The Obsessive Regressor of The Academy

51. Imprisonment? (2)

Acel had been conscious for a week already.

Irina and Bell returned to Wiheim some days prior. But Ena remained near Acel, spending her time in his immediate vicinity. To claim it wasn’t burdensome would be a lie, but Acel couldn’t bring himself to reject his mentor’s concern and affection.

It was only natural. Ena wasn’t here for her own gain, but had stayed purely to care for Acel, so there was no reason to push her away.

However, that was separate from the fact that he wasn’t allowed to leave the room.

“Would it be possible to, perhaps, take a brief stroll?”

“No.”

“When will I be able to return to the Academy?”

“Eventually.”

“I need to report that I’m alive.”

“Later.”

Whenever he attempted to do anything outside the room, this was the usual response. Sometimes, when Ena went out, he tried to force open the door, but the magic circuits were so complex that it would take too long. Ena would be back sooner than he could unlock the spell.

His attempt to disable the magic was even discovered, and the circuits were tangled twofold. It was a wonder that it even worked at all in that state. Acel marveled at Ena’s skill in spell formation, and gave up on escaping alone entirely.

Unless Ena left him alone for approximately three hours, he didn’t even dare try.

‘I’m completely imprisoned, then.’

He couldn’t help but notice it by now. Acel sighed quietly upon realizing he was being held captive. Ena, who was sitting next to him reading a book, glanced at him.

“What is it, Acel? Still in pain?”

“……No. I’m perfectly fine.”

Asel adjusted his glasses, which were sliding down his nose, with a flick of his index finger. Ena gave him a brief, skeptical look in response, but soon returned to her reading. Asel, secretly, slipped off his glasses, then furrowed his brow deeply, confirming the blurry, almost shattered state of his vision.

Frankly, imprisonment or whatever, it didn’t matter so much as long as he was with Ena. If it became truly unbearable, he could always seek help from the outside.

What mattered was his eyes.

His body was mostly recovered. His mana flowed well, and even brief, strenuous activity didn’t bring on excruciating pain. But his eyes caused a searing ache, as if his brain were cooking, even after only a short time open.

This wasn’t simply the pain of approaching ocular awakening. The cause was far more profound.

‘I didn’t expect my talent to bloom in this direction, too.’

Acquired awakening of mystic eyes wasn’t common, but it wasn’t unheard of either. In such cases, a certain action, or the ingestion of a mystical elixir, would act as the catalyst, and the most suitable mystic eyes would awaken without any impediments.

In theory, Asel should have been the same. But his innate talent was holding him back.

‘There are too many suitable mystic eyes. I can’t choose just one.’

Asel primarily worked with at least five schools of magic. He also applied basic magic from other schools, and if he studied and delved deeper, there was ample room to make them his main focus. In that situation, with all sorts of mystic eyes resonating with each magic, his eyes and brain were being overworked.

‘Do I need to make a choice to end this? Or should I just wait?’

He couldn’t say. Still, thankfully, his glasses meant that his daily life wasn’t greatly impacted. He could probably think about it slowly until he returned to the academy. No need to act hastily.

Asel thought so as he gazed at the bracelet wrapped around his right wrist.

Putting the problem of his mystic eyes aside, what was most important now was incorporating the ranged interception formula, which he had been pondering for weeks, into electric magic.

‘There’s no need to sit at a desk to think about it.’

He’d already verified the formula. A magic that automatically intercepted and reflected attacks that escaped one’s perception. He closed his eyes and visualized the intricacies of the formula in his mind. He integrated it into the electric magic formula he had already laid out, and slowly channeled his mana. He fixed any points where it snagged or where the mana flow became strange.

The creation of magic. Not quite at the Grand Magus level, but still an extreme realm requiring a tremendous amount of talent and effort. Asel had achieved it in less than ten years of learning magic. Most magicians would shed tears of blood if they found out about this astonishing feat, but Asel, for his part, frowned because he didn’t like the magic he had created.

‘Even faster than this.’

He compressed the destructive power and speed unique to electric magic within the created formula to their utmost limits. Some of the mana, unable to withstand the compression, leaked outwards, but he didn’t stop the compression. In that state, if an attack came from outside, the compression would release, and mana and lightning would erupt explosively.

He completed the creation of the magic. He had been planning this magic for a while, so he had already built a foundation for the formula, and the work wasn’t too difficult.

Asel smiled contentedly and opened his eyes. And his eyes met Ena’s, who was looking down at him.

She blinked her lake-blue eyes and opened her mouth.

“……You just created magic, didn’t you?”

“Uh… yes.”

“What kind of magic is it? Show me.”

Ena, who had already seen the magic Asel created at the lake, wasn’t surprised that he had created magic. Instead, she pursed her lips, seemingly curious.

Asel smiled and showed her the magic he had created.

*

“I’ll be back in a bit. Rest up.”

