NOVPUB—Heathcliff?
At the mention of the name, Julia placed a finger against her chin, as if trying to recall something.
“Is there someone it reminds you of?”
—Not at all.
Julia shook her head.
—It’s not exactly a common name, but it’s not like I can identify someone just by that. Besides, it’s your memory, not mine.
“Oh... right.”
—You’ve got a weirdly dazed side to you, don’t you?
“Hehe.”
Rine let out an awkward giggle, which made Julia sigh.
—That wasn’t a compliment.
Julia rose from the bed.
“Oh. You’re leaving?”
—Of course. Look at me.
Only then did Rine notice the change in her.
“Your body... it’s fading?”
—That name must’ve been the trigger. Until now, you were standing on the boundary between dream and reality, but you’re starting to wake up now.
Their conversation had been possible only through dream magic. Now that Rine was waking up, Julia could no longer remain like this.
Once someone wakes, the dream talk ends.
—I’ll get going. This was an interesting encounter. It’s not really my business, but I hope you do find your lost memories one day.
“Um... Miss Julia Plumehart.”
—Just call me by name. I don’t like it when people say my surname. So what is it?
“Will we... be able to talk again sometime?”
Julia raised her brows, looking mildly baffled, then gave a small laugh.
—Nope.
“Why not?”
—Because the only reason I talked to you today was on a whim. I have no real interest in making friends.
“Oh...”
—If you really want to talk to me again, then make your dreams interesting enough to catch my attention. Maybe then I’ll visit you again, like today.
Of course, she added, she didn’t expect that to happen.
Julia didn’t want Rine to suddenly act overly familiar with her in class.
—Well then, take care.
With that, Julia vanished like a mirage.
At the same time, the dreamy haze surrounding Rine lifted completely, and her mind cleared.
It all felt like a dream.
‘No. It wasn’t a dream.’
Her memories of the conversation with Julia were still vivid.
And so were the words Julia had said.
‘That name from the dream...’
Heathcliff.
Was he somehow connected to her lost memories?
‘But... how would I even begin to find him?’
As she wrestled with the impossible question, the night deepened.
* * *
“This is insane.”
Even Alex, despite everything he’d seen, clutched his head in disbelief.
“Blood of the Holy Sovereign? Leader, just what the hell are you?”
“I’d like to know that myself.”
“So all those times you had headaches... was that because of your abilities?”
The members knew Ludger suffered from chronic ailments.
He nodded in response.
“I’m extremely susceptible to divine possession. I’ve lived my life constantly hearing voices. Even my siblings didn’t suffer like this.”
“...And in a country that worships the gods, there’s no greater talent than that. But a talent that great becomes poison too.”
“I tried to hide it as best I could... but it was eventually discovered.”
Now they understood why other royals had tried to kill Ludger.
Seridan asked,
“What happens if this gets exposed?”
“They’ll send assassins again. Or... try something else.”
“Something else?”
“The Theocracy of Bretus has been closed off from the world for nearly twenty years. What do you think the reason was?”
“Something went wrong in your family?”
“My biological father—the Holy Sovereign of the time—had serious health issues. A succession conflict broke out.”
But rather than reveal that, they locked the country down to handle it internally.
They didn’t want the world to see their image tarnished.
“But now... Bretus has begun to move again.”
The sealed gates, shut for two decades, had finally opened.
And that could only mean one thing.
“The succession battle has ended. The next Holy Sovereign has been chosen.”
And when Ludger’s true identity is eventually revealed—
What happens to him will depend entirely on that new sovereign’s decision.
That’s why he had to prepare.
To ensure no one could ever lay a hand on him again.
* * *
The weekend passed, and the weekdays returned.
Seorn Academy’s mornings started early.
From dawn, the staff swept the fallen leaves, cleaned the streets, and sorted deliveries.
Summer had arrived in full force, and sweat rolled down the workers’ brows.
As the sun rose, Seorn’s day began.
Students stirred in their dormitories. Teachers prepared to leave for the academy.
Ludger was no different.
Even with no classes scheduled, he had arrived at the faculty office early.
Wearing rimless glasses, he was immersed in reading a dense magical thesis.
One of the privileges of Seorn’s instructors—
Was access to early circulation journals published by the Old Mage Tower, the New Mage Tower, and various academic circles.
‘Getting early access to the latest magical papers every month is definitely a perk.’
