An Academy Getting Attacked Is Just Common Sense
"Mi~ri~el~~!!"
"Gyaaah…!!"
Mariella seized my cheeks and hauled them out long. They stretched like taffy.
"I distinctly told you to put your things away properly, didn't I…? So why was that thing sitting on my desk?"
"Ow, ow, ow… leggo…"
"Hmph."
The moment she let go, my cheeks snapped back with a smack. Was my skin made of rubber bands? The elasticity was frankly excessive.
"Do you have any idea how shocked my roommate was when she saw that choker on the desk? I think she got some kind of horrible misunderstanding…"
"Why would she misunderstand…?"
I rubbed at my cheeks, which had swollen an angry red.
"Because it looks like a dog collar."
"…What?"
What was she talking about? It was a little thick, sure, but it was still a choker. In what world did that make it a dog collar?
The swelling went down. The cold wind outside seemed to cool it in a hurry.
"All right, everyone~ Come collect your wands, one at a time~"
Why was I standing out in the wind when class was supposed to be starting? The answer was simple. We were outdoors.
It was a bare, empty lot, walled in on every side, with a few scarecrows posted in the corners. We stood on a square platform at the center of the field.
Practical Magic. The class that swallowed an entire Friday morning.
"All right~ Has everyone got a wand?"
I looked down at the stick in my hand: a long branch shaped like a switch, a green stone set into the tip. It was identical to the staffs wizards carried in the usual stories—most famously, the ones in that Harry P○tter business.
"Now that you have wands, I need you to be even more careful. If I catch you chanting when I haven't given you permission…"
She hadn't even finished before a switch cut the air. In the same instant a magic circle drew itself across the ground, and a pillar of ice shot up from it. The whole thing took only a few seconds.
"You understand, don't you…? So do follow my instructions."
One demonstration beat a dozen verbal warnings. It was certainly effective at cooling the children who'd been buzzing at the thought of casting magic any second now.
"First, before we begin, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Regina Craft, and I'll be teaching Practical Magic for this year."
Her voice was soft and gentle, the sort of tone that called a kindly grandmother to mind. The face I glimpsed through the gaps between the standing students, however, told a different story.
"I served in the military, then retired… and by some twist of fate, I've been a professor at the Academy for the past few years."
A single large scar cut diagonally across her face, and an eyepatch covered the middle of it. Put military and retired together, and I didn't need to ask what was under that patch.
"What you will learn in this class is exactly what the title promises. Practical combat."
Practical combat. The mood shifted a little at those words.
"Battle that actually makes use of magic. That is the heart of this course."
Somewhere, someone swallowed. Regina smiled warmly and went on.
"That doesn't mean I'm asking you to fight one another this very moment. We may hold real mock battles later… but only for those who volunteer. I promise that sitting them out will not hurt your grades."
What was that supposed to mean? Then who would bother with a mock battle? Not that I minded it being optional.
"There will be practical work during class as well, but just like the mock battles, it will be for volunteers only. Your actual grade will come from exams and assignments…… In other words, how well you can actually handle magic is not especially important in this course."
Heads turned. Of course they did. It was a strange thing to say. This was Practical Magic, wasn't it? If it was Practical Magic, why grade the class on theory alone? If that was the plan, they ought to change the name of the—
"Please understand that some of you have not yet formed a Circle, and some of you cannot use magic at all because you have none. You are only first-years, remember? True combat of that sort can wait until you reach the upper years."
…Ah. Right. I'd been short on sensitivity where Mariella was concerned. First-years were required to take this class, so anyone who couldn't use magic might well feel the whole arrangement was unfair.
Yeah. A class ought to be fair. All the more so when you hadn't even chosen it yourself.
"That does not mean you may slack off during practice, though. Attitude is part of how your grade is calculated, of course."
Clap.
The sound of her hands rang out.
"Now then, before we proceed, shall we divide into groups?"
