[V5C21] The Man in My Memories
Translated by Jodas 5: The Magic Battle— Her ears were ringing.
That was the first thing Tia thought as she regained consciousness.
She lifted both hands to her ears, only then realizing she was lying on a bed.
“Pevuvuvu….”
“Hey, you awake?”
Staring into Tia’s face was a black-haired woman with glasses — Branch Director Meine, of the Medical Office’s Second Branch, located in the First Spire: White Smoke.
The shirt she wore under her lab coat was buttoned strangely off-kilter. The Branch Director, always somewhat unkempt, lifted up the curtain that partitioned the bed from the rest of the room.
“Hey, pretty boy~! Your friend’s awake~!”
From the other side of the lifted curtain, Wren’s tired form rolled to look from the next bed over.
“Mornin’ Tia.”
“Wren, what happened to the magic battle?”
“Don’t you remember?”
Tia warbled “Pirorororo…” as she searched through her memory.
After they won the magic battle, Helena went berserk. At that point, Tia went with Frederik and Wren to recover the unconscious Oliver…
(Right, when the bubble got close…)
When it looked like the bubble from Helena’s Ancient Magical Artifact ‘Eurydice, the Cackling Foam’ was about to hit her, Tia suddenly started to sing.
If she was in Harpy form, Tia could sing mana-infused songs. However, it would be much harder for her to add mana to her songs while in human form.
(Yet, back there… I put mana in my voice.)
She hadn’t been able to include any particular effects in her singing voice. She simply added mana to her voice. And only a tiny bit, at that.
That tiny accomplishment was indispensable at that instant.
Helena’s bubbles enveloped things that contained mana, and tore them apart. In addition, the stronger the mana inside, the force of the explosion would increase accordingly.
Then, just as Frederik was doing, it was best to send weak attack magic at the bubbles to make them swallow those and explode, keeping the damage to a minimum.
In that moment, Tia’s singing voice carried a faint bit of mana.
Helena’s bubble swallowed that mana, and the song along with it, exploding weakly.
Ultimately, Tia and Wren didn’t suffer much damage, but the sound of the explosion overwhelmed their ears, causing them to pass out.
And thus, they ended up at the Medical Office.
(I feel like I’ve learned a little more about using a human body…)
It wasn’t limited to how to move her body and use her arms, legs, fingers, and toes. Speaking, as well, was part of it.
To keep herself from forgetting how to speak as a Harpy, there was value in constantly voicing her ‘Piro-piro.’
Tia had come to the Wedge Tower to learn a way to fly, not because she wanted to become a human mage.
The Magical Flying Device she was using at the moment couldn’t withstand long-distance flight, and the Magical Leaping Device was definitely not what she was looking for.
Yet somehow, Tia felt a strange sense of satisfaction.
(…Every time I learn to do something new, it makes me so happy.)
As Tia relished in the feeling of accomplishing something, Wren sat up crosslegged on his bed and explained the situation to her.
“The magic battle was a total victory for us Apprentices! Everyone who got knocked out is feeling fine, and Oliver got up just after that and headed for the classroom. I told him he needed to sing the pretty boy song as thanks.”
Finn, Rose, and Sophie all got knocked out earlier on in the fight. Them, as well as Gerald, who got knocked out at the very end, were all in high spirits with no ill effects after having their mana drained.
“What happened to Frederik and Helena?”
“Director Haydn ran in and stopped them, and that was that.”
“Piyo? Director Haydn is, um…”
“The Director of the Extermination Office! He’s Frederik’s boss!”
Wren had suffered a minor concussion from the blast of the bubble, but he hadn’t lost consciousness completely, so he’d been able to witness what happened afterwards.
According to Wren, Haydn ran up and dropped a downpour of lightning from the sky, neutralizing Frederik and Helena.
Afterwards, he dragged both of them to go apologize to Röhm.
“Röhm didn’t say much, but she was suuuper mad at them…”
“Pefu… Ms. Röhm, mad…”
Anneliese Röhm of the Guidance Office had short bangs and a childish appearance, but she was a kind and gentle teacher.
Apparently that same Röhm addressed the Extermination Office with a quiet but intense fury.
Director Haydn of the Extermination Office was a large, blond man.
He had the physique of a warrior who underwent the absolute maximum training, giving him an aura befitting the Director of the Extermination Office. Nevertheless, Haydn’s huge body shrunk as he bowed his head to Röhm.
“…I apologize for my subordinates.”
Röhm, who was always gentle and personable, uncharacteristically crossed her arms and stared daggers at Haydn, Frederik, Helena, and Rikard.
“First, Helena. You need to understand the responsibility you bear as a wielder of an Ancient Magical Artifact. I’m quite certain the God you serve does not wish you to cause harm to your juniors over a prank.”
