Chapter 75
“Huh? Yes?”
“No, that came out wrong. Please, have a seat, senior.”
“S-senior, you say...!”
She looked moved just from being called senior.
Was her name Chloe Sellus?
With her light green hair, she definitely possessed a considerable amount of mana.
About the same level as Aris.
It seemed to be above S-rank.
“So, you're in the magecraft department?”
“Huh? Yes. But... I'm also the top student, at least.”
And not just that—top student, too.
...Honestly, I didn't know how impressive that was, but praise first and ask questions later!
“That's amazing!”
“I-I heard you're also the top first-year student...”
“Huh, you know me?”
Apparently none of the mid- and lower-ranked third-years know me.
“I've been keeping a close eye on the first-years... The department head said there are so many talented students this year that the competition is really fierce...”
“Why?”
“Because outstanding students need to enter the department, I guess...? That way the research budget increases, and we can make more things.”
So she was also here to do some PR.
“Still, I'm not really the talkative type... And usually, juniors like you would be aiming for the combat department, right...?”
“I want to go to the magecraft department.”
Honestly.
“Really!?”
Chloe's voice and face lit up immediately.
Everyone must think I'm aiming for the combat department.
But I really do want the magecraft department.
Though I don't think Karnarov and Isabel will let me off that easily.
Still, my heart is set on magecraft.
Seriously. I don't want to be ground down under Karnarov.
“But what do you learn in magecraft?”
Honestly, I knew nothing beyond learning how to make magical devices.
“Magecraft department...? Right. For now, it's mostly magical device production and circuit tuning. We also handle repairs of large magic circles.”
I see.
So they do work on magical devices.
At least I've taken one step closer to my goal.
“Ah! I'll show you the magical devices I've made!”
Saying that, she started pulling things out of her bag.
A penguin-shaped doll, elaborate clockwork parts, and all sorts of things spilled out.
“This is a magical device that protects the user one time only... this one lets you slide across the floor however you want, and this one gathers information about your surroundings all at once...”
They seemed like pretty small but useful items.
There was even a magical device that could draw a map in one go.
But when I looked into the circuits, they were all just complicated specs implemented with simple magic circles.
This is...
“Pretty interesting.”
“Right?”
Chloe exclaimed, as if she'd finally found someone who understood.
Then the bell rang, signaling that time was up.
It was time to meet another senior.
“Let's... meet again later...?”
“Of course.”
Chloe glanced over here regretfully once before leaving.
She seemed disappointed that she couldn't talk more about magical devices.
I met other seniors as well.
A senior with red hair and a red cloak, looking bold and hearty, came in.
“I'm Bell Heinz, ranked 10th in the combat department's third year!”
“Hmm...”
“I heard you're the top first-year! Why don't you come to the combat department?”
“It feels like I might end up going even if I don't want to... but I don't really want to.”
“Why not!?”
“Professor Karnarov is brutal.”
“I see!”
“Want to spar sometime later?”
He grinned and drew out his staff.
That sounded fun.
He looked like he'd use some fire-related unique magic.
“Sounds great! I'll be waiting!!”
There were also seniors with fiery personalities in the best sense.
“I'm Ellen from the potion department. I heard you're from a commoner background too. Nice to meet you?”
There was also a calm senior girl with watery blue hair.
But I'm not really from a commoner background—I'm not even an Imperial citizen.
Well, I guess it doesn't matter much.
While we were talking like that, the area outside the booth grew noisy.
“I want to talk to the top first-year too!”
“I heard there's an arrogant top student? We should put them in their place.”
Some seniors were interested, and some wanted to crush my spirit.
If they wanted to challenge me to a spar, I'd welcome it one hundred percent, but unfortunately no senior actually did.
* * *
“I'm back...”
Someone's voice rang out from somewhere.
Looking closer, something was shimmering in the air.
Chloe pushed through the crowd and shut off the magical device with a tired look on her face.
“What's that?”
“This? It's a caster that uses light-element magic to interfere with recognition. Sadly, I haven't finished it yet. Pretty cool, right?”
“...That's just insanely cool.”
You can recreate optical camouflage with a click?
“N-no, Yumiya...! I won't be fooled by empty flattery...!”
Chloe jerked her head away.
She seemed like the type with very firm standards of her own.
“So, senior!”
“Y-yes?”
“Can you repair magical devices, by any chance!?”
“I don't know what you mean, junior... but it might be better to see it in person... waah!”
I took Chloe's hand.
“You're doing it, right?”
“W-wait, not so suddenly...!”
“Come here!”
I covered her eyes with the cloak I had on me and immediately stowed her in my inventory.
