A towering figure, over 190 centimeters tall—intimidating by height alone.
His attire was nearly flawless in its formality, his peerless appearance enough to seize the eye on its own. The bearing of his body and clothes revealed a perfect golden ratio.
......Deculein von Grahan Yukline.
He seemed to be the very embodiment of “noble dignity.” There was no blemish in him, no gap to be found. In his gait, his gestures, his expression—in all of it flowed a grace that belonged to him alone.
“That bastard......”
And yet, such a perfect exterior was, to someone—no, to quite a number of people—nothing more than a “detestable shell.”
“Haa......”
Epherene Luna. From the moment Deculein appeared, she had been barely suppressing the rage that surged up inside her.
It was not only in words; her actions were rather murderous as well. She clenched her fists so tightly that her skin might bleed, and she gnawed at her lower lip.
He had stolen the achievements of her progenitor—her father—driven him into ruin, and in the end, led him to his death.
The world praised Deculein as “a genius of formula interpretation,” but that fame had belonged entirely to her father......
—......Attention.
Just then, a crystal sphere amplified Deculein’s voice.
—I will begin the lecture.
In the vast auditorium filled with hundreds of people, Deculein finally stepped onto the platform and swept his gaze over the area. His eyes were as sharp and haughty as a blade.
So much so that she wanted to pull out a knife right now and stab those two eyeballs.
“That piece of trash......”
However, the time had not yet come.
Deculein was an enemy she wanted to beat to death without fail, and that was the only reason she had entered the University Magic Tower, but revenge with no way back would only make herself miserable.
In any case, her talent surpassed that man’s.
Whether she learned stronger magic and killed him with her own hands, or rose to a higher position and erased him from society, revenge grew sweeter and more delicious the longer it matured.
She had lived only for that sweet moment, so there was no problem in waiting a little longer.
—It is good to see you.
But...... it should be all right to give him a little trouble. As a thought suddenly occurred to Epherene, she smiled innocently and pulled her robe low over her head.
* * *
......Hundreds of people filling the high and spacious auditorium were looking only at me. Their gazes shone with an uncomfortable brilliance, and old-fashioned cameras fired flashes that dazzled my eyes.
I faced all of them alone.
And yet, it was strange.
I did not feel even the slightest bit nervous.
All of this simply felt natural to me.
As if this treatment was only natural in my life, as if this attention was not pressure but a privilege—that kind of lofty sense of chosen superiority clung to my body like skin.
“......It is good to see you. I am Deculein of House Yukline.”
Thus, I began the lecture with ease.
The opening of the lecture was the first line of the script, as well as an introduction to the person named Deculein.
“I am the head professor of the Imperial University Magic Tower, a mage of the ‘Monarch’ rank governing the elements. I command the four attributes of water, fire, wind, and earth, and I am not bound by any school of magic.”
It was a sentence that fairly reeked of intoxication.
“......As is known, magic is broadly divided into three ‘attributes’ and nine ‘schools.’ The attributes are Element, Origin, and Object. The schools are Summoning and Spirit. Destruction and Support. Manipulation and Alchemy. Illusion and Harmony. And Specialization.”
I recited exactly what was written in the script.
Even that alone was enough to focus their gazes and breaths. It was thanks to the trait called “Intimidating Dignity.”
“Therefore, a mage must devote themselves to the school suited to their own attribute in order to achieve magical accomplishment.”
After finishing my words, I snapped my fingers.
Snap—!
With a clear sound, the lights in the auditorium went out, and a magic formula rose into the air.
“To form and emit a formula with mana. The act of that realization is magic. Therefore, in order to manifest magic, understanding of the formula must come first. Now, we will look at the formula above.”
I paused for a moment, allowing the observers to see the magic circle.
At a glance, it was a geometric shape that resembled a fractal, composed of dozens of straight lines and curves.
“This sixty-eight-stroke formula has an array in the form of a curve, and it is a circuit in which mana first condenses at the center before extending outward. Spreading from the inside to the outside has the nature of ‘Destruction’ and ‘Support,’ but Destruction magic requires the form of the array to be a straight line. Therefore, this is a formula for Support magic. Next......”
The first item on the table of contents was “The Basics of Magic.”
The lecture on that topic continued for about fifteen minutes, and not once did I lose my composure. The script itself felt natural, as if it had stuck perfectly to my tongue.
Strangely enough—I had completely “understood” the structure of this script, which I had seen for the first time today.
“......Formula-based magic is as such. However, does mana always lead only to magic, and must one necessarily learn this formula in order to use magic?”
From here on, it was “How to Use Mana.”
Since there were ordinary students, aspiring knights, and adventurer hopefuls who were not mages in this university auditorium at the moment, this was a topic organized separately for them.
“That is not the case. It depends on which part of the human body you contain your mana in.”
As my words ended, the formula in the air scattered, and in its place appeared an anatomical diagram of a human. Blue clumps of mana were lodged in the heart, head, and abdomen respectively.
