“It ends here. Seek the rest of your understanding on your own.”
The lecture was over. Having finished the three-hour class, Deculein left without so much as looking back. Sylvia moved as if to follow him, then stopped short.
There were parts she wanted to ask about, but her pride would not allow her to go that far.
“······.”
Sylvia simply sat down and began to meditate, delving into the subject.
Professors who possessed both theory and intuition were rare, but that alone was no reason to cling to Deculein.
In the end, theory was only a “framework.” Even that was nothing more than a “shifting” standard. Magic was an ever-changing current brought about by mana; by its very nature, it could not be bound by theory.
Suppose.
What if the quality of mana suddenly changed inside a dungeon or a barrier?
Theory would have no choice but to waver.
What if a mana storm arose that twisted an entire spell formula? What before a raging mana disaster? What in the unstable atmosphere immediately after a mana explosion?
Could theory truly remain constant in the midst of that abrupt collapse?
No.
For a mage, theory was merely imperfect.
A theory that had always been correct could become wrong in an instant, and depending on altitude, one might even need to piece together an entirely new theory.
Therefore, what a mage must pursue was only their own perfect “intuition.” For sensation brought to its peak would soon reign as law in and of itself.
“······.”
Sylvia sat for a while, staring down at her notes.
She had faith. Faith that even theory could be resolved through her own intuition.
“······.”
Faith that she could find the answer to the problem on her own, without anyone’s instruction.
“······.”
A small triangle. A large inverted triangle enclosing it. A circle embracing both figures on an even greater scale.
A pure element composed of six straight lines and one curve: water.
The combination of that water and fire.
As she replayed Deculein’s explanation in her ears, she thought fiercely.
The theoretical framework he had presented—she could use it as the three primary colors. She could draw the combinations of pure elements like a painting.
In that process, theory was nothing more than a “road.” The one who walked it was none other than herself, so······.
“······.”
······A setback.
She needed a mage’s notebook. As expected, an ordinary sketchbook had its limits.
A mage’s notebook, one that automatically produced the formulas of magic circles and the flow of circuits to some extent. She had to transfer her notes into one of those.
“······.”
The problem was that her Three Primary Colors could not remain long in this phenomenal world.
Of course, a pencil would last forever so long as it was held in her hand. But the graphite from the pencil that stuck to the page and formed writing would scatter within an hour.
“······.”
On the other hand, the lecture amounted to a full sixty pages.
Even if she obtained a magic notebook right now, all of it would evaporate while she was copying it over.
“······.”
Sylvia looked around.
No one was there.
It was already completely empty.
Had Deculein’s lecture stirred such an urge to study in them?
“······.”
She agonized, blinking as she looked back and forth between her notebook and pencil, but there was no answer to be found.
Sylvia murmured in a low voice.
“What do I do?”
At this rate, her notes would disappear. Even if she transferred them to a mage’s notebook, the loss of content was inevitable.
The only ways out of this desperate situation that came to mind were······ to ask the professor directly, or to find someone who had taken notes “diligently” and “well.”
* * *
Seat 3, Row A of the Magic Tower library.
Epherene finished three hours of review. When she looked at the clock with hazy eyes, it was already past midnight.
“······I can’t believe I made something like this.”
Muttering blankly, she looked down at her notebook.
[Deculein Lecture Notes Summary]
She had bought a notebook instead of the bread she was supposed to eat today and recorded the lecture in it.
“What was that? I heard he wasn’t originally like this.”
Slumped in her chair, she recited the words like a sigh.
To put it bluntly, Deculein’s lectures had been infamous since long ago.
At a glance, it seemed like he explained things well, but in the end it was all self-praise. If you didn’t buy the book he had written—it cost five thousand elne!—he would pressure you with his eyes. And despite that, his exams and assignments were disgustingly difficult······
That was why enrollment for the chief professor’s lecture had been relatively easy.
But Deculein’s lecture today had not been like that. She wanted to put it down, even if by force, but compared to other professors, it was on a different level in terms of quality.
It truly had been a great help.
