Obituary (2)
Bashka, the capital of Tormia.
On Alog Street in the administrative district stood a luxury hotel where high-ranking officials lodged.
Hotel Desica, Room 1403.
Dante sat at the table by the window, looking out over the sun-warmed street.
Completely naked—no underwear—arms folded over his knees, an iced coffee in hand.
"Pisho??????"
He'd been roused by a single obituary delivered through the Magic Association.
The sound of running water in the bathroom stopped, and a woman came out, shaking her hair.
"What is it? Getting all moody this early?"
Having spent a hot night together, she didn't bother to dress and sat at the dressing table.
The woman brushing her hair glanced at Dante's reflection in the mirror. "Did you have a nightmare?"
Dante let out a light chuckle. "Who knows. Is there a nightmare scarier than this reality?"
She didn't care for philosophical talk. "You're being really weird today. Aren't you going to wash up? You have to go to work."
She assumed Dante worked in the Royal Records Department.
In truth, he was an operative equivalent to the State Intelligence Agency's Second Division Chief—Code Black. That he had viewing access to the highest-level encrypted system nicknamed "Rope" meant all of the state's information passed through him.
"I'm going to be late today. I'm meeting a friend. Don't wait up—go back to sleep first," she said, applying makeup.
"No need."
Dante spoke without turning from her back. "Let's stop seeing one another."
The woman applying lipstick froze, then turned, brows knitted. "Did you just—say that to me?"
"Both of you."
Another woman on the bed kicked off the covers and bolted upright. "What! Me too?"
She rushed at Dante in protest. "How can you do this? We've only just started seeing each other. Give me at least a month!"
The woman at the dressing table sighed. "Already bored?"
She'd known from the start that he was a man she could never have forever.
"I'm not suddenly bored. Life itself is boring."
"Then what's the reason?"
Bathed in a halo of sunlight, Dante smiled. "Something real is coming." It was Tormia's turn.
Shirone's eyes filled with sorrow. "Pisho is dead..."
It had been inevitable ever since he became the host of the extraterrestrial organism Argones.
Still, questions remained. "What does 'dead' mean?" Amy asked.
"From what I heard from Pisho, a person who becomes an Argones host has no natural lifespan limit. Of course they'll be buried under the endless proliferation of cancer cells, but you couldn't really declare them dead, could you?"
"After the graduation exams, Pisho left. He must've been taken to a quarantine facility. They would have run a lot of experiments there, and what happened after that—aside from a few inside the kingdom—no one knew."
"Is that all Iruki wrote in the letter?" Maya asked.
Amy checked again. "Yes. The wording—'immediately'—makes it sound pretty coercive. There's nothing in it beyond the obituary."
"Iruki wouldn't miss something like that. It could be classified. We'll know when we get there."
Shirone looked at Maya. "Your schedule's tight—can you go? To Pisho's funeral."
"Of course. I'm one of the people who stayed in the graduating class the longest."
Maya had been the taciturn older brother who'd always treated Shirone fairly, even when Shirone had been a problem student.
"Alright. Let's leave right away."
The Order had given permission, but Amy still worried about leaving the squad behind. "Will it be okay without a commander?" Tess tapped her chest.
"What are you worried about? I'm here. I'll take care of things and rejoin the main force, so go in peace."
Rian spoke up. "I'll stay here too. Is that okay?"
Tess had expected him to go with Shirone and asked in surprise, "What? You're staying here?"
"From now on, inside the Order's defensive wall, Shirone won't be in danger. Meanwhile, the forces of hell are still advancing. At this rate, Tormia will be within reach."
Rian intended to be their shield.
"Thanks, Rian," Amy said.
"With three of us, let's take Kaidra. Arrive at Kazra, jump to Tormia, then to Creas."
"And after that?"
Iruki hadn't given a precise destination. "Maybe there's something to be done there. If not, let's go to the school. The teachers will attend the funeral, too."
Maya nodded. "Right. Everyone will gather." It would likely be a heavy reunion.
Shirone and his group reached Creas at dawn the next day.
For Shirone, who had been through many battlefields, the calm scene of a morning being prepared felt unfamiliar.
'It used to be like this.'
They had a quick bite at a dawn diner beside the Tormia branch of the Magic Association.
"No one's come out," someone observed.
There had been no word from the Association either.
"It might be deliberate. People connected to Pisho should know, but maybe it's better if others don't."
Leaving the diner, Shirone's group headed for Alpheas School of Magic as planned.
Seeing the main gate swelled Shirone's chest more than he'd expected. 'Everything started here.'
Climbing over the walls of Alpheas at twelve felt ages ago.
