Section 1: The Mage's Apprentice

...Sir?

...We've arrived at the station, sir. I'm afraid you need to wake up now.

Oh come on, he's never going to wake up if you're all quiet and polite about it!

You've gotta show 'em who's boss! Like this!

There we go. Nice of you to join us, my little pupil.

What? Something on my face? If I didn't know better, I'd think you had no idea where you are or who I am.

？！

Huh? Are you kidding me? Get it together, man!

Are you actually telling me you don't recognize your own tutor, Lord El-Melloi II!?

If this is your idea of a joke, I am not amused. I suppose next you'll tell me you don't even know who you are, either?

...was observed at...during the last Rayshift...

So while the Shadow Border was being tuned up... ...was decided.

Personally, I hate to assign valuable personnel to something like that, but... Grr, well, if we're going to do this...

Please be extra careful this time, Senpai...

Well? Anything come to you?

Apparently! I've seen junkyard rats with more sense than you seem to have!

Chaldea? You mean the country that was assimilated into Babylonia? Hmm, guess you were dreaming about Animusphere's Astromancy class.

？！

Ugh, you really are spacing out today. Oh, fine then. Just carry my bags and be quiet, would you?

Now come on. Even if this is the last stop, we don't want to keep the conductor waiting.

Thank you for riding with us.

Ahh, good old London! Gloomy as ever, which is just fine with me.

Come on, let's get to the flat. Hm? Something wrong?

？！

That's the Clock Tower, of course. The chalk-white pile of brick and mortar built by fanatics who proclaim it the bastion of mage knowledge.

They say they're searching for the Root, but all those bastards care about are their petty power struggles.

Every night, it's nothing but a never-ending stream of scheming and backstabbing among the Twelve Lords and their associated mages.

？！

What, you actually want me to say that myself?

Once you become a Lord, even as low as the Modern Magecraft Department is on the totem pole, people start giving you special treatment.

And by special, I mean that ninety percent of them are spies or enemies who'll kill you if you drop your guard for even the briefest of moments.

I used to be the last in my family's line of succession, and my meals have been poisoned regularly since I was a child.

I got around that by carrying rations on my person, but of course, those taste terrible. So once I discovered how safe and delicious the sweets found in bakeries could be, I was hooked for life.

？！

Oh, don't get mopey on me.

Whoops, I guess a bit of a smile slipped through there, huh?

Hehe, you'll have to forgive me. I love watching people squirm.

But still, do you really have amnesia? What, did you hit your head or something? Oh, wait, I hit you in the head, didn't I.

Well hey, maybe this is your chance to go back to primary school and do it all over again. I bet you'd be right at home among children.

Anyway, I trust you still remember about mages, yes?

？！

Huh? You're joking again, right? Cause might not be the highest rank, but it's still a rank for actual mages, not students!

There's no way you're even close to that point yet.

If you've got time for absurd flights of fancy like that, you've got time to do something more useful, like, say...carrying my bags.

Daydreaming is all well and good, but we have places to be.

Ahh, there's my flat. I haven't seen it in quite some time. Come on, don't dawdle with those bags.

Hm? Something's not right. It's too quiet.

I did put up a Bounded Field around this area, but I never did any soundproofing magecraft.

Automata!?

Lord El...Melloi II...?

The hell? They're combat-ready antiques!?

I'm used to being on people's bad sides, but I still didn't think anyone would try to attack me in broad daylight, even with a Bounded Field up.

Well, at least this should be a good warmup. Just stand back and see what your mentor can do!

Hmph, they got away. Those things were ridiculously over-specced.

？！

Of course I am. Any halfway decent mage knows how to fight. Why do you think they encourage all those duels at the Clock Tower?

Still, it's weird that they'd come after me like this. If anything, it seemed like they were keeping an eye on our surroundings...

I've got a bad feeling about this. Let's hurry to my flat.

Hmm, it looks like those automata were here. They at least don't appear to have placed any magecraft traps...

