The Magic Academy's Physicist
Chapter 260: [Boss Fight] Strikeout (2)

Chapter 260: [Boss Fight] Strikeout (2)

0% “My name is Wilbur Vierbein.”

A man appeared at the entrance of the World Tree and introduced himself.

“I am both a priest and a guide here. I’ll be assisting you today on your tour of the World Tree.”

“Thank you, we’ll be in your care.”

Aether stepped forward and exchanged light greetings with Wilbur.

He called himself a priest and was indeed in a priest’s robe. The muffler-like cape looked rather warm.

“The Elemental Realm is quite cold at this time.”

Wilbur began explaining.

“The Elemental Realm has the exact opposite climate to Kaurelia. When it’s summer in Kaurelia, it’s winter in the Elemental Realm.”

She already heard about this.

“Did you bring winter clothes?”

“I let the students know beforehand.”

Wilbur gave a pleased smile.

“Good. You can change into them.”

They were winter clothes so there was no need to take anything off. Aether took out the clothes she brought from her luggage and just threw them on.

One cheap coat, one white muffler. It was a simple attire.

As she was checking if it was stiff anywhere or if there was any lint, someone came over and asked in a concerned tone.

“Won’t it be cold being dressed like that?”

Red shoulder-length hair and carnelian-like eyes.

It was a girl who was quite the beauty. Aether knew who this girl was.

“...Saliere.”

“You can call me by my given name instead of family name.”

Lotte smiled brightly like a blooming flower in spring. Aether unconsciously let out a groan.

“Here.”

Lotte continued while holding out something.

“It’s a hand warmer I made myself. Please use it.”

“...I see, thank you.”

Aether reluctantly accepted the hand warmer, which was as warm as the girl’s heart. But all she could feel was a chill from that warmth.

Her survival instincts were screaming.

That she had to distance herself from this girl, Lotte Saliere.

Lotte didn’t seem to know yet that she was a Beast, because it didn’t look like she believed the news articles.

But what if she did become convinced of her identity?

There was no way to know how she would react then. Being afraid of that, Aether had been consciously avoiding her.

“.......”

She suddenly looked up at the ceiling.

The leaves of the World Tree were so lush that they covered the whole sky. Despicable tree. She would make sure to burn it before she died.

Remembering her original goal, she composed herself, then shoved the hand warmers she got into her pocket.

That was when the unexpected happened.

“You’re sloppy as usual, Miss.”

“......!”

While she was distracted by her thoughts, Lotte stepped right up into her space.

“It’ll easily come loose if you tie it poorly like this. Here, if you do it like this....”

Lotte put her hand on Aether’s muffler. Aether reflexively jerked herself away from it.

“...Miss?”

“It’s fine, I’ll do it myself.”

Damn it, she couldn’t breathe.

It was a kind of fear–fear that she could lose the bet and vanish.

She hadn’t had much attachment back when she first lost. Back then, she simply thought that if she lost, she lost, having no intentions of pathetically clinging to life.

But for some reason, she was now afraid of disappearing.

This was now a matter of survival. Just as she decided that she wouldn’t talk to Lotte a second time today–

“Then please follow me, everyone.”

Wilbur’s guide began.

Aether purposely walked at a distance from Lotte. Lotte slowly walked behind her.

The back of her head burned. Every time she looked back, she heaved a sigh.

The entrance of the World Tree was rather crowded, which was due to it being much narrower than the inside, creating a bottleneck.

“It’d be best to have the students pair up.”

“You all heard that, right? Pair up with someone close by!”

The students moved quickly in an orderly fashion at Aether’s words. The crowd dispersed and came together, lining up.

After pairing them up, there were a few noticeable pairs.

First was Yufiel and Leninya, who were expected.

The next was Akasha and Freyr. It was a strange duo, but they seemed to be fine.

Akasha was looking out for Freyr better than she thought. Had they always gotten along?

“Miss, there’s an odd number of students so we can’t all find someone.”

“The remaining person can come forward and pair up with me. Who’s left?”

“It’s me.”

She turned her head in the direction of the response.

In the next moment, she thought her heart stopped.

“I somehow ended up being the one left.”

“.......”

“Can I walk with you, Miss?”

Aether grabbed her forehead, almost slapping it.

“...Ah, Saliere. Yes. Of course....”

The last person happened to be Lotte.

Not just anyone, but Lotte Saliere, who was on good terms with others, was left alone?

Something was off. Aether quirked her head and probed Lotte.

“Did you not have any friends to pair with?”

In response, Lotte just smiled.

The upper area was dark, looking just like a hollow tree.

Drip, drip.

There was the occasional drop of slimy liquid from the sky.

The further they went in, the more dreamy the atmosphere became. It was a sweet-looking place like a fairy tale world with fairies.

On top of that, the sight of floating lanterns added to the fantasy. The lanterns that were scattered around glided through the air, casting shadows.

“Currently, most of the inside of the World Tree is under construction. If you look at the ground, you can see a magic circle, yes? It’s a surface-to-air interceptor, although it’s still not finished yet.”

Wherever they went, Wilbur explained things that they might have questions about.

Aether was bored with most of Wilbur’s explanations. After walking while zoned out for some time...

Some giant room appeared.

“This is where the Lodestone is.”

It drew the students’ attention.

“Can we go inside?”

“Yes, it’s fine.”

