Chapter 1: The Stagnant Class Enrollment

When I’d first arrived at Fiddich Academy and had immediately become an upper-level instructor, it seemed like my peers and pupils had viewed me as some abnormal entity. However, once I’d begun teaching my sorcery classes, their opinions about me had demonstrably changed as we’d exchanged ideas.

The fundamental issue that plagued the school still remained, though. There was a firm, deep-rooted belief in a school hierarchy with nobles at the top. Due to my personal convictions, I couldn’t let that slide, so I’d already resorted to slightly forceful methods in an effort to solve the problem.

Recently, a fellow upper-level instructor by the name of Foar had approved of my skills as a sorcerer. As a result, both students and instructors had been spreading the word about my class, Introduction to the Fundamentals and Applications of Sorcery. Although I’d initially felt relieved that I was certain to get more students in my class, unfortunately far fewer showed up than I’d expected.

On my first day of class after Foar’s change of heart, only one new student came. The next class, two more joined. On the third day, I got one more, for a total of four new students. To break it down further, two of them were from the middle school division, and the other two were from the high school division.

Although people on campus looked at me less like I was an alien now that Foar’s attitude toward me had softened, clearly his endorsement alone wasn’t enough to get all those cautious of me to drop their guards.

“I wonder why so few new students have showed up,” I said to Elisa.

She shook her head in sympathy. “I-I’m not sure! But it seems like all classes are experiencing a drop in students!”

Strath swallowed the piece of bread he was eating and nodded. “That’s true. I’ve noticed fewer students than usual in my class as well.”

Elisa’s head swung toward him. “I knew it! See? It’s happening to all of us! If anything, it’s really impressive that you’ve gained students!”

“You really think so?” Hmm. I feel like they’re just saying that to make me feel better, but oh well. “But why are there fewer students attending classes?”

The two of them folded their arms and tilted their heads.

“No clue,” said Strath.

“Beats me,” added Elisa.

A deep sigh emanated from the left of us. I turned to see Speyside walking over. He was a handsome man, and he pulled all of the eyes in the cafeteria to him as if by magnetism. He frowned and sighed once again.

“As instructors, you can’t only think about sorcery all the time. It’d be nice if you all took an interest in the trends going on with the students,” he said, not masking his annoyance.

“Says the guy who always sucks up to royalty and greater nobles...” Elisa muttered. Speyside looked at her with a furrowed brow, and Elisa proceeded to grit her teeth and growl to intimidate him.

I ignored their little spat. “Do you know something?”

Speyside gave a slight shrug. “Well, for starters, I’ve heard that a group of students has been going into town to fool around. In the past, there were students who would wait until the middle of the night to slip out and conduct experiments while instructors couldn’t keep an eye on them, so the academy forbids students from leaving the school grounds at night. However, some students have exploited a loophole by leaving during the day and not returning until the morning. Some of the other instructors are trying to deal with this, but they haven’t had any real success. Also, it seems that Rox is conducting an investigation on his own, but I don’t know the details because he won’t share them with me.”

I hastily stood up. “I’ll capture him. Then we can have him tell us everything.”

“W-Wait. Not so fast,” said Strath.

“H-Hold on!” said Elisa.

The two of them shot to their feet as well to stop me.

“You’re jumping to conclusions! He might not be behind this!”

“Exactly! You might be falsely accusing him!”

As they continued making a fuss, I raised an eyebrow. “Maybe I phrased that poorly. To be clear, I don’t consider him a suspect or anything...”

I bathed my fellow instructors in my sharp gaze, and they swung their heads away to avoid it. This situation doesn’t sit right with me.

“Well, let’s move on. Regardless, I’m still going after Rox,” I said.

I left to begin my search. Both Strath and Elisa had class after lunch, so I was the only one available to look for the young prince. As I walked away, the two of them called out after me to caution me from overdoing things, but I decided not to answer them.

There weren’t many people walking through the halls of the school, but the few who were here treated me with respect. Since my recent exploits, many students and instructors had taken to moving to the side and bowing when they saw me. As weird as I found this, I’d always make sure to bow back. Today, though, there was one individual present who acted completely differently. Instead of putting distance between us, he excitedly ran over, got too close to me, and practically stuck to me like glue. He was a student with long, orange hair.

“Hey, you! I mean, Ms. Aoi! I’ve got something to discuss with you!” Balvenie blurted out, getting down on one knee in a kind of half-groveling position in front of me.

“What is this, all of a sudden?” I asked.

Balvenie quickly glanced around, then he took my hand and pointed down the hallway. “I can’t say it here. Sorry, but please come with me!”

Not that you’re giving me a choice. I had no time to respond before he dragged me toward the courtyard. The last time we’d met, I’d punched him in the solar plexus, so this time, I thought it’d be best to bear with him and follow without a fuss.

Once we reached our destination, he confirmed that nobody was around. Then, he put his hands on both of my shoulders and rapidly brought his face close to mine. My instincts set off alarm bells, so out of reflex, I bent my arm and thrust my palm upward into his chin.

“Gah!” Balvenie let out a strange sound as I knocked his head back, and he fell to the ground, rolling over.

“That was an unexpected surprise attack. However, you’ve still got a ways to go if you want to get the drop on me. Your luck ran out once you assumed I couldn’t fight in close quarters,” I said as I looked down at him.

“Wh-What are you talking about? I wasn’t trying to attack you! I-I swear!”

I noticed blood trickling down from the corner of his mouth. Did he maybe bite his tongue? I was still suspicious of him, but he looked so desperate that I decided to let it go.

“I’m sorry I got the wrong idea and hit you. So, what do you need from me?”

Balvenie gasped as if he’d just remembered something and then once again got on one knee. “I’ve heard that you’ve been teaching sorcery that manipulates the weather. I, well...wanted to find out if that was true.”

“It is. Every student who’s taken my class has become able to create a rain cloud, at least a short-lived one.”

“Wh-What?!”

Balvenie’s eyelids opened so widely that I feared his eyeballs would fall from their sockets. He began opening and closing his mouth repeatedly like a fish. I think his pupils are dilating too. Is he okay? As I watched him in his state of astonishment, I recalled that I’d had a similar conversation with him when we’d met the first time. His research is on the Rain Dance spell, right? When I met with Owain not too long ago, he also expressed interest in Balvenie’s research. But...

“Sorry, I’m in a bit of a rush, so let’s talk another time.” I turned around and left in a hurry. Is it wrong of me not to stay and speak with him? But then again, Rox’s whereabouts and the students’ poor attendance rates are more dire situations that deserve greater precedence. Though I was curious about Balvenie’s research, as a teacher, I had to focus on the students who were exhibiting irregular behavior.

As I entered the school building again and proceeded down the hallway, I saw a group of four girls being led by one guy. They strolled toward me, merrily laughing. Hiram was at the center of their group.

“Professor Aoi! It’s been a while. How’ve you been?” he asked.

“Oh, I’ve been well. Thank you for asking.”

“Really? You seem kinda restless, and it’s making your beauty go to waste. I think that a smile is most suited for beautiful people like you. If you’ve got something weighing on your mind, I’m happy to lend an ear.”

At first I was thrown off by how casually he was acting, but then I remembered that this was his normal demeanor. Is it really okay for the third imperial prince of the Holy Maple Leaf Empire to act like this? Though I had a lot of thoughts bubbling in my mind, I didn’t want to get distracted from my mission by this fast-talking student, so I decided to pose a question of my own before he could ask any more.

“Could I ask you something?”

“Sure!” he replied with a bright smile.

“Do you know anything about the students who are walking around at night—or about where Rox is?”

His eyes immediately narrowed, and his mouth widened into a grin. “You really wanna know? I only ask because I don’t wanna have to lie to you. I’ll just leave it at this: If I tell you the truth, Rox’s standing will worsen. I think it’d be best if you went to him directly. Colt might know something about the situation too, but we’re both in the same boat where we can’t really tell you.”

“Rox’s standing?”

Hiram shrugged, and his friendly expression grew weaker. I decided not to press the issue any further, so I excused myself and resumed my search for Rox.

◇

I had a bad feeling about everything, so I walked briskly, but I came up empty everywhere I looked. At first, I’d thought Rox would be in class, but from what Strath told me, he wasn’t even at school. That meant he was most likely in town, but no one I’d talked to so far had seen him. Maybe it’d be best to ask some of his peers?

I tried speaking with Colt and Felter, but all they said was that they didn’t know where Rox was. Ultimately, I had no other choice but to search through town by myself. However, I didn’t have even the slightest clue where to start looking. After a lot of aimless, fruitless wandering, I decided to return to the academy.

The next day, I set out bright and early to continue my hunt. However, just as I arrived in town, someone called out my name.

“P-Professor Aoi! Are you looking for Rox?” Shenley asked.

I nodded and looked out at the clusters of buildings. “Yes. I hear he’s somewhere in town. Now that I think about it, though, I don’t think I’ve asked you. Do you know where he is? I’ve heard he’s been going into town a lot recently.”

Shenley deeply nodded. “I think he’s in the northern part of town. There are rumors that he runs some shady stores there.”

“The northern part of town?” This piqued my curiosity, since I wasn’t very familiar with that area.

“A lot of merchants and stores are based in the southern part of town, but the northern part has a marketplace that allows peddlers and people who aren’t official merchants to sell their wares. It’s not the safest area, and I hear that some guys go there for fun as a test of courage,” Shenley explained. She looked nervous talking about it.

I understand why she feels guilty. She’s essentially tattling on them, but if there are students who are doing something dangerous or who are walking down the wrong path, it’s up to the teachers to step in.

“Thank you, Shenley. You should go back to the academy. It’s not safe out here.”

After bidding her farewell, I immediately ran off. I noticed that Shenley seemed like she wanted to say something more, but she remained silent as she watched me leave.

◇

I’d never really visited the northern part of town, but it was quite different from the southern half. In contrast to the south side’s bright, refined aesthetic, the north side had a rougher look to it. That being said, it wasn’t as if it were only a series of dark alleys; the part I found myself in was more like a lively flea market or produce market.

I’d always enjoyed visiting Chinatowns on Earth, so this more culturally rich side to the town interested me. However, the people running the outdoor stalls didn’t seem like normal civilians. Many looked shifty. Now that I think about it, I’ve heard that this town has an underground casino. I can certainly believe that from the way this area looks.

An alleyway standing between two outdoor stalls caught my eye. In contrast to the street, which was lively and bustling, the alleyway was dark and deserted. It was narrow and stretched far back in a straight line, and it radiated creepiness. If there were an underground casino around here, there’d definitely be some kind of lookouts, and if I walked around, I’d probably find them eventually. I strode down the alleyway and my nose was assailed by a myriad of smells. It was similar to my experience with the main street on the southern side of town, but the standout difference was that the scents here were damper and much less pleasant.

Furthermore, even though the path was paved with stone, cracks and dents filled with puddles of muddy water littered its surface. Plus, the alley was dirty and lined with garbage. I tried to withstand my aversion and continued walking forward until I finally got to the point where the amount of trash became unbearable. I’ve reached my limit.

“Fly.”

My flying spell lifted me effortlessly into the air like a balloon until I was higher than all of the buildings around me. I probably should have expected this, but an expansive network of alleys fanned out before me. Maybe it’d be best to try and narrow my search radius.

I surveyed the area. Almost immediately, a large three-story building caught my eye. Who needs a building that big when it’s not even on the main street? I doubt there are any greater nobles here, so that’s pretty suspicious. I flew over to check the alley next to it and found a small group of people gathered in a corner.

I silently landed on the roof and listened in on their conversation. I hadn’t worn a coat today, so I was a little chilly being so high up, but I sucked it up and stayed quiet. The wind was blowing in my ear, and it was a little hard to understand their conversation, but I still managed to make out what they were saying. All of the people huddled together were men, and they were arguing.

“You... Do you understand? Lie to me and you’ll be sentenced to death for humiliating a royal.”

“I-I’m not trying to lie to you or humiliate you. You really don’t believe that I’m telling you the truth? That hurts my feelings.”

“Oh, what? You want to complain to me? Do you know who you’re speaking to? Tell me.”

The person being lectured had a hoarse voice, but the one making threats spoke with great self-importance and sounded familiar. I descended to the ground without a sound and walked toward them. As the group caught sight of me, they froze in place and stared.

“Rox?” I called out.

The guys with Rox relaxed a bit since I didn’t seem to be there for them. On the other hand, Rox took a step back and began sweating bullets.

“P-P-P-Professor Aoi?! Wh-Why are you here?!” He was in full panic mode as I closed in on him.

“I’ve been looking for you, Rox.” I tried lowering my voice to stress my anger, but for some reason, his eyebrows slanted upward and he looked at me with quivering eyes.

“You were looking for me?”

What’s going on with you? I almost said out loud, but swallowed the words instead.

“You shouldn’t be doing this,” I warned.

He looked surprised and immediately averted his gaze. “Y-You mean I shouldn’t be putting myself in danger? No, but then as a lady, that would mean you’d be putting yourself in danger... But more importantly, at this rate, I’m going to be killed by mother and father... I need to achieve some kind of lasting results.”

He seemed very conflicted. Why would I be putting myself in danger? Does he think I’m planning to help him intimidate this man? I sighed and transfixed him with a stern glare.

“I can’t believe you’re still taking advantage of your status as royalty to bully those weaker than you,” I said coldly.

Rox’s eyes snapped wide open. “B-Bully?! N-No, you’ve got it wrong! I’m fulfilling my responsibilities as royalty!”

“And those responsibilities include you pushing commoners around with your status?”

“No! This man’s involved with the underground casino! There are students who’ve gotten hooked on gambling and have amassed a lot of debt, so I’m here to fix that,” Rox frantically explained, trying to prove his innocence.

Though Fiddich was technically in the city-state of Winturbly, which was established by the six great countries, it was still located in the Kingdom of Vahtedd and therefore under its jurisdiction. If something illegal was happening here, then it did make sense that, as royalty, Rox had a duty to investigate it.

However, what puzzled me was why he was being so secretive. From what I could see, he’d only brought along two guards, each of whom had one hand on their swords. I wasn’t sure if they were sorcerers, but judging by their stances and how warily they watched my movements, they were obviously well trained. As I considered all of these factors, the pieces of Rox’s situation began to fall into place.

At Fiddich, both the students and the instructors came from various countries. If a scandal broke that there was a large-scale underground casino in this town, and that students were going into debt from it, then it’d become a weakness for Vahtedd that other nations could exploit. That’s why Rox was doing this secretly. He thought that if other countries found out or even got a whiff of a rumor, it’d bring shame to Vahtedd.

“I see. In that case, I’ll help you. Still, isn’t it dangerous for a royal like yourself to lead an investigation almost alone?”

Rox’s expression wavered as he looked away. “No, I need to raise my stock as royalty or else I’ll be in trouble...”

“Huh?”

I wanted Rox to explain more since he’d nearly whispered those words, but he shut his mouth.

Chapter 2: The Underground Casino

The underground casino was run by the Nevis Family, a mob-like group. Out of all the organizations that dealt in things like robbery, underground doctors, the slave trade, and blackmail, they were head and shoulders above the rest in terms of power. This city had people, products, and money constantly flowing through it from many different countries. As a result, there were plenty of people searching for ways to make money, no matter how illicit or unscrupulous the jobs were. Therefore, it didn’t surprise me that some residents were willing to exploit students for cash.

The Nevis Family seemed to be one such group taking advantage of students. The family took in merchants kicked out of the merchant guilds and used them to get their hands into all kinds of different businesses, the most lucrative of which was gambling.

The casino’s clientele usually consisted of nobles and merchants, but the Nevis Family had decided to take a bigger risk and broadened their services to students related to royalty or greater nobles. Rox had learned all of this from the suspect he’d cornered.

“Thank you for your cooperation,” I said.

The man, who looked to be in his forties, nodded over and over again, trembling.

“I guess anyone would freak out if they saw someone crush a rock with their bare hands in front of them...and then freak out even more when those same hands gripped their head,” Rox muttered with a dry laugh.

I had no clue why Rox was shrinking away from me, but we now had a good idea about what was going on.

The man we’d captured snickered and began to talk, apparently having recovered from his shock. “A lot of these brats who fall into debt have no clue what to do, and they become far more amenable when we talk nice to them. But sometimes there are idiots who try to threaten to shut down the casino using the statuses of their houses, but we all know that they’ll never follow through. Not with how prideful nobles are.”

I see. Most nobles would hesitate to do anything that could potentially besmirch their family name. That’s especially true for greater nobles.

Rox grabbed the man by his neck. “You lookin’ down on nobles, huh?” he growled. “Nobles would behead all of you for the sake of their pride.” His voice was filled with rage, and his eyes had grown bloodshot.

The man snorted in Rox’s face. “Yeah, yeah. We get caught and we get the death penalty. If we already know we’re gonna get executed regardless, we’re not exactly scared. Let me tell ya somethin’, Your Highness, you royals and nobles all look down on us because we’re even lower than commoners. A lot of people think that’s perfectly normal, but we’re done with that.”

Rox’s eyes sharpened and he slammed the man against the wall. “What the hell do you know?!” he screamed. Suddenly, the man looked worried again. But even though Rox was furious, he showed restraint and let go of him. “Nobles don’t think about doing things to commoners or ridiculing them just because of their statuses. It doesn’t matter if you’re a commoner or a noble, all criminals—regardless of status—must be punished. Understand that if nothing else.” Rox continued to glare.

Though Rox could have worded his point a little better, I still thought his remarks deserved a passing grade. He was clearly a different person from who he used to be. I gave him a gentle nod.

“Please stand aside,” I said.

Rox obeyed. The man looked at Rox and then at me.

“Wh-Who are you? Do you serve royalty? Or are you royalty?” the man asked, confused.

I smirked. “You seem to be stuck on the hierarchy of status just like everyone else. I’m a commoner. However, I suppose if we’re talking about titles, I’m an instructor, and Rox is a student.”

The man’s eyes widened and he opened his mouth several times but couldn’t find any words to say.

“Now then. Lead us to the casino. Oh, and don’t even think about running. You can’t escape me.”

I tried to speak in a kind tone, but the man turned pale and gulped, bobbing his head in agreement.

◇

“It’s me. Brought some customers,” the man said.

After a brief pause, the door opened. Light spilled out from inside, leaving us squinting in the dark alleyway as the man entered first. I turned to Rox and the others to see how they wanted to approach the situation. Rox looked like he was ready to charge in, but his two escorts simply nodded at me. These two are obviously not students. They might be his personal guards, but I guess that’s not important at the moment.

“Please be sure to keep your eyes on Rox, okay?” I said to the two of them. They nodded once again.

Satisfied, I turned back toward the doorway, which was emitting an almost blinding luminescence, and I entered the building. Instantly, the smells of wood and steel mixed with textiles filled my nose, paired with a sweet fragrance. The sounds hit me next—or rather, the lack of sounds. This doesn’t really seem to be a casino. It’s far too quiet for that.

Now that my eyes had adjusted to the incandescence of the interior, I scoped out the large establishment. It looked similar to a general store. Unlike the stone exterior of the building, the walls and floor inside were made of wood, and the walls and ceiling were festooned with colorful pieces of cloth, which livened up the atmosphere. Wooden shelves stood in neat, easy-to-browse rows, lined with all kinds of merchandise from lamps to silverware and pots. I even noticed what looked like sweet confections.

“Welcome to William’s Shop! You can find everything from everyday items to sweets made with uncommon types of sugars. I’ve got all kinds of things!” said a robed merchant. He looked to be in his thirties, and he sported a bright but suspicious smile as he stood with his arms spread wide.

“Huh? A store? Wait, where...? Where did he go?!” Rox asked once he’d finally realized that the man we’d been following had disappeared. Rox’s guards began looking in all directions.

“He ran straight into the store not too long ago,” the merchant responded.

Rox frantically began to walk deeper inside the shop. “Damn it! He was a valuable source of information! We’re going after him!”

“Yes, sir!”

The three of them began to charge forward, but the merchant halted them in their tracks.

“I’m terribly sorry, but this hall is off-limits. It leads to the storage room and the staff break area. But if you have any questions about our fine products, I’d be happy to help!”

“Out of our way! We don’t have business with you! We’re gonna investigate the back of your store!” yelled Rox.

The merchant met Rox’s anger with a nervous smile, but he didn’t move aside. He might not have known who Rox was, but he could definitely tell he was someone important. Even so, he stayed firmly planted in Rox’s path.

A sound reminiscent of wood against wood rang out. After a moment, the merchant raised his eyebrows and stepped to the side.

“Well...I suppose if you insist, then I’ll take you back there. After all, I’d prefer not to get on the bad side of a noble.”

Rox accepted the man’s sudden capitulation with confusion. “G-Good. Lead the way then, and don’t hide anything.” Though Rox tried to assert himself, it was clear that he was already dancing to the beat of this merchant’s drum.

“But of course,” the man said. He bowed his head elegantly, but I swore that I could see him stick out his tongue in mockery. “This way.” He then began walking to the back of the store.

There was a single door in the corner of the room, hidden behind shelves. The merchant opened it and turned back toward us. Inside was a narrow corridor with two doors at the end.

“The right side leads to the break room. The left goes to our storage room,” he explained.

Rox entered the corridor and opened the door on the left, but all he found were rows of old shelves and wooden boxes of wares. Nothing in the room would have any place in a glamorous, flashy casino. The merchandise on the shelves definitely seemed like extra stock for the items out front.

“Damn it. It’s the other door!” Rox dashed in the opposite direction and opened the door on the right side of the hallway.

“Whoa! Who’re you?!” asked a rough voice.

I peeked past Rox, who’d stopped at the threshold. At least twenty large-framed men were taking a break inside, lounging on chairs and couches around a table filled with food and drinks. One of them had been standing by the door, and he’d taken a step back and was now staring at us. The rest of the guys inside the dim room shot Rox nasty looks as he glanced around.

“Who’re you?”

“What’re you doin’ here?”

The group of muscular men stood up and glared daggers at Rox, who clammed up under their blistering gazes.

“May I inquire if you all work for the Nevis Family?” I asked, nudging Rox’s bodyguards to the side with one hand as I moved to the front.

“Huh?”

“Never heard of ’em.”

They let out raucous laughs.

“Don’t like the look in your eyes, but you got a nice face,” one of them said, leering. “Wanna work here, li’l lady? You’ll make a killing. All you gotta do is take off your clothes a bit. Easy work even for idiots.” Another round of lecherous laughs sounded at the man’s vulgar joke.

How nasty. I ignored his comment and looked around the room. Here, the walls were made of a mix of wood and stone, and the furnishings were quite refined. There were many lights on the walls and ceiling, but most weren’t lit, leaving the place wreathed in shadows. The placement of the chairs was also far too disorderly. Something felt off, but before I could investigate, Rox took a step forward.

“You rude miscreants!” he bellowed, red in the face. “We’re first-rate sorcerers! Lower your heads to the ground and beg for your lives now if you don’t wish to be burned alive!” His furious threats bore his usual dramatic, aristocratic flair.

From an outsider’s perspective, it’d be hard to tell who was the bad guy in this situation considering the way Rox was acting. The faces of the men sharpened, and they appeared ready to attack at a moment’s notice. I quietly slapped Rox on the back, and he let out an exaggerated scream as he fell to his knees. His bodyguards rushed over to help him up.

“I apologize for this boy’s rudeness. But also, we were already informed by a gentleman earlier that this is the hideout of the Nevis Family. I’d appreciate it if you answered my questions truthfully.”

For a moment, the men went silent, but then they sputtered with laughter.

“‘This boy’?!”

“What ‘gentleman’?! That guy already left that way!” One of the men chuckled and pointed at the back wall where three guys were standing. They moved, revealing a black, metal door.

I wonder if that’s the back entrance.

“What?! That man deceived us?!” one of Rox’s bodyguards muttered with frustration.

“No, he’s still in there, so it’s okay,” I said, pointing toward the back of the room.

The men glowered at me once more, and a tense atmosphere hung over the room.

Interlude: The Nevis Family

What the hell’s up with this woman? That was my first impression of her.

Despite her looking younger than the red-haired brat of a prince named Rox or whatever, she was definitely higher on the totem pole than he was. If he really was a royal from one of the six great countries, then he might’ve been one of the younger sons of a king’s second or third wife. If he was showing deference to this woman, she was more likely the eldest daughter of a queen consort.

But the strange thing was that Rox’s hair was red while the woman’s locks were black, an uncommon color. Seriously. What’s up with these two?

Suddenly, the woman crushed a rock with her bare hands right in front of me, and she proceeded to grip my head. No matter how desperately I tried to free myself from her grasp, her hands remained locked in place. All the while, she continued to smile at me. I’d never been so scared in my life. This woman had to be a demon.

Before I knew it, I’d spilled the beans on the location of our current operation. Usually, I’d just lead anyone sniffing around our territory to a fake storehouse or shop, but I was so scared out of my wits that I brought my interrogators straight to our actual building. Still, the situation was salvageable. Even if they entered the place where we operated, they wouldn’t necessarily find the hidden casino.

I decided to take them to a conspicuous back door which led to a fake store. Even if they forced their way in, they’d just be left confused. During this opening, I’d run up to the second floor to tell the boss what was going on. After that, the family would only need to evacuate with the customers through a side door. The building had three points of entrance. The usual door to get into the casino was probably the one that would catch the most attention, but the secret exit for getaways was much less obvious.

As soon as I entered, I locked eyes with my ally, who was pretending to be a merchant, and rushed through the door hidden behind one of the shelves without making a sound. I dashed down the hallway to the door on the right and opened it. The men inside were clearly surprised by how freaked out I was.

“What’s goin’ on?”

“Did the knights come here or something?”

I waved a hand to cut off their questions while running deeper into the room.

“Scatter! We’ve got some guests who are really bad news! We need to close up the casino for good!”

Everyone immediately jumped into action to rearrange the room. This wasn’t our first rodeo.

“What kinda people?”

“Damn. We were makin’ a killing today.”

“Pick that up!”

“I’m gonna go report to the boss,” I said. I moved a shelf in the back of the room to the side, revealing a staircase.

The floor, the walls, and the stairs were all painted black so that if you saw them from a distance, you’d think you were just looking at a wall. The staircase was narrow, barely able to fit two people at the same time. I bounded up to the second floor and knocked on the door at the top three times, then twice, and then three more times. The door immediately opened.

“What’s going on?” asked another ally of mine, wary.

I calmed myself as much as possible before speaking. “A member of the royal family, his guards, and a demonic woman are here! We gotta run!”

He stared at me dubiously, but let me enter the room.

“The boss’ll make the final call. Go and make your report.”

“Got it. The office, right?”

“Yeah.”

I made my way to the back, passing by tables for cards, roulette, and other games. Wealthy gamblers desperately dropped obscene amounts of money on the tables. This floor was dusky, with the only light sources clustered around the tables. It almost looked like the lights were hypnotically drawing in everyone to the games. Some people stood posted up against the shadowy walls of the hallway as if trying to escape the gleaming gambles, their faces a mix of the anguish of losing and the ecstasy of winning. But no matter what emotion they displayed, all of their eyes were transfixed by the tables bathed in light. Most of them were already mentally broken; they were too addicted to gambling to leave now. That was especially true for the people who’d amassed depressing amounts of debt. At one of the tables sat three young men wearing uniforms from the local sorcery academy. Their eyes were bloodshot, and they’d broken into cold sweats.

It was so easy to make money off of noble kids. Nobles had a lot of connections, so getting caught up in this type of business could quickly ruin their reputations. We could easily gain power over ones who were drowning in debt with a few sweet, insincere words. There was no way we could stop doing something that was such easy money.

I quietly passed through the casino area and reached a door in the back. Usually I’d wait for permission to enter, but given the dire situation, I went straight in. “Boss, I’ve got news,” I said.

As soon as I opened the door, a thick plume of smoke flew out as if enticed by the lights of the casino. Almost simultaneously, a glass came flying at me and shattered on the corner of the doorframe. I quickly adopted a pose of deference, deeply bowing my head.

“I’m sorry for barging in, but it’s an emergency! We’ve got comp—”

“Shut up, you piece of shit! What the hell are you openin’ the door for before I say you can, huh? Need me to teach you a lesson in manners?”

The fury in the boss’s voice made me tremble, but I did my best to fight through the fear to give my report.

“I’m sorry! But this really is an emergency! Please hear me out!”

I knelt and looked at the red sofa in the back of the room. Sitting on it, shrouded in darkness, was a large-framed woman whose eyes glinted.

◇

We drew our swords and daggers. There were over twenty of us and only four of them. If these intruders were sorcerers, they wouldn’t have time to finish their incantations before we got to them. If they were knights, then there was no way they could take down more than ten of us.

Even if they were somehow former adventurers, soldiers, or professional thieves, with this overwhelming difference in numbers, there was no way we would lose to them. At least that’s what I’d initially thought, but the fight unfolding in front of me was going far differently. Two of the four seemed to be knights, and they were locked in one-on-one duels. The royal brat was up against the wall, readying his wand while reciting an incantation. But then the last one of their group?

“Gah!”

“Ugh!”

“Eek!”

Once five of our men flew across the room one by one, I realized that something strange was going on. But by the time the tenth man slammed into the wall from just a fist connecting with his stomach, that feeling had morphed into fear.

“It’s not safe to walk around with blades,” the woman said, speaking as casually as if she were trying to lecture us on poor table manners.

Her tone was far from the strangest thing about her, though. Three of us swung our swords at her in sync, but she was able to dodge one of them, deflect another with her bare hand, and then use her other hand to catch the last blade with her fingers and snap it. The broken half of the blade clattered to the ground, and the sound drew everyone’s attention.

The room fell silent, as if noise had been magically erased from it. Nobody even dared to breathe as they looked at the woman. After a long pause, one of the men with me gulped. The woman sprang back into action, silently swung her arm, and knocked out three more people. The burly men violently rolled across the floor.

“D-Demon lord...” said one of the bodyguards of the royal brat. Isn’t he on her side? The woman shot him a sharp glare, making him turn his head away so quickly that it made an audible whistle. She let out a long sigh and turned back toward us.

“I’m done holding back. If you persist in impeding me any further, I will begin to fight back using spells,” she said, pointing her palm at us.

“You were...holding back?”

“‘Fight back’? Don’t you mean eradicate us?”

“You can cast spells too? How’s that possible when you’re already as strong as a legendary hero in martial arts?”

I saw the faces of the men around me grow pale. The interloper lady scowled at our comments.

“Time’s up. Assassin Edge.”

Four large blades of ice appeared, freezing the air around them so much that white clouds of vapor formed. Though they hadn’t even touched me, I felt chilled to the bone.

“W-Wait!”

“We surrender! We’ll do anything!”

“Please don’t!”

Anyone who was left standing fell to the ground. I joined the others as we pressed our heads against the floor and groveled. We have no chance. This woman’s a monster. I could instinctively tell that there was no escape, which left us with only two options: get captured, or fight against her and die. As I cowered before her, I internally pleaded with our boss not to piss this woman off.

Interlude: Caolla

My subordinate finished giving his panicked report. I stood up and let out a long sigh. I kicked the small table next to me, sending it flying.

“It’s not like we have an entire knight troop up our ass right now. Usher the customers out calmly. I doubt these intruders will even reach the second floor anyway,” I said with a snort.

My subordinate seemed unconvinced. “These people aren’t like normal knights or city guards. There’s an incredibly frightening woman with them...”

“Man up!” I barked. I kicked him in the head, and he sailed across the office and slammed into the floor. I looked down at him as blood began to trickle from his mouth, then I took a breath to calm myself. “This pisses me off. A woman? Hmm... And she’s more frightening than me, huh?”

I clicked my tongue and tried to suppress my anger as I moved out to the casino floor. “Pack it up. We’re getting out of here!” I commanded the dealers in black suits at the tables.

They all silently nodded and began moving at once. Some of the customers complained, but they didn’t want to be caught either, so they began to evacuate without too much of a fuss. As long as they went down the stairs, they could get out through the back. That way, they’d avoid running into these intruders if they were coming straight at us. Part of me was a little curious about who exactly was responsible for this. My subordinates were used to having to pack up and leave at a moment’s notice, but this was the first time that any of them had seemed so viscerally frightened. It was the first time that a woman had struck so much fear into them too.

“I guess I’ll go see what’s happening,” I muttered, heading to the stairs.

Usually I’d immediately leave and set fire to the building, but I wanted to see what this woman looked like.

“I’m goin’ down there. You lot run away with the customers.”

“Yes, boss!” my employees replied in unison.

I made my way down the dark staircase, peering into the faint light at the bottom. As soon as I began my descent, I heard the screams of multiple men echoing down the hallway, followed by the clangs of swords clashing violently. Then came the loud thuds of heavy objects slamming against the wall and falling to the floor. The cacophony confused me. Supposedly, there weren’t many intruders, but judging by the voices and sounds, my subordinates were the ones who were getting their asses handed to them. What the hell are they doing?

I continued down the stairs, the screams and roars growing louder. It sounded like a full-scale battle. Once I got to the bottom, I peeked through the gap between the bookcase and the room in front of it just in time to see a woman send three of my armed men flying using only her fists.

“Wh-What the hell’s going on?”

I could tell at a single glance that she wasn’t normal. She’d caught one of the blades bare-handed and snapped it effortlessly. As soon as I saw that happen, I hightailed it out of there.

“No freakin’ way. I’ll take on knights and nobles any day of the week, but I’m not prepared for a monster like that!”

At this point, the customers were coming down the stairs, so all I just needed to do was open the back door and get them out. I grabbed my key, unlocked the door, and grasped the handle, but it wouldn’t budge.

“But it’s unlocked. Why isn’t it...? The window. I can break the window to get out!”

I smashed through one of the windows we’d previously boarded up, but even though I could see outside, an invisible wall blocked me from escaping. As I tried all different kinds of things, the customers, whose escape I wanted to prioritize, gathered behind me. I tried shoving my blade through the invisible wall, but it got reflected back.

“Wh-What’s going on?” I couldn’t believe what was happening.

A powerful slash rang out from behind me as something big collapsed. I turned around, and the bookshelf that normally blocked the door was gone. I saw the silhouette of a young woman in the low light from the adjoining room. A white, frigid mist surrounded her. She began walking toward me.

“Oh? Thanks. You’ve saved me the trouble of going to the second floor,” she said. A devious grin crossed her face.

“Get down here now!” I yelled for my men as I drew a sword in each hand and took a battle stance.

My panicking but well-armed subordinates ran down the stairs. Three of them, who were sorcerers, remained at the top to launch their attacks from a distance. The hallway was narrow, so as long as my men attacked at the same time that I did, we could overwhelm her with our numbers and easily win. The customers seemed paralyzed with fear, and I pushed them out of the way. Meanwhile, the woman’s smile only widened as she looked over my men and my two swords.

“Thank you for not running. You’ve saved me a lot of trouble. Now, please surrender.”

Aoi

The woman at the end of the hall was clearly on a different level from the men with her. Behind her, cowering in the corner, were people who appeared to be nobles based on their clothing.

Men who looked like thugs and other men in black suits came rushing down the stairs. They, along with the tall woman wielding two swords, were all carefully closing the distance between us, wearing confident looks. Despite the fact that this was their hideout, the advancing enemies destroyed everything in their paths, including furniture. They had a different aura to them than the men from before.

These must be the executives of the family.

To be honest, I wanted nothing more than to continuously shoot out spells that were mid-level or higher while approaching. That was the best tactic when fighting skilled opponents. Unfortunately, if I tried to do that in this narrow space, I’d demolish the building, burying everyone here alive.

“I suppose I’ll just have to fight at close range.”

I sighed and cast a body fortification spell on myself. Though all of my opponents seemed to be relatively skilled at fighting, they all were likely self-taught given the fact that their movements weren’t nearly as precise as they could be. As a long-term practitioner of kendo, I saw a sea of openings before me. I looked around and spotted a wooden stick that had fallen off from a shelf that the woman had kicked.

It kind of looked like a broomstick, but it was probably part of one of their casino games. Either way, it was better to fight with something that I was used to wielding, so I picked it up and felt the heft. It wasn’t too different from the wooden sword that I usually used, so it felt comfortable in my hands. I was in no rush. I’d erected a barrier around the building, so nobody could leave. I could take my time defeating these assailants.

“Hey, little girl. If you don’t wanna get hurt, then get up against the wall and beg for mercy,” one of the men descending the stairs said.

The sorcerers at the top of the stairs began their incantations. It was likely that they’d try constriction spells instead of offensive sorcery to avoid hitting their allies. Or is it actually possible for them to cast offensive spells that could hit me from directly overhead? As I analyzed their strategy, one of the armed men got close to me and swung his sword. I smacked it away with my bare hand, then I used my other hand to firmly strike him in the stomach with the stick. He curled up as I flung him away like a batter slugging a baseball.

“Gah!” he screamed. As he smashed into the base of the stairs, he passed out.

The whole area shook, knocking fragments from the ceiling. Everyone froze in place. Then, the sorcerers on the second floor released their spells. A black, mist-like haze poured out and engulfed the ceiling. I wonder what kind of spell this is. I’ve never seen it before.

As curious as I was, if this spell was designed to kill multiple people, then it’d be hard to protect everyone here. I think I’ll just have to suppress it.

