Mana Orb Get! Blackmailing a Senior onto My Team
Senior, how about we do a job together? Mana orb, get.
I tapped the mana orb that had snugly slipped into my pocket. This thing looked pretty expensive, I had to say. Seeing how it sensed the students' mana and swerved around them like flies, it seemed like it would be quite popular as a training tool. If I sold it secondhand, how much could I get?
But now that I thought about it, something felt off. No matter how remote the Art Department annex was from the main building, why was the mana orb that the Magic Tower Master strictly controlled for class use suddenly installed on this classroom doorframe?
That was when it happened.
"Ahem… ahem…."
A massive shadow blocked my path. I looked up to see a hulking demon senior with vicious black horns sprouting from both sides of his forehead standing there with an extremely awkward expression.
"Uh, that… Freshman. The thing you just pocketed… ahem, mind handing it over?"
"This?" I pulled the mana orb from my pocket and spun it on my fingertip.
The demon senior's eyes tracked its every rotation with clear anxiety. So this bastard was the culprit.
"Why? Don't tell me you set a trap just to mess with your junior?"
"T-that's not it…!"
"As far as I know, Dean Lucy hates this kind of thing. And more importantly, isn't this against the school rules? It seems like it could warrant calling a disciplinary committee."
"T-that's… I've already been caught a few times."
The senior was clearly flustered. Anyone could tell he was the perpetrator. And it looked like he'd already been flagged for similar stunts before.
...Wait a minute.
A thought suddenly flashed through my mind. He had precisely rigged the Magic Tower Master's foul-tempered mana orb on the doorframe? And timed it perfectly so it would shoot out like a projectile the exact moment I opened the classroom door?
This guy—I'd figured he was all size and discipline enforcement, but his mana control and spatial manipulation were surprisingly delicate.
'There was talent like this in the Art Department?'
To summarize, I still needed a third team member. And right in front of me stood someone I could easily control once I had leverage on him. Plus, he looked pretty talented.
"Senior."
"Uh, y-yeah?"
"Are you taking Introduction to Magic Theory this semester?"
"Y-yes, but why?"
So he was in a different class. Didn't matter. The practicals were held jointly anyway.
The corner of my mouth curled upward.
"In exchange for me quietly returning this and burying your petty, cowardly assassination attempt from earlier."
I squeezed the orb in my hand and smiled coldly.
"How about joining the same team as me?"
"......What?"
His face showed he hadn't expected this at all. The demon senior's fierce features went completely slack, like an idiot.
"For the special practice, I mean. What was your name again, senior?"
"D-Dusik. No, wait…."
"Good. Senior Dusik. I'll add your name to our team roster."
"Who gave you the right—"
I stepped closer to his ear and whispered.
"Behave yourself. If you don't perform properly during the practice, I'll report to the dean in very specific, logical detail exactly how hard you tried to mess with your junior."
"Th…?!"
Senior Dusik shrank his shoulders like a meek lamb. Nice. Party member acquired from a completely unexpected place.
After class. In a dimly lit empty classroom in the Art Department. At the words of the third-year seniors, Dusik kept his mouth firmly shut.
"Looks like there's something going on."
"What kind of secret conversation did you have with that freshman earlier?"
When the three seniors closed in and pressed him, Dusik stared blankly into space. Thoughts raced through his head.
Ha. I can't take this anymore. What the hell is with all this ridiculous discipline in the Art Department? I'm already pissed about what I went through as a freshman, and now I have to keep tormenting the new students until these guys are satisfied? Even with demon blood, this is too much.
Even as anger boiled inside him, the memory of Ian's eyes made Dusik mutter.
"That guy… is a demon!"
"What? You're the demon here! What are you suddenly talking about?"
"No, it's not about racial traits like my horns or size! It's because you haven't seen that bastard's beast-like eyes!"
Dusik recalled the bizarrely brazen and natural way Ian had instantly suppressed the orb in midair and pocketed it. What kind of impossible movement was that? It defied every principle of mana he knew.
"You're really going to let that freshman get away without putting him in his place, Dusik?"
