Maydare Volume 2 Chapter 7 - School Island Labyrinth II (Part 2)

 Ulysses, acting sus once again

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And he was so at ease. Who exactly was this bishop…?

“Ah.”

The head of the【Light】automaton rolled to my feet. Even though its head had been shot out, it still had half of its form, and its mouth was still open, making rooster calls. It must be made of sturdy material.

So I stomped on it vigorously and finished it off with my signature metal-melting magic.

“Um, Your Grace.”

“Didn’t ya do somethin’ really dirty just now?”

“I’d like to go back up. I have to meet up with my team. Please tell me how to do that, Your Grace.”

I ignored the bishop’s point and made a “please save this lost lamb” pose.

Assuming they had finished collecting the eyeballs, I couldn’t complete the assignment without meeting up with my teammates.

“You’re a shameless one. As expected of the world’s worst witch...no, it’s fine, I guess. Follow me.”

Bishop Eska walked through the wilderness, leaving the burning debris of the automaton in his wake.

I obediently followed him.

In this wilderness, there were cracks in the ground everywhere, but when you looked into them, you could see a blue sky, which made you feel strange. A blue sky seen from the cracks in the ground?

“Oi, that’s a ‘space fracture.’ If you fall into one, you’ll be dragged into the third labyrinth.”

I see. That blue sky belonged to the labyrinth on the next level down.

That reminded me, the third labyrinth was called the “Solitary Sky Castle” or something like that. It was probably another strange space.

“Ah.”

Before I knew it, there was something standing alone in the distance.

It was a simple, old stone door.

It wasn’t a door in a wall. To the right, left, front, and behind, there was just an open field, but the stone door was just there.

I recalled that in my past life...there was a famous door that came out of the pocket of a cat-shaped robot that could take you anywhere.

“To get back to the first labyrinth, you just take the lift circle on the other side of the door. But before that…”

Bishop Eska stepped closer to me without hesitation, his heterochromatic eyes opened wide, and he asked me a question.

“Makia O’Drielle. Do you see the enemy?”

I tightened my expression at the question.

“The enemy, you say? There are several things I’m wondering about it. For example, if the enemy really is a Blessed Child of【Water】.”

Nicholas Harbury, Beatrice’s butler, was also blessed by【Water 】, got injured when he touched me. Then the blue clown from that time should have also been affected by my heat constitution.

No, or maybe...the blue clown was a completely different person from the one who attacked Airi at the palace?

Or maybe Nicholas was purposely acting like he got burned?

Come to think of it, Beatrice was also at the palace on the day Airi was attacked…

“Kukuku. If the enemy is attacking the Savior and Guardians, you’re the easiest prey to kill. But that also means that you’re the only one who can find the clues that lead to the enemy.”

“...”

I glanced up at the bishop who said that.

“Your Grace, don’t tell me that you aren’t the real culprit who’s causing incidents in order to test me, are you?”

“Hah. That’d be an interesting development, but unfortunately, it’s not me. I’m an examiner and bystander. I’m looking at the Guardian’s ‘aptitude’ in the middle of incidents like that.”

The bishop bared his jagged teeth and grinned, his mouth like a bow-shaped moon.

“If you die here, you won’t survive what’s up ahead anyway.”

It was as if he knew the magnitude of the conflict that was to come.

“B-By the way, my current rating is…”

“Ah? Oh, no good, it’s no good at all.”

The bishop made an “x”  with his arms before my eyes, as though to hammer it in that it was “no good.”

“This time, I only killed that piece of junk to get my body moving, and saving your ass while I was at it. There won’t be a next time, Makia O’Drielle.”

I took his words seriously in my own way and bowed my head.

“Yes, I understand. Thank you very much. You have saved my life, Your Grace.”

“Mm. Good. Plus ten points for saying thank you.”

“Am I some three-year-old...?”

He had a scary face and a bad mouth, but he seemed to be a bishop who properly praised good children.

“All right, get going.”

“Ow!”

Just when I had gained a little respect for him, he kicked my leg and drove me towards the door.

Kicking a young maiden, he really was a bad bishop after all…

“Aren’t you going up?”

“I have some business on the fourth level, the ‘Chamber of Mirrors.’ Don’t worry, there’s a black-hearted spirit magician on the other side of the door. Even here, I can smell the fermented stink of his magic power in the air. Hah, the worst.”

“Okay…?”

“Just get out of here. Shoo, shoo. Don’t fall down again, you shitty brat.” 

I didn’t know what it was. But I did as I was told and opened the stone door in front of me.

It opened into a dimly lit passage.

When I looked back for some reason, the bishop was already gone.

“Ooh, oooh—”

“Hmm?”

