The Villain Wants to Live

Epherene looked in the direction Adult Epherene was pointing but could see nothing in the dark hallway.

At least, there seemed to be nothing.

In a low voice, she asked, “We might die? Why?”

“We’re under serious danger right now, due to which the entire Locralen area was decided to be abolished in year 964. However, the execution of it has been delayed time and time again.”

“Serious danger?”

“Yes. Did you know that it was a meteorite that caused Locralen?”

“I just recently learned about that.”

“The microbes that meteorite contained absorb mana, using it as a supplement to become powerful monsters that devour timelines. If they manage to escape this place and reach the outside world, they’ll destroy the continent.”

Adult Epherene’s expression grew so serious even her younger version was surprised by the sudden change in her mood.

“Scientifically named as ‘Kaidezite,’ they swallow the past, present, and future and merge them all into a single time frame. I call it ‘interval repetition.'”

Epherene grew dizzy upon hearing such information. Adult Epherene immediately supported her, puffing up her cheeks apologetically.

“I’m sorry. That knowledge’s from the distant future, so it must’ve been a bit too heavy for you. I can shoulder this meeting’s mana cost, but there’s nothing I can do to support your mental power.”

“Yeah…”

Epherene fiddled with her temples and looked at Deculein. He seemed to be fine.

“… How is that professor okay?”

“That professor?”

Deculein narrowed his eyes at her.

“Oh, I’m sorry. How are you okay?”

“As I said, it’s caused by his mental power. Simply put, an individual with a mental power of 50 will consume 50% less mana when listening to knowledge about the future. Likewise, those with a mental power of 10 will reduce their mana consumption by 10%. In that regard, Professor Deculein’s mental power is probably 99.”

“It isn’t 99… That aside, let’s head outside. As you said, it’s dangerous here.”

Adult Epherene shook her head.

“No. I have to stay here and stop them.”

“Alone?”

“Yes.”

“… You are so strong.”

Epherene shrugged, blatantly admiring her older self.

‘So that’s what I’ll become. My future is so awesome…’

Seemingly reading her thoughts, Adult Epherene smiled then looked at Deculein, whom she found staring at the other side of the hallway.

“Can you see it, Professor?” She asked. Deculein nodded slightly.

His [Vision] allowed him to see it clearly.

The monster of time called ‘Kaidezite’ wasn’t far from Epherene, but it seemed hesitant about charging towards her.

Although it was threatening enough as it was, it

“Epherene.”

“… Yes?”

“Let’s go. It’s conference time.”

“I want to stay a bit more…”

“No, you should go.”

Adult Epherene put her hand on her younger version’s shoulder.

“It’s okay. We can meet again tomorrow. The conference will last three nights and four days anyway, won’t it?”

“Can we speak out loud now?”

“Yeah. It came here to eat two people, but it must’ve decided against it since I’m here now. It’s scared of me.”

“Woah. Really?”

“Of course~ I’m too awesome… Oh, before you leave, I have a request for you two.”

They looked at her with curiosity.

[Locralen Society: The Archmage’s Request]

◆ One Advanced Attribute Catalog

“…”

Deculein’s eyes widened not because of the rare reward but because of the quest’s name.

Nevertheless, he swiftly regained his composure and looked at Adult Epherene with an unconcerned expression.

“What request?” Her younger self asked quickly, sounding so impressed with her that she was almost out of her mind.

“There are still ‘meteorites’ deeper than this archives room and the Kaidezite’s main body to take care of. However, the door that leads to it is blocked by a gap in time. Perhaps the host it had eaten holds the key to it.”

“Host?!”

“Yes. It’s looking for a way out of Locralen. I’ve kept that fiend locked in here so far, but it looks like it finally found a host. Since I only have one body, I only guard the most dangerous place…”

Adult Epherene looked at her other-self.

“Oh. I guess I have two bodies now~!”

Epherene was startled.

“W-what do you mean?! That’s creepy!”

“Haha. Anyway, will you please grant me this request, dearest Professor?”

Deculein looked at his wristwatch.

6 PM.

“Alright.” He nodded.

[Advanced Attribute Catalog].

He had to acquire the quest’s reward no matter what it would take.

*****

“Deculein! So you’ve been invited as well.”

As soon as we came out of the archive room, Rose Rio greeted me.

“We’re meeting quite often these days, huh?” Kreto, an Etheric-rank wizard, served as her companion.

They were both from year 958.

“Nice to see you, Prince Kreto.”

Politely greeting him, he smiled and nodded.

“Haha. It’s nice to see you too, Professor Deculein. I must say, the Yukline revision proved really helpful.”

“Hey. Am I invisible?”

Rose Rio narrowed her eyes.

“Oh, Professor Deculein! It’s me, Delpen!”

“Professor! It’s me, Relin!”

There were quite a few other people who knew me. Relin from year 958, Delpen from 960, whom I still haven’t met, Essecil from 958, one of the Berch conference’s participants…

─The conference will start soon. Please proceed to the conference area on the second floor.

That announcement mobilized everyone still outside the exact venue.

“Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

I walked with Kreto, followed by Allen, Rose Rio, Epherene, Relin, and so on.

“Everyone is here!”

As instructed, we headed to the conference hall, where a blond, middle-aged man in a suit greeted us.

“Nice to meet you all! I am the president of the Locralen Society, Locralen! That’s not my real name, but I fell in love with this place so bad I decided to change my name to it! As you might’ve already guessed by that, I’m also an addict. However, I am full of social skills!”

