Ch.7672 – Model Magic Circle

After the first period ended, the kids were busy running around looking for partners for the upcoming assessment.

Si-hoo and Seo-ri were undeniably popular among both boys and girls.

“This is so unfair! How is this allowed…?”

“Well, you should have formed groups before us.”

“Sorry Si-hoo! I just need to borrow your seat for this class.”

I had already promised to pair with Yu-na, so I shooed Si-hoo away and had Yu-na sit next to me.

Yu-na seemed quite anxious though, as she kept shaking her leg even after sitting down.

“Nervous?”

“Yeah, a little…”

“Magic is fun. You don’t need to be so tense.”

“I wish I could think like you, NoName.”

Though the assessment wasn’t heavily weighted, it still affected the semester grades.

Yu-na’s obsession with grades had been constraining her for a long time, and even though her situation had improved, such habits couldn’t disappear overnight.

I had promised her mother I’d help Yu-na enjoy school life, so this was something we could work on gradually.

“Hey, stop biting your nails.”

“Sorry. But isn’t the classroom a bit cold?”

Now she was even shivering, her body trembling.

This is just too pitiful.

It seems like the time has come to bring out my secret weapon.

“Yu-na, turn to face right for a moment.”

“Huh? Like this?”

Yu-na followed my instructions without knowing what I was planning to do.

Occasionally, she would glance back curiously.

An item that might be too early for elementary students but is essential for middle schoolers.

The so-called “tail comb.”

“From now on, your hair belongs to me.”

“What does that mean?”

“Don’t turn your head and keep looking forward. Don’t move.”

“Eek!”

Before combing through her entire hair, I started by gently untangling the knotted parts.

Yu-na’s hair wasn’t very thick, so it untangled easily with just a light stroke.

“You should only comb dry hair like this. Combing right after washing is bad for your hair and scalp.”

“Really? I always comb while drying my hair!”

I placed the tail comb at the nape of her neck.

Starting from the nape and moving up to the crown, I untangled the red threads against the direction of her hair.

“How does it feel? Refreshing, right? Combing upward from bottom to top helps remove dust and dead skin cells from the scalp.”

“Ooh, that’s interesting. Is combing straight down bad for you?”

“Starting from the crown stimulates the sebaceous glands too much, which could lead to hair loss later.”

“I don’t want to lose my hair…!”

As I continued combing, the tension in Yu-na’s shoulders gradually released.

It was a sign that she was feeling comfortable.

I carefully combed the side hair that could easily be missed, and finally stood up to style her bangs into the trendy see-through bangs.

Without a hair roller, I couldn’t achieve the perfect shape I wanted, but as they say, “make do with what you have,” so I rolled up Yu-na’s hair using several pencils stacked together.

[Minor Casting: Heat Transfer]

I used a small magic circle to set her hair at an appropriately high temperature, being careful not to get caught by the teacher.

“All done. Want to look in the mirror?”

I took Yu-na to the full-length mirror at the back of the classroom.

Her eyes widened to the size of marbles.

“Wow! It’s so pretty! I look like a princess.”

Of course she’d be amazed. My skills have been praised even by the picky imperial princesses.

Yu-na was afraid to touch her bangs that I had worked so hard on, and just stared intently at the mirror.

“Should I do this for you every morning from now on?”

“Really? No, no, wouldn’t that be too much trouble for you, NoName?”

“Not at all, I want to do it. I enjoy combing your hair.”

I meant it sincerely.

Combing should ideally be done 50 to 100 strokes, taking about 5 minutes.

Add another 5 minutes for styling, and that’s a total of 10 minutes.

That means I could have 10 fulfilling minutes of mental peace every day from now on.

I had a nightmare earlier and was in a bad mood, but seeing Yu-na’s cute, beaming face relieved all my stress.

“Then should I do yours too? I’ll comb NoName’s hair!”

“…I’m good.”

“Why not…?”

“My hair is too long. I think it’s better if I do it myself with magic.”

Though I felt bad for Yu-na who looked disappointed, allowing someone to touch my hair was a bit difficult for me.

* * *

The much-anticipated assessment time arrived.

The teacher distributed 10 sets of model magic circle kits to the 20 students paired in groups of two.