Mage Towers and academies released monthly journals to publicize their research.
In the past, these were more about showcasing their knowledge than genuine advancement. But things had changed.
‘Nowadays, they’re openly competing.’
After the split into the Old Mage Tower and the New Mage Tower, rivalry had intensified.
The New Tower released wave after wave of innovative papers to fuel magical progress.
The Old Tower, basking in its past glories, ridiculed these efforts.
Even so, the Old Tower remained a symbol of prestige.
It still believed the New Tower couldn’t hold a candle to it.
‘But those days are gone.’
The New Tower’s surge had lit a fire under the Old Tower.
Newspapers across countries praised the New Tower’s momentum and criticized the Old Tower’s stagnation.
Especially once almost every groundbreaking artifact or spell began emerging from the New Tower, with governments backing them—
The Old Tower was no longer a proud relic of tradition, but a fading sun.
‘Which forced the Old Tower to join the mages’ high-stakes race.’
And then—an unexpected third competitor entered the scene.
The mid- and small-scale schools of magic.
These schools had been like independent cells in the magical world.
Focused solely on honing their own fields, they rarely communicated and often viewed one another with hostility.
But when they realized things couldn’t continue this way, they began forming alliances.
Thus, the <Magic School Alliance> was born.
Now, the magical world was divided into three great factions:
The Old Mage Tower, the New Mage Tower, and the Magic School Alliance.
‘Unlike the old days, when the Mage Tower held a monopoly, competition has actually made things better.’
That’s why so many fascinating new papers now appeared in the journals.
In the past, they would have been hidden jealously. But with competition, secrecy was no longer an option.
Of course, many of these papers were difficult to apply in real life.
Still, just having them was something.
All progress begins with the courage to risk failure.
‘That’s probably why letters keep piling up on my desk.’
One side of Ludger’s desk was buried in letters.
Especially after the festival, when people had seen his use of [Source Code] magic—reactions had been explosive.
‘Reading all these is such a chore.’
Just then, the office door opened and Sedina walked in.
“Professor, here’s today’s mail.”
She dropped another bundle onto his desk.
“......”
The stack had nearly tripled.
Ludger removed his glasses and massaged his temples.
“Sedina Roschen.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Didn’t I tell you to filter everything except the important ones?”
“You did, sir.”
“Then what is this?”
“This is the filtered pile.”
This was filtered?
Ludger gave the letters a quick glance.
Many bore seals—not just from nobles of the Empire, but also invitations from foreign kingdoms.
‘Unbelievable.’
It seemed his performance in the duel had left quite the impression.
Most of the letters were formal invitations to parties, wrapped in pompous noble phrasing.
“Oh, and I’ve separated out a few letters that require special attention.”
“Understood.”
Ludger examined the seals attached to the letters.
‘These are invitations from the Mage Towers.’
Shockingly, both the Old Mage Tower and the New Mage Tower had sent invitations.
“This is a headache in its own way.”
“Is it... the GeheimnisNacht invitation?”
“That’s right.”
<GeheimnisNacht> — The Night of Mystery
An annual gathering where mages from all around the world came together.
It was technically a kind of festival, but nothing like Seorn’s Magic Exhibition.
Even though mages had improved a lot compared to the old days, they were still a bunch of eccentrics.
Some had passions for magic that crossed the line into madness.
And now those types would be gathering in one place.
Of course, the intense showdowns at the Night of Mystery were routine—scheming and power plays to seize magical resources were common.
“Looks like my name’s gotten a bit of weight. I even got an invitation.”
“That’s not it, Professor. If you hadn’t received one, then who possibly could?”
Sedina’s tone was defensive, but for Ludger, it was just troublesome.
‘I do love magic, sure.’
While his identity as a magic professor was just a surface-level role, Ludger was a genuine mage deeply invested in magical theory.
He had subscribed to magic journals for years and had a strong interest in revolutionary spellcraft developed by other mages.
‘But the invitation itself is the issue.’
The invitations had come from the Old Mage Tower, the New Mage Tower, and the Magic School Alliance.
Even smaller schools had sent their own.
That was the problem.
‘Choosing to attend just one has consequences.’
In a world split between the Old Tower, the New Tower, and the Alliance, picking a side recklessly was unwise.
The moment you accepted one, you were seen as an honored guest by that group.
‘But at the same time, the others would view you as an enemy.’
