Croissant Showdown
I glanced over the section Plene had shown me.
“This is easy. Which part don’t you understand?”
Honestly, it didn’t look that difficult at all. It was basically just textbook theory. If you had a brain, you could just memorize it without any trouble. So why the hell was she asking?
“I can’t figure out how this mana utilization formula applies to elemental magic. As you know, my lady, mana is the power used to cast spells, right?”
I skimmed the book’s contents. It was filled with basic theories about magic. Yeah, sure, that’s true, but…
“Yes. So what you’re saying is you don’t understand why it’s used in elemental magic?”
“Exactly.”
I looked back and forth between the textbook and Plene. And then it hit me.
……Plene. This girl was a total airhead.
What Plene was asking had nothing to do with the lesson. She was basically asking why mana is used to cast magic in the first place.
“Everyone has their own innate amount of mana. That capacity determines magical talent and how many spells you can use.”
Depending on your mana capacity, you were essentially split between archmage or magic lackey. In other words, there was a clear class system among mages. That’s why so many aspiring mages despaired after confirming they only had a fingernail’s worth of mana.
The original owner of this body had probably been thrilled when she checked hers. She had the makings of a proper mage. Being good at magic opened up all sorts of opportunities.
“Yes, I know that.”
“The elements used in elemental magic—fire, water, ice, lightning—were all created alongside the air when the continent was first formed, using the mana that existed at the dawn of time. That’s why mana is required to use elemental magic.”
“Got it.”
Don’t just say “got it, got it,” actually absorb it into your damn brain.
“And most importantly, the current magical system is the legacy of the gods who were slain by the god-slayers in the Land of Destruction.”
“Ah, so that’s why…”
Yeah. Don’t question what the gods decided.
“Since the gods created it…”
“Then why is it in the Empire? Strictly speaking, isn’t the Land of Destruction closer to the Kingdom than the Empire?”
Did Plene not know what cultural diffusion was? Ancient texts aside, all the existing magic in the Empire originally came from the Land of Destruction. Over time, through exchanges with nearby regions or as humans migrated in—
“That is ancient magic literature that the great mage Noah brought back from the Land of Destruction.”
“Oh? You didn’t know that, Lady Ashtar?”
“Know what?”
Was there another nickname for me? If so, I was actually looking forward to hearing it.
“Lord Noah was a legendary Sword Saint who could rival even the Hero, a Divine Archer skilled enough to teach the elves of the Great Forest, and a pioneer of divine power who once slapped the Saintess across the face. He was not an archmage.”
“Yeah. That’s right. What about it?”
Why would anyone assume someone who mastered all that couldn’t handle magic too? I let out a long sigh and rubbed my face.
“Hehe, still, it’s nice to see a new side of you, Lady Ashtar.”
“Huh?”
“I heard you usually wore a blank expression and swatted away anything that got in your way. You only ever made things uncomfortable for His Highness the Crown Prince.”
Just how much of a hopeless bitch had the original owner been? I seriously needed to look into this Olivia person.
Around the time I was teaching the surprisingly dense Plene, a familiar voice called out to me.
“Oh, Croissant.”
“That is the daughter of a marquis! You must observe proper noble etiquette—”
“I know. I’ll handle it.”
I ignored Plene’s nonsense about noble etiquette and looked Croissant up and down. That hair of hers never got old. It was so annoying I was tempted to just rip it out myself.
“Calling me Croissant again. Hah, fine. I was a fool for expecting you to learn. Whatever. Do you really think I wouldn’t know what you did in the swordsmanship department?”
“What did I do?”
I hadn’t done anything weird, had I? I tilted my head slightly with genuine curiosity. She looked utterly dumbfounded.
What the hell did she want from me?
“Are you seriously going to play dumb? You drove out every single student from the swordsmanship department!”
“So what?”
The strong survive and the weak are driven out. That’s the law of survival. Wasn’t that exactly why Olivia was so thoroughly ostracized in noble society?
Look at them. Most of the students in the classroom were staring at me with clear contempt. So I just gave them the same treatment. Even Croissant herself had looked down on me, yet here she was throwing a fit because I cleared out the swordsmanship department.
“My older brother is in the swordsmanship department. Were you targeting him? Or did you use some underhanded method?”
News traveled fast. So she had a brother there after all.
“Hmm. I only kicked out the idiots who attacked me because they liked Lily. Are you one of her followers too?”
My little sister really was popular. Maybe she really was acting like a queen bee?
“No! How dare you talk about my brother like that!”
“If your brother is a Croissant, that says everything. Wait, is his name actually Castella?”
“Why are you changing my brother Castor’s name?!”
“Wow, so that’s what it was.”
Castella or Castor, it was all the same anyway.
“I can’t take this anymore! I was going to accept your apology earlier, but now you’re mocking both me and my brother! Our family is not so weak that we can be insulted by a loser like you!”
Uh-huh. So what?
“What are you going to do if you can’t take it?”
“Let’s settle this with magic versus magic!”
Magic versus magic, huh? Fine by me.
“You won’t regret it?”
“Unlike a shallow woman like you who only cares about appearances, I am an elite who has properly studied magic. I assume you know that House Logran has mastered magic?”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes! What, are you scared?”
Logran. Ah, I’d heard of them. The Marquis of Logran had been quite the nuisance. He’d demanded that all magical literature be given exclusively to his family instead of the Empire, all for the sake of his house’s glory.
I had casually ignored the marquis’s request and provided the Empire with a magical system capable of fighting the Demon King. As a result, the mages of House Logran ended up having to learn from the imperial court mages instead. I never imagined Croissant was from that family.
