episode_0017

Early in the morning, Arthur was walking to the classroom to attend his first class.

‘Whew… I’m sure you can do it!’

Arthur, who had been walking while hypnotizing himself, was able to quickly arrive at the lecture room.

As I opened the door and went in, the inside was bustling with students who had arrived earlier.

Arthur naturally went to the corner seat in the front row and sat down.

Before class started, I heard someone come and sit down next to me.

“Hey!”

“Fabian?”

Arthur greeted Fabian, feeling fortunate to have someone he knew sitting next to him.

Fabian, who heard the greeting, answered with a blank expression.

“I came late and this was the only seat left in front, so I’m sitting here. Don’t worry about me.”

“Ah..I see…”

Arthur, who had hoped to make friends, could not help but be disappointed.

But he felt Fabian’s gaze constantly on him from the side.

“Do you have anything to say?”

“Don’t you know the rules? It doesn’t matter what you wear over your uniform normally, but it’s the rule to take it off during class.”

As he spoke, he grabbed Arthur’s hat with his hand and lifted it up, forcing Arthur’s robes to fall off.

-Ah.

Fabian caught sight of Arthur in his school uniform. Of course, unlike the others, his right hand was not visible, and he seemed to be wearing an eye patch.

“… ”

“Whew… I get why, but this is the academy. No one will tell you anything, so you don’t have to wear that kind of outfit….”

So Fabian started to tell Arthur not to worry and started to apologize for taking off his robe without saying anything.

“I’m fine. You don’t have to worry.”

‘Maybe he’s actually a good guy? Maybe he’s just not good at expressing himself like me..’

“… Yeah.”

At Arthur’s words, Fabian was seen looking forward again.

-Thump thump.

When it was time for class, I saw Professor Serena coming into the classroom.

“Let’s start class.”

“Today, I will teach you what magic is.”

Professor Serena raised her index finger, and at that moment a small spark appeared.

“To put it simply, magic can be said to be anything that causes a certain phenomenon.”

-Wow!

The flame suddenly flared up and went out, but Professor Serena paid it no attention and continued speaking.

“So what is needed to use magic? Is there a student who can answer?”

Then Fabian, who was next to Arthur, raised his hand.

“Okay, you answer.”

“The contract with the magic circle and the stars, and a fair price.”

“That’s correct. Of course, if you go into detail, there’s more to it, but those are the most important frameworks.”

“Of course, it’s not like you can’t use magic if you don’t have a star contract. However, it’s not efficient, and if you get mana exhaustion, your life could be in danger.”

Professor Serena raised her right index finger again, and a flame the size of a matchstick appeared again.

“This is magic created using only pure mana, without any contract with the stars.”

This time, I raised my left index finger, and unlike my right hand, a flame the size of a torch appeared.

“This is a magic made with a contract with stars. Both use the same amount of mana, but there is a big difference in the results.”

So Professor Serena overlapped the two flames, and the small flame in her right hand was absorbed into the large flame and disappeared.

“That’s why it’s most reasonable to manifest magic through a star contract. From efficiency to safety, the star contract is superior in every way.”

-Tak!

The sparks disappeared when Professor Serena snapped her fingers.

“Then, let’s start the contract with the stars that everyone has been waiting for.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the professor began to recite some spell.

At the same time, the classroom disappeared into darkness without a single ray of light.

Arthur’s eyes, which were about to become frightened because he could not see anything, began to show light.

The direction from which the light was streaming in was the ceiling. Arthur’s gaze naturally turned to the ceiling as well.

“ and…”

Exclamations of admiration were heard from those around.

Looking up at the ceiling, countless stars filled the ceiling like the Milky Way in the night sky.

Stars of different sizes began to descend toward the students, each emitting their own unique light.

After a short while, one to five stars could be seen floating above the students’ heads.

Then Professor Serena’s voice was heard.

“Write the contract on the first page of the textbook with your own mana.”

“And you can only make one contract, so choose your star carefully.”

At the professor’s words, Arthur looked above his head, but he couldn’t find a single star.

I looked up at Fabian’s head next to me and saw stars shining brighter than any other student’s, and there seemed to be more than ten of them.

“Fabian, you have so many… I’m jealous…”

Arthur said with a sad face.

“It doesn’t matter to me because I already made a contract with the family. How many of you…”

Fabian’s pupils began to shake as he looked above Arthur’s head.

