Found It
“I succeeded in mana operation, you know. That red light—it definitely meant fire.”
Having cooled off sufficiently from their sweat, the two resumed walking and continued their conversation. Maness was still leading the way toward their destination, with Iris following behind him.
“I saw it too.”
“Of course you did. You were curious. I caught a glimpse of your mana operation out of the corner of my eye, too.”
Unlike Iris, whose mana had a distinct color, Maness's mana showed no hue at all. There had clearly been a reaction, but unless someone had elevated their mana sensing to a certain level, it would have been hard to detect the transparent mana he'd condensed in that brief moment. Iris hadn't noticed, nor had the other students watching them.
“After class, the kids were saying stuff like they thought something was up when you stepped forward, but you couldn't even operate it properly.”
“...Could you not bring up gossip like that right in front of the person involved?”
“But I'm different from them. I was thinking maybe there is something to you.”
Her instincts were too sharp by half. Normally, this would have been the moment to brush it off as before, but Maness deliberately didn't change the subject. She was someone brimming with magical talent. Her reaction suggested she might provide clues to unraveling his questions.
“What's your basis for that?”
Iris hesitated for a moment as Maness pressed on without looking back, forging the path ahead. The evidence backing her words was humiliating for her.
“...Professor Metaph was only watching you.”
“The professor was?”
“More precisely, just your hand.”
At this new information, Maness glanced back. Iris's face soured as she carefully stepped on the ground he'd scouted ahead.
It wasn't incomprehensible. Mana without an infused color was a special case. It was only natural for a professor to take interest.
“Yeah? I didn't get a look at the professor's face.”
Their conversation paused briefly. As they trudged silently onward, Maness sorted through his uneasy feelings. Interest could just as easily be poison, especially when it wasn't clear what exactly had caught it. People took interest in things exceeding expectations, but also in those falling short. It might not be 'Is that all there is?' but 'That's all there is?' The students had looked at him with the latter gaze, and he doubted the professor was any different.
“Professor Metaph's expressions are hard to read, but maybe he was surprised by an unexpected side of you?”
“Or surprised by an unexpectedly dull talent.”
“...Why are you so negative?”
Because I'm Maness Pictri. Maness swallowed the thought only he would understand. Knowing now that this character had zero relevance in the original story, he had no choice but to view anything connected to Maness Pictri through a negative lens.
“Anyway, I think the professor reacting like that means there's something to you.”
“If there is, I'll figure it out in time.”
A school was a place of enlightenment. As long as he stably attended Snowrobe, the questions he harbored would eventually unravel. Above all, weren't the mysteries he faced right now all tied to magic?
“Iris, do you know how to sense mana?”
“Mana sensing?”
“Professor Almond said she'd imbued hidden items with mana. Probably to weed out students sensitive to it.”
Maness phrased it like a deduction, even though he already knew. Iris reacted with bewilderment.
“It's not exactly mana sensing, but ever since I was little, I've always felt something different when someone used magic or around enchanted objects.”
“You've got a talent for magic.”
“Talent? Nah. I just mimicked mages and stuck with meditation consistently. Somehow, my skills improved along the way.”
That's what society calls talent. He nearly let a needless comment slip at her unintended humility.
“Lucky us. Let's level it up a bit more and give it a try.”
“But do we really need to go higher? I felt faint mana traces around the foothills too.”
Though little time had passed, Iris's words carried a half-whining tone, as fatigue set in again. He couldn't very well say, 'You're the one who insisted on tagging along.'
In the original, thanks to the heaps of items Conien and Iris gathered, Class 2 would win the competition. But now that she'd stubbornly followed when he'd thought she'd give up, he couldn't guarantee victory with the straightforward approach.
An item that wouldn't lose to anything—with massive points. In the original, near the end of class, Almond mentioned the item hidden midway up the mountain.
“The important ones are hidden deep.”
Iris tilted her head at his meaningful words, unaware of their intent.
*
Boltman Gail, the second son of the Gail family, had heard one phrase drilled into him since childhood.
— Wherever you go, be the victor, Boltman.
His father, Earl Gail, who had raised the family from the bottom, and his older brother, who had joined the Imperial Magic Corps, both emphasized victory every time.
The arrogance of the privileged pierced the heavens, but it paled against the obsession of those who tasted success through blood and effort. Boltman had watched and learned that obsession from a young age.
“You, come with me.”
Gasping for breath from the exhausting climb, he saw the two ahead locked in some standoff. Watching them, a plan flashed through Boltman's mind.
He didn't care about the infamous delinquent. What mattered was Jerman's lady, Iris. He'd once overheard at a social gathering that Archduke Jerman thought his daughter had magical talent. It might have been mere parental pride, but from what he'd heard, the archduke had his eldest daughter in mind as heir. He wouldn't want her veering into magic instead. He wasn't the type to invent nonexistent talent just to boast about his kid.
After their standoff ended and they moved on, Boltman executed his plan. Nothing elaborate. Even if she had superior magical talent, he had the edge right now, having mastered mana bullets. The simple strategy: intimidate or disrupt her with mana bullets once she found items the professor mentioned, then snatch them. There was no rule against taking from other students. With no clue on the items' appearance, plundering was the simplest, most convenient method.
