Chapter 12
Chapter 12
Magic
That day’s memory felt like a dream.
Those cold red eyes looking down at her.
And that voice, as if devoid of all emotion.
[There won’t be a second time, Lucia.]
Whenever she closed her eyes in bed, the memory resurfaced, and Lucia would once again be trapped in nightmares.
“Hah! Haa… haa…”
She woke up drenched in cold sweat, gasping for breath.
It was a memory she could not forget.
For someone who had lived her entire life as the daughter of House Aster, it was the first time she had been treated like that.
At first, she had only been angry. She had definitely intended not to let it slide.
“….”
And yet, no one except her remembered what happened that day.
Her servants who had been right beside her, the entire sequence of events—everything seemed to align against Iriya.
[Did you have a bad dream or something?]
Iriya’s final words echoed in her ears.
Was it really just a bad dream? Had her recent stalking of Iriya simply turned into hallucinations?
“…How disgusting.”
Lucia wiped the sweat from her forehead and sat up.
Yes. If she accepted it as nothing more than a fleeting dream, it made sense.
The events of that day were too unreal.
Iriya, who she believed to be an average “fake top student,” had subdued her without even lifting a finger, knocked out her servants, and vanished instantly.
There were too many things that did not fit reality.
So perhaps her mind had simply tried to rationalize it.
It was a dream. Not reality.
Forget it. It could not have been real.
That conclusion finally brought Lucia some relief.
“Right… there’s no way.”
It made no sense that Lucia, a recommended prodigy student, would be overwhelmed by someone from the same year.
And if it had really happened, how would Iriya have even known her name?
That alone was impossible.
It must have been an illusion.
So she had to take back the top rank as soon as possible.
Only then could she escape this unpleasant nightmare.
She would defeat Iriya in reality and prove that what happened was nothing more than an illusion.
Iriya.
Lucia silently repeated the name.
“So… you can’t use magic?”
“Yes.”
Iriya answered briefly, and Lena scratched her cheek awkwardly.
The girl had entered the academy as the top-ranked first-year student, yet she could not use even basic magic.
It was hard to believe.
But—
“Wind!”
“Hmm…”
Watching Iriya flail her hands at empty air, it really did seem true.
A top student like that doing something so clumsy—it didn’t match her image at all.
But she was cute, so Lena decided to overlook it.
“So you want to learn magic? From me?”
“I can’t really understand the lecture.”
Iriya needed to learn magic.
If she remained in the position of combat magic department top student while unable to use basic magic, she would draw unnecessary suspicion.
The academy was the perfect place for her.
It guaranteed her identity, gave her access to the library, and allowed her to monitor whether the “main character” of this world existed.
In order to achieve her goals without being expelled, she could not neglect academy life.
Lena smiled slightly.
“You said you took the aptitude test, right?”
Iriya nodded.
The magic aptitude test was used to determine elemental affinity.
Most people had one attribute among water, fire, lightning, ice, or wind. Some geniuses had multiple.
“I can use fire, lightning, and a bit of wind. Fire is my best one though.”
Lena demonstrated small flames, sparks of lightning, and a faint breeze.
“Cool.”
“…Oh. Thanks.”
Iriya responded flatly.
Lena had hoped for a more enthusiastic reaction, but that was just Iriya.
In fact, it might have been more strange if Iriya reacted excitedly.
Lena gently patted her head.
“So what about you? Which element do you have affinity with?”
“Wind, I think. I can’t use multiple like you.”
“Yeah, that’s normal.”
Normal was a strange standard in the academy, but that was because everyone here was abnormal.
For ordinary people, Iriya was not lacking at all.
Wind, huh.
Lena looked at her.
“It kind of doesn’t suit you… but also kind of does.”
Wind matched her image in a strange way.
At least it was the same element Lena used, so teaching would be easy.
“Okay. Then do you remember the basic spell?”
“A little.”
“Then watch carefully. I’ll show you once.”
Lena closed her eyes and extended her hand.
Mana flowed out of her body.
Golden hair swayed in the air.
“Do you see? Focus on the flow of mana and draw it outward. Then apply the spell to it.”
With a short chant, a green light enveloped her body.
Wind magic.
She gathered the wind around her hand and sent it toward Iriya.
A gentle breeze brushed through her hair.
“I’m not very good at wind magic, so this is the best I can do. In real combat, it’s mostly used to deflect incoming spells. Try it.”
Iriya nodded.
She closed her eyes and extended her hand, just like Lena.
Extracting mana from her body was not easy.
Especially for Iriya, whose body was filled with something else entirely.
Mana and magic were foreign to her.
But—
“Focus, Iriya. Not like that. Softer.”
Lena grabbed her hand.
The unstable mana began to stabilize.
With Lena’s guidance, Iriya finally succeeded in pulling out mana.
After that, everything proceeded smoothly.
Extracting mana, applying a spell, shaping it into magic.
Whoooosh.
A green light similar to Lena’s wrapped around Iriya’s body.
“Yes! That’s it!”
Lena exclaimed.
When Iriya opened her eyes, the magic was already complete.
She had learned the sensation.
Iriya felt she could do more.
Once mana was extracted, controlling it was not difficult for her.
Because she could simply borrow memories.
Iriya wrapped wind around her right hand.
Then—
BOOM!
She dashed forward and punched a nearby tree.
A massive hole exploded through the trunk.
The tree groaned and collapsed.
“…Huh?”
Lena stared blankly.
“Magic.”
“…?”
“Wind punch.”
Iriya said calmly.
Lena blinked.
Was she a genius?
No—this was something else entirely.
She wasn’t just using magic.
She was breaking it.
“Your mana is gone already.”
“It is?”
“Of course. That output was way too much.”
Iriya tilted her head.
“I see.”
Strangely, she did not show signs of exhaustion.
“Usually people collapse after using all their mana…”
“I’m fine.”
“…That’s weird.”
Lena murmured.
She studied Iriya carefully.
Her mana capacity was low.
Lower than average.
And yet her output was absurd.
“Your body feels like it’s filled with something other than mana…”
Lena muttered unconsciously.
Iriya paused for a moment.
“…But that can’t be right. You’re human.”
The question was innocent.
But Iriya did not answer immediately.
Lena had just noticed something that even high-ranking mages had failed to detect.
Should she erase her memory?
Iriya considered it for a moment.
But rejected it.
Memory manipulation had consequences.
It left gaps that eventually became discomfort.
Lena was not someone she could simply erase.
“…Let’s go to class.”
“Ah, already?”
“Yes.”
For now, Iriya decided—
She should avoid using magic in front of Lena for a while.