Chapter 340
Chapter Title: A Choice
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340
*‘There are certainly mages who specialize in dispel spells.’*
Laura stared at Leo with astonished eyes.
*‘But Student Reil didn't use a dispel spell.’*
It wasn't impossible to nullify another's magic without a dispel spell.
In fact, any skilled mage could do it.
The problem was time.
Even with the same spell, the formula's structure and mana control inevitably differed from user to user.
To interfere with and nullify an opponent's magic, one had to perfectly grasp those detailed structural formulas and mana control.
The time it took to do so was immense.
To accomplish it in an instant, as Leo just had, was a feat bordering on the impossible.
As far as Laura knew, there was only one mage in history who could perfectly analyze and dismantle an opponent's magic.
*‘Lady Luna.’*
"Where did you learn such crude tricks?"
As if provoked by Leo's words, Otren stirred his mana.
Flash—! Craaaackle—
A brilliant light erupted from Otren's hand.
A powerful storm of mana raged.
The high-output mana blast completely wiped out Leo's clones.
Mirage was, true to its name, a spell that created illusions.
No matter how indistinguishable the real and fake were, an illusion was still an illusion.
It was naturally vulnerable to a powerful area-of-effect attack.
"Do you think you're special just because you're good with a mere mirage spell? What about your Star Magic?"
Sparks flew from Otren's eyes.
"It's pathetic! Your score is zero!"
Hundreds of flashes of light unleashed from Otren's hand embroidered the air.
Leo's red eyes followed the trajectory of the lights.
*‘A spell I don't know.’*
Luna had created Star Magic 5,000 years ago.
Seirun, the Mage of the Comet, had redefined Star Magic as the unique magic of the elven race 3,000 years ago.
Over that long expanse of time, countless derivative spells had been born based on the magic system Luna left behind.
It was only natural that there were as many spells unknown to Leo as there were stars in the night sky.
Fwoosh—!
Just before the invisible particles of light could envelop Leo.
The magic evaporated as if it had hit an invisible wall.
"Wh-what in the..."
Otren's face was painted with shock.
*‘Well, the result doesn't change, though.’*
All Star Magic ultimately converged into one thing.
The original magic formula system left by Luna.
And aside from Luna, there was only one other.
To Leo, who had perfectly mastered that one and only magic formula system, spells derived from Star Magic were ineffective.
What the elves of today called pure Star Magic was, to Leo, nothing more than an 'incomplete' version.
Just as even the most sturdily built structure would collapse if its foundation gave way.
As long as their magic was based on 'Star Magic,' Leo could easily tear it down.
*‘Though, if it were fused with another magic system, even I wouldn't be able to do it.’*
Star Magic was compatible with other magic systems.
What Leo understood completely was 'Star Magic' and only that; if the formulas of another magic system were mixed in, even he couldn't analyze it in such a short time.
*‘Well, elves don't like such magic, calling it impure.’*
In a way, that kind of evolution was precisely the progress in magic Luna had hoped for.
Watching the shocked Otren, Leo held out his palm.
*‘Imitating Luna is quite fun.’*
Analyzing and dispelling others' magic was Luna's specialty.
*‘What made her so great wasn't that she created Star Magic.’*
The reason Luna was great was not because she created Star Magic.
She was truly great because she was a grand mage who learned and mastered every form of magic available in her time.
Considering she ultimately created the fatal spell 'Innocent' and passed it on to Kyle for Erebos.
Luna had, in essence, created magic capable of killing even a god.
Flash—!
A magic circle materialized above Leo's palm.
Otren's eyes widened.
"How can you use that spell...!"
It was the very spell Otren had used just moments ago.
A 'unique' spell that Otren himself had created.
"What in the world is happening...?"
Otren's jaw trembled.
He too had dedicated his entire life to Star Magic.
Born into a noble elven family, he had walked a path of glory as a graduate of Seirun.
That was why he knew.
He knew just how absurd the feat this human before him was performing.
For a pure-blooded elf supremacist like him, this reality was a nightmare.
"Just... what are you?"
Watching Otren, who muttered the question just loud enough for himself to hear, Leo unleashed the spell.
A spell that not only perfectly replicated Otren's unique magic but was elevated to an even higher degree of completion.
"What do you think it is?"
Leo replied with a deadpan expression.
"It means your way is wrong."
Flash! Craaaaaack—!
***
After the duel between Leo and Otren, the combat magic class ended abruptly.
Otren, the homeroom teacher for the upper-level first-year Class 1, seemed to be in shock and concluded the lesson on the spot.
The lower-level class couldn't continue in such an atmosphere either, so Laura led her students back to their classroom.
*‘Everyone looks so dejected.’*
After school.
Leo sighed as he watched the lower-level students leave the classroom, their ears drooping.
It was understandable.
The combat magic class had made it clear.
