The city was laid out as complex as a labyrinth.

If you open a window, you find the sky, and if you open a door to a shopping mall, you find a sewer. This was a result of the fluid nature of the mind, where visually apparent spaces held no significant meaning.

Succubus Isabella ran as her instincts told her, turning corners and touching walls, but such wandering could not help her escape the labyrinth.

She was merely being toyed with in the grasp of the mental module.

Suddenly. An old man’s face emerged from the wall, beckoning Isabella.

“Poor, poor demoness, now is the time I could sell you the map of this city. Give me your data. I don’t need much. Just the data from your left pinky finger…”

“Scram, get lost!”

Crackle and pop. This time, a billboard lit up, and a gentleman in a suit appeared on the monitor. He looked straight at Isabella, uttering incomprehensible words.

“We have an insurance product just for you. If you sign up now, we guarantee a full refund of your principal data after 100 years. However, terms may vary depending on the subscriber’s species.”

“Stop spouting nonsense-!!”

Isabella ran, shuddering, as hands sprouted from the ground and grabbed her ankles. She shook them off in terror, but her tender skin was scratched by the nails, leaving marks.

These were ‘devouring’ modules. They tear apart malicious data that has infiltrated inside and send the remnants to the control facility.

The hands began to analyze the flesh caught under their nails. They seemed to be of a rather high-ranking succubus, and in terms of the ability to enter dreams, they were even superior to the Phingvallezes.

Of course, it might be a bit unfair to compare them to the Phingvallezes, who had forsaken their succubus traits to train their physical strength…

The fact that Isabella had survived in this space, where ordinary mental magic would have been torn apart long ago, proved her strength.

But she was still just a rat in a trap.

Temptations and threats rained from all sides. If you don’t give up your data, you will die. If you give up your data, you can live. If you give up your data…

Isabella screamed and shook her head.

They were all traps. She knew it. No matter how sweetly they coaxed, she knew that path led to ruin. Hadn’t she often used such tactics herself?

This was hell. She had to escape from here quickly.

From noble mtl dot come

Yes, that’s right!

There’s no need to panic. Just escape from this mad sorcerer’s mind──

“No, no, no, you can’t escape from here, think about it, surely he’s made it so you can’t leave, look, the door is blocked, you have to find the key, you have to find the exit”

──Right, I can’t escape. First, I need to find the key. The key.

Isabella was drawn deeper into the city, entranced by a module hanging around her neck, whispering malicious information incessantly into her ear.

The city laughed.

—

Unlike the succubus Isabella, who relished cosmic horror, the modules were enjoying their hunting game. How long had it been since they had such a task?

Usually, they would be with the “Lust Suppression” department, beating down rising lust, but dealing with such malicious data had been quite rare.

Confronted with extreme stress and the threat of death, succubus Isabella began to tap into her hidden potential. Instinctively, she started heading towards the most crucial part, the black dome.

Yet, the modules were leisurely. The city was sturdy, no matter how much the demoness struggled.

The modules exchanged information among themselves.

It was a momentary communication made of 0s and 1s, magical signals, but if one were to humanize their interaction, it would look something like this.

“Good, we’ll catch her soon enough.”

“Hey, the higher-ups have issued an order. They say we should catch a glimpse but not kill, just capture. If we keep spinning in circles and just apply cognitive dulling, that should do, right?”

“There’s a module up ahead. If that one just tweaks the movement path, we should be good.”

“Hey, wait a minute… isn’t that, that ‘What-to-do TV’ module?!”

The ‘What-to-do TV’ module. Its official name is the “Psychopath Module.”

It’s a module designed to activate when the user experiences a very strong mental shock, necessitating immediate action despite some side effects.

When a loved one dies or when overwhelmed by negative emotions due to high-level illusion magic. This module induces a strong self-suggestion that ‘everything is worthless except for myself.’

As an emergency module, it normally doesn’t operate and is mutually exclusive with other modules.

In other words, it doesn’t work.

“Hey, Salary Thief! Make that fleeing nightmare change direction!”

“Not my job.”

“Hey, hey! It’s heading for the black box! Block it!”

“Not my concern.”

“Damn it!”

At the lake of the ‘What-to-do TV’ module, Succubus Isabella headed towards the black dome at the heart of the city that was being contained. The modules lamented.

“We were told not to break it.”

“If we had caught it, we could have preserved the core data…”

The vicinity of the black dome was an ‘unknown’ area to both the modules and the mad magician. No one knew what happened inside. They only knew that something in their minds was tied there.

But they could guess, based on experience.

Data heading there gets completely destroyed.

—

The atmosphere is different.

“……..”

The city ends, and there lies a tranquil wasteland. The wasteland cradles a giant black egg at its center. The whispers of all sorts of devilish modules stopped abruptly.

It’s quiet and… comfortable.

Step. Step.

Succubus Isabella cautiously moved towards the center.

The closer she walked to the black dome, the more its massive presence scattered the sense of perspective. What could it be?

Is it storing the most precious memories of the mad magician?

Or perhaps, the very heart that forms the basis of the mad magician?

Either way is fine. If it’s guarded this solemnly, it must be something important. Isabella harbored a faint hope. If she could grasp the essence of the mind, escaping would be simple.

Escape is the only option? To turn a crazed sorcerer into a complete slave and command them at will. If that’s possible, then I shall repay all this humiliation…

Clip-clop. Clip-clop. Thud.

How long have I walked?

The black dome, now fills my vision like a vast wall of darkness. My heart beats. Thump. Thump. Not from excitement or thrill, yet it races for some reason.

