Episode 23: Truth and Responsibility (1)
The crowd was raising both arms to cheer.
Among them, red hair fluttered.
Thud!
The Principal, who had leaped down into the arena, strode across it with thunderous steps.
Despite the considerable height, her steps were unhindered.
"Wh-what? What's Mana Burn?"
"Was the Principal watching too?"
"What's going on?"
With the Principal's appearance, the stands fell silent.
By the time the bloodied Jii and urgent medical personnel came into view, heavy silence had fallen over what should have been a place celebrating the winner.
Only then did they realize what had happened.
"Which brat used Mana Burn? Jii? Or this runt?"
A fiery red-hot gaze was directed.
At Luere, focused on treatment, and Sid with a hardened expression.
And Haemonde, standing blankly, came into the Principal's sight.
Haemonde, looking around in confusion, awkwardly scratched his head.
"Uh, hahaha… about that?"
"Shut your mouth, fool! You're out!"
"Hurk…."
Haemonde closed his mouth under her fiercely glaring golden eyes.
With her noisy entrance, Eirena headed to the center of the incident.
Seeing Jii, who had barely caught his breath, and Sid with his right arm shattered, her expression hardened.
"Was it you?"
"I'm sorry…."
Under Eirena's fierce threat, Sid hung his head.
In truth, there was nothing else a fifteen-year-old boy could do.
"Haah…."
Eirena examined the boy with the hardened expression.
Jii's condition was severe, but Sid's right arm was ruined as well.
The Principal knelt on the spot and grabbed Sid's arm.
"Urk!"
"Hold still. This will hurt you too."
Crick, crack!
Following Eirena's mana, the crushed arm returned to its place.
Soon the medical team Ri had brought moved the collapsed Jii, and Ri with an anxious expression followed after them.
Through their brief eye contact, his complicated emotions could be felt.
"I'm sorry, Teacher."
"What is this! Haah…. It's fine. Don't worry."
Ri swallowed his boiling emotions.
It was an accident during the duel; he couldn't get angry at Sid.
He disappeared from the arena following his bloodied younger brother.
Afterwards, Luere, covered in blood, also sat down with a sigh of relief.
Dark red blood had clotted on his previously neat arms and vest.
"Phew…."
As the brief commotion ended, the students gathered in the arena also dispersed.
Ignoring the order to disperse, only the Wayne siblings came down.
Once the brief tidying was done, Eirena glared at Sid.
How many accidents had it been since he enrolled in the Academy…….
"Speak. Where did you learn it? Who said it was okay to learn something like that?"
"I… that's…."
Sid couldn't continue.
His pounding heart was conscious of the Passbook.
But the words that the 'magic tool that stores mana' had told him to learn it wouldn't leave his mouth.
When the awaited answer didn't come, the Principal's expression turned fierce.
Her already atrocious temper escalated to cursing.
"I'm asking you! Where did you learn Mana Burn! Do you think Mana Burn is some toy like Fireball or Bolt magic? Do you think it's magic brats like you can use? You cowardly little bastard, I'll—!"
"I-it was in the library!"
A loud voice cut through the torrent of abuse.
It was Reiya, who normally never raised her voice.
At this sound, not only Eirena, but Sid, Luere, and Reyr's gazes all focused on her.
'Huh!'
As burning gazes focused on her, Reiya lowered her head.
For her, always timid, such attention was close to terror.
But unable to help Sid this way, the girl mustered her courage.
"It was in the library. I was the one who found it…."
"Sis?"
"What?"
At the threat that stung her skin, Reiya swallowed her tears.
Students and even teachers avoided the Principal…….
It was a hard thing for cowardly Reiya to endure.
"I… that's…."
Even so, Reiya didn't back down.
Her small eyes trembled as if she would burst into tears at any moment, and the Principal's gaze looked as if it would swallow the girl whole.
Fwoosh!
And what appeared was a portal spell.
From the portal appearing in the air, Reiya pulled out a Mana Burn book and held it out.
Seeing the cover made of old iron hide, Eirena and Luere's expressions hardened.
"Here… in the library……. It's my fault for finding it…."
The cowardly girl's courageous defense continued.
At the fact that the unexpected book actually existed, the Principal's expression changed as well.
Soon Luere took the book and examined it.
As Reiya had said, it was clearly a Mana Burn book.
"It is indeed a Mana Burn book. I didn't know such an item existed……. Perhaps a graduate left it behind. I'm sorry for not checking beforehand."
"Phew… no, Luere. How could this be your fault."
Unlike with Haemonde, it couldn't help but be a gentle reaction.
Perhaps it was her nature to hurl curses at those who shirked responsibility and grant forgiveness to those who shouldered it.
Anyway, the boy with his head lowered came into the Principal's eyes, now that she knew the source of the Mana Burn.
But no fiery scolding erupted.
"Haah… I'm going crazy…."
How could she get angry at a boy who was sincerely reproaching himself.
The protective necklace he had prepared seemed broken already, and if even his robe had burned, one could guess the intensity of the duel.
When she even saw the scroll fragment Luere held out, she bit her lip.
It was the result of an uncontrolled duel as well as several unexpected accidents tangled together.
"It seems he prepared Explosion Scrolls. Once in the middle, and once when the necklace broke. Considering Jii's skill, it wouldn't be his own magic, would it."
"Hmph. Obvious without looking. Their family head must have prepared them. Sealing his own magic into them, finishing off a student or two would be nothing. He even stepped up himself when filing the complaint. I see, the deficient bastard."
Eirena snorted.
The scrolls Jii had were clearly prepared by his father.
Nothing was as ridiculous as an adult intervening in a children's fight, but thinking of how he had sent a complaint immediately after finishing his investigation, it wasn't strange.
"Haah… what am I going to do about this."