“Invisible Block,” I chanted while infusing the spell with my mana. A transparent barrier appeared underneath the black mist, covering the entire ceiling and preventing the cloud from descending any further.

“Well, I know their faces now, so I’ll ask them about this spell after I capture them,” I said to myself. I swung my weapon down onto the head of a man approaching me, knocking him out cold.

“Wh-What is she?!”

“How can a stupid stick be so strong?!”

I held up my makeshift wooden sword in front of me. “After learning body fortification sorcery, I trained by fighting against mid-sized magic beasts, so I’m decent in a fight,” I said.

“How can you call this only decent?!” someone screamed from the top of the stairs.

“P-Professor Aoi?!”

“Huh?! No way!”

This time I heard young voices. When I looked up, they hid themselves so I couldn’t confirm who they were, but they were most likely Fiddich students. They must think either that I’ll get angry at them or that they might get expelled. Saying my name was a misstep, though.

“A professor?”

“Wait, she’s an instructor?!”

The men blinked at me with surprise, but the woman leading them yelled out. “Bring the brats out here!”

A few of the men gasped and ran to obey, realizing their newfound leverage. Not good. I won’t be able to do anything if they use them as hostages. I would have to act first. I rocketed forward with enough power to break the floor beneath me. I flew up the stairs, swatting any nuisances out of my way. When I reached the second story, I found myself in a spacious casino. Spotlights focused on various tables, some with cards and others with roulette. I was surprised by how elegant the establishment looked.

A white, smoky mist had spread across the room, and I couldn’t pinpoint where the students were. As I surveyed the place, I heard someone running up the stairs behind me.

“Use the brats!” the woman from earlier screamed. She spun both of the swords she was holding and got into a defensive stance. She handled the weapons masterfully, as if they were extensions of her arms. Her arrival momentarily distracted me, but then I heard voices from the back of the casino.

“P-Professor Aoi!”

“Please don’t attack!”

Two boys appeared. Three men stood behind them, holding swords to their throats. My veins boiled with anger, but I knew that if I moved, it’d put these two in further danger.

One of the men whispered to the two students. With each word he spoke, the students’ expressions became more and more scared until they finally looked at me with tears in their eyes and began chanting spells.

What did he tell them? What spells are they using? But more importantly, what should I do about them? I continued to glare at the hostage takers without moving, and one of the men scowled and berated the students.

“H-Hurry up! What’s takin’ so long?!”

The two students jumped from his screaming and began trembling. Misty-eyed, they finished their spells and activated them.

“Flame Arrow!”

“Rock Shot!”

A ball of fire and a chunk of rock appeared and hurtled toward me. With my free hand, I swatted both of them from the air.

“Huh?”

“What just happened?”

The two students forgot their fear and were now stunned, shifting their eyes between their hands and my face. All I’d done was use body fortification and strike the spells with my palm. The men behind them were flabbergasted, and I used this opportunity to make my move.

“Bind!” The men went as stiff as a board.

“Wh-What the hell?!” one gasped.

After shooting a quick glance at the now immobilized three men and confirming that the students were safe, I turned to face the dual-wielding woman who was rushing toward me. Her speed, aim, and timing were all impeccable. She’d also nearly managed to sneak up on me while my back had been turned, but her downfall was the faint amount of bloodlust she’d emitted.

When I’d lived with Owain, the mountains and forests around us had been home to not just large-sized creatures like dragons but also a lot of mid-sized predatory magic beasts. After fighting enough of these mid-sized threats, I’d become sensitive to even the smallest bit of bloodlust. That being said, this woman had the best assassination technique out of all the people I’d met so far.

“Well done,” I said reflexively while deflecting both of the swords she swung at me.

She almost lost her balance as she flew backward, but she quickly fixed her stance. Her movements were highly efficient and left no room for me to press my attack. “Hm. You’re not bad!” she said.

“You’re not too shabby yourself,” I replied, closing the distance between us. I reached her in a single bound.

“Damn it!” she cursed. She swung her swords at my head.

The blades were silver. I tried to block them without letting the rod in my hand break, but unsurprisingly the swords bisected the wood.

“Ha! Serves you right!” The woman had a smug look, assured of her victory, and she attacked me once more. However, she rushed her blow, which meant that the speed and angle of her attack weren’t especially strong. My fortified bare hands would be enough to stop the swords.

“You rushed your attack, didn’t you?” I muttered under my breath. I let go of the broken rod and grabbed both of her blades.

“You’ve got to be kidding me! Are you actually a demon lord?!” She gasped, her eyes widening.

What a rude question. “Are you trying to suggest that I appear as anything other than a school instructor?” I sighed and snapped her swords.

“Wh-What the hell kind of instructor can do that?!”

She tried to attack me with the stubs of her weapons, but I shot the back of my fist into her chest, knocking her to the ground. Every enemy here had now lost the ability or the will to fight.

“Now, shall we tie them all up?” I called out to Rox, who’d just come up the stairs.

He let out a weak chuckle. “I can only laugh at all of this...” he murmured before giving orders to his bodyguards.

◇

About ten men knelt in a line in a slightly dim room. The way they were positioned on the hard floor reminded me of zen monk training. The tall woman who could use assassination techniques was tied to a chair in front of them.

She kept her mouth tightly shut, her face twisted in a sneer. I’d sent any men who needed medical attention to the academy’s infirmary, or whatever they called it here, but I’d confined the rest of them to my research room. Even though it was completely against protocol, Rox had still agreed to let me interrogate them for the information I wanted.

I was still puzzled why Rox had been pale in the face when he’d left me with them, but I was happy that I was finally able to speak to the ones responsible for the underground casino. The overhead light cast shadows across the culprits’ faces. I did my best to speak with my usual calm voice while asking them some questions.

“So, let me ask you this: Are you all part of the Nevis Family?”

“Yeah,” she said. I was surprised by how easily she’d answered.

“Then please state your name and rank.”

She crossed her legs and looked up at me. “Caolla Nevis. Boss of the family.”

“You do know that lying to me will result in a less than comfortable result, right?” I thought that there was no way she was at the top of this organization, so I tried to threaten her, but she scrunched up her face angrily.

“You tryin’ to say I’m lying?” she growled.

I shrugged. “I’d think that the leader of a scummy organization in such a large city would’ve been older and more skilled.”

The men behind Caolla slumped their shoulders and hung their heads.

“We’re the elite members of our family. I’m probably one of the strongest organization leaders in this city too.”

“Huh?” I tilted my head, convinced that I’d heard incorrectly.

Caolla’s face flushed. “You’re the weird one here! Who the hell just grabs swords?! And I’ve never seen anyone use sorcery to block things with their bare hands!”

“Well, I used body fortification.”

“That ain’t the point! If it were that simple, all my men could do that!” she yelled.

“They can do it if they work hard at it. It’s all about training.”

I found myself giving encouraging words to these criminals, but the woman slouched pitifully in front of me.

“Forget it... I understand that you’re not normal. Tell me why you didn’t just sic the guards on us. I’ll do anything you want as long as you don’t kill the guys behind me,” she said wearily, resigned to her fate.

She’s surprisingly kind toward her people if she’s trying to save their necks. Well, all things are going according to plan if she’s already at this stage. I put on a gentle smile and took a step toward her, but all that did was make her gulp.

“Wh-Wh-What?! What are you planning?! What’s with that savage grin of yours?!”

“That’s a rude way to describe my kind smile... Forget it. You’re frightened because you’re captured, aren’t you?”

“No. I’m scared of y...” she trailed off. She looked at me as if she wanted to say something, but the cat had gotten her tongue.

I narrowed my eyes, and when she remained silent, I launched into the topic I really wanted to discuss. “Let’s get back on track. For now, I’ll assume that you are the boss of the Nevis Family. You’re at the top of the organization, with a stronghold and a great talent for attracting customers. As the boss, then, you must have information on the other underworld organizations and where they are, right?”

“Huh? We don’t have connections to anyone else...” She averted her eyes and spoke unconvincingly.

I turned up the pressure. “I don’t tolerate lies. You do know what’ll happen if you lie, don’t you?” I lowered my voice while creating a cold mist behind me. I meant for this to be a light scare tactic, but I unintentionally made the spell too strong and the floor began to crackle as it froze up.

Caolla changed her tune immediately and vehemently shook her head from side to side. “O-Oh wait! I remember now! A few months or so ago, the bosses of the organizations got together and talked about the division of territories here in the city!”

“Boss! That’s—” One of her subordinates practically screamed at her as she began blabbing about their most sensitive information.

Caolla grimaced and shut down his protestations. “Shut up! Your lives depend on this!”

The man groaned, likely accepting that Caolla was doing this for all their sakes. She looked them over one by one, and no one else spoke up.

“A wise decision. Please continue,” I said.

“This town is a gold mine. With a little effort, you can extend your reach to the six great countries and the other small neighboring nations. But there are a lot of people who have the same idea. Since all of the organizations keep each other in check, no one gets a monopoly on the money. But we’re still makin’ a killing here compared to other towns,” she scoffed. “Plenty of big organizations from other countries are pokin’ their noses around here. In order of most influential to least...”

She began listing off the organizations. It seemed that many people within them had come from the six great countries. They all dealt in gambling, illegal slavery, and looted goods in some capacity to make their money. Out of all of these, gambling was the one that had gained sway over the students.

“What kind of business is illegal slavery?” I asked.

“Simply put, it’s forcing orphans or kidnapped people into slavery and selling them. Some of the people who get sold are penniless, and they’re prone to dying easily since they’re skin and bones. The ones that make the most money are the children of merchants or nobles. There are a lot of nobles from other countries here, so it’s often not immediately obvious when someone’s sold off.”

“By nobles from other countries, do you mean students from Fiddich Academy?”

“W-We’re not involved with that! The organizations who deal in that business are ones from neighboring countries who have an outlet to sell them back home! It’s harder to get caught if you traffic the captives to a different country!”

I stared at Caolla with growing anger as she babbled excuses, but I also thought about what she’d said. If my child were abducted to a different country, I’d send the knights after them, but I hadn’t heard any news of anyone doing that. I guess I’ll ask Rox later.

“All right. Then tell me where these organizations are based.”

“W-Well, I truly don’t know that. We only decided on the bounds of our territories. It’s a given that we don’t interfere with each other’s business, y’know? No point in talkin’ about money, so we only discussed territories and how to resolve disputes, and we agreed to share information about the knights and city guards,” she said with a sigh.

After spilling this much, she wouldn’t have much reason to lie now. “Oh, I see.”

Caolla suddenly recoiled and began to shiver. All I did was smile normally, though.

“Wh-Wh-What?! I cooperated! You’re gonna honor your promise, right?! Please!” She pleaded with me, on the verge of tears.

I squinted and furrowed my brow. “My promise? Oh, I’ll keep that. But I’ll do that after I confirm that you’re telling the truth.”

Caolla gulped as her eyes brimmed with tears.

Chapter 3: Resolution?

As I exited my research room, I saw Rox and his two bodyguards waiting outside. I’d asked them for help with keeping the day’s events under wraps. For some reason, though, Shenley and Dean were standing with them now.

“Hmm? You done? I hope they’re still alive...” Rox’s voice tapered out near the end of his sentence, so I could only just barely make out what he’d said. I decided to ignore his snark.

Everyone’s eyes were on me as I turned to Rox. “Why are Shenley and Dean here?”

“They were waiting for us, apparently,” he replied.

Shenley took a step toward me. “Dean mentioned that his friend hasn’t come back to the school since yesterday, so we were waiting for you to return with Rox. I thought maybe you might have a clue about what happened...”

Dean stood next to Shenley, visibly worried.

“I have a lead,” I said, reassuring them. “I’m heading out now to confirm it.”

The two of them seemed relieved, but Rox looked troubled.

“Are you gonna have the Nevis Family guide you? The knights want to interrogate them and do their own investigation...”

“Could you keep them in the dark?”

“Huh? No way! I can’t—” Rox was flustered by my question.

I know these aren’t people who the knights or guards would let go free, but I can’t let them get arrested just yet.

“Rox, were there other areas you planned to investigate?” I asked.

“Huh? Well...”

“There’s no time to waste. Another organization might have taken our students. At this point, our only option is to track down each one and speak directly with them. That’s why I need the cooperation of the Nevis Family.”

“Could you at least wait until after the knights have done their interrogation?”

“Information reaches the kingpins of the criminal organizations in this city faster than anyone else. There’s only so much time before word gets around that someone took down the infamous Nevis Family in a single day. We have to move now so we can catch them all before they suspect that the family betrayed them.”

As I looked Rox straight in the eye, his cheeks went red and he turned away.

“F-Fine. I’ll try to suppress the information.”

At this point, I believed he’d keep his promise. Now that I’d dealt with my biggest hang-up, all that was left was to take action. I brought Shenley and Dean into my research room.

Caolla Nevis acted swiftly. She immediately sent out her subordinates after I told her that I wanted to meet with the other organizations. Then, she guided us through the backstreets of the city.

Do her subordinates know where we’re going?

“Where are you taking us? I swear, if you’re trying to plot a getaway or lead us into a trap...” Rox said, following Caolla cautiously.

She grimaced. “Don’t be stupid, Your Highness. I’m not gonna try and do anything. If I can prove useful to you, maybe that’ll save us from being executed.”

“Pretty bold of you to just tell me your plan,” Rox replied in disbelief.

Caolla snorted and shrugged. After she led us a bit farther down the road, one of her subordinates stepped from the shadows and silently approached to give a report. He whispered into her ear and left as quickly as he’d arrived.

“Garonne of the White Ash wants to meet. Their main group’s based in Karvun, but they’ve got a pretty big faction here. There’ll be at least fifty people there if we go to the meeting.”

“They want to meet?” Rox asked.

Caolla half smiled. “I told them that we have an incredibly profitable get-rich-quick scheme but that we might have trouble with the knights if they intervene. I promised to cut them in if they lend us some of their forces. I’m not technically lying, right?”

“Uh... No, you definitely are,” Rox countered, contorting his face.

“Well, that’s just your opinion, isn’t it?” Caolla chuckled.

“Where’s the meeting?” I asked.

Caolla pointed down the alley. “I don’t know the details, but apparently, Garonne’s subordinates are waiting down there, in White Ash’s territory. Sorry, but the prince and knights can’t come. Their appearance would immediately blow our cover.”

“Then I’ll just have them take off their armor,” Rox said.

“They’ll check our faces before taking us inside, so you’ll be found out even if you wear hoods. And do you really think they wouldn’t recognize the people who’ve been haphazardly chasing thugs around town? Just shut up and wait, Your Highness.”

Rox began fuming over Caolla’s sharp rebuttal, but he had nothing to counter with, so he just stewed in his anger. I lightly patted him on the back and walked toward Caolla.

“It’ll be okay, Rox. I’ll give them a good talking-to, so don’t worry.”

“If anything, I’m more worried that you’ll go overboard, Professor Aoi...”

“I’ll be sure to exercise restraint.”

Rox still didn’t seem convinced.

Then Shenley spoke up. “Th-They don’t know our faces. Dean and I can help you, Professor Aoi!”

“Huh? Me too?!”

Shenley looked like she was prepared to fight, whereas Dean was panicking. Though they’d both improved as sorcerers, they certainly weren’t ready to enter what could potentially be a brutal battlefield. Plus, as their teacher, I couldn’t expose them to danger.

“Shenley, Dean, please stay here with Rox and keep an eye on the exits of the building. I can handle things if I end up fighting all of them in the same place, but if they scatter and run away, I might not be able to catch them all. If there are any secret exits, I’m counting on you to cover those too.”

I hadn’t meant to discourage Shenley, but she seemed to pick up on my thought that she wasn’t strong enough to fight here, and she hung her head in frustration. On the other hand, Dean sighed in relief. I flashed them a gentle smile before heading with Caolla down the alley. Soon after, two men slunk from the shadows.

“You’re Caolla Nevis, the boss of the Nevis Family, right? Who’s the little girl next to you?” one of them asked.

Caolla smirked mischievously and pointed at me. “She’s the subject of the gamble. I’ll explain the rest to Garonne. Take me to him.”

The men scowled at her commanding tone, but they still agreed.

“Follow us,” one said.

Caolla grinned and gestured for me to come along. Though I was a little annoyed by them calling me “little girl,” I would ruin everything if I fussed about that right now.

Stay calm, Aoi.

The path they guided us down twisted and forked constantly until we arrived at the narrowest pathway so far. It wasn’t even paved with stone anymore. Gravel crunched under our feet as we continued to the end of the alley, where there was nothing but a dark-colored stone wall.

“You took us to a dead end?” Caolla snapped.

The two men turned to face us. “It’s standard procedure for the boss’s safety. Leave your weapons with us now. Then we’ll check to see if we’ve been followed.”

Caolla looked exasperated, but she unsheathed the two curved swords on her back and dropped them to the ground. “This is stupid. I’m only one person. If your boss is scared that you guys can’t handle me, then all he has to do is guard himself with more people, not take away my weapons. You all have ash for brains?” she argued, gesturing at her swords.

One of the men clicked his tongue. “You’ve run your territory with only a small number of men. It would be foolish to underestimate your family, especially you, Caolla. We’ve heard you’re a first-rate fighter.”

“You, little girl. Drop your weapons,” the other man said.

I raised my hands. “I don’t have any. I’m carrying neither sword nor wand.” I spun around once and looked up at them.

The two carefully gave me a visual inspection from head to toe.

“Looks like she’s telling the truth.”

“All right. They’re good.”

The sound of stone rubbing against stone echoed through the alley. I turned around to see that five men, two of whom were beastkin, had appeared. They were ferociously kicking away some of the gravel to reveal a small metal plate.

“This way,” one of the five men said. “The boss is waiting for you down there.”

Interlude: Garonne

Winturbly was a special area in Vahtedd housing the most prestigious sorcery academy in the world. It was also a melting pot of people and riches from across the continent. Wherever money accumulated, a dark underworld developed, and the city of Winturbly had a deeper, thicker darkness to it than other cities in the six great countries.

This sordid underbelly was so massive that it was impossible for a single organization to monopolize it. Multiple large groups had set down roots, and they’d clashed in countless fierce battles in the past. There was less friction in the present since we’d divided up the city into individual territories, but there could be a bloodbath at the drop of a hat. Until that happened, it was sensible for us to build up our forces and wealth.

I’d expanded our organization by recruiting mercenaries, adventurers, thieves, and guards who’d become slaves due to their debts. I’d even brought in some former court sorcerer candidates. My preparation was flawless, and I was always on guard and ready for anything. If any group were to survive a war between organizations, it’d be us.

The Nevis Family’s offer of an “incredibly profitable get-rich-quick scheme” was obviously fishy. I assumed it was bait for something else they were planning, but I was confident that no one could topple us at this point, so I’d decided to grant them an audience out of curiosity.

Though the Nevis Family was a mid-sized organization, they were one of the veteran forces in this city. Their founding members were Vahtedd citizens, and as a result they had a lot of connections that granted them access to information and sources of income that we didn’t have.

If the Nevis Family said that they had a lead on some kind of get-rich-quick scheme, then most organizations would at least hear them out. If their claim was legitimate, it made sense that they’d ask other organizations for extra manpower, as their members numbered somewhere in the lower double digits.

As I mulled over the situation, someone rapped on the double metal doors.

“Boss, Caolla, the head of the Nevis Family, is here.”

She’s here a lot sooner than I expected. “Good. Let her in.”

Two of my elite men unlocked the heavy doors and pushed them open, and a loud metallic scraping rent the air as they dragged against the ground. A large-framed woman stood waiting outside. Her long brown hair undulated as she folded her arms and fearlessly met my gaze. Standing next to her was a young girl with black hair who looked like she didn’t belong here at all. She was small and dainty. I wondered who she was.

She doesn’t seem scared.

Even the most hardened soldier, let alone a regular civilian, would display some signs of being afraid—or at the very least, intimidated—when brought to a place like this. After all, this spacious underground room was where all of my elite subordinates were stationed. The room itself was menacing too, dimly lit and hewn entirely out of stone. It looked like a bleak place for conducting interrogations.

Caolla and the young girl entered the room. Four of my subordinates moved to stand diagonally behind them without making a sound. I also had someone skilled at assassination waiting in a secret passage.

Standing on either side of me were a sorcerer and a former adventurer, the strongest fighters in my entire organization. Though Caolla was the mightiest person in her organization, these two were a cut above her. In fact, if I wanted to, I could easily have the two of them force Caolla and the young girl to hand over the reins of whatever get-rich-quick scheme they had for nothing in return. After that, I could absorb the Nevis Family into my own organization. There was no way that Caolla hadn’t considered that possibility, but for some reason, she seemed perfectly calm.

“I’d say it’s been a while, but we seem to keep running into each other lately, Garonne,” she said, the corner of her mouth slightly turning upward.

My subordinates stared her down. When two criminals faced off, one of them always ended up in a superior position. It was important not to misjudge one’s opponent. That’s why I mirrored Caolla’s calm smile.

“How nice to see you again, Caolla. I hear you’ve come to me with a very appealing offer. I do hope that it matches my expectations...for your sake too.”

“I know you’re tryin’ to act cool and all, but I wouldn’t if I were you,” she scoffed. “We’re just parasites living in the shadows and feeding off of the city. If our host is killed, we’ll die too, and if we screw around too much, we’ll get twisted off and crushed. We’re really nothin’ special.”

“What?”

The atmosphere of the room grew tense. The curious thing was that she wasn’t insulting just me but herself as well.

What is she talking about? Doesn’t she want to work together? Why would she try to anger us? There’s no way that she’s trying to propose that we abandon crime and form an aboveboard merchant company together, is she? As I ran through the potential possibilities, Caolla cast her gaze around the room before finally locking eyes with me again with a completely serious expression.

“Garonne of the White Ash, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but my proposal is for you to go back to your home country. That’s gonna be the only way you’ll be able to keep making a profit.”

Everyone froze, but after a few seconds, my subordinates began berating her.

“Who the hell do you think you are?!”

“You want us to crush you already?!”

“You lowly Nevis Family scum!”

My men drew their swords. For Caolla, this had to be the worst-case scenario. If she were alone, maybe there was a chance she could run away, but there was no chance she’d be able to protect that small, young girl.

“Calm down,” I said. My men stopped advancing but kept their weapons drawn.

Caolla stood in the face of this thick miasma of bloodlust, smiling intrepidly. It was almost as if she looked at us with pity.

“Does that satisfy the promise I made?” the young girl asked Caolla.

I had no idea what she meant by this. As my subordinates and I exchanged confused looks, Caolla spoke up again.

“Well, I’d like another chance...but I doubt I’ll get through to ’em. As someone who also calls herself a hardened criminal, I’ve started to feel bad for Garonne. One chance to try and convince him is good enough, though. I can live with whatever happens next,” she said with a sigh, shaking her head.

Everyone’s anger seemed to be dissolving into bewilderment. Caolla was speaking as if she were worried about us. More importantly, her words implied that the young girl held our lives in her hands.

“Caolla, I have a lot of questions, but answer this one: Who is that girl?”

“A new instructor at the sorcery school,” she said, amused.

“A...sorcery instructor?”

Things weren’t getting any clearer. This little girl didn’t look old enough to be an instructor, but maybe she just wasn’t a human. That wasn’t what bothered me most, though. What I couldn’t understand was why an elite from the school, of all places, had come here.

“An instructor? Even if that’s true, why did you bring her here? Are you trying to say that a powerful sorcerer from the academy is going to defeat all of us by herself?”

Suddenly, the young girl grabbed one of my men’s swords, which had gotten dangerously close to her face, with her bare hand. She snapped it in half like a twig with barely any effort.

“Wha—?”

“What sorcery did she use?!”

Everyone immediately sprang into action. I shot to my feet and whipped out my wand.

“Are you really planning on fighting us by yourself?!”

This has to be a joke. I looked down the hallway at my subordinates, but they signaled that nobody else was coming. No knights were on their way to our hideout as backup. Even so, a smile spread across the little girl’s face as she took a step forward.

“I have three questions. One: What is your main business right now? Two: Where are the hideouts of the other organizations? Three: Have any of our school’s students been victims of your business?”

Aoi

Garonne’s mouth hung agape. “I wouldn’t answer those questions even if you were the knight captain himself,” Garonne said. He heaved a sigh and turned to Caolla. “Are you crazy? What’s with this girl?”

He was ignoring my questions. How rude of him. I narrowed my eyes, and Caolla’s face became taut. She shook her head from side to side.

“Garonne, I can’t take any more of this, so is it okay if I step outside? I’m sure she won’t kill you, at least,” Caolla said.

“I’ve had more than enough of your taunts. This is ridiculous. There’s no way I’m going to let you walk away, especially now that you’ve disrespected our organization.”

Garonne spoke softly, but the malice in his voice propelled his words through the room. He raised his hand, and all of his men leveled their weapons at me and stepped forward.

“If you’re responding with violence, then that’s the end of negotiations,” I said quietly.

Garonne’s eyes glinted coldly. “Snap this girl out of her fantasy.”

At his command, they all charged at me. The sorcerers began their incantations, and those with blades quickly closed the distance between us. I had to give them credit. They spread out enough that they wouldn’t interfere with each other’s attacks. The two large swordsmen by the door had especially good techniques. They reached me in an instant and slashed diagonally at me with their thick broadswords. I focused on the tips of their blades.

“Very impressive. Looks like you both are about the same level as Caolla.”

Since I was being attacked by multiple people at once, I took a half step forward so as to not lose my balance, and I thrust my fist straight out in front of me. A thud rang out as my hand connected with his thick cloth armor at high speed. The first swordsman flew backward, rolling across the stone floor. The other assailants were taken aback.

“Since there are so many of you, I’ll make this quick,” I said before swiveling around. The sorcerers by the boss were still mid-incantation. I poured my mana into my own spell and cast it instantly. “Sand Blast.”

A storm of sand and pebbles formed in the air. It was only about a meter in diameter, but it fired out projectiles radially, which knocked many of the men out cold.

“Gah!”

I felt a bit bad listening to the men’s chorus of screams. Those who were still conscious had stopped charging at me and were trying to shield themselves from the painful barrage. This gave me the perfect opening to end the fight.

“Pardon me,” I said, striking each of them in their stomachs until they collapsed like the others.

“I feel so bad...” Caolla said.

One glance from me made her shut up. Now, the only enemy left standing was Garonne, who looked around defeatedly at his subordinates and then turned to me.

“Wh-What just happened? In an instant, they all...”

He began moaning and muttering to himself as if he were having a nightmare, but after a few seconds he came back to his senses. He looked at me with bitterness.

“Do you still want to fight me? I’ll happily be your opponent for as long as it takes for you to accept your defeat.”

My offer was sincere, but Garonne recoiled from me before finally slumping his shoulders and hanging his head in surrender.

◇

I repeated this song and dance with all four of the other large organizations in the city, and they all promised to cooperate with me. I’m surprised by how readily they capitulated after we talked things out. Ultimately, every organization agreed to make money in ways that didn’t cause any problems for the people living in the city.

Turning over a new leaf and walking the straight and narrow after living as criminals for so long was easier said than done, though. That’s why I allowed the five organizations who promised to cooperate with me to continue their casino business. The city’s weaker outlaw groups had signed on to this deal as well after they’d seen how thoroughly I’d trounced the major players.

But while I let their gambling business continue, I set very strict rules for its operation. To start, all of their clients had to be over twenty years old. Secondly, they couldn’t admit anyone who couldn’t pay and would thus go into debt. My other biggest rules were to not deal any drugs, not engage in trafficking, and not kill any of the townsfolk. It took a lot of work for me to get them to accept all of these restrictions.

“What kinda kiddie casino is this? Who can make money under these conditions?!”

“So we can’t even make money by working as security and forcing people to pay their debts?!”

“If idiots ask us to borrow money, that’s their choice. If they’re comin’ to us, who cares how much debt they rack up?!”

Those were some of the many complaints I got. To ensure compliance, I decided to go organization by organization and lecture them. I made them kneel while I met their hostile gazes with a stern look of my own and then calmly spoke on morality and law.

“Here’s the thing: You shouldn’t assume that others feel the same way about something that you do. Just because you accept something, that doesn’t mean they will. Would you want someone else to collect on a big debt you owe by selling you off as a slave? Laws are made to prevent these kinds of things from happening.”

Unsurprisingly, there were still objections.

“Vahtedd approves of slaves,” someone called out.

“Though they approve of slavery for criminals, that’s only in the case of those who have committed serious crimes. Minor convictions don’t even result in slavery, and yet you’re enslaving people for simply having gambling debt,” I responded.

“That sounds like their problem!”

The majority of the people here weren’t listening to what I was saying, so I decided to give them a taste of what it was like to be on the other end of unreasonable violence. I used ice sorcery to slowly freeze them from their feet up while lecturing them on the benefits of peace. This method was pretty effective at inspiring a change of heart.

Once I had the full cooperation of all the organizations, I was able to swiftly retrieve all the students who’d fallen prey to it. I made sure to warn them to never get hooked on gambling again. Most of them appeared to be pretty shaken up by the whole ordeal and were trembling, so I asked Rox to take care of them. Thankfully, they seemed like they were going to heed my advice. The only problem now was the outlaws who weren’t part of the larger organizations. When I went to talk to them, they seemed to very reluctantly agree to my terms.

“Don’t tell me you plan on ruling the criminal underworld of this country... No, forget it,” said Rox. He grew pale. “It’s true that it’ll be harder for problems to arise if the large organizations are behind you. Even if you crush every last organization, new ones will form in their places. But if we turn a blind eye to some of them on purpose and that’s found out, there’s sure to be an uproar. It’d be especially bad if a member of royalty’s wrapped up in it. If word of this leaks out, I’ll receive criticism internationally as well...”

“Is your plan not going to work?” I asked.

“I’ll make it work.”

Rox looked troubled, cradling his head in his hands, but he eventually agreed with my plan and said he’d support it in any way he could.

If he hadn’t thought that my suggestion could work, I would have just continued breaking up any organizations that popped up, as annoying as that would be to deal with. But if Rox said he’d pull out all the stops to make this work, then I’d trust in him.

“Thank you very much. I think I misjudged the kind of person you are, Rox. I think it’s quite wonderful how hard you’re working for the sake of your fellow students.”

Rox staggered backward from my heartfelt thanks, his face beet red.

“Are you all right?”

“I-It’s nothing!” Rox said. He cleared his throat and looked away.

He continued to back away while repeating my plan one more time before leaving.

Interlude: Glen

“You want to govern...all of the criminals?”

I couldn’t process what Aoi had just said, so I ended up repeating her statement. It was only just the other day that she’d said that she wanted to conduct an investigation of the city. I’d given her permission because I’d felt like the students might have been wrapped up in some unsavory business, but somehow that had led to her saving the students from the clutches of various criminal organizations and then gaining control of those same groups in a single day.

“So...what happened to the students?” I asked timidly.

“Don’t worry, I’ve already rescued them from the slavers. They told me that a bad friend of theirs egged them on to go to the casino every night, so I gave them all a stern talking-to. Some of them even used their parents’ money to gamble, so I informed their parents to be careful as well.”

“O-Oh... What a fast resolution. By the way, is it really okay that you attacked the slave traders? Technically, they’re legally allowed to operate under the current system.”

I felt a cold sweat running down my back from everything she’d just described, but I was at least relieved that the students were all safe. I was a little concerned about what her “stern talking-to” and what her discussions with the students’ parents entailed. At the very least, there was no chance that the students would ever go back to a casino.

“Yes, there weren’t any issues. I found out that more than half of the merchants selling slaves were engaged in illegal trade, so I gained permission from the knights to subdue them. There are still plenty of suspicious people there, but I decided to leave them be until they actually commit a crime. Of course, I made sure to tell them that they’ll receive the death penalty if they do anything illegal.”

I felt a little bad for any potentially innocent people she’d threatened.

“I-I see. Well, I suppose it’s good that the students are safe for now. But I’m surprised that Rox was so involved. I heard that Queen Leah disciplined him strictly when she visited, so did he have a change of heart?”

Aoi nodded. “I’d love to tell his parents about his great deeds. I think I’ll send a letter to them later.”

“Oh, yes. Good... Just in case, could I read the letter before you send it?” I asked softly, worry building in my chest.

Interlude: Leah

I heard a knock on the door and I turned around.

“Enter,” I said.

The door silently opened, and in came a man in a black robe. He was one of the few informants to whom I gave direct orders.

“How was Rox?” I asked.

The man pulled out sheets of parchment from the sleeve of his robe. “As you ordered, we’ve kept a close eye on Prince Rox’s movements, and it seems that he hasn’t threatened any more students or been violent toward them. Also his instructors report that he’s always on time for classes now and hasn’t missed a single one without permission.”

Leah put her hand on her chin and tilted her head. “He really was such a bad boy before. Professor Aoi was right. I really should be more careful when selecting those I ask to keep an eye on him. But he’s also taking on some rough people as a part of his duties as a royal, so it’s important to keep surveillance on him. Anything else to report?”

The man’s eyes fell to the paper. “I have reports on his diet, outings, and relationships. Which would you like to hear first?”

“Oh, I’m interested in his relationships,” Leah cooed.

“Previously, he was closest to Felter Cayan, but Felter is currently focused on his own special training on body fortification sorcery that he was taught from Ms. Aoi. As such, he and Prince Rox barely see each other any more. Since Prince Rox attends Ms. Aoi’s class without fail, he’s gotten closer to the students in her class and speaks with them frequently.”

“Oh?” How interesting. I leaned forward in my chair. “I’d thought after getting thoroughly beaten by Professor Aoi, Rox would have avoided her. He’s not still thinking about trying to beat her, is he? I’ve only met her once, but she has the same aura as a knight from a long line of knights. She’s calm and true to her convictions, which come from her sense of justice and love for her students. And she has the strength to back up her ideas to the point that I don’t think any royalty could stand up to her... Perhaps Rox is thinking of taking her on politically?” I giggled a little, but the man shook his head.

“No, that doesn’t seem to be the case. He seems to be asking others about Ms. Aoi’s hobbies and the things she likes. There are also many times where he wanders around campus looking to speak with her.” The man’s expression never changed as he rattled off these campus secrets.

For a second, my eyes widened before I snorted and burst out laughing. “Ha ha ha! So he’s fallen in love?! Oh, how nice. She’s not going to be easy to win over, though. I’m not convinced that she’ll approve of him as a romantic partner... But I’ll cheer him on,” I said to nobody in particular before chortling again.

“Hmm? You look like you’re having fun,” Middleton said as he entered the room. He’d probably heard my laughter.

As soon as he’d arrived, the man in the black robe had disappeared. I pretended he had never been here.

“Oh, honey, I have something you need to hear. So, our Rox...”

Interlude: Winturbly Council

There was a rampant, deep darkness in Winturbly that was stronger than anywhere else in the world. Or, at least there had been until a single woman had erased it in a blink of an eye—a woman who now ruled over the criminal underworld. However, few members of the public knew of this.

Rox’s efforts made sure that the news never broke, but anyone who was a part of the underbelly of the city had heard a dire warning to never oppose the Witch of the Academy.

Headmaster Glen was the chairman of the Representatives Assembly in Winturbly, where Fiddich Academy was located. During these council meetings, the various heads and advisers of guilds in Winturbly, as well as some politicians, could discuss issues and request things of Glen. Glen wasn’t just the headmaster of the academy; he was also the representative sorcerer for his country and a marquess, which gave him a very high standing as a greater noble. Even the heads of the guilds had to be reserved with their requests.

As a result, discussions always had a power imbalance during these meetings. The same thing happened in other countries under royal rule. Glen had no intention of lording his title over others, but he couldn’t control the fact that nobles possessed far more influence than commoners.

Ironically, the gathering of unlawful businesses in the city’s underbelly, which they’d nicknamed the “Winturbly Council,” was more equal in a sense. Anyone was allowed to speak here as long as they had power, as long as they weren’t actively being hostile toward other organizations. The purpose of the council was to get rid of any pointless fights between organizations that would draw attention and hurt them all. The way it operated was fairly democratic.

However, the Winturbly Council greatly changed one day due to a certain event. Though it only convened once every two or three months, the meeting would always happen during the first week of the given month. The participants would usually delegate a representative to attend.

Up until recently, only the large organizations had attended these meetings, but now there were mid-sized organizations and newly formed ones who were forced to attend. Today’s meeting was also taking place on the third floor of the Nevis Family’s business.

The representatives of the big organizations sat quietly in their designated seats, waiting for the meeting to begin. The representatives of the new organizations who were attending for the first time filed in, flanked by a number of their subordinates.

“Whew. This is crazy. It’s like a who’s who of the top dogs,” said a man with a shaved head and an impudent attitude. Everyone stared at him, and he scoffed at them. “Don’t look down on us just ’cause we’re still a small organization. I’m Connemara from Basilisk’s Claw. We’re gonna become somethin’ none of you will be able to ignore.” He laughed, and cackles rippled through the subordinates surrounding him.

Though Connemara was laughing, from the way that he scanned the room and kept a hand on the sword at his waist, it was clear that he was ready to fight at a moment’s notice. He was trying to make his organization seem intimidating, but he received tepid reactions. The others barely acknowledged him. They didn’t even look at Connemara and his men as enemies, but regarded them with pity and sneers.

