Chapter 92
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 92
Chapter Title: The Archmage of the New Semester (4)
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"Ughhh-"
It took exactly five minutes after being dragged out of the dormitory by Princess Celestina for me to start regretting it.
The sun... the sunlight... it's way too bright... My eyes are burning... Someone put out the fire in the sky...!
"What's wrong, Luna? The weather's perfect."
The princess wouldn't let go of my arm, clinging tightly as she led me along.
I looked just like I was being hauled off by the princess as a prisoner.
Her smiling face looked utterly refreshed, like she was the picture of vitality.
Excited to head to class... Princess, something must be wrong with your head.
"Whoa... Even Lunaris can't stand up to the princess."
"How the heck did the princess tame her?"
Every student we passed on the way to the lecture hall whispered about the princess and me.
Tame? I'm not some wild animal.
Once we neared the main building housing the lecture halls, the murmurs grew louder.
"Hey, did you see? Lunaris is here."
"What? She's still attending? I thought she graduated early from the academy."
"Come to think of it, didn't Lunaris get appointed as an archmage by the imperial court this time?"
"An... archmage taking basic magic theory... Is, is that even right?"
Believe me, I didn't want to come either.
We arrived at the lecture hall in the main building and headed straight for the prime spot by the window, farthest from the podium.
Claire was already there, her light green hair neatly braided.
"Good morning, Claire."
"Princess Celestina! Welcome! But who's that behind you... Huh?"
Claire had been waving enthusiastically at the princess, but her eyes widened like saucers when they met mine.
"Well, if it isn't you."
Soon, her eyes and mouth curved into sly arcs.
"The world's busiest archmage, who we share a dorm building with but never actually see?"
"Nooo... Yawwwn-"
"I figured you vanished the entire first week, so you'd skip lectures all semester again, but what's this? Did the new term inspire you to actually be diligent?"
"As if Luna would."
The princess answered for me and half-forced me into the seat next to Claire.
Then she took the one on my other side, completely blocking my escape route.
"She was planning to fuse with her bed again today, so I had to beg and plead to drag her here."
"Ahaha, classic Luna."
I didn't have the energy to retort, so I just flopped face-first onto the desk.
How could I find an even comfier position to sleep in?
I tried resting my forehead on my stacked hands, then my temples on my forearms, experimenting with different poses.
But the hard wooden desk made every position uncomfortable.
Just lying prone already put serious strain on my back and waist. Ugh... This is exactly why I didn't want to come to class.
Having napped briefly in the princess's bed before being yanked out had left me with brutal reverse jet lag.
As I rolled this way and that, deeply researching the world's most comfortable pose...
"Hey! Things are going nuts over at Linea Hall right now!"
The lecture hall door slammed open with a bang, and some guy burst in.
"House maids, imperial knights... even the head of the Magic Department all collapsed!"
He couldn't contain his excitement, words spilling out in a rush.
"Lunaris swung her staff, and it was like a meteor shower out of a clear sky...!"
"Was the staff maybe this one?"
"Yeah, yeah! That silver-white staff... Huh?"
Still face-down, I craned my neck to glance at the guy.
Our eyes met perfectly.
"So, what exactly did you think I did with it?"
My flat tone made him jump like he'd been shocked.
His face drained of color, shrinking back pathetically. What a sight.
"N-Nothing at all! Ahaha... G-Good morning!"
He shuffled awkwardly to an empty seat like a creaky golem.
The lecture hall atmosphere turned icy in an instant.
Everyone held their breath, watching someone—probably me.
Well, at least it was quiet now. Nice perk.
"Wow... The vibe in here is totally different from last week. Wonder who could be responsible."
Princess Celestina poked my arm with a mischievous grin.
"This is all because of you, Princess. You have no idea how intimidating it is for a normal person like me to share a class with royalty."
"Saying that in such a deadpan voice kills any conviction it might have. Besides, I bet these classmates are more scared of you than me."
The awkward silence broke as the front door opened and the professor entered.
"Looks like everyone's nicely prepared for class today. If only you were always like this."
