Maydare Volume 4 Other Side: Ulysses, Shooting the Arrows of the Moon.

 The end of the Volume 4! What a cliffhanger! I'll probably start Volume 5 (finally caught up but apparently Volume 6 is coming out next spring) at the end of December. Thanks for all the support!

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My name was Ulysses.

I was the second prince of the Kingdom of Ruschia, and the instructor in charge of Spirit Magic Studies at Lune Ruschia Magic School.

I was the reincarnation of the〈White Sage〉, the great magician who lived five hundred years ago, but the students didn’t know that.

Well, because it would be somewhat ridiculous, calling myself a great magician.

“Are the students safe?”

I periodically received information about the school island, which had been attacked by the demons of the Hermedes Heavenly Empire, from the gardener spirit Lafox.

“Ogres infiltrated the first labyrinth, but no one was injured due to the protective barrier of Savior Airi’s spirit Eve. However, one of the first-year students encountered an ogre aboveground. He is in critical condition.”

“What is the name of that student?”

“Francis Downy. A student from Garnet Team 3.”

“..Mr. .Francis…”

I knew that student well.

He was a member of the hardworking Garnet Team 3, composed of children from the orphanage.

In particular, Mr. Francis’s attitude towards spirit magic was enthusiastic and excellent. His grades in Spirit Magic Studies were ranked third, following Mr. Nero, who was the top student, and Miss Makia, who was second-ranked.

He had a generous personality and showed a gentle interest in animals and spirits.

He often came to me, asking questions about things he didn’t understand, wanting to pet Phantrome, and gave him his favorite food, biscuits.

After the ogres attacked, he was apparently worried about the magic toys that won the Everyday Magic Tool Contest, so he went to the atelier they were using.

During that, his leg was bitten off by an ogre he encountered. He was protected by a spirit of the school that rushed to save him and saved his life, but he lost one leg and was in critical condition.

Everyone most likely scolded him for not escaping to safety.

However, I could imagine how Mr. Francis felt.

Magic toys made out of junk–those were like the proof of the bond between him, his teammates, and the man named Eugene Batiste.

“...I’m truly thankful that he’s alive. However…”

One of the students got hurt.

I had dispatched all the spirits serving the school to protect and evacuate the students, but I couldn’t forgive myself.

If we let even one student die, that would be our defeat at that point.

——That abominable Heavenly Empire. Those pitiful demons that were transformed into puppets.

The information that the Heavenly Empire was studying teleportation magic was just as I had heard from Frezier, but the completion of the large-scale teleportation magic was a little earlier than I had expected.

“Can I assume that the evacuation of all the students is completed?”

“Yes. All the students have already been evacuated and are in a safe area. Only Makia O’Drielle has not yet been evacuated to the first labyrinth, but she’s under the protection of Bishop Eska, so she should be fine.”

Lafox continued his report.

“The teachers and spirits have managed to hold back the ogres. The poison gas administered by Lord Medite, the Potions professor, is proving to be quite effective. However, it is a race against time. The enemy does not appear to be marching towards the capital, so perhaps their objective is to seize the school.”

“That won’t happen. Because I am here.”

The enemy’s objective, huh.

It was too early for a war.

But with Lune Ruschia’s students as hostages, they might be trying to make difficult demands on the Ruschia royal court.

Or maybe they wanted the Savior’s life.

Or maybe they wanted to seize Twilight’s “Black Box.”

Or maybe they wanted to learn the “secret” that lied in the deepest part of this school island.

Or perhaps they wanted to gauge my power before starting a full-scale war…

I was sure that they had more than one objective. It was also an experiment for large-scale teleportation magic, so they intended to achieve their goals as much as possible according to their priorities.

“But…large-scale teleportation magic is something that overturns geographical advantage in unexpected ways.”

The safety of the students was prioritized, so we allowed the invasion of the Heavenly Empire’s demons and troublesome magicians. But as long as the students were safe, we could clean up the mess any way we wanted later.

