“Pleased to meet you.”
I stepped onto the silent lectern.
“I am Deculein, head professor of the Imperial University Magic Tower, and a mage of the ‘Monarch’ rank, presiding over the elements.”
As always, the lecture began with my introduction.
“The subject of today’s lecture is the examination on pure elements that was auctioned last week, and the duration will be exactly two hours.”
The contents and structure of the lecture had already been prepared a week ago.
The problem was that there was a high possibility the lecture would not proceed as I intended.
As soon as it began, the chairwoman’s snickering—kukukuku—grated on my nerves.
“First, before we look at the problems, I will give a brief explanation of ‘pure elements.’”
Though the lecture was in the form of problem explanations, I first gave a condensed explanation of what I had covered in previous Magic Tower classes.
It was a short lecture on the use of pure elements such as “Flowing Flame,” “Thundercloud,” “Will-o’-the-Wisp,” and so on.
“……However, these ‘pure elements’ have no purpose. Their category is divided only according to the purpose of the mage who manifests the element. You must clearly recognize that.”
If one thinks of “pure elements” and “schools of magic” together, the mind becomes tangled.
Simply put, it is like trying to draw two pictures with both hands at the same time. One need only draw them one by one.
“We will skip numbers one through five and begin with problem six.”
Problem six appeared in midair.
Number six was the manifestation of the magic “Mist of Bitter Cold,” harmonized from three pure elements.
However, since the core of the lecture was numbers seven and eight, I explained only the main points in moderation and intended to move on.
“I have a question!”
At that moment, someone shot up a hand.
As expected, it was the chairwoman.
“A question! A question!”
She stood up abruptly, making it impossible to ignore her, and called out like a songbird. I paused briefly and looked at the chairwoman.
“Go ahead.”
“Yes! Professor, you emphasized the distinction between ‘pure elements’ and ‘schools,’ didn’t you?!”
The chairwoman emitted mana and drew a magical formula in the air.
“Then, if one were to combine this number six spell into the optimal destruction school, how should it be done?”
I briefly examined the chairwoman’s formula with “Comprehension.”
Three seconds was enough.
I added the core circuit to her magic circle. It was a straight line of “Explosion,” composed of twenty-eight strokes.
“This should be sufficient to freeze the enemy, then shatter them.”
“……Huh? Ah…… yes. That’s true. Oh…… thank you.”
The chairwoman blinked, then withdrew her mana and sat down.
“Now, we will look at problem seven.”
I displayed problem seven.
“Artificial Star,” which employed all the elements of water, wind, earth, and fire.
While I was explaining it, the chairwoman naturally stood up again.
“Professor! I have a question!”
“……”
“In number seven, there are two core circuits, aren’t there? But if there are two or more core circuits, couldn’t the magic become tangled?! In my opinion……”
The chairwoman released mana and drew the magic circle for problem seven.
It was an “Artificial Star” composed of multiple spells, but its shape differed from my problem.
“If you set only one core circuit like this, it could be easier, so why would you take the risk of the circuits becoming tangled and set two core circuits?!”
That was what the chairwoman asked. Most likely, she knew the answer and was asking anyway.
I stared blankly at the chairwoman for a moment.
Then I nodded at her grinning face.
“A good question.”
I traced the formula the chairwoman had drawn with mana.
“However, if you place only one core circuit in this ‘Artificial Star’ as you have done, the mana consumption becomes extreme.”
The chairwoman replied as though she had been waiting for this.
“Wouldn’t having two core circuits consume even more mana instead?! That is the common knowledge I know! If it can be done with one, then using two—isn’t that wasteful?”
The other mages wore expressions that seemed to say the same. Above all, it was the chairwoman speaking.
I refuted her step by step, calmly and quietly.
“Yes. Generally speaking, that is correct, but it is not unconditionally true. It differs according to the characteristics of the spell. In this magic called ‘Artificial Star,’ the two core circuits exist in order to use not only the ‘caster’s mana,’ but also the ‘energy of the magic itself.’”
The chairwoman’s expression stiffened slightly.
“The ‘Artificial Star’ of problem seven possesses a special property. Of the two core circuits, one is ‘circulation,’ and the other is ‘condensation.’ The four pure elements circulate and condense within the magic, releasing energy on their own. Therefore, the spell can be sustained for longer with less mana.”
I added,
“In that sense, the formula the chairwoman showed us is not a star. It is merely a lump of mana that does nothing but discharge mana.”
“……”
The chairwoman closed her mouth. Before long, a shadow had fallen over that ever-smiling face.
“However……”
I looked at the clock. I had promised 120 minutes, but 110 had already passed.
“Too much time has been consumed answering questions. I will not provide a separate explanation for problem eight.”
“……”
Everyone looked at the chairwoman. She only pouted her lips without saying a word.
“Lastly, I will take a few questions before concluding.”
It was then.
From somewhere, a chilly voice rang out.
“Did you truly come up with problem eight yourself?”
It was a blatant accusation. I frowned and looked in that direction. A certain robed mage was staring at me.
“Please introduce yourself.”
