The Magic Academy's Physicist-Chapter 132: What Are You Doing, Sis? (12)

The girl was in a different kind of attire.

She was in a white blouse like me, but wore a brooch instead of a black tie.

Instead of the iconic robe of a mage, she wore a black trenchcoat as her outerwear. I could see slacks of the same color underneath the coat that came down to her feet.

Overall, it was a modern dress. Even if she was tossed into a subway station in that state, there’d be nothing weird about it.

And maybe it was because of the black hair with wavy perms like mine, but the vibe was exactly the same. Unlike that time with Akasha, it really felt like seeing my doppelgänger.

[This is your tomb.]

“Tomb...?”

[But it is also my tomb. It’s where your soul sleeps and where it will fall asleep.]

I had trouble understanding what she was saying. Frowning, I asked her.

“... Who are you.”

[Who else could I be? I’m you.]

The girl in black continued speaking telepathically as she waved her arms like a performer in an orchestra.

[Of course, we were once different people. We lived in different worlds, were different genders, and as for race.... Well, nevermind. Let’s say that’s also different. Anyway, from eye color to living environment, etc. all the initial conditions were different. Originally, we weren’t supposed to be intertwined with one another.]

The explanation was quite lengthy, making it difficult to understand.

But for some reason, I got a sense of both déjà vu and something off at the same time.

[But we were created similarly in terms of character. Same personality, same form of behavior, same outlook on the world, all the way down to likes and dislikes. Even what we trust and what we feel betrayed by.]

I once heard from Vermel that the original owner of this body and I had similar personalities.

Yet I still couldn’t understand the words that were coming out of this girl’s mouth. What was she talking about?

[Since the two forms that would’ve been separate are joined together, now I am and you and you are me.]

“That’s a fallacy.”

[It may seem like that for the moment.]

My head hurt for some reason. A migraine started at my temple and gradually spread.

The girl got up from the throne and snapped her finger. The light then became brighter and softly illuminated a ten-meter radius. A table and four chairs suddenly appeared beneath the light that was stretched wide like a steamed rice cake.

[I know that you looked into the Inner Mirror because I watched you from here.]

I couldn’t respond.

[Here, sit wherever.]

Stay calm. This is in my mind. No one dies from being stabbed in their dream. Uhm, I hope?

Instead, my mental energy was being drained in real time. My head throbbed just from standing in front of her.

But it wasn’t a meaningless pain. Information slowly entered my mind like paint bleeding into water. Most memories were sad or horrible, but a few of them were happy experiences.

[Ah, sorry for giving you unnecessary memories.]

Snap.

The headache vanished with that single gesture of her fingers. At the same time, the waves of information that had been coming in abated.

[I know that others cannot be trusted easily because I’ve experienced it myself. Still, I decided to give everyone one more chance despite my skepticism. I didn’t shine myself with the Lantern of the Dead for nothing.]

“... Sounds like you made yourself the test subject.”

[Exactly. Mercy should be granted equally to everyone, including oneself.]

The fragments of memories that had messed up my head were full of things that were so dirty and despicable that I couldn’t bring myself to speak about them.

For over a thousand years, this girl had been subjected to slander and betrayal more than hundreds of times. What I had gone through was nothing compared to this. No one would be able to blame her even if she suffered from a distrust of humans....

Yet despite that, she was attempting one last experiment.

[I’ve been betrayed by those I trusted nine-hundred and ninety-nine times. So if there is someone who betrays me.... that is, your trust, that will be the end of the trial. There’s no point in testing anymore.]

Aether took off her coat and sat on the chair.

[... Come to think of it, this isn’t the time to be talking about this. It’s been so long since I’ve talked to someone so I let out my frustrations. We’ll set this topic aside for now.]

“Nah, it’s fine.”

[What, are you pitying me?]

“I’m the one who’s intruding so the least I can do is listen.”

[I like that kind of honesty.]

The girl’s blank face softened a little, meaning that she was pleased. I knew because it was a face I made.

I now had a vague idea who ‘I’ was. Aether wasn’t an evil entity, just someone who couldn’t hold herself back once she lost it.

[So you know. There actually isn’t anything that I want. If you have something to say, say it. If not, then don’t.]

This was the key. I had to carefully persuade ‘me’ and lead the world to the Happy Ending. If Aether was declaring herself neutral, then wouldn’t it be better if she stands with the humans than the Beasts? The reason being, well, because I used to be human.

I took a deep breath then opened my mouth.

“Then do me a favor.”

[A favor? Hah, I think I already know what you want without even hearing it.]