“...How far are they going?”
Boltman trailed them stealthily, half-crawling to avoid notice. When they paused, leaning against trees to chat, he flattened himself on the ground and held his breath. He hadn't imagined they'd climb to the mountainside; regret seeped in that he should have just hunted for items himself.
Their relentless steps halted. Fearing discovery, Boltman pressed his chest to the dirt. They exchanged words, then acted differently. Jerman's lady closed her eyes, concentrating on something, while the delinquent watched her intently.
Mana sensing? Boltman realized what she was doing—it was what the back-alley mage who'd taught him sometimes did. The Imperial Guards carried anti-magic pendants, and he'd avoid patrols by sensing them.
As she concentrated for a long time, the delinquent observing her entered the same stance. Soon, they both snapped out of it, exchanged more words, and hurried on.
They found it. A mischievous grin spread across Boltman's face.
*
“How about sensing again around here?”
At her question laced with complaint, Maness nodded. Suddenly doing mana sensing after reaching the mountainside—where only mountain beasts should tread—seemed incomprehensible enough.
“It'll be pointless. I didn't feel any mana on the way up.”
He'd expected as much. Just as Iris hadn't noticed his mana right beside her in morning class, even talent wasn't fully formed yet.
— No matter how many items you gathered, bringing back just that one would have secured your class's victory.
In the original, Almond had said that to the reassembled students about the item hidden midway up the mountain. In simple terms, an item worth a hundred others. Not for mere sensitivity, but to find students with exceptional magical talent.
“Not a quick scan—let's concentrate like in morning class.”
At his suggestion to focus, Iris caught on to what he meant. From her teacher's lessons, mana sensing was resonating her mana with external mana. He meant to expand the resonance range by maximally emitting internal mana.
“...Well, not even trying would be stupid.”
There might not even be an item midway, and she doubted she could pull off proper mana sensing. But having decided to follow Maness and endured the ordeal to get here, she felt like she'd lose out without finding something—be it the hidden item or mastering mana sensing.
Maness watched the aspiring mage slip into meditation for mana operation.
Even with prior knowledge from the original, he didn't know everything. Magic especially—he'd progressed through Kyle's knight-family perspective, making magic encounters rarer over time. So, he sought magical lessons from Iris.
Her tagging along wasn't planned, but since it happened, he should gain something. With her overflowing talent, she'd handle mana sensing easily at this point, and observing would yield hints.
“...Feel anything?”
After staring at her red hair swaying in the breeze for over ten minutes as she stood still, she opened her eyes and shook her head with an annoyed expression.
“I get a sense, but there's a limit. Seems like my mana operation has limits.”
“What exactly is that sense?”
His proactive questioning flustered her momentarily, but Iris found his attitude satisfying. It felt like being a professor explaining mana operation to a student—acknowledging her talent. She flashed a confident smile.
“Think of emitting your internal mana around your body and spreading it thin, like covering the area with a mana film.”
A mana film. Like art, magic leaned more on sensation than formulas. Magic circles and incantations involved calculations, but what mattered was the mage's evoked sense. That sense couldn't be hammered in by others—it had to be intuitively acquired.
“Want to try once more?”
“Feels like a waste.”
“I want to try too. You've gotta practice what you learn right away to improve, right?”
His words implied 'I'm learning mana operation from you,' and Iris bought it easily. Being from a trading house, he knew how to say the right things.
“If you're that insistent, fine.”
As Iris entered meditation again, Maness closed his eyes and focused inward too. Mana circulating from his chest. He slowly emitted the formless energy permeating his body, like rising steam.
He knew control grew harder the farther emitted mana strayed. So, he seized and controlled it immediately. Like mana cloaking his body, he gradually layered the held mana around him.
That was how it should be.
……!
Sudden pain assaulted Maness's mind. His senses expanded ceaselessly with the spreading mana. Uncontrollable mana began reading everything in a vast range.
Clutching his head, Maness slowly dropped to one knee. Pain from his head spread to every corner of his body, as if riding the mana flowing through him.
Grind.
Despite the onslaught, Maness clenched his teeth to stifle a scream. Alone, maybe, but not in front of Iris. He had to avoid actions that could spark needless misunderstandings.
A moment later—whether from acclimating to the pain or his control efforts bearing fruit—the choking agony eased. Maness took deep breaths.
“Huh? What's up with you?”
Looking up slowly, Maness's eyes met Iris's innocent face.
“...Pushed too hard and got worn out, I guess.”
“What? You're tired from that climb?”
Her nuance—that she wasn't tired at all—sharpened the delinquent's glare.
“Shut up.”
“Sh-shut up yourself! Did you at least try mana sensing?”
As Iris quickly changed the subject, Maness dusted his knee and stood.
He'd nearly blacked out, but fortunately, the mana sensation remained intact. The spot where his mana had clashed nonstop—that was the target.
“Nah, couldn't really tell.”
An obvious lie to her. Sweeping his gaze over the distant mountains, Maness repeated inwardly.
Found it.