NOVEL NEXT Chapter 123 - The Girl's Miracle and Magic Never Stop★ (2)
“Let’s go to the sea.”
Senior Frida’s sudden suggestion.
We had no particular reason to object, so we changed clothes and headed to the subway station. Then we transferred directly to the airport railway from Line 2.
Beep—
“Transfer.”
Senior Selma complained as she passed through the seemingly endless transfer corridor for 5 minutes.
“Why did they make this so long? Did they mess up the construction or something?”
“Well… It’s an infamous transfer section. Let’s just consider it exercise… Hehe.”
“Ahaha, maybe we should have taken the bus?”
“…”
But somehow I found it hard to sympathize with the seniors’ words.
By pink airhead standards, this seemed like an ultra-luxury facility.
Public transportation where you can just tap a card once and ride casually felt exceptionally convenient today. There were plenty of things more inconvenient than this.
‘Isn’t being able to ride right away after tapping a transit card… extremely convenient? It’s not like we have to submit ID or school certificates to get a pass…’
Pass?
At that moment.
A cheerful girl’s voice comes to mind.
-Here! The cute secretary’s ether train pass issued by the
…
Something.
It feels like I’m about to remember…
“…”
As I stood there frozen like that.
The seniors who had gone far ahead turned to look back.
“Clara?”
“Ah, it’s nothing—☆”
I hurriedly followed after the seniors. Going down like that, a train running to Incheon Airport had arrived.
Clank—
Clank—
Actually, when I first heard Senior Frida’s words, I was very surprised. Somehow the place called the ‘sea’ felt very distant.
But now that we were on the train to Incheon just 15 minutes after entering the station, I wondered why it had felt so far.
‘It’s not like I live in an inland region with nothing but plains like Mongolia… Why was I so surprised at the mention of the sea…?’
The subway heading to Incheon Airport.
The inside was quiet since we were riding at an odd time. Only travelers looking at their phones with suitcases in front were seated.
Clank—
Clank—
The sensation of the hard seat felt by my buttocks is unfamiliar.
The situation of suddenly going to the sea on a weekday afternoon is unfamiliar.
Everything except the seniors feels both natural and unfamiliar.
It feels like entering a restaurant made in hanok style, only to have an Italian chef serve French-style Hawaiian pizza.
Everything doesn’t connect well and feels awkward.
Unfamiliar.
“…”
But… in one corner of my heart.
I felt this was enough.
What does it matter if an Italian chef serves French-style Hawaiian pizza? As long as it tastes good…
‘Just… like this…’
We finally arrived in Incheon an hour later. After wandering around Incheon Airport Station for a while, we eventually caught a taxi and headed to a nearby beach.
Splash—
I didn’t feel much even when the waves touched my feet.
‘I came to Incheon’s coast too often when I was young…’
The sea I was seeing again now had gloomy weather.
The heavily overcast clouds were spewing out unpleasant gray and blurring the horizon. A heavy, damp wind was blowing instead of a cool breeze.
It seemed like a day with rather bad weather.
This is why we shouldn’t have left impulsively without checking the weather forecast.
“…”
Senior Frida smiled and said:
“…It’s hazy. How strange.”
“Gloomy… Like the last day in Berlin.”
“Selma, how long are you going to keep talking about that person?”
“Until the last day of the Empire…”
“Haah.”
Senior Nina held her palm up to the sky and said:
“Is it about to rain?”
“Well, it is dreary…☆”
Nevertheless, we didn’t turn back right away. Since we came all this way, we decided to spend time taking a leisurely walk.
Selma and Senior Nina walked far ahead, chatting casually. Following behind them were Senior Frida and I.
Senior Nina suddenly spoke as she walked forward.
“Selma, do you eat bread every time you go to cafes to write these days?”
“Huh? Well… I feel awkward just ordering an Americano and sitting for 4 hours. So I bought things like cake slices… Why?”
“Your cheeks seem to have gotten a bit fuller.”
