Clatter.

Steam rose from the milk as it was poured into the teacup, heated instantly with a single touch, as befits a magician of the Crimson Tower.

“Sleep.”

“Ah, thank you.”

“It’s hot, so let it cool before you drink.”

“Mmm…”

Selvier is not an inept magician when it comes to controlling fire. He could have heated it just enough to be pleasant to drink. So, the fact that he made the milk scalding hot must mean there’s some intention behind it.

Was it like floating a single leaf on the water?

I blew on it and took a small sip. I thought it had cooled enough, but it was still slightly hot, leaving my tongue feeling a bit scorched. A timing miss.

“Ouch!”

As I was cooling my burnt tongue, Selvier chided me.

“Didn’t I tell you to let it cool?”

“I thought it had.”

“When you’re the one involved, it always seems that way. You can see others’ affairs clearly, but when it comes to your own, you can’t tell if it’s hot or cold. That’s why you make mistakes.”

“…”

I felt a strange emotion and looked at Selvier.

This way of speaking. It’s the way I often speak.

Drawing an unrelated, absurd topic into the conversation, then seamlessly transitioning to the main point you wanted to discuss. It’s very familiar to me.

I’ve hardly ever had a conversation with her. So, this manner of speaking must not originate from me, but perhaps… from that ‘childhood friend’ of hers. That’s what I thought.

“Try talking this time after it’s sufficiently cooled. Tell me what happened and what’s troubling you.”

What’s troubling me? It’s not something that can be pinpointed to just one thing.

I want to save Yuri Lannister, who’s in crisis. Yuna is very worried about me. Should I give up or not? Should I choose Yuri or Yuna?

When I weigh my heart, both sides are heavy. I shared all these thoughts honestly with Selvier.

Selvier listened quietly and then… suddenly launched a personal attack.

“Are you a fool?”

“Why, what now…”

I was slightly deflated by the double accusation of being a fool. Does my vacillating, conflicted appearance look that pathetic?

Selvier looked at me, damp from the rain, and crossed her arms before cutting to the chase.

“You’ve missed the point.”

“……?”

“There’s no right or wrong when it comes to where your heart leads you. If you want to pursue something, then pursue it. If you want to protect what’s left, then do so. If you want both, then go for it. Who’s to say otherwise?”

People hold different values. Some will pursue, and some will protect. There are no wrong answers in the realm of personal values. That’s what she and her ‘childhood friend’ would say.

But.

“There are right and wrong ways to do things. Going into a trap-filled dungeon without any preparation is madness, isn’t it?”

“Ah.”

“You prepare, predict, complete plans, and brace yourself to overcome traps. That’s what being a wizard is all about. It’s not that your concerns are misplaced. It’s the rashness of charging in headfirst without thinking that’s the problem.”

“Ouch…”

The temperature at which one drinks warmed milk is a matter of personal preference. It can be enjoyed cold or warm, but certainly not boiling hot. That’s clearly the wrong answer. So.

Please let it cool down before drinking. Selvier seemed to say with her eyes.

Selvier propped her chin, looking up to the right as if reflecting on the past, and continued.

“That’s why, before Envers left for his family’s home… he used to say this. Even if he fails, at least he won’t leave behind any regrets.”

That’s right. It was the part where Namgung Cheonghwi, who had grown through the sessions, was monologuing as he steeled his resolve.

“To not have regrets, you must do your best and execute flawlessly. If you had just charged in, you would have regretted it later. You would have wished you had prepared more thoroughly, for sure.”

“……”

“Blind enthusiasm isn’t the same as giving your best. How reckless must you have been for me, of all people, to try and stop you from doing what you set out to do?”

What does that mean?

“You’re a genius. A professor at your age, playing with the entire academy of students with your illusion magic. Niore, Bennett, Envers. Everyone’s expression changes when they talk about you.”

“Like, how?”

“There’s a belief that you can do anything. That feeling is especially strong among those close to you. Yet, if they tried to stop you from leaving, you must have seemed incredibly unstable.”

Is that so?

Did I make Yuna feel insecure?

