Chapter 96
*
In my previous life, my dream was to be a professor.
It wasn't that I had some grand ambition to teach students on my own.
Surgery had nothing to do once you left school, so I simply aimed to become a professor.
Then, as compensation for all the hardships I went through trying to become one, I developed a bit of an obsession with the title.
‘To achieve that in my next life.’
Of course, the professor I had aimed for was not a professor of forensic medicine or occupational medicine.
But a professor is a professor.
Cheers.
That's enough digression.
“No one’s leaving, then. I’m truly glad. In that case, I’ll do my best not to make you feel your time was wasted, either.”
I looked around at the students.
With the exception of a few, they all looked tense.
Only Charlotte, the other scholarship students, and a few other students from the Magic Tower seemed unconcerned.
That was probably because of the oaths they had just signed.
‘As expected.’
Just as I had anticipated.
After Master wiped out the Magic Tower of the 13th Month.
black magic had been taboo ever since.
As time passed, except for those who knew the true history, black magic came to be treated like a narcotic—something you should never learn or approach.
But.
‘Future heroes shouldn't be like that.’
One of the heroes’ duties would be to hunt down black mages as well.
Naturally, you can't fight an enemy you know nothing about.
So I first needed to correct their instinctive rejection of black magic.
“Do you know why black magic is taboo?”
No one answered.
As expected.
I continued without caring.
Snap!
As I snapped my fingers, a drawing appeared on the blackboard.
The basic spells of mages.
Transcription Magic and Projection Magic.
The first records whatever you imagine as notes or drawings, while the second projects images you have stored elsewhere.
With just these spells, making a thesis or a book wasn't that difficult.
Naturally, it also made class run smoothly.
“I’m sure everyone here knows what made black magic start to be taboo in the first place. Still, I’ll give a brief explanation before we move on.”
When talking about the birth of magic, you can't leave Master out.
About 1,000 years ago.
This world had no discipline called magic.
Before that, there was supposedly a chaotic age where shapeless rituals sprawled everywhere and no one could tell what was what.
It was Master who ended that age.
“A thousand years ago, the Great Sage Louis Edelhardt classified the hundreds of rituals mixed together in this world into thirteen types and organized the common rules that applied to each magic.”
Symbols, catalysts, incantations, formulas, mana.
These concepts, which form the foundation of magic, have remained unchanged from a thousand years ago to this day.
“Black magic, the thirteenth category at the time, was originally called life magic.”
At the time, life magic's status was said to be no different from the other twelve kinds of magic.
It was merely one of the means used to protect people from magical beasts.
However, as the years passed and magic became more advanced, a problem arose.
“Over the long years that followed, countless symbols, catalysts, incantations, and formulas emerged, and means to replace or restore mana were discovered. But in that process, life magic crossed the line.”
To light a fire, you need symbols and catalysts that catch fire easily.
So until now, related magic had focused on finding conditions that made fire easier to ignite.
The problem was that life magic had gone far, far beyond that line.
“At the time, the Magic Tower of the 13th Month used innocent people from numerous territories as catalysts to advance magic.”
The most efficient catalyst and symbol for casting magic on living things was, of course, another living thing.
So the Magic Tower of the 13th Month secretly kidnapped countless people and advanced their magic.
They used human sacrifices to place curses on people.
They extracted human brains to brainwash people.
They cut up human bodies to turn people into chimeras.
And these examples are still on the mild side.
After hearing about the atrocities they committed from Master, I could understand why I, too, had decided to wipe out the Magic Tower of the 13th Month.
“In the end, they came up with the dangerous idea of transplanting the power of magical beasts into humans, and as a result, demonkin were born.”
How could anyone just leave that alone?
They were already burdened enough by magical beasts, and on top of that they added demonkin just to spice things up.
As a result, Master was so horrified he immediately rammed a meteor into the tower, and afterward life magic was renamed black magic.
“After that, several taboos concerning black magic were added to the world.”
I wrote the taboos on the blackboard.
1. Using humans as sacrifices while researching black magic is forbidden.
2. Harming humans with black magic is forbidden.
3. Violating the doctrines of the Solar Church with black magic is forbidden.
4. All research on black magic must be reported in advance, and the results and contents of the research must be shared in full with the Magic Administration Office.
5. Any attempt to revive the Magic Tower of the 13th Month, or any gatherings for that purpose, is forbidden.
That was roughly it.
“The part people commonly misunderstand is especially the research and use of black magic.”
Researching and using black magic is not, in itself, taboo.
In the first place, Master, who destroyed that black tower, and my first research were both black magic research.
If that had been taboo, Master would have stuck a meteor into my skull.
“In other words, even if you learn or use black magic, as long as you don't hurt people, you aren't violating any taboo.”
When you think about it, that makes sense.
Originally, causing someone to fall ill and die is taboo, but burning someone to death for no reason is taboo too.
It isn't as if black magic is taboo in itself.
However, if you cast black magic without medical knowledge, it's a spell that can kill a person in an instant.
