Students who knew about Julia would all say this about her: a single flower blooming on a pure white snow mountain.

It was a statement filled half with awe and half with jealousy.

Julia ranked first among Theon's first-year students with overwhelming magical ability and intelligence.

She was pretty, belonged to a prestigious school faction, and was even exceptional as a magician.

Many students tried to approach her, hoping to establish some kind of connection, even some teachers and seniors showed friendliness toward her, but Julia coldly rejected all such approaches.

At first, she would smile, putting up an invisible wall, not even responding.

If someone felt challenged by this and approached more persistently, then she would speak coldly with a face as if frost had settled on it.

-Get lost.

So Julia became someone that even seniors couldn't handle, despite being a first-year.

She was a special class magician with an excellent background, and moreover, she had no close friends.

She had achieved an image of being noble, proud, and mysterious.

In a sense, Julia had become something of a trademark among Theon students.

'That Julia...'

Rudger silently observed Julia, who was angrily kicking the door repeatedly.

"Ah, come on! Why are you sulking like some kid!"

Her emotions were completely exposed, showing anger toward whoever was behind the door - how should one describe this?

It was so different from her appearance within Theon Academy that one might think she was just a look-alike with the same name.

"Oh, oh? Kicking the door? This won't do. An uninvited guest? Then I definitely can't let you in."

From behind the door came giggling laughter along with an old man's definitive statement.

Julia, who had been huffing and puffing, glared.

"Are you really going to be like this?"

"Are you really going to be like this~"

"Ah, really. Stop copying what I say."

"Ah, really. Stop copying what I say~"

"How old are you to still be so childish...!"

Julia finally noticed Rudger beside her and tried to manage her expression, though it seemed too late for that.

"Ahem. I brought a guest, are you still going to act like this?"

"A guest?"

Only then did the voice behind the door show an interested response.

"What kind of guest?"

"Someone who wants information about the deep layers of Dreamland."

"What?!"

The firmly closed door suddenly opened.

"Ah, why didn't you say so earlier!"

The one who opened the door was an old man with a long beard.

Just looking at his appearance, he had the typical appearance of an old-fashioned magician with long white beard and hair.

The mischievous smile on his face and childlike innocent emotions instantly erased his solemn impression.

"Oh, is this the person? Welcome, welcome! What a handsome young man! So, which magic faction do you belong to?"

The old man welcomed Rudger with a smile.

His expression was so full of delight that he seemed more than just pleased.

Though he had heard about it, Rudger was internally perplexed by the truly welcoming atmosphere, but carefully asked, responding to the reaction felt from the old man.

"Don't you know who I am?"

"Hm? Who are you then?"

"..."

While it wasn't self-consciousness, Rudger was now someone whose name many would recognize when mentioned but the old man before him showed no sign of knowing who Rudger was.

Given that he belonged to a magical faction of this scale, hadn't he heard about the Source Code?

Even in a domestic region of the Empire, not some far-off foreign country.

The chuckling sound from beside him irritated Rudger's nerves.

When he turned his head, Julia was quietly laughing as if she had seen something quite amusing.

"Professor. How can you say such things so confidently?"

"Because I have the right to."

Rudger decided to go with being shameless since things had come to this.

Julia couldn't deny that point either, nodding while suppressing her laughter.

"That's right. Who else but Professor could speak so confidently? But these people are an exception. They have no interest in the outside world."

"Hmm? Were you somewhat famous? Well, we don't know about such things. We're all just people who sleep."

The old man's words put a period to the conversation.

"Whatever the case, welcome to our Dream School!"

The moment the old man spoke with a smile, a beam of magical light pierced through his brow.

It was an attack launched by Julia using magic.

Rudger was about to ask what was going on, but closed his mouth when he saw the old man grinning despite having his brow pierced.

"Hehehe. It won't work, you fool."

"Tch."

Julia clicked her tongue.

The old man's body scattered like an illusion, then appeared like a mirage in another location.

"Illusion magic?"

"Oh. Did it look that way? Unfortunately, it's not that simple."

It certainly seemed so.

The old man knew the situation too well to be just an illusion.

However, from Rudger's perspective, having seen illusions with physical force, such thoughts were inevitable.

"This is far more complex than illusion magic."

The old man giggled and floated his body in the air.

It wasn't lifted by magical power, nor was it levitation magic.

He was literally moving as if swimming through the air.

Rudger watched this carefully before offering an answer.

"It's astral projection. Mixed with necromancy?"

"Oh."

The old man stopped floating in the air and his eyes gleamed with interest.

"I didn't expect someone to guess it correctly on their first try. Even the folks here got it wrong several times."

"Looking at this, your real body must be somewhere around here. However, if the soul stays outside for so long, the connection with the body weakens, making it difficult to return to its previous state."

"Hehehe. I know all that too. But didn't I say? This isn't ordinary magic. Of course, I've mixed in my dream magic here."

"Dream magic, you say?"

"My physical body is now deeply asleep. When I fall asleep, my mind can freely wander around like this. And what's good about that!"

The old man held up one finger and exclaimed proudly.

"It means I can keep playing even while sleeping!"

"..."

...That's practical?

Though he said he was playing, he probably wasn't just playing all the time.

As a magician, one would necessarily continue to explore magic but even though there are 24 hours in a day, not all magicians can use all that time.

Even if you reduce sleep more and more, people still need at least 6 hours of sound sleep.

Even if you sleep less than that, you still need to get at least 4 hours of sleep.

For those who study magic, this meant losing 4 hours each day.