“Come on, it’s just a slice or two of bread. How much could I gain from eating that?”
“Ahaha… You might not know this from baking, but cakes and cookies contain the same weight of butter and sugar as the finished product.”
“…Damn.”
As we were walking leisurely along the beach like that.
Senior Frida suddenly looked at the gloomy sea and spoke.
“…Hey. Clara.”
“Yes?”
Under the gray sky.
The sight of her yellow hair fluttering was impressive.
“My dream was to open a studio somewhere with a view of the sea.”
“Ah, in Incheon? Wow—☆ That’s really cool…”
“Because.”
But Senior Frida, who never interrupted others’ words, continued speaking as if she hadn’t heard me.
That appearance was also unfamiliar.
“Because my hometown was far from the sea, in a place that took three days and nights by train to reach.”
“…”
“Since our poor family couldn’t afford such luxury… The seaside was always just a small scene existing in fairy tale book illustrations.”
“…”
“But maybe it’s because they were cheap fairy tale books? The illustrations there… thinking about it now, they were really crude. Just roughly painted blue, that’s all.”
“…”
“But to young me, that blue paper was the sea and a dream. So I wanted to someday open a studio somewhere with that scenery.”
How strange.
The more I hear about that dream.
My chest hurts and I feel guilty.
It was strange.
There’s nowhere in Korea that takes 3 days and nights by train no matter how far. And no matter how poor, you should be able to get seaside photos anywhere.
“…”
Hometown?
Where was Senior Frida’s hometown?
“…”
Surely Senior Frida’s hometown…
And the reason we came to live together…
A rainy day.
The day I first arrived in the academy city.
The day I was turned away and chased out by everyone.
-I’m so glad to meet you!
From someone.
It was the first time I heard those words of being glad to meet me.
“…”
At that moment.
I felt a moist sensation in one eye.
Drip—
“…Huh.”
Rain?
The weather was so hazy, did it end up raining after all?
“…”
But, looking up at the sky, it still wasn’t raining.
“…”
I stood frozen like that looking at the sky.
“Clara.”
“…”
Senior Frida spoke to me as if admonishing.
“This isn’t ‘my’ world, is it?”
“…”
* * *
Rota and Astrid arrived at the Research Faction’s library.
“What a peculiar place… Why does such a large building have only one small passageway for entry and exit?”
“I still can’t get used to that every time I come.”
Rota inserted the key into the firmly closed main gate and turned it. From coming and going so often, she had eventually received a key for outsiders.
Creak—
The heavy iron door opened.
Entering that dark cave-like building,
The inside was also a crucible of chaos like the outside.
Twitch
Twitch
Dog ears made of brown fur twitch.
A dog beastkin female student wearing glasses wailed while shedding tears. It was because an unread new release was about to go on sale soon.
“Wa-waaah…! We’re all d-dying…! Wh-what should I do…! If I can’t read volume 11 of
Students who had already gotten their hands on the new releases they wanted to read ignored such wailing and focused.
“D-don’t talk to me… Before the world ends, I have to read all of volume 21 and
The Research Faction students focusing with their eyes bulging.
As soon as they sensed the world was about to end, they were speed-reading their favorite long novels and obscene books without restraint.
The sight of hundreds of timid students burying their noses in books. The sound of pages turning was almost like the fluttering of birds’ wings.
Flutter—
Flutter—
Flutter—
It was truly a pathetic sight.
But because they were so deeply immersed in their own worlds, they could ignore the echoing voices and forbidden knowledge.
Unlike other students rapidly disappearing into the abyss even now, many of the Research Faction students were able to remain in the library.
“…”
“…”
Leaving behind the Research Faction students reading frantically, Rota and Astrid climbed up to the library’s spire where Freya and other students were.
“Hm…? Orange ears? Wh-why did you come here?”
The rabbit librarian Mila was shocked to see Astrid.
“[Mist]…! Library Director…! Th-that person smells strongly of an extrovert…!”