“Then this shouldn’t take long.”

[There’s no need to rush. Time passes very slowly here.]

“Today’s lunch menu is a creamy pasta. I have to go before it’s sold out.”

[... Tsk.]

Good, I was leading the conversation now.

And one more thing–I realized that the girl was the same as me even down to the trivial quirk of liking noodle dishes. It was still too early to accept it, but it was evidence that our minds were infinitely alike.

No, considering her words and behavior until now, we might just be the same person. Maybe we just had different ‘save files’?

If I were to ask Aether right now, then I could get all the memories back. But then I wouldn’t be able to know where my original self went.

Hence, I would put off this decision for as long as I could. But I was going to tell her my original purpose.

“I want your knowledge, except for any personal memories.”

[Obsessed with research, aren’t you.]

“So are you. You wouldn’t care one bit even if I told you about my life.”

[How astute. I also prefer magic research over stories about the past.]

The moment that she implied that it was ‘more important to obtain immediate knowledge than details of the past’, it was practically confirmed that Aether had turned her back on the Demon Army.

“You know from looking into my head, right? Rosemary prohibited the use of the Flare scroll. I have to miniaturize this and hand it over to the chairman, but I can’t make progress with things like this. Is there any other way?”

The silence didn’t last long. Aether casually gave an out-of-the-box answer.

[Just use something other than Flare.]

What kind of idea was this?

“Without Flare, I can’t do laser nuclear fusion or anything else. It’s crucial so I need it.”

[Nuclear, eh. Is that what you call it in your world?]

Aether quirked her lips as if she found this laughable.

Maybe not? Was she enjoying it? She might be me but damn it was hard to read her expressions.

[At least on this Ahrens continent, ‘Dark Day’ is my exclusive Innate Magic that not even the Demon King can use. Flare isn’t necessary to complete it.]

“Yeah? Then help me out.”

[Not sure I really like how you’re wanting to take just the information like a thief.]

“Do you want payment or something?”

[Payment, payment you say....]

Aether fell into thought for a moment. She pursed her lips like someone really chewing on their food and drew her brows together.

[I don’t need anything else. I’ll give the info to you for free. I’ll also let you have control over this body for now.]

“Oho.”

[But if everyone tries to betray your trust in a desperate situation, then I will personally cleanse this tainted world rife with betrayal.]

“Ah.”

What a tricky penalty.

So that meant if I lost it from being backstabbed once, that would be the end of the world.

[No need to worry too much. Surely not every human is like that. I trust them.]

“You say that even though you’re a Beast.”

[... Watch it. I’m not a Beast.]

Snap!

Aether snapped her fingers, seemingly irked by my last statement. Her face, along with the light, faded into the dark.

I suffered the awful screaming in the darkness before being flung out of the mirror.

“...... Augh.”

My whole body was sore like I had stiffness in my muscles.

I checked the clock wondering how much time had passed. It was at least five to ten minutes.

What, I thought time was supposed to pass super slow.

[Did you have a good trip?]

“Waaah!”

I leapt like a frog at the voice coming from behind me.

[What, why are you suddenly freaking out?]

“... That just took ten years off my life. You scared me with your sudden talking.”

[Uh.... huh, you still sound like yourself, Master. I guess you didn’t recall any memories?]

Memories? I brought back a whole suitcase of them, though they were all about academic knowledge.

Updat𝓮d from frёewebnoѵēl.com.

My head felt full like a subway during rush hour. In this state, I felt like I could proceed without any obstacles.

This was the effect of looking once into the mirror. I rushed out of the museum with an exclamation of awe.

“I’ll have pasta later.”

I was still going to go to the cafeteria, but I first needed to organize my sack full of mana stones and stop by the dorm as well.

After dropping off the mana stones at the club room, I ran to the dorms and swiftly skipped up the stairs like a kangaroo. I opened the door and went up to the desk. Five locks were attached to the drawer.

I unlocked them in order. With each subsequent click of the lock, my heart beat faster like I was on steroids.

[That’s....]

There was a saying that it’s always the darkest under the lamp.

How did I forget this?

[Scroll Category : ]

[Legendary Innate Magic ─ White Night (Incomplete)]

The White Night that I’d preserved–covered with iron plates so that Scope couldn’t detect it–was put into a large, custom backpack. From now on, this bag was going to accompany me as the objective correlative of my empathy. I was also declaring that this bag and I were one.

“I’m going to kill them all.”

I also spouted some nonsense for Miss Blueberry who might be watching.

Okay, time to go eat.