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twst novel. ( episode i: the crimson tyrant ) pg. 120-140.
By the time the bell sounded at the end of the day, Yuya had to support Grim as they walked because he could barely even move.
"Man, I'm beat..." Grim drooped on Yuuya's shoulder like a wilting flower. "Let's go home already."
"Not yet. We still have to wash those windows."
Yuuya panted as he answered, staring at the door to the classroom just in front of them. The ghosts had escorted them to where Ace should be.
“You’re takin’ this way too serious..”
In truth, Yuuya wanted nothing more than to return to the dorms himself. He idly thought of how much easier things would be if he could settle down to sleep after following the ghosts who said, “Well, you try to get along with that little Heartslabyul kid,” and disappeared.
When he thought back on Crowley’s stunned face, however, he was more inclined not to break his word.
Walking into a classroom that wasn't his was always a nerve-wracking affair, but Yuuya mustered up enough confidence and opened the door.
"Excuse me, but is... Ace Trappola-kun here?"
Yuuya timidly raised his voice towards a boy with silky smooth navy hair and indifferent expression standing closest to the entrance. Like Ace, he had a black spade etched in makeup around his right eye.
"Ace? ... Sorry. That name doesn't ring a bell with me. What's he like?"
"Uhm, well... he's got a heart painted on his face, and—"
"He’s one real nasty punk!" Grim stuck out his tongue defiantly over Yuuya's shoulder.
Was their new friend aware of his whereabouts, though?
"Yeah," the boy responded with a nod. "He left already."
"Left?!"
"He was just here making a scene, and... —look. Right over there."
They popped their heads out the window with him to see where he was pointing, at the slim back of a certain someone with hair that melted into the setting sun as they made their way down a hallway—Ace.
"Hey! You've got visitors."
Ace turned as they called out to him, and then immediately began running.
"Huh? Wait, uh... did he just—"
"Make a run for it?!"
Grim hopped off Yuuya's shoulder, his fur bristling.
“Hold it right there! Yer not sneakin’ your way outta this!”
Ace raised a hand without looking back as he ran.
"You're nuts if you think I'm gonna wash windows on the first day of class. See ya!"
An angry Grim quickly chased after him. The remaining students gradually poked their heads into the hallway to see what the ruckus was about. Yuuya got an odd sense of deja vu watching the trouble play out, like that very morning all over again.
"What now? The Headmaster's going to be furious with us again!"
“The Headmaster?!”
The boy standing there with the spade on his face winced for some reason.
"Not good. We've got to stop him somehow."
They raced after Ace with a rushed "let's go," and as they ran, the boy pulled out his pen and mumbled something to himself.
"But... stop him how? With physical contact, by grabbing his leg, or... maybe tying him up with a rope? A cage might work, too, but what shape to conjure it in...?"
"Scumbag!" Grim shouted after Ace. "This time I'm gonna scorch you black!"
"Please! If you can stop him, stop him now!"
The boy yelled "alright," as if to regain his composure in the face of Yuuya's desperate plea.
"Come forth, cauldron!"
Ace's surroundings suddenly grew dark.
"Ugh!"
Then he collapsed to the ground before he could even shout, a big black cauldron sitting on top of his torso. It had flat-out crushed him when it came over his head without warning.
"T-The heck's this heavy thing?!"
Grim, however, burst out laughing at the sight of Ace's limbs flailing about in vain.
“Loooser! Ya look like a frog that got ran over by a car! Neener, neener!”
"Did you do that?"
When Yuuya wondered aloud, the boy with the spade etched on his face scratched his head awkwardly.
“Yeah. …but seriously, again with the cauldron?...”
“Thank you so much! You’re a lifesaver.”
“I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t want trouble with the Headmaster.”
“If you don’t know what’s going on, don’t stick your nose in other people’s business!”
Ace finally managed to crawl out from under the cauldron. The bitter look in his eyes made Yuuya’s heart skip a beat.
“What the hell, slacker? Why can’t you wash a hundred windows by yourself? That’s what a handyman’s for, right?”
“But, I mean… I was told we had to be done by dinnertime,” Yuuya muttered. “If I don’t do all one hundred, the Headmaster might punish me even worse next time.”
“Washing a hundred windows?” The Spade kid looked like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “What did you guys even do to get a punishment like that so soon after enrolling?”
“I just kinda... charred the Queen of Hearts' statue, a smidge is all. No biggie."
"You damaged a statue of the Great Seven?!"
The other boy leapt back, surprised.
