The class proceeded deeper into the Labyrinth.

"It's really comfortable, huh..." Casa remarked.

"The ventilation... The ventilation pleases this me," Lilian added.

The realization that she spoke after a commoner dawned on her too late—though, good thing no one here particularly cared.

"Again, please try not to interact with the recommend—Miss O'Dulie…"

She was walking back to the group, quivering with five books in her arms.

"I… I can't stop… This Labyrinth is s-scary…"

Lockefeldt sighed.

"Everything in moderation, I suppose. Rather, those of you here who have a propensity for Information Magic of any kind, please be at special guard. The Labyrinth is more capable of subverting your mind."

He eyed Casa and Miki.

"The two of you, especially."

He eyed Casa in particular.

"You, most especially—please stop sweeping the floor, lest we miss the noontime discount at the cafeteria."

"Ehehe, I just can't help myself~"

Just like she saw when she had used the Index Card, the whole hallway was dusty as heck. Every step they took left behind high-res footprints, to the point that she could tell which guild manufactured which footwear.

"This one's Korvax~ And this one's Tyrelium~ And this one's—"

…Veering away from the rest of the group.

Casa darted around and did a speedy head count.

"Miki—WHERE'S MIKI?!"

Her pronouncement halted the whole group.

Ruan's heart froze, and then broke into a conflagration as he started zipping around, looking for clues as to her disappearance.

Zanderfon, especially, felt depressed because he, of all people, hadn't been keeping track of Miki.

Lockefeldt, as well, felt a bit despondent that he had lost a student to the Labyrinth, but also interested—someone can escape my Detection magic!

""MIKI?! WHERE ARE YOU?!""

While Zanderfon and Ruan zipped around, Casa tugged on Larissa's sleeve and pointed down an offshoot hallway, where the dusty footsteps led down. Larissa smiled, and the hallway it revealed was foreboding.

A corridor filled with bountiful bookshelves.

"Hallway 22?!"

It was rare for Lockefeldt to lose composure, but lose composure he did. Everyone's alert levels spiked. They almost went into formation again, but this wasn't that kind of Labyrinth, so they didn't really know what to do.

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"G-Give me a moment to think…"

Asking for some space, Lockefeldt turned away, his chin in his hand, leaving the rest of the class in a bind.

No one ever comes out of Hallway 22 once they go in… That student, she was promising, but she's as good as gone—no… No! I am an educator! This—I must see my class through no matter what!

"Are you sure?"

"Mhmm."

Just like that, Casa and Larissa zoomed into Hallway 22.

"Wha— OI! YOU TWO! COME BACK!" Zanderfon shouted. He almost went after them, before Lockefeldt caught him by the collar.

"Don't be foolish! I will construct a mental resistance ring for each of us!"

His words sounded like they were backed by a plan, and so Zanderfon, even if his body wished against it, held fast and trusted in this Master Lockefeldt.

Lockefeldt took a slab of magical steel from his cart and landed it on the ground.

"Mister Steelmore!"

"YES, TEACH!" Arnor came rushing with a military salute.

"You will construct rings of the highest magical density! One for each person here!"

At the mention of "density", a massive aura blasted out of Arnor. Yes, that's good. Students must be enthusiastic!

Miki adventured through Hallway 22. The leaflet in her hand was a map, and she followed it dilligently—for it was map to what she was looking for:

How to Get Your Boyfriend to Stop Talking to Other Girls!

Truly, a most terrifying tome.

"Mhmm… Mhmm…!"

She stood before a boss door. For some reason, it was well-maintained; it was as if a fresh coat of varnish had just been applied the other day. The smell was quite piercing, but it was the smell of actual maintenance, so there was little complaint.

Why was there a boss door? Naturally, one must fight for what they desire. On the road to getting Zanderfon to stop being so giddy with Casa, a little bit of gruelling close quarters combat wouldn't stop her!

With no hesitation whatsoever, she pushed open the door and toddled in.

"Greetings, mortal."

The defender? An elder lich.

But not just any elder lich—an elder bookkeeping lich!

The door closed behind Miki.

