Chapter 97
Originally, I had no intention of taking a class like Magical Ecology.
No, let me correct that. In truth, I didn't want to take any general education course at all, not just Magical Ecology.
I was already living a life busy enough just lying in bed and breathing.
And now I was supposed to add more appointments that required me to be outside my bed? That went completely against the direction of my life.
Even so, the reason I had decided to go through with the hassle and enroll in Magical Ecology was entirely because of Deputy Director Albert's advice.
-If you don't know how to handle it, why not let Miss Lunaris raise it properly?
On the other side of the screen of the communication magic device, the Apple Phone Mk.2.
That offhand remark from Deputy Director Albert, with his hollow eyes, was the beginning of it all.
During the regular report held over the vacation, I told Deputy Director Albert about the schedule leading up to my investiture as an archmage.
Starting with the attack on the magic train bound for the Magic Tower.
How a black mage had slipped into the Magic Tower auction house and targeted a monster egg—namely, Nebula's egg.
And how I had bid on it myself to snatch it away, reporting everything in detail.
"I spent 200 blood-soaked gold coins buying that thing, you know?"
-Ah, don't worry about that part. If you send the purchase certificate to the Imperial Mage Corps, we'll reimburse the full amount as expenses.
It wasn't exactly intentional, but I ended up snagging some gold after all.
Was this the imperial family at work? They really had money to burn. And generous to boot.
Well, the more money the better. After graduating, maybe I'd buy some deserted island somewhere, build a villa there, and lounge around sleeping all day.
"Expenses aside, please do something about this egg too. It's not just an ordinary nuisance when it keeps sucking up my mana at every turn, you know?"
-Hmm... but it can't be helped, can it?
Deputy Director Albert went on with a troubled expression.
-We can't break it, and if you toss it somewhere, it can't fall into a black mage's hands either. Besides, it absorbed a great deal of Miss Lunaris's mana, so imprinting should already be complete.
"Well, that's true, but..."
-Then there is no choice but for Miss Lunaris to take responsibility for managing it.
"No, this is a monster, though. Am I even allowed to raise it?"
Wait, doesn't this world have, like, a permit for raising wild beasts or something?
What if some unverified person raised something this dangerous and an accident happened?
What's more, what hatches from this egg is Nebula.
The very creature black mages worship at the level of a divine beast.
"Something that could seriously threaten the entire continent might be born, you know."
Not as a joke, either. I meant it.
-Hoho, Miss Lunaris. In the first place, a monster is not a demonic beast. It's simply a general term for beasts that manipulate mana.
Even so, Deputy Director Albert just smiled warmly and shook his head as if it didn't concern him.
-There is no such thing as a bad monster from birth. What matters is how you raise it, isn't it?
"Even so, this one's really dangerous... no, it seems like it would be..."
The problem was, I couldn't exactly say that outright.
Seeing my frustrated expression, the deputy director chuckled and said,
-Did you know? For now, Miss Lunaris, you yourself are classified as an S-rank dangerous individual in the Belhart Empire.
"...Huh?"
What was that supposed to mean now?
"Did they put a bounty on my head or something?"
-Haha. Please don't misunderstand. That's not what I mean. It means Miss Lunaris possesses such tremendous power that the empire needs to manage it on a national level.
"..."
-The point is, even if the monster that hatches from the egg has the potential to destroy the continent, if it's managed properly, it could instead become a tremendous secret weapon.
In other words, because I was the one who picked it up, I was the one who had to take responsibility for it,
"It's such a hassle... Can't the Imperial Mage Corps just manage it for me?"
-...I'm begging you, please, please don't make my workload any bigger.
Deputy Director Albert's face as he said that was exactly like an office worker on the verge of collapsing from overwork.
With the dark circles under his eyes sinking all the way to his jaw, he somehow reminded me of my past self.
"Um... Deputy Director, have things been rough lately?"
-I'd like to say I'm fine, if only as a formality, but... honestly, it's so bad I don't even have the luxury of that.
A heavy sigh slipped from Deputy Director Albert's mouth.
-Over the past few weeks, it feels like I've been to every fief in the western part of the empire. It was truly exhausting.
I let out a sigh of relief inwardly.
Thank goodness I didn't go with him.
See? Leaving the bed just brings trouble.
"It's unfortunate you went through all that trouble, but you still didn't catch them in the end."
-...
"That black mage controlling the wyvern didn't seem to be in the western part of the empire at all—it looked like they were hiding in the Magic Tower. What decisive evidence did you even have?"
At my offhand, brutally honest jab, the muscles in Deputy Director Albert's face twitched.
That had clearly gotten to him a little.
-I really have nothing to say about that. To think we were being strung along by fake evidence planted by that black mage... Of course, it wasn't as though we got no results at all...
Halfway through his excuses, the deputy director suddenly bowed his head.
-Well, if it hadn't been for Miss Lunaris's report, we'd still be out in the middle of the western wasteland beating up small fry. I truly am grateful for that.
Seeing that weary, worn-out look, I once again hardened my resolve.
I would absolutely not join the Imperial Mage Corps. Seriously.
-Anyway, in your future regular reports, please include the condition of that monster egg as well.
"Yeees- okay, okay."
-Haha. You don't need to act that bothered by it.
When I made it blatantly obvious I was annoyed, the deputy director let out a weary laugh.
-Who knows? That monster might turn out to be surprisingly intelligent and handle all sorts of odd jobs in Miss Lunaris's place.
"...Oh?"
