The Greatest Magicmaster’s Retirement Plan: Volume 8, page 8
After a quick look around the cafeteria, the two went to the upper floors. Here there were spaces for meeting and chatting, as well as training rooms for the students.
But right now... “There are quite a few people here,” Alus observed.
“So it seems. What’s happening?”
This was the biggest hall in the Institute. “It looks like the principal is explaining the Institute to the legal guardians of potential students,” Alus said. “Based on the timing, it’s probably the third time she’s done it.”
“That’s a lot of potential students.”
“Yes. There’s been a lot of changes this year, so the explanation probably covers those too. Do you want to listen in? It should be helpful if you’re going to enroll next year.”
Noir was lost in thought for a moment. When she was thinking with such a blank expression, that pale, well-shaped face of hers looked like a doll’s face. “You’re escorting me now, so I think I’ll pass for today. I can always hear it some other time.”
“Right.” Alus had hoped to get rid of her here... but it seemed he’d have to give up on that. He glanced at the wall clock, and the two left the auditorium behind.
When they arrived at the research building, they went to the exhibition hall. On display were the research results of student groups under teacher guidance. The two looked over the exhibits, but when they got to a room on the third floor, Alus noticed something odd.
Upon entering the room, his eyes were drawn to a certain man. The man had a clean and stylish formal appearance. But the way he gazed at a specific display on the wall with a fire in his eyes was abnormal.
He doesn’t look like a Magicmaster. Who is he?
Among the twenty or so visitors, upon closer inspection, Alus saw another two people that stood out as not looking like Magicmasters or researchers.
One of them was standing next to the first man. The third was some distance away from the other two. The strange thing about the first two was that they seemed to become aware of each other at the same time, as if there was some timing involved.
The exhibition had all kinds of things from delicate machinery to new military equipment to prototype AWRs. There were even new magic circuits that made use of artificial mana, which was a great academic and military presentation for the students.
Photography was forbidden in the exhibition. There were also rope dividers set up to keep the exhibits from being touched.
Suddenly, the sharply-dressed man leaned over the divider. He brought his face close to a strange orb on display and let out an impressed sound.
Alus stopped in his tracks, his nerves on alert. And sure enough, in the next instant, a loud clatter rang out. The man who’d leaned forward must’ve gotten caught on something, as the rope dividers fell over each other.
Seeing the man fall backwards, a noisy chatter erupted from the guests.
Alus sighed. “Sorry, Noir. Give me a moment.” Normally he wouldn’t do anything. It was just an accident, and it wasn’t like the exhibit had been damaged. Indeed, this sort of event would usually end with nothing more happening.
However, he still chose to use a more forceful method. Moving up to the man in the blink of an eye to secure the scene, Alus said, “Sorry, but you’ll have to accompany me to security headquarters. Of course, you’re free to resist, if you like.”
“W-Who the hell are you?!”
Alus twisted the arm of one of the mysterious duo who stood next to the man who’d fallen over.
“This is unreasonable. I haven’t done anything!” The man insisted on his innocence by shouting and attracting attention. But once Alus pried his hand open, revealing what was inside, the onlookers’ stares turned hostile.
In it was a piece of magic equipment used in a precious new technology. It wasn’t allowed to be photographed, let alone touched, and would likely fetch a high price. So the man’s crime was obvious.
Alus then took the man’s other arm, holding both arms behind his back, and scooped up the evidence.
The man spun around and took a swing at Alus’ face. Seeing as he dislocated his arm to do it, he was no amateur even if he wasn’t a Magicmaster. He was clearly used to this kind of fighting.
There were a few guards stationed at the research building, but they probably wouldn’t have been able to handle it. Especially considering the skills these people used to steal and their ability to force their way through even when restrained.
Alus decided that even if he were to dodge the attack, it would take an extra amount of effort. Moreover, breaking his arms or legs to prevent his escape would be unwise in such a big crowd. Security or not, he was still a student, and he didn’t want to damage the exhibit.
That said, it would be a pain if he used magic. The man might not be a Magicmaster, but Alus wasn’t going to let his guard down around someone this suspicious.
He lightly interfered with space, as he deflected the man’s fist. When he did so, the man’s fist that should have been only somewhat parried suddenly changed its trajectory, as if it had hit a sturdy wall.
With his stance broken, the man staggered. Yet he immediately tried following up with another attack.
However, Alus was pressed for time and didn’t let him. He swept his legs out from under him, and when the man was in midair, grabbed his collar and drove him headfirst into the floor to knock him unconscious.
Alus’ attention immediately shifted to the other person who’d appeared unrelated at first. This one was secretly cooperating with the man Alus captured. He’d stayed at a distance through the whole incident and was now trying to make his escape.
Standing at the entrance he was hurrying towards was Noir. She stood there like Alus told her to and just happened to be in his way.
With bloodshot eyes and frustration in his voice, he growled at Noir, “Move!”
Since he was an accomplice to the man Alus had caught, it made sense to assume he had similar skills. Leaving the unconscious man on the floor, Alus tried to get to Noir to help her, but...