As soon as they were given permission, the students all poked their heads out, wanting to get in first. Aether lined them up and slowly let them inside. She calmed herself and waited in the middle so as to not be suspected.

“Is everyone inside? What you see here is the Lodestone.”

Wilbur pointed to the jade-colored stone and continued.

“Here, a part of the Demon King’s soul is sealed. You see how it’s bound with chains and many other restraints? They’re devices put in place to prevent the Demon King from being revived.”

The students were in awe. In contrast, Aether didn’t feel anything.

“As you take a look, let’s remember our ancestors who fought bravely in the Great War a thousand years ago. It’s thanks to them that we are standing here today.”

There was something that must be done when one saw a Lodestone.

Holding a moment of silence for the nameless soldiers. The students wordlessly bowed their heads to honor the heroes who had fallen to the Demon Army.

Thunk, thunk, thunk.

“Hm?”

“What’s going on!”

Ten or so the lanterns that had been illuminating the area suddenly went out.

“There seems to be a leak in the magic circuit!”

“What? Hurry up and fix it!”

The sound of the facility staff scurrying about rang through the air.

“W-what is it?”

“Why did the lights go out all of a sudden?”

The students were in a panic.

“What happened?”

“The mana powering the lanterns seems to have run out!”

Aether held back a noise.

─ watch out for lanterns and shadows.

“Let’s get the students out of the room just in case.”

“That is a good idea.”

Wilbur nodded and opened the door wide. The students majoring in Fire Magic all snapped their fingers and lit a flame, and they used it to slowly make their way outside.

“Miss, this feels strange.”

Before she knew it, Lotte came over and expressed her unease. Aether wordlessly agreed.

Flash!

“It didn’t seem to be a big problem, thankfully.”

Mana started fueling the lanterns again.

“There’s no need to panic, everyone. It was a simple power outage.”

While Wilbur reassured the students, he called over the facility managers and scolded them.

“We can’t have this happen on the day of the tour. Report to the higher ups as soon as you find the cause.”

Soon after the facility staff left–

Aether looked at the Lodestone again from afar.

“So that’s the Lodestone of Air. It’s my first time seeing it.”

“Yes, it’s called the Wind Lodestone. A fragment of the Demon King Parcelsus’ soul is contained inside.”

Parcelsus.

It had been a long time since she heard that name. With a wry smile, Aether changed the subject.

“Something’s strange.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t feel anything.”

Just as an Elemental Mage sensed the presence of an Elemental, the Demon Army’s seniors could detect the Demon King’s mana waves.

She felt nothing coming from inside of the Wind Lodestone. It was like an empty jar with nothing but the outside.

But she couldn’t just say this as is.

“......Some kind of evil energy, should I say? There’s nothing of the sort. It just looks like a plain gemstone from the outside.”

“Haha, there have been visitors who felt that way. Our general manager made a similar assessment a few days ago.”

Wilbur nodded and continued.

“It seems you all got a chance to see the Lodestone. Should we move on?”

“Where are we going next?”

“I’ll take you to the portal that takes you to the Elemental Realm.”

Aether gathered all the students and counted them; there was no one missing.

“There’s an altar near the portal. We’ll take a look there first.”

The group was now heading in further.

Blink, blink, blink.

The lanterns on the walls weren’t functioning properly, and Wilbur scolded the staff every time it happened.

They couldn’t fix all the lanterns, so about halfway, they had to give up vision and go for speed.

Wilbur, who had been at the front lighting the way with the lantern, spoke.

“We’re here. This is the center of the World Tree.”

When he moved slightly aside, a massive altar came into view.

It was made of stone and gold, about twenty meters tall and a hundred meters in circumference.

At the grand size and sophisticated patterns, the students all pulled out their cameras.

“This altar here is where people receive what is commonly known as oracles and baptism. Oracles are the words of the Goddess, and baptism is forming a contract with an Elemental.”

Normally, Elementals chose their own contractors and visited them.

But there were exceptions. On the rare occasion, one could come here and form a contract by speaking with an Elemental. In terms of a novel, the former was a ‘contact’ and the latter was a ‘submission’.

Elves mostly formed contracts through ‘contact’; on the other hand, humans had trouble even with ‘submission’ let alone ‘contact’. Aether didn’t like this.

“Is there a student who doesn’t have a contract with an Elemental? Those who don’t may go up to the altar.”

Wilbur’s words were as sweet as honey to the Tilette students, because forming a contract with an Elemental will help them grow even more in their magic.

“Me, me me! I want to try!”

Freyr frantically raised her hand.

Afterwards, the volunteers took turns going up and coming back down.

“...No one’s getting a response.”

Including Lotte, no one succeeded. Forget divine aura, not even a speck of light fell onto the altar.

“I must not be virtuous enough.”

With a rueful smile, Lotte returned next to Aether.

“Would you also like to try, Miss?”

“No, I’m fine, so.......”

“You never know, hm?”

Wilbur pointed to the altar, smiling brightly. Her insides felt like they were burning up like bbq charcoal at the smile devoid of any ill will.

Right, nothing should happen. Aether emptied herself as much as possible.

Good thoughts, just think good thoughts. Go as is without any malice....

Step.

With a deep breath, she climbed the stairs.

Then in the next moment.

Shaaaaaa!

Light began pouring down from the top of the altar.