The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

Just as Warren finished his sentence, the sliding doors of the venue opened, accompanied by a loud bang that drew Asley’s gaze.

“Oh, you’re already awake?”

The one addressing Asley was none other than Irene, also known as the Invincible Sprout.

She rested her hand on her hip, exuding even more confidence than usual. Seeing her demeanor, Asley turned to Warren once again and asked,

“Is she one of them?”

“Yes, Miss Irene passed the selection process as the third best candidate.”

Then Warren leaned in close to Asley and whispered,

“She looked adorable when she saw Lina’s results, by the way. Her face turned all red and–“

“–Warren? Mind telling me what you’re whispering to him?”

“I figured I should tell Asley about the other seven candidates, you see.”

“Why the need to be so secretive, then? Aren’t you also one of them?”

In response to Irene’s remark, Asley was taken aback.

“Wait, you too, Warren? …I see you’re as mischievous as ever.”

“Now, it’s better than being venomous, don’t you think?”

“Where did that even come from?”

“Nowhere — I just thought the rhyme sounded neat. And that’s why human imagination is so intriguing, don’t you think?”

Asley seemed to be lost for words at Warren’s response, ultimately giving up on further retorts.

Then, remembering they were in the middle of a conversation, he started counting on his fingers,

“Sooooo… we got Lina, Tūs, Natsu, Fuyu, Irene, Warren… Six more, then?”

As Asley counted while looking nowhere in particular, a burst of booming laughter resonated from above — the laughter of a King Wolf.

“FWAHAHAHA! It is I, the most awesome Garm there is, and one of the chosen twelve… NOT! That achievement goes to my Master!”

Tarawo appeared on the roof, prompting Asley to look up in astonishment.

“Oh, so it’s Tifa!”

“FWAHAHAHA! Tifa has been kind to me these days, Asley! Just now, she even put me here on the roof!”

Upon learning that Tarawo had in fact not climbed onto the roof by himself, Asley narrowed his eyes and questioned him,

“……And did she say anything to you when she did that?”

“Hmm? Now that you asked, I remember that she did say… ‘when you want to get down, do it yourself.'”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

“…Hmm!? Ahh, I’m such a fool! I am NOT able to get down by myself!”

Hearing Tarawo’s anguished voice, Lina hastily held up her Blazing Dragon Staff toward the roof. 

Just as Tarawo grabbed onto Lina’s staff and was carried down, Tifa appeared behind Asley.

“I SEE AN OPENING!”

“Huh–?”

Tifa leaped at Asley, hugging his side tightly.

Seeing this, Lina, who had just set Tarawo down on the ground, pointed at Tifa and began to scold her.

“Tifa! What do you think you’re doing!?”

“Hehehe…”

Tifa looked at Lina with an innocent expression, while Asley chuckled and placed his hand on Tifa’s head.

“Now, Tifa, you’re not supposed to announce that you saw an opening — and besides, I did see you coming, you know.”

Asley said, causing Lina to pout and Irene to sigh.

Meanwhile, Warren chuckled, a flash of light glinting off his glasses.

[To get close to Asley, she used Tarawo as a decoy to redirect Lina’s attention… The announcement that she saw an opening was meant to exploit Lina’s distracted state, not Asley’s. And, well, I suppose it’s understandable that Miss Irene and Lina’s reacted the way they did…]

Tifa, as if seeking affection, nuzzled her head against Asley’s hand. Then, Lina, perhaps to change the subject, began to draw a Spell Circle.

“House! Come on out, Baladd!”

“UKYAAAHHH~~! Oh! Master Asley!”

“Hey, Baladd. You’re looking lively as always!”

Having released Baladd from House, Lina turned to Asley with a mischievous expression.

“You see, Sir Asley, Baladd was chosen too!”

“Huh!? Really!? A Familiar can be in this as well!?”

Asley turned to Warren once again.

“Lina became familiar with your magic as a result of close observation, and Baladd became familiar with Lina’s magic in a similar manner. Besides, surely you haven’t forgotten — even though you are technically Baladd godparent, you might as well be an actual parent for some time, you see? It’s only natural and inevitable for those with close relationships with you to pursue a similar style of arcane arts. You can’t call this result a mere coincidence.”

“Right… Baladd did learn magic from Lina. And it WAS mostly me who taught Lina her magic…”

Muttering to himself, Asley accepted Warren’s explanation.

At that moment, Tifa, still nestled against Asley’s side, was suddenly lifted up.

Despite her small size, she still was a whole human person — The one who picked her up so effortlessly in one hand was none other than a legendary Fighter.

“W-what the…!? Oh, Lylia.”

“…Mm-hm.”

Saying nothing, Lylia carried Tifa away and placed her down next to Irene.

Pouting in dissatisfaction, Tifa sat down. Lina winked at Lylia, who reacted to that with a pleased smile. All of this left Irene exasperated.

“I’m the ninth one, Asley.”

“Huh…”

“I was surprised about her as well. She wasn’t even on the list for the selection process to begin with.”

As Warren explained, Asley nodded in agreement.

