“…Strange? You can’t find him?”
SWOOSH!
“Or did he go to the restroom, or something?”
SWOOSH!
“Hmm… he couldn’t possibly have overslept, but I understand now. I’ll take a look.”
SWOOSH!
The chancellor watched as a blue pigeon flapped heavily and flew away.
He looked down at the returned letter.
The simple message inviting the recipient to the chancellor’s office had, as always, been sent to Arthur.
Turrit, the Academy’s messenger bird, was programmed to deliver the chancellor’s letters with priority.
The letter entrusted to Turrit in the morning came back to the chancellor’s office by lunchtime, half a day later.
“If Turrit couldn’t find him, he really isn’t anywhere on campus… is he in the dormitory then? Would that diligent Arthur cut class?”
The chancellor scratched his head as he leaned out of the window to feel the breeze.
“Should I go looking for him… it feels like I’d be getting too familiar. And then, the dignity of the chancellor…”
After some contemplation, the chancellor tipped his body back and leapt from the window.
At the moment the scene was witnessed by some students who screamed in alarm.
WHOOSH!
A gust of wind arose and gently wrapped itself around the chancellor’s body.
He landed softly, tidied up his disheveled hair from the wind, and walked across the campus.
“Forget dignity. I’m worried.”
If anything had happened, he was determined to definitely help.
And as he firmly resolved to do so, he was called by someone.
“Dear, chancellor.”
He turned his head to see a woman of advanced years.
“It’s been a long time, Professor Roxana.”
Roxana, who taught summoning magic.
“Why is the chancellor stepping out of doors?”
“I’m not always cooped up in my room.”
“A hundred and eighty days a year… no, three hundred days in a year. If you’re cooped up for that long, every single day counts,” she remarked.
“…Hmm.”
With a troubled heart, the chancellor stroked his cheek until it occurred to him that Arthur took summoning magic classes.
“Professor Roxana, do you happen to know a student named Arthur?”
“I know him, I know him. How could I ever forget a familiar mage that comes around every few decades?”
“Have you happened to see Arthur today?”
“Ah…”
This time, Roxana showed a perplexed expression.
This reaction made the chancellor raise a curious eyebrow.
“Well… I didn’t think it was the kind of thing he’d do…”
“Did something happen?”
“Arthur hasn’t been coming to school for the past week.”
“…What?”
The chancellor doubted his own ears.
‘I thought it was just today. What, a week?!’
Attempting to hide his flustered heart, the chancellor asked.
“Skipping class for seven days straight, did something occur?”
“Hmm… nothing comes to mind, and it seems the other professors are clueless too. Still, why is the chancellor looking for Arthur?”
“…”
“…Chancellor?”
“Yes? What did you say?”
“I asked why the chancellor is looking for Arthur?”
“Ah… It’s nothing serious. I’ll be off now, since I have an urgent meeting.”
As the chancellor walked off in quick strides, Roxana stared blankly at his receding form.
“That’s not the way to the conference room but the direction to the first dormitory…”
Recalling both the chancellor and Arthur, Roxana murmured in disbelief.
“Now that I think about it, they do resemble each other somewhat…”
But only a moment passed.
“Hmph, the chancellor, with his age. And how could such a workaholic possibly have a family?”
Roxana shook her head.
“Absolutely impossible.”
—
The chancellor cleared his throat in front of the door.
His racing heart pounded harder than when meeting the emperor of the magic empire. He tapped on his chest twice in an attempt to calm it, took a deep breath, and then—
Ding Dong!
He pressed the doorbell and waited for a little.
“…”
“….”
“…..”
“……”
“……?”
As the doorbell rang out but received no response, the chancellor tilted his head in confusion and pressed the bell again.
Ding Dong!
“……”
Receiving no response, the chancellor pressed his ear against the door and immediately regretted doing so.
“Damn it…”
He scolded himself for forgetting that soundproofing magic existed and for resorting to such a dated method. He then deployed a detection spell.
All dormitory doors had been given a protection magic that couldn’t be penetrated by even a few hundred detection spells, but the one casting that protective magic was none other than the chancellor himself.
His own magic should have passed through smoothly.
It should have…
Tuuung –
“…Huh?”
The detection spell was repelled.
“There’s no way…?”
As the chancellor tilted his head once more, he cast an even stronger detection spell, but—
Tuuung –
As usual, it was repelled.
‘If I can’t penetrate it, that means there’s a new protection magic cast… Lily’s work, perhaps?’
