Magic Academy Mayhem: A Class Full of Maniacs - Chapter 50

Dreams were ever-changing. Even when someone used a Dream-Entering Magic Circle to enter the same person’s dream, the scene would vary with time.

But a consciousness space changed only when its owner experienced an enormous emotional fluctuation.

The conscious entity within such a space embodied all the true body’s negativity.

In simple terms, it resembled what the modern world called a second personality.

Both shared the same soul but possessed different patterns of thought and behavior.

The true body and subconscious entity might share no memories at all, or only a portion. Disparities in their knowledge were therefore entirely normal.

In other words, Richter’s subconscious did not possess all the true body’s memories. Even its decision to name itself could, in a certain sense, be considered normal.

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The above was the conclusion Cynthia reached after laboriously reading through numerous books and thinking the matter over repeatedly.

She had never seen his face in the end. But now that she knew who he was, it no longer mattered.

Those bloodred eyes… They had probably differed from reality because a baleful aura of blood covered them.

In any case, she had identified the owner of the illusory world and solved the problem of being unable to use magic inside it. There was no reason to keep dwelling on it.

Judging by his reactions on the first two occasions, Richter himself likely had no idea that she had entered his subconscious world multiple times.

The situation appeared to be this: the subconscious entity calling itself Cyril possessed some of the true body’s memories, but not all.

Richter, the true body, possessed none of the subconscious entity’s memories. He was not even aware that “Cyril” existed.

In that case, Cynthia would simply pretend none of it had happened.

Her questions had been answered, and she had thoroughly mastered both the Dream-Entering Magic Circle and the Spirit-Submergence Magic Circle. She decided not to practice this type of magic again for a while.

*

Two more days passed, and the Freshman Tournament came to an end.

Heaven’s Judgment Team of Myriad Forms Academy took first place in the Team Competition.

Second place went to Dragon-Slaying Team of Tianxuan Academy.

Third went to Wind Feather Team of Tinglan Academy, Lomita’s team.

The academy did not publish the remaining rankings.

Cynthia did not particularly care.

The tournament was followed by two days of leave, during which students were permitted to leave the academy.

Of course, Griffin had been missing for so long that, for Cynthia and the others, their holiday had effectively begun the moment they lost to Heaven’s Judgment…

Still, an academy-wide break was different in one respect. For these two days, they could leave freely.

In the small hours of the first morning, the instant that permission became active, Cynthia used the academy’s teleportation array to leave Sky City.

She was not undertaking anything important.

She was keeping a promise.

As agreed, she would set You Xia Prometheus free.

*

On an island in the sea, Cynthia set the enchanted bottle containing his ashes upon the water. Then she glanced at You Xia, who had been silent for some time.

“Thank you for everything these past few days, Teacher You Xia.”

Seeing her detached expression, You Xia snorted. “You’re heartless. You left the academy in the middle of the night just to send me away?”

Cynthia dripped her blood onto his body. The Temporary Contract between them dissolved.

“A promise should be kept. Besides, isn’t this the freedom you’ve wanted for a hundred years?”

You Xia sighed gloomily. “I mean I’m a little reluctant to part. We’ve been together quite a while. Once I leave, we probably won’t have another chance to meet.”

Cynthia had not expected such sentimentality from him.

After a moment’s silence, she said, “…The enchanted bottle is a high-grade artifact equipped with defensive and concealment spells. Nothing in the water can obstruct it. You’ll no longer be confined to a tiny corner of the world. You can travel anywhere.”

He still seemed dejected. Cynthia raised a hand and patted his head.

“What I mean is, there’s no need to be reluctant. One day, we’ll meet again.”

Being comforted by someone younger than himself was rather humiliating.

You Xia sounded aggrieved. “…Sometimes I truly think you can’t be only sixteen.”

Cynthia raised an eyebrow. “Is my century-old Ghost teacher calling a teenager old?”

You Xia gave a dry laugh. “Years spent as a Ghost don’t count toward my age. I was about your age when I was alive.”

Once his complaint was out of the way, he suppressed his emotions and poured out everything he had not yet told her.

“You can bind the Bone Key with a blood contract. The password to my Imperial Bank account is *****. I also organized my analyses of several lost magic arrays and left them on the bookshelf in your sitting room. And…”

Perhaps he had not expected their parting to arrive so quickly. He went on for nearly twenty minutes, explaining every matter down to the smallest detail.

Cynthia listened quietly. Only when he finished did she answer, “All right. I’ll remember.”

“…As long as you remember. I’m leaving.”

You Xia flew toward the distance, then stopped abruptly halfway.

He did not turn around. Awkward words traveled back on the wind.

“Well… even if we never meet again, I hope that one day I’ll hear your name somewhere in the world. Work hard. Become a great mage known across the continent.”

Cynthia laughed softly. “I will.”

“…Goodbye.”

“We’ll meet again.”

Not goodbye, but *we’ll meet again*…

The corners of You Xia’s lips curved, and the gloom pressing on his heart finally dispersed.

Yes.

One day, they would meet again.

*

You Xia and the enchanted bottle drifted farther and farther away. Cynthia watched until he disappeared entirely from view before turning back toward the magic array.

—

After returning to Moon Soul Academy, Cynthia did not go to her dorm.

Instead, she visited the twenty-four-hour food court in the commercial district.

Her meals had been extremely irregular these past few days. After all this activity, she was hungry. She might as well eat before going back.

Cynthia bought a salad, then stopped at a café for a stimulating Moon Spring Latte.

She had just chosen a secluded seat in the courtyard outside when she noticed a familiar figure from the corner of her eye.

Richter, whom she had not seen for five days.

He sat across the courtyard near a wisteria tree.

His body was steeped in the tree’s ink-dark shadow, while fragments of moonlight silvered his hair and lent him an additional chill.

The magic lamps hanging from the trellis cast mottled light. His lids were half-lowered, his lashes leaving pale shadows beneath the glow.

One fingertip rubbed the handle of his cup without thought. His gaze rested on a fallen leaf atop the table.

He was plainly lost in thought.

Cynthia propped her chin on one hand and could not help looking a second time.

When quiet, he truly was exceptionally pleasing to the eye.

She was about to look away when, as if sensing something, his fingers abruptly stilled.

His lowered lashes rose. He looked directly at her.

Their eyes met.

Cynthia did not evade him. She greeted him first. “What a coincidence.”

“…”

The instant he saw her, Richter frowned.

Cynthia stared.

She took in his reaction and almost laughed.

Just look at this man.

As if his inexplicable fit five days ago had not been enough, now he was not even bothering to pretend?

How profoundly irritating.

Cynthia looked away and decided to ignore him.

But she had taken only one sip of coffee when the light before her was blocked by someone approaching.