Chapter 3
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 003
Chapter Title: The Academy's Lecture
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A wide-open boulevard stretched out before them.
A monument stood at one side of the main gate, flanked by neatly grown plants lining the streets.
Towering white buildings adorned the upper reaches of the skyline, reflecting the light and beautifully illuminating the avenue.
Engraved at the top of the main gate were the words "Imperial University, Ri Sete Academy."
Charlotte, claiming this was her alma mater, took the lead and guided the way.
Thanks to his work as a developer, he wasn't completely unfamiliar with the layout, but he followed her directions without protest.
"The administrative office we're heading to is this way."
Charlotte veered off the main avenue onto a side street, taking in the scenery that unfolded like a painting.
The dirt paths were damp from the rain that had stopped just yesterday, with water droplets clinging to the foliage.
The scent of rain filling his nostrils suddenly felt invigorating.
This place held memories for Charlotte too, no doubt—she would have been reminiscing about this corner or that spot if he weren't walking beside her.
But a vast barrier of personal experience stood in the way of him chiming in with any empathy.
"How about it? You never went to university."
Instead, she quickly shifted the question's direction.
It seemed mostly like idle chatter to pass the time, but he understood.
'I'd chat a bit too if the person next to me was a work colleague.'
The stone tiles underfoot, the grassy scent filling the air.
The warmth of the sunlight blending with the morning garden.
It would be inaccurate to say he created all of this himself, but he couldn't claim to have no impressions.
Indeed... He scanned the surroundings widely and nodded.
'If I could have spent my school days in a place like this, it might have been enjoyable.'
Even if not here, attending some other academy might have been different.
But Aiden had never attended any academy.
More precisely, by the age when one should attend, he had already achieved remarkable accomplishments, so he likely saw no need to follow a standard curriculum.
Still, seeing this made him think attending once wouldn't have been so bad.
Before answering her question, he probed gently.
"Does coming back to your alma mater stir deep emotions?"
Hmm...
Charlotte feigned ignorance with a vague hum.
"Well."
He walked on slowly, waiting for her response.
Time was plentiful, and the path ahead was long.
He could have asked why she wasn't looking at him while talking, but gazing at Charlotte made him feel like he was conversing with a massive brown chitinous cockroach.
To even pretend it was a conversation, he had to avoid her eyes as much as possible.
Charlotte mulled over her words, then affirmed with a shallow dip into nostalgia.
"Emotions, yeah. I guess I felt a bit of that. So, what about you?"
The vibe she gave made him opt for silence over a reply.
Once the reminiscent mood faded, he spoke up.
"You asked how it is... As someone who's never experienced school life, my answer would be lame. I'll skip defining it."
"You could just play along at times like this, but you're so stubbornly rigid."
Charlotte smirked, questioning what kind of response that was.
He ignored her neatly.
They stopped by the administrative office to handle the formalities, saw the president's face as a bonus, and—feigning reluctance at his invitation—headed to a lecture hall.
It was an invitation to observe a class.
It carried some pride on her part, but it wasn't a bad thing.
He had to lecture here anyway.
Charlotte tagged along, her school days flooding back vividly, but since class was in session, they slipped in as quietly as possible.
Keeping her voice low, she excitedly whispered to him.
"This is the large lecture hall. It's always so huge."
The scale rivaled a grand opera house.
Yet the students filled it to the brim, making the size feel insignificant.
With no seats available, they ended up standing at the very back, but he had no complaints.
Instead, a brief wave of dizziness made him squeeze his eyes shut.
Aside from that, everything unfolded as expected, without major surprises.
'...Nauseating.'
Seeing that many people all as grotesque abominations.
Good thing they weren't looking his way—if they had been, he might have made a scene.
Right after thinking life as Aiden would be tougher than anticipated, he glanced sideways at the professor continuing the lecture.
[...Thus, magic is ultimately the countless combinations of shapes that form each meaning, and the 'purity' that mages ultimately pursue is...]
"Ah... This is Pure Magic Theory."
Charlotte, who had been listening with keen interest beside him, suddenly lost all spark in her eyes.
He had no idea what it was about, but her reaction suggested it was an exceptionally difficult subject.
Since it was one of the magic lectures the dean had confidently recommended as a must-see, he gave up trying to understand early on.
'I'm a rapier-wielding knight to begin with.'
He could follow a superficial rundown, but not when it delved into scholarly analysis like this.
He let it wash over him while staying silent.
Thanks to ties with various collaborative institutions linked to the university, Ri Sete Academy offered many high-quality magic lectures like this.
That was the main reason the Magic Department continued its dominance.
'In contrast, the Knight Department, focused on martial techniques and combat arts, lagged behind relatively.'
To balance the scales, the university had promised massive support to recruit a visiting professor...
'Who happens to be me.'
