Black Magic PTSD
The Imperial Noble Academy, where every student was a noble by birth, naturally structured its curriculum around the needs and expectations of the aristocracy.
As an institution meant to cultivate proper nobles for the future, the academy actively encouraged free social interaction among its students.
One of those social activities was the annual summer field trip. Naturally, all sorts of incidents and accidents tended to break out during it.
Setting aside the filthy female-oriented service scenes, the arc had actually been pretty entertaining overall.
At the same time, the academy field trip marked the exact turning point where the story shifted into the middle section of the Avon arc.
“Um… have you heard the news? They say the academy is going on a field trip to the Southern Region…”
Hestia suddenly delivered the information while I had been living without a single thought in my head.
Only then did the field trip arc come rushing back to me.
“Can I refuse that?”
“It’s mandatory for the entire student body… apparently?”
“Haa…”
A sigh escaped me at the mere prospect of how annoying this was going to be.
That said, if I played my cards right with the timing of the field trip, I might be able to pull the male leads out of Maria’s reverse harem.
Heidel Grace. His arc had technically ended, but I had no idea how cleanly it had wrapped up. And more than anything…
‘Maybe I should stir up a little trouble next to him.’
This was right around the time Heidel would confess to Maria.
“S… I’m sorry. I…”
“Maria. I’m not forcing you… I just wanted you to know how I feel.”
“I want to stay friends with everyone. That’s all…”
“It’s fine, Maria. I understand that it’s burdensome for you. Still, I’ll always be on your side. No matter what choice you make, I’ll stay the same.”
Heidel Grace was also one of the biggest pushovers among pushovers.
During the field trip arc, Heidel would launch a confession attack on Maria.
By the campfire, in a nice atmosphere. But it had been an impulsive confession born from the sense of crisis he felt after Avon appeared.
In the end, Heidel would get rejected.
It would have been great if he had given up after that, but unfortunately, it seemed like there was some unwritten rule in female-oriented romance fantasy that male leads weren’t allowed to give up just because they’d been dumped once…
“It doesn’t matter. Whenever you want something, just tell me comfortably.”
Heidel would wag his tail at the girl who rejected him and act like a loyal dog.
If Kael had the tsundere trait, Lucas had the young master trait, and Avon had the friend-like lover trait, then Heidel had the devoted trait.
I’ll give you my heart too. Take it all. Just please don’t take her away from me.
That kind of image. That kind of character.
That obsession would gradually grow worse until, triggered by the war with the Kingdom, it would completely go off the rails.
Female readers apparently found enjoyment in that derailment, but to me it had been nothing but a cancerous part of the story…
‘Shall I unravel that?’
There was a famous saying that the fact that someone likes another person can become a wound to someone else.
This was the perfect opportunity to implant that lesson into Heidel.
While I was at it, various incidents and accidents occurred during the field trip arc, including one suspected to be the work of a spy. It would be good to normalize that as well.
“For that reason, if you all use magic in that manner, problems will arise. Anyway, remember everything we covered today. I’ll be assigning homework again. Use Light Magic while minimizing casting time. Points will be awarded differentially based on casting speed, so keep that in mind.”
“Uwaa… there’s… there’s too much… it’s complicated.”
After Professor Lapel’s class ended, Hestia whined from the seat beside me.
Come to think of it, this kid wasn’t originally supposed to sit next to me. I had no idea when she had moved here.
Of course, the seats on both sides of me were always empty anyway, so it didn’t really matter…
“Weren’t you originally sitting in the very back?”
“T-That’s… sitting around the middle is… less noticeable.”
Her face flushed bright red as she fidgeted.
Right. If you want to hide a person, it’s easiest to hide them among other people. A tree is hard to find in a forest, and grass is hard to spot in a meadow.
Though sitting next to the school’s infamous troublemaker would probably draw a lot of attention…
Well, that was her problem.
“Um… so, um… could you possibly teach me Light Magic…? Ah, if it’s a burden, you don’t have to… I can learn it by myself…”
“Yeah. Learn it by yourself.”
