Memoirs of a Wicked Magician - Chapter 103

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 103
“Huh……?”
Liriope’s figure reflected in Cassel’s unfocused blue eyes.
Doubt began to slowly creep into his once-sharp gaze.
Even the predatory intensity with which he’d been bearing down on her seemed to drain away.
“What is this? Am I still dreaming……? Why do I see things that aren’t there?”
Liriope opened her mouth to meet his stare.
“Hello. It’s been a while, Cassel.”
At the sound of her calm greeting, Cassel’s expression shifted.
“You……?”
His grip on Liriope’s wrist tightened, as though he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
Just then, a butterfly that had been fluttering nearby landed on the back of his hand.
The sharp sting made him release her.
“You were alive……? No, I had a feeling you might be, but when exactly……? Don’t tell me more than a year has already passed?”
Cassel looked bewildered.
The fact that Liriope, whom he’d parted with at the Outer Estate, had suddenly reappeared before him like this seemed beyond belief.
Or perhaps he was only now grasping the weight of time, leaving him dazed.
“Yes, it’s been a while since I got out. I’ve already met with my sister and Milena. I wanted to see you sooner, but you were in the Punishment Chamber this whole time, so this is the first chance I’ve had.”
As he listened to Liriope’s words, expression slowly drained from Cassel’s face.
The lively boy who lived in her memory was gone. In his place, blue eyes—deep and shadowed as a well—fixed themselves on her.
“Yeah……. First, congratulations on getting out of that hellhole. As for getting dragged into an even worse one—that doesn’t deserve congratulations.”
“…….”
“It’s nice to see your face after all this time, I guess. But now that we’ve said hello, just……stop caring about me.”
Then he turned away and lay facing the wall.
Liriope stared at his back—it felt like she’d hit a wall—before speaking again.
“Stop caring? So you’ll just keep picking fights with Cameron and end up back in the Punishment Chamber?”
Cassel’s shoulders flinched slightly.
“……Whether I do or not has nothing to do with you.”
“Why would it have nothing to do with me? We’re friends.”
“What?”
Without turning around, Cassel reflexively twisted his head at her words.
Liriope continued calmly, as though offering an obvious truth to his stunned expression.
“Cassel, while I was at the Outer Estate, I thought about you often.”
“…….”
“I wanted to see you. Being face to face like this, actually talking—it’s nice.”
Hard blue eyes and quiet violet ones met directly.
“Cameron won’t have time to bother with you for a while. So don’t go lingering around in front of him like an idiot. Just rest a bit more in the Recovery Chamber.”
“…….”
“Ah, wait—the Recovery Chamber will be packed soon anyway. Just lie here a bit longer, then go to your room and rest.”
She was reluctant to leave, but Liriope had no intention of taking up too much of his time today.
Liriope rose from her seat first.
“This is a get-well gift. I’ll go now, so I’ll see you again tomorrow.”
After Liriope left, Cassel stared at the strange jellyfish-shaped get-well flower she’d left behind with a twisted expression.
“What was she saying just now……?”
But his muttered words were laced with confusion.
The black butterfly that had been circling nearby fluttered as uncertainly as his wavering heart before flying out the window.
The faint fragrance spreading through the room seemed to gently trace the absence of the girl who had just been there.
* * *
At that moment, deep within the Maze where the 21st Floor examination was underway.
“Hrrgh…….”
The devastated surroundings bore witness to the fierce battle that had just taken place.
But now, in the suffocating silence, came a strangled moan.
Stella writhed in the dark pit like an insect, her entire body pierced through with glass and needles.
Someone who had appeared there suddenly trampled her stomach.
“Senior.”
“Ugh!”
“Does it hurt a lot?”
The soft, whispering voice was quiet and measured. It sounded like a question of concern, but the emotion behind it held no such care for the other person.
“This brings back memories. Though the situation was reversed then, of course.”
“Urgh……”
“Eyes, hands, mouth—you gave up quite a lot, didn’t you? Even obsessed with bonus points, that’s extreme.”
Caliona exhaled a long breath and smiled faintly.
“Though I suppose your ears aren’t working properly either, so you can’t hear what I’m saying?”
Just as she said, Stella’s damaged eardrums only registered a dull roaring, and her white-blank vision showed her nothing.
She couldn’t call for help through her blocked mouth, and it was impossible to move her hands to assess her wounds.
