Chapter 76
Let’s make passing the Empire’s Rank 1 battle mage exam the requirement.
Once the condition was announced, the students’ reactions were all similar.
“…What is it?”
“At that level… I could probably do it, couldn’t I?”
“There are even people who reach Rank 4 in the first semester of third year… and the top students even reach Rank 5.”
“It’s a bit difficult to prepare for, but it’s manageable.”
Everyone thought it was manageable, at least by Karnaov’s standards.
Not until Karnaov added a caveat.
“However.”
“You must aim for perfect scores in every category, and earn the qualification before the final exam period.”
“…Huh?”
“Perfect scores!?”
I asked Aris.
“No, what exactly is a rank, and how hard is it to get a perfect score?”
“It’s an exam that checks whether you have the minimum combat ability required in the Empire. The Rank 1 mage exam itself isn’t difficult.”
Aris kindly explained.
Linia added her two cents.
“But a perfect score is different. Since renowned archmages evaluate it strictly, you have to pay attention to every little detail to get one.”
…Hmm.
“And a student who scores perfectly in every category is immediately granted Rank 2 mage certification.”
“So that means it’s about as hard as the Rank 2 mage exam?”
“It’s much harder than that. You’ll know once you actually take the mage exam.”
Robert appeared from somewhere and said,
“Have you taken it?”
“I heard it from someone else.”
What?
You haven’t taken it either.
Of course, he’d know more than I would, as a foreigner.
“But is a perfect score really that hard?”
“Quite difficult. Passing and getting a high score are completely different things.”
After gauging the students’ reactions, Karnaov spoke.
“Among you right now, the number of people who could pass the Rank 1 mage exam with a perfect score...”
After looking over the students, he spat out the answer.
“None. Even if there are, it’d only be one or two.”
Cold water was splashed over everyone.
If I remembered correctly, most of the students here, aside from a few, had scored highly on the midterms and finals.
So the students all looked a little shocked.
“Is that really true? I mean, we can even pass the Rank 2 mage exam, right?”
The girl with short red hair asked.
“If it’s just passing, there are even guys here who can take the Rank 4 exam.”
All eyes snapped to me.
‘Why are they looking at me?’
I thought he was talking about Linia.
“But a perfect score is a different story. This is a matter of fundamentals.”
Hmm.
I raised my hand.
“What is it, Yumia?”
“But why insist on a perfect score?”
I was genuinely curious.
You seemed obsessed with perfect scores for a while now.
“Good question. Why a perfect score?”
Karnaov took quite a while before continuing.
“Because you understand the basics of magic far less than you think you do.”
The basics?
We’ve only been practicing basic magic for half a year, though?
Karnaov looked at me.
“Explain the process by which magic is activated.”
It was a basic question.
Logic you couldn’t possibly not know if you used magic.
“You gather mana, cast the magic circle, and use a wand as the medium to manifest it in reality, right?”
They say even a school dog learns to recite poetry after three years.
I know that much now too.
“Then why is that? Why must casting be done at all? How are the supplementary spells of basic magic on both the offensive and defensive sides created? Do you know?”
I don’t know that.
Actually, I do, but only by instinct.
The students all shook their heads.
“There are many other details beyond that, and we call all of it fundamentals.”
Karnaov picked up a piece of chalk and wrote on the blackboard.
“The goals of this lecture are twofold: learn how basic magic is encoded, and fill in the fundamentals you’re lacking.”
“If you can do that, learning beginner magic will be over in no time.”
That was the end of class.
* * *
But that didn’t mean the entire day’s schedule was over.
For one thing, the potionology lecture orientation was scheduled for the afternoon.
I also had to go buy books at the School Market bookstore.
This time, since some students weren’t taking the class, we were told to buy our own copies.
As we walked along the School Market street, we heard a voice from somewhere.
“Devote yourselves to Blue Hole! Let’s help our poor brothers and sisters together!!”
So these were the followers of this god.
For some reason, it reminded me of a subway scene.
Aris took a silver coin from her pocket and made a donation.
“…Why do you do things like this?”
“Because the goddess exists, and she bestows her grace upon humanity?”
“Ah, right. That was a thing.”
Honestly, from what I saw last time, even the gods didn’t seem like very decent people.
Karnaov had also said that we were nothing more than pawns.
Of course, they still seemed better than those devilish troublemakers.
“Donating isn’t mandatory, but it wouldn’t hurt to try it once.”
“Why?”
“Because something good might happen.”
“Well, if you put it that way...”
[You donated 1 silver to the Blue Hole Church! The Goddess of the Blue Sea faintly senses your existence!]
“Whoa, that startled me!”
“Hyah!”
Aris jumped in surprise as well.
…A system message?
Why on earth?
“Well, if it’s good, it’s good.”
“The bookstore is over there.”
