1. Cover
2. Insert
3. Title Page
4. Copyright
5. Characters
6. Prologue
7. Chapter 1 Long-Awaited Rendezvous
8. Interlude 1 Letter
9. Interlude 2 Witch’s Musings, Prince’s Musings
10. Chapter 2 The Matter of Credits
11. Chapter 3 Assembling the Magic-Containing Box Development Team
12. Chapter 4 Lady Marionette’s Homecoming
13. Chapter 5 The Spell Vault
14. Chapter 6 Kira Vera and Investigating the Forest
15. Chapter 7 In Short, Misery
16. Epilogue Letter
17. Extra Story A First-Year Knighthood Student, from Winter to Spring
18. Afterword
19. Yen Newsletter

Characters

The Magic City of Dirashik

Kunon Gurion

A genius sorcerer who is blind. Possesses a peculiar sense of chivalry.

Rinko Round

Kunon’s maid. Takes after her older sister, Iko.

Reyes Saint-Lance

Saint who lacks emotion. Exceptionally fond of plants.

Advanced Class: Ability Faction

Bael Kirkington

Faction representative. Caring older brother type.

Genevis

Possesses a rare magical attribute and a distinctive laugh.

Elia Hesson

A beautiful girl with a one-sided crush on Bael.

Advanced Class: Harmony Faction

Shilto Lockson

Faction representative. Powerful young woman also known as the “Lightning Bolt.”

Elva Daglight

A very pretty girl, at least until she starts an experiment…

Hank Beat

Kunon’s classmate. Currently studying bacon making.

Advanced Class: Rationality Faction

Lulomet Gaines

Faction representative. Rare darkness magic user. Very thoughtful.

Cassis Hawk

A girl at heart. Possesses indomitable confidence in her looks.

Riyah Houghs

Kunon’s classmate. A country boy who finds cities a bit scary.

Second Level Class

Gioelion

Second imperial prince of the Arcion Empire. Also known as the “Inferno Prince.”

Magic School Teachers

Gray Rouva

The world’s greatest witch. Ageless and immortal.

Satori Glücke

A well-known water sorcerer and Kunon’s idol.

Soff Cricket

A wind sorcerer. Roughly the same age as Zeonly.

Jenié Kors

Kunon’s first magic teacher. Currently an associate professor.

The Kingdom of Hughlia

Mirika Hughlia

The kingdom’s ninth princess and Kunon’s fiancée.

Grand Master Londimonde

The powerful head of the Royal Sorcerers.

Zeonly Finroll

Kunon’s second magic teacher. A magical engineer whose element is earth.

Satori Glücke’s office was organized, but there were a lot of raw materials, chemicals, and equipment lying around, giving it a cluttered impression. Still, compared to her peers, her space was on the tidy side.

That was uncommon for a teacher’s office, since such places were primarily used for research. Some were so messy you couldn’t even see the floor.

At present, there were three people in the room. They were sitting around a table, enjoying a nice, relaxing cup of tea and some snacks, discussing the particulars of a rather fascinating topic.

A splendid way to pass the time, Satori thought.

“Oh?” she said. “Quite an interesting turn things have taken.”

She had heard a little about the matter from her own apprentice, but the details were even juicier. Especially since it was happening right here and involved people she knew.

“Yes,” said Professor Soff Cricket with a smile, “the Second Level class is going through some intriguing changes.”

Not long ago, Soff had come to Satori for advice on the situation. The Second Level class was becoming a problem, he’d said.

Today, he had come to inform her of the latest developments. How had things progressed since then?

The more she heard, the better it got. Satori, who was something of a wily old woman, kept breaking into a grin. She couldn’t help it—the subject was just that entertaining.

“It’s considered a challenge the moment two of them lock eyes with each other. Students who didn’t stand out before are making names for themselves while those who were at the top of the pack are being kicked down to the bottom. It doesn’t matter whether someone is a first-year student or an upperclassman, what family they come from, their social status, even their star ranking—it’s just about their ability now. The rebellion worked, in other words.”

Put like that, the current situation sounded incredibly brutal.

“But is that okay…?” asked Jenié Kors hesitantly. She was Satori’s apprentice and sat with her and Soff at the table.

As an associate professor in charge of a First Level class, she knew something about the situation in Second Level. But the reality seemed a lot more violent than she had imagined.

Such a state of affairs would have been unthinkable back when she was a student. She began to imagine what it would have been like for an unremarkable student like her, but the idea was simply too dreadful to consider.

“Oh, don’t start with the softhearted drivel,” said Satori. “A sense of competition is essential to the growth and progression of one’s magic. Good grief, I can’t believe my apprentice is so weak-willed.”

Around someone as strong-willed as you, Jenié thought, I practically have to be.

If both apprentice and master were too headstrong, all they would do was fight. As it stood, they had struck a nice balance. Not that she could ever say that to Satori’s face.

“Things are too peaceful now,” the old woman continued. “When I was young, there was never a shortage of people looking for a fight.”

A slew of familiar faces from her youth ran through Satori’s mind.

These days the school had a relaxed, calm atmosphere. When Satori was a student, however, many of her classmates were fierce and ambitious.

Some were spurred on by a desire to improve their social status. Others were eager to get back at the powerful or simply anyone they didn’t like. Still others were desperate to distinguish themselves from those they considered beneath them.

Then there was Satori herself, who put any upstarts foolish enough to challenge her in their place. And of course, there were the opponents even she hadn’t been able to defeat.

Decades-old memories washed over her, filling her with nostalgia.

But if she was asked about more recent students with this same ethos, the first name she’d give would be Zeonly Finroll. That boy had been a real troublemaker, but he was strong, even in battle. Plus, he had racked up achievements no one could deny.

Well…perhaps that wasn’t so recent. A decade had already passed since his time.

“Is this how magic school was back in the old days?” asked Soff.

Satori smiled wryly. “No, things are much more out of control now. In my time, only a portion of the students acted like that. And there was no level-wide ranking system.”

A hierarchy had emerged among the students. Each of them was assigned a number in descending order of strength. Number one was the most powerful, number two was second most powerful, and so on.

It was a rather ludicrous system. There were many sorcerers who were brilliant regardless of whether they were strong or weak.

Truly, Satori thought, what a fascinating turn of events.

“Well, being a sorcerer isn’t all about fighting, of course,” replied Soff, “but there are some experiences that can only be gained through combat. We even incorporate it into some of our tests. I don’t completely approve of what’s going on, but I don’t believe it’s entirely inappropriate, either.”

Like Satori, Soff was intrigued by what was going on in the Second Level class.

Right now, it was teetering on the edge. The prevailing ideology at present was that magic school should be a meritocracy, where one’s ability was all that mattered.

The current mood might be a little too radical, as far as Soff was concerned, but the thought behind it wasn’t wrong. This was a school for learning magic—an institution where students could polish their abilities without worrying about politics and social influence. Indeed, from that perspective, the students’ assertions were correct.

“Kunon…”

Jenié couldn’t believe what that boy had set into motion.

There were various factors at play, and no one had expected things to turn out like this, not even Kunon himself. And yet it was undeniable that his actions were the driving force behind the present state of affairs. The small ripple he had caused had spread and grown, ultimately becoming a tidal wave.

“Now, now. There’s no need to worry so much, Jenié,” Soff said.

Kunon was Jenié’s student. She wasn’t very forthcoming about this fact due to the stark difference in their abilities, but as long as Kunon continued to insist that she was his teacher, that relationship wouldn’t change.

Soff was aware of Jenié’s circumstances and understood her concerns.

“These kinds of things are like a fire,” he said. “They start burning strong, but eventually they die down. The fiercer the flames, the quicker they burn out. This will probably be over in two, maybe three months at most. Even if it takes longer than that, it won’t be as intense as it is now.”

I truly hope you’re right, but… Jenié couldn’t stop her doubts.

“So, Professor Soff, who sits at the top of the pecking order at present?”

Unaffected by her apprentice’s anxieties, Satori continued to enjoy herself. Apparently, she didn’t see this situation as her problem.

“Considering the uneven matchups between certain attributes, the rankings are constantly changing… Except for the top spot, which remains in the hands of the Inferno Prince. You’ve heard of him, haven’t you, Professor Satori?”

“He’s the imperial prince, isn’t he?”

“Yes. His talent is second to none. In particular, his ability to control and manipulate magic is astounding. He might be better at it than me.”

“Oh? I’d like to see that.”

“Right? Rumor has it even Gray Rouva wants to watch the Inferno Prince in battle.”

“Her, too? Impressive.”

“If he stays in the royal family, it’ll be a real waste of talent. At his current rate of progression, he could even become a Scarlet Sorcerer.”

The two teachers carried on their lively conversation, heedless of the troubled associate professor in their midst.

“Master Gio, what’s the plan starting tomorrow?”

Just as Gioelion was getting ready to leave the classroom and go home, his bodyguard Garthries Gadanthus showed up. As an earth sorcerer, he attended class in a different room.

The second semester of magic school had come to an end. As of the next day, students would have an extended break of about three weeks. Or rather, now that classes were over, their vacation had pretty much already started.

As Gioelion’s friend, bodyguard, and roommate, Garth—as his friends called him—should already have been aware of the prince’s plans.

Do you even need to ask? Gioelion wondered; though at the same time, he understood the aim behind Garth’s question.

“There’s no requirement that I return to the Empire, so I’m just going to stay in Dirashik and take it easy, perhaps do some independent studying,” he explained.

The people who actually wanted an answer to Garth’s question were the other students in Gioelion’s second-year class—the one for students with the fire attribute—who were currently gathered around them.

For some reason, Gioelion was considered a representative for the entire Second Level. Consequently, many of his fellow students were interested in his every movement.

His political authority played a part, too, of course. One’s family name and political influence were supposed to hold no sway at magic school, but with so many students from high-ranking backgrounds, such things were impossible to ignore.

It wasn’t as though Gioelion was concerned about his classmates. But if he revealed just a little about his plans, the rest of them would act accordingly. And in that case, a certain amount of disclosure was necessary to keep things running smoothly.

“I see,” said Garth. “Sounds like I’ll be able to relax, too, then.”

“Ilhi reporting for duty! I really want to try that orange lezzi dessert I’ve been hearing about lately!”

The noisier of Gioelion’s two bodyguards had arrived. Ilhi Bolyle’s attribute was fire, so she was in the same class as he was.

“I have no idea what that is, but you can ask the cook to make it for you,” Gioelion said, getting up from his seat.

The past few days had been extremely enjoyable as far as he was concerned. Between the rebellion and final exams, there hadn’t been a dull moment.

He had made it through his exams without issue, but the rebellion that had recently taken root in Second Level—led by the first-year water attribute class—was still going strong, and as a result, the whole Second Level was in an uproar.

As the root cause of the rebellion, students from the Empire were particularly prone to being challenged. Sometimes they managed to turn the tables on their opponents; other times they were not so lucky.

Gioelion, an imperial prince, had received more than his fair share of challenges, but he had yet to lose a single one.

He defeated each and every opponent, content that this was how things should be at magic school. As long as rebellions and uprisings were fought with magic, Gioelion thought, they should be allowed to happen. He figured the school’s leaders agreed, at least in part. That was why the teachers made no move to stop them. Some of them even helped arrange duels.

It was interesting, though, how evident an opponent’s abilities became in a fight.

As a matter of fact, there were quite a few secretly talented students who didn’t usually stand out. Two members of the first-year water class—the prince of Aselviga and the daughter of the Empire’s Duke of Rhodia—were especially noteworthy. They were considerably skilled. Gioelion also liked the Aselvigan prince’s determination; no matter how many times Gioelion beat him, he kept coming back for more.

And yet if he was honest…the only person on Gioelion’s mind was the boy with the eye mask. They had made a promise to anxiously await their next meeting and agreed to fight each other in a duel. In truth, not much time had passed since then.

Gioelion had chosen that wording himself, and he had indeed grown quite anxious for the wait to be over. When he realized this, a wry grin rose to his face.

“Ilhi,” he called to one of his guards as they walked along together. “It seems my patience has run out.”

A long break was about to begin, and he would have some free time. Plus, exams were over, and he didn’t have to go back to his own country. What reason was there to put things off any longer?

“Finally ready to be reunited with your special someone?” said Ilhi.

Recently, and with increasing frequency, she was able to tell just by looking at Gioelion that he was thinking about Kunon. To her, the prince had taken on the appearance of a lovesick young man, though she kept that thought to herself, afraid it would unnecessarily upset him.

“My ‘special someone’? Well, I suppose you’re not entirely wrong.”

Gioelion knew this behavior was unlike him. He was perfectly aware that he didn’t tend to form strong attachments to people or things. Despite that, ever since meeting Kunon—no, even before they met—he had been acutely aware of the younger boy.

“Time for you and Mr. Kunon to go at it?”

“Yeah. Let Kunon decide the date. Can you handle the rest of the arrangements?”

“Yessir! Garth, I’ll leave Master Gio with you!”

Breaking off from Gioelion and Garth, who were headed home, Ilhi turned and walked in the opposite direction.

She made the rounds and met with all the necessary people to get things set up. Her last stop was Kunon’s lab in Building 11.

“Pardon me!” she called out, knocking.

When someone called back from inside, she opened the door.

“It’s nice to see you again, Miss Ilhi.”

There he was—Gioelion’s special someone—in the middle of a messy room. He appeared to be sitting at a table, writing something.

“…You should probably tidy up in here a little,” said Ilhi.

She’d meant to return his greeting, but before she could, the level of disorder in the room had completely distracted her.

Though she seemed rough and careless, Ilhi was actually a fairly orderly, methodical person. That was why her attention was stolen by the lab’s sorry state.

What had likely once been stacks of documents had toppled over and been left to rest on the floor. Some of the papers had clearly been stepped on and bore visible footprints.

How could anyone let a room get like this? Ilhi could not fathom it.

“People tell me that a lot,” said Kunon.

People tell him that a lot? she thought, dismayed. And he still hasn’t done anything? That dismayed her even more.

“I see…,” she said. “You seem busy, so I’ll get straight to the point. Master Gio would like to know what time would be most convenient for you.”

There was no safe place to step inside the lab, so Ilhi stayed in the doorway. She had already decided to simply finish her errand and go home.

“Anytime works for me,” said Kunon immediately. “Oh, but the sooner the better.”

He didn’t need to ask, “Most convenient for what?” or “Are you talking about the agreement we made?”

Given the speed of his response, he had probably been pining just as much as Gioelion.

“In that case: tomorrow morning, here at school. We can meet near the cafeteria.”

“Understood.”

Leaving Kunon’s lab, Ilhi retraced her steps.

Now that the boy himself had approved of the plan, preparations could proceed. She had to hammer out all the details. It would be a large undertaking, but Ilhi didn’t mind.

She was a fire user herself, and she, too, was looking forward to the duel between Gioelion and Kunon.

“…Why does it feel like this has become some kind of major event?” asked Kunon the following day.

“…Good question,” Gioelion replied, shifting his gaze reproachfully to a certain loudmouthed bodyguard.

“It wasn’t me! I’m telling you!” Ilhi said. She was the one in charge of the day’s preparations. “I only invited two teachers and the Saint!”

As she went about getting permission to use school facilities for the match, Ilhi had asked two teachers to come in case things got out of control and needed to be shut down. She also invited the Saint so they would have a healer on hand if anyone got injured.

She had gone to others to make various requests, but only those three people had been called to attend.

Ilhi had assumed the duel to be a private affair and had made arrangements accordingly. She absolutely had not gone around blabbing about it to everyone. She wasn’t the sort of guard who needlessly exposed her charge to potential danger. She would never have turned this match into a big to-do.

So how had things ended up like this?

Late that morning, outside the cafeteria, Kunon met up with Gioelion and his bodyguards as agreed. After exchanging pleasantries, they relocated to the laboratory in Building 10. They’d already received clearance to use it for their duel.

Kunon had assumed this would be another white room like the last one, but instead, it looked like some kind of arena.

It was equipped with a sunken ring and spectator seating, and it seemed far too large to be contained in a single room. In fact, despite being located inside a building, the room had no ceiling. Overhead was an endless expanse of blue sky.