I went up the lighthouse and and checked the restored lacrima.

There was a dull lamp right underneath it.

When I rubbed the lamp with my palm, a cloud of bluish-black smoke came out of it, and in the smoke I could see the face of a very old man. This was Jean, the great spirit of the lamp.

“Are you doing well, Jean?”

“I am truly ashamed, Your Highness. I am a failure as a lighthouse keeper.”

Jean was dejected. Despite being a great spirit with the appearance of a mighty old man, his mental state was a little unstable.

“If you couldn’t handle it, then there was nothing we could do about it. Spirit magic and cutting-edge, modern magic aren’t compatible with each other. And, it seems that the enemy is familiar with the workings of Lune Ruschia.”

It was something I didn’t want to think about too much, but it was probably through Eugene Batiste, who was once a teacher at Lune Ruschia, that they learned the workings of the school island’s barrier and its associated weaknesses.

Yes. Lune Ruschia Magic School also had a protective barrier function.

However, it wasn’t always in place, but rather, when danger was detected, it was instantly placed where necessary. 

Therefore, due to the earthquake, the deployment of the barrier function was concentrated around the buildings.

In the meantime, the enemy destroyed the lighthouse’s lacrima with a blow as fast as light.

They said that the enemy country emphasized the speed of magic and was always in pursuit of it, but I see, it had a great impact in times like this. 

To begin with, it must be the Twilight clan, experts in spatial magic, who were capable of such feats. This earthquake was probably artificially caused by them.

The descendants of a great magician–the Black Demon King.

It was commendable that they were able to perfect such a large-scale teleportation spell using the technology left behind by the Black Demon King.

If they weren’t magicians from an enemy country, I would have liked to praise them without hesitation.

“But I wonder how much magic power and sacrifice is needed to operate that large teleportation magic circle. Do you know how many spirits it would take to destroy it, Jean?”

“It would take a bit of work to destroy it. But with your power, Your Highness, it is possible. The method that will consume the least amount of magic power and magic circles as well as minimize the damage to the school island is…”

Jean calculated the amount of magic and magic power used in the large teleportation magic circle and derived the equation of destruction. The method was projected onto the surface of the restored lacrima.

“I see, so it’s the lunar bow and arrow?”

I nodded. Then, I hit the floor with my staff and deployed a summoning circle.

“Owl spirit Phantrome, cotton flower spirit Rieracoton, great spirit of the moon Artemis…come to me now.”

Soon, the three spirits appeared before me.

“Moon spirit Artemis, present.”

“Cotton flower spirit Rieracoton, has hastened to join you.”

“Owl spirit Phantrome, always at Your Highness’s side.”

They bowed exaggeratedly before me.

In the past, when I was called the〈White Sage〉, I met them while travelling around the world and became friends with them.

“Everyone, please lend me your strength.”

“As you wish.”

And then, while I would normally do this without chanting an incantation, just for this time, I chanted the incantation while being aware of the form of the spell and my own “name.”

“Yuri yuno sys——Multiplicative summoning——Lunar bow and arrow.”

Spirits had several summoning forms. 

Originally, they were forces of the natural world who took on magical forms.

Therefore, it wasn’t impossible to command them to change their form while maintaining their name and concept. It required a great deal of training and a bond with the spirits, however.

The one who discovered and established multiple summoning methods was the〈White Sage〉from five hundred years ago.

Among them was the multiplicative summoning methods, in which multiple spirits were combined to put together a complex spell.

A silver bow appeared before me, as if a crescent moon had been given to me from the sky.

I grabbed it from the top of the large lighthouse and aimed it at the large magic circle in the sky.

When I drew the bowstring that was made of drops of moonlight, shining arrows that looked like condensed moonlight appeared.

One, two, three…about ten magic circles with different instructions were connected together in the direction the arrows were pointing.

The trajectory was fixed by Phantrome, and Rieracoton securely connected the multiple spells.

