The Academy Regressor is Obsessed

The day after receiving the letter, Ena hurriedly prepared to return to Wiheim. She donned the shirt and robe she usually wore, and pulled her stiffly upright hat down low. Having prepared since dawn, Asel was able to watch her leave.

It was a sudden return. To think that Ena, who had been acting as if she would stay here indefinitely, had to leave because of just one letter. What on earth could have been written in that letter to make her leave so urgently? Even when asked, she didn’t give a clear answer, so Asel could only feel frustrated.

“It’s a family matter.”

No matter how much he pressed, that was all the answer he got.

‘A family matter, huh.’

Asel had long known that Ena had no parents. While it was natural considering her age, she was originally from a long-lived race. Then, excluding her status as an archmage, her parents would also need to be long-lived. Otherwise, Ena couldn’t be a pureblood long-lived race.

Therefore, her parents must also have been free from the concept of time. If such beings no longer existed, what could that mean?

They were killed. Or they committed suicide.

Either way, it couldn’t have been a good thing for Ena. For her to mention family matters, it was unlikely to be a simple excuse.

“……”

Suddenly, the face of Birsia, who had called Ena her sister, came to mind. An archmage like Ena, but on a different path. A being standing at the opposite end. Surely, she too must occupy a part of Ena’s complicated family history.

… Many things come to mind, but nothing is clear. Asel sighed deeply as he looked down at Ena approaching him.

“I’ll be back.”
“Don’t get hurt.”
“If I were to get hurt, a whole city would have already been wiped out.”
“… That’s true. But I still worry.”

Instead of answering Asel’s words, Ena gently smiled and spread her arms. Asel realized what she wanted and burst into laughter.

Hug.

Asel lightly embraced Ena’s wide-open arms. Ena rested her chin on Asel’s shoulder and whispered softly in his ear.

“Don’t get hurt either. Let’s go to the beach or something when it’s vacation time.”
“Are we going on a trip?”
“Yes. Let’s go, just the two of us.”
“I’ll look forward to it.”

Ena smiled and lightly kissed Asel’s cheek. Then she gently pushed Asel away and immediately threw herself out the open window.

Zap!!

Her body turned into a white lightning bolt and split the sky. Asel stood by the window watching her, then smiled bitterly and entered the bathroom. Even though the person who was always by his side had disappeared, the day still begins.

It was the second day of the Academy’s opening.

“I’ll join!”

The day after the club tour, Selene brought Asel and visited the drama club room once again, shouting like that. Reine smiled brightly and handed out application forms to the two. The contents were quite simple.

Aside from restrictions not to leak the contents of the plays dealt with in the club and not to tell others about one’s assigned role, there weren’t many constraints. Selene immediately took out a pen from her bosom and signed the application form, and Asel also smiled and engraved his name.

Honestly, it didn’t matter much which club he joined. Since there were set activity times, he could secure enough time for magic research and experiments if he just followed those. In that respect, the drama club was a fairly good choice.

It’s quite an active club, but aside from club hours, practice is voluntary and the atmosphere is friendly. There’s almost no senior bullying, so it’s not burdensome. The male-to-female ratio is also appropriate, so compared to other clubs that are mostly female, there’s no need to feel intimidated.

In simple terms, it’s a place where you just need to do what you’re supposed to do. Asel smiled and handed the signed application form to Reine.

“I’ve finished writing.”
“Thank you~ Now you’re a proper drama club member. If other club kids ever bully you, tell us right away! We’ll smash them!”

Reine said this while clenching both fists. Asel burst into laughter, and in sync with that, Selene also handed over her completed application form.

With this, the two’s affiliations were decided.

At that moment, Reine nodded with a mischievous smile. Simultaneously, five seniors revealed themselves from behind the sofa where the two were sitting. They each placed a hand on Asel and Selene’s shoulders, and with expressions clearly showing excitement, they said to Reine:

“Senior, they’ve really become new members, right? We can hold the initiation ceremony now, right?”
“Proceed.”
“Yeehaw!”

Reine answered with a villainous laugh. Then the five cheered and forcibly stood up the two surprised people.

“You there! Come out too!”

When a girl with a clear, ringing voice shouted, golden fox ears popped up from a corner. Asel recognized the owner of those ears and unconsciously muttered her name.

“Saya?”
“Oh, long time no see, Asel.”

With a thump-thump sound, Saya emerged from the corner.

