Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Exhaustion and a New Acquaintance
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Even the formula for Fireball had parts that were unnecessary for Loan.
He could pursue a more efficient method, one possible even with his limited mana.
As the thought occurred to him, Loan didn't hesitate and immediately put it into action.
‘First, I'll keep only the mana resonance formula between the Fireball and the caster. Initial velocity, launch angle, and trajectory angle are unnecessary. I'll need to account for air and mana resistance, though...’
Loan began to deconstruct and reconstruct the formula.
The ideas he devised were repeatedly written and erased in his mind.
He would write down a process, run a virtual simulation, and if the expected result was wrong, he'd go back and modify the variables.
The mana in his heart, which had been racing since he'd understood the Fire Arrow formula, continued to spin ceaselessly, and his head grew hotter along with it.
It felt like his eyes would pop out, and he occasionally felt a dizzy spell.
Even though it was just a simulation, his whole body ached as if he were being beaten.
‘It's okay. I can do this.’
This was the boy who had spent entire days sitting on a cold floor, exploring mana.
A talent for understanding and mastering principles, combined with an almost obsessive level of concentration.
This was nothing. And with the added element of fun, he lost all track of time.
Dawn approached, but Loan didn't stop.
"It's almost done now."
After finally completing the formula, structuring it into a magic circle of lines and space, and then converting that into a chant with precise words.
Eventually, even that became unnecessary—relying solely on intuition, senses, and will.
*Fwoosh-*
Only after conjuring a fist-sized ball of fire in mid-air.
Loan clutched his head, hotter than the fireball itself, and collapsed to the floor.
* * *
The door, which hadn't opened for two days, creaked open very carefully.
A large boy who entered the room was startled to find Loan collapsed on the floor.
"What the, why are you sleeping here?"
His voice was raspy, as if it was breaking.
But Loan didn't react at all.
The boy nudged Loan with his toe. When there was still no response, he crouched down close to the floor.
"Weren't you just sleeping? Are you sick?"
As he asked, he placed a hand on Loan's head and was shocked again by the intense heat.
After checking for breath by putting his fingertips under Loan's nose, the boy now pressed his ear to Loan's chest to check for a heartbeat.
Fortunately, a very clear heartbeat could be heard through the damp, sweat-soaked shirt.
Immediately.
The boy scooped Loan up, kicked the door open, and started running towards the dormitory's infirmary.
"Damn, I'm screwed. Dad's going to kill me."
A short while after the muttering boy handed Loan over to the infirmary.
Somehow, reports were made, and a number of people entered the infirmary one after another.
Considering the early hour, it was an unusual event, and even more so given the identities of those who arrived.
"He didn't show it, so I thought he was fine, but looking back, it was a grueling forced march for a child. He was sleeping outdoors, too. I should have moved at a more leisurely pace..."
"It's not your fault, Lady Sienna. It was a mistake on the part of the administration. We thought we had a full grasp of his physical condition, but we didn't take the proper measures. No, perhaps interrogating him as soon as he arrived was the mistake. He's just a child, after all..."
"It's my fault, as the Dean of Academic Affairs. I should have admonished him or given him a warning when I was making his schedule. Perhaps because he's so talented and inspires trust, I ended up burdening him with unnecessary expectations..."
"I feel heavy-hearted, thinking I pushed him too hard in our very first class. I made him run and even spar. He showed so much potential that I got carried away. Perhaps I was the one who lost my composure..."
"It seems he was looking at the ancient dictionary late into the night. I gave him the book too early and assigned a pointless task. His curiosity was extraordinary; he must have been wrestling with a book that was too difficult to understand. I can only blame myself for not being more considerate..."
For a long time, they blamed themselves.
It was almost like they were fighting.
As if to say the fault was theirs and they must take responsibility, they even argued that Loan's care from now on should be entrusted to them.
In the end.
"No, it's just accumulated fatigue. Now, everyone, please go back."
Unable to withstand the nurse's anger, they reluctantly departed only after gazing at Loan's face for a long while.
Afterward.
After a gentle breeze had drifted through the crack in the window for a long time.
"Umm..."
Loan, who hadn't woken up even during the commotion, finally fluttered his eyes open late that afternoon.
He then tilted his head, looking at the unfamiliar ceiling and the strange bed.
In a chair by the bed, a boy he'd never seen before was dozing, snoring softly.
Loan gently caught the boy's head as it was about to fall forward, and the sensation woke the boy up.
"Huh? You're awake? Are you okay? You're okay, right?"
The boy fussed over Loan, checking him here and there, before his eyes welled up with tears and he hugged Loan in joy.
Loan gently pushed him away and asked.
"Who are you?"
The boy patted Loan's shoulder and answered.
"Lucas von Passau. I'm your classmate."
"Ah..."
"I can't tell you how surprised I was to find you collapsed while I was sneaking out of school. If my father finds out... phew."
Lucas looked up at the ceiling for a moment and let out a long sigh.
"I collapsed?"
"Ah, they said it's nothing serious. Just that you overdid it a bit. You'll be fine after some rest."
"Ah..."
Loan still couldn't shake the suspicion from his eyes.
Realizing his explanation was insufficient, Lucas continued.
"My father asked me to look after you."
"Who's your father?"
"Oscar von Passau. He's the Vice-Commander of the Faith Division."
"Ah..."