Had the space been twisted, connecting it to another location? Or had the room been manipulated to accommodate the arena? Was it all a fabrication, even that big blue sky?

Kunon didn’t quite understand how it worked. But then there were more pressing matters at hand.

The spectator area of the laboratory-cum-arena was already full of people. That said, since only those related to the magic school were in attendance, it wasn’t actually full. Only a few sections in the front rows were filled in.

Still, there were students from both the First and Second Levels, and even some from the Advanced class. A few of the faces in the crowd were familiar; others were not. Kunon saw some people who appeared to be teachers, though he didn’t recognize them.

Both Kunon and Gioelion had considered this match a private matter. They hadn’t expected so many people to show up, nor were they very happy about it. Even Ilhi, who had arranged everything, seemed surprised by the presence of an audience.

And that wasn’t the only thing on their minds.

“I can’t see,” said Kunon, “but are my eyes mistaken or is there a big black cube over there?”

“There is…,” said Gioelion. “What is that?”

Floating unnaturally above the spectator seats was a large black box. What was it, indeed?

“You’re here.”

A familiar figure walked up to Kunon and the others, as they stood flabbergasted in front of the participants’ entrance to the arena.

“Oh, Professor Satori—”

“Professor! What is the meaning of this?!”

Ilhi’s voice cut across Kunon’s, interrupting him.

Satori Glücke, as it happened, was one of the teachers she’d made arrangements with.

Ilhi had assumed that because she knew Kunon, she would be more likely to help. Indeed, Satori had immediately agreed to prepare a location for the match and to be present for it. It had gone smoothly, and for that, Ilhi was very grateful. Or at least, she had been very grateful.

She’d never dreamed Satori would let in all these spectators.

“Calm down,” said the professor. “No matter who’s watching or where it happens, it doesn’t change what the two of you came here to do.”

“Whether or not they’re being observed makes a huge difference!”

Ilhi was right about that.

Skilled sorcerers tended to keep some of their abilities under wraps—secret weapons and trump cards and the like. And using those abilities in front of a large crowd meant exposing their secrets to everyone present. That would make the match all the more difficult.

“I understand how you feel, but there’s nothing I can do about it.” Letting out a small sigh, Satori shifted her gaze to the floating black box. “Gray Rouva said she wanted to watch.”

““Gray Rouva?!””

The name shocked not only Kunon but also Gioelion, Ilhi, and Garth.

Gray Rouva was the most famous witch in the world, and she had lived for countless centuries. An immensely talented magic user, she had defended this area from the three major powers surrounding it all by herself. Her name was so famous it appeared in history books.

And yet it was said there wasn’t a soul alive who really knew her and barely anyone who had seen her.

Was she truly centuries old? Did she even exist in the first place?

If she was real, what kind of magic was she using to preserve her life?

Gray Rouva was a fascinating figure, but she wasn’t someone you could meet simply because you wanted to. Even attending magic school did not guarantee you would meet her.

…That was the general consensus anyway.

That floating black box—which was probably a sort of smoke screen made of shadows… Apparently, the world’s greatest witch was inside it.

“And she said that anyone else who wants to watch might as well be allowed.”

Might as well. In other words, since she was going to be there, why not invite others, too?

“Sorry,” said Satori. “No one can go against Gray Rouva.”

That made sense. Gray Rouva was like the headmistress of the school. In fact, she was the ruler of the whole magic city of Dirashik. No one associated with the school was going to disobey her. They would be risking expulsion. Here, Gray Rouva was the law.

“But it should be fine, right? You’re still young, and your magic hasn’t developed yet. Ten years from now, you’ll be well beyond your current abilities. You can give it all you’ve got right now without any real drawbacks. To people my age, it all looks like baby stuff.”

Satori had a point. The school’s teachers were extremely talented. From their point of view, magic used by boys like Kunon and Gioelion, still in their early teens, was mere child’s play.

That didn’t make the situation any easier to accept, but…if this was what Gray Rouva wanted, they didn’t really have a choice. The world’s greatest witch had shown up to watch their match. For sorcerers, it was like dueling in the presence of their queen.

Kunon might be in the Advanced class, but he was still only a first-year, and he felt humbled by her presence.

Satori continued, “I have a message from her, as well. She says, and I quote: ‘Even if you die within seconds, I’ll heal you, so fight with all the power you have.’”

In other words…

“We’re allowed to fight without using a dueling magic circle?” asked Kunon.

“You prefer it that way, don’t you?”

“I do, but…”

In Kunon’s opinion, being hit by a spell was just another learning experience. But would Gioelion agree?

“I’m fine with it, too,” said the prince.

In that case, there was no problem…right?

“Then there’s no issue. Look, everyone’s waiting. Go on; get started.”

There was still a lot bothering both of them, but as students, there wasn’t much they could do.

Their only choice was, reluctantly, to proceed.

Their match had garnered a bit more attention than they had anticipated. That had dampened their enthusiasm somewhat, but the moment they turned to face each other in the center of the arena, their surroundings became unimportant.

Perhaps it had something to do with the way the audience looked on in complete silence. Without all the noise, it felt like they were completely alone.

They only had eyes for each other now. The only one either of them could see was the opponent they had been yearning to fight.

“Kunon. Gray Rouva said it first, but allow me to reiterate,” Gioelion said, his gaze boring into the other boy. “I’ll try hard to keep you entertained, so please show me the same courtesy.”

Behind his mask, Kunon’s unseeing eyes were fixed on Gioelion.

“You want me to give it my all, right? To go for the kill?”

“If you can beat me without using your full power, fine. But that’s how I intend to proceed.”

“Understood.”

Thank goodness, Kunon thought. His greatest anxiety regarding this match was the possibility of Gioelion pulling his punches.

In Kunon’s estimation, Gioelion was a league or two above him in both total amount of magic power and in the ability to manipulate and control that power. Not to mention the number of spells he knew and all their variations.

It was only a gut feeling, but Kunon didn’t think he was wrong. He probably couldn’t win this duel.

That was no big deal since his desire to fight Gioelion had never had anything to do with winning. But if the playing field was leveled to make things more “even,” that was a different story. In that case, even if Kunon somehow managed to win, it wouldn’t mean anything. In fact, he’d probably be disappointed.

“I feel like we often agree about magic, and it seems we are alike in this aspect as well,” he said.

Gioelion must have worried, too—about whether Kunon would hold back. Given his status as an imperial prince, he probably had a hard time finding people willing to fight him seriously.

But Kunon was sure they’d both come to the same conclusion: Where magic was concerned, status was irrelevant.

They had one reason to fight and one reason alone: to reach ever greater heights and ever deeper depths. Nothing else mattered.

Professor Soff Cricket gave the starting signal.

Ilhi had approached him as well, just like she had Satori.

“All right, begin.”

His words weren’t very enthusiastic, but both Kunon and Gioelion reacted right away.

Countless A-ori appeared around Kunon as innumerable fire butterflies fluttered to life in the air surrounding Gioelion.

It might have looked like a deadlock—but the flames moved faster.

Butterflies danced.

Fire swallows soared.

Dogs of flame ran.

Burning dragonflies flew.

All sorts of fiery creatures rushed forward at once, leaving streaks of red in their wake and heading straight for Kunon.

Kunon carefully enclosed each and every one of them inside an A-ori.

All the irregularly flitting butterflies.

The swallows swooping down from above.

The dogs racing toward his legs.

Even the dragonflies zipping at his face.

“…?”

But as he finished trapping the creatures, Kunon felt a sense of unease wash over him. The fire swallowed up by his A-ori was still burning.

“…!”

The moment he noticed, the flames began to swell.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The water membranes popped, giving way to the growing masses of flame. In the space of an instant, all the fire animals exploded.

Kunon was surrounded.

The Inferno Prince Gioelion’s flames were like budding sprouts. And now those sprouts were bursting madly into bloom.

“Whoa…”

Kunon had been engulfed in flames.

It had happened so quickly.

To my beloved fiancée,

The first signs of spring have begun to appear. How do they find you?

The cold days persist, but I’m sure they will soon fade.

I miss your warm, kind smile.

Do you have any news to share?

I, quite fortunately, have had the opportunity to participate in magic duels with two different men.

The first was a teacher.

Apparently, magic school professors don’t usually duel with students.

It was truly a rare and valuable experience.

I’ll save the details for now, as it would take dozens of pages to summarize the events, my thoughts, and the strategies used, even in brief.

My professor was amazing. He was so strong.

He left me in tatters, unclothed, and sent me to bed.

The second was another student, one year my senior.

I can’t write about him in detail because he is a person of very high status, but I was surprised by how well we get along. It was hard to believe we had never met before.

Is it our values that align? Our ways of thinking?

He’s such an incredible, fascinating person.

He was unbelievably intense.

Typically, he comes across as calm and levelheaded, but his magic was all passion.

It set my heart ablaze.

I’m sure he felt the same.

Yet again, I was run completely ragged, stripped bare, and sent to bed.

It’s nice to lose, don’t you think? You learn so much that way.

Once more I was reminded of the profound depths of magic.

All sorts of ideas came to me as a result of these two duels.

I have not developed many spells for the sake of combat. I have those which can be used in a fight, but none which were designed for the purpose.

Fighting techniques were a discipline I had left almost entirely unexplored. My parents forbade my learning it, so I put off studying the subject.

But knowing how to attack means understanding how to fight in a way that doesn’t cause more harm than necessary. Being strong means having the ability to keep one’s power in check.

When I think about it like that, I feel that combat is another essential area of knowledge.

I think I’d like to start studying it in earnest.

There are so many more things I still want to discuss with my senior.

How is your knighthood training going, Your Highness?

You haven’t been hurt, have you?

I was injured in the matches I mentioned, but there are healing sorcerers here who have helped me a great deal.

Truthfully, I would prefer that you never have to suffer, but I believe injuries are part of the occupational hazard of being a knight.

The magic tool I wrote about in my last letter looks like it will come to fruition not too long from now.

As soon as it’s done, I’ll send it to you, with every last bit of my affection poured into it.

Please accept it as a charm for your protection.

Spring is on its way.

I’ll look around for your favorite seasonal flowers.

Though I cannot see, I’ll imagine they’re you as I sit beside them.

Waiting for the day we meet again with eternal love,

Kunon Gurion

PS

My maid recently asked me, “What do you think about two men being together?”

I don’t know what she meant, and I am somewhat terrified.

Do you have any clue what she was getting at, Your Highness?

It was an entertaining duel. The kind of excellent match rarely seen in recent years.

They hadn’t planned it that way. With no organized strategy whatsoever, both sides had simply determined how best to respond in the moment.

That sort of thing was interesting, because sometimes, a spur-of-the-moment idea was better than carefully laid plans.

The combatants were close in ability, too, which only helped, as did their unpolished skills. That meant they both had fewer trump cards to play.

Duels between sorcerers tended to be decided by big, bold moves—the kind of powerful maneuvers that could force an opponent into submission. Matches like that made for a good show, but they weren’t that noteworthy. This match had been different.

Another interesting aspect was the water sorcerer’s flight. He soared freely through the air as he escaped his opponent’s fireballs. And even as he fled, every so often, he would fire off a glistening jet of water. This attack was probably similar to a light sorcerer’s Ra-sera.

As water flew through the sky, fire dominated the ground.

The fire sorcerer’s ability to control his magic could put a teacher to shame. Despite being pelted with water jets, he had the mental fortitude to continue controlling his spells, even while injured. It was extraordinary.

The water jets weren’t flashy, but they dealt a lot of damage. They fell down on him like rain. Avoiding all of them while handling his own magic was impossible. He was dodging anything aimed at his vital areas, but the volume of injuries was steadily increasing.

“About now, I think,” murmured the witch from within her mysterious shadow box.

Not long afterward, one of the water sorcerer’s attacks pierced the fire user’s right eye.

The witch let out a low hum. That attack had almost hit him right between the eyebrows, but he moved just in time. That was excellent. It showed his unwillingness to give up the fight even under extreme circumstances.

She could feel his royal pride, the tenacity of a prince for whom defeat was not an option.

That was a fatal injury, however. He’d probably die if the duel wasn’t stopped soon.

As she thought that, a fireball caught up to the airborne water sorcerer. His burning form fell from the sky.

That one was a goner, too. This would be the end.

“Both sides needed more time.”

Grinning, she waved a finger.

Suddenly, the young magic users below her were ensconced in black boxes. Then the battered, beaten boys appeared right in front of the witch.

She had created a link between the shadow boxes and warped the boys to her.

“…Oh? They’re already dead.”

Both of their vital signs had just faded away. Apparently, she hadn’t been quick enough with her intervention.

The water sorcerer’s burns were severe, but he seemed to have broken his neck as well when he fell.

The fire user had been done in by that jet of water to his right eye. What’s more, his entire body was riddled with holes, and he was bleeding profusely. Even if his eye hadn’t been hit, he might not have made it.

“Bwa-ha-ha,” the witch cackled gleefully.

Countless times, she’d said, “Even if they die, I’ll heal them.” But it had been a long time since she’d had to deliver on that promise.

She was having a lot of fun. In recent years, youngsters so obsessed with magic that they dared to fight this hard were few and far between.

“This should do it.”

The witch cast a spell, and both boys’ heartbeats returned. As if time had been reversed, the two young sorcerers started to breathe once more.

She cast a calm over both of their minds, placed them back in black boxes, and this time, sent them off to the sick ward.

The fun was over. She had come to watch on a whim and ended up enjoying herself more than anticipated. At the moment, she was satisfied. She had high hopes for these boys and their future growth.

Then the witch—Gray Rouva—vanished into thin air.

“……”

As soon as Gioelion awoke, he checked his right eye.

It was healed. He could see without issue and had no discomfort.

That’s a relief, he thought.

He hadn’t cared what happened to him. He had consented even to the possibility of death. But his relatives hadn’t, and there was a chance they would have made a huge fuss.

Being an imperial prince came with a lot of trouble. He didn’t want to inconvenience Kunon, who had gone along with Gioelion’s selfish wishes, any more than he already had.

That was the reason for his relief. Without visible injuries or lasting scars, it would be as though nothing had happened.

“Oh, you’re awake?”

“Are you feeling unwell?”

He was probably in the infirmary.

Looking around, he saw that Garthries and Ilhi were with him. They were sitting around a table with a middle-aged woman—most likely a teacher capable of healing magic.

“Yeah, I feel fine… Where is Kunon?”

Gioelion glanced at the bed next to his, but it was empty. It appeared Kunon was not in the room.

“He was transferred to the Saint’s lab. Apparently, he’ll be treated there.”

“I see. As long as he’s safe.”

Getting out of bed, Gioelion changed into the clothes prepared for him, likely the work of his guards. His old ones must have been full of holes and covered in blood, no longer suitable to wear.

“Master Gio.” Ilhi called his name, and Gioelion shifted his gaze to her. “Did you have fun?”

What a thing to ask.

With a snort of laughter, Gioelion replied, “Of course. Did I look bored?”

“Not at all.” Ilhi shook her head. “You seemed happier than ever before. Honestly, I was jealous.”

“Don’t be. Even if I usually look uninterested, I’m enjoying myself in my own way… Let’s head home.”

His body was a little sluggish. He had used too much magic and probably lost too much blood. But on the inside, he felt as light as a breeze.

The duel had been a lot of fun.

For the first time in ages, he’d been able to fight with everything he had. No restraint, no discretion—just pure, raw power. And his opponent had responded in kind.

There was someone his age he couldn’t defeat even with all his might. That made him feel amazing.

“Then I’ll go check on Mr. Kunon and let the others know we’re leaving. Master Gio is in your care, Garth.”

After seeing Ilhi off and thanking the teacher, Gioelion and Garthries left the infirmary.

“Hey, Garth?” asked the prince.

“What?”

“Does Kunon have a fiancée?”

“Huh…? I mean, I dunno. He’s always flirting with women, so I suppose not. I doubt a noble would publicly make passes at other women if he were engaged.”

“I see… Aurora needs a husband. What do you think?”