In truth, Epherene had not clearly understood why pure elemental magic was called “pure elemental.” Since she was not from the Academy, she had never read a single magic theory text and had simply used it however she liked.
That “ignorant blank,” so to speak, the very gap that had been itching at Epherene the most—Deculein had filled it for her.
“How humiliating······.”
No, there was nothing to be humiliated about.
If I absorb your knowledge and become stronger than you, wouldn’t that be humiliating for you too?
“Right. That’s right. Huuuaaang~”
Having convinced herself all on her own, Epherene stretched wide and went outside.
On the way back to the dormitory, she saw undergraduates eating hot dogs on the street.
······They looked delicious.
Epherene rummaged through her pockets. She did not have a single coin. It was because she had bought a notebook with the money meant for food. University mages used special notebooks called “magic notebooks,” so even writing supplies cost an outrageous amount.
“Oh! It’s Ephy! Ephy!”
Just then, someone behind her called out a bizarre name.
“Ephy!”
That Ephy was definitely her.
No, but why shorten a perfectly fine name and call me that?
Epherene turned around brusquely. A woman with pale pink hair named Davi, the class representative of the First Department of Magic’s Debutantes, was running over in a fluster.
“Ephy, Ephy! You’re taking Professor Deculein’s class, right?”
“Yeah. What about it?”
Why is she calling me by that stupid nickname when we’re not even close? Though her mood soured, Davi merely smiled slyly and asked point-blank.
“Do you have notes for it?”
“······Huh?”
Epherene tilted her head.
“No~ It was posted on the Wiza-board today. They said Chief Professor Deculein’s lecture was incredibly good. So I’m looking around right now. If you have notes, I’ll buy them. Just let me make a copy.”
Buy. Money. Notes. Copy.
She would pay money for my notes.
Those words, which might allow her to eat today, caught Epherene’s interest.
However.
“I’d like to······ but you know me. It hasn’t been long since the disciplinary committee. I was so weak-hearted I couldn’t even listen to the lecture properly.”
She did not want to be caught in the act of having reviewed Professor Deculein’s lecture so diligently.
“Oh, really? Then······ well. Can’t be helped.”
Davi wrinkled the tip of her nose. Epherene smiled bitterly.
“Sorry.”
“I’ll have to go ask another commoner kid. Bye~”
Then she quickly left. The way she muttered as she went, “Kids like that really can’t even grab luck when it rolls right in~,” was pitiful.
No, if she’s going to another commoner kid, does that mean she’s only looking for people with no money? I told you, I’m not a commoner, I’m a noble.
I may not have money, but you think I don’t have pride?
······If she’d offered one more time, I would’ve given in.
Grrr—
Epherene walked while clutching her hungry stomach.
As she staggered along like that, what do you know.
She ran into someone else on the road.
“······Huh?”
A blond mage whose robe alone was made of the finest velvet. A daughter of a great family who looked noble no matter who saw her.
It was Sylvia.
“······.”
She stood still in the middle of the straight path, glaring at her.
Epherene, who had been walking hesitantly, felt a certain chill. So she stopped while maintaining a safe distance.
“What are you doing here?”
Epherene asked. Without answering, Sylvia stared at the notebook in Epherene’s hand.
“······.”
“Excuse me?”
Ziiiiiing── She sent her gaze like a laser, then, snap! She suddenly reached out her hand.
Startled, Epherene hid the notebook behind her back.
“What, what are you—ngh!”
Sylvia did not give up after one try. Like a claw trying to snatch the notebook, she violently swiped her hand about three times, then quietly withdrew.
Epherene was dumbfounded.
“No, you, what are you? What are you seriously doing? Did you change jobs into a thug?”
“······.”
Sylvia said nothing. She merely smacked her lips as if regretful, then spun around and click-clacked away.
The figure vanishing into the darkness was practically a ghost.
“Wow, that gave me chills. What’s with her······.”
Was she a psychopath or something?
In case she attacked again, Epherene held the notebook to her chest and carefully returned to the dormitory.
Grrr— grrrrrrr—
Her stomach rumbled through the dormitory corridor.
“Ugh······ I’m seriously going to become the first mage to starve to death. Would it kill them to give us some food for free? They make tons of money anyway.”
