Ch.4643 – Consultation

# “I’ll come back after 6th period. Teacher, please come with your student after homeroom.”

“Yes, I’m truly sorry…”

Seo Yu-na was allowed to rest in the infirmary and arrangements were made for her to leave school early.

The reason I was suddenly called to the administration office was none other than unauthorized magic use.

The academy grounds were designated as a special tax collection area by the government, with all mana usage fees within the zone paid under the academy’s name.

This reflected the academy’s unique partial extraterritoriality.

Of course, in most cases, the actual payment was the academy’s responsibility.

You can’t exactly ask elementary school students to pay every time they have practical lessons.

Certain academy foundations allocated available budgets for this in advance, paying at the beginning of the term and receiving refunds for unused portions at year-end, with the Cephiron Foundation being the most prominent example.

This means when I carelessly throw around magic, it’s not me but the foundation’s budget officer who gets a headache.

That might actually be fortunate.

I remembered when I tried a 4th circle spell just once before, I was short 120,000 won even after using all my budget, and had to swallow my pride and borrow money from Professor Cheon.

Thanks to that, I’m now completely broke.

“You really didn’t do anything weird to Seo Yu-na, right?”

Why are you like this again?

Yoon Si-hoo shot me a suspicious glance.

“I told you, it’s medicine I take! She drank it on her own.”

“You shouldn’t bring something so dangerous to the academy!”

“Stop annoying me, kiddo. I’ll bury you alive.”

No matter how many times I explained, Si-hoo wouldn’t believe me.

Think whatever you want.

The long-awaited end of school day.

I had to regretfully send away Ji-hye and Seo-ri who were waiting for me.

I had promised to buy them Pok*mon bread, so I apologized to Ji-hye.

“No, it’s okay…! NoName must be busy today too.”

Teacher Jackie and I didn’t say anything to each other as we walked down the stairs.

Occasionally she muttered something to herself in English, but her regional accent was so strong it was hard to understand.

The only thing I could interpret from this Korean-American teacher was something like “Oh my gosh.”

Is she foreseeing what’s about to come?

Actually, when I was called in earlier, the atmosphere was quite tense.

So now we had to face an investigation into today’s incident, plus questioning about unauthorized magic use.

A task we both had to overcome together.

Teacher Jackie took a deep breath.

Jacqueline Carroll, a young female teacher who looked like she was only in her late 20s. That was actually her real age too.

But according to the kids, she had quite a reputation as someone recognized for her abilities even within the Cephiron Foundation.

An elite among elites who graduated early from Cephiron Academy at seventeen, finished university at twenty, went to her homeland America, and earned a doctorate in education at twenty-six.

She first arrived last year and took charge of Class 4-C, and in her second year was officially appointed as Class A homeroom teacher, showing how much the foundation trusted her.

Jacqueline, who thought she would have a peaceful year, was struggling with how to handle this crisis when one of her students caused a major incident in the very first week of school.

“Didn’t I tell you that you can’t use magic at the academy without permission?”

“You told me on the first day.”

“Then why?”

“I was helping a friend.”

“Right, right. Now I hope you’ll make that point well to the Section Chief too.”

“Aren’t we going to see that official from earlier?”

Teacher Jackie knocked on the door next to where I had stopped.

“This is the Planning and Coordination Section Chief.”

“Usually when something like this happens, we meet with the grade head or vice principal.”

“So this has happened before? Well, this is an academy, get used to it.”

Knock knock

“Yes, come in.”

As we gently opened the door, a secretary greeted us.

The room had a double structure.

The interview room required opening another door after turning at an L-shaped corner.

In the freezing atmosphere, Teacher Jackie gave me one more word of advice.

“NoName.”

“Yes, teacher.”

“Whatever is said inside, just get used to it.”

Why are you being so scary?

The secretary personally opened the door for us. How kind of her.

“Section Chief Kim, I’ve brought Teacher Carroll from 2-A.”

“Ah, you’re here. Thank you for coming all this way.”

“It wasn’t particularly far.”

“Would you like some coffee? Or tea? There are plenty of tangerines on the table too, feel free to have some.”

“Just a glass of water please. My throat is dry. NoName, what would you like?”

“Water for me too.”

After Teacher Jackie’s polite refusal, Section Chief Kim (whose full name was Kim Yong-seong, judging by his nameplate) sat down across from us with a friendly smile.

His impeccable suit was enough to give the impression of a typical salaryman.

Is Teacher Jackie very nervous too?

The hand holding her water glass trembled slightly.

“I think you both know why I’ve called you here today. If not, I’d be very disappointed.”

“Yes, I understand well.”

“Nice to meet you too, student.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Section Chief Kim took out a file from his bag and handed it to the teacher.

Seems like he’s getting straight to the point.

“This is data collected from the academy’s simple mana measurement device. Can you see the result value at the bottom? 24,627kE.”

“Yes, I can see it clearly.”

“Of course you should.”

The teacher briefly closed her eyes.

Section Chief Kim took a deep breath.

“At least 2,000 dollars! 2,000 dollars! What on earth did you do to use so much mana like this? Are you crazy?!”

His scolding voice was really loud.

“24,627? Did you use a 4th circle spell? Looking at the mana graph, there are two peaks? What is this, a camel? Once wasn’t enough for you?”

