Lunaria's Blessing Lottery
You have won the Lunaria Blessing Lottery. (1)
I was sitting in the lecture hall, waiting for the morning class to begin. The interior looked much like a university back on Earth, the kind you see all the time in modern academy stories. It brought back memories of my college days, which wasn't entirely unpleasant. The problem was that I'd been an outsider back then, and even after possessing Leon, I was still an outsider now.
Given Leon's Righteousness trait, it wasn't hard to imagine how he must have acted toward the other students. Probably just like Papiyas, a complete old-fashioned boomer. A quick dip into his memories confirmed it. From Leon's perspective, he had no choice; if he didn't live that way, the stress would have killed him. But to everyone else, he was insufferable. If he hadn't been the pure-blooded heir of Count Magnus and hadn't placed second in the swordsmanship department for three years running, he probably would have been bullied. For the record, the one who took first place all three years was, of course, Elaine.
The morning lecture was on "Mana Understanding and Application." Anyone pursuing a mana-related profession could enroll, and the guest professor was Giphotes, a half-elf magic swordsman who had actually fought in the Holy War. Competition for spots had been fierce. Leon had never made a pilgrimage to the holy land, so he had never received Lunaria's blessing. That put him at a permanent disadvantage in mana capacity compared to the other students, which was why he needed to attend lectures like this one.
In truth, Leon had begged Yuri Magnus several times for permission to go on a pilgrimage. The answer had always been the same: "Permission denied." He resented the family head for keeping him from something even commoners could do, but what could he do? In the world of King's Crown, the head of the household's word was absolute. Looking back now, Yuri's refusal seemed suspicious. Did receiving a god's blessing make a sacrifice less effective for the Demon King? I had offered sacrifices to the Demon King plenty of times while playing King's Crown, and I didn't remember any such penalty.
"Ah… hello, Leon-senpai."
While I was lost in thought, someone approached and greeted me. I turned to see a female student with bright blonde hair that reached her shoulders and emerald eyes shadowed by heavy dark circles. She looked a little gloomy. She wore the gray checkered skirt and necktie of Alhazard Academy's summer uniform for magic students, along with a white short-sleeved shirt and the blue robe that marked her as a first-year. A short wooden wand was tucked at her waist like a dagger, polished to a shine as though it had never been used.
Digging through Leon's memories, I greeted her in return.
"Hey, Raisa."
Her name was Raisa Lumiere, and unfortunately, she was an outcast like me. The "Mana Understanding and Application" class required pairs for practical exercises, since you needed someone to observe your mana flow. Just like back in college, everyone quickly paired up with their friends, leaving the loners to pair with each other at the very end. Leon and Raisa had been stuck together for weeks now, yet the atmosphere was still painfully awkward.
Wait. Raisa Lumiere?
I straightened up so suddenly that Raisa, who had been about to sit beside me, flinched and froze halfway down, hovering above the chair.
"W-why are you looking at me like that, senpai? Is there something on the chair?"
She looked around in a panic, as if she had been pranked this way before. I ignored her and mentally cursed Leon instead.
Leon, you bastard… This was a full-on harem protagonist setup.
The reason I was cursing him was because I had just realized who Raisa Lumiere really was. Seventeen years from now, she would become the rear-line damage dealer of the hero party, the daughter of a marquis, and after the Demon King's defeat, she would succeed Alhazard as the next Archmage.
Stress: 42
Professor Giphotes was enthusiastically explaining practical mana techniques he had learned through real combat, but I couldn't focus at all. Skipping the lecture would trigger the Diligence trait's penalty and raise my stress, but there was nothing I could do about it. Ever since I realized this was the early 1.0.0 version of King's Crown, my mind had been completely occupied with how to acquire the glitches as quickly as possible.
And now I had discovered that the girl sitting next to me was Raisa Lumiere, the future Archmage. If she helped me, I might be able to obtain one of the worst (which also meant strongest) glitches in the history of King's Crown, hidden somewhere inside Alhazard Academy. The so-called "Khan Glitch" was deeply connected to Emperor Khan, as the name suggested. To obtain it, I would have to clear the dungeon Alhazard had hidden inside the academy in his later years. Naturally, a dungeon personally designed by the Archmage at the peak of his power would not be easy. According to the official timeline, the dungeon wouldn't even be discovered for another hundred years, and clearing it would take another fifty after that.
Yet here I was, seriously considering tackling it with just Raisa and myself. It was a gamble. If it went wrong, we would both die in some forgotten corner of the dungeon, and our skeletons would only be found a hundred and fifty years later. Dying myself wouldn't matter much, but if Raisa died too, the continent of Halmantia might be doomed when the Demon King appeared in seventeen years. Still… if the gamble paid off, I could become overpowered. The Khan Glitch alone wouldn't make me invincible, of course. It was like a right arm. Once I obtained the matching left arm, it would become one of the top three most broken glitches ever discovered in King's Crown.
"…"
While I was spacing out during the lecture, irritation began to build. I called up the status window in my mind.
Stress: 42
Just because I had been distracted for a little while, my stress had risen again. I really was like a glass cannon.
Clap, clap.
Professor Giphotes clapped his hands to gather everyone's attention.
"That's enough theory for today. From now on, we'll move on to practical exercises. Decide the order within your pairs and try applying mana the way I showed you."
…Damn it. I hadn't been listening, so I had no idea what he had taught. In times like this, the only person I could rely on was my partner. Ignoring the fact that the old Leon would have been horrified by the thought, I looked at Raisa with expectant eyes.
"Could you demonstrate first?"
"…Ugh. Can't you go first, senpai? I'm not confident…"
She lowered her head, avoiding my gaze, and clutched the small wooden wand tightly to her chest. The sight was rather pitiful. From Leon's memories, Raisa had always lacked confidence like this. It was hard to believe she would become the future Archmage, because her current magical ability was abysmal.
The Lumiere marquis family had produced renowned mages for generations. One of their ancestors had even been Alhazard's direct disciple, and every direct descendant had achieved extraordinary magical accomplishments. Yet Raisa, born into this prestigious magical lineage, had been unable to handle mana properly since childhood. For a mage, being unskilled with mana was a fatal flaw. That was why she, like Leon, desperately needed control over her mana and had enrolled in this class.
There was a reason she struggled so much. From the moment she was born, she had been favored by the Goddess Lunaria, and an enormous amount of mana had taken root inside her body. The ordinary wooden wand she was gripping so desperately simply couldn't contain or control that overwhelming power, no matter how hard she tried. They say a craftsman doesn't blame his tools, but when the tool reduces efficiency by over a thousand percent, is it really wrong to blame the tool?
To fix her chronic mana control issues, there was only one solution. She needed to use a large, thick, sturdy staff, just like the ancient mages had. But modern mages had their own fixed notions. Staves that were as tall as the user, heavy, and inconvenient to carry had gone out of fashion centuries ago and were now treated as outdated relics. Raisa was no exception. So before I took her into the dungeon, I would have to break that preconception first.