Chapter 70
<70> Students Must Eat Well
Professor Deneuve looked puzzled.
“Farming with magic? It’s certainly a good curriculum for basic magic classes.
But why the sudden enthusiasm?”
“Hm, Professor Deneuve. What’s this? Are you interested in why I’m motivated? Does that mean you’re interested in me?”
Deneuve let out a sigh.
“You’re not usually like this, so it seems suspicious. Why did you make the students go hungry?”
“Well, that’s how they’ll learn the value of agriculture, right? Heh.
Do you think these kids have ever felt hunger?
They’ve all lived comfortably as members of wealthy families. It’ll be a good experience.”
“I understand your reasoning, but even if they start farming now, they won’t be able to harvest immediately. And even if they do, whether they can eat it is another matter entirely.
If you cast Energy Drain before they even start working, you’re just exhausting them for nothing…
Very well. Changing the class might still benefit the students.”
“Good! As expected, you understand me.”
Sadia beamed and turned toward the students.
“Alright, everyone, finish your meal and gather in the plaza in work-appropriate clothing! I’ll give you thirty minutes.”
“What about personal preparation time?”
The students were flustered.
Was she starting the day’s activities far earlier than scheduled?
Many had planned to use that time to receive supplies from their servants or buy food from the shop to ease their hunger.
They voiced their dissatisfaction at Sadia taking away their preparation time.
Of course…
“If anyone has objections, raise your hand and state your opinion.”
At that single remark, everyone fell silent.
---
“Hmm….”
Having finished preparing to go out, Marie waited in the plaza and practiced her telekinesis.
She lifted water from a rain barrel in the corner and successfully formed it into a sphere.
She was trying to complete Buremhaide’s assignment of water juggling.
“Oh, you’re practicing. Is that the homework Professor Buremhaide gave?”
“Lady Idnia?! Ah, your outfit…”
Marie was surprised to see Idnia dressed as usual.
“Riding clothes have long boots, so they’re good for working in fields. And even if they get muddy…”
Idnia casually waved her wand.
“Extract.”
With extraction magic, she removed the dirt from her clothes instantly.
“Since I can use extraction magic, I don’t have to worry about washing. I can just clean them immediately.
So it’s fine to work in this.”
Her mastery of extraction magic was impressive enough to amaze even Milena, the dryad running an alchemy workshop in the village.
“Really… your extraction magic is amazing.”
“So, how’s the assignment going?”
“I can manage one sphere easily, but two are hard to maintain, and with three they collapse.”
“Hmm. I see.”
“How about you, Lady Idnia?”
“Ah, well… this is what I’m thinking.”
Idnia raised her wand and cast a spell.
Forming a water sphere with telekinesis was easy.
But making multiple spheres required too much concentration.
Even creating several at once as a multi-target spell wouldn’t work, since they would move as a single object.
“So first, set the centripetal telekinesis that maintains the sphere as a sustained spell.
That way, the sphere keeps its shape until the initial mana runs out, and you don’t need to focus on it.”
“…Oh.”
“See? That alone makes it easier.”
“That’s true.”
“Next, set up a ‘toss zone’ spell.
It’s simple—anything that enters gets launched upward. It’s similar to a continuous rotation spell.”
Idnia created the toss zone.
“Now, if you throw a sphere into it…”
The sphere bounced upward.
“If you place multiple toss zones and adjust their strength…”
Each sphere bounced to the exact same height.
Idnia set up two zones and easily achieved juggling.
Once the system was set, no matter how many spheres she added, it continued automatically.
“Hmm, right now it’s bouncing even air, so the mana consumption is high…
Should I make it react only to liquids? Or assign an identification code to the water and have the zone activate only when it detects that code?
Magic is fascinating when you really dig into it.”
“…Fascinating?”
Marie was stunned.
‘There was such an easy solution? I was trying to control everything manually…’
Her method was like juggling with invisible hands—requiring full control and skill.
Idnia’s method was like building an automatic machine and simply feeding it mana and materials.
The first was easier to conceptualize, but the second, once built, was far easier to use.
And yet… no one else had thought of it.
‘Still, the professor might actually prefer this. Mages are meant to break boundaries…’
But Idnia dismissed her own method.
“Still, this is too easy. It’s probably not what Professor Buremhaide intended.
I should try doing it your way too.”
“What?!”
Marie was shocked.
‘Most people would stop after finding one solution… but she’s exploring another?’
Rather than raw talent, it was her mindset that amazed Marie.
‘This is the true attitude of a scholar…’
“Marie, shall we practice together while we wait?”
“…Yes?”
“Let’s start like this.”
Idnia picked up stones and tried juggling by hand.
She was clumsy at it.
Marie, however, was used to juggling from her time at the convent.
“Why practice by hand?”
“Now try using telekinesis only for your right hand.”
“Ah, I see.”
Marie followed along—and it became much easier.
“Once you’re used to it, try replacing both hands with magic.”
She did—and succeeded easily.
‘Incredible… it was impossible before, but now it’s so simple!’
Idnia pointed at the water barrel.
“Now let’s try with water.”
“….”
The impossible task became trivial.
By maintaining the sphere and alternating left and right telekinetic inputs, juggling flowed naturally.
No intense concentration was needed—just rhythmic casting.
‘No… this is only possible because of Lady Idnia’s perspective…’
“Lady Idnia?”
“I can do it too now. Thanks to you, Marie.”
Idnia replicated Marie’s casting and succeeded as well.
Just then, other students approached.
“Lady Idnia! Everyone has assembled!”
The three male students from the Euros dorm—Dupont, Athos, and Persiphae—reported to her.
“Thank you. Let’s go, Marie.”
“Yes!”
With her assignment solved, Marie followed happily.
Though their dorm had fewer members, with Idnia leading them, she felt they wouldn’t lose to anyone.
---
Sadia opened a teleportation gate and moved the students.
They expected another long-distance transfer—but instead, they arrived at farmland just outside Blackcow Village.
“…Huh?”
“We could’ve walked here.”
“Good. Then you can walk back.”
“……”
“Just kidding. You’d wander off. Instead, I’ll take the energy you would’ve spent walking. Energy Drain!”
She drained their energy again.
“Alright, listen up! You heard the bakery had an accident yesterday?
Poor baker… working tirelessly to support his family, only to lose everything.”
It sounded pitiful—
But the students, remembering the terrible food, thought otherwise.
‘He sold garbage food anyway.’
‘Why not just get meals from Lorenzo’s restaurant?’
‘Maybe Lorenzo destroyed the bakery…’
‘If so, I support him. That takes guts.’
Rather than pity, they were already thinking about better food.