Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Silver Rookie Theo #2
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“Theo Gospel.”
Mirna Draco sat down in the seat next to me and called my name. There wasn’t any particular emotion in her voice.
So I decided to greet her just as plainly.
“Hello, miss.”
“I heard you caused a commotion even before the lecture started?”
Was she talking about the duel from the other day? It had certainly been quite the uproar. It seemed Mirna Draco knew about it too.
“That’s what happened.”
“This place is different from Angmar. It’d be best if you don’t stir up trouble and just behave yourself. For your sake, and for your queen’s.”
Don’t get cocky or anything.
No, it felt like she was just advising me not to cause a fuss, but Mirna was such a haughty and prickly girl that it came off as grating.
“Thank you for the advice.”
“Still, it’s a relief you won the duel. If someone bearing Angmar’s flag and name had lost to a barbarian warrior, there’d be nothing more humiliating or unsightly.”
She was chattier than I expected.
I’d thought if I tried talking to her, she’d just dismiss me with something like, “How dare a commoner speak to me?”
Bored, maybe.
Dr-r-rk.
At that moment, someone forcefully slid open the sliding door and entered the lecture hall.
It was a woman in a black dress with striking deep navy hair and deep dark circles under her eyes that left an impression.
Her eyes were a very vivid red.
Red eyes were an omen of ill fortune.
“Everyone, take your seats. I-I’m starting the lecture. Heh heh.”
This must be Professor Ballan, in charge of this ancient dead language course.
Her skin was pale, and her aura was dark—she looked like a highly skilled black mage or necromancer.
No sign of vitality at all. But her chest was so full of life it looked like it might burst. She spoke as it jiggled.
“B-Before that, let’s first check the lecture passes. P-Put them on your desks.”
Does she have some kind of discomfort?
She stutters.
But I recalled hearing that among black mages and necromancers, the ones who stutter are the truly scary ones.
I quickly placed my lecture pass on the desk.
Professor Ballan glided through the wide lecture hall like a ghost, checking the passes on the students’ desks before returning to the podium.
“Good. Th-Then let’s begin. Since it’s the first day, we’ll start simple: what are dead languages…? Anyone know?”
At Professor Ballan’s question, everyone just stared blankly with wide eyes. Then the lady Mirna sitting next to me raised her hand.
“Good. Rank 6. Mirna Draco. Answer.”
Swoosh.
With permission to speak, Lady Mirna stood from her seat, looked around, and spoke in a calm voice.
“The fragments used when the God of Radiant Flame created the world as language in the beginning. The rules that form the foundation of magic. The language of mystery and the dead is called dead language.”
“G-Good. Excellent explanation. 80 points. But to point out what was missing: dead language is power. Power. Yes. Infinite potential… power….”
Swoosh.
Professor Ballan picked up a piece of chalk and drew something on the blackboard.
Dr-r-rk.
It was a perfect circle.
A truly perfect circle.
How could a person draw such a flawless circle without a compass or any tool?
I wasn’t the only one shocked—gasps of admiration rippled through the lecture hall.
━Is that Professor Ark’s skill?
━I can’t believe my eyes. A perfect circle like that.
━Right? Amazing!
But thinking about it, was this really that surprising?
Srrk, srrrk.
Ignoring the students’ reactions, Professor Ballan drew what looked like a chess rook inside the circle and letters wrapping around it like pizza dough.
It was the rune for Belial.
It felt more like a name than a word or spell.
“Th-This is a spell circle for magic nullification. A very primal form of magic circle. Ancient shamans and priests used this to block enemies’ schemes. But drawing magic circles one by one is difficult.”
It’s a fantasy world, after all.
It was only natural in this fantastical setting, but it felt strangely surreal to be sitting in on a lecture like this.
More like listening to lore from a game or novel than actual history or scholarship? Of course, whether I thought that or not, Professor Ballan continued her explanation.
“Th-That’s why spells evolved from magic circles to incantations, and incantations to lighter self-suggestions. Simplification of spells. I-I, Ballan, can do this spell with a whistle.”
Fweee—.
Professor Ballan whistled.
So, to sum it up, magic originally started with those hard-to-draw diagrams.
Those diagrams were replaced by spoken incantations, and even those shortened to brief self-triggers.
People prefer convenience.
“Self-suggestion is quick and good. B-But it has drawbacks. Lower spell power. The original meaning gets distorted…. In truth, this spell probably wasn’t for magic nullification or destruction.”
Swoosh—.
The professor’s slender finger, painted with black manicure, pointed to the magic circle on the board. Someone raised a hand to ask a question.
“Then what kind of magic circle was it originally?”
“From my 10 years of re-research, it’s denial. Irrationality. Worthlessness…. It can be used for all sorts of negative words. Ancient languages were comprehensive like that. Read as Belial.”
Belial.
Belial it is, after all.
“But even if you can read it, th-there’s a difference from actually using the word. I’ve just memorized it. Understanding is different. The only one who could truly understand it was….”
“Only King Solomon Angmar?”
The one interrupting the professor’s explanation was Lady Mirna next to me. Professor Ballan nodded and erased the drawings on the board.
“Y-Yes. The Demon King Solomon. Only he could wield the 72 ancient spell circles freely. Ahh—. He must have been incredible. Truly like a god….”
Professor Ballan’s red eyes gleamed strangely.
Her gaze was on Mirna, but somehow it felt like it was on me in the next seat, so I bowed my head and focused on taking notes.
