A Blood Type Never Before Seen
"Now, for the live demonstration."
Silaje said flatly.
"Prepare for the first shot."
"Yes! First shot, Carel Oxara, ready!"
Carel answered exactly as the teaching assistant had instructed, and Silaje spoke again.
"Commence firing."
The moment she activated her magic circle, a bullet of blood and Jet-Black shot out from her fingertip and punched clean through the center of the target with a sharp bang!
"Blood type AP-5. Penetration wound diameter, forty-five millimeters. Three targets pierced!"
The assistant reported immediately, and Silaje nodded, activating the mana projector. Out in the seating area beyond the firing lanes, the students could now see the targets Carel Oxara had hit.
"AP-5 blood possesses the property of 'contracting' when it meets Jet-Black."
Silaje spread his palm and shaped a bubble of Jet-Black like a balloon, then let a single drop of AP-5 blood fall onto it. At once, the Jet-Black rapidly compressed inward around the blood.
"Because it can compress Jet-Black to an extreme degree, it boasts outstanding penetrating power — but in truth, it is better suited to construction than to projection. Ahem! It even aids in forming magic circles, making it a type specialized in supporting Jet-Black."
Silaje turned his head back to Carel.
"Return to your seat. Take an AP-5 name tag from the assistant."
"Yes! Thank you, Professor!"
"All of you as well — from now on, you must wear your name tag on the right side of your chest whenever you attend Hemomancy class. Next, second shot."
"Y-yes! Fourth!"
A girl's voice came through, taut with nerves.
"Second shot, Camibarez Ursula! Ready!"
A faint smile touched Silaje's impassive face.
The Ursula family. A vampire, then.
Camibarez aimed at the target, her arms trembling.
Perhaps because it was her first-choice major's class, she looked absolutely wound up with tension — and this was the turn of a member of the vampire race, the proclaimed royalty of Hemomancy, so every eye in the room was fixed on her.
Come on, Kami.
Simon, seated at lane six, sent his silent encouragement — and suddenly, Camibarez's eyes turned toward him.
……
Could the encouragement actually have reached her? She gave him a little smile, turned back, and fixed her gaze on the target.
"Commence firing."
At Silaje's command, she activated her magic circle. Blood and Jet-Black welled from her fingertip, melded together, and burst forth like a bullet with a boom!
Kabooooom!
Then something astonishing happened. The instant her blood bullet struck the target, it didn't pierce — it simply exploded. Four surrounding targets were caught in the blast and blown to pieces all at once.
Ooooh—!
The students waiting in the firing lanes burst into gasps of admiration, and even those at their desks craned their necks to see.
"Blood type KP-1. Estimating the penetration wound diameter is meaningless — four targets destroyed by detonation."
On the mana projector's screen, the four shattered targets lay in complete ruins, and Silaje continued his explanation.
"KP-1 blood carries the property of 'exploding' when combined with Jet-Black. In terms of raw offensive power, it is the strongest of all known blood types. It exists only in vampires."
Silaje turned toward Camibarez's lane.
"I expect to be seeing you often, Camibarez."
He'd noticed her! Overjoyed, Camibarez called out her thanks at the top of her voice, while a few students muttered enviously around her.
"…Vampires really are something else."
"Her bloodline is just broken."
"Well, you can't argue with an Ursula."
One after another, the students of lanes three and four fired their blood bullets in quick succession. Each had a different blood type, and Silaje walked through which dark magic schools paired well with each one.
And then, a little later —
"Next, please prepare, student."
"Yes."
While lane five was firing, the assistant stepped up in front of Simon at lane six.
"Excuse me a moment. This might sting a little."
When she activated the IV device connected to his arm, Simon felt the blood inside his body rush toward his fingertip. Moments later, she spread a magic circle over his fingertip, and his Jet-Black and blood flowed out, staining the circle red.
"Alright, good luck~"
the assistant cheered in a small voice.
"Lane six."
Silaje's voice followed. Simon snapped to attention.
"Yes! Lane six, Simon Polentia, ready!"
His turn had finally come. He closed his left eye and stretched out his index finger, taking careful aim at the target.
"Commence firing."
The moment Silaje gave the order, Simon's mind went perfectly blank. At the very peak of his concentration, he activated the magic circle, and with the kick of recoil against his hand, the blood bullet flew out.
Pop!
But then the bullet Simon had fired simply vanished in midair.
Simon and the students who had been holding their breath blinked in confusion, while Hector's faction burst out laughing.
"Ahaha! What the hell was that?"
"What is this, dark magic that makes bullets disappear?"
Then it happened. The blood bullet that had vanished mid-flight reappeared just in front of the target, blazing with blue light.
Crakooom!
The moment the blue light struck the target, its force fanned out in a wide arc. Two of Simon's targets were torn apart, and one target each in lanes five and seven on either side of him was blown to pieces as well.
……!
Even Silaje had never seen a blood bullet that detonated into a fan-shaped spread upon impact.
The assistant shook her head with a bewildered face and reported.
"No blood type on record. A new type."
Murmurs rippled through the room. Silaje raised a hand to quiet the students, then spoke.
"Struck targets: two in front, two to the flanks. As this is a type I have never seen before, I'm afraid no explanation is possible. Next — lane seven, prepare."
