Standing Our Ground #2
I never once imagined I'd be the one to stir up trouble like this right after I'd barely arrived at the academy.
I'd always figured the smartest move was to keep my head down and stay far away from Rie, but the sheer audacity of this whole situation had zero benefit for me. No matter how I looked at it, there wasn't a single win in it.
Yet every time I got pushed like this, it would mean becoming the villain. I had the skills to manipulate the board, but I wasn't about to throw them away just to play villain against someone who threw the first punch. No way I was going to stand there like an idiot and take every hit.
On top of that, I'd been in a terrible mood all night from the constant mana fluctuations, and this just made my stomach churn even more.
"I was actually planning to ask the other professors about this, but Professor Eggmaster happened to point out my shortcomings right in front of everyone, so I figured I'd take this chance to seek your advice."
It was a perfectly reasonable thing to say, of course. There were plenty of other professors who could teach Magic Theory. But among them, Professor Eggmaster was the one assigned to the first-year lectures.
At first I'd thought it was just coincidence, but looking back now, I realized he must have heard about the unusually strong students this year and quickly cooked up some connection.
"...According to what I heard, Lucian, you supposedly top the theory section. Asking for help like this makes it sound like the material is pretty rough. But we're not in theory class, and this isn't your question time either. Personal matters should wait until the break."
He tried to smooth things over with a gentle professor tone.
Honestly, though, Professor Eggmaster was completely right. Right now was the time for practical magic, not showing off how smart I was with theory.
But the stronger a person's pride, the more powerful the provocation.
"If the professor is having a hard time, I can ask the others instead."
In other words, it was a flat-out "Are you scared yet?" challenge.
Professor Eggmaster's eyes sharpened with obvious hostility.
What did he think he was dealing with? An eighteen-year-old freshman who dared to challenge a professor?
I couldn't possibly be that crazy just because I trusted one ability.
He might not know who I was targeting, but I definitely had other plans.
"It seems even the so-called theory genius only tops the charts at the freshman level."
He kept pushing until the very end, then challenged the calculation I had just presented.
Professor Eggmaster walked to the blackboard, and with everyone watching, he began solving the densely packed formulas one by one.
At first some of the students beside me looked puzzled, but they soon grew curious.
If only they had popcorn, they would probably be munching it while watching the show.
"..."
It would get stuck eventually, and then fail completely.
The equation used the second-order rearrangement of mana, but it was dozens of times more complex.
Why would I secretly exchange letters with someone at the Magic Tower just to solve something this complicated?
Professors, let alone the top mages at the Magic Tower, would be stunned to see a nineteen-year-old youth solving it as easily as flowing water.
Finally, after more than five minutes, Professor Eggmaster's hand stopped.
He could have calmly said he didn't know and admitted the problem was too hard, but the man who had been trampling on someone else's pride without mercy would never bend his own.
I deliberately waited longer, and just then the bell rang to end the lecture.
The moment the sound filled the classroom, every student—including Professor Eggmaster—scrambled to pack their textbooks.
The professor, who had been staring at the blackboard the whole time, finally turned his head.
"...Lucian. What exactly do you think you're doing?"
"The lecture has ended, so I'm packing my textbook. Is there a problem?"
"Didn't I say earlier that students with poor abilities should stay behind to—"
"Ah. I thought it would be rude to interrupt you since you seemed so focused on the problem. Please focus on your studies, Professor."
If he had thrown such sharp criticism and scathingly insulted me like that.
He should have been prepared to suffer the exact same, or even worse, treatment himself.
There were way too many people in this world who ran their mouths without any preparation.
It was the same in both the fantasy world I lived in and the Earth I came from.
No matter what—whether it was just nonsense or excessive meddling—I could never let it slide.
I had the power to clean up filth and keep my position, and I was happy to use it.
"I will make even greater efforts from now on to meet your expectations."
Professor Eggmaster glared at me as if he had finally understood that I was trying to make a fool of him in front of the students.
If things went like this, he would definitely find a way to make things difficult for me.
But unfortunately, he was dealing with the truly flawed professor.
My weapon wasn't just the ability to solve problems by reading formulas.
With this ability, the vast network of connections I had built around me was the real weapon.
I left the classroom after Professor Eggmaster, and the other students followed one by one.
If I had used my brain and shown a bit more mercy, perhaps the other students would have sided with me against the arrogant professor who had been shown up.
Thanks to my unique way of speaking and the professor's habit of treating students like trash, everyone turned their backs on him.
"Hey, Lucian. Are you okay?"
I turned and saw one of my classmates asking with concern.
For new students like us, conflict with a professor could be fatal to our grades.
Even more so since Magic Theory was a mandatory subject for both the Literary and Martial divisions.
