The Extra’s Academy Survival Guide - Chapter 280

The next morning, when I woke up, Wilhelm—who had risen early—was already preparing breakfast.

Zellan was still in bed, probably sleeping in. She really did seem like an old woman who couldn’t do anything on her own without Wilhelm’s help.

Lucy and I got up, still feeling drowsy. After greeting Wilhelm, we went to a nearby stream to wash our faces.

Lucy wasn’t the type to wake up early in the morning, but perhaps because she fell asleep in my arms, she woke up at the same time that I did.

We stepped outside and enjoyed the early-morning air of the Lamelin Mountain Range. Lucy drifted through the air above the treetops. Even though she had not been back in such a long time, she was still thoroughly familiar with the surrounding terrain.

“I used to run around here when I was young. I would practice wrapping myself with weight-lightening magic as well as gravity magic. When I first came here, I often got lost.”

“I guess you weren’t that scared, though…”

“Yeah. Glockt had such a large amount of magic power that even I could feel it from far away. All I had to do was follow his magic power to quickly return to the cabin.”

She casually spoke about how she had sensed Glockt’s magic power since she was a young child.

For anyone who did not already know just how talented Lucy was with magic, it would have sounded like a completely ridiculous story. But at that point, Lucy’s skill with magic needed no explanation.

Lucy made her way along the road to the creek by using magic power to jump high in the air.

“I guess you can use your magic power quite easily now. You must have recovered quite a bit,” I said.

“Yeah. I can use some beginner magic now. I think I’ll be able to try the intermediate magic soon as well.”

At first, she was set to recover over the course of four to five years. However, in less than half that time, she was already at a stage where she could try using intermediate magic.

Lucy really was unpredictable when it came to magic.

I washed my face with Lucy as we enjoyed the cool early morning air. After shaking off the excess water on our faces, we sat down for a while. Lucy had taken out a piece of jerky as she munched on it, sitting on a nearby rock.

As I stretched my body, I said, “What do you think of that magician, Zellan?”

“She’s weird.”

Maybe because she was confident in her answer, Lucy didn’t even hesitate to say that. It was how I felt as well. I started to feel that way when we spoke to each other on the way to the Lamelin Mountain Range.

Amputator Zellan always had a smile on her face and spoke in a strangely cheerful manner, but… you could tell that something was eating away at her. In a way, she felt hollow.

I didn’t know if it was okay to say as much, but… It wouldn’t be strange if she were to die tomorrow. She was that kind of person.

* * *

After finishing a quick breakfast, we began to examine the relics that were left behind in Glockt’s underground lab.

Zellan was quite knowledgeable in all forms of magic, but her specialties were magic engineering and magic materials. It was no easy task for someone to analyze the artifacts that the Archmage Glockt made. However, even for Zellan, it was a struggle to understand what each device did and how it worked.

Zellan untied her long hair as she quickly examined everything left in his lab one by one.

Lucy, Wilhelm, and I were next to her. We also began to look through what was left behind.

Looking at everything individually, there were some new and unique designs. It would be difficult to recognize what they were without knowledge of magic engineering, but some of the items Glockt left behind actually weren’t based on my pre-existing knowledge of the internal structure of magic power flow in magic devices.

As it was designed by a genius, it only made sense that the infrastructure was completely different. I needed to examine each one carefully as I traced the flow of magic power, like when I first started to study magic engineering.

I felt as if everything I knew about magic engineering was completely useless.

“Definitely… This is not easy…”

An hour later, Zellan also had to take a break. The entire lab was filled with devices and artifacts. However, we were unable to completely understand the structure of even one of the items.

“I need a moment to think about this some more.”

Sitting at the dining table in the kitchen, we all had serious looks on our faces. That was because it was much harder to examine Glockt’s relics than we thought.

Zelan, who sat in the middle, drank the tea that Wilhelm had served as she spoke up.

“When Glockt was alive, even though he couldn’t observe all of the flows of the future like the Great Sage Silvenia could…he could definitely see at least a few of them.”

We all knew that much. Glockt was able to use Celestial Magic to some extent thanks to Silvenia. Of course, he was nowhere near her level. That meant he could never fully achieve what she could.

Silvenia might have observed every possibility, as well as the cliff point, but… Glockt was probably only able to look at a few different possibilities at most.

Silvenia may have been able to look as far into the future as she desired, but Glockt would have only been able to see the somewhat near future for a brief amount of time.

Even so, that was an incredible achievement for a magician who used Celestial Magic. After all, the act of twisting the world’s providence and controlling the flow of time at will was something that only gods could do.

“So, if we keep examining the artifacts, we will definitely find the one that lets us observe different worlds. But… It would take years to examine each and every one.”

The devices that Glockt created were things that only he knew how to use. Current magic engineering theories could only take us so far.

“But we can’t spend years here in the middle of the mountains, where it takes more than ten days just to reach…”

“Why don’t we take all of the artifacts back to the lab in the lawless region of Kohelton?”

“But it doesn’t change the fact that it will still take at least a few years. I don’t intend to wait that long.”