Sending invitations early was a strategic move—to claim a person before the others could, and to mark outsiders as rivals.
As Ludger mulled over the situation, Sedina spoke again.
“Oh, and some of the letters came with gifts.”
“Gifts, huh.”
Of course.
Sending just an invitation would feel too impersonal.
Those wielding power always pulled out all the stops to recruit those with talent.
Sedina returned from the assistant’s room with the gifts.
The first one Ludger examined came from the Old Mage Tower.
‘Well, now.’
Inside a small box was a bracelet.
But Ludger instantly recognized what it was.
‘An artifact crafted by the Tower’s meister Gehenna—[Gehenna’s Golden ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ Bracelet].’
It was famous in the artifact community. Hard to forget.
Meisters spent painstaking effort engraving even a single enchantment, so production was extremely slow.
This bracelet was no exception.
A unique artifact, handcrafted over a month.
Only twelve were made per year—an extremely rare treasure.
‘If this hit the market, it would fetch a fortune.’
And they had sent it as a gift.
‘It even has a serial number. Definitely the real deal.’
Its effects were diverse.
Basic defensive and offensive spells were embedded. It also acted as a substitute for a wand, boosting mana concentration for easier spellcasting.
But its most important feature?
It included a “tracking” function in case of emergencies.
Ludger smirked.
‘How transparent. Trying to slip a leash around my neck with a gift, are they?’
He was already on bad terms with some elders in the Old Tower, but this was especially bold.
‘A gift truly befitting the repressive Old Mage Tower.’
The New Mage Tower’s gift was quite different.
They had sent prototypes of various new artifacts they’d developed.
Rather than attempting to win favor, it felt more like they were eager to get feedback on their creations.
‘It suits the New Tower—full of freedom, but lacking restraint.’
Ludger examined the artifacts.
Each came with a manual, so there was no need to guess what they did.
One artifact, in particular, caught his attention.
‘An artifact that uses the Memory Storming effect?’
One of the recent papers Ludger had read discussed the relationship between mana and memory.
That mana could store memories—and that, by reading it, you could trace a mage’s past.
It was a fascinating idea.
‘And to think they’ve brought it to the point of practical application. Impressive.’
Magical crimes had always been hard to investigate—magic left little in the way of evidence.
But this artifact could change that, solving unresolved cases with ease.
‘Which also means I could be at risk now.’
There were also more eccentric creations—like an artifact that peels fruit or one that turns steel into jelly.
‘They really made all sorts of nonsense.’
The thoughts of madmen were impossible to understand.
Ludger shook his head and moved on to the final gift.
The Magic School Alliance.
An alliance of small and mid-sized unaffiliated schools.
Compared to the others, their gift was simple—
But effective.
‘An elixir.’
Inside a small case was a translucent capsule that looked like a beautiful glass bead.
It was definitely an elixir.
Unlike mana potions that merely restored depleted energy, this increased the total mana capacity.
‘This is the best gift for me right now.’
Ludger, who constantly struggled with mana depletion, always welcomed anything that increased his reserves.
Elixirs weren’t something you could just buy with money. He had half given up hope of ever getting one.
Who would’ve thought he’d receive one like this?
‘Fame does have its perks, I suppose.’
Just then, Sedina—who had been silently watching—carefully spoke.
“Um, Professor... what will you do?”
“What do you mean?”
“With the gifts, sir.”
“Ah. Right.”
Sedina was asking which one he would accept.
With all three powerful groups having sent letters and gifts, it was a tough choice.
“Sedina. What do you think?”
“M-Me, sir? I wouldn’t dare...”
“I’m just asking for your opinion.”
“You would even listen to a subordinate’s view... A-As expected of a First Order...”
Ludger didn’t even flinch at Sedina’s starry-eyed awe. He was used to it by now.
“Well... I think the Old Mage Tower might be the safer option. They still hold great authority. It could be... useful.”
“Useful, huh?”
Ludger nodded, finding her reasoning valid.
“But Sedina—that’s not enough.”
“Pardon? Then... do you mean the New Tower’s gift is better? I mean, considering their recent growth, they might soon overtake the Old Tower...”
“No. That’s not what I meant. Why are you assuming I have to choose just one?”
Sedina’s eyes went wide, as if she’d misheard him.
But she hadn’t.
“Why not just accept all of them?”
