Chapter 17
Chapter 17
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: The First Lesson
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The next morning.
After a simple breakfast, Lucillea headed to the third floor of the west annex for her magic lesson.
The third floor was where facilities for training powers like aura and magic were located.
Despite the sign that read ‘Training Hall,’ the interior was decorated like a classroom suited for theoretical lessons.
However…
“Paw.”
Plop! Cookie placed his left foot on Noa’s palm.
“Wing.”
Flap! This time, he also offered up a wing covered in sleek, dense feathers.
Noa exclaimed in an emotional voice.
“Wow! Amazing! A parrot that can understand human words!”
“Peep—!”
At Noa’s praise, a smug Cookie began to show off his adorable figure, swaying his body as if dancing.
*Ugh! My heart!*
Noa played along with an exaggerated reaction, catering to Cookie’s mood.
Watching them quietly, the corners of Lucillea’s mouth crept upward.
Then, surprised that she was smiling, she hastily pulled them back down.
*No. I can’t fall for that foolish-looking exterior.*
Lucillea recalled what Mei had told her the previous night.
-“Noa Radebian is playful and sometimes acts like an idiot, but I think that’s just his way of being considerate. He disarms people with a guileless facade to make himself more approachable. But don’t worry. His skills are anything but guileless.”
-“Noa Radebian is playful and sometimes acts like an idiot, but I think that’s just his way of being considerate. He disarms people with a guileless facade to make himself more approachable. But don’t worry. His skills are anything but guileless.”
-“Noa Radebian is playful and sometimes acts like an idiot, but I think that’s just his way of being considerate. He disarms people with a guileless facade to make himself more approachable. But don’t worry. His skills are anything but guileless.”
Mei had also said that if Noa Radebian were a real idiot, His Highness the Grand Duke would never have kept him by his side.
*Still, it’s surprising that Mei and that man are friends.*
Mei said she had known Noa since they were children. They had coincidentally met again as ‘work colleagues’ at the grand ducal estate.
As Lucillea mulled over her conversation with Mei, she happened to glance at the clock on the wall. Over thirty minutes had passed since she’d entered the training hall.
*Just how long is he going to keep that up?*
Losing her patience, Lucillea grabbed the hem of Noa’s clothes and tugged it down repeatedly.
“Um, Professor.”
When Lucillea called him Professor, Noa spoke without looking away from Cookie.
“Call me Master.”
Lucillea pouted and said in a whisper.
“Same difference.”
“It’s not. The feeling is completely different.”
*Professor this, Professor that. So stiff.*
Reluctantly, Lucillea called him again.
“...Ma-ster.”
“Yes, what is it?”
Noa still didn’t look at Lucillea, instead fiddling with the crown-like feathers on Cookie’s head.
Lucillea glared at Cookie, who was swooning under Noa’s touch, before speaking.
“When does the lesson start?”
“It’s the first day. What lesson?”
“...Then?”
“The first day of class is usually for introductions and getting to know each other.”
“...”
*Wow… this guy is trying to slack off.*
Lucillea clicked her tongue inwardly.
Just then, Noa turned to look at her with half-lidded eyes.
“You. You just thought I was slacking off, didn’t you?”
“...Pardon?”
Lucillea’s shoulders flinched.
*What? Can mages read minds, too?*
Perfectly hiding her bewilderment, Lucillea replied with a brazen face.
“No? Absolutely not.”
“A strong denial implies a strong affirmation.”
“...”
*Hmph.* Noa turned back to Cookie, his smile melting.
“By the way, since you’re a parrot, can you talk? Or have you just not been taught yet?”
“I’m not sure.”
Lucillea didn’t know much about that either.
She had always communicated with Cookie telepathically, so she had never bothered to train him to speak for others to hear.
“Well, that’s fine. We can just start practicing from now on.”
Right, Cookie? Noa said as he stroked Cookie’s walnut-sized head.
But just then, Cookie moved his beak with a triumphant expression.
“Idiot!”
“...Huh?”
*What?!* Lucillea called out to Cookie in her mind.
*Cookie! Stop!*
But whether he couldn’t hear her or simply wanted to broadcast his ability to speak human words…
Cookie opened his beak and chirped relentlessly.
“Idiot! Peep peep! Idiot! Noa, idiot!”
“...”
I-diot! I-di-ot! I-di-ot!
*Noa is an idiot!*
Cookie confidently shouted the word Mei had taught him yesterday in various intonations.
He even pointed a wingtip at Noa.
For a moment, Lucillea saw the skin under Noa’s eyelids twitch.
Noa rose weakly and slowly turned around.
“Let’s… begin the lesson…”
***
The lesson began, devoid of even a speck of motivation.
Cookie was snatched up by Mei, who had rushed in, and dragged out of the training hall.
“Idiot!” Cookie’s voice echoed until the training hall door closed.
Perhaps because he’d been insulted by a parrot, a visibly dejected Noa stretched his arms overhead as if already exhausted.
Lucillea glanced around the training hall and tilted her head.
“Are there no other students?”
Seeing so many desks prepared, she had assumed there would be quite a few children taking the class. *Am I the only one?*
Noa answered.
“You’re the only one in the beginner’s magic class. There aren’t many children with mana to begin with. The few who were here moved up to the intermediate level last month.”
“Ah…”
Noa answered perfunctorily as he walked over to the table under the large window where the sunlight was brightest and hopped onto it.
His posture was somewhat delinquent-like, but with the golden sunlight gracing his elegant face, he looked like something out of a painting, so she couldn’t complain.
Noa basked in the sun for a moment like a photosynthesizing plant before picking up one of the books stacked on the table.
After flipping through the pages indifferently, he quickly put it down as if he’d lost interest.