Connemara wanted to speak up about their disrespect, but he was interrupted by the sound of light footsteps. He doubted that they belonged to anyone dangerous, but instantly all of the other gathered representatives looked grim. Sensing that something was off, Connemara turned toward the source of the noise.

Standing in front of the open door was a small-framed woman with black hair. Her eyes were cold and emotionless. Connemara reflexively took a step back. The woman scanned the room, and each person her eyes fell upon tensed up.

“It looks like everyone’s here. Please take your seats.” The latter part of her statement was directed toward Connemara and his group.

Connemara paused at her unexpectedly beautiful voice, but then he spoke up. “Who the hell are you? I’m pretty sure the Nevis Family is the only one with a woman for a leader.”

“Shut up and sit down or else you’re gonna regret it,” Caolla growled, rebuking his strong-willed and carefree attitude.

Connemara’s mood soured at the threat, but he noticed that everyone in the room was glaring at him coldly, so he sat down in an open seat.

Once he and his men were seated, the black-haired woman stuck a hand into the bag over her shoulder and pulled out pieces of parchment, then passed them out.

Connemara was the last person to receive the document. As he read it over, a confused expression spread across his face. “A monthly earnings report? The Nevis Family, White Ash, Bloody Black Wolves?! Monthly reports of strange occurrences? A ban on conflicts between organizations, the illegal slave trade, and violence toward townspeople?! What the hell is this?!”

The document’s wording was perfectly clear, but Connemara couldn’t fathom the reasoning behind these agreements. He slammed his hand on top of the parchment, and the sound of crumpling paper echoed across the room.

The raven-haired woman turned her attention to him. “You’re Connemara from the Basilisk’s Claw, right? Since this is your first time attending the Winturbly Council, allow me to explain. None of you are registered to any guilds or are listed as public organizations of any country or city. The Winturbly Council is a place to manage all of you. It’s not as strict as it may sound, but there certainly are still rules. First, you are all forbidden from engaging in the illegal slave trade. Also, you are forbidden from attempting any violence against the townspeople. Lastly, there will be no fighting between organizations. These monthly reports will be based on the reports I receive from all the organizations. If I discover from those reports that any organization has broken the rules, I will fine them. Also, if you don’t fill out the reports truthfully, I will punish you. Furthermore—”

“Wait, wait!” Connemara yelled as the woman continued to rattle off rules. “What the hell is this?! Seriously! Is she a member of the knights or something? Is this council now under the control of a country? Why shouldn’t we be free to do whatever business we want to as long as we keep it in our territory?! Why aren’t any of you speaking up?! Don’t you think this is messed up?!”

Garonne from the White Ash looked at Connemara like an annoyance. “This city is filled with large guilds and businesses from all over the world. In other words, there’s tons of opportunities to make a lot of money. What’s the point in going out of our way to fight to do business? It’s more beneficial to cooperate with one another for stable profits—”

“Hold on! Are you all for real?! Cooperation?! Stability?! What’s the point in thinking so safely?! What happened to rising up to the top of the criminal underworld and making everyone submit to you?! Don’t any of you wanna rule everything?!”

Connemara sounded more irritated than angry. The rest of the representatives sat with their mouths shut, but the dark-haired girl acknowledged him and spoke without emotion.

“I understand your complaint. However, I won’t permit any opinions that threaten the safety of the city. If you intend to continue to assert this position, you’ll force me to make a declaration of my own.”

“What? You gonna call your friends here?”

She sighed. “If you want your opinion to matter, you’ll have to be capable of defeating me first.”

That was how the deep darkness of Winturbly fell under the control of a single woman. Secretly, the members of the council referred to her as the Witch of the Academy.

Chapter 4: Visitor

Due to my exploits in Winturbly, I’d become well acquainted with both the city’s regular businesses and its criminal underworld. Meanwhile, my classes were going well, and slowly but surely more and more students had joined. Other instructors, following Foar’s example, had started taking an interest in my class and my methods too. At this rate, I felt confident that there’d eventually be other instructors who would come to share my approach to teaching sorcery. The results certainly spoke for themselves. My students already demonstrated a much deeper understanding of sorcery than their peers. The majority of them could now shorten incantations and use lightning sorcery.

Despite the fact that Fiddich Academy was the most prestigious school for sorcerers in the world, the level of sorcery displayed here had been lower than I’d expected when I arrived. The gap in skill between my mentor Owain and the people here was so huge that in comparison it didn’t even seem like the sorcerers here were much more advanced than people in other countries. I feared that at this rate, no country would ever be capable of developing teleportation sorcery, and my dream of returning to Earth would be forever out of reach.

Unfortunately, I didn’t think that working with Owain alone would be enough to figure out teleportation sorcery. If we found more sorcerers on our level, though, then we’d be able to harness even greater creativity and innovation. For that reason, I wanted to help raise the capabilities of sorcerers worldwide, and seeing the progress at Fiddich Academy elated me. I’d been able to impart my way of doing sorcery a lot easier than I’d expected, so I felt that it was likely I’d start seeing some significant results soon.

Everything was going smoothly until Headmaster Glen summoned me to his office and handed me a letter that cast an ominous shadow over my work here.

I sat in a chair in the academy’s courtyard, reading over the document. This is certainly turning into a headache. I heaved a sigh and noticed a trio approaching me.

“P-Professor Aoi!” Shenley said brightly.

“Good morning,” I responded. I stood up to bow.

“Good morning!” she echoed, hurrying to bow back.

Strath and Elisa were accompanying her.

“Morning.”

“Good morning, Aoi.”

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

Strath’s eyes fell on the letter I was holding. “There’s a rumor that someone important from the Holy Maple Leaf Empire is on their way here, and they’ve brought along a court sorcerer with a bad reputation.”

“Oh?” I asked.

Elisa looked troubled. “Well...his name’s Crown Windsor, and he’s known as the Fanatic Sorcerer. He’s only in his mid-thirties, yet he’s already come up with ten brand new spells on his own. He’s a genius, but...in order to develop these spells, he sacrifices countless slaves by using them in his experiments. And now he’s coming here...”

“I see... So he’s a sorcerer from the Holy Maple Leaf Empire.” I showed the three of them the letter I’d received. “I was wondering why they wanted to meet with me, but now I understand.”

Elisa, Strath, and Shenley exchanged puzzled looks, but then they huddled together to read the letter.

“An invitation to their empire? The founding of a new sorcery academy?”

“I haven’t heard anything about that...”

“Huh? Are you going to Maple Leaf, Professor Aoi?”

This was no normal request. It bore the signature of the emperor of Maple Leaf himself. Even Glen wasn’t able to easily turn down someone of such high status.

Strath wore a grim expression. “What did the headmaster say?”

“Since the empire is sending its people here, Glen’s going to meet with them and see if he can convince them to change their minds so that I can remain here.”

Shenley’s lip trembled. “I don’t want to speak poorly of my homeland, but the current emperor is...” Her already soft words trailed off.

Elisa finished her thought. “The previous emperor was more of a moderate and focused on domestic affairs, but his heir is very stubborn and is willing to do anything it takes to advance sorcery in his country. That’s how people like Crown have ended up being promoted to court sorcerers.” Her speech was hesitant, perhaps because she felt uncomfortable criticizing another country so openly.

If everything they’d said was true, then the contents of the letter made sense. The Maple Leaf representatives likely wouldn’t give up easily on trying to bring me back to the empire.

I folded the letter back up. “Well, at the very least I presently don’t intend to join them.”

I’d just gotten used to life at Fiddich, and I wanted to at least help incantationless spellcasting become normalized around here before traveling anywhere else. If I could increase the base knowledge and understanding of the students and instructors here, then I was sure that they would come up with new theories and spells that neither Owain nor I could have invented in our wildest dreams. Once that happened, it might even be possible to create a spell to return to Earth.

Without mentioning my origins or ultimate goal, I told my three friends that I wouldn’t mind listening to Maple Leaf’s request once I’d sufficiently improved the quality of sorcery here at Fiddich. They all started chattering at once.

“You’re planning to go there someday?” Strath asked.

“Would you really just discard this academy like that?” Elisa added.

“I-I’ll go wherever you go!” Shenley stammered.

I shook my head. “I just want to visit other schools, but only after this academy’s situation has changed. That isn’t something I plan to do immediately.”

The three of them didn’t seem too convinced, but they calmed down for the time being. I was happy to hear that they didn’t want me to leave, but at the same time I was a little bit curious about Maple Leaf.

“Headmaster Glen expects them to arrive tomorrow, and when they do, it may devolve into one-upmanship until it’s clear who’s better at sorcery,” I said. This drew worried looks from my companions, but I grinned. “Let’s find out just how skilled these sorcerers from Maple Leaf are.”

They all looked tense. I wonder why.

◇

The next day, I went to the headmaster’s office. As soon as I opened the door, our eyes met.

“You summoned me?” I asked.

“I did. Thank you for coming. Remember the letter we got through express mail? It said that Crown Windsor was extremely eager to get here, so they’d be riding their swiftest horses and arriving as early as tomorrow.”

“Yes...and?” I was curious why he was reiterating this.

Glen’s face soured and he shook his head. “Well... I didn’t expect them to have already arrived...”

“They’re here now?” I asked, shocked.

“Yes. They’re already at the academy gates asking for admittance. What a headache... What to do...?”

“What do you mean? Can you even refuse to meet with them?”

“Nope.”

“Then we’ll have to go to them.”

Glen’s lips sucked in even more, as if he were a child who’d eaten something they didn’t like. “No! I don’t wanna! It’s way too troublesome! Besides, the Fanatic Sorcerer is here! There’s absolutely no chance he’ll listen to anything we have to say! Ugh, I wanna go home...” He truly looked like his spirit was broken.

“Well, how about I go to meet them?” I asked. “While I do, please prepare yourself to welcome them as well.”

“Thank you... I owe you one.”

I left Glen’s office. Judging by his adverse reaction to the visitors’ arrival, I could only assume that Crown Windsor had a very annoying personality.

I’ll have to brace myself as well. I tried to keep a cool head as I walked down the hallway.

When I exited the academy, I saw a group of people whose clothing styles were uncommon for this city. There were over twenty people wearing white robes with hoods that covered their eyes, and more than half of them carried weapons. Some townspeople had gathered to look, but they kept a cautious distance.

“Excuse me, are you the visitors from the Holy Maple Leaf Empire?” I asked the person in the front.

The hem of his robe flapped as he turned around. “Oh, are preparations finally ready for our meeting? That took a while. I never expected you to make us wait right outside your door for this long,” he said with a dry laugh. He towered above me, so his gaze went way over my head.

“Hmm?” He looked from side to side and then lowered his chin to stare down at me. “Oh, there you are.”

At that moment, I mentally declared him my enemy. I silently craned my neck to shoot him a venomous look.

The man removed his hood. He wore glasses and had light green hair, which really stood out. He was surprisingly handsome, but he gave off the vibe that he was no ordinary person. He carried no visible weapons, and had the distinct aura of a sorcerer.

“Black hair and a female school instructor...” he muttered as his eyes bored holes into my head. “Are you perhaps the sorcerer known as Aoi Konominato?” His lips curled into a smirk.

Before I could answer, the other robed figures chimed in.

“This is her?”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

“I heard she was a witch, so I expected her to be a frightening hag—or at least a bewitching, beautiful, mature woman...”

I glared at the person who’d spoken last. Do I really have to play guide for these very rude people? They were foreign representatives, though, so I couldn’t very well beat them up just because they infuriated me.

I suppressed my anger. “Headmaster Glen is waiting. Please come this way.”

But as I tried to guide them into the academy, the man with the light green hair called out to me.

“Wait a sec. I’m Crown Windsor! You’re Aoi Konominato, right? Do me a favor! Show me your sorcery! That’s the whole reason I came here!”

“Can’t we do that later?” I asked, turning around.

He ignored my request and stepped right into my personal space, then he brought his hand in front of his face.

“I want you to look at this. It’s a special medium I developed to cast spells.”

He was wearing mysterious gloves which were made of a white, skin-like material. There was a long silver ring circling each middle finger, and the back of the gloves had crests drawn on them in silver.

I decided to give him my honest impressions. “It’s a device for mana circulation and directionality. Its element is...water? I think it’s very well made.”

Crown Windsor’s eyes grew wide. “Th-That’s right! I didn’t expect you to be able to tell that at a single glance. But it makes sense if we’re approaching sorcery from similar viewpoints! You’re probably doing the same kind of research as me, right? Let me show you my sorcery specialty! In exchange, you should show me two or three of your own spells!”

He began channeling his mana to cast a spell without waiting to hear my response. As soon as he began his incantation, the people around started to panic.

They were nowhere near fast enough to run away or protect themselves from any collateral damage, though. The spell he was casting activated after a mere two verses, and from the incantation, I guessed that it was an advanced-level spell. That meant Crown might be on the same level as Glen.

Casting unknown spells in the middle of the city was extremely dangerous, so I quietly focused my mana into a spell of my own.

“Iceberg,” Crown said as he finished his incantation. A mass of ice began to appear between the two of us as the spectators looked on in fear.

A moment later, I activated my spell. “Frost Pillar.”

A large crack spread across the iceberg, growing in size and branching out like a spiderweb until the massive mountain of ice he’d created crumbled. In its place was my own huge pillar of ice. It loomed like a tower but wasn’t expanding outward like the iceberg, and thus it wouldn’t harm the townspeople. I’d succeeded in canceling out his spell. The people around us looked dumbfounded, but Crown seemed excited.

“Wh-Whoa! What did you do?!” he asked, his voice shaking. His face broke into a maniacal smile.

“Well then, everyone. Please calmly follow me. Also, use of sorcery without permission is forbidden. There will be a punishment the next time someone casts a spell without permission. Understood?” I barked.

The men in white robes nodded in agreement while Crown’s smile grew cryptic.

“Yeah, this isn’t going to be as easy as we thought,” mused a large man in the back who’d been quiet until now.

◇

“I-I heard a bit of a commotion out there, but at any rate, I’m glad you were able to make it.” Glen was suppressing his emotions, but confusion and worry occasionally rippled beneath his stoic veneer. In contrast, the two men in white robes sitting on the sofa were jovial.

“It’s our pleasure. It’s really such a treat to be able to meet a famous sorcerer such as yourself, Sir Glen. I’m Alberta Domecq, the vice captain of the Holy Maple Leaf Empire’s Royal Guard. I’m glad to be here.” This was the large man who’d spoken up earlier. He was a beastkin, and he had a booming voice to match his burly form. He bowed his head at Glen.

He had a face like a bronze sculpture made to ward off evil spirits, but his ears and tail were so fluffy. I fantasized about how nice it’d feel to touch them. I came within an inch of giving in to my instincts, but I held myself back, knowing that it wasn’t polite to do that to someone I was meeting for the first time.

After Alberta finished his greeting, Crown spoke up. “I’m Crown Windsor, a member of the Holy Maple Leaf Empire’s Court Sorcerers Corps. Though I’m here on the emperor’s orders, I’m excited to thoroughly observe the world-renowned Fiddich Academy. Also, I’d love to discuss sorcery with you, Sir Glen.”

Other people might have described Crown’s eyes as “sparkling.” To me, they seemed to be glinting.

“Ha ha ha! Oh no, I don’t have any special spells that would impress a great sorcerer such as yourself from a country as renowned in sorcery as the Holy Maple Leaf Empire. If anything, I’d be thrilled to see your spells,” Glen said, masterfully dodging the request with flattery.

Even with Glen carefully steering the conversation away from us giving a sorcery demonstration, though, Crown was likely too much of a sorcery fiend to let him do that. We suffered through a few moments of awkward silence before Alberta spoke again.

“Please don’t be so modest, Sir Glen. We’ve heard that our very own Foar Pelno Rozes lost to Aoi Konominato in a sorcery battle. He’s as skilled as our first-rate court sorcerers. Him losing was very big news in our country.” He spoke casually, but I could tell he was fishing for more information.

Most likely, he was trying to figure out how strong I actually was and also what to do with Foar after he’d lost to a young, new instructor.

Glen gave him a conciliatory smile. “No, no. That wasn’t an official match or anything. As a proud, skilled upper-level instructor, he had concerns about Aoi’s skills since I granted her the rank of upper-level instructor immediately after she started here. However, he began attending her lectures, and he naturally came to accept that she had the necessary expertise and deserved her position. I think it’s quite wonderful.”

“Oh, I see. So in other words, she’s at least equal in skill to Foar. I’d very much like to see her demonstrate her sorcery,” Alberta said.

He wasn’t outwardly demanding, but his tone exerted a pressure that made it obvious he wasn’t going to back down.

Glen seemed to pick up on that. He gave an exaggerated nod and gestured to me with his palm. “I’m sure you would, and I completely understand where you’re coming from, but Aoi is still a new instructor. I’m sure she’d be very nervous to suddenly have to cast spells before two important foreign dignitaries. I think it’s best if we just have a meal together for now.”

Alberta raised an eyebrow at Glen’s excuses. “Hmm? Well, that’s odd. She certainly didn’t seem too intimidated when she created a pillar of ice in front of us earlier. Crown cast a spell, creating a huge, inconvenient iceberg, but she adeptly demonstrated her skill in sorcery by destroying it.”

“I-Ice sorcery?! She made a pillar of ice?!” Glen turned to me, a sudden fire in his eyes.

I exhaled heavily. “I don’t mind demonstrating my sorcery. However, Crown will need to show me some of his own. Also, I’d like to hear all about any new sorcery techniques in the Holy Maple Leaf Empire.”

Alberta held up a hand. “Well now, let’s hold on a second. What you’re talking about involves valuable state secrets. We can’t just tell—”

“Wow, that’s all we have to do?! You’ve got yourself a deal! I’ll answer any questions you have!” Crown butted in, overriding his companion.

“Crown! You can’t just make a decision like that!” Alberta yelled.

Crown ignored him. “So, where can I show you my spells? I think I saw a nice spot in the city earlier, but is there somewhere in the academy that works? If possible, I’d like to see Glen’s sorcery too!”

“W-Wait! Forget what he just said! The two of us need to talk in private!”

Crown was leaning forward, nearly salivating at the prospect of exchanging spells. In contrast, Alberta had shot to his feet and was pacing around anxiously.

I now understood why Crown was known as the Fanatic Sorcerer. That being said, his behavior felt very familiar. This was essentially the way both Owain and Glen reacted when they saw new spells, after all.

Chapter 5: To the Holy Maple Leaf Empire

The militaries of every country actively conducted their own classified sorcery research in order to gain an advantage over other nations. At the same time, they organized espionage into the sorcery techniques of neighboring countries in order to further develop their own.

This duplicitousness was unavoidable, as all countries operated under the assumption that they might one day go to war with their neighbors. In this world, it was common sense that the more advanced a nation’s sorcery was, the higher its chances were of winning a war.

Each country invested a ton of money and manpower into sorcery research. However, since they kept their results secret and avoided collaborating with others, sorcery techniques varied greatly from country to country. This made sense from the perspective of national defense, but it had the unfortunate consequence of slowing the development of sorcery worldwide. No one was thinking about the big picture.

My conversations with criminals from different countries gave me insight into just how inefficient their homelands’ research was. Sorcerers in each country tried to stay ahead of the others, but by refusing to share breakthroughs and combine knowledge between nations, they conversely stagnated their own growth.

If this situation didn’t change, it’d get in the way of my plan to accelerate the development of sorcery worldwide. That meant I might even have to travel to each country and forcibly raise their capabilities myself. After all, increasing the number of people who had a deep knowledge of sorcery would also raise the likelihood that those people would create new spells. That in turn might even lead to my dream of developing teleportation sorcery.

From what I could tell by the way he conducted himself, Crown Windsor would most likely help me with my goal.

“Oh, this is a good spot! It’s definitely ideal for experimenting with sorcery!” Crown crowed, spreading his arms.

We were standing at the entrance of the academy’s training grounds. As we entered, I noticed some students who’d frozen in place due to nervousness.

“I agree. Let’s have the students leave first, though.”

“Hm? Why? They can just stay for the experiment.”

“Huh?” I turned around, puzzled. “You do realize that you’d be publicizing Maple Leaf’s sorcery techniques, right?”

This could be a great learning opportunity for the students, so maybe I shouldn’t have cared, but I couldn’t imagine that his actions would reflect well on him back at home, considering his status.

“I don’t care about that. If I can get a look at some sorcery that I’ve never seen before, then I’m prepared to show everything I have up my sleeve.”

He didn’t hesitate for a second, leaving me speechless. I was excited, but Crown was still a court sorcerer from Maple Leaf. Was it really okay for him to so boldly show his top-level sorcery, which was tantamount to state secrets? I worried about what might happen to him when he returned home. If I felt this way when I wasn’t even from his country, then I could only imagine how threatened those who’d come with him felt hearing him volunteer classified information so easily.

“Crown!” yelled Alberta, his large frame looming in the entrance to the training grounds. Fury radiated from his face as he ran over and grabbed Crown’s shoulders. “You haven’t done anything yet, right?!”

“No, I just got here,” Crown replied, visibly annoyed.

Alberta turned to me, unbothered by his reaction. “Crown loses sight of everything else when sorcery’s involved. I don’t know how far this talk of showing sorcery went, but I’d like you to call it off. I’m sure you have spells that you’d like to keep a secret too.”

I reflexively shook my head. “No, not really.”

Alberta simply blinked, then he covered his face with his palm and groaned. “Oh. Oh no... You two are the same.”

I didn’t understand what he was talking about, but he was clearly irritated. I decided not to press him further.

“Sir Alberta, if Lady Aoi is willing to demonstrate her sorcery for us, it wouldn’t be too bad for us to show some as well.”

“There’s no way we can just display it willy-nilly! Why should we have to show our hand just because she shows hers?!” A vein in Alberta’s forehead started bulging.

Crown scoffed. “Sir Foar’s already been showing off his sorcery here, hasn’t he? What’s the harm in me doing the same?”

“Foar Pelno Rozes is primarily researching sorcery in fields that other countries already know about. The research of a court sorcerer who lives in the Sorcery Research Room like you is completely different. Your research is on sorcery exclusive to our country. If you shoot off your spells on a whim, you’ll be leaking valuable information!” Alberta said, his words flowing out in a torrent.

Crown shrugged. “If you wanted to keep our sorcery a secret so badly, you shouldn’t have brought me here in the first place. If you were just looking for a powerful mage, you had your pick of the litter from the Sorcerer Corps.”

Alberta’s eyes grew wide with rage. “I knew it! You weren’t listening at all! I brought you here to show Lady Aoi an original spell and get her interested in coming to our country!”

Alberta seemed to have forgotten that I was present as he boldly lectured Crown. Suddenly, he realized what he’d done and turned back toward me. Crown did the same, and now I had two imposing men looking down at me with stern expressions.

I covered my mouth with one fist and cleared my throat. “Don’t worry. I already expected that to be your motivation.”

Alberta’s shoulders sagged in relief. He turned to Crown. “You have permission to show your sorcery to Lady Aoi in exchange for seeing hers. You may also discuss the methods a little bit. However, you must do it without anyone else around. I’m sure I told you all this when we departed.” His voice was a lot calmer now.

Crown pouted. “Oh, really? I don’t seem to remember.”

“You little...” Alberta looked like he wanted to murder Crown.

I surmised that Alberta most likely held a higher rank than Crown, and yet Crown didn’t care about that. It was odd that someone who behaved like this had been able to become a court sorcerer, which meant that he likely only held the position because of his extraordinary skill.

“Lady Aoi, let’s meet tomorrow, just the two of us. I’ll be sure to shake this buffoon off somehow,” Crown said.

“Do your worst. I’ll send your head flying. Wait, who are you calling a buffoon?!” Alberta roared.

“Could you quiet down? You’re hurting my ears.”

“Who do you think you are?!”

Before I could get a word in, the two of them turned their backs to me and walked away, still arguing. As I watched them leave, I had a sneaking suspicion that although they seemed to constantly be fighting, they were actually good friends.

◇

The next day, Glen called me back to his office. Alberta and Crown were waiting for me there. They were discussing something, but they both shut up and looked at me as I entered. Alberta was in good spirits, but Crown looked dissatisfied. Glen seemed to be in the same boat as Crown.

“Good morning,” I said.

They all returned my greeting, but Glen wore a strange expression.

“Aoi, what do you think about the sorcery of the Holy Maple Leaf Empire?” he asked.

“Well... I don’t know enough about it to form an opinion. However, I am interested in it.”

Alberta grinned. “Oh, is that, right? Very good! Sir Glen, please ask the next question!”

Alberta seemed very excited by my response, while Glen’s expression drooped. The three men must have had some sort of meeting before I arrived, but I had no clue what they might have discussed.

Glen’s forehead wrinkled. “Well, what would you say to spending a month in Maple Leaf to get a look at the Sorcery Research Room and their sorcery academy? I already know your answer, though...”

“I’d be interested. I’d like the opportunity to see how far the sorcery of other countries has progressed.”

Alberta hunched over and then raised his fist in a victory pose. Both Glen and Crown exhaled loudly.

“I thought as much... Even though I knew you were going to say that, it still hurts knowing that we’re going to lose you. I don’t know what to do now...” Glen sulked like a child.

Crown cast a bitter look at me. “I wanted to stay at this academy longer to observe the sorcery here...” he mumbled.

Oh, I see. So Crown wanted to push off their recruitment of me so that he could do research here. I could understand where he was coming from. Sorcerers from all different countries were conducting their own research on the academy grounds, so if he stayed here, he could easily look into all of them. Now, I’d spoiled his plans. In contrast, Alberta was overjoyed because he’d been able to accomplish his goal in coming here.

“In that case, I’ll begin preparing for our journey to our empire,” Alberta said. “You’ve nothing to worry about, Sir Glen. She’ll only be staying in our country for one month. However, the trip itself will take a month of travel time each way. I’ll make sure that it’s the easiest and most comfortable trip possible, though. She’ll only stay at high-class hotels.”

As Alberta carried on excitedly, Glen interrupted him by raising his hand with a taut expression.

“Y-Yes, Sir Glen?” Alberta asked.

Glen glanced at me. “Sorry, but I’m not the one who’ll decide whether Aoi goes with you or not. I have absolutely no say.”

“Wha—? Who would believe such a flimsy lie?! You’re not only a greater noble of the Kingdom of Vahtedd, but you’re also the headmaster of this academy. It doesn’t matter how amazing of a sorcerer they are, one word from you and anyone wou—”

“I have no say,” Glen said, cutting him off. Even Crown looked confused, but Glen gave both of them a soft smile. “Aoi only began here as an instructor because she decided to accept my request. It wouldn’t be strange at all if she decided to up and leave one day because she didn’t like it here. It would certainly be a loss to Vahtedd if Aoi left us for a different country entirely, though. The decision is ultimately hers, but I’d be very happy if she stayed here and continued to advance sorcery at Fiddich.”

Crown and Alberta fixed their eyes on me. After a moment’s hesitation, I replied.

“I’d like to see the unique sorcery that Maple Leaf has, for the purposes of my own research. However, since we’re making the journey to a different country, I think this would be a good teaching opportunity, so I’d like to bring some of my students along.”

“Your...students?” Alberta asked.

I nodded. “If we’re able to observe Maple Leaf’s academy, then I’d like them to be able to see how you conduct classes there. I want to hear their observations from their perspectives as students, and what they think are the advantages and disadvantages of Maple Leaf’s classes. And as a teacher, I’d like to observe how the instructors teach. By doing this, I believe we can work together to improve both schools’ structures and policies. Essentially, it will be a field trip.”

Glen fiddled with his beard, pondering. “Hmm... I see. It’s true that different schools have barely ever had any exchange, in order to protect state secrets. Although some people here might object to us sending Aoi out for that reason, I think this kind of interaction could be beneficial.” Glen seemed convinced now.

“Since students don’t have the opportunity to visit other schools often, I think I’ll bring along a few more people than I originally intended. Also, we can minimize the amount of travel time by going a faster way,” I said.

“A faster way? But we’d already be taking the shortest route,” Alberta said, confused.

However, Crown’s eyes locked on to me, gleaming with interest.

◇

“This is way too sudden,” Strath said, cradling his head in his hands.

“Ha ha... This is definitely on brand for Aoi, though,” Elisa replied with a smirk.

I’d called both of them out to the courtyard and told them everything that had happened with Maple Leaf’s representatives. Shenley and Colt, whom I’d also invited, were stunned. In contrast, Ayle, Liz, and Belle were very excited, all under the impression that this was a vacation.

Elisa, Strath, and I were sitting at a table in the corner of the courtyard while the students stood behind us. Though I would have liked to bring Rox and Felter along as well, Rox was busy with watching over the Winturbly Council, and Felter, perhaps because he’d lost to me, was constantly training in the mountains and woods. He was trying to perfect the body fortification sorcery I’d taught him, and he was improving his strength off campus so that in the future he could always be an asset and not deadweight.

I think he’s plenty strong already, but I guess that being hard on himself is just part of his personality.

For some reason Hiram, an imperial prince of the Holy Maple Leaf Empire, also strongly objected to going back home.

“You want us to go to Maple Leaf?” Shenley asked under her breath, wearing a complicated expression.

Colt crossed his arms. “Personally, I’d be happy to go there, but...”

I got the feeling that both of them had something they couldn’t say. In contrast, Ayle, Liz, and Belle were already discussing information for the trip.

“What’s Maple Leaf famous for?!”

“Silk and cotton products. Oh, I think they’re also known for high-quality black tea and spices.”

“I hear that the Holy Cathedral is as gorgeous and ornate as a castle!”

“This would be a school exchange, so you shouldn’t act like you’re going on a vacation,” Colt said sternly.

Liz and Belle apologized, but Ayle unhappily knit her brow.

I can’t exactly blame them for acting like this. Since Ayle, Liz, and Belle were all nobles, they probably never got the chance to let loose like regular kids.

“While I’m at Maple Leaf’s so-called Sorcery Research Room, you can go sightseeing with Professor Strath and Professor Elisa.”

“Really?!” Ayle whipped her head toward me, her eyes shimmering.

“Uh, you make it sound like it’s a given that we’re going too,” Elisa said under her breath.

Strath silently tensed up. Both of them clearly had some reservations, but I was sure that they’d agree to come along since they were so kind. I decided to express my gratitude ahead of time.

“Thank you very much.”

“It’s already decided then?” Strath’s face grew even more rigid.

“I’m sorry to spring this on you, but I’ve already asked Headmaster Glen to find instructors to cover your classes, so don’t worry.”

“That’s not the problem here,” Strath said.

“I know this is going to be educational, but being away for over a month is a long time...” Elisa added.

Both of them slumped their shoulders.

“Um, Professor Aoi? There’s something I’m wondering about,” Colt asked, looking troubled.

“Yes?”

“The plan is for us to stay there for a month or so, right? But if we include traveling there and back, it’ll be closer to three months. That means we’ll miss so many classes here.”

I already had an answer to set his mind at ease. “Don’t worry. With my mode of transportation, it’ll only take a day to get there.”

Everyone gawked at me.

◇

When we all convened outside the gates of the school, Glen and some others approached to see us off.

“Well, I suppose I’ll see you all in a month,” I said.

Glen began breathing heavily. “I-I’ve changed my mind. I think I should accompany you!”

Speyside stepped in to stop him from getting too worked up. “If you’re worried, I can go in your stead. You need to stay here, Headmaster.”

Speyside himself seemed very excited. Strangely, so did everyone else who’d gathered.

“When you come back, give me a hint about the sorcery you’re using to get there,” Foar said. The other instructors nodded furiously in agreement.

Is it that unusual to see flying sorcery? I activated my spell, focusing on twisting the wind and raising its density. I’d already reinforced the carriage to its maximum hardness, so I was able to entwine the wind underneath it without any trouble, creating invisible wings of mana. After about five seconds, the carriage was floating in the air as if it were weightless.

Crown’s voice called out from inside the carriage. “W-We’re floating! We’re really floating! I’m living a historical moment!”

“I can’t believe it...” said Alberta.

The two of them were looking out the window of the carriage at the ground. My fellow instructors and my students I’d selected for this trip were amused by their reactions.

“Well then, I’ll be off now.” I gave a slight bow before using a flying spell on myself to get into the coachman’s seat. Once I was seated, I began moving the entire carriage through the air.

“What a flashy way to leave...” Strath said through the open window separating the cabin and the driver’s seat.

“To be honest, I was planning on taking a smaller carriage, but everyone had more luggage than I expected.”

Strath blinked. “That’s not what I meant, but oh well.” He sat back down.

Is he talking about how we left Alberta’s men here? But I don’t think there’s much we could have done about that. I’d considered using a large ship as our transportation method, but I’d thought a flying ship would attract too much attention and had decided against it. I’d gotten permission to leave them behind, so I doubted there was any real problem.

Wait... Was it Alberta who gave permission? Or was it Crown, the guy who’s now leaning half of his body out of the window and screaming like an excited child?

“Well, I guess I’ll ask later.” I looked up, pushing these thoughts out of my head for now. The sky was clear and blue. We’d already risen to the cloud layer, nearly high enough to see the world’s curvature.

“What a perfect day to travel,” I said, smiling.

◇

We passed by numerous clouds. Since we were very high in the air, there weren’t any birds or flying magic beasts here. The only creatures that flew at this height were things like dragons. Though a few of them did end up getting close to us, I frightened them with lightning sorcery, and they turned tail and fled.

At this point, I adjusted the wind from my spell to stop propelling us upward and start moving us forward. For the most part, there weren’t any strong headwinds coming my way as I sat in the coachman’s seat, but every once in a while a big gust of wind would blow against us. The thin wind barrier I’d erected around us always reduced it to nothing more than a gentle breeze, though.

“It feels nice being in the sky,” I said softly.

Strath stuck his head through the window. “I can’t believe you’re so relaxed while needing to continuously keep this impressive spell going.”

“Flying sorcery doesn’t take much energy once you’re stabilized in the air. The hardest part is ascending and speeding up, but it’s really not too much of a hassle.”

“There’s no way you... No, let’s just leave it at that. Crown won’t shut up, so I came out to ask how much time is left until we land.”

I looked in the direction of our destination. “Hmm... From what I can tell from the map I borrowed from Alberta, we should have passed the border of the Holy Maple Leaf Empire already, so maybe about two hours until we arrive?” I said, though I felt that might be a bit of an overestimate.

“Two hours, huh?” Strath asked. The look on his face remained unchanged, but he sounded depressed about the prospect of being confined with Crown for that long.

Is that too long? But in order to make this trip as pleasant as possible, I’m maintaining the perfect speed. I’ve been keeping myself from expending too much energy to avoid being tired, just in case I need to deal with any trouble.

“It’s been about two and a half hours since we left the academy. If we were in a rush, I could’ve gotten us there in three hours, but in the interest of not overdoing it, I decided to take it slow and make the trip in five. Just hold on for a little longer, okay?” I said, trying to cheer up Strath.

He nodded and pulled his head back into the carriage. A few moments later, I heard a commotion from the carriage and looked back to see large hands yanking Crown back inside. Apparently, he’d heard how much longer it would take to get to our destination and had nearly fallen out while trying to look at the scenery.

It’s good how lively he is. With nobody else poking their heads out to talk to me, I went back to looking at the world below. The sky was a deep blue, and it looked like a piece of art when combined with the sea, the mountains, and the horizon. The lush nature of the land was interspersed with long roads, beautiful towns and small villages. I could never get bored of this sight.

I wonder how Owain’s doing. I thought about the mountainous area where he’d raised me. It was a lot different from the land stretching out before me. There was plenty of civilization here, whereas the place we’d lived had been devoid of other people. I wondered whether Owain was still holed up in the mountains, devoted to his sorcery research. As I thought fondly of home, I enjoyed the peaceful scenery and our steady trip through the sky.

◇

I looked down at the city below and confirmed that we were approaching our destination. There was a wide, long river that was tinged a stunning orange from the sunlight. Right next to it was a breathtaking cityscape built from pure-white stone. The walls that surrounded the city radiated a dignified aura due to their sheer size and beauty.

The colors and shapes of the buildings were uniform, which gave me the impression that the city was well planned. It jutted out a little against the river, but that was probably to make the most of the available land. Given the proximity of many of the buildings to the water, and the fact that I could see the ocean in the distance, I guessed that the city would probably have very developed boat technology.

I prepared to land the carriage. But before I could turn around to let everyone know that, the window opened as if they already knew what was happening.

“Whoa! We’re really at the Holy Capital already!” Crown exclaimed, sticking his head out.

“N-No way! It’s only been half a day! H-How?!” Alberta said, stunned, poking his head out of the same window.

I was glad to see that they still had a lot of energy despite being stuck in a carriage for hours.

“I’m going to begin our descent. It’ll just be a little longer,” I said.

Alberta raised an eyebrow. “Now that I think about it, we already passed the empire’s borders a long time ago without anyone in the country realizing! I know I gave you permission to enter, but I didn’t expect us to go by air... This might cause some confusion about our whereabouts...”

“You can just send our fastest horse with a message! Who cares? What’s important is this sorcery! Look! The people from Fiddich aren’t even surprised in the slightest! If anything, they’re enjoying the air travel! Do you know what that means?!”