It wasn’t the sound of her footsteps. It was the footsteps of a muscular woman who was carrying her. A giant woman, a head taller than Asel, with muscles all over her body that seemed to writhe as if alive. She had an impressive short skirt that didn’t match her disgustingly throbbing chest muscles.

“Too light. Eat more food.”

She said this while flexing the muscles of her split thighs. Saya, seemingly embarrassed, covered her face with both hands and muttered.

“I ate two bowls at breakfast…”
“Eat five bowls!”
“That’s monstrous, Senior Hargelin!”

Unable to hold back, Saya shouted. Asel tilted his head, pondering the giant’s name that Saya had blurted out.

“…Hargelin?”

A familiar family name. It was the same surname as Ellen. But unlike Ellen, who was small enough to be called petite, she had a body that could be compared to an orc in its robustness. It was doubtful if they really shared the same blood.

“Hm? Seems you know of me.”

Perhaps noticing his reaction, she put Saya down on the floor and walked towards Asel. Asel looked up at her with a sour expression and answered.

“I’m acquainted with Ellen. That’s why I unconsciously mentioned the family name. I’m sorry.”
“No, that’s fine. I’m not a fool who gets angry just because someone casually mentioned a noble’s surname. More importantly, Ellen…”

She revealed her teeth in a bright smile.

“To think you’re friends with our cute youngest. This is truly a joyous occasion. Has the child who used to follow me around calling ‘sister, sister’ every day already entered the Academy?”
“…Is she your real sister?”
“Of course. She’s the youngest in our family. I even have a photo. Want to see?”

Without waiting for Asel’s answer, she took out a small photo from her bosom and showed it to Asel. Asel let out a dry laugh when he saw the image of the Hargelin direct family members in the photo.

Every single one of them had an incredible physique. To exaggerate a bit, they all boasted massive builds that could be mistaken for an orc family.

Among them, only Ellen was conspicuously small. Her image, hanging from the shoulder of a man who looked like her father with a bright smile, looked still naive but her height didn’t seem much different from now.

“This is already a 5-year-old photo. Nostalgic days.”

She said this while wiping away a tear.

Five years ago? Has Ellen not grown at all from then until now?

The moment Asel recalled Ellen’s meager body and burst into laughter, the woman in front of him stiffened her face and placed her large hand on top of Asel’s head.

“You. It seems you’re thinking something strange. You’re not imagining something that mocks our youngest, are you?!”
“…I thought she was cute.”
“She is cute indeed. You have good eyes.”

She grinned and withdrew her hand from Asel’s head. Then she put the photo back in her bosom and opened her mouth, looking down at Asel.

“She’s a child with an unusually weak disposition. Since you’ve become friends, take responsibility to the end.”
“You seem to cherish her a lot.”
“There’s no reason not to cherish my sister.”

Asel chuckled at the pure answer.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Good! Then shall we go for the initiation ceremony!”

She shouted loudly while lifting Asel up. Before he could say “Eh?”, Saya and Selene were also caught by other members and dragged out of the club room.

“Wh-what’s an initiation ceremony? Where are we going?”
“Ugh, my stomach feels sick from being held all this time…”

Ignoring Selene and Saya’s grumbling, they left the club room following the giant. The giant turned to look at Reine and shouted loudly.

“Reine! We’re off!”
“Hehehehe…”

She let out a dark smile.

The giant’s name was Roger Hargelin. She was the top student in the 3rd year knight department and one of the renowned strong ones rumored to handle a huge greatsword like her own body. Although her level was Expert Intermediate, thanks to the Hargelin family’s unique superhuman strength, she was an excellent warrior capable of fighting even against Expert High levels.

She seemed to have quite a reputation, as Leona chattered away to Asel, who was being carried on Roger’s shoulder.

“Despite her scary appearance, she’s someone who takes good care of her juniors. Unlike typical nobles, she also deeply cherishes her family. There’s no need to be afraid.”
“Hahaha! This is blatantly painting my face with gold! Leona, think about what you want to eat for dinner in advance! I’ll treat you!”
“Yay!”

Leona jumped up and down on the spot, expressing her joy. Asel looked down at her with a dry laugh.

Behind Roger, who was walking at the very front, he could see Saya and Selene walking with their arms held.

The atmosphere wasn’t that harsh. Saya was carefully answering a senior who was asking about recently popular cosmetics, and Selene was explaining the ecosystem of the Aurora Magic Tower to a fellow magician senior.

It was quite a smooth atmosphere. Everyone’s expressions were bright.

