Ch.43Chapter 43

I stood in front of the library for who knows how long, enjoying the feeling of my scalp being pulled in both directions as I closed my eyes. Aria and Karen gave my hair one final touch on each side, then both smiled at the same time.

“All done.”

“So cute!”

I heard both a calm tone and an excited one. It was somehow fascinating how you could sense a person not just from their voice but from their manner of speaking too.

My head had just felt heavy before, but after their touch, it felt like weights had been added to both sides. Maybe because my hair was long, the weight felt distinctly different.

When I shook my head following the weight distribution, my swinging hair pulled me to one side.

I briefly lost my balance and hopped a few times to one side, but Aria quickly caught me.

“Careful.”

“Ah, th-thank you.”

Golden hair and golden eyes. It was always a mystical combination of colors. Like a golden person. Aria grabbed both my forearms and steadied me in place.

Lowering herself, Aria met my gaze at eye level and stared intently.

“…What is it?”

Slightly flustered by the sudden eye contact, I saw Aria tilt her head.

“Nothing, I was just thinking it would be nice if you grew a bit taller.”

“That’s what I’m hoping for too.”

Agreeing with Aria’s comment, I slightly raised my arms. My twice-folded sleeves fluttered, expressing my feelings perfectly.

As I looked down at my clothes while swaying, Aria gently raised the corners of her mouth.

“Since we gathered to go to the library, shall we head in?”

“Ah, yes, that sounds good.”

Karen nodded. Even though we were delayed because of my hair, we couldn’t just forget and not go, so I started walking.

As we entered, the familiar sight of the enormous library greeted me. I turned my head from right to left, then left to right.

I still couldn’t get a sense of where to start.

It seemed impossible to just wander around and browse categories that caught my interest. It would probably be simplest to come with specific books in mind, like Karen had done before.

But since I was just here to accompany Karen, I hadn’t thought of any books in advance.

“Hmm, what are you looking for?”

“Books related to my lectures, and I need to return the ones I borrowed before.”

Karen patted her bag. It seemed she had borrowed books inside. I just nodded in understanding as I quietly observed the bag slung over her shoulder.

“So that’s how Karen studies. I think you’re the most studious person I’ve ever met.”

“…But I don’t actually know that much, hehe.”

Karen scratched her head awkwardly at Aria’s comment.

“Then how about I act as your study group senior?”

Aria, who had been carefully observing Karen, said this and headed toward the search terminals. Karen looked at her with surprised eyes before following.

I was impressed and didn’t want to miss this opportunity, so I trotted along on my short legs.

I took a spot beside them and watched the two.

“So what kind of content are you looking for?”

“…Um, books about Mana Circuits.”

“For a first-year, something like ‘Introduction to Mana Circuits’ should be sufficient.”

Aria seemed to ponder for a moment before rapidly typing on the keyboard. After quickly scanning the list of books that appeared on the screen, she printed out a small piece of paper and showed it to Karen.

“These should cover the first-year lectures pretty well.”

“…Oh.”

“Sera and I are in the Magic Composition department.”

Karen took the paper Aria handed her and stared at it blankly.

I wasn’t sure if she was reading the book titles or figuring out where to find them in this vast library, but it shouldn’t take that long.

“What about research on Demon Gods?”

“For that, it’s easier to get papers directly from professors. …I noticed before that you’re attending the Academy while aiming for graduate school, so you should practice reading academic papers.”

“Ah, thank you. I think we need to go this way.”

Karen bowed her head once.

We all moved together toward where Karen’s paper directed. Moving as a group of three, we quickly reached the section filled with books on Mana Circuits.

A huge bookshelf stretched out before us. It was amazing to think all these were about Mana Circuits.

I knew that many books could be written on the same subject, but I never imagined seeing so many gathered in one place, and my mouth fell open in surprise.

“…Wow, I think I’ll need a ladder. Just a moment.”

“Here you go.”

Each bookshelf had a ladder prepared. Given how tall the shelves were, it seemed like an essential item. As Karen brought over the ladder and started climbing, Aria watched her and quietly asked me:

“Is Ourr interested in magic?”

“Very interested. …I’d like to try the magic Sera showed me before again.”

I recalled when I attended a lecture with Sera and Aria.

Advanced Applications of Mana Circuits. In that course, I witnessed how a fire-creating magic circle was used to make clouds. It was truly fascinating.

