Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Can You Handle This? (1)
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Somewhere in the capital, at a brunch café.
Rosel poured syrup over his pancakes and opened his mouth to speak.
"So, you turned down Elder Zileon's offer?"
"Yes, Master."
The voice of his disciple answering the question was the same as always. It was a tone that suggested nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
'I figured as much...'
But he hadn't expected her to cut it off so cleanly and matter-of-factly. Rosel gave a wry smile as he pushed the plate of pancakes toward Raniel.
"Eat up for now."
His disciple let out a "wow" at the sight of the syrup-glistening pancakes. Looking utterly delighted, she broke into a beaming smile and shoved one into her mouth.
"Is it good?"
"Want some, Master?"
"No thanks. Lately, sweet stuff leaves a sticky aftertaste in my mouth all day, and I hate that."
At his words, his disciple giggled.
"You've gotten old, Master."
"...I'm not young anymore."
Rosel himself could feel that he had aged.
Lately, every time he heard news from his acquaintances, it hit him hard.
'Saw their grandkids or whatever...'
Whenever such letters arrived, he felt a strange mix of emotions.
Rosel had devoted his entire life to advancing magical studies. It was a life far removed from anything normal.
'Still single at almost sixty.'
Of course, he had no regrets about that life.
It was a path he had chosen for himself, not one forced upon him.
'That said...'
Lately, he kept hearing stories about so-and-so's kids getting married and having grandkids. When he asked who, it often turned out to be someone from his own generation.
"...Hm."
It was unavoidable that such news stirred up peculiar feelings.
'Kids, grandkids...'
Rosel rested his chin on his hand and gazed across the table.
There was his disciple, stuffing pancakes into her mouth with gusto. Not his biological child, but one he had raised like his own.
'What a strange feeling.'
As he watched her sidelong...
-Aren't you doting on her a bit too much?
-What do you mean?
-Your disciple. Miss Lania. Why are you protecting her so fiercely? She's not going to wear out from a little exposure to the world.
Suddenly, Aaron's voice echoed in his ears.
Rosel let out a scoff.
'Doting? Hardly...'
If he were truly coddling her, he wouldn't have let that sly old fox anywhere near her.
Elder Zileon.
Thinking of the senile old mage, Rosel spoke up. He uttered his disciple's name.
"Lania."
"Yes?"
"Mind if I ask why you turned down the elder's offer?"
Rosel continued.
"When you first came to the capital, didn't you tell me? That you'd build up achievements and return to the Ashen Mage Tower."
Raniel had indeed said that.
That she'd amass accomplishments with her new identity and go back to the tower. Rosel had respected that intention.
"Morality aside, if it's as you said, this was a golden opportunity, wasn't it?"
It was none other than a recommendation from Elder Zileon.
Zileon led the largest faction in the Mage Tower. The value of a letter from him was incalculable.
'...Though I couldn't exactly call it the right choice.'
If Raniel's goal was still to return to the Ashen Mage Tower, as it had been from the start...
'It wouldn't have been a bad chance.'
Yet she had flatly refused. It left him wondering.
"Hm..."
Raniel paused for a moment before speaking.
"Just didn't feel right?"
"...What?"
Raniel picked up her fork.
She twirled it between her fingers and continued.
"Elder Zileon is at least better than the others, but you know I can't stand the elders. Besides, he didn't come just for my achievements, did he?"
"...True. He went on about the Ashen Mage position and all that to me."
"That's what bugged me."
Stab.
Raniel plunged her fork into the pancake.
Syrup oozed out.
"Mages should just be good at magic, fuck's sake. Since when did we care about 'legitimacy' and bullshit like that? I was floored listening to him. Fucking legitimacy, my ass."
"...Is that so?"
"Plus, the current Next Mage Tower Lord seems pretty decent anyway."
"......"
Resti. She must mean that girl.
"You saw it too, right? That thing in her eyes."
"I did."
"I begged the stars a hundred times to trade for it, and they wouldn't give it to me."
Raniel tapped the corner of her eye.
"Having that means she's superior to me in some way, doesn't it?"
"She's talented, yes."
"Won't you teach her, Master? If you did at the tower, she might bloom even faster."
