“Well done. Since you broke the pride of the political science department at the festival party, our department has high expectations for you, Nigel. By the way, every year there are awards for the highest scorers by grade and department, so I ask everyone to participate a lot.”

Snap!

At the sound of Oliver’s finger snap, a rulebook arrived in each student’s hand.

Rustle rustle.

The sound of turning pages filled the student council room.

“Hmm, whichever department it is, their academic enthusiasm is outstanding.”

Oliver nodded with satisfaction.

“Winning an award in an on-campus competition is 5 points, gold medal is 10 points, silver medal is 7 points…”

“Magic sword competition during the semester? What on earth is this?”

“…Wait, last year’s prize was Reparo?!”

Though it was a small voice, the students all turned towards it at once.

Reparo was a potion that no magic department student could ignore.

It was a truly miraculous potion that, if you drank a small bottle about the size of your index finger, your magical power would not decrease for a minimum of two weeks to a maximum of one month.

“That’s right. This year our department’s prize is also Reparo. Or a wish that the student council can grant, whatever it may be!”

Oliver said, satisfied with the students’ reactions.

“Did you hear that, Nigel? It’s Reparo!!”

“Yeah, I see…”

Meanwhile, the fact that the prize was Reparo, which I had no need for at all, made my lack of motivation dig even deeper underground.

“Haha, I see enthusiasm on everyone’s faces. Then shall we take questions again at this point? Ah, you there, the curly-haired female student in the back center?”

“It says here in the rulebook that you get 1 point for defeating the swordsmanship department, but isn’t fighting on campus against school rules?”

Oliver rubbed his mouth with a meaningful smile.

“That’s a very good question. It’s forbidden by school rules. By ‘school rules’. Did you understand my meaning?”

“…You mean it’s fine as long as we don’t get caught?”

At the same time, Nigel’s eyes also gleamed meaningfully.

[This is the timeline separator]

The next morning.

Nigel finished breakfast today too, with the glares from the political science department—especially Sid Cromwell’s—as side dishes.

“Today we finally have magic department classes!”

“You looked like a sick chicken yesterday, but you’re full of energy today, Allen.”

“Nigeeel!”

Allen lightly scolded.

“Ah, Beselion. You didn’t forget morning training today either, right?”

“Yes.”

“What did you do today?”

“I ran ten laps around the training ground and practiced basic postures.”

“Good. You still have evening training left, right?”

“In the evening, I plan to train and spar with Professor Roneh and other seniors.”

Nigel nodded.

“Good. Work hard.”

“Yes…!”

…No, what on earth is this!

The music band in Allen’s mental party hall declared a temporary strike.

Between a man and woman, at this age said to be the most beautiful! To end with such a dry conversation that sounds like one between a professor and student no matter who hears it, does this make any sense?!

Moreover, the one answering is smiling so happily for some reason.

Could it be that instead of having that kind of relationship in the forest, they signed an employment contract?

Allen tilted his head.

…No, Allen’s sharp intuition was not just saying, but shouting.

These two definitely have something going on.

Even if not Nigel, who rarely shows changes in expression, Noah clearly has feelings beyond mere liking.

You could tell by looking at Noah’s eyes. His cousin’s eyes looked just like that on the day of the engagement ceremony.

Those eyes shining with certainty, without a trace of wavering.

“Well… there’s fun that comes from inexperience!”

“…Allen? Are you talking about your terrible swordsmanship skills from yesterday?”

At Nigel’s words, Noah burst out laughing.

Allen’s face instantly turned bright red.

“Nigel! You said I could do whatever I wanted yesterday!!”

“No, I didn’t know it would be that hilarious. Even Professor Roneh just left without giving any advice, saying she liked how hard you were trying.”

Nigel shrugged mischievously.

“Ugh, you look like you’d be far from swordsmanship yourself, where on earth did you learn to use a sword?”

Noah also stopped laughing and looked at Nigel.

“Tillin. I have family who used to be holy knights.”

“Wow, that’s cool. It’s super hard to become a temple holy knight, right? You have to pass the official priest exam and then take a separate holy knight exam.”

“Yeah, they’re the people I respect most.”

Nigel recalled Ron’s face, which had a dimple on the left side when he smiled.

“Someone you respect, I’d really like to meet them sometime.”

“Me too. I’d like to spar with the family member you mentioned.”

“No way. Especially not you, Beselion.”

Are you trying to half kill someone?

At the firm refusal, Noah pressed his lips shut.

Grin.

Seeing this, Allen didn’t miss the opportunity.

“Wow, then I might get to meet Nigel’s family member before Noah!”

“…Well, that might happen someday. Allen, stop dawdling and let’s go now. We’ll be late for class.”

Nigel hurriedly moved his feet lightly.

Having asked about Noah Beselion’s recent situation and even given encouragement… this morning was perfect too.

[This is the timeline separator]

The classroom for Heres’s class was not in the main school building, but located in an annex.

