The Headmaster's Call
The image reflected within the transparent orb was Marquis Lyle, headmaster of Drike Academy.
He stood as one of Dmitry’s foremost intellectuals, the king’s own tutor, and a man wielding formidable power.
He stroked his beard with a languid air and continued speaking.
Marquis Lyle: You’ve had quite a hard time.
Knight Commander: Not at all!
Marquis Lyle: I know full well that Miss Jeanie is impossible to pin down. She’s no ordinary girl… Still, it’s truly a relief that she’s alive. As expected, she’s not the kind of child who would vanish so meaninglessly.
Knight Commander: …I’m sorry for causing you concern with my hasty judgment.
Marquis Lyle: Not at all. I’ll speak to His Majesty myself, so set aside any worry about discipline and focus on the children’s safety.
Marquis Lyle: Ah, take the boy named Leo with you as a preliminary student. I’ll handle the paperwork on this end.
Knight Commander: Th-thank you!
Marquis Lyle: If Miss Jeanie stirs up any more trouble, be sure to send a report. She’s bound to cause another incident.
Marquis Lyle: The delegation tried to refuse but was forced to attend, so she must be furious… In truth, when she went missing this time, I half-wondered if she had simply run away. Heh heh heh!
Knight Commander: …Is that so?
Marquis Lyle: She’ll show that peculiar stubbornness of hers, but that’s simply how she is. Yield to her whenever you can. Winning against her is impossible.
Knight Commander: Yes, sir.
Marquis Lyle: Then I’ll leave it to you.
The marquis’s figure vanished from the orb with a soft pop, and only then did Tonel raise his head. A cold sweat trickled down his spine.
He had known the upper echelons were watching Jeanie Crowell, yet he never imagined the marquis himself would demand a personal report the moment he learned she was alive.
This was a man he would normally never have the chance to address. A noble whose station towered far beyond his own.
“To think it had gone this far…”
Only that morning the knight commander had been grinding his teeth at the mere mention of Jeanie Crowell. But the recent conversation had driven the truth home with painful clarity: he must never, under any circumstances, make her his enemy.
He was a man obsessed with power, and his instincts on that front were razor-sharp. It wasn’t difficult to see that forging a connection with Jeanie Crowell was now his only path to survival.
In ten years—no, in just five—that insolent golden-haired girl would wield influence too great to ignore. It wasn’t merely because the king took an interest or the marquis held her in special regard. What he himself had suffered yesterday was proof enough.
That small girl would undoubtedly carve out a place for herself at the coming festival. Even now, the memory of his head being shoved underwater in the blink of an eye left him dizzy.
She had already surpassed the level of a mere child. Everything she did proved it.
***
Iruse, with her pink hair that looked sweet enough to melt like cotton candy, refused to leave my side for even a second.
She claimed she was terrified I might vanish again if left alone, so she kept me under constant watch.
Listening to her endless chatter, I actually felt grateful Mia wasn’t around. After all, Mia was every bit as talkative as Iruse.
“Jeanie! We’re warping today—warping! Did you know?”
“I heard.”
“It’s amazing!”
Iruse latched onto my arm, bubbling with excitement. She possessed an extraordinary talent for finding joy in the smallest things, something I found genuinely enviable. Especially compared to someone like me, who greeted everything with dissatisfaction.
“I’m so nervous! This is my first time riding a warp!”
“Same here.”
“For someone who says that, you don’t look excited at all.”
“Is there really anything to get excited about?”
“I’m excited!”
A warp was a teleportation spell—one of the highest classes of magic, capable of carrying you from one end of the continent to the other in an instant. I’d heard even nobles thought twice about the cost.
It really was a bizarre world. Technological progress lagged behind, yet instant transportation existed.
“It’s going to be so much fun, don’t you think?”
“It’ll be over in a few seconds. What’s fun about that? It’s not exactly a roller coaster.”
“Roller coaster? What’s that?”
“Just… something that exists.”
Today we were moving to the next city. We had gathered on the first floor with our luggage, ready to use Valen’s state-of-the-art warp facility.
Most of the delegation kids were buzzing with excitement, completely absorbed in chatter about the long-awaited festival.
Yet the moment their eyes met mine, their mouths snapped shut. They would awkwardly jerk their heads away, as if looking at me might summon disaster.
Ever since my duel with Leo, the stares directed at me had changed completely. Where once they had whispered with open displeasure, now any mention of me seemed to fill them with panic.
It felt like I’d been branded a dangerous element after showing too much of my ugly true nature.
“Ugh, I’m starving. I should’ve packed some bread. Jeanie, aren’t you hungry?”
“I am.”
“Want chocolate instead?”
“…Sure.”
Even so, Iruse—who chose to stay beside me despite everything—was a truly strange and precious friend. She didn’t have to keep feeding me chocolate as if it were bread, either.
I decided to put a little more effort into our conversation.
“I heard warping can make you dizzy. Think we’ll be okay?”
“Why would it make you dizzy?”
“It’s not my field, so I’m not sure, but… your body is essentially being flung across the continent, right? Maybe it gets broken down to the molecular level and reassembled?”
“…What’s a molecule? I’ve never heard that word before.”
“I don’t really know either. It might have nothing to do with molecules… I wonder what the actual theory is. Maybe it’s pointless to even look for logic in magic.”
“Jeanie, you’re a Spirit Master yet you seem way smarter than me, an alchemist! You know so much!”
“You’re overestimating me.”
I shrugged, accepting another piece of chocolate.
“Hey. I’ve been curious about this for a while—how exactly are mages and Spirit Masters different?”
“Different how?”
“They’re both advanced studies, right? And they both use magic…”
“Would it help if I said the method is different? A mage uses their own body as the medium. Spirit magic uses spirits as the medium. Strictly speaking, you could call Spirit Masters summoners.”
“Oh, I get it now!”
Iruse was every bit as curious as Mia. It seemed to be a common trait among alchemy students. The magic class kids were famous for their thirst for knowledge too, so maybe every academically inclined child was like this.
Did smart kids simply have more questions?
“Jeanie, look behind you.”
“Why?”
When I turned, I saw a clear path had opened straight toward me. The students were parting for someone.
It was a male student a full head taller than anyone my age. He walked directly at me, eyes locked on mine, making it obvious to everyone who his target was.
His uniform marked him as part of the adolescent division. The elementary boys wore green-and-black uniforms while the older boys wore blue-and-black, so the distinction was easy.
“Jeanie Crowell! That’s you, right?”
The boy stopped in front of me and Iruse with bold confidence. He looked about sixteen, but I was certain we had never met. I didn’t know a single person in the adolescent division.
I tensed, instantly on guard. Iruse, on the other hand, simply let her bright, curious eyes sparkle.
“…Who are you?”
“I was late with my introduction. My name is Bright Keniyan. Magic class, adolescent division—as you can see.”
The boy named Bright puffed up with pride as he gave his name. I could only wonder what the hell this guy wanted.