I tapped Hestia’s shoulder as she chattered beside me and stood up.
In truth, since I had a contract with her and there were many ways I could use her when taking adventurer guild requests, I did want to help her grow.
But right now, I didn’t have the leisure to teach her.
“Okay…”
She lowered her head, looking disappointed.
“I’d help if I had the time, but today I really don’t have any to spare.”
I unfolded Subspace Magic in the air.
Then I pulled out the [Shadow Magic] book from inside.
“Huh…? What’s that?”
“What do you think? It’s a field I’m researching.”
Before Professor Lapel could leave, I approached her and held out the [Shadow Magic] book.
“Hm? Kael. Aren’t you going to practice the assignment? Ah, you’ll probably get full marks anyway.”
Kiiing—!
I deliberately cast Light Magic right in front of her. The casting time was one second. All I had to do was circulate mana while injecting my will into it.
“More importantly, could you take a look at this?”
“What is this?”
“Hey, kid. You know a bit about Black Magic, right?”
“…”
The moment I brought up Black Magic, Professor Lapel’s expression clearly crumpled.
She seemed to know something about it.
“Where did you get this?”
“That antique shop Hestia found. I picked it up there after catching the spy.”
“Why are you bringing this to me now? This is truly dangerous.”
“Dangerous? What do you mean?”
“Do you really not know why Black Magic is forbidden?”
She snatched the [Shadow Magic] book from my hand.
Then she opened the first few pages.
“Black Magic can be quite useful depending on how it’s applied. However, the risk when a casting fails is enormous. You could suffer wounds so severe that even divine magic cannot heal them, or your mind could collapse and drive you insane.”
“What are you talking about? I use it just fine.”
I unfolded Subspace Magic in the air right in front of Professor Lapel.
She stared at the sight for a long time.
“Hoo… It brings back old memories.”
“Old memories?”
“Ah… no, it’s just that a scene from a dream came to mind. Ahem…”
Then she began observing the Subspace Magic with genuine fascination.
How long was she planning to stare at it…? After watching for a while, she even placed her hand on my shoulder.
“Kael. You didn’t go mad during the casting process, did you?”
“I am a madman. But since I’m already crazy normally, does it even mean anything?”
“Judging by the way you speak, you seem perfectly normal. This magic that creates a dark space… strictly speaking, it’s not a magic that reproduces phenomena. It twists the rules of the world. In simple terms, it rebels against the rules of this world created by the stars, so it could be called defiance of heaven.”
“Defiance of heaven?”
“Indeed. And yet, this is the first time I’ve seen Black Magic cast with such precision and perfection… As expected of you. If handled strictly according to the manual, Black Magic can apparently be used safely.”
“So, are you saying I shouldn’t use it, or that I can?”
“You may use it. However, do not dare teach it to others. Absolutely do not.”
Professor Lapel’s expression had grown quite serious.
It was as if something from the past had come to mind…
She wore an expression similar to the one I made whenever I saw those lovey-dovey couples and my PTSD flared up.
“Anyway, I’ll return this book to you.”
“Wait… no, I was thinking we could research it together. You’d go crazy over research material like this, wouldn’t you?”
“Hmm… I can help with the research, but doing it together would be difficult. Black Magic is not a field one should carelessly touch.”
“If you say so…”
“And try not to show it to others. There’s nothing good that can come from it.”
Professor Lapel continued nagging me like that for quite some time.
She must have had that many concerns regarding Black Magic.
Anyway, I now understood the dangers of Black Magic, but I still didn’t really get why it was considered so dangerous.
“Oh, right. Now that I think about it, you’ll be going on the field trip as well.”
“I suppose so?”
“They say the Southern Region of the Empire has many rare magical materials. There are quite a few ruins as well. Let’s explore together later, genius.”
“Are you thinking of entering another one of those filthy dungeons again?”
“Not this time. I’m just planning a short, light exploration. Make sure you prepare well.”
She playfully pushed my back as she spoke.
I knew she originally had a light personality, but was Professor Lapel the type to joke around like this with students? It felt like she played pranks on me in particular quite often…