Chapter 635: A Difference in Talent
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 635: A Difference in Talent
Even I, a nobody in the Floating Castle, was a king and a respected teacher down in the Lower World. I basked in the lavish treatment from the people of the school district, reveling in my own superiority.
How did it feel? Fantastic. I was, in truth, a simpleton, yet I was being revered for the sole reason that I had come down from the Floating Castle. It was as thrilling as gambling with borrowed money.
And if I were found out? Few people in the Floating Castle even knew who I was, and it wasn't like someone would come all the way down here to correct their misunderstanding. Even if they did find out, I could just wash my hands of the whole thing and leave.
Indulging in this pleasure without responsibility, I devoted myself to my research on how to ascend.
My research, you ask? It was about how the untalented could catch up to the talented. Having just acquired some excellent test subjects, I decided to make full use of this environment.
“Hey, brats. Over here for a second.”
They were the failing students of the Celsius territory’s border school district.
Even among school districts, there was a pecking order. Talented children went to superior academies, and those who showed the most promise among them became disciples of renowned magical houses.
The children left in this district were cheap lottery tickets—unscratched, but with no great prize expected. They were destined to be simpletons.
They could barely sense or control mana, but for someone in a similar predicament, they were useful. At my gesture, the children approached and sat down, their faces full of anticipation.
“Each of you, hold this lens to your eye and look at my finger. What do you see?”
I asked, handing them lenses carved from highcrystal. The children looked at my finger and answered.
“I see a hexagon.”
“It looks like a snow crystal.”
I haven't formed the crystal yet, but they can see the mana that will form its structure. So, mana just before it takes shape can be seen through the lens.
“How about now?”
“I don’t see anything.”
“Hmm. As I thought, mana perception through a lens depends on the lens’s properties. It can’t detect all types of mana.”
A lens doesn't perceive all mana for you. It only makes specific mana wavelengths shine. This wouldn't be enough.
As I recorded the results and was about to collect the lenses, one child hesitated, glancing at their lens. I asked him offhandedly.
“What do you see?”
“Uh… something is… smiling.”
“What is?”
“The flame… it’s flaring up as if it’s laughing…”
“Oh, correct.”
He could see it. Highcrystal is a crystal, so it perceives crystalline mana well, but it shouldn't be good at seeing mana that burns like a flame.
In other words…
“There are kids like you. You can perceive it, but you don’t know that it’s mana. If you observe mana repeatedly like this, you can learn to sense it properly.”
“Huh?”
“Congratulations. You’ve just learned how to sense mana.”
It seemed there was a diamond in the rough even in this garbage dump. The boy looked back and forth between the lens and me, then literally jumped for joy.
“Wow! I did it, I did it…! Finally!”
The boy was ecstatic to have discovered his talent, but I scrunched my face in disdain.
Sensing mana is the very first step of magic. The typical path is to learn mana control after sensing it, and then acquire knowledge to become a mage. And yet, many people in the world fall behind, unable to even follow that simple path. It was a thousand years too early for him to be celebrating.
And what about those who can't even take that first step? Shut your mouth.
My mood soured, and I held out my hand.
“What are you doing? Give me the lens. It’s mine.”
“Uh… can’t I keep this?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You need to practice seeing without it, you brat.”
These failures didn't know their place. All they needed to do was quietly become my test subjects. Well, one of them had managed to sense mana thanks to me. This would probably make the other subjects more obedient.
“I have some things to organize, so go read those grimoires over there. You, the mana-sensing one, trace the brightly shining parts in the grimoire’s crystals as you read. You’ll have an interesting experience.”
“Yes, sir!”
The bothersome children scurried off in a group, oblivious to the fact that they were being used. The lens was a good approach, but a simple one wouldn't do. I'd need a more complex device to achieve something akin to mana perception.
There was much to do. Having test subjects was great, but managing them was also work. I alone wasn't enough to control these unruly kids. Nor was it my job.
“Ma’am. Could you come here for a moment?”
The kindly-looking woman’s face lit up as soon as she saw me.
“Oh my, Teacher! What is it! Is there anything you need?”
“It’s nothing much. I need someone to look after those test—I mean, the brats. And run some errands for me while they’re at it.”
“Oh, of course! I’ve already found someone, as a matter of fact!”
“When will they arrive?”
“She said she’d be here today, so I’ll send her to the academy as soon as she arrives!”
“Understood.”
I turned away as if there was nothing more to say. Behind me, I heard the woman’s cheerful voice.
“If you need anything else, please don’t hesitate to ask!”
‘I hit the jackpot! What a score! Not all mages are the same, and I managed to get one who actually teaches the children! Their response is good, and there are results! This makes me look good, too!’
That woman was a bigger deal than I’d thought. In the Mage Federation, a school district is a status symbol, and an academy is an institution where one’s own and one’s children’s futures are at stake. To be entrusted with running such a facility meant she held power over the people in this area.
The woman, who had become the head of this school district thanks to the achievement of raising her first child into a mage, looked ready to give me her liver and gallbladder. All without knowing I was using her children as test subjects.
“What would a simpleton know? That must be their limit.”
After just a few days in the Floating Castle, people like her all seemed foolish and insignificant. It seemed this Lower World was not my place. A person should live where they belong.
