Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: First Lesson (4)
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The lecture came to an end.
It had lasted a full hour. An hour isn't a short time. Yet to Resti, that hour had felt like a mere instant.
She had closed her eyes, then opened them.
Countless things had flashed by.
Her mind was a whirlwind. Her thoughts refused to settle. She had seen something. Felt something. Vague impressions like that drifted through her head.
She had seen it.
The most perfect magic imaginable.
And because she had seen it, she understood.
How she needed to refine her own magic.
'Amazing.'
Her heart pounded.
It was the thrill she had forgotten over the past few years.
'Fun.'
Magic was fun.
Learning something new felt enjoyable. She couldn't remember the last time she had felt this way.
At least since becoming the Next Mage Tower Lord, magic had been more of a duty to Resti. Not something fun, but something she had to do. Something she couldn't avoid.
That was magic to her.
But not today.
Today, magic was fun.
She wanted to draw circuits right now, even just a little more. She wanted to make sure she didn't forget what she had heard in class, to turn it into her own. A pleasant euphoria washed over her.
'I want to hear more.'
She wanted to talk to her about anything.
"...".
Resti rose silently from her seat.
The aisles were already crowded with people leaving the auditorium. Knights were guiding them, but crowd control was poor.
But Resti was a student at Aphria Academy.
She didn't need to follow the outsiders.
She took a path off-limits to outsiders. Her steps quickened unconsciously.
"How was it, Master?"
"Not bad at all."
And then.
"Honestly, it didn't feel like you taught anything. You just chanted spells nonstop, didn't you?"
"If they can't learn from that, they're a disgrace to the name of mage. That was enough."
Two figures entered her view.
Elder Rosel and the woman who had just stood on the stage.
'Lania van Trias.'
Chewing on the name, Resti stood before her.
"Hm?"
Finally, the woman looked at her.
Their eyes met.
Gulp.
Resti swallowed dryly and slowly opened her mouth.
"Professor Lania..."
"Professor Lania!"
But she couldn't finish.
Resti wasn't the only one who wanted to talk to Lania. Countless students and professors approached her.
"Ah."
Passing the frozen Resti, they headed to Lania. Unable to join the line, Resti blankly watched their backs.
"That was incredible, that magic..."
"Elemental Magic Professor, Elnes. I'm truly impressed. How did you..."
Praise poured in.
As if venting the lingering excitement, they surrounded Lania, calling her name repeatedly.
Should she push through the crowd?
Resti considered it, but...
"Well, now."
The moment she saw the familiar emblem on a robe, Resti instinctively stepped back. She wasn't the only one.
"Those are..."
"That robe, Ashen Mage Tower..."
The gathered students and professors murmured and made way. Through the parted crowd, they approached Rosel.
"As expected of your disciple, Rosel. A lecture truly faithful to the basics."
"What, you came too?"
The robe emblazoned with the mark of ash.
The emblem on it was ornate. Reserved only for those at the pinnacle of the Ashen Mage Tower, not ordinary mages.
"Isn't this your disciple's first lecture? As your friend and fellow elder, this is basic courtesy."
"You talk a good game. You barely contacted me after Raniel left, you old coot."
"Ahaha! Can't argue with that."
Ashen Mage Tower elders.
"The tower's mages threw a fit wanting to attend the lecture and meet your adopted daughter... but I held them back for now. They needed to cool their heads."
"Even we're itching to draw circuits ourselves. Imagine how the young ones feel."
And not just one or two.
Three of the six Ashen elders had gathered here. Resti slowly backed away from their presence.
"Lania, was it?"
"Yes, Lania van Trias."
The elders called her name.
"Going back to basics—definitely a fresh approach. It took me back to my early days stepping into the world of magic."
They praised her lecture.
"The continuous formation of extrema—a beautiful spell, truly faithful to the fundamentals."
They praised her mastery.
As the praise continued, Resti kept retreating. The elders made her uncomfortable. Especially this one who had shown up.
-I wish she was even half as good as the previous Next Mage Tower Lord. What a disappointment.
-A half-baked talent like this as Next Mage Tower Lord? The elders must be getting senile. Tsk, at this rate...
The voices she had heard once echoed in her ears.
Resti remembered their dissatisfied looks, their cold stares.
Thud.
Backing away, Resti bumped into someone. Her notebook fell. Her pencil case dropped. Pens spilled from the open zipper, clattering noisily on the floor.