At his senior's persistent urging, Dusik made a troubled face and shook his head hard.
"...That's impossible."
In truth, among these hopeless Art Department peers, Dusik was the only one with any real talent for mana. He should have gone to the Magic Department. The only reason he had chosen the Art Department was his demon bloodline.
That was why he could see it clearly—how much of a monstrous creature Ian Ashy was, hiding such a chilling abyss. The skill to physically neutralize that irregular orb without a single fluctuation in his mana wavelength.
"That guy is the real thing. He might look like he's just posing, but what's inside is a proper monster. I won't mess with Ian anymore. No, I can't."
At Dusik's shocking declaration, the seniors' faces twisted with displeasure.
"...What?"
"He might be better than we thought, and perhaps he's a great artist walking a far more righteous path than we imagine. That look in his eyes held the uncompromising madness of creation."
The three classmates snorted at Dusik's excuse—where he had completely misinterpreted Ian's brazen blackmail as artistic madness and surrendered completely.
"What nonsense, Dusik. You coward. The Art Department's tradition must be upheld through the strict hierarchy and discipline of its seniors!"
"Exactly! If you're that scared, step aside. We'll personally fix that arrogant bastard's attitude!"
The three students left Dusik behind and stormed out of the classroom, fuming.
Arina Saint had been anxiously watching the subtle exchange between Ian and Dusik from the back corner of the classroom. The moment class ended, she hurriedly followed after Ian. She felt sorry for not having stepped in to stop what was happening.
When she reached the secluded clearing behind the building with quick, light steps, Arina nearly screamed and had to clamp her hand over her mouth.
"Hic…!"
A menacing, bloodthirsty atmosphere filled the clearing. Three burly Art Department seniors had Ian surrounded in a threatening circle.
"Ian Ashy, you insolent bastard!! How dare you ignore the great traditions of the Art Department?!"
One senior's face flushed with rage as he raised a menacing fist. Yet Ian stood there casually with his legs crossed, not even blinking. If anything, he looked slightly amused.
W-what is this?
Arina fidgeted helplessly, hand still over her mouth. Why were they harassing Ian? And why was Ian so calm about it?
These senior guys were far more serious about enforcing discipline than I'd expected. No, I'd known they had that mindset from the moment I first entered the Art Department. But after getting shut down once, shouldn't they have given up? Coming at me again? Is the hazing here stricter than marine boot camp?
...Actually, this might be a good thing.
It means I can torment someone just as strictly. Anyway. There's still a limit. Discipline is great when I'm the one dishing it out, but annoying when someone else does.
"Ian Ashy, you bastard. I didn't like you from the start."
"I don't know how you sweet-talked Dusik, but I won't let it slide."
What are you going to do if you don't let it slide? Hit me? For now, observation came first. If they were the type to just talk big and leave, I figured I could take a few rounds. Don't underestimate a Korean guy who finished military service.
Anyway, I needed to read the situation, so I lightly tossed out a line.
"Are you doing this because you've heard I'm the one they call the Art Beggar, Ian Ashy?"
"Hmph! We've heard all about your reputation! You really have no manners! But if you think we'll submit just because of that reputation, you're delusional!"
Whoa. They even gave me a villain-style reputation. It's kind of touching, honestly. Usually people call it notoriety, but this almost sounds like praise, doesn't it?
'Ah.'
Now that I thought about it, I could roughly guess why they were doing this. Art Beggar Ian Ashy. The Art Department already had no new students, and now a guy with a terrible reputation had joined. Of course they'd want to put him in his place. I would've done the same.
"If I tell you it's a misunderstanding, will you believe me?"
"Misunderstanding my ass! We can't trust you until that flippant attitude of yours disappears!"
......They've fully matured into adults, huh. I could already feel how this would play out. In a secluded spot like this from the start, there weren't many options. By the way, could I even control my mana output right now? Honestly, I wasn't confident.
"Seniors."
"Huh?"
"If you have any honor, come at me one by one."
"This bastard!"
"Don't hold back! Ignore him and all rush in!"
These insane guys.