While hearing Ratatoskr's story of how he learned lightning Ikuta thought about the clerk ' I think I need to reinforce the spell ' the clerk's answer was too little for someone who perfected the art of coding magic to the point it dragged Ikuta inside .
He had to do something about their memory , especially the one who had witnessed his father ' I need to get rid of the cult dad will eventually make me face them so I'll face them myself ' he knew that the cult was unlike the duchess who would answer his questions with all honesty .
Next day Tuesday they had plenty of free time after the teacher said they cleared most of their lessons very early , they played snowball fights outside and Ikuta builts a giant snowman " We're under attack " Ikuta dodged most of the balls like in his training and summoned a ice sword participating as a defender .
" Ahhhahahaa that was fun " Ezio said putting his lunch in the cafeteria " I'm so glad the cafeteria is back " " Mmmhmm " Ikuta had so much food on his after learning his father paid for a lot for his lunch to get the cafeteria working .
" I even got very good scores thanks to Ikuta's tutoring " Ezio bragged , Ikuta checked the conditions of his puppet spell to see how well it was still holding ' I should have learned enough of white magic by then but I'll have to be careful .
The cultists were actively breaking down the spell ' I need to get soul magic ' he thinks of using the mental illness due to black magic exposure as a way to remove the memories .
' Can that happen ' while he thinks of how he can make it happen he took the time to learn more magic after school and during classes .
' It's already Wednesday ' there was no news in the cult that he was going to lose ' But I managed to learn this ' the classic white magic of healing , this would be used to remove the negative feelings of a person .
' I just need a source of power but this would be hard ' he thinks of paradise and how his father viewed it ' If it's like the Lich then doesn't that mean someone is using it ? ' he remembers the approach that his father took in his view of paradise .
' If paradise uses the joy of other people then why isn't the lich doing the same or could it be that they are afraid of a hero going to kill them for it back then ? ' he was still confused and assumed that it might be the lich that has souls suffering and derived black mana out of the limited suffering .
' It wouldn't matter if Paradise derived white mana from their joy but just in case I'll watch out if they do get white mana from other people's joy ' he got home and looked at the mail wondering if his father gifted him anything .
He was surprised to see an invitation to an amusement park ' What ? ' he quickly used the cultist to search for the philanthropist who sponsors this .
He sits on the couch and opens the news " Billionaire Philanthropist Faulks Niko has drawn a lotterry to select lucky winners who get to fly to the newest amusement park . "
Nobody was around for Ikuta to hide his feelings from he had a thought but didn't want to entertain it ' Ugh I'll have to fake it , the time to go to the amusement park is still far but I'll still work with it ' he was annoyed at how he got an invite .
Ikuta looked at the amusement park remembering how he used to wish to go to one when he had been stuck at home training " I'll make sure to get as many prizes as I can " he said . He looked at the invitation he got that said any family can go with him .
' I'm an only child though ' There were some slots and Ikuta thought he could use them ' I got at least four slots ' the next day it was all the talk about the new amusement park , Niko had sent so much that some winners were very close to each other .
" So you got one too ? " Nisse said " Yeah but I don't know what to do about it " Ikuta said " Well I think you should let me join you " Ezio said without shame and it surprised Druk " What ? Don't you have shame !? "
" Druk do you think Ikuta will be happy to go to an amusement park when everyone has at least a sibling they go with while he goes as an only child and it's Claire and Louis that goes with him not even as parents but chaperones ? "
' Only in times like this does Ezio think ' Nisse thought " I mean but isn't it wrong to take a spot ? " " I know it is but I also want to go " Ezio said " It's not a problem , but going to the amusement park with both Louis and Claire isn't what I hoped for "
" See " Ezio said " But you still have to bring someone with you " Nisse said " What don't tell me you want to go too ? " Druk said thinking Nisse had stooped down to Ezio's level " No , I hate Billionaire Philanthropists do you know some people use donations to dodge taxes "
" Not our problem I just care I get to go to an amusement park " Ezio said " But what are you going to do with the other slot ? " Ezio asked " Ikuta didn't know what to do with it " How about you Druk ? "
" Ehh me ? " " Yeah , I heard Nisse's father complaining about Nisse being the only girl in our friend group before Amber came here and since Louis is going with us it would be bad to invite Nisse or Amber "
Amber was disappointed but didn't blame the reasoning since she had older brothers who said the same .
