Volume 20 - CH 10

My body feels sooty. And my left arm tingles.

My back feels uncomfortable, as if I'm lying on a cold, hard steel plate instead of a bed.

「Hmm?」

I opened my eyes suspiciously.

Where am I? What is this place?

The ceiling was boarded up, and looking to my left and right, I saw bundles of suspicious minerals, parchment, potions, and other items neatly lined up on shelves by the wall. There are no windows, so it looks like a basement, but the place looks familiar.

「Ohhhh, Alec-kun, thank goodness you're back in full force. You're a excellent student if you're so eager to be my guinea pig.」

A gray robed mage in his thirties says with glee, ...... who is he? Use [Appraisal] and look at the name.

〈Name〉 Slayley Faust.

〈Age〉 36.

〈Level〉 122.

〈Class〉 Shaman

〈Race〉 Human.

〈Gender〉 Male

〈HP〉 932/932

〈MP〉 2546/2546

〈Status〉 Cursed.

【Description】

Professor at the Austin Academy of Magic.

Born in the Duchy of Tirto.

He is a collector of curses

He is infinitely active in whatever he is interested in.

Oh, that's Slayley-sensei. He's a cursed maniac at Austin Academy of Magic. So this is his lab, huh?

「For the record, Slayley-sensei, I didn't come here to be your sacrifice, okay? And I'm a certified mage, so I'm one of the professors.」

I get up and say.

「Oh, that's right. No, excuse me, Alec-sensei.」

I look at my left arm and see that it's covered in scratches from the elbow down, and I even have a needle stuck in it. From the looks of it, the professor had used my left arm as a guinea pig for a long time.

I clicked my tongue and quickly pulled out the needle.　

「Anyway, give me some clothes to wear and some potions. But ...... what am I doing here?」

「You left your left arm here a long time ago when you equipped the cursed gauntlet. I don't know how you managed to get your whole body back today, either.」

「Mumurhh.」

I remembered that Slayley-sensei gave me the cursed gauntlet and equipped it.

I see, ......【Growing Regeneration Level 5】, with this skills around here I seem to have regenerated and resurrected my whole body from my left arm here.

But if that's the case, ...... what happened to my original body, my right arm side?

「!!!」

A pain shot through my neck, bringing back memories.

「Damn it, I left Kaede and Meena in Valencia, or rather in the capital of the Gilan Empire.」

「The Gilan Empire? That's a nasty place to send Kaede-kun, isn't it? They're famous for their soldiers who bully their people as they please.」

Slayley-sensei frowned, but it seems that even he had his weaknesses.

「Yeah, that's right, the emperor was a man who loved to bully the weak. No, he wasn't even human to begin with.」

I took the potion from Slayley-sensei, drank it down, and put on the robe he gave me.

「The emperor is not human? So is he some kind of god or demon?」

「He's probably more of a demon. He was strong, but not very smart. Anyway, I have to go and talk to the loli grandma.」

After saying that, I left Slaley-sensei's lab and headed for the school building.

「Ah, Alec-sensei! I've just received word that you've died in the Gilan Empire.」

Vanilla-sensei, a redhead with bangs, was surprised to see me.

「That information is wrong. Please relay these information to them as well.」

「Okay, I got it. Good grief, Melissa is such a careless little sister, isn't she?」

It's been a long time since the three jackal sisters have gotten along on my bed, but it looks like we're about to have our first sisterly fight in a long time. Well, that's for later.

I opened the door to the Headmaster's office where Luna was.

「――I've been waiting for you, Alec.」

The black cat sitting on the office desk speaks. Is it to maintain the dignity of the headmaster of the academy that she went to the trouble of using magic to make her voice fly and make it look like that?

「Show yourself, headmaster.」

「Phew, you're as impatient as ever.」

Then, the owner of the disappointing voice climbed out from under the desk to reveal herself. It was a loli magician in a shabby robe.

