In the late dawn, Simon ascended the stairs alone. The Ivory Tower’s ’circular staircase’ was the only way to move between floors. Normally, one would use the magic circle elevator, but it was shut down at this hour.

An unsettling quiet hung in the air. Wandering the tower this late was forbidden, and the silence was absolute, broken only by the chilly dawn breeze whistling through the windows. Pulling his robe tighter, Simon finally reached the fifty-fifth floor. This was it. The data Kizen headquarters had requested was on this floor. If he were caught, it would all be over. He moved with the utmost caution.

As he stepped onto the floor, the silence was broken by the murmur of voices. They weren’t real people, of course. The tower’s anomalies carried on, day or night.

"We mages have an obsession with the purity of mana. We believe that purer mana is always more effective."

"But mana achieves true synergy when something is added to it. By obsessing over purity, we may be overlooking something vital!"

As befitted the Ivory Tower, many of the scenes were of lectures and research.

"This treaty is unjust!"

"We must fight back! Rise up!"

There was even a historical reenactment of a popular uprising. The gray, faded figures of the past played out their lives with vivid intensity. He could see why archaeologists would foam at the mouth for a chance to enter this place. But Simon, on a secret mission, had no time to admire the view.

’Room 38, room 38.’

He focused on his search. Lighting a lantern was unthinkable, so he resorted to a clever trick: reversing a ’Night Blindness’ curse and casting it on himself. It granted him vision in the dark, but the unnatural magic made his eyes ache. In moments like this, he envied the priests’ ’blessings’, which could enhance the body without side effects.

’This is nerve-wracking.’

He had to watch out for Ivory Tower patrols, dungeon monsters, and Gildon, who was still lurking somewhere in this tower.

After checking all the rooms on one side, Simon turned.

’I have to go that way.’

Unfortunately, a temporal ’anomaly’ was unfolding directly in his path.

"Go! Follow the prince!"

"For the Dresden Kingdom! Forever!"

Of all things, it was a battle. Soldiers in crude armor were charging toward a black tide of approaching enemies. Simon scratched his head, wondering how to get past.

’Oh, I really don’t want to do this,’ he groaned internally. Still, he opened his subspace and drew a sword. The humiliation would be brief, he told himself. He squared his shoulders and yelled with all his might,

"Follow the prince!"

Then, gripping his sword, he plunged into the gray-hued river of history.

"WHOAAAA!"

The spectral soldiers roared in response to his cry, raising their weapons. Simon charged alongside them, shouting at the top of his lungs.

’Alright, just run diagonally and slip out the other side!’

"You there!"

He was about to break away when someone called to him. Simon flinched. A young man in armor was smiling at him.

"To join the battlefield at such a young age is praiseworthy enough, but to raise the soldiers’ morale! Incredible!"

’Is that... Princess Molly?’ The prince’s face was an exact copy of Molly’s, just with shorter hair. He had to be a distant ancestor.

"I hereby appoint you to my royal guard! Let us defeat the imperial scum together!"

Simon gritted his teeth, chanting a mantra in his head.

’Get in character. Get in character. Get in character.’

"It is an honor for my family, Your Highness! I will give my all to defeat them!"

"Hahahaha!"

And so, Simon was forced to pretend to run alongside the prince for over twenty minutes.

"The enemy is before us!"

"They’re coming!"

They kept shouting that the enemy was coming, but the battle never began. They just kept running. It seemed the record stored by the Ivory Tower ended with the charge. Even the dungeon couldn’t recreate a past that didn’t exist in its memory.

"Your Highness!" Simon racked his brain for an excuse.

"My father is in the western formation! I wish to go and save him!"

"To follow your father onto the battlefield! What a loyal and filial son!" The prince nodded, deeply moved.

"Very well. I wish you luck!"

"Thank you! Glory to the Kingdom of Dresden!"

Shouting this, Simon finally broke free from the gray history. The second he was clear of the haze, he collapsed against the wall, burying his burning face in his hands.

’So embarrassing.’

