Hallucination (1)
I was the kind of person who only read what I wanted to read.
The moment the story diverged even slightly from what I had expected, I would close the book without hesitation.
Even so, it didn’t take long before I picked the book up again—skipping past the pages I didn’t like. Usually, once I got over a certain hurdle, things improved.
That was my way of reading. But in a novel that had become reality, when I faced such a moment—there was no book for me to close.
“…Soma.”
I had forgotten, but this was the scene that later earned Springwind the nickname of a “third-rate university.” When had I reached this page without even realizing it? Damn it. I shouldn’t have skimmed through it back then.
Bbam-bam⸺!
A cheerful melody blasted into my eardrums while I was off guard.
What the hell?
Where was this game-like sound effect coming from…?
“Assistant Professor Rohan!”
As I walked down the hallway, I turned at the tug on my collar.
Three students were huddled together, looking up at me.
“Ah, my tongue slipped. Ah! Hello, Assistant Professor Rohan!”
“You’re…”
The student on the left had her hair tied like lop ears. The one in the center looked like a troublemaker I’d seen somewhere. The last wore a robe draped around her like loneliness…
All of them were described in ways I’d never seen before.
So they weren’t important characters.
Then the one in the center—the one who’d tripped over her tongue—spoke up.
“I’m Sarah Watson, leader of the Rowdy Sisters. The one who looks like a bunny is Gravitt Azel, and this gloomy~ looking one is Glashalabolas Sabnac Gremory. We call her Rora!”
“So you’re Sarah, the one on the left is Gravitt, and the one on the right is Glashalab… what?”
“Rora! Rora!”
“Right, Rora. …Rora?”
So, ‘Glashalabolas Sabnac Gremory.’
How do you shorten that into Rora?
What even is this? Rowdy Sisters?
Were there characters like that in the original?
No. I didn’t remember any.
Could it be that these characters emerged due to altered developments?
If so, then there was a chance others I hadn’t expected could appear, too…
“Anyway. I haaardly managed to get a scoop that some professors were joining the Championship?”
“And?”
“Aaand! I found out that one of them is you, Assistant Professor Rohan~!”
Bbam-bam⸺!
…That sound effect was coming from the smartphone Gravitt was holding.
“And?”
“Aaand! We want to participate in the Championship, too⸺”
“I’m busy. Goodbye.”
“Ah, wait a second!”
I coldly turned away. But the Rowdy Sisters quickly ran ahead to block my path.
I really didn’t want to get involved with them, so I channeled Michael’s abrasive attitude and let it possess my body.
“I’ll give you three points before you even ask. First. A team can have a maximum of three members.”
Bbam-bam⸺!
“Hey! Gravitt! Why would you play that at such a bad moment?!”
“S-Sorry! My finger slipped…”
Bbam― bbam― bbam― bbam― bbam⸺!
“I-I think it’s broken…!”
“Just turn it off! Press the middle button and hold it down! …Whew. Done.”
…How long must I endure this farce?
Is this really something an assistant professor has to deal with?
It felt cruel.
“…Second. The team has already been decided.”
“Please reconsider, just once! We’re strong enou⸺”
“Third. You’re weak.”
“…”
To think I could shut them up this easily.
I was starting to understand why Michael always talked like this.
At that moment, Gravitt, shrinking like a rabbit before a predator, cautiously cried out.
“W-We’re not weak! We’re… we’re strong…”
With that timid demeanor, there wasn’t an ounce of persuasiveness.
I replied.
“Circle or Aura—either is fine. Show me something.”
“Alright. Everyone move. I’ll do it.”
Sarah stepped forward confidently and began emitting mana. Gravitt whispered to her secretly, thinking I couldn’t hear.
“Wouldn’t it be better if Rora did it…?”
“Quiet. Let me concentrate.”
Meanwhile, I watched Sarah’s circle. I didn’t even need to look closely.
Her mana was like faint dawn mist.
Just watching it made Springwind feel like a third-rate university, and a sigh caught in my throat.
“Enjoying youth is fine. Now that you’re of age, I’m sure you want to try everything.”
The Sisters’ faces brightened at my unexpectedly positive response.
However—
“But challenging the impossible with lacking skill isn’t courage. It’s recklessness. How far must you embarrass Springwind before you’re satisfied?”
“…!”