[Holy Warrior Lylia, a FIGHTER, is handling the magic spell, huh… It’s something no one would expect. But then again, I was the one who taught her to use it. Even after I left that era, she seemed to continue studying, so it makes sense she possesses a fair bit of technical knowledge. But what even led to her getting chosen, anyway?]

Noticing Asley’s perplexity, Warren leaned over and whispered to him,

“This might be because of the bond between you two. Perhaps something akin to affection is at play here, don’t you think♪?”

“Oh? So she really likes the magic formula we worked on that much, eh?”

Asley cracked a joke, to which Warren responded with a serious expression but joking declaration,

“Haven’t you noticed after all this time? I’m soooooo in love with you, Asley♪”

“Holy shit, Warren, you sounded creepy as all hell…”

“That was the intention, yes.”

As if to wrap up Warren’s conversation, a pair of identical voices interrupted them.

“”Now, We would very much like to hear you talk about that in more detail.””

“Tzar? What are you doing here?”

The double-sided serpent, Kagachi — Tzar, Lala’s familiar, asked Asley, who asked back with curiosity about the former’s presence here.

“”We are here because Lala was chosen.””

“…Wait, how?”

“”Have you forgotten? We taught Lala magic and magecraft.””

“No, I haven’t forgotten, but I mean… How’d her magic be so compatible with mine?”

“”Remember that it was the previous War Demon Emperor, Sagan, who taught Us magic and magecraft… And wasn’t Sagan your student for some time, Asley?””

“…Right, I didn’t think of that.”

Asley pressed his forehead and admitted, understanding the connection between his magic and Lala’s.

“”Besides, surely you have not forgotten that Lala participated in your magecraft teaching sessions for a little while.””

“…That is also right.”

Immediately afterward, while Asley chuckled, something stuck to his back with a soft pat.

“BOOM~~!”

From just the voice, it was clear to him that Lala was here.

She had leaped onto Asley’s back and climbed to the top of his head, where she balanced herself.

“Ooh…”

Lala, standing on top of Asley’s head and surveying the surroundings, left Asley at a loss for words.

[Man, she really is a genius — I’m not feeling her weight at all despite her doing… whatever this is.]

“Sir Instructor! I’m so high up! Look how tall I’ve become!”

“”No, Lala, putting someone else under your feet does not make you taller.””

“But it does! Asley IS my feet! Now, Asley, forward!”

“O-OHHHHHH!”

“AHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Asley could not help but blush while running around the venue in response to Lala’s unreasonable request. While that went on, another presence watched him with amusement.

That someone was sitting on the roof, at the same spot where Tarawo had been moments before.

“Hey, maybe I should try that, too.”

“Sir Barun, don’t even think about it… if you know what’s good for you.”

Barun the Scale Tipper — he was one of the few people who had acknowledged Asley’s prowesses in the earlier days, and one of the chosen individuals who passed the selection process.

“Why do you say that, Warren?”

“First of all, Tifa has already decided that she would be next. Also, look…”

Following Warren’s gaze, he saw that Natsu and Fuyu were up and about now, their arcane energy now restored and their stamina recovered by drinking the Pochibitan D that they had gotten from Asley and Pochi. The look in Fuyu’s eyes was especially blatant in expressing what she was thinking.

“Ah, ahahaha. I meant it as a joke, you know, but looks like can’t possibly interrupt them…”

“That would be wise, yes.”

Barun and Warren both chuckled.

While Asley still raced around the venue, the last mage put a stop to it with a stern gaze.

“What in blazes are you doing?”

“Shut up! I’m her feet now, man!”

Asley’s remark, said with a straight face, made the mage sigh deeply.

“Ugh… Sometimes I wonder how this fool even invented that spell…”

“Uh, so, you’re number twelve, Hornel?”

“Right, I am. Do you have a problem with that?”

“Uh, no. And you’re not the most surprising of all the candidates, really…”

“…What? What do you even mean by that!?”

Hearing Asley say that, Hornel turned to face him with an exasperated expression.

“Uh, I dunno… Just a feeling I got.”

“And what does THAT mean!? I don’t understand!”

Irene, Hornel’s honored teacher, proceeded to explain to him in a reprimanding tone,

“Think about it — Lina trained tirelessly so that she could stand shoulder to shoulder with Asley in battles. You, Hornel, never gave up on improving yourself either, as you were determined not to lose to Asley. You were observing his magic whenever you could, and even made your own improvements to them, weren’t you? I can understand why you would do that. Asley, Lina, and you were all top students at the Magic University, after all.”

“That… doesn’t sound enough for an explanation, ma’am.”

“Oh, but it IS enough. Feeling a strong sense of rivalry, from a certain point of view, means you were paying close attention to your target.”

“…!?”

Irene’s statement caused Hornel’s face to turn beet red. Whether it was due to the respect for his mentor or an inability to retort, Hornel could only turn his face away.

“Now then, excluding Master Tūs, it seems everyone is here. The Duodecad — or as we would call it now, the Twelve Starsigns.”

“…Huh?”

In response to Warren’s declaration, Asley and Lala both tilted their heads.

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