After Aizen had finished all his business in the Phoenix County and returned to the Academy.
In Aizen’s workshop, Mina and Noel were drinking tea and chatting.
“Business seems to be going well for you lately, Lady Mina.”
“Of course it is.”
Mina was grinning as she waved the documents in her hand.
Noel knew what they were, but perhaps to confirm, she asked quietly.
“Are those all…?”
“Applications to purchase Cyclops.”
After Reina and the Phoenix Count’s family had first purchased them on the spot, there had been no further sales of Cyclops.
Those who recognized the Cyclops could immediately see how excellent it was, but it had not even been a year since rideable golems like the Cyclops had begun appearing in earnest.
Even this had only reached a level where they could be mass-produced and sold elsewhere because Aizen had obtained support from Mina and various other sources. In reality, it should have taken months at the least, and quite possibly several more years.
From Mina and Noel’s perspective, it was only possible because Aizen was astonishingly fast and efficient.
And he had been very lucky, too.
“It would’ve been impossible if he hadn’t shown that much merit in the count’s domain.”
“And word spread that the count himself gave high praise and showed intent to purchase more.”
“We didn’t ask him to. The other party is a margrave.”
When Noel spoke as if probing lightly, Mina quietly shook her head.
Even Mina, after all, was merely the daughter of a baronial family.
If she had not possessed the impressive position of saintess, she would not even have been in a position to drink tea with Noel, so it was obvious she could not boldly demand that a margrave act as their advertising pillar.
Which meant that the Cyclops’s prowess had spread through the kingdom purely because the count had done so of his own accord.
Though the Phoenix Count’s family had not officially said so, it was as good as declaring that they would stand behind Aizen.
“They say no one lost out this time, but Aizen gained the most.”
“I suppose so. A political backer, and now martial renown that can never be belittled…”
And according to the contract he had made with the royal palace.
“Lord Aizen will become a titled noble, which is extremely rare for an Academy student.”
“And he’ll be receiving it while still a student.”
Most Academy students were nobles, but there were few titled nobles among them, and even fewer who had received the title themselves.
The one who held a title was usually the head of the family, not their children. So those who were titled nobles while still students were usually people who had inherited it because the family head had died suddenly or retired.
Aizen had, in effect, won his title for himself, so his case was entirely different.
“Now I suppose I’ll have to call him Baron every single time. Strictly speaking, his status will be higher than mine now.”
“Don’t joke. You’re only considered to have no title because the law says that’s how it is for the daughter of a ducal house. If it’s just a baron before a duke’s daughter, he’s the one who should bow.”
“You don’t do that to me, Mina.”
“I did at first. Only at first.”
As Mina answered while drinking her tea, Noel smiled.
She remembered Mina back then, when she had mustered the courage to visit Aizen and had acted warmly toward Noel.
“Yes. You’re better as you are now, Lady Mina.”
Thinking that the relationship they now had had begun because of that incident, Noel did not find it unpleasant.
And so, naturally, the topic shifted to her own problem.
“Did you perhaps receive an invitation as well, Lady Mina?”
“Abatus?”
The answer came immediately.
Judging from that, Mina seemed to have been thinking the same thing as Noel.
“I sent it back with some excuse that I’d be busy soon and it would be difficult. They never showed any interest in me until now.”
“In my case, it feels like they were working hard to approach my main family, and now they’re approaching me too.”
What Noel took out was an invitation.
A banquet that the Abatus Count’s family was holding after renting the Academy’s banquet hall.
It was a party to which all the distinguished figures of the Academy were being invited, so naturally, Noel had been invited as well.
“They say there’s a dance hall there. I suppose social dancing will be the main focus of the party.”
“It’s famous. It’s probably the most famous place for nobles to make pleasant memories.”
That was how famous the dance hall was as a party venue.
For that reason, Noel’s face was cold.
“As if they’re mocking me.”
At Noel’s words, Mina looked near her chair.
“You dislike banquets because they’re so noisy, Noel.”
It was an unusually roundabout way of speaking for Mina.
Noel’s cane, carefully carved with ornamentation.
If one knew that Noel’s stamina was weak.
Then inviting her to a banquet she could not fully enjoy was, in a sense, a provocation telling her to suffer and leave.
“From the way you put it, I suppose you’ve met him before. The heir of Count Abatus. He’s a senior, wasn’t he?”