Name-brand professors were often retired knights who had stepped away from the front lines, making recruitment difficult.
Bringing in theory-focused ones lacked practical edge.
Of course, there were professors who struck a balance. Surely.
But...
'The sweet lectures from good professors fill up the moment registration opens.'
That caused the Knight Department headaches with overcrowding around a few select professors every semester.
It was also why Aiden, who had never taught anyone, could take up the chalk.
Establishing a new lecture instead of inheriting one was part of that consideration.
[In other words, the purity attained in magic refers to the state before the basic 'combination' of these shapes.]
The professor gestured from the podium, and a simple fireball popped into existence.
[Listen up. The strokes, formulas, and shapes for a fireball—you all know them.]
He drew a magic circle in the air with mana, enlarging it demonstratively.
Someone let out an admiring gasp at the flawlessly smooth circle.
[So, in this fireball, what is the formula denoting flame, what substitutes mana for fire, and what stroke shapes the blaze into a sphere?]
With a snap of his fingers, the circular magic circle decomposed into individual shapes, fading one by one.
What remained was a single ambiguous form—a serpentine glyph that could be called a letter, a stroke, or a shape.
It wasn't symmetrical, nor a straight line.
Compared to prevailing theories where strokes and shapes formed symmetries, it was blatantly alien.
The wriggling script was commonly known as 'Ignite.' One of the few ancient runes not yet deciphered in modern times.
[As you see, this is a rune. Strip away all shapes, and what's left is a single symbol for 'fire.']
The professor scanned the audience with a grin.
His gaze paused at one spot, and for a moment, it felt like eye contact.
'An illusion.'
[Of course, this letter alone can't ignite a flame. But the origin of fire can be defined by this single glyph. Thus, a pure approach to magic equates to accessing the 'runes' themselves.]
Then...
Without finishing the thought, he shifted his gaze again.
Another strange sense of wrongness washed over him.
No, unease.
Eye contact with the professor.
[Then, the student at the very back who arrived late—explain why this single glyph can't produce a flame.]
Instantly, hundreds of... no, people's attentions focused on him.
Feeling his stomach churn violently, he closed his eyes.
A teaching assistant approached silently and handed him a microphone.
"We're not students, actually."
As eyes turned their way, Charlotte tried to explain, but the attention was already locked in.
He glanced at her. Even this bold one tensed up in moments like this.
"Never mind."
Huh?
Ignoring her dumbfounded noise, he met the professor's eyes.
The distance from the opera-stage podium to the entrance made details hazy, but right now, he was eye-to-eye with the professor.
He hadn't confirmed it, but that's how it felt.
Better to answer quickly and slip away. Explaining circumstances would only prolong the spotlight.
Moreover, time was critical here.
Thinking of hundreds of antennae twitching would test his stomach's limits.
He organized his thoughts while speaking.
No time to recall step by step.
He dredged the answer from deep in his memory.
'Yeah, I think the setting collection said something like this.'
"The biggest reasons are not knowing the rune's original meaning and lacking its true pronunciation."
The professor, fingers steepled, waited patiently, seeming to approve the approach.
"It's said that in the past, runes manifested magic without spell formulas. But after the Great War, that knowledge was lost, and in modern reconstruction from ancient texts, rituals were added."
In short.
"The pure magic approach you're teaching now views current magic as a degraded version of the past, aiming to reclaim that former glory."
Someone gasped at the bold statement dismissing modern magic as inferior.
It was a direct challenge to magic's prestige.
It denied the paradigm of magic's daily progress.
Surprisingly, the professor just smiled with interest, offering no rebuttal.
"Even knowing the meaning and pronunciation, the primary reason runes can't manifest magic now is that, over dozens of generations, our vocal organs capable of pronouncing them have atrophied."
Charlotte eyed him like, "How do you know that?" but he had no intention of answering.
'Lucky I'm the director.'
He survived by memorizing every game detail, even if the backstory was spotty.
Otherwise, his stomach alarm would have blared by now.
[An excellent perspective. What's your name, student?]
Student, huh.
He raised the mic to deny it.
"Not a student, but Aiden. Starting this semester as a new hire—looking forward to working with you."
With that said, he shoved the mic back into the stunned assistant's hands and exited the lecture hall.
Charlotte, finally grasping the situation, chased after him.
"W-Wait. How did you know that? No, more importantly, why'd you leave?"
She had to trot to keep up with his long strides, staring at him quizzically.
Why leave?
Obviously...
Seeing his face, Charlotte stiffened.
Like something major had happened.
He asked very seriously, sternly.
"Restroom. Where's the restroom?"
"Uh, um... Over there? Why?"
"Thanks."
He hurried even faster to the men's room.
When he emerged after handling business, Charlotte—who had apparently heard the retching—glared at him with utter pity.
He felt wronged.