“Are you trying to use your relatives to make him a part of your family? I don’t think he has a fiancée, but I doubt Hughlia would hand over such a valuable sorcerer to another nation.”

“…You’re right. Sorry for talking nonsense. It must be the blood loss.”

“You enjoyed yourself that much?”

“Yes. If I or Kunon were a girl…I don’t think I could let him go.”

Someday, he wanted a rematch. Despite the excruciating pain, Gioelion was already thinking of when he could repeat the experience.

What was this fixation of his? Gioelion couldn’t answer that question, either. Perhaps if he and Kunon hadn’t been of the same sex, he would have called this emotion “love.” That was how much the other boy occupied his thoughts.

“I see. Good thing you’re both boys.”

“No kidding.”

Fellow sorcerers from different countries and both members of the aristocracy.

If they were a boy and a girl in a relationship, there would be no end of trouble.

“Oh.”

It hit Kunon as he was busy observing a large tomato. Half of his first year at magic school had already passed.

“With this, I’ll have satisfied my credit requirement,” said the Saint.

Had Kunon come to the realization on his own, or had her words brought it on?

He was visiting her room for lunch. Of course, he had work to check on as well. They were making small talk when it happened.

“Selective breeding is so complex,” said the Saint. “That tomato, for example, is undeniably sweet. It thrills me so much to think about publicizing this that I can’t sleep.”

She carried on discussing the big tomato—her pride and joy—but all Kunon could think about was his own credit status. Exactly how many had he currently earned?

Advanced class students had to rack up ten credits each year. If they failed to do so, they would be demoted to Second Level.

Kunon hadn’t forgotten about the “magic-containing box” he was planning to develop. That box was the reason he’d been determined to earn all ten credits in only half a year. But his sense of times and dates was lacking. Truthfully, he had worked these first six months without really pacing himself.

Plus, meeting Gioelion had thrown him off course a bit. He hadn’t expected it, and spending time with him had been so much fun that he’d ended up doing it a lot more than intended. Not that he regretted it.

Apparently, the Saint had already earned all her credits by cultivating and breeding various vegetables and medicinal herbs. It seemed Kunon hadn’t simply been imagining the increasing number of potted plants in her lab.

“By the way, how many credits do you have, Kunon?” asked Hank. “Riyah and I each have around half.”

It so happened that their classmates Riyah Houghs and Hank Beat were also in Reyes’s room that day.

Occasionally, they would all meet up there for lunch. It had become something of a standing appointment for the present first-year students in the Advanced class. They would catch one another up on recent news, chat, and exchange advice.

Though their opportunities to collaborate had markedly decreased after they each joined different factions, they continued to socialize as before.

“I’m…not sure,” Kunon replied. “I definitely received some letters, though.”

Proof of a student’s credits was sent via letter. One could have them delivered to their labs or their home address. Kunon had arranged to have his sent to his laboratory, and he had already received a few.

He remembered getting them. And if memory served, he had crammed them into his desk drawer—exactly as they came, without even opening them.

The letters usually arrived while he was engrossed in drawing up a report, or copying his notes, or reading a book. Consequently, he had accepted them without thinking and stowed them away somewhere.

Kunon had certainly done various things in the past six months with the aim of earning credits. Some of those had definitely been successful or, at the very least, had some value. And yet here he was, still unaware of the results.

“I’ll go check right now.”

Kunon mentally went over all the things he’d done that he could remember. He thought it unlikely that he had earned all ten credits already.

Starting right then, he resolved to prioritize credits so he could get to work on his magic-containing box as soon as possible.

“Oh, there’s actually something I wanted to ask you about, Kunon.”

“Huh?”

Kunon had finished reviewing the growing conditions of the sacred herb, the whole reason he’d come to Reyes’s room. Now he was anxious about his credits and ready to return to his own lab. But Hank had spoken up, delaying his departure.

“Listen, you were developing a box that dehydrates objects, right? I was wondering how that was going.”

“It’s more or less done. Still in the testing stage, though.”

He was developing both a box that removed moisture from objects and a box that hermetically sealed them. They were intended to store medicine made from the sacred herb shi-shilla, and he had already succeeded in making them.

At present, they were being tested to see how well they could stand up in various situations. How long could they be used, and could they work in any environment? How potent were their effects? That sort of thing.

Once improvements and reinforcements were made, the boxes would finally be complete.

They were based on magical storage boxes, but could their contents be sufficiently preserved? Time was needed to investigate. In short, they were currently observing deterioration over time. They needed to investigate both the condition of the boxes and that of their contents.

“After our bacon experiments,” said Hank, “I got into making dried meat. Do you think I could use one of those boxes to store jerky?”

“Oh?! You’re still making bacon just for me?!”

“I am, but it’s not just for you. It’s pretty popular. People keep telling me I could turn it into a business and that they’d be happy to invest.”

“I’ll invest, too!”

“Don’t. I’m a sorcerer in the Advanced class. I can’t just become a processed meat seller.”

Kunon didn’t agree, but he understood Hank’s point.

Sorcerers were a valuable resource. Graduates of the Advanced class were considered especially brilliant. It was unheard of for a sorcerer of that level to specialize in something like processed meat. Many would undoubtedly consider it a waste.

“Couldn’t you just do it on the side?” Kunon asked.

“Hmm?”

“You could just run a business on the side. I don’t see a problem with that.”

“Ah… Got it. So that’s something people do, huh?”

Moonlighting wasn’t uncommon in aristocratic circles, but Hank, who came from a humble background, apparently saw “owning a business” as synonymous with “full-time employment.”

After giving Hank a little advice, Kunon eft the Saint’s classroom.

“Hmm…”

Back in his lab, Kunon began opening the letters he’d received from the school and reviewing their contents.

There were cards inside, each representing one credit earned. They were inscribed with Kunon’s name and a brief description of the associated achievement along with the school seal.

Kunon lined the cards up on his desk.

For the report on Riyah Houghs’s flight experiment: one card.

For jointly experimenting with Reyes Saint-Lance on the cultivation of sacred herbs: two cards.

For collaborative underwater experiments conducted with Eushida Fai and several others: one card.

For a water magic–based flying method: one card.

That was it. Five in total.

“Hmm…”

He would probably earn a credit for the Medicine Boxes he’d developed with Bael, the Ability Faction representative, and Genevis and another one for the shi-shilla medicine.

Those two were still in the testing stage. They couldn’t be submitted yet, so they weren’t included in his current count.

If he added those…

“Seven or eight, I guess?”

In that case, he needed three more.

What should I do?

“…Maybe I’ll discuss the matter with Professor Satori.”

Kunon was pretty sure he’d been told that assisting a teacher could earn one credits, too.

He didn’t have any ideas that would result in a quick turnaround, so it was probably a good idea to consult his idol. He could talk to Jenié, too. He wanted to see her face. Not that he could actually see it, of course.

“All right.”

Having decided on a course of action, Kunon stood up.

“Credits, eh? I don’t think you need to panic just yet.”

Kunon wasted no time, heading directly to Satori’s office.

She appeared to be in the middle of experimenting with aquatic plants. Only half listening to Kunon’s request, she was observing the contents of a tank of water, busily jotting down notes.

“There’s something I want to do, but it will probably take a lot of time,” said Kunon. “So I made it my goal to complete my credits in the first half of the year.”

“You’re saying you want to dedicate the remaining six months to this thing you have in mind?”

“That’s right. So I need about three more credits… By the way, what is this experiment you’re working on? It fascinates me as much as you do, Professor.”

It was not the subject at hand, and Kunon had been telling himself over and over not to ask about it. But in the end, he couldn’t hold back. How could he? This was an experiment conducted by the world-renowned water sorcerer Satori Glücke. Of course he was interested.

“Oh, this thing? It’s a water-dancing bug. I’m studying its ecology.”

“A water-dancing bug?”

Kunon had never heard of such a thing. He couldn’t recall seeing it in any of the many, many plant and animal reference books he had read.

“It’s not surprising you haven’t heard of it. It’s an obscure insect I had sent here from far away.”

“Insect? That’s an insect?” Kunon was drawn to Satori’s side like a moth to a flame. “…Really?”

Even up close, it just looked like grass floating on the surface of the tank’s water. The grass was a vivid green, unusual this early in the year. Or that was how it appeared to his Glass Eye, at any rate.

“Try looking at it from the side, not from above,” said Satori.

Look at its roots, in other words.

Kunon bent down a little and peered into the tank from the side.

“Oh, I see.”

There were no roots. Instead, there were six thin legs similar to those of a stick insect.

As Kunon watched, Satori nudged the water-dancing bug with the tip of her pen. When she did, its long, slender legs paddled calmly through the water. Its pace was slow, but it was swimming.

It really was an insect after all.

“Wow… Is it mimetic?” he asked.

“So it would seem. I’ve heard the grasslike part changes color depending on its environment, which could be considered a form of mimesis. And the interesting thing about this critter, you see, is that it feeds on impurities in the water.”

Impurities, huh?

Regular water contained all sorts of substances. A single mouthful could taste and smell completely different depending on where it came from.

“Do you understand what that means? Jenié said she didn’t.”

“Hmm. If it eats impurities…then it’s an organism that purifies water?”

“Exactly. Hey, Jenié—your student is clever, eh?”

Jenié, who was quietly writing something at her desk, pretended not to hear Satori’s snide comments.

“Insects are highly adaptable,” she continued. “I want to test whether I can create a water-dancing bug that feeds on toxins mixed into water by slowly introducing it to such substances. Contaminated water… You know, like a well that’s been laced with poison. If these insects were released into that well, perhaps the water could be made safe for people to drink. That’s the idea.”

It was a fascinating experiment.

Kunon had known it would be even before he asked. And he’d been right.

“Do you think it would be possible to make some sort of antidote while you’re at it? If it’s able to acclimate to various poisons, perhaps you could extract that quality.”

“Hmph. There’s such a thing as being too clever, you know.”

Kunon had gotten totally swept up in Satori’s experiment, but now he had to put that topic aside.

“Credits, eh? You could earn a few by helping me, but no more than one every two weeks. That’s the rule.”

Taking a break, Satori moved to sit at a table with Kunon.

“In other words,” he said, “if I assist you for two weeks, you’ll give me one credit.”

“I’m game. I’ll work you hard, of course. But one credit in two weeks isn’t very efficient for an Advanced class student, right? You’d probably rather get them without expending so much effort. I was like that once, too.”

Kunon recalled Eushida saying something similar. She had invited him to participate in her experiment on breathing underwater, saying she wanted some easy credits.

But well…once they started, it snowballed into a much larger experiment and nearly became an international incident. It had been fun in its own way, though.

“I am genuinely interested in helping you, Professor.”

Kunon honestly didn’t mind getting one credit for two weeks of work. If he helped Satori, he could ask her about all sorts of topics. That kind of valuable experience was worth a lot more than credits. He would even pay money for the opportunity.

But at the moment, it seemed impractical.

Kunon had spoken to Bael, the Ability Faction representative, regarding his plans. They hadn’t hammered out the details, but Bael also meant to earn all ten of his credits in six months.

One credit in two weeks… It would take over a month to earn three—too much time.

“I suppose the ideal situation would be to conduct some kind of experiment concurrently over the two weeks I assist you,” he said.

That would mean two credits in two weeks. Satori probably wouldn’t expect her helper to be in her office around the clock. A simple experiment should be doable in his free time.

“As long as you aren’t overextending yourself, I don’t mind,” she said. “The problem will be choosing what to do. I don’t intend to give you tons of free time, you know. I’ll be putting you to work properly. So do you have any ideas for this concurrent experiment?”

As it happened, when he heard about the water-dancing bug, an idea had begun to form in Kunon’s head.

“I’m still working it out, but I was thinking of something to do with hydroponics.”

In Kunon’s mind, two things were overlapping beautifully: the Saint’s plants he’d observed not long ago and the characteristics of the water-dancing bug he’d just learned about.

According to Reyes, it was relatively easy to earn credits for projects related to plant cultivation and breeding. If so, surely the same would hold true for hydroponics.

Putting things that way was a bit misleading, however. It wasn’t that earning credits was easy but that Reyes was unusually talented at those subjects. The key was that they were things she was suited to, that she was good at.

“Growing crops or cultivating a field wouldn’t require me to be there all the time. And if it goes well, it would benefit society, too.”

Kunon didn’t think Reyes had tried her hand at hydroponics yet.

Having her assistance would be reassuring, considering her recent agricultural achievements. And he suspected she was likely to say yes to such a proposition.

Hydroponics was a type of agriculture, after all. She was bound to be interested in it.

The day after Kunon spoke to Satori, he went to the Saint’s lab to discuss conducting a joint experiment involving hydroponic cultivation.

He’d rushed through his flirtatious greetings, such as “The silver hair on your left temple is especially beautiful today,” and cut right to the point.

“As expected, you see things differently, Kunon,” Reyes replied.

“You think so? Well, I can’t actually see, of course.”

“I’m also interested in hydroponics. However, since I have already completed my credits, I was thinking of trying that after advancing to the next year. I have other experiments I want to do at the moment, and I think it might be premature to expand my efforts that far.”

Oh, right.

The Saint had already met the requirements for advancement. In other words, she had come out ahead in the race to earn credits. She was the winner. She was free to do as she liked now. Kunon had never envied someone so much.

“I want credits, too,” he said. “And I don’t have time for an experiment that calls for constant supervision.”

“So that’s why you set your sights on agriculture.”

All he’d have to do was prepare a growing environment and plant the seeds. Then he’d simply observe carefully and wait for the plants to grow. He wouldn’t have to monitor things every second of the day. He’d only need to make note of the most important stages.

“Oh, by the way, Miss Reyes, I had the wrong image of hydroponics in my head, but you know what it is, don’t you?”

The day before, Kunon had done some research on the subject. Much to his surprise, it turned out to be vastly different from how he had imagined it.

“Yes, I do. People tend to think of things like paddy fields, but that’s something else entirely.”

Indeed, hydroponics and paddy fields were distinct subjects. Kunon had investigated the matter in order to negotiate with the Saint, and he’d been shocked by how totally incorrect his initial assumptions were.

Simply put, hydroponics was a type of cultivation method that did not involve soil. Instead, plants were grown solely from the nutrients in water, without being rooted in the earth.

Kunon had indeed assumed that hydroponics meant things like paddy fields, where seedlings were planted in soil filled with water.

As long as he could earn some credits, however, he didn’t really care which it was.

“Are you sure you don’t want to participate?” he asked. “I won’t pester you about it if you truly aren’t interested.”

“Allow me to be frank,” Reyes said, puffing out her chest. “I’ve been highly interested and eager from the start.”

Thus began their joint experiment in hydroponic cultivation.

“This is Professor Keevan. He specializes in researching agricultural subjects.”

Before the experiment got underway, Reyes brought Kunon to a particular teacher’s office to discuss hydroponics with someone knowledgeable in the subject.

That someone was Keevan Brid.

He was a large, solidly built man of thirty-five with a long, unkempt beard. He wore plain clothes suited for manual labor, and his disheveled dress, wild hair, and beard made him seem like a farmer at first glance.

However, his intelligent auburn eyes made it clear he was no country bumpkin.

Just like Reyes’s classroom, his office was home to a great number of potted plants. The faint scent of flowers mingled in the air with the strong aroma of greenery. The room smelled like life.

“How do you do? I’m Kunon.”

“Oh, I know who you are,” the professor answered in a calm, deep voice. “I’m Keevan Brid. Nice to meet you.”

If the man tidied up his appearance, Kunon was sure he would make quite the gentleman.

Reyes explained briefly that fellow light magic user Professor Sureyya Gaulin had introduced them and that these days Keevan was the teacher she consulted with most often. To Reyes, Keevan was probably what Jenié or Satori was to Kunon.

“Now, then. What is it today, Reyes? Do you want more vegetable seeds? Or are you in need of advice?”

“I wanted to ask you about hydroponic cultivation.”

“Ah, has it struck your fancy? Actually, I haven’t had much success with applying my magic in that area. There’s still a lot I don’t understand.”