"That won't be possible."
"Huh? Why not?"
Rosel gave a wry smile.
"Lania, if your body were normal, would you have returned to the Ashen Mage Tower?"
"Uh... probably not? I feel like I'd just cause more chaos if I showed up. I might drop by to visit sometimes, though..."
"That's why I don't visit the Ashen Mage Tower often either. I'd only get in that girl's way."
The Next Mage Tower Lord inauguration ceremony.
That day, Rosel had been the one to hand the Next Mage Tower Lord insignia to Resti in front of everyone, representing the elders.
'Representative of the elders.'
The reason Rosel had taken that role, bypassing Elder Zileon who commanded the largest faction, was simple.
'Because this disciple of mine is just too outstanding.'
At the ceremony, Rosel had seen it.
The gazes directed at him.
The subtle expectations hidden in those gazes.
And then.
The malicious stares fixed on Resti as she received the certificate. He had felt the temperature difference between those stares and the ones aimed at him.
That day, Rosel had realized intuitively.
That he could no longer remain at the tower.
He had suddenly understood what his presence there would lead to.
"What do you mean?"
"It's just how it is."
Rosel said no more.
Raniel didn't press further. She just tilted her head.
Clink, clink.
For a while, the only sound was utensils clattering.
Leaving his diligently eating disciple behind, Rosel gazed out the window. It was a warm spring day bathed in sunlight.
Come to think of it, May was almost here.
The chaos of the semester's start had faded, and they were now entering midterms.
May was packed with tasks.
Midterms, monster subjugation field classes, group projects... Everyone from professors to students would be swamped.
'So much has happened in the last couple months.'
It had been an extraordinarily tumultuous month. But if those events were settling into place...
It wasn't so bad.
In any case, the incidents had wrapped up without major issues.
No time to dwell on the past. The future demanded attention.
'I've announced the midterm scope. Reviewing the material next class wouldn't hurt.'
Going over May's curriculum in his head, it was all crucial matters. With the academic schedule crammed into such a short period, any more delays could spell trouble.
'No wonder Aaron's screaming.'
Picturing his friend with his thinning hair, Rosel muttered absently.
"...Surely nothing's happened again."
Hiccup.
"...?"
Rosel turned from the window.
His gaze fell on his disciple's face, where she had been poking at her pancakes.
"Hiccup."
An untimely hiccup.
She looked like she had swallowed something wrong.
Whoosh.
His disciple pressed hard on her chest and turned her head away. It was clearly an attempt to avoid his eyes.
"......"
Narrowing his eyes, Rosel noticed the beads of sweat on her forehead.
"...What's going on?"
"Y-Yes?"
"Something you want to say?"
"N-No?"
She still wouldn't meet his eyes.
Extremely suspicious behavior.
2.
The not-so-short short break had ended.
A sudden holiday during the semester.
Having fully enjoyed it, students' faces were bright even amid the hectic early May.
-Sky Cloud Dessert Shop...
-They give Aphria students an extra tart, right? I went there.
-...The café's milk tea was good.
The laughing, chatting students contrasted sharply with the half-dead teaching assistants. Brimming with energy, the students entered the lecture hall.
Their expressions held no worry or concern.
And so the first class began.
"Let's start the class."
The first class was Professor Kurte's Circuit Analysis.
Though Circuit Analysis was a difficult and complex subject, Professor Kurte's classes were popular among students.
He announced the material for the day from the start.
Then covered exactly that amount, ending before the bell even rang. No homework either.
Students loved his straightforward, no-nonsense style. No assignments, and he even finished early—nothing to hate.
"Today's material ends here."
However.
"The circuit diagrams I'm handing out now are homework to be solved by next class. Use them as reference."
Something was off today.
"I checked all the students' schedules coming into class. Excluding Combat Magic majors, everyone has empty slots after this. And as far as I know, Professor Makhat is on break again today."
So, Professor Kurte declared.
"We'll extend today's class by one hour."
And it began.
"Moving on with the lesson."
A marathon lecture straight out of hell.
One hour passed.
Students' eyes began glazing over slightly.
Two hours passed.
Shadows crept across their faces.
Three hours passed.
The announced time was up, but the class dragged on.
