The Follower
Dark mana was inherently treated as poison.
If even a trace of dark mana infiltrated the body, one had to immediately circulate their mana using a Mana Cultivation Technique, isolating the corruption and purging it from the system. Whether it was expelled through sweat, coughed up in mouthfuls of blood, or discharged through bodily fluids, the exact method hardly mattered.
“Do you understand, Your Highness? If you ever ingest dark mana, you must never attempt to harness it—you must purge it immediately.”
“Scrub♡”
In her younger years, the Mesugaki 2nd Imperial Princess had simply giggled and mocked the words of the private tutor hired by the imperial palace.
“If you mix just a tiny bit of dark mana into your normal reserves, your destructive power skyrockets♡ If you handle it properly, there's no technique more useful than this♡ Isn't everyone just terrified because they don't have the confidence to control it~?”
“Well, that may be true. However, those who flirt with dark mana inevitably succumb to temptation. They tell themselves that if they could only wield a little more, they would be stronger—that if they converted their affinity entirely to darkness, they would experience a dramatic leap in skill.”
The tutor had issued a stern warning.
“That is precisely how people become dark mana addicts. Once addicted, if they encounter a monster stronger than themselves, a traitorous human Fiend, or a demon targeting high-ranking imperial officials and members of the imperial family, they find themselves utterly helpless, unable to exert even a fraction of their true might.”
To those lacking talent, dark mana was a lethal poison.
Yet for the truly gifted—or the fabulously wealthy—secret arts existed to bypass its horrific side effects.
Some used esoteric chants.
Others utilized alchemical concoctions to drastically improve bodily stability.
Some artificially elevated their physical tolerance, deceiving the mana into believing the body was far too tainted to be worth eroding from within.
And others simply crushed it beneath opposing, complementary forces.
The Imperial Family naturally possessed such secret methods.
Because of this, falling under the spell of dark mana was all too easy, prompting the tutor to intervene with unrelenting severity.
“Look upon this man. This royal guardsman strayed down the wrong path out of fascination with dark mana. As a result, he failed to repel an incubus's infiltration and permitted the defilement of His Imperial Majesty's concubine. For that crime, he is scheduled for execution.”
Thanks to a tutor whose idea of early education involved forcing a ten-year-old child to watch a man placed upon a guillotine and cleanly decapitated, the Mesugaki 2nd Princess had learned the dangers of dark mana with crystalline clarity.
Even so, behind her teacher's back, the young princess had harbored a very different thought.
Scrub♡ Weakling♡ If your absolute dark mana output was higher than the incubus's, that incubus would have bowed to you instead♡
If you were going to fall to corruption anyway, why not hoard so much dark mana that even an incubus would look at you and say, ‘Whoa, Boss, looks like you outrank me’? Couldn't you just force the demon into servitude and use it to dispose of your political rivals?
Having grown up harboring such a twisted longing for corruption, the Mesugaki 2nd Princess had felt a sharp pang of jealousy the moment she heard that Orknodi possessed a profound mastery of dark mana and black magic.
“So what kind of magic did she learn this time~?”
“During the lecture on the theory of Vision Expansion, she reportedly manifested Dark Vision. And during the practical session for Auto-Toothbrushing, she invented a spell that dyes teeth pitch black.”
“Haaah~? Totally useless! Surely there's something far more amazing than that! Did you actually investigate properly~?”
“M-My sincerest apologies. That was all for this week.”
“There has to be something much more black-magical than that♡ Like a curse that blinds people, or a homing attack that automatically smashes someone's teeth in♡”
“While I apologize for failing to meet Your Highness's expectations, modifying a spell solely from theoretical instruction and creating practical variations on the fly is still an extraordinary feat.”
“Incompetent♡ Your excuses are dragging on♡ Fine, just get out and go study for your assignments♡ By the way, your answer to question three in that workbook was wrong♡”
“Ah! Thank you, Your Highness!”
The follower closed the door and stepped out into the hallway. The princess could faintly hear the chatter between him and a friend waiting outside.
“What did she say?”
“She asked what kind of black magic Orknodi learned. And she even helped me with my studies! As expected, Her Highness is truly kindhearted. She must care deeply about her classmates' academic standing.”
“Hey, you're delusional. Think about it logically. Why would Her Highness care about the black magic Orknodi picked up?”
“Then why do you think she's interested?”
“Obviously to gather blackmail! She's probably preparing a petition to His Imperial Majesty asking if a child wielding such terrifying dark magic can really be left unattended. In the end, she's planning to have an imperial execution order issued to eliminate her!”
“Shut up! Don't you dare slander Her Highness! She's a gentle soul who wouldn't know the first thing about such sinister schemes! She helped me with my homework last time, and she did it again today!”
“Good grief. Your head is completely filled with flowers. That's why everyone says you've been blinded by rose-tinted glasses.”
The voices faded as the follower who believed she was an angel and the follower who believed she was a villain continued to bicker.
How boring♡
She had only helped because it would damage her own reputation if her lackeys’ grades slipped on account of running errands for her. While it was true she wanted to do something about Orknodi, it wasn't because she wanted her dead—she merely coveted the girl's mastery over black magic.
Her childhood admiration for the dark arts.
Her rebellious defiance against her tutor's heavy-handed indoctrination.
All of it converged into a single glittering opportunity.
If she could just coax Orknodi into becoming her subordinate, she could use the girl's dark secrets and mana-gathering methods to become a true master of dark mana!
