Chapter 67
Gaios's sword shot toward Lunaris.
He didn't stop.
No, he couldn't stop.
There wasn't the slightest hesitation in the motion as he drew his sword.
He trusted Lunaris.
He was certain that even if he went all out, that monster of a grand mage would find a way to deal with it.
...Honestly, he also wanted to land one on that presumptuous junior as a senior.
He didn't say it, but it felt rather unfair.
Last night, he'd been left sprawled out without being able to twitch a finger, and it had secretly bruised his pride.
Of course, he admitted Lunaris was the better mage. Still... I'm a senior, after all. Hm-hm.
Even if she doesn't go so far as to show a senior proper respect...
couldn't she at least let her senior save a little face?
Just as Gaios's sword tip, carrying a jumble of stray thoughts, was about to pierce Lunaris's nape.
Too close to dodge.
Too late to cast another spell.
The very moment Dean Raymond and the other professors belatedly started to cast defensive magic toward Lunaris, thinking, "Oh no!"
“...?!"
The world slowed down.
At least, that was how it looked to Raymond.
Blink, kkaaam- ppaak.
In a space where the laws of nature had gone awry.
Transparent waves spread in circles outward from Lunaris.
Like tossing a stone onto a calm lake.
As the ripples spread, the coordinates of space warped.
Nature, the world, turned upside down.
In the blink of an eye, Lunaris disappeared.
At least, that's how it looked to everyone except Dean Raymond.
-Whoosh!
Gaios's sword sliced through empty air.
The sword, having lost its target, dissipated uselessly.
"B, Blink?"
"She was definitely right in front of me just a moment ago..."
While everyone was confused and rubbing their eyes.
Lunaris was already behind Gaios.
As if she'd been standing there from the start, completely naturally.
Lunaris gently placed her palm on Gaios's back.
"That's enough."
Along with her languid, sleepy voice.
-KUUUUNG!!
The sparring arena floor caved in.
Gaios's body was slammed into the floor as though crushed by an invisible giant's palm.
"K, huh...!"
He couldn't move a single finger.
As if the gravity in the space had increased hundreds of times over.
Or as if the air had turned into a lump of iron.
The fierce match ended in a single instant, absurdly, almost laughably simply.
Only a quiet stillness enveloped the sparring arena.
It was the professors, who had been standing there dumbfounded, who broke the long silence.
"W-well, well... My, my..."
"What just happened?"
They were clearly confused, unable to make sense of the scene before their eyes.
"Telekinesis magic, maybe? Student Lunaris specializes in that, after all."
"It doesn't make sense to cast telekinesis over such a wide area."
"Judging by the fact that it only pinned him down, it seems like some kind of gravity magic..."
The professors tried to interpret Lunaris's magic through their own shallow knowledge.
They were all wrong.
That wasn't telekinesis magic or anything like it.
It certainly wasn't gravity magic either.
"Ha, ha..."
Raymond, the only grand mage present who could understand Lunaris, let out a dry laugh in sheer disbelief.
"This is... alteration magic."
A grand mage is one who manifests natural phenomena themselves through magic.
To do that, they contract with spirits, transforming the mana within their bodies into the mana of nature.
In order to understand the essence of nature more deeply.
And to devote their lives to becoming one with the world.
But Lunaris was different.
She simply overwrote the surrounding space with her own "world."
Rather than following nature's laws, she twisted the world's rules to make nature conform to her.
This was Lunaris's grand magic, her signature spell.
'So monstrously arrogant, and absurdly efficient.'
Raymond burst into a delighted laugh—"Ohohoho—"—as if to say this was so very Lunaris.
*
I had finally managed to get day and night back to normal.
After eating until my stomach was stuffed and using magic until I felt refreshed, I slept the sleep of the dead for nearly thirty hours straight.
I got out of bed in a good mood, ready to start a productive day.
"Let's go to the Magic Tower!"
My mood soured instantly thanks to Dean Raymond barging into my room out of nowhere.
Everything suddenly felt like too much, so I went back to bed and pulled the blanket over my head.
"I'll sleep a little longer and think about it after I wake up... haaahm."
"Student Lunaris? Pretending to sleep won't work. You don't think I don't know you slept the entire day yesterday, do you?!"
"How would the dean know that?"
"Because I came here yesterday too and wasted half the day! Don't you think it's about time you got up?!"
"...Ah, seriously."
I threw off the blanket and stretched out long and hard.
I couldn't ignore him like he wasn't there... he was too noisy. I should answer him and send him away.
"What Magic Tower on a day this hot? So annoying..."
"That's exactly why we're going! The inside of the Magic Tower stays at the optimal temperature and humidity for research all year long. It's perfect as a summer retreat!"
"I don't know how comfortable the Magic Tower is, but my room seems perfectly fine."
I pointed to the air-cooling magic tool, a.k.a. the air conditioner, being mercilessly overworked twenty-four hours a day in one corner of the wall.