Keevan was an earth sorcerer, and since hydroponics didn’t involve soil, it seemed he couldn’t use earth magic to manage it or make adjustments.

“If you’re planning to look into it, that’d be a big help to me,” he said.

Having spread himself too thin already, Keevan apparently didn’t have the time to grow any additional plants.

“Silly, silly me,” he said with a hearty laugh.

He didn’t appear bothered at all by this predicament, however. He was probably quite fulfilled as it was.

“Are there any plants that can be grown in approximately two weeks?” asked Kunon.

“Oh yes. Certain herbs will grow in that time. But it’s not the season for them now, and I’m not sure they can be grown hydroponically.”

“Understood. I’d like to request the seeds for those plants. Also, please instruct me in the basics of hydroponic cultivation.”

The Saint’s Sanctum spell had the effect of warding off evil. And although it wasn’t yet well understood, it also provided some amount of fertility to crops. Reyes herself had only recognized this aspect recently.

Though the scriptures passed down in the Holy Kingdom mentioned past saints having such an ability, not all saints were said to possess it. And so Reyes had been operating under the misconception that it was not part of her skill set. But when she began interacting with various flora, starting with the shi-shilla herb, she came to realize that it was.

As the scope of the Sanctum spell was narrowed, the fertility effect seemed to increase. And before coming to magic school, the Sanctums Reyes had created were all roughly the size of a house. What’s more, she never kept the spell in effect for more than half a day. That was why she hadn’t noticed before. Perhaps if she hadn’t taken up gardening, she would have gone her whole life without realizing she had a special aptitude for cultivation.

At any rate, this meant that even if it wasn’t the season for a particular plant, Reyes could make it grow.

“That reminds me, your financial troubles were resolved, right?” asked Keevan.

“Yes. I get by every month without issue,” Reyes replied.

That matter had been the start of her friendship with Kunon. Ever since, Reyes had kept afloat just fine.

“That so? Herbs can make you some good money, too, you know. Well, not as much as sacred ones.”

“That’s good. One can never have too much money, after all.”

Kunon thought the Saint was being rather sensible. Leaving Keevan to her, Kunon stood back and watched the two of them negotiate.

Reyes seemed somehow solid and dependable. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but it was like the girl in front of him now was more levelheaded than the one he’d met six months ago.

She was growing up, just as Kunon was. Hank and Riyah probably were as well.

And Mirika, whom Kunon hadn’t seen in half a year—surely, she was growing up, too.

Kunon and Reyes began their experiments, and the results came with a few surprises and unexpected discoveries.

Kunon couldn’t speak for others, but he often wound up acquiring more than he’d bargained for from experiments. Then he’d decide to take things just a little further and continue his trials or else get derailed and start on something else.

In that way, one experiment would lead to another and another and so on, ultimately using up quite a lot of time. It was a trap Kunon fell into frequently.

“This is so interesting…”

He felt like he was catching a glimpse of a whole new realm of water magic.

Until that point, Kunon had assumed he’d attempted anything and everything there was to try involving water. That was naive of him. His element went much, much deeper. When it came down to it, maybe he wasn’t even a novice sorcerer yet, but merely a little dandy with some good sense.

It happened the day after their hydroponics experiment began.

“It’s fascinating, isn’t it?” said Reyes. “What could it mean?”

“I don’t know. But I’m fascinated, too.”

Three brand-new potted plants had been set up in the Saint’s room. Actually, the vessels weren’t pots but clear cups. Each enclosed in its own little Sanctum, the cups floated in midair in front of Kunon and Reyes, who stood shoulder to shoulder, closely observing the sprouts that had emerged.

All three had sprouted. In other words, they had chosen a viable cultivation method.

The problem was, it looked like they were growing three entirely different herbs.

“Can the nutrients in water alone result in such variability?”

There was no soil involved in hydroponics; the plants got all their nutrients from water and light. The seeds were inserted into an appropriate amount of cotton, which was set afloat in a cup of water, and that was it. Water absorbed by the cotton provided nutrients for the seeds. That was how the system worked.

They were using aguilan seeds.

Like peppers, aguilan fruit bore many seeds, which were used as a sweet spice. Like many spices, its distinctive flavor made it quite divisive. Apparently, some people liked it, while others did not.

Kunon had never tried it before. He knew the name, but this was his first time seeing the plant in person. Supposedly, it was a species of fragrant grass, which just like a common grass would take about a week to grow. Then the fruit would start to appear, and the seeds could be harvested. The fruit, as it happened, did not taste very good. That was how Professor Keevan Brid had described it to them anyway.

“This is a success, right?” said Kunon.

“It’s sprouting,” replied Reyes, “so theoretically, yes.”

But it wasn’t quite that simple. They’d prepared the experiment just as Keeven advised, and it had yielded the following results: The sprout on the left seemed to be doing fine and had a standard bud. The center cup’s sprout was as black as tar for some reason and had a lustrous hue. And the cup on the right was growing much quicker than the others. Already a number of long, spindly roots were growing through the cotton.

In hydroponics, the source of nutrients was water.

That was where Kunon would have come into play, if not for a long-accepted theory that water produced by sorcerers wasn’t suitable for growing plants. According to this theory, the problem was that magically produced water lacked the minerals and other material found in natural water. Since that information came from research conducted long ago by well-respected scholars, it had a lot of credibility.

So what should they do? If nutrients were needed, couldn’t they just add some?

Kunon had proposed mixing nutrients into magically produced water and giving that to the plants. His suggestions ranged from commonly known substances to unique ones used in magic potions.

Since it was in keeping with the spirit of the experiment, Reyes hadn’t objected. On the contrary, she had strongly endorsed the idea. She was quite intrigued by it.

And so they tried it out.

That was the story behind these three variant plants. They just hadn’t expected such drastic differences to come from nothing more than mixing different nutrients into the water.

Kunon found this very interesting. Perhaps this, too, was a kind of selective breeding.

“…Should we…do more?” he asked.

Five or six plants at a time was probably doable. He could think of a whole bunch of substances he wanted to try as additives. To do that, Kunon wanted to increase their sample size.

“Here you go. Thank you for your hard work.”

Kunon was at Satori’s office. She held out a card and he accepted it. This was one of the credits he’d so dearly wished for.

While he and the Saint had carried out their joint experiment, Kunon had also worked as Satori’s assistant. He’d just finished two weeks in that role.

“You really did run me ragged.”

He’d worked for her from noon until evening every day. He spent his mornings doing business and researching with Reyes, so he’d arranged to start helping Satori in the afternoons.

The volume of work had been considerable and mainly involved taking notes while Satori dictated and producing clean copies of her memos and such.

The notes she dictated to him consisted of hypotheses and deductions made while observing the water-dancing bug, as well as records of various data. She would read them off, and Kunon would take down whatever she said.

Afterward, they would talk about classes. Satori taught Second Level now and then and would ask for his thoughts.

Kunon had a lot of fun. It was like getting to take a private class with Satori herself.

He also really enjoyed seeing Satori and Jenié discuss teaching matters together.

As a sorcerer, Jenié may not have been impressive. But once again, Kunon was struck by her talent as an educator. The consideration she had for her students could be felt in the way she chose simple words to explain difficult concepts, as she had with Kunon. Just as an excellent sorcerer did not necessarily make a good teacher, the opposite could also be true.

Gazing upon his wonderful first tutor made Kunon’s heart swell. Not that he could actually see her.

“Any complaints?” Satori asked him.

“None at all. If I had the freedom and energy, I would have liked to spend even more time assisting you.”

After all, Satori Glücke was incredible. And despite visiting her office many times, this was Kunon’s first experience helping her with an experiment.

It was no wonder she was a world-renowned water sorcerer. A novice like Kunon couldn’t hold a candle to her when it came to knowledge and ingenuity, a fact that had become evident over and over during the last two weeks.

If he had the time, he would have liked to stay at Satori’s side and continue to learn from her.

“But unfortunately, I have a curfew.”

Nearly thirteen years old, Kunon was still only a child. After discussing things with his maid, a curfew had been set for him. He had to be home at night.

“I feel the same. You were more useful than I expected, so I would have liked to keep you around a bit longer.”

Those were Satori’s honest feelings. She knew she was an eccentric old woman, and she struggled to give straightforward compliments. But her temporary assistant really had exceeded her expectations. She was in a good mood, so she told him so.

Having a capable assistant made experiments and research more consistent and less time-consuming. The water-dancing bug experiment was progressing smoothly, and it seemed nearly time to move on to the next stage. The fact that the project had arrived at this point ahead of schedule was a testament to her assistant’s good work.

Satori had also enjoyed his occasional discerning comments and questions. A few times, he had even startled her by noticing some careless oversight she had made. She’d been annoyed whenever it happened and hidden her surprise, pretending she’d been aware of whatever it was the whole time. After all, she was an eccentric old woman.

“Come back anytime you want more credits,” she said. “You’re more than welcome.”

Kunon left Satori’s office and headed home.

In the daytime, it felt just like spring, but the evenings were still a little chilly.

“Now, then.”

His credits were mostly completed. He might need one more or he might not. And if that was all, he could pretty much do anything to make up the difference. He could even help Satori out again—a tempting proposal.

He had approximately half the school year remaining, just as he’d planned.

Preparations were complete. Starting tomorrow, he would begin his attempt to develop a magic-containing box.

First, he would go to see Bael, the Ability Faction representative. And from there…

Kunon mused over such things as he walked the path back to his house.

The next day, Kunon headed to the old castle serving as the Ability Faction’s base.

“Oh, it’s Kunon.”

There, he ran into Elia Hesson, who was in the dining hall chatting with three of her friends.

“Hello, Miss Elia. What’s this? Is it possible you’ve grown even more beautiful in only a day’s time?”

“You didn’t see me a day ago. In fact, it’s been a while since we met.”

They cracked some jokes; then Elia continued before Kunon even had a chance to state his business.

“You came to see Bael, right?”

“Of course not. As if I would come all this way to see a man. I’m here to see you, obviously. It just so happens I’m going to visit Bael while I’m here.”

“‘It just so happens’ that you have an appointment with him, you mean?”

She was right. Kunon had merely spouted some nonsense about preferring women on instinct. His reason for coming was indeed to see Bael.

“A few days ago, he entrusted me with a letter,” said Elia. “He said, ‘Give this to Kunon if he comes by.’”

“He did?”

Elia nodded and held out the letter.

“I wonder what it could be. If he’s asking me on a date, I’ll obviously have to decline.”

With this offhand comment, Kunon opened the plainly sealed letter then and there. It wasn’t a formal missive, so he didn’t think it would be a problem.

“But didn’t you go on a date with the Inferno Prince?”

That question came from one of the girls Elia had been chatting with.

A date.

Well, they had gone shopping together. Kunon supposed you could call that a date.

In fact, if someone told Kunon that his recent duel with Gioelion seemed like a date as well, he wouldn’t be able to deny it. The two of them had been in their own little world the whole time, as if they were the only people in existence. It had been so much fun, Kunon had almost lost himself in it.

“He’s a bit of an exception,” Kunon replied, and the girls squealed in delight.

What are they all excited about? Kunon wondered. But he had other things to focus on.

“…Two weeks…”

The contents of Bael’s letter had him a little perplexed. It was a brief message, reading: “I don’t have enough credits yet. I need about two more weeks. Please wait a bit longer.” That was all.

Apparently, Bael was having some trouble with credits just as Kunon had. He figured it was less a matter of Bael procrastinating and more that earning ten credits in half a year was quite an ambitious goal.

Either way, Kunon didn’t mind as long as Bael hadn’t forgotten their agreement. If he had to wait another two weeks, he could simply spend that time continuing his preparations.

“…Oh?”

There was a second page to the letter layered so neatly underneath the first that Kunon had only just noticed it.

The second page read, “I didn’t tell them the details of the experiment, but I did inform Lulomet and Shilto that we would be conducting one. If you want to invite them to join, try going to them, too.”

“…I see.”

Kunon remembered something Bael had told him: Collaborative experiments were not the Ability Faction’s strong suit. That sort of thing was where the Harmony Faction excelled. Kunon had heard that the Rationality Faction was also good at such work, provided the groups were small.

Luckily, he was acquainted with both the Rationality Faction representative, Lulomet, and the Harmony Faction representative, Shilto.

He hadn’t seen either of them in a while, so it was probably not a bad idea to go say hello. And technically, he was a member of all three factions…even if he had totally forgotten about that.

“I am intrigued by the subject matter,” said Shilto, “but wind magic isn’t useful in magic tool production, is it?”

Kunon had first stopped by the short tower the Harmony Faction called home, figuring that if he was paying people visits, he might as well start with a woman.

He was called to a dining hall that doubled as a reception room, where Shilto was waiting.

Faction leaders were always busy. He had arrived unannounced, so it was fortunate he was able to see her at all. Nevertheless, successfully getting an audience with her did not guarantee a favorable response.

“…You might be right,” he replied.

Shilto’s question was reasonable. In the past, Bael and Kunon had denied Elia Hesson a spot on the team for the exact same reason.

When it came to making things, the most suitable attribute was earth. Technically, water wasn’t a great option, either. It was only the unique nature of Kunon’s magic that allowed him to adjust his attribute to make it useful in a development context.

Earth sorcerers made good magical engineers, and other attributes didn’t. That was the common perception, and it was generally accurate.

Foul magic, too, Kunon thought.

Genevis, a member of the Ability Faction who had worked on developing the Medicine Boxes with Kunon, was an exceptionally talented foul magic user. Foul magic could temporarily alter the properties of matter, which came in very handy during trials and when constructing prototypes.

Kunon wasn’t sure how useful dark magic would be, however. He wasn’t familiar enough with it to say one way or the other.

As for light…from what he’d learned about the attribute from Reyes, it didn’t seem that useful when making tools. It was great for plants but didn’t seem to have much material-processing capability.

“But a box that contains magic, huh? That really is a fascinating idea.”

So this is what Bael was talking about, Shilto thought.

Around half a year ago, Bael had come to her and said, “There’s an interesting research project coming up, so finish your credits by the six-month mark.”

Shilto was a serious student and would have earned her credits early either way. But if the project involved developing a magic tool, it would be difficult for her to contribute. No matter how intriguing she found the subject, it was in poor form to throw her hat into the ring for something she wasn’t suited to. She would only be a hindrance.

And so…

“If you’d like, I can speak with Harmony’s earth users. I’m sure a few of them would gladly participate.”

…Shilto offered to help in a slightly different capacity.

It was an interesting idea, and she was curious about it, so she wanted to support the project.

“Hmm… I should probably consult with Bael before we decide anything.”

Though Kunon was planning on taking the lead role in development, he didn’t intend to make all the decisions unilaterally. Instead, he wanted to align his thoughts and actions with the rest of the team to keep them all moving in the same direction.

That was what collaboration was all about and the reason group projects often progressed more quickly than solo endeavors.

Even his second magic teacher, the self-absorbed Zeonly, considered Kunon’s input to some extent. Depending on others might carry a certain stigma, but in Kunon’s opinion, it was a critical skill.

“I see,” said Shilto. “You may be right.”

“If it comes to it, please introduce me to a female earth magic user.”

“Got it. Harmony Faction has a brilliant earth sorcerer. I’ll reach out to him.”

“…Him…”

Slightly dejected, Kunon left the Harmony Faction base.

“Ahhh, what an interesting experiment. A box that contains magic, you say?”

After parting ways with Shilto, Kunon headed straight for the underground facility where the Rationality Faction was stationed.

The faction representative, Lulomet, was conveniently in his office. Kunon paid the boy’s orderly room a visit and made his proposal.

“Unfortunately, however, I’ve already made plans.”

As Bael had suggested, Lulomet had completed his credits in the first half of the year. But regrettably, he was no longer free to collaborate with them.

“Plans?”

“Yes. There’s an experiment I want to do. I’ve estimated that it will take at least three months.”

Kunon certainly didn’t want to stand in the way of Lulomet’s experiment.

“May I ask what you’ll be doing?”

“I’m thinking of summoning a dark spirit.”

“What, really?! That’s amazing!”

