At my question, the friend sitting next to me opened his mouth.
"He ate a rat over the weekend."
"What?"
"Philip said he saw it."
The remark instantly annoyed me, and my face twisted in irritation.
But the emotions weren't mine. I couldn't influence the situation.
"Do you even trust what he says? Get your priorities straight, what are you doing?"
Another friend, sensing the atmosphere, chimed in.
"Yeah, he's trying to clean up his record now. He wouldn't spread baseless rumors and risk disciplinary action."
"Really…?"
I half-listened to their words, my gaze fixed on the back of the training hall.
Lucas stood there, head hanging low, unmoving. His long hair obscured his face, making it impossible to see his expression.
When did he grow it out so much?
Philip ambled over, bringing a few of his friends along. He addressed the group of students surrounding Lucas.
"What's going on here?"
"We were asking if it's true. Did he really eat a rat?"
"If they found a corpse in his bag, doesn't that say it all? What, was he planning a funeral and kindly stored it there?"
"..."
Philip leaned into Lucas's face, mocking him.
"Say it. Is it true or not?"
"..."
"Oh, he doesn't want to talk."
"Damn... if you hate this, hate that, hate everything, why don't you just drop out? Why are you even here?"
"Haha, isn't dropping out just your wish?"
"Not just mine, it's everyone's. This school's reputation is trashed because of him. Now any riff-raff can get in if they pay enough."
As Philip's loud taunts echoed, the noisy training hall quieted.
Other students began stealing glances at the commotion.
"Come on, say something."
"..."
Philip's relentless gaze bore down on Lucas, but Lucas stayed silent.
He only opened and closed his mouth as if searching for the right words.
Philip sighed dramatically and straightened his back.
"God, you're such a pain."
Bang—
"…!"
Philip kicked Lucas's legs out from under him.
Lucas lost his balance and fell. He tried to push himself up reflexively, but Philip pretended to be surprised.
"Ah, sorry! You know I didn't mean to do that, right?"
"You don't look sorry at all. Grow up."
"I'm serious. Why don't you apologize to Lucas instead?"
"Why should I? You're the one who did it."
My heartbeat quickened.
I wanted to yell, Why aren't you using magic? Why are you just taking this?
I was angry seeing a mage, someone I admired, being treated this way.
It was a pathetic reaction.
Back then, I'd projected my ideals onto Lucas, expecting him to live up to them.
Philip and his friends laughed among themselves in their fake, exaggerated voices as they looked down at Lucas.
"You okay?"
"..."
"I said, are you okay?"
"…I'm…."
Lucas's faint voice was barely audible, but it seemed to satisfy Philip.
Philip grinned and yelled loudly.
"Hey, he's fine! If anyone tries to pick a fight over this, bring it on!"
"Hey."
The word wasn't from Philip.
Lucas raised his head to look at me.
His face twisted in a mix of emotions, but the irritation rising within me made me not want to look at him.
'...Damn it.'
The feelings were vivid and immediate.
My heart raced as if I were reliving that exact moment.
I wanted to stop myself from speaking, but I couldn't.
"If you're going to keep making noise, do it outside."
My voice was cold, and the room froze like someone had poured ice water over it.
Of course, it did.
I'd never stepped in to mediate a situation like this before.
And this kind of irresponsible intervention?
Shock started to creep into Lucas's wide-open eyes.
"Uh… ah…."
Philip hesitated, mumbling as his expression twisted.
Then he leaned close to Lucas and whispered something.
Lucas, faced with Philip's menacing glare, nodded slightly.
'Damn it...'
Lucas stumbled down the steps and stopped at the training hall's front door.
I wanted to turn away.
But, as if trapped in this memory, I kept staring at Lucas with disdainful eyes.
If this was the same period, I probably had.
'He's seeing this right now….'
I should've volunteered to read Lucas's memory instead. Somehow.
There'd be no chance to apologize before this memory ended.
No, I hadn't even thought of apologizing back then—just anger.
After this, I prepared a disciplinary meeting with the professor, but Lucas dismissed it as if it didn't matter.
Later, I lashed out at Lucas, demanding to know how long he planned to keep this up.
Seeing where this memory began, it would probably show everything leading to that point.
My stomach churned.
The darkness in my vision narrowed, and my magic pulsing with blood felt like it was distorting and twisting.
Bang—!
A loud noise from behind made me instinctively turn.
Philip, who had been lounging arrogantly, was now sprawled on the ground.
The other students around him recoiled in shock.
"What... What just happened?!"
"Ugh, argh…!"
Philip struggled against the force pinning him down, firing off spells in desperation.
'What is this...?'
Suddenly, I realized I could move freely again.
"Damn, that took long enough."
I turned my head sharply at the familiar voice.