“……I am a mage named Ruina.”
Ruina. The name was familiar.
I could roughly tell who she was.
“Please be more specific about the meaning of your question.”
“It is exactly as I said. I am curious whether problem eight was truly conceived by you, and written by you.”
Ruina was a mage who gave quests from the opposite side of Deculein. Also, perhaps, a talent who had been expelled from the Magic Tower by Deculein and driven into the kingdom.
She was a named character brimming with resentment toward Deculein.
“……Ah, surely not! Are you saying that someone wrote the exam questions in Professor Deculein’s place?! A ghostwriter?!”
The chairwoman sprang to her feet and shouted. A rare murmur spread through the lecture hall.
Ruina smiled, and the chairwoman continued.
“That can’t be! Professor Deculein is not that kind of person!”
I wished she would shut that mouth.
“……”
The mages spoke silently with their eyes. Some seemed to agree, some seemed suspicious, and some looked as though they thought there might be something to it.
I stood still and pondered.
Soon, a good idea occurred to me.
“That’s not true, is it, Professor Deculein!”
At the chairwoman’s words, I gave a low laugh and shook my head.
“It is common to receive inspiration from what is not oneself.”
In that instant, the sound of many breaths catching rang out.
“……However.”
I emitted mana. A line of mana rose sluggishly and drew a certain formula in the air.
“This entirety belongs solely to me.”
With my eyes closed, I first conjured a landscape, interpreted that landscape as a formula, and arranged the appropriate pure elements like paint upon a canvas.
The design of the magic thus conceived was projected into the air, into the outside world, through mana.
This was a trait of “Comprehension.” If it was something I had understood once, I could recreate it with far less mana.
The mana I had consumed in composing number eight exceeded fifty thousand, but now, to call forth a magic circle in a similar manner, three thousand was enough.
The formula of the landscape was drawn with precision and floated in midair. Every mage in the auditorium looked at my formula.
Thus completed with a scratching sound, as though scribbled with a fountain pen or pencil, was the linkage of eleven magic circles.
“Because it was created on the spot, the answer to this problem will be entirely different from number eight. I will leave that answer to all of you. It is homework from me.”
Saying so, I looked at Ruina.
“Was that answer sufficient, Professor Ruina?”
No, I looked at the place where Ruina had been. She had already vanished. I let out a scoffing laugh.
“This concludes the lecture.”
I stood at the lectern and organized my materials. I straightened my sleeves and the set of my clothes, then looked at the chairwoman.
The chairwoman had a somewhat sullen look on her face.
Soon, several young mages sitting in the front row approached me.
Unusually for mages, they asked me for an autograph.
* * *
[ Event Quest Complete ]
◆ Mana +30
After finishing the lecture, I returned to the mansion. However, another car was parked in the lot. It was Yeriel’s.
When I entered the main building, sure enough, Yeriel was eating in the dining room. The girl, who had been cutting into a steak, looked at me and asked,
“I heard you gave a lecture on the Floating Island?”
“……”
“Sir?”
I nodded.
“Well, did anything happen? The mages of the Floating Island should be on a completely different level from the chicks in the Magic Tower.”
“There is nothing to worry about.”
“Oh, come on. Worry, worry, you always say worry whenever anything happens. What’s with that? Do you want to be worried about that badly? I’m not worried at all, you know?”
I naturally sat down across from her. The attendants hurried over and set out food.
Yeriel seemed flustered by the sudden sharing of her table, but soon changed the subject.
“……I heard you earned forty million elne?”
“Yes. If you ever need cash, tell me at any time. I will lend it to you.”
“Then…… Ah, wait. Lend? You’ll lend it? What do you mean, lend?”
“Yes.”
“You shouldn’t lend it, you should give it to me! Hand over half!”
I cut the meat in silence.
I think this every time, but the culinary standards of the grand mansion are exceptionally perfect.
Of course, the ingredients are perfect, and the chef’s salary is also far more generous than in other grand mansions.
“I’ll settle for just ten million elne…… Also, listen. They say the Magic Tower wants to hold the Debutant MT in Hadekain?”
Yeriel took a document from her handbag.
[ Imperial University Magic Tower Department of Magic MT Plan ]
Even mages have MTs. I did not know whether they drank alcohol or held talent shows like ordinary university students, but apparently dividing into teams and “making magical fireworks” was an essential course.
“……Hadekain.”
Hadekain, the capital of the Yukline territory.
I had intended to visit there someday as well.
Hadekain possessed both a regional Magic Tower and a regional knight order, and because its climate was so good, even at present, it was the greatest city after the capital.
From the very beginning, the city it had been modeled after was Los Angeles in the United States, and among that, only the especially livable places had been carefully selected for reference.
“What do you think, Yeriel?”
“Well, I like it. It’s not as if all the Debutants will stay at the University Magic Tower forever. They might take a liking to the city and come to our Magic Tower, right?”
She said it with pride, while furtively gauging my reaction. I nodded.
“Very well.”
“Yes, yes~”
Yeriel put the document back into her handbag and picked up her knife again. I carefully observed her for a moment, then said,
“When using a knife—”
“Ah, I’m not eating here.”
