"Your file?" Elena's smile stiffened slightly. "Why do you want to see that?"
"I've lost part of my memory."
Wayland decided to be honest. Elena was far too perceptive to try and deceive with a half-truth.
"Lost memory?" Elena looked at him with a strange expression, shaking her head. "You haven't lost any memory."
"Why do you say that, Captain? Have you seen my file?"
"Of course I have," Elena said matter-of-factly. "I had to know everything about you before I could assessment you properly. Your history is recorded quite clearly: you spent eighteen years in the mundane world as a student, and then after your entrance exams, you received an admission letter from the Astronomy Department."
Wayland frowned. Everything Elena said was technically true, but the real mystery remained: Why had the Astronomy Department sent him that letter in the first place? And how exactly had he arrived at the Clock Tower?
"Does the Department of Policies have my application files?"
"No, those would be stored in the Astronomy Department since you applied there," Elena said, shaking her head. "And application files are just personal histories--they should match the intelligence we've already gathered. Besides, don't you remember writing your own application?"
"Not a single thing."
"That is a bit strange," Elena admitted. "But the Captain checked you herself. Your soul isn't damaged in any way, which means you haven't been subjected to memory erasure or anything of the sort."
"Wait!" Wayland caught something important. "When did the Captain check me?"
"The first time you were brought into the Department of Policies."
"The first time?" Wayland asked incredulously. "You mean when I was arrested for murder? But I remember being alone the entire time... did she check me while I was sleeping?"
"Bingo!" Elena snapped her fingers. "But unfortunately, there's no prize for the right answer."
"Does the Captain know something?"
"Mmm..." Elena hummed, a small smile playing on her lips. "The Captain knows a lot, but you're not at the level where you can hear those things yet."
She leaned forward, her playful smile deepening into something else. "When you're sitting in my chair, maybe then you'll find out."
Wayland blinked, pulling his gaze away from Elena's rather... flat... chest.
He knew he wouldn't be getting any more answers for now, so he shifted the topic. "The person I'm replacing... did they graduate or...?"
"No, he died."
Elena slid off her chair, her tone uncharacteristically flat.
She walked to the back of the office and placed her hand against the wall.
A faint vibration rippled through the room.
Thin, translucent blue lines of light began to drift through the air like jellyfish.
"Follow me."
Elena reached out and gathered the lines between her fingers, twisting them into the shape of a pair of ram horns.
An intricate pattern unfolded, pulsating with a strange life of its own. In Wayland's vision, the pattern seemed to crawl through the air, shifting and weaving until it coalesced into a shimmering gateway of blue light.
Elena vanished into the gateway, and Wayland followed close behind.
They stepped into a world of endless cerulean.
Arcs of blue energy hummed in a massive grid, forming a cavernous space.
Thousands of books floated like celestial bodies through a deep blue mist.
It felt like stepping into a science fiction film.
As Wayland stood there, stunned by the scale of it, a beam of light descended from the ceiling, bathing him in a soft glow.
"Wayland. Student of Modern Magecraft. Official Member of the First House. Permission Granted. Clearance Level 12."
"This is the Information Room, managed by a Spiritron Calculator," Elena explained. "You can look up anything you want. Just say a word."
"Wayland."
The moment he spoke his name, a blue light flared before his eyes. A floating book materialized in front of him.
'The Personal File of Wayland.'
"This thing is actually intelligent?"
Suppressing his shock, Wayland quickly flipped through the pages. But the more he read, the more disappointed he became.
It was incredibly detailed.
From his birth to the present day.
It even recorded his grades for every single exam he had ever taken.
But it was all too... normal. Exactly as Elena had said, there were no gaps and no inconsistencies.
"Clearance levels go from one to twelve. Twelve is the lowest, but it still grants access to the vast majority of our records. Before we leave, I'll teach you the spell to open this archive--the Meikyuu Gate."
Elena watched Wayland, whose mind was clearly elsewhere, and raised her voice. "My dear junior, you'll have plenty of time to browse later. For now, follow me."
Wayland snapped back to reality and closed the book.
It immediately flew off, vanishing into the glowing dome of the ceiling.
He hurried after Elena.
As they walked deeper into the archive for nearly ten minutes, the blue light began to fade into a deep, heavy black.
"Light Source!" Elena commanded.
The room flared to life, revealing row after row of countless wooden tablets hanging in the air.
"You wanted to know about your predecessor, didn't you?" Elena pointed toward one of the tablets.
'Janni Bowe. 19 years old. Died in 2001, London Finsbury Square.'
Wayland read the words on the tablet and fell silent.
"Two years ago, a massive fire broke out in Finsbury Square. A magus obsessed with the Outer Gods had used a ritual array that spanned the buildings surrounding the square. He was attempting to sacrifice thousands of people in a desperate attempt to communicate with a higher existence."
Elena's tone was low and heavy. She stood on her tiptoes, staring at the tablets. "A lot of people died that day. A lot... so please, junior, whatever you do... don't die."
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]