As Locralen spoke lively, I looked around, finding several conference rooms in the hallway of the lobby.

“This place is filled with courses, each discussing a different subject. Now then, get your ticket!”

He distributed tickets to the 300 people who attended this gathering, which was far below its maximum number of participants. It was understandable, though, since wizards rarely brought companions with them due to their nature.

“What I just gave you is your key to the conference rooms. Anyone can give a lecture, but only three can be attended per individual! Keep in mind that some of them are from the future, and some are from the past. Hahaha.”

A list of all available classes was then provided.

There was a wide variety of them. [Elements of Rufigel] from 958, [Galei’s Continental Mine Exploration] from 960, [Mystic Herbology of Deran] from 963…

“I have a question.” Epherene boldly raised her hand.

About to respond enthusiastically, Locralen’s expression darkened when he saw her.

“Some people pass out even just listening to a single word of those from the future, so how are we supposed to listen to these lectures?”

“… Whose companion are you?” He asked sternly in reply, his eyes narrowing down on her.

When Epherene looked up at my face, the host’s expression brightened up almost immediately.

“Oh~ hahahahaha! You’re with Professor Deculein! I knew it. Your curiosity is brilliant, after all~!”

“… Is that so?”

“Of course! Anyway, this building eases up the burden on the attendees to a certain extent, and the lecturers won’t be speaking directly to their audience. Simply put, you’d only be ‘eavesdropping’ on their conversation with themselves. Naturally, it would still consume your mana and mental power, but through those precautionary measures, each attendee should be able to listen to at least one class.”

“Aha.”

“Moreover, fainting from just one word from them should be impossible! The only exception to it would be if the recipient were exhausted.”

Epherene seemed convinced, but she asked another question.

“What if we steal knowledge about the future?”

“Hahahaha~!” Locralen ruffled his hair and smirked in an unauthentic manner. “You most likely won’t be able to remember all the memories you’ve gained here once you leave this magical space’s premises. Instead, they’d settle on the other side of your unconscious like an afterimage.”

“Then why would we attend them…”

“Think of it as a ripple. Even if you store your memories in your subconscious mind, at some point, they’ll flood into the surface like a water stream, filling you up with ideas and inspiration. Those ripples are never exactly the same as their actual source, but they would lead you to another development. Is my explanation clear enough?”

As Epherene nodded, he came up to her and stroked her hair, which terrified her.

“Now, then. Let’s begin the conference! Feel free to choose whichever lecture you want to listen to, everyone! Professor Deculein?”

I looked at him in silence.

“May I ask you for a lecture tomorrow by any chance?”

[Locralen Lecture: A Suspicious Future]

◆ Mana +15

“Okay.” I agreed.

“Thank you! Now, everyone, please move! There isn’t much time!”

Clap, clap, clap—

People moved the moment he applauded.

The conference proceedings were simple. All they had to do was pick the course they wanted and listen to the speaker.

“Epherene, Allen. Feel free to pick whichever class you want.”

“Yep!”

Epherene quickly ran to Named wizard Vizetan’s lecture about the four series.

“I’m going to take the same lecture as you, Professor~”

Among the many topics, I focused only on those related to the field of medicine: [Brahan’s Lectures on Medicine], [Mollan’s Newly Discovered Herbs in 963], and [Intersection of Medicine and Magic]. Allen just followed me around and dozed off in each of them for about five hours.

[Pharmaceutical knowledge Level: Advanced ( 77% )]

Perhaps it was because I was gaining information from the future, but my Pharmaceutical Knowledge soared by 40%.

I didn’t know if I would be able to keep it once I had left Locralen, though.

“… There weren’t many ways to test this prepared elixir.” Monologued Kzekon, the speaker of [Intersection of Medicine and Magic], the third and final lecture I attended.

Delivering it in such a way definitely consumed their audience’s mana less.

“Every experimental method was deemed impossible, including clinical trials. It couldn’t be fed to humans, and it raised the question of whether making animals eat it would be no different from doing it to humans…”

“Aaaaaaaaaah—!”

A scream filled the conference room and the entire lobby, causing the lecturer to stop talking and Allen, dozing off, to wake up in surprise.

“P-Professor? What’s going on?”

“Let’s go.”

“Okay!”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah—!”

I exited the room, finding its source being the woman with a hand on her cheek in the second-floor lobby.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah—!”

“What’s going on?!”

As the wizards, having gathered together, blocked their ears, Locralen appeared hurriedly, frowning upon the screams of the female wizard standing in the hallway.

“Hey, you!”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah—!”

“So noisy. Okay, stop it! You’re bothering everyone!”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah—!”

Unable to stop her from a distance, he sighed, knowing full well he had no choice left but to approach her.

“Tell me what you saw. Why—”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah—!”

The woman didn’t even bother looking at or listening to him.

“Look! Just tell me—”

I grabbed his arm the moment he stretched his hand to shake her back into reality. Looking at me, he tilted his head.

“Professor?”

“Don’t touch her.”

“What? But why…”

Standing still, I looked at the female.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah—! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah—! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah—!”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah—! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah—! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah—!”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah—! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah—! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah—!”

“…”

She didn’t stop or even move a single step even after so much time had passed.

With the lectures disrupted and stopped, the onlooking wizards began to feel a certain fear rise within them.