"No wonder he went off on you! How'd you enroll into one of the finest academies just to get into trouble on the first day?!"
"Oh, bite me."
Ace clucked his tongue.
"Who even are you, anyway?"
"Deuce Spade."
"Sure, sure. Weren't you, uh... the guy who was practically bouncing off the walls in our dorm yesterday?"
"Hmph. Try to remember your own classmates' names at least."
“Right back atcha, buddy.”
Deuce immediately stammered.
"A-Anyways! I can't just ignore someone when they're defying the Headmaster. Take his orders seriously."
"Yeah, yeah, I hear you. We've just gotta wrap this up, pronto." Ace let out a deep sigh. "How the hell did I end up in... —All right, guys. Let's get moving."
He then cast a quick peek in both directions surrounding Yuuya.
"Where's that dusty-looking furball?"
"Huh? I could've sworn Grim was just—"
"Heh heh heh."
A boastful voice sounded from afar.
Yuuya looked over in panic and saw Grim at the end of the hallway preparing to descend the steps. He then stuck his tongue out at Yuuya, startling him.
“Miss me with whatever's goin' on next. This whole deal was Ace’s fault to begin with, so he should be the one cleanin’ all the windows. See yaaa!”
“That little jerk, he stole my idea and booked it!”
Ace gave Deuce a shoulder tap.
"Hey, Juice!"
"Juice? Y-You mean me? It's Deuce!"
"Yeah, whatever. Help me catch our furry friend."
"Why should I?!"
“That dimwit over there can’t use magic, so you might as well count him out,” Ace said, giving Yuuya a sideways glance. “If you don’t want the Headmaster coming down on you, I’m your guy.”
"Ugh… Guess there's no way around it, then."
Ace and Deuce disappeared down the stairs after Grim. The pair didn’t even bother to give Yuuya a backwards glance, as if they had no use for him.
Should I go back to the dorm alone? The thought crossed Yuuya’s mind for a moment, but he was too scared to go through with it when he considered what could happen afterward. In the end, he followed them.
Ace and Deuce cornered Grim into the wide-open venue of the cafeteria, which was littered with long tables and seats.
The setting sun's crimson streamed softly through the large windows of a hall illuminated by the reddish-orange light of a chandelier, as if trying to prolong the twilight.
"Get down from there!"
Grim was dangling from the chandelier by its ornamental chains, and the three of them looked directly his way as it swayed.
"Let's see ya catch me now."
Ghosts wearing chef hats who must've been at work in the cafeteria emerged from the kitchen to see what was happening, gossiping fearfully as Grim's silhouette rocked back and forth.
"Only a coward would flee up to where we can't reach."
"Whatever. All it means is you were too dumb ta figure out how to grab me."
“The hell did you say?!”
Deuce stared up at Grim, who was sticking his rear out at them, with an intimidating look in his eyes, as if he were another person entirely.
Ace's lips trembled with rage as he reached for his pen.
“Keep talking crap while you can. Just watch, I’m gonna decimate you.”
"Wait!"
Yuuya shouted at the top of his lungs as the two lifted their arms in preparation to cast.
They twisted their heads to look at him, Deuce utterly quiet while Ace held an icy stare.
"What?"
Stop fighting.
That was all he wanted to say. But that one, strangled statement stayed stuck in his throat like a thin piece of plastic. Yuuya fought to regain his breath as the words he wanted to say collapsed and became trapped.
Stop fighting. I've heard enough bickering for one day. There has to be another way to solve this. Yuuya wanted to spit it all out, but the words clung to his tongue, refusing to be spoken.
Everything he meant to say became diluted as he continued to hesitate, melting in his mouth.
"What's your problem now? If you've got something to say, just spit it out."
Ace, annoyed, nearly began to vilify Yuuya as he fell silent, but whether it was from that meek attitude or from glancing at his and Deuce's hands and beginning to imagine what would happen if they unleashed their power at the same moment, he started to cool off a little.
"On second thought, we'll be in deep trouble if we let our spells loose here. Let's come up with some other way to snatch him."
"Another way..."
Deuce was muttering under his breath again.
"To catch him, we'll... but there's no way that'll reach, and we haven't been taught flying magic yet, so... to grab him in a high place…”
Then he raised his head, as if realizing something.
"I've got it!"
"Oh, yeah? So what's this awesome idea of yours," Ace asked with a lilt in his voice as he glanced at Deuce.
"Wait a sec. Why're you pointing your pen at me?"
