CHAPTER 146
CHAPTER 146
Intrigues within the academy
The Euros students attended the newly opened combat magic training class. Since the previous class had been Baroness Bulem’s audiovisual material viewing, Idnia once again had to shake off the goosebumps rising on her skin as she headed to the new lecture field.
The mist cleared, revealing an open space near the dungeon.
It was an outdoor training ground set up on the clearing, with a field and an overhanging roof to protect from sunlight and rain.
“Oh.”
“This is a good place to practice Wizard Ball.”
Idnia spoke her honest thoughts. Indeed, there were areas set up where training equipment could be placed in various spots.
However, she had no memory of ever using it for Wizard Ball training.
“‘Bulemhaide must be desperate to get out of the academy grounds, making one excuse after another to avoid using this training field.’”
Idnia understood Bulemhaide’s longing for freedom as she waited for the new instructor.
After a short while, a young female mage appeared. Surprisingly, she was of elven lineage, with slightly pointed ears.
A half-elf, born between an elf and a human.
“Ohoho. Hello. I’m Griselda, newly promoted to instructor starting today. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
She greeted the students and raised her magic wand.
“I’ll be teaching you combat magic. Ah, I’m also an alumna of Dunaiss Academy.”
“Uh, er, are you an elf?”
“To be precise, I’m a half-elf. Fufu. Are you interested in my personal background?”
“……”
Idnia smiled as she looked at Griselda.
“Scarlet Pimpernel, I see. No, seriously, a Scarlet Pimpernel operative becoming an academy instructor? What is going on?”
In the original game, the senior Scarlet Pimpernel operative Parinelli was killed by a swamp monster, and her successor Griselda would frequently appear around Black Cow Village and dungeons, causing incidents.
Yet that same Griselda appearing as an academy instructor was something she had never seen before.
“Alright, shall we start by running? Let’s run laps around this open field. Regardless of combat magic or anything else, if your physical conditioning is lacking, it’s all meaningless.”
“Pardon?”
“No, we...”
The Euros Wizard Ball members were taken aback. They had already done running training in the morning, and now they were being told to run again.
“No exceptions! Start running!”
Griselda had them run while continuing the lesson as they moved.
“Ugh… I’m out of breath, I can’t understand this!”
“If you can still speak like that, then you’re not that exhausted yet. It’s fine. It’s best to run steadily for long periods at a pace where you can still talk to the person next to you.”
“Are we supposed to run the entire class period?”
“Exactly!”
Since each class was typically two hours, that meant running for the full duration. The pace was not particularly fast, but running continuously for two hours would amount to at least 14 kilometers.
Unlike on Earth, people here were accustomed to walking and manual labor, but that applied mainly to commoners. Students at Dunaiss Academy were used to traveling by carriage for even short distances, and they began to tire quickly.
The first to give out was Sendia Aspinal.
“Ugh… n-no way… this is impossible!”
“Now then. If you truly can’t run anymore, you may walk. I will cast a spell that counts how many laps you’ve completed above your heads.”
With that, Griselda displayed a number above everyone’s head.
Idnia, Mari, Percifier, and Christian were leading with 10 laps, while the others were falling behind as their pace slowed.
Sendia, in embarrassment, had collapsed after only 6 laps.
“In this field, my voice will be clearly audible. Let us continue the lesson. Now, as you all know, all living beings possess anti-magic resistance. Unless it is specifically a combat spell designed for offense, its effectiveness is reduced when cast on a target. For example, if you cast a normal cooking ignition spell on a person, it will be repelled by their anti-magic resistance, causing flames to flare outside their body. Combat spells are designed to penetrate that resistance and achieve their effect. However, there are some spells that work regardless of anti-magic resistance. What kind of spells might those be?”
“Formed magic projectiles.”
“Yes, correct. Idnia student. Excellent indeed. One shop point awarded. My, and you’re running very well too.”
While the other students were collapsing, Idnia, Mari, Percifier, and Christian continued running.
“A formed magic projectile refers to creating a projectile using formation magic and launching it with telekinesis magic. With this method, even beings with high magic resistance will be physically struck. However, conversely, it is less effective against incorporeal beings strong against physical force, such as ghosts. What kind of magic is effective against such beings?”
“Uh, divine magic?”
“Yes, correct. Mari student. One shop point awarded.”
The other students, already mentally exhausted from alternating between walking and running, could not even answer simple quiz questions.
Idnia and Mari, however, continued to answer each question correctly while still running with clear minds.
Thanks to Idnia’s thorough preparation and review sessions back at the dormitory, Mari was also answering correctly as each question came.
“Indeed. These two students are exceptional. Shall we move on to a simple practical exercise?”
As Griselda spoke, a sharp crystal blade formed beside her head.