"...".
Resti slowly raised her head.
The elders were looking at her.
Tsk.
A short tongue-click.
Their gazes didn't linger. Like they had seen filth, they glanced at Resti and turned away.
A brief glance.
A barely audible tsk.
If this were the Mage Tower, Resti might have been numb to it. She had endured such looks endlessly there.
But this wasn't the Mage Tower.
"...What was that?"
"Did that Ashen elder just..."
Some had witnessed the elders' blatant disdain. Unease rippled through the students. Professors glanced her way.
Under those gazes.
Resti bowed her head.
Her excitement faded.
Her pounding heart cooled.
Forgetting even to pick up her notebook, Resti stood there blankly.
2.
After the lecture ended, countless people came to see me. Students and professors, and even Ashen Mage Tower elders.
'A bit unexpected.'
I hadn't thought those stodgy elders would come all the way to Aphria.
'It's been a while.'
About five or six years, right?
That much time had passed, so I figured even those pathetic old fogeys from my active days might feel a little welcoming.
But no.
No matter how much time passed, seeing their faces just filled me with disgust.
'That old bastard's still at it.'
I could call it rude, but considering the crap he pulled when I was Next Mage Tower Lord... this was a perfectly natural reaction.
-Some no-name rolling in from who-knows-where...
-At least some dignity...
They nitpicked my background constantly until I shut them up with results, those old coots.
'If I'd stayed one more year, I'd have cleaned house.'
That was a bit regrettable.
"Hoo..."
I let out a short breath and looked around.
A long line of people still waited. But the one I wanted to see wasn't among them.
The master of the Ashen Tower, the current Mage Tower Lord.
The Ashen Elder.
The one I respected second only to my master.
'Well, he's an incredibly busy man.'
I was starting to get annoyed.
"Master."
"What is it, Lania?"
"Can't we just send them all away? It's getting bothersome."
"...Bear with it for today. This was your stage to earn recognition."
I whispered to my master, but it seemed impossible this time. I sighed inwardly.
"Ah, come on!"
That was when it happened.
"Move it a bit!"
The area grew rowdy.
"Who do you think you are, telling us to move..."
"You don't know me? Have you been a mage longer than me? Better than me?? "
"No, the line..."
"Ah, just move!"
Someone was pushing through the crowd toward me.
A nearby knight, fed up, went to check the commotion, but...
He returned with a troubled look.
"What's the commotion?"
"Well, the White Mage Tower Lord..."
My master asked, and the knight answered.
Eventually, one rowdy woman ignored the line and strode right up to me.
"You, White! Have some dignity...!"
"Shut up, Black! You think we have time to wait? We're in a hurry!"
The woman, dragging a fidgety Black Mage Tower Lord, stood before me. Her face was familiar.
'Ah, that Sara lookalike.'
The one who scuffed my shoes.
Remembering that, an edge crept into my voice.
"...What is it?"
"Well..."
The White one glanced at me cautiously before speaking.
"About last time... sorry?"
"Pardon?"
"I said sorry. For looking down on you. I didn't know you'd be such a high-level mage."
What was I supposed to do with that?
"You..."
"Yes."
"If you want, I could even offer you a position as my personal secretary at the White Mage Tower..."
"Pfft."
A laugh from somewhere.
I turned my head sharply.
"Kuh, khh..."
My master was covering his mouth, holding back laughter.
"...What is it, Rosel?"
"Secretary, did you say, White?"
"So what? Did I say something wrong?"
"Even reconstructing your body with mana, you couldn't fix those old eyes, it seems."
White tilted her head at that.
A second, two... then, realizing belatedly, her face flushed red.
"Wh-what?! Rosel, is that all you have to say?!"
"Let's go, White. Don't embarrass yourself..."
"Ah, let go!"
"Sorry, my apologies..."
In the end, Black grabbed White by the scruff and dragged her off, resolving the situation.
"...What?"
I just tilted my head.
After that, I exchanged greetings with the visiting mages for quite a while and answered simple questions from professors and students.
How much time passed like that?
I stood up. Some people remained, but I'd greeted everyone at least once.
"Students, return to your classrooms. Outsiders, follow the knights' guidance."
At my master's words, the crowd finally dispersed. The remaining professors waited a step away for him.
"Lania."
Pointing to the crowd, my master asked.
"Will you come too?"
