It Just Worked When I Tried It
I caught a glimpse of her from afar—a girl with ash-gray hair wearing the martial arts department uniform, walking straight toward me. It was Lise.
Her red eyes were clouded with far deeper doubt and confusion than before, but I simply shrugged and kept walking.
“What did you do?”
Lise approached and asked in a low voice. She still couldn’t believe it; her gaze kept drifting back toward the training grounds.
“I just won a duel.”
“…Moving while in the middle of casting magic is impossible. That’s common sense.”
Common sense. I used to think so too.
I hadn’t known it was possible until I actually tried it.
She was staring at me with open suspicion, as if I’d committed some vile act or used an artifact.
…Well, it made sense. The guy everyone had written off as a worthless scoundrel had suddenly done something completely insane.
“It’s not against common sense… People just didn’t know how to do it.”
“….”
“Just because others can’t do it doesn’t mean I can’t. Right?”
I snorted lightly and walked past her.
Then, in the driest, most indifferent tone I could manage, I tossed over my shoulder:
“It just worked when I tried it.”
“……?!”
“Let’s go.”
Lise said nothing more. She simply followed quietly behind me.
There are always geniuses. Or rather, people who walk ahead of everyone else.
Someone had to discover fire. Someone had to establish the principles of architecture. Someone had to formalize the equations for magical calculation. Every path is paved with the blood and sweat of those who came first.
The incident that occurred in April of the year 413 was no different.
The tacit rule of this world—no, the very concept everyone had accepted as immutable—fixed casting. A single genius appeared out of nowhere and accomplished the miracle known as Moving Casting. The aftershock swept through the empire’s academy faster and more violently than anyone could have predicted.
And I, the one now being hailed as that genius, was summoned to the highest professor’s office the moment my morning basic magic theory class ended.
When I opened the wooden door and stepped inside, the department head and several high-ranking professors all turned to stare at me at once.
These were the same people who usually radiated nothing but arrogance. Seeing them all swivel their heads in unison was almost comical.
On the table in front of them sat a mana measuring device.
“Eros Brioche. Come in, come in. Good of you to join us.”
Carlyle, head of the Magic Faculty, spoke in a deliberately solemn voice.
I gave a light bow, then took the seat they had left open across from them.
I yawned as if exhausted and studied their faces.
“Eros Brioche. I heard about what happened yesterday on the training grounds. Many witnesses, I’m told.”
“Yes, well…”
“Defeating Cedric Valois in a duel was already enough to prove your exceptional talent. But what matters more is the rumor that you took a full step while casting and still completed a 2-Circle spell.”
Carlyle stared at me with serious eyes. The senior professors seated beside him did the same. They didn’t make a sound; they simply bored holes into my lips with their gazes.
“Yes, it’s true.”
“Heh heh, truly a miracle with no precedent in the entire history of magical academia.”
Carlyle offered a benevolent smile and called it a blessing, but his eyes weren’t smiling. They were filled with thick, unmistakable greed.
Mages have always been that sort of creature.
That was when it happened.
One of the seated professors—the one in charge of magic theory, Errington—spoke up in a voice trembling with agitation.
“Your mana is only at the level of 2-Circle! So how in the world were you able to move while casting? Explain yourself!”
When he failed to contain his excitement, Carlyle raised a hand to calm him, then turned back to me with a composed tone.
“Heh heh, it’s understandable to be excited. Yes, of course. Which brings us to the point… Eros Brioche. We would like you to provide the academy’s Magic Faculty with the spell structure and mana arrangement formula for that Moving Casting of yours.”
“…Provide it?”
“Naturally, we aren’t asking you to simply hand it over for free. If you donate the theory to the faculty, we will assign you the highest-grade private dormitory room, supply you with rare reagents of B-rank or higher, and cover all your tuition for the next three years.”
“…Is that so.”
I leaned back comfortably in my chair.
Slowly, I swept my gaze across their anxious, greedy eyes.
Donate it to the academy? Please.
What they really wanted was for me to hand it over to them.
Give them the principles and structure, and they would offer convenience and rewards in return.
In short, this was a transaction.
They were mistaken about one very important premise.
I had no particular desires they could fulfill, and anything they could offer was well within the financial power of a count’s household to obtain anyway.
“I appreciate the offer, but I must decline.”
At my answer, Carlyle’s smile froze. The professors beside him let out quiet groans.
Errington, in particular, couldn’t hold back. He slammed the table and raised his voice.
“Decline?! Are you saying you intend to monopolize that miracle?! Have you lost your mind? That is not some trivial knowledge you can hide away for personal greed! It will change the entire history of magic—!”
“Which is exactly why I don’t want to share it.”
“What?”
I gave the furious man a light shrug.
Then I smiled and spoke.
“Exactly what I said. Why should I tell you?”
“Wh-what did you just say!”
“Let me ask you, Professor. If someone demanded you share the achievements you’ve accomplished, would you be willing?”
“…How is that the same thing!”
“It is the same.”
“Eros!”
“…Ah, fine. It just worked when I tried it.”
“Don’t lie!”
“It really did just work when I tried it.”
Errington’s face flushed crimson, then purple. When he realized I had no intention of giving it to them, his body trembled as he swallowed his rage.