In any case, we had to pay for the books ourselves.
The books were pretty expensive, though, at several silver apiece.
“Ah, you’re students of Reinhart! In that case, you can get them for 50 copper apiece!”
It seemed the school had arranged it.
“Spellbooks are expensive, so I guess they’re supporting us this way.”
I bought several books, including Encryption Basics and Magic Circle Studies.
And put them into my inventory.
“That magic is amazing every time I see it...”
“Is it?”
“I mean, with unique magic, if the difficulty is too high, sometimes you can’t learn it even if you have the circuit.”
“That’s a first.”
Come to think of it, Linia’s unique magic was a little different too.
“I still need to learn more of my family’s unique magic...”
So is this really unique magic?
It was possible that Karnaov and the Reinharts were all just mistaken.
Anyway, Isabel and Karnaov had told me to come by today, so I’d have to ask Karnaov about it.
* * *
After orientation ended, I delivered the potions I’d made to Isabel.
Every last one, from top-grade to high-grade.
“Hmm. They’re much cleaner now. Your skill keeps improving, doesn’t it?”
I was regularly receiving potion materials from Isabel and making intermediate potions for her.
They were much harder than low-grade potions, but still manageable.
Of course, I could only make mana potions; I couldn’t make any of the others at all.
Since the one we’d make in second semester was a stamina potion, that’d be one more type.
Though it was low-grade, so it wouldn’t help much.
Should I ask for other recipes too?
Potions turned out to be a lot more useful in combat than I expected.
“Actually, that’s something you learn in the Potionology Department, but your skill is absurd. Just come to our department.”
“I’m more interested in magical engineering.”
I turned her down with my prepared line, though.
“Hmm? Then just take that class and this one too.”
“Then I won’t have any time.”
I heard from a senior that once you split into departments, the timetables start overlapping.
“Hmm. That’s true too. It’s not like we can turn back time.”
What kind of person turns back time just to attend class?
I’m not that dedicated.
“Ah, then I’ll make sure they don’t overlap!”
“That’s a little...”
“Well, even if you don’t want to, you’ll end up taking them later anyway.”
“Huh?”
“Potions. You need them, don’t you? Making and using them yourself is several times more convenient.”
Damn. That’s true.
They were expensive, and making them yourself gave much better quality.
It wasn’t just a matter of recovery amount; the issue was that there was a limit to how much potion you could drink in a day.
Even the same amount of potion could have different efficiency.
“Well, think it over. The choice is yours.”
Isabel waved to me as I left the laboratory, smiling faintly.
* * *
The next place I went was Karnaov’s office.
“So, have you thought it over?”
“I’ll do it.”
Honestly, it seemed like it might be fun, and demon-related matters didn’t really seem like someone else’s problem anymore.
Doing it seemed more beneficial.
As soon as I agreed, a magical mark was engraved on my wrist and vanished.
“Then the contract is concluded. From now on, you’re our errand runner. Later on, you’ll be working with others as well.”
“Is there more?”
“There is, but for now you’ll be acting solo.”
Karnaov wrote something with a quill, then said,
“Well done.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m talking about destroying the demon worshippers’ summoning circle.”
A sudden compliment? I wondered what he meant.
“It was quite an urgent matter, so I got a request for support too, but I’m glad it seems to have been handled well.”
“You mean something you’d have handled in one shot if you’d gone, Professor?”
“I can’t move rashly. If someone of my caliber makes a move, the other side will naturally take action too.”
Karnaov sat down in the office chair.
In his eyes, I could feel the seasoned authority he couldn’t hide.
He got straight to the point.
“A rat has infiltrated the school.”
“Oh. A rat.”
A rather metaphorical term, but also an intuitive one.
It meant demon worshippers.
“If you’re not dealing with it now, that means even you can’t catch them, right, Professor?”
“Naturally.”
“Then why?”
“If we attacked rashly, we’d only be hit back politically. Don’t forget, the other side is nobility.”
Karnaov gave a deep laugh.
I laughed along with him.
So you’re laying a trap.
“Something rather interesting seems likely to happen, so we should prepare.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
“Just keep doing what you’re doing now, and report any suspicious signs... but doing nothing at all isn’t my style.”
Hmm?
“I’ve prepared this as a reward for this matter as well.”
What Karnaov handed me next was a black book.
It was thinner than a textbook, but it still had quite a bit of heft.
[Casting of Oz]
A title scrawled in messy handwriting.
I could feel a strange mana from it.
It was a grimoire.
“It’s a volume that independently interprets the Karnaov family’s unique magic. Right now, it’s one of the Karnaov family’s best-kept secrets.”
“Oh?”
But I still don’t even know whether this is unique magic.
“It’ll probably be harder than any magic you’ve learned so far, but try learning it.”
And so I absentmindedly opened the spellbook,
and had no choice but to freeze in place.