Spirits were mysterious entities said to exist in nature. There were records of people who could see spirits in the past. Inevitably, though, since people who couldn’t see them couldn’t confirm their existence, the credibility of those claims was a matter of debate.

There were various theories about them. Some said they fed on people’s magic power and released spells in return. Others said sorcerers were able to use magic because spirits resided within their bodies. There also existed the theory that spirits weren’t real and never had been.

The prevailing belief within the magic community was that spirits were masses of magic power that possessed a life force.

At any rate, spirits weren’t usually visible. Sometimes, a strange magic power could be felt even though nothing appeared to be present. That unidentified power was said to be a spirit.

“I found some old documents in the back of the library that describe how to summon spirits. I checked with the school and was given permission to attempt the summoning ritual if accompanied by a teacher.”

Wow… What a fascinating experiment.

“How compelling!”

What were spirits? Such an experiment prodded at the very mysteries of the universe. What was magic? This work might bring them closer to the answer.

Kunon couldn’t restrain his enthusiasm.

“Isn’t it?” said Lulomet. “I’m interested in what you’re doing, too, but I’m not sure I would be of any use in creating magic tools to begin with.”

“Is dark magic not suited for it?”

“I have no experience with such things, so I can’t really say.”

In other words, even if dark magic was useful for magic tools, Lulomet was a total novice.

Nothing resembling a magic-containing box existed at present, so they would be starting from scratch. Honestly speaking, Kunon thought the project would be quite difficult.

“Understood,” he said. “If I need anything, may I ask for your assistance?”

If possible, Kunon wanted people with at least some magical engineering experience on the team, so he gave up on recruiting Lulomet.

“Of course. If you deem my abilities necessary, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. I’d like to be involved, even if only a little.”

While he had Lulomet’s ear, Kunon also brought up the possibility of scouting a talented earth sorcerer from the Rationality Faction.

After that, he took his leave.

“Right.”

Emerging from the underground facility, Kunon nodded.

Thanks to his efforts, it would now be easier to secure team members when the time came. They hadn’t begun their research, so nothing more was needed on that front.

It would be about two weeks before Bael was available, and in that time, Kunon could continue preparations.

Making up his mind, he started to walk in the direction of Satori’s office. He needed to apply for another laboratory so they would have a place to develop the magic-containing box.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. Let’s begin.”

Credits fully earned, Ability Faction representative Bael arrived at the classroom Kunon had rented for their project.

Their collaborative experiment could finally start.

First, they discussed personnel selection. Development would be difficult and time-consuming with only two people, so they wanted to assemble some teammates.

“How about Geneve?”

The first person Kunon suggested was Genevis, from the Ability Faction.

Kunon really wanted a foul magic user. He had been told that people with rare attributes were usually busy. One could tell as much by looking at the Saint. Though in her case, she was the one increasing her own workload. She’d made her own bed and was now having to lie in it.

In any case, Kunon hadn’t dared extend an invitation to Genevis on his own.

“Excellent. I already looped him in. I’ll bring him with me tomorrow.”

That was lucky. Bael’s answer was more than enough to make up for the two-week delay.

“Phew, I was wondering what to do if you said you didn’t want him to join,” said Bael. “I mean, you know he’s an acquired taste.”

He was indeed. Genevis often laughed at nothing—a major cause of strain in his interpersonal relationships.

“I don’t dislike him,” said Kunon.

Genevis seemed to look down on others, but his skill as a sorcerer was undeniable. Plus, Kunon was still very interested in foul magic.

And even though Genevis’s laughter gave Kunon the feeling he was being made fun of, Kunon had never been offended by his actions. After all, the boy in question had said he wasn’t doing it on purpose. Kunon had chosen to simply believe him.

He could also see the black-haired woman haunting Genevis from behind—another factor that made Kunon want to trust him.

“I appreciate your saying that. He irritates people, and they tend to misunderstand him… I feel a bit sorry for him.”

If Genevis wasn’t doing it on purpose, that really was a shame, thought Kunon.

He and Bael continued their discussion and began selecting outstanding earth sorcerers from among the three factions.

Thanks to Kunon’s earlier negotiations—his laying the groundwork, as it were—they were able to secure two brilliant students very quickly.

The first was Harmony Faction member Elva Daglight.

With her jet-black hair and amethyst eyes, Elva was said to be the most beautiful girl in her faction. After receiving an invitation secondhand, she sought Kunon and Bael out at their workspace.

“Oh? You remember me?” she asked Kunon.

“Yes. I hardly ever forget a beautiful woman.”

Six months prior, Elva had been the girl to ask Kunon to join the Harmony Faction. They hadn’t interacted since then, so this reunion was their first meeting in half a year.

The Harmony representative Shilto had told Kunon she would introduce him to a male earth sorcerer, but it seemed her recommendation was busy with his own experiment and wouldn’t be available anytime soon. He, in turn, had referred Elva to them.

Kunon had resigned himself to working with a man. Bael had even brought up the same male student when they were discussing personnel.

This outcome was, therefore, beyond what he had hoped for. Kunon rejoiced at the happy turn of fate.

“There’s something I want to say right off the bat,” said Elva, her gaze shifting to Bael and Genevis. “Once I start an experiment, I get really grimy. Please don’t expect me to be ladylike.”

Elva, the most attractive girl in Harmony, was a sorcerer and a researcher first and foremost. Consequently, once she began working, she didn’t spare a thought for her appearance. Her lustrous, bewitching hair became disheveled. Her clear amethyst eyes dulled from lack of sleep. Her skin dried out, and dark circles formed under her exhausted eyes.

Fingernail maintenance and makeup also fell by the wayside, and she had no reservations about curling up in a little heap to sleep on the floor. She could pull four all-nighters in a row, though she could tell it was taking years off her life.

She only bothered to look nice when she wasn’t busy. It wasn’t that she didn’t like dressing up, however. Elva was just a woman who put her research first.

It didn’t seem relevant to Kunon, since he couldn’t see, so she directed her warning to the other two boys.

“Oh yes… I’ve heard something about that,” replied Bael. “It should be fine.”

Rumors of Elva staying up all night and looking a mess had reached him before. Beautiful girls, he figured, had a lot going on. They had to worry about the way men saw them, their expectations, and so on.

But Bael didn’t really care about such things. He was the head of the Ability Faction. He knew very well that progress couldn’t be made if they spent their time worrying about whether their comrades were boys or girls or beautiful women. So even if Elva hadn’t said anything, he wouldn’t have paid it any mind.

“Eh-heh, pfft… I look forward to working with you, eh-hee, particularly because I’m like this. I really don’t mean anything by it… I’m sure your grimy self, ah-ha, is charming, too, ah-ha, ha-ha-ha.”

That was Genevis’s answer. His idiosyncratic laughter was more intense than Elva had heard. It genuinely felt like he was making fun of her, but well…he probably didn’t mean anything by it. Probably.

“Grimy, you say…? That’s nice. Cultivating a lady is a gentleman’s favorite pastime. I would certainly like to see that side of you as well. Not that I can see, of course.”

Kunon’s reply was more or less what the others had expected, so no one really gave it any thought.

Their second earth sorcerer was Ladio, from the Rationality Faction.

“…Hello. I saw your recent match,” he said to Kunon.

He was so large it was hard to believe he was a teenager, and his deep voice reverberated from somewhere in his stomach. Everyone else had to look up to meet his eyes. When he entered the lab, he greeted Kunon first.

“Ah, hello. I’m Kunon.”

By “your recent match,” Ladio probably meant his duel with Gioelion.

“…I’m a huge fan,” he said. “Can I shake your hand?”

“Huh…? Um, okay.”

What does he mean “fan”? Kunon wondered.

Kunon knew what the word meant, but why would someone be a fan of him? He didn’t really get it, but since Ladio didn’t seem to mean it in a bad way, Kunon figured it was fine.

The other boy must have been drawn in by his gentlemanlike manner, which was widely acknowledged to be superb, Kunon decided. After all, gentlemen were often admired by others.

“It’s been a while, Ladio.”

At the sound of Bael’s voice, the large boy’s head turned.

“…Yeah. Thanks for inviting me, Bael. This experiment sounds interesting.”

Ladio was a student known for his craftsmanship. Despite his tremendous size, he had the skill to create intricate designs and execute them with precision. Already making a name for himself and his wares, he did business with the aristocratic set. Even within the Advanced class, students like him were rare.

Ladio usually stuck to doing his own research and experiments and rarely appeared in public. He was a little inarticulate and didn’t seem too keen on interacting with others.

He hardly ever responded when people invited him to participate in their projects. But this time—like Bael and the others—he must have been lured in by the subject matter.

“I should be thanking you,” replied Bael. “We appreciate your taking part. I’m glad I’ll get to see your handiwork up close again.”

“…It’s not as good as yours.”

Ladio and Bael were both three-star earth sorcerers.

Their work didn’t overlap enough for them to become rivals, but they recognized each other’s abilities and maintained a certain mutual awareness.

With that, the development team for the magic-containing box was established.

Kunon was the leader, and his collaborators were Bael, Genevis, Elva, and Ladio.

They might have to add more people later on, or they might go the whole project with their current lineup. Either way, they would start with this group of five.

Incidentally, with his Glass Eye, Kunon saw a black lizard wrapped around Elva’s left arm and a silvery, metallic-looking echidna perched on Ladio’s shoulders. Both of them were earth sorcerers.

A short time had passed since the magic-containing box development team was established.

…It all started with an ulterior motive, as Elia Hesson would later reveal.

Elia, a member of the Ability Faction, had feelings for her faction’s representative, Bael Kirkington.

She was dropping hints. In fact, she had been doing her best to make her intentions obvious, but she didn’t know if Bael was getting the message.

Things hadn’t really gone anywhere. She didn’t think Bael hated her, but he also hadn’t reacted in the slightest to her efforts.

She needed to make contact… Whether that meant accidentally bringing their faces together or doing it on purpose, Elia wasn’t sure. But she felt she had to do something to make Bael take notice of her. Recently, she’d been busy thinking about how to cross that line.

Incidentally, because of how much she liked Bael, Elia couldn’t stand being apart from him for over a week. And so, a few sweet provisions in hand, she decided to pay a visit to the Building 11 laboratory he was working in.

“Oh, come on in.”

When she knocked on the door, she was greeted by Elva of the Harmony Faction.

Bael was currently developing a magic tool, and Elva was another member of the project. Elva was so gorgeous it made Elia’s head spin, even though they were both girls. Truthfully, she didn’t like seeing women that pretty near Bael, but there was nothing she could do about it.

“Now should be fine.”

Elva already knew who Elia was there to see.

To be honest, the majority of the Advanced class knew. Her feelings were obvious. There were even people who had bet on whether Elia and Bael would become a couple.

Some people were just rude, thought Elia. But she preferred that to anyone interfering.

Elva, as it happened, had no interest in Bael aside from his skill as a sorcerer. She could forgive a guy for being thickheaded but not to that degree. A man so obtuse that he didn’t even notice when he hurt a girl was out of the question.

“That you, Elia?”

Here was the object of Elia’s affection.

He and the others had shoved a group of desks together and were sitting around them, poring over a mountain of books and documents. They were probably in the middle of surveying the relevant information.

The development team had formed only a week ago. At present, they were still preparing to start their project.

“Hello, Bael,” said Elia. “I brought you some refreshments.”

“Really? Thank you. Hey—let’s take a quick break.”

Kunon, Genevis, and Ladio looked up from their work.

Glancing around casually, Elia thought about how amazing the team’s lineup was. It was made up entirely of the cream of the Advanced class.

Ladio’s participation was especially impressive. He was skilled enough to sell his wares to nobility and usually never worked with others. That alone spoke to how much this project must have interested him.

Elia understood why. Even without taking her love interest into account, the project fascinated her. As a sorcerer—or rather, because she was a sorcerer, she was drawn to the subject.

“How about some tea?”

The team took a break and drank the tea Elva made for them and ate the honey toast Elia had brought.

A month after the development team was established, Elia once again made her way to Building 11, snacks in hand.

“Do you have a moment, my lady?” a voice called out to her, and Elia turned around.

“Huh?”

For a moment, she thought the voice belonged to Kunon. After all, he was the only person she knew that would call her “my lady.” But she was mistaken.

“Um… Sorry, but…have we met?”

A boy about her age stood before her. His facial features were nicely arranged around his headstrong eyes. His clothes were fine, so Elia figured he was probably from some noble family or perhaps a royal.

She didn’t recognize him, though. And considering his good looks, it seemed odd that he wasn’t a subject of gossip among the female students. Cassis, of the Rationality Faction, for instance, would be going totally bonkers over him.

“No, we haven’t,” the boy replied. “I’m in Second Level and have no reason to know a member of the Advanced class.”

That made sense, Elia thought as she nodded. There weren’t many students in the Advanced class, and she could recognize the faces of everyone involved in the factions.

Even if you combined the members of all three—no, all four factions when Freedom was included—they were a small group.

“My name is Azel. I’m a first-year in the Second Level water class. Am I correct in thinking this is Building Eleven?”

After introducing himself, Azel looked over at the building Elia had been about to enter.

“That’s right,” she said. “Did you need something?”

“I came to see Kunon. Do you know him? He’s an Advanced class student who enrolled this year. I’d appreciate it if you could tell him I’m here.”

Elia nodded again.

Kunon was also a first-year water sorcerer. That was probably how he and Azel knew each other. But well, at the moment…

“Um… Do you need him for some urgent business? Is it vital that you meet with him right now?”

“…No, I only wanted to have a word with him. It’s not very important.”

“Oh, okay… Then now might not be a good time.”

“Why not?”

“He’s in the middle of a large-scale development project. I’m not sure, but it might take up to six months… He’s planning on spending the rest of the school year working on it. If it’s not a time-sensitive matter, I suggest you don’t disturb him… Although I suppose that’s not really for me to say.”

“……”

“No matter what Kunon says, he’s kind to boys, too. I’m sure if I told him you were here, he would meet with you. What do you think? If you really want me to, I’ll go get him.”

“No, it’s fine. Don’t even mention I came,” Azel said, turning his back to her. “I really want to beat the imperial prince, so I was going to ask for advice, but…if he’s busy, I don’t want to trouble him with such a pathetic request. I was never here, and you and I never met. Let’s leave it at that, please.”

Azel left without waiting for a response.

“…The imperial prince?”

Had he meant the Inferno Prince? wondered Elia. Or was there another imperial prince floating around somewhere? Elia didn’t know much about Second Level.

Well, whatever.

Azel seemed to want to pretend he’d never come, so she decided to respect that.

Once more making for the door to Building 11, Elia headed toward the team’s lab.

“Oh, welcome.”

She was ushered in once again by a tired-looking Elva. Starting a week ago, Elia had begun to notice dark circles forming under the other girl’s eyes. Now they were obvious to anyone who looked.

“Are you all right?” she asked. “Aren’t you tired?”

“I’m okay, really. I still have enough energy to make it home.”

Was that how she defined okay? Elia didn’t know if she agreed, but if that was what Elva said, she was probably fine.

“Oh, Elia,” replied her beloved. “Thanks for always bringing us stuff to eat.”

He looked sleepy. It wasn’t just Elva—the whole team was showing signs of exhaustion.

“This formula, is it correct?” someone asked.

“…Uh…I don’t think it’s a decrease multiplier, but I could be wrong…”

“May I take a look…? Ah-ha, oh dear. This writing is a little blurry. Representative, look at this.”

Books and reports were stacked up high on the floor. Various types of equipment had been lined up along the desks.

“Sure… Ah, let’s stop for a while. I’m starting to see these numbers in triple.”

One month had passed, and the group appeared to be getting quite tired.

“I’ll make tea. Raise your hand if you want extra sugar in yours.”

The team rested for a while and drank the tea Elva brewed and ate the honey rusk Elia had brought.

Two months after the development team was established, Elia made her way to Building 11 yet again, snacks in hand.

“Excuse me, my lady? Do you have a moment?”

“Huh?”

Feeling a bit of déjà vu, Elia turned to look.