But how it was done remained a mystery to me. If one starts with fire and water, I wondered how age would be handled, tilting my head in confusion.

When I honestly shared my curiosity, Aria let out a small “hmm.”

“Sera made it seem like she created something amazing, but it was probably just pieced together from various papers. …It would be difficult for you to understand, though. Those papers are written by professors who graduated from graduate schools.”

“…Ah.”

“The same goes for Sera. If asked to dissect and explain it, she’d probably have many gaps in her knowledge. Anyway, if you want to reach that level, you’ll need to start from the beginning like Karen.”

After saying this, Aria looked around. Her gaze, which had been scanning within this section, soon found a book in the farthest corner.

“This should work.”

“It looks like a picture book.”

It had a hardcover, but unlike other books, rather than looking sophisticated, its cover featured simple geometric shapes that made an impression.

Aria began to skim through the contents.

“It’s similar. You could say it’s a book that children interested in magic typically go through…”

“Really?”

“No, I’m joking. I’ve only been here for three years myself.”

“……”

Since Aria showed little change in expression or tone, her jokes often felt like a slap to the back of the head.

Since it was hard to distinguish between her jokes and serious statements, it was difficult to let my guard down around her.

I pouted. When I glanced at Aria with narrowed eyes, she waved her hand and chuckled. When Aria smiled, I thought she was so pretty that I couldn’t understand why she usually maintained an expressionless face.

I quickly turned my head away.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to tease you. But from what I can see, you should be able to study this easily.”

“…Then I want to read it too.”

I took the book gently. Inside were many shapes along with text. I assumed the text explained the shapes. I tried reading the words I could recognize, but it was still difficult to grasp the context.

As I pouted and tilted my head, Aria’s hand entered my field of vision.

“A circle represents circulation and completeness. The center and the edge maintain an equal distance, and at the same time, it connects the beginning and end without any breaks. Additionally, since you can’t tell where it begins or ends, it also symbolizes eternity.”

“Hmm, I see.”

“Do you understand?”

“…A little. Because it circulates, it’s used as the foundation for magic circles… right?”

When I recalled information I’d picked up from the previous lecture, Aria’s eyes widened and she applauded. It was impressive how quietly she clapped, given that we were in a library.

“That’s right. To activate a magic circle, you need to circulate mana. To distribute mana evenly to the shapes inside, that’s the only way to do it.”

“Yes.”

“Ourr, you’re smart. Then can you understand this too? This is a triangle.”

I knew that much, but the problem was the rows of text below it.

“It’s the most dynamic shape, but also a balanced one. An upright triangle has positive properties, while an inverted triangle has negative properties. …Do you understand? Remember how this triangle was predominant when drawing the fire magic circle.”

“Then can’t you use just this to cast fire magic?”

“No. What do you need to start a fire? There are three things.”

“Oxygen?”

“That’s right.”

My brain felt frozen for a moment when suddenly asked to name three things.

“…Umm, fuel?”

“Yes, you need fuel.”

“Temperature!”

“Ding dong deng.”

Aria said that and then quietly recited:

“But when using fire magic, you don’t create fuel separately, right? You use mana as fuel. You also need to raise the temperature accordingly. When you think about it that way, you can understand why even simple magic is made so complex.”

“So it’s about preparing everything.”

I felt like I’d taken one step closer to understanding magic.

As I carefully looked at the book, I lowered my head toward my name tag that hung down to my solar plexus.

“…I want to borrow this.”

“Then I’ll help you read it.”

“Great.”

With Aria’s help, I could certainly learn about magic more easily. Plus, studying this way might help me learn to read better.

I was already learning about circles and triangles, after all.

“If it’s that simple, I could teach you too…”

“I welcome everyone’s help…!”

Karen, who had come down from the ladder and was hugging her books, looked at me. Surprised by her slightly disappointed voice, I waved my hands frantically as I spoke.

Only then did Karen smile awkwardly with the corners of her mouth turned up.

I realized that managing friendships was also difficult.

“Ah, it’s Sera.”

Meanwhile, Aria stared at her phone and tapped the screen.

[Hey, why are you all meeting without me!?]

I was startled by the loud voice that reached us even though the speaker wasn’t on. Aria, without changing her expression, quietly replied:

“It’s your fault for oversleeping. Ourr’s hair is already neat and tidy.”

[Ah!!]

A cry mixed with regret and disappointment at being left behind came through from the other end.