Wilhelm didn’t look all that happy about seeing Zellan look rather determined. It seemed to him that Zellan was coming up with a radical solution, and his prediction wasn’t wrong.

Zellan looked at me and said, “I promised you that I would help you process that artifact if you help me, right? But let’s put more money on it.”

I was listening.

“I’ll give you my lab in the lawless region of Kohelton.”

The first to react to that offer was Wilhelm. It was impressive to see just how wide his eyes got as he looked at Zellan in disbelief.

“I was planning on leaving the lawless region of Kohelton after this anyway, so it doesn’t mean much to me.”

“…What is in your lab?”

“Everything I have studied.”

Even Professor Kaleid, who wasn’t very kind to others, spoke quite highly of Zellan when he mentioned her.

It was a lab that contained everything she had studied in her entire life.

“If you’re the one who uses it, I’m sure that Princess Selah, who is in charge of that region, won’t be all that upset. Rather, she might even be happy that you are going all the way to a region she’s in charge of. Hahaha!”

Zellan added a joke with a playful expression on her face.

“This goes beyond monetary value. Wilhelm knows it as well, but there are plenty of things in that lab that can change the history of magic engineering as we know it.”

“I won’t take it,” I responded calmly as I put my hands on the table.

Perhaps my answer was completely unexpected, as Zelan was speechless for a moment. While she was quiet, I quickly added on, “Is there a reason you want to give me something as important as that? I don’t know how I would be able to repay you.”

“I figured you’d answer carefully. Yeah…” Zellan replied with a smile on her face. “I want you to use Celestial magic power on the artifacts in the cellar.”

Wilhelm’s anxious expression was understandable.

“Without checking the proper use of the items beforehand?”

“Yes. There must be an object there that can observe the possibilities of the past and future. Glockt was serious when it came to studying Celestial Magic.”

“What if there’s a dangerous tool—”

“That’s why I’m offering you my lifelong research.”

After hearing that, silence filled the room. I held my breath for a moment as I looked closely at Zellan’s expression.

Magic engineering devices should not be used carelessly without knowing their use beforehand. That was a basic rule.

There was a large chance that the item was used for combat or setting a trap. Not only that, but a device that used Celestial magic power… It was impossible to guess what the outcome would be.

“…Why do you want to go that far?” I knew it was a meaningless question. Nevertheless, I can’t help but ask. “Didn’t you tell me yourself that it was like chasing a butterfly, knowing you would never catch it? Observing a possibility that only may exist… Does it matter to you that much…?”

After saying that, I stopped talking. Zellan was acting as if she didn’t care about her current life any longer. She so easily offered to give me every achievement she had throughout her entire life.

It was as if…

“…Please tell me what you’re thinking.”

She didn’t speak.

“If you are going to stay silent until the end, I will just have to say what I assume.”

Zellan. The magician who challenged the taboo. I didn’t know how much those past failures ate away at her heart, but…

The reason why she wanted to observe such a different future…

“If there’s a future you want… Are you planning to use your research in Celestial Magic Power to move there?”

Numerous possibilities that diverged into many branches.

Jumping between those branches.

Zellan’s ambition was… Much bigger than I first thought.

Silence fell between us.

She would first have to observe the future before deciding where to jump. The start of Zellan’s grand plan… It was observing. As it was going to become a world that she would leave behind, all of her research in our world was meaningless to her.

That was why she was so willing to hand over all the research she had, which was worth an incredible amount of money.

“…Actually, I already identified which magic engineering device will help me observe the future.” Zellan began to tell the truth. “I’m not completely sure that my plan is even possible. In fact, this is nothing more than a guess. I don’t know how it will affect the other branches.”

“…You’re saying that you are able to move to another branch?”

“In theory, it’s impossible. That’s because of the basics of magic power theory. Even if you use an incredible amount of magic power in this world, if there’s no medium to accept that magic power in the other branch, it is impossible to achieve anything… Still, I want to try everything I can.”

Zellan spoke quietly. She felt strangely weak and dejected compared to her usual bright self. It was as if she were a type of powder that would scatter away in the wind.

“So, can’t you help this old lady with her final wish? Everything I can give you…is yours… After all, it won’t mean anything to me anyway.” Zellan, who has wandered the world for 140 years in misery, had one final wish. “Help me go to a world where I didn’t slaughter the non-humans…”

Zelan struggled to speak as she squeezed out her trembling voice. Then there was a moment of silence.

I realized that it was a dangerous request, and there was no guarantee that Glockt’s relic could even be properly used. Not only was it dangerous for her, but it was dangerous for me as well. Nevertheless, seeing Zellan, who was usually so bright, act like that…made me feel strange on the inside.

In terms of research, it wasn’t difficult to help her, and the reward that came with helping her was tremendous. I thought to myself… What do I have to lose?

“Alright,” Lucy, as if she had read my mind, replied.

Lucy and I were the only ones who could use celestial magic power in the room.

“…We’ll help you,” Lucy answered in a firm voice as she sat in my lap, her head buried in my chest.