Chapter 22 - It Just Worked When I Did It (2)

The view of the classroom from the podium was quite unfamiliar.

I, who always looked at the instructor, am now standing next to the instructor facing the students.

Moreover, those students' gazes were shining with hot curiosity, which made me feel quite awkward.

"Let's start from the beginning, shall we?"

Margaret, who had placed me beside her, turns her waist.

Then she moved the chalk with magic on the blackboard behind her and wrote down a sentence.

"The progenitor of magicians who established the framework of theoretical magic, Medea, said: 'All humans circulate mana inside and outside their bodies.'"

This is a fact written in the setting book of <Song of Sword and Magic>.

In this world, mana exists. This power, which is present in all things including the atmosphere, is also contained within humans.

As time passed, humans who delved into mana finally discovered one fact.

That's the phenomenon Margaret mentioned: 'All humans circulate mana inside and outside their bodies.'

"One day, humanity came up with an ingenious idea. If mana is naturally circulating, couldn't we use it?"

"Instructor. That's..."

"Correct. This is the beginning of magic."

If mana circulates inside and outside the body anyway, we should be able to use that flow.

For example, let's assume we extract mana from inside the body and release it externally.

It can change its properties into anything like fire, ice, or wind.

The natural phenomena created by mana exert physical force and influence reality.

Humanity named this [Elemental Magic], and went on to devise numerous schools of magic.

"......"

The atmosphere in the classroom changes to silence.

Unlike usual, Margaret's lecture was very high-tension and passionate, but its content was still as old-fashioned as ever.

The students' eyes, which had initially sparkled with interest in the unique lecture where a student assists the instructor and talks about Battle Mage.

Now they were visibly losing focus and becoming cloudy again.

Of course, Margaret couldn't have been unaware.

"Hmm. Alright. Let's take a moment to refresh."

She temporarily stopped the magic moving the chalk.

And brought up a topic that immediately aroused the interest of the Magic Department students.

"Absorbing external mana inwards, and releasing internal mana outwards. If this is the basics for magicians, how do you think knights handle mana? Anyone want to answer?"

As soon as Margaret finished speaking, students raised their hands here and there.

The rivalry between departments that had continued since the first year.

Even for such a trivial question, they were itching to answer.

"Hmm. Samson, why don't you answer?"

"Thank you."

Samson or Samsong, who had greeted me earlier, stands up from his seat.

His curled-up lips clearly looked down on the Knight Department.

"The muscle-brains of the Knight Department are the same in that they release mana externally. But those guys only release mana into their swords. They don't know the ever-changing uses of mana like us magicians."

"That's right."

Margaret affirmed without paying any attention to the vulgar language.

It's a common occurrence at Olympia Academy.

Slandering the other department. Even during lectures.

She praised Samson and then continued the lecture based on the renewed concentration.

"In the end, releasing mana means one thing. Interfering with the physical world outside the body using mana. The principle is the same whether you're a magician or a knight."

"......"

The flow of the lecture is gradually heading towards its climax.

Everyone intuitively feels it.

That the goal of this lecture is, after all, to explore 'Battle Mage'.

"However, the magic I saw from Herak in the Inter-year Exchange Competition had a different principle. While handling mana, it didn't follow existing principles, and while being magic, it wasn't magic. Now, Herak. Would you roll up your sleeve?"

"My arm?"

"Yes."

I don't know the reason, but. Well, if she says to do it, I should. I'm the assistant after all.

I roll up my sleeve.

The arm that was skinny when I first possessed this body now boasted a firm and sturdy appearance.

"You can't tell just by looking at the outside. Herak's special quality can only be understood by feeling it directly. I'm going to touch his arm now."

"......"

"Of course, if I do it myself, it won't resonate with you all... Is there a student who would like to come forward?"

...Am I participating in some kind of living specimen test?

Why are you letting people touch my arm as they please?

Whether she knows or doesn't know my bitter inner thoughts.

As if testing who is qualified to dare touch my arm.

Margaret scanned the students with her eyes shining beyond her round glasses.

Fidget, fidget.

At first, the students were surprised by the sudden question and didn't raise their hands.

Eventually, one by one, they raised their hands to express their willingness.

Among them were male students, but most were females.

They were all sending gazes towards my arm...

It's probably because it's a physical beauty that's hard to see in the Magic Department.

Their burning gazes are quite burdensome.

Moreover, the most noticeable one is, of course, Penel.

Where did her usual modest and peaceful pink eyes go?

It was a bit much how she was eagerly sparkling her eyes while looking at my arm─ more precisely, my muscles.

'Why are you looking so intensely?'

Weren't we just friends?

"Hmm. Surprisingly many hands raised. I'd like to allow everyone, but at times like this, the top student would be most reliable, right?"

"...!"

"Miss Penel. Please come forward."

At Margaret's permission, Penel's face immediately brightens.