The benefactor who had raided the shelter, rescued Loan and the other children, and sent them to the Union.
"Well, a lot of people already know, so it's not a secret anymore. Later, just make sure you tell everyone that I carried you to the infirmary and nursed you all night, okay?"
He couldn't remember the process of collapsing at all.
Only that his head had been incredibly hot and his whole body had felt excruciating pain.
In any case, listening to Lucas and observing his clear mana, it didn't seem like he was lying.
It seemed he was now indebted to his benefactor's son as well.
Loan felt a deep sense of gratitude and bowed his head sincerely.
"Okay. I'll do that. Thank you so much."
"You know, you're more sociable than you look. Talking to me so informally even after seeing my face."
"Why?"
"Don't I look a bit old for my age?"
He did have a somewhat rugged and stern appearance.
"Really?"
"Yeah. I'm twelve."
"Did you enroll late?"
"Nope. I failed twice because I didn't have enough attendance days."
"..."
"Ah, well, there's no guarantee I would've passed even if I had attended. I hate studying, and I'm not good at it either."
Lucas nonchalantly pouted and shook his head from side to side.
As if he were mocking the world or the school itself.
"You're more impressive than I expected."
"Huh? Expected?"
"I heard about you from someone."
Sophie had once introduced Lucas as a problem child.
Lucas looked unfazed.
"Someone... Well, I bet it wasn't anything good."
"..."
"Whatever, it's fine. It doesn't matter what other people say about me. As long as I'm true to myself."
"..."
Loan didn't know where one was supposed to find pride in statements like not attending class, hating studying, and probably failing anyway.
Lucas said.
"By the way, did you really collapse while studying? I heard you decided to learn magic."
"Yeah."
"Well, that's a bit of a shame. If it were swordsmanship, we could practice together, and I could look after you more closely."
As expected, Lucas was also oriented towards swordsmanship.
It was actually quite natural.
With his father being the Vice-Commander of the Faith Division, his family would surely have its own inherited swordsmanship and secret techniques.
Indeed, it showed that he had trained well from a young age.
His mana was very dense and its light was pure. He was so tall and thickly built that one might wonder if he was lying about being twelve.
He might have been naturally gifted, but Loan knew how hard one had to train their body to achieve such results.
It seemed he wasn't lying about training to the point of skipping classes.
Loan said.
"But... it's probably too late to go to school now, right?"
"Go where? You're the one who collapsed from studying."
Seeing Lucas's firm attitude, it seemed that was indeed out of the question.
To have been unconscious for hours, no matter how tired he was, was not something to be taken lightly.
It felt like he still had a fever.
"Then how about getting some air? My head still feels hot."
"Well, that makes sense. That's the kind of reason I skip class, too."
"Umm..."
"On a day like today, it's best to relax by breathing in some fresh air and eating something delicious. Let's go."
Loan was dragged by Lucas out of the school and through the alleys.
After passing through a few winding blocks, they arrived at the Union's commercial district for the first time.
It was on higher ground than the school.
The evening air was quite cool, and it felt like it was clearing his head.
"Here, eat up."
Loan ate the sausage wrapped in bread that Lucas handed him while looking around.
It was quieter and less lively than the civilian commercial districts outside the Union, but there were shops he hadn't seen before that caught Loan's eye.
"I want to take a look over there."
The place Loan pointed to was a magic shop.
Lucas shrugged and led the way, opening the door.
The inside of the shop was very quiet, with a tranquil atmosphere.
Bookshelves filled with old tomes, display cases with ornaments of unknown purpose, and accessories of various sizes.
Loan was momentarily dazed by the intense light of mana emanating from each and every item.
However, there was a big problem for Loan when it came to buying these intriguing items.
‘I don't have any money.’
The money he had earned at the shelter had only been used as a tool to get his talent recognized.
It would have been nice if that money had at least been recognized as his property and brought with him.
Seeing Loan pouting in disappointment, Lucas tapped his shoulder and said.
"What is it? If there's something you want, just say so. I'm sure looking after you includes stuff like this."
Loan's eyes widened as he replied.
"Can you buy everything in here?"
"...Not quite that much."
"Then how much?"
"Just pick one thing for now. If you pick a book or something, you'll be reading it for months, right?"
"..."
When he actually looked, the amount of money in Lucas's palm wasn't much.
Recalling his begging days, it was an amount he could gather in half a day.
In any case, Loan, who didn't even have that much, had to consider Lucas's situation and the price of the items.
What he chose was a very old-looking, palm-sized, oval black stone that was tucked away in the very back corner, under a display case.
Despite having a dense concentration of mana, its price was quite low.
‘It's probably because the mana is too turbid.’
He thought, but the shopkeeper's subsequent reaction was interesting.
"You've chosen the Stone of Goetia. I'd forgotten we even had that. I doubt you knew what it was when you picked it."
"The Stone of Goetia? I've never heard of it."
He glanced at Lucas, but Lucas, who wouldn't know, just blinked his eyes.
The owner looked back and forth between the two boys, then stroked his neatly trimmed mustache with his fingers and let out a playful laugh.
"Haha. Yes, I didn't think you'd choose it knowing what it was."
"What is this used for?"
"It's just for decoration. You can safely assume it will never awaken."
"Awaken?"
Loan held the black stone and tilted his head.
No matter how he looked at it, it didn't seem to be some kind of egg.