Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Our Ways of Thinking Are Different (3)
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"Something's off."
Thud. Professor Rosel sets down the textbook.
"We'll end the second-week lesson here. Think about the origins of the Balance that came up in today's class on your own."
Four hours of back-to-back lectures.
The moment Professor Rosel leaves the classroom, sighs erupt from here and there. Students slump over desks or throw their heads back—reactions of every variety.
-Isn't this insane? Another assignment.
-At least this time we have two weeks...
Grumbling, most of the students clear out of the classroom. In the now-quiet room, the only sound for a while is the scratch of pens on paper.
Thirteen minutes later.
"Huu..."
Resti sets down her pen and catches her breath.
Spread out before her are the fruits of those four hours.
Notes summarizing the second-week lesson.
A whopping twenty pages worth.
'Still, I managed to get it all organized somehow.'
Looking at the densely packed notes fills her with a strange sense of pride. But on the other hand, she's worried too.
She wrote down everything she heard. She even added annotations based on her understanding. She jotted it all down without a break... but she has no confidence she'll comprehend it all.
It's hard.
Too hard.
It's clearly a lesson she can understand. While listening, she feels like she's grasping something. The problem comes after the class ends.
'...I can't do it on my own.'
Following along in class, piecing together the structure of the Balance is manageable. But once class is over and she's trying to reconstruct it alone, she can't even form a single weight for the scale.
"Huu..."
She'll have to practice more.
Resti lets out a short breath and stands from her seat. She plans to sort out the rest back at the dorm.
The moment she's about to leave the classroom.
"......"
Resti stops in her tracks at the sight of Professor Rosel standing by the door. How long had he been waiting? He looks down at her.
"Resti."
"...You called me?"
Resti instinctively steps back a pace.
She still finds Professor Rosel—no, Elder Rosel—uncomfortable. Facing him as professor to student in the lecture hall is fine, but...
This one-on-one situation isn't welcome. It feels like her breath is catching in her throat.
"One question. Not as your professor, but as an elder of the Ashen Mage Tower."
Ashen Mage Tower. The moment she hears those words, Resti's eyes naturally drop downward.
-You're the next Mage Tower Lord?
-...Is that how it is?
She recalls the chilling gaze Elder Rosel had fixed on her. Resti doesn't want to meet the eyes of Rosel the elder, not the professor.
"Will you attend the Ashen Mage Tower's quarterly meeting?"
"...The quarterly meeting?"
"Yes, that's the one. An elder asked me. Whether you'll participate. If you do, I'll excuse you from third-week classes."
"...I'm fine. I don't plan to attend."
No hesitation in her answer.
Even if she went, there'd be nothing she could do.
'I'd just get sidelong glances the whole time.'
That place feels like it doesn't have a seat for her. It's the gaze she's endured tediously for the past three years.
'Better not to go than face those looks.'
That's what Resti thinks.
"I'll pass it along to the elder."
Rosel nods lightly and leaves.
Only after the sound of his footsteps fades does Resti raise her head. Unlike when seeking knowledge, his eyes had been coldly indifferent.
'It's okay.'
'Elder said to forget about the Ashen Mage Tower and rest easy... it'll be fine.'
Resti mutters to herself inwardly.
2.
Lania van Trias.
The evaluation of her isn't good.
Much of that stems from the unkind gazes of the assistant professors who look down on her. And in a way, that's only natural.
Lania is not a graduate of Aphria.
To the assistant professors who've known each other since student days, she just feels like an outsider.
Lania is the assistant professor of the renowned Professor Rosel.
Without any special exams, she was immediately appointed. To the other assistant professors, it looks like a classic parachute drop—nothing more, nothing less.
'Parachute.'
'Thinks she can strut around just because Professor Rosel backs her.'
Whether it's true or not doesn't matter.
That's just how the assistant professors feel. That's how they judge her. And there's a decisive incident that made their malice boil over.
The sight of Lania constantly spotted at the campus cafe every day—that was the trigger.
Her appearance is distinctive. Unforgettable once seen. That pure yet somehow pitiful impression catches every eye.
Such a person shows up at the cafe every single day.
While they're running around buried in paperwork, she's leisurely sipping coffee.
It's only natural their eyes roll at the sight.
'Professor Rosel's favoritism.'
'Rumors say Dean Aron favors her too.'
'Parachute with no real skill.'
'Aphria's stain.'
Rumors about Lania snowball.
To the point where they reach some students.
*
"Today, apparently."
Mana Trading Theory, third-week lecture hall.
"That assistant professor is coming in."
"...That parachute one?"
"Yeah. Professor Rosel is attending a mage tower meeting today or something... I don't know the details."
"That assistant professor... you mean her, right?"
The students mentioning her name can't hide their smirks. They whisper with sour grins.
"Parachute."
They're all students taking Elemental Magic. Close to Assistant Professor Cesar, they've heard the rumors plenty.
"Assistant Professor Cesar said it—Aphria doesn't suit her."
"He sure did."
Mac nods.
He's one of the students especially friendly with Cesar.
Creeeak.
Right on cue, the door opens, and the subject of the rumors enters.
Lania van Trias.
She steps into the lecture hall and stands at the front with an expressionless face.
"Hello."
Ash-gray hair and calm blue eyes.