“It’s okay…I guess it’s because I don’t have much talent..”

But unlike Arthur’s reaction, Fabian’s finger was pointing somewhere.

“Uh..huh?”

“Look behind you.”

At Fabian’s words, Arthur turned around and checked the direction he was pointing.

“Huh..?”

Arthur saw stars in his eyes.

Although it was not as big or bright as the other stars, Arthur’s heart raced at the thought that a star had come to him.

“Sign up with the contract quickly.”

“Oh, I see!”

Arthur opened the book and tried to write on the contract, but he couldn’t.

“What are you doing without using it?”

He was circling around as if urging Arthur to do something.

Arthur looked as if he was about to cry, then lowered his head and answered.

“That’s… I can’t handle mana… so I can’t write…”

At Arthur’s words, Fabian was about to get angry and ask if he was joking, but when he saw his tearful face, he could tell right away that he was not lying.

“Ha… Get a grip. The contract period isn’t that long!”

Fabian took Arthur’s left hand and slowly let his mana flow through it.

“Quickly!! Can you feel it? If you feel my mana, take out the same energy from your heart with this hand!”

“That..That’s it..I don’t feel anything..”

Finally, Fabian, who was becoming anxious, put his hand on Arthur’s heart.

‘Then I guess I’ll have to move the mana myself and use it.’

Arthur saw Fabian starting to sweat.

‘Haa… Where is it? It’s a heart, but why can’t I see any mana?’

‘Huh..? I found it!! Now I just need to move it…’

“What, what..”

Fabian was confused. He had succeeded in finding Arthur’s mana, but the amount was ridiculously small. He couldn’t even write his name on the contract.

-Ouch!

With Professor Serena’s applause, all the stars disappeared, and the dark lecture room became bright again.

“I think everyone has made a contract by now. Then, everyone, let’s manifest the light magic written on page 1 into a star contract.”

Professor Serena, who thought that all the students had signed up, started to move forward.

One by one, the inside of the classroom began to brighten due to light magic, and the professor walked around the students to check the magic he had created.

-Thump thump.

Eventually, the professor stopped in front of Arthur.

“Why aren’t you using magic? Are you rebelling?”

Arthur, who felt the eyes of those around him, began to speak.

“That’s why I couldn’t sign the contract…”

Professor Serena, who was not satisfied with Arthur’s answer, asked again.

“Does that mean there wasn’t enough time to sign the contract?”

Arthur shook his head from side to side at the professor’s words.

“No.. Actually, I can’t handle mana.. so I couldn’t write a contract.”

“You can’t handle mana..?”

“Extend your hand for a moment.”

At the professor’s words, Arthur held out his left hand.

“!!”

“Wow… This is impossible… I’m really surprised that you have no talent for mana to this extent. I never thought there could be someone this untalented in life…”

Arthur’s heart began to tear apart at the professor’s pure factual assault.

“I can’t help it. But if I do this, I won’t be able to give you any points for the practical part…”

The professor begins to show a worried look.

“After all… I can’t give you any special treatment, so I’ll give you the same evaluation as everyone else.”

“Of course, if you take good notes, you won’t be expelled, so study hard.”

“Yes…”

Professor Serena said something to Arthur and then started class again.

Most of the class content was theoretical, but when I had to use basic magic, I just stared blankly into space.

… … …

“Let’s end today’s class here.”

As soon as the professor spoke, the classroom became noisy with the voices of other students.

Arthur, who had gathered his books and writing utensils one by one, greeted Fabian.

“Thanks for helping me today.. See you tomorrow.”

“… … ”

But Fabian just left the classroom with a complicated expression on his face without answering.

Arthur got up from his seat to go to the library. Then he heard voices nearby.

“Really? The least talented student recognized by the Academy professor!”

“Is that him?”

“There’s a fool who can’t even write his own name? In fact, he doesn’t know his own name, right?”

“How did you get into the academy? I saw your face earlier, but maybe your body too…”

Hearing the story, Arthur quickly left the classroom and started running without thinking.

“Ugh…gasp…”

As I kept running, I was able to arrive at a park where there were no people.

-Thud.

Arthur sat back in his chair, covering his eyes with his left arm.

“… Heuk… Heuk.. Sob…”

Tears kept flowing from Arthur’s eyes.

Arthur, who had been crying alone for a while, put his robe back on and headed to the library. He could forget everything while reading a book.