[361] The Magic Association (7)
"Right. That's exactly why you came here. So first… huh?"
Gaold glanced at Gando and Plu, who stood like stuffed straw dummies. After a moment of thought he spoke in a puzzled tone.
"Why are you two here? Don't you know this is a Level 1 security area?"
"Ah, well…"
Gando hesitated, and Gangnan sighed.
'He's lost his memory again.'
Shirone was a key resource who could bring a revolutionary change to this project. Even if he didn't show it, Gaold's excitement was obvious.
"Go back. We've got things to discuss privately."
"Yes, sir."
Waving his hand as if shooing a fly, Gaold sent Gando off; as an officer in Gaold's guard, he had no choice but to obey.
Plu, however, remained rooted to the spot.
'I was with him the whole time. The Association Head brought me here.'
Knowing Gaold lost memories didn't make the slight any easier. After all, the Shirone they'd met only ten minutes ago still lingered in her mind.
"Plu, what are you doing? Come on, let's go up."
Gando said worriedly, but Plu stubbornly refused.
For more than two years she'd served in Gaold's guard and carried out countless missions. She couldn't just be cast aside like this.
"Please let me stay."
Gaold, who had been walking toward Shirone, stopped dead. When he slowly turned his head, something abnormal and quiet swirled in his eyes.
"What did you just say?"
Plu, pushed to the limit, shouted even louder.
"Please let me stay here! I'm one of Gaold's subordinates too!"
Gando gripped Plu's shoulder, his face drained of color.
"What's wrong with you, Plu? Are you insane?"
Plu wasn't calmly holding her ground. Her heartbeat thudded against her ribs, and her terrified eyes avoided Gaold's gaze and fixed on the ceiling.
"K-k-k… kkkk."
Gaold crouched, neck hunched like a predator eyeing prey. Heat shimmered from his shoulders to the crown of his head.
"Plu."
"Yes! Yes!"
"I've never been involved in an assault case since I became Head of the Association. Do you know why?"
Plu slowly lowered her gaze to Gaold. Seeing his face split into that grotesque smile sent paralyzing fear through her.
"One punch and they all just die."
Gando staggered back, startled.
'Oh no. It's starting.'
Plu's vision went black and a hellscape of burning sulfur unfurled. The ghastly screams of devouring beasts clawed at her brain as if she wanted to tear her ears out.
"U, uuh…"
Plu's pupils rolled upward involuntarily. Her knees trembled like a dog being beaten, and the tears streaming down her face were as hot as blood.
'S-so scary…!'
She would have done anything to escape that moment. But doing so would be betrayal of Gaold. Everything she had would crumble in an instant.
"Sniff! Sniff!"
Plu squeezed her eyes shut and shouted with all her strength.
"I respect you!"
Immediately, the hellish vision vanished.
But her spirit remained distant, slow to return. In her trance, words spilled out of her.
"I respect you! I've admired you since I started learning magic! I'd do anything for the Association Head! So please—let me stay here!"
'Plu…'
Gando looked at his subordinate with pity.
Gaold was a man set impossibly high as a life goal. Even Gando, a certified Grade 4 official, found himself trembling in his presence.
Yet, for once, he gathered his courage for his cherished subordinate and stepped forward.
"Please. Don't doubt our resolve!"
Stopping beside Plu, Gando bowed.
Gaold stared at the two of them and seemed to think. In truth, he was thinking of nothing at all.
"All right, fine."
When he agreed with almost laughable ease, Gando's face went blank. Plu still couldn't process what had happened and sniffled helplessly.
Gangnan clicked his tongue in annoyance.
'Seriously… that's why people call him crazy.'
Gaold answered to no constraints. He acted on whim and momentary feeling.
It made sense—his brain's memory functions were shot—but the reason he'd lived so long without being stabbed was that no one in the Kingdom of Tormia could touch him.
Gaold walked to the center of the bunker, took out a cigar at a spot opposite Shirone, and lit it. Smoke slipped from his parted lips like a ghost.
"All right. Gangnan brought him because he saw potential. Now I'll judge for myself. If he meets my standards, we might have a good relationship."
Being judged out of the blue could offend someone, but with the title of Head of the Association, it was tolerable.
What worried them, though, was what Gaold had just done to Plu. Whatever it was had reduced a normally confident woman to a trembling wreck.
'Is he really all right? He seems kind of unhinged.'
With no answer coming, Gaold spoke as if bored.
"I'm not forcing you. We don't need weak-willed people either. If you don't want to, you can leave now."
"What are you going to evaluate, then?"
"There's only one thing I expect from you. Show me Ataraxia."
Just as Shirone expected. If a certified Grade 1 Grand Mage sought him out, it could only be because he cared about Ataraxia.
"Do it at maximum output. This might be a once-in-a-lifetime chance for you."