“Let’s do it. But that means you’ll be leaving the Department of Magical Engineering, right?”
“That’s…”
“What? Don’t tell me you’re not confident? You’re the one who challenged me to a duel during class, yet you’re not willing to put anything on the line?”
“Fine! Today I’ll finally crush that arrogant little nose of yours!”
My nose was a bit on the high side, I had to admit. Thanks to Croissant, it looked like hardly any students would be left in the Magical Engineering class after today.
“Give it your best shot.”
Praise was praise, but I did need a sacrifice anyway.
“What the—why is it already a mess the moment I walk in? Hey, this is my class time.”
The homeroom professor entered and started complaining. I wondered what Croissant would say.
“Professor! I can’t endure it any longer! Lady Ashtar still hasn’t learned her lesson and has insulted both me and my family! It must be over a hundred times by now!”
Ah, so the original owner had been insulting their family for more than just a day or two.
“If this is about the swordsmanship department, hasn’t that already been settled? I thought even His Highness the Crown Prince let it go?”
“She insulted our family!”
It seemed that for nobles, an insult to their house was a very serious matter. Otherwise her face wouldn’t be twisting up like that. At first I thought she was just mad because she didn’t like me, but that wasn’t it.
“That damn insult again. Sigh. Olivia, what do you want to do?”
“If it means I can get rid of that annoying Croissant, I’m not against it.”
I’d been thinking about it lately—I really hated Croissant. That Saintess Cyria bitch must have eaten nothing but that crap. Next to the Hero’s dick, Croissant was probably her favorite thing.
Since it had come to this, I decided to show off my skills properly. I’d already dealt with the fools in swordsmanship who dared to challenge me, so I’d do the same with magic.
“Alright, get ready. Today I’ll drive you out for good!”
Still, I had to give her credit for that courage. She was on a completely different level from Cyria or Ella. Yeah. A noblewoman should at least know how to throw her weight around relying on her family name.
The homeroom professor—that is, the Magical Engineering instructor—led the students outside. The place we arrived at was—
“Wait, why are you here again? I gave you full marks, didn’t I?”
The swordsmanship professor, sitting alone in a corner of the training ground with his knees drawn up and looking half-dead, greeted me with tears in his eyes.
“Lady Ashtar and Lady Logran are going to have a magic duel.”
It wasn’t me but the homeroom professor who answered his gloomy expression. His face grew even gloomier. See? You shouldn’t treat women like that.
Then, from the perspective of a woman who had used the original owner’s body for a few days, I should comfort him.
“Professor, long time no see? Mind if I borrow this place?”
“Yeah… sure, go ahead. There aren’t any classes here right now anyway.”
The swordsmanship professor handed everything over to me as if it were too much trouble. Heh heh heh. That’s what I like to see from a professor in my major!
A short while later, students including Plene took seats in the observation area. Only Croissant, me, and the professor acting as referee stood in the training ground.
“Then let’s begin.”
The moment the professor gave the signal—
“Hmph! That arrogant face of yours ends today! Flames of Logran! A descendant of Logran calls upon you—eradicate the enemies of Logran!”
Croissant was chanting her spell. It was so pathetic I simply pointed a finger at her.
“Mana Bullet.”
A blue beam of light shot from my index finger and slammed into her solar plexus before she could even finish her spell.
Boom!
“Kyaaaaah!”
I had only made it hot enough to sting a little, but the idiot started tumbling backward. Her magic was weak and her physical abilities were pathetic.
“It’s been a while since I used basic magic.”
Mana Bullet was a fundamental attack spell that used mana. From there, you had to develop it further to reach elemental magic. The performance gap between Mana Bullet and elemental magic was huge. Obviously the evolved version was stronger. Watching Croissant get knocked out by a single Mana Bullet was honestly hilarious.
Her undignified sprawl on the ground was quite the sight for a noble lady. I slowly walked over to her.
“Can’t even do chantless casting.”
Chanting a spell in the first place was proof that you were an inferior mage. The magic commonly known to the public had inherently unstable formulas. That was because they were made for basic education. Refining those spells and making them your own was the task required to become a high mage.
In other words, chanting was a hasty way to stabilize an unstable spell. Naturally, while you were chanting, your opponent could attack and create an opening. Of course there were mages who prepared countermeasures while chanting, but only those who could cast without chanting truly deserved the title of mage.
“And the chant is too long.”
Even though House Logran supposedly excelled at magic, their spells were lengthy. Probably not just because they were refining the formula, but also because of the noble house’s obsession with authority. Just look at the chant—Flames of Logran this, descendant of Logran that. It was ridiculously pretentious.
If the Empire’s magic continued to develop and they kept clinging to the old ways, House Logran would fall behind.
“Never underestimate your opponent.”
At first glance it might look like I struck first, but looking at the Marquis of Logran, he was the typical arrogant noble. Considering the original owner was also one of those noble ladies, in the end Croissant and Olivia had simply been clashing over their family names.
Since the original owner was on the verge of being kicked out of House Ashtar, Croissant had grown arrogant. And since the original owner had never properly shown her magic before, Croissant probably thought she could avenge her brother.
To be honest, fighting the young lady of House Logran was more disappointing than I expected. I hadn’t even hoped for chantless casting, but I thought she’d at least put up a protective spell or something. She didn’t even do that. Her knowledge of magical combat was severely lacking.
“I had expectations, but this is all you’ve got? Tsk. Underestimating your opponent is something you only do when you’re absolutely sure you’re stronger. Like what I’m doing to you right now.”
I poked Croissant’s forehead repeatedly with my finger.
Sigh. What should I do with her, seriously?