Master and Disciple
Master and Disciple
"The academy?"
The topic that came up while I was tilting a teacup with Duke Lesrom in the Noble Council chamber he'd summoned me to was, personally, something I found pretty damn out of left field. I reflexively asked back without realizing it, but Duke Lesrom just answered with his usual detached attitude.
"So he says. Widra's even stepped down from his public post to prepare for you... though it'd be a bit ambiguous to say that outright, since the man's got plenty of personal motive in it as well. It is, after all, a lifelong aspiration."
Of course, it wasn't like I'd have absolutely nothing to learn there. It wasn't that I had nothing to learn at the Imperial Academy either. But ultimately, the purpose of an academy was to contribute to technological advancement through theory, or to safely teach practical combat and lower battlefield fatality rates, or to train commanders and enhance a unit's operational capability.
Which meant not a damn bit of it applied to me. I'd be far better off running one more quest with Gaendal's party.
"Honestly, Your Excellency, I'd like to start by jumping on the fact that you and former Court Mage Regneva are on such overflowing friendly terms that you'd even have such a conversation, but I'll let that slide at this point. Am I required to enroll in the academy?"
"Do you wish to enroll?"
"Not in the slightest."
It wasn't like I wanted to make some fresh-faced school days memories, so why the hell would I crawl into a place where graduating meant a high probability of becoming a state slave.
I was in the position of receiving help and learning this and that from Widra, but as Duke Lesrom had said, he wasn't exactly providing education to me for free either. So if they were going to use that as a pretext to tell me to enroll in the academy now, it was a matter that needed a bit of 'adjustment,' so to speak.
"A pity. Well, don't worry about it. It seems you won't be enrolling as a student."
Fortunately, it didn't look like I needed to spend time on that sort of opinion-adjustment, but it seemed the fact that I'd be going to the academy was already set in stone.
"...'Not as a student' means I still have to enter as something else, doesn't it."
"Don't jump to conclusions and grimace so much. You are simply Widra's disciple. Nominally, you'll be considered something like a teaching assistant."
Widra hadn't stepped down from the court mage position—something others wanted but couldn't get—because he lacked money. It was merely a choice to quickly secure stable funding and facilities while maintaining the confidentiality of the far-from-light subject that humans could use Magic Power.
The fact that he could so easily toss aside such a position for a single research project was a passage that let one surmise Widra was no ordinary mage either. He'd definitely get along like a house on fire with Seneran.
When I first heard it, I wondered if the royal family's support wasn't, in fact, way beefier than some mere academy's. But I ended up accepting it from the standpoint of maintaining secrecy. If he conducted research with the royal family's support, not only would he have to report progress constantly, but the possibility of information leaking to other nations would skyrocket. The title of 'secret research by a kingdom's court mage' carried more weight than 'secret research by an academy professor,' after all.
The story was that because even a too-sudden job change could draw suspicion, it was only now sorted out after preparing all sorts of procedures.
"To put it simply, they've been running around really hard. Mainly the underlings, that is."
"I'm reminded of when the 1st Princess of the Empire visited while I was staying at the temporary detention center."
"Heh heh heh. I'm grateful for that matter. Had you added even a single word, my subordinates' hard work would've turned to foam. Thanks to you, I didn't even need to worry about face when paying them a performance bonus to acknowledge their efforts."
Duke Lesrom, who immediately picked up on and acknowledged the fact that I'd tacitly allowed them to move the furniture in perfect order with just that oblique remark, was indeed one crafty old serpent. But his cheerfulness seemed genuine, because he kept smiling while I took a sip of Duke Lesrom's now-familiar tea, and he continued speaking only after his laughter had subsided later.
"I decided to explain it while I had the excuse of summoning you here, since I'm still busy wrapping up the procedures. I can't say you'll be completely free... but compared with the other teaching assistants or disciples, saying you'll have it easy would be pretty accurate."
"Your expressions are truly common-folk-like."
"I'm just overflowing with humanity."
Sometimes I feared that even this was all an act to curry favor. Because if it was, I felt like you could call it an incredibly successful performance.
"Still, it seems you'll be a bit busy for about a month. No matter how much Widra entered the academy's fold for personal objectives, he still has work to do. There won't be any difficulty for that friend, but the process being physically busy is a fact."
"Winter break is barely a month away, so it does sound like it'll be like that..."
