How to Survive at the Academy Chapter 282

[Side story] Chasing a butterfly (9)

Lucy. I have something to say.

I guess I’ll die soon.

I struggled to survive in this unreasonable world, but somehow my journey ended here.

By the time you come to your senses, there’s a much better chance that I won’t be in this world.

So, I think this will be my will to you.

I understand very well how you feel. You may have already experienced the pain of loss, but you also know that pain is not something you can adapt to.

So, the first thing I want to say to you right now is that I’m sorry.

However, I don’t want to fill my last words towards you with meaningless apologies.

survive. Lucy.

No matter how the world goes, hold on to your life and endure it.

Even if it seems that the cold winter will never end, spring will definitely come.

Even if the world seems to be forever sinking into darkness, the morning will always come.

There is no such thing as an ‘end’ in a real story.

Even if it seems like everything ended happily, even if it seems like everything ended in tragedy.

Still, the reality persists. Life stretches out. That’s the answer I got in my short life.

The countless choices I made while running frantically to survive in this unreasonable world.

Had I made a different choice on some of them, there might have been a different ending.

Somewhere in the flow of a distant world, there might be me who has overcome all the trials and won a happy ending.

Or he could have met an even more terrible end, burned to death in agony.

Whatever it is, the attitude we must take to endure in this unreasonable world does not change. will survive

you will be sad

Still, never give up on life.

Grinch this bitch and survive. Even if it seems that there are no more answers in the hellish world, even if it seems meaningless, even if it’s just blindly… Survive.

Even now, right before death, I believe without wavering.

If you hold on like that… the moment when you think you did well to stay alive will surely come.

So, be sure to survive.

*”Help me. I need your help.”

What Lortel said next was straightforward. He could well guess what Lortel would say.

“Did you see the look on the faces of the refugees sitting here gathered? Lucy, when your survival is confirmed… they have a new hope.”

“…”

“I heard you borrowed the power of the phoenix ring, but if you were the one who pulled out time against Seongchangryong Velbrok… you might be able to subdue and convince Jenika-senpai somehow.”

Lucy was not a subordinate to this world in the first place. However, there is no way that the survivors outside knew that fact.

“…I haven’t lost all the recoil of the ring yet.”

“…”

“It’s only natural that all of the mana from its heyday hasn’t returned, and I’m not sure how much power I’ll be able to exert against the high-ranking elementalist who holds the heart of Valveroke in the first place.”

Lucy lowered her head and talked about the reality.

“Above all, my primary goal is… to return to the world I came from.”

It was a difficult story to tell. However, it is an issue that cannot be overlooked.

Lortel from this world and Lucy from the other world.

The interests of the two do not coincide.

Lortel, who wants to subdue Jenika and get out of the island, and Lucy, who tries to somehow return to the original world.

There is no point of contact between the two.

“…”

“…”

An awkward silence prevailed.

From the start, Lucy and Lortel weren’t very close. There was little to no contact with each other.

Still, Lortel spoke quietly.

“…You know, Lucy.”

What Lortel wanted to ask of Lucy, who had been looking at a world of other possibilities.

She couldn’t bear to let her lips fall, so she lowered her gaze and trembled her lips.

Lucy seemed to know what questions Lortel couldn’t ask even if she wanted to ask them.

Did senior Ed you know survive happily?

The moment Lucy nodded, Lortel didn’t know what expression to make.

Will you smile with a happy smile, or will you be frustrated with your current situation, or shed a lot of tears…

Not only Lucy, but even Lortel herself was completely unexpected.

Lortel must not weaken.

Even at this moment, there were too many people whose lives depended on Lortel’s judgment and decisions.

So, Lortel closed her eyes and talked about something else.

“How to get back?”

It was a consideration for Lucy.

Lucy couldn’t say anything. Above all, he couldn’t even figure out how to return to his original world.

According to the theory of Aspect Magic that Gellan and Ed talked about, this unrealistic thing shouldn’t have happened.

This is because magical interference between worlds cannot occur.

Lucy closed her eyes and thought.

The reason why such a thing that couldn’t happen actually happened…. If you think about it a little, you can quickly infer it.

Just as you can clap your hands only when your palms meet, this kind of interference happened because someone in this world observed Lucy now.

Regardless of who did it and for what purpose, if you want to escape from this world anyway, you have to reach out to the other world again to save it.

Perhaps, in order to save himself, Ed Rosteyler will try to observe the many currents of the world again.

It would not be easy to find the world he had drifted into in the midst of that enormous flow of numbers.

That’s why you need to send a rescue signal.

I’m here.

That’s how you have to raise your voice and inform Ed Roth Taylor, who is wandering in search of himself.

Like a person stranded on an uninhabited island lighting a fire or a person trapped in a cave screaming.

You have to constantly shout at Ed. I’m here. save me

But… to do so requires an enormous amount of mana. By raising the Aspect Magic like that, Lucy herself has to observe Ed, who will be wandering around looking for Lucy.

However, the absolute amount of magical power was too small. I know how to handle Aspect Magic, but there is no way to solve the lack of Aspect Magic itself.

It might be possible if you slowly restore your mana. However, it takes too long.

The observer left behind by Glockt can only observe the flow of possibilities nearby. If I stayed here for several years in order to recover my mana, the flow gap might widen so much that I could not observe it.

But that’s the case… Where did you get such astronomical magical power right away?

That was the moment.

The moment Lucy drifted to this side of the world… the object that Ed Roth Taylor threw. I couldn’t properly confirm what it was, but it was held tightly in my arms.