Under those circumstances, it made perfect sense that my classmates were worried about me clashing with the professor in charge of the class.
"I'm fine. And even if I do get in trouble, it looks like you guys won't have to worry about it, right?"
"That's just talk. You just stepped up for us and went head-to-head with the professor."
"Actually, the professor's words were a bit harsh. I mean, we're not all geniuses or anything—we're here to learn. Why would he call us inadequate or below average?"
"Ah, I'm getting angry. I guess I'll tell my family about this."
"That might not be a good idea. If the academy keeps nobles in check, it wouldn't have lasted this long."
That's exactly right. Minerva Academy works hard to minimize noble influence.
More than half the students are nobles, and every single one of them is a precious child from their family.
When nobles from various houses push too hard—"Please take care of my child!"—the academy gets tired, and the royal family that has to back them up gets tired too.
That's why they pour everything into preventing the power of authority from leaking in.
In the midst of that, I slipped through the cracks and found connections that could help me.
"Anyway, I'm really disappointed in Professor Eggmaster. I thought for a month he was just a passionate guy."
"Passionate my ass. He extended the lecture time by an hour beyond the official schedule, and the second he didn't like something, he started yelling. That's passionate?"
"I thought he was a professor who had some real pride in magic. But now it just feels like he's treating us like five-year-olds."
"I don't know how he's even affiliated with the Magic Tower. Are all mages just weirdos?"
That wasn't true. The people I knew weren't like that.
They say grain ripens with its head bowed, but this professor was the opposite—an empty cart rattling loudly.
"I heard from a third-year senior not long ago that this professor is famous for his dirty temper. But he somehow managed to stay in the job."
That's suspicious. No, really? Most of the seniors are nobles, and yet he never said a word."
"By not allowing the power of authority to act, but then the professor himself is involved with that authority?"
Yeah, as expected, the Literary Division guys know how to read situations well.
Compared to the Martial Division, our combat power is lacking, so we have to rely on the power of pen and tongue.
We can't just sit still and take this kind of bullying forever, can we?
"Ah, right. Lucian. Now that I think about it, what exactly happened with Rie the other day?"
"...Nothing happened."
"Don't lie. All the rumors have already spread among the first-years. Not just anyone—Rie herself went out with you, right? How could nothing have happened?"
"I heard she didn't go out, she was dragged away."
"Is that so? I heard you were grabbed by the collar and dragged."
How did the rumor get twisted like this? I had never been dragged, not once.
I had gone on my own two feet of my own free will.
"Guys, if you keep believing these fake rumors, they'll just keep spreading."
"So explain it properly so we can believe you. Lucian. If you give an explanation that doesn't make sense, we can't accept it."
"Even if I explain exactly what happened, you won't believe me?"
"You seem to be avoiding explaining what actually happened."
Oh ho, so this is the answer they wanted all along.
Yes, because most of them were nobles, they probably secretly wanted this kind of gossip.
A romance story is interesting no matter how you tell it.
But what if the romance involves daily duels that threaten your life?
"If you're just going to keep talking nonsense, I'm leaving first."
"Hey, look! The weird rumor started because you left! Explain it, Lucian!"
"I have nothing to explain! What do you want me to do? If you're so curious, go question Rie yourself!"
"Ah, sorry. I have zero desire to die."
"Me too. How can a weak Literary Division student stand up to the top Martial Division and the academy's future top student and say something like that?"
"So in the end, I'm easier to deal with than Rie?"
They all shouted "Correct!" and burst into laughter.
I quietly pulled out the thick Magic Theory textbooks and prepared to wave them around. The exaggerated reactions came, and the whole group scattered like they were running for their lives.
It turned out they had been talking with each other. Thanks to it, the friends around me weren't the ones who acted pretentious—they were nobles, commoners, or just normal good guys. It was a relief.
Nobles who strut around and commoners who are full of victim complexes are exhausting just to think about.
I'm sure those guys would be gathered in a café somewhere later, discussing some passionate topic again.
I left my friends behind and kept walking.
The place I was heading to was the Magic Communication Center—a kind of high-tech public phone.
Even those who couldn't cast magic could send messages by charging them with a bit of mana. The receiver would pick up the signal and decode it, then relay it to the specified person.
Thanks to the commercial Magic Communication system that had recently become popular, usage had dropped sharply. The reason was that both sender and receiver had to know how to decode mana signals.
So now everyone used the convenient Magic Communication, but my contacts at the Magic Tower still preferred the old-school Magic Communication.
They loved decoding the mana signals one by one.
I entered the few public Magic Communication centers available and used a cipher to designate the exact message box and recipient.
Then I typed a very concise message.
Drrrill!
Emergency.
Zzzt zzt zzt—.
Support.
Drrrill!
Requested.
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