Regina started forward at an unhurried trudge, and the long stick in her hand drew a line along her path.
At the end of the line that split the students in two, she spoke.
"All right. I would like those of you who can use magic on the same side as the hand holding my wand, and those who cannot on the opposite side."
People moved. If unexpected was the word, the numbers on both sides came out almost even.
There were this many people who couldn't use magic?
"…Huh?"
I'd only meant to get a casual look at the faces on the non-casting side, but something was off. Someone who should have been there wasn't. Just in case, I turned my head.
"…Why are you looking at me like that?"
"……Mariella, lying isn't nice…"
Wanting to use magic was one thing, but actually lying about it…
"…What kind of bullsh— haah… Miriel, it isn't as if I can't use magic at all, you know? I simply can't sustain a great deal of mana for very long."
"……You can't?"
Was that it? I felt as if she might have said something like that. I couldn't quite remember.
"…May I hit you just once?"
"O-of course not…!"
A chill shot through me, and I threw my hands up over my head. Mariella only stared, blank, perhaps startled by how fast I'd moved.
"Haah… I swear…"
She let out a long sigh. Why was she like that? I was the one who'd nearly been hit.
"Everyone seems to be gathered, so let's begin~"
The voice carried over. Regina stood with the students who couldn't use magic. On our side was a teaching assistant I'd never seen before.
"Before we start the lesson proper, I have one question for you."
A question. The mood among the children soured the instant they heard the word. Yesterday's incident was probably to blame. Just the word question now set their bodies trembling and their breath coming short—what people called trauma.
"Hmm… the atmosphere isn't very good, is it…"
Regina seemed to notice the sudden shift as well, and when she spoke again her voice was even brighter and gentler.
"Please don't worry. It's a very simple question. Anyone may answer…?"
She let the pause hang, then opened her mouth.
"In a real battle, what matters most to a mage?"
No one answered. I couldn't tell whether they didn't know, or whether they knew and were keeping quiet because they didn't want the attention.
Still—the single most important thing in actual combat. It struck me as a rather profound question. Didn't everyone value something different to begin with? Mana capacity, the number of spells you knew, your condition that day, the weather… There were far too many factors.
And she wanted us to pick exactly one? That was far too subjective. It didn't seem like a problem with a settled answer…
"Oh, over there… the student with their hand up. Do you know the answer?"
A murmur rippled through the crowd. From the direction of it, the hand hadn't gone up in my group. Someone among the students who couldn't use magic had raised theirs.
They must have been confident, to put a hand up like that. What did they think the answer was?
"The wand."
"Yes, that's correct!"
Ah. So that was the kind of question it was.
An answer so simple it was deflating.
"You cannot cast without a wand, so it was an obvious question, wasn't it? That is why, in a fight against a mage, the first priority is, as a rule, to separate their wand from their body."
Even so, I felt as if I'd been scammed. It was no different from asking what you put in first when you cook ramen, hearing someone say the seasoning packet, and then being told the correct answer was the water. Well, yes, the water did have to go in first… but ask it that way, and most people would assume the water was already in the pot.
Fixate on knocking the wand away, besides, and you could get taken out yourself. Setting aside cases like mine, where I could cast with no wand at all, there were plenty of ways to use magic without one—artifacts, scrolls, and the rest…
I turned my head a little and looked up at Mariella's profile. Her expression was as blunt as ever, but she seemed to be concentrating on the lecture.
"……"
This wouldn't do. Honestly, I didn't care what happened to anyone else… but Mariella was the exception. An academy getting attacked was just common sense, wasn't it? Who knew what would happen here from now on, and I couldn't let her take a lecture like that at face value. Trust that and walk into a fight, and she might actually die…
"Starting this weekend, little by little… two or three hours a day ought to do…"
"…Is there something on my face?"
"No. It's nothing."
At the very least, she needed to be able to protect her own body.
Just you wait, Mariella. Star tutor Emily is going to give you one-on-one lessons…!