Everything had returned to normal. As Glen was considering such things in a carefree manner—

“However, this is certainly quite surprising.”

A voice suddenly came from behind him.

“I thought that after that incident, you wouldn’t draw any ties with magic ever again.”

Glen turned around in response.

There stood Serika, who seemed to be in a good mood.

“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean? Are you saying that you wouldn’t mind me leeching off you?”

Glen replied in an annoyed manner.

“Haha, don’t get ahead of yourself, idiot.”

Despite her harsh tone, Serika showed a happy yet lonely expression.

“But really, just what has come over you? It was beyond my wildest imagination for you yourself to say that you want to become an instructor…. After all, ‘that’ had happened not too long ago.

Serika looked at Glen’s robe, which bore the mark of an owl, the symbol of an official instructor of this academy. Neither of his arms were in the sleeves of the robe. Although such a messy way of wearing it was quite becoming of Glen, that in itself was a problem.

In response to Serika’s question, Glen shook his head in a slightly apologetic manner.

“The person from that incident… Huey, was it? I don’t think that his problem is really all that different from mine. Going along with the circ.u.mstances, blaming everything on the circ.u.mstances, and never once stopping to think about what we could do about it… Well, in any case, I don’t want to blame all of the failures in my life on magic, and perhaps I should live whilst looking to the future a little bit you know?”

“…Hmm?”

“Also…”

As Glen was about to say something—

“Ah, sensei!”

“… Geez, sensei-!”

Spotting Glen, the two familiar female students ran down the corridor towards him.

Glen glanced at the two with a wry smile, spread his arms apart, and shrugged his shoulders.

“… I want to see it. I want to see what they’ll do in the future, and that in itself is enough of a reason for me to continue being a magical instructor. Well, isn’t it a good way to kill time as well?”

Hearing that, Serika showed a warm smile that was akin to a mother looking after her child.

“I see. Then work hard alright?”

“… Only if I feel like it.”

The two exchanged a brief smile.

And then, the silver-haired girl – Sistina – interjected at this moment.

“Hey sensei! I need to have a word with you right now!”

“What is it, white cat? You’re gonna lecture me again…? You just don’t get tired of this do you…? Hey, could it be that you’re interested in lecturing others? … Like I said, you’ll grow more white hair if you keep this up.”

“Like I said, this isn’t white but silver hair! Ah geez! That aside, about the alchemy cla.s.s just now, what was that!? What exactly were you thinking sensei!?”

“Uh-huh? Are you talking about how we used transformation techniques on the arrangement of lower-level elements to create a method to ‘convert something into something else that looks a lot like gold’? Were there any steps that I didn’t clearly explain?”

“That’s not it! The problem is after that!”

“Ah, are you talking about the method to ‘sell the mock-gold to stupid, immoral merchants’? There aren’t any problems with that method you know? To be honest, when I was still a student, I used this method to get some extra change…”

“That—is—wrong! It’s wrong in a different sense, but, either way, it’s wrong! It’s a big problem! I mean, isn’t this a crime!? It practically a direct challenge to everything that the 23rd line of the magician’s code stands for! How could you teach this to your students!?”

“You idiot. Just what’s the problem with that? ‘To make gold from nothing’… and practically speaking, ‘to change a pebble on the roadside into a gold coin’… Isn’t that truly the essence of ‘alchemy’?”

“Well, that might be true, but that’s not the problem! Ahhhh, come on already-!”

Then, the blonde haired girl – Lumia – as if to cover for Glen, spoke up.

“We- well Sisti, I’m sure that sensei was just joking around so that everyone could have more fun with the cla.s.s… is that right? Sensei.”

“……………Eh? Ah, mhm, yep, that’s right.”

“What’s that unnatural pause supposed to mean?”

“Mm… As I thought, Lumia really does understand me well… Sensei is really happy you know…-!”

Glen elegantly ignored Sistina’s remarks, and forced tears of grat.i.tude to his eyes.

“Ah, speaking of which. Lumia, thanks for helping me organize the tools after our alchemy lab earlier. You really helped me out there.”

“Ehehe, you’re welcome.”

Glen patted Lumia’s head as if praising her.

And Lumia wholeheartedly accepted that.

Seeing the two, Sistina clenched her fists, and her shoulders trembled in disdain. If one looked closely enough, they could see the veins popping across her forehead.

“Ah-ah, if only white cat could be as cute as Lumia—”

“That’s not the case, sensei. Sisti also has cute sides to her you know? Actually, right now, in order to thank sensei for saving her during that time, she is—mmpf”

“Waah!? Hey, stop! Stop! “

Sistina’s face flushed red for some reason, and she hurriedly moved to block Lumia’s mouth.

“Why are you telling that to this guy!?”

“Ahaha, I mean Sisti, if I leave this be, your plan will never work because you’re too embarra.s.sed to do it. Even though mother went through all that trouble to teach and practice with you…”

Lumia stuck out her tongue a little, and showed a mischievous smile.

“N-, No… T-, That’s not why I did that… Uhm, I just felt that it’s a necessary skill as a girl… Uhm…uu….”