“Ugh, shut up Crown! I’m fully aware of what that means! If this type of sorcery is used in warfare, it will be a great threat! Maybe even worse than a large dragon!”

“No! That’s not it at all! Why don’t you understand, old man?!”

Alberta and Crown, still with their heads outside the window, began bickering again. In contrast, Ayle and Liz were gazing at the sights below in awe.

“Professor Aoi, this is amazing! We’re really at the Holy Capital!”

“It’s so beautiful! I wanna go and walk around as soon as possible!”

The two of them chattered eagerly while Shenley and Belle stayed calm and enjoyed the view. Perhaps because of all the fuss the group inside our carriage were making, a lot of the people on the ground had now noticed us. There was a crowd of people of all different races on the road coming and going from the city, which made it difficult to land. I decided to set the carriage down in an area not too far from the city gate but off of the road. The sounds of excitement and wonder grew louder. Some people were practically screaming while pointing at us.

“Well, this is a problem. I’m not great in situations where I stand out,” I said softly.

From inside the carriage, someone called out, “That’s rich, coming from you.”

Chapter 6: Arrival at the Holy Capital

As I stepped out of the coachman’s seat and onto the field next to the highway, a crowd of people greeted me with curious gazes and sounds of surprise. Soldiers clad in silver-plated armor soon pushed through the throng to get to our carriage.

“Y-You there! Stop!” they called out.

Stop what? All I did was get down from the carriage. The soldiers seemed nervous but ready to attack. Well, what should I do now?

Alberta burst out of the carriage. “W-Wait! I’m Alberta Domecq, the captain of the Royal Guard! Nobody from this carriage is a threat! Stand down!”

The soldiers hastily removed their hands from their weapons.

“S-Sir Alberta?!”

“Y-Youve already returned?!”

Although the men were shocked, they at least didn’t seem to be on edge anymore.

Alberta cleared his throat. “Ahem. Though our arrival method deviated from protocol, we were actually testing a new type of sorcery, so there’s nothing to be worried about! That being said, your swift response was remarkable! Please continue to remain vigilant as the fine troops of the Holy Maple Leaf Empire,” he said.

“Y-Yes, sir!” the soldiers replied, straightening their backs.

Quite a few of the people passing by began applauding, and Alberta waved to them.

“Requesting approval to enter the city!” Alberta said. “I will provide a list of the visitors at a later time.”

“U-Understood! Please enter!” said one of the soldiers.

Some of the men stayed guarding the carriage while the others began clearing a path into the city, ordering the crowd to make way. I felt bad that we would be inconveniencing people here by cutting the line, so I decided to speak up.

“It’s okay. As long as we’ve received permission to enter, we can go in from above.”

“Huh?”

The soldiers looked confused, but I simply smiled and touched the doors of the carriage before making it fly again. I grabbed on and hoisted myself back into the seat as the vehicle began to float up into the air, essentially weightless. The onlookers and the soldiers gawked in disbelief while we ascended past the height of the city walls in about five seconds.

“L-Lady Aoi, you’re forgetting someone!” Alberta yelled from the ground.

Oops. I did. I forgot he left the carriage to explain the situation to the knights.

“Sorry, but please enter the gates as you normally would. Also, sorry to give you more work, but please explain the situation to everyone so there won’t be much of a commotion when we land,” I called back, projecting my voice.

“I think a floating carriage will cause a stir no matter what!”

“True... Then please minimize it to the best of your abilities.”

“Wha...? O-Okay!”

Alberta madly dashed toward the city gates. Since we didn’t have any horses pulling the carriage, I’d always planned on moving the carriage by flying. As we descended almost to the ground and flew over the main road that cut through the center of the city, we were bathed in the curious stares of the people below. Meanwhile, the soldiers were marching around our slowly moving carriage while clearing the area.

“You! Merchant! Stay away from that carriage!”

“Open up the road! You! Stand aside!”

Between the shouts of the soldiers and the excited chattering of the crowd, the street grew incredibly noisy. Despite the soldiers’ orders, a lot of people were trying to get closer to us, simply too fascinated by the flying carriage. The merchants on the street had the eyes of ravenous beasts who were stalking their prey, already calculating how they could make money from such an invention. Given the chaotic atmosphere, everyone in the carriage kept their heads inside and the windows closed. I was sure that Ayle, Belle, and Liz were eager to jump out of the carriage and experience the city on their own two feet, so I was proud of them for holding back.

The road was paved with stone, and the city had white buildings as far as the eye could see. It looked very similar to certain tourist destinations along the Mediterranean Sea. My first impression was that it was a magnificent, organized city filled with lively people. Most people seemed to be fixated on the flying carriage itself, but others were talking about me.

“Don’t tell me it’s that little girl who’s moving it...”

“No way. There’s definitely a powerful sorcerer inside the carriage. The little girl’s gotta be a retainer or something.”

People clearly understood that the carriage was flying due to sorcery, but so far, no one had pinpointed me as the caster. The exception was the soldiers who’d followed us from the castle gates. They’d heard my conversation with Alberta, so they kept glancing at me while they cleared the path ahead.

I saw a man wearing full armor leisurely strolling down the middle of the main road, his back turned to us.

“Move!” barked one of the young soldiers.

The man in the armor turned around in a huff. “Do you know who I—” His demeanor changed as he saw the flying carriage barreling toward him.

“Move if you don’t want to die!” the soldier yelled, wide-eyed.

“Fine...” the man said, moving to the side of the road.

It felt like we were in some kind of procession. At the very least, people weren’t kneeling or bowing to us, but this was still without a doubt disruptive to the city.

“Please try to be a little less harsh,” I said, making the soldiers go pale.

I certainly hope no strange rumors start because of this...

◇

The Holy Maple Leaf Empire taught its people that the emperor had inherited divine blood. In the distant past, there was a religious sect called Maple Leaf, which had a settlement centered around it. The saint of this religion, who’d inherited divine blood, lived there quietly and used his abilities to heal the people in his isolated community.

One day, a certain merchant company visited the sect and decided to settle down with them. After seeing the saint’s healing prowess, they found it regrettable that only people in the immediate area could benefit. They asked why Maple Leaf didn’t try to spread the greatness of their religion to others, and why they didn’t want to try and save even more people.

As a result, the community began to spread the teachings of the Maple Leaf religion and declared that they’d build a country to protect their followers. This is how the Holy Maple Leaf Empire was founded. From that day on, its people poured their efforts into researching healing sorcery, which attracted many immigrants and helped the fledgling country join the ranks of the great nations on the continent in a flash. Once Maple Leaf absorbed the small surrounding countries, its people declared the saint emperor.

Some people said that Maple Leaf’s success was due to the merchants’ abnormally strong sense for commerce combined with the power of their religion. Others believed that the religion’s founder was simply extremely charismatic. Either way, the first emperor’s dynasty was filled with wealth and success, and Maple Leaf became a major player on the world stage.

When that happened, society became more stratified. The “greater noble” social status, representing the people who were considered the backbone of the country, was born. But even among the greater nobles, only people descended from the country’s original merchant families were eligible to hold the role of chancellor, the second-most powerful political position in the country.

I mulled over everything I’d learned about the Holy Maple Leaf Empire. “Is the caste system heavily ingrained in their society because the merchant class is in charge of politics?” I asked softly.

Strath shot me a look of warning. “Try thinking of where we are before saying things like that.”

We were currently in a spacious room in the castle. Intricate designs adorned the walls and ceiling, and furnishings such as vases and armors were on display in evenly spaced intervals. There were also ten plush sofa chairs, each of which had its own small round table. Two guards stood by the only exit, fully clad in silver armor. They each held a long spear and rested the butt end on the ground, and they stood there without moving a muscle. The room had two windows, but they were barred like those in a jail cell, so I doubted they would open.

Despite how lavish the interior of the room was, it felt a little bit stuffy. Strath, Elisa, and I sat on one side of the room, while Colt and Shenley sat across from us on the other side. Shenley seemed slightly bothered, but I wrote it off as nervousness. In contrast, Ayle and the other two of the trio excitedly alternated between peering at the scenery through the windows and wandering around the room.

“I think it’d be strange if anyone here got angry at me for simply pointing out their established political system,” I said to Strath. “The Holy Maple Leaf Empire is one of the six great countries, so I’m sure they’re proud of their country’s system and would be more than happy to explain it.”

“S-Sure, whatever you say. Now can you lower your voice?” Strath asked, placing his hand over my mouth in a panic. Elisa and I both looked at him curiously, and he quickly removed his hand, seemingly surprised by his own behavior. “Oh, sorry.”

Despite being motionless, the two people standing guard had their sharp eyes fixated on us, making the atmosphere in the room a bit tense.

If Strath of all people is acting this jumpy, does that mean that Maple Leaf is actually a very dangerous country?

The Holy Maple Leaf Empire’s caste system, which Strath seemed worried about me bringing up, determined residents’ social ranks. Perhaps because all of the first believers of Maple Leaf had been humans, demi-humans tended to hold lower status. Those who became followers of the religion had their status raised by one level, and it could go up an additional level if they were a sorcerer or worked for the government.

The highest-ranked citizens were human believers of the Maple Leaf religion who had a talent for sorcery and were involved in public affairs. The lowest were demi-humans who couldn’t use sorcery, were apprentices for regular jobs, and believed in different religions. It was extremely rare for demi-humans like Alberta to hold important positions.

In the empire, a person’s social status affected everything from what housing they could get to their chances of acceptance into school to how heavily they would be punished for crimes. Though there technically was no slavery here, those of the lowest status in Maple Leaf were essentially treated like slaves. By law, employers could pay them the bare minimum for their work, which meant that the country always had a convenient labor force to exploit.

What I found scary about Maple Leaf was how its passionate followers would blindly follow the clergy’s orders, allowing those with the highest social status to be easily manipulated. While Maple Leaf might have achieved a high level of efficiency and success, I didn’t particularly like the way they ran things. As I contemplated my many criticisms of the country, the door to the room opened from the outside.

“Dear guests, His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Diageo, is ready to receive you. Please, follow me.”

◇

“Thank you all for coming! Please, be at ease.”

I raised my head. We were in yet another large room with stone walls. A line of pillars flanked a long red carpet which extended through the middle of the room, upon which Elisa, Strath, and I were currently kneeling. Behind us, Colt, as the representative of the students, had also taken a knee. The room was dim, as the lamps placed along the walls and pillars couldn’t quite make up for the lack of natural lighting.

Right in front of us, a ten-step staircase led to a throne occupied by a thin, middle-aged man in golden robes. He looked haggard, with bags under his eyes and gaunt cheeks. His hair lacked volume; it might have been thinning. Though he was wearing a gold crown, the splendor of it didn’t suit his appearance at all. It was an almost comical contrast, as if the outfit were wearing him, not the other way around.

I gazed at this decidedly unstately emperor on his magnificent throne. Alberta, who’d been kneeling diagonally in front of us, noticed me looking and cleared his throat.

“Ahem. Please allow me to reintroduce our guests to you, Your Majesty. This is Lady Aoi Konominato, an upper-level instructor from Fiddich Academy in Winturbly. Sir Strath Clyde and Lady Elisa Woodford are fellow instructors at the academy. Lastly, Sir Colt Hegge Battler is a distinguished student from Fiddich. There are some other students as well, but they are currently waiting in a different room.”

“Everyone is quite young. Being an instructor at Fiddich Academy at such a young age is quite impressive,” Emperor Diageo said. “I believe I’ve met Colt, or whatever his name is, before, but I’ll leave that for another time.” He nodded, seemingly satisfied, then he stared at me. “You’re truly Lady Aoi Konominato, the same person who was immediately made an upper-level instructor? I’ll admit you’re quite different from who I’d imagined, but regardless, I welcome you to our country.”

“Thank you very much,” I said, still not quite sure what he meant.

Diageo’s shoulders heaved with laughter. “Forgive me for laughing. It’s just that I had my own picture of what you would look like. Since the first thing I heard about you was that you surpassed the first-rate sorcerer Foar, our country’s pride and joy, I expected you to be much older than me.” Diageo continued to chuckle to himself.

I couldn’t tell if he genuinely found this amusing or had some ulterior reason for laughing. As I tried to get a read from Diageo’s face, Alberta cleared his throat again.

“Your Majesty, shall we begin discussing the main topic?”

“Hmm? Oh, yes. I’d like to ask a favor of you, Lady Aoi. I’m sure you’ve heard this from Alberta already, but I’d like you to aid our country in advancing its sorcery. You can name your compensation, however much, after you’ve produced results. Oh, and while staying here, you’ll be treated the same as a foreign minister. I’ll give you a bracelet that will serve as proof of that. You don’t mind wearing it, right?”

He carefully observed my reaction. Though I had no issues with the nature of the request, I had a feeling that the way I would be received was incredibly special and out of the ordinary. He spoke as if everything were simply a formality and he didn’t think there was any chance I’d decline his offer. That was fine by me, though. Overall, I got the impression that he was a monarch who was easy to speak with.

“May I ask something, Your Majesty?” I interjected. Diageo and Alberta swiveled toward me, and I could’ve sworn that I felt pairs of eyes burning holes through my back as well. “I understand your request and also the treatment I will receive. However, I’d like to talk about the compensation.”

Alberta looked stressed, but Diageo just tilted his head.

“Oh? Would you like a precious relic or something?”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Then, what would you like?” he asked, a bit of annoyance creeping into his tone.

Since the head of an entire country was offering to give me anything I wanted, I couldn’t let this chance slip by. I decided to tell him what I desired most.

“What I’d like is unfettered access to all of the Holy Maple Leaf Empire’s sorcery. Then, I’d like to share some of it with the rest of the world.”

Alberta and Diageo froze like statues, their pupils dilated.

Do they not understand my request? They haven’t budged an inch. I heard a few coughs behind me, but I ignored them.

Seconds passed in silence. Diageo took a moment to compose himself, blinked a few times, and then finally spoke. “I-I see... Though you are certainly a first-class sorcerer, you might not be well-versed in the relations between countries or the current state of affairs. Though we are one of the six great countries, we are competing with the other five for power. Our unique sorcery techniques are essentially state secrets, so making them public would eliminate any leverage we have and upset the balance of power,” he said.

I looked him in the eye and exhaled. “I believe that kind of thinking impedes the development of sorcery. However, I understand your reservations. It’s true that you can’t do anything to put your country at a disadvantage, like revealing its sorcery while not receiving any knowledge back from other nations.” Diageo nodded in agreement, but I kept speaking before he could respond. “However, that won’t happen.”

Diageo and Alberta looked intrigued. “Why is that?” asked the emperor.

I smiled to put him at ease. “Because I’m going to force every country to make its sorcery public. The only question is how long it will take.”

The room fell silent, and I felt a chill, as if the temperature had suddenly dropped.

◇

After a bit more back-and-forth, I was unable to get permission from Diageo to make the country’s closely guarded sorcery public. However, he did allow me to enter the Sorcery Research Room in exchange for teaching my own techniques to Maple Leaf’s sorcerers. Diageo and Alberta kept telling me that this level of access was something that not even foreign ministers received, and that I was a special exemption. The results that Maple Leaf’s research facility had yielded were apparently on the same level as military secrets, so they wouldn’t let just anyone know about them.

With that, our audience with Diageo ended. “I suppose I have no choice but to learn all of the sorcery from every country and conduct research by myself,” I said disappointedly as the guards guided us to another room for special guests.

My companions approached me, looking exhausted.

“I’m begging you, please think before you speak,” Strath said.

“Seriously, Aoi! I was so scared I was going to faint!” Elisa added.

“I know. Please don’t worry. I’ve been picking my words very carefully so as to not anger them. However, it seems that I was too reserved during negotiations and couldn’t come to an agreement on the most important part. I’ll do my best to make him agree with me next time.”

Strath and Elisa gripped their heads while staring at the ceiling. Talk about an overreaction...

Shenley timidly raised her hand, wearing a weak smile. “Um, what should we do now?” she asked.

Colt folded his arms and groaned. “Hmm... We arrived here much sooner than expected, so I doubt they’re ready to receive us at either their academy or the Sorcery Research Room.”

Ayle leaped to her feet, throwing both of her hands in the air. “Let’s go sightseeing!” Everyone’s eyes fell on her. “We got permission to look around the castle, but I’m sure we can do that another time! This might be the only time that we’ll be able to freely walk around the city, though!”

“Why’s that? Shouldn’t we be able to look around the city whenever we want?” Colt asked.

Ayle turned to me. “Because by tomorrow, or at least the day after that, we’re gonna be famous.”

I had no idea what she meant, but everyone else seemed to get it.

“True...” Liz said.

“So smart...” Belle praised.

“I forgot you’ve always been more on the perceptive side,” Colt said.

I still felt left in the dark, but if this was what everyone wanted to do, I wasn’t opposed.

“Okay, then. Let’s go sightseeing. Could we ask you to be our guide, Shenley?”

She shook her head nervously. “I-I’m not very familiar with the Holy Capital. Also, it would be bad if anything happened to us, so maybe we should ask someone from the castle to be our guide.”

The others clamored in agreement.

“Good idea.”

“Let’s do that!”

“It’d be nice if we could get Sir Alberta to do it...”

“Yeah, we don’t want anything bad to happen!”

As they discussed their worries about the safety of the Holy Capital, there was a sudden knock at the door. A moment later, Crown Windsor entered.

“I heard everything, and I’d be happy to be your guide!”

“Thank you very much. That’d be great,” I said.

I thought everyone would be happy, but when I turned around they were all hanging their heads and wearing dejected expressions.

◇

The buildings that lined the road ahead had walls that were lathered with either mortar or plaster. Their pale walls stood in stark contrast to the colorful clothes hanging in the shop windows, the blossoming flowers that grew in neat beds, and the lush, green trees growing between the buildings. The environment felt so vibrant.

“With all of these white buildings, it’s like someone splashed colors onto a blank canvas,” I said to myself.

“It’s so pretty! Something smells really yummy too! It’s so wonderful!” Ayle said.

“The Holy Capital’s also called the porcelain-white capital. Colt Highland is called the city of water, by the way. It’d be great if you could visit one day!” Belle added.

“Oh, they’re famous for bande, right? You know, those fried chicken sandwiches! Different restaurants make them in unique ways, so I want to try them all!” Liz said.

“Wait a second, Liz. Don’t go wandering off,” Strath called out.

“Oh, sorry, Professor Strath.”

The students were very much in field-trip mode. Strath and Elisa kept watch over Ayle’s trio, while Colt and Shenley calmly discussed something as they looked at the cityscape. In front of our group, Crown was eager to spill all of the information he knew about the city.

“Do you see that slanted rooftop? There are three buildings in a row with that kind of roof. It’s all one big place run by the Sorcerers’ Association. You’ll find all kinds of unusual tomes and sorcery tools there. They deal with a lot of foreign merchants, so even people from the Sorcery Research Room, the peak of sorcery studies in this country, come here to check out their goods every now and then.”

Ninety percent of his explanations had to do with sorcery, but there were some useful tidbits too. The students had quickly lost any interest in his guided tour, but they still seemed to be having fun looking at the city.

“Can we buy that?” Liz asked.

“Sure, but do you have enough money?” Belle replied.

“It’s just a piece of fried bread. We’ll be okay.” The girls’ attention had been stolen by the alluring aroma of the bakery.

“Do you even have their currency?” I asked.

Everyone looked at me as if I’d said something weird. Even Crown stopped to turn back and stare.

“Did I say something strange?” I asked.

Elisa spoke for all of them. “Well...close to two hundred years ago, five of the great countries adopted a standard currency. In accordance with that, the majority of the smaller nations began using the same currency so that they wouldn’t be at a disadvantage. So even now in the present, every country uses the same money.”

“Oh, is that right? I lived deep in the woods, so I didn’t know about any of this.” So it’s like how Europe had a shared currency?

“Well, I guess you’d never know unless you traveled to different countries. But it’s surprising that you’re sometimes so lacking in common knowledge about the world despite having an understanding of sorcery that’s pretty much second to none,” Strath said with a little surprise.

“Is it?” I asked. I always thought that I had a good amount of common sense, but the way everyone is looking at me with pity now makes me doubt that.

“But if the entire world uses a standard monetary system, wouldn’t that mean that the country that produces the currency is at a large advantage?” I asked, shifting the focus off of me.

“The royal family of each country is in charge of producing the currency,” said Colt. “There’s apparently an insignia on the coins that’s made with a special spell, so only the Kingdom of Vahtedd, the Kingdom of Gransanth, the Kingdom of Karvun, the Holy Maple Leaf Empire, and the Bushmills Empire can make them.”

I couldn’t help but notice that one of the six great countries was missing. “What about the Colt Highland Federation?”

Colt looked crestfallen. “Since we’re a federation and don’t have a singular royal family, there’s no one family who can be entrusted with the insignia without fear of there being a breach.”

“I see... If anything, I’d think that democratically elected officials would be more trustworthy than those who inherit their power through succession.” Then I turned to Liz and Belle. “Anyway, you wanted to get food, didn’t you? How about I buy something for everyone? I’ll go with you two.”

“Really?”

“Oh, then I want to go too!”

“Me too!”

As I began walking toward the stall with my wallet out, Ayle, Shenley, and Elisa followed me. Soon, all of the girls in our group had joined me.

“Professor Aoi, what flavor are you going to get?”

“I’d like something sweet if possible.”

“Oh, then you should have this berry one!”

“I think you’d enjoy this maple one.”

The group of girls energetically discussed the options, and I felt like I was on a school field trip for the first time in many years. A smile spread across my face. I thought back to the school field trips I’d had in Japan and how I’d always had the most fun trying foods I’d never seen before. I chomped down on the fried bread, and the delectable smell filled my nose while the surprisingly complex flavor of the sauce spread across my tongue. So far, I was really enjoying our tour of the Holy Capital.

As Crown guided us through the city and we took in the sights, we came across robed figures with cross insignias sewn into their clothes. They were completely clad in white, including their shoes and gloves. When he caught sight of them, Crown changed course.

“All right, everyone, let’s go this way. Back there, you’ll find the Holy Maple Leaf Empire’s sorcery academy. You can see some classes and tour the campus,” he said, obviously trying to steer us in a different direction.

He was too late, though. The person at the head of the group of white-robed people called out to us. “Is that you, Sir Crown Windsor? Who are you taking around?”

Crown’s face soured. “Oh, Vice Captain Gem Westomiz. I’m very busy with these important guests right now.”

The unstated subtext of Crown’s cold tone was Don’t bother me. However, the man named Gem approached us anyway. He was a lot older than I’d expected based on his voice, most likely in his late forties or early fifties. He had dark brown hair and reddish eyes.

“Crown! How dare you talk to me like that?! You can’t even use basic sorcery right, and you think you can take that tone with me?!” he bellowed, closing in. Crown didn’t seem to want anything to do with him, so Gem turned to look at us. “Foreigners, huh? If you’re the one leading them around, I take it that they’re sorcerers?”

“Sir Gem! You can’t refer to them like that! They’re very important guests of the emperor himself!” Crown growled. His face grew flushed.

Gem furrowed his brow.

It’d be bad if this becomes any more troublesome. I rolled up my sleeve and showed the bracelet I’d received from the emperor. It was a golden bangle with a design of many layered lines.

Gem broke out into a wide grin. “Oh, how rude of me. Your youth led me to believe differently, but I see you’re a Silver Class. Might you be the daughter of a duke from one of the six great countries? I’m Gem Westomiz, the vice captain of the Court Sorcerer Corps. If you need anything during your stay in the Holy Capital, please do not hesitate to ask me.”

“Thank you very much. However, I don’t have any social status. I’m just a young nobody, so please don’t feel like you need to act formally with me. I’m Aoi Konominato. Like everyone else here, I’ve come from the Kingdom of Vahtedd.”

Gem’s eyebrows pulled together, making a deep crease in his forehead. “You don’t have a social status? Then why would His Majesty have bestowed upon you the highest honor aside from being part of the royal family?”

“Perhaps it’s because I’m able to use new forms of sorcery?” I answered without thinking.

Crown quickly denied what I’d said. “N-No, that’s not it! Lady Aoi is an upper-level instructor at Fiddich Academy, and these are all very talented students. Professor Aoi in particular is very gifted, and she was able to become an upper-level instructor upon entering the academy.”

Gem’s eyes narrowed. “Fiddich Academy? His Majesty’s whims are really quite something,” he mumbled while unsuccessfully trying to fake a smile. “Well, I’m sorry for taking up your time. Please enjoy sightseeing in the Holy Capital.” He turned and walked back to his group, seemingly having lost all interest.

Crown breathed a sigh of relief.

“Not someone you like dealing with?” I asked.

Crown shook his head and slumped his shoulders. “I’m sure you could tell from that little conversation we just had, but the people in that group are the most extreme Primordial Sorcery Supremacists among all the court sorcerers.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

Crown blinked in disbelief. “You’ve never heard of this? Oh, I guess maybe Vahtedd has a different term. Primordial Sorcery Supremacists are people who think that due to how long of a history sorcery has, developing new forms of sorcery is a waste of time. It’s true that there aren’t many recent sorcery techniques that have proven useful, but that doesn’t mean that there’s not a chance to find something helpful every hundred years or so. The Primordial Sorcery Supremacists don’t want any huge new developments, and they just want to refine existing sorcery.” It was as if someone had flicked a switch on Crown as he began rattling off all of his gripes.

“Oh, I see. So basically, they only want to improve existing sorcery? Though I do believe that’s important, completely shunning the idea of developing new types of sorcery is incredibly ridiculous.”

Crown’s eyes shimmered and he took my hands in his, nodding furiously. “Exactly! I knew you’d get it! For close to a century, our country hasn’t developed any new fields of sorcery. All we’ve done is create spells that can instantly turn water into mist or have our hands sparkle with light. It’s all practical sorcery. So disappointing! Meanwhile, the Kingdom of Vahtedd has Fiddich Academy, where all different kinds of sorcerers can convene. It’s such a wonderful environment! I’m so jealous! I wish I could become a student there and learn the sorcery of other countries!”

I watched as a court sorcerer, one of the highest authorities in the Holy Maple Leaf Empire, threw a tantrum. He kept leaning closer to me, and I kept taking steps back. His energy made everyone around us stare in befuddlement.

◇

Our first day touring the Holy Capital was a little chaotic, but the students seemed to be satisfied. Tonight, we would be staying in the castle. We all sat in a guest room with vaulted high ceilings while Ayle and the other girls excitedly talked about the food. Though Shenley was very nervous about being in the castle of her homeland, the other students didn’t seem bothered at all.

“It’s pretty nerve-racking to be sleeping in a castle. I completely understand,” I said.

“You’re nervous?” asked Strath.

“You don’t seem any different than usual,” said Elisa.

The two of them looked at me with doubt.

I grinned and stood up from my chair. “I’m just a person too, you know? I’m going to take a walk to calm down a bit,” I said, leaving the room.

“Where are you going?” asked one of the guards outside the door.

“I was thinking of enjoying the nighttime air.”

“Then please come this way. I’ll escort you outside,” he said, leading me forward.

I could go there myself if you just tell me where to go. But maybe it’s hard to go anywhere in the castle unaccompanied.

I decided that it was pointless to argue, and I followed the man through the excessively large hallways and down to the double doors at the first-floor entrance to the castle. We exited into a lush courtyard. In the center, there was a fountain and some short, squared hedges that were almost like walls. It was the spitting image of the kinds of courtyards I’d expect to see in the mansions of nobles.

By the fountain was a young woman in a stunning, pure-white gown that almost looked like a wedding dress. Her blonde hair rippled as she walked. She was most likely in her late teens. Next to her were two men in silver armor and what seemed to be a maid. As I looked at the woman in the dress, she turned and noticed me.

“Princess Rose,” said the guard who’d been guiding me. He dropped to one knee.

It seemed that she was part of the royal family. I straightened my back and bowed.

Rose crinkled her brow. “Who are you?” she asked softly.

I raised my head. “I’m Aoi Konominato, an instructor from the sorcery academy in the Kingdom of Vahtedd.”

Curiosity danced across her face. “From Vahtedd? So you’re an instructor at the prestigious Fiddich Academy? You must be quite brilliant. You seem quite young, though,” she mumbled as she walked toward me.

“P-Princess Rose, Lady Aoi is one of the very few upper-level instructors at Fiddich Academy. She’s come here as a guest to help advance sorcery in our country,” the guard quickly said, correcting her. As soon as his eyes met Rose’s, though, his attitude changed. He slowly became more reserved until he finally hung his head.

She regarded him with displeasure and sighed. “An upper-level instructor? If I remember correctly, one of our countrymen is an upper-level instructor there as well. Well, setting that aside, I’m much more interested in something else,” she said, walking toward me. She glared at the guard who’d guided me out here. “Who are you to talk back to me? So what if she’s our guest? Should I just be kneeling to her now?”

“N-No! Not at all!”

The man trembled in fear as Rose peppered him with scathing questions.

“Know your place. Ice Sculpture,” Rose said, activating a spell that began to freeze the kneeling guard. She reminded me of Rox. It seemed like being quick to violence was a trait shared among royalty.

I immediately activated my own spell to counter hers. “Red Circle.”

A red line looped around the man, drawing a small circle. Laser-like beams of light created a thin wall of fire around him, immediately melting the ice.

I’d successfully prevented any harm to the guard. He looked around in surprise, while Rose’s face was an enigma.

“Was that incantationless casting? Or did you use a sorcery tool equal in strength to a royal’s secret treasure?”

“It was incantationless,” I said, making direct eye contact.

A very slight smile played across her lips. “Oh, I see. Incantationless, huh?” She repeated the term as if it felt unfamiliar on her tongue. “That was amusing. Be sure to come by the Holy Capital’s academy,” she said before walking away.

I hadn’t expected her reaction. Most royals wouldn’t have let such a blatant challenge to their authority slide. However, Rose seemed to have perceived me not as someone who was disrespecting her but as a fun toy. Either way, the important thing was that I’d avoided being sentenced to death.

Chapter 7: The Holy Capital’s Sorcery Academy

Soft light filtered in through the window, nudging me out of my slumber. I took a deep breath of cool air, and my foggy mind began to clear.

“Mmm...” I exhaled as I stretched and sat up.

“Oh, good morning.”

“Good morning.”

Shenley and Liz greeted me as I got out of bed. The two of them were relaxing on the sofa facing the door, still in their adorable pajamas.

“Good morning,” I replied. I walked over to them.

The two girls looked at me as if I were a stranger.

“P-Professor Aoi, your hair...”

“It looks like it exploded...”

I gently patted down my hair with my hands. “Oh, this is normal for me. I usually shower in the morning.” There was a mirror on the wall, and I peered at my reflection. I was wearing black pajamas, and my hair looked like a frizzy ball of yarn. I sat down in a chair in front of the mirror and began wrangling my locks. My bedhead isn’t too crazy today, so I should be able to straighten it out easily.

Ayle and Belle were still fast asleep. Across from them, Elisa was still slumbering as well, lying on her back with her arms and legs spread out. The pose and her naturally tiny stature made her look like the youngest one here. Though I suppose she always looks super youthful.

The Holy Maple Leaf Empire had prepared six queen-sized beds for us in a single room in the castle, but the guest room was so large that it didn’t feel crowded. The guys of our group, Colt and Strath, were in a different room, but it was just as spacious. I wondered if the two of them felt lonely with all that empty space.

As these thoughts flickered through my hazy mind, Ayle and Belle woke up at the same time. They both mumbled half asleep greetings.

“Oh... Good morning.”

“Morning...” Ayle was having the most trouble waking up.

Liz frowned at the two of them. “You two woke up so late! You missed a really important sight!” Liz exclaimed.

Ayle rubbed one of her eyes while tilting her head. “Huh? We did?” Her tone was so confused that I imagined a giant question mark appearing above her head.

“They did, didn’t they, Shenley?” Liz said, disgruntled.

“Y-Yes. You missed out big time,” Shenley said.

Did I miss something important too? Since I’d overslept, my mind wasn’t really working yet.

After a bit, Elisa, who’d been drooling in her sleep, woke up as well. Now that everyone was awake, we all changed our clothes and then headed to the second floor of the castle for breakfast. The dining area for guests seated about twenty people. Colt and Strath were already there, eating.

“Good morning,” Colt said.

“Morning... You took your time,” Strath said.

“It took some time to get ready,” I explained.

When we sat down, maids who were standing by appeared before us without a sound and deftly placed a fairly simple breakfast in front. The dishes were all the same porcelain white, and they held bread, soup, thinly sliced meat, vegetables, and fruit.

“This is tasty!” Ayle said. Despite how basic the food looked, it still had impressed a greater noble.

Next, Belle and Liz took a few bites of the food. Their eyes lit up, and they began chattering about how flavorful it was. Shenley and Elisa dug in as well. I was the last to begin eating, and I started with the dish I was most curious about—the translucent soup. It was warm and had a mild, sweet taste. The robust flavors of the simmered vegetables and meat balanced perfectly with the spices and salt. It kind of reminded me of pot-au-feu. I tried the bread too, and though it had a hard crust, the inside was soft and sweet. The savory, salty taste of the meat offset the sweetness and acidity of the other food.

“It’s all delightful. I’m surprised. Though the dishes aren’t complex, they all have deep flavor profiles,” Colt said.

I nodded and tried a piece of fruit. It looked similar to a chunk of melon, but it was a little harder. As I bit into it, bursts of sweet and sour hit my taste buds in waves. At first, it was like a melon but tarter, and then it tasted a little sweeter than a grape.

“It’s really good,” Strath muttered with surprise.

Everyone else burst into laughter. I was glad to see he was acting like his usual self.

Strath flushed with embarrassment and changed the topic. “Oh, right. Sir Crown said something about being too busy today to be our guide, didn’t he?”

“Right,” Elisa said. “Since it’s mainly court sorcerers who work in the Research Room, maybe we should wait until Crown is around to tour there.”

Ayle raised her hand. “I think we should go to Maple Leaf’s sorcery academy!”

“Sounds like fun!” Liz exclaimed.

“Oh yeah, I wanna see what it’s like,” Belle said.

They’re really such good friends. Shenley also seemed to be interested.

“All right then, let’s go tour their academy. I’ll go check with the people in the castle,” I said. I stood up and left the dining room.

◇

I thought that it’d be best to let Alberta know of our plans for the day before we left, so I approached one of the many guards posted in even intervals like telephone poles. He said that he’d call Alberta over, and that we should all wait in the drawing room on the first floor.

I feel like I’m getting a good idea of this castle’s layout.

I returned to the dining room. “I’ve requested an audience with Alberta. We’re going to meet him in the drawing room on the first floor, so gather anything you’ll need for the day before we head down.”

We then went back to our rooms to prepare. Ayle made sure her outfit was perfect and put on a jacket, while Elisa and I also began getting ready. After about fifteen minutes, we exited the room and saw Strath standing there and tapping his foot. He and Colt had clearly finished their preparations much sooner.

“What were you doing that took you so long?” Strath asked.

“It only took me five minutes or so today, but usually, it takes me anywhere from ten to thirty minutes to do my makeup, get dressed, and use the restroom,” I said, taking it upon myself to defend the other girls who’d taken much longer.

“Thirty minutes?! Why do you need that long to get ready?” he muttered, dumbfounded. Fortunately, the others didn’t seem to hear him; otherwise, I could only imagine there’d be hell to pay for his snark.

Oblivious to how inflammatory his comments had been, Strath took the lead and walked us down to the drawing room. When we arrived, Alberta was already standing there, the very model of perfect posture. His outfit had layers of wrapped cloth, and I wondered if that was a traditional clothing style in Maple Leaf.

“Oh, there you are. I’ll be your guide for today,” Alberta said. He tapped his fist against his chest.

“We were thinking about touring the sorcery academy, though. Wouldn’t it make more sense for a sorcerer to be our guide?” I asked.

He shook his head, beaming with excitement. “Who better than me, someone who went to that very academy? I was in the lowest level of classes, though,” he said with a hearty chuckle. “Oh. Shenley is a sorcerer from our country, right? She might be a much better sorcerer than me, then.”

“Huh? O-Oh, no, I’m sure that’s not...”

Alberta belted out another laugh. “Just teasing you!” He then took off toward the exit.

The rest of us exchanged a few amused looks and then quickly moved to catch up to him.

◇

The Holy Maple Leaf Empire specialized in healing sorcery, which they also called holy sorcery. That name made sense considering the fact that the core of the country’s identity was the Maple Leaf religion.

However, since the nation was so heavily invested in healing sorcery, any sorcerers who were trying to study other types of sorcery wouldn’t have a very nurturing environment. Specializing in one type of spellcasting could bring about a lot of advancement in that field, but it could only go so far. They needed to think outside of the box and combine healing with other types of sorcery for true innovation.

As we walked through the Holy Capital, we eventually reached a large building. Like the other structures in the city, it had a white exterior. However, this one stood out. It had many cylindrical columns, and its architecture resembled the Parthenon in Greece.

I hadn’t expected the school to look like this, but we’d definitely arrived at the academy, as I could see a lot of young men and women going to and from the building.

The students all wore uniforms, which looked similar to Alberta’s outfit. Since Fiddich also required uniforms, I wondered whether that was a standard practice at all sorcery academies.