The chancellor’s brain quickly processed the information.
Arthur has been absent for a week.
No response even when the doorbell’s rung.
Lily’s protective magic (presumed) on his room.
Arthur’s recent engagement to Lily.
“…No way?!”
A bead of cold sweat trickled down the chancellor’s face as he arrived at the conclusion after much deliberation.
“He-he’s an adult, after all. They are engaged, so it’s not like they’re doing anything forbidden… but for a whole week?!”
Even as he tried to rationalize it, the one-week timeline tripped him up.
Then the chancellor remembered Lily’s past.
“…It’s possible…? Arthur is a bit of a stretch, but surely Lily wouldn’t squeeze him until he croaks?”
After somehow rationalizing it, the chancellor nodded.
“Hmm hmm, I too lost track of time during the early days of my marriage. Not hearing the doorbell is entirely possible.”
With that thought, he attempted to turn around but paused after taking a step.
“…What if I’m wrong?”
What if something had genuinely happened in there?
With such thoughts of unease, the chancellor eventually turned back towards the door. Pulling up a lot of magic, he deployed the strongest detection spell he was capable of.
The moment the detection spell reached the defensive magic,
Click –
“Huh?”
The detection spell passed through without resistance.
While the protective magic remained active.
It was almost like it had willingly let his magic through after recognizing the chancellor’s magic.
The chancellor may have been puzzled, but since the detection spell had passed, he examined the inside of the room.
To his expectation, the room inside was utterly quiet.
If anything…
“It’s too quiet?”
All the lights were off, and leftover food was scattered over the dining table.
Finally, as the chancellor inspected the bed,
“!!!”
He immediately cast an obstruction magic in front of the dormitory room and grabbed the doorknob.
The dormitory rooms at the Academy only open for their respective owners, but the chancellor, being the exception, had permission to open all doors.
This master key was a safety measure against any unforeseen accidents.
As the door recognized the chancellor and unlocked itself, the chancellor immediately pushed the door open and rushed inside.
“Arthur!”
Hurrying over, the chancellor stopped at the bed.
Arthur, who had been lying there, raised his head at the sound of someone calling his name.
His silvery hair had lost its luster and was messy, and all the chubbiness that Lily had tried so hard to nurture had disappeared.
What was most alarming, however, was his face. His sunken cheeks were streaked with tear marks, his eyes were swollen and dark with shadows, making him look almost like a corpse.
“Hmm…”
Squinting against the light entering from the opened door, Arthur gazed blankly at the chancellor.
“…Dean?”
It was uncertain just how long he had lain there as his neck was completely stiff.
“Right, it’s me. What happened exactly? Where did Lily go, and why are you—?”
The chancellor couldn’t continue his sentence because Arthur’s eyes reddened the moment he said the name “Lily.”
“…How much time has passed?”
“Huh?”
“How long since I haven’t gone out?”
“One week.”
“…A week.”
Arthur’s gaze shifted blankly towards the calendar.
“Already a week…?”
“What exactly happened?”
This time the chancellor did not even mention Lily’s name but Arthur’s eyes were already misting up.
“Sniff… Ah, I shouldn’t… Lily would be sad if she saw me cry…”
Already with his sleeve drenched with tears, Arthur wiped his eyes as the chancellor involuntarily moved forward.
Poof –
Arthur’s eyes widened as he was embraced by the chancellor.
“Dean…?”
“…”
Even the chancellor was shocked by his reflexive action, but he slowly raised his hand and gently patted Arthur’s back.
It was a rather clumsy gesture since it was something he hadn’t done in a long time, yet —
This clumsy touch broke down the wall Arthur had been trying to maintain.
“Sniff… Huu…”
Listening to the soft sobs, the chancellor sighed deeply.
“Let me calm you down first.”
—
“Drink it.”
The chancellor quickly boiled the tea he had brought from his room and handed it over to Arthur.
Even as Arthur took the cup, he only blankly stared at it.
“Since you’ve cried so much, you must be dehydrated. Drink it.”
At the chancellor’s words, Arthur started sipping the tea cautiously.
The chancellor sat across from Arthur, not saying anything as he waited.
Whenever Arthur’s cup emptied, he would fill it again, and when the tea ran out, he would boil another pot while continuing to wait.
After some time had passed, Arthur finally spoke.
“Dean said I can trust him, right?”
“Who, Lily?”
“That’s right.”
“Indeed…”
As it turned out Lily had said that, the chancellor felt somewhat proud for some inexplicable reason.