“If you mean the host of this party, yes. I’ve had brief conversations with him several times.”
“How was he?”
There was wariness in Mina’s eyes.
Noel was just about to answer.
“Aizen, are you here?! Ah. Noel and Mina, it’s you.”
“Welcome, Professor. Would you like some tea?”
Even upon seeing Reina suddenly enter, Noel did not panic and offered her tea with a smile.
But Reina seemed busy.
“I’ll accept the thought. But where did Aizen go? And have you perhaps seen Professor Rodelini? I haven’t seen her at all today.”
It seemed to be quite urgent, as Reina went straight to the point.
And Noel answered gently.
“If it’s Lord Aizen, he was experimenting on something called a spring together with Professor Rodelini, and they got flung away.”
Where Noel pointed, there was a hole large enough for two people.
****
“This is awkward.”
“This is awkward indeed.”
On a railing high up on the Academy’s towering castle.
Professor Rodelini and I were standing in a space just large enough for two people.
On the outer wall just above us, there was a mark that looked as though it had taken the impact of two people.
“Was this thing called a spring always that powerful at flinging people?”
“I don’t think so, but after making it out of mana metal and strengthening it, its power turned out to be unexpected.”
If applied well, it might be useful research, but right now there was another problem.
“How do we get back from here?”
After being launched with a force and speed impossible for a human being, we had barely managed to land somewhere, only to find ourselves clinging to what was practically a cliff.
What would happen if a spring were made from mana metal? It might be useful for golems. With that thought, I had decided to push its limits and reinforced it wildly. Just then, Professor Rodelini, who was constantly short on research funds, came to the workshop on her own asking whether I perhaps needed advice, showed interest, and tried various reinforcements herself. This was the result.
“At least it seems useful for a circus.”
“Great discoveries sometimes inspire laughter.”
We spoke as calmly as we could, but the problem was that we were standing unsteadily on a cliffside where the wind was blowing fiercely.
Judging from the location, it seemed to be near the laboratories used by professors, and because of that, there was no one passing by, which was another problem.
“Professors usually only enter their labs after department classes are over, so no one will come here for a while.”
“What are the chances someone comes by because they remembered something and finds us?”
“I calculated it just now. This is the lab Reina recently applied to be assigned.”
Professor Reina was a professor too, so it seemed she had a lot of research to do.
I had thought she only did things like dormitory supervision, but she was apparently brimming with passion for research as well.
“The problem is that Reina has a strong tendency to do all her work in her own office, and she’s busy too, so if she comes to the lab, it’ll probably be at night.”
“Should we just break through the wall and go inside?”
“If you’re willing to be the one Reina scolds, let’s do that.”
According to Professor Iserina, Professor Rodelini was legally Professor Reina’s older cousin, but it seemed she was the weaker one.
“I’m a little burdened because I’ve broken Reina’s fixtures during experiments, or borrowed money from her, and things like that.”
“What Professor Reina said back then sounds reasonable now.”
Hadn’t she shouted at her not to be extravagant…?
Well, in my case, I was incredibly lucky and Mina became my patron, but Professor Rodelini seemed to have little support.
More precisely, she apparently received a fair amount of sponsorship, but her expenses were so high that she had almost no income.
She was supposedly the most famous inventor and alchemist in the kingdom, but going around showing her face everywhere and earnestly asking for sponsorship because she had no research funds was one of her daily routines.
Because her reputation was high, she had to dress herself up to some extent, so I did think Professor Reina’s claim that she spent it on luxury was a bit harsh. But if she had even borrowed money, it did not seem like something a third party should interfere in.
All I needed to know was that she was a useful professor.
“Didn’t you just think something rude?”
“I think the cold wind is making your thoughts wander, Professor.”
“I see.”
Professor Rodelini fell silent.
She seemed to be pondering how to overcome this situation.
Then, from far away, a voice was heard.
—“Aizen~ Where are you~!”
“Erika is finally coming.”
“She saw us fly away and chased after us, and now she’s made it here.”
Erika had been there too when we were experimenting in the workshop.
Just when I thought she would find us soon.
—“Professor Reina says she has something to tell you, so please answer quickly!”
“I feel like I’ve done something wrong. Let’s stay here for another two hours.”
“You are aware that you normally go around causing trouble, aren’t you? But no.”
I thought Professor Rodelini had betrayed me, but soon she seemed to think of something.
“Right, have you decided on a department?”