The small problem was that no one before me had ever used it the way I did, with harmless catalysts and for harmless purposes.
Because of that, there are hardly any cases of black magic being cast without violating taboos 1, 2, and 3.
But in any case, the act of casting itself isn't taboo.
“Next, taboo number four is one that many mages get wrong, and you students in this class are also highly likely to violate.”
Taboo number four.
This is where a lot of mages slip up.
Ordinary mages are the sort who keep their research to themselves and hide their results, too.
The more magic becomes known, the more countermeasures spread—so why would they tell anyone?
The problem is that, because of that habit, they often end up violating taboo four without even realizing it.
A mage who was dragged away for researching without filing a prior report.
A mage who was dragged away for failing to report progress.
A mage who was dragged away for failing to share the results.
If you hear stories like that over and over, then to someone who doesn't know better, it starts to seem like black magic researchers are dragged away just for researching black magic.
And now, the long-awaited taboo number five.
“Taboo number five is less about black magic itself and more about the Magic Tower of the 13th Month.”
Think of it basically as an isekai Nazi prohibition law.
Don't get the Magic Tower of the 13th Month symbol tattooed on yourself.
Don't pine for the Magic Tower of the 13th Month.
Don't justify the Magic Tower of the 13th Month.
Something like that.
“However, all the procedures carried out during this class have already been approved by the Imperial Palace, so you can assume there is no chance of violating any taboo.”
I had already filed the report before class even started.
A few lessons were rejected outright, though.
Most of them were approved.
“That concludes the brief history of black magic. So please, feel at ease and focus on the class.”
*
The short orientation was over.
Now the real lesson begins.
“In this classroom, you must be able to read the faint traces of black mages, track them, and even be the first to root them out. In that sense, I’ll start with a simple test to check your powers of observation.”
I signaled Fresia with a nod.
She took out a bowl piled high with powder and set it in front of me.
“Dip your finger into the powder in this bowl and taste it, then guess what kind of powder it is.”
Tap.
I dipped my finger into the powder and brought it to my tongue.
I frowned slightly, hinting to the students that the powder didn't taste all that good.
“Now then, let's check it.”
The bowl was passed around in front of the many students who took on the challenge.
The students dipped a finger into the powder and tasted it, each giving their own answer.
Flour, mugwort powder, green tea powder, quinine.
Someone even guessed it might be Viagra.
But none of them gave the answer I wanted.
Last came Charlotte.
Tap.
“Hmm. I’m not sure, Professor.”
“Good.”
After the bowl came back around.
I put my finger back into the powder and pretended to taste it.
And then I told the students,
“The students with good observation skills seem to have figured out the intent behind this question. Right, Charlotte?”
Murmuring spread.
“Those who watched me closely may have noticed it, but the finger I used to dip into the powder was my middle finger, and the finger I brought to my tongue was my index finger.”
I did deliberately adjust the angle of my fingers to make the switch hard to see.
“I wasn’t trying to insult you. Nor was I just playing a prank. Rather, the essence of black magic is this.”
The essence of black magic is deception.
This magic, which has evolved by deceiving the other side as much as possible, specializes in inflicting fatal damage through even the slightest lapse in attention.
“If they were black mages, they might use a method like this to claim they’re victims too and get themselves removed from suspicion.”
For example, let's say that on a festival day, many people ate poison and died, or nearly died.
Then the black mage would claim, just as I had a moment ago, that they had eaten the food too.
And then they would quietly slip away from the scene.
Just like the finger trick I used a moment ago.
“That said, we can't suspect all victims. So I'll teach you how to expose people who switch fingers and pull tricks.”
A title was written on the blackboard.
<염료와 독극물의 역사>
“These days, many dyes on the market are mixed with all sorts of medicines and poisons. Humanity still overlooks how dangerous they are.”
One of the tasks I’ve been doing most often lately is checking the dyes that circulate on the market.
Maybe because this is a different world line.
The names attached to each dye are different from my previous life,
and there are still many cases where we haven't properly identified which poisons and medicines they were in my previous life.
Tsk.
The world's first antibiotic is mixed in among dyes, too.
I only know it’s a red dye, but I still haven't figured out whether it was made in this world.
“The first poison we’ll cover this time is the one black mages use most often.”
A poison with no smell, and in some eras even mistaken for mercury.
The most widely used poison in history.
It earned the name 'Inheritance Powder.'
A powder this world still looks down on, thinking, 'You’re fine as long as you don’t eat it.'
“It's the same color as the powder you just ate. It's sold on the market under the name Romfelt Green dye.”
Upon hearing this, the faces of several noble children turned pale.
Naturally.
It’s the poison most commonly used in noble plots and schemes.
“Black mages use this poison more than anyone else as a catalyst. So it makes for a perfect first lesson topic.”
I wrote the name of the compound on the blackboard.
Arsenic.
“Today’s lesson will cover arsenic, along with the poisons commonly used by black mages among the dyes sold on the market.”
No sooner had I finished speaking than several students shoved fingers down their throats.