Alberta told us to wait outside for a little bit while he went in. A few minutes later, he returned alongside a middle-aged man who was wearing a white outfit with a small purple cape. He greeted us with a soft smile.

Alberta cleared his throat and held out his hand toward the man. “This is Sir Cameron, one of the upper-level instructors at our academy. To become an upper-level instructor in our country, you must be at the same skill level as the court sorcerers. Sir Cameron is among our best and brightest.”

“My name’s Cameron Ridge. It’s a pleasure to meet all of you,” he said, bowing to us.

Alberta turned to introduce us. “As I mentioned briefly earlier, this is Lady Aoi, the upper-level instructor from Fiddich Academy. With her are two general instructors, Sir Strath and Lady Elisa. They have also brought a few of their students who are nobles from the Colt Highland Federation. Shenley here is from our country, though she’s a student at Fiddich Academy.”

We bowed our heads respectfully at Cameron.

“Oh?” Cameron fixed his eyes on Shenley and blinked.

Shenley fidgeted uncomfortably and looked down.

“Shenley, is that really you? So you were able to enroll in Fiddich Academy, then? I’m so happy for you! If I remember correctly, you were unable to use healing sorcery, so you applied to Fiddich Academy to have a shot at being treated as an average or above-average sorcerer. I suppose it was the right place for you.”

Though he spoke cheerfully, his backhanded compliment hinted that he looked down on Shenley. She shrank away, making her body as small as possible.

“Hmm? You know each other?” Alberta asked.

Shenley spoke up, still hanging her head. “I transferred into this school for about a month before I came to Fiddich.”

“That’s right,” said Cameron. “When students from different parts of the country transfer in, they have to take my class, but Shenley didn’t quite...” He trailed off and sighed.

Shenley’s shoulders began to tremble slightly. This conversation was starting to get awkward, so I decided to step in as the representative of Fiddich’s instructors and praise Shenley.

“Shenley is a hard worker and a very gifted student. I believe she’ll be able to work as a wonderful sorcerer in the future,” I said plainly.

Cameron froze for a second before his lips returned to a gentle smile. “Is that so? Well that’s great to hear! After all, our academy isn’t a great place to grow one’s skills in areas outside of healing sorcery. In that regard, Fiddich Academy shines because you can learn all kinds of sorceries simultaneously, right? Oh, how wonderful! I’m sure your curriculum is very elite as well. If we tried to do that here, we’d just end up with sorcerers who only have a partial mastery of sorcery.”

Cameron’s jolly tone never wavered, but I could tell that all of us could sense his words were disingenuous.

Cameron guided us through the school. It had two floors, and we were currently on the east side of the first floor. The floors were made of gray stone, but the walls and ceilings were all pure-white. I saw no furnishings or people at all.

“Are the students all in class right now? I don’t see anyone in the halls,” I asked.

Cameron turned around. “Well, let me ask you this: What do you think is necessary in order to practice healing sorcery?” he replied in a teacherly manner.

“Someone to use it on?” Elisa suggested.

Cameron nodded. “Precisely. Out of all of the cities in the Holy Maple Leaf Empire, ours has the highest population. There are plenty of knights, soldiers, and adventurers who get injured on the job. They all come to the western entrance of the academy and line up to be admitted to our treatment rooms. The students take care of the healing during the day, so you won’t see many of them here.”

Oh, I see. “Is the healing free?” I asked.

Cameron’s smile stretched a bit as he pursed his lips. “Oh, no, we can’t exactly be that generous. However, we ask only for a minimum donation to the Maple Leaf church from those who are believers. There are many people who join the church as a result of this, so I think it’s a great system with benefits for both those who need healing and for the students.”

He seemed fairly proud of his response. While it was arguably an efficient system for the empire’s economy and religion, I wondered how many people had joined the church because they actually wanted to and not just because they wanted to avoid paying full price for treatment.

“I understand why there aren’t any healing sorcery students present right now, but what about the others? Are there just very few students who are taking any other kinds of classes?” I asked.

Cameron put a finger to his lips. “Oh, the other students? Many of the ones who aren’t studying healing sorcery still assist treatments in the clinic. Since most of the instructors help out there too, there aren’t many classes in the morning. The students also receive a small payment for their assistance. It’s a win-win,” he said cheerfully.

The people here had very different mindsets and ran their school in a drastically different way than those at Fiddich. At the same time, though, there weren’t many students who studied healing sorcery at Fiddich. Maybe the instructors in Maple Leaf were simply structuring things in the most efficient way for their situation.

“We’ve arrived. This is the special treatment room where we take care of our heavily injured patients,” Cameron said as we arrived at a large set of double doors.

“How many different types of treatment rooms do you have?” Strath asked.

“Well, we determine the capabilities of our healers by the severity of injury that they’re capable of treating. Even if they’re not able to use the most advanced healing spells, if they’re able to heal heavily injured patients, then they can register as upper-level sorcerers. People at that rank can fix broken bones or deep wounds within a minute,” Cameron replied, grinning ear to ear.

Strath, Elisa, and the students let out sounds of wonder.

“Students are able to accomplish that level of healing? Impressive. Does that mean that this room is where the most elite students practice their sorcery?” Strath asked.

“That’s right,” Cameron said. “Since an upper-level instructor from Fiddich came all the way here, I was hoping to demonstrate the strength of our academy,” he said sheepishly. “Oh, how embarrassing. I feel like a little child for wanting to show off.”

Cameron pushed the double doors open. Immediately, screams and groans flooded out of the room into the once-quiet hallway.

“Huh?”

Shenley, Ayle, Liz, and Belle let out gulps and gasps. On the other hand, I’d expected such a din as soon as I’d heard that heavily injured patients would be here. Elisa, Strath, and Colt likely had the same thought process as me, since they also didn’t react in shock. Alberta, who’d been quiet this entire time, had likely come inside this room before, judging by his stern expression.

I prepared myself to be in such a high-stress environment and walked past Cameron into the room. White curtains partitioned the large room into narrow strips. Since I couldn’t see beyond the curtains, I couldn’t tell precisely how big the space was, but I guessed that it was about ten meters by twenty. There was enough space for at least ten people to be working at the same time. In front of each partitioned area was a box filled with tools used for medical treatment and sorcery, and groups of two or three people huddled around them.

I watched some of the people pick up tools and cloths and then run behind the curtains. They were likely the students who couldn’t use healing sorcery and were assisting those giving treatment. From behind the curtains, I could hear the groans of the patients and the voices of the students doing the healing. The room had the tense atmosphere of a hospital.

“The students here learn the best healing sorcery in the world. They heal the heaviest of injuries and are able to learn about even the tiniest details of how bodies function,” Cameron explained, waiting for our reactions.

His matter-of-fact speech was punctuated by the wails and moans of the patients. Shenley, Ayle, and some of the others were frightened, but I simply wanted to learn more about his way of thinking.

“I agree that it’s very important for students to learn anatomy. I’m very curious to know just how knowledgeable the Holy Maple Leaf Empire is on the subject.”

One of Cameron’s eyebrows rose very slightly. He paused for a second before acknowledging my comment. “In that case, let’s take a look. I’ll ask around to see if there’s anyone who’s in a good place to let us observe,” He walked toward one of the curtained areas.

Alberta approached me, looking concerned. “Lady Aoi, there are some very gruesome sights behind these curtains. I wouldn’t recommend observing.”

“I’ll be okay,” I replied. “I’ve hunted magic beasts. I don’t think I’ll have any problem seeing blood, flesh, or bones. That being said, maybe it would be a little too much for our students. Perhaps only the instructors should observe.”

“I-I think it might be a bit too much for me too,” Elisa said. All the color had drained from her cheeks.

I guess she’s squeamish.

“Then I’d like to go in her place,” Colt said with an uncharacteristically stoic face.

“If you’re not comfortable, don’t force yourself,” I said.

Colt was not particularly adept at healing sorcery. There was no need for him to subject himself to looking at grisly injuries if he wasn’t even an instructor.

Colt took a deep breath and shook his head, his eyes shining with determination. “Healing sorcery isn’t exactly progressing in the Colt Highland Federation. If I can gain some hints on how to improve it, then I need to at least take a brief look.”

I couldn’t help but admire his wonderful love for his country. Maybe some of his fellow students felt the same way. I turned around to the others, but they all avoided looking at me.

“I-I...” Shenley seemed very torn, so I silently waved my hand to let her know I didn’t expect her to go. She looked relieved and shut her mouth.

Just then, Cameron returned, as if he’d been waiting for the perfect time to call out to us again. “Please follow me to the back.”

“The three of us will be observing,” I said, pointing to myself, Strath, and Colt.

Cameron looked at the rest of our group and narrowed his eyes, but he kept the same friendly look on his face. “Well, it might be better for those who aren’t good with blood to avoid seeing this. I do think this is something that all sorcerers should observe if they have a chance, though.” He began walking toward the back right corner of the room.

We followed him, and I was surprised to see that Alberta joined us as well. I figured that he felt it was his duty to accompany us as our guide. As we stood outside of the curtain, we could hear sharp intakes of breath and the sounds of rustling clothes. Then, we heard someone retching. Even Strath’s face tensed up from this, and he and Colt both seemed to be getting cold feet.

Cameron casually opened the curtain, and Colt softly gasped from behind me. In the partitioned area, there was a white bed that resembled an examination table. Lying there was a young man who’d lost an arm. Based on how the stump looked, my guess was that a magic beast had torn it off. Other lacerations scored the young man’s body, and his clothes were in tatters. His breathing was short and shallow, perhaps due to blood loss.

A boy and a girl stood on opposite sides of his bed. The boy was earnestly pressing both of his hands against the young man’s chest while activating a spell. The girl was wiping away his tears with a cloth while also doing first aid to stem the bleeding from the stump.

“Can you save him?” Strath whispered to Cameron.

The lacerations themselves weren’t a problem, but the young man had lost a lot of blood, judging from his pallid face. A blood transfusion might have been able to save him, but they probably didn’t have the knowledge or resources to make an IV.

I looked up at Cameron, who was watching the students intently with his hand on his chin.

“It’ll be close, but maybe,” he whispered back. “It’s hard to tell, though. At the very least, the students will improve their skills by dealing with difficult cases like this. I could step in and stabilize him, but that wouldn’t be very productive for the students’ development. It’s best to steel my heart and stand by to let them learn without interference,” Cameron said. He watched for a few more moments with a serious expression and then called out to the students. “Be precise with stopping the blood loss while paying attention to the inner sides of the joints. If you can halt the bleeding, that will give you more time to treat him. Imagination is the most important part of healing sorcery. You must have a good mental image of the construction of the body and be precise. Right now, you should focus on the damaged veins and the organs in his abdomen.”

The two students followed his instructions, but they looked distraught. Both Strath and Colt were speechless from how stressful the situation was.

Cameron turned to me. “I’m not sure how Fiddich Academy teaches its students, but here, we value practical experience above all else. That’s likely why other countries think so highly of our sorcerers’ skills.”

I brushed aside his self-praise and looked down at the young man. His condition had worsened, and he now appeared to be on the verge of death. “I agree that hands-on experience is the best kind of learning. However, I believe it would be tragic to lose someone who came here for treatment. It might also leave scars on the hearts of the students. I think letting the students put in their absolute best efforts and then having an instructor step in if that’s not enough would have the same effect in the end.”

Cameron frowned and recoiled slightly. “I believe it’s important for them to have the experience of seeing death and knowing situations where the person can’t be saved. However, I suppose your opinion is somewhat valid.”

I pointed at the young man receiving treatment. “Well then, please treat him,” I said sternly.

Cameron shook his head with regret. “Unfortunately, he’s a lost cause at this point. In this state, there’s no sorcerer in the world who could save him. However, this will be a very important lesson for the students. They will grow stronger from this and become even better sorcerers.”

I couldn’t believe that he’d declared treatment impossible without even trying and was rambling about the students’ education. I watched as the expressions of the boy and girl doing the healing clouded, and they stopped moving.

“In that case, would it be all right if I continued the treatment?” I asked.

Cameron and the students looked at me incredulously. Alberta blinked, but Strath and Colt nodded with acceptance.

“Can you heal him?” Strath asked.

“I can.”

“Please wait,” Cameron snapped. “Think about where you are before you speak. This is the sorcery academy in the Holy Capital of Maple Leaf. We’re better than anyone else in the world when it comes to healing sorcery. Don’t say such foolish things.”

I must have really struck a nerve based on how quickly he was speaking. However there wasn’t time to keep listening to his long-winded lecture. I ignored him and moved right next to the examination table. The girl was wiping the young man’s tears and had one of her hands on his shoulder.

I looked at the extent of his injuries and began to imagine the state of his perfectly healthy body. To the best of my abilities, I even precisely imagined healthy organs and then began letting my mana flow.

“Life Water,” I said, activating the spell. My mana enveloped the patient in a bright light. The spell began to heal the targeted areas and close his wounds.

“Wh-What is this?” Cameron cried out.

The students stood, mouths agape, as the young man’s lacerations mended before their eyes.

“He still doesn’t have enough blood, though,” I mumbled. At this rate, the young man had passed out and likely wouldn’t wake up. Thinking fast, I reached into a pocket and took out a pill I’d been saving for emergencies. It was a secret elven medicine I’d received from Owain, though it wasn’t difficult to make if you knew the ingredients.

I placed the pill into the patient’s mouth and looked around. “Does anyone have drinkable water?”

“Y-Yes, right here!” The girl next to me handed me a cup.

“Thank you very much,” I said. I took the cup and poured the water into the young man’s mouth. I shut his mouth and held his head back while lifting it. There was a soft sound as he swallowed the pill.

“What did you just do?” Cameron asked cautiously.

I examined the young man. It seemed my solution had been just in the nick of time. “I treated his wounds. Then, since he was lacking blood, I gave him a medication that will revitalize his organs and help him produce more blood. I believe in a few minutes he should regain consciousness.”

Cameron looked down at the young man in disbelief. “That’s impossible. He was in a state that would have been difficult for even us to heal. Even if you closed his surface wounds, there’s no way that you could have completely healed...”

But as if to laugh in his face, the young man opened his eyes and began to breathe out, making a groaning sound. Relief washed over the faces of the two students, and they put their ears to his chest.

“H-He’s alive!”

“His pulse has gotten stronger! He’ll be okay!”

The students were smiling now. Strath and Colt sighed in relief.

“Wh-Who are you?” Any trace of Cameron’s earlier composed demeanor and perceived superiority had disappeared.

I looked at him sideways. “I believe I introduced myself earlier, but I’m an upper-level instructor at Fiddich Academy. I suppose if I’m to explain myself further, I’m a disciple of Owain Millers.”

Cameron clenched his fists and began grinding his molars in frustration. “I’d thought that seeing our special treatment room would have been sufficient for you, but I suppose that was naive thinking. I didn’t expect you to be capable of working as an upper-level instructor at our academy.”

I shook my head. “Healing sorcery isn’t my specialty. I’m not exactly sure what my specialty is, but my primary research is on magic circles, so I suppose I might be most proficient at creating sorcery tools.” Everyone else stopped and stared. “I believe Alberta saw me use ice sorcery, among other types,” I continued.

Alberta rubbed his cheek. “I did see that, but I didn’t expect your specialty to be sorcery tool engineering. I saw you use flight sorcery too.”

“Now that I think about it, there are many sorcerers who focus on perfecting one or two elements. I forgot that there were sorcerers at Fiddich Academy who could use three or more elements at the same proficiency,” Cameron said.

“I never expected there to be such a difference in strength between Fiddich Academy and our school...” Alberta clutched his head with frustration.

“I’d very much like to see how classes are taught here next,” I said.

Cameron seemed to be at a loss for words, but he ended up taking us to a classroom. The hallways we walked through had no windows to the outside, and the walls were thick and sturdy. However, the classrooms had windows on both the walls separating them from the hallways and the outside walls, so they were very well lit.

We looked through the windows of the classroom we’d be observing, and Shenley, Ayle, Liz, and Belle sighed at the familiar sight. Each student had their own desk, and there was a male instructor at the front of the class. Cameron kept stealing glances at me before eventually opening the door to the classroom. The instructor and the students turned their heads toward us.

“I’ve brought some people on a tour to observe. Please continue the class and pretend we’re not here,” Cameron said.

The instructor cleared his throat and returned to his lecture. “All right, let’s return to fire sorcery. I believe all of you are capable of casting the elementary version of Fireball using seven verses. Now, we’re going to change the shape of that spell. First, try something easy to imagine like an arrow.” He demonstrated while the students watched with focused expressions and tried to commit the image to memory.

“Any thoughts?” Cameron whispered, seemingly a little worried.

“Well...if this is the elementary level then I think this is a good way to begin learning sorcery. However, right now the incantation is a little too convoluted. I think it’d be best to further simplify it,” I whispered back.

“I see. I’ve heard that this incantation is the base of fire sorcery, and even if it’s long, it’s an incantation that’s been dissected to be easy for the students to understand. But from your perspective, it’s too complex.”

I shook my head. “Perhaps I misspoke when I said it was convoluted. I’m mostly saying that it could be much simpler.” I began telling him about the necessary incantations for fire sorcery. “The incantation being taught releases mana above the palm, fixes it in place, begins the conversion of mana into fire, and then increases the intensity. Furthermore, it removes the part that makes it stay in one place, changes the shape of the mana, and then fires it out, for a total of seven steps. However, if you’re able to reduce it to three processes—output of mana, combustion, and release—then you can do it in three verses.”

“I-I see. But wouldn’t shortening it reduce its potency?”

“Not at all. By excluding the excessive parts of the seven-verse incantation, you can actually increase the spell’s strength. Plus, you can change its shape much easier than with the long version.”

Cameron groaned. He looked to be deep in thought. I wasn’t sure if he was just repeating my words to himself and trying to understand it, or if he was silently trying to argue against it to keep his sense of pride intact. Regardless, I believed that debating topics like this was necessary. It wasn’t a matter of being right or wrong, but rather having different ways of thinking and teaching. I simply thought that what I’d learned from studying under Owain was the most correct because that’s how I’d learned.

“From my perspective, you can view healing sorcery through the same lens,” I said.

Cameron tensed up. As I thought, he has a lot of pride regarding healing sorcery. I could have come here and only praised Maple Leaf’s way of doing things in an attempt to protect their feelings. But that wouldn’t help my plan to advance sorcery worldwide. That’s why I was hoping to instill as much of my knowledge and techniques in them as I could before leaving. My comments were meant to be words of advice, but it seemed that Cameron had taken them as a challenge. His perpetual smile was now completely gone.

“In other words, you’re calling our healing sorcery immature and unfinished?”

“Not at all. I simply believe there’s a way to make it more efficient. Of course, there’s a chance that my thinking is incorrect, so please only use it as a point of reference.”

I hadn’t come here to pick a fight, so I made sure to choose my words carefully to not incite any kind of violence. However, Cameron had become completely guarded now.

“I see. In that case, I’d love to see you try it out. Let’s see if you’re able to easily overturn centuries of built-up knowledge.” I could see the annoyance flickering across his face.

I nodded. “Very well. Please let me see the knowledge of anatomy and healing sorcery that Maple Leaf possesses.”

Cameron’s face locked up again.

Chapter 8: Classified Information

“Please don’t request something so unreasonable. Maple Leaf has built up its knowledge of anatomy and sorcery over many years. It’s highly classified information. There’s no way that we can casually reveal it to you...” Cameron trailed off and then gasped as if he’d realized something. “Oh. So that’s why...”

“Why what?” I asked.

Cameron wiggled his eyebrows. “You’re using a hidden sorcery tool, right? It must be a country-level treasure too. Are you using that to get people to drop their guards and spill their countries’ sorcery secrets?”

I think he’s misunderstanding my intentions and believes I’m some kind of scam artist. If that’s the case, then...

I put up my hand. “I’m sorry, but could we return to the special treatment room from earlier? I’ll demonstrate a different spell of my own. If you find it worth hearing me out after that, I’ll be satisfied.”

Cameron pondered my offer for a moment. Nearby, Elisa and Strath looked at each other with unease.

◇

When we returned to the special treatment room, Cameron told me that the healers always brought the most severely wounded patients to the back-right corner of the room. When I walked over there, I found that there was a new, heavily injured individual occupying the bed that had held the young man I’d treated earlier. Strath, Colt, and Alberta had also come inside with us, though I wondered whether they were curious about my sorcery or they just felt obligated to come along. Elisa, Shenley, Ayle, Belle, and Liz all waited at the entrance of the room.

Behind each of the white curtains, I could hear screams and moans of pain.

“Well then, I will begin my demonstration now. Would you mind removing all the curtains? If it’s only okay to open one side of them, that’s fine too, but I think it’d be best if everyone could see what I’m about to do.”

Cameron gave me a hesitant, dubious look, but he eventually turned to the two students by the bed.

“Lady Aoi from Fiddich Academy will now be doing a sorcery demonstration. Please open the curtains fully and then tell the other students to do the same for each of their treatment areas. Of course, I’ll step in when necessary,” Cameron instructed.

The students looked at Cameron and then me, but they obeyed and rushed out to complete their tasks.

Though Cameron was certainly still suspicious of me, I could tell he was genuinely curious about what I was going to do. Perhaps it was that inquisitiveness that made him surprisingly willing to go along with my demands.

“Thank you,” I said.

The curtains opened one after another, fully pushed back against the posts that formed the frames of the enclosures around the beds in even intervals. With them all open now, no matter where you were in the room you could see gravely injured people lying on beds and treatment tables. Elisa, Shenley, and the others by the door huddled together and began to tremble.

All of the Maple Leaf students’ eyes fell on me, betraying a variety of emotions. Most of them seemed to be uneasy or worried, while others looked angry.

I wonder if the students who’re opening the curtains are those studying non-healing sorceries. With the crowd’s eyes focused on me like spotlights, I cast my gaze over the injured people throughout the room. Thankfully, no one seemed to be in as dire of a state as the young man I’d treated earlier.

All right, then. In that case... I concentrated my mana and cast my spell.

“Life Wind.” My mana spread across the room like a light breeze and enveloped those who I thought needed immediate care. I began increasing the intensity of my mana-filled wind, melding it into their bodies. With my mana inside the patients, I began restoring them to health based on my knowledge of anatomy.

My sorcery was actively treating a total of ten people from one end of the room to the other, none of whom seemed to be in a perilous state. Their bodies began to faintly glow, and in about a minute, their wounds started to close up. The Maple Leaf students examined their now perfectly healthy patients with incredulity.

I turned to Cameron. “I’ve finished my treatment. Fortunately, the majority of them only had deep lacerations and light damage to their organs, and some had less serious injuries like broken bones. However, the large man who hasn’t regained consciousness yet had significant damage to his organs and was in a bit of trouble. Everything should be back to normal now, though. If you’re wondering about my process, I pictured not only healthy bones and organs, but also muscle fibers, the epidermis, and even blood. Then, I used my mana to create whatever was missing. For example, if the stomach was completely gone, I determined where the ends of the esophagus and intestines would have connected to it, then I created a new stomach there. In this same way, I pictured any body parts that were missing and then focused my mana, allowing me to heal the majority of their injuries. From what I’ve gathered about the incantations you use here, I believe they lack the specificity to perform complex tasks like that. I think if you all begin including at least one verse that contains the kind of precision I use, your treatments will become more effective.”

I turned to Cameron as if to ask him what he thought. He stared at the treated patients and then at me, unblinking. After a few moments, he silently walked away to examine the patients up close. Strath, Colt, and Elisa watched with bated breath.

Cameron asked his students about the statuses of their patients. Then, he used standard medical practices to check each person’s breathing, pulse, and pupils—the same kinds of things that doctors would’ve done on Earth.

It seems that he’s had a proper medical education. That being said, my mentor Owain’s knowledge was even vaster. He had studied human anatomy to the point that he knew as much as the doctors on Earth, and thanks to that research, he was able to gain a thorough understanding of the anatomies of other races such as beastkin and elves as well.

After observing everyone, Cameron returned, looking slightly haggard. “They certainly do seem to be completely healed. It’s difficult for me to believe, but there’s no mistaking that this is all very real. The ability to heal multiple people in a certain area at once is something that only sorcerers on the level of the holy man or holy woman can do. To think that someone from outside Maple Leaf is capable of this...”

I shook my head. “I cast the spell only on people I could see. It wasn’t blanket healing over a specified area. If the holy man or holy woman are able to cast a healing spell over a specified area without any restrictions, then they’ve most likely studied a different method than the one I’ve devised. If possible, I’d love to verify this.”

Cameron looked down. “The current holy woman is not proficient at healing over an area. The current holy man, the captain of the Court Sorcerer Corps, is also in the same situation. Even so, they are still able to heal five or more heavily injured people at once. If they focus on each person and push themselves to their absolute limits, then they’re even able to regenerate eyes, ears, arms, legs, and other body parts. However, doing so greatly depletes their mana, so they can only do this about once or twice per day,” Cameron said defeatedly. His tone was a huge contrast from the upbeat one he’d had when we’d first met.

Interlude: Cameron

“Holy man” and “holy woman” were titles given to the best healing sorcerers in the Holy Maple Leaf Empire. The healing sorcery they used was, without a doubt, the best in the world. They were not only the pride of our country, but also a very crucial geopolitical advantage.

That’s why when I’d heard that an instructor from Fiddich Academy would be coming here to observe, I’d been sure that she intended to learn about our healing sorcery. Though Fiddich was said to be the best school for sorcery in the world, that was because their professors and students had a high level of proficiency in a wide variety of other elements. When it came to purely healing sorcery, our academy was leaps and bounds ahead of them.

However, this instructor, Aoi, barely reacted to our special treatment room, even though foreign visitors were usually incredibly impressed. Furthermore, she even instantly healed one of the patients, using sorcery comparable in power to the holy woman’s, which would usually take multiple regular sorcerers working together to replicate.

The current holy woman was the youngest in history, but she was still in her late twenties. She wasn’t anything like Aoi, who looked so youthful that she could be mistaken for a student.

“Please share Maple Leaf’s knowledge about anatomy with me,” Aoi said matter-of-factly, as if this were just the first of many requests she was going to heap on us.

There were a lot of nobles from different countries at Fiddich Academy, so I would’ve expected her to have the common sense to not ask about another country’s state secrets. I looked at her companions in an attempt to have them straighten her out, but both the other instructors and students didn’t seem to show any indication that they would—or even could—stop her. Surprisingly, even Alberta stayed completely silent.

From Aoi’s demonstration of fire sorcery earlier, I could tell that we could reap a lot of benefits by learning from Fiddich Academy. However, I didn’t think giving up our secrets in return would be an equivalent exchange. Maple Leaf was not only one of the six great countries, but also the nation home to the holy woman and holy man, the most powerful healers in the world. Even countries who had stronger armies than Maple Leaf wouldn’t dare make enemies of us. After all, if any of their leaders were seriously injured, then they’d need our country’s cooperation. That’s how important the power wielded by the holy woman and holy man was.

If one of our more radical generals had heard Aoi’s request instead of Alberta, then they would have perceived Aoi as a threat and killed her while making it look like an accident. Alberta certainly would know that as a member of the Royal Guard.

“This isn’t something I can decide by myself. I will ask the headmistress and let you know,” I said with the intention of buying some time.

Aoi nodded nonchalantly. “I understand. In that case, please tell me the headmistress’s schedule so I can find out what time it will be possible to meet her today.”

“T-Today?!” This was all moving so fast that I couldn’t respond immediately.

Alberta cleared his throat. “The headmistress has already set aside time for us to meet, so we should be able to see her in the afternoon. But I’d like you to avoid pressing her too hard for any favors immediately. Is that all right?”

Does she have dirt on him or something? He was acting so timidly around her.

“Oh, this afternoon? In that case, there’s still time, so I’d like to sit in on some of the other classes.”

I was too worn down at this point, and granted her request. She and the others from Fiddich observed water, wind, and earth sorcery classes. I’d initially had absolutely no intention of showing her the true capabilities of the sorcerers in our country, so I’d only planned to take her to the elementary-level classes. However, now that I’d tipped my hand with the high-level healing sorcery in the special treatment room, there was no point in obscuring the truth. I decided to take her to the highest-level classes we had. As a result, I began to realize more and more just how much of an anomaly she was.

In the water sorcery class, she demonstrated how to use water to cut through mithril armor as if it were as fragile as a leaf. She explained it using the words “current” and “pressure,” but as desperately as I tried to follow along, I couldn’t grasp her methods.

In the wind sorcery class, she made a student float in the air, sending them into the sky and striking fear into their heart. In the earth sorcery class, she built a three-story tower inside the campus grounds. Though she wasn’t satisfied with how lacking in detail it was, to me it seemed sturdier than even the castle walls.

From what I learned, she taught a course called “Introduction to the Fundamentals and Applications of Sorcery” at Fiddich Academy. Strath taught wind sorcery and Elisa taught earth sorcery. Aoi didn’t have a specialty, but she easily showed off spells of all types. That made me fearful of how powerful Strath and Elisa could potentially be, since they actually specialized in one field. I also wondered just how much Shenley had grown from learning at Fiddich. More than anything, seeing the huge gap between our academy and Fiddich made me fearful. I realized that I needed to take people from Fiddich much more seriously.

Aoi

I felt my attention pulled magnetically in the direction of a woman with long, flowing hair that was somewhere between the hues of bronze and copper. She was sitting in the back of this spacious room by herself, looking at us with fierce, confident eyes. She was most likely in her mid-thirties, and she wore the same white robes as everyone else at the academy, with the addition of a small, red cape.

Cameron sported a purple cape, so most likely the color of the cape corresponded to different positions. The woman looked us over with a hint of a smile and then stood up.

“I’m Balblair Clynelish, headmistress of the Holy Capital’s sorcery academy.” I could only describe her as majestic and commanding. Cameron gestured in my direction. “Headmistress, this is Lady Aoi, an upper-level instructor from Fiddich Academy. With her are Sir Strath and Lady Elisa, general-level instructors at Fiddich.”

“Oh? Weren’t there students too?” she asked.

“There were. But given the topic we’ll be discussing, we’ve asked them to stay in the waiting area.”

Balblair put a finger to her chin. “I see. However, I’m not aware of what we’ll be discussing. All I’ve heard is that they’ve come here on a field trip.” She looked amused.

I made eye contact with her. “I’d like to formally request to learn more about what those at your academy know about sorcery techniques and anatomy.”

Balblair blinked, snorted, and began to laugh. “Ha ha ha! Oh, I see, so that’s why Cameron looks so distraught. You’re the same type of person as Crown Windsor, huh? You care about neither country nor station, only about pursuing new sorcery research and discoveries,” she said as she looked straight into my eyes.

“That’s not necessarily true,” I said. At least, I wasn’t nearly as bad as Crown. Unlike me, he was a court sorcerer—one of the most vital and high-up positions in the country. If anything, he should have been more aware of his actions. However, it didn’t seem like Balblair was really listening to me, and her attention had now fallen on Strath and Elisa.

“And you two, do you also put your lives on the line for the sake of sorcery research?” she asked as if challenging them.

The two of them shook their heads. Her phrasing made it sound like if we learned the secrets of Maple Leaf’s healing sorcery that we’d be killed. If that was the case, then the two of them certainly wouldn’t be willing to go that length.

“Usually, if any other instructor asked for what Aoi’s asking, I’d stop them, even if I had to hit them,” Strath said. “However, it’s different if it’s her. If Aoi Konominato is able to access your research on healing sorcery, I assure you that it will bring benefits that far outweigh any risk of your state secrets leaking.” He was being much more loquacious than usual.

Balblair grinned at Strath’s passionate speech. “It’s inevitable that other sorcery academies, including ours, get compared to Fiddich Academy. Most people seem to get it into their heads that Fiddich Academy is better than the rest because it emphasizes proficiency in all subjects rather than having a single specialty,” she said, beginning to take step after step toward us.

Strath, Elisa, and even Cameron looked nervous. Balblair took note of this out of the corner of her eye, but then she looked straight at me.

“It’s vexing, you know?” she continued. “In my opinion, we’re conducting research on the same level as Fiddich. If I had to point out a key difference between us, it’d be that our research is the result of one country’s singular efforts, as opposed to those of multiple countries.”

Balblair was now right in front of me. She was much taller than she’d initially appeared, and I had to crane my neck to maintain eye contact.

“I understand,” I said. I understood where she was coming from, so there was no need to debate what she’d said. I debated telling her that outright, but then the corner of her lips curled and she snorted again.

“You’re very amusing. If you’re an upper-level instructor, you must be on the same level as—or maybe even more skilled than—Foar Pelno Rozes. Is that where your excessive confidence comes from?” she asked, sizing me up. She then showed me her forearm, which had a basic, ancient magic circle inscribed on it.

“Is that a tattoo? You put it directly on your skin?” What a waste.

“Seriously?” she snapped. “I got it in my head that maybe you were close to the abyss of magecraft if you had the guts to make those crazy requests. But if you think this is merely a tattoo, then there’s absolutely no way. There’s no point in talking to you at all.” She let out a long sigh, lowered her arms and turned away, having lost interest.

“I’m not sure why you’re upset. Were you hoping I’d react to your magic circle? To be honest, putting one on your skin makes it difficult to alter in the future, so I wouldn’t recommend tattooing it.”

Balblair stopped in place. “Oh?” she murmured, turning back around. “So you do know that this is a magic circle?” From the way she was practically beaming now, I had a feeling that she was similar to Owain.

“Well, it’s not like there’s anything else it could be. For the record, Elisa is also studying magic circles, so I’m sure she’d recognize it from a glance as well.”

“Huh?! Uh, y-y-yes, I could more or less tell!” Elisa stammered, caught off guard by me dragging her into the conversation.

Balblair, Alberta, and Cameron all looked at Elisa.

“I see,” Balblair said. “Taking into account the diversity of research at Fiddich Academy, it makes sense that some people would be studying magic circles as well. This has become quite interesting. In that case, I’ll prepare a place where we can speak at length. Let’s conduct our formal negotiations there.”

“Thank you very much.” It sounded like she’d be going through a lot of trouble for us.

Balblair turned her focus to Alberta. “Sir Alberta, thank you for these very amusing guests. If you have the opportunity to do so, please do join us for our talks.”

“Very well.”

Balblair nodded, satisfied with his response, and then turned to Cameron. “Cameron, I trust you got everything. Prepare the west roof for our guests.”

“Th-The west roof?” Cameron asked, surprised.

Balblair cut off any further words from him with a sharp look. “This discussion is over. Cameron will be your guide.”

We followed Cameron out of the headmistress’s office. As we stepped into the hallway, Alberta heaved a sigh of relief.

“That was nerve-racking, Lady Aoi,” he said, almost bitterly.

I wasn’t sure what there was to be upset about, so I turned to look at Strath and Elisa, but they looked back at me through squinted eyes.

Strath, exhausted, exchanged looks with Elisa before he spoke. “You and Lady Balblair are similar in forcefulness and the way that you’ll barrel straight ahead regardless of what or who’s in front of you.”

“The ways that the two of you talk are almost opposites, but it strangely feels as if you could be sisters,” Elisa said with a wry smile.

“I’m not sure I understand,” I said. “From where I stand, we’re nothing alike.”

Even setting aside our appearances, I felt like Balblair was a lot more well-spoken than I was. I wasn’t someone who could comfortably stand in the spotlight. I was more on the quiet side, so at parties with a lot of people, I’d always been very impressed by people who could strike up conversations with others. Balblair was definitely the type of individual who could do that. It seemed like both Elisa and Strath felt differently, though.

Although we’d only just met Cameron today, he concurred with Elisa and Strath. “It felt like a battle between two very strong-willed women...” He looked at Alberta, who also nodded strongly.

Nobody seems to be on my side here. Realizing that this was a losing battle, I decided to change the topic.

“Oh, right, Cameron, I meant to ask, but is there something strange about the west roof that made it weird for Balblair to bring up?”

Cameron fumbled for words, but he seemed to immediately give up in favor of a short sigh. He walked to a window in the hallway where I could see a small courtyard and the walls of the school building nearest to the entrance of the campus. Cameron pointed in that direction.

“The building right on the edge of the campus serves as the treatment ward—in the interest of getting the injured healed as quickly as possible. The building beyond holds the mid- and upper-level sorcery lecture rooms. Then, in the center, we have the building that we’re in. Everything up to here is treated as the eastern side of the academy. The western side holds the instructors’ dorms, the library, and research rooms. The western roof is the place that’s hardest to see from outside, so it’s where we conduct a lot of confidential sorcery development. In other words, it contains valuable secrets that are on the same level as those in the Sorcery Research Room.”

“Oh, how convenient,” I said, elated. After all, that’s where all their documents would be. I’d easily be able to learn more about their sorcery there.

“Is this going to be okay?” Alberta asked, trading grimaces with Cameron.

“I understand your concern. I’m right there with you,” Cameron said.

◇

We passed through the courtyard and moved toward the farthest building on the western side of the campus. It seemed like Cameron had stopped trying to hide anything, as he was now pointing out all of the critical facilities as he guided us.