-For example, it could attend class in your stead, or do the cleaning and laundry for you.
"Ooooh?!"
What? It can do my errands and even handle academy life for me?
That's... no, that's seriously tempting.
-For that, early education is important. If you teach it well from a young age, it'll definitely grow into something useful.
"Then what, should I train it like a pet?"
-Well. Monster studies aren't my specialty.
The deputy director shrugged and continued,
-You're attending the academy, are you not?
"...Huh?"
-Don't you have any courses like Understanding Monsters, or ecology?
After I finished the communication with Deputy Director Albert and looked into it separately, there actually was one.
*
"Somehow... there are twice as many students as there were in last week's class."
Professor Maxian, standing at the podium, looked around the lecture hall with a bewildered expression.
The large lecture hall in the main building of the Magic Hall was packed tight, with not a single empty seat.
It was a scene that would be unimaginable under normal circumstances.
In fact, the 'Magical Ecology' course he taught was not a particularly popular one at Elterion Academy.
No, to be blunt, it was closer to a course people avoided.
For one thing, Professor Maxian himself wasn't a popular instructor.
He wasn't the type to be generous with grades, and he wasn't the sort who taught in a fun, clear, and well-organized way, either.
Nor was he even handsome enough to make the female students' hearts flutter.
But it wasn't just the professor; the subject itself had a problem too.
Even if you studied flora and fauna that contained mana, there was nowhere you could really put that knowledge to use.
Unless you were an ambitious student aiming for a professorship, or someone whose course registration had gone disastrously wrong and who needed to cram in credits in a hurry, there was no reason to take it.
But this semester was different.
The moment word spread that it was a general education course chosen by Lunaris Evermoon, students from the Magic Department swarmed in all at once.
Thanks to that, Professor Maxian had spent the past few days sweating bullets, harassed by students begging him to expand the class size and even wrestling with the administrative staff.
"Hey, that's her, right?"
"Yeah. The archmage student from the rumors."
"Do you think she'll show us how she handles nature's mana here too..."
"That staff is supposed to be an imperial treasure personally bestowed by the First Prince, right?"
As expected, all the whispering voices leaking out from here and there were about Lunaris.
Professor Maxian's gaze naturally drifted toward the corner.
In the very back seat by the window, where the sunlight reached best, a small-framed girl was nodding off.
With the silvery-white staff floating behind her back, she was impossible not to notice.
Professor Maxian breathed a sigh of relief inwardly, thankful.
If she stayed like that for the whole lecture, teaching would be wonderfully easy.
On the other hand, he thought this might actually be an opportunity.
Up until now, his lecture evaluations had been low, and he had repeatedly failed to make the cut in the senior professor promotion review.
But if he could get through this semester well, promotion would be virtually guaranteed.
And, though it was a minor thing,
as the head of the Magic Department, Raymond Cloud, had said, when else would he get to teach a student with the title of archmage?
He had no intention of using this to land himself a cushy post somewhere, but it wouldn't hurt to casually brag about it at social gatherings or at banquets held by the Magic Tower Society.
"Ahem! All right, settle down now."
Professor Maxian cleared his throat and set the tone.
He suddenly felt his motivation surging.
"There are many new students, so let's restart today's class from the orientation. What is Magical Ecology!"
The professor tapped the blackboard and continued,
"In the end, it can be said to be the study of the living creatures that inhabit this continent. From a single blade of grass to a single insect. In truth, most life on this land is born with mana inside it."
The students' attention focused on the professor.
"Using the mana within their bodies is a privilege reserved for intelligent beings classified as humanity—humans, elves, ogres, and the like. But there are exceptions in the natural world."
More and more force entered the professor's voice.
"Very rarely, there are beings with low intelligence who, despite that, learn to use mana by instinct rather than reason. Those are called monsters..."
Just then, someone in the middle of the students suddenly raised a hand.
Professor Maxian, who had been on a roll, frowned.
"Questions before the lecture ends..."
The professor, about to say he'd give them time separately, froze the instant his eyes met the student with her hand raised.
Lunaris, who had somehow woken up, was blankly blinking with her hand still raised.
Wait... wasn't she asleep?
She had definitely been bobbing her head up and down just a moment ago. When had she woken up?
More importantly, she'd actually been listening to the lecture?
"M-Miss Lunaris?"
Professor Maxian broke out in a cold sweat without even realizing it.
"If you need the restroom urgently, you may go quietly and come back."
"It's not the bathroom. I have a question."
At those words, beads of sweat streamed down in rivulets.
No... nobody told me she was this eager.
Mrs. Darnia, who taught palace etiquette and social graces, had clearly said Lunaris only slept through her classes the whole time, hadn't she?
However, there was one thing Professor Maxian was mistaken about.
The etiquette class was in the morning, and his class was in the afternoon.
In other words, this was exactly the time Lunaris would quietly open her eyes and be ready to stir up trouble.
Of course, Professor Maxian knew the ecology of magical creatures, but not Lunaris's biological clock, so his mind was nothing but a mess.
Memories from the previous semester flashed across the professor's mind.
-To think she'd prove the problem I set was wrong with a short paper...
He had watched from the same faculty office as the professor in charge of Basic Magic Theory was humiliated by Lunaris and then agonized over it.
Could it be... me too?
Professor Maxian swallowed dryly without realizing it, his nerves on edge.
"...Yes, Miss Lunaris."
The professor nodded, trying hard to hide the tremor in his voice.
"Go ahead and ask."