Dean Raymond's gaze lingered on the air conditioner for a moment.
His glare sharpened.
"Ugh... Dean Lilliana, why did she have to help make something like that..."
Letting out a groan, the dean didn't give up and dragged over a folding chair, plopping down right beside my bed.
"Fine. I'll cut to the chase. Student Lunaris, let's go claim the title of Grand Mage."
"...Huh?"
"You have the qualifications. Even if you didn't make a contract with a spirit... that power to alter the world itself is more than enough to be called top-tier magic, grand magic."
"What does that have to do with the Magic Tower?"
"To receive the title of Grand Mage, you need verification from the Magic Tower's Council of Elders and imperial recognition."
Dean Raymond clenched his fist and spoke with fervor.
"Think about it. The youngest Grand Mage! What a heart-pounding title that would be!"
"..."
"And the benefits are enormous, too. In the Magic Tower, you'd be treated like an elder, and in the Imperial Court you'd even receive a noble title equivalent to a frontier marquis..."
"I'm not really interested."
This guy still doesn't know me very well.
I cut off Dean Raymond's words with a long, drawn-out yawn. Haaahm-
"That's just a hassle."
Honor and power and all that are completely useless anyway.
"Now, hold on, Student Lunaris! Think about it again!"
Just as I was about to bury my head in the pillow and roll over, Dean Raymond hurriedly grabbed my shoulder.
"Don't you remember? The one where, if you got the Grand Mage title, I'd make every Thursday a day off until graduation! Class exemption by the dean's authority!"
"Hmm..."
"How's that? Feeling a little tempted now?"
Now that was a somewhat tempting offer.
But even that was absurdly insufficient.
"Dean Raymond."
"Yes! Just say the word!"
"If I remember correctly, I don't think the Thursday lecture-exemption condition was that."
I continued, curling the corner of my mouth into a smirk.
"Wasn't it that if I beat Dean Raymond in an agreed-upon magical duel, I'd be exempt from lectures from that day until graduation?"
Dean Raymond's expression stiffened.
The dean awkwardly cleared his throat and averted his eyes.
"K, khem! Do you really think beating me is as easy as it sounds? You've lost every time so far, Miss Lunaris."
"Well—so far, yes."
I slowly raised my arm and snapped my fingers lightly.
Blue sparks crackled at my fingertips.
"Want to have a magic duel?"
I had completely found my bearings from the sparring match with Senior Gaios.
If it's a spellcasting method that ignores the process and just draws on natural mana at full force, then I somehow feel like I can beat the dean too.
"My body's a little stiff right now, so not at the moment. On the first Thursday after classes start."
"..."
A tense stare-down continued for a moment.
Perhaps reading the confidence in my eyes, Dean Raymond's pupils wavered ever so slightly.
"...A-anyway!"
The dean hastily changed the subject.
The gaze that had been roaming around the room stuck on the air conditioner again.
"M-magic engineering! Right, you seem to be interested in magic engineering!"
"...?"
"Did you know? If you go to the Magic Tower, they have mountains of rare magic-tool materials piled up there. If there's a magic tool you've never been able to make because of the materials..."
"If it's materials, I think it'd be quicker to ask Dean Lilliana."
"...Huh?!"
"She told me to ask her for whatever I need. If it's something that can be obtained, she said she'd even beg the chairman and bring it back for me."
"Grr... that sinister woman!"
The dean ground his teeth.
Watching him struggle with his head in his hands made me snicker.
I pulled the blanket back up and rolled over again.
Hoo, this is it. The feeling of being wrapped up warmly in a blanket while the air outside is so cold it gives you goosebumps.
"...Ah! Come to think of it, you used a very interesting spell in that duel just now."
Then the dean suddenly clapped his hands and said.
No... had that guy still not left?
"The alteration magic that twists the laws of nature was really impressive. It's a signature spell that suits Student Lunaris very well."
I scratched my head absentmindedly.
I don't really know anything about alteration or twisting the laws of nature.
The saying that interpretation can be better than the dream itself—that's probably what this is.
"But it suddenly occurred to me that, if you applied that ability a little, creating your own space wouldn't be just a dream... or something along those lines."
"What do you mean...?"
"I mean subspace. Rather than just using it as a storage room for putting things in, you make a perfect workshop fit for actual living."
Dean Raymond went on in an insinuating voice, watching my reaction.
"Just imagine it. Your own comfortable room with a top-quality bed, where you can twist space and slip in anytime, anywhere!"
"...!"
"Come to think of it, the maids come wake you every morning and you end up losing sleep, don't you? Then wouldn't it be enough to just slip into subspace and sleep to your heart's content?"
"...Huh?"
"And on days when you have classes because of attendance, you could just show up in front of the professor and then go back to sleep!"
"Ooooh...?"
This is... kind of tempting, isn't it?
So, if I go to the Magic Tower, you're saying I can get my hands on that subspace thing or whatever—right?