The Nature of Magic

Hurtlocker had been making every effort for a long time to infiltrate the Crows.

Having failed to enter the Imperial Academy and even seeing his plan to eliminate Roman fall through, infiltrating the Crows was now something he absolutely had to accomplish.

'Is this the mark of a Crow?'

The result was a success. It was the product of the Intelligence Bureau's flawless laundering of his past and Hurtlocker's own cautious approach.

Hurtlocker slipped the token engraved with the crow's beak pattern into his pocket. He was now officially a member of the Crows, the group that carried out the Empire's dirtiest work. It meant he would be able to access information from the Empire's underworld more easily and quickly than before.

"······."

Hurtlocker's steps halted as he headed back to his quarters. A single sheet of paper was posted on the wall. Across it, in large letters, were the words WANTED.

'Are they looking for me?'

Though no name was written, it was a wanted poster for the assailant who had attacked Schluss Heinkel during the Day of Magic terror incident. But there was one strange thing. The section for physical description was completely blank.

Curious, he looked closer and learned that the sole witness had forgotten the perpetrator's face due to the shock of the event.

'What the...'

Schluss had forgotten his face? Hadn't he instantly recognized him as the man he'd seen once at the cafe the moment their eyes met?

Could the injuries he'd suffered back then have damaged his memory? He had kicked him hard in the face with his knee, after all.

If that wasn't it, then...

'No way.'

Had Schluss deliberately withheld the description from the police...?

Come to think of it, Schluss had acted strangely even on the Day of Magic. He could have killed him with a single squeeze of his hand, yet he'd let him go on purpose.

'Does he actually want me not to get caught?'

Hurtlocker felt a chill run down his spine at the hypothesis, but—

'No. That can't be it.'

He quickly dismissed the possibility. Why would Schluss Heinkel, who was walking the elite-of-elites course in the Empire, bother to shield a mere terrorist? There was no reason or need for it.

Yet he couldn't shake the uneasy feeling no matter what.

"Hmm."

Upon returning to his quarters, Hurtlocker let out a low groan and looked around. A letter had been slipped through the crack of the door. The recipient was the Walter Bank—one of the Intelligence Bureau's disguised bases.

Hurtlocker used the dagger that suddenly appeared in his ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hand to slit open the envelope. It was his own original technique: breaking matter down into mana and reassembling it at the desired moment.

As he pulled out the letter, the dagger in his hand dissolved back into mana and vanished.

Hurtlocker began reading the letter. On the surface, it looked like an ordinary flyer advertising loan products with no issues whatsoever, but once he applied the cipher code, the decoded message assembled itself in his mind.

From the looks of it, this was a message conveying the Intelligence Bureau's decision based on information collected by Eric.

But above all else, why weren't they switching the most dangerous target, Schluss, to an assassination order? What was this about?

It seemed the Intelligence Bureau had judged that Schluss posed no significant threat to the Kingdom. Though it was hard to accept, Hurtlocker ground his teeth and continued reading.

'Estimated mana capacity of Schluss... 100,000 or higher?!'

Hurtlocker's eyes widened. The detailed calculation process wasn't included, but since it was an estimate from the Intelligence Bureau, it was likely quite accurate. Yet the figure still came out above 100,000?

Now he understood why the Bureau hadn't switched Schluss to an assassination target. It wasn't that they wouldn't—it was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that they couldn't. Trying to take down Schluss alone could end up destroying the entire Intelligence Bureau.

"Hehe. How was class, my dear daughter?"

"Haa······. It was really tough. We finally had a proper class today······."

Lady Lichtenburg smiled brightly as she watched Erika continuously stuffing cookies into ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her mouth. Erika had a habit of binge-eating whenever she was stressed, and there was nothing cuter than seeing her devour sweets like this.

"I let my guard down because the first class was just mana measurement before they sent us away. But starting from the second class, they really started pushing the material hard."

"Hmm. I see~"

Almost none of the content from the second class remained in Erika's memory. She'd been too busy taking notes to even listen to and understand the vast amount of lecture material.

