Eternal Curse Night

On his way home from school, Eriol walked through the streets of Tokyo.

He was not particularly unfamiliar with this country. Back when he had been Clow Reed, he had lived here for a while.

But that had been several hundred years ago, during what was still known as the shogunate era.

Time never stopped flowing.

For a magician from the Age of the Gods, even death was no longer the end. But something had gone wrong with this reincarnation.

Clow Reed's soul had been so immense that it had split in two.

The part that inherited his magic and memories was him, Eriol Hiiragizawa. Like Clow Reed before him, he had been born in London, England.

The other half had neither memories nor magic and had reincarnated somewhat earlier. Born in Tokyo in this island nation, he was named Takashi Kinomoto.

Suddenly, Eriol stopped walking.

"You've been following me for quite a while. Isn't it time we had a chat, President Yagami?"

He called it following him, but she had made no attempt to hide, simply walking behind him at an unhurried pace.

Even without that, he could have clearly sensed her immense magic from much farther away.

"Don't you think keeping your magic active all the time like that is terribly wasteful?"

"Wasteful?"

Huo Lin did not quite understand. Was that how it looked to him?

"Or do you have some reason you need to keep it active?"

He had initially assumed the girl was merely showing off, or deliberately releasing her magic to intimidate him.

But that did not seem to be the case.

"Yes, because I need to seal the Book of the Night Sky." Huo Lin took the bronze-covered grimoire from her schoolbag. "Do you recognize this book?"

Eriol's expression grew grave.

I see. So it's the Book of the Night Sky.

Of course he knew of the Book of the Night Sky. A legacy of the Belka Kingdom, it had appeared repeatedly throughout history over the past several centuries and was quite famous.

More importantly, since its programming had been altered, the Book of the Night Sky had caused numerous destructive incidents.

Every time, it inevitably killed its host while also wreaking widespread destruction on the surrounding area, with a disaster rating of at least a major dimensional earthquake.

Because of the automatic defense system called "Eternal Curse Night," its core terminal would keep repeating this process.

"I see. You're using raw magic to paralyze it? But that won't address the root of the problem. Why don't you rewrite its spell code?"

"I tried, but I'm not its master, so I can't access the administrative interface."

"You're not its master?" Eriol asked in surprise.

His earlier assumption had been wrong. For someone other than its master to forcibly seal it with magic would require at least four or five times as much power!

Even his previous incarnation would have struggled with that!

"Even for a great Mage from the Age of the Gods, how long can you sustain a constant supply of magic like this?"

Huo Lin could not answer that question. The answer was forever-as long as necessary. She did not feel any strain anyway.

The book's true master was Hayate, and she would not let Hayate get hurt again.

"Can you lift this book's curse?" That was Huo Lin's real reason for speaking to him.

"That would be difficult," Eriol admitted honestly. If he had still been his complete former self, a great magician from the Age of the Gods, a curse on the level of Eternal Curse Night would not have been too troublesome. But he had reincarnated, after all.

And his soul had split in two, leaving it incomplete.

"I can try. I'll just need time."

"What's the price?"

Huo Lin did not think he was obliged to solve such a troublesome problem for her for free. One look at this bespectacled boy told her he was no warmhearted do-gooder. If they did not agree on his terms first, she would actually feel uneasy.

"The price? Let me think. Please help me watch over this 'Clow Trial.'"

Although he had made arrangements, he was not omniscient or omnipotent, and he might have overlooked something. With a great Mage from the Age of the Gods like Huo Lin Yagami watching over things, he could surely avoid a great deal of trouble.

"The Clow Trial? Oh, so you're behind that business with the Clow Cards! Does that mean you're Clow Reed?"

Huo Lin had heard that name from Sakura and Kero. A legendary great magician-no wonder his magic was a little impressive.

"Clow Reed is already dead. But the Clow Cards were the fruit of his life's work, and it would be a shame for them to be lost. The Clow Trial is simply a way of passing on his magic. I'd also like to ask you to protect Sakura."

Naturally, Eriol knew that Huo Lin had already met Sakura. That was why he had transferred here and approached her-he had genuinely been worried about Huo Lin's intentions. Now that he had confirmed she meant no harm, things were much easier.

Some of the Clow Cards were rather dangerous. As the examiner working behind the scenes, it was awkward for him to intervene directly.

Eriol was not worried that Huo Lin would covet the Clow Cards. To great Mages like them, the cards were merely somewhat elaborate toys.

"All right, I understand. If Sakura is in danger, I'll protect her."

"Thank you very much."

"Then what about this Book of the Night Sky? How long will you need to deal with it?"

Eriol thought for a moment.

"About a month?"

Whoa, he really is a great Mage. Just one month?

Huo Lin handed the book over. "Then I'll leave it to you."

"No, wait, don't give me the book!" Eriol backed away two steps, genuinely startled. To him, that book was a massive bomb! As he was now, he had no way to keep it safely.

In all that Eriol, including his life as Clow Reed, had seen and heard over several centuries, she was the only person to use such a brute-force method: sealing it around the clock with magic above S+ rank.

If he tried it, his magic would run dry in less than a day, allowing the Book of the Night Sky to break free, activate, and cause enormous destruction.

"I'm only helping you find a solution! I'll design a countercurse to break Eternal Curse Night, but you'll have to carry it out yourself!"

"Well... all right, that works too." Huo Lin took the Book of the Night Sky back.

She would have to carry it around for another month, but that was hardly a problem. She was used to it anyway.

As for trust, she certainly could not trust that transfer student yet. Still, how should she put it? His magic did not look particularly strong, so he was not much of a threat.

Ever since that transfer student from England had joined the Literature Club, Sugisaki had noticed something: the bespectacled boy kept finding all sorts of excuses to hang around the president.

It really annoyed Sugisaki.

He did not know why it annoyed him, but it just did!

"Hey, your name's Eriol, right? I think you should learn to show your seniors some respect." Seeing Eriol deliberately sit beside President Huo Lin yet again, while the president herself raised no objection, Sugisaki finally found it hard to hold back.

"My seniors?" Sunlight from the window glinted off Eriol's glasses. "But wouldn't I be your senior? I'm in fifth grade, like the president. You're only in fourth."

"Ah..." That was true. The good ship Sugisaki went down.

Eriol found it amusing, but Huo Lin had no idea what they were squabbling over.

Of course, she sat with Eriol to make it easier for him to study the Book of the Night Sky.

Since Eriol could not take it away, he could only study it at her side.

[I think this little kid has a crush on you,] Eriol said through Telepathy.

It was a minor magical trick, and Huo Lin had mastered it immediately after Eriol taught her.

[Huh? What nonsense are you talking about? I'm a boy at school, remember!]

How could Sugisaki possibly like boys? He was always talking about having a harem of beautiful girls.

Eriol glanced at her. He did not understand why she wanted to disguise herself as a boy. She was indeed using Magic Disguise, but its effectiveness... well, it left something to be desired.

It was merely an optical illusion over her face and an altered voice. Any Mage could spot the signs.

It only worked because she was still young and had barely begun to develop.

Even so, that boys' uniform did not fit her very well. How should he put it? It looked like a scene from a school romance novel where a girl got caught in the rain and changed into her boyfriend's uniform-yes, Eriol read novels too. After all, he was no longer Clow Reed. Eriol Hiiragizawa was a real, living person in his own right.

Of course, there was no need to say that aloud. President Yagami seemed rather sensitive about the subject.