…No, I’m saying the green powder isn't arsenic.
***
From there on, Julian's class was a series of shocks.
Even the students who only knew arsenic as deadly when swallowed had no idea it could also spread through the air.
“If you dye curtains or furniture with arsenic, it becomes even more dangerous.”
Because the very space they stay in gains the symbolism needed to activate black magic.
Ironically, the home they thought was safest becomes the place most vulnerable to black magic.
“The reason arsenic is so lethal is that, even if you're not exposed to a lethal dose all at once, over a long period it causes illnesses that cannot be treated with divine magic.”
Arsenic was a classic carcinogen.
And in this world, cancer was classified as a demon disease.
So the chronic effects of arsenic were still unknown.
Because cancer had been lumped together as a demon disease, they had never discovered that arsenic caused cancer.
Of course, Julian didn't explain that part in such detail.
That was because, with the classification of demon diseases still unfinished, there was no need to create any extra confusion.
“Black mages don't carry arsenic around themselves. They simply visit your estate, identify the dyes used there, and use them as catalysts to cast curses.”
Since the target does the groundwork for them on their own,
the black mage only needs to prepare the formula.
Julian began by dismantling that structure.
“Now I'll explain the symptoms a victim shows when such dyes are used as catalysts, and how to track black mages through the dye distribution network.”
Mee's lines.
A common sign of chronic arsenic poisoning.
A white band appears at the nail growth line, and that can be used to suspect arsenic poisoning.
There were many other dyes introduced during class as well.
Lead mixed into cosmetics.
Mercury used in lipstick and seals.
Chromium used in candles and fabrics.
Antimony often used for black pigments.
Every time he introduced one, the students' faces grew paler.
Some even wiped off their makeup right there at their desks.
By the time that eventful class finally came to an end.
“Young Lord Russell.”
Julian, having finished class, suddenly called out to one student.
Unfazed by the students' gazes, Julian spoke to Young Lord Russell.
“You seem very interested in my class.”
“Ah... yes... as I was listening, I started to wonder if my father might have recently been targeted by a black mage as well...”
“I think I can help you, student. Would it be possible to meet privately after class today?”
The third son of the Russell earldom looked somewhat uncomfortable, but soon nodded.
Watching this from the front row, Jenny whispered to Charlotte.
“Could he be trying to apologize because he was rude to you last week?”
“...I don't know.”
Charlotte stood up as if she didn't care.
And muttered,
“It seems like a new incident is about to happen soon.”
“What?”
Whether that was true or not,
Charlotte left the classroom with Jenny.
And a few days later.
One piece of news threw the Academy into an uproar.
[Breaking News! The eldest and second sons of the Russell earldom have been urgently arrested, and it has been revealed that they conspired with a black mage to poison the family head.]
People were curious about the inside story at the earldom.
But the doors of the earldom remained tightly shut, giving no answer.
The students were just as curious.
A few days later.
After the third son of the Russell earldom briefly left the Academy and returned to his family home.
the students were able to hear the circumstances directly from the family's last heir.
“What happened, Young Lord Russell?”
“Th-there was, um, the professor...”
According to the third son, the full story was this.
During the black magic defense class.
Julian noticed an absurdly large number of Mee's lines on the third son's fingers.
He found them on the young lord's fingers during the powder-tasting test.
Just then, Julian remembered that the young lord had recently had an embarrassing experience with his fiancée.
So he invited Young Lord Russell to dinner.
— “Your family may be in danger, student. I'll write you a letter, so please send it to them.”
After dinner, the third son simply followed the professor's advice and sent his family a letter about the danger of arsenic.
A few days after that.
The eldest and second sons poisoned each other.
There was one reason.
— “If I don't kill that bastard first, he'll kill me.”
The two brothers, who had already been cursing their father with arsenic as a catalyst, immediately thought the other might poison them after receiving the letter.
As a result, they each cast the same curse on the other's room, just as they had on their father,
and the family head, who had separately received another letter from Julian explaining how to break the curse, survived. That was the full story.
“I-I didn't know the professor meant that the family was in danger... I didn't know he meant it like that...”
Just two letters.
Those two letters planted the poison of suspicion in the two brothers, and thus killed them while saving the family head.
As a result, the third son, who had no chance of inheriting anything, wound up becoming the Russell earldom’s last heir by a stroke of luck.
“I... I didn't know the professor meant that the family was in danger... I had no idea he meant it like that...”
Young Lord Russell didn't resent Julian.
They were the sort who, blinded by title, had tried to poison their father, their family, and even themselves.
What they did to one another was retribution.
He was only afraid that the succession of the earldom had been overturned with nothing more than a desk and two letters.
“No way... That letter wasn't black magic, was it?”
“...”
Young Lord Russell and his friends knew rationally that there was no way that could be true.
If it had been, the investigators would have arrested Julian.
But perhaps Julian.
If it was a professor who had taught such a class from day one, maybe it really could have been possible without being caught.
A few days later.
A sinister rumor about Professor Julian began spreading through the Academy.