Sarah bared her teeth and glared at me.
She was terrible at hiding her emotions.
She didn’t even understand that when facing injustice, you needed rational—not emotional—anger.
There was nothing more to see.
“So give up. The Championship is no game or play.”
“…Understood.”
At least they knew when to back down.
Leaving the fuming Sisters behind, I headed back to my office.
***
…That was the right decision. It was the choice—for their sake. The Championship was no “game.”
It was just another extension of a fierce battlefield.
“To stake your life for experience… is foolish.”
It wasn’t that their lives and efforts were trivial. Rather, compared to life, the Championship was just a ‘trivial experience.’
…Number of contestants who had died in the Amuller World Championship to date: 1,081.
The race track spanned 388 km by regulation. And it wasn’t some flat, simple course—it crossed entire mountain ranges on the continent. Add to that frequent clashes between teams, and unless you were highly skilled, surviving was no guarantee. Of course, safety gear was provided. But these girls probably wouldn’t even survive long enough for it to activate.
That’s why I had coldly rejected the Rowdy Sisters.
“…Maybe I was too harsh.”
Maybe channeling Michael’s rudeness was a bit much. Still, if lives were on the line, even unfamiliar names on a “nonessential” page weren’t something I could ignore.
I couldn’t just sit by and watch someone choose death.
Yeah. I had no choice.
I’d take them out for a meal at the 10-Circle Archmage Granny’s Stew later.
Bbam-bam⸺!
I snapped out of my thoughts and looked around in surprise.
There they were—crouched beside my desk, spying on me.
“When did you get here… No, what are you even doing right now?”
I nearly cursed and risked losing Plausibility.
Luckily, Grace wasn’t around.
Sarah stood up with eyes shining, as if nothing had happened.
“Assistant Professor!”
“W-What now?”
Her face looked more determined than a knight heading into their final battle.
Sarah, with a look that knew nothing of surrender, spoke firmly.
“Then let us start a bike club instead!”
“A bike club?”
“Yes. We’ll practice there, and at the next Amuller World Championship—we’ll definitely join!”
“…”
That’s when it hit me.
Your goal wasn’t recklessness, nor foolishness… but a dream.
…How pathetic I was, preaching like some old man.
I didn’t know a thing—and yet I dismissed your dream as if it meant nothing.
Bbam-bam⸺!
“…Smartphone, confiscated for two weeks. Pick it up yourself when the time comes.”
“Y-You’re so mean, Assistant Professor…!”
***
I entered the clubroom and covered my nose against the heavy dust. Clearly, no one had used this place for ages. The thick layer of dust had settled like memories of those who had once been here.
“This is our clubroom!”
“It's a club room.”
“I’ve got a bit of a lisp… Anyway! If you just sign here, we’ll officially have a bike club at Springwind!”
There were quite a few unused classrooms like this one.
It really brought home how short on students we were.
War had taken so much from us.
I took the approval form and reached into my front pocket for a pen.
“…Wait. Why am I listed as the advisor?”
“Well, you signed, didn’t you?”
Oh, I see…
“But there are conditions.”
“Tell me, tell me!”
Sarah’s eyes sparkled. She might not even have noticed her tongue was tangled again.
Was she really that happy?
“I’ll be the club’s advisor on one condition: I will not interfere, and I will not be interfered with.”
“That’s what we wanted! We just want to have fun on our own. But we can ask for help sometimes, right?”
“One more thing. Don’t cause trouble for anyone.”
“Of course!”
“If either condition is broken—I’ll be your tormentor, not your advisor.”
I rushed to sign so I could go home.
The reason: the sandwich Grace gave me this morning.
Grrr⸺
I had skipped lunch just to enjoy that properly.
That’s when—
Boom!
A deafening noise rang out nearby.
“Club approval is on hold.”
“Huh? Assistant Professor! Wait! We’ll follow too!”
So it finally began.
The “page” I hadn’t read.
***
“I think we missed them.”
Ariel, covering her nose with a handkerchief, deactivated her Aura and approached Michael.
“No injuries?”
“None.”
Michael, also covering his nose with his sleeve, knelt down and picked something up.
A black wrapper with an H-shaped logo.
As he brought it to his nose—
“Tch.”
Whoosh!
The wrapper burst into flames, leaving no trace. Just then, Rohan and the Rowdy Sisters entered the scene, coughing from the stench.