「I don't have to explain my situation to you, right?」

「I have a pretty good idea of what's going on. It's an emergency that requires the help of this me, isn't it?」

I thought this grandma loli had read my fate in more detail than that, but it seems not.

「I was beaten by the emperor in the Gilan Empire. My people are still trapped there.」

「Fuumu, you're a level 316. It's hard to believe, but if it's true, you must have a very good opponent or strong skills.」

「That's not a skill. It may have been when I was hit, but the basic power was different anyway. It was a huge difference in strength and level.」

I remembered how good the Emperor and Mirity were.

Even that creepy white pet "Hakubi" who called Polin-chan "Master" was so fast that I couldn't see him.

Then I heard a grinding ...... and deafening sound close by. I jerked, but it was the sound of my own clenched teeth.

――You think I'm scared of them? Hmph, that's no fucking funny.

「Headmaster, I want to help Meena and the others. Can't you use your magic to teleport them here?」

「There's no such thing as convenient magic. But, Alec, if you've been resurrected, you may be able to test your fate.」

The headmaster pulled out a hardcover book from the bookshelf, it was called "The Poetry of Welgilius".

「Does it have any spells in it?」

「No, it's a grimoire, not a spellbook. It's not to be used like the Necronomicon.」

Only the name Necronomicon sounds familiar to me. ...... Well, if it's not, then it doesn't matter.

「Now, Alec, open your own destiny.」

A book was placed on the large office desk, facing me.

She wanted me to read it.

I was about to turn to the first cover when I got a strong 【Premonition】, like an electric shock.

No, that's not the case.

The way to use this book is not to "read" it in the usual way.

As Loli grandma said, "opening it" is the magical element, and it is supposed to be a revelation (hint) of what I should do in the future.

I reach for the "The Poetry of Welgilius" with a wish.

I want to know how to rescue Meena, Kaede, and the others who probably sensed something wrong with me and went aboard, and how to defeat Emperor Gilan.

「Show it to me here! The Grimoire of Welgilius!」

I commanded.

Then, with a bang, the hardcover book opened by itself, and the pages flipped over by themselves.

It seems that I have to choose just one page from the book.

...... So it's the gacha of fate.

I'm going to save Meena and the others. I can do it――

I've been trying to tell myself that, but it will probably only happen if I get one right answer out of hundreds of pages.

After all, I've slipped in the arena before. Even though I'm a hero in another world now, I don't have that much luck.

If I drew the wrong page, the wrong fate――I might never see Meena again.

The white-haired girl who smiled at me. The dog-eared girl who adores me.

The first girl who made me a man.

「Alec, as you may know, but this grimoire test cannot be redone. When all the pages are finished, you'll get no hints.」

The Headmaster, who was staring at me, interrupted from the side.

The best authority on magic in Austin says so, so I guess there's no better way than this.

I ran my slightly trembling fingertips carefully through the book.

I only get one chance.

If only one of the hundreds of pages has the right answer, this is too bad a game to play.

Even so,  ...... if there is a chance, there is no choice but to pull it, right?

Up to this point I've been waiting patiently for the skill 【Premonition】 to activate, but it hasn't.

Soon, the book will reach the end of the page. Or maybe the page with the correct answer has already been turned and finished. Even now, the pages are still turning, and the remainder is slowly diminishing.

It seemed to indicate the Meena's fate.

Eeihh, the hell with it. Don't get lost!

Even if my luck is bad, with Meena's luck, I'm sure I'll get the right answer.

I quickly pressed down on the page with my hand, based only on that.

As soon as I did, a dazzling golden light shot up from the book and disappeared into the void.

「OHHHH! I'm pretty sure you've found your golden destiny: a U (unique) R (rare), or perhaps a God. Well done, Alec!」

I let out a deep breath and wiped the sweat from my forehead as the Headmaster gave me her seal of approval.

Wait for me, Meena, Kaede.

I'll definitely save you.