The Monster Rampage Event (1)
The next day, in Professor Laphel’s magic class.
“Alright, before we begin the lesson, I’ll be checking whether you’ve all completed your assignment properly. When I call your name, come up to the podium and cast a fireball. If you can’t do it, just say so.”
Professor Laphel spread both arms wide as he continued the class. Since it was a lecture that nearly the entire Magic Department attended, I could see the faces of the newly arrived Avon Ragnarok, the original protagonist Maria Frendis, and the villainess Alley Justinia.
So that’s why. If it’s Professor Laphel, he should know something about this magic circle.
That morning, Hestia Claudi had handed me the magic circle she’d picked up from the antique shop as promised.
As expected, I didn’t know much about magic circles. I’d never memorized any, and even the ones I had to draw when using magic were all learned purely by instinct.
Since I couldn’t even begin to interpret the circle drawn on the parchment, I had planned to ask Professor Laphel about it.
Of course, I had briefly considered staring at it until I could read the lingering thoughts embedded within the circle, but that seemed too risky, so I dropped the idea.
Given Kael’s talent, simply looking at a magic circle would probably let me read the thoughts it contained. But this was a circle left behind by a Kingdom spy, and more importantly, it was likely the cause of the upcoming monster rampage. Reading its thoughts directly felt far too dangerous.
Who knows. I might end up going berserk instead of the monsters.
That would be a real headache.
“Next up is Kael Lotus! Ah, you already know this, so never mind. Maria Frendis! Come forward and cast a fireball!”
I watched as Maria Frendis stepped up to the podium and struggled to cast the spell.
Professor Laphel clicked his tongue.
“Didn’t I tell you not to be bound by form? Use any means necessary.”
After hearing his feedback, Maria summoned a spirit this time.
With a soft pop, a fire spirit appeared and placed its hand on Maria’s arm.
Immediately afterward, a large fireball formed above her palm and shot forward.
Boom—!
Maria had successfully cast the fireball.
“Excellent! As expected from a user of spirit magic, one of the lost technologies. Very well, next is Alley Justinia.”
Alley Justinia stepped forward and cast the fireball in the standard way.
A black magic circle floated in the air, and a sphere of flame appeared, scorching the wall.
Her casting speed was fast, and the power was impressive. She shot Maria a glance filled with triumphant arrogance.
She still hasn’t learned her lesson.
Yeah. That was just like Alley.
And finally…
“Oh right, we have a new student, don’t we? Your name was… Avon Ragnarok. Yes. Come up and give it a try as well.”
Avon Ragnarok, the new freshman in the Magic Department, stepped onto the podium.
I’ve been curious to see this.
According to the original novel, the greatest talent belonged to none other than Kael Lotus.
However, due to his characteristically lazy and arrogant personality, he lost the top spot to the Crown Prince, Lucas.
Lucas Deberlu. He was a genius among geniuses, right behind Kael in terms of raw talent.
Avon Ragnarok had been Kael’s rival in the story. True to his setting as a descendant of the Hero, he possessed a kind and earnest nature, along with talent that came right after Lucas’s.
More importantly, separate from pure talent, his bloodline as the Hero’s descendant granted him powerful perks that allowed him to stand as Kael’s official rival despite falling short in raw ability.
Things like rapid wound recovery and an absurdly large mana pool. Thanks to those traits, he could rival even Kael, who held the number one spot in pure talent.
And that wasn’t all. By the time Kael started falling behind Lucas, Avon had also positioned himself as Lucas’s rival. He was a well-rounded figure who lacked nothing in either swordsmanship or magic.
Ka-boom—!
Avon’s fireball carried power similar to the one I had cast for the first time before.
It was a good thing the auditorium’s protective barrier had been reinforced after it was destroyed last time. Otherwise, the place would have been turned into a complete mess again.
“Your magic power is impressive. But you’re too tense. Were you conscious of someone watching?”
“It’s not like that, Professor.”
“Good. Well done. You may return to your seat.”
As Avon walked back, his eyes briefly met mine.
Just like how Alley had looked at Maria with a gaze dripping with victory, Avon was also staring at me with a strange expression.
Whatever.
Come to think of it, the guy had been unpleasant from our very first meeting. Hadn’t he immediately demanded an apology from me?
Of course, I had been in the wrong back then… but still.
I didn’t like him. A self-righteous, burdensome piece of baggage like him.
Now that I think about it, wasn’t he supposed to be Maria’s top candidate for a proper husband?
Even as those thoughts crossed my mind, I was already considering how to make use of him.
It was true that he didn’t come from any particularly powerful family, nor did he seem like someone who would play a crucial role in the conflict with the Kingdom.
In other words, he wasn’t necessary.
Except in one area.
Should I just pair him with Maria?
If I could dump this idiot onto Maria and simply straighten out Heidel and Lucas, maybe I could twist the original story’s cancerous plotline enough to avoid the worst outcomes.
That was the thought that occurred to me.
