Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Ciel Ifrit (3)
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"Alright, everyone pay attention."
The professor projected a complex magic circle onto the blackboard.
"Today's assignment is this. It's a cyclic magic circle from ancient times."
The professor pointed to the blank sections in the magic circle and continued.
"As you can see, after ages have passed, parts of the magic circle have been lost, rendering it non-functional. Your task today is to restore the missing portions."
[Understanding Magic Circles].
It was today's elective class.
Just as the name implied, it was a lesson on analyzing and deciphering the structure of magic circles.
In the game, it was like a puzzle-matching mini-game.
It might be fun for those who enjoyed puzzle games, but personally, I preferred more active classes.
The rewards were pretty modest too.
So even now, rather than participating in class, I planned to nap at my desk as usual to rack up some sloth.
That was the plan, at least.
Paaan—.
An oppressively heavy gaze from the seat next to me.
Because of it, I couldn't fall asleep at all.
'...Why the hell is she even here?'
I sighed and turned my head.
There was Ciel, propping her chin on her hand and staring at me.
"Ciel."
"Hm—?"
"...Are you sure you're in the right class?"
"Hmm—. Probably not—?"
Probably not? What kind of answer is that?
No, wait. No.
They didn't even call your name during roll call earlier...!
'This is driving me crazy.'
No....
Even I, the holder of the [Sin of Sloth] trait who skips classes, had never dared to do something that could get me expelled from the academy out of fear.
And yet, on her very first day of school, she's pulling this off so casually. What gives?
"...Then why the hell are you here?"
I pressed my throbbing temples and asked.
"I followed Jeron—."
That's not what I meant—why did you follow me?
"There's attendance scores, you know. Keep this up, and you could get disciplined—or worst case, expelled."
"It's fine—."
Ciel seemed utterly unconcerned, like it really was no big deal.
Something like, 'Expel me~ I'll just go back to the magic tower~'?
Well, sure, a genius like Ciel would be welcomed with open arms anywhere.
But.
'I'm not fine with that, me!!!!!'
Ciel absolutely could not get expelled from the academy.
She was one of the key characters responsible for a major storyline in this game.
If she disappeared, all my plans would go down the drain...!
'Gaaah.'
I screamed silently in my mind.
Then a fundamental question occurred to me.
"By the way, how are you even here?"
There was a clear outsider in the class, yet the professor wasn't paying her any mind.
"Hm, I cast a perception hindrance spell on the professor—."
"...Huh."
I was utterly dumbfounded.
The professor for [Understanding Magic Circles]? Among Stella Academy's faculty, he wasn't particularly notable.
Compared to big names like Zephyr or Sierra, he was just your average extra NPC.
Still, he was a professor at the continent's top academy....
And he got hit with a perception hindrance from a mere 1st Year?
'...She really is a monstrous genius.'
It hit me anew just how talented she was.
In [Stella Academia], Ciel Ifrit was portrayed as an unparalleled existence.
Her my-pace, willful personality played a part, but it was her genius that truly stood out.
The kind of talent that appears once every century, a prodigy worthy of becoming an archmage....
Excluding the protagonist, she was probably the biggest genius in the academy.
While I was lost in those thoughts, Ciel, bored now, shone light onto an empty wall in the corner of the classroom with magic.
She wiggled her small fingers, creating a shadow.
"Tada—. Eagle—."
But the shadow eagle she made flew around the wall as if it were alive.
...What kind of magic is this?
I stared blankly at the sight for a moment before snapping back to reality.
Right now, quirky antics like that weren't the priority.
I needed to rack up sloth fast.
I laid my head back down on the desk to catch some sleep.
But with Ciel playing by herself so excitedly next to me, I couldn't drift off.
'Sigh. Can't sleep at all.'
I grumbled inwardly.
But right then, a lightbulb went off in my head.
'...Huh? Wait a sec. Sloth doesn't have to mean sleeping, right?'
Come to think of it, yeah.
Until now, I'd only been gaining sloth by sleeping during class, so I'd fallen into a rut without realizing it.
Not studying during class and messing around instead.
Wasn't that sloth too?
That's it.
If I couldn't sleep, I'd just mess around!
'I was a pro at messing around back in school.'
I sat up.
Then, next to Ciel's shadow, I made a rabbit shape with my hands.
And then.
[This is slothful behavior!]
[Sloth +1!]
'It works~!'
Messing around counted as slothful behavior too, and sloth started accumulating.
My eyes sparkled.
And.
"Ooh—."
Ciel's eyes sparkled too.
"Bunny's cute—. Jeron, can you do more—?"
After that, I made all sorts of animals: cats, dogs, elephants, you name it.
'...Feels like entertaining my little cousin during holidays.'
But Ciel kept pestering me with "That's amazing, do more," until I'd exhausted my entire shadow puppet repertoire.
So.
Messing around during class—there was that one thing, right?
