Chapter 559
“Who put you up to this?”
Merida reloaded Sleep again as she spoke. Seeing the curse bloom at her fingertips, Mird let out a choking gasp and writhed.
“I–I really don’t know!”
“Answer.”
“But are you guys seriously tor—torturing me right now? Right here in the middle of the Ivory Tower’s territory? You’re insane!”
She screamed, voice breaking.
“If the Ivory Tower Master finds out about this, it’ll be war…!”
Merida cast Sleep again, cutting her off mid-sentence.
Watching Mird twist in agony even while unconscious, Merida’s face didn’t so much as twitch. She looked at her the way one might look at an insect crawling by.
Snap!
At the flick of her fingers, Mird’s convulsions abruptly ceased and she collapsed onto the floor, gasping hoarsely.
“Hah… hah…”
“Speak.”
“F—fuck… you…!”
Her body jerked upward instantly. Watching, Simon exclaimed in alarm.
“Wait, Merida! Isn’t this going too far?”
“We.”
Merida lifted her head, looking straight at Simon.
“We almost died just now.”
“……”
Of course, Simon had a trump card he trusted, but when that enormous train bore down on them, Merida must have truly felt death’s shadow close in.
She had declared: Not like this. Not if I want to complete this mission. My life is on the line, so I have to drag out the one pulling the strings.
And so, Merida kept releasing and recasting Sleep on Mird.
“Uuughk!”
Thud.
“Sto—op!”
Thud.
“Nnghkkk!”
Thud.
At this rate, Mird’s mind would shatter. Unable to watch any longer, Simon grabbed Merida’s shoulder.
“That’s enough. This is an order as Student Council President.”
“……”
Her fingers stilled. Then she looked at Simon, eyes asking plainly: Why are you stopping me?
“What sort of horrific nightmare are you even showing her?”
“It’s not horrific. Phantasus-type Sleep can’t conjure nightmares anyway.”
Merida lowered her hand as she explained.
“Then what?”
“Just… herself.”
Merida said flatly.
“Mird dreams of falling asleep… and then waking up right here in front of us. Over and over.”
Indeed.
Reality confusion.
Mird knew the spell on her was Sleep. If she thought, this is a curse, just an artificial nightmare, maybe she could endure.
But Merida’s method was special. She made Mird endlessly dream of “falling asleep and then waking again”.
Each time, Mird believed ‘This time it must be real.’ But no—it was still a dream.
She clung to hope, only to have it crushed, then clung again, only for it to shatter once more.
A hell where she might never awaken.
She must have felt as though she had slept and woken thousands, tens of thousands of times.
In that dreamscape, Mird screamed.
Begging for it to stop.
But no matter how she pleaded, the Merida in her dreams did not stop.
Because all of it was a dream.
“If she runs tattling to the Ivory Master and I get caught, all I’ll testify is: Mird tried to kill me, so I cast Sleep seven times and released it seven times.”
Merida raised her hand again.
“Because that’s the truth.”
Snap!
Merida flicked her fingers. Thud! Mird’s back hit the ground once more.
“@#%^*&! Sto—oooop! Please stoooop!”
Half-garbled words spilled from her frantic mouth.
She screwed her eyes shut, certain she’d be thrown into another dream—but this time, it wasn’t a dream.
And when she realized that, she wept with overwhelming relief, crawling on all fours, clutching at Merida’s dress hem and sobbing like a madwoman.
“Stop! Please stop! Uuuhuhh! I’ll tell you anything! Anything at all!”
Merida hummed in satisfaction and patted her head.
“Who sent you?”
“I–it’s true! Truly, no one sent me—it was my own idea! But the Ivory Master—!”
At that name, both Merida and Simon sharpened their focus.
“He told us Girdon would be coming! That Girdon! And he said he bore a grudge against Keyzen. If Keyzen showed up among the festival guests, he wouldn’t let it go! When I heard that, I—I made the plan myself!”
“……”
Merida stayed silent, and Mird, terrified, frantically spilled everything she could think of.
“It’s true! But—but the Ivory Master, he’s always compared us to Keyzen! Said he spends five times as much money on us, yet we still can’t surpass those kids! Called us useless! Over and over! Then when he said Keyzen’s students were being dispatched and I’d have to guide them… my mind just snapped! I—I wasn’t in my right mind!”
“So you tried to kill us?”
Merida’s question made Mird shake her head frantically.
“No! No! Truly not! I only meant to mess with you a little! I never thought it’d go so far, using black magic right in the banquet hall like that! I swear!”
“Uwaaaaah!”
She wailed, snot and tears streaming. Merida simply nodded.
“Alright. This will be our secret.”
“Yes! Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes!”
Mird bobbed her head desperately.
“I’ll never tell! Even if I die! I’ll take it to the grave!”
“There’s a trigger in your dream now.”
Merida pressed her fingertip to Mird’s forehead like the barrel of a gun.
Mird trembled violently.
“Wasn’t it terrifying each time you opened your eyes?”
“……!”
How many days had passed?
How many months? Years?
What state would she be in when she next woke?
What if she could never wake again?
In her dreams, she had trembled endlessly in that fear.
“If I die.”
Merida’s voice came low and monotonous, like a hypnotist’s spell.
“You’ll never wake up again.”
From now on, every time Mird lay down to sleep, those words would echo in her head.
* * *
After sending Mird away, Simon and Merida entered the room assigned to them.
Within the Tower of Time, rooms untouched by dungeon influence—called lodgings—were precious. On the 50th floor there was only one, and typically strangers had to squeeze two or three to a cramped room.
“You definitely went too far this time, Merida.”