The professor activated the whiteboard with a satisfied expression.
"Alright, attendance check—though it's pointless..."
He scanned the room, then flinched when his eyes met mine.
His eyes trembled like there was an earthquake.
For a split second, a look of denial flashed across his face.
"No, uh... why are you here?"
"Why? To attend class like a student."
"W-Well, true... but you're a student..."
"I am a student."
"Technically not wrong, but..."
I propped my chin on my hand and shot back flatly.
"Just start the lecture."
"R-Right... With Lunaris here, no need to check attendance..."
His sigh-ridden mutter about how the lesson wouldn't be easy today carried all the way to my seat at the back.
"Then let's start by solving the practice problems I assigned lightly last time."
"T-To express this problem as a magic circle..."
His chalk-holding hand shook violently.
Our professor's tremors were no joke.
I wondered if he'd even be able to draw the magic circle properly like this.
"Ultimately, the core is conversion..."
"Yawwwn-"
"Eek! L-Lunaris? Is there something wrong with my lecture? Or maybe you're dissatisfied..."
"...Not really."
If I had one complaint, it was why he kept glancing my way. Made it awkward to nap openly.
I propped my chin and subtly glanced sideways.
The princess and Claire's notebooks were filled with neat notes.
Whoa, did they actually cover material from the first week?
There was always that one professor. The tactless types who pushed ahead even during orientation week.
"Claire, did you try solving the problems the professor assigned last time?"
The princess whispered to Claire across me, voice hushed.
"I was gonna make time over the weekend, but they were too hard."
The princess muttered about not even grasping how to approach them.
"Hehehe~ They were definitely tough. Even for me, a Linea Hall merit scholarship student, they weren't easy."
Claire, for once, looked smug.
Her boasting rubbed me the wrong way.
Claire was best when she was groveling.
Sleep wouldn't come anyway. Maybe tease her a bit?
"But!"
"But?"
"I did thorough previews..."
"Preview? You just wrote answers, but the magic doesn't even work."
I sneaked a peek at her notebook and casually commented.
"...Wanna fight first thing in the morning, Luna?"
She bit immediately.
Her pout made me chuckle involuntarily.
Yeah, that's more like Claire.
"What? Where'd I go wrong this time? The process is flawless."
"If it was, this answer sheet would've been a proper magic scroll."
I sighed and drew natural mana to my fingertip.
"But look at this."
I pressed my mana-laden finger to her notebook.
With a pop, mana backlashed and splattered everywhere.
"Eek?!"
"See? Mess up the problem, and this happens. If you'd sold this to someone, you'd get complaints from the buyer instantly."
"B-But I double-checked everything...!"
Claire's voice shrank.
Her confident expression vanished, reverting to her familiar cowering mode.
"Jeez, dummy Claire. How'd you even get into Linea Hall without knowing where you went wrong."
"Ughhh..."
"You don't even grasp the problem's purpose or what the magic circle does, yet you slapped equations, solutions, and answers on it. Might as well call it a brand-new spell creation."
"I know that much! It's converting mana from one of the basic four elements—water—to its sub-branch, ice!"
I sighed again at her indignant outburst.
"You think it's that simple?"
"...Huh?"
"No reason to use such convoluted equations to convert water mana to ice. The inefficiency is off the charts."
I snapped my fingers lightly.
"Classifying ice as a sub-attribute of water is wrong from the start."
A hexagonal ice crystal floated up from my fingertip.
"Water and ice are essentially the same. Why bother with conversion formulas?"
Claire blinked blankly at my words, then flushed red and raised her voice.
"Th-That's 'cause you're an archmage..."
"No. Anyone handling basic water magic can do this. You can too, right?"
I flicked my finger again.
"Same for other attributes—magic is just mimicking natural phenomena."
The chunk of ice shattered into fine particles, scattering everywhere.
"Just understand the essence."
Centered on where the princess, Claire, and I sat...
Pale frost flowers drifted down.
"L-Look at that!"
"Whoa... Isn't it pretty?"
Small gasps of admiration rose around us at the early winter scene.