“There are departments?”
“New students take only common classes for about three months, and after that they choose a department separately and take additional lectures.”
Why was that coming up now…? But thinking about it, I had stayed in the Phoenix County for quite a while, so it seemed I had not been able to apply or anything.
“Saintess Mina, Noel, and Erika applied in advance before they left.”
“I’m the only one who didn’t apply? Why didn’t they tell me?”
“Even I can’t tell what you’d choose. Do you think those girls would be any different?”
That seemed a little too much, but thinking about it, she was right.
I had not said anything about that sort of thing, so there was no way they could have applied for me in advance.
Rodelini seemed briefly excited.
“To be honest, someone like you would be coveted anywhere. Reina has her eye on your stamina too. Iserina was saying that golems fall under the domain of magic. The necromancy professor claimed that since there are rumors you’re a prodigy, you must surely have talent as a necromancer. The other professors seemed expectant too.”
“Isn’t that going a little too far?”
Love calls from professors.
I felt like I should not accept those.
But thinking about it, the professor beside me had not said anything.
“What about you, Professor?”
“Please don’t come. I can’t handle you.”
I was turned away at the door.
Alchemy rejected me.
“Golems and alchemy are related… rather closely, though.”
“They only have parts in common. Alchemy is not golem manufacturing. It’s about combining various reactions from nature and from artificial objects to create something new.”
“Isn’t that a golem?”
Alchemy tempted me.
But perhaps she truly meant that she could not handle me, because Rodelini waved her hands in refusal.
“Have mercy on me. A department head has to take responsibility when a student under their care causes trouble, and I don’t have the money to take responsibility.”
“I understand that too, but now that I think about it, aren’t there rumors that you can turn stone into gold?”
“Do I have to tell you how moved I was when I learned I could spend the value of two pieces of gold to make one piece of gold? You can’t hear that story without tears, you know?”
A perfect loss.
The discovery itself was impressive, but really, it was useless.
Just as I thought I should keep my distance from alchemy.
“I do wonder what secret discussion the two of you are having here.”
“Huh? Reina?”
“I didn’t think you would come at this hour…”
Thinking that, I looked down and saw Erika waving together with Noel and Mina.
They must have found us somehow.
“I’ll get you down first.”
Professor Reina lowered a rope, and I wrapped it around my body as instructed and went up.
Once we were safely rescued, Professor Rodelini let out a sigh.
“I’m alive. Thanks. I’ll pay back what I owe you for lunch last time tomorrow.”
“There was a hole in the outer wall, so let’s call it even if you repair that, Professor.”
“Why?!”
Rodelini screamed.
Meanwhile, Professor Reina sighed and said,
“At any rate, I’m glad you’re safe.”
“I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I know that was a conditioned reflex, but later you will confess what you did wrong honestly. More importantly, I have something to say.”
With that, Professor Reina held out a paper.
A document labeled department application form.
“Do you have a department in mind?”
“I don’t…”
When I said that much, Professor Reina’s eyes changed.
“Decide by the end of today. Classes begin tomorrow.”
Since she also worked as dormitory supervisor, gathering these forms must have been part of her job.
“You have a lot of work to do.”
When I expressed my concern, Reina’s expression turned a little cold.
“If you behaved yourself, I’d have less medicine to take and could look after my health.”
I had said the wrong thing.
However, perhaps because she had her own objective this time, Professor Reina quietly added,
“Well, if you feel sorry, how about applying to the Knight Department? We can train you properly.”
“I think I’ll be fine, since I exercise every day.”
Mostly cops and robbers, that is.
I was the robber, and the cop was usually Professor Reina.
Perhaps because I used every method possible to escape, she had now started kicking off the ceiling and landing in front of me.
Incidentally, my own speed was getting faster by the day as well.
“In any case, decide quickly. The professors have high expectations.”
Since Reina said it with a smile, I decided to correct her.
“Professor Rodelini said she didn’t want me.”
“Is that so? Well, that can happen.”
Reina said with a smile.
“A department professor must take responsibility for the students under their charge, after all. If the responsibility increases, withdrawing is also an answer.”
“I see.”
“With one competitor gone, I think everyone will breathe a sigh of relief.”
Professor Reina said with a grin.
“To be honest, until just now, I thought Professor Rodelini was tempting you by suggesting you make a new alloy for the Cyclops.”
Aizen Arclight.
Alchemy Department selected.