Did I appear to be on the brink of death, to the point where she would cast illusion magic at me, recalling past traumas?

Selvier rose from her seat and strode over. She grabbed my cheeks with both hands, looking down at me with fiery eyes, and said,

She spoke as if imparting an age-old adage.

“Keep your heart passionate, your mind cool. Even if you use your emotions as a driving force, never let them control you.”

“……”

“Go. Go and devise a proper strategy, and persuade the fellow wizard who’s barricaded themselves in the lab. If you’ve thought of a good plan, she’ll trust you once again.”

Is that so. Yes.

My heart is still in a hurry. Every time I imagine what kind of state Pingballez might be in, my hands tremble and my heart beats violently with anxiety.

But Selvier’s words are right. Anxiety is inevitable. Rather, this anxiety is the proof that I like Yuri Lannister a lot. However, I must not be swayed.

Being swayed, I made Yuna anxious too. If I had been a bit more dignified… If I hadn’t been shaken. She wouldn’t have fallen into such a panic.

Accepting the emotions, I must confront and overcome them.

As I resolved, even if faintly, Selvier, with a mischievous smile, said,

“When you come back successful… Feel free to boast about that glorious victory to me. Then, I’ll take back calling you a fool.”

Does that look like the sun, I wonder?

Was Selvier always this handsome? I blurted out as if enchanted,

“…May I call you ‘noona’?”

“Ah, what, what is a professor saying to a student…?!”

“Selvier noona.”

“Disgusting, get out! Hurry up and go do what you have to do!”

I was kicked out with a bang.

Pushed by the storm of Indian bap baptism and kicks, I was chased out of Selvier’s dorm room. It’s the second time today.

But the feeling is the complete opposite.

Like a candle flame being passed on, it seems Selvier’s blaze has spread to me. It felt like I was wandering in the dark, but now I can roughly see the path ahead. Yes. I know what I have to do.

I organized my thoughts in front of the door.

“……..”

I recall and assemble the clues one by one.

Soon, I came up with a plausible rescue operation and rushed to my research room, which Yuna is occupying. There is a way.

From noble mtl dot come

There is a way to deal with the Succubus Queen!

—

In the room left by the mad wizard, Selvier alone propped her chin and muttered,

“…Was I ever this close to that person?”

No, that’s not it. There’s no particular reason to feel intimacy towards a lecher who hangs out with two women.

I learned a lot in class, but I also suffered as much, so that’s a plus-minus zero.

Or was it because the black hair became familiar to the eye, or because the sight of being drenched in the rain looked pitiable…?

Or perhaps, because the desire to retrieve a precious person was the same, I came to harbor a sense of kinship.

Selvier, looking at the part of the milk glass left by the mad wizard where his lips had touched, slapped her cheeks to come to her senses.

“What are you thinking about, I wonder…!”

She opened the thick grimoire. Study, she must study. After all, she had to meet her childhood friend again.

Selvier scribbled some magic. Having given all the advice she could, her role in this affair was now over.

However, she decided to occasionally wish luck to the mad sorcerer. No one in the world wishes to lose someone dear to them.

—

She knocked on the firmly closed door of the study. Then she asked calmly.

“Master of the Tower, are you there?”

“……..”

There was a sign of life. She could easily imagine Yuna, listening to her from beyond the door. She pondered for a moment. Then she whispered.

“…Hail Hydra.”

“….Huff.”

A stifled laugh came through.

“Would you open the door? I, Erid, have come up with a brilliant strategy that will make even the gods take notice. You might be surprised to hear it.”

“……..”

The door opened slightly. As she cautiously entered the study, Yuna, with an expression marred by anxiety, looked up at her quietly.

Yuna was on high alert, not knowing when she might attempt another brazen entry. With a gesture of peace, she raised her hands and approached, then suddenly embraced Yuna tightly.

“First, hear me out. If you still oppose after listening… then I won’t go. How about that?”

Yuna nodded, still in her arms. She patted Yuna’s back and spoke awkwardly, embarrassed by her earlier disgraceful behavior.

“I’m sorry about earlier.”

“…I’m sorry, too.”