It wasn’t Kunon this time, either. Nor was it the Second Level boy who had called out to her before.

That made three different boys in the school—Kunon included—who addressed girls with “my lady.”

Elia was astonished. She was also astonished by the third boy’s identity. This time, it was someone she recognized.

“Inferno…Prince…?”

It was the imperial prince who had dueled with Kunon several months ago. Elia had been there to watch, so she remembered his face.

“You’re Miss Elia, correct?” he asked.

“Um, yes.”

She’d been so distracted by the prince that she’d missed the two others flanking him—a boy and a girl.

“I’m Ilhi Bolyle,” said the girl.

Their faces looked familiar, too. Just before the duel, they had been at the prince’s side. They were probably his guards.

“Could you tell us, by chance, what Mr. Kunon has been up to recently?” the girl asked.

“Kunon?”

Elia had been wondering what they needed, and it seemed they had business with Kunon.

My, Kunon, Elia thought. You’re surprisingly popular with boys.

“You know each other, right? Are you, by chance, on your way to give him that food?”

They’d probably already done some groundwork and were asking in order to confirm. Elia had no reason to deny it, but she wanted to make one thing perfectly clear.

Making a beeline for Ilhi, who seemed like the party’s main negotiator, Elia said quietly, “I am bringing food but not for Kunon’s sake specifically.”

She wasn’t here to give Kunon a gift. She wanted to do something nice for the boy she liked, Bael. Elia was eager not to be misunderstood on that point.

“I see. Master Gio—isn’t that great? It seems Miss Elia has her sights set on someone else.”

“What are you talking about?” replied the prince.

Seriously. What is she talking about? thought Elia. She’d rather like to hear more…

“Um, Kunon is in the middle of a large-scale experiment right now,” she said, “so…”

“That much we are aware of. He told us so himself. It’s just that we haven’t heard from Mr. Kunon for the past two weeks, so he’s a bit worried. Master Gio, that is.”

Apparently, Kunon and the Inferno Prince spent time together. Quite often, it seemed.

Elia wasn’t opposed to hearing about boys in close relationships. She was a girl, after all.

“Hmm… How should I put it…?” she began.

Don’t worry—he’s definitely alive. He just isn’t all that lively.

Recently, Kunon had been looking particularly fatigued, even to an outsider like her. Elia would have described him as “barely hanging on.” But should she really say that to someone who was so concerned he’d come to check on him?

Was “barely hanging on” an acceptable reply? Would that provide any peace of mind at all?

No. No way. On the contrary, it would only cause more worry.

“Well… All I can say is that lately it seems like the work has gotten a little challenging…”

“So it would seem… Nothing wrong otherwise, then?”

“I don’t think so. It’s just that he’s so tired and has so much to do that he hasn’t been able to focus on anything else— Oh, that’s right.”

Elia was also concerned about the development team’s well-being, but she was wary of visiting too often and becoming a nuisance. She’d been trying to show restraint. However…if she wasn’t the one dropping in on them every time, she wouldn’t become an eyesore. That gave her an idea.

“Why don’t you three try bringing him food sometime, if you’d like? I would be really grateful since there are days when I can’t make it.”

“Oh? Seeing how Mr. Kunon is doing would make us happy, too, but is it okay for us to enter an Advanced class facility?”

“I don’t think there are any rules against it. You should check with a teacher just to be safe, though.”

“That’s an excellent idea. Master Gio—I think Miss Elia’s plan sounds wonderful. Let’s bring Kunon some provisions next time.”

“Yes.”

It seemed the Inferno Prince was satisfied with her suggestion, too. Elia told them how often she brought snacks to the lab, and they parted ways.

“Thank you, my lady.”

The address sounded more dignified when the prince said it, Elia thought as she watched him walk away with his friends.

Now, then.

Slightly delayed, Elia turned back toward Building 11 and headed inside.

“Hellooo, I brought snacks!”

There was no need to knock at this point. The room’s occupants didn’t want to bother answering the door and had told her to simply come and go as she pleased.

Without waiting for permission, Elia stepped into the familiar laboratory.

“…Oh, it’s you, Elia. Sorry to make you come all this way so often. You really don’t have to worry about us so much.”

She could hear the voice of the boy she liked—but she couldn’t see him. It seemed he’d dozed off on the floor again. Hidden by a plethora of books and documents, not an inch of Bael was in sight.

Genevis, Ladio, and Elva were probably lost in the sea of research materials as well.

“Oh, Miss Elia. Welcome,” Kunon greeted her as he entered the room.

Since he had a curfew, Kunon always went home at a regular time and was more energetic than the others.

That, however, was a low bar to clear. Only half of his face was visible beneath his eye mask, but he was tired enough that his pale complexion was obvious.

Even after returning home, Kunon’s to-do list was endless. There were materials to search for, preliminary calculations to make, rough estimates regarding the magic tool’s construction to put together. He claimed he was cutting into his sleep to keep working.

That probably wasn’t a lie. After all, he was managing to keep pace with his immensely talented teammates. He really was an incredible first-year student.

“The others are busy sleeping, so I’ll take that off your hands. Oh, unless you’d like for me to wake them up.”

“Gosh, no. It’s okay—let them rest.”

Elia couldn’t bear the thought of waking everyone up just to give them snacks when they were in such a state. Bael hadn’t spoken again, and she suspected he’d already fallen back asleep.

“Are you sure?” asked Kunon. “I still eat breakfast and dinner at home, but for the others, the food you bring has been a lifeline. They’ll be happy to see you.”

“Huh?”

What had he just said?

No… Somehow, she understood. Even Elia tended to forget to sleep and eat when she was absorbed in research or an experiment.

“Don’t tell me they’re all starving themselves.”

“It’s hard to say, but I’ve never seen them eating anything outside of what you bring,” said Kunon, before adding, “Not that I can see.” But Elia wasn’t listening.

What…? They’re forgetting to eat and sleep? All of them?

It certainly looked that way. But wasn’t that a little odd?

People ate when they were hungry and slept when they were tired. That was only natural.

There were times, however, when someone became so engrossed in an activity that it simply didn’t occur to them to eat or sleep. Elia had found that the more talented a sorcerer was, the less they tended to their own health. She didn’t have any data to back that up beyond her own experiences, but generally, she believed it held true.

“Researchers, I swear…”

Elia had gotten caught up in work and forgotten to eat and sleep before, but there was a limit to how far you could take it. She’d certainly never gotten this bad.

“Should I bring food more often?” she asked.

Typically, Elia visited once or twice per week.

At first, she had worried that was too much. Then she started to feel concerned, because every time she showed up, the team’s members looked increasingly ragged. Now the group was in such bad shape that she was afraid to take her eyes off them.

And today, she’d learned her concern was more than warranted.

She would have to meet with the Inferno Prince again and discuss how often they brought food. She felt that running into him and his friends earlier had been destiny. Not even magic could have intervened.

“I’m always happy to see more of you, Miss Elia, but…won’t that be a burden on you?”

“If you have time to worry about me, you should put more effort into this project and get it done faster.”

She wanted Bael to be set free soon. And above all, she wanted something done about the lab’s grueling environment. Elia had no desire to see people she knew die from overwork.

“Understood,” said Kunon. “I shall continue to look forward to your love-infused treats.”

“No, these aren’t for… Well, whatever. Just take a real break, okay? I mean it.”

She had been about to correct him, to say that the love she put into these snacks wasn’t for Kunon. But there really wasn’t any need. And besides…Kunon would likely be receiving love-infused treats from the prince from now on.

She really hoped he would accept them.

Three months after the development team was established, Elia thought, Things have gone too far.

“……”

Was this really supposed to be a laboratory?

It was more like a disorganized reference room. Anyone who saw it would think the same. A disgraceful scene was spread out before her.

Until then, Elia had been keeping her opinions on the situation entirely to herself, no matter how messy things got. Even when the room reeked with an alarmingly strong chemical smell. Even when piles of materials were being used as mattresses to sleep on the floor. Aware of her position as an outsider, she’d stayed quiet.

But this was beyond irresponsible. There was nowhere to stand in the entire room. Not one of the people inside could form a coherent response.

Shockingly not asleep for once, the team members were sitting around their desks. One glance was enough to cause alarm; they looked like they were already dead.

Bael’s complexion had progressed beyond pale blue into a greenish tone.

Genevis was earnestly trying to write something down using a pen that was clearly out of ink. He was grinning as he mumbled to himself, “How strange—I can’t write… Is this a dream? Ah, I see…”

Elva and Ladio were carrying on an incomprehensible conversation—“I’m waiting for the prince to come rescue me from this hell,” “Take me with you, please”—while petting some water cats.

Okay, so their conversation wasn’t entirely incomprehensible. Apparently, the imperial prince had been checking in on the group every so often.

Kunon, the only one who still had any of his wits about him, had nevertheless failed to notice Elia’s appearance. He was moving between the piles of materials—those which had yet to collapse—toppling them one after another in search of something. “Huh?” he said to himself as he broadened the scope of the disaster. “Where did that document get to?” Perhaps he wasn’t quite as together as he looked.

It was too much. This wasn’t research.

“That’s enough!” Elia shouted. “Get some actual rest! And clean up this room a little!”

If I don’t stop them now, she thought, someone really will work themselves into an early grave.

Elia declared a compulsory rest period, effective immediately.

She was serious. She intended to make the five of them take a break even if she had to get a teacher involved.

Yet to her surprise, no one objected.

Later, after waking up from a deep sleep that lasted the entire day, Bael told her, “That knocked me out completely.”

When Elia asked, the five of them said they had been thinking about the project nonstop, whether awake or asleep.

No matter what the team was doing, their minds were running—even while they slept. As soon as an idea hit them, they woke up to jot it down. Sorcerers often entered such a state after starting an experiment and narrowing their focus. Frankly, even though they wanted to rest, they couldn’t. Never knowing when a flash of insight would come, their minds remained in a constant state of tension. Spellbound was a good word for it. Driven by a single goal, they found the difference between consciousness and subconsciousness no longer mattered.

Elia’s declaration, however, had shattered that tension.

Kunon reacted first, exclaiming, “Let’s sleep today! I’m tired, too!” and creating waterbeds for everyone.

All five of them jumped into their waterbeds without saying a word, so quickly it surprised even Elia, who had just shouted at them. They were asleep within seconds.

Their exhausted, corpse-like faces looked extraordinarily peaceful as they slept, enough to make Elia worry that they might never wake up. And once they’d fallen asleep, Elia was left behind—the sole conscious person in a room that may as well have been a war zone.

“Thank you for your hard work. I hope you enjoy the short vacation.”

With that, Reyes walked off toward the Great Temple with the priest who had come to greet her.

Philea and Jirni, who served as her maids and bodyguards, saw her off.

“…Whew. That’s a weight off the shoulders, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

When Reyes was no longer in sight, Jirni’s shoulders sagged and Philea breathed a small sigh.

For the time being, their work guarding the Saint was done.

Short on emotion, Reyes wasn’t very independent, either. She did as she was told, never did anything uncalled for, and never went anywhere unplanned. As far as taking care of someone went, they could not have asked for an easier charge.

But just because Reyes didn’t cause trouble didn’t mean they could take it easy. As her bodyguards, they had to keep watch over Reyes’s movements and be mindful of external threats. Vigilance was essential.

The job paid extremely well, but it required a lot of care and consideration.

The three of them had come to the Holy City of Libila, where the Great Temple was, in the Holy Kingdom of Saint Lance. Libila was what other countries would have called a capital city.

The trip back had been short. Thanks to Philea—who was also a wind sorcerer—using her flight magic, it had only taken a few days for the three of them to arrive in the city and to escort Reyes to the Great Temple, where she would be staying for the time being.

While she was there, Reyes would be watched over and cared for by the temple’s priests, so Philea and Jirni would get some time off. That didn’t mean they had no duties whatsoever, though. One of the higher-ups would surely call on them at some point and ask them to report on how Reyes was spending her time in Dirashik. And of course, when it came time to return to the magic city, they would be accompanying her again, which meant they weren’t allowed to leave Libila in the meantime.

Nevertheless, time off was still time off. There were a few restrictions, but this was their first significant break in quite a while.

Starting that evening, Jirni planned to drink enough alcohol to fill a bathtub, and Philea wanted to take care of some errands of her own.

“Okay, I’m off. Contact me if anything comes up.”

“Yep, later.”

Shoulders light, an eager Jirni disappeared into the hustle and bustle of the Holy City in search of liquor.

“……”

Philea watched her go before walking off in a different direction.

The truth was, Philea was a priest of the Holy Kingdom. She kept that fact a secret from Jirni. Reyes knew, but she had been instructed not to tell anyone else.

In a word, Philea played the role of watchdog. It simply wouldn’t do to surround Reyes with outsiders, and when Jirni first became a guard, her trustworthiness had not yet been established.

She was a highly skilled adventurer hired through the Adventurers Guild, as it was deemed beneficial to have someone along who knew the ins and outs of the world. That was why they hadn’t simply filled the position with someone from the Holy Kingdom.

Nevertheless, they hadn’t been sure if she had ulterior motives when accepting the position. And so, it had been necessary to stay vigilant and determine whether she might cause harm to the Saint.

By now, she had gained their trust. But setting that aside…

“Is Bishop Ezué in?”

Philea had arrived at her destination: an orphanage near the Great Temple.

This orphanage operated as a training school, and brilliant orphans from all over the Holy Kingdom were assembled there. In short, it was an institution for training future high-ranking members of the church. On the surface, it seemed like a normal orphanage, and aside from the fact that it taught the children complex languages and mathematics, it wasn’t that different.

“Yes. Please wait a moment.”

After enlisting a passing nun to help her, Philea waited.

She wasn’t required to pass on any information yet. However, there was one thing she had to report right away—Reyes’s growth. That topic, at least, could not wait for later.

“Ah, Lady Marionette is home.”

A voice reached Reyes’s ears as she walked through the Great Temple.

Lady Marionette—that was a name the servants and priests sometimes used for Reyes, who had spent her life in the temple from a very young age.

The moniker brought to mind an emotionless doll; a puppet who only did as she was told; a figurine incapable of caring for others. With such connotations attached, it was certainly not meant as a compliment.

Nonetheless, Reyes, who was indeed lacking in emotion, had thought nothing of the name when she was made aware of it. It didn’t upset her, and she had never expressly told anyone not to say it. She didn’t care if they called her Lady Marionette. She didn’t pay attention to things like that in the first place.

“After you.”

Her presence in the temple for the first time in a while attracted some attention, but Reyes made it to her room without being stopped.

The young female priest walking ahead of her and carrying her luggage opened the door and beckoned her inside.

“……”

Her plain room looked utterly unchanged from how she had left it.

Actually, no—it felt somewhat small and cramped.

There was only a desk, a bed, and whatever decorations she had received as birthday presents each year from the High Priest and archbishop. It was a room that felt only barely lived in.

This room, Reyes thought. It won’t do.

“What is your name?”

Pausing only one step into the room, Reyes turned to look at the young priest waiting in the doorway.

“Oh yes. My name is Leela.”

Reyes had not recognized Leela. This was despite the fact that there weren’t many priests attending to the Saint, and Leela had been looking after her closely for about two years.

Leela had vaguely realized that Reyes paid no attention to her, however, so it came as no surprise.

What was surprising was the present moment—Reyes asking for her name; actually facing her while speaking; making eye contact, addressing her.

Lady Marionette—even Leela had thought it a fitting nickname; Reyes was simply that unique.

And yet…here was Reyes, whom she hadn’t seen in over half a year, behaving in a completely new way.

“Leela, could you have some potted plants brought here, please? Flowers or even weeds would be fine.”

Reyes couldn’t stand places like this. There was no soil, no greenery. It was lifeless. She could abide a small room. She could endure being hungry or not having many clothes. If she had to, she could even tolerate having nothing to wear at all.

Not having plants, however, was too much. She would not go back to a life without verdure. She couldn’t be in an environment without vegetation. Reyes longed to cast a Sanctum around some potted plants as soon as possible.

“P-potted plants?”

“Anything is fine, even vegetables. Or vegetable seeds. Please bring me several types of vegetable seeds and some pots.”