Although they called it an initiation ceremony, it didn’t seem like they were going to make them do anything too vicious. Only then did Asel relax his expression and slump on Roger’s shoulder. Then he silently pondered while looking at Saya’s face.

‘Is this the first time I’ve seen her face since the group project?’

After forcibly evacuating everyone due to Birsia’s attack, he had heard that they were lying in the Academy infirmary. But he didn’t visit, so today was the first day he had seen her since then.

The reason he didn’t visit wasn’t anything special. He had thought he would visit later, but once he started full-fledged mana eye research, he forgot. As a result, when he hurriedly went to the infirmary, she had already been discharged long ago.

He thought it would be a bit much to go all the way to the dormitory, so he decided to talk to her when they met later, which has continued until now. Since their departments were different, they didn’t run into each other at the Academy at all, so it couldn’t be helped.

Still, it was fortunate to meet like this. He never dreamed she would choose the drama club, but considering her beautiful appearance, it wasn’t particularly mismatched. Perhaps she chose it as a merchant to experience popular culture.

Whatever the reason, it didn’t matter.

Her abdomen, which had been pierced through, looked fine now. It seems the injury wasn’t so severe as to be impossible to recover from. That was truly fortunate.

But apart from that, Saya seemed to feel indebted to Asel. Whenever their eyes met, she would bow her head deeply like a criminal. It wasn’t incomprehensible, so Asel sighed deeply and closed his eyes.

‘I don’t particularly intend to say anything.’

There’s a saying that even brushing sleeves is a connection. Similarly, Asel intended to continue his friendship with those he met during the group project. However, as long as Saya acted like that, it seemed he would have to forcibly keep his distance for the time being.

In the end, it was a problem that time would solve. Perhaps it could be resolved during this initiation ceremony.

‘I hope it’s as soon as possible.’

Asel thought this while fiddling with the ice peony ring on his left index finger.

“We’ve arrived.”

At that moment, Roger, who had been carrying Asel, put him down and opened her mouth. Asel opened his closed eyes and briefly looked around.

“…?”

His face changed subtly.

The smell of book pages brushing his nose was clear. The sound of pages turning could be heard from all around, and various magic books flew through the air, finding their own places. Elementals coiled on top of bookshelves gazed at those standing on the floor with one eye half-open.

It was an all too familiar place. Selene blinked and muttered softly.

“…The library?”

As she said, this was the Academy’s public library. A static place that didn’t match the word initiation ceremony. Not an appropriate place to cause a commotion.

‘Surely they don’t intend to make us read dozens of books about acting as an initiation ceremony.’

Just as Asel thought this and turned to look at Roger, a bespectacled librarian approached Roger and whispered softly.

“Y-you’re here for the initiation ceremony, right? Then please do it quickly… We can’t allow any disturbances…”
“Mm. I know. We’ll do it quickly and leave.”

Roger nodded to the librarian, then led the group down to the basement of the library.

Compared to the upper floor, there were fewer books shelved, and the contents were mostly mundane books. As a result, there were far fewer people than upstairs.

“Hmm.”

Roger stood still for a moment, briefly scanning the bookshelves, then stretched her hand to the side and said.

“Everyone to your positions.”
“To positions.”

The drama club members followed her words and moved in an orderly manner. They each grabbed a bookshelf and held a book from it in their hand, then nodded. Roger grinned and turned to the three, opening her mouth.

“Let’s go.”
“What exactly are you planning to do?”

Unable to contain his curiosity, Asel asked. Instead of answering, Roger stood in front of a wall and tapped it.

At the same time, the drama club members simultaneously pulled out the books they were holding, and

Rumble!!!

The wall in front of Roger started to open upwards. As the group gaped at the wall opening like a castle gate, Roger entered and answered.

“There’s a labyrinth in the Academy that changes its structure every year.”
“……”
“A labyrinth where the method of entry and what’s inside all change. Starting from January 1st each year when everything is reset, the club that finds the entry method first is given entry rights for a year.”
“…This is.”
“This year, we found it first.”

Roger grinned and pushed the three forward.

At their feet, there was a pit filled with darkness whose bottom couldn’t be seen.

“It’s called the Simplified Labyrinth.”

She embraced the three at once and continued speaking in a soft whisper.

“We decided to hold this year’s initiation ceremony here.”
“…Wait a moment.”

Just as Selene, sensing something wasn’t right, opened her mouth.

“Off you go.”

Roger threw the three she was embracing into the pit.