Chapter 81
Chapter 81
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Librarian Ernst - Top Student of Aldrich Academy
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Eris couldn't properly remember her parents' faces.
She was an orphan, after all.
But Eris didn't feel any particular sorrow about that fact.
Even though she had no parents, she had a great master who more than made up for it.
The human national treasure of Labelosia.
A sixth-circle grand mage, rare even across the entire continent.
Many people respected and praised her master, and every time they did, Eris felt a swell of pride as if the praise were meant for her.
Her master, the great mage, had several disciples, but Eris's talent stood out among them.
People would look at Eris and say,
A genius.
The direct disciple chosen by the grand mage herself.
Her master would praise her like that too.
"Well done. Just keep striving like this from now on."
Those simple words of praise from her master brought Eris more joy than the flashy accolades from others.
With just one warm word from her master, she could endure the grueling mana training or the challenge of absorbing difficult knowledge.
…That life of Eris's changed one day, sparked by a story brought by a messenger who visited her master.
The messenger said,
They wanted to invite her master as an external instructor to teach a certain 'student,' and asked if she had any interest in accepting.
Eris and the other disciples were dumbfounded.
There were more people desperate to learn magic under a grand mage than they could count.
Not just from their own country, but from foreign lands too, people came bearing bribes, begging to be accepted as disciples. To tell such a master to come to them if she wanted to teach? It was absurd.
But what flustered them even more was their master's reaction.
She nodded readily to the messenger's ridiculous request.
The disciples voiced their concerns about their master's decision.
The invitation had come from none other than the Eisen Empire.
They feared the pressure from such a mighty superpower, incomparable to Labelosia, might have forced her hand.
Laughing it off, her master dismissed their worries.
"I'm just going to meet a friend in the empire. I'm curious about this crown prince of theirs—the one who complained to him that 'teaching is joyful yet agonizing,' though I can't tell if it was praise or lament."
The empire had offered to provide a mansion for her and her disciples if she wished, but she shook her head.
No need for everyone to crowd in when it was just a quick visit, she said.
With a lighthearted air, her master boarded the carriage prepared by the empire, and Eris and the disciples waited for her return.
She came back about three months later.
The disciples whispered among themselves at the surprisingly swift return.
Far too short a time to properly learn magic.
The crown prince probably had no real intention of studying seriously anyway—he just needed the credential of having trained under her.
She'd said she was going to see a friend, so the teaching must have been purely ceremonial.
Despite their questions, her master gave no answer about what had happened in the empire.
Eris worried about her master.
Her face had grown noticeably darker since returning from the empire.
She often stared blankly into space or sighed more frequently.
Perhaps the royal family noticed her master's state too.
The right-hand man of the wise king—who was also her master's old acquaintance—visited with fine liquor in tow.
Overhearing their conversation by chance, Eris finally understood why her master had been suffering.
"That impressive? You're saying the crown prince of the empire has talent worth regretting like this?"
"Impressive doesn't even begin to cover it. No words can properly evaluate it."
Drunk on liquor.
In a disheveled state Eris had never seen, her master continued her lament.
"A genius among geniuses who could elevate the very discipline of magic to new heights. No wonder the empire's man was complaining. A talent who should devote himself solely to magic is wasting time and effort on swordsmanship and imperial studies—how could anyone not call that a waste?"
He was the crown prince of the empire, after all.
Ignoring trivial external matters to focus purely on magic was simply impossible.
That was the tragedy, her master sighed.
Comforting her, the acquaintance said,
"Come now, calm down. Don't you already have plenty of excellent disciples? That one—who was it? Ah, yes, Eris. Didn't you brag about how outstanding she is just the other day?"
Hearing her own name, Eris unconsciously held her breath.
She felt a surge of joy knowing her master had praised her even in her absence.
"Haa… She's not enough."
And that joy plummeted into despair with her master's deep sigh.
The kind, thoughtful master she knew would never have uttered such words lightly.
No, she wouldn't have even missed the presence of a disciple hiding nearby.
But profound disappointment and drunkenness had made the great mage more careless than usual.
"Eris is outstanding, yes. Diligent and clever. In terms of aptitude, she's the best disciple I've taken."
But that was it, her master said.
"She'd be rated highly among the mediocre, but she can't touch the realm of true geniuses. That's Eris."
"Isn't that harsh on your prized disciple? You called her like a granddaughter last time."
