Prologue: A Turning Point

The day had finally arrived.

All 1,624 students of the Alzano Imperial Magic Academy were gathered and lined up in the academy arena.

And on the platform set up at the back of the arena…

“…And so, with this, the first semester of the year 1853 comes to a close.”

Rick, who had recently returned to his position as headmaster, was delivering the closing remarks for the semester’s end ceremony.

“Now, all of you will begin your long inter-semester break starting tomorrow… For the first-year students, this will be your first autumn holiday…”

As Rick continued his speech, he glanced over the students.

As expected, most of them were fidgeting, their minds already drifting to the exciting days ahead. Hardly anyone was truly listening to Rick’s words.

Seeing the students’ behavior, Rick recalled his own youthful days with a wry smile and decided to keep his speech brief, touching only on the essential points.

“…I urge you all to never forget that you are proud students of the Alzano Imperial Magic Academy. Maintain proper conduct befitting your status, and do not neglect your personal growth during this opportunity—”

And so, the semester’s closing ceremony concluded without incident.

The students, dismissed, began returning to their classrooms with buoyant steps.

“…Ha. It’s really over, huh.”

Amidst the crowd, Glenn trudged back to his assigned classroom, his shoulders slumped. Leaving the arena and heading toward the main school building, he let himself be carried along by the flow of students.

“Ugh… Why’re you looking so glum?”

At that moment, a girl with fiery red hair sidled up beside Glenn, giving him an exasperated look.

It was Eve Ignite—or rather, Eve Distrei, now using her mother’s surname—who had recently been dispatched from the imperial army to serve as an instructor for the new “Military Training” curriculum starting next term.

“Looking like that won’t set a good example for the students, you know? Honestly.”

“…Huh? …Well, I’ve got my reasons, alright?”

Glenn turned his head away, scratching the back of his neck as he responded.

Then, as if something had occurred to him, he threw a question at Eve.

“By the way, what’re you planning to do during the long break starting tomorrow?”

“…Me?”

Eve glanced at Glenn briefly in response to his question.

“I’ve got a ton of legal paperwork and preparations to handle for the ‘Military Training’ course next term, so I’m heading back to the capital for a bit. I’ve also got some luggage to deal with. And…”

Eve hesitated for a moment, her gaze falling to her left arm.

For a brief while, she clenched and unclenched her hand, narrowing her eyes…

“No, it’s nothing. Anyway, I’ve got a lot to do, so I’ll be leaving Fejite during the break. Good for you, right? You won’t have to deal with me for a while.”

With a sly smirk, Eve shot Glenn a sidelong glance.

“Is that so? Well, that’s a stroke of luck! Hooray, I’m so thrilled I could dance!”

Glenn shrugged exaggeratedly, responding with mock enthusiasm.

The two continued walking in silence, exchanging no further words.

Eventually, Glenn parted ways with Eve, who headed toward the annex building.

As Glenn turned his back on her and started walking toward his classroom… it happened.

“Hmph. This might be meddling, but I’ll say it anyway.”

For some reason, Eve suddenly turned around and muttered to Glenn’s back.

“If you’ve got free time during this break… maybe do something nice for those girls once in a while?”

“Huh? Do something nice? Those girls? …What’s that supposed to mean?”

Glenn turned to ask, but Eve offered no further explanation. She simply flicked her hair and walked away.

Glenn stared after her retreating figure, his eyes half-lidded with suspicion.

And then—after school.

In the classroom of Class 2, Year 2, after the final homeroom of the semester.

“…It’s really over, huh.”

At the teacher’s desk on the platform, Glenn slouched with his chin propped up, muttering to himself.

In front of him, the students were noisily discussing their plans for the break, excitedly preparing to head home.

“Hey, hey, what’re you guys doing during the break starting tomorrow?”

“…What? Hmph, obviously, I’ll be working on assignments and preparing for next term.”

“I’m probably picking up a part-time job. There’s a book I really want.”

“I’m returning to my family’s estate in Nablesse for the first time in a while! This year, Teresa and Lynn are coming along, and we’ll spend the break at my domain!”

“The Nablesse territory has clean water and fresh air. It’s a really pleasant place, so I’m looking forward to it.”

“…I-Is it really okay? I mean… for someone like me to tag along…”

“Hmm, returning home, huh? My hometown… I swore I’d never go back to that backwater dump, but… maybe I’ll drop by to show my face to the old man.”

Kash, Gibul, Cecil, Wendy, Teresa, Lynn… the main students of Class 2 were at the center of the lively atmosphere, which showed no signs of calming down.

The academic year at the Alzano Imperial Magic Academy was divided into two semesters: the first and the second.

The month-long break between these semesters was known as the inter-semester long holiday—or, in other words, the autumn break.

“Ha… What am I even gonna do starting tomorrow?”