Seirun had no intention of treating the lower-level students as actual students.
It saw them as nothing more than stepping stones for the upper-level students.
*‘They must feel hopeless.’*
If they were at least given an equal opportunity and allowed to compete fairly, it wouldn't be so unjust.
But even that opportunity was denied.
Just as the entire lower-level class was about to leave the classroom under a dark cloud, a voice called out.
"Um... Reil."
Angr approached Leo.
"Can we talk for a moment?"
Just as Leo was about to nod at Angr's hesitant question.
"Student Angr, I'm sorry, but I'd like to have a private meeting with Student Reil first."
"Ah, yes."
Angr nodded with a flustered look, then said to Leo.
"Let's talk later."
With those words, Angr left.
Laura took Leo to a counseling room next to the classroom.
After gesturing for Leo to take a seat and sitting opposite him, Laura took a deep breath and asked.
"I'll be direct, Student Reil. Who are you?"
Laura had brought the student records with her.
"I checked the mid-level student records, and your name wasn't there. The same goes for the upper-level."
Laura looked seriously at the student who had suddenly appeared in the lower-level class today.
"Furthermore, the magical ability you displayed in the duel with Professor Otren earlier was not at a first-year level. No. It would be more accurate to say it wasn't at a student's level at all."
Otren was by no means a mage of low achievement in Star Magic.
Yet such an Otren had been defeated without being able to do a thing.
*‘He was like Lady Luna from the stories.’*
Laura, too, genuinely revered Luna.
As such, she was well-versed in the anecdotes about her.
It was a famous story that, according to historical texts, the young Luna often displayed her genius abilities.
At Laura's question, Leo smiled faintly.
"I'm not a Seirun student."
"I knew it. Then who are you?"
"My name is Leo Flove. I'm the student council president of Lumerne."
"What?"
Laura was startled by the unexpected identity.
She had predicted that Leo was an elven hero who had already registered his name in the Hero Record.
But that prediction was completely off the mark.
*‘A student from Lumerne... And he was that Leo Flove!’*
Laura had, of course, heard of Leo's name.
The impact Leo had on elven society, even as a first-year, was immense.
Even Laura herself had been moved by the magic formula for the flower-blooming spell that Leo had analyzed.
He had obtained Folium as a reward for clearing Luna's World and played a huge role in the Lumerne-Seirun Exchange.
More recently, he had even cleared Dweno's World.
Laura was at a loss for what to do, faced with the sudden appearance of the hero candidate she had been hoping to meet at this year's exchange.
"Are you, are you really Leo Flove? Why are you at Seirun...?"
"I came through the newly established exchange student program."
"Ah!"
Laura exclaimed.
And she understood why he had been placed in the first-year lower-level class.
"...Seirun has been incredibly rude to you, Reil... no, Student Leo. As a teacher of Seirun, I apologize."
Laura bowed her head and apologized to Leo.
"This isn't something you need to apologize for, Professor."
Leo gently stopped her with a bitter smile.
Looking at him, Laura smiled wistfully.
"We've only shown you our shameful side. Seirun wasn't always a school like this."
A shadow fell over Laura's face.
"My students don't belong in the lower-level class either... They're all brilliant children..."
Watching Laura, who was genuinely worried about her students, Leo spoke.
"At this rate, they'll struggle to even cross the threshold to the mid-level class, let alone the upper-level."
"...Yes."
At Leo's words, Laura nodded with difficulty.
"If it's going to be like this... maybe it's better for them not to be at Seirun at all. Seirun's current methods are wrong."
Laura's eyes blazed.
Just as the lower-level students had tried their best.
Laura, too, had struggled, using every means at her disposal to help her students.
She had repeatedly petitioned Seirun's upper administration to provide opportunities for the lower-level children.
She had requested help so they could blossom as knights and summoners.
But now she realized it was useless.
*‘At this rate, the children will be broken.’*
Laura gritted her teeth.
This was not the position of a Seirun teacher she had wanted.
"Professor."
"Yes?"
"Would you like to try and change Seirun with me?"
Laura's eyes widened.
"If we fail, you could be expelled from Seirun. But if we succeed. We could change Seirun."
For an elf, becoming a teacher at Seirun was an infinite honor.
Second only to having one's name recorded in the Hero Record.
At Leo's words, Laura smiled.
"I have no desire to be a teacher at a Seirun like this. Do you have a plan?"
***
The next day.
At Laura's call, all the lower-level students gathered in the classroom.
Looking at the students, whose eyes were somewhat vacant, Laura spoke.
"Everyone."
Laura took a deep breath.
"As you all know, Seirun has abandoned you."
At those words, the students' eyes widened.
"Ugh!"
"...Damn it!"
Curses erupted from here and there.
A few female students covered their faces and wept, and even the male students' eyes welled with tears.
Just a few months ago, they had entered Seirun with grand dreams as elven hero candidates.
