Chapter 35
Chapter 35
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 35
Chapter Title: It Worked When I Did It (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Mana Trading Basics classroom.
Second-week class.
The classroom buzzed noisily with students gathered to attend the lecture.
It was different from the public lecture in the grand hall. Only those who had applied in advance could take this class.
"Let us attend that class too!"
"We want to learn more about the basics!"
A few professors had thrown tantrums demanding to observe the class, but Dean Aaron had no reason to grant their request. They had their own classes to teach.
"Be quiet."
"Or do I need to say something as well?"
Only after Rosel stepped in did the professors finally shut their mouths. Still seeming regretful, they drew recording circuits in the classroom before leaving.
Such reactions from the professors were, in a way, only natural.
Lania van Trias.
Her reputation was soaring day by day.
There were reporters who had written articles about her public lecture. There were mages captivated by her class. A great many of them.
"Two Mage Tower Lords gave a standing ovation."
A single line from the article.
That one line carried immense weight. Mage Tower Lords were figures who had reached the pinnacle in their fields. Receiving their approval was an tremendous honor.
And those who had attended that class knew.
That the evaluation, even if understated, was not exaggerated.
The classroom door slid open with a rumble.
Silence fell over the noisy room as if cold water had been poured on it. No one opened their mouths.
Click.
Only the sound of navy low-heeled shoes tapping the floor echoed. The footsteps, steady at regular intervals, suddenly stopped.
"Ah."
Standing at the podium, she lightly cleared her throat.
After a brief pause, she spoke.
"Pleased to meet you."
All eyes turned forward.
There stood a girl in the same neat robe as always. Her narrow blue eyes swept over the students.
"No absentees, I see."
She set down the paper she had been holding.
The rustle of paper filled the air.
"Let us begin the second-week class on Mana Trading."
Without any further greetings, the class started right away.
Ignoring the students pulling out their writing tools with a rustle, she began writing on the board.
- Mana Trading, Week 2.
- Theme: Schematization of Restrictions.
The topic written on the blackboard.
Pointing to it, she continued.
"The schematization of 'restrictions' used in deals with stars. This is content you would have heard in Professor Rosel's class."
The students nodded.
Schematizing restrictions and applying them to circuits.
A method to manifest spells beyond one's capabilities.
It was what Professor Rosel had covered in class two days ago. They had attended, but few truly understood it. They had just thought, "Oh, there's something like that," and moved on.
"That's what I'll cover today."
Snap.
She flicked her fingers.
Papers on the podium scattered in the wind. Their movements in the air were uniform.
Rustle.
Papers settled onto each desk.
The students blankly stared at the worksheets before them.
"Please fill them out as you listen to the lecture."
About a dozen sheets.
Worksheets with blanks in every sentence.
"Uh..."
Someone who saw them let out a groan.
"Ugh, um."
The groans spread like a contagion.
Students holding the worksheets tilted their heads, clicked their pens, and fidgeted in various ways.
"P-Professor?"
Finally, someone raised their hand to ask a question.
"Yes, what's the matter?"
"I-Isn't this... spell language?"
The question was natural.
Spell language was not part of ordinary linguistic systems. It was the language used to chant spells or inscribe circuits.
'But they put this in the worksheets?'
They could read it.
But even reading it was burdensome. Hoping she would say it was a mistake, the students sent her pleading looks.
"Yes, it's spell language."
However, the professor before them merely tilted her head prettily.
"Is there a problem?"
"Y-Yes?"
"I prepared this thinking students studying the theory of the Balance—Mana Trading System—could handle it."
"Th-That's..."
"Transactions on the scales ultimately proceed in spell language, don't they? Getting used to it in advance like this isn't bad."
She asked in a calm voice.
"Is it not?"
It was true.
True, but...
"If there are no more questions, let's proceed with the class."
The students could only stare dazedly at their worksheets.
2.
Rak van Grace, heir to the Northern Duke.
People had a few misconceptions about him, who marveled at the capital's novelties and enjoyed drinking black water.
Rak was absolutely not stupid.
He might seem a bit lacking in some ways, but he was a student who had passed the written exams in the top ranks.
Yes.
Rak might be lacking, but he wasn't stupid.
He himself had never thought he was stupid.
'Ugh, um...'
However, right now.
'What the hell is all that supposed to mean?'
Rak was seriously contemplating the possibility that he might actually be stupid.
"■■ thus, ■■■■ing. If ■■■■■■."
The woman at the podium.
Professor Lania was saying something.
"If ■■■■, then this happens."
To make it easier to fill the worksheets, she was even mixing in spell language. Despite that thoughtful consideration, Rak hadn't filled even a single sheet.
'What on earth is she saying...?'
He didn't get it.
It just sounded like buzzing static.
"That means ■■■■. Do you understand?"
Suddenly, their eyes met.
She looked at Rak.
Rak nodded reluctantly. He didn't understand, but he felt he had to say he did.
'...Am I the only one?'
Rak glanced sideways.
Most students were spaced out, showing reactions similar to his. When eyes met by chance, they nodded vigorously.
However, no one was dozing or ignoring the class.
"Then, let me show an example."
That was why.
"Schematizing one type of restriction, notation ■■."
A circuit floated in the air.
Advanced spell: Chain-explosion.
