Chapter 85
After a while, Ronnie calmed down, and we were finally able to have a proper conversation.
Ronnie's face was red, and he was making himself small, perhaps embarrassed about crying. He looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole. If I were Ronnie, I'd be incredibly embarrassed too.
"Leon... I want you to forget what happened just now..."
"Um, I'll try to forget."
I probably wouldn't be able to, though.
"Don't just try—forget it completely!!"
"O-okay. I'll definitely forget. I won't think about it anymore."
"You'd better!"
Somehow, Ronnie wasn't acting timid anymore. Even though he'd been so frightened just a moment ago, he no longer seemed afraid at all. If anything, he seemed more at ease than he had yesterday.
Maybe crying had helped him feel better and gotten rid of his fear. Well, I was glad he was acting naturally. Besides, you had to be pretty thick-skinned to get through life at this school.
"Come to think of it, I didn't get to hear much about you yesterday. Where do you live, Ronnie?"
"I live in a cheap room about an hour's walk from here."
"You mean outside the central district?"
"Yeah. It's just outside the central district."
"I see. I'd like to visit sometime!"
If I hadn't been allowed to stay at the Townsend ducal family's estate, I might have been living in a place like that.
"You can come if you want, but there's nothing there, you know?"
"Even so, I'm interested. And you should come visit my home sometime too."
"Your home doesn't mean the ducal family's estate, right!?"
"Of course not. I can't exactly invite a friend to the ducal estate. I mean my family's home."
"Oh, that place. Your family runs a restaurant, right? I'd love to visit!"
"Then we'll go during a break."
"Yeah! I'm looking forward to it."
At that point, Steve-sensei entered the classroom, interrupting our conversation.
I was glad I'd become friends with Ronnie... I was truly happy. Having a normal friend was nice. Stephan, Martine, and Lucien were my friends too, and I enjoyed spending time with them, but it was difficult to completely relax when there was such a difference in status between us.
After that, we listened to the morning announcements, and class began.
The first period ended, and it was time for second period. Today's class was Magic Items! I had been looking forward to it.
When it was time for class, the teacher entered the room. He was quite an elderly man, with a slightly stooped back and skin that looked as though it had never seen the sun.
He seemed like the type of teacher who spent all his time on research, shut away in his room. Could he be the teacher in charge of the Magic Item Research Club?
"I am Buela Longo. I'll be teaching you about magic items from now on. I look forward to working with you."
He spoke quite crisply, despite his appearance. He had the air of someone devoted to magic items and nothing else.
"During the first few classes, I'll teach you the basics. After that, we'll move on to practical work. A small amount of magic iron and magic stones has been set aside for us to use in class, so you'll be making magic items that are currently being produced. Only those with a magic power of four or higher can make magic items, so those with a magic power of four or higher, please stand up."
Just under ten students stood up. Naturally, I did too.
"I'll take down the names of everyone who stood up, so introduce yourselves starting from one end of the room."
The students who had stood up introduced themselves in the order we'd used for our self-introductions, and I was the last to give my name.
"You may sit down. The students who just gave their names will participate in the practical work. Those who remained seated may use this period for self-study once the basic lessons are over. You may study quietly in this classroom, obtain permission to use the training grounds and practice swordsmanship, or go to the library."
As I thought, only those who could actually make magic items got to do the practical work. I was glad I could make them, but I was also pretty envious of all that free time. If it were me, I'd definitely go to the library.
"Today, we'll begin with the basics. This is useful knowledge even for those who won't be making magic items, so listen carefully. The basics of magic items will also be covered on the graduation exam."
Oh, right! There was a graduation exam, wasn't there? With everything that had happened, I'd almost forgotten about it.
I took out some paper and a pen and got ready to listen carefully.
"A magic item is a tool that uses magic iron and magic stones to continuously and efficiently produce a magical phenomenon. The history of magic iron is..."
From there, the lesson turned into a history of magic iron and magic stones. Apparently, magic iron and magic stones had been discovered a long time ago. However, it was only recently that people discovered they could be used to make magic items.
It was apparently known that magic iron could be reshaped with magic, so the royal family and the nobility had monopolized it as a high-quality form of iron. However, it was weak against magical fire, which limited its uses. Basically, it was used for elaborate ornaments.
Magic stones were mined in identical shapes and sizes, so they had apparently been used in very expensive ornaments as rare gemstones.
Then someone combined the two materials to create the finest ornaments made from magic iron and magic stones. At first, no one noticed anything because the magic stones weren't infused with magic power. But at some point, someone accidentally infused one with magic power, discovered that the magic continued to activate, and realized that magic items could be made.
Great discoveries and inventions are often products of chance. Magic items had been created that way too.
I didn't know how magic iron was mined or refined, but it looked like ordinary iron.
Magic stones looked like nothing more than round gemstones. No one would naturally think that they could be infused with magic power.
"To change magic iron with magic, you must picture the shape you want to create as precisely as possible in your mind and channel magic power into it. If you have magic power, you should eventually be able to do it with training. When infusing a magic stone with magic power, envision the phenomenon you want the magic item to manifest as you do so. Then, fit the magic stone into the magic iron, and the magic will continue to manifest until the magic power runs out."
Hearing it explained again reminded me how convenient it would be if magic items had switches. Couldn't I somehow create one?
I wanted to research how to add a switch function in the Magic Item Research Club.
"The magic items developed so far are light orbs, water systems, flush toilets, and fans. Since all four are also found at the Royal Academy, you're probably familiar with them. However, several new magic items have recently been developed. The information hadn't been made public before, but it was recently released, and people have apparently begun making them little by little. They'll probably start appearing on the market soon."
Wow! The magic items I'd thought up were finally being made!
I hoped they would make the world more comfortable.
"The new magic items are ice makers, heaters, cooking stoves, and water heaters. These magic items are truly incredible! We realized that magic could be manifested at a distance from the magic stone! I was so depressed for several days, wondering why I hadn't realized it before. Preconceptions are no good. I want all of you to think about magic items with flexible minds."
By the middle of it, the teacher's enthusiasm had hit its peak... He really might be a magic-item fanatic.
It probably wouldn't be discovered that I was the one who had developed them, but I had to be careful. He looked like he would bombard me with questions, and that sounded like a pain.
By the way, this man hadn't barged into Marcel-san's place, had he? If so, I was truly sorry, Marcel-san.
When I brought Marcel-san seafood as a souvenir before, he hadn't said anything. Could he have been keeping quiet out of consideration for me?
Once I gained noble status of my own, I would develop magic items and register them under my name. That should take at least some of the attention off Marcel-san... probably...
The rest of the class was spent with Longo-sensei enthusiastically explaining how wonderful the new magic items were. He was incredible. Everyone listened, dumbfounded.
When something I'd made was praised that enthusiastically, I felt less proud than afraid of being found out.
If this teacher was the advisor for the Magic Item Research Club, I could only imagine it being a gathering of magic-item fanatics. Still, it did sound kind of fun.