“This is the library which everyone up to general instructors can enter. Back there are the research rooms for the general instructors. Next, we have the library for upper-level instructors. Similarly, their research rooms are in the back. At our academy, only those who are proficient at healing or water sorcery can become upper-level instructors. Previously, there were instructors who conducted research on fire and wind, but now since we focus only on developing healing and water sorcery, there are some unused rooms.”

“Are you lacking instructors for those elements?” I asked.

“No, but none of them meet the proficiency level that the headmistress is looking for, so as a result there aren’t any upper-level instructors who teach fire, wind, or earth sorcery.” After laying bare the current state of the academy, Cameron glanced at me.

Suddenly, Elisa wrapped her arms around me. “You can’t have Aoi!” she declared.

Cameron let out a dry chuckle and pointed down the hall. “That wasn’t my intention. Back there are stairs that lead to the roof. Please follow me.”

The roof had a lot of open space, and I saw a large magic circle scratched onto the surface. I wonder if this is primarily used to conduct their magic circle research. It looks like the circle’s been erased and redrawn a few times. There were also objects scattered about, such as glass bottles and porcelain vases. It appeared that they were making medicine here too. As I took in all of these different sights, Strath and Elisa approached me.

“So?”

“So, what?” I asked.

Elisa pointed toward the magic circle. “I think he’s asking if you think the magic circle is usable.”

“I see. Well, what do you think?” I asked.

Elisa gulped. “Huh? Me? Um... Well, I can tell that one part is about changing the shape of fire, but the connecting bits are a little bit too complicated for me...”

I nodded at her answer and stepped closer to the magic circle. It was a standard shape, but its inscriptions and patterns were irregular. Regardless of the way it was drawn, though, it would still function correctly.

“It’ll work. It’s inefficiently drawn, though, so it’ll use up a lot more mana than it needs to.”

Heavy footsteps rang out from behind me. “Oh? Inefficiently drawn, you say?” Balblair asked as she joined our group.

Her voice emanated even more of a powerful, oppressive force than it had earlier. I wasn’t sure if she’d changed her outfit just for the purpose of coming here, but she was now wearing a pitch-black cloak. She was the spitting image of what I’d imagine a black mage to look like. All of her attention was on me as she folded her arms and looked at me gleefully.

I hadn’t come here to pick a fight with anyone, but I believed that it was best not to lie or sugarcoat the truth when it came to my thoughts on sorcery research. Giving constructive criticism would help to advance sorcery in Maple Leaf. With that in mind, I began my deductions on the magic circle.

“From what I can tell after looking at the inscriptions, this is a magic circle to produce fire sorcery. I was a little surprised by that, because I’d figured that the research on magic circles here would have to do with healing sorcery. This magic circle in particular instructs the formation of fire, changes it into the shape of a wall, releases it, and then moves it. However, the parts of the inscription related to shifting the shape of the fire into the wall are repeated twice, so there’s a large drop in efficiency.”

Cameron’s eyes widened. “You could tell all of that from a single glance?”

Balblair stroked her chin. “I see... Then how would you change it?” she asked.

“Well, with this type of magic circle, you should first consider this part at the front and have the mana you pour into it flow in a single direction. To do that, I would change the sorcery script and symbols so that they go counterclockwise. Then, the parts related to changing the shape into a wall should go counterclockwise. I’d also add a part to boost the intensity and raise the temperature of the flames. The remaining problems have to do with stopping the wall from being fixed in place and moving it. As things are right now, there’s no way of telling how the flames will move. To fix this, you’ll need to determine both the direction and speed of the wall of fire. What would you like to do in regard to that?”

After listing off my thoughts, I decided that it’d be best to leave the specifics of the implementation to Balblair. Now all eyes were on her. She folded her arms and shut her eyes for a little bit. After several seconds, she opened her eyes again with a resolute smile.

“I see... I’ll trust your words based on the results of past experiments.” She walked past me and stood in front of the magic circle. “All of our test results until now have taught us that if we didn’t start pouring in mana from here, it wouldn’t activate. You’re right about the flow of mana too. When we had the mana go clockwise, more often than not it failed or didn’t work quite right.”

I felt everyone’s eyes pivot to me. I stood next to Balblair and looked down at the magic circle. “So what would you like to do? If you’re okay with me doing so, I wouldn’t mind trying to alter it.”

A cackle escaped her mouth. “Ha ha ha! We’ve had so many instructors come here to research ancient magic circles, and through all of our combined trials and errors, we finally came up with this. Never did I think I’d hear someone say so simply that they could just fix it.”

“I’m very sorry. If you’d prefer to leave it like this, then I wouldn’t mind trying to redraw it elsewhere.”

“Oh no, that’s not what I meant. We’ve been fumbling our way forward through the darkness, not even knowing if we were on the right track, and we were finally able to come up with a few magic circles, but you... Your research has progressed so far that you can redraw this from just a single look. I’m just so shocked by that fact that I can’t help but laugh.”

Cameron opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it again. After a few seconds, he seemed to find the words he was looking for. “That’s not possible... There’s no country in the world whose research on magic circles is that advanced,” he whispered.

Balblair overheard him even though his words were barely audible. “Cameron, don’t run away from reality,” she said. “In the world of sorcery research, the most important thing is the results. If anything, we should be happy that we’ve gained a precious clue for advancing our own research. This is infinitely better than having other countries outstrip us in the blink of an eye,” she said, giving him a tongue-lashing.

“Y-Yes, headmistress!” Cameron barked, straightening his back and standing at attention like a soldier.

Yeah, I really don’t see any resemblance between me and Balblair.

“I’d like it if you redrew the magic circle,” she told me.

I then examined the surface of the roof, which was one massive stone slab. I think this should work well. I’ll draw the magic circle on it.

“This material is pitch-black. Did you scratch the lines for the magic circle into it?” I asked, pointing down.

“Yes. It’s called obsidian-eye stone. With magic circle experiments, it’s necessary to redraw them over and over. With this stone, you can easily buff out scratches in the outer layers and reuse the surface. If you polish it, it’ll become smooth enough to reflect light like a mirror.”

“I see. In that case, it should be okay to use this stone for myself.”

“Hmm? Well, if you want to, sure,” she said, tilting her head in confusion.

After receiving her approval, I began drawing the magic circle. I got down on one knee and placed the palm of my hand against the rock, then I began pouring mana into it.

“Processing.”

The surface of the stone began to ripple as if it were water, and the previously drawn magic circle disappeared. A blue light moved in a ring, after which a clean groove appeared, one centimeter deep. It almost looked like a crop circle from those grainy, poorly edited images you’d see on alien blogs back on Earth. As I thought back to the videos I’d seen in my past life, I began inscribing the text to create a wall of flames. Not even a minute later, the magic circle was complete, and I stood up.

“That should do it. Now could I have someone activate it?” I asked.

Balblair was standing there as if she were frozen in time, but once she noticed my gaze, she coughed and glanced behind her.

“Cameron. Do it.”

He hadn’t expected this sudden command, and his eyes were as wide as dinner plates. “U-Um... If I saw that right, you drew it without an incantation, but—”

“Cameron!” Balblair said sternly.

“Y-Yes. Well then...” Though still reeling in shock, Cameron moved to the magic circle I’d drawn. He placed his hand against it and began channeling his mana into it. He was very quick at this, as expected of an upper-level instructor.

“Oh, by the way, you need to say the name of the spell to trigger it, so please say Fire Wall.”

Cameron took a deep breath and spoke slowly. “Fire Wall.”

Flames erupted around him with the intensity of an explosion, and they immediately rose over a hundred meters into the air.

As I looked at the roaring inferno, I groaned. “Oops. I made it so that it would appear around the magic circle, so this is more of a pillar than a wall. I should have had the flames spread out to either side after rising. Or maybe I should change it completely so that it spins into the sky and spreads across it.”

As I thought about different ways to improve the magic circle, Cameron jumped up, frightened.

“U-Um, the fire won’t stop! And I’m not even channeling any more mana!”

Balblair cast a doubtful eye over the magic circle. “Does that mean it’s a failure?”

I shook my head. “No, it’s simply still functioning because it’s still primed with mana. Cameron added too much.”

Cameron wrung his hands and began sweating. “N-No, that can’t be! I added the normal amount—the minimum amount needed to activate a magic circle!” he cried out.

I don’t think he understands that what he perceives as the minimum amount is the problem here. “That amount is too much. This is my fault for not explaining this, but compared to the magic circle from earlier, this one is about ten times more efficient. In other words, you provided about ten times the amount of mana necessary.”

Cameron flapped his mouth, trying in vain to say something. I smiled and decided to put his mind at ease.

“For the time being, I will extinguish the fire. Freezing.” A small-scale blizzard appeared and turned into a white wall that engulfed the pillar of flame in the blink of an eye, turning it to pellets of ice that rained down.

This is kind of like diamond dust. As I watched the almost fantastical sight, Balblair spoke from beside me.

“I see. So this is the power of an upper-level instructor from Fiddich?”

Interlude: Balblair

Countless times today I’d been beaten over the head by the sense that my world had been turned upside down. And every time that had happened, it’d been because of the sorcerer named Aoi. It didn’t seem like she noticed the earthshattering changes she had brought at all, though. She’d rattled off facts about magic circles as if they were common knowledge, and she’d even drawn a magic circle with incantationless sorcery that I’d never seen before.

Even more impressively, she’d been able to create a pillar of fire from the magic circle. Even back when we used to have an upper-level instructor who specialized in fire sorcery, I’d never seen them produce something like that. Aoi had been able to effortlessly extinguish the flames too. Most likely, the sorcery she’d used was at such a high level that any country would value it as top secret information. If she kept showing us wonders like this, I had no qualms with giving her a portion of our research.

“Will you share Maple Leaf’s knowledge on sorcery and anatomy now?” she asked, interrupting my reverie.

Her demeanor was incredibly calm, and I got the impression that she didn’t think that what she’d done had been very impressive at all. The juxtaposition of the impressive feat she’d just accomplished with her unfazed attitude made me laugh.

“Aha ha ha! After you’ve shown us this much, there’s no way I can turn you down. Tell me what you want to know, and I’ll go through it one by one.”

“Thank you very much,” she said graciously.

I smiled and faced her. “However, I’d like you to continue telling us what you know about magic circles. Oh, and I’d like you to teach me the incantationless spell you used just now too. Sound fair?”

I did my best to present this as an even trade, but it was actually a pretty lopsided deal in our favor. Considering how far beyond our knowledge hers was when it came to magic circles, she had the right to decide what information we would exchange. From Aoi’s point of view, she could easily ask us to reveal all of our secrets to her. Tragically, though, our research on magic circles was very behind hers, so we didn’t really have anything to offer in return. Our bargaining position was quite weak.

That’s why I thought if we could at least show her that we were above her in terms of healing sorcery and anatomy knowledge, then maybe we could get some more information from her. I wasn’t sure how she’d react to my plan, so I was a little surprised when she simply nodded.

“That’s all right with me. Since we have a limited amount of time, I’ll begin explaining magic circles and shortening incantations.”

I couldn’t believe how easily she’d accepted my terms, and I stood there blinking. “That sounds good to me, but are you sure?”

Aoi looked confused for a few moments until she finally got what I was implying. “Yes, I’m sure. After all, my goal is to advance sorcery across the world.”

“Advance sorcery?” I couldn’t help but repeat her words. I’d thought this was for her own personal research, but I’d been completely off base. She was strikingly different from the Fanatic Sorcerer, Crown Windsor.

“Wait, Lady Aoi. How many countries have you been to before coming here? Don’t tell me that magic circles and incantationless sorcery are another country’s state secret...”

The very thought made me shiver. If one of the other great countries was at this level, our country was already massively behind. My mind raced with fear as I awaited Aoi’s answer.

“No, Maple Leaf is the first country I’ve come to,” she said nonchalantly.

“I see,” I mumbled.

Judging from our conversations up until now and her general personality, I didn’t think Aoi was lying. However, I was beginning to feel worried about Fiddich Academy. Though it was made up of people from all different countries and was funded jointly by these nations, its physical location was still in Vahtedd.

It was already problematic for a single academy to have access to this abnormal sorcery, but it’d be a lot worse if Vahtedd gained a monopoly over it. It’d completely tilt the scales of military might in their favor. But as my mind ran through these possibilities, I thought about Aoi’s stated goal.

“Lady Aoi, you said that you want to advance sorcery across the world. In that case, would you teach us new types of sorcery if we transferred into Fiddich Academy?”

Aoi nodded. If she’s being honest, then maybe it’d be best if I sent some of our talented sorcerers to Fiddich Academy. Or wait, maybe I should go myself. It would be pretty funny for someone my age to become a student and study abroad. I’ll start preparing the paperwork for Cameron to be the headmaster in my absence.

I couldn’t help but smile while thinking of what was to come.

Chapter 9: The Sorcery Research Room

We didn’t end up exchanging much information about magic circles and sorcery because we’d spent too much time talking about the politics of Maple Leaf’s sorcery academy. However, Balblair promised that she’d make time for a more detailed discussion the next time we visited, so we parted ways with high hopes.

At the very least, our students had received a proper tour of the school today, and they’d been able to learn about the structure and content of the academy’s classes. Things were much different here than at Fiddich, and my students had been talking about some interesting techniques they’d observed. I was happy that even though we’d only been touring today, the students had still earnestly focused on learning about sorcery.

◇

The next morning, Crown Windsor popped in to whisk us away. Fortunately, we’d just finished breakfast and were chatting among ourselves, so we weren’t in the middle of anything.

“Morning! I really want to show you around the Sorcery Research Room, Lady Aoi. Let’s go! What should I show you first? It’s probably best if I show you our advancements with healing sorcery, right? Or maybe I should show you my own research and get your opinion.”

Judging by how excited he was, he’d probably volunteered to be our guide. He was so eager that he was talking to himself about how to do the tour.

“Please calm down, Crown. We’ll head out right after everyone’s ready,” I said.

“Okay.” Crown didn’t relax even slightly, but he channeled his energy into pacing the room.

He reminds me of a child who’s impatiently waiting to get on a ride at the amusement park. Owain acted the exact same way every time he completed a new sorcery tool.

We all got ready in our rooms and then returned.

“All right. Let’s get going then,” said Crown. “We’ll start by showing you what the water sorcery department is working on.”

“Oh, water sorcery?”

“Yeah! Also, I can’t stop thinking about that ice sorcery you showed me, so I want you to show it to everyone else at the Research Room too.”

“Oh, I see.”

As we continued our conversation, Crown led us to the Research Room. He was in such high spirits that he was practically walking on air. His talkativeness made him somewhat annoying, but at the same time I felt a little nostalgic for my conversations with Owain.

The Sorcery Research Room turned out to be much more than just a room. In fact, it was an entire collection of buildings that were built behind the castle, fairly hidden. Each of the buildings had flat roofs and were semicircular. Most buildings in the Holy Capital had square designs with slanted roofs, so this was certainly an uncommon sight.

There were also some square buildings attached to the semicircular ones, which were about half the size.

“We study each element in a different building. All the materials we use for our experiments are also here too,” Crown said as he led us toward one of the square buildings. The exterior was white just like with all the other buildings, and the doors were made of a black iron. “This here is the water sorcery research room.”

Crown opened the door without knocking. The inside was dim, but I could make out the details as the light from outside filtered in. There was a long table at the entrance, and there were three people standing at the back of the room. I caught a few words of their conversation, a debate about what to place over the table, but they stopped talking as soon as they noticed us.

I wonder if all the books in the back on the wall are about sorcery. This is pretty exciting.

Crown entered first and called out to the three people. “Morning! I’ve brought a guest today from Fiddich Academy. Her name’s Lady Aoi, and she’s an upper-level instructor there. Show her what we’re currently researching. I wanna hear what she thinks.”

“Urk. Crown Windsor?! Y-You can’t just barge in here!” replied one of the researchers.

“An upper-level instructor from Fiddich Academy?! No way would we show her our research!”

Crown had left out a lot of details about why I was here in his introduction of me, and it seemed like this was the first time he’d even broached the subject with his fellow sorcerers.

Crown told me yesterday that he had business here, so I don’t understand why he didn’t just give them a heads-up then. I lightly tapped him on the back, noticing the tension between him and the other researchers.

“Pardon me,” I said, moving next to him. I looked at the three researchers, who met my gaze with suspicion. “My name is Aoi Konominato, and I’m visiting from Fiddich Academy. With me are two other instructors. We received Emperor Diageo’s permission to have a tour of the Research Room.” I showed them the bracelet I’d received and then bowed.

They silently exchanged looks for a few moments and then huddled up.

“H-His Majesty gave her permission?”

“I knew she was coming, but not that she was going to see our research.”

After they whispered among themselves, they came to a consensus and turned back to me warily.

“You said your name is...Aoi? We’re a little uneasy seeing Crown accompanying you, but we’ve no choice if His Majesty gave you permission. Please feel free to look around the Research Room,” the woman in the middle said.

Yep. I knew that being respectful and polite would help us come to an understanding.

“Thank you very much,” I said. “May I ask you to teach me some water sorcery that’s unique to Maple Leaf?”

Hmm? Why did they freeze up? I thought we’d come to an understanding.

They huddled together again and began whispering.

“She’s the same as Crown!”

“Does she actually have His Majesty’s permission?”

“Well, that’s what I heard...”

They had a back-and-forth discussion in hushed tones, then finally faced us again. They seemed to have something against Fiddich Academy, and their expressions hadn’t softened one bit.

“We agree to share our sorcery research. However, it isn’t fair if we’re the only ones doing so. We’d like it if you could share something that our country doesn’t know about,” the woman said. Her voice was polite, but her eyes showed an unspoken combativeness.

The best sorcerers in the country worked in the Research Room, so I wasn’t sure what I could show them that they didn’t know. I could tell from the confident looks they were giving me that they were thinking the same thing. I’d spent many years studying under Owain, though, so there was probably something I’d learned under him that they’d yet to encounter.

“That’s fair. In that case, I’ll demonstrate a spell for you first. Let’s go outside. It’s safer if there’s more space,” I said, pointing toward the door.

I don’t want to destroy this room.

The woman scoffed at me. “All of these buildings include an experiment room that’s sturdy enough to withstand even advanced sorcery. Please feel free to use it for your demonstration.” She confidently gestured to a door at the back of the room.

Strath and Elisa looked like they wanted to say something, but Crown motioned for them to stay silent.

“Sounds interesting. Let’s just watch,” Crown said with a cryptic smile. Whatever he was thinking seemed to be lost on the researchers.

The experiment room was much bigger than I’d expected. It was about half the size of a tennis court, with thick metal doors at the end and metal plates lining the walls. The stone-tiled floor was about a meter and a half below ground level.

“Maple Leaf’s sorcerers developed this layout while taking into account various types of continuous experiments. Many court sorcerers have conducted advanced sorcery experiments in these rooms, but none of them have been able to cause enough destruction to damage anything or hurt anyone outside,” the woman explained as she walked down the stairs with the other two researchers.

I nodded. “By lowering the floor and making the ceiling spherical, you’ve made the room more resistant to impact damage and pressure.” I followed them down the stairs.

The floor was as hard as it looked. My steps echoed loudly in the enclosed space, drawing everyone’s attention.

“I’ll begin with advanced water sorcery,” I said.

Interlude: Crown

Appearances could always be deceiving. After all, I’d met a woman who looked young enough to be a student but who’d turned out to be an upper-level instructor from Fiddich Academy.

Fiddich Academy had the reputation of being the best school of sorcery in the world, so a lot of people naturally thought that their staff must be the greatest sorcerers. However, the best sorcerers in the world generally became court sorcerers rather than teachers. In fact, most people who studied sorcery aimed to become court sorcerers, whether their motivations were their families, status and prestige, or simply money.

Every now and then, there would be some eccentric people who were interested in the sorcery techniques of other countries, or people who were talented but couldn’t join the royal court. These people would go to Fiddich Academy or move to other countries. It was common sense to put their skills to use elsewhere.

But since every country’s leaders tapped those who excelled in their respective sorcery specialties to be court sorcerers, people of that position tended to consider themselves better than everyone else. For example, the Holy Maple Leaf Empire’s top healing sorcerers always said that they were second to none. But I was also certain that even the water sorcery researchers here felt that they were superior to those in other countries—and to Aoi as well.

As a court sorcerer myself, I’d been trying to conduct my research as thoroughly as possible, even though I lacked sufficient assistants and locations to test out my research. I’d desperately wanted to beat Fiddich Academy and prove that our sorcery was more elite than theirs. At least, that’s how I’d felt up until I’d met Aoi. I’d changed my mind after seeing what she could do, and most likely these researchers would too.

“Let me begin by dispelling a common misconception,” Aoi said.

She activated a water spell without any incantation. A white, stringlike stream flowed out of her hands and bored holes into the ceiling, ripping it apart. The previously dark room flooded with light as bits of rubble rained down on us with a thunderous roar. When the cloud of dust cleared, Aoi stood illuminated in a beam of light, her arms spread wide.

“Fire, wind, earth, and water sorcery—any one of these could easily break a room like this. If you place too much faith in your facilities, you could suffer an accident, so please do be careful,” she said in a concerned tone.

After her demonstration of such a frightening water spell, I grinned and applauded.

“Amazing! As expected of you, Lady—no, Professor Aoi! I didn’t know that you could do this much with water sorcery! They’re studying ice sorcery here, which, as you know, is a derivation of water sorcery! Please show them your ice sorcery too!” I felt like an excited kid. I was clapping so loudly.

Aoi held up a hand. “I apologize, but I need to correct you on something.”

“Hmm? What did I get wrong?” I asked.

She began preparing a spell. “It’s true that you could call ice sorcery a derivation of water sorcery if you produce water and then change its properties to ice. However, if you do it like this...”

Aoi held up one hand and sprayed countless droplets of water into the air. Then, she activated a spell that coated those beads of water with a white mist. Finally, she sent them flying into what was left of the ceiling faster than a hail of arrows, riddling it with even more holes. It was almost too fast to see. The remains of the ceiling looked like they weren’t long for this world at this point. Everyone stayed still as they looked up in awe.

Aoi launched right into her explanation. “Just like that, even if you don’t change the properties of the water, if you stop the molecules and atoms from moving, you can freeze most things. The temperature you need for that is negative two hundred seventy-three degrees.”

I had absolutely no clue what she was talking about. I didn’t even know if I’d be able to understand it if I earnestly listened to her explanations. There was one thing I knew for sure, though: the simple fact that someone possessed knowledge of sorcery this advanced was wonderful.

“The abyss of magecraft...” One of the researchers said, echoing the exact thing I was thinking.

◇

When I looked at Aoi, I saw the kind of sorcerer I wanted to become—my ideal. When I’d first met her, I’d only been really surprised that she’d been able to activate advanced sorcery quicker than I could, but my impression of her had completely shifted over time.

I was constantly impressed whenever she cast a spell without an incantation. That blew me away because, in my mind, a spell was similar to a complicated piece of art. Someone observing from the outside would have a hard time grasping how it was made. An incantation was essentially the instructions for creating and shaping a spell.

Seasoned artists could create shortcuts to create their pieces faster than anyone else, just like experienced sorcerers could shorten incantations. But no matter how skilled they were, they couldn’t skip every step and still produce their work. And yet, Aoi had thrown that logic out the window. She completely ignored incantations while using incredibly complex sorcery.

I’d witnessed firsthand how she’d created an iceberg without reciting a word. That feat alone had crumbled any reservations I’d held toward her. Not only did she completely beat me in terms of the scale and speed of her spellcasting, but she also had a fundamentally different approach to sorcery as a whole.

This is so exciting! I remembered thinking at the time. Even as she’d negated my own spell with her own, I’d genuinely been having so much fun.

Every time I hit a dead end in my research, I would remember how I’d felt when I was learning my first spell. It had been a pretty unimpressive spell, as all it had done was produce a small flame, which I’d used to light the end of a stick. However, to my child self, it had felt like a raging inferno.

I could still remember the rush of feelings I’d had as if it were yesterday. That tiny flame had lit a metaphorical fire in me to discover the very limits of sorcery and learn as many other spells as possible. My whole world had opened up to endless possibilities.

Seeing Aoi’s revolutionary sorcery had only fanned the flames of curiosity inside of me. She rejected modern sorcery concepts that’d been built up over the last few centuries, which were proceeding in a rigid, linear direction. Instead, she’d found a completely new route.

I was filled with a childlike wonder trying to figure out what kind of thinking and vision went into her sorcery, and how she could manifest spells without any blueprints or steps.

I really wanted to attend one of her classes, but our delegation had brought her back with us to Maple Leaf before I’d had the chance. Honestly, Maple Leaf was no fun. Its culture was so focused on exclusivity that it not only rejected the sorcery of other countries but also almost completely focused on healing sorcery.

Despite Maple Leaf’s arrogance, though, I’d still been eager to see how Aoi would react to our healing sorcery. Her differing opinions had the potential to break the empire’s belief in healing sorcery supremacy. With that in mind, I’d been constantly on the lookout for any opportunity where I could observe her sorcery. After all, on the day of our departure to Maple Leaf, she’d demonstrated flight sorcery, which is something that all countries had been researching unsuccessfully for many years.

I remember standing in front of the floating carriage, whispering, “H-How...?”

Aoi had explained the spell so casually. Hearing it once wasn’t enough for me to understand how it worked, but I felt strongly that once I grasped the principles behind it and conducted my own research, I’d be able to do it too.

I’d been so excited by the experience of flight sorcery that time itself flew by, and we arrived in the Holy Capital in what felt like a matter of moments. I desperately wanted Aoi to see my research so that maybe I could get some kind of hint as to how to progress. But before that, I wanted to break through the hard heads of the other researchers.

These sorcerers hated innovation. Whenever I tried talking to them about a new spell, they’d immediately shut me down by saying it was impossible. However, I knew their cookie-cutter world would crumble to the ground once they saw Aoi in action. They’d never say anything was unattainable again. After all, Aoi could make the impossible seem not just possible but even easy.

“This is getting to be really fun,” I’d said to myself as I’d gone to fetch Aoi and her friends today, grinning from ear to ear.

◇

“Do you understand?” Aoi asked, looking at me inquisitively since I hadn’t said a single word.

I wasn’t sure how to answer her, though. To be honest, it might have been better to say that I didn’t understand. Or maybe it’d be best to protect the little bit of pride I had left as a sorcerer and be vague with my answer. All of the knowledge and common sense I’d learned up until now was falling apart in the blink of an eye.

Aoi could tell that I hadn’t understood, and she spoke again before I could answer her, holding her palms upward. “Everything in this world is made up of clusters of invisible building blocks. Just like this...”

She whispered something and a pile of what looked like sand appeared out of her palms and then shifted into the shape of Alberta holding his arms out and smiling.

“W-Wait, is that—?!” I yelled as I examined the doll of sand. Its details were abnormally precise. The doll was about the size of Aoi’s head and honed like the work of a master bronzesmith.

She did all this with a spell? I didn’t hear any incantation, but this has to be some kind of earth sorcery.

“So are you saying that just like how this statue is made up of many bits of earth, all things in this world are made up of tiny building blocks?” I asked.

Aoi beamed proudly. “Precisely. However, it’d be best if you think of them as even smaller than what you’re imagining. When these particles move quickly, they generate heat. Conversely, when they stop moving, they become cold. That’s the overall gist of things, but this concept greatly relates to fire and water sorcery.”

I could tell she wasn’t lying. She’d broken this down as simply as she could to explain it to us. However, the concept was still difficult to grasp.

“So you’re able to use fire sorcery too?” someone whispered through a sigh.

“Oh, I just thought of something great!” I said, having a brilliant idea. “Maybe it’d be better if we had ten or twenty people hear this theory! Just the few of us here might not understand, but with more people, there’s sure to be someone who does! Let’s go visit as many researchers as possible, bring them all together, and then have Professor Aoi give a lecture!”

◇

We went around to all of the other buildings and began gathering a group of researchers. If at least one person could understand what Aoi was talking about, then there was no doubt that sorcery in Maple Leaf would advance further.

“Shouldn’t you stop her?” Elisa asked Strath, who was walking in front of her.

Strath sighed and shook his head. I wasn’t sure what they were talking about, but then Colt walked up to them.

“Professor Elisa, Professor Aoi wants to eventually revolutionize sorcery in every country, right? It might be best to let her do what she wants now so Maple Leaf doesn’t complain later.”

“Huh? But this is definitely going to become a huge incident,” Elisa said.

It seemed that they were worried that they’d be wrapped up in some kind of trouble due to Aoi’s demonstration.

“I’m sure there will be confusion and a lot of commotion in the moment, but I think if she holds back because of that and teaches this to another one of the great countries, it’ll become an even bigger problem down the road,” Colt said. “They might think that Professor Aoi intentionally snubbed Maple Leaf. They might even suspect that she did it on the orders of Vahtedd or Fiddich.”

“Y-You’re saying it might trigger a conflict between the two countries?”

“It might be even worse than that. If she teaches the majority of the great countries, and only some of them are left without this new knowledge, that could destroy the balance of power. If that happens, there might even be conflict between multiple countries. The stronger ones could use this advantage as an opportunity to steal territory from weaker countries.”

“Th-That’d be horrible!”

The conversation between Colt and Elisa was really blowing things out of proportion. However, Strath was nodding along with a serious expression. It was certainly true that Aoi had exceptional sorcery skills. Not only could she cast spells without an incantation, she also could use flight sorcery. Just those two things were enough to consider her revolutionary. However, even if she taught what she knew to other countries, there would be a limit to how many sorcerers could actually replicate it. The balance of power might shift a little bit, but I seriously doubted that the world would descend into war.

I was sure that even if war did break out, the ruling forces wouldn’t let Aoi go into battle. She shouldered the future of sorcery, so if she were killed, it’d be a great loss for the entire world.

Elisa began clutching her stomach and grimacing, and I began to wonder whether I should adjust my own thinking given her visceral reaction to the threat of war. As I weighed the possibilities, Ayle and Shenley walked over and reprimanded Colt.

“Please don’t bully Professor Elisa.”

“Professor Aoi won’t cause a war.”

Colt frowned. “I don’t know about that. At this rate, I think it’s a very likely possibility.”

Shenley resolutely shook her head. “Professor Aoi would never let a war break out. Even if a country tried to start one, she’d come to the aid of the country under attack and stop the war.”

From an outsider’s perspective, I couldn’t help but think that Shenley’s claim was very bold, maybe even crazy. She was essentially saying that Aoi’s strength rivaled that of an entire country. Even Colt went silent and looked deep in thought.

Is there any point in actually entertaining such a ridiculous idea? Only the legendary hero who could defeat the strongest dragon by himself could take on an entire army. And that’s just a folktale.

Despite that, I could tell that Colt was still seriously considering Shenley’s statement.

◇

“For something to burn, there must be heat, combustion, and oxygen. The balance of those components affects the intensity of the fire. However, if you create fire with mana, then you can forcibly increase its heat and provide oxygen. If you do that, then...”

Aoi created a blue flame so powerful that it melted off the roof of the experiment room we were in. The fire sorcerers from Maple Leaf were gobsmacked.

Next, she demonstrated earth sorcery by creating a massive tower of stone, which broke through the ceiling of the earth sorcerers’ experiment room. Then, she visited the wind sorcerers and blew off their roof. After each episode of destruction, she apologized and repaired the rooms with her sorcery. The researchers couldn’t take their eyes off of her.

“Wind can be incredibly powerful. The strongest whirlwinds can destroy buildings and even blow away dragons,” she prefaced while explaining how to strengthen wind after finishing repairs.

The wind sorcerers didn’t catch a word that she was saying, though. They were too distracted by the fact that she could use water, fire, earth, and wind at a higher proficiency than any of the upper-level instructors in Maple Leaf, and she could do it without even reciting incantations. The water, fire, and earth researchers who’d followed her to the wind sorcery building still hadn’t been able to shut their gaping mouths. I was beginning to realize that I’d still underestimated her despite everything I’d seen before now.

“Can she really use all types of sorcery?”

“You saw it with your own eyes, didn’t you?”

“But it’s still hard to believe...”

A group of water, fire, and earth sorcerers were conferring in disbelief. There was also a wind sorcerer who was in such shock that he was standing stiff as a board. Some of the others shot him looks of pity. I couldn’t blame him, though. In a single day, everything we thought we knew had been turned on its head. I couldn’t contain how impressed and emotional I was. My body began trembling, and I once again broke out into applause for Aoi.

She was seriously so amazing. She was astonishing beyond my wildest dreams. I was so jealous of the students who were able to learn from her. Aoi wasn’t some run-of-the-mill genius. She was someone who would revolutionize sorcery as we knew it. It was possible that if I stayed by her side, I’d be able to see all kinds of new sorcery. I’d pursue that dream even if the world erupted into war.

“All right, Professor Aoi! Let’s go to the healing sorcery researchers next!” I said, heart swelling with hope.

For better or worse, healing sorcery was what put the Holy Maple Leaf Empire on the map as one of the great countries. But it was possible that the very thing we took pride in might also be turned on its head today. Maybe it was time to destroy Maple Leaf’s rigid, antiquated concepts, lack of common sense, and pointless pride at their roots.

Aoi

I went around to the different research buildings for each element, got a gist of what they were working on, and showed them some of my sorcery so that it’d serve as a hint for their future research. After repeating this process a few times, I realized that the only type of sorcery left was healing.

Due to Crown’s suggestion, each time we visited a new building, the people there joined our group. That meant the amount of questions hurled at me while we walked from location to location also grew. Crown’s sudden clinginess also began to irk me.

“You said that oxygen is necessary for fire, but how do you add it?”

“It seems like you can use all types of sorcery without any incantations, but given the properties of incantations, don’t you need at least one verse?”

“How were you able to break through the roof of the earth sorcery experiment room when it’s harder than a rock?”

I tried to answer these kinds of questions as simply as I could, but I just seemed to be creating even more questions with my explanations. Well, this is not ideal.

Thankfully, we soon reached the healing sorcery building. Its design wasn’t too different from the other research rooms, but it was at least twice the size.

“There are at least three times the number of sorcerers conducting research on healing sorcery as all the other elements, in part to meet the demand of healing people from other countries in addition to Maple Leaf. However, because of the expanded roster, some people have joined who aren’t at the level of court sorcerers,” Crown explained with a disappointed look. He opened the door without any hesitation, as he’d consistently done up until now.

From their reactions, I could tell that the other researchers weren’t too appreciative of this. After all, it wasn’t good manners to just open doors without knocking. Crown was just a wildcard who didn’t care about rudeness.

The instant Crown opened the door, a man with a sharp expression came into view.

“Oh, it’s the captain...” Crown said, shutting up.

Crown took a few steps back, and the man came out of the room. He had silver hair and piercing eyes. He looked to be about forty years old and was a little haggard, but that didn’t in any way diminish the presence he exuded.

“Are you Lady Aoi Konominato? I’m Ahwald Smuggler, captain of the court sorcerers. I’m also Maple Leaf’s current holy man.”

“It’s nice to meet you. Yes, I’m Aoi Konominato. I’m an instructor at Fiddich Academy.”

Wrinkles formed on his forehead as he observed me. “You’re younger than I expected. From what I heard from Balblair, you’re able to use healing sorcery on the level of holy women. I can’t help but wonder where you could have learned that if not from Maple Leaf? How curious...”

Even though he spoke loud enough for me to hear, I couldn’t tell if he was actually talking to me or just himself. He spoke with a very unique cadence. The researchers who’d followed us here began squawking with surprise.

“She can use healing sorcery too?!”

“That’s not possible! So she can use all five elements at an advanced level, or even higher?”

Ahwald furrowed his brow further. “You can use all five elements? Is that even possible? Hmm... I suppose it is. There’s no way that our researchers could have mistaken what they saw. The only question is how. By using a sorcery tool as powerful as our top secret ones? But could a single person own such a valuable item? Hmm... I’d like you to show me each element.”

“Huh? Oh, okay. I don’t mind at all.” I thought he was talking to himself this entire time, but now he’s speaking to me directly?

Ahwald’s eyebrows rose to meet the crevasses in his forehead. “I hear you can use very advanced sorcery, but you have no problem showing it to others? I know this benefits me, but I can’t help but be skeptical. That being said, I’m grateful that you’d do this for me, so I won’t rescind my request. First, I’m most interested in having you demonstrate your healing sorcery.”

“In that case, I’ll give a practical demonstration of healing.”

“Thank you.”

Although we were going along with his plan now, I didn’t have a problem with it. If anything, Ahwald was much easier to speak with than any of the other eccentric researchers I’d had to deal with.

“Follow me,” he said.

“All right.”

Ahwald turned on his heel and headed back into the building. As I followed him, I heard surprised voices from behind me.

“She’s getting on well with the captain.”

“Does Lady Aoi have an eclectic personality too?”

“I hear it’s pretty normal for those close to the abyss of magecraft to be weirdos.”

I was a little bothered by what they were saying, but not enough to scold them. Both Owain and Glen were on the stranger side, but I was definitely more grounded and normal. I’ll have to correct their incorrect perception of me sometime.

I saw five people inside the room. The walls housed bookcases that were packed with tomes, but the thing that caught my eye the most was the skeleton lying on a table.

“Is that an anatomical model?” I asked. It seemed very well made. In fact, it didn’t look like it was made of wood or plaster at all.