Ena spoke. After what felt like ages, she donned an outing hat, unlocked the ever-secured door, and stepped outside. Asel, with a smiling face, saw her off, then abruptly rose from his seat and flung open the window.

Even this, Ena had booby trapped, making escape impossible, but nonetheless, he managed to open it.

That was precisely what Asel wanted. He leaned out, peering sideways. In the corner, huddled and trembling, he spotted the messenger bird. The moment their eyes met, it cried out and scurried towards him.

[Kee-rook, Kee-rook!]

“Good, you’ve arrived.”

Asel seized the bird’s warm, metallic nape and pulled it inside.

The messenger bird he’d commanded to deliver a letter to the academy hadn’t returned. The metallic machine had reappeared after Asel’s imprisonment in the cathedral, but following its master’s order to remain hidden until sought, it had waited outside the window.

For a self-regulating construct, this indefinite wait had been a trying experience.

Of course, Asel paid such things little mind. He immediately sat at the desk and began to write a letter to the academy.

Ena had said there was no need to report her survival. She didn’t care much for the academy to begin with, and after all that had transpired, her feelings toward them had plummeted past rock bottom, drilling into the earth.

He understood. Asel himself felt his trust in the academy had lessened considerably.

The commission had been thoroughly vetted, or so they said, yet an 8th Circle Necromancer had suddenly appeared.

From Asel’s perspective, the academy had either failed to properly vet the commission, or a traitor had deliberately sent the students to their deaths.

Whether it was true or not hardly mattered. The fact that the most prestigious academy on the continent had given cause for suspicion was the problem. By now, Freede was probably running around trying to explain everything.

Regardless, he intended to report his survival. Not for the academy’s sake, but for the sake of those he’d befriended there.

Even those he wasn’t particularly close to, the death of someone he considered a friend could be a significant blow.

Especially Grace, who had already witnessed Asel’s death in a previous iteration. To hear of his death so soon after reuniting would undoubtedly worsen her already fragile mental state.

‘That I must prevent.’

Not just Grace. Saya and the other escaped members of their party. Asel didn’t want them to feel guilt or remorse.

“Deliver this to the academy headmaster. I’ll be at the academy, so there’s no need to waste mana searching for me, right?”

[Koo-rook!]

“Good. And give this to Saya, who is at the academy. I’m counting on you.”

Asel said, stuffing the letters into the bird’s body. The messenger bird nodded vigorously, greedily absorbing the mana Asel offered.

Then, it soared out the open window in an acrobatic flight. Only when it was completely out of sight did Asel close the window.

Turning around, his gaze fell upon the unnecessarily large room.

‘Nothing much to do now.’

The letter he’d been waiting to send until Ena left. He had no other plans. Asel pondered how to spend his time, then decided to do some light exercise.

He needed to rehabilitate his body anyway. He needed to oil the creaking joints that had been unused for days, stimulate the muscles, and recover his lost strength.

And… thinking of strength, he naturally began to replay the battle with the Necromancer.

Before meeting her, his battles typically involved minimal movement, mostly spamming magic. But against a strong opponent like the Necromancer, that was impossible. He had to move as quickly as possible to change the battlefield and turn the situation in his favor.

To do that, physical strength was essential.

‘Annoying, isn’t it.’

Asel sighed deeply at the prospect of exercising, something he’d never done in his life. Still, exercise couldn’t be bad for him, so he decided to approach it with a positive attitude. He immediately tossed his coat onto the bed, dropped to the floor, and started doing push-ups.

His knowledge of bodyweight exercises relied on memories from his past life. He pushed through push-ups to failure, then moved onto squats and burpees.

Soon, sweat poured off him like a waterfall. Asel caught his breath, sweeping his sweat-soaked hair back and lifting his shirt slightly to wipe his face.

At that moment, the door burst open and Ena returned.

“I’m back. Asel, is there anything…uncomfortable…?”

Ena, who had come back carrying a bag of bread, stopped mid-sentence, and upon seeing Asel’s slightly exposed upper body, slammed the door shut.

*Bang!*

The door closed with a loud crash. Ena stood in front of it, taking deep breaths.

“???”

A torrent of intense emotions she herself didn’t understand. She’d only caught a glimpse of Asel’s slightly sweaty abdomen, but her head felt hot, burning even. Her heart pounded like a malfunctioning machine, and the blood in her veins seemed to accelerate madly.

“Master? Is something wrong?”

“……Ugh!!”

Asel’s worried voice from beyond the door sent a jolt of electricity through her entire body. Ena prioritized calming down over figuring out the source of this bizarre phenomenon.

“Haa, haa, haa.”

She took deep breaths to calm her heart and cooled her burning head with a mage’s reason. After a while, her emotions subsided somewhat. Ena took one last deep exhale, put on her usual expressionless face, and opened the door.

At the same time, she met Asel’s eyes, who was standing in front of the door.

“Are you alright?”

Asel asked, his face covered in sweat.

*Bang!*

Ena closed the door again.