A spell that consumed vast mana proportional to its tremendous power. Yet, the mana the professor expended to cast it was minimal.
A spell that normally couldn't activate.
"Like this, it can manifest with just a small amount of mana."
She drew fractured curves into the circuit.
The moment they seeped in, the circuit glowed, and the spell activated. The resulting explosion was unimpressive.
Bang!
Like fireworks, small blasts occurred five or six times.
"Of course, with strong restrictions, it shrinks like this... but the key point is that it does manifest."
The fractured curves she had drawn into the circuit.
She extracted them and showed them to the students.
"This is the basis of restrictions, ■■."
Someone raised their hand.
"Yes, your question."
"P-Professor. Just one more time..."
"Yes, ■■."
"N-Not the spell language, but in regular language just once..."
Professor Lania asked as if she didn't quite get it.
"Did you not hear it well, perhaps?"
"No, I heard it fine..."
"Then just write it down."
"I-I just wanted to hear the pronunciation once..."
She looked as if it was an odd request.
Finally, she said reluctantly.
"Reduction."
Only then did the sound of scribbling fill the room.
Reduction.
"Ah," exclamations burst out.
Rak finally filled one more blank.
'It's hard. Too hard...'
Rak groaned inwardly.
Hard. Difficult to understand. Yet, he couldn't break his concentration because of those casually tossed examples.
Slowly.
Neatly presented examples.
Looking at those perfect examples felt like enlightenment was just within reach, teasingly so. Just watching helped.
If it were merely difficult, incomprehensible, it would be the professor's fault. They could just tune it out. But this class was different.
Hard. Insanely hard, yes.
But it left room for understanding to seep in.
In fact, the ten words Rak had filled into his worksheet. Just understanding those made him feel he could draw a few restriction circuits.
He doodled one in the corner of the paper.
As expected, the circuit sparkled. A sign of success.
'If I understand just a bit more...'
It was teaching that sank into his bones and flesh.
Because it was a novel kind of learning, his heart raced each time he gained insight.
So, he couldn't lose focus.
Of course, focusing didn't make it any easier to understand.
'I see, so I was the stupid one...'
Whether Rak thought that or not, the class continued. As it neared the end.
"Spend the remaining ten minutes reviewing."
Clap. She stepped down from the podium. She wasn't leaving the classroom. Her footsteps headed toward the seated students.
She planned to walk between them and glance at their worksheets.
"Ah."
And Rak was in the front row.
Professor Lania stopped before him and looked down at his worksheet. Her eyes narrowed.
"Student Rak?"
"Y-Yes."
"Did you perhaps not listen to the class?"
"I-I did."
Rak answered in a trembling voice.
Was this how a rabbit felt before mountain hunters? For the first time, Rak thought he could understand the feelings of the animals he had hunted.
'Scary!'
Rak screamed inwardly.
"Then why are there so many blanks?"
"I-I... couldn't understand."
"Hmm..."
She stroked her chin.
Then glanced at the neighboring student's worksheet. It was also full of blanks.
"Umm."
She let out a short groan.
Seeming to sense something off. Finally, she looked up at the students.
"By any chance, did the spell language... not come through clearly?"
Seizing the moment, everyone nodded vigorously. More precisely, it wasn't that they didn't hear it, but that they couldn't understand even after hearing... but it amounted to the same thing.
At the students' reactions.
Professor Lania pondered with a hand over her mouth. And her gaze drifted to the blackboard.
The blackboard had only the topic written on it.
"Ah."
A short exclamation, as if realizing something.
"Sorry. I'm not used to writing on the board."
Returning to the podium, she held a worksheet in one hand and chalk in the other.
"I'll write the answers before leaving, so those who missed some can check slowly."
The answers rapidly filled the blackboard.
Without hesitation, in an instant, letters densely covered from one end to the other.
And.
-Ding.
The bell signaling the end of class rang.
"That concludes the second-week Mana Trading Basics class. See you next time."
She nodded lightly.
Then shook the worksheet in her hand.
"For those who didn't finish, try filling them by next class. It'll be very helpful."
With those final words, she left.
Her footsteps remained light. Only the hollow sounds of the door sliding shut and latching echoed in the classroom.
And.
"M-Move!"
"The board!"
"Move, I can't see!"
Students rushed to the front.
They scanned the words on the blackboard with bloodshot eyes. Alternating between their worksheets and the board.
"This is insane."
Someone muttered.
"That's all spell language too..."
It spoke for every student.
3.
"You messed up big time."
"Pardon?"
"You royally screwed up, Lania."
"What did I?"
"Your class, you foolish disciple..."
I tilted my head.
"I thought I did pretty well?"
"What kind of professor teaches a class in spell language? I'm really curious about how your mind works..."
"You did, Master."
"...What?"
"You told me to teach using my experience."
I pointed to the worksheet.
"This is similar to the one you gave me when I was thirteen. You handed it to me back then and told me to solve it."
"...I did."
"I understood it while solving it, so I prepared these..."
I had even written interpretations.
Putting the translations on the last page meant they could solve it without much trouble if they looked.
"My sin is great..."
"Pardon?"
Master smacked his forehead and let out a long sigh.
"Starting tomorrow, let's go over it step by step together."
"Ah, yes..."
For some reason, Master looked utterly exhausted.
'That's strange.'
But it worked when I did it.