Sistina stared blankly into the distance, and began to twirl her long hair around her finger. It seems that she had cut her finger recently, as it was wrapped in bandages.

“…I have no idea what you’re planning, but my judgment of you hasn’t change in the slightest alright? Lumia is cute, and you’re cheeky. That is all.”

Pu-Tch—

Towards Glen’s indelicate announcement, Sistina finally snapped.

“This is a different topic, but my father is a bureaucrat in the ministry of magic, and is the magical inspector in charge of the flow of all magic-related goods in the Fejiti branch.”

“Huh? What’s this all of a sudden?”

“By the way, sensei, do you know that there are about ten years’ worth of gold transaction records?”

“…Eh? Is that so?”

“Well, I might ask my father to thoroughly investigate fraudulent gold transactions that fall under certain conditions, you see?”

Sistina showed a bright smile. On the other hand, sweat began to form on Glen’s forehead.”

“Eh? No, ah… Uhm… Hey… I’m sorry, please forgive me…”

“Hmpf!”

Sistina flicked Glen’s hand that clung to her aside, and turned to leave.

“Let’s go, Lumia!”

“Hey… waiiiit!? Plesae waaaiitttt—!? I give you my apologies! I’m super sorry! I just got carried away for a moment—!”

“Be quiet, you idiot! Just stay put in prison and enjoy the terrible food while you’re at it-!”

“Noooooooo—!”

The corridor became noisy.

Recently, this had become an event that routinely occurred. So much that it was deemed to be one of the many scenic views of the academy itself.

“My my, what a noisy bunch… It must be nice to be young.

Somewhat surprised, but bearing a wry smile nonetheless, Serika observed the situation unfold.

“… You’re already fine. Well, I suppose it does feel a bit lonely.”

Despite seeing the pathetic appearance of her loved disciple, who prostrated himself in front of a student, Serika murmured to herself in a satisfied manner, and gazed out the window.

Under the clear blue skies—

Was the ever-present castle that s.h.i.+ned with the dazzling sunlight—

———.

——————.

“Does everyone know of the fairy tale called ‘The Magician of Melgarius’?”

A lady suddenly murmured to no one in particular.

“Mhm, I suppose. With the floating castle as the grand stage, the magician of justice defeated the evil demon lord, and saved the princess… that is just a story for children. The people of this nation has likely heard it once or twice as a child’s lullaby right?”

With a light thud, the lady closed the book in her hands.

It was t.i.tled ‘The Magician of Melgarius’.

“But, there are a few slightly amusing anecdotes surrounding this story. For example—”

The lady turned her eyes to the map of the world on the wall in front of her.

“The neighboring country, the Rezalia kingdom. The ones that rule the kingdom, the Holy Elizareth Church… has designated ‘The Magician of Melgarius’ as a forbidden text, and has burned all known copies of it. It has also been said that its author has been labeled a heretic, and was burned at the stake as punishment.

The lady wistfully sighed.

“It’s quite strange isn’t it…? Although it’s just a children’s tale, it has provoked such a strong reaction from an entire nation”

The lady silently walked to the balcony of her room.

“Another strange part about this is that… In this nation, there were once a great amount of magicians who devoted themselves to research in order to unlock the mysteries of this grand stage – that is, the castle floating in the skies of Fejiti – but… one day, many of them mysteriously disappeared without a trace, or died unnatural deaths. Of course, not all the magicians met such a fate, however… it’s quite unnatural from a statistical perspective. Was this result… just mere coincidence?”

Under the clear skies, the gentle breeze swayed the lady’s long hair.  

From the balcony, she could see the entirety of Alzano Empire’s capital, Orlando’s streets—

And in the far, far distance—

She could see the miniscule visage of the phantasmal castle that floated in the skies above Fejiti.

“Now then, as for the castle floating Fejiti… the ‘Melgarius’ Sky Castle’… just what exactly is it, I wonder?”

As before, the Empress of the Alzano Empire – Alicia the seventh – murmured to no one in particular.

 | Next Volume

Extra Notes:

Glen’s ‘Only if I feel like it’, is literally translated as ‘within my own capacity’ or ‘as much as I can’, which is a more roundabout way for him to say that ‘my capacity for work is low’. It was hard to get this subtle sarcasm through in Engllish.

Sistina’s “Why are you telling that to this guy!?” is directly translated to “Why are you saying that in front of this guy of all people!?”. It’s a bit of a weird way to phrase it, considering Lumia was talking to Glen directly.

In the line ‘Under the clear skies, the gentle breeze swayed the lady’s long hair.’, the part written ‘under the clear skies’ (空が近い) is actually a saying/idiom that literally means ‘the sky is close’. It can be interpreted as, ‘the sky is so clear that it feels close to oneself’.

Alicia’s phrasing of the last question is a bit more playful/rhetorical in terms of tone, ending the question with ‘deshoune?’ For those curious the entire question is ‘一體、なんなのでしょうね？’. The ‘I wonder?’ fits the rhetorical tone, but also uses a p.r.o.noun, which does not appear anywhere in her dialogue.