Watching the high-spirited students leave the classroom out of the corner of his eye, Glenn muttered absently at the teacher’s desk, letting out a sigh.

He had a vague sense of the reason behind his sigh.

Up until now, his days had been filled with teaching and other responsibilities. One way or another, they had been fulfilling.

But now, temporarily freed from those duties, Glenn felt a strange sense of emptiness—a mix of loneliness and dissatisfaction.

And he couldn’t hide his surprise at feeling this way.

There was a time when he had desperately longed to return to his unemployed, aimless, decadent lifestyle.

(…Last month’s ‘Fejite’s Worst Three Days’ completely destroyed Celica’s mansion, and it’s still being rebuilt… On top of that, Celica hasn’t come back even once since that incident…)

Celica, Glenn’s mentor and foster mother, had left Fejite after the ‘Fejite’s Worst Three Days,’ claiming she had work to attend to. She hadn’t returned since.

Even during the ‘Hidden Academy Incident,’ she had only sent evidence of Maxim’s corruption via express mail from her travels, never once showing her face to Glenn. There was still no sign of her return.

(…What the heck is she up to, that Celica…?)

Without Celica, Glenn would inevitably have to spend this ridiculously long break alone. He wasn’t exactly lonely at his age, but he couldn’t help letting out a sigh.

That aside.

How was he going to spend all this free time starting tomorrow?

(…Well, maybe this is a good opportunity.)

Glenn suddenly pulled a notebook from his pocket and gazed at it.

It was ‘Memoirs of Alicia III,’ obtained during the ‘Hidden Academy Incident.’

This notebook might contain critical information about the mysterious [Akashic Records], a forbidden text coveted by various enemy factions. However, its contents were written in complex magical ciphers, making deciphering it extremely difficult.

(The [Akashic Records] that keep haunting us… That bastard Jatice called it ‘the power to dominate the laws of the world.’ Maybe this is a chance to dig into its true nature.)

Mabel had mentioned something about an impending world-ending catastrophe, but honestly, that felt like a far-fetched joke at best.

Still, it didn’t sit right with him to ignore something entrusted to him.

Besides, as a journal left by Alicia III, its contents piqued his curiosity, and the [Akashic Records] had always been a lingering concern.

A mage’s curiosity could be deadly, but it was a trait Glenn couldn’t shake.

If he had nothing better to do, spending some time unraveling this mystery might be worthwhile.

“Alright, then. Guess I’ll head to the academy’s library and look for some texts on magical ciphers…”

Stretching and yawning, Glenn toyed with the notebook in his hand as he stood.

Just as he was about to leave the now-quiet classroom, lost in thought… it happened.

“Se-Sensei!”

A slightly high-pitched voice called out to Glenn’s back.

Turning around with a reluctant expression, Glenn saw Sistine, Rumia, and Re=L—the usual trio—standing side by side.

“…What’s up? Didn’t you guys already head out?”

“Um, well, we had something we wanted to ask…”

Sistine, at the front, glanced around nervously before stammering out her question.

“Sensei… do you have any important plans for this autumn break?”

“Plans?”

Caught off guard by the sudden question, Glenn tilted his head as he answered.

“…Nah? Nothing at all.”

“I-I see…”

“So what’s the deal?”

At that, Sistine steeled herself, looked Glenn straight in the eye, and said:

“W-Well, then… how about going on a trip with us!?”

“Huh!? A t-trip!?”

Completely blindsided by the proposal, Glenn’s eyes widened in shock.

Now, let’s backtrack a bit to the previous night.

At the lounge of the Fibel residence.

After taking a bath and changing into her negligee, Sistine was about to head to bed when…

“Hey, Sistie. I think we can’t keep going like this.”

Rumia, usually soft and gentle, declared this with an unusually serious expression.

“Can’t keep going like this? What’s wrong, Rumia?”

Sistine, sipping hot milk before bed, blinked in surprise.

“…?”

Re=L, who had been dozing off on the sofa, cracked her eyes open slightly to look at Rumia.

“It’s about Glenn-sensei, of course, Sistie.”

“…What about Sensei?”

“With a formidable rival like Eve-san showing up, I don’t think we can just sit back and hope Sensei will eventually notice our feelings or accept them. That passive approach won’t cut it anymore.”

Pfft! Sistine choked, spraying the milk in her mouth.

The milk splattered onto Re=L’s hair and face beside her.

“…”

Re=L lowered her eyes sadly, her shoulders slumping.

Unaware of her friend’s plight, Sistine flushed bright red and panicked.

“W-W-Wait!? Rumia, what are you talking about!?”

As Rumia gently wiped Re=L’s hair and face with a cloth, she continued.

“Sure, Glenn-sensei and Eve-san are at odds with each other right now. But I have this feeling that something could trigger a shift, and their emotions could flip entirely, leading to… you know.”