A magical pen, as it was called, was what people used to perform their spells, and when Deuce thrust a black, glossy fountain pen in Ace's direction, he made his intentions clear.
"All we've got to do is launch you at him!"
"Say WHAT?!"
Ace and Yuuya both raised their voices at the same time.
Despite his best efforts to flee, Ace's body started to float softly into the air, resembling a pinched handkerchief with how he was hanging upside-down. Not the most attractive look.
"Wait, stupid--I said WAIT!"
“H-He’s right! You really don't want to do that Deuce-ku—"
“Hell yeah, I’m fired up now!”
With a serious look on his face, Deuce gripped his pen as tight as he could.
“Get up there and catch that monster!”
“No, no, absolutely friggin’ not! No no no no no!”
“GO!”
Ace, who'd been hovering in place, flew directly at Grim when Deuce swung his arm.
“WHAAAUGH!”
“FNYAAAH?!”
A horrible, eardrum-bursting noise broke through the cafeteria, powerful enough to drown out even the largest restaurant in town smashing all of their plates at once.
Yuuya stood in stunned silence, his mouth gaping open. He'd been so struck by the shocking spectacle that he'd neglected to cover his ears.
Despite his dizzy vision, a nightmarish scene laid out before him: the chandelier that Ace had collided with, smashed into pieces all over the floor.
"The chandelier!"
Though his ears were numb from the clamoring echo of the collapse, he could still hear the faint sound of the chef ghosts screaming from somewhere nearby.
Next came the jarring sound of broken chandelier pieces being crushed beneath feet as Ace approached them from the swirled up dirt and dust, brushing off his buttocks. He wore a huge scowl across his face, but for the moment he seemed to be fine.
"I thought I was gonna die! What the HELL were you thinking?!"
"Not a thing about softening your landing..."
"What are you, stupid? No, don't tell me. I already know!""
"Where's Grim?"
Yuuya sifted through slivers of glass to no avail, that is, until the corner of his eye caught sight of gray fur sticking out from under a chair like a blanket. The force of Ace's collision must have blasted him away. He went running over to pick up the tiny creature.
"Nngh..."
Grim was slack-jawed, his eyes rolling up into his head. He appeared to have fainted.
Meanwhile, Ace and Deuce continued to argue loudly.
"Youuu... Idiot! Moron! Bonehead! Huge dumbass!"
"Oh, and like your complete lack of an idea was any better!"
"Any idea's better than coming up with something crazy like launching a guy! Anyway, what're we gonna do about this?"
Ace gestured toward the broken chandelier.
"Oh, man. If the Headmaster finds out, he's gonna—"
"If the Headmaster finds out... what, pray tell?"
He spun around as though smacked.
“H-Headmaster.”
Crowley stood at the cafeteria's entryway, chef ghosts floating around behind him. They had evidently summoned him.
“Would one of you care to explain to me what this is all about?"
Yuuya took a step back instinctively the moment he sensed the strong wave of anger, the feathers on Crowley's coat seeming to bristle with hostility.
There had been a plethora of incidents that had occurred since yesterday, Crowley displaying a different aspect of himself each time: astonishment, anguish, and dismay. But even so, this was the first time he had ever come off as so irate.
They could only watch as those blue lips began to tremble.
"Ahhh... the cafeteria's chandelier is.... "
"You've got it all wrong, Headmaster! This is clearly... uhm, well... "
"It wasn't me! It was Deuce! Deuce and Grim. Literally all their fault."
"Silence!"
Crowley lashed out at the flustered pair.
"Scorching our statue of the Queen of Hearts wasn't enough for you? You just had to go and demolish such a priceless chandelier on top of that... Enough. I've never encountered such outrageous behavior from new students before.”
Then he took a deep breath before slamming his cane onto the ground, where it made a dull thud sound.
"I refuse to turn a blind eye any longer. You are both expelled!"
"Whaaaaaat?!"
Ace and Deuce let out an ear-splitting yell.
“Yuu-kun and Grim-kun, the same applies to you!”
“No way!”
Yuuya gasped for breath as he held the unconscious Grim in his arms. After just a single day of having a place to live, he was homeless again.
Deuce rushed over to Crowley before Yuuya could even begin to beg.
“Please, just… anything but that.”
While at first he’d given the impression of someone cool, calm and collected, with his rigid, lowered eyebrows, the face Deuce was making now made it seem like he was on the verge of tears. He looked desperate, as if he were ready to drop down and kneel on the floor full of broken glass.
“Please. Just anything but expulsion, I’m begging. There's something I have to do in this school!"