"Pardon?"
"Tomorrow's a free day, so they suggested a light meal today. If you go, I'll join."
"I'll pass."
"I thought so."
Nodding as if he knew, my master agreed. I dusted off my robe and started walking. My pace quickened unconsciously.
"Do you have somewhere to be?"
"Hm."
To my master's question, I replied.
"The cafe's closing time is soon."
"...What?"
"Haven't been there these past few days preparing the lecture."
One of my few hobbies.
I hadn't enjoyed it properly this week, so I had to go today.
"...Don't we have plenty of coffee at home? That expensive stuff you bought recently..."
"Doesn't taste the same when I brew it."
"Is their coffee that good?"
"Yes."
No hesitation in my answer.
My master gave me a very strange look.
"...Fine, go ahead."
3.
Standing blankly, Resti slowly bent down. She began picking up the pens scattered on the floor. They slipped from her fingers.
Roll.
The pen slid from her fingertips, rolling farther away.
"...Hoo."
Resti let out a long sigh.
What was the point of all this?
She had told herself she wouldn't care about such things anymore. Yet her body stiffened anyway.
"Why does it keep happening?"
She should be used to it by now.
It was only natural to get those looks. Compared to the previous Next Mage Tower Lord, her skills were lackluster.
Raniel van Trias.
The Next Mage Tower Lord before her.
That legendary mage was practically the Mage Tower Lord already. During the two years he served as Next Mage Tower Lord, the Ashen Mage Tower achieved dazzling progress.
The most brilliant two years in over a century of Ashen history.
Those who remembered that era now shaped the Ashen Mage Tower. And most of them despised Resti.
It wasn't envy or jealousy.
It was loathing.
To them, the Next Mage Tower Lord was Raniel. A seat to be reserved for his eventual return.
In their minds.
Resti was just a usurper who had stolen it.
'Why do they do this to me?'
Resti hated their gazes.
'I didn't even want it.'
The Elder had wished it.
He had told her she had talent.
'I hate it. Really.'
Roll.
Resti blankly watched the pen roll across the floor. It rolled endlessly until it bumped into someone's toe with a thud.
"...".
Resti slowly looked up.
A woman was looking down at her.
Ash-gray hair.
Blue eyes.
'Lania van Trias.'
Resti let out an unwitting sigh.
"Ah."
The person she had so desperately wanted to meet was right there. Resti swallowed awkwardly. She had questions. Many.
But the words wouldn't come.
"......".
Narrowed eyes.
That sharp gaze sealed Resti's lips.
Like Elder Rosel's gaze.
Like the other elders' gazes.
That piercing stare, as if seeing through her inadequacies, made Resti hold her breath. She bowed her head to avoid it. And waited for the woman to leave.
But those shoes showed no sign of moving.
Soon, a soft rustle of robe fabric.
"Here."
A voice.
Resti looked up.
"Did you draw this?"
The woman had knelt to meet her eyes. In her hand was Resti's notebook.
"...Yes."
Resti nodded cautiously.
"Hm."
An intrigued look.
"You drew it well."
"...Pardon?"
"I said you drew it well."
Flip. She quickly turned the pages.
"You got every single part without missing anything?"
A satisfied tone.
"Everyone else was dazed, but you listened the hardest."
She picked up a pen from the floor.
And began drawing something on a blank page.
Scratch.
The pen danced across the white paper. From curves to lines, lines back to curves.
At a glance, the process seemed messy.
Yet the completed pattern was intricate.
'...A circuit?'
It was a circuit.
A complex, multi-layered one, hard to recognize at first. She stopped the pen and handed the notebook back to Resti.
"Since you followed along with all that, you should be able to handle this."
Then she asked.
"Can you solve it?"
Resti met her eyes.
Still that cold blue. But Resti saw the expectation within.
"See you in the next lesson."
With those final words, she left.
"......".
Resti looked at the circuit in her notebook.
Complex. Not one, but multiple intertwined. But not just tangled haphazardly.
Different from puzzle circuits.
Not something that demanded time to unravel like a knotted thread.
A circuit tied by specific rules.
One that could be solved immediately if you knew the method.
'Can you solve it?'
Those words echoed in Resti's ears.
Difficult.
Difficult, but worth challenging.
Resti slowly stood.
The pen she picked up no longer rolled across the floor.
Author's Note: Today, I included a bit more than usual~