Discipline (1)
Time passed, and the last day of the break arrived.
The purification of every academy facility had been completed perfectly, so Ayla returned.
As planned, I ran a spirited 4 km with the rest of the students, excluding Flora, who was concentrating on stabilization.
After that, I sparred with Gilbert and Camilla, inspected the Resistance Stones, and then finished grading every essay question I'd assigned as Magic Tower Practical Exam preparation.
The results were flawless, with nothing to criticize.
Since they'd charged the Resistance Stones beyond sixty percent while I was briefly away, it was time to gradually shift into a consolidation phase while maintaining their current proficiency.
'With things proceeding so smoothly, the only one left is Flora.'
Flora hadn't left her quarters for the past week, concentrating on optimizing and stabilizing the Mana Circuit that had reached Level 6.
The strain she'd put herself through in that battle had nearly overloaded her, so I'd been considering pushing back her Magic Tower schedule considerably. Madam's intervention made the problem easy to resolve.
Madam had also closed down her old Magic Device Shop and moved into a location operated by the organization.
At first, I could picture Alcyone's flustered expression perfectly.
But since Madam was so experienced, she naturally took over Alcyone's position, and it essentially became something like a joint enterprise.
'Thanks to that, Alcyone could return to their main work.'
I'd regretted letting someone so skilled at covert entry and infiltration sit idle, so this worked out well.
Anyway.
That day, I spent some time helping Ayla at the academy gymnasium.
She'd told me that she still wasn't perfect at handling her Mana Circuit and asked for help.
"Hmm, is this the right way to do it?"
"Yes. Don't think about it consciously; you need to let it happen naturally."
"I'll give it a try."
As we continued practicing step by step, an unexpected guest appeared at the gymnasium.
"Miss Ayla, you’re working hard this early in the morning."
Madam had been watching the training since early that morning, looking conspicuous enough to draw attention.
I paused the training briefly and approached Madam.
"What brings you here at this hour?"
"Today I just had a feeling I'd meet you if I came to the academy, Karon, and I was right."
Madam smiled a bewitching smile that anyone could see, then walked past me and approached Ayla.
"Miss Ayla, hold still for just a moment."
With her fingers resting on Ayla's shoulder, she slowly circled her once.
"You succeeded after all, didn't you?"
"The Instructor helped me."
"Congratulations. That was much faster than I expected."
Madam smoothly guided Ayla to the rest area beside the gymnasium, then met my eyes.
Even without asking her directly, it was clear she was saying, 'May I borrow her for a moment?'
I saw firsthand that even a long-lived Dark Elf reacted differently when faced with a Mana Circuit she'd last seen 130 years ago.
"I'll inspect your Mana Circuit, so have a seat."
"The last time I went, wasn't there a fee...?"
"For Miss Ayla, it's free for life."
"I-is it really all right for me to accept this?"
"Of course it's fine."
Seeing that, I should have called her a Dark Elf well-versed in Mana Circuits.
Madam had said that the reason she began tuning nobles' Mana Circuits was to see and remember the countless Mana Circuits that existed in the world.
Anyway.
This meeting was a perfect chance both to satisfy Madam's intellectual curiosity and to make sure Ayla's circuit was sound.
Madam's inspections normally took an average of ten minutes. I was waiting quietly when it happened.
"Karon?"
At the sound of Madam's voice calling me urgently, I answered immediately.
"Is there a problem?"
"It’s not bad news. Hmm, well..."
Madam tilted her head, hesitated for a moment, then poked Ayla's shoulder a few times.
"This is the first time I've ever seen one formed this cleanly. What on earth did you do?"
"I only used the advice you gave me when teaching Ayla."
This was exactly why I needed Madam: she could see into areas I hadn't yet been able to examine.
In my current state, I couldn't delve deeply into Ayla's Mana Circuit, so I'd had no choice but to take the most conservative approach possible.
Because I'd carefully burned through her mana and built it up step by step to avoid straining her Mana Circuit, we'd achieved meaningful results.
Eventually, after finishing the inspection, Madam pointed at a target set up in the corner of the gymnasium.
"Miss Ayla, think you could hit that?"
"Which spell should I use?"
"Since we’re at it, try a basic spell: Fireball."
Ayla nodded, rose lightly from her seat, and casually launched a sphere of flames.
BOOM!
The target, which had been perfectly fine, vanished without a trace.
If I recalled correctly, that target was designed to withstand attacks up to Level 4.
If she'd wiped it out that cleanly...
'She might be approaching Level 5?'
Madam seemed to be thinking the same thing, because she rushed over to me with a look of conviction in her eyes.
"Judging by her performance, her circuit can handle Level 5. From here, it’s just a matter of effort. She should get there soon, shouldn’t she?"