Alright. The crystal lens test is done. What’s next? I was lost in thought as I returned to the academy.
A woman carrying a bundle was loitering in front of the building. She was fully grown, so she didn't look like one of the children. Reading her thoughts, I realized she was the housekeeper the woman had called for.
“Hey. Are you the housekeeper?”
Startled by my voice, the woman clutched her bundle tightly and replied.
“Ye-yes! I was told to start working here today!”
Finally, a legal slave bound by a monetary contract. The kids listened well enough, but I couldn't have them doing things like cleaning or managing supplies. I pointed a finger inside the academy.
“Is that so? We both know what this is about, so there’s nothing more to say. Cleaning, managing supplies, making the bed, preparing for tea time, and other miscellaneous tasks are your duties.”
“Yes! You can count on me!”
“A word of caution. Do not touch my things without permission. Do not do anything I haven't asked you to do. Keep the room at 25 degrees at all times, and make sure there is always a supply of clear water from melted ice.”
“Uh, uh, wait a moment. Things, tasks, 25 degrees, melted ice water…”
As I rattled off a few more things, the flustered woman muttered to herself, folding her fingers to keep count. She looked clumsy. I wonder if she's any good at her job. Tsk.
“Do you know any magic?”
“Do I need to use magic? I, uh, don’t know any magic…”
“Hmph. If you could, you wouldn't be doing this kind of work. Can you use magical tools?”
“Yes! I’ve used them often! My previous job was serving a mage!”
“Serving a mage? Hmm. Then you might be useful.”
The woman clenched her fists with spirit and exclaimed.
“Leave it to me! I promise you won’t be disappointed. If I get kicked out of here, I have nowhere else to go, so I’ll work as if my life depends on it!”
“That’s not a very reassuring thing to say.”
But well, she did seem tenacious. If she had experience serving a mage, she was probably a rare talent in a border district like this.
The matron had some sense, at least. She didn't just send any idiot; she picked someone who seemed bright and capable. Pleasing me was her top priority, wasn't it?
…That’s why she chose that person. Ma’am, you’ve been beautifully deceived.
The housekeeper, with an innocent face, looked around the academy, letting out sounds of admiration, before starting to unpack her bundle in a corner of the room.
*
“Sensing mana, at its core, is about feeling mana with your senses. Until now, you’ve probably been trying to perceive mana by thinking of it as some mysterious, invisible, and intangible force… a useless effort.”
The housekeeper’s arrival spurred my research on even further. Of the twenty-five children studying at this academy, seven succeeded in sensing mana. It was a feat I accomplished in a mere three days of teaching.
“Do you think Celsius awakened his Unique Magic of heat and cold for no reason? How did Pascal master the wind, and why did Fahrenheit obtain the burning flame? Heat and cold, the wind brushing against your skin—these were the most common sensations humans experienced, long before the theory of mana perception was even established.”
Was it because they were brilliant? No. It was because my teaching was brilliant. I was overflowing with knowledge, and with my mind-reading ability, I could pinpoint exactly what they failed to understand, allowing me to draw out their talents completely.
“Mana is everywhere. Ultimately, what’s important is feeling it with your own senses. Heat, cold, sound, light, wind. If you can feel it, you can weave it into magic.”
I said, striking a xylophone made of highcrystal. The mana-infused crystals resonated, scattering mana in the form of vibrations. Mana seeped into the sound.
“Sound is no different. Kid.”
The boy, trembling, took his hands away from his ears.
Right now, all sorts of noises were reverberating through his body. Sounds he had never heard before in his life. The noise that should have entered through his ears was echoing throughout his entire being, as if someone had placed him on a drum and was beating it with all their might.
The earth-shattering noise was audible only to him.
“T-Teacher… then, what I’m hearing right now is…”
“Congratulations. You have been blessed by magic. Reading and combining mana through vibration is a form of magic once researched by the Pythagorean school. It’s not widely used because it requires not only talent but also artistic sense, but in other words, that means it’s all the rarer. If you go to the Decibel territory, you should have no trouble being accepted as a disciple.”
That’s one more. Eight in total. Even if mana perception was the easiest skill to learn, this was an absurdly high number to come from a border school district. It was all thanks to me, of course.
The boy shook his head vigorously and shouted.
“No! I want to continue my lessons here!”
“That’s your choice. Do as you please. But today is the last day I’ll be spending time on you alone.”
All humans cover themselves with pretense. No one wants to be the one left behind. They know they’ll be abandoned if they don’t even show a glimmer of promise. That’s why the students in this district desperately try to hide what they don’t know and act like model students.
But I was a mind reader. I saw through all their attempts, read their aptitudes and talents, and awakened their mana using methods tailored to each of them.
Sound magic was the most difficult, but now that I’ve succeeded with that, I can say I’ve dealt with every student here.
“Alright. By now, you all should have a rough idea. What kind of talent you have, and what you need to do.”
However, the problem, in truth, never lies with the ‘chosen.’
It usually comes from the ‘abandoned.’
“That’s all for today. Go home.”
The seventeen who couldn't feel anything, aside from the chosen eight.
They stared at the ground with empty expressions, fleeing the academy as if escaping from it.