Amy and Maya stood beside Shirone, gazing up at the arch with wistful expressions.
"Let's go in."
A guard checked Amy's ID and opened the way.
The sight was nostalgic, but the atmosphere had changed. Everyone moved in formation; even the children had a fighting glint in their eyes.
"Militarization of the school. Can't be helped—it's wartime."
They went to the principal's office. Alpheas and Olivia rose to their feet.
"You all—"
Their surprise was brief. On hearing of Pisho's death, their faces softened. "You're here. Come in."
The three bowed. "Hello, Principal, Vice-Principal."
Alpheas smiled warmly at the three who had been the central figures of the Golden Generation's graduating class. "All right. Sit over here."
Over the tea Olivia brought, Shirone's group learned about the school's situation.
"They've abolished the graduation exam starting this year. Once students finish regular classes, they're conscripted straight into the army."
"That's regrettable."
"Yes. The benefits of competition are gone, and worse, the curriculum itself has become brutal." Without exams and with students sent straight to the battlefield, they now underwent intense, practical training.
"You must have heard about Pisho?" Shirone nodded.
"What happened exactly?"
"I don't know. The Order is controlling the information. The funeral is set for three days from now."
"Why three days?"
"Probably political reasons. But the biggest reason might be... Shirone—you."
"Me?"
Olivia said, "It's unconfirmed, but there's a rumor Pisho left you a will—on the condition that it not be made public until you arrived." Shirone blinked.
'Pisho left something for me?'
They hadn't been especially close in school, so only one plausible explanation came to mind.
'One of the Ivory Tower's Five Great Houses. Or Yahweh.'
That was the kind of authority that could be involved.
"Since you're here anyway, why not take a look at the graduating class? Though that's more nostalgia talk now."
"Trainees" would be the apt term.
Following Alpheas through an iron gate, they found thirty students under Siina and Sad's instruction.
"More, more focus!"
Pale-faced students cast their specialty magics toward the front. "This is the morning session. The point is casting continuously without stopping."
Siina yelled, "Karna! What are you doing? Snap out of it!"
When she singled out a girl whose power had weakened, the girl bit her lip and defiantly sat back down.
"Karna! You—!"
"This is absurd!"
Karna's cry brought silence. "What is this, every day!? The same training, the unbearable intensity! We don't even recover!"
"Get up. Last chance."
Siina's gaze was anything but ordinary, and Mark helped Karna to her feet. "Karna, try again."
"Get off me! I have to say this! This isn't magic! It's just abuse! We're here to become strong!"
Siina pulled out a document. "Mino Karna. As of today, from Alpheas School of Magic—"
Shirone stepped forward. "Get up."
Siina hurriedly turned, and the graduating students' eyes widened in astonishment. "Se—Shirone-senpai..."
These were the students who'd once been inspired by Shirone's moving graduation speech and filled with grand dreams. Now, truly one of the world's greatest mages, he stood before his juniors.
"Get back up and start training. Not magic? No—this is magic."
Karna sulked, "No. This isn't magic. There's no change, no creation. Were you like this, senpai?"
"Of course it was different in my time. But the essence is the same. Instead of whining, cast one more time."
If Karna had to name the person she respected most, it would have been Shirone without hesitation. That made it all the more painful.
"Why? What difference does one more cast make? What will it get me now?"
"You'll have the memory of having done one more time."
Karna's lips clamped shut. "Accumulate those memories without end. In the end, that will be what defends you. That's all."
"That's all..."
"Yes. Don't leave space in your head for the kind of desperate failure that says, 'I gave up because it was too hard.' That will trip you up someday. But if you get up now, there's no limit."
A chill returned to Karna's eyes.
"Of course there are times to rest. I had them too. But afterward, you realize—"
Shirone smiled wryly. "—how pointless they were."
"...Haha."
"A mage rests not when tired, but when rest will increase the chance of victory. When one rest can raise the odds, the mage takes it."
Shirone held out his hand. "You can control it, right? You're a mage."
"Yes! Senpai!"
Karna smiled and sprang to her feet. The students' resolve flared like a blaze.
"All right! Let's do it! I will never give up!"
Watching with satisfaction, Shirone returned to his seat and bowed to Siina.
No longer a student, Siina bowed back and showed her gratitude.
'Thank you.'
Mark's magic erupted with greater power than usual. 'Shirone-senpai is watching!'
Maria followed, and the other students poured every last ounce of their spirit, forgetting their fatigue.
'Please advise me too.'
The fact that the world's strongest mage was watching was enough to drive the students' concentration to unprecedented levels.