But using this dream magic astral projection meant you didn't have to worry about any of that.

You could sleep when tired.

While the physical body sleeps, the projected consciousness can continue researching magic.

Moreover, just looking at how he opened the door, it was clear he could interact with objects to some extent.

In a way, this was truly a dream magic for magicians.

'Wait. If this were taught to Theon's graduate students.'

Wouldn't it be possible to implement an infinite power that continues research steadily for 24 hours without rest?

"Professor. You're not thinking about something scary, are you?"

Sensing something ominous, Julia shuddered beside him.

It was an instinctive fear that could be experienced as a student.

What an impolite thing to say.

Feeling awkward, Rudger changed the subject.

"...Anyway, as you just heard, I want to know how to reach the deep layers of Dreamland."

"The deep layers, eh. Well, well. Living long enough, I'm surprised to see someone visiting about this."

The old man stroked his beard, then disappeared from his spot like an illusion but this time, he didn't reappear.

Instead, after a slight delay, footsteps approached from beyond, and the real old man came forward.

"Can't stay in the astral projection state forever. Come in first."

Rudger headed inside the mansion.

The interior was quiet. Though seemingly uninhabited, the mansion was well-maintained. There was no dust to be seen anywhere.

Rudger could easily guess this was also the power of magic.

"Come to think of it, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Zantman, a magician belonging to this Dream School."

"I'm Rudger Chelici."

"I see. You're teaching at Theon? That must be tough work. Isn't there something like hundreds of students like our youngest in just one class?"

Julia bristled at Zantman's words.

"What did you say?"

"See that, see? Glaring at her senior like that. Like there's nothing more vicious in the world than her."

"This old man really..."

"Oops. Watch your head."

Just then, a whitish smoke rose from one side of the corridor.

Zantman ducked to avoid the smoke.

Rudger and Julia followed suit.

"What is that?"

"It's dream mist, if you touch it you'll fall asleep immediately from the magic."

"Why is something like that floating around the mansion?"

"Well, we Dream School magicians need to dream a lot, and for that, we need to sleep a lot, right? But people can't sleep all day long. There are people like that, but conversely, there are people who can't sleep long due to their constitution."

Sometimes people would develop insomnia from sleeping too much.

Zantman said that magic was created for that purpose.

"Need to sleep but can't? Just call the dream mist. It'll come find you on its own. Take a few breaths in the dream mist like that, and you'll be able to fall into a deep sleep right away."

...That's practical?

"However, just making people dream like that isn't quite right, and conversely, there's also mist that wakes you up. It's called waking clouds, floating around in green color unlike the white ones. Conversely, it helps wake up your mind when you've just woken up from sleep."

"When you say it wakes up your mind..."

"Usually when people open their eyes, they don't jump right out of bed, right? Your body's fine but your mind is tired, and if you close your eyes again you feel like you could sleep more, but you need to get up."

Just hearing about it made it relatable.

It was something everyone would have experienced.

"But if you have that waking cloud? It sucks away all the sleepiness so you can jump right up in the morning."

"But why is one called mist and the other clouds? They must look similar."

"Different magicians created them. The waking cloud was made later, and when they tried to name it mist, the guy who made the dream mist got angry about copying the name. So they changed it to cloud."

For such a simple reason?

Rudger was starting to really understand that Dream School magicians weren't quite right in the head.

There were various other things inside the mansion.

Soft pillows that play lullabies when you lie down.

Sleep masks that make you dream immediately when worn.

Crystal balls that help you remember dreams you've had.

There were many things that were somehow outlandish yet mysteriously fascinating in how they were made.

This was true not just for magical items, but also for various spells.

"But where are we going?"

"The information about the deep layers of Dreamland you're looking for is highly classified information known only to elder-level seniors in our faction. Naturally, we're going to meet them."

"I suppose they're all in the mansion."

"They're in the mansion. Though whether they're awake is uncertain. They're all sleeping."

"When you say sleeping..."

"It's Dreamland. After all, the most important agenda of our Dream School is Dreamland, whether awake or asleep."

Exploring new worlds is something all scholars dream of but Dreamland is a place that can only be properly explored by Dream Walkers.

Having such talent means being given a duty at the same time, according to Zantman's assertion.

"Well, I came because I liked being able to play while sleeping."

His giggling appearance was just like a child's.

Perhaps because the elderly magicians he'd met recently were all dignified and solemn, Zantman's behavior felt refreshingly different.

"Here it is. This is the bedroom where our faction's magicians mainly reside."

"Bedroom..."

It felt somewhat strange yet fitting that they gathered in a bedroom rather than a research lab.

When the door was opened wide, the interior wasn't as chaotic as expected.

Though it was called a bedroom, it wasn't just filled with beds with people lying on them.

There were beds, but there were also various research materials everywhere befitting magicians, and some were floating in the air or mumbling something after waking from sleep.

While it might oddly resemble a mental ward when viewed this way, this was surprisingly a normal sight for a magical faction.

The Dream School magicians were generally older.

The gender ratio was similar, but even the youngest person looked over 30.

However, despite these differences, there was a common reaction they showed, specifically their attitude toward Julia.

"Oh? The youngest is here!"

"What? The youngest came? Why did you come without notice?"

"Everyone stop just sleeping and get up! Our youngest is here!"

"Youngest! I bought cinnamon candy for you!"

Rudger glanced at Julia as the magicians made a fuss.

Julia had her head bowed low, but her visible ears were flushed red.

Her tightly clenched fists were trembling.