" Alright let's go when is it Ikuta ? " Ezio " It's almost like two weeks from now so we have so much time " " Have fun guys " Nisse said without much joy for the three while Amber hid her envy but still said " Yep you guys have fun "
" Oh don't worry Amber I know how much people enjoy amusement parks " " I only want to go there for the games " " I mean you could get first place in every game " Ezio said recalling the party games he had played that Ikuta would easily get first place in most minigames .
" I'm just wondering what kind of profit the amusement park can get " Nisse said " Aww don't be so mad you don't get to join us " " I'm not " Nisse showed an invitation " Because I got one too " Ezio was surprised wondering why Nisse decided to show off now to make him sound less cool .
" What ? " " Amber wanna go ? I'm going with my cousin and younger cousin they're both girls so it should be fine for your brothers right ? " Ikuta watched them celebrate and thought it would be okay this time but was still thinking about the foreshadowing his father had said .
' Just in case what would you need to have so many people enjoy the amusement park ? ' he arrives home to read the books but doesn't find anything useful he assumed this was because the church didn't have anyone to learn the use of plenty of joy so they never gave it to him .
' I mean it's not wrong ' the church only had those who were willing to sacrifice a little for the joy of others but did not force anyone which is why there were plenty of laws that the church had made the states do to keep the abuse of white magic by stealing it from a greater population .
The only thing that the law finds acceptable is self-sacrifice a black mage had to follow this law to avoid being chased by it ' Nisse was suspicious about why Faulks wanted to bring so many people to the amusement park ' Ikuta wondered if there was a reason for this and looks at the invite and searched about it .
" What are you doing young master ? " Ratatoskr asked " I'm just checking on what kind of fun I'm gonna go " Ikuta faked his smile and looked at the site of the amusement park "Free rides for the very lucky winners" ' Nisse is right this is suspicious '
Ikuta went down holding the invitation " You got invited ? " Louis asked " Yeah can you come they said I need a chaperone " " Of course " his father quickly appeared " Well damn " His father's voice confirmed it " Looks like Paradise was more colorful white and more kid-friendly too "
Ikuta just found the justification for Nisse to accuse the "generous" Faulks " I also invited Ezio and Druk , because I thought It would be weird if I went as the only child "
" Alright you can go " " Maybe I don't have to interfere you already got the eyes of Faulks so I'll leave this legend in the making to you , you're brave enough to save others so I hope you have a nice trip "
Ikuta knew that his father's words were just courtesy but he was glad that he said it because it meant all the stories he read about likely was the characters' own making and not the author's " now be on your way my little child " Ikuta went to his room to tell their group chat .
"Ezio and Druk will be coming with me , are your parents okay ?" Druk and Ezio sent a like and Nisse also got one from Amber "Alright we can have fun in an amusement park" "You still have to pack some clothes Ezio" Nisse mentioned " "I know"
Ikuta could hear Ezio's excitement but he had some problems . He searched up what the amusement park has and found several games ' I think I know what to do ' "Hey Party crasher" Ezio said as a joke because of how often Ikuta would ruin Ezio's chances of winning "What are you gonna bring ?"
' Hmm party crashers ' for the next weeks he observed how Ezio invited him to his house for a game giving him as much handicap but still win . He earned the name the raid boss later and observed how much they are suffering at the end of every bonus stars .