“…Ugh.”

Sistine faltered, unable to respond to Rumia’s anxious words.

On the surface, Glenn and Eve were like oil and water. While Sistine didn’t know the details, it was clear that some complicated conflict from their military days drove a wedge between them.

That conflict kept an absolute distance between them, and as long as it persisted, their paths would likely never truly cross in any meaningful way.

But what if that conflict were resolved?

What would happen between Glenn and Eve, who, at their core, seemed oddly similar?

“I-I don’t care who Sensei ends up with, n-not that it matters to me…!”

Even at this point, Sistine turned away, her face crimson, twirling her hair around her finger as she stammered.

Rumia could only give a wry smile at Sistine’s hopeless awkwardness when it came to matters of love.

“Relax, Sistie. I’m not saying we need to do anything drastic right now.”

“I-I-I said I don’t care—!”

“I just… want Sensei to start seeing us a bit more as girls, you know?”

Rumia’s words made Sistine pause.

Rumia was right. Glenn consistently treated Sistine and the others as students, not as women.

Their relationship with Glenn was strictly that of teacher and student.

At times, Glenn seemed to see shades of a woman named Sera in Sistine, but even then, it felt more like nostalgia than seeing her as a woman in her own right.

This wasn’t even a matter of winning or losing—it was a problem before the competition could even begin.

“I treasure our current teacher-student relationship, but… I want him to acknowledge me as a girl someday. Being treated like a kid forever… I don’t like that.”

“I-I don’t really get what you’re saying!”

Sistine, still flustered and acting suspiciously, blurted out.

“B-But! I agree that getting him to see us as women is a good idea! Maybe he’ll finally learn how to treat a lady properly!”

“Mm. I’m a proper lady too, right? Glenn always ruffles my hair, so it’s about time he changed how he sees me.”

Re=L, probably not fully understanding, nodded expressionlessly, going along with the mood.

“But how exactly do we do that? That jerk may be a good-for-nothing, but he’s annoyingly firm about keeping boundaries like that. It’s not gonna be easy…”

Making that blockhead Glenn see them as girls?

Just thinking about it gave Sistine a headache—it felt like a monumental task.

As Sistine grimaced and rubbed her temples, Rumia said with a mischievous grin:

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about it, and… as long as we’re in the academy, we’ll always just be students to Sensei. We need to get away from the academy. So—”

And that’s how it came to this.

“You know, we tend to stay cooped up in the academy, right? So I thought we could take this chance to see the outside world and broaden our horizons…”

“But students need a guardian for trips, don’t they? Unfortunately, Sistie’s parents are busy with work. So we were hoping you could take on that role, Sensei.”

“Mm. I don’t really get it, but Glenn, let’s go on a trip? It’ll be fun.”

Right now, Glenn was surrounded by Sistine, Rumia, and Re=L.

“Hmm? A trip, huh?”

Glenn glanced between the three girls, who looked at him with expectant eyes, and the notebook in his hand.

Do something nice for them once in a while. Eve’s earlier words vaguely resurfaced in his mind.

After a moment, Glenn muttered that it might not be a bad idea and stuffed the notebook into his pocket.

“Alright, fine. I wasn’t doing anything anyway, so I’ve got time.”

“What!? Really!?”

“Yeah. Honestly, it’s a hassle, but you guys have helped me out a lot, so.”

“Yes! Rumia, I thought he’d put up a fight, but that was surprisingly easy!”

Sistine beamed with joy at Glenn’s agreement, but…

(Ugh. The fact that he agreed so easily without any hesitation just proves he doesn’t see us as girls at all…)

Rumia could only manage a bittersweet smile at the complicated reality.

“So, where do you guys wanna go for this trip?”

“Well, we’ve actually been thinking about a few destinations…”

Sistine, barely containing her excitement for some reason, started listing potential trip locations when—

Thud thud thud thud—!

The sound of someone sprinting down the hallway, rapidly approaching, echoed through the room.

And in the next instant—

“Gleeeeeennn!”

Bam! The classroom door flew open, and a woman burst inside.

In that moment, her luxurious golden hair flowed, catching the evening sunlight streaming through the window and dazzling the eyes with its vibrant shimmer.

It was as if a goddess of beauty had descended. Her mere presence transformed the ordinary classroom into a stage for a grand theatrical finale.

“Wha—!? Y-You—urgh!?”

“Hey, long time no see! I missed you, Glenn!”

As Glenn froze in shock, the stunning woman tackled him into a tight embrace.

The identity of this enchanting beauty was none other than—

“P-Professor Arfonia!?”

Glenn’s foster mother and mentor, Celica Arfonia herself.

It had been a while since he’d seen her… and it seemed she had just returned from her travels.

Still in her travel attire, Celica’s luggage, which she’d tossed aside upon entering, rolled across the classroom floor.