“Now, calm yourself, Errington. Eros Brioche. If you donate that knowledge to the Magic Faculty, we will also provide you with a private laboratory and spare no support in the future. How about it?”
Carlyle struggled to suppress his boiling anger and made another offer, but I simply lowered my head politely and refused once more.
“I’m sorry. Even if I told you… I’m not sure you’d be able to do it.”
“…What?”
“Eros Brioche. If you think you can act arrogantly because of your family background, stop it at once. We have the right to thoroughly analyze your mana circles—”
“Analyze them if you like. I am indeed 2-Circle, and I used the exact spell formula for Fire Bolt.”
“….”
“I could do it, so I did. If the department head believes I cheated, I will gladly accept expulsion at any time.”
Even after I finished speaking, silence hung over the professor’s office.
They hadn’t gotten the answer they wanted from me.
Would they expel me? They couldn’t.
No matter how much they disliked me, they couldn’t throw away an unprecedented talent right in front of their eyes.
“If there’s nothing else, I’m quite tired, so I’ll take my leave.”
Leaving behind the professors’ stunned faces, I maintained a calm expression, opened the door, and stepped outside.
I could feel Lise, who had been waiting beyond the door, watching me with even more complicated emotions, but I didn’t bother explaining.
After leaving the professor’s office, I walked slowly down the corridor toward the lavish student cafeteria decorated with glittering chandeliers.
The atmosphere and the very air felt different from before. I strolled through it all with leisurely steps.
The way people looked at me had completely changed overnight.
The unpleasant gazes that had once regarded me like a disgusting insect had turned to curiosity. Sticky stares filled with hidden motives followed me everywhere.
People still parted like waves when I walked, but their expressions and reactions were entirely different now.
“Um… Young Master Eros.”
The moment I entered the cafeteria, a young noblewoman wearing an extravagant academy uniform covered in frills approached me cautiously.
She was the count’s daughter who, until just days ago, had avoided even making eye contact with me.
Her name was… Brulee, I think.
“I saw your duel with Young Master Valois at the training grounds yesterday. It left a deep impression. Moving Casting… Isn’t that an achievement that will go down in the empire’s magical history?”
Her pale cheeks were faintly flushed. Her large eyes, looking up at me, shimmered with unconcealed admiration.
Could people really change this quickly?
I laughed inwardly at her complete reversal in attitude, but outwardly I offered a gentle smile.
“You flatter me, my lady. It was merely a small trick that happened to manifest in a moment of crisis.”
“Oh my, and so modest as well… If you haven’t had lunch yet, would you care to join our table? My older brother is very eager to have a deep conversation with you, Young Master.”
Until now, I had chosen to stay quietly hidden, taking advantage of my isolated position to avoid death flags.
It had been one of the best survival strategies, and I didn’t regret that choice.
But when goodwill-filled invitations came waltzing right up to me like this…
Kicking them away with my own foot wouldn’t be caution—it would be stupidity.
And I was not a stupid man.
If the nobles wanted to praise my talent and bow their heads on their own, I might as well accept.
Using whatever I could to firmly establish my position was simply another form of survival.
After all, goodwill, expectation, and admiration were far better than contempt.
Actually, this is much better.
“There is no reason to coldly refuse a beautiful lady’s invitation. I would be happy to join you.”
At my cheerful acceptance, Brulee’s face brightened with delight and she smiled radiantly.
Following her guidance to a table in the center of the cafeteria, the influential noble heirs seated there all rose at once.
“Oh, Young Master Eros! Please, sit here.”
“We’ve already heard the rumors. The incredible tale that the true hero of the Brioche County has finally awakened has the entire academy blooming with excitement.”
They competed to show me favor. Every single one of them was busy praising me.
It was as if the person I had been until yesterday had never existed.
Some tried to sneak in questions about Moving Casting, while others continued showering me with goodwill.
That thick, sticky aristocratic conversation continued all the way through the meal.
“Ah… As expected, the senses of a heaven-sent genius are in a realm we ordinary mortals could never hope to understand.”
“Indeed. To accomplish what no archmage in the empire has managed in hundreds of years.”
The nobles’ networking went on for quite some time. Then—
BANG—!!
When I turned to see what the noise was, a woman with her chin raised high stood there, looking down with an arrogant expression.
Her blue hair and the tail swaying behind her clearly showed she was no ordinary person.
A dragonkin who had inherited the great blood of dragons—the strongest in the field of magic—stood with her arms crossed, staring at me with an insolent gaze.
She snorted and opened her mouth.
“So you’re that Eros Brioche?”
“…I don’t know who you are, but I must say it’s rather rude to interrupt someone else’s valuable time without so much as a greeting.”
My curt reply caused a murderous aura to begin radiating from her eyes.
She bared her white teeth, emitting a savage aura that suggested she was ready to set the entire table on fire.
“I heard that a primitive human without even a tail managed to perform Moving Casting. I asked if you are Eros Brioche.”
“…Ah.”
“Answer me.”
“….”
“Answer!”
“I can make a tail too. Would you like me to show you?”
“…Huh?”
I slowly approached and whispered into her ear.
“Though I must admit, the direction would be the opposite.”