At least tuition and the dorm are free. If they weren’t, I would’ve died long ago.
Trudging along and grumbling, she walked down the corridor and stood in front of her room.
“······Wow. That’s seriously childish.”
Epherene muttered in a fed-up tone.
The door was covered in red graffiti.
[Who do you think you are? How dare you act up?]
[You’re not even from the Academy! You lowborn thing!]
[Get out of the Magic Tower! You retard!]
Things like that, scrawled in marker by people assumed to be Sylvia’s fans.
“You losers. You’re really pathetic.”
Tch. She quickly erased it with magic and opened the door. There was an envelope on the floor of her room.
When she glanced at it, it was a [Sponsorship Certificate] from the University Magic Tower.
“······This one was a little clever.”
For a moment, her heart lurched, then settled.
Sponsorship, my ass. What lunatic would sponsor me when both Iliade and Deculein’s families have their eyes on me?
It was clever, but it would have been better if they had been a little smarter.
It does hurt to know that rumors of me being broke have already spread everywhere.
[Magic Tower Sponsorship Certificate]
■ Recipient: Debutante Epherene Luna
■ Amount: 100,000 ∃
“One hundred thousand elne? Is this guy completely insane?”
Knowing there would be no sponsorship anyway, she had set the maximum sponsorship amount to ten million elne.
But a sponsorship of one hundred thousand elne? If you’re going to do it, at least do it properly······ ly······ hmm······ for a forgery, it’s pretty elaborate······.
What the hell, this crazy bastard even forged the seal?
This was grounds for immediate reporting.
“I’ll at least get a reward.”
Thanks, kid. You’re dead. Twisting the corner of her mouth, Epherene immediately headed for the magical administration office near the dormitory.
“Um, so. I came to report this.”
“A report?”
The employee at the counter stopped typing and tilted their head.
“Yes. Someone forged this and put it in my room.”
“Forged it?”
“Yes. They even forged the seal. I think they were trying to make fun of me.”
“······Pardon? Ah, yes. I’ll check it for you.”
“There’s a reward for that sort of thing, right?”
“No, there isn’t.”
“Ah······”
Epherene waited, scratching the back of her neck.
Like that······.
Three minutes later.
“······.”
Epherene came trudging out of the administration office with her soul drained from her face. In her hand, a single sponsorship certificate dangled limply.
“This······.”
She held the sponsorship certificate in both hands and looked at it.
“This······ is this a dream?”
One hundred thousand elne.
She slapped her own cheek.
One hundred thousand elne.
It hurt like crazy.
One hundred thousand elne.
It really was one hundred thousand elne.
Flinch— Epherene trembled at the passing wind, then looked around warily and tucked the certificate inside her clothes.
Someone might have seen. That I had one hundred thousand elne.
A thief might come. To steal my one hundred thousand elne.
Quickly, she had to go to the bank.
Epherene, who had been creeping along while keeping watch in every direction, soon found herself unable to move any farther and crouched by the roadside.
Something, some things surging inside her heart, were hindering her movement.
“······Kk.”
Epherene buried her face between her knees. In that state, she clenched her teeth.
An emotion she could not understand rose up to her throat. She tried to endure it, but she could not.
“Ghk.”
Was this what it meant when people said the world was still worth living in? Was there someone who had recognized my talent, even ignoring the restraints of the magic families?
But how did they know?
I don’t know either.
“Ghhk······ ghhht······.”
A beastlike sound that could not be identified as crying or growling. A strange sob flowed along the roadside.
Epherene cried like that for a while, forcing down tears too hard to endure.
* * *
......The first weekend of fresh April.
The day of the auction I had promised to attend—the day I would purchase the Seolhwa Stone—arrived, and I took a car to the city of “Luten,” where the auction house was located.
“We have entered Luten. We should arrive at Schatzinsel in about five minutes.”
The chauffeur spoke.
“Good. You’ve done well. Once we arrive, rest comfortably and wait.”
“Pardon? Ah, yes! Thank you!”
