It Just Works (2)
The view of the lecture hall from the podium felt strangely unfamiliar.
I, who had always looked up at the instructors, was now standing beside one and facing the cadets head-on. On top of that, their gazes sparkled with burning curiosity, which left me feeling distinctly awkward.
"Shall we start from the beginning?"
Margaret, who had stationed me at her side, turned at the waist. With a flick of magic, she set a stick of chalk gliding across the blackboard behind her and began writing out a sentence.
"The progenitor of mages, Medea, who established the foundations of theoretical magic, once said: 'Every human being circulates magic both within and without the body.'"
It was a fact recorded in the setting materials of Song of Sword and Magic as well.
In this world, magic existed. That power, which dwelt in all things under heaven—including the very air—was present inside the human body too. Over the ages, people who devoted themselves to the study of magic finally uncovered a single truth: the very phenomenon Margaret had just cited. Every human being circulates magic both within and without the body.
"One day, humanity arrived at a brilliant idea. If magic was already circulating by nature, couldn't it be put to use?"
"Instructor, that would be…"
"Exactly. That was the beginning of magic."
If magic already flowed in and out of the body, then that current could be harnessed. Suppose, for instance, one drew the magic from within and released it outward. It could take on any nature—fire, ice, wind. Natural phenomena woven from magic possessed physical force and exerted real influence upon the world. Humanity named this elemental magic, and went on to devise countless other schools of the craft besides.
"…"
The atmosphere in the lecture hall grew still.
Margaret's lecture was far more energetic and passionate than usual, but the content itself remained as dry as ever. The cadets' eyes, which had glittered at first with interest—a fellow student assisting the instructor, the mention of a Battle Mage—were already losing focus and glazing over again.
Of course Margaret knew it too.
"Hmm. Very well. Shall we take a brief change of pace?"
She paused the magic guiding the chalk and brought up a topic guaranteed to seize the Mage Department cadets' attention at once.
"Absorbing external magic inward, and releasing internal magic outward—if that is the foundation of a mage, then how, I wonder, do knights handle magic? Would anyone care to answer?"
Hands shot up all over the room the moment Margaret finished speaking. The rivalry between departments had been running since the first year. Even a trivial question like this was enough to make them itch to answer.
"Mm. Samson, why don't you try?"
"Thank you."
Samson—or was it Samsong?—the one who had greeted me earlier, rose from his seat. The corners of his mouth were curled high in open contempt for the Knight Department.
"The muscle-brains over in the Knight Department release magic outside the body the same way we do. But those idiots only pour it into their swords. They have no idea how to use magic with the infinite versatility we mages do."
"That's right."
Margaret agreed without the slightest concern for the crude language. At Olympia Academy, it was commonplace—slandering the rival department, even in the middle of a lecture.
She praised Samson, then carried the lecture forward on the renewed concentration she had just reclaimed.
"In the end, releasing magic means one thing: interfering with the material world outside the body through magic. Whether mage or knight, the principle is the same."
"…"
The flow of the lecture was steadily climbing toward its climax. Everyone could feel it instinctively. The destination of this class was, ultimately, an inquiry into the Battle Mage.
"However, the magic I witnessed from Cadet Heracle during the inter-year exchange match operated on an entirely different principle. He handled magic without following the established rules—it was magic, and yet it was not. Now then, Cadet Heracle. Would you roll up your sleeve for me?"
"My sleeve?"
"Yes."
I didn't know why, but—well, if she said so, I had to. I was the assistant, after all.
I rolled up my sleeve. The scrawny forearm I'd had when I first possessed this body had, before I knew it, become firm and solid.
"You can't tell just by looking. Cadet Heracle's unique trait is something you have to feel for yourself to understand. For now, we will try touching his arm."
"…"
"Of course, if I do it myself, it won't land the same way for all of you… Is there a cadet who would like to come up?"
…Had I somehow signed up for a live demonstration? Why was she casually volunteering my arm to be groped?
Whether or not she sensed my awkwardness, Margaret scanned the cadets through her round glasses, eyes gleaming as if testing who was even qualified to touch my arm.
Hesitantly, one by one. At first the sudden request had startled them into keeping their hands down—but soon they began raising them to volunteer.
There were a few male cadets among them, but most were women. Every last one of them had their eyes locked on my forearm… probably because that kind of physique was a rare sight in the Mage Department. Their burning stares were more than a little oppressive.
And the most conspicuous of them all was, of course, Fenel. Whatever had become of those usually demure, peaceful pink eyes of hers, she was staring at my forearm—more precisely, at my muscle—with a bright, eager sparkle that was honestly a bit much.
Why are you looking at it that hard?
Weren't we just friends?
"Hmm. Surprisingly many hands. I'd love to allow everyone, but in cases like this, the top student is the most reliable choice."
"…!"
"Cadet Fenel. Please come up here."
At Margaret's permission, Fenel's face lit up at once. As if terrified someone might snatch the chance away, she sprang from her seat and hurried up to the podium.
"…Hehehe."
