Chapter 44
Chapter 44
Let’s Learn Forbidden Magic
Sadia, after using Energy Drain on Fiona, waited for a moment in case the other students might protest.
It looked as though she was even hoping for them to object.
But as she stood there, everyone simply avoided making eye contact with her and looked away.
“Tch. No spirit at all. What a waste of time. Let’s begin the class.”
Standing at the lectern, Sadia snapped her fingers toward the blackboard.
Without any chalk, letters appeared on the board by themselves.
‘Mesmerize & Illusion’
She had overlaid the writing on the board using illusion magic.
“Today I will teach you the Mesmerize and Illusion schools. Yes. Fiona of Notos? Since you’re an energetic student, I’ll give you the opportunity. What is the Mesmerize school?”
At Sadia’s question, Fiona, still weakened from having her energy drained, struggled but answered.
“The Mesmerize school is a discipline that beguiles people and manipulates the mind. Broadly speaking, it is divided into two branches: domination-type, which overwhelms the mind with powerful psychic waves to knock people unconscious or control them, and deception-type, which distorts the senses to create illusions and cause hallucinations.”
“Correct. Well answered. Even in your condition, that was good. I’ll grant one point to Fiona of Notos.”
Sadia seemed satisfied that Fiona, despite her weakened state, had answered properly, and awarded her one point.
With this, Notos, which had been at the bottom in points, gained a small reprieve.
‘Was that too easy?’
‘Does anyone not know even that much?’
‘But let’s not argue. With that, Notos now has 3 points. Still last place.’
‘No, Boreas was crawling along at the bottom and suddenly shot up, so even if they’re last, we should keep an eye on them. In long league battles like Wizard Ball, you’re supposed to rack up points by beating down the bottom ranks first.’
‘So are you going to challenge Sadia? If you do, she’ll drain your energy instantly.’
‘Well… true.’
The other students felt a sense of resistance toward Sadia awarding points to Fiona, but they soon gave up.
“Now then, Mesmerize and Illusion spells have higher difficulty than other schools even at low ranks. For example, a standard light spell…”
With a snap of her fingers, a small sphere of light appeared above Sadia’s finger.
“But a low-level illusion spell…”
The sphere of light suddenly exploded like fireworks, scattering into countless fragments of light, and from within them a small light fairy stretched as if waking up.
A dancing figure resembling a young girl of light moved about, astonishing everyone.
To manifest such a precise illusion at a low level showed just how immense Sadia’s mana control was.
“You must control it carefully. In reality, even if the mana cost is similar, that doesn’t mean it’s treated as the same level of spell. That’s why there aren’t many mesmerists and illusionists. For novice magicians like you, there’s still a long way to go before you can handle this. But even in difficult environments, emotions can blossom. So in my class, all of you will work in pairs. I will assign the pairs myself.”
Sadia immediately assigned the students into pairs.
Given the wide gaps in status, dormitories, and even gender, she arranged them accordingly.
In Idnia’s case, a high noble, she was paired with a male student from Boreas whose name she did not even recognize.
“Ah, I look forward to working with you, Duchess Betelgeuse. My name is Bolson.”
“Bolson?”
Idnia searched her memory.
‘I don’t recall that name from the playthrough of Awakening Girl Concert. A nameless extra?’
As Idnia pondered for a moment, Bolson nervously continued speaking.
“I-I’m from a very lowly common soldier background. It is an honor beyond measure to be paired with a duchess like you.”
“Very lowly?”
“Yes. I-I am the lowest in status among Boreas.”
Bolson said this while blushing.
Among the northerners, he seemed to be small in stature, quick to blush, and rather shy.
“Then that’s fine, Bolson.
I am Idnia Katze Betelgeuse. Please feel free to call me Idnia. From now on, you are my friend.”
Idnia extended her hand for a handshake.
“N-no, I couldn’t possibly. How could someone like me… with a duchess….”
“Ah, do you intend to embarrass my hand?”
Idnia playfully waved her hand in the air.
“With my low status and lack of worth, I couldn’t possibly take it….”
“Then I suppose I’ll have to keep my hand raised for the entire class. Ah, my arm is getting tired.”
Idnia feigned distress.
“…I have no choice then.”
Bolson took her hand and shook it.
“Now then, you are officially a friend of Idnia Katze Betelgeuse.
If anyone calls you lowly, go ahead and knock their face in on my behalf.”
“Eh?”
“Punish anyone who insults my friend! You can at least do that much for me, can’t you?”
“I, uh… I couldn’t possibly….”
“Then at least say you’ll try. I would prefer you not refer to yourself as lowly.
You can manage that much, can’t you?”
“Yes, I will… try.”