"Affection and overestimation are different things."
"I hope you never say that to her face."
"I wouldn't even if you begged me to, so spare me the needless worry."
The two elders' conversation continued after that, but Eris didn't hear it.
Suppressing tears ready to overflow and slipping away unnoticed had taken all she had.
That was the end of it.
Perhaps venting her pent-up frustration over drinks worked wonders—the master's persistently gloomy demeanor lifted, and the other disciples breathed a sigh of relief at her return to normal.
"Excellent work, Eris. As expected of my disciple."
Her master remained as kind as ever.
From the outside, she showed no hint of disappointment or dismay toward Eris or the others.
But having glimpsed her master's true feelings, Eris could no longer take the praise at face value with pure joy.
Her master's lament over the crown prince's wasted potential, the evaluation that called her merely talented—it kept searing her heart.
A sticky, blazing flame of jealousy.
The wise king of Labelosia had many achievements, but the one most often mentioned was his education reform.
Dozens of years ago, education in Labelosia had been limited entirely to private tutoring.
Nobles and wealthy families might hire private instructors for their children, but there were no dedicated facilities just for learning.
The wise king modeled after several great powers and established educational institutions where students of age could acquire diverse knowledge and skills, encouraging both nobles and commoners to make full use of them.
After all, talented graduates from these so-called academies would benefit the nation.
Institutions backed directly by the king, even dipping into royal privy funds.
Naturally, the students' thirst for knowledge would burn bright like a bonfire…
'…Yeah, right.'
Eris sneered inwardly.
Whatever the benevolent king's expectations, whatever the nobles' desires to curry royal favor, the ones actually facing the studies were youths in their prime, eager to slack off and play.
Especially those from noble families, drilled from childhood in rigid schedules to avoid falling behind other nobles, now freed from stuffy homes and surrounded by peers—expecting them to diligently study was overly optimistic.
On the flip side, commoner students burned with determination to "succeed just to spite these filthy nobles" despite their own laziness, but most who achieved top grades harbored growing resentment and hatred toward the nobility—hardly ideal for the nation.
Whatever the case, it had nothing to do with her, so Eris tuned out her surroundings.
In the first place, what happened to this flower garden of an academy in the future didn't matter much to her.
What mattered was the admission to the Celestial Academy, granted only to top-performing students here.
A bastion of learning in central continent, its influence rivaled entire nations.
Only a handful of geniuses from central lands entered, competing fiercely within—that was the true arena where Eris could prove her worth.
"Lady Eris, I heard! Full marks across every subject in the last exam? That's incredible!"
A female student approached with a beaming smile, heaping praise on Eris—oblivious or not to her inner thoughts.
Eris wanted to snap back, 'Yes, and you barely scraped averages except in one subject. How's it feel to waste tuition on the floor?' But sadly, 'excellent student' status for Celestial Academy required not just grades, but social connections too.
No matter how peerless her scores, isolation from peers would torpedo her chances at advanced institutions.
Thus, Eris forced out words against her will.
"Just luck. Lady Pyrene, your defensive spells have improved tremendously, haven't they?"
"Thanks to all your tips last time! Father's been nagging nonstop, but I think I'll squeak by this round."
Getting off with just one decent defensive spell amid disasters elsewhere—truly a merciful father.
Well, that was inevitable.
Few noble students seriously pursued magic or swordsmanship.
Nobles hired and commanded the capable; they themselves had no need to wield such power.
Eris herself wouldn't be chatting equally without her title as disciple of Grand Mage Delphinarius Wayneheart.
'Half a year until graduation exams, was it? Hope time flies.'
For Eris, versed in myriad magics as the grand mage's prized disciple, the academy's lessons were mostly retreads.
Math, history, liberal arts offered some novelty, but rigorous prep and review had covered everything up to graduation already.
She endured it as a pre-tune-up for the main stage, Celestial Academy, but honestly, it felt like wasted time.
"Oh, by the way, Lady Eris. Know that black building east of Aldrich Academy?"
"'The Unopening Coffin'?"
"Yes! The Brown Merchant Company bought it and the surrounding land recently, and it opened yesterday—as a library, they say."
"Hm."
Eris's eyes gleamed faintly.
To her, with her strong drive for self-improvement and curiosity, books were gateways to new knowledge.
She'd already devoured every book in the academy; a new source sparked instant interest.
'…Shall I check it out?'