"Exactly. Since such cases aren't entirely unprecedented, he'll be busy in many ways. In order for him to properly open a course next year, he has an obligation to open a pre-course during the winter break, similar in concept to an intersession term."
Was it that they'd test his ability as a professor, no matter how much he'd been a court mage? The mindset was truly admirable.
From what I heard, it was closer to a session for announcing long-term policies and course objectives, including the curriculum. There were students who attended of their own accord, and it seemed when enrollment numbers were uncertain, the academy would gently coax people together using various incentives to form a sort of evaluation panel and stuff them in.
"Of course, considering Widra's reputation, enrollment numbers won't be lacking. Still, you're about to become his disciple, so shouldn't you assist with your master's work to some extent?"
"That's... true enough."
If it were a simple cooperative relationship like with Seneran, I might not know, but since we'd decided to tie the bond of master and disciple, I intended to do what I could. It wasn't like my character was messed up, and it was also hard to be harsh to someone who was diligently trying to fulfill that old promise from long ago.
"Anyway, Magic Power, huh... you really are a startling fellow from one to ten."
"He even mentioned that?"
"He didn't exactly point it out outright, but wouldn't it be obvious when it's something I've been hearing about my whole life?"
Well, from the sound of it, they seemed like incredibly close acquaintances, so it was a natural conclusion. If someone threw away a stable job, latched onto some disciple, and said they'd start research, anyone who wasn't a stone-headed idiot would figure it out normally.
"Don't worry, I won't go blabbing it elsewhere. We've also fabricated the process of how he came to take you as a disciple naturally enough that it won't be easily exposed."
Unlike Duke Lesrom, who spoke with a chuckle, I felt unnecessarily uncomfortable and just sipped my tea.
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It was only after leaving that meeting with Duke Lesrom behind, returning home, and repeating the cycle of reading Holy Light Cross Order documents while stoking the fire in the stove for about two days that I finally headed to the Royal Academy.
I didn't know about the rest, but the damn commute looked like it'd be inconvenient as hell. I remembered Sheryl saying that from the noble residential district, you could leisurely ride a horse for just over ten minutes and cross over into the academy district where the school was located, but from the adventurer district, even though there had been opportunities to speed up along the way, it took over thirty minutes. It was only thanks to Ekaf practically shoving the horse I'd received from Englem at me like a housewarming gift that I was fine—without it, my head would've definitely ached over it.
"Huh, the Kingdom Academy's pretty decent too."
In truth, if asked which district I had been least connected to while living in the capital, I could answer without hesitation: the academy district. It covered an area comparable to a major university campus from my previous life and was packed with convenience facilities. Its commercial district had grown so bustling that, at a glance, it was almost indistinguishable from the adventurers’ district.
Except for the academy buildings that stood exceptionally tall in the distance. Thanks to them, even though it was my first trip there, I was able to enter the academy safely without becoming a lost child. After that, by asking the guards and students for directions, I made my way to Widra's office in the Magic Faculty Building, where he, who had been busily tidying up his room, greeted me happily.
"Considering how you boldly declared it wouldn't take even a week, it's taken quite some time... though even when I tried to speak to you midway through, our schedules didn't match because you were moving about so busily."
"Indeed. Neither did I know I'd end up roving about outside like this."
How could I possibly have imagined I'd get tangled up with a demon and Englem's corruption and end up delaying time. I could laugh it off because the compensation was satisfying—if I'd only wasted time, my insides would have burned so bad I wouldn't have slept properly. At my sincere answer, Widra spread a smile across his tired-looking face and continued speaking.
"Hahaha. It seems I was in the same boat. But from a mage's perspective, this can be considered a good omen. For everything to always flow according to plan means something has gone seriously wrong."
"Perhaps because I haven't had the chance to speak deeply with mages until now, it's a maxim I'm hearing for the first time."
It was something Asilie had never once said either.
"It's an old maxim telling you to realize that no matter how powerful a force you wield, you are still nothing but a mortal. So it's a kind of superstition where, when undertaking a great task, a slight hitch in the plan is considered an auspicious sign."
I guess it was probably a maxim limited to short-lived species. But anyway, not only did he distance himself from lies, he also possessed a humble attitude to boot.
Most of the mages I'd read about in novels got drunk on power and practically embodied the phrase 'fucking humans never change.' I could already feel my faith and trust in my teacher growing stronger.