Magician Marigold

12.

“Miss Mary is a bit…”

“A bit much, right?”

‘……?’

Lancel Dante was able to learn about the rumors surrounding Marigold through the freshmen of the Wizard Department.

Marigold. She was already a celebrity within the Wizard Department, known by everyone.

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———

[Fallen Noble Lady Simulation]

Creating the schedule for the first week of March.

Monday – Dormitory assignment. (Location: Academy Dormitory)

Tuesday – Introduction to Magic Affinity Studies. (Location: Lecture Room)

Wednesday – Magical Power Collision Experiment. (Location: Research Building)

Thursday – Light and Sphere Manipulation Training. (Location: Training Ground)

Friday – Magical Power Accumulation through Meditation. (Location: Garden)

Saturday – Dormitory deep cleaning. (Location: Academy Dormitory)

Sunday – Group outing. (Location: Academy Hunting Grounds)

※The day of entering the academy is approaching! Will it be possible? An Archmage who insults Knights……!

———

“Hello!”

Until she was assigned to the dormitory after entering the academy for the first time, Marigold’s life wasn’t so bad.

“Who is it?”

“I heard her name is Mary.”

If you had to pick one, she was closer to making a good impression.

Beautiful appearance with blonde hair, bright impression, a subtly pleasant wildflower scent when you get close, and constantly sparkling eyes like jewels made people fall for her.

“She’s pretty.”

“She’s a bit short, though.”

“How old is she?”

“Seventeen.”

“She is short.”

“I heard she’s Baron Jenis’s disciple.”

“Really?”

Although a commoner, she had a good teacher.

Although a commoner, she had refined manners.

Although she was a little shy and had a sulky expression, she quickly loosened up when you talked to her and created a comfortable atmosphere, etc.

Marigold was actually one of the most noticed people at the academy on the first day. In a good way.

“Yes. Wizards should get along. Until the day we all join forces to overthrow the Knights…”

“……?”

Except for occasionally blurting out strange things that embarrassed the people around her.

“Ah, anyway, let’s get along, Miss Mary.”

“Okay.”

The problem was the week of events that followed the next day.

-Tuesday.

-Introduction to Magic Affinity Studies.

“Magical Power truly begins from the phenomenon of different attributes intersecting, merging, and repelling each other. Carefully concentrate your Magical Power and observe the phenomenon when it collides. Very delicately and carefully…”

“P, Professor! Miss Mary!”

“Huh?”

It was then. Intense light and heat were seen emanating from Marigold’s hand.

The tangled Magical Power, like a skein of thread, gradually swelled and began to show ominous signs. The professor’s eyes widened.

“Evacuate! Evacuate!”

Kwaaaang-!

The place where the dull explosion swept through was a mess. Desks, chairs, and the floor turned into wooden fragments and swirled around.

It was an explosion caused by Marigold’s inability to control her Magical Power.

It was an incident that caused the professor and the academy students to evacuate, but did this really damage Marigold’s reputation?

No.

Not necessarily.

It often happened to academy students who were still unskilled in using Magical Power. Up to this point, it was passed off as a minor happening.

-Wednesday.

-Magical Power Collision Experiment.

“Professor! Miss Mary!”

“Mary! Reduce your Magic output! Quickly!”

“Ah, I can’t! It won’t decrease!”

“Damn it, everyone evacuate!”

“Again?”

Kwaaaang-!

Of course, there were some embarrassed reactions when the same thing happened two days in a row, but it was still okay.

Her classmates simply recognized Marigold as someone who was still unskilled in using Magic compared to her innate Magical Power talent.

“I’m sorry…”

“O, okay. It’s okay, Miss Mary.”

Because she apologized every time she caused a big accident.

It wasn’t easy to be cold to her when she kept bowing her head.

Only Marigold’s long blonde hair was badly scorched in the explosion, and the wavy curls became even stronger.

-Thursday.

-Light and Sphere Manipulation Training.

“Professor! Miss Mary got into a fight!”

“What? With whom?”

“With the trainees from the Knight Department…!”

“Oh no!”

The next day.

A fight broke out between Mary and a Knight who were using the Training Ground together.

“Why? Did I say something wrong? Weren’t you the ones who looked down on Magic first?”

“A commoner is talking back…”

Marigold’s collar was grabbed by a man from the Knight Department.

With a height difference of at least 40cm, it looked like her heels would fall off the ground at any moment, but there was no retreat in her expression.

“Say what you said again.”

“Do you want to hear it again? I said it’s absurd for Knights who only know how to build muscle to laugh at Magic.”

“W, what?”

“Unlike swordsmanship, which only requires repeating two tasks, holding a sword and swinging it, Magic is a much more complex and high-dimensional field of study.”

“…I’m asking if that’s how a commoner should speak in front of a noble! There’s a limit to how much insult I can tolerate!”

“Act like a noble if you’re a noble. Who was the one who started the fight by saying that Wizards are weak and can be subdued with one punch?”

“Are you done, brat? You’ve insulted both Knights and nobles at the same time! I’m a noble! Unlike you, I’m a noble! From the prestigious Sorelis family…!”