“…Uhhh, so you want…vegetables?”

“They don’t even have to be in season.”

Leela didn’t quite understand, and it seemed like Reyes had more preferences than she was letting on, but this was a request from the Saint.

Leela had a duty to report in detail on Reyes’s actions and demands, but…surely for something of this nature, there was no need for special approval, right? After all, the nearby orphanage had gardening plots, so both seeds and soil could be procured quickly.

“Well then, I’ll fetch those for you, so please make yourself comfortable, Your Grace.”

“You’re going now? Oh, but you won’t be able to carry all those pots alone, will you? I’ll come, too. As I recall, the orphanage has a garden, doesn’t it?”

“Huh…? Uh?”

“Let’s not waste any time. You can just toss my luggage over there. Come now—quickly.”

Snatching her bag from Leela’s hands, Reyes threw it onto the bed. She had packed light. Only some clothes and souvenirs for the High Priest and archbishop, but who cared about those things at the moment?

“Let’s go,” she said.

When did Reyes get so pushy? Leela wondered. Is this really the same Lady Marionette?

Bewildered, Leela hurried to catch up with the Saint, who had already left the room.

“Has Reyes returned?”

The sun was already setting when he got back to his room.

Taking off the opulent garb he wore when meeting important guests and visitors, he changed back into his usual simple and comfortable clothes. He still had paperwork to do, so it was too soon to get ready for bed.

This was the High Priest of the Holy Kingdom—Archield Saint-Lance. He was a middle-aged man turning fifty that year and the head of the country.

Slender and delicate, Archield may not have had an imposing presence, but for a holy man, his meager form was, if anything, a point of pride. And in contrast to his timid appearance, he was sharp and capable.

Naturally, as the country’s leader, he also had a strict side.

“Yes. She arrived shortly after noon.” Archield’s attendant priest, Fon, answered while delivering dinner.

With the upcoming festival practically breathing down their necks, they had been busy lately with preparations. Consequently, though he had wanted to be present to welcome Saint Reyes home, it hadn’t been possible. He had been hopeful about making it back in time to see her at dinner, but that hadn’t panned out, either.

Tomorrow, they would be reunited, likely at breakfast.

“Has it really been more than half a year since we last saw each other? She must have grown quite a bit.”

“Indeed. Children grow quickly at that age.”

Archield was unmarried.

Devotees of the Radiant Goddess, Kira Leila, were not prohibited from matrimony. But from the moment he decided to dedicate his life to his faith, Archield had been determined to remain a bachelor.

That was probably why he thought of Reyes as his own child.

He had been resigned to the fact that he would never have children. And then a young girl—the Saint—had appeared at his side. Toward her, he felt the kind of emotions typically reserved for one’s family.

He intended to shower those feelings—the care, affection, and tenderness he hadn’t even realized he possessed—upon Reyes.

Emotions were hard to come by for the Saint. She was so unlike other people that it made those closest to her worry. Perhaps that was why Archield had adopted the role of her guardian with such gusto. It was either that, or pure paternal instinct.

The result was an indulgent father who fussed over and doted on his daughter excessively. Though he hid it well in public, on the inside, he was always worried about her.

He hadn’t wanted to let her go to magic school. Living far away from her was terrible. The fear that she would be bullied wherever she went for her unusual personality sat like a stone in his stomach.

In her letters, Reyes said she had made friends. Archield fretted nonetheless.

Were they true friends? Or were they actually wolves in sheep’s clothing? Or could they be libertines after an innocent maiden?

Many times he had cautioned her, “Be wary of men. Do not trust them so easily.”

And yet she had written to him about making friends with boys.

Was there something going on between her and one of those young men? Had Reyes been carrying on some passionate affair without Archield’s knowledge?

No, surely not. This was Reyes, after all. She always abided by his rules. That was just how she was. Even so, he worried and worried and worried…

“That reminds me,” said Fon. “An urgent report has arrived regarding Saint Reyes.”

“What?!” Achield’s uncharacteristic rise in volume took Fon by surprise. “Why wasn’t it delivered to me directly?!”

“Ah, because, um, it isn’t a matter requiring your immediate attention.”

All matters involving the Saint were important. But the report in question had not been deemed high priority enough to interrupt the High Priest’s duties, nor had it merited any sort of rapid response.

“The details are in the letter on your desk.”

Almost as soon as the words were said, Archield rushed to retrieve the envelope.

“…Hmm.”

Inspecting the letter’s contents, he had to acknowledge that it was, indeed, not very urgent. His anxiety had gotten the better of him, just a little.

The first thing that had popped into Archield’s mind was what to do if the letter reported that Reyes had brought a man home with her. What it actually said was that some plants had been brought to Reyes’s room at her request. The types of plants she had chosen were listed as well, and they all looked relatively unremarkable.

Archield recalled that in one of her letters, Reyes had written that she’d developed an interest in plants and crops. And in that case, this report made perfect sense.

If anything, it was cause for joy. Reyes, who never showed curiosity about anything and did nothing unless instructed to, had asked for something of her own volition. Surely this was a sign of growth.

I’m glad I sent her to magic school after all.

No doubt the friends she had made were sensible, respectable people, too. They must have been positive influences.

However, realizing that Reyes had grown came with a small but definite tinge of loneliness. As she grew, she was becoming more independent, and that meant straying farther from the nest. She would have less and less need for Archield’s protection and become increasingly capable of making decisions for herself.

It would probably only get lonelier for the High Priest from that point on. But every step Reyes took away from Archield would surely bring her closer to her own happiness.

And so it was okay. After all, praying for their daughters’ happiness was what fathers did.

…Or at least, that was what he had thought the night before.

“Good morning, Your Holiness. It’s been a while.”

The next day, unable to wait any longer, Archield paid an early visit to Reyes in her room.

He was hoping they could perform their morning prayers together. The thought of waiting until breakfast had been unbearable. He was dying to see her face for the first time in over six months.

He had wanted to see her, but…

“Something happened, didn’t it?” he asked.

…after more than half a year apart, Reyes did appear to have gotten a little bigger.

She seemed taller, her body slightly less childlike. Her expression was, as usual, blank. But it also seemed just a tad more mature.

This was a Reyes who, after overcoming the trials and tribulations of being twelve, had turned thirteen in the winter. It was only natural that she had grown, wasn’t it?

But more importantly…

“Pardon?”

“Are you in some sort of trouble?”

“I’m not sure what you mean.” Reyes was as emotionless as ever.

And yet—she had changed. If he had to describe what was different, Archield would have said it wasn’t Reyes herself so much as…her room.

“……”

What was with all the pots?

An extraordinary number of potted plants were now taking up more than half of her room. There were so many he could hardly count them.

In mere moments, Archield’s fatherly concern for Reyes had exploded out of control. He should never have let her go to magic school. This had to be because of those unsavory friends of hers.

It was unpardonable. Who were the scoundrels who had instilled such evil into this righteous saint? Who was putting unwanted drivel into her trusting head?

He would discover the identities of each and every one of them. Then, for the crime of harming a saint, he would have no choice but to put them to death.

“Oh, that’s right,” said the Saint. “I have a souvenir for you, Your Holiness. Do you have a moment to spare?”

“Of course.”

He had to find out—who were the worms taking advantage of Reyes? Of his beloved daughter?

“Your Holiness, we should go,” said Fon, his attendant priest, stopping him.

Right. It was nearly time for morning prayers. He couldn’t stay for a leisurely chat.

“We’ll talk later. Shall we go perform our morning prayers, Reyes?”

Frustrated though Archield was, he wouldn’t dwell on it. Reyes was scheduled to spend at least two weeks at the Great Temple. Her stay could be extended to around a month merely by entrusting her with a few small duties.

The end was near.

Only one month remained in the school year. Graduating students were getting ready to say goodbye, leaving behind those advancing to the next grade or repeating the year.

The end of the term was close, and the days were becoming ever more summerlike, full of strong sunshine and warmth.

“It’s done…!”

At long last, Kunon and his team had reached a critical stage in their development of the magic-containing box, newly named the Spell Vault. After months and months, they had a finished prototype.

Yes, it was still only a prototype, not yet fit for practical use. Nevertheless, its completion was a big deal. All that was left was to put it through trial after trial and gradually bring it to its final form.

“Finally!” rejoiced Bael.

“Ohhh, at last, ah-ha, ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, at last I can sleep!” Genevis laughed, voice thick with emotion.

“It took a really long time…,” said Elva, tears in her eyes. “Oh, I’m crying…”

“…I can pass out now, right?” said Ladio, already closing his eyes.

They all looked exhausted, but even so, there was cheer in their faces.

Some of them seemed more excited to be free from their suffering than satisfied by their accomplishment. But if they had been less fatigued and sleep-deprived, they would probably be appropriately pleased.

“Phew. Finally…”

Elia, who had joined the team partway through to do chores and such, was also granted some peace of mind. The thought of no longer having to babysit five huge children was a relief.

It had been difficult. The team was truly a handful. No matter how many times she scolded them, the lab ended up messy every day. None of them slept or ate without being told to. They wore the same clothes for days. They didn’t bathe or even rinse themselves off. Apparently, none of this concerned them.

Keeping them in check had been much harder than she had imagined. Particularly because even though they listened when Elia talked, they tended not to follow through. It was always “Let me finish this bit.” Or “Just a little more.”

Once, they’d delayed and delayed until sunup, and she’d finally worked out that there was no limit to their ability to stall. Her head had swum with the realization. After that, it was clear to her that she could not leave them to their own devices.

Wrapped up in something they enjoyed, they were totally unaware of everything else, just like a bunch of kids.

But if development was over, that meant Elia’s duties were, too.

What a chore this turned out to be.

After finishing the prototype, the team decided to take the night off. They met again the following day.

“So this is the Spell Vault…”

It was a metal box, though the shape was a bit unconventional. To be precise, it was a flat, round vessel, like a frying pan with a second pan overturned on top of it.

This was Elia’s first time seeing it. She hadn’t been involved in the development, so she had tried not to look at it as much as possible. She had told herself she was only in the lab to clean. That was her way of maintaining an appropriate distance.

“It was able to preserve a beginner-level spell for three days,” Bael said.

After a day of proper rest, he was back to looking like the spirited older boy Elia liked. There was no hint of impending death on his face, either.

“Wow…”

Three days might sound unimpressive to some. But Elia was also a sorcerer and a researcher. She understood well the significance of their achievement—they had done the impossible.

“Open it. There’s a four-day-old A-ori inside.”

“Huh?” Elia replied. “You want me to open it?”

“You’re the only person here who hasn’t gotten a good look inside yet.”

The rest of them had helped develop the box. They were all staring at her as if to say, “Come on, it’s time to be amazed.”

“Okay, here goes…”

Heart pounding, Elia reached out a hand.

Other than its creators, she was going to be the first person to experience what was probably the invention of the century. Even more nerve-racking, however, was her excitement at getting to touch such an incredible magic tool.

Fingertips trembling slightly, Elia opened the box and…

“Oh!”

…the moment she did, water came oozing out through the gap.

“Ah, the spell is dissipating,” Kunon said.

Elia figured he probably meant that the water wasn’t an A-ori. It was water that used to be magical. In other words, this was a failed storage attempt.

“Day four is still out of reach, huh?”

“Looks like three days is still the limit.”

“Eh-heh, heh-heh-heh… Ah-ha-ha. Haaah. Practical use is still a long ways off, it seems.”

While Bael, Kunon, and Genevis were talking, Elva placed another box in front of Elia.

“This one is on its third day,” she said.

There was more than one prototype, apparently. That made sense. Durability testing was difficult with only one model.

“Ah, okay. Then I guess I’ll give it a try.”

The first time had been a letdown. Elia’s nerves and excitement had been washed away by the viscous water.

She extended her hand again, popping open the lid of the second box without fanfare. And…

“Oh…”

Success.

There, right in front of her eyes, was a small, furry version of Kunon’s giant hairless rats, made palm-sized to fit inside the box.

“That’s amazing! This has been in here for three days?!”

Elia immediately wrapped up the extremely cute creature in her arms—or rather, her hands, since it was so small.

It was simply precious. The texture and temperature were the same as its larger counterparts. It felt nothing like water, but that was a good thing at the moment. She couldn’t believe it was a spell that had been cast three days ago.

Intricate magic circles had been drawn on both the bottom and top of the box. It seemed some rather advanced techniques were involved in its creation.

“So three days is fine, huh…”

“I had some ideas for improvement, but as for time…”

Apparently, Kunon and Bael still had some motivation left. Despite that, they must have both realized that they were at the end of the road.

“Time aside, pfft, ah-ha, my physical endurance is already… Am I the only one who thought I had died several times? I would be awake but seeing one memory after the other, almost like my life was flashing before my eyes… Ha-ha… But I suppose if I had to go, there are worse ways.” Genevis stared blankly ahead as he muttered.

Your life was flashing before your eyes, Elia thought.

“It was quite the journey. I’ve never done a project that lasted so long before. It was…what, about five months?”

“…That long…? I probably have a pile of work waiting for me…”

There were improvements to be made. That was true, but everyone had lives to get back to. All sorts of things had likely been put on the back burner while they devoted five months to this project. Taking up any more of their time would be a bad idea. It was already ill-advised to continue for as long as they had.

“Everyone, thank you for your hard work. For the time being, development of the Spell Vault is over,” Kunon declared, understanding the reality of the situation as well as the rest of them.

They all felt the same way. It didn’t need to be said. There was a significance in the project leader stating it out loud, however.

“Bael, thank you. Geneve, thank you. Ladio, thank you. Miss Elva and Miss Elia, too—I’m grateful to have spent so much time with such wonderful ladies. Thank you. I’m sure you all still have ideas and suggestions for improvement in your heads, just like I do. I expect several are popping up in your minds as we speak. Please, as much as you can, make note of those ideas. Someday, some other time, let’s team back up and work to bring this prototype closer to completion. Next time, we’ll set a fixed development period, okay? Working without a destination in sight, never knowing when it would end… Even I found that a bit dreadful. Not that I can ever see my destination or, for that matter, where I’m currently standing.”

Thus ended the five-month project.

The development of the Spell Vault—formerly known as the magic-containing box—had reached its first milestone.

That’s strange. Am I dreaming? Or am I still working on the Spell Vault with no end in sight?

Maybe finishing the project itself had been the dream—a sad vision resulting from all that backbreaking work.

Those sorts of tired clichés were the very first thoughts that popped into Kunon’s head.

Last night, for the first time in a long while, he had slept soundly, his mind quiet. It had been a blissful sleep. Now he wondered whether he had yet to wake up.

His next thought was, Maybe I went to the wrong place? I’ll ask the lady there.

“Pardon me, dear lady. Your beautiful, adorable visage is both mystical and mysterious, and yet kindhearted and alluring. May I have a moment of your time, by chance?”

““Yes?””

More than one person replied, but that wasn’t an issue for Kunon. In his opinion, that description was fitting for most women. Exceptions were rare, in fact… A single male voice had been mixed in with the replies, however, and that perplexed him slightly. But that could wait. It was nothing when compared with the situation in front of him.

“If I must be lost, I’d rather be lost in your eyes. Yet it seems I’ve stumbled off course. I want to go to Building Eleven. Whereabouts are we currently?”

Kunon didn’t think he had made a mistake. He had gone to Building 11 almost every day for the past year. Even though he couldn’t see, his body knew the way, so he couldn’t be mistaken.

Nonetheless, it was only natural to second-guess himself. Because that morning, where Building 11 should have been, there was something he had absolutely no recollection of at all.

“You’re already there,” someone replied.

“This is Building Eleven.”

“It ought to be anyway…”

“Flirting first thing in the morning, Kunon? That’s a bit flippant for the situation.”

Almost in unison, the voices of multiple girls—and the one male voice from before—responded to his question.

“…Huh? Bael, is that you?”

Kunon was so thrown off by the scene confronting him that he hadn’t recognized his senior at first.

He did now, though. He had long since become familiar with that voice. It belonged to someone he had spent nearly the entire past six months with: Ability Faction representative Bael Kirkington.