However, that pale ghost fire was at my feet, tugging at the hem of my robe.

I wondered if Bishop Eska left it here. Did he want me to take it back with me?

“Oh well. Come with me, will-o’-th-wisp. That name’s too long, so can I just call you Wisp?”

“Gii gii, ugah!”

“Ow!”

It was a ferocious one, and it chomped at my leg. As might be expected from a demon, it wasn’t going to listen to me.

However, I was blessed by【Fire】. I roughly grabbed Wisp and walked through the open door. When I closed the door, my surroundings suddenly became dark, but thanks to the light of Wisp’s pale flame, I could see where I was going. I briskly moved forward and saw…

“Welcome back, Miss Makia.”

“Professor Ulysses…!”

At the end of the passageway, Professor Ulysses of Spirit Magic Studies was there. I instantly felt a surge of relief.

“I would like to offer my deepest apologies, Miss Makia. Once again, a mistake on the school’s side has put you in danger.”

“N-No. There was a bishop who saved me.”

“Ah. You’ve met Bishop Eska, I see.”

“...Yes. Do you know him, sir?”

“Of course. I know him very well. When I was young, I have been to the Vabel State several times. I have had my own interactions with Bishop Eska.”

Professor Ulysses smiled. It felt like there was some deeper meaning behind it.

“Oh, I see. So, Bishop Eska…”

He said something like there was someone on the other side of the door.

A black-hearted spirit magician, the stink of fermented magic power, and other rather rude things.

He was a splendid teacher with an invigorating smile, he had a faint scent that smelled good, and to begin with, he was the second prince of this nation...was he really talking about Professor Ulysses?

“I parted with Bishop Eska on the other side of the door. Should I have done that, sir?”

“Yes. Do not worry. The bishop went to give holy water to the branch of the World Tree Vabilophos, which is kept in the fourth labyrinth, the ‘Chamber of Mirrors.’”

“Is that the World Tree branch we saw at the entrance ceremony?”

“Yes, precisely. The branches of the World Tree, even if they are just branches, have great powers of blessing. However, if they are not watered regularly with holy water from the Holy Land, they will wither. Bishop Eska may not seem like it, but he is a very high-ranking archbishop. He is responsible for giving holy water to the branches of the World Tree.”

The World Tree Vabilophos.

It was the object of worship in Vabelism since the mythical era of Maydare.

I had yet to see the great tree itself, but if I was a Guardian, I would see it next spring, whether I liked it or not.

“By the way, Miss Makia, have you seen this painting?”

Professor Ulysses called for me to go directly under a painting that was hanging on the wall at the end of the passageway.

It looked like an old oil painting. Professor Ulysses held his staff aloft and illuminated the painting with a pale warm light.

My eyes slowly widened.

It depicted three magicians stacking something on top of a large tray, as though they were playing with wooden blocks. This was…

“This painting shows the founding of Lune Ruschia Magic School. It is said that this school was founded by the White Sage five hundred years ago, but it is actually a fortress built by the three great magicians together based on the White Sage’s plans.”

“The three great magicians… Do you mean the〈Black Demon King〉, 〈White Sage〉, and 〈Scarlet Witch〉?”

“Yes. The Black Demon King provided the blueprints and the spatial magic to build the fortress, as well as his own blood and eyeball, while the Scarlet Witch provided the stones of the Salt Forest, which could become important materials for building the fortress, as well as her own blood and eyeball. The White Sage provided the spirits who would manage the fortress, as well as his own blood and eyeball.”

There was one man in a black cloak, and another man with long hair and dressed in white robes. And the last person was a witch in a long robe dress and a pointy hat.

They were the three great magicians who certainly existed five hundred years ago.

I mean, just casually saying that the three great magicians offered their blood and eyeballs...I got goosebumps just imagining it.

“By the way, the ‘Labyrinth Game’ this time consists of students gathering the eyeballs of automatons, but this is a class that begun as an idea of Headmaster Pan’s, from the anecdote of the three great magicians offering their eyeballs to Lune Ruschia.”

“I-I see…”

Professor Ulysses was enjoying talking about it as well.

I had no idea that was where the eyeball collecting came from. But…

“I’ve heard that the three great magicians didn’t get along well, but they did interact with each other to create something together, huh.”

“Yes. They did acknowledge each other, despite saying this and that. Because of their great power, they were all alone. In the end, it was probably only the three of them who could stand side by side on the same stage and understand each other.” 

The professor’s eyes seemed to be staring off into the distance somewhere, through the mural.

“They created Lune Ruschia because they wanted to believe...that they could create something with the great power that they were born with, rather than using it solely for destruction.”

“...Professor?”

“That is what I think. This school is filled with their feelings.”

The professor then touched the painting, as though gently caressing it.