And Silaje moved straight on to the next shot.
Simon just stood there dumbfounded. How could the Hemomancy professor himself have never seen a type before?
As Simon stepped out of the firing lane, the assistant who had been handing out name tags scratched her head.
"For you, student… I don't have a name tag to give. I'll make a new one for tomorrow's class."
"Ah, okay."
Simon drifted back to where Dick, Meilin, and Camibarez were waiting, still in a daze, and the three of them immediately leaned in as he arrived.
"Hey, Simon! What is wrong with you!"
"…I honestly don't know. I just did what they told me to."
"A new blood type! That's incredible, Simon!"
"Hmm."
Dick, meanwhile, crossed his arms with a troubled look.
"Don't get me wrong, a brand-new type looks super cool and all, but I'm worried about later. Doesn't this mean you've got zero guidelines in Hemomancy?"
"Ah…"
He had a point. In Hemomancy, the training methods changed drastically depending on your blood type, even for spells within the same blood school.
That was why Hemomancy employed more teaching assistants than any other subject, and why students wore name tags bearing the name of their own type. Silaje provided the overall direction, and the assistants passed on type-specific pointers to each student.
What's going to happen to me now?
Simon couldn't help worrying how his Hemomancy classes would even proceed from here on out.
After the Hemomancy class had ended, Silaje was replaying the footage of Simon's blood bullet recorded by the mana projector.
…Just as I thought. Certain.
The defining trait of Simon's blood was proliferation.
The instant blood met Jet-Black, no special reaction occurred — the Jet-Black simply devoured the blood. And in doing so, the Jet-Black swelled in both volume and power.
The reason the flying blood bullet seemed to vanish mid-flight was simply that the Jet-Black had eaten the blood, rendering the bullet invisible. When the Jet-Black then slammed into the target, the strike landed just the same.
Fascinating.
The complete opposite of the power possessed by vampires like Camibarez Ursula.
A vampire's potent blood devoured the Jet-Black and grew stronger; in Simon's case, the Jet-Black devoured the blood.
A truly intriguing case. This is unquestionably worth researching.
Silaje closed his eyes, leaned deep back into his chair, and let the memory wash over him.
…Now I understand why Bahil put so much effort into that.
Barely a few days earlier, Silaje and Bahil had crossed paths in the professors' lounge.
"Professor Silaje, I'd like to propose a trade."
Bahil had certainly seemed more courteous than usual that day.
"Might you know of Andrea Saki, a student in the Class B that I supervise?"
As if he wouldn't. Silaje answered nothing and merely took a sip of his tea.
"A half-vampire, and an aspiring Curse student."
"……"
"He's genuinely quite talented in Curse studies, I'll grant — but on the latest evaluation, his Hemomancy score came out higher. There's the premium of his vampire blood to consider, as well."
Click.
Silaje set down his teacup and glared at Bahil.
"…And your point?"
"I will persuade Andrea to major in Hemomancy. He will become a great asset to you in the years to come."
"You."
Silaje's eyes turned sharp and dangerous.
"You've been insolent since your student days."
"……"
"So you've joined the Crow — crawl a little more carefully, if you ask me."
Bahil bowed his head with perfect courtesy. In his manner, at least. His eyes held not the faintest trace of submission.
"My apologies if I sounded disrespectful. I simply wish to help my professor, as your student of many years."
"Ha. The very one who couldn't wait for the second semester to begin before clearing out of Hemomancy?"
"Professor Silaje. There is exactly one thing I want."
Bahil's eyes flashed.
"Give up your attempt to recruit Simon Polentia of Class A. That is the entirety of my demand."
At first hearing, it had struck Silaje as strange — the trade made no sense on paper.
The Bahil Silaje knew was a man who moved only on ventures that profited himself, rigorously and without exception.
Silaje had assumed, naturally, that the deal was Andrea coming to him in exchange for Silaje talking one of his own students into switching to Curse studies.
But that hadn't been it at all.
Bahil's condition was merely the renunciation of a student who had already chosen Summoning.
Simply by declaring he would give up the recruitment, Silaje stood to gain a talent worthy of a direct disciple.
At the time it had made no sense, and uneasy, he had sidestepped giving a straight answer.
But now —
That bastard Bahil…
The corner of Silaje's mouth curled upward.
He was planning to swallow a genius like this for free.
Just then, the lecture hall door opened and a male assistant approached. Silaje emerged from his reverie and looked up at him.
"Professor, I've brought your coffee."
"Thank you. Now go to my research office at once and prepare a research paper registration."
"…Pardon?"
The assistant blinked. A research paper? In the middle of this crush of backlogged classes?
"Th-then what about the subject…?"
"New blood type."
Silaje said, taking a sip of coffee. The assistant caught on at once.
"You intend to research Simon Polentia's blood."
"That's right. We have to move before the other Hemomancy necromancers at Kizen do. As for the new blood's name, let's see…"
He pondered for a moment, then lifted the corner of his mouth.
"SM-1 should do nicely."
"Understood."
"And relay this to all the assistants."
Silaje's eyes gleamed.
"As of this moment, we too are entering the fight for Simon Polentia."