episode_0042

General magic lectures were held at the training center again today. It seemed like I was more familiar with magic than I thought, and the whispering magic that the professor taught me was successful right away, and just as I was wondering what to do now, I heard Ceresria’s voice in my ear.

“I heard from the knights that yesterday all the cores of the deceased disappeared, but something else appeared.”

“There was a door where curses gathered, and we are trying to figure out what was inside. I heard that unless you are a human who is immune to the curse, you will probably lose your life. But is it okay to say this?”

“Everyone around you is concentrating anyway, so you probably won’t pay attention to this one, or should I use whisper magic to convey it?”

“… … Well, since that’s what Ceresria is saying, don’t worry, but you never know. If a friend like Aaron hears this conversation and starts a rumor.”

“Is there anything strange about the rumors? Any student attending Ignolia will know the truth to some extent, and there are already students at this academy who have become friends with the knights. It is better to release this level of information, because the stronger the fear, the more people shrink. I need to know at least some light information.”

“So the seniors gave Sharon permission to go out, saying that if Sharon spends more time alone, spies will target her.”

“It’s a dangerous method, that is.”

“I and Isabel have familiars, but… … It must be difficult.”

At that moment, Sharon approached me, leaned back against the wall with a smile, and spoke.

“Still, if Astan is with me, wouldn’t it be possible to tie up the spy?”

“They call it arrogance when they see things like that. It’s too hasty to judge it when they don’t know the exact skills of the spy. hmm… … Shall I go with you?”

“If Ceresria comes to Ignolia, wouldn’t assassins as well as spies be attracted?”

Celestria laughed at my answer, and Sharon also laughed softly.

“It’s worth doing when you see that Astan broke the spy’s doll.”

“You’d better be careful. But if you need me, call me anytime. Perhaps because of my status, I don’t need permission to go out.”

“Royalty is amazing.”

“That’s because they are royalty.”

“If it weren’t for me, the knights wouldn’t have come to Ignolia?”

We nodded slightly at what Ceresria said. It was a natural story. It is said that a spy from the Demon King’s army has appeared where the princess of a country goes, but there are no parents or king who can handle the matter slowly. Ironically, I thought I was lucky. If the Knights of Araelia had not come, they would have had to use the Academy’s wizard and Ignolia’s guards to find the spy, but of course it would have been difficult.

“We won’t be able to have lunch together today, we have a meeting.”

“Wasn’t Ceresria always like that?”

“Because it is a gathering of nobles of Araelia, it is difficult not to participate.”

“It’s not necessary, but you should think about the future. There are more places in this place that require attention than you might think.”

“Who is the noble Sharon?”

Sharon shrugged her shoulders at my question.

“I am not the person to take over as the head of the family, so my older brother will take care of that.”

“As a commoner, I cannot understand this story.”

“To become the head of a family, there is a lot more work to be done than you think. You have to learn how to manage the estate, participate in banquets to build friendships with other nobles, send gifts, and do many other things.◦# ◦

“For royals, it gets even worse than that.”

“Just thinking about it makes my head spin, so I won’t ask.”

Celestria and Sharon smiled at my words, and Sharon left, saying she would go to practice again, and I looked at Celestria.

“Ceresria.”

“It looks like you have a favor to ask.”

“If there is a chance, could I ask the knights to patrol the road leading to Ignolia and the Academy?”

“Although I am their superior, it is up to the knight commander to make judgments about the situation. Let me say something.”

“I believe.”

“Don’t trust me, because I’m not good at repaying trust.”

As I laughed a little at those words, Ceresria looked at me with slightly sharp eyes.

“Why are you smiling?”

“Ceresria has never betrayed my trust.”

“… … That’s good, but don’t believe that, because I’m not a perfect human being either.”

“I will remember.”

Celestria finished speaking and walked somewhere, and seeing her, I started practicing magic alone. However, since I couldn’t practice ice magic here, I was just practicing putting mana in a glass bottle. The lecture ended and I packed up my things and moved to the restaurant.

While I was walking to the restaurant, Sharon approached me and started walking to the restaurant with me. As I was walking toward the restaurant, holding the curse detection tool in my hand, I stopped in the same hallway as Sharon.

“The detection tool was shaking here yesterday too.”

“Is there something on the wall? There is nothing beyond this.”

“Isn’t there some hidden magic?”

“I’m curious?”

“Nowadays, there are too many eyes. And are you planning on breaking the wall?”

“Wouldn’t it be okay to pay a little bit?”

“It would be faster for Senior Leonard to find you.”