' Maybe I can do it ' he was wondering if he could destroy the party Faulks made and come home with the number one party crasher " AAAAAAAAA " Ezio's older cousin yelled " NOOOOO " Ikuta got zero stars and won the last place with chance time " Why !? "
" Ezio we have to go " Ikuta pointed at the clock " Have fun " Ezio's uncle said " Bye see you on Sunday night " for one day and one night the friends get to go to an amusement park and a room .
" Alright now let's play cards Ikuta don't look " " You would notice if I do " " He's not a rogue Ezio more like a warrior " Nisse pointed out .
" And I feel like the only reason Faulks was able to afford to bring so many people around is because of all the people paying him " Nisse said " Nisse we don't need to know more about your conspiracies "
Ezio said and Nisse excused her behavior " That's just the night elves' specialty making conspiracies "
Nisse searches some names " I found a lot of new chefs in the hotel and I talked to them and turns out they just graduated from school and are really happy to get this opportunity to show their talents " " So you are saying the chefs wanted to help Faulks in the future the same way all the people he helped has ? "
Nisse nodded at Her younger cousin Keeva's suggestion " This will be good for you it's why you should never accept any goodwill from anything other than a big party , because the bigger the party the harder it is for them to make the same decision " " so the government " " close enough "
Ikuta was wondering how he should sabotage Faulks and get rid of whatever he had planned " tomorrow I'm gonna make sure I ride all the rides " Ezio said " I'll follow Ezio " Druk said " I'll just relax and enjoy the meals " Nisse said " I want to win as many games as I can " " Why ? "
" Cause I want to " Ikuta said " party crasher " Ezio said " You are very competitive kinda like Druk " Nisse said and Druk felt attacked by her words " But are you really going to keep paying for your meals ? " Amber asked " Yeah I don't want to bankrupt the hotel we are staying "
The next day Sunday they finally get to the amusement park " Okay here is your money " Louis handed a sizeable chunk " Making money out of the carnival games that would work "
" but it's Ikuta playing " Ezio said " Yeah so that means they can't get anything from you , may as well give him the prizes " Nisse smirked .
" I mean I do want to play the games to win " Ikuta said , the group took the bus ride to the park and got their free admissions " Don't lose your phone Ikuta " Louis said " I know " Ikuta waved at them and Nisse has to assure Keeva's worry .
' Good they didn't confiscate my console ' he carried a backpack with a subspace for him to store his prizes . He takes the first one " I want to play please " he puts the last prize into the bag and goes to the next one .
" Another " He shot down all the cups through sheer force " Give me one " He patiently scraped the sides of the candy to make the umbrella but looked fast " Sir " " Ma'am " " Give me ten shots " " I want all fifteen rings "
His bag was filled with all sorts of prizes that distracted so many visitors from being excited about getting a prize due to the sheer skill Ikuta displayed . He looked around using the white magic to observe how much everyone was enjoying it and found an obvious stream of white mana .
' It's really colorful ' he thought to himself he mapped out the area and even read as many of the runes as possible . He could sense that he was being followed by staff ' I need to do something about them '
He continued winning games and when he finally found the last one " Congratulations boy for getting all the first prices " he pretended to be surprised and waited to see if he was going to get a prize for doing it .
He still wanted to win and found Faulks walking toward him , the old man wearing comfortable outdoor clothes " Ikuta Seishin you must be one of the lucky winners ? " Ikuta nodded . Faulks took a sit at the bench Inviting Ikuta " Did you have fun winning all the games "
" Yep I also really liked the prizes " " Ahahaha the joy of competing I remembered doing the same , I used to work hard to make sure our planet was healthy and it's just a courtesy that there is no snow in this amusement park "
" Oh I heard of that , but I didn't check " Faulks was fine and asked " It's okay for you to not hear that , children should be children play all day it's why I had advocated bringing the fun into school nowadays "
Ikuta remembered the numerous schools that Faulks sponsored , all had different children who enjoyed life and graduated with good grades and social life " Even though you won so many games I thought it should be right for me to gift you something "
He was curious what Faulks want to do and then focused on the black and white faces behind him . He gives Ikuta a globe that shines brightly .
