win-win situation.”

“Why do you think it could be dangerous?”

“As you know, Celestial magic power is hard to use. Not only is it powerful, it’s hard to predict how it will react. That’s why I need your help, as you are somewhat capable of using it yourself.”

Zellan leaned against the back of her chair as she spoke to me rather confidently.

“I like you very much, young man.”

Hearing those words, I thought an old lady was talking to me. In truth, inside that little girl was still the soul of an old lady who had experienced all sorts of things in her lifetime.

“So…let’s work together. There are many things I can do to help you as well. And aren’t you also curious about all of this?”

I remained quiet.

“Why did Glockt, an archmage who had great pride in his values, end up doing such a thing in the final years of his life? Don’t you also want to find out the truth, strict cat lady?”

Lucy looked at Zellan. She would be lying if she said she wasn’t curious…but some things in life were better left unknown. Lucy had finally been able to completely send Glockt off emotionally.

He was a magician who lived quite a turbulent life, and he had left the world with no regrets. That was the story that filled Lucy’s heart.

So, was there really a need to try and change that?

“Alright.”

After thinking for a moment, she agreed. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking.

Zellan let out a satisfied laugh upon hearing that.

“When the sun rises tomorrow… Let’s quickly repair the artifacts and look into everything.”

A journey that started out of curiosity… Who knew what would happen? At that point, it was impossible for us to know. I quietly listened to the sound of the wind outside the cabin.

A shabby cabin in the middle of the Lamelin Mountain Range.

A place that was completely separate from everyone else.

Zellan lay down on a wooden bed as Wilhelm lay on a camping sleeping bag that was on the dining room table.

I sat in a rocking chair by the fireplace with Lucy on my lap.

Inside the cabin, the four of us slowly went to sleep unable to even imagine what would happen the next day.