Ahwald shook his head, expressionless. “No, these are real bones. We tried making an anatomical model, but it’s better to have the real thing. It helps you understand the body and how it works better.”

Oh, I see. “That makes sense. To learn more about the body, it’s best to start with the skeleton. Perfect logic.”

Everyone’s eyes fell on me. Elisa, Ayle, Liz, Belle, and the others stood there with weirded out expressions.

I didn’t say anything wrong, though. You need to know the insides of the body if you truly want to understand anatomy.

Ahwald nodded in agreement. “Bones, blood, organs, muscles, fat, and skin—when using healing sorcery, I think it’s important to remember the construction of the body and how it all fits together.” He folded his arms and looked down at the skeleton. “There’s still a lot that some healers don’t know, and that can lead to them only fixing the outside of the body while leaving internal bleeding. This occurs the most with the abdomen. Why do you think that is?”

“That’s where the highest concentration of organs is. There’s the stomach, intestines, liver, kidneys, gall bladder, and pancreas. It’s basically a collection of vital organs. Even if you’re able to repair the flesh, skin, and blood vessels, they won’t be fully healed unless you also take care of the organs.”

All the researchers aside from Ahwald looked at one another with confusion.

“Gall...bladder?”

“Is that the name of an organ? The gray one maybe?”

“No, probably the dark-brown one.”

Oh, I guess their names for some organs are different, so my answer went over their heads. Or so I thought. Ahwald made a sound as if he’d understood something.

“There are instances where it seems like the wounds have been healed, when they’re actually not. So I guess what you said might be the reason. But that’s not the whole story. Many of those who can use healing sorcery have studied anatomy. However, there have been some holy men and women who weren’t too well-versed on anatomy.”

“How could they use healing sorcery?” I asked.

Ahwald, arms still folded, paused to think. “It’s hard to explain. I’m sure you know, but the first holy woman was only ten years old when she was able to save someone on the verge of death in the blink of an eye.”

“Are you saying that she instinctually understood the severity of the wounds and their locations?”

“Maybe. It’s hard for me to really understand the mind of a prodigy like that. I worked hard studying anatomy over many years before they named me the holy man. I honestly thought at first that you might be a prodigy of the same breed as the first holy woman. But judging by your knowledge and way of thinking, I guess you’re not. How curious...” he muttered as he walked farther back into the room and opened a door. “Time’s limited. I’d like you to show me your sorcery.”

Inside the room were three beds, each one occupied by severely injured patients. Bookshelves and unfamiliar tools lined the walls. I also saw boxes of what looked like medicinal herbs. Ten people in white clothes stood around the beds. This was far different from what I’d seen in Japanese hospitals, but I had no doubt that this was where the highest level of treatment in Maple Leaf occurred.

“The one in the middle is the most severely injured. He’s lost his right arm and has deep lacerations to his abdomen and right leg,” Ahwald explained as he stood by the bed.

The people in the room stepped back to make room for Ahwald. I took my place beside him. I looked at the patient closely and estimated that he was about thirty years old. Both his long beard and hair were wild and unkempt. Though the sorcerers here had managed to stop the bleeding, the freshness of his injuries was enough to make me want to look away.

“I see that the cuts are so deep that they’ve hit the bone. But this doesn’t look like the work of a blade. Was he attacked by a magic beast?”

“Yes, he was. He’s a criminal who was set to be hanged. When we don’t have any patients who need emergency attention, we have criminals like him fight magic beasts to create injuries to treat.”

Strath and the others from Fiddich squirmed with shock. None of the healing sorcerers here reacted, though, so this type of situation must have been commonplace for them.

I understand that for healing sorcery you need people to actually practice on, so a battlefield that’s constantly producing test subjects is useful. I suppose they use criminals for their research and practice because it’s the most efficient way.

However, there was one thing that bothered me. If they were successful in healing these criminals, would they have to fight again and go through the same process of getting injured? If that was the case, there was no greater punishment than that.

“What did this man do to earn a death sentence?” I asked.

Ahwald narrowed his eyes, but the rest of his face remained emotionless. “He swindled dozens of women and sold them to an illegal brothel, where many of them died very cruel deaths. He also—”

“I understand,” I said, cutting him off. This man was clearly an enemy of women everywhere, but seeing his current state still made me feel uneasy. “I’ll demonstrate my healing sorcery now.”

For healing a single person, Life Water was the best spell to use. To recover his arm, I’d use his other one to envision what it looked like normally. For his abdomen, I’d have to perfectly imagine normal, healthy organs. As these images became clearer in my head, I focused my mana into his body. I might not have been able to replicate the exact sizes of the organs he’d had before, but I’d be able to restore them, along with his bones and muscles, well enough that he could function normally.

“Life Water,” I said, activating my spell. I commanded my mana to flow over his wounds. After about a minute and a half, the once severely injured man was fully restored. After that, I likely had enough mana left to heal about twenty more people.

“I’ve finished. However, he’ll still have the scars that he had from previous injuries that already healed.”

Most of the people in their room looked stunned. However, Ahwald kept his studious expression.

“Healed in essentially the blink of an eye. Your healing speed is perhaps on the same level or faster than holy men and women, but your process is different. Your healing sorcery is a different type than ours.”

“You mean it’s a different type of sorcery altogether?” I asked.

He nodded and spread his arms out, pointing them at the two other patients. After reciting a five-verse incantation, he activated his spell. “White Grail.”

An instant later, a bright white light emanated from Ahwald. Does everything touched by that light get healed? The wounds on the two patients who’d been bathed in the light began to close up, and in about ten minutes they were fully restored.

The sorcerers from Maple Leaf belted out praises.

“Impressive as always, Sir Ahwald.”

Ahwald didn’t react whatsoever, and he turned to me. “This is the highest-level multi-person healing spell that we holy people are able to use. If you’re able to do the same thing, then to be honest, you have nothing to learn from us.”

The room fell silent.

“With your spell, you’re able to focus it in an area,” I said. “Does that mean that it can affect those who are behind walls or objects as well? For example, if there are five people you can see, but then three additional people who are hidden, would you heal five people or eight?”

“Eight. As long as they’re within range, then it doesn’t matter if we can see them or not.”

“I take it that’s due to something in the incantation, then. If that’s the case, I’d be grateful if I could learn more about it.”

Crown clapped his hands together. “The effects of healing sorcery incantations can slightly differ between sorcerers, but maybe we can analyze the incantation to discern the reason for that,” he said excitedly.

Ahwald fixed his sharp gaze on Crown. “Analyze the incantation, huh? It’s true that people using different types of healing sorcery might be able to conduct their research through different points of view. That’s certainly interesting to think about,” he muttered, looking down at me.

“I’ll show you the tome that only the holy man and holy woman are allowed to look at. It has all of the details about the research done by the most advanced healing sorcery researchers in Maple Leaf, as well as their original spells. We’ve all learned and mastered Maple Leaf’s healing sorcery basics, so you could say that our research into new spells aims to break free of that passed-down framework. But since you’ve learned healing sorcery in a completely different way, maybe our framework will teach you something new that will help advance your own research.”

I nodded eagerly. “I’d love nothing more. I came here hoping to be able to see the most advanced healing sorcery.”

Interlude: Diageo

The scheduled audiences and meetings had ended for the day, and now I was poring over the reports for petitions and last month’s budget. The budget had increased quite a bit due to a focus on trying to strengthen our sorcery research and our sorcery academy. That reminded me of Aoi Konominato, who was currently touring the Holy Capital.

Previous emperors had relied too much on the strength of the holy men and women, so once I’d become emperor, I’d begun an effort to research and study the sorceries of other countries. As a result, we’d made some notable progress, but not to the point where I could proudly say that we’d caught up to other nations. We were still ahead when it came to healing sorcery, but that was only because of our holy men and women. But there were some who’d held such positions, like Gleanorra, who’d hated using their gifts solely for Maple Leaf and had disappeared from the country. I knew that I needed to change things up.

That’s why I’d invited Aoi, the genius sorcerer I’d heard so much about, to our country. After meeting her, though, I had some reservations. Her way of thinking certainly was off-putting, but the way she showed absolutely no deference toward those of higher status demonstrated a complete lack of common sense. She seemed similar to Crown, who frequently argued with other court sorcerers. I hoped someday Crown could be a little more knowledgeable about politics so that he could be the model court sorcerer, but that was extremely wishful thinking.

If Aoi were going to observe the sorcery academy, it was possible that she might meet my daughter, Rose. She’d been ridiculed by her older and younger brothers for not being able to use healing sorcery, which had made her very cold and jaded. If she ever got into a disagreement with Aoi and butted heads, I couldn’t see it ending well. I doubted either of them would back down. If Rose had been as sociable as my son Hiram, then I would’ve sent her to Fiddich Academy, but because I’d hesitated on doing that, it seemed like I’d only ended up making her feel even more isolated and out of place.

I’d often thought about gathering the heirs of royals from other countries and finding her a partner, and Colt from the Colt Highland Federation was an especially good option. Since our country bordered both Karvun and Vahtedd, we mainly had relations with them. However, we didn’t have much of a relationship with Bushmills, which had precious minerals and natural resources, or Gransanth, whose residents made the greatest tools. That’s why I wanted to proactively reach out to and eventually forge an alliance with the Colt Highland Federation, since they were already on good terms with all of the other great countries.

The fastest method to do so was through marriage, but I hadn’t been able to create situations for Colt and Rose to talk with each other, perhaps because their personalities weren’t a match. It seemed that Colt remembered Rose, but I wasn’t so sure if she remembered him. I really regretted not trying to find time for the two of them to just sit down and talk.

I sighed as I whiled away the time fretting over all of my problems. Suddenly, a knock on the door interrupted my thoughts. I bid them to enter and saw that they were a royal guard. They explained that they’d received a letter from someone.

“What’s this all about?” I asked. I remember telling them not to disturb me while I’m working.

“It’s a request from Vice Captain Gem Westomiz of the Court Sorcerer Corps,” he said, holding the letter in front of his chest. “He has reason to suspect that Aoi Konominato, the guest from the Vahtedd Empire, is a spy. Also, he says there’s a possibility that Crown Windsor is looking to sell our country’s secrets in return for asylum.”

“What...? No, never mind. Let him through.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

The guard quickly turned around and opened the door to the long corridor leading up to the room. Standing there was Gem, flanked by two royal guards.

If I remember correctly, he and Crown don’t get along. Though I had a lot of reservations about Gem, I still raised my hand to greet him as he entered accompanied by the royal guards, as was standard practice. After escorting him inside, the guards took two steps back from him so he had a little more space, even though he was still surrounded.

Gem bowed before speaking. “Your Majesty, I thank you for permitting me this audience on such short notice.”

“What exactly would you like to speak about?” I said, wanting to skip past the pleasantries.

Gem’s face tightened. “Well, Your Majesty, the other day I saw Crown Windsor taking the instructors from Fiddich Academy around. The very same man known as the Fanatic Sorcerer was playing tour guide and engaging in a very passionate conversation. I found that quite suspicious, so I began an investigation.”

“How so? Did you follow them?”

Gem shook his head. “No. I’d heard that you’d granted this Aoi woman special privileges, so I couldn’t very well report to you based purely on my own suspicions. I began asking around other people she’s interacted with to find out the details of her tour. I’d like to submit the reports I’ve received.”

Gem produced four pieces of paper. He must have been very enthusiastically pursuing this investigation. The contents of each report were from different people.

“Hmm? She was shown research on magic circles and also allowed to see top secret documents on healing sorcery the next day at the Research Room? That can’t be... I didn’t give her that much permission,” I said, perturbed.

Gem looked a little frustrated as he began to speak. “I knew that there was no way Your Majesty would have granted her such clearance so haphazardly. The ones at fault are clearly the headmistress and the captain of the Sorcerer Corps. They’re working for the benefit of their own research instead of for the sake of our country, instigated by this Aoi woman and Crown.”

Chapter 10: Permission

Morning dawned on the fourth day since we’d arrived at the Holy Capital. Today, Diageo summoned me to appear before him. To be honest, I was disappointed because I’d planned to go back to the Research Room this morning to learn more about healing sorcery, including incantations and the latest techniques. Depending on what Diageo wanted, it was completely possible that I might not have a chance to go to the Research Room at all today.

Alberta escorted me to the emperor as I dragged my feet glumly. When we arrived at the throne room, we walked across the thick carpet, knelt at our designated places, and lowered our heads. As I bowed, I noticed that in addition to the royal guards there were others present.

For some reason Ahwald, Crown, Balblair, and even Cameron were here too. There were also some instructors from Maple Leaf’s academy and researchers from the Research Room. It occurred to me that this crowd was pretty much everyone I’d met over the past two days.

I glanced up the stairs leading to the throne and saw that there was someone else up there with Diageo and the chancellor, standing two stairs lower than them. If I remember correctly, his name is Gem Westomiz, the vice captain of the Court Sorcerer Corps. He stared down at me with an eerie smile. I could tell that something was off about this audience, but before I could discern anything more, a voice rang out from the top of the stairs.

“Lady Aoi, have you enjoyed your tour of the Holy Capital over the past two days?” Diageo asked.

I tilted my head slightly, taken aback by the very normal question. “Yes, I have. It’s been a wonderful learning experience. I’ve discovered that some of your country’s sorcery techniques spring from a completely different point of view than the ones I’m used to. I’d be grateful if I could spend some time researching—”

Before I had a chance to talk about what I’d accomplished, the chancellor spoke up. “Are you referring to our state secrets that His Majesty did not give you permission to study?”

I turned to him, confused. “Though the emperor didn’t grant me permission to share anything that I learned, he didn’t explicitly forbid me from learning it.”

Diageo rubbed his temples. “I promised you treatment on the same level as important foreign ambassadors. I also permitted you to observe both the Research Room and the academy. However, I did not give you permission to read that tome, which is a state secret,” he said.

I thought he’d given me his tacit approval, but I guess I was wrong. In that case, I’ll just have to ask for his permission.

“I wasn’t aware of that. In that case, may I ask for permission to read only about the sorcery of the previous holy men and women? I’d love to learn about just that, even if I’m barred from learning about techniques that Maple Leaf is actively researching.”

Both the chancellor and Diageo stewed in silence. Does this mean that they don’t want to let me?

After a few moments passed, Gem threw up his hands. “Your Majesty, she’s practically confessed. I’m not sure how she tricked the captain and the headmistress into doing so, but she got them to show her top secret sorcery, which you did not permit her to see. If we hadn’t caught her as soon as we did, our country could have been on the brink of suffering great losses,” Gem said, looking pointedly at Ahwald.

Ahwald ignored him and addressed Diageo. “Your Majesty, I’ve only known Lady Aoi for a day, but I can say with absolute certainty that she means us no ill will. Her sorcery is also very impressive and will no doubt be a great boon to our country.” He shifted his gaze to me.

For once, he was actually talking directly to someone instead of rambling to himself. I was taken aback by how unnatural his speech sounded to me. However, nobody else seemed to be bothered.

Crown decided to speak up as well. “I couldn’t agree more! If anything, we should exchange information about healing sorcery and have her give us tips about the other elements.”

Gem scowled. “So you’ve finally shown your true, treacherous self, Crown Windsor. Do you not realize how your words essentially prove your intentions to sell out our country? Or perhaps you’ve already done so? If you’re confessing because you’re fearful of the ensuing investigation, it’d be best if you came clean about everything now.” He grinned with glee as he admonished Crown.

I wasn’t sure how he could have interpreted Crown’s words as a confession. In the meantime, the chancellor and Diageo exchanged looks.

I can tell this isn’t going well.

“There’s validity to both sides of this argument,” said Diageo. “You’ve been silent this entire time, Balblair. As headmistress, is there anything you’d like to say?”

Annoyance flickered across Balblair’s face as the conversation punted to her. “I’m not fond of lying, so allow me to be frank. As of today, I’ve begun the process of resigning as headmistress, naming Cameron as my successor.”

The chancellor frantically interrupted her sudden declaration. “W-Wait! Lady Balblair, you’re the holy woman! Why would you leave the academy?” he screeched.

She looked him dead in the eyes. “Just like Sir Ahwald, I was stricken with Lady Aoi’s wonderful sorcery knowledge and skills. To be honest, our academy is inferior to Fiddich in all aspects. Our specialty, healing sorcery, is something that we can at least match her in, but there’s absolutely no competition when it comes to other elements.”

The royal guards began murmuring among themselves.

Gem’s expression twisted into a cross between exasperation and disbelief. “Just like with the previous holy woman, this is what happens when you focus everything on developing new sorcery. Simply being infatuated by the illusion of foreign sorcery won’t guarantee the results you’re looking for. We must earnestly press on with our studies and steer clear of distractions. Only diligent perseverance will set us on the correct path to perfect our sorcery,” Gem lectured, clearly projecting his own ideals.

The tension in the room grew, but there was something I desperately wanted to say.

“I believe that’s a grave error. I get the impression that you don’t want to challenge yourself or put in the effort to learn anything new,” I said, meeting his gaze.

“You’re saying...I’m wrong?” he growled, unable to mask his anger.

It felt as if the temperature in the room had plummeted, and all eyes fell on the two of us.

Gem looked down at me from his elevated position on the step. “That’s quite the interesting theory you have. But what exactly am I wrong about? I’m sure that if you ask anyone, they would agree with my way of thinking. For example, I’ve heard that advanced fire sorcerers could wipe out an entire army by themselves. If spells that powerful exist, then what’s the point of learning trivial things like how to move flames or change their shape? In the past century, there haven’t been any new spells that have ended up being useful for daily life. In other words, developing new sorcery is simply a waste of time and resources. We already have optimized spells that are useful that we’ve researched over many years. Wouldn’t it be most important to focus our efforts on optimizing them further?”

His tongue moved rapidly as he spouted off his opinions, but I listened intently so I could catch every word and genuinely consider his point of view. I pondered for a bit before giving my answer.

“I believe your opinion would be valid if sorcery in its modern state were truly optimized and able to be applied to everyday life. However, the way I see it, the current sorcery you’re using is severely lacking. Therefore, my opinion remains that you are incorrect.”

“What?!” Gem’s face turned red. He flapped his mouth but no words came out. Perhaps he’d never been so openly challenged like this before.

Balblair slightly chuckled, which only threw Gem into even more of a rage.

“Wh-What insolence! Your Majesty! Her so-called rebuttal was nothing more than idealistic talk! There’s no easy way to make new types of sorcery! Her words are nothing more than an excuse to get access to our country’s prized knowledge—healing sorcery!” Gem desperately tried to argue.

Diageo looked very conflicted. Then, several of the royal guards stepped aside and a petite figure emerged.

“Then how about we ask her to demonstrate her sorcery?” said a soft but melodic voice. Despite its gentleness, it echoed across the room, drawing everyone’s attention. A blonde girl in a pure-white dress stood before us.

“P-Princess Rose! What brings you here?” asked Gem.

At first, I’d thought that she’d come to take Gem’s side, but judging by his nervous reaction and forced smile, I got the feeling that might not be the case. Everyone in the room seemed to be carefully considering how to respond to her.

Alberta spoke up. “Princess Rose, His Majesty called this audience to meet with Lady Aoi. She’s here to answer his questions. I ask for your understanding,” he said with painstaking politeness.

“Are you suggesting that I’m sullying His Majesty’s name? Did I not offer a solution to the supposed problem at hand?” she asked, fixing her eyes on Diageo.

Diageo bobbed his head up and down. “You have a point. I understand how you feel, Rose. It’s true that as someone who has been working over many years to polish his skills as a sorcerer, Vice Captain Gem may take Lady Aoi’s beliefs and opinions as an attack on everything in which he believes. In that case, it would make sense for Lady Aoi to offer proof that her stance is correct.” A bead of sweat ran down his face.

The corner of Rose’s mouth twitched. “Precisely. So, Gem, what would she need to demonstrate in order for you to accept her argument?”

Gem cleared his throat. “W-Well, she’d need to show us several spells that are not only useful but that we’ve never seen before. I can’t imagine that should be too difficult for her. If she asserts that studying new sorcery is the best course of action, I’m sure she has a spell or two she’s succeeded in developing even though she’s still so young,” he said with a condescending smirk.

“I hear that developing new spells can take years—decades, even. Don’t you believe that your terms are a bit unreasonable?” she asked, still with the same amused air.

“Not at all, Princess Rose. We don’t need ten years to improve existing spells. We need but one. Our results have directly contributed to the well-being of Maple Leaf. If new sorcery is so useful, it should naturally be able to provide the same degree of benefits. That is, unless Lady Aoi here isn’t confident enough to face us.”

Gem seemed emboldened now, as if he’d taken Rose’s words as a set up to hammer his point home and raise the challenge further. Rose scrutinized me curiously, but I couldn’t tell whether she was hoping to watch me lose or simply interested in seeing something new. With the eyes of Gem and Rose drilling into me, I sighed and craned my neck toward Diageo.

“So, would it be best if I demonstrated a spell?” I asked.

Diageo let out a weak laugh, fresh rivulets of sweat running down his face. “I’d be grateful if you did.”

Something about his response didn’t sit well with me. Now I had to defend myself against Gem’s accusations and waste even more time that I could have spent on research. I stood up. “If I remember correctly, I was promised to be treated on the same level as an important guest,” I said in an accusatory tone, making Diageo wince slightly.

While the emperor remained reticent, the chancellor began babbling excuses. “W-Well, I truly cannot apologize enough. However, it’s true that there’s a high chance of backlash if word gets out that we’ve shared our state secrets with an unauthorized entity, so it would be nice to at least show that we were able to get something in return,” he said. His reasoning felt artificial, but Diageo gave a deep nod of agreement.

I sighed. Gem was grinning confidently as if he believed he’d already won.

“What’s the matter?” Gem asked.

“Nothing. I’m just slightly irritated,” I said, turning my body to face him. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Alberta look up at the ceiling and place his palm over his face.

Well then, what would be the best spell to demonstrate here? Flying sorcery would certainly fit the bill of being useful and something they’ve never seen before. However, I used it when we came here, so he should already be aware of it. In that case, he’s probably confident that I can only produce something on the level of flying sorcery.

“Now that I think about it, you mentioned something about fire sorcery, didn’t you?” I muttered while looking Gem up and down.

“Wh-What are you planning?! I’m capable of advanced sorcery, and I can activate spells in three verses! If you’re looking to compete with me in terms of brute force, you won’t win!” he said, clutching his staff.

Well, fighting you is certainly not my plan, but perhaps a match would give you a better firsthand impression of the spell. Well, for now, let’s put a pin in that and just do a regular demonstration. I think I’ll use the strongest spell I know.

I began focusing mana into my fingertips before holding my hand out, my fingers straight and pressed together as if I were going to perform a martial arts chop. I slowly pushed about half of my total mana capacity into my hand. Once I’d collected enough, I cast the spell.

“Fieureka.”

As soon as this word left my mouth, a bright, blue-white flame ignited at my fingertips. Fire engulfed my arm from my hand to my elbow, and a flaming lance sprouted from my fingers, extending all the way to right beside Gem.

The lance struck the stone steps, piercing through them and melting them as if they were made of glass, turning the area into a gloopy red mess. The lance’s temperature was around fifteen hundred degrees Celsius, so something made of rock had no chance to withstand the heat. However, I made sure that the lance wouldn’t be hot enough to hurt anyone who was at least a meter away.

“E-Eek!” Gem tumbled off the staircase, so I moved the flaming lance slightly toward where he’d been standing. Even more of the stone stairs melted, severing part of the structure.

“Wh-Whoa!” Diageo exclaimed with a start, surveying the chaos from his place at the top of the staircase.

I immediately retracted the lance, not all the way but enough to make it significantly shorter. The stairs are all tilted now because I melted about a third of them.

“Wh-Wh-What is that?!” Gem stammered, pale as a sheet.

The entire room was filled with sputters of surprise and astonishment. Some of the guards pointed their swords at me.

“It’s an original fire spell. You can’t easily hurt dragons who make their nests in volcanoes with regular fire sorcery, so during my training I tried enhancing a fire spell to defeat them. It’s able to easily pierce through steel, mithril, and orichalcum.”

“Th-That’s not possible! Fire dragons that dwell in volcanoes are the strongest type! There isn’t a sorcerer out there who could defeat one on their own! Also, orichalcum is a divine, rare metal, usually only found among the treasures of royal families! There’s no way a little whelp like you could’ve gotten your hands on it!” Gem spat, his previously calm demeanor having vanished.

Rose stepped forward, amused. “I don’t believe it’s possible to simply dismiss her claim, seeing as how she so easily melted the stone staircase. I believe His Majesty possesses the Holy Maple Leaf Empire’s only orichalcum, which was forged into a dagger,” she chirped, her gaze alighting on Diageo.

“W-Wait. I can’t allow her to break this dagger. This is the single most important artifact of our Holy Empire. There’s absolutely no way that I can give permission for her to use it for a mere test,” Diageo said, his hand shooting protectively to his waist. It seemed that he carried the dagger on his person at all times.

I looked up at Diageo clutching the dagger atop the now-slanted staircase. It dawned on me that I’d damaged the room. I went overboard because I was a little angry. I know they’re in the middle of a conversation, but I should probably repair everything.

“Stonework,” I said, using earth sorcery to change the shape of the melted rock back into the clean, symmetrical steps that’d been there before. In under a minute, I’d restored them to their original appearance.

I hope they forgive me since I made them even more durable than they were before.

“D-Did you just do that without an incantation?” Gem asked, goggling at the staircase.

“What are you so surprised about?” Balblair barked. “She just used a fire spell without an incantation. Besides, if you actually looked into her upon her arrival, you should’ve already known that she’s used spells without incantations. Or maybe you just completely ignored anything that didn’t fit your narrative?”

Gem’s eyes bugged out. “N-No... This can’t be. Incantationless casting is impossible. How could she...?” he trailed off, flustered.

Balblair snorted. “It’s one of those new sorceries that you hate so much,” she said, waving her hand. “You asking this question is tantamount to declaring your loss. Just sit back and shut up.”

Ahwald let out a long sigh. “Vice Captain Gem, Lady Aoi used incantationless sorcery in the Research Room as well. From what she’s told us, she can use all elements without incantations. Did you really not look into her at all?”

Gem gasped and then went deathly quiet after being lectured by the two of them.

“Vice Captain Gem,” Diageo called.

Gem jumped and turned around. “Y-Your Majesty, I-I can explain...” he said.

Diageo shook his head. “It’d be best for you to leave now. You’re to do nothing until I call for you again.”

Gem hung his head like a criminal who’d received his sentence. He left the room, propelled by the crowd’s stares of shock, pity, and amusement.

I felt a little bad for him, so I wanted to try and smooth things over, but I couldn’t think of anything to say. While I pondered how to patch things up, Diageo called out to me.

“Lady Aoi,” he said, making me look up. It was hard to tell what he was thinking. “I apologize for Gem. It seems that we’re the ones who should be learning a lesson. I’m somewhat of a sorcerer myself, and I’d like to believe that I understand what incantationless sorcery is, as well as the frightening potential of fire sorcery. Therefore, I’d like you to teach our talented sorcerers your techniques. In exchange, I will give you unfettered access to the top secret healing research of our country,” he said, lowering his head.

This made things a lot easier. “Thank you very much. However, Sir Ahwald has already shared his knowledge of healing sorcery with me, so if possible, I’d like to have someone different teach me. Perhaps the holy woman.”

Diageo looked dubiously at Ahwald. “You’ve already learned our holy man’s healing sorcery? Ahwald, what did you teach her?” he asked.

Ahwald seemed equally confused. “Is she maybe referring to the one spell I showed her? But no matter how well she understood the mechanics or how talented she is, it should take at least a few years to be able to truly learn how to use an advanced healing spell like that. She is on the same level as our holy people, though, so maybe it’s possible for her to produce top-class healing spells on her own. But then again, she only saw it once, so...”

Despite being in front of the emperor, Ahwald went back to his habit of talking to himself, causing Diageo’s eye to twitch. The emperor turned to Crown for help.

Crown quickly spoke up, eager to cut off Ahwald. “Did you already learn the spell that he showed you yesterday, Professor Aoi? Usually it takes many months of research for normal sorcerers to understand high-level incantations. It’s very impressive if it only took you one look to learn a special, top-class healing spell with a long incantation, but...” He looked at me expectantly as if he wanted me to take over.

“Well, it’s not as if I completely understand it. It’s more that I’ve interpreted it. I experimented last night in the guest room and I was able to cast it without any problems.”

Rose, who’d been quiet until now, asked, “So you’re saying you were not only able to get a good idea of it after seeing it one time, but you were also able to cast it the very same night?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

She brought her hand to her mouth. “What is your interpretation of Ahwald’s incantation?” she asked, as if she were quizzing me.

I held my hand in front of my chest with my palm facing upward. “The healing sorcery I usually use is a kind of replacement treatment, where I use a very precise mental image of the body to supplement anything that is missing or damaged with a healthy version. However, Ahwald’s sorcery is different.” I activated the spell, and my mana turned white and visible as it flowed out of me and spread across the area. “White Grail.”

Though there wasn’t currently anyone in the room who was visibly injured, everyone still should have been able to feel the effects of healing. The room went quiet as the spell dissipated.

“The incantation is meant to heal all the wounds of those in the area, as far as the caster’s mana can spread. There’s actually a part of this spell that I can’t replicate without using an incantation, which proves that incantations can still be useful. In terms of what to research, I think it’d be best to look into incantations that use less precise commands in order to allow more flexibility.”

I hoped that Ahwald didn’t feel angry that I’d analyzed his spell. Fortunately, he seemed the exact opposite of upset, and he seemed more engrossed in my explanation than anyone else in the room. A wave of relief washed over me.

Rose raised her hand. “This is my original spell. Can you copy it?” She recited a three-verse incantation and activated her spell. “Icebound.”

A cold, sparkling mist blew out from her hand. Then, pillars of ice shot out from the floor, piercing the carpet and hurtling toward me. Though I was a decent distance away, they showed no sign of slowing down as they drew closer.

“Icebound.” I created the same pillars of ice to counter hers, breaking them and making pillars so large that they swallowed up the carpet and almost touched the ceiling. As soon as the pillars got close to Rose, they stopped growing any further.

Rose gasped. “Wonderful...” she whispered, the corners of her lips rising.

◇

Ultimately, I received permission from Diageo to view Maple Leaf’s state secrets, and people from both the sorcery academy and the Research Room witnessed this promise. No one would be able to oppose me learning more about Maple Leaf’s sorcery now.

After spending a bit more time answering questions by the various people in attendance, my audience with Diageo ended. Ahwald and Crown told me that they wanted my opinion on the sorcery they were researching, and then Balblair asked for me to give advice about how to give lectures at the academy and how to make magic circles. I was happy to assist with all their requests, so I immediately agreed.

Though it was important for me to visit the Research Room, which was looking to create new sorcery, if my goal was to raise the overall proficiency of sorcerers in Maple Leaf, it was important to help their academy too. I decided that starting tomorrow I would alternate between going to the school and the Research Room.

The next day, I brought this idea up to everyone over a meal in the castle’s guest dining room. Before I could get a response, though, someone else joined us and stole their attention.

“What brings you here, Princess Rose?” Elisa asked nervously.

Rose took a sip of her soup at the end of the table. “Curiosity, perhaps?” she said before raising her spoon to her mouth once more.

Everyone looked at each other. Rose had simply shown up unannounced, and she’d even ordered her guards to sit behind her in silence. Before she’d come, everyone had been having their own conversations, but now talking felt awkward.

“What does she mean by that?” Strath whispered to me.

I, too, was interested in Rose’s motivation. During our previous meetings, she’d clearly taken an interest in me, but she didn’t strike me as the type of person to suddenly appear like this out of mere curiosity. I didn’t know how to respond to Strath, and everyone continued eating in silence.

Suddenly, Rose narrowed her eyes and looked at Colt. “You... We’ve met before.”

Oh, now that I think about it, I believe Diageo mentioned that they knew each other. Everyone’s eyes fell on Colt, who put on a practiced smile and gave a slight bow.

“I didn’t think you’d remember me, Princess Rose.”

Her eyes were nearly slits now. “It was at the international representatives’ report meeting in Vahtedd three years ago. We were both there. Do you really think a member of royalty would forget someone with whom they’d need to interact in the future?”

“I apologize for my rudeness. You’re as astute as ever,” Colt said, bowing again.

Rose raised one of her hands, interrupting him. “Is that sarcasm? Out of all the potential heirs gathered, you were by far the smartest. That much was obvious to anyone. I remember how I hated being compared to you.” Rose brought her hand above her head and activated a spell, using a single verse to create a ball of ice above her palm. “The only thing I seemed to be able to beat you in was ice sorcery, so as childish as my motivation was, I worked myself to the bone studying it. Thanks to that, I’m the most talented ice sorcerer in Maple Leaf.”

“Wow, that’s impressive. His Majesty must be so proud that you’ve received that title at such a young age.”

Rose didn’t seem pleased by Colt’s compliment. The ice above her hand melted, and she looked down.

“Who knows how he feels? I’m sure he’d be happier if I learned typical talents befitting a proper lady. But now that I’ve become more skilled than the lower-ranking court sorcerers, he hasn’t been able to say much about that. I wonder if he’s given up on looking for marriage partners for me. That being said, I’m not as skilled socially as my older brother, Hiram, so I can’t go to any schools abroad.”

Colt looked like he was going to say something and then faltered in the face of her slightly sad expression. There was something that was bugging me, though.

“The ice spell you just used wasn’t one that changed the properties of water, was it?”

As I broke the ice with my ice-related question, everyone at the table heaved sighs of relief.

Rose let out a short laugh. “Right. All I did was create ice. It’s an original spell of mine. All it accomplishes is making a little bit of ice really fast, so it’s fairly pointless.”

Though she looked down on her spell, I didn’t feel the same. “No, it’s not pointless. As I mentioned earlier in relation to Ahwald’s sorcery, I think that it will be a great help toward researching how versatile incantations can be,” I said. I shifted in my chair to face Rose more directly. “Would you like to come to Fiddich Academy? I could teach you sorcery if you’d like. Doing so might help to solve your worries too.”

“What are you talking about?” she asked.

“If you’re able to become an incredible sorcerer who’s famous across all of the six great countries, then I’m sure it will be easier to find a marriage partner even if you’re not well-versed with typical proper lady etiquette. You won’t be single forever,” I said, putting my fist over my heart.

Rose’s narrowed eyes snapped wide open and she froze up.

“Is that really a good solution?” Strath asked under his breath.

Rose, still stiff, snickered. “I’m aware that I’m an oddball, but I’m still much more normal than you. You truly are amusing, though,” she said, breaking into a grin.

Everyone glanced at each other awkwardly again.

“W-Well, how about we go to the academy after we’re done here?” Elisa said, changing the subject.

She’d brought up a good point. My plan for today had been to go to the school, after all.

“Good idea. How about we all go together?”

Ayle and the other students let out whoops of joy.

“Yay!”

“Let’s take our time looking around!”

“This is gonna be fun!”

Though there’d been many twists and turns since we’d arrived in Maple Leaf, starting today, I’d be free to come and go at both the sorcery academy and the Research Room.

This will be a good opportunity to see what Maple Leaf’s educational and research methods are like. I’d like to impart as much of my knowledge and techniques as I can, no matter how little it ends up being.

Though things were likely about to get busy, I’d discovered new research potential when it came to healing sorcery incantations. This was a huge find and very worthy of studying. I was excited for the new door that was about to open for me.

Interlude: Shenley

When I’d decided to join the trip to Maple Leaf, I’d been very uneasy and felt down at first, but that had changed as I spent time with everyone. Professor Aoi was so reliable, and Ayle, Belle, and Liz were always so bright and cheerful. They made walking through Maple Leaf’s Holy Capital feel like I was a tourist seeing the sights for the first time.

When we’d gone to the sorcery academy, we’d run into Professor Cameron, and that had brought up a lot of painful memories from my past. However, ever since Professor Aoi had used her strength to silence him, my heart had felt so much lighter. Any worries that I’d had felt so trivial now. I didn’t feel even a little bit scared of going back to the Holy Capital’s academy. Since I could spend so much time there, I could probably avoid visiting the Rosentiel estate entirely while I was in the Holy Capital.

“Th-That bread looks really good,” I said, my heart feeling light as a feather as I walked in front of everyone.

I turned around and saw Ayle and the others looking at me with wide eyes. I started to feel embarrassed, so I looked away. Now that I think about it, this might be the first time that I’ve started a conversation since coming here. As I fumbled in my mind for what to say next, Ayle came up to me and placed her hand on my back.

“Oh, yeah! They really look yummy! What kind of fruit do you think is in that jam?”

“Oh, it’s probably a blue strawberry,” I said.

“Whoa! That sounds so good! Let’s go!” she said, motioning to everyone.

Ayle had swooped in to cover for me in the midst of my hesitation. Liz and Belle quickly followed.

“Oh yeah, looks really good!”

“I want to try the apple jam!”

A genuine smile broke out across my face as we continued walking around the Holy Capital.

◇

After finishing sightseeing around the Holy Capital, Shenley walked through the academy with Colt, Ayle, Belle, and Liz. In the distance, a shadowy figure watched them with an unfriendly gaze.

“No way... Shenley? What are you doing at the academy?” the person said softly.