As if worried that someone might steal her chance, she hurriedly stands up from her seat and comes to the podium.

"...Hehehe."

Penel, with her back turned to the students.

She slightly leans her face towards me so only I can see, and her broadly smiling face looked quite happy.

Is it that much?

"Miss Penel. Touch Herak's arm. Especially focus on stroking the surface of the skin, you should feel something."

"S-Skin...! Yes, of course!"

While Instructor Margaret spoke in a quite scholarly manner.

Penel somehow misinterpreted it, and with her cheeks turning bright red, she hesitated for a moment.

Then she smiled shyly and directed her slender fingers towards my arm.

"...Gulp."

Penel's Adam's apple bobs.

How nervous must she be?

She carefully touches my arm with her slender fingers and.

"...Hik!"

She quickly pulled away in surprise, then as if gaining momentum, she stroked it again.

Swish, swish─

Penel's fingers gently scratching my arm.

Is it because she's a girl?

A contradictory sensation, both warm and cool, is transmitted to me.

A beauty like Penel stroking my arm.

Honestly, just looking at this, it's not a losing deal for me either...

"Haah, haa..."

...No, get a hold of yourself, Miss Penel.

Why are you so excited just from skin contact?

Hey, close your mouth. Your mouth. You're drooling. Hey.

After Penel mindlessly stroked my arm for a while.

Margaret speaks to Penel, who seems to have forgotten why she came out in the first place, as if she's lost her mind.

"Can you feel it now, Miss Penel?"

"...Hyaah!"

With a start.

Penel, who jumped as if struck by lightning, then stepped back with a rustle.

"Ah, yes. Yes? What? I didn't do anything?"

"...I'm not sure what you mean, but I'm asking if you felt Herak's special quality. Isn't that why you were touching so earnestly?"

"...Ah, aha! Yes! Of course. Ahaha, ahahahaha..."

Margaret sends a puzzled look as a pure scholar.

Perhaps feeling guilty because of that, Penel smooths her chest with an awkward smile.

Then she calmly explained what she realized.

"Yes, that's right. As you said, Instructor, there was a strange sense of incongruity in Herak's skin."

"What impression did you get? Please speak honestly, as you felt it."

"Hmm. As I felt it... Ahem."

'As you felt it' has no hidden meaning, Miss Penel. Get a hold of yourself.

"...How should I put it, it felt like there was a mana layer. But it's different from the magic shield that magicians commonly use."

"Oho. Oho."

"I've heard that knights wrap some mana around their bodies to some extent. But in my opinion, this seems a bit different from that too."

"Precisely, Miss Penel. You may return to your seat."

"Ahahah, yees."

Penel quickly returned to her seat as if she had aged ten years.

Even after sitting down, she was still breathing heavily, and the students next to her were giving her suspicious glances.

"I too have done some analysis based on Instructor Angelina's mention and the scene I saw at the Inter-year Exchange Competition."

Margaret's explanation continues in the classroom again.

She stared intently at my arm.

As if it were a subject that aroused scholarly curiosity.

"Herak's body is surrounded by a 'mana layer'. It's similar to that of knights but also different. Herak's mana... moves according to his will."

"Hmm. Instructor. But I can't feel mana?"

I interject in the middle, questioning Margaret's words.

I have magic insensitivity, so how can mana follow my will?

"It's a different issue from mana sensitivity. Mana sensitivity originally means 'how well one can feel the body's mana circulation'. Herak's mana layer operates on a different principle from mana sensitivity."

"......"

'This is more new information than I thought.'

I couldn't understand Margaret's words at once, but I think I get the nuance.

Magic insensitivity and physical cheat.

There are still hidden details in these two things.

'I should look into this more.'

Let's find out the secrets of my body when I have time.

"Oh my. I got so focused that the lecture time has already come to this?"

At Margaret's words, I suddenly look at the clock.

Time has already approached the end of the lecture.

It's about time to go back.

Thinking that, I was about to come down from the podium, but Margaret stopped me.

"Wait. Herak. Could you tell us this before you go?"

"Huh?"

"The mana layer covering Herak's body. It might be your own power that shouldn't be revealed to others, but please tell us just this."

She pushes up her round glasses.

Beyond the glasses shining in the light, she asked.

"How exactly did you wrap mana around your skin? It's something that shouldn't be possible common-sensically. An innovative use of mana that's impossible even if you try... Could you give us a little hint about that secret?"

"......"

Explain the principle of wrapping mana around the skin, she says.

Margaret's passionate attitude aside.

If it's just a little, I wouldn't mind telling...

'...I just heard about this today too.'

I only learned about the existence of a mana layer from Margaret's explanation just now.

Of course, there's no way I can explain it.

But I can't say here,

'I don't know either. Let's start with magic insensitivity and physical cheat first.'

...So.

Therefore, my answer was very simple.

"Well... It just worked when I did it?"

Rather, I'm more curious why you all can't do it.