“I will launch a projectile attack using formation magic. Please react while running. Of course, it will be as realistic as possible, though I have no intention of actually stabbing you. Still, do not let your guard down…”
“Pardon?”
Mari and the other students were shocked.
But Idnia, already aware of Griselda’s identity, smiled wryly.
“So she’s attacking students directly after becoming an instructor? How amusing.”
The crystal sword formed by Griselda shot forward at terrifying speed.
Startled, Christian and Percifier immediately threw themselves flat to the ground, letting the crystal sword pass overhead. In the first place, the trajectory would have missed them anyway.
However, for Idnia and Mari, the crystal sword was aimed precisely at head height.
“Ah!”
Mari deployed a shield spell to block the crystal sword. The force behind the projectile was so strong that the conjured shield was pushed back, pressing toward Mari.
At that moment, Mari adjusted the angle of the shield spell, transforming its shape and deflecting the crystal sword aside.
Meanwhile, Idnia casually caught the incoming crystal sword between two fingers.
“…What?!”
Griselda, the attacker, was stunned.
“That… should be extremely heavy… you caught it with your hand?”
“It seems a bit excessive for the other students.”
Idnia smiled as she said this.
“I suspect this woman Griselda is testing me because of my association with Parinelli, a fellow Scarlet Pimpernel member. I can accept that, but to involve Mari as well...”
Idnia assumed Griselda’s attack was related to her connection with Parinelli. However, that was not the reason for the attack.
“No… impressive for someone so young. I was planning to give a bit of a scare to a high-born noble and a saint candidate, but this complicates things…”
Griselda had simply attacked because she disliked Idnia’s high noble status and intended to put her at a disadvantage.
“The instructor’s drive for improvement is truly remarkable. Launching something at head height like this—was that also part of your training plan if something went wrong?”
“Oh, my apologies. I was trying to train them like real combat… I did disperse the formation before it struck, so please don’t worry too much. I hope I didn’t startle you.”
Griselda smiled as if nothing had happened. Idnia also smiled, gripping both the tip and hilt of the crystal sword with her hands.
Kikikikik…
The crystal sword formed by magic screamed.
“Eh?!”
Griselda was shocked.
A construct formed by magic could be considered an artificial substance that mimics real material properties.
In other words, that crystal sword possessed the hardness of real crystal. And yet it was being bent by human hands and cracking.
And then…
Thunk…
Fragments of shattered crystal shot out from Idnia’s hands toward Griselda.
Idnia had subtly broken the crystal sword and used her fingers to flick and accelerate some of the fragments toward Griselda.
Crystal shards rained down on Griselda like a barrage.
“No way!”
This time the other students were shocked, but Griselda immediately dispelled the formation magic, causing the projectile to vanish.
“I see. If we were about to be hit, you intended to dispel it immediately. Understood. With such a strong drive for improvement, the academy’s reputation is indeed well deserved.”
Idnia smiled and gestured toward Mari.
“Then we will continue running. Please proceed with the lesson.”
“…Ah. Hahaha.”
Griselda burst into laughter at Idnia’s strong counter.
“First, I will award one shop point each to Idnia student, who responded calmly, and Mari student. Now everyone, let us practice formed magic projectiles. While running, I will create targets in the field, so please launch your projectiles at them.”
Despite the unusual atmosphere, Griselda awarded shop points to Idnia and Mari and conjured targets in the middle of the field using formation magic.
From Griselda’s class, Idnia and Mari each earned 3 shop points, Christian, Percifier, and Sendia earned 2 points each, and Athos along with Sendia’s friends earned 1 point each.
Thus, the Euros dormitory’s shop points reached 71. Although Griselda’s teaching style was eccentric, she awarded many points, and most students simply regarded her as having a peculiar personality.
“Wait, what is this…?”
Crown Prince Rudolf was the first to discover that the Wizard Ball practice room had been turned into a mess.
On one side of the Wizard Ball practice room was a shared storage area where supplies were evenly kept. Idnia had placed fermentation jars there.
She had set up fermentation containers made from meteorite material, along with pots received from Professor Sadiya who had intended to discard them. She would crush leftover simple biscuits from the cafeteria, mix them with water and yeast, and let them ferment…
Someone had tampered with one of those containers.
As a result, the container had exploded into pieces, and its contents were scattered everywhere.
“Ah? Brother?”
Isolde, who arrived later, was stunned by the scene.
“Ah, Isolde.”
“That’s the container Idnia Duke’s daughter was working on. Surely you didn’t explode it, brother?”
“Of course not. Someone must have interfered with it.”
“Could it have just exploded from gas buildup?”
“No, that’s not it. It looks like someone… tried to inspect its contents to replicate what Idnia Duke’s daughter was making, and it blew up.”
“What?”
Isolde was startled upon hearing Rudolf’s words.
“In that case… isn’t that a spy?”