"Quite unfortunate, really. You only have yourself to blame for such a foolish stunt."
"Please, just. Give me a second chance! I'll do anything to make up for the damages!"
"Anything?" Crowley repeated in a miffed tone. "This is no mere chandelier. It's magical, enchanted in such a way that the candles will never burn out for all eternity."
The trio cast a backward glance at the shattered heap.
The chandelier was enormous, with pole crossarms that extended like a deer's antlers. It was covered in limitless quantities of glittering glass that shimmered like morning dew and gently filled the cafeteria with candlelight. Only now was it a mere shadow of what it should've been, severed in half from its ceiling support.
"A legendary meister of magic tools crafted this absolute beauty of a hidden gem over a century ago. Its historical value is equivalent to a billion madol, and it is one of our great academy's treasures."
"A, a billion madol?!"
Was madol some form of currency? At least from Ace and Deuce's expressions and grumblings over how they couldn't afford it, Yuuya could tell that it was quite pricey.
The fact that they were struggling to compensate him meant that Yuuya, who was essentially penniless, would have it considerably harder. He'd have to find another approach to this, or else.
"Oh, I know—magic. Could you fix it with your magic?""
"Y-Yeah! What he said!" Ace laughed awkwardly at Yuuya's suggestion. "We might be totally hopeless at fixing it, but an amazing mage like yourself should be able to knock it out in no-time."
“I would expect such words from Yuu-kun, but from Trappola-kun as well… It seems you have some misconceptions about magic.”
Crowley put a hand to his forehead with an exasperated sigh.
"Magic is not some splendid, almighty wish-granting system. Some methods are unconceivable, not to mention the risks."
Crowley turned his back on the group to prod at the chandelier with his cane, as if looking for something among the mountain of glass fragments.
"Ahh—"
Crowley crouched down with a sad, low cry. He'd taken out a handkerchief to scoop up what he'd discovered: a precious gem stone the size of a palm, split right in half as it lay tucked within the black fabric.
"Have a gander. This highly valuable magic gem, often referred to as the magical tool's heart, is entirely shattered, rendering it worthless. Even if we were to restore the chandelier's original brilliance with magic, it wouldn't be able to glow as it once did, as both its candles and their flames were sustained by the gem."
The gem's faint pinkish hue glided across the surface of black linen with ease, and it must've been gorgeous before agonizing cracks in the stone ruined its delicate cut. And while everything impossible seemed possible as long as you used magic, if they said it couldn't be done, then there really must've been no other way.
"Damn it."
Deuce covered his face with both hands and groaned.
"Ugh... Damn it! What am I doing?! After I finally, finally made it into a famous school like Night Raven College. What will I tell my mom...?!"
Ace and Yuuya were at a loss for words.
All three of them were utterly crushed and Crowley himself wasn’t sure of what to say after that. After a moment of silence, his mouth fell open as if he suddenly remembered something.
"... If you're going to be that insistent, then I suppose there is one way to make amends."
"Really?!"
Deuce looked up, followed by Ace pushing him aside to ask how.
"The magic gem that was contained within this chandelier was extracted from the mines in Mt. Dwarf. You might be able to procure a gem of a similar property there."
"If we find a brand-new gem—"
Crowley nodded at Yuuya, "Then we can mend the chandelier."
The first person to react was Deuce.
"I'll go in and get one!"
"Sadly, the mine has been closed down for quite some time. I somewhat doubt whether there are any remaining magic gems to discover."
"I'll do it as long as even the smallest possibility exists!"
Ace and Yuuya nodded in tandem. They had no clue where Mt. Dwarf was or what it was like, but if they still had some semblance of a chance, they were ready to risk it all.
"Very well. Then I will give you one day." The Headmaster then held up his index finger to repeat himself, "A single day. You can travel to Mt. Dwarf through the Dark Mirror, arriving there in an instant. I will wait until the clock strikes 12 to see whether you were able to procure a suitable substitute gem."
"Thank you!"
"Fail to do so and I'll have to ask you all to leave. Do take care to remember that."
Deuce clenched his hands hard, mumbling as if he were biting his lower lip.
"Right. We'll restore that chandelier for sure."
When Yuuya opened his eyes next, they were standing in the middle of a quiet forest, bathed in the light of the Dark Mirror.
“How come we always get stuck doin’ all this annoying crap?”
Since he woke up and Yuuya told him what had happened, the boom of Grim's complaints shook the leaves on the trees.
"This is literally all your fault, y'know."
