The Magic Missile Revelation
Dayman stared at her. “You trying to scam me right now? You’re talking about a motel! What a fascinating place that was!!”
“........”
“Good heavens!! I’ve never seen such a luxurious bathroom in my life! Back in my day, there was a job called ‘shit scooper.’ People who went around manually scooping out all the accumulated filth from the toilets. You could smell the stench from the village entrance!”
“I get it, so please just shut your mouth already......” Seria muttered quietly, her face flushed red.
She was genuinely curious. What kind of accident could turn a person into this? When she looked it up yesterday, she found something about dissociative identity disorder. Apparently, after an accident, some people start believing they’re characters from media they enjoy. But this raw delinquent probably never watched the kind of dramas or novels that old folks liked...... It made no sense at all.
But none of that mattered right now. What mattered to her was learning combat techniques as fast as possible so she could properly smack that bitch Octavia.
“Haha!! Now the students aren’t giving me weird looks anymore!! Must be because of this well-fitted uniform! I quite like this uniform too. The fabric feels so crisp. Back in my day, you’d only wear something like this for special occasions! So this is common these days? The world really has improved! Improved a lot!!”
“Oh my god!!! Please stop using that fossilized way of speaking!! Just hurry up and follow me! This is so embarrassing......”
Seeing Seria dash off, Dayman burst into laughter.
“What a prickly little lass, ho ho! Wearing a nice uniform really does boost your confidence!”
Dayman walked down the street with a satisfied grin.
“Ho ho! Fellow students! Lovely weather we’re having! Have a vigorous day!”
He even waved at passing students. The students who never expected the “crazy guy from Line 3 lol” to be from their own academy whispered among themselves and started filming him with their phones, but Dayman paid them no mind.
“Is this the place?”
Following the girl who had run far ahead, Dayman headed toward an old storage shed behind the Magic Faculty classroom building. The moment they arrived, Seria scurried over to him with a serious expression.
“You. You asked me to teach you how kids these days talk, right?”
“That’s right. I plan on making many good connections here from now on, so I’d like to handle social life properly.”
“Then fix that way of speaking first!!”
“What’s wrong with my speech?”
“It reeks of grandpa! You sound exactly like those old men who gather in the park to play Caliboard! The way you look and the way you talk are so different that it’s giving me cognitive dissonance the more I see it!!! With that speech, kids will think you’re weird instead of friendly!!”
“I-Is that so? Would it be a demerit in social situations?”
“Of course!! You’ll never make friends your age with that speech! At least fix your way of speaking first...... Try to sound more sophisticated.”
“Very well. What should I study?”
Seria let out a deep sigh. She pulled out her phone, tapped on it for a moment, then handed it to Dayman.
“Here. Watch this.”
“What is this?”
“It’s a NewTube channel. These are called Shorts. They show the latest memes and stuff too.”
“My word...... What a strange thing this is......”
Watching Dayman fumble with the phone, Seria spoke in disbelief.
“Are you doing this on purpose as a concept? Or is there actually something wrong with you?”
“Concept? What’s that?”
“I’m asking if you’re doing it on purpose! A guy who used to be normal suddenly......”
At those words, Dayman’s eyes widened.
“Lass. Hold on. Do you know much about this body’s past? About this Dayman Calidos fellow?”
“How could I not? You’re pretty famous at Romeln Academy. And though we weren’t close...... we did know each other personally.”
“Oho! Is that so!! Tell me how I was famous! If you also know about my family situation or anything like that, I’d appreciate it. As the old sages said, knowing yourself and your enemy guarantees victory in every battle. This is necessary information.”
At that, Seria began explaining everything she knew, albeit hesitantly.
“It feels weird telling you your own story, but...... You’re the youngest son of the prestigious swordsman family, the Calidos ducal house.”
“A ducal house? So this body was a noble?”
“Of course. Most students at Romeln Academy are nobles to begin with. There are almost no commoners. Occasionally, one or two commoners with the talent of a Blessed or a mage get in, but those cases are extremely rare.”
“Oho. I see. So? Keep going.”
“You caused a lot of trouble. You had zero talent.”
“I can see that. A guy walking around looking like this probably doesn’t have his head screwed on straight. Was he really stupid?”
“Extremely. Even after becoming a third-year, he was struggling to master basic sword aura. His body had insane natural talent, so he covered for it with equipment. You know the Workshop, right? He ordered a magic sword that automatically generates aura and carried it around. Since he had plenty of mana, he’d create a massive aura with mana and just push opponents back. But even that hit its limit around fifth year. He got held back twice in a row and...... was on the verge of expulsion.”
“A magic sword...... So he found one with a calculation function. What a foolish thing to do. No matter how fast a calculation system is, it can never be faster or more precise than a human. So?”
“What do you mean ‘so’? Because of the two consecutive hold-backs, he had a huge fight with Lady Bamos, who used to follow him around like a puppy, then got dead drunk and went to the Hell Riders or whatever they’re called. Rumor has it he went to those delinquents he used to pay to hang out with and got into a motorcycle accident. And then you showed up.”
“.......”
