Monday came around, and another week began.
That said, there were no particular troubles, and while the classes were challenging, they weren’t completely incomprehensible.
As I continued through such days, Thursday arrived, and the afternoon classes came to an end.
“Ah, I’m exhausted.”
“You worked hard. Aren’t you going to work next?”
Frank asked.
“Yeah, that’s right. Cleaning with two upperclassmen.”
“Must be tough after class. Well, good luck. We’ll be heading home.”
After Frank said that and stood up, Cedric also rose.
“Alright, do your best.”
With that, Cedric said goodbye and left with Frank.
The girls and other students also began leaving, so I stood up and exited the classroom.
When I stepped outside the school building, I saw Upperclassman Andy and Upperclassman Joan standing in front of the bulletin board.
“Sorry for being late.”
“No, I just arrived myself.”
“It’s fine. You two were in class, after all.”
They didn’t seem to care.
“Shall we start?”
“Yes, we don’t have much time, so let’s go. This way, follow me.”
Upperclassman Joan entered the school building, and Upperclassman Andy and I followed after her.
Inside the building, we headed toward the back right.
Then, Upperclassman Joan stopped in front of a certain room, so Upperclassman Andy and I also stopped.
“Is this it?”
“That’s right. There’s a staircase leading underground inside this room.”
Upperclassman Joan said this, took out a key, and unlocked the lock on the door.
“This feels like a door that never opens—it’s thrilling, doesn’t it?”
“Is it? Well, you might feel even more excited once we go inside. You can enter first if you’d like.”
Since Upperclassman Joan said this, I opened the door and went inside.
In the middle of the room, there was an ominous stone staircase leading down to the basement that didn’t match the pristine school building outside.
“Ho—this looks like the entrance to a dungeon.”
“Is it?”
Girls wouldn’t get it.
“I wonder if this place wasn’t sealed off when the building was demolished?”
“It’s what I heard from Mr. Wallace too, but because this academy has a long history, there are various places like these staircases and rooms scattered around. These places hold valuable materials. Hence, it can’t simply be sealed off. Of course, entering unauthorized is forbidden, and that’s why the room is locked like this.”
I see…
Well, it has been hundreds of years.
Feels like a treasure hunt.
“Wouldn’t it be better to examine everything at once and store it?”
“That’s the complex part. Such materials are incredibly vital for wizards—it’s something they treasure more than their lives. Actually, even my research materials can’t be shown to anyone. These important materials are scattered everywhere, but their ownership belongs to the houses of the researchers who possessed them. As I mentioned before, the strong alumni network of this academy plays a role here. Basically, it’s a situation where no one can do anything about it.”
“The families should retrieve them, shouldn’t they?”
If it’s so important, they should keep it at home.
“That’s where the strictness of the bloodlines comes into play. Do you understand it well?”
Not at all, but?
“That said, I’m not from the bloodline faction either…”
“Hmm… I’ll give you an example. A researcher from Family A left materials behind. However, that researcher passed away, and their research accomplishments were entrusted to their child. This child came from the prestigious House A and House B. Furthermore, this child married someone from the prestigious House C and had kids. This story dates back hundreds of years. So, currently, whose family does the researcher’s work belong to?”
I don’t know…
“Does it belong to House A?”
“Normally, that would be the assumption. However, both Houses B and C can claim lineage from the researcher, inheriting ownership rights and thus having claims on it.”
“That’s tricky.”
“Right? Back then, things weren’t as regulated as they are now, so things were rather casual. Now we have disputes over ownership that have resulted in a complete deadlock.”
I see…
Wouldn’t something like this be connected to La Folle?
“But if that’s the case, wouldn’t it be bad to enter without permission?”
“The area below these stairs is quite expansive, with various rooms sealed off. We’re heading to one of them. The teachers have been negotiating with various families for years now just to ask if they’d like to preserve the research results. It took quite a while.”
That teacher must have been passionate about it!
“Are the results really that great?”
“Who knows? The place hasn’t been touched.”
Wait… is it like gambling?
“Is it possible we find something useless?”
“Yes, it could be something like the recipes for atrocious potions that are in our current textbooks.”
“Really? Years of negotiations for that?”
“Yes. It might seem foolish, but there’s also the possibility of discovering something extraordinary.”
Huh…
Is there really something significant there?
“This research is from several hundred years ago, right?”
“We’re heading to one from 150 years ago?”
150 years ago…
Not the Showa era, but the Edo period…?
“Sorry, I feel there might be some historical value, but is there any magical worth? It’s from that far back, right?”
“Huh? It’s 150 years ago, before World War II?”
“Hah…? I think I learned about it in history class. Our country fought against your countries, right?”
Is that correct?
“Could it be that this person doesn’t know about the Magical Proxy Wars of World War II?”
Upperclassman Joan looked at Upperclassman Andy.
“He probably doesn’t know… I heard this person became a Wizard in May.”
“Tsukasa, you didn’t take history, did you?”
Upperclassman Joan asked me.
“No, I didn’t take it.”
I dislike it, and I have curse studies to attend.
“Is that so… It’s the first time I’ve met a Wizard who doesn’t know about the Magical Proxy Wars.”
“There’s talk about children not knowing about wars, but this is about not knowing the fact itself.”
Huh? Is it bad not to know?
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