Chapter 33
These days, my quality of life had improved dramatically.
The biggest reason was that I had finally begun to completely dominate the morning war with the maids.
Being forced awake usually left me feeling awful all day, but now I was sleeping in properly.
Naturally, I'd given up on the very idea of morning classes long ago.
Instead, I was at least attending afternoon classes out of a sense of responsibility.
I was still attending the academy, after all, so I had to fulfill my duty as a student.
But now that I thought about it, Monday classes had ended early for me alone, and Thursday classes had been suspended for the time being as a result of my negotiations with Department Head Raymond, hadn't they?
In the end, the only classes I could properly attend were the Magitech Department's practicals.
To be honest, I'd been getting quite into those practicals lately.
Making things while fiddling around with this and that suited me better than I'd expected.
I was brimming with motivation, and with all the sleep I was getting, I was in peak condition.
Naturally, my mind felt razor-sharp too. Humans really were happiest when doing something they enjoyed.
I had to make something—anything—at times like this.
“This semester, I'm going to make a prototype no matter what.”
What I was immersed in these days was creating a perfect version of the Apple Phone.
Of course, I still had a long way to go.
There were three key points.
Miniaturization, mana efficiency, and video.
First, the size.
Judging by what I'd made so far, it was closer to a tablet than a phone.
To make it fit snugly in one hand, I had to reduce it to a quarter of its current size.
Mana efficiency was still a problem too.
Even if distributing it to ordinary people who couldn't use magic at all was unrealistic, I wanted it to work without trouble with only the magical power of a low-tier mage.
For my ultimate goal, I needed to reduce the mana required to operate it by far more than that, too.
The biggest headache, and my ultimate goal, was implementing video calls.
At this point, it still hadn't escaped the category of a telephone that could only make voice calls.
I simply couldn't figure out how to display video.
I felt like it might work if I applied a magic-projection method to illusion magic somehow...
But when I actually tried it, there were countless problems. Video clarity, real-time processing speed, and all sorts of other things.
I spent my days racking my brain, then repeatedly letting out deep sighs.
Even so, the reason this troublesome project was moving forward at all was entirely thanks to Senior Estelle.
Whenever I seemed to hit a wall, she would always suggest a creative idea.
-Hmm~ Luna, how about twisting the circuit in this part like this?
-It seems questionable in theory... Huh? Why does this work?
-You could call it an off-the-books trick not found in the textbooks... Ahaha~ Don't tell the professor I taught you this, okay?
-Wait, but if I layer a magic circle over the circuit you told me about, it looks like the efficiency will go up by about 30%.
-...
It bears repeating, but Senior Estelle really was the genuine article as a magitech engineer.
Even the mana circuits I'd forcibly cobbled together based on rigid magic theory and telekinetic magic became cleaner circuits once she got involved.
What a relief.
Later, I would coax her over, make her mend her ways(?), and make her settle down at the academy.
And then I had to lock her up somewhere and make her produce nothing but magitech tools based on modern technology all day long.
I was working frantically while entertaining such silly thoughts when I suddenly looked up.
“...Huh?”
I had wondered why it was so strangely quiet, and it turned out I was alone in the practical classroom.
The sun was setting outside the window.
It seemed all the other students had left long ago.
If they were leaving, they could have taken me with them.
...Or had I just been too focused to hear them?
I yawned lazily as I gathered up my things.
Come to think of it, academy life these days was more uneventful than I'd expected.
No, it was so uneventful that it was practically boring.
The magic-obsessed people who had followed me around like stalkers stopped bothering me after their satisfying public duel with Department Head Raymond.
Senior Miriell hadn't sought me out even once since the day we first met. Had the princess taken my lie that I'd ‘do nothing’ at face value?
To be honest, it was getting a little boring.
“...What am I saying? This was how it was supposed to be.”
I smacked both cheeks with my palms.
Thinking about it, there was still more than half a year before the original story's main plot began.
When you thought about it, it would actually be stranger if something special happened every single day.
A rare stretch of leisurely, peaceful days had finally arrived.
It would be a waste to squander them worrying about things that might never happen.
*
Midterm exam season arrived at Elterion Academy.
For most students, it must have been a time of despair, but for me, it was no different from a festival.
There were... there were no classes...!!
Of course, I still had to leave for the classroom at the appointed time to take my exams.
-Everyone, liberal arts theory exams are ultimately a battle of stamina. It's difficult to stay focused for three days straight...