Simon sighed heavily after they entered.
She had insisted: If you want the mastermind, leave it to me. He’d agreed, never imagining she’d actually torture someone with curses.
“If you half-ass it, it’s even more dangerous.”
Merida shot back boldly. Then suddenly, “Ah!” Her eyes sparkled, and she dashed forward, leaping onto the bed with a poof.
“So cozy.”
She curled up, knees tucked to chest—the posture cat lovers often call a “loaf”.
Simon muttered gruffly.
“By the way, you sure claimed that bed pretty naturally.”
Still lying face-down, Merida pressed both hands to her cheeks, her eyes sparkling brightly.
…Unbelievable. Was she actually trying to act cute right now?
“Fine, fine.”
Simon quickly gave up, realizing there was no chance of winning a bed from Merida anyway. She stayed curled up like that, eyelids growing heavy and drooping.
“You can’t sleep yet. You have to finish your quota first.”
Simon’s cold voice made her pout, then she sat up straight. Simon, meanwhile, pulled over a chair and sat nearby.
A quick scan of the room suggested there weren’t any eavesdropping spells in place.
After all, with so many skilled necromancers present for the festival, installing half-baked surveillance magic would only lead to bigger problems.
“The mastermind, earlier.”
Merida spoke first.
“You think the Tower Master actually tried to have us killed?”
“It’s hard to pin it down like that.”
Simon crossed his arms.
“He may have stoked the Ivory Tower kids, but that alone isn’t enough. Ultimately, Mird acted on her own will. And more importantly—the Tower Master doesn’t have much motive.”
“Motive?”
“Yeah.”
Simon spread his hands.
“If we, as Keyzen’s delegation, had died or even been seriously hurt at that banquet? The Festival of Time would’ve collapsed immediately.”
Which meant it would have been the Tower Master tightening his own noose.
“Even now, with the festival underway, he could have played off Girdon’s attack with vague promises of compensation. But instead, he actually wagered his own position.”
In short, if Simon or Merida died within the Ivory Tower, the Tower Master would suffer far more loss than gain.
Worse still—both of them had come as invited guests of the Ivory Tower. If something happened to them there, conspiracy theories would erupt without end.
This wasn’t about his position anymore. Keyzen’s fury, backed by public opinion, would crash down upon them. The entire Ivory Tower itself could be jeopardized.
What possible reason would the Tower Master have to take such a risk just to harm Simon and Merida?
“So, basically, we should…”
Simon began—then paused.
Merida was nodding off, her head bobbing forward.
“…Are you even listening?”
“Mhm.”
“……”
“Even when I’m dozing, I hear everything.”
Simon let out a dry laugh and stood.
“Either way, let’s hold back on hasty conclusions and move carefully. Time to work.”
“Mm.”
* * *
Simon and Merida shed their uncomfortable tuxedo and dress. With protective barriers active and their standard Keyzen uniforms being far more suited for combat, they left the lodging.
The moment they stepped beyond the safe zone, the air itself felt different. The tower’s hues dimmed into a hazy gray.
Cautiously, they advanced.
‘The Tower of Time…’
Centuries ago, this dungeon had appeared, devouring two thousand years of the Ivory Tower’s history in one gulp.
Just as the Ivory Tower had once obsessed over history and records, this dungeon—having consumed it all—now regurgitated bizarre anomalies of the past.
One such anomaly appeared right in front of them.
—Magnificent! This invention is revolutionary!
—A voice coming from a stone?!
A group of middle-aged men in old-fashioned clothes clustered around. They pressed blue stones to their ears, shouting into them with excitement.
—With this, even mages without spells, even ordinary households, could enjoy the blessings of magic!
The presenter lifted the stone high.
—This invention’s name is…!
They were witnessing a scene from 330 years ago—the unveiling of the Communication Crystal Orb.
The people themselves appeared faded, like a photograph worn by time, their voices distorted with static.
‘So this is the dungeon replaying the past.’
Best not to interfere. Simon gestured to Merida.
“Quietly, let’s move past.”
“Mm.”
As historic as it was, they had no time to be distracted. They quickened their pace.
“Still…”
Merida murmured softly.
“If they knew that even now Communication Orbs are still so expensive only the highest nobles can afford them…”
—You there, the two of you!
Simon and Merida stiffened.
The historical mages had turned, eyes fixed on them.
—The professor is making an important announcement!
—Where do you think you’re going at such a moment?
They’d been caught.
Simon’s heart plummeted, but he forced a smile.
“Ahaha! Sorry, sorry for disturbing!”
The two of them hurried forward and pretended to take seats among the scholars. Of course, there were no chairs—so they squatted in midair, knees bent, hovering awkwardly.
‘Ugh, this is exhausting.’
This dungeon had already been conquered three centuries ago.
The Ivory Tower had published its rules, and both Simon and Merida had studied them.
One of them read:
<When beings of the past address you, comply with their requests and act natural. Behave as though you belong there.>
Because if those “people of time” realized their world was false, that they were trapped in the past, they would go berserk and attack.
‘We don’t have time for this.’
Simon, tense, fixed his eyes on the mages’ demonstration.
If someone questioned their affiliation, they were doomed. After all, he had no idea which noble houses even existed 300 years ago.
“Merida, when I give the signal, we’ll—”
He turned to her—only to see her head lolling, fast asleep.
‘Unbelievable. She’s sleeping now?’
Simon’s stomach twisted with dread. Would they really survive this assignment? His worries were already piling sky-high.
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters
Very good story and translation but half the chapter aren't for free and it is wayyyy too expensive will it stat like tjis foreve or will it get free after some time