The Principal paced in place for a while.
Soon her anger was directed at Haemonde Fredog.
"Haemonde."
"Y… yes? Yes! Principal!"
The fidgeting man approached.
The man who was responsible for this duel but hadn't taken responsibility even once.
His flabby belly trembling, his forehead was soaked with sweat.
Eirena shot him a sharp look.
"What is the role of a referee? Shouldn't you stop them when two students are in danger?"
"Oh dear, that's, you see? Haha, I…."
"Didn't you volunteer? I understand you stepped up because you're the first-year homeroom teacher, when originally Luere was supposed to take it. What is this mess?"
The atmosphere grew cold at the venomous words delivered with formal courtesy.
It was common knowledge that when a foul-tempered person grows calm, it becomes even scarier.
But perhaps unable to read the atmosphere, his excuses continued.
"No, I… haha. The dust was thick while they fought, so wouldn't it be hard for me to check every single thing? So I was doing my best, haha!"
"Very well. Don't come in from tomorrow. You're fired."
"Y… yes? No, Principal! How is this my fault! Accidents can happen between students… Eeeek!!!"
Fwoosh!
The man making excuses floated up into the air and disappeared.
It happened with a single gesture from Eirena.
At the sight of him flying away cleanly as if shot from a slingshot, the Wayne siblings opened their mouths.
"Haah…."
The Principal looked down at Sid.
The Wayne siblings with worried expressions and Luere with a hardened expression.
And Sid, unable to rise from his spot, caught her eye.
But as the Principal, she had to settle this incident.
"You. Come with me."
* * *
"Phew… do you like me? Did you want to see me that badly?"
"Huh?"
It was the first thing said upon entering the Principal's office.
She was estimated to be in her forties or fifties, but agelessly charming, making it difficult to even answer.
But as if it wasn't what Sid was thinking, the Principal let out a breath.
"I mean why do you keep causing accidents and applying for private consultations."
"I'm sorry…."
Already the second time since enrolling.
Unintentional as it may be, Sid was quite the special case.
Eirena examined Sid with his head hung.
Though emergency treatment was finished, his right arm needed concentrated healing, and burn marks were vivid throughout his body.
She was more worried than anything about holding back a young boy still needing treatment for a conversation.
"Fine. Tell me again. Let's say the Mana Burn book was in the Academy. Who did you hear about this magic from? Who told you to study such a thing?"
"That's…."
A stinging gaze continued.
Under her eyes, Sid's consciousness reached his left chest.
How could he say that it was 'Passbook' that had told him to learn Mana Burn.
Thinking that revealing that fact might get his Passbook confiscated, the boy's vision grew dizzy.
But even in this brief moment, the Principal's eyes flashed.
'This brat. He's definitely hiding something.'
"Fine, good. Whether you read it somewhere in a book or heard it as passing talk, there are all sorts of possibilities. Curiosity is rampant at your age. But do you know why Mana Burn is dangerous?"
A crookedly tilted gaze turned to the boy.
Eirena, hand on her forehead, focused on Sid.
The heavy pressure continued, as when he had begged for the entrance exam.
"Th-that it consumes one's own mana to evaporate another's mana… and causes damage at the same time. I heard that refined mana has a close relationship with the body, so it has fatal effects…."
"You know well. A magician's body has something called 'Magic Circuits'. You know? Magic Circuits?"
"Yes. I read about it in a book."
Sid nodded.
Magic Circuits served a role similar to blood vessels.
Just as there is a heart that pumps blood, there is a Circle that pumps mana; and just as there are blood vessels through which blood flows, there are Magic Circuits through which mana flows.
Moreover, since the circuits themselves grant magic resistance to magicians, you can guess what role they play.
Unlike the bandits who had fallen one by one to Lightning Bolt, hadn't Rowark withstood magic?
Sid nodded, and the Principal continued.
"Right. Think of those Magic Circuits as blood vessels. But what happens if you evaporate the mana inside them? It's like evaporating the blood inside perfectly fine blood vessels all at once."
"Is it… dangerous?"
"Of course it's dangerous when empty circuits shrivel up, you idiot! Even a dry throat stings, so what about blood vessels!"
"Urk!"
Sid reflexively raised his arm.
His trembling with eyes closed was almost a bit cute.
But the burn marks remained on his raised arm, and seeing the student suffering without having received treatment, the Principal's heart ached.
"Haah… be careful from now on."
Eirena stroked her forehead.
Soon the old iron hide cover caught her eyes.
She had thought all the dangerous magic books in the Academy had been cleared away.
She couldn't fathom where this damned book had come from.
She pointed at the book with her red nails.
"It may not be something to be grateful for, but Mana Burn isn't black magic. There's no reason to punish you."
Eirena picked up the book and put it in the drawer.
Sid's eyes followed the Principal who rose from her seat.
"Let's be blunt. Mana Burn is a magic used only by ignorant monsters overflowing with mana, like dragons or liches. This magic was originally created by dragons, got it?"
"Yes…."
A stinging gaze landed on him.
Holding back her heated temper, the Principal furrowed her features.
She scratched her head for no reason.
"But the environment for using it is limited, and since it burns even your own mana, no one uses this kind of magic. Its name and effect may sound grand, but it's practically trash magic. It's just forbidden because it's too dangerous for ordinary students like you to use."
"I'm sorry. I'll be careful from now on."
"Ha! If this could end with a single word, I wouldn't have brought you here."
Eirena snorted.
And she brought up a sheet of parchment from the drawer onto the desk.
Its yellowed edges were slightly curled, and sentences written in red letters were densely packed.
At its resemblance to a magic scroll, Sid tilted his head.
"This is…?"
"It's a sealing contract. Your Mana Burn is sealed."
- To be continued in Episode 24 -