-Um, Teaching Assistant.
-Yes, what is it? Are you going to go grab a quick meal?
-No, I finished all of it.
-??!?!
-May I submit it and leave? Yaaawn...
Once I finished all the assigned questions, I could go straight back to the dormitory, which meant I could essentially laze around all day.
Of course, if I stayed in my room too long, I would feel a little self-conscious around the maids, so I needed to change locations every now and then.
“Hmm... Is this really how it works...?”
Inside the old library, which served as the Ghost Story Research Club's clubroom.
I let out a long yawn as I watched Claire struggle over her work at the desk, clutching her head and groaning.
With her brows furrowed and her lips pursed, she looked rather cute.
“Claire, the last line and the formula you wrote above it have the wrong calculations.”
“Huh? Really? But this should be right...?”
“Anyway, it's wrong. Ah, looking at it now, even the hypothesis you wrote on the second line from the top is wrong. Try it again.”
I waved a hand idly while lying face down with my head on my arms.
Claire stared down at the paper with a doubtful look, but soon her expression stiffened in shock.
“...Gasp. It's all wrong. Lunaris, how do you know just by glancing over it?”
“It bothers my eyes when I look at it.”
If you asked me to explain the principle, I wouldn't know either. I had just taken a rough stab at it and said so.
“By the way, it's quiet in the clubroom.”
“Yeah. It's boring without Club President Sylvia, right?”
“Boring? It's great.”
Unlike the underclassmen who remained at the academy to take written and duel-based exams.
Apparently, the third- and fourth-year students took their exams outside the academy.
Naturally, key academy personnel, including the department heads, had gone along with them.
The outside was more dangerous than the academy, after all. They had no choice but to be vigilant.
As a result, the academy was extremely quiet during midterms.
This was exactly the kind of atmosphere I liked best.
“By the way, if you're not going to study for your exams, why did you come here, Lunaris?”
I answered Claire's innocent question with a serious expression.
“Today is the ominous Friday the 13th, and this place is a sanctuary.”
“U-uh...? What does that mean?”
“If you stay in Linea Hall on a day like today, you'll suffer ‘maid corruption.’”
“...What does that mean?”
“Anyway, it's a thing.”
Claire let out a long sigh, looking envious.
“Haaah, maid corruption or whatever, I want to get into Linea Hall toooo.”
“Give it a shot. I think you could easily become the Magic Department's top student.”
“Th... thanks for encouraging me, but could you make it a little more realistic? Even so, top student is a bit much...”
I spoke listlessly to Claire, who let out a hollow laugh as if dumbfounded.
“Why? Looking at the current top student, they don't seem like much. They're all the same.”
“That only seems true to you, Lunaris.”
Claire grumbled for a bit, then abruptly changed the subject.
“Oh! Speaking of Linea Hall, I heard it’s been shaking lately, like there’s been an earthquake or something. Have you felt it too?”
“What? So I wasn't the only one who felt it.”
At that, I immediately straightened up.
“That's right. It shakes a little every dawn.”
“Could it be that the building's foundation has weakened because you fight the maids every morning?”
Claire stared at me with a knowing look.
I waved my hands and began rattling off excuses.
“No way. The foundation of a building that big couldn't weaken over something like that.”
...No, wait.
With my magic... could something that minor actually be enough?
“Anyway, go easy on them.”
“Don't overdo it. They're all hardworking people.”
Thinking it over carefully once more, something seemed strange.
Since I started using natural mana lately, my magic hadn't run wild at all, though.
The problem of Linea Hall shaking seemed like something else...
*
Around sunset, Claire and I left the clubroom before it got any later.
When we reached the front of the Linea Hall dormitory, Claire abruptly clenched her fist and burned with determination.
“All right, today's motivation boost is complete. Once I get back to Sepia Hall, I'll study a little more before bed.”
“Yeah. Do your best.”
The very moment I offered that encouragement in a languid voice.
-KRRRUMBLE!!
The ground suddenly began to shake.
A violent rumble shook the entire building.
“...”
“...”
Claire and I froze in place and stared at each other.
This... didn't feel like a simple earthquake.
“Lu, Lunaris... Something exploded, right?!”
“Haaah, seriously...”
Just when things had finally seemed quiet for a while...!
Even as I grumbled aloud.
My feet were already carrying me toward Linea Hall at full speed alongside Claire.