Noir didn’t so much as try to get out of the man’s way. Instead, she stepped right into his path. “Where might you be going? You’re in on it, aren’t you?” she said with an unfaltering smile.
When he understood Noir was purposefully standing in his way, the man sneered and looked down at her. He shook his sleeve with a small movement, and a knife-type AWR fell out, landing in his hand. Wordlessly, the man constructed a spell while hiding his hand inside his sleeve, smoothly closing the distance to Noir.
But the man found himself unable to stab her in the abdomen as he’d planned. He couldn’t even cast the spell he’d readied. Instead, he felt like his world was spinning.
Before the man knew it, Noir had grabbed his wrist with both hands and used his momentum against him to throw him.
He looked like he would crash headfirst into the floor like Alus had done to the first man, but he continued to spin and was neatly dropped on his feet. He was then poked in the back of his knees, forcing him to sit on his knees without even realizing what had happened.
Standing behind him, Noir’s smile turned obscene. Her cheeks were a light red as she twisted his arm. She covered his eyes with her hand and whispered something.
Before long, the man’s lips began trembling, and he dropped the knife.
Finally, Noir spread out the fingers of her hand that covered his eyes like a magician, and the man’s entire body shook as he hung his head low.
Once that was done, Noir searched his body and found another stolen exhibit that he’d taken at the same time the first man committed his theft. She then gleefully held it up for Alus. “I got it back!” Not paying any heed to the dumbfounded crowd around them, Noir turned her joyful glance on Alus alone.
Alus was relieved to see she was safe. “Right, now it’s your turn. Bring out that thing you put in your pocket and come with me to security headquarters. Once those two start to talk, you’ll be exposed anyways,” he told the sharply-dressed man who’d fallen over.
The man must have fallen over on purpose to create a scene, giving the other two a chance to steal the goods. He too was involved in the wrongdoings here. Seemingly giving up, the man pulled out two small cameras from his pockets. The two men had apparently delivered these to him before they committed their own crimes. Then they’d distanced themselves from one another and timed their thefts.
In other words, while those two stole the items, the sharply-dressed man secretly took photos. All three of them were working together. And as long as any one of them could escape, it would’ve been enough.
In fact, Alus believed the two thieves were a distraction, and their capture was probably considered acceptable. From his point of view, it was the designs that were valuable. Even if they had the parts, they wouldn’t understand the inner workings.
Being as large a nation as it was, Alpha had its fair share of corporate spies. But the man Alus captured used strange martial arts, and the man who’d rushed Noir even brought out an AWR to use magic. It was rare to see spies being so combative.
Regardless, it wasn’t Alus’ job to deal with. So he called a nearby security member over and instructed them to bring reinforcements.
The first captured man spoke up in frustration. “You’re pretty skilled for a student.”
“That doesn’t matter. Just tell me who hired you.” Alus didn’t so much as listen to him, as he curtly demanded an answer.
“...”
But his answer was silence. It seemed these men were professional criminals. So it probably wasn’t going to be easy to make them talk.
“You don’t know when to give up, do you?” Noir uttered with a chilling smile, as she slowly walked over to the man. She bent down, putting her hand on her chin as she stared into the man’s face, before her expression contorted into a sneer. “Don’t you think so?”
“—!!” The man’s face twitched, his body stiffening...
... But Alus stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Sorry, Noir... but could you wait a minute?” It wasn’t like he was worried she’d get hurt. If anything, he felt it would be a good idea to keep her away from the men for their sake.
All he had to do was hand the men over to security. While he was on the Consensor, he contacted Illumina to enhance security around his classroom as well. It was filled with precious items like the prototype AWR, after all. It wasn’t so much the AWR itself, but rather the technology inside of it that might be valuable to corporate spies.
But Illumina said, “You don’t have to worry. We’ve already received the information. All done by the book, of course.”
He didn’t quite follow what she meant, so he gave her a vague reply, but it seemed he wouldn’t have to worry about the same thing happening elsewhere.
Once he was done with his conversation, Alus was greeted by a waiting and fidgety Noir. “Did I mention that I saw your match in the tournament?”
“Yeah,” Alus casually replied. But he felt a cold sensation run down his spine at her next words.
“So... What is your affinity?” Noir calmly smiled, as if poised for the answer. Despite her soft demeanor, her stare fixed Alus in place.
She hadn’t enrolled at the Institute yet. So she shouldn’t have any professional insight into the field of magic. He’d thought of her as nothing more than a prospective student, but it appeared he’d been naïve.
The magic Alus used to repel the thief’s attack didn’t have an affinity. He’d used spatial coordinates to create an invisible force field that deflected the attack. But even if you saw it firsthand, it wasn’t something a normal person would be able to tell.
Alus wasn’t careless enough to let someone who wasn’t even a novice Magicmaster yet catch on to his magic. Even if the man that threw the punch was a Magicmaster, even he shouldn’t have been able to see through it.
“... Well, I’m sure you’ll find out if you get the chance,” Alus told Noir vaguely, with some sarcasm mixed in, trying to emphasize the unspoken rule among Magicmasters that one shouldn’t pry into others’ magic.