“Gahhh!? I-I can’t breathe—!”

Glenn groaned in distress as his face was buried in the soft, heavy curves of Celica’s chest.

Paying no mind to his struggles, Celica hugged him with all her might, swinging him around and ruffling his hair enthusiastically.

“There, there, there! Heh, did you miss me? Bet you were lonely without me, huh? Sorry for leaving you on your own for a bit! Everything’s fine now!”

“Gah! Let go! Stop clinging to me!”

Glenn finally wriggled free from Celica’s embrace and jumped back.

“What’s that? Such a cold guy. It’s just a little mother-son bonding, right?”

Celica grinned, crossing her arms and giving him a teasing look.

“Shut up! I’ve told you a million times, we’re not even related! Stop being so touchy-feely, it’s annoying!”

“Oh? Could it be… you’re getting flustered?”

“N-No, I’m not!”

Celica smirked like a femme fatale, while Glenn barked back in frustration, his usual cool demeanor nowhere to be found.

(…Huh?)

(W-Wait… what’s this…!?)

Sistine and Rumia, who had been frozen in place, stared at the scene, feeling an intense surge of unease.

“Anyway, enough of that. Glenn, hurry up and pack your things.”

Ignoring Sistine and the others, Celica pressed on with her usual momentum.

“Huh? Pack? For what?”

“A trip, a trip! You and I are going on a trip together. Just the two of us, like a cozy family getaway!”

“““Ehh!?”””

At Celica’s sudden declaration, Glenn, Sistine, and Rumia gaped in stunned shock.

“It’s the autumn break, so it’d be a waste not to enjoy it, right? I’ve already decided where we’re going! Man, how many years has it been since we went on a trip together? I’m so excited!”

“H-Huh!? Wait, a trip!?”

Before anyone could interject, the situation barreled forward mercilessly…

“A-Are you insane!? Just the two of us on a trip!? That’s all kinds of bad—!”

“Hm? Is there a problem? We used to go together all the time, didn’t we?”

“How many years ago was that!? Look, you and I aren’t husband and wife, or lovers, or anything like that! Going on a trip alone together now, that’s just—!”

“Ohh? So you are conscious of it, huh? Of your mom? Pfft, you pervert!”

Celica teased Glenn relentlessly, her expression every bit that of a wicked femme fatale.

“Oh my, oh my… on this intimate little trip, caught up in the moment and the mood, what exactly are you going to do to me? Is this what they call a forbidden fling, hmm?”

“Cut… it… OUT, you—!”

Celica, brimming with adult composure, struck a playful pose, while Glenn, oddly lacking his usual confidence, glared at her with gritted teeth.

Before the two of them…

(W-Why did we…)

(Never notice until now…?)

Sistine and Rumia, cold sweat beading on their foreheads, opened and closed their mouths in stunned silence.

This was no mere commotion like with Eve.

Right here, so close to them, was the greatest and most formidable enemy they could ever face.

A woman whom Glenn, however reluctantly, acknowledged as a woman—one who was closer to him than anyone, more intimate with him than anyone, and knew him more deeply than anyone.

Though her physical age was fixed at around twenty as an immortalist, she was far better matched with Glenn than Sistine and her friends, who were still just teenage girls.

Celica Arfonia.

The true enemy Sistine and her friends needed to beware of was none other than her.

“Alrighty then, time to get the stagecoach and train tickets for our trip starting tomorrow!”

[T/N: A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses.]

“Hold it right there! Listen to me! I already have prior commitments—! Wait, I said—!”

As usual—or perhaps as expected—Celica and Glenn bantered back and forth.

Glenn flailed helplessly as Celica grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and dragged him along.

“…”

“…”

Watching the two of them, Sistine and Rumia sank into thought.

After all, their opponent was Celica.

Once Celica declared she was taking Glenn, it was an unchangeable fact, set in stone.

Even if spears rained down, storms raged, neighboring kingdoms invaded, or the Demon King descended to destroy the world, she would take him. That was the kind of woman Celica Arfonia was.

Glenn, going on a trip alone with a woman of marriageable age.

In this unprecedented crisis, the only action Sistine and her friends could take was—

“Oh, Professor Arfonia!? A trip sounds amazing! I’m so jealous—!”

“Um, uh… could you take us along on the trip too!?”

—this was their only option.

“Hm? You guys wanna come too!? Sure, sure, the more the merrier! This kid’ll be thrilled!”

“Gahh!? Let go already—!”

Celica, wrapping her arm around Glenn’s neck from behind, grinned over his shoulder.

(Haa… how did it come to this…?)

(Haha… the road ahead looks rough…)

Meanwhile, Sistine and Rumia slumped their shoulders, letting out heavy sighs.

“Mm. Everyone, together… fun.”

Only Re=L, her eyes crinkling with delight, seemed genuinely happy.