At the door stood Lucas, sweeping his long hair back as he snatched a wand from a nearby student.
He climbed the stairs purposefully, pointing the wand at Philip's friends.
"Wait, hold on—!"
Boom! Bang!
Lucas unleashed bursts of magic without bothering to aim.
The students who had been standing with Philip screamed and retreated.
"Wha—agh!"
"Ahh! Stop!"
"I've seen enough of you pretending to take detailed lecture notes. Watching you get smacked around is way more interesting."
Lucas's eyes gleamed as he spoke in a sharp, clear voice.
"..."
It wasn't his words but the tone that struck me.
This wasn't the Lucas from freshman year.
I stood slowly, unable to close my mouth.
What on earth was happening? Was I losing my mind?
Lucas exhaled deeply and glanced at Philip at his feet.
Thud—
"Gah...!"
Despite earlier claiming it was pointless, Lucas kicked Philip and began walking down the stairs.
Scanning the room, his gaze landed on me. His eyebrows rose slightly.
Lucas approached me. Before I could speak, he grabbed my collar.
"Not going back, are you?"
"...!"
White light flared in Lucas's hand.
The darkness at the edge of my vision cleared in an instant.
***
I've read it.
The unexpected part was that the memory unfolded from Lucas's perspective, not Leo's.
That meant two things:
First, this wasn't a pure memory but a space created by magic.
Second, I succeeded.
"It's both."
Considering how I couldn't move at first, it wasn't just spatial magic. It was Leo's memory.
The effort of biting into that lemon paid off.
Even though I'd blessed it with divine power, it hadn't changed the flavor—it took some effort to keep a straight face.
'This was like that experimental case from the Round of 64.'
Drugs that interfere with someone's psyche.
Ordinary people, authorized by the government, use them without divine power. With alcohol, it was easy to approximate the ingredients.
Of course, I could've used divine power to directly influence Leo's mind, but it would've been too obvious. Using available materials was better.
'Besides, this plays right into Richthofen's plans.'
Still, I couldn't help but admire the implementation of this memory-sharing space.
'Their technique is impeccable.'
I liked it.
They'd achieved something the Empire couldn't accomplish even with billions in funding.
Leo's guilt-ridden memories might seem ridiculous, but with the right target and selective memory manipulation, this could sow chaos far more effectively.
'I'd love to use this on my brother, broadcast it across the country.'
Should I try to snag a strand of his hair for this?
Amused by the thought, I checked Leo's condition.
Though his magic had started to twist earlier, there was no trace of black magic now.
Leo, flustered, tried to pry my hand away.
"W-What, Lucas…."
"Oh, I was just wondering what kind of awful memory you had. And now, with this…."
I chuckled softly and continued.
"What exactly upset you so much about this?"
"..."
"Right, your standards are always impossibly high. That guilt must've amplified because you felt uneasy. That's all. Are we done now?"
"...You seem to be feeling pretty good."
"Once again, I don't see where you're supposed to feel bad here…."
It wasn't just my opinion.
If Luca had truly been hurt, I wouldn't have said this.
Luca himself thought it was unexpected for the class president to help him.
Leo seemed fixated on the words, 'If you're going to be loud, do it outside.' But who would interpret that as 'Go outside and beat him up?'
Obviously, it was meant as 'Stop it.'
But Leo overanalyzed it, replayed it hundreds of times, and mixed in Luca's expression, making the misunderstanding worse.
'Perfectionists are so tedious.'
To others, it wasn't a big deal. But he was tormenting himself because he didn't respond perfectly.
"Look, the day before, and after that, I also—"
"Just shut up already."
"...."
Leo lowered his head, silent for a long moment.
The waves of magic emanating from him gradually stabilized.
"I'm sorry."
It was obvious he wasn't apologizing for the earlier memory.
His eyes, now sharp as usual, showed he was apologizing for losing his composure. Not that there was any need to.
"For what?"
"Lucas."
"Yeah?"
"Let's go. Unless you have some other plan."
I nodded.
Behind us, Philip clutched his stomach and stood, yelling.
"You—you used magic, no—divine power…!"
"Is that how Philip sounded in your head?"
"He'd say something like that."
Yeah, it did sound like him.
I slammed my staff into the ground with all my might.
BOOM—
The radiant white divine power rippled outward, enveloping everything, including our bodies.
But no cracks appeared.
'…Usually, that's enough to get us out of here.'
Being spatial magic, escaping this place and returning to where we were required breaking the enchantment.
Was there something my magic couldn't overcome?
Leo stood and pulled out his wand.
With my greater magic reserves, it would make more sense for me to handle this. But was he planning to try it himself?
"What are you doing?"
"Getting us out."
"How?"
Leo smirked like he'd been waiting for the question.
"No idea."
"...."
That sounded suspiciously like something I'd say.