The situation was so urgent that I couldn’t bear to think of it.

“…Lucy?”

Lortel looked at Lucy, who opened her eyes, wonderingly.

Lucy put her hand in her arms as it was, and took out a round bead-shaped object inside to check it.

“that….”

Lucy felt her tears welling up.

At the moment Ed was separated from Lucy, he threw the most precious thing he could have.

Lucy is a rare genius wizard. He has lost most of his magic now and is not able to exert his strength properly, but his applied power and knowledge were almost at the level of a great man.

However, the fact that there is no magical power is just painful. Ed knew that too…

He left the ‘remains of Tyrcalax’ he cherished so much… to Lucy.

– Ugh.

The orb that exudes magical energy fully contains the magical power of the highest level spirit.

It’s such an enormous amount that most wizards can’t handle it. But Lucy is a different story.

However, as Gellan said, if it is not properly processed and used, it is just a consumable item. But circumstances are circumstances.

Ed Rosteylor decided that it would be better to lose the precious artifact than to lose Lucy.

“You… that’s…”

“I want to use the magic within this. Maybe… it’s difficult to process because it’s so difficult…”

Lucy held her breath and spoke.

“If it’s just about releasing the magic that is tied up inside… it’s possible…”

– Kiki

“It might be possible. However, there is a minor problem.”

At that moment, the door to the reception room opened and someone came in. It was Elvira, who had been organizing the situation outside until just now.

“As the released magic power comes out, the whole area will go into chaos. You won’t be able to absorb that mana properly.”

Now that I look back, I think I’m a bit taller. Elvira came in with her Clevias, dusting off her alchemy bag of her own.

She is a girl with excellent knowledge about alchemy and magic items. Noticing at once what Lucy had pulled out of her arms, she sat down on the reception sofa.

Clevius followed behind him, closed the door, and stood behind Elvira. Even if she pretended, she seemed to have something to say.

Clevius opened his mouth slowly in a dark voice. He had the impression that Lucy had become more reliable than he knew.

“Lortel. The situation outside is not serious. The spirits will rampage more. It seems the spirits have become sensitive because they were discovered while searching outside.”

“…what about the survivors?”

“Looking at Lucy’s face, the color is turning, but the anxiety is bigger because of the situation outside.”

The cowardly temperament is almost abandoned. Given the circumstances, it would have been unavoidable.

As I tried to look at the two of them, it seemed that I had heard all the conversations between Lortel and Lucy from earlier. I didn’t bother to ask Lortel and Lucy about anything.

However, Elvira only spoke softly.

“I think… Lucy, our interests aren’t that far apart.”

Lucy stared in Elvira’s direction, her mouth silent.

“I don’t know exactly what you’re holding in your hand, but anyway, you want to radiate the magic inside, don’t you?”

“…”

“If you properly draw out the inner mana without processing, the dissipated mana will be far more than the mana you actually use.”

The way it was used was no different from a cheap mana stone. It is a situation where expensive jewelery crafts are being used like hammers.

However, circumstances are circumstances. I don’t have time to think about the difference.

“If it’s that high-end… I need a medium that will fully draw out the inner mana. Of course, you can’t create such an intermediate device in this environment, but…”

Elvira’s knowledge of the application of magical power is excellent. Even while attending Sylvania Academy, he was always a student with high grades in related assignments.

It was not difficult for Lucy to guess the conclusion she would draw.

“…Remember the freshman placement test? When senior Ed stopped the freshmen at the top of the mountain.”

“…”

At that time, Lucy was also watching Ed from the top of the mountain.

The ‘Altar of Altar’ at the top of the right mountain.

It was an altar that had the power to draw out the magical power inside items that belonged to it and transfer it to the user as it is.

Ed, unable to use magic due to the backlash from Glast’s phoenix ring, prepared plenty of magic stones and used the altar to deal with the freshmen.

“…With the power of that altar, you will be able to fully utilize the magical power inherent in the orb you are holding. If there’s a problem…”

There is a person guarding the altar.

At the top of the right mountain, she is a girl who is shedding endless tears.

Erase all living things on this island of Aken, and only want to make it the tomb and sanctuary of that boy… The spiritist who was swallowed up by the madness.

For a moment, only silence spread in the waiting room.

It felt like everyone was watching Lucy. There is no guarantee that everything will work out just because Lucy joins immediately, but Lucy’s power would be a great help to the survivors.

“…if necessary.”

And Lucy, as always, doesn’t have much trouble with the decision.

* It’s not even winter, but it’s snowing.

If you look closely, snowflakes descending from the dark night sky are Anari volcanic ash.

On the top of the mountain, in front of the still-beating heart of Velbroke… A girl holding Ed’s cane tightly and bowing her head. The girl’s tears were still unstoppable.

Volcanoes that exploded from the body of Theorphis, the highest fire spirit. The volcanic ash that flew from its body covered the whole area of ​​Mount Orn for several years, eventually turning it into a pure white snowy mountain.

Even the sprawling coniferous trees and crushed grass are dyed pure white, making it look like a serene sanctuary. This is the island where Ed Rosteiler sleeps.

In the crevices of volcanic ash that calmly descends and sinks in the soft moonlight, the white-haired spiritist raises his head with tears in his eyes. The sorrowful face covered in volcanic ash looks like an angel covered in feathers.

However, it is the devil, not the angel, who sits there in grief.

He is a maddened mortician who seeks to eliminate all life in sight and to stop time on this island forever.

“…There is still life. A life that disturbs the rest of the departed.”

The eyes of the spirits spread across the island are the eyes of a girl.

What that meant was clear.