They looked like ordinary magic boxes on the outside.

However, each box had a different color, so the kids were all eager to get the color they wanted.

The contents would be the same anyway, so I didn’t understand why it mattered so much.

Children’s minds can be difficult to understand sometimes.

“Since each set is different, remember what color you received so you don’t get confused, okay everyone?”

“Yes!”

“If you think you might forget, write it down on your desk or notebook. Now I’ll hand them out one by one, and you can open them and start experimenting.”

The teacher walked between the desks, distributing the colors the children wanted.

“NoName, what color do you want to choose?”

“I don’t really care either way.”

“Just pick one!”

“Then… red?”

“Is red really okay?”

I just answered with any color, but Yu-na asked with concern.

“What’s wrong with red?”

“Well, nobody likes bright red. It’s not very pretty either…”

“Your hair is red too, isn’t it? I like this color.”

It’s not like hair color determines someone’s character.

But my words made Yu-na’s lips curl upward.

“My hair isn’t weird, right? Really really really? Last year, everyone in my class asked why I always dyed my hair red and nobody liked it… They wouldn’t believe it was natural.”

“I used to be blonde once, so I can tell you that lighter colors suit people with fair skin better.”

“Blonde? You dyed your hair before?”

“Something like that, I guess?”

“Kids, can you hurry and choose? I need to distribute to the other students too!”

Teacher Jackie interrupted our chat, so we had to quickly choose from the remaining four boxes.

Unfortunately, the red one had already been taken by Si-hoo’s group.

As a second choice, we picked the black box, which matched my hair color.

“Ugh, I hope we get an easy magic circle. Do you know how to use model magic circles, NoName?”

“The teacher just explained it.”

“No, I tried a few times last year and it’s harder than you think. Sometimes even if you place the box correctly, the numbers don’t show up properly.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Sometimes even when you activate the magic circle correctly, it only shows zeros. Let me demonstrate first!”

Like a child excitedly explaining what they learned at school to their parents, Yu-na was thrilled as she opened the box.

Despite saying she was nervous before the assessment, seeing her enjoy it like this showed that magic really suited her aptitude.

“Hmm… where should we start? Everything looks so complicated. Let’s try the smallest one first?”

Up close, the model magic circle looked like a dull teal-colored disk.

The disk, reminiscent of the Nebra Sky Disk, had sparkling crystals embedded throughout.

All five disks had diameters between 20cm and 40cm, and as the teacher mentioned, each had a red button in the center that somehow made you want to press it.

Yu-na took a short deep breath and pressed the button to activate the magic circle.

With the rattling sound of gears, the teal cover that concealed the front of the disk was absorbed into the sides and disappeared.

The disk truly lived up to its name as a “model magic circle,” taking its proper form.

There was another circle inside the main circle, making this a 2-circle magic.

The rune characters engraved in the four cardinal directions were effectively serving as fuel for the magic circle circuit.

“Wow… I really don’t understand any of this. What should we do? Should I just inject mana anywhere?”

“Yeah, want to try?”

“Alright…! I’ll start with 10kE from the north.”

“Will that be enough?”

“Should I use more?”

For a 2-circle magic, the appropriate amount would be around 100kE.

I shouldn’t keep giving away answers so easily, but I can’t help myself.

Like trying to hold back the urge to spoil the ending of a movie when watching with a niece or nephew, I made a suggestion to Yu-na.

“Let’s increase the output a bit.”

“Okay! Then I’ll start with 50kE, trusting your word?”

Yu-na closed her eyes to read the world’s mana flow.

To understand how she handles mana, I also closed my eyes to concentrate my senses.

Waves of mana were rippling through the world.

Yu-na placed her hand into those waves.

Just as humans cannot control the constantly incoming waves at a beach, it’s impossible for a weak human to change the mana flow.

But one can utilize the waves.

By surrendering oneself to the waves on a surfboard.

All humans could do was ride the board and brush the waves with their hands, but even that was enough for individuals.

And those who conquered all waves were respectfully called “Great Sages.”

Beep-

[0.3]

“Whew, how did it turn out?”

Meanwhile, Yu-na seemed to still be a novice surfer with a long way to go.