I watched as Leo pressed the wand against his chest.
The moment I realized what he was doing, my mouth opened in shock—then the world went black.
***
"Hah...!"
We were back in the same room as before.
I sat bolt upright and immediately spotted Leo, already on his feet.
'This bastard...'
He'd fired magic into his own core.
As I glared at him, curses practically written across my face, Leo shrugged.
"If the field source is my memory, all I had to do was wake up."
"...."
He wasn't wrong, but hearing it after the fact made it all the more absurd.
Now I understood why Leo had been so resistant earlier.
I'd delivered most instructions bluntly, so naturally, he reacted the same way.
'Mirror therapy works wonders.'
Not that Leo needed therapy.
Regardless, as long as it worked, that's what mattered.
I stood up.
"Let's go find Elias."
"You have a plan?"
"Just do what we've been doing."
"Wait a second. If it's that simple—"
I extended my wand into a staff and attuned it to the core's flow.
Then, just like before, I slammed it into the ground.
Light spread from the floor to the walls, and four robed figures materialized.
No, "materialized" wasn't quite right—they were clearly startled, meaning they'd already been here, hidden by the spatial magic.
"Huh?!"
"What the—?!"
'No wonder.'
They must've been stationed at this original location, never expecting the spatial magic to unravel.
The surprise worked in our favor. Without hesitation, I transformed my wand into a dagger and drove it into the shoulder of the nearest figure.
Thud—
"Argh!"
Since the blade was made of magic, it didn't cause serious physical harm. I only suppressed its power to avoid severing his arm.
Even as he screamed, he wildly fired off magic with his other hand.
There was no time to waste on defense. Shrouded in a magical barrier, I pushed through his attack and plunged my blade into his heart.
At that moment, Leo's magic pulled me aside. Regaining my balance, I turned to see one of the robed figures fall to Leo's attack.
"Watch your back."
I gave a slight nod and scanned the room. Thanks to Leo's quick work, three of them were already down.
'His skills are as sharp as ever.'
If I hadn't brought him along, it would've been a mistake.
Even if it's just for appearances, having someone like him as my escort is invaluable.
Placing my hand on the wall, I focused.
There was no magical activity outside, but reinforcements from the local militia would arrive soon.
We couldn't let that happen.
'I'm certain now where Müller is.'
If I let Richthofen slip away now, it would be a mistake.
And I'd just come up with a good idea.
If I could make it seem beneficial for the Emperor on the surface, while secretly aiding the Catacombs, Richthofen could become a valuable piece on my board.
Leo surveyed the area calmly.
"Something feels off. There's no way the Catacombs would create such a sloppy spatial magic setup."
"You think it's a trap?"
"It's possible. Without knowing what kind of person Richthofen is, we shouldn't move recklessly."
This sloppy spatial magic was intentional—almost certainly Richthofen's doing.
"No. It's fine. He's on our side."
"What?"
Before Leo could scold me, I continued, pulling him along.
"Let's talk while we work. Did you see the black blood on those militia guys earlier? What do you think it is?"
"Looks like some half-formed Vitriol to me."
"Exactly. Remember when I asked Richthofen for clear orders? Their goal is to capture Nicolaus, even if it means killing you two."
"Right. If Müller's really in the Catacombs, he'd be with the militia. Probably as their leader."
Smart guy.
I nodded and continued.
"Müller was known to oppose Pleroma, but now the entire militia under him is tainted with Vitriol. Why do you think that is?"
Leo stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"Maybe they were attacked by Pleroma. Promised they'd be freed from Vitriol if they handed you over?"
"No. Vitriol is a high-grade material reserved for Pleroma's elites. They wouldn't waste it like that."
At the mention of Vitriol's power, Leo's face hardened.
He must've realized what I was implying.
"…They made a pact with the Catacombs, didn't they?"
Exactly.
Under constant pressure, they probably decided they needed to get stronger—fast.
Of course, this insane plan to acquire Vitriol was likely the militia's idea, not the Catacombs as a whole.
"Now, about Richthofen. He was stalling for time, wasn't he?"
"Right."
"And he knew both our names—'Lucas Askanian' and 'Narce Farnese.' But why did your drug show Leonard Wittelsbach's memory?"
"..."
"If he knew you were Wittelsbach, then he already figured out who Nicolaus is. That leaves only me."
Leo's expression hardened as he realized my train of thought.
"And one more thing. If he knew our names, why weren't they on the alert we saw earlier?"
Leo calmly answered.
"To hide which of us is Nicolaus—so Müller couldn't use him as propaganda again."
"Exactly. Now, are we teaming up with Richthofen?"
"No."
Leo looked at me in confusion.
After all this, how could I immediately propose an alliance?
Smirking, I replied,
"First, we're going to rough him up a bit."