She opens her mouth, dressed neatly in robes.
"I'm Lania van Trias, here to cover Professor Rosel's class today."
She bows slightly, then points to the problem sheets on the desk.
"Today's lesson is to solve the problems at your seats. If you have questions, raise your hand and speak."
Mac raises his hand.
"Can questions be about the problems themselves?"
"Yes."
Yes. At that answer, Mac's lips twitch.
He immediately starts scanning the problems.
'Damn, these are brutally hard.'
True to form from Professor Rosel, each one is a genuine headache. Mac's eyes quickly skim the sheet, landing on the final page.
Number 30.
A problem filling the entire page.
Dizzying just to look at—hard to even figure out what it's asking.
'Basically, they don't expect anyone to solve this.'
Even the so-called advanced class kids declared number 30 unsolvable. They just glance for the solution Professor Rosel would explain next class.
'This is it.'
A smile creeps onto Mac's face.
"I have a question."
"What is it?"
"Can you help with solving this problem?"
The students around Mac check the problem. Soon, those catching on to his plan let out stifled giggles.
A problem only Professor Rosel could solve.
Even other professors struggle with it.
Picking that one to ask about—the intent is obvious.
'No way a parachute can solve it.'
Thinking that, Mac pulls back his chair so Lania can see the sheet as she approaches.
"Hm."
She silently gazes at the problem.
Even as he offers pen and paper for calculations, she shows no sign of taking the pen.
Watching her, Mac sneers inwardly.
'Of course. She wouldn't even know where to start.'
A sour smile spreads across Mac's lips.
The students beside him cover their mouths, turning away to laugh.
'Must need complex calculations. Dizzying just to look at—you have to unravel that circuit first.'
Yet this assistant professor is just staring blankly. If staring solved it, would they be suffering like this?
-Pfft.
As laughter starts leaking out around them.
Mac shrugs and opens his mouth.
"Ah, if it's taking a bit, you could do the other proble—"
"It's basic Balance trading theory."
"...Pardon?"
What did she just say?
"It's asking about the trading standard of the Balance..."
Muttering that, she wiggles her finger. She redraws the circuit from the test paper exactly in midair.
"Why hide the problem like this?"
She hooks a curved finger at the circuit's center. Then yanks it out.
-Shrack!
With just that.
The complex circuit simplifies cleanly.
-Clatter-rack!
At the circuit's flashy movement, the students' eyes snap to Lania. Mac blankly stares up at the floating circuit before him.
"Better now?"
"Y-Yes?"
"To demand a completed spell on the Balance with 1 mana, how many restrictions are needed? That's what it's asking, right?"
Flat tone.
"It's trading basics. Pricing with restrictions."
As if it's no big deal.
"Easier to see it once."
She wiggles her finger again.
Mana like starlight takes the form of a scale.
Imitation Balance.
The scale to measure trading costs.
"I'll make a model here, so experiment and write the answer. Oh, anyone who can make their own Balance, feel free to experiment directly."
No students respond.
They just gawk wide-eyed at the Balance Lania created.
"Hands-on is the fastest way to understand these things."
Casual tone, like it's nothing.
At her words, the students are speechless.
'Make one yourself?'
Creating an Imitation Balance is a later concept, way later. All they learn now is cost reduction via restrictions.
And now, make an Imitation Balance out of nowhere?
To them, fresh on addition and subtraction, it's like telling them to build an advanced calculator.
"Any more questions?"
Utterly nonchalant voice.
Saying the impossible.
"......"
Silence spreads.
"If none, I'll head down."
Mac watches, dumbfounded, as she returns to her spot. Soon, students swarm his desk.
"Whoa, what is this..."
"Quick, someone pour some mana in!"
"Never seen one this clean. What the...?"
The commotion lasts until the end of class.
3.
"...Raniel."
"Yes, Master?"
Back from the mage tower, Rosel presses his temple and calls his disciple.
"What the hell did you teach them?"
"Pardon?"
"This. This."
What Rosel points to are the students' problem sheets.
The solved problems vary. But every single sheet has number 30 solved.
All correctly.
'A problem they couldn't possibly solve.'
Just verifying it requires dismantling layers of circuits. He even wrote he'd give points for just checking the problem.
'And they all solved it? Every student?'
Impossible.
When the impossible happens, the cause is usually close by.
And now, that cause speaks up.
"Oh, that? I made them a scale model."
"......"
"Looks like they learn that before basic mana use these days? I learned it much later. Kids these days must be smart."
"...Raniel."
"Yes?"
"This problem gave points just for verifying it, and it was testing the basic concept of mana trading."
"Oh..."
"For a basic concept problem, what were you thinking giving them an Imitation Balance?"
Like giving kids who can't add or subtract a machine that spits out answers if you press a button—what's the point?
"But they asked..."
At his disciple's response.
Rosel slaps his forehead. ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Author's Note (Afterword)
Ugh... This got a bit tangled because I initially mixed up "assistant" and "assistant professor."
I'll clarify it in the story later.
Aphria Academy's special nature allows taking an exam after graduation to become an assistant professor... something like that.
If anything, it's similar to Japan's assistant concept.
You can view assistant and assistant professor similarly... it shouldn't matter.
Sorry for the confusion ㅠㅠ.