"No. Personally, I think you made a mistake in running first, Ace."
"And YOU'RE just as dumb as Ace for tryin' to attack me."
"Wh—that’s rich coming from the monster that climbed a friggin’ chandelier!"
The setting sun filtered through the forest as if it were set ablaze, with rows of trees casting shadows deep enough to be more menacing than the darkness itself. Branches hanging loosely from the trees seemed to beckon them deeper and deeper into the thick of the wood. There were signs of birds and other tiny animals, but they kept quiet and concealed themselves as if they were frightened of everyone.
The eerie silence and the eyes of all the animals on him made Yuuya feel unsettled. Plus, Grim and the others had been bickering for a while, and being forced to listen to all that fighting would wear anyone down.
"Huh. There's a cottage. Wonder if someone's home."
There it was, nestled besides a stream. Yuuya raced that way, as if fleeing, wondering if the people there knew anything about magic gems.
But nobody opened the door when he knocked. The cottage's walls and roof had traces of moss growing along them, and the windows were draped with ivy. A gentle push easily brought the solid wood door open.
"Great. No one's here," said Ace, peeking out from behind him. "And it's super busted. Doesn't look like anyone lives here."
The darkened building was in a state of disrepair, the cobwebs strewn in every corner clearly indicating that no one had been here in a very, very long time.
Though when Yuuya gave the furniture a real lookover, he realized that something was off. In addition to the tables and chairs being relatively small, there were seven identical-shaped seats, leading him to question whether they were for kids.
Pots were still hanging on their hooks over the fireplace, large enough to feed several people, while the shelves were cluttered with dishes. This must've once been a fairly busy home.
As Yuuya contemplated the dust-covered pots and the lives of whoever used to live here, he heard Deuce's voice from afar.
"I found it, guys! The entrance to the mine."
They followed him to a gigantic hole opening in the rock face, the narrow track leading into the cave seeming to swallow them up when they couldn't see more than a few meters into the depths.
"If there's a magic gem here, it's got to be in there."
Yuuya followed Ace and Deuce in pulling out a flashlight; Ace had packed one for him in case they were going into the mine. They then headed inside, using the light as their guide.
The mineshaft was colder and broader than he expected. Somewhere down the tunnel, he could hear water trickling.
Grim mumbled to himself.
“S’just like Ramshackle Dorm—all dank and dark and creepy…”
"Ramshackle Dorm?"
Ace tilted his head.
"Oh, that's the building where we're supposed to stay."
Just casually chatting with Ace put Yuuya on edge. While Yuuya kept stumbling over his words, Deuce, who had been walking ahead of them, turned and fixed him with a curious look.
"Yeah, but 'dorm'? Does that mean you guys live on campus?"
"What are you, anyway? Like, where'd you even come from?"
Yuuya told them about his situation while they trudged forward along the minecart tracks.
"Another world?"
They responded in unison as soon as he wrapped up his story.
"That sort of thing’s seriously possible?"
"I'm not... sure. This is the first time I've ever heard of it."
"So what happens if we can't find a gem and you get thrown out of the academy?"
Yuuya simply squinted against the light that shone upon him and forced a smile.
Ace, sensing that that was his answer to his question, only grimaced.
“The hell… If I’d known that, I would’ve been more—”
“Shh!” Deuce abruptly interrupted their conversation. ”Do you hear that?”
They all thought it the wind at first, like the sound of air rushing and scraping against the stones. But something guttural was mixed in.
“That sound. Isn’t it getting louder?”
── Uuu...
It was a moan, and almost at the same moment he realized that fact, Yuuya noticed something gleaming ahead of them on a bypath. The purple light swayed eerily back and forth as it continued to approach them.
With it came the splish of liquid dribbling onto the ground, the horrible sound worsening the closer it came.
“Hey. …what the heck’s that thing supposed t’be?”
Slowly, the source of the sound revealed itself but Yuuya couldn’t tell what it was.
"No… gib..."
A huge lump of what looked like mud lumbered toward them.
Carrying a lantern and a pickaxe, it definitely had hands and a torso. But it had no face.
In place of its head, there was a floating sphere that looked like an ink bottle, filled with some viscous liquid. Black and tar-like, it formed a tiny stream as it flowed from one crack in the glass to the next.
The creature groaned in agony.
"S-Sto... Stooo... ne..."
It raised its pickaxe in front of Yuuya and the others, who could only stare in silent horror.
"Stooone.... BELONG TO ME!"
“WAAAAAAAAH!”
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