" It's not real gold but I treasure it because it is valuable and it brings joy to any who holds it just the sight because it's always so bright and beautiful " Ikuta looked at it seeing how much white mana it emitted .
' So this is paradise ' " So do you like it ? " Ikuta smiled to show fake admiration of the globe " Yeah it's so beautiful " Faulks smiled " Make sure to hide it okay ? I have a bigger surprise later " Ikuta internally frowned hearing the curses of the ghouls beside him .
He carried the first place price walked away from the bench and whispered to the souls " You'll be free soon just wait for a little " Faulks watched Ikuta admire it thinking it was genuine ' Looks like I found another body '
Faulks walked around as he felt his own body weakened hearing the screams of the souls that he removed from the joyous counterparts " GIVE ME BACK MY BODY " Many voices yelled at Faulks yet he remained undisturbed in body and soul .
Ikuta held the orb and felt like he was being separated in his soul . his despair of the future and hope for a future was trying to split him " Louis I wanna go to sleep " Ikuta said pretending to feel tired that Louis assumed that he was simply being lazy .
Louis sat him on a bench while he rested hiding the globe and continued to feel the tear in his soul ' This hurts so much ' he felt that he was losing hope and thought to himself ' If you get rid of the darkness my hope will disappear because only in the dark will a little hope glow brightly '
Paradise realizes Ikuta's hope is disappearing as it tears his hope from his despair and longing and stops tearing Ikuta's soul watching it mend itself . Ikuta's body becomes hollowed while his soul infiltrates paradise .
His body rests tired as Faulks walks to his deathbed " Hmm " he sees several figures " A new person " Their pure innocence waved at him as Ikuta could tell what kind of goal Faulks has " You must be the new person Faulks introduced "
" Uhm no I'm not " He wanted to test the figures seeing as he felt the duchess still with him " Ahh , it doesn't matter we stopped asking for a long time " Ikuta looked around the bright paradise " Come on have some fruit "
He tasted the sweet fruit and felt sorta happy to taste it but he was too used to the luxury of joy under the pressure of greater despair " It tastes good " " We know come on " he observed how they all had so much fun and observed Paradise more learning about the runes as he spoke to the locals.
Everyone outside was oblivious to what was happening , Strangers who didn't know about Ikuta just thought he was just tired . His friends thought the thing that was happening to him was just his way of saying he already got all of the prizes .
Louis was simply making sure Ikuta is comfortable sleeping on the bench and wearing noise-cancelling headphones that kept him asleep and Faulks was looking forward to taking over Ikuta's body .
His old body slowly weakens and people prepared to announce Faulks's death to the news but keep it from reaching the amusement park . Ikuta finished his observation " As promised I'll free you all " He whispered and watched all the inhabitants who were only filled with joy .
He didn't feel bad about stripping them of their joy because he knew this joy was what they were exploited for . Fake paradise made to extract the happiness for white mana , the man named Faulks that was behind it all .
Nobody but Ikuta and his father were aware of the tragedy that would've occurred . Ikuta prepared the spell to free the soul that Faulks had trapped in paradise " Time to wake up from this fake dream "
Ikuta opened his eyes and watched the souls travel out of Paradise to reunite themselves with their suffering halves " You're awake ? " Ikuta nodded " Yeah I am " he lied about nearly dying with his body being preserved by paradise's healing abilities .
" I'm gonna go use the toilet " Ikuta brought his bag and held paradise " Goodbye Faulks " Ikuta reconfigured paradise and molded it into an hourglass the top that extracted white mana from the joy and the bottom that extracted their suffering .