“Section Chief Kim.”

“You’re a teacher, not a student! How dare you casually use intermediate magic?!”

“Section Chief Kim, please calm down a bit, there’s a student present.”

“Huff… You’d better explain yourself well, Teacher Carroll.”

“A student in our class was sick today.”

The teacher explained what happened this afternoon.

That a student had accidentally taken someone else’s medicine and had a seizure, and in the emergency situation, she had no choice but to use magic.

It seemed mixed with quite a bit of exaggeration and overstatement, but Teacher Jackie added flesh and bone to convey the urgency of the situation.

“Was that reason enough to use 4th circle magic?”

“I think there’s been a miscommunication from the administration office. You seem to be misunderstanding something. NoName.”

The teacher signaled to me.

Although we hadn’t rehearsed this beforehand, I could roughly guess what she intended.

“I was the one who used that magic.”

“What…?”

“A 3rd circle local anesthesia spell on 20 square centimeters and a 4th circle irreversible reduction spell.”

“There’s a limit to joking around…!”

“Would you like me to demonstrate right here?”

Since I wasn’t going to inject mana anyway, I didn’t need a casting medium.

I breathed on the glossy desk glass to make it foggy.

Like a child playing on a frosted windowsill, I drew a picture, but it was far beyond simple doodling.

“Wow…”

Teacher Jackie let out a small exclamation.

This is a 2,000 dollar, or 4 million won spell?

Since the academy would pay for it, I could perform this kind of demonstration several more times.

Meanwhile, Section Chief Kim frowned as if something displeased him.

Why are there so many people these days who look at me with such annoying eyes?

If that’s the case, I have my ways too.

“You don’t seem to believe me, so let me demonstrate once more right here.”

The reason glass is difficult to use as a casting surface is because you have to consider the reflections that form on the glass when recording reflection formulas.

Humans draw magic circles within the visible light range, so when light hits a smooth surface like glass, specular reflection occurs.

This would mess up the activation sequence of the magic circle. That’s why people use slates with high diffuse reflection rates or simple casting circle writers.

It was merely a significant flaw, not something in the realm of impossibility.

[4th Circle Reverse Transmission: Irrev…]

As I modified the formula and was about to inject all the mana, Section Chief Kim belatedly noticed and grabbed my wrist.

“What did you say your name was again?”

Of course he had to stop me.

Not if he didn’t want to waste another 4 million won.

* * *

“It’s been a while since such an outstanding talent entered the academy, haha!”

“Yes, haha… ha…”

Section Chief Kim couldn’t believe what he had seen with his own eyes.

A mere 2nd grade elementary student performing 4th circle magic, and not just homomorphic implementation but heteromorphic implementation!

How had such a talent only been discovered now?

He should have appeared on programs like “Genius Discovery” by now.

Well, Dr. Hwang Jeong-hun, who administered the transfer exam, wasn’t someone who would praise without reason. But this exceeded all expectations.

‘This is beyond the scope of a simple student level.’

Understanding of ‘image,’ spatial perception to implement it, extremely developed numerical ability to mentally calculate dozens of formulas, memory to arrange runes without hesitation, and observational skills too.

The person seemed born to use magic.

Historically, many prodigies shone briefly in childhood only to fade into the background of history.

And those who promoted development at the forefront of modern magic were always creative late bloomers of ordinary talent.

But wouldn’t a genius who transcends boundaries be different?

If they just continue to grow like this, Korea might finally produce a world-class theoretical magic scholar.

“Student, what kind of medicine did your friend take that you had to use anesthesia magic?”

“She accidentally drank my potion.”

“Potion…? You mean like what military mages drink?”

“You’re saying exactly what Professor Cheon said. Yes, that’s right.”

“Ah…”

Shocked by this news, Section Chief Kim covered his mouth with his hand.

Teacher Carroll tilted her head at his reaction.

‘This fool…! Being a homeroom teacher, does she not even understand what it means for someone to drink potions?!’

God is cruelly fair.

LK, a beloved national singer, recently confessed about his unfortunate childhood on the news,

And the idol Chena, who gained explosive popularity for his looks as Korea’s “millennium idol,” couldn’t overcome depression and committed suicide.

Such cases were common even in immediate surroundings.

Kim Yong-seong himself had spent his life envying his so-called perfect friend and rival Cheon Byong-ho, who seemed destined for a smooth life but became a wreck after losing his fiancée in the war.

For a child of this age to be taking potions—not like military mages who inject morphine shots—could only mean one thing.

An incurable disease.

And a terminal condition.

With a complicated expression, Section Chief Kim stood up.

[Teacher Jacqueline Carroll…? Regarding today’s incident, I won’t hold the student responsible for any payments and will handle it at my level. I’ll go ahead first, so feel free to leave when you’re finished.]

Since money matters were adult business, there was no need to discuss it in front of the student.

He whispered to NoName’s homeroom teacher that he wouldn’t hold the student responsible at all.

“NoName student… work hard at school.”

A life with talent and dreams but no hope or future—how tragic.

Section Chief Kim couldn’t shake off the unsettling feeling.

He thought that the least adults could do was to help this child in every way possible, at least while they attended the academy.

“Terminal illness, how truly sad.”

He continued muttering to himself as he left the interview room.

“Terminal illness…?”