Her true intentions were completely divorced from the wild speculations of her underlings.
“Idiots♡ Just so you know, I'm not going to cheer you on♡ If any follower of mine brings me the dishonor of being a flunkie, I won't let it slide♡”
“Oooh! Her Highness is encouraging us! Everyone, we must pass at all costs!!”
“Wait, isn't this less of an encouragement and more of a reward? Getting verbally abused first thing in the morning... I'm in heaven!”
“...You insane bastards. She's subtly hinting that if we fail the exam, our family businesses will suffer sudden setbacks, twenty-year trading partnerships will be unilaterally severed, and merchant caravans will stop visiting our estates! She's warning us to behave if we don't want our houses ruined!”
“Why have you been so negative toward Her Highness lately? Don't tell me you're a spy planted by Princess Yayoi?!”
“Ha! What does the Third Imperial Princess even have going for her? She doesn't have a single backer—why would I ever join her faction?”
Whatever their internal motivations, the Mesugaki 2nd Princess managed her followers with diligent care this morning as well.
Naturally, it was neither encouragement nor a reward; she had issued a genuine threat to punish them if they failed.
If they didn't want to receive a harsh spanking across their palms with the princess's disciplinary rod, they had better give it everything they had!
“Your Highness!! Breaking news!!!”
The moment the Mana Verification Test concluded, a student came sprinting toward her, panting wildly.
Ah, that boy is...
He was peculiar enough that even the princess remembered him clearly.
Question 3 (Short Answer):
When James #1175, who possesses no mana training, is pushed from the roof of the academy dormitory at a height of 50 meters and falls at 200 km/h, what mana conductivity percentage must the rescue net have in order to ensure James survives the impact?
To that question, the boy had proudly answered that higher conductivity was always better, so a rescue net with 100% mana conductivity should be deployed.
Fool♡ If mana conducts that efficiently, the elasticity becomes so extreme that he'd bounce straight down and smash into the ground anyway♡
Even so, he had effortlessly solved a different problem:
Multiple Choice:
James #1233 is running at 20 km/h along a single mountain path stretching 10 kilometers, pursued by a wild beast advancing at 30 km/h. To survive without being eaten, how many times must he activate the body enhancement spell that shortens his lifespan with each use in exchange for doubling his speed for one minute?
While his creative application was lacking, he was surprisingly adept at raw calculation—the quintessential clever Average student! He floundered on short-answer theory, but possessed decent confidence when it came to multiple-choice.
“Pffft♡ Did you come running all the way here just to brag about getting a perfect score on the exam~? That's almost cute♡”
“Ah...! T-T-Thank you! But I didn't come to boast—I came to deliver urgent news!”
This was the boy ridiculed by the other followers for wearing rose-colored glasses. While the princess found it mildly irritating that people expected her to act like an angelic darling when she was a human being with her own vices, the boy's earnest devotion was endearing. Giving him a small reward now and then wouldn't hurt.
“Here's your reward♡ You can take one♡”
“These are... fist-sized rocks? Why would Your Imperial Highness be carrying such things...?”
“I conducted my own research into Orknodi's training methods♡ If you carry heavy rocks around during your daily routine, forced marches carrying heavy supply packs will feel far less painful later on♡”
“O-Oh! Such profound foresight...! Then I shall take the heaviest rock among them!!”
“Don't overdo it—pick one you can actually carry♡ If you throw your back out and miss lectures, you'll be the only one losing out♡”
“Sob... To think you would even consider your subordinates' lecture attendance with such gentle care. As expected, Your Highness is an infinitely kinder and more proper soul than that notorious Orknodi!”
“Giggle. Your flattery is laying it on a bit thick♡ So, what was this urgent news that had you running until you lost your breath~?”
“Ah.” The follower set the rock down and straightened his posture. “During the exam, Orknodi ripped the soul straight out of the mouth of a student causing a riot, knocking him unconscious on the spot.”
“Haaah?! Why on earth are you only telling me something that urgent now?!”
“M-My sincerest apologies!”
“Never mind that, explain it in detail!”
Startled by the Mesugaki Princess completely dropping her playful, heart-punctuated tone, the follower stammered for a second before hastily regaining his composure.
“A student who shattered a boulder using dark mana went wild, but Orknodi blasted his weapon away with a single stroke, bound his feet, rendered him unconscious with one hand, and extracted his soul!”
“Explain the part about extracting his soul! What does that even mean?!”
“She shoved her hand deep into his mouth, and when she pulled it back out, a swirling, jet-black corrupt soul rose up and condensed inside her palm, turning into a tiny marble!”
Heavens!
The Mesugaki Princess clasped both hands over her mouth.
How could such a profoundly wicked spell exist in this world?
“And then? What happened to the marble?”
“It was stored inside Orknodi's candy pouch! That soul marble looked exactly like a piece of candy—in fact, it might not have been a candy pouch at all, but a soul pouch from the very beginning!”
“...You know what? Take the heaviest rock after all♡”
“Gasp! To bestow upon me the most precious, heavyweight stone just to ensure a dramatic leap in your follower's physical conditioning!”
Leaving behind the follower who was busy crying out praise for her overwhelming grace, the Mesugaki Princess threw the door wide open and marched briskly in the direction where Orknodi was bound to be.
She could tolerate almost anything else, but she could not ignore something as magnificent as a Soul-Compressing Extraction Spell.
She had to learn such incredible magic—no matter what it took!