And the lunar bow and arrows, with the great spirit Artemis as their foundation, was fired at the large teleportation magic circle.

The light arrows pierced countless magic circles in midair, absorbing their commands and becoming like giant pillars.

They cut through the air with a pure and high sound, like a hymn.

Then, one pierced the center of the large teleportation magic circle. The sound of something breaking, as if the arrow had pierced glass, echoed through the air. This light arrow rewrote the important magic formulas of the circle, leading to its destruction.

“Ah, it exploded.”

As Lafox had muttered, the final result was a huge explosion of light. The explosion would affect the other side, which was connected through the large teleportation magic circle.

The heat and shock wave would reach here. There would be damage to the school island, but all the students have already evacuated to the school island, so there was no problem.

“Wonderful work, Your Highness.”

Lafox, who was standing behind me, clapped his hands.

Grains of light could be seen falling into the sea, like after a firework had gone off.

The large teleportation magic circle was destroyed and disappeared from the sky, but I was still staring at that one point.

“We can’t rest easy yet. Even though the large teleportation magic circle was destroyed, there are still countless demons that have landed here in Lune Ruschia, and as long as the Twilight magicians are still around, the teleportation magic will be deployed again. I’m sure that this only served the purpose of testing my power for the enemy.”

Yes. A one-time destruction was nothing more than just buying time.

This wasn’t a victory. Even though the endless number of ogres no longer descended upon us and we were now able to destroy them on the school island…

Sure enough, the sky above began to show signs of rebuilding the large teleportation magic circle once again.

I saw numerous Twilight magicians flying around and doing something.

In the first place, the other side probably already knew that a situation such as the destruction of the large teleportation magic circle would occur.

There should be a reserve of magic tools to deploy the magic circle once more.

“...Isn’t that right, dear Twilight magicians?”

I slowly turned around.

I sensed a faint presence behind me.

There were two magicians standing there, wearing black robes and iron masks.

“Oho. As expected, you noticed us.”

Of course. How many pairs of spirits’ eyes did they think was around me?

The Twilight magicians, however, greeted me in an eerily nonchalant manner.

“This is the first time we’re meeting each other, Your Highness, the second prince of the Kingdom of Ruschia.”

“As expected of the most powerful magician in the Kingdom of Ruschia. Even after destroying the large teleportation magic circle, he still looks cool and composed.”

“Nonsense, I’m slightly tired.”

Summoning spirits on this scale consumed a lot of magic power and magic circles.

“So, which one of you is the ‘Blue Jester’? What do you want to know about me?”

“...”

The Twilight magicians were silent for a while, but then…

“——Die, for the sake of the Heavenly Empire.”

One of them forged two swords, and without responding to my question, charged at me.

I used my staff as a shield and blocked it. Immediately after, Lafox bit into the enemy’s throat from behind, and they fell to the ground.

“Guh…”

I walked up to the magician in black robes who had been bitten by the large fox.

And then, I looked down at them.

“You fool. Shall I boil you in a cauldron?”

I smiled a thin smile that was so magician-like that even I thought so.

The spirits of the lake

Tricked into a pot and boiled

Until they pledged allegiance to the White Sage

“I don’t much like the〈White Sage〉part of the poem, but there is one thing that is certain: I can even use ‘people.’ Basically, I can turn anything that has life into a spirit.”

I took out a small vial from my pocket and opened the cap.

“W-What are you going to…!”

“What, you ask?”

“U-Uwaaaaaaah!!!”

The Twilight magician Lafox had bitten into turned into threads and was absorbed into this vial.

Spirits were the incarnations that were born when the natural world was tinged with magic power.

However, it wasn’t impossible to conceptualize a living being, such as a human or animal, and give it a form as a spirit.

Spiritualization–that was the magic allowed to the White Sage. It was one of my secret arts.

“Well, I have so many ironic poems about me because I put spirits in vials and do various things in pots.”

“The ‘various things’ is the key, isn’t it? Ah, how terrifying, the magician on the other side of the door.”