"She's already at that level?"
"Even I didn’t expect it to be this good..."
Even at that moment, Madam and I watched together as Ayla practiced Mana Control by herself.
Madam rated my progress extremely highly.
"Flora at Level 6, Ayla soon to be Level 5. Our professor here must really be enjoying raising his students, hm?"
"On top of that, I'm sending two of them to the Magic Tower soon."
"Oh-ho, your track record is incredible."
Madam, apparently impressed that they were already approaching the Magic Tower level, marveled at the achievement before returning to the Magic Device Shop.
As a bonus, she left Ayla with a word of encouragement to keep working hard.
Afterward, based on the conversation I'd had with Madam, I conveyed the future plan to Ayla.
"After speaking with Madam, the conclusion is that you should aim for Level 5."
"You mean I'm already capable of Level 5?"
"That way, you can show those elders a thing or two. I’ll help you."
Mentioning the elders seemed to light a fire under Ayla.
At this rate, she might soon crush the arrogance of the opposing faction and firmly solidify her own standing.
'If she wins the faction fight, the leader, the Magic Tower Master, will be pleased. So it's a good thing.'
Since overtraining could be harmful, I told her we'd continue next time.
Ayla didn't object and followed my instructions.
Like that, after I sent Ayla back,
I returned to my quarters and headed for the room where Flora was.
'I never imagined the break period would end this quickly.'
Looking back, a great deal had happened in just one week.
It all started with Flora, freshly at Level 6, risking her life fighting a Chimera.
Gilbert and Camilla came within striking distance of being able to enter the Magic Tower.
On top of that, Ayla had opened her Mana Circuit and was learning a new control method.
Everyone else had gained something, so shouldn't I do something special for Flora, who'd worked the hardest?
"I wonder what kind of things Flora likes."
She'd always quietly carried out her duties and stayed by my side, so it was difficult to discern her hobbies or preferences.
If I were to make a guess based on our conversations, though,
'Boss, there's a decent café. Would you like to go?'
She'd sometimes mentioned there was a café she wanted to go to together.
On top of that, she liked sweet desserts.
First, I added the café Flora wanted to visit to the list.
Next, what else had there been...
She liked buying clothes in the shopping district or strolling around window-shopping.
Fortunately, I remembered accompanying her a few times in the past.
No matter how much I racked my brain, I concluded it would be faster to simply ask Flora directly.
Still, I considered myself fortunate that I had at least come up with two suggestions.
"All I have to do is grant whatever she says she wants to do."
Shortly after, I reached the room where Flora was staying and knocked lightly on the door.
Knock, knock.
But there was no answer from inside.
Had she perhaps stepped out while I was away?
Just as I was about to knock once more,
—I'm sorry. You may come in.
Flora's voice came back a beat late.
I opened the door and stepped inside. She was perched on the edge of the bed, looking no different from usual.
"I let my attention wander. I'll be more careful."
"No. But what’s going on?"
Normally, I would've expected her to greet me with a bright smile.
Flora sat on the edge of the bed with a serious expression, slowly stroking her sword.
For some reason, the temperature inside the room had dropped considerably.
'If she’s this emotional... could it be?'
In the past, there had been only one reason for Flora to display this kind of reaction.
Whenever someone belittled me or tried to dig into my background, even the normally rational Flora became highly emotional.
That was why the Long-Tailed Rat had gotten half blown away.
"Flora, calmly tell me what's going on."
"When I was briefly away, Alcyone sent a report."
"What kind of report?"
Flora spoke in a low voice cold enough to frost over.
"There's someone tailing you, Boss."
"The reason?"
"They're moving to uncover your identity, Boss."
My earlier hunch that someone was tailing me had been right.
Flora, now in an even more powerful state, radiated mana and revealed her killing intent.
"To be precise, it's a new identity, and I find their impure intentions contemptible. Right this instant, I could...."
"Flora."
I stopped the still-emotional Flora.
If this involved my new identity, it was most likely someone from the academy. Above all, I needed to protect that identity's integrity, so I intended to shut this down before it became a problem.
"If it's a new identity, it'll be someone from the academy. Just tell me the name and affiliation."
"Leon Royce. He's a fourth-year, like Gilbert."
"So, he's a student?"
"Yes."
In that case, the solution was simple.
If it were the work of another organization, I'd kill them at my discretion, but if a student had momentarily strayed off the path, discipline sufficed.
There were only so many places a brat could go to commission a background check.
"Follow me. Let's go pay an information broker a visit for the first time in a while."
"I'll take responsibility for this. You don't need to involve yourself personally."
"No. Bad students need discipline."
If kids were already crossing lines in the underworld, they were bound to get into serious trouble later.
Together with Flora, I headed for the black market where the information broker was located.