“What is a proxy magic war?”
I’ve never heard of it.
” Well, I think it’s best to look it up or ask someone more knowledgeable, but I’ll try to give a brief explanation.”
“Please do.”
Impressive as always, Senpai.
“Astral is a world created by wizards who escaped from the old witch hunts. Over time, wizards from various countries gradually fled here, bringing us to the present day.”
“I’m aware of that much.”
Though, I still don’t quite fully understand.
“In other words, this world has people from many different countries, and some even travel back and forth between the other world and this one. Kind of like you.”
“That’s right. I commute from my family home in Japan.”
“So naturally, conflicts from the other world also affect this one. For instance, during the Hundred Years’ War, the French and British factions here were terrible enemies.”
“Hundred Years’…?”
I’m half-French, but I really don’t know anything about it.
“Huh?”
“The culmination of such conflict reached its peak during the two World Wars. The situation became so dire that an actual war broke out here in Astral too. The reason being that the committee overseeing Astral at the time contained members from both the Axis and Allied powers.”
“U…Um…”
What is she talking about?
“Yes.”
It’s complete jibberish to me.
“……Is it too complicated? Hmm… Well, simply put, the World Wars from the other world also had ripple effects here, culminating in a war among wizards.”
“I see.”
“Many wizards died during that time. Moreover, due to the severe splitting of the administration and the intensity of the fighting, a considerable amount of magic and technology were lost. Which means the magic down here could very well contain valuable results from magical research.”
I see.
So there’s a possibility that magic lost during the war might be sleeping down there.
After all the detailed explanation, I at least understand that much.
“Understood!”
“……Let me be blunt: why don’t you take history classes?”
No way.
“Nowadays, everyone gets along, right? So what’s the problem?”
” Well, I suppose…?”
That’s right.
“Alright, let’s head underground.”
“Is this kid going to be alright?”
“He’ll be fine, right? There are people like him after all.”
Joan-senpai and Andy-senpai exchange glances.
“Alright then… Let’s go, shall we? I’ll use a light spell, but watch your step.”
Joan-senpai then took out a rod that looked like chopsticks and aimed it at the staircase.
Soon, the darkness at the end of the staircase brightened up.
“Wow! The lights turned on!”
“Electricity? This is just a basic spell… Oh, that’s right, you’ve only been here for one or two months. There are spells that can illuminate an area and make it as bright as daylight.”
That’s amazing.
“Shall we?”
With that, Joan-senpai descended the stairs, and Andy-senpai and I followed.
After heading down the stairs, we encountered a straight path. On either side, there were numerous doors, and the end wasn’t in sight.
“There really are a lot of them.”
“Back then, there were more wizards than now. With everyone wanting their own lab, there wasn’t enough space above ground, so they had to go underground.”
“Ah… Now that you mention it, Principal did mention everyone gets their own lab when showing me my dorm room. Though, I still haven’t put anything in mine.”
“People who aren’t in research fields aren’t uncommon. Some people even just have weapons lying around.”
Frank is probably one of them.
“Still, there are so many rooms. We’re not allowed to enter any but our designated ones, right?”
“Of course. Besides, you can’t anyway. Follow me.”
Joan-senpai started walking, so Andy-senpai and I followed her. After walking for a while, Joan-senpai stopped in front of a certain room.
“Um… Is this the place… Room 120… Here we go.”
Indeed, “120” was written on the door.
“Will this one open?”
“Now I’ll release the seal. Just a moment.”
Joan-senpai took out a card of some sort and stuck it on the door. The card vanished immediately.
“It’s done. Let’s go in… Huh?”
Joan-senpai, gripping the doorknob, tilted her head in confusion.
“What’s wrong?”
“It won’t open…”
Joan-senpai pulled on the doorknob with all her might, but the door didn’t budge at all.
“Is it locked?”
“Doesn’t feel like it… Ah, darn… It’s rusted shut.”
Joan-senpai examined the doorknob and the doorframe.
“Rust?”
“Probably from years of neglect. What do we do? Shall I try?”
“Inside could be important research results, so brute force isn’t a good idea… Hmm… There’s nothing for it. I’ll create an item to restore the door to its original state. We’ll deal with it that way.”
“Can you really make something like that?”
“We conduct research on that kind of thing too. But it’ll take a little time. I’ll have it ready by Sunday like we promised.”
In any case, Sunday is for the proper cleaning, so it works out.
“Understood. Does that work for you, Andy-senpai?”
“Huh? Oh, sure. Let’s go with that.”
Hm? Senpai Andy seems off.
He hasn’t spoken a word since a while ago.
“In that case, let’s do that. We can consider today as just figuring out the location. Let’s head back.”
With that, we decided to return. We retraced our steps, climbed the stairs, and exited the school building, walking our way up the hill to the divergence point between the boys’ and girls’ dormitories.
“Well, I’ll be off then. Remember, 1 PM on Sunday, both of you.”
“Understood.”
“Alright.”
Joan-senpai waved and headed toward the girls’ dormitory, so Andy-senpai and I walked toward the boys’ dormitory. Reaching the boys’ dormitory and climbing the stairs, we stopped at the second floor.
“Well then, see you again, Andy-senpai.”
“Uh… Tsukasa-kun, what did you think of Joan today?”
Wha…?
“Joan-senpai? She seemed like her usual self to me…”
“Is that so… Sorry to bother you. I guess it’s just my imagination. See you on Sunday.”
Andy-senpai seemed troubled about something but then ascended to the third floor.
I was wondering what it was about, but I don’t really understand, so I decided to return to my room.
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