1-Second Invincible Player in the Game

155. The Prison Stairs (1)

“They’ve ordered the church office to keep an eye on me?”

Emeric’s sudden words tangled my thoughts.

The church office—wasn’t that the very heart of the ‘Sun’s Order’?

There was no reason for them to pay me any mind.

“Why?”

As I asked, Emeric offered a tentative guess.

“Just a personal thought, but perhaps they’ve heard rumors about you and taken an interest.”

“Rumors?”

“You survived the breath of the aberrant beast, after all. You’ve also made a name for yourself in the practical magic studies; they must have caught wind of that.”

How long has it been since that incident? I was tired of hearing about it.

“It sounds plausible enough, but if that were the case, they would have acted long ago. To show interest now? It feels rather unnatural.”

“Of course, Hessel, I’ve considered that possibility, but nothing else comes to mind.”

Emeric’s words held some weight.

Yes, let’s think positively.

Surely, the true entity behind the Sun’s Order, the ultimate puppet master known as ‘The Eye of Eternity,’ isn’t involved in this.

It must simply be an ordinary high-ranking elder at the church office, perhaps suffering from dementia, who suddenly recalled the aberrant beast incident and decided to take an interest in me. That must be it.

Yet, as always, reality tasted bitter.

“Moreover, they mentioned monitoring Leana Rel Derivian as well.”

“…You should have mentioned that from the start.”

If it were just me, it might have slipped by unnoticed, but the fact that Gillum, one of the reincarnators, was involved in keeping an eye on Leana was all too clear.

That perverse one had been fixated on her for some time now.

Yet, I found myself questioning why such movements were surfacing at this moment, but the answer came to me swiftly.

The eldest son of that place, and the fiancé who should not have existed, Hessel Ben Tenest. It was obvious it was because of me.

In truth, I had harbored a vague thought that this might happen from the moment I decided to step into Frost Heart.

What I had assumed would pass quietly had finally erupted.

More than that, it was such shocking news from the very beginning that I had failed to fully grasp its weight.

“But how do you know that, senior?”

At my question, Emeric chuckled awkwardly.

“It wasn’t particularly difficult. Don’t worry about it; just think of how to deal with it.”

Had he eavesdropped by chance?

No, I didn’t think they would casually discuss such matters in passing.

Though it was clear he had been spying on me intentionally, I doubted he would answer if I asked.

Besides, it seemed somewhat helpful, so it might be best not to scold him.

“Anyway, thanks for telling me.”

“Well, I’ve said what I needed to, so I’ll take my leave now.”

Emeric left with a satisfied expression.

I didn’t quite understand why he was helping, but good was good. I tried to brush it off lightly.

Yet, for some reason, I found myself staring at his back, a strange unease creeping in.

…Thinking it over, that man didn’t seem quite normal either.

He wouldn’t do something reckless, would he?

* * *

The day after hearing Emeric’s words.

I strolled down the corridor toward the classroom.

Was it just my imagination?

Perhaps it was a sensitive reaction, but I felt eyes on me from time to time.

Well, whether the followers were watching or not, I decided to shut it all out.

A person as virtuous as I had nothing to be caught on.

Today was the first class of the Adel Department of Magic.

As I walked with anticipation, the classroom began to come into view.

Then, I unexpectedly ran into Dorothian.

“Hmm? I thought you’d skip class; this is surprising.”

Instead of a greeting, I expressed my admiration, and Dorothian responded with a sullen expression.

“Don’t you think you’ve been a bit too familiar with me lately?”

“To hear you say that is disappointing. I thought we had built some rapport.”

As I said this lightly, Dorothian replied with a disinterested “Really?” and entered the classroom.

I followed her, trailing behind.

The sound of chatter reached my ears. It was the voices of classmates who had arrived before me. They all glanced at Dorothian and me, then hurriedly averted their gazes.

Ignoring their reactions, I continued walking.

I scanned for a suitable spot and approached it, inadvertently passing by Dorothian.

She stood there, merely observing our classmates with a vacant expression.

I asked bluntly, “Are you going to skip?”

“······.”

Dorothian said nothing. I shrugged my shoulders and took a seat.

A few seconds later, she sat down not far from me.

Then, she uttered words I hadn’t asked for.

“The back row has a good view.”

“…What are you scheming?”

“Just. I want to disrupt your class today.”

“Oh, really?”

I had already heard the lesson plan from Belman and even prepared in advance. Let her have her fun.

As I pulled out my textbook, Professor Gomon entered.

He surveyed my face with a sly grin before addressing the students.

“Nice to meet you all. My name is Gomon Gel Afran. Feel free to call me Professor Gomon.”

With his brief self-introduction complete, the class began.

It was the first day of the second semester, so there were no grand teachings to be had.

“Today’s lesson is about the awakening of the senses. I’ll explain the basic aspects of it.”

As Professor Gomon set the topic, a woman raised her hand and asked.

“Excuse me? I feel like we learned that at the end of the first semester.”

“There are new ones this time, aren’t there? We should at least teach them the basics. So, those who have been in the Adel Hall from the beginning should think of it as a review.”

The woman lowered her hand, seemingly in agreement.

Professor Gomon smiled with satisfaction and opened his book.

The content was already familiar, and since it was so basic, there was no need to focus intently.

“The awakening of the senses is closely related to the nerves. What we see with our eyes is thanks to the optic nerve. Each sensory organ is connected by nerves. If the damage is severe, one might go blind or lose their hearing.”

As one feels mana through the five senses, the nerves were crucial in magic.