While I was busy organizing my thoughts, Professor Laphel’s class began in earnest.
“You all seem to have a misunderstanding about magic. Magic isn’t just about magic circles. Consuming mana to induce phenomena—every part of that is magic.”
He’s being surprisingly well-behaved today…
Setting aside the fact that he was a pathetic little brat, Professor Laphel’s teaching method was actually quite good.
On the first day, he had spoken as if he would abandon anyone who fell behind, but most of his lessons were structured so that nearly everyone could follow along.
Moreover, whenever a difficult concept came up, he would immediately demonstrate the magic himself as an example. This not only captured the students’ attention but also helped them understand instantly.
Every time Professor Laphel showed an example using magic, soft gasps of admiration rose from among the students.
“Magic circles contain thoughts. We must express those thoughts through spoken language. That is what we call chanting. However, if you hold the thoughts strongly enough and have grown familiar with the magic circle you’ve been using, you can draw it even without chanting.”
Kiiing—
A large ice crystal floated in the air.
The students let out sounds of awe.
““Ooh…””
It was that kind of atmosphere.
But then Professor Laphel suddenly caused the magic to collapse on its own.
“According to your common sense, what I just did would be considered true silent casting. However, a magic circle is itself a form of language. The moment you bring that language outside, it becomes only half-silent casting, not complete silent casting.”
This time, she reached out into the empty air and began struggling to cast magic without a circle.
Her face was scrunched up, eyes tightly shut.
She looked like she was trying to feel the mana through her own skin.
And then—
Fwoosh—
A small ball of flame appeared above her hand.
It looked precarious, as if it might go out at any moment. But she had perfectly reproduced the exact method I used to cast magic.
Oh. She’s improved quite a bit.
The moment the magic appeared above Professor Laphel’s hand without a circle, the students began murmuring excitedly.
She seemed to be struggling to maintain the spell and eventually dismantled it, but the students’ reaction was still tremendous.
Of course, a few students who still didn’t understand magic—like the old me—could only tilt their heads in confusion.
“If possible, you can even attempt true silent casting. Anyway, what I’ll be explaining to you today is the linguistic nature of magic. There is a concept that inevitably appears when learning magic. It’s called ‘thought.’
I will explain the relationship between these thoughts and magic, and also clear up the misconceptions about borrowing the power of spirits or receiving the blessing of the stars.”
Professor Laphel’s class had already moved into its second half.
The students were busily taking notes on what she said, and Professor Laphel continued speaking energetically.
To me, however, it was all from another world. I simply rested my chin on my hand and watched her with a bored expression.
Maybe I should just sleep.
Even Avon was scribbling notes furiously, as if he had realized something profound.
Hestia, who had come from the Art Department and was only attending this class with the single-minded goal of making money, was also writing something down.
Since everyone had their heads down, it probably wouldn’t matter if I dozed off now.
I laid my head down on the desk.
“I definitely heard that the magic circle would be delivered today…?”
At the Academy’s monster breeding grounds.
A student was anxiously waiting for something.
But even after the appointed time had passed, the magic circle he was supposed to receive had not arrived.
Something had gone wrong.
Did a mistake happen midway? Should I go outside and check?
Just as the student’s patience was about to run out, someone walked into the monster breeding grounds with steady footsteps.
Pink hair and round glasses. It matched the description of the person who was supposed to deliver the magic circle.
She wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead and quietly held out the magic circle.
“U-um… h-here’s the magic circle.”
“Oh. Finally.”
“Oh, right… I was supposed to receive payment…”
“Huh? Weren’t you supposed to get it from the other side? Never mind. Here.”
Poor thing.
The student sneered inwardly at the girl’s future, knowing she would be named as a suspect in this entire incident, and took a single gold coin from his pocket, placing it in her hand.
It didn’t matter whether he paid once or twice.
And so, the pink-haired girl left the breeding grounds without the slightest suspicion.
“Alright. Shall we begin?”
He laid the parchment with the magic circle on the floor and placed his hand on top of it.
When he poured mana into it, the parchment began to glow brightly.
“Death to the Empire. Glory to the Kingdom.”
At that moment, the parchment floated into the air and—
Bang—!
It exploded.
In an instant, a gel-like liquid burst out from the magic circle, oxidized upon contact with the air, and rapidly hardened.
“What the hell is this…!”
Only then did the true appearance of the magic circle become clear to the student’s eyes.
It wasn’t the one he knew.
I’ve been tricked…!
The moment that thought crossed his mind, someone slowly walked toward him.
“Oh… So it was real. I came because I heard someone was trying to make the monsters go berserk, and it turned out to be true.”
“You…!”
White hair and yellow eyes. The student knew exactly who she was.
Her name was famous even in the Kingdom.
A magical genius designated as a dangerous individual simply by existing. The child of talent and…
“You crazy old hag who should have died of old age…!”
“You really shouldn’t have said that.”
After all, she had been a veteran who fought in the First Empire-Kingdom War.