'O-mok.'
The romance of playing o-mok with a pen on the corner of a textbook during lunch.
Exactly.
"Ciel, know o-mok?"
"O-mok?"
Judging by Ciel's reaction, it seemed this world didn't have o-mok.
'Ah, you don't know? This is o-mok.'
I explained the simple rules to her.
Ciel, looking intrigued, instantly conjured black and white stones and a go board with magic.
And so our first game began.
"Okay. Get five in a row like this, and you win."
"Ah—."
The first round was my complete victory.
I puffed up a bit with pride.
'I was number one at o-mok in my unit back in the military.'
I was pretty confident in o-mok.
But.
Ciel was a scary kid.
In just a few games, she grasped the essence and started demolishing me mercilessly.
"......"
"Yay—. Ciel wins three in a row—."
'...What the hell is this monster.'
I got crushed helplessly and was floored.
"No more o-mok. Let's do something else."
"Okay—."
O-mok didn't work, so next was changgi. A few rounds of changgi, and she caught up fast before crushing me.
Then chess.
Finally, even go.
Ttak.
"Jeron's turn now—."
"......"
This time, I got cornered in the very first game.
"I surrender."
Hit the wall.
That famous go master who lost to AI.
Was this his feeling?
The overwhelming skill gap was starting to bum me out.
But.
"Jeron, how do you know all this stuff—? It's so fun—."
Ciel, now sitting right up against me, looked up at me with sparkling eyes.
I couldn't help but be startled.
'...Wait. This reaction?!'
In the game, to draw out such pure admiration and goodwill from Ciel, you'd have to show off impressive magic or clear a tough hidden quest together.
And here I was, pulling it off with just shadow puppets and games like o-mok, changgi, chess, and go...?
'Well, yeah. In the game, you couldn't teach her stuff like this.'
Interactions were limited to fixed choices.
This unexpected variable from the game turning real was yielding way better results...!
"Jeron, next game time—."
"Uh...."
But now I was really out of ideas.
My true forte was computer games, honestly.
Even Ciel probably couldn't replicate those with just magic.
Right then, my eyes fell on a sheet of parchment on my desk.
A complex magic circle with sections missing here and there.
Completing this was today's class assignment.
A great idea flashed in my mind.
'Wait. This is basically a puzzle game too, right?'
I slid the assignment parchment over to Ciel.
"Alright, this is the last game of the day. Magic circle puzzle."
"Puzzle—?"
"Yeah. Find the empty parts in this diagram and complete it nicely."
"I'll try—!"
Trusting her instincts, she started stroking the damaged sections with her quill.
One stroke, done—just like that?
Her pen moved without a hitch.
As if she'd known the answer from the start.
"Tada—. Pretty, right—?"
Moments later, Ciel held up the parchment with both hands to show me.
The magic circle she'd completed was....
"O."
Even I, who knew nothing about magic, could tell it was stunningly beautiful.
"It's super pretty."
With that, I took her solved answer sheet and leisurely walked up to the professor's desk to turn it in.
***
Benjamin Charcoal, the professor for Stella Academy's [Understanding Magic Circles] class.
Lately, he'd started wondering if the world was playing tricks on him.
He glanced at the white-haired cadet in the back row, muttering to himself and doing something bizarre alone.
'...Jeron Airgia. Is that cadet really a genius?'
He was the cadet everyone was talking about in the faculty lounge lately.
"He just sleeps through class!"
"He sleeps on cliffs too! I thought he was insane!"
He was well aware of the infamous reputation.
But.
"Haha, Cadet Jeron? His insight into magical beasts is astounding! And his courage?!"
Praise from Professor Zephyr.
"I've never seen such romantic magic in my life? Totally my style! Someday, I'll snag him as my assistant!"
Rave reviews from Professor Sierra.
Even.
"...His class attitude is poor, but his talent is the real deal."
Professor Kate, notorious for being strict, had given a curt but subtly high evaluation.
'...What the hell.'
But in Benjamin's eyes, Jeron just looked like a lazy, irresponsible student.
In the last class, he'd slept the whole time and turned in a blank sheet at the end.
Today, he wasn't even sleeping—just doing some incomprehensible weird stuff by himself.
Right then, that very Jeron walked up to the desk with a parchment in hand.
Sleepy expression, light steps.
He didn't look like a genius anywhere you looked.
"All done."
"...I see."
Benjamin took the parchment without much expectation.
But his eyes widened.
What was drawn on it wasn't the answer he'd expected.
Right—it wasn't the correct answer at all.
It was.
Beyond the correct answer.
'...Ah, beautiful...!'
It was art.
The ideal magic circle that Benjamin himself had devoted his life to researching.
A perfect form surpassing it was drawn there.
Every line, every character held perfect meaning, organically connected to each other.
"You... how on earth did you...!"
Benjamin, face pale as a sheet, stared at Jeron, who stood there indifferently.