“As for theory and such, go to the library later and look it up yourself.”
“...Pardon?”
What in the world…
*Did I hear that right?*
It was like a schoolteacher saying, ‘Go learn at a tutoring academy.’
As Lucillea blinked in disbelief, Noa got off the desk and said.
“For today, I’ll teach you about mana control.”
He then casually raised his index finger.
“Watch closely. Mana has a unique color and flow for each person.”
With that, a small blue flame—fwoosh!—ignited at the tip of his finger.
“You draw it out of your body like this.”
This time, the blue flame spun around and condensed into a sphere.
It looked more solid than when it was a flame, almost like a sparkling blue marble.
“Gather it like this.”
*Shhhh—*
The mana, once solidified into a sphere, scattered and vanished into the air.
“And letting it flow away like this is the basis of mana control. Simple, right?”
“...”
*See? It’s so easy, right?*
The teaching style reminded her of a certain painting show from her past life’s memories.
“Just remember three things.”
Recognition, Concentration, and Adaptation.
“‘Recognize’ the mana within your body, ‘Concentrate’ to control it, and ‘Adapt’ by understanding and accepting the nature of your mana.”
Lucillea quietly nodded.
*Recognition, concentration, adaptation, recognition, concentration, adaptation…*
Though she had been indifferent at first, Lucillea gradually perked up her ears at Noa’s words.
Noa stared at Lucillea for a moment before continuing.
“But it seems you’re already past the recognition stage and into the concentration stage, aren’t you?”
“The concentration stage?”
“Yeah. You can give your mana a form, right?”
A form? *Ah, that!*
*The thing I did when I showed the Grand Duke my mana!*
Lucillea nodded.
“But I’ve only succeeded twice so far. No matter how hard I try, it doesn’t come out easily.”
“That’s because you rushed past the recognition stage.”
“Then what should I do?”
“Well, about that…”
In that instant, the look in Noa’s eyes changed.
His indifferent gaze was replaced by a serious one as he earnestly answered Lucillea’s question.
It wasn’t just an answer; she could feel him doing his utmost to teach her everything he knew, holding nothing back.
Noa’s words grew faster. His gestures became more elaborate.
Matching his growing passion, Lucillea followed his lecture, begrudging even the time it took to blink.
*Recognition, concentration, adaptation!*
She repeated it inwardly like a mantra.
As she became absorbed, time flew by.
“Alright, kiddo. That’s all for today.”
Noa clapped his hands clean and walked to the window.
“Huh?”
*Already?*
Lucillea looked at the clock with wide eyes. It was already lunchtime.
“There’s homework.”
Noa then suspended another blue flame from the tip of his index finger.
“Practice until you can maintain this for ten minutes.”
“For ten minutes?!”
*Me, who can barely even summon it?!*
As Lucillea looked at him, dumbfounded, Noa grinned.
“It would be ridiculous not to be able to do that after taking my class. It’s not just incompetence, it’s a sin. A sin. If you understand, you can go now.”
“...”
*Seriously, if you could just whip it up by listening to someone talk, wouldn’t everyone be a mage…?*
Lucillea grumbled to herself as she left the training hall.
Just then.
“Lady Lucillea!”
[Lucy!]
Mei and Cookie, who had been waiting at the end of the hall, ran toward her.
“You worked hard! Was the lesson difficult?!”
[Lucy! Can we play now? Let’s go to the garden! The garden!]
The two chattering at once made her head spin.
*The garden can wait.*
Lucillea placed Cookie on her shoulder and answered Mei.
“It wasn’t difficult. He actually taught me properly, more than I expected.”
“I’m sure he did. He may be playful for twenty hours of the day, but he’s serious for the four hours he’s teaching.”
“...Twenty hours?”
“Yes!”
Mei replied brightly.
*What kind of person is he…?*
While Lucillea was questioning Noa’s qualifications as a teacher, Mei pulled something wrapped in pink paper from her pocket and held it out.
“Huh?!”
“It’s a gift to congratulate you on successfully completing your first lesson.”
Mei’s nimble fingers unwrapped the paper, revealing what was hidden inside.
Lucillea’s eyes went wide.
It was a lollipop.
With only a slight exaggeration, it was the size of Lucillea’s face, shaped in a swirl of white, light blue, and pink.
Tiny sugar crystals embedded between the round, spiraling stripes sparkled like starlight in the night sky.
Just looking at it made her feel an extreme sweetness.
“W-Wow! Is this for me?!”
“Of course~.”
“I’ve never gotten a candy like this before!”
Lucillea carefully took the candy with both hands.
It was heavy. It felt like it could be wielded as a weapon in a pinch.
Of course, that would never happen.
Lucillea gazed at the sparkling lollipop with an ecstatic expression before carefully rewrapping it in the pink paper.
“You’re not eating it now?”
“Yeah, I have to eat lunch soon.”
*And it’s too pretty to just pop in my mouth…*
*I’ll admire it a little more and savor it later.*
*Hehe.* Lucillea clutched the lollipop in her right hand and gave it a little wave in the air.
*Wow! Wow!*
*It’s like a magic wand from a movie or an anime!*
It made her feel like she was already a mage.
“Thank you so much, Mei…! This is the best moment of my life!”
“...It’s nothing, really.”
Mei, who had been watching her with a smile, leaned in toward Lucillea.
“So then, what are your plans after lunch? Would you like to take a walk in the garden?”
Lucillea, still clutching the lollipop, shook her head.
“No, more than that… Mei.”
“Yes?”
“Can I use the Grand Duke’s library?”
Mei raised an eyebrow.
“The library?”
“Yes, there’s something I want to look up.”