The actual number of pages turned in the textbook wasn't that many, but Professor Ludwig's supplementary explanations were overwhelmingly extensive. Still, if they had all been useless chatter, she would have simply let them pass by.

Somehow, every single one of them pierced straight through to the essence of magic, helping with understanding—explanations so vital that you couldn't absorb them without writing them down.

As expected of the Empire's top professor. It was a mystery why someone like him had remained a senior professor rather than becoming the dean after twenty years of service.

"Umm······ and I think there was something else I wanted to tell you, Mother······."

"What is it? What is it?"

"Mother."

"Yes, yes."

"Are you thinking of remarrying?"

"Eh? What?"

That definitely wasn't what she'd meant to ask. But it was also a question she'd wanted to ask for a long time.

"W-why are you suddenly asking something like that?"

"No reason. It's been quite a while, hasn't it? Since Father passed away. I was just wondering how you felt about it."

"W-well, what would you prefer, Erika?"

"I'd like you to do whatever you want, Mother."

"H-hmm. I see······."

Watching the lady blush slightly and avert her gaze, Erika clicked her tongue. It seemed she already had someone in mind. She apparently didn't want to reveal it to her daughter just yet. Well, she'd tell her when the time was right. Erika decided to wait patiently.

"Ah."

Then the question she had actually meant to ask came to mind.

"Mother. You know Schluss Heinkel, right?"

"I do······. The commoner top student at your school."

"I invited him to our house for dinner."

"What?!"

The lady's previously beaming face twisted. It was a look of genuine disgust, so Erika was quite taken aback. She hadn't expected her to hate him this much.

"No. Absolutely not. Over my dead body."

"But he's the one who saved your life, Mother. Shouldn't we at least repay him this much?"

"······."

"Mother. No matter how much you dislike commoners—"

"It's not because he's a commoner, dear."

"Then why? Mother! Are you really going to pretend you don't owe him anything?"

"Haa······. Fine. I'll allow it. On the condition that Schluss Heinkel does not meet Yulia."

"Huh? Why that?"

"······."

She was okay with it as long as he didn't meet her younger sister? What kind of nonsense was that? Erika tilted her head in confusion.

Meanwhile, the lady simply clutched her throbbing head and sighed. She was conflicted about whether she should tell Erika, and if so, how much she could reveal.

Soon, having made up her mind, the lady lifted her head. If she was going to tell her, she should tell her everything.

"Schluss Heinkel. That man knows Yulia."

"······!"

Erika's eyes widened as she understood what her mother meant.

"May 14th······."

I regretted glancing at the calendar. May 14th. It was the day that reminded me of her, and it left me feeling inexplicably depressed.

'Maybe I should visit the cemetery.'

Of course, I knew full well that she couldn't possibly be in this world. Even so, the human heart still wants to go look, doesn't it?

Searching for something you know isn't there... that's exactly the kind of stupid thing someone like me would do.

"Emilia."

"Yes, Heinkel."

"Could you buy a single rose for me before class ends?"

"Understood. What color should I prepare?"

"······White, please."

After much deliberation, I chose a white rose. The reason... even I wasn't sure. I just felt like a white rose would be nice.

Today was the day of the Combat Magic class. By the way, I think I'm finally starting to understand why a double major is so brutal.

The second Elemental Magic class yesterday... for three whole hours, all I could do was sit there blankly because I had no idea what was being said. I really need to pull myself together for the exams. Otherwise, I'll lose the top spot and get expelled on the spot.

"Greetings, cadets! It's been a while! Hahaha!"

The moment I entered the lecture hall, Sergei was laughing heartily. What does he mean, it's been a while? It's only been a week.

That aside, why is Sergei holding a rebar in his hand this time...? Where on earth did he get that? It looks like he broke a pipe somewhere and tore out some rebar to use as a back scratcher. It's pretty rusty though. Isn't he worried about getting tetanus?

Never mind. Why am I even worrying about him? There's no way one of the Empire's strongest would get hurt by something like that.

"What do you all think is the basics of combat magic?"

"A large mana capacity."

"The precision of the spell formula."

"Tsk tsk. You're all wrong."

Sergei shook his head as if he found them pathetic. That kind of stings a bit. Should I show off a little?

