episode_0090

After a while, we were once again standing in a different place from the usual training grounds. However, the feelings I had then and the feelings I had now were quite different. At that time, I felt like I was wondering what on earth this crazy dean was thinking, but now I felt quite positive. The biggest thing was probably curiosity, right?

I held Agnes’ hand tightly and we sat at the front of the line together. Of course, the students behind me might have had their view somewhat limited because of Yugram, who was sticking to me like a shadow, but that wasn’t my problem. Agnes also didn’t hide her curiosity.

“I guess it’s the same for most people, but this is my first time seeing a wizard.. Now that I think about it, I guess they probably won’t be all that different on the outside anyway..”

“Well, even people who are usually a bit strange would probably act normally in a place like this.”

While we were talking about this and that with Annies, the commotion grew louder. It seemed that the magicians had arrived. We naturally stopped talking and looked up at the stage, and then we realized that our thoughts were short. In such an official setting, where we were greeting many people, we naturally had to save face a little more than usual, and in any case, our common sense was that we should act this way or that way.

I learned, shockingly, that such conventional wisdom is completely meaningless in the face of magicians.

First of all, the most noticeable thing was his huge chest. To be exact, his chest muscles. A man with a body that was barely as tall as other wizards’ foreheads, his lower body was covered with a short… what should I call it? A skirt? Or some kind of armor? Anyway, he was walking slowly, half naked, with no other clothing on at all.

Professor Bearclaw, who was standing behind the stage, was looking at the wizard with hot eyes, and it was obvious that he was measuring the wizard’s muscle strength. I don’t know what muscle strength is, though.

Every time the man stepped onto the stage, a thump, thump sound echoed, and the swollen muscles that filled his entire body throbbed uncontrollably. If we were to judge with an aesthetic eye, that body, which had been created through tremendous hardship, would definitely be considered extremely beautiful. There were many children, not only girls but also men, who looked at the magician with exclamations. Of course, I don’t know why he would do that in this place, which was supposed to be their welcome party, in this weather that was still chilly even though it was spring.

But if you ask me what was the weirdest thing about this muscular man, it wasn’t. The guy was just so huge that he stood out, but if you look at it another way, there wasn’t anything particularly strange about him other than the fact that he was naked. Of course, that was pretty weird, but…

First of all, there was a woman following closely behind that muscular man. Her long hair was messy and slightly curly, as if she hadn’t taken care of it properly, and she had a slightly unpleasant smile on her face, even though it might be rude to say this. If she took care of it properly, she would be quite pretty, but her hunched posture and the dark circles under her eyes were extremely distracting.

The woman was wearing what seemed to be a neatly tailored robe, but that wasn’t what made her stand out. She was constantly moving her hands, moving a piece of wood in her hands to keep moving a doll connected by strings. If it had been that far, it would have been enough to say that she liked dolls.

From the two dolls, which looked like they were simply made to resemble people, a bright red liquid kept dripping. I, and anyone who saw the dolls, would have thought the same thing as soon as they saw them, and I thought it couldn’t be true, but… no matter where you looked, it was a liquid close to blood. As the woman walked, the liquid fell to the floor and stained her robe.

In addition, there were many magicians who each performed their own eccentric acts. Some of them were walking normally with no special appearance at all, but they felt even scarier. Well, the two men in front of me were lying on the ground with one foot raised like a tail and crawling, and the woman who covered her body with many birds instead of clothes and walked, so I could tell right away that they were problematic people.

In the midst of such chaos, quite a few wizards came up to the stage, and a handsome middle-aged man who seemed to be in charge stood in front of them with an unconcealed annoyance showing between his eyebrows. It seemed that the man was a strange wizard who was a little less obvious, or perhaps a person who could be called a common person among wizards, and was given the role of leading those crazy… no, crazy people. It was truly a pitiful appointment.

The old man calmly opened his mouth and began to explain. The history of the Academy, the Magic Tower, and so on. There is a Magic Tower here too. Is this a place where crazy people like that gather and hang out? If that were the case, then even normal people would soon change their minds to think that kind of thing is normal, so it was a moment when it was easy to understand why there were no normal people among magicians.

Anyway, after some time of gilding each other’s positions and reputations with conventional comments, the magicians focused their research and efforts on refining their new environment or finding sponsors, and there was a request to the civil school to provide ideas on the origins and improvements of any magic that could be used or utilized in real life and work environments, as well as the knight school that used magic in battle.

The speech was long, but anyway, I guess it’s just a matter of getting along. Honestly, looking at those wizards, it seems like they won’t have any meaningful and potential exchanges like that cool middle-aged man said, and it would be fortunate if they don’t end up fighting each other with swords.

After such greetings, the wizards slowly started to leave the stage. The students gave them a formal applause. The old man’s long speech felt incredibly short as they were admiring the unique appearances of the wizards. He pulled Agnes’s arm, who had a somewhat tired expression, and signaled that they should leave now.

..For some reason, I have a feeling that the woman holding the doll in her hand is staring at me intently as she walks down the podium. Am I imagining this?

.

.

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“Princess.. That..”

“Don’t say anything.”

I lifted the teacup to my lips with slightly trembling hands, then sighed and put it down. Agnes, Aila, Mathias, and even Cosette were all watching me. What on earth was going on? It was because the magician was staring at me from a distance without any intention of hiding his appearance.

As if the gaze I had felt earlier was not an illusion, she had started following me since some time ago while I was coming to this empty space where I always rest with my group. I glanced at the woman. She was still smiling with her mouth wide open and an eerie grin on her face, constantly moving the doll. Her robe, which was almost gray, was already soaked and dried with something that looked like blood, making it hard to see. I sighed and said.

“I don’t know your name, but are you a wizard over there? Would you please come this way?”

“Hehe.. Hehe.. Me, me?”

The wizard came running towards me with a slightly excited expression. It may be a bit strange to say this, but even though it was our first time meeting, I could clearly guess the friendships of this wizard. I thought he probably didn’t have any friends. But I don’t have many friends to think like that. I should reflect on myself. No, wait, put the doll away!

“No, wait a minute. The doll… There’s blood splattering!”

“Heh.. hehe.. Th, that.. This is actually.. Th.. It’s not blood, it’s blood.. It’s a magic I made.. Heh..”

“No matter if it’s magic or not, it’s on my clothes!”

The wizard came up to me and moved the doll so hard that the blood that fell on the floor or splattered around me reached me. I was dumbfounded when I saw the blood starting to stain my academy uniform, and I saw a strong expression of annoyance on Yugram’s face. Come to think of it, it’s Yugram who does the laundry anyway, not me, so it doesn’t matter?

“Hey.. Then.. Well, I’ll stop.”

As soon as the wizard said that, the magic moved strangely, and then the blood that was seeping out of the doll suddenly stopped. That was understandable, but even the blood stains on my uniform, the blood on the floor and the table, and even the robe of the wizard that looked like it had been washed in blood had returned to its original color. It was so fluffy, as if it had ever gotten wet, that I wondered if I had been dreaming just a moment ago.

“..What was that just now..?”

“Hee.. Heehee.. I, I made.. That.. magic.. When you move the doll.. Hee.. If blood comes out.. Isn’t it pretty? Heehee.. That’s why I worked hard on it.. Heehee..”

The magician continued his explanation, his mouth twitching and his laughter occasionally cracking up into a very annoying laugh. What I was curious about in the first place was how the blood on clothes could disappear in an instant, not because you think it’s pretty when blood comes out of a doll.

Even though the bleeding had stopped, her hands still moved the doll, and I began to seriously contemplate whether I should continue my conversation with this sorcerer.