"…where…"

"How dare you trespass in my—"

"WHERE IS THE BOOK"

"Okay, let's calm down for a moment—"

The Bookkeeper has faced down many challengers, but none this aggressive. Actually, he's a little bit nervous about this one.

Naturally, he looked down on the living like they were cockroaches, and worshipped only knowledge. However, what if those cockroaches had an overwhelming amount of magic? It's like fighting knife-handed cockroaches. No matter the amount of power he had mustered over the years, it was just terrifying to have to deal with this out of nowhere.

"ZANDERFON, I'M COMING FOR YOU~"

A certain someone, somewhere, felt a chill run up his spine.

Unable to stomache this dumb skit…

"CEASE!"

The Bookkeeper balled up a sheet of magic into an ultra-dense fastball and pitched it at Miki. It was too fast that she, this year's master of the Evasion Aptitude Test, couldn't avoid it.

The magic hit her and engulfed her in thousands of ads.

Tendrils of the Labyrinth's nature encroached her mind, prying it apart for anything it could use as easy bait, all to offer her yet more opportunities to sate her thirst for knowledge—the titles of trashy trade books and millennia-old literature flooded her mind. Her vision was 1% relevance and 99% a neverending barrage of violence of personalized ads.

"Ahahaha… AHAHAHA! Know this, mortal! No—cockroach who wears human skin! This ancient weapon of despair—let your mind cry and wander! Let it peek into the unknowable abyss! Let it—ah?"

That was when the bookkeeper noticed his ads were being cancelled—no, deflected?

—Impossible! The only two things that can defeat me are sheer numbers, and sheer power! What is this trickery?!

The magic that wrapped Miki scattered into dust. In that moment, she was like a fairy princess who had emerged from a flower, mildew and morning altogether.

"…ad… block…"

"What? An original magic? On the spot?!"

It wasn't something so amazing that it could be called an original magic. All she had to do was figure out which Akasha Channel the Bookkeeper was using—and then shut it out.

Click—just like that.

Of course, sorting out millions to billions of possible Akasha Channels within a few seconds was not possible, even with current technology. Magic today could defeat yesterday's quantum supercomputer, but what Miki could do made magic seem like a pocket calculator.

On top of that…

"Wait—what did you do?!"

"…Haha, get blocked."

She sealed his magic.

Miki couldn't have known this at the time, but the Bookkeeper's entire arsenal consisted of that one and only spell: Personalized Death by a Thousand Ads.

It was easy for her to figure out how to seal the spell, since he was really just using one Akasha Channel for absolutely everything—which was the most insecure way of doing things. Sure, if he let the Akasha—possibly the most powerful computational engine in existence—handle everything, he didn't need to think up some complicated Magic Diagrams to put together a spell that actually worked, but that was like using a remote-controlled gun and letting your enemy use the remote, you know?

Miki shook her head. One would think that he'd at least board up that gaping hole in his spell's magical security with some plywood, but the makeup of the spell was clear as day.

Of course, Miki was just giving herself too much credit in this moment. Most of this knowledge actually came from Ruan whenever he driveled on about anti-magician combat.

Ruan always thought that Miki was disinterested, but clearly, she listened to every word.

"Book. Gimme."

She pranced over to the lich and kicked him in the shin. Naturally, the adorable princess of the Zotelo Family expressly wore steel-toed footwear for occasions such as these.

"HEY, THAT HURT!"

"Book. Bookie. Boyfie. Needie."

"You think that's all I can do?! Now, mortal, I seal your f—OW! OKAY, STOP! I'LL GET IT!"

Again, Miki was not aware that she had sealed the lich's one and only spell. The Bookkeeper tried to bluff, but Miki's will was as steeled as her shoe.

The Bookkeeper limped to the far side of the arena and opened a secret passageway that led to a deeper part of the Labyrinth.

"Deeper there, you will find what you seek… Now, leave me in peace."

Miki went right in, mumbling something about "Mm, must thank Ruan…" and singing "Zandi Zandi Zandi and me~"

I don't ever want to go through that again, thought the Bookkeeper. Too bad.