It was a relief no one had been watching. Composing himself, Simon started walking again. The thought of having to repeat the performance on his way back made him dizzy, but he had to hurry.

Fortunately, his destination wasn’t far. The room at the end of the hall, just past the anomaly. Room 38.

A high-pitched screech echoed nearby.

He heard it—the distinctive cry of a Tower of Time monster.

’Is it nearby?’

A chill that had nothing to do with the dawn breeze prickled his skin. He stared at the doorknob of Room 38.

’Just get inside...’

[If I were you, I wouldn’t touch that.]

Simon’s face went pale. He spun around, Jet-Black flaring to life around him.

[A pleasure to meet you!]

A figure stood in the gloom.

He was short, a man concealed behind a rabbit mask. A strange static seemed to cling to his blurry form, making his edges fizzle and distort. ’An entity born from an anomaly!’

To Simon’s immense relief, it wasn’t one of the Ivory Tower’s guards. He let out a silent sigh and forced a smile.

"Ah, hello."

’What historical figure could this be?’ He had no information to go on, but just as he’d bluffed his way through the encounter with the prince, he decided to say the first thing that came to mind.

"It’s been such a long time! You’ve been well, I hope?"

The man in the rabbit mask chuckled, twirling the staff in his hand.

[We’ve never met, yet you speak as if you know me?]

"R-Right, of course," Simon stammered.

[What an amusing young man.]

First, a prince who was the spitting image of Molly, and now a man in a rabbit mask. ’This mission is proving to be a real headache,’ Simon thought, the smile plastered across his face feeling increasingly stiff.

"What are you doing here?" He had to find out who this person was.

[Such a dull topic,] the man easily sidestepped.

Simon maintained his patience.

"Then what might be more interesti—"

[Shall I guess what ’you’re’ doing here?] The mouth on the rabbit mask stretched into a wide, unsettling grin. [A boy from Kizen. You’ve come to pilfer the Ivory Tower’s secrets, haven’t you?]

In a flash, Simon drew a Chaos Sphere from his waist, its tip aimed squarely at the figure.

"Who are you? You’re no simple anomaly."

[You have a keen eye,] the man replied, clasping his hands behind his back as he began to walk. Simon pivoted, keeping the spear pointed directly at him. [It’s true that I exist as one of this dungeon’s anomalies, but I am qualitatively different from those fools who prattle on as they please.]

Simon was thoroughly confused. The beings created by the tower’s anomalies were all fictions. The moment they realized their own fabricated nature and the falsity of the world around them, they were supposed to rampage like monsters, attacking any human in sight. Yet this man knew exactly what he was and showed no signs of turning hostile. He even knew Simon’s true identity.

[Would you mind putting that frightening thing away?] the man purred. [After all, I am the benefactor who just saved you.]

Simon’s eyes narrowed.

"You saved me?"

[Had you pulled on the door to Room 38,] he said, pointing a finger at the wall, [the security magic would have activated. You would’ve been struck by a powerful electric shock, and the Ivory Tower’s guards would have swarmed this place in an instant.]

[Go on, see for yourself.]

Though skeptical, Simon kept his spear trained on the man while his eyes scanned the wall. There it was. Perfectly camouflaged, matching the wall’s color like a chameleon, but it was unmistakably a magic circle.

[See? I was right. A formula far too complex for a student like you to solve, I imagine.] The man waved his hand as if performing a parlor trick. [Allow me.]

Instantly, the border of the magic circle loosened, then completely dissolved into the ambient mana until nothing remained.

[I simply moved the magic circle’s time forward, forcing its duration to end and causing it to naturally dismantle.]

At last, Simon lowered his spear.

"Who are you?"

[Hee hee hee! You may call me the Ghost of Time!] He bowed once more, a perfect gentleman’s flourish. [Shall we go inside and talk?]

---

The Ghost of Time. Simon couldn’t yet tell if he was friend or foe. But one thing was certain: if he had yanked open the door to Room 38 in his panic, the Ivory Tower would have caught him. Whatever else this being was, he had, for the moment, saved him.