Another thirty minutes.
The focus vanished from students' eyes.
Finally.
Exactly three hours and thirty minutes later, the class ended. Students stared blankly at the blackboard crammed with circuits, their eyes hazy.
Then at the handouts labeled "homework."
Circuits so dizzying just to look at filled the pages.
They checked the clock.
Lunchtime or upcoming lectures left no breathing room. Some ran. Some skipped meals entirely. No time for a leisurely café stop.
Classes continued.
The more they did, the more students sensed something amiss.
'Was this professor always like this?'
All the professors were acting strange.
Something felt different from usual.
And they shared one thing in common.
They were all professors returning after their breaks.
'What the hell did they do during break...?'
No one knew what those professors had been up to.
But one thing was clear.
Their classes had changed dramatically from before. Students felt it in their bones.
The difficulty had jumped several levels.
Rosel-style brutal assignments assaulted them.
The day waned. Drained students muttered in dying voices.
-The professors have lost it.
-No idea why.
-Why though?
-Something's wrong.
The professors had collectively gone mad.
That rumor spread.
The students had no way of knowing it stemmed from one professor's "observation."
-Uuuugh.
-Ugh...
Zombie-like teaching assistants crawled through the campus.
Students turning zombie followed behind.
And.
"From here to here."
One professor delivered the killing blow.
"Hm, a bit light? Better make it to here."
Ash-gray hair swayed.
Blue eyes indifferently scanned the students.
"Solve all of them."
Her voice was plain.
A death sentence delivered in the most straightforward tone.
"......"
Students stared silently at their desks.
The stack of worksheets was no joke. Gathering the sprawled sheets would form a tower of paper.
Shadows fell over their faces.
Panda eyes loomed in their futures.
"Question."
"Yes, go ahead."
To avert that horrific fate.
One student bravely raised a hand.
"P-Professor Lania?"
"Yes, what's the matter?"
"The amount of homework... it's a bit much..."
Lania van Trias.
The famous professor tilted her head slightly.
"Ah... I see..."
Then replied with a deeply sorrowful expression.
"Still, I want you all to learn as much as possible from my class."
"Uh, uh-huh..."
"I've heard more homework helps you more. I think you should push through. Every problem builds bone and muscle."
Then she added.
"If it's too hard, you don't have to do them all."
A few students sighed in relief. But only briefly.
"Ah."
Professor Lania tacked on one last remark before leaving.
"Midterms will be based on these worksheets. I recommend checking them thoroughly."
Despair engulfed the students.
3.
Mana Trading Studies professor's office.
Master had left for class, and I was staring holes into the paper on my desk.
-Mana Trading Studies Basics (Midterms).
-Examining Professor: Lania van Trias.
The midterm exam.
I'd put it off since the vibe wasn't hitting...
'Guess it's time to finalize it.'
"Hmm..."
Chin in hand, I recalled the class content.
'Circuit restrictions, basics of the scales... something like that?'
I'd told students it would be based on the worksheets, so tweaking a few circuits from there should work.
'Can't make it too hard or they won't... Need to balance the difficulty.'
That was my biggest worry, actually.
The only student whose level I knew precisely was Resti. Tailoring it to her...
'Would earn me another scolding from Master.'
I checked the sticky notes on my desk.
1. Don't think in terms of Mage Tower mage levels.
2. Make problems they can reasonably solve.
3. One or two discriminating questions are enough.
Three things to keep in mind...
And one tip.
Tip. Reference other professors' exams.
"So I borrowed some, but..."
I glanced sideways. The exams they'd shared were piled up.
'They even marked stars when I said I'd reference them.'
Pretty kind professors.
-This problem! What do you think? I got advice from Professor Lania...!
-I took a break to make this. It's presentable even at a magic conference. Professor Lania, your advice was a huge inspiration.
-My life's masterpiece. Happy if you reference it. Use freely.
Passionate folks too.
"Hm."
I skimmed their problems.
And tilted my head.
'...Is this right?'
Way above what I'd imagined. I wondered, but they were professors with far more time at Aphria than me.
'They know the students' levels better.'
So this must be appropriate.
I was inwardly impressed.
"Aphria lives up to its name."
The kids are on another level.