' Studying for two weeks was worth it ' he was glad to have worked so hard understanding black and white magic thoroughly for the past weeks ' I wonder what dad will do when he finds out that Faulks died a peaceful death '
Ikuta wasn't prepared to truly face his father acknowledging his presence as he met with his friends " Ikuta did you have fun ? " Ezio asked " Mmhmm I even met Faulks in person to get this "
He showed them his creation of an hourglass that poured white sand on one side and black sand onto the other side . He even added a concealment spell to hide what it actually was .
' Right now I'm just waiting for Faulks to transfer his soul into this hourglass ' " Come on let's go take another ride " Ezio said and they followed while Ikuta stuffed the hourglass into his bag and entrusted it to Louis .
" WOOOOOOHOOOOO " Ezio yelled while Druk was terrified of being thrown off and raised his hands like everyone else " Ugh I think I'm gonna barf " Druk excused himself to the toilet " What was the hourglass Ikuta " Nisse asked .
' Faulks said it's a secret so I will have to keep it for now , and his surprise is probably paradise but that's already gone ' Faulks at his deathbed was irritated by the souls that kept cursing him and eventually he noticed something different " YOU'RE DONE FAULKS "
They all said as his eyes widened to see a much saner ghost beside him " That boy that freed us will kill you " Faulks quickly got up surprising the nurse " Noo it can't be the nurse felt fear and he took a deep breathe .
" Bring me that boy , Bring me Ikuta " He yelled out of the character everybody knows " bring him to me , tell him I need to talk to him " his guards and subordinates didn't know what Faulks wanted but knowing how Faulks had always been generous they thought his lack of dignity in his voice meant he was desperate to say something for Ikuta's sake .
" We got it boss " they spread the news to bring Ikuta in while Ikuta was showing off all the first place price he had won " I'm kinda surprised that nobody stopped you " Nisse said " What are you even going to do with all these ? " Druk asked .
" Obviously play with them " Keeva said trying to be sassy like Nisse " Ikuta Mister Faulks would like to tell you something " a secretary said " Oh okay where is he ? " " Currently at his deathbed , so please follow me "
She looked at his friends and smiled " Sorry kids I'll have to borrow your friend for a bit " Ikuta followed her to Faulks " Mister Faulks he is here " " Good bring him in and don't let anyone else come in " Ikuta looked at Faulks and felt a sound barrier appear keeping it silent .
Faulks stares at him and he waves at Faulks " What did you do ? " he knows this is the time that Faulks is going to question him " So those ghosts told you ? " Ikuta was brave enough to talk about his true self , his father was nowhere around so he decided to talk less like a normal kid .
" You knew ? " " Only when I got here , there's a massive magic circle deriving white mana from the visitors right ? " Faulks was surprised to hear that his bluff was found " Hahahahah hahhhaaaa "
He laughed maniacally " So you found out I did that ? " " Yes I did , did you also write in your will that you wanted to entrust all your possessions to me after you take my body ? "
" hahahaha to think I got exposed by a young boy like you I thought you were easy prey when I found you got permission to use white magic "
Ikuta watched Faulks " But did you think you were the first one to try this " Ikuta looked at Faulks and watched him glow he observed that they were like runes " Better luck next time kid " Ikuta remembered that he had entrusted the hourglass to Louis .
The room flashed and Ikuta felt the sound barrier dissolve and the door opened to see what had happened " What happened ? " Ikuta looked at the confused secretary and dashed outside " I'm sorry "
The secretary wondered if Ikuta felt responsible for Faulks's death " Hey it's okay he was sick " she saw how far he already was " I better tell them to help me apologize " While everyone was going through their days Ikuta was worried about the destruction killing people .
' I'm already sure what will happen Faulks will take over Louis and turn the amusement park into a paradise ' he hoped that he still had time while Louis's soulless eyes suddenly brightened and drew a sinister smile .
" A youthful body " Faulks gained full control of Louis's body and retrieved the hourglass recognizing it " I must thank you Ikuta for doing this "
He smiled and reached out to seize his new souls to derive white mana from ' I'll have to learn about black magic now '
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