The annex was in the shape of a large circle. Centered around a low, wide circular podium, the seats became higher the further they were from the podium, so all students’ eyes were focused on the podium.

Dong. Dong.

Not long after the bell rang, Heres opened the door and entered.

He stood in the center of the classroom, on the large circular podium that had only magical devices on it.

Snap!

As he snapped his fingers, blue letters spelling out “Heres” appeared in mid-air.

As Heres slowly rotated his index finger, the letters also slowly rotated following his finger.

“Nice to meet you all. I’m Heres, in charge of Understanding and Application of Magic this semester.”

Clap clap, applause rang out.

“Since it’s the first day, rather than starting the lesson, I’d like to do an interesting activity.”

After finishing speaking, Heres stood in front of a large magical device about the size of a person’s upper body.

“To handle magic, the amount of magical power and control are the two key things.”

When Heres placed his hand on the magical device, the small light that was barely visible at the very center of the device gradually grew larger until it shone as if it would burst the device.

“Huk…!”

Just as the light filled the magical device completely and was about to escape outside, Heres removed his hand.

“This is the amount of magical power. Did it seem like the magical device was about to burst just now? If we assume the magical device is our body, this is like the magical manifestation that our magic department students experienced when they were young. It’s when vast magical power bursts out, breaking through the shell.”

Heres placed his hand on the magical device again.

Similarly, the magical device filled with light. But this time, there wasn’t the precarious feeling that it might break at any moment.

Heres grinned and raised his empty hand.

As Heres moved his hand, the light inside moved around the magical device as if it were the shadow of his hand, following his gestures.

“Shall we try something more interesting? You there, sitting in the very front, do you prefer mountains or the sea?”

“The sea.”

“I see, well… for the sea, we’ll need a sandy beach first.”

At his words, bright yellow sand spread across the magical device that had been full of only light.

“And we need a sun that makes your eyes squint.”

This time, the top of the magical device turned blue, and a red sphere rose between it.

“Lastly, we need a sea with waves.”

This time, water with crashing waves filled the magical device. The magical device now perfectly depicted a seaside scene.

“Wow…”

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Applause and whistles erupted from all around.

“Thank you for the applause. I don’t need to explain control, do I? Like this, a magician can only be called a magician when they have both vast magical power enough for manifestation, and the ability to control that power.”

As he removed his hand from the crystal ball, the beautiful white sandy beach turned into white smoke and disappeared.

“Now you know what you’ll be doing today, right? You’ll come up to the podium by groups and place your hands on the magical device. Don’t be disappointed if you can’t manifest magic. This magical device emits light as long as there’s magical power. Surely there’s no one in this classroom without magical power?”

Haha, the students burst into laughter at those words. After all, everyone is born with magical power.

“Ah, it’s unlikely, but just in case there’s a student who might break the magical device today, I’ve put up a barrier around it. Shall we start with this section then?”

[This is the timeline separator]

The classroom was filled with non-stop laughter and cheers.

The magic department students created animal and human forms, sometimes clearly, sometimes barely recognizable.

Students from other departments couldn’t create forms, but their eyes lit up seeing their own light appear in the magical device. Some students even filled it with a larger light than the magic department students.

“Alright, the last section! Come on up!”

At Heres’s call, Nigel, Allen, and Noah stood up and went down to the podium.

The atmosphere became colder than before.

Nigel Ars, the person who refused recommendations to transfer departments from other professors right from the first day.

They were determined to watch closely to see just how talented she was in magic.

Meanwhile, Nigel was chatting with Allen and Noah.

“Nigel, what are you going to do?”

“Well… a forest?”

“That sounds cool, it suits you well. Ah! It’s my turn. I’ll go do mine then!”

Allen, whose turn had come, placed her hand on the magical device. Soon after, the magical device shone brightly and the light began to wriggle, trying to change into something.

“What’s that?”

“Ah! It’s a dog chasing a bone!”

The students burst into laughter at the scene of a fierce-looking dog chasing after a bone that was teasingly escaping, almost within reach.

“Good luck, you two!”

Allen greeted them and returned to her seat.

While Heres was briefly adjusting the magical device, Nigel spoke to Noah.

“Beselion, how did you end up coming to the academy?”

“Ah, I…”

“Alright, the check is complete. Now, next in line!”

Nigel let out a faint sigh and placed her hand on the magical device.

Since it took quite a while for the light to fill the magical device for all the other students, Nigel turned around for a moment.

“So, why did you come?”

BOOM!!

Suddenly, there was a tremendous roar along with the sound of something shattering.

Nigel quickly turned her head.

“…?”

Nigel blinked… and blinked again, the strength leaving her eyes at the sight before her.

The magical device was completely shattered, with fragments scattered everywhere.

And… on the intact wall, there was a large hole, no, a gap so large that a person could easily fit through.

“Did… I do that?”