“She said she’d never do anything to harm me.”
“That’s correct.”
“Why?”
“Why?”
“Didn’t you hate Lily? Naturally, I thought you wouldn’t think favorably of me, her summoner.”
The chancellor momentarily shut his mouth.
It wasn’t the right time to explain the truth, given Arthur’s current state.
Being in such a fragile state, like a bubble that would burst at slight provocation, careful handling was necessary.
“…I have an obligation to protect my students.”
“You threw us into Dreamland, didn’t you?”
“That was because Nyarlathotep pulled a fast one on us! ”
“Ha ha… I was just joking.”
Arthur managed a smile, but his trembling lips betrayed his effort.
Seeing this, the chancellor couldn’t help but ask.
“What exactly happened?”
After pondering for a moment, Arthur recalled what Lily had said.
“Dean will never do anything to harm you.”
Though he had been the one who abducted him, Arthur decided to trust Lily, who had put her faith in the chancellor.
“…Do you know the Abyssal Assembly?”
“Wha—?!”
The chancellor leaped to his feet, his hand trembling.
“Are you saying right now that Lily… went to the Absolute Abyss?”
“Yes.”
“What, it hasn’t been that long since the last Abyssal Assembly…?”
The chancellor’s mind was racing.
‘With no contact from Hypnos or any other Elder Gods, the Elder Gods probably don’t know yet… but why the Abyssal Assembly…? ‘
A sudden thought struck him.
“I see. The Absolute Abyss… a place where time doesn’t flow properly. She must have no idea how long it would take… ‘
“Yes, according to Lily, it could be as short as a few seconds or as long as several decades.”
The chancellor realized that Lily had lied to Arthur to calm him down.
One could lose tens of millions of years while spending time in the Absolute Abyss.
Even several decades is laughable.
‘But judging from Arthur’s state, he must already have figured it out. That’s why he’s in this condition. They might never meet again in life.’
The chancellor felt a pang of sorrow at the thought of his descendant going through the same experience as him.
“Damn it… this shouldn’t be passed down…!”
“Lily said there was a way.”
“A way?”
“Yes, the Outer God sponsoring this conference is Yog-Sothoth. If we ask Him…”
“What?!?”
The chancellor sprang to his feet for the second time.
“Yog-Sothoth? Lily told you that?”
“Yes, she said she would come back immediately if she asked Yog-Sothoth.”
“Hmm… Yes, it’s entirely possible with Yog-Sothoth.”
Among all the beings slumbering at the heart of the Absolute Abyss, Yog-Sothoth was the closest to the omnipotent God that humans spoke of.
Bringing Lily back immediately would be no great feat with his power.
But would Yog-Sothoth actually listen to Lily’s request…
‘Why did Yog-Sothoth initiate this assembly in the first place? Was it not because He roams realms on the verge of collapse? Could he be stepping into a power struggle…?’
A dreadful scenario crossed the chancellor’s mind.
If Yog-Sothoth was involved in a power struggle, the dimensional world would turn into a sea of fire in an instant.
This train of thought was disrupted by a voice.
“But given that Lily hasn’t returned yet, it must have failed, right…?”
In the first few days after Lily’s departure, Arthur had thought up stories to greet her when she returned. But by the fourth or fifth day, he began to confine himself in bed, shedding tears through sleepless nights.
Arthur pulled out a small photograph from his chest.
It was a photo of Lily taken during their zoo date.
The cute picture of Lily donning a pair of cat ears and making playful gestures would normally have elicited a smile, but for Arthur, it was merely a tool to reminisce about Lily now.
Seeing Arthur’s smile, a smile born from recollection, the chancellor overlaid his own image on it.
Wasn’t it akin to the image of himself reminiscing about the departed wife?
At least the chancellor had a mission and a duty to move forward.
However, Arthur had no such thing left.
Lily wanted Arthur to be content with just her.
She had gradually filled Arthur’s every action with her own presence.
But now, in this situation, it had become a poison instead.
Without Lily, Arthur couldn’t move forward.
The very path to move forward vanished.
A person emptied out, devoid of anything.
The chancellor had met a few such people over the centuries. He knew what kind of end results awaited them.
The chancellor didn’t want his descendant to meet such a terrible conclusion.
Clutching his trembling jaw, the chancellor struggled to speak.
“There’s a way.”
“…”
“A way for you to communicate with Lily.”
The chancellor decided to lift Arthur,
Even if it plunged him into a deeper abyss of despair.