“I heard you got disowned by the Calidos family. And that your engagement with Lady Bamos was called off too. Your situation right now is the worst. If you don’t get good grades in the midterms, expulsion is guaranteed. And if you get expelled, the noble circles will look at you with utter contempt, so finding a job will be impossible. If you keep going like this, you might have to live as a commoner. Since you were disowned, you’re basically a commoner now.”
“What about connections? How was my usual network and reputation?”
“The worst. Why else would you have the nickname ‘Calidos’s Delinquent’?”
“Delinquent?”
“Yeah. Since you had no talent, you couldn’t stand watching everyone else move forward while you fell behind, so you went wild. You picked fights with everyone you saw, and when things got messy, you used your family name to smooth it over. You kept repeating that until even the Calidos family couldn’t take it anymore and disowned you...... Something like that.”
“........This guy was an even bigger idiot than I imagined.”
Unable to hold it in any longer, Seria burst out laughing at Dayman’s gloomy muttering.
“You’re talking like it’s someone else’s story. Hey, Mr. Dayman. That’s your story.”
“I know, lass. This is...... If my reputation is this bad, it’ll be hard to build connections......”
Dayman scratched the back of his head for a while with a troubled look, then let out a light chuckle as if it were no big deal.
“Well, nothing I can do about it. I’ll just have to prove myself with overwhelming results!! If I defeat a professor in the midterms, my evaluation should improve quite a bit, no?”
“What? You’re planning to defeat a professor?”
“That’s right. As a combat mage. That clown Professor Rosemary or whatever her name is was doing some ridiculous nonsense. I’ll prove in front of everyone that she’s wrong.”
If his previous words had been shocking, this was outright arrogance. This wasn’t just pride. It was closer to a delusional fantasy.
“Do you even know who Professor Rosemary is before saying that?”
“She’s an idiot.”
“.........”
“A fool who doesn’t even understand what combat magic is. How is it that every other field has advanced to a blinding degree, yet combat magic has actually regressed!! With all this advanced technology, the best they can do is stand still and cast spells at each other!! And while chanting incantations, no less!!!! We didn’t even do that back in my day!!! Back in my day!!!”
“You keep saying ‘back in my day.’ When exactly are you referring to?”
“73 years ago. During the Great Human-Demon War. The way mages fought back then was far more advanced than how they fight now. Lass, if the continent’s top educational institution is teaching nothing but clown acts like that, what are they planning to do when they actually meet a real enemy...... Tsk tsk. I’ll be the one to change it!!! I’ll show everyone what real combat magic is!!”
If Seria hadn’t witnessed him instantly take down seven knights with that shocking wand technique yesterday, she would have run away the moment he said that. This wasn’t just megalomania. There was a limit to how stupid and delusional someone could be, and this wasn’t a concept. He was being completely serious. Seria fidgeted. Was it really okay to learn from this lunatic?
“You...... Are you really confident?”
“Of course. This midterm exam will go down in history. I’ll make sure of it! If I prove myself so spectacularly, won’t it be easier to build connections later on!!”
“Connections?”
“To do great things, you need money and power. There are many important people at this academy, right? I plan to win over the one with the highest status and the one with the most money to my side.”
She couldn’t listen anymore. Seria shook her head vigorously to clear her mind.
“Enough. I can’t listen to any more of this. Just hurry up and teach me what you did yesterday. If I try it and it’s not what I want, I’m quitting right away. Keep that in mind.”
“What? Did you think the master-disciple relationship was that simple!!”
“You could be cheating somehow! For all I know, you might be tricking me with some pathetic scam and then acting all high and mighty! I’m warning you in advance—if you hacked the wand’s calculation system to overclock it and scammed everyone, I won’t let you off......”
“It’s not a scam. Watch your words, lass. This is something I devoted my entire life to creating. It’s not something you can belittle so casually.”
A faint, materialized killing intent burst forth. With a whoosh, wind blew through the storage shed even though all the windows were closed. Overwhelmed by the pressure, Seria collapsed to the floor without realizing it.
“Huu......”
For a moment, he hadn’t seemed like Dayman. It was like she had glimpsed a monster. Something from another dimension, not human. But the killing intent vanished just as quickly.
“What are you so surprised about? I’ve talked too much nonsense! Since I’ll probably be receiving quite a bit of help from you in various ways from now on, shall we begin the lesson right away? You said you wanted to know the secret behind how I took down seven knights at once yesterday!”
“Huh? Uh...... Y-Yeah.”
Embarrassed about having fallen down, Seria quickly stood up. Dayman’s lecture began, directed at her.
“It’s simple! The magic I used yesterday was just one spell!”
“What is it?”
The explanation for the magical sight she had witnessed yesterday was finally beginning. What kind of magic could it be? 9th Circle? No. Octavia had easily dismantled even 9th Circle magic. If it was powerful enough to instantly subdue seven knights, then it must be 10th Circle. No, it might even be military-grade magic of 11th Circle or higher. Seria’s face was filled with anticipation, her heart pounding.
“It was Magic Missile.”
“.........What?”
“Back in my day, there was a lot of debate about whether to classify this as 1st Circle or 0th Circle magic. In the end, it was classified as 1st Circle. That’s the one. Magic Missile.”
“........You’re saying you took down seven knights at once with Magic Missile?”
“Yeah. That’s right, lass.”
Seria’s expression twisted in utter dismay.