“Yet, a blind sorcerer can still manifest shape-shifting magic. How is that possible? Even with the optic nerve rotting away.”

But even if damaged, it did not significantly impact magic.

The reason was…

“The pathways of mana remain intact. Even if the nerves are broken, the mana within the body can still be conveyed to the eyes.”

Once a sense is awakened, the mana itself creates new pathways within the nerves solely for the manifestation of magic.

“There’s no need to worry, as the nerves can quickly recover even if severed.”

The following content explained the principles leading up to the awakening of the senses.

It wasn’t a class that required immediate action, so I let it drift in one ear and out the other.

However, aside from me and Dorothian, everyone else was busy scribbling notes in a flurry.

Soft murmurs could be heard from various corners.

“Have they gotten into the habit? Why are they moving their pens even during a review?”

“What’s wrong with that? It’s not bad to recall what we’ve learned.”

It was understandable for Rix and Klabe, as it was their first time hearing it, but even the ones from Adel Hall, who already knew it all, showed an enthusiastic attitude toward the class.

Despite the diligent atmosphere in Adel Hall, Dorothian merely stared at them with a vacant expression.

“Everyone’s living so boringly.”

Her voice dripped with boredom.

“It’s different from Shulafe Hall, isn’t it?”

Perhaps it wasn’t the response she had hoped for.

Even though I tried to engage her, Dorothian simply kept her mouth shut.

Maybe she was lost in thoughts of the past.

Grice was a family of ancient magical scholars.

Due to the family’s educational policies, those born into that lineage lived in constant competition.

Perhaps she was seeing them through the lens of her own days spent studying endlessly with her sisters.

Dorothian had been silent for quite some time.

Not wanting to intrude on her solitary moment, I casually flipped through the pages of the textbook.

It was to revisit what I would be learning ahead.

“But you know, didn’t you feel something strange while coming down the stairs today?”

I turned my head at the sound of her voice. Dorothian rested her chin on her hand, gazing at me.

“What do you mean by strange?”

“Well, I tend to count the steps as I go down, you see? Just for fun.”

“Seems you were quite bored, then.”

“Indeed. But today felt a bit special. The number of steps was different.”

I sensed something and decided to probe gently.

“Are you saying the stairs got longer?”

“Who knows? It was only about three steps more, but if it’s longer, then it’s longer.”

“Are you sure you didn’t miscount?”

“Hmm, that might be possible.”

“So you didn’t check again?”

“Right. I’d have to go back up from the start, and I’d hate to waste the descent, wouldn’t I?”

Upon hearing this, I found some logic in her reasoning.

Unless one had a compulsion, most wouldn’t go that far.

“So, how about this? After class, we can count them together.”

At her suggestion, I opened my eyes halfway.

Then, just before entering the classroom, I returned her earlier words to her.

“Don’t you think you’ve been a bit too familiar with me lately?”

Dorothian chuckled, as if finding it amusing.

At that moment, Professor Gomon pointed at us. It seemed our chatter had reached him.

“Focus on the class; it’s the first day.”

Dorothian retorted.

“I’ve already awakened all five senses, you know?”

“Ahem, true enough for you, but what about Hessel?”

This time, I responded.

“When new senses awaken, phenomena occur within the body. Expansion and contraction of blood vessels, repeated cycles, significant caloric expenditure, accompanied by mild headaches. The reason being that a vast amount of energy is consumed to form pathways for mana within the nerves. And the body mutates to adapt to the altered internal environment.”

The Adel students gaped, their mouths agape, staring this way.

Seeing their eagerness to review even such trivial matters, I summarized the contents in my mind to explain them more clearly.

Just as I was about to finish the last part of today’s lesson, Professor Gomon interjected.

“Oh, no. Nothing more to say, you fool. You all should just go to sleep.”

With an irritable tone, Professor Gomon said this and resumed the lecture.

* * *

After class, I arrived at the troublesome staircase alongside Dorothian.

What could be done, even if I didn’t want to go?

This was the staircase between the dormitory floors and the lecture hall floors.

There were hidden mechanisms here as well, so it was necessary to check them out.

As we ascended the stairs, Dorothian spoke.

“Usually, there are 150 steps. But today, when I counted, there were 153.”

I let my gaze droop, examining each step with my eyes.

It was uncomfortable to look up at her alluring figure swaying before me.

Counting the steps, we finally reached the landing where the entrance was.

Dorothian stated the number she had counted.

“159… Did I miscount?”

Her voice was filled with doubt about herself.

Yet, this was no mere illusion.

Seeing that it matched exactly with the number I had counted…

“My count is also 159.”

“What could it be? Perhaps it was 159 from the start, and I’ve been counting wrong all along?”

“Then why don’t we count again as we go down?”

I began to descend the stairs, recounting the steps.

Behind me, I could hear Dorothian muttering softly.

“13… 14.”

This time, as if determined not to allow a single mistake, she spoke the numbers aloud.

“158. 159? 160… 168. 169. 170?”

The number of steps had noticeably increased.

Dorothian, intrigued, brushed her hand along the wall.

“Could it be that using the stairs somehow increases the number of landings? How curious!”

She seemed almost giddy, but this was certainly not something to be excited about.

Here, the stairs were a prison, crafted long ago to ensnare intruders.

There were two reasons for this phenomenon.

Either they had aged and broken down, or someone had triggered them.

Of course, it was unlikely to be mere decay.

Such an occurrence should not manifest at this point in time.

The probability was high that someone had acted with intent.

I turned my head and, in a serious tone, urged caution.

“I don’t like the feel of this. We should take a different staircase from now on.”