The two of them entered Room 38. It was a disused storage closet, untouched by the preparations for the Festival of Time. Thick cobwebs clung to the corners, and a heavy layer of dust coated every surface.

[Now, feel free to get to work,] said the Ghost of Time.

Simon stared at him intently.

"Before that, I’d like a clearer explanation of who you are." The man had helped him, yes, but it could easily be a trap. He might be feigning assistance only to catch Simon red-handed.

[Such a suspicious nature. I like it.] The Ghost leaned back slowly, his body lifting off the ground to float in mid-air. [You’re aware of the dungeon gate incident that occurred at the Ivory Tower three hundred years ago, yes?]

"Of course."

[I am a man of that era.]

’Oh.’ Simon’s eyes lit with curiosity.

"What were you doing when the gate opened?"

[At that time, I...] the Ghost of Time raised his voice theatrically, [was riding a time machine!]

Simon, who had been listening with rapt attention, felt his expression freeze over.

"...Ah, I see. A time machine."

[What’s with that reaction! It’s true, I tell you. Back then, time magic research was all the rage, and I had invented a special artifact called a time machine!]

’That’s amazing,’ Simon replied flatly.

[But my colleagues treated me like a fool, focusing only on the Tower Master’s pet project. To prove my work’s value, I boarded the time machine myself! But then!] The Ghost of Time struck the floor with his staff. [Of all the rotten luck, that’s precisely when the dungeon gate opened!]

The dungeon, which had materialized on the top floor, swallowed every trace of time magic the Ivory Tower was developing. The Ghost, who happened to be inside his machine, was no exception.

[And that is how such a fascinating phenomenon occurred,] he chuckled, spreading his arms wide. [I undoubtedly exist as an anomaly of this dungeon, yet I can think and judge for myself! Furthermore, due to the time machine’s influence, I gained the ability to ’see’ the ’time’ flowing within this tower. There’s no one else like me in the entire world!]

Simon crossed his arms.

"Isn’t existing forever a torment?"

[Not a chance! That’s a delusion held only by those who bear the burden of a physical body!] He gazed at the ceiling with an enraptured expression. [I am free from the limits of a lifespan, free to endlessly contemplate and research any subject I desire! I don’t reveal myself to the people here, but I occasionally leave my research findings by a window. There’s even a fellow who comes by every day to pick them up, registers them as his own, and has risen to the very top of the Ivory Tower! Well, I just let it be! Hahaha!]

As the Ghost’s story continued to stray, Simon steered the conversation back on course.

"If you’re trapped in this tower forever, how did you know I came to gather information for Kizen?"

[Didn’t I tell you? I can see time. From the moment you set foot in this tower until the moment you leave, I can see all of your time.]

To ’see’ time. It was a completely foreign concept.

[My eyes perceive it all. Today, you’ll activate a certain ’artifact’ on the fifty-fifth floor to obtain information, and tomorrow, you’ll go to the sixty-third.]

He was right. He knew which floors Simon would visit and what artifact he would use before Simon had even taken it out. He even added that after the mission, back in his room, Simon would be struck by the curse of a sleep-talking girl.

"...Is this some kind of prophecy?"

[Goodness, a prophecy! The past, present, and future that humans speak of are merely fictional concepts they use to perceive a world beyond their four-dimensional grasp! In truth, time stretches out infinitely!]

’What in the world is he talking about?’ Simon pressed a hand to his forehead.

"Let’s skip the difficult concepts. I understand you can see my future inside the tower. So, what’s your objective?"

After a moment of silence, the man in the rabbit mask spoke, his voice firm.

[The truth is, at some point, I could no longer see the tower’s future.]

"...What?"

[The tower’s time has turned pitch-black. I can no longer see it! This can only mean one thing: a major catastrophe is about to befall the Tower of Time! The Tower Master must be using this place to orchestrate some nefarious plot!]

Simon’s expression grew grim.

"When exactly does this future you can’t see begin?"

The Ghost of Time held up four fingers.

[In four days.]

Simon’s jaw dropped. Four days from now was the final day of his dispatch to the Ivory Tower.

[Before long, something terrible will happen in this tower.]