The criticism had come out almost instinctively. Yeriel picked up her plate and fled to her room.
I also finished my meal neatly, then went up to the study.
“……”
As soon as I sat in the office chair, I took out a single certificate. It was a Magic Tower sponsorship certificate.
The beneficiary was [ Epherene Luna ].
This exam was, of course, my own originality, but the inspiration had certainly come from Epherene’s father. The idea of “painting a picture with pure elements” was wholly his.
Therefore, it was only right that a portion of the forty million elne be sponsored to Epherene and the Luna family.
“The Lunas of Juhalle.”
I had gathered a certain amount of information on the “Luna” family.
It was a pitiful and tragic history.
They were still continuing their line as a family, but the mansion they had lived in for so long had already been sold at auction thirteen years ago, and their current members were only Epherene and her grandparents.
I wrote a letter to their family as well, enclosing one hundred thousand elne.
* * *
……My uniform today was a neat dark blue. My cane, too, had been matched with a clean color.
“Ready?”
Yeriel spoke. I gazed at her steadily, then reached out a hand. Yeriel flinched in surprise and tried to step back.
“What. What, why?”
“Stand still.”
“……Ugh!”
As my hand drew closer, Yeriel squeezed her eyes shut.
I straightened the wrinkles caught in Yeriel’s collar, sleeves, and so on. Any dust that might have clung to her clothes, I removed entirely with psychokinesis.
Now clean, Yeriel said with a look of revulsion.
“......That really is a disease.”
“Follow me.”
I went outside.
It was a clear, blue day befitting summer. Roy was waiting in the parking lot, and I got into the car with Yeriel.
Today, the succession ceremony would take place at the Imperial Capital’s Jifrain Plaza.
“Yeriel. Take this.”
I handed Yeriel, in the seat beside me, a document sealed with sealing magic. Yeriel furrowed her brow.
“What’s this now?”
“My predictions, obtained by analyzing various conditions, including the disposition of the next emperor.”
It was a document summarizing the important events I knew.
I had written down only the matters that would specifically benefit us, and that could also lower the difficulty of the quest.
“Hah. What are you, some kind of prophet?”
“Just take it.”
“Good grief.”
Yeriel shook her head as if I were hopeless, but accepted the document nonetheless.
“You should really stop playing genius already.”
Prophecies were only laughable at first anyway. Once one or two of them started coming true, she would widen her eyes and wonder, What is this?
“Master. It seems we can no longer proceed.”
An enormous crowd blocked the road.
We got out of the car.
“The Yukline family is this way.”
An imperial knight who had been waiting at just the right time guided us. We walked along a separately designated passage. As we walked, I looked out at the plaza where the succession ceremony would soon be held.
On the far side of the plaza, a long and broad carpet had been laid out. The crowd stood while leaving the carpet empty, and at the end of the carpet was a lofty dais. The emperor’s throne was at its summit.
“This is the place.”
The Yukline seats to which the guardsman led us were close to the throne.
Not far away were various members of royalty, including Maho, as well as Wilhelm, Gilleon, Sylvia, Eselin, Betan, Ragan, and more...... It was overflowing with illustrious figures.
Among them, I looked at one person in particular.
Yuli.
Sensing my gaze, she returned it with a nod. She looked rather tired. The dark circles under her eyes were far too pronounced.
I wanted to approach her, but it was not a situation in which I could exchange greetings with anyone.
Boom─────!
A drum resounded. Trumpets and ceremonial music announcing the prelude to the imperial succession followed after it.
Not far away, the imperial carriage appeared, and the cheers of the subjects shook heaven and earth.
The grand and resplendent carriage stopped at the starting point of the carpet.
The cheers and ceremonial music gradually died down.
Amid it, the carriage door opened. A graceful, straight leg was the first to step onto the ground.
Sophien Ekater Auguste von Jaegers Jifrain.
Long, blazing red hair, imperial features as sharp as a blade, and yet two eyes sunk in languid weariness.
She was the one who would become emperor.
Sophien strode majestically down that path, one only an emperor could walk. With every step she took, all the people in the plaza knelt. They bowed their heads.
At last, Sophien ascended the dais by herself.
One step, then another; the emperor’s throne slowly drew closer, and beside it waited the former emperor’s empress, her mother.
Sophien knelt before the throne. Holding back her tears, the empress placed the golden crown upon Sophien’s head.
Boom────!
Boom────!
Boom────!
The drums resounded in succession.
And so, Sophien became emperor and sat upon the throne.
From the seat overlooking all, from a position more exalted than anyone else’s, Sophien swept her gaze across the world. For some reason, the emperor who stood above all seemed afflicted with ennui.
I looked at that emperor.
I knew the reason for the ennui she harbored. I knew her origin. I knew her life.
The character setting of the emperor was......
The emperor shifted her gaze. Suddenly, she was looking at me.
The meeting of our eyes lasted only an instant, and I immediately bowed my head.
However, I could feel her gaze driving down into me.
The emperor was still looking at me......