I managed to escape, but nothing was resolved.
I miraculously managed to escape from the tent, which seemed to be the work of demons, but that very tent still stands solidly in place.
While I achieved my goal, Duke Oseong, who failed to accomplish his mission, trembled with frustration.
“I couldn’t hear anything properly when I went inside. What on earth happened in there?”
“… You’re probably curious. Yes, I was completely helpless and must have had some interesting experiences.”
Though I wasn’t particularly curious, I decided to listen to what he had to say anyway.
“Well… right after entering the tent, a gigantic mirror reflected everyone. Then people appeared through the mirror and began attacking. We managed to send one person out, so it looks like the rescue signal got through.”
It seems that one person could escape when not everyone had entered.
At first, everyone got entangled in their fakes, causing chaos, but when a fake appeared that resembled Duke Oseong, all the other entities vanished, leaving Duke Oseong to fight against him non-stop.
Thanks to Duke Oseong stepping up to fight, the other knights survived.
Duke Oseong’s rule is to manipulate the coefficient of friction.
When combined with his unique fighting style, it allows him to run away forever without exerting much effort and conserve energy, but he chose to confront the situation head-on because there would be casualties otherwise.
“Since I’m fighting against my own fake, there’s absolutely no way I would lose.”
I didn’t expect much from his arrogant personality, but aside from that, I was surprisingly impressed with how capable he was as a master.
In this aspect, swordsmen really vary.
While the swordsman had a gentlemanly and respectable image, in reality, he was a madman who would slaughter innocent people when bored and commit all kinds of evil deeds to become a master again.
Duke Oseong, who seemed to indulge in all sorts of pleasures and enjoy a flamboyant lifestyle trying to leave a legacy, appeared much more composed.
“I’ll think about what to do about that later. My primary goal was to rescue you.”
“It’s frustrating to be useless…”
“It’s not in vain. Thanks to you, we at least know how things are on the inside.”
Following the evacuation order, everyone began to move together.
Thank goodness no one was foolish enough to insist on staying back to fight.
Though I’d leave things to them for now… it’s concerning, so I might as well keep an eye on it.
———————
After Duke Oseong safely returned to the Five Kingdoms Alliance, a special investigation team was sent to the tent.
“Isn’t it a bit much to call us late for something this interesting?”
“You suggested we could enter as long as the Other Space remains intact.”
“Hehe, if you’ve set up the board like this, I couldn’t ask for anything more. I’ll dismantle it thoroughly and figure it all out.”
Upon seeing the toy that had neither magic nor magical energy used, the magic master Hoenheim’s eyes lit up.
She accurately sensed the influence zone of the tent-style Other Space and decided to separate the investigation area.
At first glance, it seemed like it was regenerating infinitely without suffering any damage, but there must surely be a mechanism in place to maintain that.
Just like Duke Oseong’s fakes existed solely within the Other Space, this tent would likely be in the same context.
Hoenheim planned to cover the outside of the Other Space with another of her own.
If she could cover it with her own space, she’d have a clear grasp of the structure.
As various objects were arranged where desired and Hoenheim’s magic began to dominate the space, someone slipped out of the tent and fled past the encirclement, but by pure coincidence, no one noticed.
———————
After swiftly finishing the job, I returned to the academy as if nothing had happened.
After sending Duke Oseong off and returning to the Church Country, I found myself troubled again by McKinto, but no major conclusions emerged.
In less than a few hours, Gemma was still waiting for transfer news, and half of the carriages that had been waiting at the port just arrived, bringing the exhausted faces of the strong family offspring into the dormitory.
Waving at them with a grin, I immediately called for Amy.
“… A demon holding a mirror?”
“Yeah. I wondered if you might know something about it.”
I didn’t, but I trusted that Amy might have some idea.
“Um… let me think for a moment.”
“No need to rush.”
As Amy listened to what I had witnessed, she wore a serious expression.
After thinking for a minute and mumbling to herself, she suddenly looked like she’d seen a ghost.
“Uh… did Atlas happen to see that mirror???”
“I held it right in front; of course it showed. I did cut its neck though; what was the problem?”
Even I couldn’t avoid putting a mirror right in front of me.
It wasn’t like I was moving faster than the speed of light, and it’s a trap anyone could fall into.
However, unlike with Duke Oseong, at least nothing happened to me right then, so I thought it wouldn’t concern me, but judging by her expression, it seemed otherwise.
Amy’s complexion turned pale as she heard I’d seen it in the mirror.
“Ah… um… what do we do now…?”
“What is it?”
“To be honest, I haven’t seen that demon myself, so this is just a ‘legend’ I’m sharing.”
What Amy recounted was a common legend about the mirror demon in the continent.
It says that a demon appears before a child who doesn’t listen and traps them inside the mirror, while a fake emerges from within the mirror to live in their place.
“That’s just a legend, though. I wasn’t trapped in a mirror, and a fake didn’t appear as with others. So isn’t it fine?”
“That might be, but the mirror demon was a real ancient demon. For some reason, it couldn’t be defeated and was ‘sealed’ a thousand years ago… if Atlas really saw that demon, it means the seal has been broken.”
“It must have been pretty foul if they opted for sealing even back then.”
A thousand years ago would just be on the edge as the age of the ancient gods came to a close.
Back then, there were more gods than now, and many people possessed holy power.
It was a direct cause of the ancient demon worshippers being smashed long ago, reducing them to operate in small groups for several millennia, indicating that they were deemed impossible to kill.
Reflecting for a moment, I felt everything created by that tent or demons, even their fakes, lacked any tangible sensation.
If this continued, it wouldn’t be strange to feel that way.
“Yes… for now, nothing has happened, but there might still be something we haven’t used, so it might be best to be cautious for a while. Among demons, there are many types with similar powers. And if the mirror demon has been released, it’s likely that other ancient demons known to be sealed have been released too.”
That sounded ominously foreboding.
‘… Ancient demons… if they are ancient beings, don’t you think they might know something?’
In this world, there are many beings that have lived for over a thousand years and are still intact.
Though they deemed it too difficult to handle back then and sealed it, they might not offer great help now, but it’s better than doing nothing at all.
I should find the time to have a conversation with them.
‘At a time like this, they’re sure to remain asleep.’
It was only regretful that the elder who once thrived alongside the ancient demons didn’t awaken but remained asleep.
.
.
.
Time passed, and soon the moment of the semester start arrived.
“Are they still investigating?”
“They’ve analyzed everything they can from outside and are now preparing an investigation team to enter.”
A week had passed, but there was still no notable progress.
Investigations don’t yield quick results; they take time, but the stillness of the tent-like Other Space, without any signs, was quite unsettling.
“This is the academy, huh… I knew everything that they talked about in class, though.”
“Right, Gemma is smart.”
“Hehe.”
When Gemma, who had just finished her first lecture, was proud of herself, I complimented her, and she grinned.
After the morning lecture, I went out for lunch and spotted a regular ship coming into the port from afar.
Regular ships always come and go, so it didn’t strike me as odd, but the port was unusually raucous.
Classes had begun, so not many should be arriving, but it seemed like a lot of people disembarked.
“… Who are those people?”
Just the fact that a crowd of people disembarking was strange, but it sent a chill down my spine when I noticed they were all heading toward this place.
I hadn’t done anything wrong, so why on earth was this happening?
It didn’t take me long to realize why I was feeling that way.
“Dreaded criminal Atlas Titan, hear this! The time has come for you to pay for the atrocities you committed in the capital!!”
“Ugh… No… please… save my father….”
Strangers came rushing in, all of them clamoring at me.
What’s with this nonsense on the very first day?