The streets of “Luten,” said to be one of the wealthiest commercial cities in the Empire, were indeed dazzling. They were not quite modern, but there were many high-rises, and some streets consisted entirely of luxury boutiques and jewelers.
We passed through those splendid streets and headed toward our destination, the auction house built along the coast.
[Luten Schatzinsel]
I could read the language carved into the sign without difficulty.
As expected of a place modeled after the “Sydney Opera House,” Schatzinsel’s presence was magnificent.
At the auction house entrance, on the ground level leading toward the sea, I stepped out under the escort of my attendants.
My whole body was covered in wounds, so moving was somewhat difficult. I had come straight from practicing with shuriken at the mansion.
“This way, Chief Professor Deculein.”
We entered through the VVIP-only passage and arrived at the waiting room.
“When it is time, we will guide you separately, so please rest comfortably.”
I nodded, then sat down in a chair to kill time.
No, I intended to—but I ended up running into someone unexpected.
Mysterious ash-gray hair with a color that stood out no matter when or where one saw it. And a knight clad in white light armor.
I did not know why she wore armor not only to parties but even to auctions, but in any case.
It was Yulie.
I had never imagined I would meet her at an auction house.
She was standing in the middle of the waiting room, and when she saw me, she strode over. It was truly the gait of a knight.
I greeted her with my eyes.
“I heard that you referred two mages to the disciplinary committee this time.”
Yulie spoke first. I looked at her. It seemed she had come to meddle again.
“Your ears are slow. You only heard that now?”
“Slow? I heard it yesterday. Is it true?”
“It is. Do you intend to say that, too, is my fault?”
“......”
Yulie seemed at a loss for words. Since she did not know the situation well, it must have been difficult for her to say anything. She merely moved her lips before saying this.
“They are Debutantes. Freshmen who have only just entered the Magic Tower, soaked in dreams and hopes. Do not become despair to them. Do not repeat the past. One day, it will return to you as karma. This is the final piece of advice I can give you.”
Final. That word was no different from a full stop.
Yulie had already made up her mind.
In truth, the same was true for me. No matter how splendid and beautiful a knight Yulie was, I did not want to marry in this life for such a trivial reason when I had never even done so in my previous one.
......Also, it was no joke that I might die at the wedding. There were far too many death variables around her.
Especially that elder sister of hers, who was even more troublesome than Yulie.
“I will do so.”
I nodded. It meant I accepted it, and it meant the conversation was over. Yulie also bowed her head and left.
As I watched her back, a sudden curiosity arose.
“By the way, did you come to this auction house to find me?”
“......Wh-what did you say? There are limits to delusion!”
Yulie hurriedly turned around and reacted noisily.
Then that was fine.
I intended to quietly read a book, but Yulie came sh-sh-sh sliding over beside me and added one more thing.
“When I say there are limits to delusion, I mean that I did not come to find you. That you thinking I came here to find you is the delusion......”
I nodded.
Yulie glared at me suspiciously as she withdrew, but after wandering around nearby, she returned and muttered clearly.
“It’s true. I also have things to do here in my own—”
“I understand. I can understand if you say it once.”
Wasn’t she looking down too much on someone who even had a trait called Comprehension?
When I cut her off firmly, Yulie pouted her lips and left.
......When he was the one who misunderstood first.
That low grumble drifting in was cute for no reason.
I had been smiling idly when I flinched.
Surely Deculein’s feelings of liking Yulie had not transferred to me as well.
Of course, it was by no means as if my heart dropped or my vision went dizzy when I saw that woman......
Then.
—We inform the honored guests visiting Schatzinsel. The auction will now begin, so please follow the guidance of the attendants. Thank you.
The amplified announcement signaled the start of the auction, and I rose from my seat. As I entered the auction stage, a small back of a head attached itself behind me and spoke.
“Since it seems you did not understand, I will say it one last—”
“I understand.”
“You did this last time too, didn’t you? If you’re thinking of spreading useless rumors in society again this time—”
“I won’t spread any. Believe me.”
“I did not come to see you. I did not.”
“I said I understand......”
Having entered the auction stage amicably(?), we soon separated and sat in our respective seats.