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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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With the Head of the Association still missing, rumors began to spread like wildfire.
A sentiment began to brew: ‘If those commoner mages hadn’t been here, this wouldn’t have happened.’
Karen, another commoner mage who had arrived with Riley, nervously surveyed the situation.
“What should we do, Riley…? We’re the only commoner mages left.”
Riley remained silent, observing the hall.
Her vacant eyes held an indescribable emotion, reflecting only the noble mages around them.
Karen felt a surge of anxiety.
The atmosphere was unsettling, and she feared they might be next.
“Riley” she called out again.
“Should we just… leave? If someone is behind this, they seem to be targeting only commoners. There’s no point in staying here.”
“Let’s go…” Riley agreed quietly.
“I’m sorry, Riley.”
Karen added the apology unnecessarily.
She knew how much Riley had worked to attend Luigh Kiran, how excited she had been to receive the invitation.
She felt guilty for urging her to leave, and heartbroken by the situation.
Sadness intertwined with sadness.
They walked close together, silently heading for the exit.
But something strange happened next.
“It’s locked?”
Karen muttered, bewildered.
Karen stepped back, and Riley cautiously touched the door.
The result was the same.
“…Really? What’s going on?”
The door should have opened automatically upon sensing their mana, but it remained stubbornly shut, as if trapping them inside.
“This is strange. This shouldn’t be happening. Let me take a closer look.”
Karen focused all her attention on the door.
She tried to appear calm, but her desperation was evident.
She felt like a fool, trapped in a situation she couldn’t escape.
She was on the verge of tears.
She began to trace the mana circuits embedded in the door, one by one.
She noticed a difference from the circuits she had observed upon entering.
…It had changed.
The structure was different.
It was impossible, yet…
Suddenly—
“Riley?”
She called out to her friend.
While she had been preoccupied with the door, Riley had vanished.
“Karen!”
That was definitely Riley’s voice.
A desperate cry, echoing from somewhere within the hall.
Where?
Behind?
Above?
It seemed to be coming from above.
Startled, Karen looked up.
But Riley wasn’t there.
“Riley? Where did you go?”
Her mind raced, conjuring worst-case scenarios.
Commoner mages were being targeted, and now Riley was gone.
She couldn’t shake the feeling that something terrible had happened.
She thought she saw a flash of Riley’s orange hair in the distance.
“Seriously, why did you go back inside?”
Karen hurried towards the glimpse of orange.
Yes, it was Riley, seemingly unharmed.
“…I don’t know, I just felt like I had to”
Riley said.
“Don’t be ridiculous! We need to get out of here. This place is making us crazy.”
“Okay, let’s go.”
They started walking back towards the door.
Then, Riley began to chuckle.
“Karen”
She said.
“Remember when we first started learning magic?”
“What about it?”
“We were treated like dirt just for being commoners. So we worked even harder.”
“Ah… right. Definitely.”
Painful memories, sharp as needles, pricked at the back of Karen’s mind.
Memories she could suppress, but never forget.
Karen gave a bitter smile.
“Let’s just forget about it for now. We can talk about it over something delicious once we’re out of here.”
Right.
She distinctly heard Riley agree.
But Riley was no longer there.
“Uh… what?”
Riley had vanished right before her eyes.
Yet, her voice continued to echo.
-What in the world is going on…?
-I heard the doors are locked, too.
Amidst the chaos, Demeri and Jekkiel focused on investigating the situation.
Jekkiel’s goal was to craft a weapon for Regita and restore her to her senses.
The unresolved incident at Luigh Kiran was a significant obstacle.
Demeri suddenly spoke.
“It seems all the commoner mages have been affected.”
“Natural disasters don’t discriminate based on social status. This confirms it’s someone’s doing.”
“Yes, you’re right.”
They both nodded silently.
Regita, standing beside them, mimicked their gesture, seemingly understanding that this was the appropriate response.
But then, something in the corner of Jekkiel’s vision caught his attention.
A small detail, yet unsettling.
“Demeri,” he said.
“Yes?”
“Didn’t you say all the commoners were affected?”
“Yes, they were.”
“I don’t think so.”
Jekkiel started walking briskly, determined not to lose sight of the anomaly he had glimpsed.
“J-Jekkiel?”
Demeri looked around nervously, hurrying to keep up.
Regita followed suit.
He didn’t have to walk far.
He found what he was looking for.
“The… the ghost… it’s so scary…!”
Karen was huddled on the floor, sobbing.
Jekkiel didn’t know her name, but he remembered her as one of Riley’s companions, the one who had called out Riley’s name.
“Bizarre.”
It was beyond strange; it was bizarre.
So many mages were suffering, yet the main scenario hadn’t triggered a death branch point notification.
It didn’t make sense.
Jekkiel, currently using the commoner identity of Adrian, should have been a target.
“Let’s go.”
The anomaly Jekkiel had noticed wasn’t Karen huddled on the floor.
He started walking again, Demeri and Regita trailing behind him.
Demeri, though curious, knew better than to question him.
Regita remained oblivious.
Demeri suddenly snapped her fingers.
“Wait, Jekkiel, you’re using a commoner identity right now, aren’t you?”
“Which means you’re in danger! Even if you’re Jekkiel, getting caught up in this mess wouldn’t be good.”
She then tilted her head, reconsidering.
“No, wait, maybe we should hope he targets you? It would be perfect if he revealed himself and you could subdue him…”
“There’s no need. He’s not interested in me. That’s why I have to go to him. And I will deal with this now.”
His tone was calm and collected.
He continued walking.
Towards the unsettling source of mana.
Luigh Kiran was vast, and naturally, it had a basement level.
He descended without hesitation.
Darkness didn’t matter; his vision was enhanced in the dark.
“W-wait, Jekkiel! You’re going to the workshop without an invitation?!”
“Half right, half wrong.”
He was going to the workshop’s location, but he wouldn’t enter.
Thud.
He reached the bottom of the stairs.
The sound was different.
The floor beneath his boots was hard stone.
He had arrived.
The unsettling mana emanated from this location.
Across the vast, empty space, Demeri, Jekkiel, and Regita saw her.
“Still unharmed, I see.”
The cool, subterranean air, the wind whistling through the cavernous space, and at the far end—
A commoner mage with orange hair.
“Riley.”
Riley was there.
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[This is what happens when you don’t have the ghost busters in town, along with riley reid]