But that wasn’t important at the moment, either.

“Is what you and the ladies said true?” he asked.

As one, the four of them answered: “It is.”

This was Building 11. It was, in fact, the place he spent almost all his time—his home base. The Spell Vault had been developed here too. It genuinely was the same location he had visited only one day ago.

So then…what was going on? What in the world was happening?

“Am I mistaken or…has the place where Building Eleven stood until only yesterday turned into a forest?”

Right in the center stood an incredibly large tree, and all around it was a lush expanse of greenery. The smell of vegetation filled the air along with an irritating degree of birdsong.

Had a forest massive enough to swallow a sizable school building really emerged overnight?

“It has.”

“Yeah, sure has.”

“My lab was in there…”

Apparently, the answer was yes.

Kunon double-checked through both his magical perception and the Glass Eye, and sure enough, there was a forest spread out right in front of him.

Bewildered students were starting to accumulate in the area. A few curious onlookers even crowed, “Whoa, this is wild.”

Perhaps it felt less like a big deal when it was someone else’s problem. For those involved, however, it was nothing but trouble. Everyone else was just as perplexed as Kunon—except for those there to rubberneck.

“Somebody must have done something,” Bael said, his words tinged with resignation. “Once every few years, someone messes up big-time like this.”

Perhaps Bael, owing to his position, was accustomed to dealing with other people’s large-scale blunders. Being a leader was hard. Kunon had experienced that himself a number of times over the course of developing the Spell Vault. He hadn’t realized how much of an undertaking it was to be in a leadership role.

But more importantly…

A mistake. Greenery. A big tree.

To Kunon, these keywords brought to mind a certain person—a particular female student whose lab seemed to contain more potted plants every time he visited.

“This is pretty bad, isn’t it?” he asked.

“Yes,” replied Bael. “Even given the school’s long history, I would say this constitutes a ‘major incident.’”

“By the way, what did you come here for, Bael?”

“Cleanup. We have to finalize our report for that thing, right?”

“That thing” was how Kunon and the team referred to the Spell Vault.

“Oh, you were going to help me with that?”

Development was over, but there were still tasks to be done.

“I mean, yeah. That much work would be hard for one person, wouldn’t it? So I thought I could pitch in at least.”

As project leader, Kunon had considered cleanup his own responsibility.

They had run every test and experiment they could think of—repeatedly—for five months. The messy notes from all those trials were left just as they’d been jotted down, and they needed to make clean copies. Essentially, it was file-sorting time.

That had to be done while the information was still fresh in their minds. The notes were so sloppy that if the task was left for too long, not even the team member responsible for writing a given note would be able to decipher it. And they needed to be consolidated where possible, with any superfluous sections cut to create as compact a document as possible.

It was five months of work by five different people, after all. Just reading it would be a challenge.

Of course, they also needed to write up a report for the purpose of submitting a copy to the school…but, well…

Kunon had been planning on using the remaining month of the school year to complete it, and now…

“I wonder what state our lab is in.”

“The lab is probably a loss since even the building itself was destroyed. Our research results might still be around, though. It’s just that extricating them will probably be difficult.”

Building 11 had been engulfed by the mysterious forest, but that didn’t mean it had vanished. It seemed to have completely collapsed, but it was still there. The building’s contents would all be buried under the rubble.

“But this is really bad, isn’t it? Should we really be standing around just chatting about it?”

The gravity of the situation had thrown Kunon’s emotions a bit out of whack. He wasn’t happy or sad or angry. He was simply shocked and confused.

“I think it’ll probably be fine.” Bael, on the other hand, remained calm. “All the teachers at this school are world-class, remember? Plus, Gray Rouva is here, too. There’s nothing we can do, but I’m sure they’ll be able to handle it.”

Of course, Kunon thought.

The other students, who could overhear their conversation, understood, too.

Bael was right. The world’s greatest witch was at their school. There had to be something she could do about the situation.

“Gya-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”

Meanwhile, Gray Rouva, having received a report about Building 11 turning into a forest, burst into gales of laughter.

“An entire school building destroyed in one night, eh?! Isn’t that something?! That’s great!”

Soff Cricket had delivered the report. He regarded the shadow box before him with an exasperated expression.

“This isn’t a laughing matter,” he said.

They were in the headmistress’s office—Gray Rouva’s office, in other words.

The witch was inside her shadow box. Soff had yet to enjoy the privilege of seeing her face. Through the shadow box, however, he had shared a drink and exchanged words with her a number of times. She came to teacher get-togethers and end-of-year parties every now and then.

She was undoubtedly a magnificent being. When consulted about any magic-related issue, she never failed to give an answer. At the same time, Soff knew she was a surprisingly approachable person.

“How can I not laugh?! Success and failure are both best in abundance, you know! Sorcerers these days are all about theories and logic. They think too small! It’s so tedious!”

For someone responsible for dealing with the aftermath, it was an outrageous statement.

“So? Who did it?” she asked.

“Most likely, it was Reyes Saint-Lance, a first-year in the Advanced class.”

“Saint-Lance? Ahhh, the current saint, eh…? Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha! She’s an entertaining one, isn’t she?! The last two saints were so meek I don’t even remember them!”

“I told you, this isn’t a laughing matter.”

A school building was in ruins. Not even a fragment of its original form was left intact. A large number of students based their work out of that building.

“A forest made by a saint, hmm? Maybe there’s even some Kira Vera growing in there.”

“Kira Vera…?”

That was the name of a tree from ancient times. If Soff remembered correctly, it was the tree of the deity worshipped in the Holy Kingdom, mentioned in their scriptures. That was the extent of his knowledge, however.

“It actually exists?” he asked.

“It does. Long ago, the land was entirely barren and withered, choked by a powerful miasma. The world was resurrected by hundreds of Kira Vera. Most of the Holy Kingdom’s legends are true. The seeds of the Sacred Tree, given by the Radiant Goddess, Kira Leila, brought a world polluted by the Demon Lord back to life. Not that they have any use these days. They’re just trees with some unique properties.”

Gray Rouva spoke as if she had witnessed all that herself. Perhaps she had.

People said she was immortal. Only the witch herself knew how long she had been alive.

“If Kira Vera sprouts somewhere with a large quantity of supernatural matter, it will soak it up and grow before you know it. If you planted one here, at the magic school, it would reach an enormous size in no time at all.”

“…That is genuinely fascinating, but let’s set the topic aside for a moment. I came to ask what should be done about this.”

An entire school building had been leveled overnight. The students were probably baffled. Soff wanted to present them with a solution as quickly as possible, to offer them some reassurance.

Even Reyes, at that very moment, might still be coming to terms with what she had done. For her sake, too, a quick resolution was necessary.

“For the sake of the school, it should probably be left as is. That tree is worth studying. Any seed planted near Kira Vera is guaranteed to grow. Season and climate are irrelevant. It doesn’t even need water. Not to mention it also magically repels evil. I’m sure both teachers and students will find it interesting.”

There was no denying that the tree was of great interest. Even Soff, whose specialty had nothing to do with plants, was deeply compelled by its properties.

“It’ll wither and die when it runs out of power,” said the witch. “But that’s still a century or two down the road. This whole area will have been engulfed in the forest by then, though, hee-hee.”

In that case, it really wasn’t a laughing matter, was it?

“You intend to leave it?” asked Soff.

“First, I’ll ask you—was this a mistake?”

“…No, I don’t think so.”

Indeed—it wasn’t a mistake. The plant had simply grown beyond the intended scope. Soff doubted that Reyes had meant to destroy a school building. Her only goal, he expected, was to grow things.

Of course—that was assuming that the root cause was really the Sacred Tree.

“Wouldn’t it be impolite to have it removed or relocated, then? My goal is to provide a safe environment for students to explore magic to the fullest. There’s a difference between results and consequences. As long as they don’t go against the will of humanity, a sorcerer should not be punished for their actions. And unless the person responsible wants them destroyed, the results of those actions should be left alone.”

To provide a safe environment for students to explore magic to the fullest—that was the reason this school existed. Those words were the first thing the headmistress instilled in the school’s teachers, and they all knew them by heart.

The school had a handful of rules, too, but the truth was those didn’t concern Gray Rouva. They were created by administrators and only in place to make running the school easier.

Beyond the enforcement of the fundamental principle she had just mentioned, Gray Rouva demanded nothing.

That had never changed.

“That settles our plan of action for the tree,” said Soff. “But the results of the students’ research and experiments are still under that collapsed building. We have to do something about that.”

“We only need to retrieve any items swallowed up by the Kira Vera, right? Leave that to me. Building Eleven will have to be rebuilt anyway, so I’ll do a little cleaning while I investigate. Tell the students not to get worked up. We’ve just had a little forest sprout up on school grounds.”

Relief washed over Soff. When Gray Rouva said, “Leave it to me,” he didn’t need to worry anymore. The world’s greatest witch always stayed true to her word.

“Something still doesn’t make sense, though,” said Gray Rouva, the moment Soff relaxed. Without waiting for him to reply, she continued. “A whole forest, overnight? No matter how much supernatural matter this school might have, I wouldn’t expect it to grow that quickly… And besides, it wouldn’t absorb so much power unless the magic was tinged with miasma. Someone must have done something.”

“…You mean some kind of human involvement is at play?”

Had someone made the Sacred Tree grow? But for what purpose?

“You’re half right,” Gray Rouva said to a confused Soff. “This is the work of something, no doubt. But no human could have done this. Besides me, that is. That means the party responsible isn’t human. Now—is it a spirit? A fairy? Some deity’s practical joke? We won’t know until we investigate.”

“Hey! That’s your tree, isn’t it?!”

“What are you going to do about this?! My lab is in shambles!”

“The meat I stocked up on was in there!”

“So were my class credit cards!”

The most likely suspect had arrived at the site of the utterly transformed Building 11: Reyes Saint-Lance.

She approached at a slow pace, staring up at the massive tree. Her gaze never left it, as if she couldn’t even see her accusers or anyone else.

“Hold on—wait a minute! Throwing blame around isn’t going to solve anything!”

Bael tried to stick up for her, but there were simply too many voices against him.

“P-please calm down!” Kunon, too, stepped in frantically to defend Reyes. “Anger doesn’t suit charming young ladies like yourselves! Let’s at least hear her out first, yes?! Failure is an essential part of magic, isn’t it?!”

It had started several months earlier, after Kunon’s battle with the Inferno Prince. Or more specifically, after the Kunon/Inferno Prince or Inferno Prince/Kunon incident. Ever since then, Kunon’s popularity with girls had mysteriously increased, giving his placating words some amount of power.

The girls’ voices settled down somewhat. As if to follow suit, the male voices did, too. It would be easier to hear the Saint speak like this. Everyone was ready to hear what she had to say.

If she apologized then and there, things would probably be okay for the time being. Even Kunon, who had little experience with social graces or friendships, could see as much.

But whether or not Reyes—who had even less experience with those things than Kunon did, and who lacked emotion on top of that—would understand…that was the scary part.

Even avoiding the issue entirely would be acceptable. All that mattered was that she didn’t add any fuel to the fire.

Kunon and Bael, the students who didn’t think it was Reyes’s fault, the rubberneckers who thought it was madness to blame such a cute girl, and even those who thought everyone should be kicking up more of a fuss—they all waited on tenterhooks for the Saint to make a statement.

She didn’t spare any of them a glance. She stood utterly still in front of the forest as tears streamed quietly down her cheeks. And then she opened her mouth.

“My child has grown so big…”

There was no apology in her words. She was crying for reasons no one else could understand. Whether she deserved blame was a difficult judgment to make and what exactly her tears meant was up for debate. But one thing was certain: They were not shed in apology nor from any feelings of remorse.

They were much too pure. Tears like that had no trace of negative emotion in them. Some girls cried as if to say, “Oh, I’m but a poor maiden; perhaps if I cry some brave man will come to my rescue.” But these tears were nothing like those.

Regardless, some might say it was in poor taste to shed beautiful tears in such a situation. That wasn’t what the rest of the students were hoping for, after all.

“You don’t even think this is a bad thing, do you?!”

After a few long moments, someone realized Reyes wasn’t crying because she felt sorry or guilty. Yes, her words made that clear enough.

But they probably should have said so a little sooner.

“And those are the results of the cursory investigation.”

It was evening on the day of the mysterious forest’s sudden appearance.

Those who had set out to survey it—Keevan Brid, who studied plants and herbology, along with several other teachers with earth attributes—were gathered in the headmistress’s office.

The school’s faculty was made up of sorcerers whose names were known far and wide. There was no more capable group of people to carry out such an investigation.

“Hmm. So the interior is similar to a vegetable plot?”

Gray Rouva sat hidden in her shadow box, listening to the investigation’s findings.

“Evidence suggests that the seeds are not the result of repeat harvests. They aren’t growing fast enough to wither overnight. We believe that most likely, they sprouted from the seeds Reyes Saint-Lance had stored in her lab. In addition, it’s possible the potted plants she was raising broke free and took root in the ground, becoming wild crops.”

The vegetables, fruits, and herbs resulting from these liberated plants had spread farther than expected.

They were impressive, too. Though irregular in shape, the size and quality were excellent.

Some samples had been collected for inspection, and once it was confirmed there were no abnormalities present, a taste test was performed. The flavor was strong, the fragrance pleasant, and most importantly, they were huge. Those who liked fruit were especially happy.

They unanimously agreed that if sold, the forest’s products would certainly turn a profit. No doubt they were high in nutrition, too.

It was no wonder that the wild birds had tried to defend the place. Food was plentiful in the forest and external predators nonexistent. It was an ideal place to build nests and breed, though the birds had already been driven away with wind magic. They’d put up quite a show of resistance, however. It was tough out there, and one had to fight for one’s survival.

“What about the students’ belongings? Their reports and books?”

“They were there. They appear to have been scattered all around, along with rubble from the school building.”

A huge tree—Kira Vera—had sprouted from inside Building 11. Because the structure was destroyed from within, objects had been sent flying in all directions. Some were in the field, some hidden in the grasses. Some were even caught in the branches of the Sacred Tree.

With debris from the building spread everywhere and the greenery as dense as it was, recovering everything manually seemed nearly impossible.

“Understood. You may leave the rest to me.”

But Gray Rouva had agreed to take on this task. And as soon as she said, “Leave the rest to me,” the impossible became possible.

“…Hmm? What is it?”

One of the teachers had raised a hand.

“We would like to observe as you work.”

Though their positions were different, the teachers were magical researchers, just like their students. They were bound to be interested in Gray Rouva’s magic.

“Eh? Oh…I won’t be doing anything special. I’ll just make another world, integrate it with this one, and then grant limited permission for entry. Wreckage, paper, books, and such will be allowed through and everything else excluded. Then I can collect it all.”

This world and another.

The existence of other worlds wasn’t anything new. But even the teachers had never heard of magic which would allow them to create one themselves.

“The depths of magic are profound. Much more so than you can imagine. Even I haven’t reached its limits. Let your ideas fly more freely. Don’t let common sense tie you down. Try doing things irresponsibly now and then instead of using trial and error. You’d be surprised what you can find out.”

With that advice from Gray Rouva, the conversation ended.

Even the world’s most distinguished sorcerers couldn’t hope to hold a candle to Gray Rouva’s abilities. For the faculty, even just being made aware of this fact was its own reward.

It was night, and moonlight fell over the deserted school.

Two figures stood in front of the mysterious forest.

One was merely a humanoid shadow—that was Gray Rouva. Whether one looked at her from a distance or got up close, her form resembled only darkness more profound than the moonlit night sky. Nonetheless, one could see the outline of her undeveloped body—like that of a twelve- or thirteen-year-old boy or girl.

The other figure was a silver-haired man. His beauty could put even the twinkling of the stars to shame, and his features were so refined that he seemed otherworldly. His name was Clavis Saint-Lance.

He was the biological son of the first saint, who long ago had played an active role in the Great War of the Seventeen Kings. He was also the most beloved child of the Demon Lord.

At present, though, he was just Clavis, passing the time peacefully as a teacher at the school.