“In my urgency, I became blind to my surroundings. I think I was too hasty. Thank you for stopping me, Yuna.”

“…Next time, don’t. It was really scary for me…”

They reconciled in that short time. The tension drained from Yuna’s body. Perhaps her mood had lightened a bit.

She moistened her lips and began to explain the plan.

“Now, listen. No matter how I look at it, the goal seems to be… to devour either me or the Master of the Tower, right…?”

That’s the crux of it. There’s always a weakness in what the opponent desires most. She whispered the plan to assassinate the Succubus Queen in detail…

After a moment of hesitation, Yuna seemed convinced of its potential success and nodded.

—

Placing the Phingballez on the magic circle, she and Yuna began a deep analysis together. They would extract every bit of data readable from the outside.

She performed her artistry with precision, ensuring not to harm Yuna’s mind. Inserting a camera into the gaps of the queen’s magic or shooting magic to read the returning echoes…

“It seems to have a duplex structure, doesn’t it?”

“Yes. Yuri’s mental barrier has been modified to create the first floor, and inside that, the second floor for her inner self…”

“And on the basement second floor, there’s a wedge connected to the ‘Nest.'”

“…Just like you did with the Heart-Piercing Formation, the Succubus Queen must be interfering remotely.”

Yes. That part is the most threatening.

Yuna doodles on a piece of paper. She simplifies and diagrams the structure.

The outline of this operation is straightforward.

I will infiltrate alone, detaching only my consciousness, while Yuna operates the emergency extraction system from the outside. This system is the crux of the operation.

It’s like tying a rope around a diver’s waist. When I signal, Yuna will pull the rope to extract me.

We’ve promised to activate it without delay in case of danger.

To collapse the traps set by the Succubus Queen from within, I plan to infiltrate with an information bomb. I’ll install bombs at each point inside and detonate them, erasing only the parts that aren’t originally Yuri Lancer’s.

At the same time, I’ll protect the besieged heart of Yuri Lancer.

While performing these tasks in parallel, I’ll break through the first floor of consciousness and reach the second.

There, undoubtedly, will be an entrance connected to the ‘Nest.’ I must remove that passageway, making it impassable.

At that moment, the operation is essentially successful.

With the Succubus Queen’s interference cut off, even traps set by her great-grandfather won’t be frightening. They can be fixed over time.

I’ve finished preparing for entry. I lie down on the magic circle drawn beside Pingballez. Yuna’s face, looking down at me, is full of worry.

Full of worry, but equally… full of trust. Trust that I can do it.

“…Make sure to come back, okay?”

“Yes. I’ll come back with the runaway Yuri, so don’t worry.”

“Let’s begin.”

Snap.

Yuna flicks her finger.

Light emanates from the magic circle, and I feel my consciousness sinking into the ground. I’ve applied TRPG techniques to detach and infiltrate with just my consciousness; I wonder if players feel something similar.

Thus, deeply submerged, I pass through the bubbling sea of the unconscious and arrive at the location of Yuri Lancer’s mental barrier.

I observe from above before infiltrating. And, I’m surprised.

The structure is similar to a session. No, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it a session itself. Based on Yuri Lancer’s memories, a world has been constructed, allowing any story to unfold.

The stage is… the Imperial Defense Nation, the Annihilation Squad. Memories from when Pingballez was younger, not long after joining the Annihilation Squad.

But it’s not exactly as it was. Some parts have been maliciously edited. Especially the characters. There are traces where one character has been excised from the memories.

Even better. I’ll enter through that ’empty space.’

I steeled myself and touched the shell of the psychic barrier.

The queen’s magic and strange foreign substances that contaminate and dominate the psychic barrier, they seem to welcome me, instantly drawing me in without resistance.

Though I received entry permission so easily, it seems the strings attached to me were unwelcome.

They tirelessly tried to sever my emergency escape system… my lifeline, but above, the grand sorcerer of the Purple Tower was reinforcing it in real time.

It’s unlikely to break under normal circumstances.

I infiltrated lightly within. Let’s begin.

It’s time to awaken the princess who fell into a deep sleep under the queen’s curse.