Rohan asked Michael,
“What happened here?”
Michael gave no reply. His eyes, full of disdain, were fixed on the window curtains fluttering in the wind.
Ariel stepped closer to Rohan and spoke.
“Unknown drugs are being found all over campus.”
“As I feared…”
Just then, Michael brusquely brushed past Rohan and muttered,
“This is Black Candy.”
He was furious.
***
The entire faculty was assembled.
Black wrappers found at the scene were placed in front of each person’s desk.
Some were angry, some saddened, others remained calm.
Cornelia, sitting alone on a slightly raised platform at the end of the room, opened her mouth.
“Did anyone here know about this?”
Silence. Then more silence.
Because it was a child asking, the professors bowed even deeper.
“So no one knew? Raise your heads. This isn’t an interrogation room.”
A professor sitting in the middle-right of the 13-seat row adjusted his glasses and spoke.
“Uh, Chancellor. I tasted the wrapper briefly, and… I think it’s Homa.”
The room stirred at the words of Thomas Bacon, Professor of Potion & Alchemy Studies.
Homa? Did he say Homa?
Why would something like that be here?
Who? Why! What the hell…?
“…Silence.”
A sharp voice cut through the noise.
Michael Lippenstein had spoken—and silence returned.
“What I found today was Black Candy made using Homa. It’s been spreading in secret across the continent. Chancellor Cornelia. You used to be Deputy Director of the Bureau. Homa and Black Candy—aren’t they both derived from your drug Soma?”
All eyes turned to Cornelia. She replied indifferently.
“So you’re saying I’m the cause of this incident?”
“Th-That’s right. To think the Chancellor would distribute such things… Professor Lippenstein, you’ve gone too far this time.”
“Yeah, exactly! Of all people, it couldn’t have been the Chancellor! Come on, really…”
Most professors, including Thomas, immediately defended her.
Michael only shook his head.
“I’m not saying I suspect the Chancellor. But something is suspicious.”
“…Regrettably, I know nothing. I was practically cast out of the Bureau when I came here.”
This position was the price Cornelia paid for her sacrifice.
Everyone knew that—but hearing it from her own mouth made them feel ashamed.
Cornelia continued.
“Anyway, now that we know such things are circulating at school, our priority is solving the case. I’ll report this to the Central Administration⸺”
At that moment, both Michael and I spoke simultaneously.
“That can’t happen.”
“It’s not possible.”
Michael turned to look at me.
So we were thinking the same thing.
William Burkett, Professor of Neutral Mana Studies, who had noticed me in Grace’s seat, asked,
“Where’s Professor Euclid, and why is Assistant Professor Rohan sitting there?”
“Professor Euclid was unable to attend due to personal reasons. As her deputy, I’m representing the Swordsmanship Department.”
“Well, by regulation, the assistant fills in if the professor’s absent…”
In truth, I hadn’t been able to contact Grace at all.
She had simply left a message saying she’d been called by her family.
If it was a family summons… she must have gone to see that grandmother.
Anyway, this was my chance. I said to Cornelia:
“If the Central Administration takes over the investigation, ‘they’ will scatter like cockroaches under a flashlight. And during the process, the school’s atmosphere will turn chaotic, disrupting the students’ education.”
“That’s an unavoidable consequence, Assistant Professor. Are you suggesting we cover this up?”
“Not at all. If rot has set in, we must cut it out to save the whole. Therefore, I request permission to conduct the investigation myself.”
It was clear this case would be a pain. But I had only one reason to take it on:
〔 Substream: The Right to Be Unhappy 〕
✵ Objective: Capture the distributor of ‘Black Candy’.
Failure 》 Your death
Success 》 ‘40 P’
It had been a while since I’d had a chance to earn points. Besides, it said I’d die if I failed—so I had no choice.
Cornelia turned to Michael.
“Professor Lippenstein, do you agree?”
“…”
“…Very well. Then Assistant Professor Rohan, Professor Michael Lippenstein, and Student Ariel Lippenstein will be in charge of the investigation. But be aware—if the case stalls or spirals out of control, I will notify the Administration immediately.”
In that moment, my eyes met Cornelia’s.
There was a trace of sadness and sorrow on her face.
“…I hope you both uncover the truth behind this incident. That is all. Meeting adjourned.”