Even the magic she might have used instead was beyond reach—her mana had been exhausted.
Caliona looked down at the battered Stella and recalled the moments just after the 21st Floor examination had begun.
* * *
The moment Caliona entered the Maze, she didn’t search for the exit—she searched for Stella.
Each test participant had a different starting point, and the Maze, bristling with every conceivable trap, was treacherous.
Yet it didn’t take her long to find Stella.
– Dorothy, Frill, Oliver. If you can hear my voice, respond.
– Stella!
– Dorothy, then. Come to me now, quickly.
Caliona had caught Stella’s telepathic conversation with her followers using Sense Amplification Magic.
After that, she only had to push through the Maze’s traps and follow the sound.
Two of Stella’s followers whom she encountered on the way were already struggling alone in the Maze, so she merely made their situation slightly more difficult.
– Dammit, what?! Where did all these skeletons come from……?! Ahhhhh!
– Stella, I can’t go on! I think I’ve triggered a trap or fallen victim to an illusion spell. I keep walking in circles, the same place over and over. I can’t find a way out at all!
The last one approaching Stella she dealt with directly.
– Stella, I’m coming now so please don’t worry……! Ugh!
Caliona gave her opponent no chance to recognize her, striking swiftly from behind and knocking her unconscious in one blow.
– Dorothy? Can’t you hear me? Dorothy!
Then Caliona finally came face to face with an increasingly anxious Stella.
Stella was using Sense Amplification Magic as well, so she immediately sensed Caliona’s presence approaching silently.
– Wait, you there. Who are you?
But she still attempted communication through magic.
She didn’t recognize Caliona, who stood plainly before her.
The body parts Stella had sacrificed were her eyes, her mouth, and her hands.
She’d considered taking her nose as well, but ultimately left it intact for the sake of breathing.
According to Cameron’s advice, when the nose’s function was lost, not only would the sense of smell vanish—the ability to inhale and exhale would become impossible.
Still, having sacrificed three body parts, Stella could expect the highest grade of bonus points.
In truth, Stella had no aptitude whatsoever for advanced magic like Clairvoyance, so if Hyde hadn’t offered to help, she never would have pushed herself to sacrifice her eyes.
‘And this bastard dared to give me this piece of trash?’
The necklace she’d received from Hyde yesterday worked perfectly when she tested it, but the moment she’d entered the Maze, it became useless.
Seeing that he’d managed to create a magical artifact without being detected by the examination supervisors, she’d thought at least his magical ability was worth something as the Magic Tower Master’s adoptive child……. But was it possible the thing had been broken before the exam even started?
So Stella’s nerves had been on edge ever since.
– Not answering means your intentions aren’t friendly, then?
Stella immediately fired an attack spell toward the point where Caliona’s footsteps had stopped.
Caliona blocked the arrow of light and immediately counterattacked. Stella, naturally, put up a defensive barrier.
But the magic Caliona used didn’t inflict direct harm on her—rather, it was devastatingly effective.
Bang!
“……!”
A tremendous boom—as if struck by lightning—slammed against Stella’s eardrums.
In that instant, a sharp, piercing ringing echoed through her inner ear.
The impact, as though everything inside her skull were being shaken loose, buckled her legs and sent her body reeling.
Whether from the blow or from her eardrums actually rupturing, Stella felt something wet trickling from her ears.
Since she had maximized her hearing through Sense Amplification, the impact was catastrophic.
– You, ugh! Who exactly are you?! Tell me who you are! Say something!
Stella screamed words she herself couldn’t hear, wildly hurling magic in all directions.
Caliona pursued the barely-standing Stella as she fled.
Several more exchanges of attacks followed. By the time Stella realized she was being lured somewhere, it was already too late.
Crash!
Suddenly, Stella stepped on glass as thin as ice and fell into the trap.
‘No, no no no!’
Worse still, the bottom was lined with densely packed needles.
At least it wasn’t fatal—a small mercy—but Stella had instantly become a porcupine.
“Hng! Ugh, uhhhhh……!”
Stella screamed in agony. But with her mouth sealed, only stifled gasps and whimpers escaped her throat.
Caliona approached the trap and looked down at the mangled Stella.
The necklace that had slipped from Stella’s collar was already shattered, needles jutting from it.
It was the gift Caliona had presented to Stella yesterday, disguised as Hyde.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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