Belial.
Magic circle and diagram, noted carefully.
* * *
Maybe because it was the first day, the lecture ended much earlier than scheduled. As everyone rushed out, I slipped into the crowd and left the lecture hall too.
I headed to an open lot behind the building.
A gloomy spot where trees and grass swayed in the quiet breeze, clearly rarely visited.
I went even deeper into the alley there.
What I pulled from my pocket was a piece of chalk stolen from the lecture hall and the notebook I’d used to sketch the earlier diagram.
“Hmm.”
I roughly copied Professor Ballan’s diagram on the ground. I couldn’t match her perfect circle, but it turned out decent enough.
Srrrk.
The completed ancient spell circle.
I spoke over it.
“Belial.”
Whoooong.
The spell circle began to emit a faint light.
The letters written on it shone piercingly into my eyes.
And then, something like a ‘concept’ slammed into my mind.
「Belial: Spell for magic nullification. Can render spells of a circle lower than the caster’s as worthless.」
Oh.
I felt an incredibly wondrous sensation as letters floated before my eyes.
Like a long-unsolved problem suddenly clicking with a flash of insight.
It can nullify spells of a lower circle than the caster.
“Belial.”
I said the name again, and even without drawing the circle, I vividly felt something change within my body.
Ziiing, ziiing.
A tingling in my limbs and a slight dizziness in my head.
I instinctively knew this was the sensation of using magic. Probably thanks to the Angmar blood flowing in my veins.
「Mystical Sorcery!
Gain job experience for ‘Mage’. +50」
Just as I thought.
Wait a minute.
Then, that Halpas I mentioned during the duel the other day—did that have some meaning too?
Hmm-hmm—.
I cleared my throat and muttered in a moderate tone.
“Halpas.”
Letters floated before my eyes again.
「Halpas: Taming spell for birds. Allows taming of birds. Higher caster circle allows taming more varieties for longer durations.」
Incredible.
That’s why birds had flown in around me.
Are there any birds nearby?
As I looked around, I spotted pigeons perched on a tree nearby. There were more pigeons on campus than I’d thought.
I shouted at them.
“Halpas—.”
Flap-flap-flap.
Flutter.
About ten pigeons flocked around me, landing on my arms and shoulders. For a moment, I remembered pigeons carry a ton of pathogens.
“Argh, ptooey, shoo!”
As I flailed my arms to chase them off, I felt a presence behind me.
“Commoner.”
“Commoner Theo Gospel. What are you doing here? And what were those birds that just flew away?”
It was Mirna Draco.
“Lady Mirna, why are you in a place like this…? The birds were nothing, really.”
I tensed, wondering if she’d seen what I’d just done.
Mirna Draco’s red eyes scanned the chalk on the ground and the drawn magic circle, then she let out a long “Hmph—.”
“So that’s how it is.”
That’s how it is?
What?
Did she catch me?
Had she figured out I’m the sole successor to Demon King Angmar?
All sorts of thoughts bubbled up in my mind like cotton candy.
From thinking the Draco family were originally loyal to Angmar, so I could muddle through if I played it right—
To the terror that she’d kill me on the spot if my identity was exposed.
Still, I decided to play it cool and ask back.
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t play dumb, Theo Gospel. You’re quite the eager student, aren’t you? Even reviewing like this.”
“Ah.”
“Seems you’re very interested in the language of the dead, dead language.”
“Yeah. Very interested.”
Looks like she didn’t see what just happened. She must just be showing interest because I looked like a top student reviewing right away outdoors.
But Lady Mirna’s neat silver eyebrows furrowed slightly, creasing her brow.
“Why the interest in dead language? You’re neither a necromancer nor a black mage. You’d better not lie.”
She was circling back to suspecting me after all?
I racked my brain for words to navigate this crisis smoothly.
If I played it right, like with the Epside duel, I could turn it into an opportunity.
“Why?”
“Because… it’s the power of Angmar’s king.”
“Angmar’s king’s power?”
“Called the Demon King and overthrown, but Angmar Demon King’s power was the real deal among the real. It’s only natural to revere and worship it.”
“Hmph, of course it is. Just as it’s natural for a commoner like you to care about me, Mirna Draco.”
“I care about you, Lady Mirna?”
“Everyone cares about me. No need to lie now. The reason you’re taking this dead language lecture. The reason you’re putting on this act here, knowing I pass this path every day.”
What’s she talking about?
As I quietly mulled it over with my mouth shut, Mirna Draco added.
“Isn’t it all because you want my attention? The pigeons earlier too.”
Flutter.
Lady Mirna, in her school uniform, hid her face behind a black fan.
Denying it with “No, it’s not” here seemed worse than affirming it—might lead to fewer variables and some gains—so I squeezed my eyes shut.
“Truth be told, yes. I wanted to talk with Lady Mirna of the Draco family.”
“Hmph. For a commoner. Big dreams, huh? Making a racket in Ark yesterday was all to get my attention too, right?”
“…That’s true.”
“Theo Gospel. Half successful. Feel honored that you caught my eye, even briefly.”
Flick.
With that, Mirna left without even hearing my reply.
Haughty to the point of prickliness.
Her little sister Narmi seemed pure and kind, though.
Ah.
Come to think of it, a thought flashed in my mind.
Today was the first Wednesday of the semester.
The day I’d promised to meet Narmi Draco, the twin little sister, at the grand temple again.