Snacks that were less sweet than usual.
A cup of clear black tea without milk.
A new diet she had started today to feel lighter.
Awen stared blankly at her cup before speaking.
“Camilla. Your little brother…he’s an early admission student, right?”
“?”
“I heard he’s a promising student in the Magic Department.”
“That’s right. Thanks to his excellent lineage. He’s pretty smart too.”
“Hmph…”
Is that so?
Awen stuck a straw into her teacup and sipped.
“What’s this about? It’s not like you to ask about things like that.”
“Well… just because.”
“They say a sudden change in behavior is a sign of impending death. Awen, you stayed at the academy over the weekend too, didn’t you?”
“Mhmm…”
“That’s not like you. Did something happen?”
It was early in the morning.
At a time when most students were still asleep except for Camilla, who was always up at the crack of dawn, and Awen, who had become a morning person simply because she shared a room with her.
The quietness was, at least for now, a good thing.
It meant they could talk about slightly uncomfortable topics without fear of being overheard.
“Actually, it’s my older brother. He’s been acting strange lately. Kind of… down.”
“Older brother… Ah, you mean Sir Aaron.”
“Don’t call him ‘Sir’. If you say stuff like that, he’ll get all excited and start talking louder. It’s gross.”
“Ahem. I see…”
Aaron Damir.
Known in another world, one they weren’t aware of, as “Senior Ada”.
As the surname Damir suggests, he was Awen’s older brother, one year ahead of her.
And of course, the claim that Aaron was feeling down was a complete lie.
What really filled her mind was the image of that boy, who had been training as if his life depended on it, like he might collapse at any moment.
This was just Awen feigning concern, using her own family as bait to test her friend Camilla’s reaction. She knew Aaron wasn’t the type to get petty over something like this!
“Still… he seems to be struggling so much. My brother may be amazing, but he’s not made of steel. Sometimes, I wonder if it’s okay for me to be his support….as family, you know?”
“…Hmm.”
“Camilla. You have a younger sibling too, right? What would you do in a situation like this? I just… wish he’d cheer up a bit.”
Of course, there was no way Camilla could know what was really going on in Awen’s mind. She simply began to think seriously about her one and only friend’s concern.
“…I’m not sure, but I’ve heard Sir Aaron is extremely talented.”
“Yeah… I hate to admit it myself, but that’s true.”
“Then isn’t it fine to just leave him be? Talented people are different from us. If left alone, they’ll figure something out.”
“…Really?”
“That’s how geniuses are. If you step in recklessly, you might end up getting in the way instead.”
“…Huh. So just leave him alone, huh. I see. So that’s how you think, Camilla.”
“Right. They’re the kind who can easily reach things we can only dream of through effort. So you don’t need to worry so much.”
“But aren’t you also called the genius swordswoman?”
“…That may be true, but I’m no genius.”
Awen slowly rested her chin on her hand. A scowl naturally formed on her face.
“From the perspective of someone who’s incompetent, you’d look like quite the genius.”
“Incompetent…? Are you talking about someone with a physical disability? If that’s the case… I see. That was careless of me. I retract my words. I overlooked the fact that people see from different heights…”
“You really have no clue, do you, Camilla.”
“……?”
She let out a sigh. In hindsight, it was understandable.
At Tane Academy, class assignments from the second year onward were based on academic performance.
So the fact that Camilla and Awen were both in the second year Knight Department Class A meant a great deal.
The Knight Department only accepted the best swordsmen, and Class A was made up of the top students within that elite group.
In short, every student in the 2nd Year Knight Department Class A was someone obsessed with self-training.
There was no room for trivial rumors to circulate among them.
Especially not for Camilla, whose only friend was Awen. After all, rumors spread through people.
Still, not knowing anything about your own brother’s situation is a bit much…
“Thanks for the advice, Camilla.”
“…Not sure if it helped.”
“I’ll get going now. Ah, and here, take this as a little thank-you.”
“…What’s this black liquid?”
“A supplement that improves concentration. Some people drink three cups of it at a time to keep pushing themselves. Right up until they nearly drop dead.”
“?”
“Try even just one cup. Anyway, I’m off.”
With that, Awen left the cafeteria.
“…Why is she mad?”
Camilla, still clueless, picked up the coffee Awen had left behind.
Then she grimaced, letting out a long groan at the bitterness that struck her tongue.
***
“Flash Control.”
Flash—
“Flash Control. Lightning Pick.”
Flash—Crackle—
“…Hmm.”
In the game, the flash-type spell Flash Control paired well with lightning-type spells. It allowed for surprise attacks that exploited the enemy’s momentary loss of vision.
In reality, it’s a bit awkward. Even if I close my eyes, it’s still too bright for me.
I was sitting in the dormitory, experimenting with various spells.
This outing had brought in a sweet haul. Over 100,000 NP earned, and 15 gold coins on top of that.
Of course, I’d taken on a corresponding level of risk… but the payoff of being able to rapidly grow using NP was more than worth it.
◆ Total NP Owned: 109,780
If you have NP, you have magic.
Using discarded items from the Magic Tower would reduce the amount of NP needed, but I had plenty for now, so I wanted to splurge a little.