“First, the ‘head.’ In other words, the brain makes it easy to imagine formulas, so naturally, it can realize complex lines and circles. Therefore, mages usually store mana in their heads.”
This guy probably had mana in his head as well.
Expressed in numbers, it was “3,375.”
Not particularly high. I had clearly seen that the “initial” mana of some named character was “30,000.”
“Next, the ‘heart.’ Since the heart pumps blood throughout the entire body, mana stored in the heart spreads through the whole body more easily. As much as that is true, however, it is difficult to hold it in one place. Therefore, the heart is more suited to knights than mages.”
I continued speaking slowly and simply, so that everyone could understand the contents of the script.
Perhaps methods for lecturing well and the like had been mastered through “Comprehension.”
“Lastly, the ‘abdomen.’ In other words, the dantian in the belly is where the outside and inside mix most often, so it is universal for anyone, whether mage, knight, or ordinary person......”
As I continued speaking, I suddenly checked the clock. Before I knew it, forty minutes had passed.
“......What I wish to say is simple. Effort is, of course, important. However, if your talent is meager, you must consider its efficiency. Talent is not granted to everyone, so in most of your cases, selection and concentration are necessary.”
I almost laughed while reading the script.
If your talent is meager, you must consider efficiency—selection and concentration are necessary—
Was that not advice perfectly suited to the current Deculein?
“And......”
At last, the final part of the script had arrived.
However, it was a paragraph that bothered me a little.
I wondered whether I should read this or not.
Would the original Deculein have read it?
I did not know. Since it had been written into the script, he must have.
“Lastly, is there anyone with a question?”
What followed was only silence.
It was truly fortunate.
“If there are none—”
Just as I turned away in relief, someone shot their hand into the air. Then they sprang up from their seat.
A mage with a robe pulled over her head. Before I could say anything, she continued speaking.
“Professor Deculein. Last night, a mysterious formula was discovered in the mage dormitory. It is even suspected to be the work of a demon, and as Professor Deculein is known as a genius of formula interpretation—”
“Do you belong to the University Magic Tower? If so, stating your name and affiliation should be basic courtesy.”
I immediately cut her off. Though I was anxious inside, my exterior was exceedingly elegant. It was the aristocratic way of speaking that came instinctively.
“Huh? Ah, um, my name is—”
“It is already too late. I shall not take questions from a child without manners.”
“......Eh?”
The lower half of the hooded mage’s face was turning bright red.
I did feel sorry, but there was nothing I could do about it either. The mana consumption of “Comprehension” was tremendous.
“Mana: 2,005 / 3,375”
The mana drained by a single lecture alone amounted to a full 1,300.
To interpret a formula I was seeing for the first time, I would need far more mana than this, and I did not particularly want to push myself. I felt somewhat dizzy, too.
“I will end the lecture here.”
Pfft— Pffhaha— Khhahaha—
Amid the mixture of mockery and sneers directed at the mage who had stood up alone in the middle of the auditorium, I straightened my disheveled sleeve.
I smoothed the creases in my suit that had formed while lecturing. I put on my coat and fastened the buttons. Finally, after gathering up the script, I stepped down from the platform.
That series of movements was utterly natural, like flowing water.
“......Even so!”
A loud voice swelled against my ears as I turned away. I remained standing and turned only my head to look in that direction.
The nameless female mage, who was still standing, drew a formula with mana and floated it into the air.
“Right now, even the Magic Tower is dismissing it as a mere rumor and refusing to interpret it! The freshmen left in the dormitory are diligently analyzing it as an assignment, but since it is vacation, there are few seniors or professors to ask for help, and there has been no progress. If Professor Deculein could at least give us a hint—”
“......”
I looked at that persistent mage.
To think she would be so bold toward Deculein. I wondered what kind of character that was, but the formula itself was certainly a little strange. It was on a different axis from an ordinary magic circle; it could not be defined as straight lines or curves, and simply had the shape of dozens of living parasites tangled together as they pleased.
The moment I looked at that formula—Comprehension activated regardless of my will.
As if paint had seeped into my eyes, my vision turned entirely blue, the speed of my thought and calculation amplified so that time seemed to slow, and the stem of my brain could not endure the burden, leaving the smell of burning lingering at the tip of my nose......
But it was only an instant.
“Mana: 360 / 3,375”
In a moment of less than one second, my mana was exhausted.
With that, I was barely able to grasp only the identity of the magic.
[ Illusion School: Barrier Magic ]
Understanding beyond this—that is, reaching the level of “implementing” or “dismantling” the formula—would be impossible even with twice this much mana, but fortunately, the other side did not want that much.
She only wanted the identity of the formula.
“The freshmen left in the dormitory are diligently analyzing it as an assignment, but since it is vacation, there are few seniors or professors to ask for help, and there has been no progress. If Professor Deculein could at least give us a hint—”
“There is no need for hints or anything else. It is barrier magic of the Illusion School. It seems someone tried to imprison you.”
“......Pardon?”
“That is all.”
A confident, definitive answer.
The bold mage seemed rather flustered, but I left the auditorium without looking back.