Isabella felt confusion amidst the inexplicable palpitations. It’s as if her heart is malfunctioning. Yet, her mind remains at ease.

It’s a sensation as if the mind and body are detached. The mind is so tranquil, yet the body feels something and trembles.

Beyond the black wall, it’s too dark and pitch-black to see clearly. But if you look very closely. Something shines.

Scales…?

As if enchanted, the moment she reaches out to touch the blackness.

“It would be better not to do that… Really. I’m advising you sincerely because I care about you. Could you reconsider just this once?”

“?!?!”

A gentle boy’s voice was heard.

Isabella turned her eyes to where there had been nothing but air, and there stood a boy with flowing jet-black hair.

The boy harbored a smile warm as the sun. His features bore a striking resemblance to the crazed sorcerer.

Succubus Isabella tried to raise her guard, but it soon softened.

“Wh-Who are you?”

“My name… due to circumstances, I can’t reveal it. If you must call me something, call me ‘Promise.'”

“…”

To the silently observing Isabella, he continued softly.

“I understand you feel pursued… I’m sorry. This isn’t the place. It’s not a place to flee, and it will only put you in danger.”

“But, I need a breakthrough. I have to get out of here!”

“I wish I could help you out… but I don’t have the power to do so. I must use all my strength to protect this.”

The boy seemed genuinely remorseful. He looked at Isabella as one would a pitiable animal. Then, with a gesture, he drew a line from left to right.

Isabella felt something, like a toothache that had suddenly ceased. Something had disappeared, but she couldn’t tell what it was.

“What have you done?”

“I believe everyone deserves a second chance. You’ve hurt many in your pursuit of pleasure, but if you had good encounters and experiences… you might have led a better life.”

“What are you talking about…?”

“I’ve erased the wedge in your mind. You won’t have to sacrifice every part of your life for another moment of pleasure. What comes next… is up to you. I hope you find repentance.”

What on earth has he done to my head──

…

Blink.

When Isabella opened her eyes, she found herself standing in the middle of the city.

She felt as if she had just met someone, yet perhaps not. It was like a fleeting doze.

Trying to grasp the fading tail of a dream, it eluded her like fog, then vanished.

Isabella realized she could never recall the memory from moments before.

Then, the commotion echoing from all around snapped her back to reality.

“There she is, the dream demon!!”

“Dream demon! Dream demon!”

“⋯⋯⋯⋯!!”

Yes, I was being chased.

Succubus Isabella began to run desperately, not even glancing towards the direction of the black dome. Various modules started to track her.

“Catch the dream demon!!”

“If you catch her, bring her in──”

Isabella was overwhelmed with sorrow. She had sinned, and now she was being punished! Regardless of the queen of Academigo’s orders, she no longer wanted to be here. She couldn’t even remember why she had started this in the first place.

Such trivial pleasure, whether present or not, it didn’t matter. It wasn’t worth this suffering. With tears brimming in her eyes, she cried out to the heavens.

“Get me out of here⋯⋯, I admit my wrongs⋯⋯!!”

—

While peering into my mental barrier through the magic screen, Pingballez exclaimed with a sigh and asked,

“Is your mind always this chaotic?”

“Hardly. That would be a waste of resources. It’s like answering a legacy. Someone’s belief gradually escalates the situation.”

The communication between modules is actually a very condensed form of communication made up of zeros and ones. It’s more akin to cells telling each other, ‘you eat this, and you eat that.’

Being a succubus caught between fantasy and reality, she perceives it all a bit more realistically. And I had intentionally added a bit more flavor to it.

Pingballez, looking contentedly at the succubus being restrained and writhing, said,

“May I take her? I have something to investigate.”

“Sure, take her. I’ll even wrap her up for you.”

“Thank you.”

Pingballez nodded in satisfaction, his gaze feeling more ferocious than usual. I wondered if he planned to use the dream demon as a dakimakura, but it seemed more like he was gearing up for a thorough interrogation.

I grabbed the succubus in my mind, shook her around, and then pulled her out. She popped out as if flicked into the air, falling limply, now in a safe, unconscious state.

Pingballez and I chatted idly as we bound the succubus with a spirit-binding rope.

“Shall I pay you with my body?”

“Who am I doing this for? Well, I do like it, but…”

“I’ll sneak in tomorrow night in my pajamas. Make sure the blanket is warm.”

I checked my schedule in my head and shook my head from side to side.

“Ah, I’m a bit busy then. I have plans.”

“…Plans, you say?”

A question mark floated above Pingballez’s head. His expression seemed to ask if I even made plans. After all, I had spent most of my time at the academy cooped up in the lab.

Even I occasionally have schedules to keep.

“Oh, that, there’s a dinner party.”

“With that woman?”

“It’s not a woman…”

—

The burly, one-eyed Viking raised a mug full of beer over his head.

“Cheers, and thanks for joining the 21st Academy Faculty Dinner! Let’s all take a swig of beer and get started!”

“Hmph, no matter how much of a genius wizard you are, your alcohol tolerance must be different. Not to brag, but I, Alejandro, who has trained elemental magic to its limits, am confident in my liver health. And with my invented beer-drinking method, the chances of getting drunk are reduced by 30%…”

I raised my beer mug bewilderedly and asked.

“If it’s a full faculty dinner, why are there only three of us?”

“The female teachers are so dull. Well, it’s good to have a men’s gathering! We can talk more freely without reservations! Hahaha!”

Alexson, in charge of the “All About Close Combat” course.

The sleazy silver-haired wizard in charge of the “Basic Elements Introduction” course.

And me, the mad wizard in charge of the “Illusion Magic Response” course.

Together, we made a dreary dinner party of just six brains.