I currently had ten spells in my repertoire.
Here’s the list:
◆ Magic Skills Owned
Intermediate: Lightning Pick, Water Flow Manipulation, Flash Control
Lower-Intermediate: Flare, Night Vision, Form Posing, Falling
Beginner: Clean, Clay, Cooling
Not great. Most of these aren’t very useful in combat. Then again, that’s true for most books in the library.
Still, not all of them were pointless.
For example, the Aureus spell was a fourth-circle magic in the upper-intermediate tier.
◆ Magic Pending Acquisition: Aureus (Upper-Intermediate) (Insufficient Mana)
“Still not enough, huh…”
I should’ve built up a decent amount of mana by now.
There’s the option of draining power from magical tools, but mana absorbed beyond your natural limit tends to be volatile and burns out quickly.
“…I should hold on to my NP for now.”
If a truly dangerous situation comes up, I can just charge up all my mana in one go, acquire the spell, and use it then.
There’s still time before anything major happens. Nothing big is supposed to go down until after midterms.
With that conclusion, I got up from my seat.
Still… it’s reassuring. This NP.
With this much NP, maybe I won’t have to become a demon worshipper.
If I earn a ton of NP and learn high-tier spells, I might be able to get by. Sure, Shifters can’t use magic without NP, and high-tier spell formulas are hard to come by… But maybe, if I cover myself in enough magical tools, I’ll manage.
Then I can push back against the ones who approach me.
Defy those trying to turn me into “Mad Adel”.
Not just run away from my sister, but cut off the root cause of why I’d become a demon worshipper in the first place…
…If that were possible, I’d just track down all the villains in advance and kill them off.
No matter what I say, the truth is, I’m still weak. It’s only been a week since I came into this world.
I must not forget that I’m still just a slightly above-average first-year student at the academy.
…Maybe I’ll go boost my stamina stat.
***
The weekend passed, and a new week began.
It was already the fourth week since the start of the first semester.
This was the time when students were finishing their initial evaluations of one another and starting to form close-knit friend groups.
Maybe that’s why I’d been feeling strangely since the morning.
‘There’s more whispering than usual today.’
That was it.
Maybe everyone spent the weekend strengthening their relationships. If that’s the case, it might be about time for rumors to start flying as people began opening up to each other.
And me? I was the one known for not being able to use magic.
Things had been quiet up until the third week, but now, it wouldn’t be surprising if the rumor of “This year’s early admission student can’t use magic” started spreading like wildfire.
…Wait a second.
I sat down with that thought in mind and suddenly remembered what happened last Friday.
Come to think of it, wasn’t it Friday when I beat up those three?
So maybe the rumor was something like: “Adel Bliss, who couldn’t use magic, fried the B-Class trio with magic!”
Seriously?
No way…
A magicless student using magic was definitely something worth talking about. Realizing that, I just yawned and brushed it off.
It’s not like anything’s going to change. Sure, I’ll get some attention, but it’ll die down in three days or so.
At most, it’s just a case of a loser turning average.
Adel had been the outlier so far. After all, in the Department of Magic, being able to use magic was a basic requirement.
Of course, it didn’t take long for me to realize that was wishful thinking.
“We’ll begin class now.”
Monday had returned.
Professor Quinoron’s lecture.
As usual, I sipped my coffee and shut my eyes for a bit.
I already had [Total Magical Structure Analysis], so when it came to magical tools, I was covered. In a way, this might be the only class where I could safely take a nap…
…
…
…
“Adel? Adel Bliss?”
“…Yes.”
“I asked how many types of lower and mid-tier spells there are with asymmetrical magical structures.”
“Ah.”
I fell asleep.
Fortunately, it was a question I could answer using my knowledge from the game.
“117 types.”
“117… There are that many? Then, just a little is fine. Can you recall them from memory?”
Of course. Even in my half-asleep state, I smoothly listed off the spell types.
Since this knowledge directly affected combat, any veteran player of “Empire of Kohonbach” would naturally have it memorized.
“…That’s all.”
“……”
“……”
“……”
“……My goodness.”
But something felt off. I could see students staring at me in shock.
“Is there… a problem?”
“Do you have any idea what you just answered, Adel?”
Did I maybe recite them a little too smoothly?
I turned to look at the board.
[Today’s Lecture Topic: Asymmetrical Magic Structure]
└ Still not fully defined
└└ Students interested in related research, please visit the professor’s office.
“Uh…”
Don’t tell me.
At this point in time… asymmetrical magic structures hadn’t been fully discovered yet?
***
– …Student Adel, are you perhaps interested in pursuing internal graduate studies? I’d love to co-author a paper with you…!!
Hallway of Class B.
Hearing a voice from inside, Camilla stepped away from the wall where she’d been leaning.
“…He’s doing well.”
Wondering if Awen was being indirect about something, she had briefly stopped by the Department of Magic.
Though she was plagued by the urge to leave this place immediately, she maintained a calm and steady stride.
What had Awen been so worried about?
“Adel doesn’t need someone like me, Awen.”
It wasn’t something she could say aloud.
But even so, she murmured it softly to herself.
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