Oh, but just to be sure, would you mind opening the door?

？！

No back talk. As my pupil, you should be honored to die for your teacher. Now go on, open it!

Hmm, no explosions. Guess we're in the clear. All right, let me get set up for class and... Wait.

...I smell blood. Watch your back, and stay close to me.

No... It can't be...

？！

No... This... This is...

My brother...! Lord El-Melloi II...!

？！

That's right. I'm NOT El-Melloi II. What have I been saying up till now?

Why did I think I was El-Melloi II? How could I have been so wrong?

Why is...my brother...

？！

...Oh, right, you're here too. I don't know what's going on either, but...

...Hm? There's something written here. It looks like...the letter "M"?

Crap! No time to think now! Come on, let's get 'em!

El-Melloi II...?

Shit, there's no end to them! Let's get out of here!

There's a window right there! Jump!

？！

I said go, dammit!

Trim!

Yes, Master.

There, we made it! And now, a little magical bullet as a parting gift!

Now's our chance! Let's get out of here!

Ugh, I'm exhausted... I can't believe you can't even enhance your limbs. That's a basic technique any aspiring mage should know.

？！

You should be sorry! Anyway, yes, as I was saying, I'm not El-Melloi II.

My name is Reines El-Melloi Archisorte, and that body we just saw was my adoptive brother.

I will be inheriting the El-Melloi estate at one point, but not just yet. How could I have been so mixed up?

And...why was my brother killed...

？！

My brother was... He was...

...No, this isn't the time. What about you, Trim? Did you know who I really was all along?

No, Master. I, too, believed you to be El-Melloi II until just now.

？！

You too, huh. Oh, right, this is Trimmau, my familiar.

I am Mystic Code Volumen Hydrargyrum, though my Master also calls me Trim. Pleased to make your acquaintance.

She's my familiar-slash-maid-slash-bodyguard. Unlike humans, I know she'll never betray me.

Ah, so you already know about Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald's Volumen Hydrargyrum then. I basically took that and imbued it with a simple form of sentience.

She's my familiar-slash-maid-slash-bodyguard. Unlike humans, I know she'll never betray me.

？！

That's why I can trust her with my life. Although...

Gah! Why was my brother killed!? Why did I think I was El-Melloi II!?

I know Suggestion is a simple spell, but when would anyone have had time to cast it on me or Trim?

Say, what about your memories? Do you know who you are?

？！

Hmm, so you have the same symptoms as me then. Up until now, I was convinced you were my pupil.

It's extremely unlikely that we both came down with amnesia at the same time, so someone's got to have tampered with our memories.

But who could it be? For all I know, it could very well have been you.

Are you...?

？！

It's okay, Trim. I was just messing with him.

If he really was behind this, he would have handled my pushing him out that window a little more gracefully.

Besides, now that I stop and think about it, this whole city's too damn old. It almost looks like London around the turn of the twentieth century...

In fact, for that matter...this whole world is...

？！

Senpai! Can you...hear me...!?

We lost...contact during...the Rayshift...! You're still...trapped there...

It's no use... I can't keep the...connection alive... If nothing else...you need to...keep the Spirit Origin...graph briefcase

Spirit Origin graph?

What the hell!?

Whatever was messing with our perception must have been broken when we realized something was wrong with our memories and the world. But, what IS this world?

And then there was that weird call you just got. What was that all about?

？！

Now that I think about it, this briefcase you're carrying isn't mine. This must be what that girl was talking about.

Hmm. Well, if this belongs to you, then you'd better hold on to it.

Good grief... Talk about a mystery. I don't have the faintest idea what's going on here.

...Well, at least we know what it is we have to do. We have to find whoever killed my brother and stole our memories.

Well? What are we waiting for? Let's go!

？！

What are you saying? Of course you're going to help me. Surely you aren't going to leave a helpless little girl to fend for herself, are you?

...

...I WILL find whoever did this. You can count on that.

I won't stop until I catch my brother's killer and make sure they get exactly what they deserve!