I somehow felt a sense of romance when I thought about the distant past.

Also, when I thought about the fact that I had the blood of the Scarlet Witch, who created Lune Ruschia, running through my veins.

“But why is something so important not written in the magical history textbooks?”

“That’s right. ...After all, it was the〈Savior〉from another world who was summoned to kill the great magicians, becoming justice in the end.”

The professor then put his index finger to his mouth and lowered his eyes.

“For history, the more important it is, the more secret it is.”

He was talking as though that was also a secret.

“Oh my. It has become like a magical world history class. Now, let’s go back up. I am sure that the rest of Team 9 will be worried.”

The professor thrust his staff down at the magic circle that was right under us.

The magic circle glowed dimly and made the ground float up in a cube shape, carrying us as we ascended. Professor Ulysses told me that there were many of these lift circles in the School Island Labyrinth.

“Oh, we found Leader!”

“Makia, are you all right?”

“Are you hurt!?”

When I returned to the first labyrinth, I was able to meet up with Frey, Nero, and Lapis right away.

They were very worried about me and told me about the many things that had happened since my fall.

Afterward, the students were assailed by the poisonous air of the labyrinth and turned into a mob, and then the teams began to fight each other for the eyeballs. Team 9 ran around trying to escape while desperately protecting the eyeballs we had obtained.

What was this. While I was gone, an interesting development took place…

“Oh, that’s right. Here's the【Wind】automaton’s eyeball.”

I pulled out the white eyeball from my pocket. A lot happened, but I was glad I didn’t lose it.

“Uga, ugaga!”

“Oi, what the heck is that, Leader?”

While I was doing that, Frey noticed the demon fire in my pocket.

“Oh, the bishop I met in the second labyrinth brought it with him~”

“...Hah?”

“Well, it’s a long story, so I’ll tell you later. For now, let’s get out of here.”

Everyone was already exhausted and wanted to get out of this underground labyrinth as soon as possible.

I could hear the machine sounds of the automatons and the angry shouts and screams of the mob of students, but I just wanted to eat tasty food, take a bath, and sleep in my bed.

These desires prevailed, and we headed for the exit, looking at the map without taking any detours.

Then, just as it was written in the guide paper, we succeeded in escaping by inserting the four eyeballs into the hollows of the wall and opening the stone door.

“Garnet Team 9 has escaped. Second place!”

As soon as we got out, we heard Professor Lila’s assertive voice.

Hmm? Wait a minute, second place…?

“Oh my, Makia O’Drielle. I see that you’re alive. But I do beg your pardon. You were just a step behind.”

“...B-Beatrice.”

Beatrice, gloriously flipping her long blonde hair, came up to us, who were exhausted.

“We were the first ones to successfully escape. Yes, it is us, Garnet Team 1. Therefore, it is my victory!”

“Grrrr. Stop emphasizing ‘we’ so many times!”*

(TN: In the original Japanese Makia complains about Beatrice saying "watakushi" too many times. Watakushi is a personal pronoun that's very formal and feminine. If someone uses this you know they're an ojou-sama.)

In the end, the ones who made me say “grrr” were Garnet Team 1, led by Beatrice.

“Ugh, I’m so frustrated. We lost again!”

“Watching your frustration, how can I put this, always feels splendidly pleasant…”

Beatrice and my team members looked down at me as I pounded my fist against the ground.

“Miss Makia O’Drielle. I am glad to see that you are safe.”

The only one who called out to me kindly and offered their hand was Beatrice’s butler, Nicholas Harbury.

The hand he held out to me had been treated for its burn. “Doesn’t it hurt?” I asked him, and he finally realized he was holding out his burned hand.

“I’m sorry, Nicholas Harbury, I burned you.”

I was finally able to apologize to him.

“There is no need for that. I was also using my【Water】blessing abilities, so it was mutual. But even so, it was quite terrifying. I did not expect the footholds to collapse.”

“...”

His words didn’t sound like there was anything more to them.

He was a praiseworthy butler with a sense of refinement, cultivation, and consideration. Beatrice must be very proud of him.

Actually, she was right next to me with her hands on her hips and a very proud look on her face.

“Nicholas! We are going to the infirmary right away. The temporary treatment will leave a scar.”

“Yes, mistress. But, you do not need to worry about that.”

“I am not worried! I am just irritated that my butler has become damaged.”

“Fufu, yes, mistress.”

And thus, Beatrice took him and quickly went to the infirmary.

She was always acting high and mighty and saying things like that, but I guess she treasured her butler.

Seeing the backs of the two of them standing side by side, I was reminded of Thor and me in the past.

More than anything, it was the air of trust between them.

The young lady and her servant, invincible as long as they were with each other.

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