I abducted her to the dormitory.
It happened in an instant.
* * *
Chloe was a little confused by the sudden abduction.
But even so, she was a seasoned engineer.
The moment I showed her the mana stone generator,
“That's a pretty interesting structure, isn't it?”
Her eyes and tone changed completely.
“Tools.”
“Yep.”
As soon as she took the tools from me, she started taking the mana stone generator apart from every angle.
“Fascinating. It's like it was made by someone who'd never even touched magical engineering before. A genius who didn't study?”
If you say it like that, someone's going to feel wronged.
More like someone who wasn't good at studying. That researcher.
“Is it hard to repair?”
Aris asked worriedly.
Whenever the mana stone generator seemed on the verge of dying, Aris had grown sad as if it were her own problem.
Which made sense, really, because fans and air conditioners were our saviors, after all.
I'd be sad too if it suddenly just died on us.
Specifically, my wallet and my own body, which would have to carry that thing all the way back to Earth.
Chloe roughly inspected the circuit.
“An hour should about do it. Since it's a prototype, the circuit was made easy to modify. I'd have to rebuild everything from scratch, though... but that's no problem for me.”
Then she laid out her tool kit beside her.
As we quietly backed away, her gaze slid through the gap between her drooping bangs.
“You can watch.”
“Oh? Then I won't refuse.”
With a serious expression, Chloe began the repair like a surgeon starting an operation.
About forty minutes passed like that.
“If I... do it like this...! Done!! I've updated the whole structure to a modern design that won't devour mana or eat away at the equipment's lifespan!”
“Waaah!! As expected of you, senior!”
Aris shouted while bouncing on her feet.
Chloe's face turned red at the utterly innocent reaction.
“W-wah. This is nothing at all... there are so many more impressive things...”
Then Aris suddenly had a question.
“So why are you here, senior...?”
“W-well... Junior Yumiya brought me here.”
I handed over the reward to change the subject.
“Thank you so much, senior. This is my token of appreciation.”
I handed her a fountain pen and notebook set.
“W-what is this!?”
“I modeled it after a quill, but it's much easier to use. Want to try it?”
She tried using the fountain pen.
Then she opened her eyes wide and said,
“Such a simple yet excellent structure...! T-this is far too generous a gift...! Where did you even get something like this...?”
I bowed my head in thanks.
“Thank you so much! You'll keep repairing the mana stone generator from now on!”
And I pressed the issue.
“Huh? Really!?”
The innocent Aris also chimed in.
It was extremely effective on Chloe!
“W-wait, hold on, that's not a promise I can just...”
“Hm? But you already accepted the fountain pen, didn't you? That's a pretty rare item...”
“I-I did accept it, but...”
“It's impressive enough that even Professor Karnarov, who has absurd wealth, would look for one...”
Chloe's watery eyes shook violently.
“Ugh, fine, I'll do it! I'll do it, okay!!”
Yes!
Even so, I was planning to pay her every time she helped.
There's a limit to making someone work for you with words alone.
“Ugh, I wanted a cute junior... you're ridiculously cute-looking, but not cute at all...!”
“Huh?”
Since she was mumbling, I couldn't hear her well.
“A-ah, no! Bye-bye!!”
“Ah, she ran off.”
“Yumiya, if you keep doing that, Chloe-senpai is going to run away...”
“Huh? You know her name?”
I didn't think I'd introduced her.
“Of course! In a competition where all the notable magical device shops took part, she entered solo and won the Excellence Award!?”
The Excellence Award sounded like the second-highest prize.
For reference, she added that the Grand Prize went to Rainwood Magical Device Shop.
That's the place that made my staff.
“...She really was impressive.”
“I heard she's currently a Rank 4 expert and aiming for Rank 5... where on earth did you bring in a senior like that?”
She was just there, so I brought her.
She seemed to be more than a little skilled.
* * *
“So why are we here?”
“How should I know?”
“We came because Professor Karnarov called us.”
The next day.
It was the day of the basic defensive magic class in the morning.
However, students with excellent assignments were exempt from the basic defensive magic class, except for the exam.
So students like me, Aris, Linia, Robert, and the others didn't have to attend.
Then why did he call us?
Karnarov raised his staff.
Letters written by transcription magic danced across the air.
[Encryption]
“You will hone the basic offensive and defensive spells here, and learn how to encrypt attack magic.”
Encryption, huh.
So I'd actually get to learn what I'd been doing by trial and error.
In the solemn atmosphere, Karnarov said,
“This is the first step for you to become battle mages. And...”
As soon as Karnarov announced the lesson objective, the students began to murmur.