The student who had introduced himself as Bolson made an awkward expression.
“Now then, first I’ll teach you the simplest Compulsion spell.
The activation word is ‘Myunghanoni!’ It is a basic yet powerful spell that injects mana into the target’s body and compels it to act as I desire.”
Sadia explained the structure of the spell on the blackboard using illusion magic instead of chalk, teaching both the activation word and its principles.
‘Myunghanoni… I see. But the underlying structure beneath the activation word is indeed quite complex.’
Idnia admired the intricate spell structure.
“This is a low-tier command spell.
It can force only a single word onto the target, but do not forget that using this spell outside the academy is a crime under imperial law.”
At those words, all the students grew tense.
“M-mind control spells…”
As Sadia had warned, spells that manipulate the human mind were considered grave crimes across the empire—and indeed across all lawful states.
In particular, the Trinity Church did not tolerate mental magic. Anyone who used such magic on people would be hunted by the Trinity Church’s witch hunters.
Even if it was acceptable within the academy, merely using such a mental spell would mark one as an enemy of the empire. The students felt fear at being taught such magic.
“Ah, so you froze up immediately upon hearing it violates imperial law.
As expected, most of you are nobles or gentry class—those allowed to bear family crests though not true nobility….”
Sadia felt irritation at how most academy students belonged to the upper classes, and that irritation seemed to turn into hostility directed at them.
If she were not bound by her position as an academy professor, if she were not restrained by the oath of Duanice Academy… who knew what might have happened.
“Indeed. It’s natural that well-raised children fear imperial law.
However, if you know nothing about mental magic, how can you defend against it?
And this is an academic pursuit.
Rest assured. As long as it is not used for selfish purposes, what is the issue?
And in any case, at your current level, you couldn’t achieve meaningful results by controlling others.”
Some students accepted Sadia’s words, while others did not. However, having paid such high tuition to attend Duanice Academy, refusing a class was out of the question.
Moreover, Sadia’s provocative remarks did stir their motivation.
The implication that they couldn’t use this magic sparked resistance.
“Now then, you will practice this spell on each other. In each pair, one will cast the low-tier command spell, and the other will resist.”
“E-Excuse me, how could I possibly?!”
Just as Bolson, the lowest in status among Boreas, had been paired with Idnia…
Marie, a commoner from Astraea, had been paired with none other than Crown Prince Rudolf.
Among the female students present, she had the lowest status, so it was clear she had been deliberately paired with the highest-status person, the Crown Prince.
“First, the female student will cast!”
At Sadia’s command, Marie’s wand trembled.
“T-the Crown Prince?! And a mind control spell at that?!”
Having been raised with teachings from the church, Marie firmly believed in the doctrines of the Trinity Church.
As a believer who regarded mental manipulation spells as forbidden, how could she possibly cast such a profane spell on the Crown Prince?
“Indeed. Within the academy, there is neither emperor nor crown prince. What stands before you is merely a teenage boy of your age.
Girl.
Status is nothing more than a thin layer like cheap foil that can be peeled away. What truly matters is the flesh, blood, and soul within.
Now cast it. Do you not wish to see for yourself whether the one before you truly has the qualifications to lead the Holy Eldar Empire?”
“Th-that….”
Such irreverence was unthinkable.
But then…
“It’s alright, Miss Marie. Go ahead and cast it.”
“Eh?”
“I’m fine. I’m just another student, and I trust the professor.”
Crown Prince Rudolf smiled as he encouraged her to use the spell.
“And even if Miss Marie were to control me, you wouldn’t have me do anything terrible, would you?”
“Ah, yes.”
“Now female students, begin casting! Quickly! If you don’t cast within 10 seconds, I’ll deduct points! 10! 9!”
As Sadia began the countdown, the female students cautiously began casting their spells.
“Myunghanoni!”
“You must input the command after the activation word for the target to obey! Tell them to discard something!”
“Uh. Discard?”
The students cast one after another, but most failed.
“Hahaha. As I said, it’s not easy.
This is not a spell that novice magicians can succeed at immediately.
The human body has a nervous system, and you must code mana to intercept that system from the brain to seize control.
At the same time, the command must still be heard and understood by the target, so completely hijacking the nervous system alone is not enough. Do you understand?
And yet you’re already worrying about becoming mental magic users and committing sins against the church. How amusing.
Young humans! Do you think I paired you in twos for no reason? Unless you push yourselves to the limit casting this on real people, you will never master it.”
Sadia assessed the situation as she watched the failed attempts.
The ones who succeeded were Isolde Folchen, paired with Christian Dupont of the Boreas dormitory, Fiona of Notos paired with a male student from Zephyrus, and Idnia.