"Speed."

"Oh! Who said that just now?"

"Schluss Heinkel."

"······."

An awkward silence settled over the lecture hall. Once again, all eyes turned toward me.

"Speed! Correct. In combat, magic must be faster than anything else. Imagine facing a swordsman. Do you think the swordsman will wait for you while you unfold your beautiful and intricate spell formula and pour thousands of mana into it?"

"······."

"No! If you do that, you'll be dead before you know it. The beauty or complexity of the spell formula means nothing once you're already in the afterlife. That's why sometimes the simpler and cruder the magic, the more it shines in battle. For example..."

Sergei spread his palm and extended his arm forward. The students had no idea what he was about to do, but at this point, I could guess.

The simplest magic in this world.

Bang!

"······Something like this."

Mana discharge. A deafening roar tore through the air as a gust of wind swept through. Sergei had simply fired his mana straight forward.

"Professor! Isn't that not magic?"

Ainz immediately shot his hand up with the question. It was closer to a pointed remark than a question.

"Good question. Then let me ask you the opposite. Why do you think that isn't magic?"

"Well, it's just shooting out mana, isn't it?"

"Does that serve as proof that it isn't magic? Let's rephrase the question. What is magic?"

"For something to be called magic... it needs to have a name. And it should be recorded in a grimoire, right? I've never seen any grimoire introduce what you just did as magic."

"If it's not in a grimoire and has no name, then it's not magic? Then what about newly invented magic? If it hasn't been named yet and isn't listed in any grimoire, is that not magic either?"

"······."

Ainz's mouth shut tight. As expected, he was helpless in the face of fundamental philosophical questions about magic. Having spent his entire life cramming only the deployment methods of spell formulas and combinations of magic, he'd probably never considered such thoughts before.

"You're both right and wrong. Hardcore mages refuse to classify something like this as magic. Why? Because it's too simple. It lacks elegance and beauty. However, if it can be properly expressed in the form of a spell formula, then it is undeniably magic. At least by scientific classification."

"Professor. Is it appropriate to approach magic scientifically? I was under the impression that science is an obsolete discipline that cannot explain the principles of the world."

Another student stepped forward with a critique.

"That is also both right and wrong. Science and magic are complementary. Science has the power to clearly express the ambiguous discipline of magic, while magic explores the areas that science cannot explain. In my class, I intend to incorporate science as well from now on. To be precise, the scientific way of thinking."

"Professor! But that would—"

"Violate the Mage's Oath? Then what about using magic to harm people? Does that count as upholding the Mage's Oath?"

"······."

"In Combat Magic Studies, we will learn ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠anything related to combat magic. Since it is directly connected to your survival, we cannot afford to be picky. Would you rather die while acting all refined, claiming science is an obsolete discipline, or learn whatever you can and survive? If you have any complaints about my class, you may leave now."

"······."

The students fell silent once again. But as expected, not a single one left the lecture hall.

Sergei's classes were always like this. He would bring up discourse that clashed with existing sentiments, collide with the students, and shatter their preconceptions. That was why his Combat Magic class was considered one that offered so many realizations.

Since he was teaching combat magic that could mean the difference between life and death, it was inevitable that his classes would end up as a mishmash of all sorts of things. It was the same principle by which mixed martial arts, a mishmash of fighting styles, was considered the most practical.

"Alright! I think I've given you enough hints by now. Then I will test the speed of your magic casting."

"What?!"

"Cast whatever magic you're confident in as quickly as possible. I'll measure the speed and reflect it in your grades."

······And Sergei's class was also famous for having frequent pop quizzes like this. He would announce them not before class, but in the middle of class, and suddenly make them take the test.

I didn't realize it while writing, but experiencing it firsthand is quite ridiculous.

"Then we'll start with... Schluss Heinkel! The top student of the year!"

"Yes."

Why is it always me first? I let out a sigh and stepped forward.

I was confident in my spell formula deployment speed. My calculation stat was already at 48, which was five times that of an average person. It was all because the effects of the forbidden elixir had been dumped entirely into calculation ability...

Damn it, just thinking about it pisses me off again.