“That’s true. I’ll figure it out eventually.” Noir gave an unexpectedly understanding answer.
It took the wind out of Alus’ sails, but at the same time, he found her interesting.
Speaking of which—after Noir had splendidly dealt with the second thief’s attack—his soul seemed to leave his body when she covered his eyes. Also, she already had an understanding of the unspoken rule between active Magicmasters.
It was this mysterious side of Noir that left an impression on Alus, rather than the strange actions she’d performed on the thief. Truly, it was frightening in a sense.
Eventually it was time for the tour to restart. And Noir’s mood seemed lighter than before. But it wasn’t as if she’d forgotten what happened. “By the way, Alus, are you familiar with martial arts?” She casually let her gaze wander, as she deliberately took a step beyond the unspoken rule.
Alus decided to at least give her an answer. Of course, he didn’t reveal his affinity, nor was his answer particularly witty. “Well, just a little. Although I suppose you could call it self-taught. I don’t think observing it in action would be of any help.”
“Oh, how modest. Though I don’t think that an ordinary student could master that kind of skill.” This was a sharp observation, but perhaps Noir had mastered martial arts too. “On top of that... you also seem familiar with how to destroy the human body,” she muttered.
Alus answered with a wry smile, as if to deny this disturbing and gloomy truth. “Oh, not at all. Even Magicmasters need more than just magic to survive in this world, so you have nothing to lose from training your body.”
“Hmmm,” Noir murmured, tilting her head. There seemed to be some confusion in her eyes.
Alus began feeling uncomfortable, as if his mouth was moving on its own, but nevertheless, for some reason, he became a little more talkative. Even though he was feigning friendliness, it was unusual for him to speak this much with someone he’d only just met.
But the fact that he had to escort Noir in the first place was something that couldn’t be helped. Not to mention that he’d received Illumina’s approval, so he had to play the role of a friendly senior, which prompted his tongue to loosen more than usual.
As they walked, their conversation gradually drifted away from the Institute and turned into Alus talking about himself, like how he thought and felt about certain events.
He felt a haze coming over his thoughts. The atmosphere turned vaguely sweet, and he could feel his mood improving. Eventually, he even forgot about the time as he held a lively chat with Noir.
Before he realized it, Alus was standing at the Institute gates. He was just about to say goodbye to Noir.
“Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule.”
“Don’t worry about it, I enjoyed it too.” Alus waved as he saw her off.
There were still plenty of people waiting to be let into the Institute, yet Noir stopped, interrupting the flow, and gave Alus a deep bow.
Even after that, she’d look back from time to time as if she was reluctant to go, until eventually she was swallowed up in the crowds.
Alus turned around and shrugged. “What a strange girl.” She’d left a bit of an impression on him for a noble.
But the next moment, he thought about the nobles gathered around him, and a smile naturally formed on his lips. So that’s what it is.
The proverb about birds of a feather wasn’t lost on him.
Forty-Sixth Chapter
Tens of Thousands of Hostages
The first day of the campus festival was a massive success, seeing the highest number of visitors ever recorded, with men and women of all ages taking part.
The campus grounds were normally too large for the Institute to use effectively, but not today. However, the bigger the success, the more cracks formed in security. And by now the event was so large scale that it was impossible to keep watch everywhere.
With the Godma Barhong incident earlier in the year, and the increased number of visitors from the other nations, the military had poured more Magicmasters into security for the campus festival than ever before. They secured the outer perimeter and also blended in with the general crowd. Fortunately, there were only a few highly popular spots, and places not used for the festival were roped off with entry being forbidden.
That said, the areas outside of the buildings were packed, meaning it was possible for children to get separated from their parents by the flow of people. There were also a lot of people falling in the crowd and getting hurt, so there were many heading over to the infirmary.
In the midst of all the noise and festive atmosphere, that blended in as if it was a matter of course.
That was a figure dressed in a large robe covering their entire body. Considering how the climate was artificially controlled in the human domain, it would be a stretch to call it just a thick layer of clothing.
Wearing the large robe was a girl who made use of her small size to weave through the crowds. If she was lost, there didn’t seem to be anyone looking for her.
Eventually, she picked up speed after leaving the main area and veering off into a side street. She even crossed over a rope denying access to the rest of the Institute, jogging to a less hectic area of the grounds. Before long, the hustle and bustle of the festival was a distant echo in the background, and the main building was so far away you could only see the top of its roof.
“Well, I didn’t think it would be so easy. I guess they led me on, or I should say, set me up. I never should’ve listened to the drivel of the dead,” the girl spat out in a complaining tone, as she stopped in a grove.
“Young lady, you’re not allowed in here,” a kind woman’s voice called out to the girl.
In that instant, the girl quietly clicked her tongue and spun around to face the owner of the voice. She now wore a timid and helpless expression fit for a child of her age. “I-I’m sorry, I got lost,” she said in a cute tone.
When she heard that voice, the slender young woman that called out to her showed a gentle smile. She had golden hair, and her bangs covered one of her eyes.