“Yes, it’s so sad…”
“The sad ones are the people you’ve hurt. I’m sad, myself. I entrusted you with my students.”
“……”
Helena’s pale face shuddered, and she lost the nerve to even say ‘I’m so sad.’
“Next, Frederik. Not only did you ignore the signal to end the magic battle, you also set Helena off. There was no need for you to keep picking fights…”
“But it was Helena who…”
“Was it your intention to hurt your juniors?”
“……”
“Have you reflected on your actions?”
“…Yes, ma’am.”
Continuing, Röhm glared at Rikard.
Rikard hadn’t gone wild like the other two, but it seemed he held responsibility by association.
“I get the feeling I’m about to get yelled at as well…”
“That you weren’t able to stop those two from going off the rails was your failing, too. You have a bad habit of staying a step too far away from the action and convincing yourself you’re just an observer. Those who are too slow to come to a decision will always make the wrong decision for the moment.”
“…Yes.”
After lecturing the three from the Extermination Office, Röhm now turned to face Haydn once more.
She had a cold expression that Wren had never seen before.
“Finally, Director Haydn.”
“Ah, uh…”
“I expect you to submit a detailed report on this incident in the coming days, do you understand?”
“…….”
Sorrow ran down Haydn’s back.
“To sum it up… Ms. Röhm was crazy scary!”
After hearing Wren’s summary, Tia made a ‘*pefu…`’ noise.
She had a hard time envisioning it, but she could see how Röhm would be pretty scary if she got mad. Röhm was, without a doubt, a strong mage.
“Don’t worry, it’s fine, she’s a good teacher for getting mad on your behalf~!”
Medical Office Branch Director Meine leaned over the back of her chair and smiled awkwardly. The desk behind her was covered in clutter. Candies that clearly had nothing to do with medicinal supplies were scattered all over it.
Something struck her curiosity, so Tia asked a question.
“Is it okay for the rest not to come to the Medical Office? What about Frederik…?”
“He’s fine, he’s fine~. The Extermination Office trains on a whole different level. The older Lange was actually worried about you, and he dropped by a little while ago. He ended up getting dragged out by that scary gramps, though.”
“Piroro… scary gramps?”
Tia tilted her head. Meine munched on a half-eaten biscuit as she responded.
“I mean Spiremaster Lowein of the Second Spire: Golden Needle. Spiremaster Lowein used to be in the Guidance Office, and Frederik and the others were in Lowein’s class back then.”
So basically, it seemed like they had the same relationship that the members of Hütter’s class — Tia, Wren, and Sevil — had with Hütter.
With an expression that she’d just remembered something, Meine added on.
“Oh right, that scary gramps — Spiremaster Lowein — praised you Apprentices. He said you’ve got guts, and that you should come to the Second Spire.”
She was happy to be praised, but Frederik must have had some conflicted feelings about that.
After all, this whole magic battle had started from a conflict he started to stop Oliver from joining the Extermination Office.
“I think the other Apprentices are all reviewing today’s results in the classroom. If you can walk, how about showing your face? I’ve heard Headmaster Möbius is there, too. This is a good chance to make a good impression on him~!”
In response to Meine’s words, Wren shouted “Really!?” and jumped out of his bed.
“Tia, let’s go! It’s time to show off my pretty boy appeal!”
“Okayy! Miss Meine, see you later!”
Headmaster Möbius — he was the most important person at the Wedge Tower, and the one Roswitha said she was into at the girl’s party.
According to Roswitha, Headmaster Möbius was apparently a really wonderful person.
The two of them shuffled down the hall, heading for the classroom they always used.
Just as the door to the classroom came into view, the door opened, and a group of adults stepped out. The review session had just ended.
Emerging from the door were Guidance Office Director Hegelich, Library Office Director Linke… and one more person.
It was a tall, silver-haired man. He looked to be somewhere in his mid forties. He had a stern appearance and sharp eyes.
And he had a sword hanging from his hip…
“I guess that guy’s gotta be Headmaster Möbius. Did the review session just end…? Tia, let’s go say hi!”
“Vuvuvu….”
Tia’s throat let out a low growl.
Wren turned back towards Tia and looked at her with uncertain eyes and knitted brows.
Surely Tia must have been making a horrible face at the moment. A face filled with fear, anger, spite… and murderous intent.
“Tia?”
“…It’s him.”
How could she possibly forget that despair she felt?
The sword that swung at Tia’s wings. That was the sword. That sword was the one that clipped Tia’s wings.
Ordinarily, even if her flight feathers were cut off, they would just regrow naturally.
But no wound made by that sword would ever heal. Her clipped feathers would never again grow back.
“That… is the human who clipped my wings.”