“Should I say more?”

“Come out! Come out here!”

“Hmph!”

Magical Power rose from Marigold’s body as her collar was grabbed.

“Stop, stop!”

“I’m trying to talk it out!”

The next moment, a punch was exchanged between Marigold and the Knight.

“Keaeng!”

A large red bruise remained on Marigold’s face.

She was helpless because the punch flew before the Magic could be activated.

“She lost.”

“Miss Mary lost.”

In the end, both departments were punished, and all lunch and snacks were confiscated that day.

Of course, even this was not a decisive reason for Marigold’s reputation to plummet.

The real problem happened the next day.

13.

“Nightmare?”

“Yes, a nightmare.”

Lancel heard unexpected words from the Wizard Department freshmen.

“Nightmares spread throughout the dormitory. So much that I couldn’t sleep a wink all weekend… Ugh.”

A Wizard Department freshman shuddered, as if the thought alone made her tremble.

‘Having nightmares?’

The content of the dreams varied from person to person, but there was only one thing in common.

It was activated the moment Marigold fell asleep. It lasted until Marigold woke up.

All the commoner Wizards who used the same dormitory as her had to suffer the same phenomenon.

“I know it’s a nightmare, but I can’t wake up, and even if I want to run away, something keeps chasing me…”

“Hiiiik!”

They showed reactions like trauma.

Humans become sensitive even if they only stay up one night, so if they experienced something similar for several days, even Lancel wouldn’t be happy.

“That was Miss Mary’s doing?”

“Yes. That’s what was determined. I heard it was because of the meditation she learned on Friday…”

Meditation.

“It’s a simple training method to concentrate and gather Magical Power around the body, and I heard that Miss Mary practiced this every night. If you only say this, it sounds like a diligent Wizard… But unfortunately, that…”

“Caused a nightmare.”

“Yes. The professors said that the Magical Power that Miss Mary gathered through meditation may have worked as something, a high-level Mental Magic…”

If that was a talent, it was a talent.

“Hmm.”

In the end, Marigold became an outcast through the process of that week.

Commoner, orphan, Jenis’s disciple, a newbie who just entered Magic, a pretty-faced brat, someone who’s uncomfortable to be around, an apprentice Wizard who constantly brings accidents, a woman who brings nightmares…

All of this was the perception that arose in just one week.

There were even rumors that she was being directly bullied because she was disliked by the Knight Department.

Considering that she was picking up things that had been thrown into the pond, that rumor was probably true.

If it was possible to ruin academy life as much as possible in just one week, this would be the form.

‘Marigold is isolated.’

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“It is the completion of a world where no one is hurt.”

“No. It’s all your fault.”

Lancel replied, looking at the girl whose hair had become curly.

“……Hic……”

Marigold buried her face in her knees.

“That’s right. It’s all my fault. I’m just a troublemaker who knows how to use Magic. When I heard that Lancel was coming as a temporary professor, I wanted to see you again in a cool way, but I ruined everything.”

“Pull yourself together.”

“Ouch!”

It was Lancel who took the leaves off the top of Marigold’s head.

“Hmm.”

Lancel picked up Marigold’s sandwich that had been placed on the floor. It was the food she carried around because she started avoiding going to the cafeteria.

‘What should I do with this?’

Lancel pondered as he took a bite of the sandwich.

“Ah, my lunch…!”

“Want a bite?”

“……It’s okay.”

Marigold buried her face in her knees again.

‘Well, it seems certain that she has the talent to become an Archmage.’

Yes.

Just meditating caused widespread Mental Magic.

Even if the result was a nightmare commotion, Marigold’s Magic talent itself was real.

==========

—Air is not your friend, Marigold! If you can’t make friends in the future, your three years at the academy will be dark!

※Status abnormality ‘Loneliness’ occurs. She wants to die after Lancel Dante caught her looking pathetic. Marigold’s dignity, sensibility, morality, and faith decrease. Condition decreases significantly.

==========

‘Isn’t this dangerous?’

This is not good.

If Marigold was left in this state, the story might flow strangely again.

Especially if it directly affects her stats, the worst ending might be waiting for her.

Yes.

For example, her condition.

Lancel already knew very well what would happen when Marigold’s condition dropped below single digits.

An ending that could be counted among the worst three endings in the game.

‘I have to avoid that ending!’

A special measure was needed.

“Mary, from today onwards, your goal isn’t 100 friends, but the goddess of the Wizard Department. Got it?”

“Yes?”

Lancel immediately set off.

“Lancel? No, Professor Lancel?”

In his hand as he left was the sandwich Marigold was eating.

A hollow rumbling followed him.

“So, what Lord Lancel is saying is that he wants to involve the Wizard Department in the Knight Department’s training?”

“You understand correctly.”

Training that teaches Knights and Wizards in one place.

The Knight Department professors were dumbfounded by the proposal Lancel brought.

“Isn’t this… just putting Knights and Wizards against each other?”

“Growth begins with competition and discord.”

“Talk sense. The problem is that they already have a bad relationship with each other, and this is just adding fuel to the fire.”

‘Sharp, aren’t they?’

That was exactly the intention.