'Maximum output?'
At first Shirone didn't understand. Seeing the martial aura rising from Gaold gave him a chilling thought.
"Don't tell me… you want me to fire it at you?"
"Yeah. Whatever it is, show me your best move."
Shirone's face twisted in disbelief.
In Gaold's mind, Ataraxia was siege magic. If he didn't intend to kill, it wasn't something you cast on a person.
"This is way too dangerous. The Head of the Association could get hurt."
Gaold squinted, puffed smoke, then suddenly burst into laughter.
"Puhahaha! That's the best joke I've heard in ages. From a little kid who still hasn't sprouted hair."
Plu's face flushed and she bristled. Whether it was a joke or not, it was a total insult.
Of course, Gaold was the most powerful mage in Tormia. But Ataraxia was the power of an Archangel.
"I'm serious. You could die."
Gaold waved his hand as if to brush off the last of his laughter.
"All right, fine. Then the moment you do, you become Head of the Association. Everyone here will be your witnesses. How's that? Super fast promotion, eh?"
'He's not listening at all.'
Shirone narrowed his eyes and concentrated. If Gaold could see what Ataraxia truly was, he might change his mind.
A point of starlight was born in midair, tracing a curve and completing a circle.
As the Halo formed, Plu's brow creased. A sharp pain pierced her temples.
'So this is Halo, the materialization of Immortal Function.'
They said the more sensitive one's senses, the harsher the impact. As expected, Gando winced in considerable pain, squinting one eye and breathing out.
Gangnan, however, calmly checked the time. Gaold, bored, drew down his cigar until his cheek hollowed and blew a smoke donut as if complaining it wasn't enough.
'This guy really is something…'
Meeting someone completely immune to the Halo for the first time, Shirone steadied himself and decided to push further.
As Ataraxia accumulated, a spectrum of flashes struck head-on and began building concepts beyond human knowledge.
"Wow…"
Plu gaped.
She'd only heard rumors of Ataraxia. She knew it was an Archangel's power, but she doubted a mere student could wield it. Even she—having graduated at the top of the Royal Magic School—couldn't understand more than ten percent of the concepts crystallizing in the Halo.
'How can one person do that? How many cores must it need?'
Ataraxia completed. Hundreds of tiny sigils spun like gears and radiated brilliance. Having confirmed that, Gaold looked to Gangnan.
"Well?"
Gangnan checked the pocket watch in his hand.
"One minute and two seconds."
"Hm, a little faster than before."
Snap! Gaold flicked his cigar; sparks popped like fireworks and the butt flew against the wall. Planting one leg back, he took a diagonal stance facing Shirone and slowly lowered himself.
"Then shall we begin? Bring it on."
The bunker's aura shifted the moment Gaold took his stance. If a mage was omnipotent in the Spirit Zone, here everything seemed to obey Gaold's will.
Still, Shirone hesitated. Ataraxia was a trigger-type magic. Once the photon cannon passed through, he couldn't control anything.
Gangnan's voice reached his ear.
"Shirone, I told you. This is an international matter."
Shirone kept his gaze on Gaold.
"We can't tell you the details yet, but we're sincere. If your convictions say otherwise, you can leave now. But if you're bound by moral dogma, understand that it's presumptuous."
"Huff!"
Shirone exhaled, forcing out distractions. There was no turning back. He could only stake his title as a Grade 1 Grand Mage.
"I'll begin."
Shirone opened his eyes wide. With a pop, a photon was born straight ahead. As mass concentrated, inner voices rose, but he resolutely ignored them and drew the power up.
'From now on I can't control it either.'
Gritting his teeth, Shirone fired the photon cannon.
The sphere of light passed through Ataraxia and the bunker was washed white.
Plu's mind went blank too. A titanic tidal wave of mass—like being hurled into a transcendent realm untouched by humanity—overwhelmed her.
Bang!
A fierce cracking sound sliced through the flash.
The bunker's air pressure exploded, compressing the photon cannon's energy into Gaold's outstretched palm. The top air-type defensive magic—used only by Gaold—activated: Vacuum Press.
"How…?"
Shirone couldn't believe his eyes.
It wasn't a deflection or an avoidance. Gaold quite literally caught the photon cannon in his hand.
The photon cannon, already drained of energy, hovered above Gaold's palm. When he clenched his fist, it popped and vanished into nothingness.
Gaold turned to Shirone and smirked.
"Rejected."
Silence fell. No one in the bunker dared speak.
'Rejected? Me?'
Shirone realized belatedly that he'd never even considered failing. He'd only hoped no one would get hurt.
Gaold shrugged on the coat that had blown off in the blast and strolled toward the elevator with a look of mild disappointment.
"Gangnan, you were right. This one's useless. Send him back."