Sharon laughed at my answer, touched the wall with her hand, and then opened her mouth to me.

“It seems like it would be easy to break it, right?”

“What about recovery?”

“Hmm… … I didn’t think about that.”

“Let’s go get lunch, I’m hungry.”

“Okay.”

I walked back to the restaurant with Sharon. I don’t know what’s on the other side of the wall, but the academy is such a dangerous place that there’s no reason to check. If I ever get the chance… … Should I ask my seniors?

As I was waiting for Sharon at the main gate to go to Ignolia after the afternoon lecture, senior Arkadin, who was guarding the main gate, spoke to me.

“The rumor is that you are a rebel.”

“Do you believe the rumors?”

“Well, none of the kids Erica takes around are normal… … It may seem that way, but it doesn’t look as strong as rumored.”

“Compared to my seniors, my skills are far short of that.”

“My story is that I don’t seem to be that special among first graders. Well, I guess it’s worth it since I’m being compared to the Flame Princess, but even among fifth graders, I’m the weakest, so I might empathize with that feeling a little.”

“Erica said that she is still as strong as Arkadin.”

“It may be true in terms of the magicians’ skills, but this academy’s standard is different, and it is not a good idea to play with martial arts performance in any way, but if it goes into actual combat… … Well, am I still the weakest? Being around people who are too strong doesn’t feel as good as I thought.”

“I also sympathize with that feeling, because there are embodies of light and even a flame princess around me.”

Senior Arkadin laughed out loud at my answer.

“You were a bolder junior than I thought? At the student meeting, I thought I was a naive student. I said it was Astan.”

“Yes, senior.”

“Learning magic from Erica will be helpful, but it will be difficult to grow quickly. I’m saying this because I learned magic from Erica, but I really want to get stronger quickly, and if there’s something I want, it’s better to push myself to the limit at least once.”

“Will such a moment ever come to me?”

“I’m not talking about the limit of mana, but the limit of life, so it’s probably still difficult… … If you get the chance in the future, it’s a good idea to go on a trip, because traveling is essential for a wizard.”

“I will keep this in mind.”

“Well, there are kids whose skills grow quickly without that, but those kids are geniuses. People who are not geniuses must catch up with geniuses in other ways.”

I slowly nodded amidst the strangely similar words. If you were to go on a trip, where would you like to go, Photon? I wanted to go somewhere other than Araelia. And preferably… … I wanted to see the sea.

Since coming to this world, I have never seen the sea.

“Sorry for being late. Getting permission to leave is more difficult than I thought.”

“I didn’t have to wait too long, let’s go quickly.”

“Then I’ll be back, senior.”

When I greeted Sharon with Senior Arkadin, Senior Arkadin waved his hand to see us off as if he was annoyed, and we quickly walked through the main gate to Ignolia.

“I’m excited to go to Ignolia at this time because I’m not used to it.”

“It’s my daily life now, so I don’t have that kind of excitement.”

“No one has a good commute to work, and the same goes for the route to attend a banquet.”

“It’s a banquet, so I’d like to go.”

“When the academy vacation begins, I will invite you to Photon’s banquet.”

“Can citizens of Araelia go?”

“You’re a guest of the Tyrk family, so you won’t ignore me, right? And after all, you are now the wizard of the Academy. Those who belong to the academy do not belong anywhere, not commoners, nobles, or royals.”

“That’s the most ironic thing.”

Sharon smiled brightly at my answer. And what am I going to do at the banquet? I don’t know how to dance, I have no ties to nobles, and I don’t even know the etiquette of nobles. I have no intention of going and becoming a joke.

With that in mind, I crossed Ignolia’s gate and entered the main road leading to the tavern, where knights were patrolling. When I saw Senior Andris standing in front of the knight’s parade, I felt that he was something dependable.

When we entered the bar with Sharon, Toa looked at us and smiled and opened her mouth.

“They say that a handsome guy’s friend is a handsome guy, so he’s your friend, right?”

“Yes, this is Lady Toa, the owner of the tavern.”

“My name is Sharon Tyrk, and I am a first year student at the academy. Although I am not good enough, I will do my best.”

“Astan will teach you well… … Well, if you don’t know something, ask.”

“Yes, Aunt Toa.”

Sharon smiled at Aunt Toa, and Aunt Toa chuckled.

“Just by looking at him, he can’t help but be a nobleman who is sly and cute.”

“I will take this as a compliment.”

“I heard he was Astan’s friend, so I thought he would be a more normal guy, but then a handsome and strange guy came.”

At those words, I looked at Sharon and laughed out loud.