Lafox turned into his human form and said in a droll manner as he held his body.

I put the vial away in my pocket and chuckled.

“So, are you just going to watch?”

The other Twilight magician stood quietly in the back, and then suddenly clapped their hands.

“Oh my, I was stunned. You’re quite interesting, aren’t you?”

“...Interesting?”

“Yes, of all the great magicians, I’ve always thought that the〈White Sage〉was the most boring, you know? But I was wrong. …You’ve done something unexpectedly cruel and pleasant?”

Then, with a nimble turn, they transformed into a creepy clown wearing a blue jester’s hat.

I see. So this was the Heavenly Empire’s…Blue Jester.

“I don’t want to be told that by you lot, who have repeatedly experimented on human bodies through alchemy. How many sacrifices were made for that teleportation magic circle? …I don’t want to know, but I can imagine.”

When I said that, the Blue Jester put his hand over his mouth and laughed affectedly.

Then, still wearing his clown’s mask, he shook his body and spoke in his terribly idiosyncratic and unstable manner.

“I’m sure that you’re so prudent that you wouldn’t get serious unless we attack the rumored Lune Ruschia, terrorize its students, and take it by storm. Yes, that was what I, who had taken over Eugene Batiste’s body, had decided, yes?”

“...Oho.”

“Eugene understood you well. But of course, he died without knowing that you are the reincarnation of the〈White Sage〉, yes?”

“...”

“But, there’s still~~something you’re hiding. Behind the big, big door in the depths of this school, there are three treasures hiding~~”

The Blue Jester sang, danced, and teased me.

Blue-black vines grew from their feet.

“Now then, let us go to the second round, Master White Sage. Please don’t disappoint me, okay? Let me have some fun, won’t you? Give it your all, won’t you? I’ve made so many preparations just for this…”

The Blue Jester made an exaggerated bow, as if he were addressing an audience, then became wrapped in the vines growing from his feet and disappeared, as if sinking into a swamp.

Finally——

“Heh…the Twilight Zone, huh?”

I noticed that the sky above me was dyed in an unbelievable sunset color for the time of day.

The Twilight Zone was a secret spell left behind by the〈Black Demon King〉, a spatial magic to intentionally create a time of sunset.

The sunset was also called the golden hour, when a magician’s magic power was at its highest and the effectiveness of magic increased about thirty percent. 

The fact that it could be created intentionally was astonishing.

I had to commend it for being an excellent spatial magic.

Yes. This was one of the spells that my former…friend, the 〈Black Demon King〉, was good at.

I didn’t realize there was a magician on the enemy’s side who could use it. Perhaps it was the work of Solomon Twilight, Miss Lapis’s brother.

“Hoo hoo, Your Highness. The enemy is planning to take advantage of sunset to deploy the large teleportation magic circle again. In that case, shall we destroy it once more with the lunar bow and arrow?”

“No, Phantrome. Simply destroying it won’t get us anywhere. It would just be repeating the same thing over and over again. …Besides, because of their farce, the students of Lune Ruschia were injured.”

I slowly raised my face once again.

Then, I put strength into the hand that held my staff.

“It is unforgivable that our country, our school, is being one-sidedly damaged and that fear is being instilled in our people and students. I am not such a kind magician. Naturally, the Kingdom of Ruschia must receive a souvenir from the enemy country.”

“What do you plan on doing, Your Highness?”

The minstrel fox, Lafox, tilted his head and asked.

“Let us break the seal on Pan Faunus.”

I spoke without hesitation. The spirits there said “Oh my” and widened their eyes, but I had planned on doing it from the start.

Soon, Bishop Eska would bring those two here.

Those two held the key to unlock the seal that was placed on Lune Ruschia.

And when the three of us were gathered, the door that had been tightly closed for five hundred years would open——

Come, enemy nations.

Behold the quintessence of magic, the abyss, that lies beyond the door.

You will see why this school, created by the three great magicians of the past, is called an impenetrable fortress.

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