A young beastkin girl with tied-back hair emerged from the shadows cast by a building next to the academy’s gate. She looked very similar to Shenley, but she wore a white robe with a black cape over it.

“I’ll tell father. After all, he should know that our family’s shame just casually waltzed into the Holy Capital.”

The girl took one last look at Shenley, then turned around and left.

Interlude: Glen

I’d received a parcel by express mail, and I already had a bad feeling about it.

“Did something happen in Maple Leaf?”

I slowly opened the package and examined the envelope inside. The front was blank aside from a wax seal that’d been melted by a weak fire spell. I was anxious about what the letter could contain, but as the person who authorized Aoi’s trip to Maple Leaf, I needed to take responsibility and read it. I figured that maybe the back of it might have the name of the sender.

If Crown Windsor of all people is with Aoi, it’s not completely outside the realm of possibility for her to have blown up the castle.

“Hmm? This is from the Kingdom of Gransanth? Oh, phew. It’s just a letter from their king, not a complaint about Aoi.”

I felt so relieved after seeing who the sender was. If it’d been a complaint, political pressure, or some kind of unreasonable request that could have worsened relations with us, they wouldn’t send a letter using the king’s name. This tidbit of common sense put my mind at ease as I opened the letter and began to read it.

“Hmm. This really reads as if he wrote it himself. He could have had his subordinates write it, but I suppose that’s just how he is—diligent. Let’s see here... Oh, he’s excited for his annual visit to the academy. That’s so nice of him!” As I continued to read the letter, I slowly realized that I was forgetting something. “Now that I think about it, he does visit every year, but for what reason? I’m pretty sure it’s something important...” I mumbled. “He saw something really interesting last winter, so he looks forward to this year... However, despite the usual date approaching, he hasn’t received an invitation yet, so he’s worried that the date might have changed?”

My mind stopped functioning for a few seconds as I read the letter again and again. Then I folded it up and placed it on my desk.

“The cultural festival...” I whispered. I stared at the ceiling and then closed my eyes. “I completely forgot.”

How could this happen? How could I forget the most important event where dignitaries from all over come to our academy? Usually by this time of year, I would’ve already confirmed a date, begun preparations, and sent out the invitations. All that should have been left was waiting for responses.

“Is this my age getting to me? I feel like I’m becoming more forgetful. Either way, I’ll need to get everything ready in two months,” I said through a sigh.

I don’t think any of the instructors have talked about the cultural festival. Did they all forget too?

“No, I think everyone’s just been busier because of Aoi. Some of them are peeping in on her lectures while others are trying to research their own subjects or Aoi’s incantationless casting. There are some who are even rewriting their entire curriculums from scratch. A lot of them are probably so engrossed in their research that they completely forgot about the cultural festival.”

I smiled in defeat, realizing that the reason it’d slipped everyone’s minds had been because of Aoi.

I looked back at the letter on my desk. “I really appreciate that the king of Gransanth remembered the cultural festival and thought to check in. As nice as it is that he likes the festival so much, though, there are still a lot of headache-inducing aspects to it. I suppose that can’t be helped, since it’s an opportunity for each country to show off. Some people use the event as an opportunity to pick fights or to look into other countries’ state secrets.”

I began remembering all the things that’d happened at previous cultural festivals and sighed heavily. Suddenly, Aoi’s face flashed through my mind. She planned to stay in Maple Leaf for an entire month, which meant that she’d be back at Fiddich by the time the cultural festival began.

“Oh no, this isn’t good! I can already see what’s going to happen! I can just imagine Aoi using a large-scale spell that literally blows us all away at the first sign of misbehavior!”

I slammed my hands on my desk and shot to my feet. There were certainly going to be members of royal families who were leaving their countries for the first time to come to the cultural festival. Those were the kinds of people who were very quick to pick a fight. I was sure that if they learned about Aoi, who was already starting to make a name for herself in other countries, they’d immediately try to force a meeting with her.

“Oh dear...”

Suddenly, I felt very worried. I pictured Aoi effortlessly going on a rampage, and then various monarchs kneeling in a line while being lectured by her.

“And her lectures are all filled with a lot of valid points, so it’s hard to say anything in response...”

But it was only okay to argue like that with people of the same social status. Nobles, especially royalty, often punished people for disrespecting them even slightly.

What should I do? I silently cradled my head in my hands as I stood alone in my office.

Side Story: Criminals

A man deftly walked through the dark alley, his path lit only by the moon. He was thin and not especially tall, and his black hair was the same tone as his clothing, allowing him to blend in with the darkness. As he continued to masterfully navigate the narrow alleys, strewn with discarded objects and destitute people, he came to a stop and turned around.

“Who’s there?” The man’s soft but gritty voice echoed across the alley as he peered into the blackness. About ten seconds later, a shadowy figure emerged. The pursuer was a tall, burly, broad-shouldered man.

“You noticed me? I’m impressed,” the large man said. His deep voice carried across the alley. He proceeded to unsheathe a wide-bladed dagger. Its blade glinted in the moonlight. “Bad luck that you did, though,” he muttered with a grin.

The smaller man slumped his shoulders and sighed. “Let me guess, newbie, this is your first day in this city? Or what, are you the type of delusional idiot who thinks he can win against someone as strong as a royal knight?”

The larger man looked at the smaller with killing intent, irked by his insults.

“You’re actin’ like you’re hot shit, but I see your knees shaking. Do you think I’m some kind of amateur who’s afraid to kill?” The larger man crept forward, brandishing his dagger. “Did you provoke me thinking that you can somehow avoid my blade and your appointment with death? Or are you actually some kind of amazing sorcerer?” Despite ridiculing the smaller man, the larger kept up his guard, not showing any openings as he slowly closed the distance between the two of them.

Though his situation was seemingly helpless, the smaller man put a hand on his hip and used his other hand to wave dismissively.

“You really are new here, aren’t you? Tons of criminals come here with dreams and plans, but the overconfident, reckless ones get their asses handed to them. Here’s a piece of friendly advice: Go back home,” he said, sounding fully serious.

The larger man stopped moving. “You trying to talk your way out of this? It’s hard to believe you’re part of the Nevis Family. If you’re a man, then you should fight your way out,” he sneered with scorn, pointing at the other man with his dagger.

The smaller man looked at the blade, unimpressed, and then pulled something out of his pocket. It was a black cylindrical object, which he gripped between his thumb and index finger and brought to his mouth. An orange light flared as he lit the pipe. He took a short drag and then slowly exhaled the smoke when the fire faded.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you, newbie. When you start to regret what you’ve done, bow with your head against the ground, then yell out that you were in the wrong and you’re ready to turn over a new leaf,” he jested.

This pushed the larger man over the edge. He charged at the smaller man in a rage. “Die, you coward!” he screamed, swinging his dagger.

He was a lot faster and nimbler than someone would expect a man of his size and build to be, and he closed the distance in an instant. However, the smaller man made no effort to dodge, and he simply stared at the dagger as it grew dangerously close. The larger man grinned, confident that his weapon would sink into his target. Suddenly, something stopped his attack in its tracks.

“Wh-What?!”

Some unseen force stopped his slash in midair. He let out a scream of confusion and swung again, but once again found his blade deflected.

“Wh-What the hell’s going on?!” The instant his second attack didn’t connect, he jumped back, putting space between himself and the smaller man.

“Oh? You’ve got good reflexes,” the smaller man said, impressed. “I thought you were simply overconfident, but you’d probably be able to go toe-to-toe with some of our best members,” he said. His tone was half amused, half analytical. He took another drag from his pipe and released a long plume of smoke. “But, you can’t beat me,” he said, grinning intrepidly.

The large man gulped. “D-Don’t tell me you’re actually a sorcerer! I didn’t even hear you say an incantation!” He froze up, his dagger gripped in a defensive posture now, as he realized he wasn’t dealing with the kind of person he’d initially thought. Then, loud footsteps rang out behind him and he spun around.

“Time’s up. You move well, and you look like you’re pretty good in a fight, but your sense of danger and ability to analyze the situation are just not good enough,” the smaller man said, smiling. He wasn’t looking at the larger man anymore, but rather what was behind him. In the dark alley, the rhythmic footsteps continued to echo, getting louder as they approached.

“Wh-What?! You called for reinforcements?!” the larger man cried out, fear gripping his voice. He turned to face the approaching footsteps.

The smaller man shrugged. “It’d be best if you started to speak with a bit more respect. The Witch of the Academy’s come all the way out here just to help a grunt like me.”

As soon as he said that, the approaching person stepped fully into a patch of moonlight. She had long black hair with tinges of purple. Despite her small and dainty frame, she exerted a powerful aura from her overwhelming beauty. She was Aoi Konominato, an upper-level instructor at Fiddich Academy, and the person who some of the townsfolk referred to as the Witch of the Academy.

“Y-You... You can’t be...” the larger man stammered as he pointed at Aoi.

The smaller man snorted. “Did you think she was just a tall tale? You idiot. This city is the crossroads of all the money and goods from all the great countries. Usually, there’d be endless turf wars, but because of the Witch of the Academy, we’re all able to join hands and work together.”

The larger man readied his dagger and glared at Aoi. “S-Stay back! I’m not gonna give you any time to say any incantations!” he yelled, nearly hyperventilating.

“Hundred Pikes,” Aoi said.

Numerous sharp stone spears shot up from the street underneath the man, surrounding him and knocking the dagger from his hand.

He let out a pathetic gulp as Aoi drew closer. “E-Eek!”

Aoi looked at the smaller man as the larger shrieked with fear. “How did it go?” she asked.

The smaller man spread his arms wide. “It was a complete success. I think this guy’s decently strong, but he wasn’t a problem at all. With this, we’ll be fine even if a horde of magic beasts attacks,” he said gleefully.

“Well, it can provide a basic level of defense, but it’s best not to be too overconfident in its abilities.” Aoi replied. “If you’re attacked by a larger-than-average dragon, one attack will be enough to break through.”

The smaller man chuckled. “Understood... But I sure feel invincible right now.”

Aoi then turned to the man surrounded by the stone spears, making him tremble. “I don’t believe you’re familiar with the rules of this city, so I’ll let you off the hook this time. Please have Sebas explain the rules to you.” With no further business to attend to, she turned and left.

As she walked away, the stone spears crumbled to dust, leaving the larger man staring in terrified awe as Aoi’s figure slowly disappeared into the distance. Once she was completely gone, the smaller man—Sebas—began to speak.

“You got a name?” he asked. The larger man didn’t answer. Confused, Sebas called out again. “Hello? For your information, that’s only a little taste of what she can do. I like your rebellious spirit, but only idiots try to defy the witch in this city.”

The larger man gasped and turned to face Sebas. “O-Okay. Wh-What are these rules?”

“First, what’s your name?” Sebas asked again, annoyed.

“I’m Ahry. Can you tell me the rules already? The quick version.”

“No can do. These rules are absolute. When I tell you, I gotta make sure you really understand them,” Sebas said, frowning.

“Y’know what? I planned on having you take me to the Nevis Family hideout anyway. You can take me there now.”

“Is that really how you speak to your superiors? Sheesh...” Sebas complained.

Ahry puffed air out of his nose and turned away. “Take me to your hideout...sir,” he said impudently.

Sebas slouched and sighed. “This way.”

◇

When they arrived at the Nevis Family hideout, they found Caolla Nevis sitting in a chair in the back of the room with five rugged men standing around her.

“Who’s that, Sebas?”

Sebas glanced at Ahry before replying. “Our new recruit, Ahry. First day in the city. He’s in a rebellious phase, but he’s got potential. Treat him well.”

Everyone’s eyes fell on Ahry after Sebas’s messy introduction, and the men standing around Caolla began to comment on his appearance.

“He’s huge. Looks pretty confident too.”

“Not that it matters in this city.”

Then, Caolla spoke up. “Your name’s Ahry? I’m gonna explain the rules simply for you. If you wanna eat good food and sleep in peace, then you have to follow them. Got it?” She proceeded to list the rules that Aoi had impressed upon them. “And that’s about it. Questions?”

Ahry folded his arms and cocked his head. “No fighting. No stealing. No murder. No slave trading. Then once a month, you gotta submit a report about your business to prove that you’re operating on the straight and narrow?” Ahry said, seemingly dissatisfied.

“What? Did you wanna make a life by stealing and killing?” asked one of Caolla’s men.

“Know your place, newbie.”

“Don’t be so stubborn.”

Caolla held up a hand to silence her underlings.

“We were in his shoes just a few months ago. Don’t laugh at him,” she said. She shot Ahry a look of sympathy before speaking to him directly. “Look, as a fellow criminal, I get where you’re coming from. Everyone has their eyes on this city and comes here wanting to take it over. If after everything you’ve experienced and heard, you still want to do that, I won’t judge you, but I recommend you leave the city.”

Ahry thought for a moment and then exhaled through his nose. “Did the Witch of the Academy make the rules?”

“Yeah,” Caolla replied curtly.

Ahry puffed out his chest and looked down at Caolla. “I ran into her earlier, but is she really so powerful that she can keep the entire criminal underworld here under her thumb?”

“Well...she’s powerful enough to completely crush strong people who have created large organizations in other countries. Put simply, she’s a monster, and I’ve got no intention of goin’ against her,” she said with a dry laugh.

The other men in the room vigorously nodded in agreement. Ahry looked like he wanted to say something, but he immediately shut his mouth when he heard the approaching sound of heels clicking.

“Who’s a monster?” a woman asked in a soft, calm voice.

Everyone in the room immediately stood up straight. Even Caolla, who’d been lounging in her chair, jumped up with perfect posture lightning-fast.

Ahry turned around to see Aoi standing there. Caolla’s men awkwardly began to make excuses.

“Huh? W-We were just talking about the rumors of a monster outside the city.”

“Y-Yeah, a monster with black hair...”

“Are you an idiot?”

Caolla looked at Aoi with a taut expression. “You’re here early. Need something?”

Aoi gestured to Ahry. “I realized that I haven’t actually sat in to observe you educating someone on the city’s rules yet, so I’ve come by to make sure you’re doing it correctly.”

The men near Caolla began to tremble.

“She came all the way here just to see how we’re teaching the rules?”

“She’s so scary...”

Aoi ignored them and looked from Caolla to Ahry.

“Have you already finished?” she asked nobody in particular.

Ahry turned his entire body to face her. “I’ve heard enough of the rules.”

“I see. Then I’ll come back later,” she said expressionlessly before turning around to leave.

“Wait!” Ahry called out.

“Yes?”

The Nevis Family’s men grew visibly nervous. They knew how bad it’d be if the newbie to whom they’d just taught the rules decided to pick a fight with the witch. The fear was written all over their faces. However, Ahry paid them no heed and boldly looked down at Aoi.

“I’ve heard that you’re a powerful sorcerer who’s basically a monster, but I don’t really believe that yet. Could you show me just how powerful you are?” he asked, readying his blade.

Aoi gave Caolla the side eye.

“Everyone get to shelter!” she screamed. “You have one second! One second! Got it?! Jump through a window if you need to!”

“Y-Yes, boss!”

The Nevis Family members beat a hasty retreat from their hideout. Not too long after, Aoi utterly defeated Ahry. But rather than be upset, he began to admire her. He’d found his ideal boss, and he would always energetically greet her whenever he saw her in the city. Nobody expected that out of all the things in the world, his overenthusiasm would be the thing that bothered Aoi.

Side Story: Rox’s Troubles

When I told Aoi about the underground casino, I thought we’d only be taking down the gambling den and the organization behind it. But then she proposed a watch to ensure that no crime could happen in the city, both in broad daylight and behind the scenes. I agreed to this, and though I would never say this out loud, I felt incredibly inspired by her. Up until then, I’d only thought about things in terms of black-and-white—good and evil. But now, instead of simply crushing my enemies, I’d learned a different way to resolve problems. Aoi had greatly expanded my mind.

Her plan made sense, and after its implementation, I gained a lot of information about things that I would have never noticed before. However, there weren’t enough words to describe how difficult it was to actually implement her system.

When Aoi proposed this plan originally, I explained it to certain handpicked knights. All knights were trained to follow the orders of the lord and country they served without question, and to be swords of justice that defeated evil and defended the people. The highest administrators of this justice were the royals and nobles who controlled their respective squads of knights.

Of course, due to the knights’ instilled moral code and duty to subdue evildoers, I had to hide the fact that we’d turned a blind eye to certain criminals and were using them as our spies. Aoi told me that it’d be best to create an organization that specialized in spying and intelligence. But since I was still a student, it wasn’t possible for me to create one on my own.

To avoid any leaks of information, I had to create a carefully selected task force out of the knights under my command. But even after I selected the best knights who were most aligned with our goals, the headache didn’t end.

In accordance with Aoi’s wishes, I had to post knights at strategic points to not let anyone escape from the underground casino raids. However, I needed a specific reason to mobilize the knights, and they needed to achieve some kind of tangible, specific result. That’s what my parents had repeatedly drilled into me. I’d even just gotten a letter about it from them, so if I was going to use my power to direct the knights, I needed to show results no matter what.

That’s why I began mobilizing the knights for the purpose of investigating the city for additional underground casinos. Soon, they found clear evidence of one and started inspecting buildings in the area.

Given this discovery, I had the opportunity to mobilize more knights, since the operation would definitely be able to produce results. It felt kind of like part of my royal training, since I’d never used my princely powers to direct the knights before.

It only dawned on me later that the entire time I was doing these operations, I was passionately working toward Aoi’s goals. I finished the investigation of the underground casino and was able to identify the nobles who’d been going there. I felt proud of what I’d achieved when I reported the results to Aoi, but it wasn’t long before she gave me new orders.

“The Nevis Family you have in custody has agreed to cooperate with us. Are there any hideouts that they could go to where they won’t be found by the knights or easily attacked by other organizations?” she asked.

Her request was absolutely crazy, but I didn’t want to just turn her down, so I diligently looked into it. Part of the reason I went through with it was because I didn’t want to disappoint her, but I also agreed that this would be necessary for the future betterment of the city. If I pulled this off, it would be a great opportunity to let my presence be known here in Winturbly, where people from all over the world converged, as a member of Vahtedd’s royal family.

Until recently, I’d been so full of myself because everyone had called me a prodigy at the best sorcery academy in the world. After meeting Aoi, though, I felt humbled. A strong sense of purpose and a drive to be a good royal, which I’d never felt before, filled me as I mobilized the knights and took down the underground casinos that were preying on students.

Through hard work, I found a suitable hideout for the Nevis Family, and I moved them there secretly. That meant all our pieces were in place—we had the knights openly investigating other underground casinos while the Nevis Family conducted their own investigations from the shadows.

I thought that was the end of it, but then Aoi said that she wanted to deal with the other organizations. As a result, I had to once again mobilize the knights, but now I wasn’t sure if I would actually be able to produce tangible results. After all, if we were going to turn them all into our collaborators like we’d done with the Nevis Family, we wouldn’t be able to arrest them and shut down their operations.

Without much choice in the matter, I filtered my knights down to a selective few whom I trusted most. During the operation, Aoi took the lead and immobilized the entire criminal organization, so there were no injuries whatsoever on our side.

However, we heard the screams of the criminals as we stood at the exits, sealing them off. The thunderous sounds of violent spells being cast carved the fear of Aoi into the hearts of the knights.

“I thought staying at a distance and casting spells was common sense for sorcerers...”

“How is she fighting against multiple enemies in close quarters?”

I responded with a nonchalant shrug. “I’m sure you all know Felter, who’s joined in on your training. Aoi is a sorcerer who defies common sense. She was able to handily beat Felter with a wooden sword while fighting him head-on despite how skilled he is with body fortification sorcery. There aren’t many who can overcome him in melee combat, yet she did.”

This seemed to only frighten them more. As knights, they already understood how fearsome sorcerers were on the battlefield. Usually knights would try to use long-ranged attacks with bows or try to get close to the caster before they could finish their incantations. However, rumors had spread about the Witch of the Academy who could use powerful spells in the blink of an eye. Now that they’d seen that she was strong in melee range as well, I couldn’t blame them for being even more fearful. That being said, I didn’t have the heart to tell them that Aoi could probably do things that were a hundred times greater than whatever they were imagining.

“I don’t ever want to be her enemy...”

“Agreed...”

I felt like I’d witnessed the moment that the knights’ impressions of Aoi had solidified.

Aoi continued this process with other organizations, and in no time at all, she forced all of them to submit. When I commented that she was essentially holding the leashes of all the criminals of the city, she frowned and insisted that they were simply cooperating with her.

I couldn’t agree with her, though. In reality, she was in control of every criminal organization. Every now and then I checked in with Aoi about the status of these groups, and what she told me only supported this.

“It seems that there’s a new group that’s come to the city from a small country near the Bushmills Empire. However, there were only thirty of them, and they didn’t seem to have any leads on buying weapons or supplies in the city, so I took them to the Nevis Family’s hideout the next day.”

“I see,” I said.

Usually, something like this would be the spark that could set off a gang war, but I felt calm hearing her report, confident that if she’d taken care of it, then it wasn’t that big of a deal.

“All of them have promised to follow the rules, so they’ll be free to conduct their business under the supervision of the Nevis Family,” she said. She paused, waiting for my report on the knights.

I cleared my throat. “The knights’ activities have mostly been focused outside of Winturbly, with the exception of their training. There was a report of magic beasts a little bit to the north of the city, so a lot of them have been dispatched there. Also, I have an update on the troublesome thieves we’ve been looking into since last month. We haven’t been able to find them, but we’re increasing our search area and are now investigating the southern and western parts of the city.”

“Magic beasts... If they’re giving the knights trouble, should I go?” she asked. She brought her face close to me, her eyes sparkling.

I backed away slightly and nervously looked in all directions. “N-No. This is a good way to train the knights. I don’t think they’ll need you to step in.”

I need time to prepare my heart if you’re going to get so close to me! I pretended like I was thinking about something and looked away.

“I see. I’ll ask the Nevis Family if they have any information about the thieves,” she said.

After our conversation, we went back to our respective duties.

◇

Rox and Aoi met once or twice a month and shared information, and though it wasn’t their intention, they strengthened the underground information network in Winturbly. The experience he received during this period would greatly change Rox’s standing as a royal, but he would only realize this much later.

Side Story: A Day in the Holy Capital

I had some free time, so I went out with Strath, Elisa, Shenley, and everyone else into the beautiful capital, excited to sightsee.

“Professor Aoi, the clothes in that store are cute!”

“They really are. I’ve mostly seen people wearing white in this city, but it looks like they have other color options too.”

Ayle made two circles with her hands, mimicking glasses, and brought them to her eyes as she examined the clothes. “It seems like it’s the style here to have a mainly white outfit but to wear one item of clothing that’s a different color, like shoes or a jacket. The light green is really pretty!”

“Oh, the pale blue is cute too!”

“Seriously, so cute!”

Ayle, Liz, and Belle chattered excitedly as they entered the store. Colt trailed behind them with an awkward smile. I looked over at Shenley.

“Would you like to go in as well?”

Shenley looked conflicted.

“Is there something wrong?” Strath asked.

“Are you okay?” Elisa asked.

The two of them spoke at the same time. Shenley cast a worried look at the store.

“To be honest...I’m from one of the more remote places in Maple Leaf.” Disclosing this seemed to be difficult for her, but I couldn’t tell why.

“Is there something wrong with that?” I asked.

She looked down, her face tensing up more. “I don’t have the confidence to pull off the special fashion of the Holy Capital.”

So she’s worried about standing out as someone from the countryside? I gave her a reassuring smile and pointed at myself. “That’s okay. I’m from the countryside too. Have more confidence in yourself.”

Everyone’s eyes focused on me.

“You are?” Strath asked.

“Now that I think about it, where are you from?” Elisa added.

“I want to hear about your hometown...” Shenley said wistfully.

The three of them looked at me with curiosity and expectation.

“Well...” I said, tapping my index finger on my chin, “Aside from my master, I only saw other people at most once a month when merchants traveled nearby.”

My companions seemed shocked.

“That feels a lot more removed than living in the countryside.”

“You lived that far away from civilization?!”

“That’s amazing...”

“Well, all we did was study sorcery, but it was never boring, in my opinion,” I said.

Strath’s forehead wrinkled. “Living far away from anybody else is already a sign of a very powerful sorcerer, but I can’t believe it was really just the two of you out there,” Strath said.

“Yeah, I hear that the farther you get from well-traveled roads, the more magic beasts there are. There are a lot of different types of magic beasts in places that people don’t normally go to,” Elisa added.

“What kind of magic beasts lived near you?” Shenley asked.

The memories of the magic beasts I’d encountered in the past flooded into my mind. “There was a large wolf with red eyes, a jet-black horse with a horn, a giant with a single eye, and a massive, blue alligator. Oh, there were occasionally dragons too.”

“Wh-Whoa!” Shenley exclaimed, stunned. “Anyone who wasn’t you would die immediately...”

Elisa laughed and held up a finger. “Was the large red-eyed wolf a wicked wolf by any chance? Also, I think the horse was a black unicorn, and the giant was a cyclops. I’m assuming that the dragons you encountered were mid-sized ones?”

“Yes, there were quite a few medium-sized dragons. They were about as big as a two-story building. We’d see large ones every once in a while too.”

“That’s what you consider a mid-sized dragon?! How big does one have to be for you to think it’s large?!” Elisa hollered.

Hmm... I have to think about this. “The biggest dragon I’ve encountered was about the size of a small mountain. There are also different species. The most annoying kind is the one that cloaks itself in wind and launches its breath attacks from the sky. Their backs and wings are spiky, and their scales are so hard that swords bounce off of them.”

Strath let out a long sigh. “Those sound like the ancient dragons that appear in some countries’ folklore. I doubt you’re lying, though, so I suppose that means you’ve already defeated an ancient dragon. Those things are powerful enough to raze an entire country to the ground...”

I couldn’t tell if he was surprised or sad. His facial expression was very complicated. From beside him, Shenley looked at me with admiration.

“You beat a powerful dragon like that? You’re really so amazing, Professor Aoi!”

I had to correct something they’d misunderstood. “I wasn’t alone when I defeated it. I was working with my master to defeat the dragon.”

“Y-Your master must be pretty insane too... You mentioned his name before, but I hadn’t heard of it before,” Elisa said.

Strath folded his arms. “If I remember correctly, it’s Owain Millers, right? It’s hard to believe that such a powerful sorcerer isn’t more well-known.”

Before I knew it, I found myself with a big grin. “Well, he’s been living in that place, far removed from civilization, for over a century. It’s not too surprising that nobody knows him.”

Shock crossed their faces once more.

“A century?” Strath repeated.

“Like, over a hundred years?” Elisa asked.

“Wasn’t he lonely?” Shenley asked.

“Well, according to him, he’s a pure-blooded elf. He’s very proud of that,” I said, chuckling.

“It’s true that they’re fairly rare.”

“They are? I’ve heard that the headmaster’s a half-elf,” I said.

“Elves not only have long lifespans, but they are also very well-suited for sorcery.” Strath explained. “They apparently have trouble producing offspring, and as a result they have a low population. Over time, the number of pure-blooded elves has decreased. Most are either half-elf or quarter-elf.”

“I’ve heard that the only pure-blooded elves left are the royals of the elven country,” Elisa added.

I was about to speak, but Shenley chimed in first.

“Does that mean that Owain is elven royalty?” she asked.

I couldn’t stop myself from snickering. “Heh heh. Owain? Royalty? That’d be pretty amusing. He doesn’t look like royalty whatsoever. He resembles a staunch shut-in.”

Strath and Elisa looked at each other while Shenley eagerly started to ask more questions.

“So he doesn’t resemble a royal at all? He’s a powerful sorcerer, so does he mostly come off as a researcher?”

“A researcher? Hmm...no, I think he’s more like a mad scientist or a very high-strung engineer.”

“A mad what?” Strath asked.

“What’s an engineer?” Elisa asked.

Oh, I guess these words don’t exist here, so they’re not getting the picture. Well, I guess the fastest way for them to understand what kind of person he is would be for them to meet him in person.

As we continued our conversation, Ayle and the others came out of the store. The girls were all wearing new matching white outfits, with the only difference between them being the color of their capes.

Ayle’s cape was light green, Liz’s was bright yellow, and Belle’s was pale blue. Colt had also changed, and he was wearing a light-green cape, matching Ayle’s.

“You changed too, Colt?” Shenley asked.

Colt sheepishly smiled. “Ayle kinda made me buy it.”

Ayle beamed. “It suits you, so who cares? Oh, Shenley, you should take a look too! Let’s all go together!” she said excitedly, taking Shenley by the hand and beckoning Strath, Elisa and me to come along as well.

Shenley shook her head, a troubled look on her face. “I... I don’t know what’s fashionable. A-And I don’t think our professors will want to change their clothes either.”

Shenley seemed to be fairly adamant about not shopping, and she looked to me for help. I smiled.

Seeing the students enthusiastically showing off the clothes they’d bought while laughing with glee brought back memories of the school field trips during my past life. As a teacher in Japan, I’d gone on field trips as a chaperone, but I’d usually been so busy that I hadn’t been able to do anything fun aside from looking at the cityscape with my students. My daily duties had included keeping track of the students, making sure the schedule proceeded smoothly, and meeting with the other teachers to talk over the day’s events each night before bed. We’d used that meeting to make sure that there were no mistakes in the following day’s schedule.

Though the majority of my memories of school field trips revolved around my job, I could recall a few happy times when my students had invited me to go clothes shopping with them. I’d gone with the girls, and they’d excitedly picked out clothes for me and wanted me to try them on. When I’d obliged, the male students and other people gathered had been strangely excited and had made a big fuss. I looked back fondly on these memories of my time as a teacher in Japan.

When I snapped out of my recollection of the past, I saw the students looking at me expectantly.

“I suppose I’ll buy some new clothes and change into them,” I said.

Shenley and Ayle turned to each other.

“Really?!” Ayle asked.

“Is it really that surprising?” I responded.

Ayle and Shenley nodded. “Maple Leaf clothing is primarily white...”

“But you mainly wear black clothing, so I can’t believe you would really change.”

I giggled. “I think wearing white wouldn’t be too bad every now and then. Strath and Elisa, you should join us too.”

Elisa nodded and patted Shenley’s head.

“If we’re all buying clothes together, then there’s nothing to be embarrassed about, right, Shenley? Oh, and if you don’t want to choose the color of the cape, then we can all help you choose!”

“You can pick mine too, in that case,” Strath said.

“Why?” I asked.

“You’re an adult, Strath. You should choose your own,” Elisa chided.

“Ugh, that’s too troublesome. I’ll just go with black,” he said.

We were all completely in tourist mode. It seemed that Elisa and Strath had both read my intentions. Shenley looked surprised.

“See?” Ayle said. “Professor Aoi’s saying she’ll buy some clothes too, so let’s go into the store!”

“W-Wait!” Shenley tried to protest, but Ayle dragged her forward.

Though Shenley was panicking, Ayle and Elisa smiled warmly at her.

“We’ve come all this way. It’d be a waste not to enjoy it!”

They all entered the store. As I followed behind them, my smile spread even wider at how much fun they were having.

◇

It was a rule in the Bushmills Empire that you’d seek out those stronger than you in order to refine your skills. Or at least, it was a rule in Felter’s family. Either way, Felter recognized me as someone stronger than him, and he considered himself my disciple. He boasted that he’d be able to master anything I taught him, but I decided that it’d be best to focus on improving what he was already good at instead of teaching him other things.

“You’ve been blessed with a good physique and courageous spirit. That’s why, I’d like to mainly focus on further improving your body fortification sorcery.”

Felter nodded. “Okay. Understood.”

From the way he talked, he didn’t sound like a student. He shook his golden hair, which resembled a lion’s mane, and folded his arms. His muscles bulged through his clothes. He had a physicality and a demeanor that could intimidate even adults. We were currently training at a location outside of the city and far from the roads.

“Let’s begin by going over your usual incantations for body fortification sorcery.”

Felter immediately activated a body fortification spell at full strength, using four verses. I thought I remembered it being three verses, which meant that he must’ve added something to it. The new portion seemed to be entirely original, which showed how deep Felter’s understanding of body fortification sorcery was now.

“I see. This spell focuses on fortifying your defenses, increasing the muscle strength in your legs, and heightening your reflexes. I think it’s a great starting point. After all, the legs are the basis for everything. It’s the same for when you’re trying to increase the amount of force you can put out quickly and your movement speed—the more strength you have in your legs, the more you can put your weight into your attacks, improving their efficiency. Bolstering this one area will also improve your overall strength, speed, and defenses with regard to evasion,” I said, giving a simple analysis.

Felter nodded happily at my assessment. Seeing this childish side of him triggered the urge to lose myself in the fluffiness of his hair, but I held myself back.

“But there’s a limit to your spell. If you focus on strengthening one part, you’ll have to strengthen other areas in order to support the strain or increase the efficiency. So, I’d like you to learn how to strengthen your entire body and also how to increase your flexibility.”

Felter furrowed his brow. “Flexibility?” he asked, as if he were trying to figure out the very meaning of the word.

“Once you train it, you’ll be able to feel the difference. For instance, when I use a sword, flexibility of the wrist is very important. I regularly do stretches.”

Felter nodded again. “Okay. I’ll stretch every day too.”

I couldn’t help but smile at how readily he followed my instructions, but he didn’t seem to be too happy with the look on my face. Ever since becoming my disciple, he’d become a lot more obedient, and I always found serious students very adorable.

“All right, then let’s start with the body fortification spell. Repeat the incantation after me.”

“Okay.”

I taught Felter like this fairly frequently. Usually I’d have him use his spells in a large area or while sparring with me. Sometimes, I’d have him hunt magic beasts in the forest or take down bandits who the knights couldn’t catch. After all, practical experience was important.

Today, he was using the body fortification spell he’d just learned, which increased his strength and maneuverability, to hunt magic beasts. Felter fell to the ground, his limbs spread out, next to the body of a massive wild boar he’d just knocked out. He panted heavily, trying to catch his breath.

“Your breathing’s ragged. Try exhaling deeply even if you feel like you can’t. By doing that, you’ll be able to steady your breathing.”

Felter groaned, grimacing as he let out a long exhale and then filled his lungs slowly. After a few repetitions, his breath slowly steadied.

While he rested, I stood by the edge of a lake I’d come across in the forest, taking in the pleasant sights of this area. The surface of the lake was perfectly placid, as there was no wind blowing. I’d found this place while training Felter, but I was still surprised that such a place existed in this dense forest. The water was crystal clear.

As I sat down on a rock next to the lake and gazed out across the surface, Felter silently walked up next to me. He wiped the sweat off his forehead.

“Now that I think about it, I haven’t learned how to fight aquatic magic beasts yet.”

“That’s true,” I said. Unfortunately, at this point my attention had been stolen away by his leonine locks, which were flowing in the wind.

His hair looked so fluffy. I bet it’d be so nice to touch. By the time I’d finished that thought, I found that my hands had already started tousling his mane. Though Felter was glaring daggers at me, I couldn’t hold myself back. Usually he’d immediately run away, but today he was staying put.

“If there ever comes a day when I can beat you, I’m going to make you stop doing this,” he said softly.

I grinned.

Afterword

Thank you very much for buying this book! It’s me, Mitsuru Inoue. Can you believe that we’re already on the second volume?! It’s really on sale! This is just my own little fantasy, but I picture that whoever’s purchased this book has also read volume 1. In other words, it’s all thanks to you that volume 2 got printed and is now available for purchase! I really can’t thank you all enough!

It seems that thanks to all of you, the first volume has been selling really well. My editor’s so happy! Of course, I was so overjoyed that I might’ve done a little dance as well. Even now, I’m dancing a bit in the rays of the setting sun. Okay, I’m joking.

Anyway, let’s jump into the main topic. This story is, in a way, about how this different world is being revolutionized by Professor Aoi. Of course, she’s changing people’s approaches to and beliefs about sorcery, but she’s making a difference in other ways too. She’s also teaching about more spiritual things like elitism, classism, and racism. These are all aspects that could lead to a complete intellectual revolution if she’s successful.

However, royals and nobles hold the most power in this world, and it’s natural for them to oppress laymen. In contrast, Aoi has a completely different way of thinking and doesn’t care about anyone’s status, power, or capacity for violence. For better or worse, she’s gotten a lot of people’s attention because of how much of an anomaly she is.

I think Aoi’s charm point is how she sticks to her guns and uses her strength to set straight those who abuse their power. I’ll be emphasizing this part of her in future developments as well.

In volume 1, I wrote about how she didn’t back down from royalty, and in volume 2, I wrote about how she didn’t back down from an entire country. If volume 3 is published, I plan to show various teaching moments within her life as a school instructor.

As I close this out, I’d like to thank everyone once again. Thank you so much to Suzuno for the beautiful, wonderful art! I am truly a fan of your work, and I can’t thank you enough. I’m always so excited to see the illustrations.

Also, thank you to my editor, S-sama, for always helping me with my drafts and future plot points. It’s all thanks to you that my books, which I write with nothing but instinct and passion, get published. I look forward to continuing to work with you!

Lastly, a big thanks to everyone who bought both volumes of this series. It’s really thanks to all of you that I can continue to excitedly write! Thank you very much!

Please buy the next volume as well!