Hearing those words, Astrid raised her chin proudly.
“Oh~ Hohoho! To recognize this lady’s brilliant appearance right away! You rabbit girl! I shall grant you the qualification to be this lady’s attendant—!”
“Eek…?!”
“Mi-Mila… If you c-compliment her like that, she’ll get all worked up…”
They asked Rota and Astrid, who had suddenly arrived, various questions. But soon they gathered their thoughts and began having a constructive conversation.
“I-I’ll show you the current state of the academy city.”
Freya opened an observation window showing the academy city and lamented.
Numerous collapses could be seen between the magic circles. The city was collapsing all over, covered by opaque curtains.
“Th-the kids saw this and lost their minds… They all ended up like that…”
Rabbit librarian Mila spoke with an interested expression about the information obtained from the unstable echoes of the World Tree, even in this situation.
“Ah, the nine worlds that were bound as one… Th-that was forcibly maintained through perception control… Th-this city is a kind of giant consciousness… or a place for pseudo-sacrificial offerings…”
“If you l-look into fate a little… You c-can see that control is the purpose… T-to think it’s a place that gathers all the world’s wars and conflicts in one spot, and determines the direction of the world…”
Rota interjected between Freya and Mila’s conversation.
“Even now, chaos insects and abyssal power are pouring out all over the academy city. People are struggling there. I want to stop that as much as possible.”
“…Wh-who wouldn’t want to? That’s why we’re trying our best to keep our wits and figure out what’s happening.”
Mila confessed with an embarrassed expression.
“B-but we still haven’t grasped it properly.”
“Sh-shut up…”
“Hng…”
Freya sighed and pointed at the observation window again. She especially emphasized the appearance of the World Tree and the southern part of the academy city.
“Th-there are two places expected to be the centers of the anomaly right now…”
One is the World Tree.
The other is the abyss that appeared in the southern part of the academy city.
“Th-the World Tree has been acting crazy since earlier… Babbling nonsense about forgetting and remembering…”
Mila pointed at the southern part of the academy city and said:
“A h-huge something suddenly appeared from a hole in the southern part of the academy city… It’s pr-probably a beast god presumed to be a ‘dragon’ awakening…”
“[Dragon Crouching in the Abyss]…”
A giant body.
Authority that manipulates laws.
And a beast god that transcends even death.
According to Urd, the goddess of the past, only the fate of the [Three Heroes] who once sealed it could stop it.
‘What I… can do.’
Rota hugged the grimoire she was holding tightly. And she spoke to Freya.
“With the Sage’s Room… Could I be of help?”
What flashed through Rota’s mind was the memory of defeating Ofnir.
‘If I use magic from here, couldn’t I defeat the dragon?’
This room was a trump card that could indiscriminately bombard no matter how far the distance. If she could just imbue it with the power of [Golden Witch]…
“Ah… about that.”
Freya clicked her tongue and said:
“I-I thought about it and did some calculations just in case… but it seems too far out of range, s-so it would be difficult.”
“I see…”
Droop—
The orange ears that had perked up in anticipation drooped.
Freya muttered regretfully:
“If only we could detach just this place and move the spire to where the
“…”
“…”
It was an unrealistic suggestion.
How could they move this huge room?
Moreover, the academy city was currently blocked off by dimensional curtains all over. Even if they solved it with physical force, it would require a lot of support.
So both Mila and Rota had gloomy expressions.
Unexpectedly, Astrid, who was looking at the observation window, responded to that muttering.
“…What if hundreds of giants appeared and moved this room by hand?”
“H-hey, you crazy woman… Now’s not the time for such theatrical talk…”
In response to Freya’s irritated reply, Astrid pointed at one of the observation windows.
“Isn’t that a giant right there?”
“…”
Freya had a dumbfounded expression seeing that.
“Wh-what is that…”
Numerous steel giants were advancing while letting out hearty laughs, carrying buildings and smashing debris. Above them, dozens of airships were floating around.