Prologue: Notice of the Entrance Exam
“Mommy~ Do you really think I have to learn among those lame☆ little scraps?”
Kesera Le Armo Ascentrius—Kesera for short. The eldest daughter of the Ascentrius family, inheriting their bloodline with her red hair. And according to her tutors, an extremely difficult child to teach. Though lacking in manners, her achievements were so outstanding that they all unanimously suggested sending her to the Imperial Academy.
The grand mage Eclina Le Armo Ascentrius, who had no desire to raise her any further, swallowed her regret. She had certainly been adorable as a little girl—perhaps she'd spoiled her too much. As a child, she'd suffered a severe fever, leaving her body frail with frequent minor illnesses, and her innate mana so weak that the physicians shook their heads and left one after another.
Thus, they'd planned to raise her properly and marry her into a suitable family befitting the Ascentrius line, which had produced five grand mages. But the eccentric bloodline from her ancestors couldn't be hidden—it had manifested in her own daughter. Her father, that wanderlust-ridden man, was off traveling distant lands again, and now her daughter had turned into such an oddball too.
Kesera was seven years old this year. Six years younger than the average age for entering the Imperial Academy. But at seven, she was eligible to take the entrance exam. Most received home tutoring until thirteen before enrolling, but...
“Mommy~ Don't hang out with those dumb, lame☆ idiots who can't even understand words... Let's have a precious magic debate, just you and me, pleeease~?”
But her daughter Kesera was too much of a genius. Three years ago, when she visited Eclina's study, the child picked up a book on modern magic from the shelf and devoured it in a single day. Eclina had been in the midst of writing a paper on the peculiarities and variability of singularity-point magic in advanced spells, and the girl spotted flaws in it at a glance after reading the book.
Her mana might be exceedingly weak, but Kesera was an unparalleled genius.
“Mommy~ Look at this~☆ The hyperbolic geometric toroidal shape in this magic—lame☆ old bald guys like the one who came yesterday couldn't even comprehend it, right?”
The child who had just insulted her fellow grand mage Sormon the day before wove the faint threads of her immature mana and casually flicked a dimension-altering magic formula into the air. She prattled on about topologies and tori and hyperbolic distortions in spatial microstructures, but... even Eclina, a grand mage, couldn't fully grasp it. Excluding her daughter, no one in the world could.
Yes, her daughter's personality was the only issue—a bit rough around the edges. Perhaps after making friends over seven years at the Imperial Academy and graduating, that prickly nature would smooth out.
“You don't even knooow that~?☆ What happened to my tutor? Total lame☆.”
“Wh-what?!”
This latest idiot tutor lost his temper and cast an attack spell at me without thinking. How dare he assault the eldest daughter of a precious grand mage family—you're done for☆. But I didn't even lift a finger, repelling his lame magic with silent casting.
“Ah... aaah. I'm sorry. I've committed a grave sin. Please, don't tell anyone...”
Realizing too late, the tutor slammed his head to the ground. Some Isekai-style bow, dogeza or whatever. I just lifted my socked foot and stomped the back of his head.
“Ugh... If you're inadequate, don't brag about it. Loser~☆ What, you think topping the Imperial Academy makes you special? Isn't that why you're stuck as a tutor?”
“I'm sorry. So sorry... Urk.”
“Oh? You're tensing up under my foot.”
A nosebleed trickled from the tutor, his face planted on the floor by my kick—barely a kid's. This... he must be excited, popping a nosebleed like that? What a pervert!
“You hopeless pervert uncle...♡ I stomp you nice and proper, so why don't you just scram before it feels too good...?”
Fury boiling inside, I slammed his head down with all my might, over and over. Blood sprayed everywhere, but with the cheat spell Cleanse, it's fine. The tutor went limp after a few hits, like he couldn't take it anymore. Good enough?☆
“Phew... Get lost, you gross uncle. How dare you tutor with such lame☆ magic? I'll spare your worthless life, so go run a corner store and hand out candy to kids or something~☆”
Even worrying about his future—I'm such a kind soul. Ever so merciful, I glared as the fleeing tutor bolted. Run for your life, huh. Sigh. Lame, lame. Total trash losers.
My personality wasn't always like this. This world runs on mathematical laws as magic. From childhood, all magic looked like equations to me. In my past life, I'd finished my PhD at twenty-seven—a genius budding mathematician with a master's in topology and a doctorate in analysis. I'd nearly solved one of the Millennium Problems when exhaustion claimed me just before the Fields Medal.
Maybe because of that unjust death, even reborn as a girl, I landed in a proper grand mage noble family. And from my mom—the world's top calculus expert and a human calculator—I learned so much. But these etiquette tutors she hires for "manners" just bring basic addition-subtraction spells, and it pisses me off.
Why does Mom keep bringing these morons to teach me? This makes the twenty-third lame☆ tutor, right? They can't grasp even a fraction of what I know. Picking fights and kicking them out faster became the routine. Rumors be damned—solo thinking time benefits me more.
“Stupid trash☆. Why hire such worthless posers? Mom's level is lame too, but at least she's useful? Can't tolerate tutors dumber than me.”
While filing my nails, I deployed the new magic I'd implemented yesterday. Late for this world, but mastering basic mana control let me use any magic here. So I manifested the new magic fusing topology with my imagination.
Thrilled, I rushed to show Mom—the best among this world's lame-os. She's a calculus whiz who computes spells faster than anyone, perfect for my new calc-heavy magic.
But her response left me stunned.
“Kesera Le Armo Ascentrius. Submit your Imperial Academy application in a week and take the entrance exam.”
“...Huh, Mom?”
“If you fail and tarnish the family honor, I'll disown you from the Ascentrius line.”
My new mom in this world, the fifth grand mage of the great Ascentrius family. She'd never spoken to me so coldly, like discarding me. Even I... ditched my usual bratty demeanor... tears welled up uncontrollably.
“Mom... Mommy~☆ Can't I just stay home~?”
“I've already submitted the application, Kesera.”
“Ah... uh, Mom!”
“Stop whining, Kesera. Since I failed to discipline you properly and teach manners, complete the regular curriculum at the Imperial Academy, learn etiquette, make friends, and come back.”
I bawled rivers of tears, but the icy Mom just stood and left. After that day, I couldn't see her in the Ascentrius Mansion.