But before even taking their midterms, they had been abandoned by the school.
Of course, they had all sensed this reality.
They had just been in denial.
Angr, too, wore a dazed expression.
"If you remain at the school like this, you'll be treated as nothing more than stepping stones for the mid-level and upper-level students."
Laura said with a blank face.
"I cannot accept that. As your homeroom teacher, I know better than anyone how brilliant you all are."
"Then... what should we do?"
Angr asked in a trembling voice.
Looking at Angr, Laura said.
"You'll have to make a choice. Student Reil."
At Laura's words, Leo entered the classroom.
In his hand was a single grimoire.
"I believe you all saw Student Reil's skill in Star Magic yesterday."
It was true.
Leo's magical prowess was outstanding, enough to defeat the teacher in charge of the upper-level Class 1.
That's why a question arose.
*‘Why is he in the lower-level class?’*
"Aren't you curious why Student Reil is in the lower-level class?"
At Laura's question, the students looked bewildered.
"What's the reason?"
When Angr asked cautiously, Leo answered.
"Because I read a book forbidden by Seirun."
Thud—!
Leo placed the grimoire on the teacher's desk.
He stood it up so the lower-level students could see the title.
Angr, sitting in the front row, read the title.
"'An Introduction to Star Magic'...? W-wait! Isn't this the treatise written by a Lumerne magic department professor?"
"What?"
"Why is that here?!"
The first-years scrambled from their seats and retreated to the back of the classroom.
Leo wore a peculiar expression at the sight of them acting as if they'd seen a plague.
Holding the book, Leo approached the students who had fled to the back.
"Eek!"
"D-don't come any closer!"
The students shrank away from Leo, their faces filled with fear.
*‘This is interesting.’*
With a mischievous smile, Leo caught the fleeing Angr and forcibly placed the grimoire in his hands.
"Give it a read."
"Hiiiik!"
As if he had touched something terrifying, a terrified Angr whimpered and threw the grimoire away.
Had Ren seen it, he might have foamed at the mouth that his grimoire had been thrown.
Leo snatched the grimoire out of the air.
Laura watched the scene with a bitter smile.
"That grimoire is a Class 1 Forbidden Book designated by Seirun. As you know, even mentioning it is met with severe punishment, and bringing it in results in a heavy penalty."
At Laura's words, the students nodded.
"Student Reil was demoted to the lower-level class for possessing that grimoire."
"Ah..."
"As I thought..."
The students let out sighs of understanding.
"After hearing the reason from Student Reil, I also read the contents of 'An Introduction to Star Magic.'"
"What?"
"No!"
"B-but then, Professor Laura, you might be stripped of your teaching position!"
The students wore expressions of shock.
Seeing the students worried about her, Laura smiled faintly.
"I have no desire to teach at a Seirun like this."
Laura spoke softly but firmly, then continued.
"After reading the grimoire, I found there's no problem with its contents. No. In fact, I felt strongly that this grimoire should be widely spread among elves as well."
'An Introduction to Star Magic,' authored by Ren and Anna.
Because it could destroy the specialness of the 'Star Magic' that only they possessed, Seirun had deemed it heresy and classified it as a forbidden book.
*‘But its effects are undeniable.’*
Most of the second-year magic department students at Lumerne who read the grimoire had been initiated into Star Magic.
Soon, Lumerne planned to expand the class, which had been a trial for second-years only, to magic department students of all years.
Star Magic was the unique magic of the elves.
This book, which allowed anyone, not just elves, to be initiated into Star Magic, was nothing short of a massive innovation.
In magic, failing to keep up with innovation and progress led to only one outcome.
*‘Regression.’*
Leo clicked his tongue.
*‘At this rate, Star Magic will no longer be the symbol of the elves.’*
Tina was likely worried about that point as well.
No, any elf with a bit of sense would be feeling anxious about the future.
*‘It goes without saying, but the elves will adapt to this magic system created by Ren and Anna much better.’*
Star Magic was originally heavily influenced by one's mana affinity.
That was why even among elves, some mages who achieved great things in general magic had low achievement in Star Magic.
"If you master the contents of this grimoire, your achievement in Star Magic will progress significantly. Then Seirun will also realize it. They'll see that this grimoire isn't something to be banned and avoided, but a fact to be actively embraced. If that happens, the Seirun of today will change."
At Laura's words, the students gulped.
"However, if Seirun doesn't change, it will mean expulsion. If that happens, I will leave Seirun without any regrets. You all will probably be expelled as well."
Laura looked at her students.
"I won't force you. The choice is yours."
Would they remain in the lower-level class as they were?
Or would they risk expulsion and challenge themselves to change Seirun?
The eyes of the lower-level students, faced with this choice, wavered.
Angr, who acted as the class representative, spoke in a trembling voice.
"We..."