With her back turned so the other cadets couldn't see, Fenel leaned her face in just enough for only me to catch it. The bashful smile she wore looked thoroughly happy.
Was it really that big a deal?
"Cadet Fenel. Please touch Cadet Heracle's forearm. In particular, if you stroke carefully along the surface of the skin, you should feel something."
"Th-the skin…! Y-yes, of course!"
Instructor Margaret had spoken in a thoroughly academic tone. However Fenel managed to misinterpret that, she hesitated for a moment with both cheeks flushed scarlet. Then she gave a shy little smile and reached her slender fingers toward my forearm.
"…Gulp."
Fenel's throat bobbed. Just how nervous was she? She carefully set her slender fingers against my forearm—
"…Hah!"
—then jerked them back in surprise, only to ride the momentum and sweep them across in a full stroke.
Sliip, sliip—
Fenel's fingers brushed lightly over my forearm. Maybe it was because she was a girl. A contradictory sensation—warm and cool at once—passed into me.
A pretty girl like Fenel stroking my arm. Honestly, looking at it that way alone, it wasn't exactly a losing deal for me either…
"Haah, haah…"
…No, get a grip, Fenel. Why are you getting that worked up over simple skin contact? Hey—close your mouth. Your mouth. You're drooling. Hey.
After Fenel had been stroking my forearm in a daze for some time—so thoroughly out of it she seemed to have forgotten why she'd come up in the first place—Margaret addressed her.
"Can you feel it now, Cadet Fenel?"
"…Hwaaah!"
She jumped as if struck by lightning, then scrambled several steps backward in a flurry.
"Ah, yes. Yes? What was that? I didn't do anything, you know?"
"…I'm not sure what you mean by that, but I asked whether you felt Cadet Heracle's unique trait. Isn't that why you were touching him so diligently?"
"…Ah, aha! Yes! Of course. Naturally. Ahaha, ahahaha…"
Margaret gave her a look of pure scholarly puzzlement. As if that only pricked her conscience further, Fenel smoothed a hand over her chest with an awkward smile, then calmly related what she had discovered.
"Yes. That's right. Just as you said, Instructor, there was a strange sense of something foreign on Heracle's skin."
"What impression did you get? Be honest—tell us exactly what you felt."
"Hmm. Exactly what I felt… Ahem."
There is no hidden meaning in "exactly what you felt," Fenel. Pull yourself together.
"…How should I put it? It felt like there was a layer of magic there. But it was different from the magic shields mages usually use."
"Oh-ho. Oh-ho."
"I've heard that knights coat their bodies with a certain amount of magic, but in my opinion, this felt different from that too."
"Precisely correct, Cadet Fenel. You may return to your seat."
"Ahaha, yes."
As if she had just aged ten years, Fenel hurried straight back to her place. Even after sitting down she was still breathing hard in short little gasps, drawing suspicious looks from the cadets beside her.
"I also conducted some analysis of my own, based on Instructor Angelina's remarks and what I observed during the inter-year exchange match."
Margaret's explanation resumed over the lecture hall. She fixed her gaze on my forearm as if it were a subject capable of stirring a scholar's pure hunger for discovery.
"Cadet Heracle's body is enveloped in a magic layer. It is similar to what knights use, and yet different. Cadet Heracle's magic… moves according to his will."
"Um, Instructor. But I can't sense magic at all?"
Doubt made me cut in midway. I had Magic Insensitivity—so how could magic possibly follow my will?
"That is a separate matter from magic sensitivity. Magic sensitivity originally refers to how well one can feel the circulation of magic within the body. Cadet Heracle's magic layer operates on a different principle from magic sensitivity."
"…"
There's a lot more here I've never heard before than I expected.
I didn't fully grasp Margaret's words all at once, but I caught the nuance. Magic Insensitivity and the physical cheat—there were still hidden depths to both of them.
Looks like I'll need to dig into this further.
When I had the time, I would look into the secrets of my own body.
"Oh dear. I got so absorbed that class time is already up."
At Margaret's words I glanced at the clock. Time had crept right up to the end of the lecture. It was about time I headed back.
I was just about to step down from the podium when Margaret stopped me.
"One moment, Cadet Heracle. Would you answer this before you go?"
"Yes?"
"The magic layer covering your body. It may be a power of yours that should not be revealed to others—but this much, please tell me."
She pushed up her round glasses. Beyond the lenses catching the lamplight, she asked:
"Just how did you coat your skin with magic? By all common sense, it should be impossible. An original method of using magic that cannot be done even if one tries… Could you give me even the slightest hint as to that secret?"
"…"
Explain the principle behind coating my skin with magic, huh. Given Margaret's passionate attitude, I wouldn't have minded telling her a little, if I could…
…I only heard about it myself for the first time today.
Even the fact that a magic layer existed was something I had just learned from Margaret's explanation. Of course I couldn't explain it.
And I could hardly stand here and say, "I don't know either. Start by bringing me Magic Insensitivity and a physical cheat."
So my answer was very simple.
"I just… did it, and it worked?"
If anything, I was more curious about why the rest of you couldn't.