Ethan and I walked through the magic school.
　I knew that if I was going to be taking classes in earnest and not just as an honorary principal, I needed to know what was there and where it was.

　I told Ethan about it and he showed me around.

　As expected of the last imperial fort.
　The larder, the armory, and the construction of the building itself.
　It's a true fort, or rather, a fortress.

　It is often said that a siege requires three times as many troops as you would need for a siege, but this one looks like it could be outnumbered by ten times as many.

　On the other hand, if this place is held back by a rebel army or something, we'll be in big trouble.
　The reason why Eliza sent me here is even clearer now.

　I didn't even give such impressions, just the surface impressions.

"Wow, this place is amazing. It's like a city all by itself.
This is for Your Majesty to use in a time of need. Of course, that won't happen.

　Since we were alone, Ethan readily admitted that this was a fort and replied to my impressions.

What am I going to teach him in a place where it's so proper?
"As Your Highness would have it.
"Hmmm.

　That's the hardest part.
　I'd still feel better if you asked me to teach you a magic I'm not good at.

　As I was walking around, wondering what to do.
　On the school grounds, by the bank of the river, I saw a girl.

　She's a little older than I am now, about ten years old.
　Her dark hair is long and lustrous, and her small face is as pretty as a doll.
　She's older than Angel, but her mood is a little younger.

　The girl was standing at the river's edge, holding her hands out to a cup of water and moaning.

　Her face was bright red from straining too hard.

Nothing's changed.
Hi!

　When I called out to her from behind, the girl backed away from me, startled, not figuratively, but really jumped up and down, Zsa Zsa, and backed away from me.

Who are you--oh, the principal.
Hello, Xiaomei Mei Mei.

　Apparently the girl is named Xiaomei .

Hello, Principal. Um, is this girl ......?
Excuse me, Miss May. This is the honorary principal of our school, the great vice-president of the Empire.
"Eeeeeeee!　Oh, that Vice-Emperor, Your Highness!

　Xiaomei was even more flabbergasted.
　Your Highness is a bit of a meanderer, but that's what a 10-year-old girl who was profusely surprised would have done.

I'm sorry!　I don't know your face or anything,
"Don't worry about it. It's just that I'm a new guy. It's more than that--

　I saw a cup of water that Xiao Mei was holding out just a moment ago.

"You were checking your magic?
"...... yes

　Hm?　I wonder what's going on.
　When I asked her if she was checking her magic power, Xiaomei's expression suddenly darkened .

"It's still not good enough, Mr. Mei?
"Yes ......
What does that mean?
Ms. May, she apparently does not have magical powers.
"No magic?
Yes, we've been testing in this way for almost a year now and we've never seen any change in the water.

　Ethan lifted the glass of water that Xiaomei was using and sipped it in the sun, smelled it, and checked the temperature by putting his finger in it.
　I'm looking at it to see if there is any change.

I'm ...... not good enough. My dad tried so hard to get me to this school, but I can't go to ......".
You shouldn't give up, Ms. May. No man has the ability to control magic at will from the start.
But everyone says they've never seen anything this bad on .......

　Xiaomei squeezed her hand, bit her lower lip and fell into a slump.

　Surely I've never heard of such a thing.

　A magic check.
　Normally, after nearly a year of practice, that in itself would be an exercise, and something would change in the water.
　Not even that, I've never heard of it in my previous life combined.

　I was curious and sought knowledge from the Philosopher's Stone.
　Is that possible, I wondered if and what it meant.
　The stone was quick to give me the answer to the knowledge.
　With that knowledge flowing into my head, I stared at Xiaomei with my eyes.

　From the top of my head to my toes.
　Then I saw it on my finger.

...... I see.
"Huh?　What did you say, Your Highness?
Watching . Mr. Xiaomei.


"Yo, yo, yo, call me by my name, Your Highness.
"So Xiaomei. Give me a hand.
Hand ......?

　A puzzled Xiaomei, a look of anxiety on her face, wondering what he would do to her.
　She looked at Ethan and Ethan nodded quietly but clearly.

　Encouraged silently, Xiaomei held out her hand timidly, saying it was okay.

　Like a doll, a small, white, soft hand.
　I took her hand and kissed her ring finger.

Hi!　What, what are you--

　I was so surprised that I jumped away from him and backed away from him in a frenzy.
　I ran into a tree behind me with my back.

　That's when I saw the smoke coming from Xiaomei's body.

　A plume of smoke erupted from Xiaomei's body.
　At first it was like opening the lid of a boiling pot and blowing out, but when it calmed down, a large amount of smoke enveloped her body.

"What is this--?
It's her natural power.
"Original?
When I kissed her on the mouth, there was a stagnation there. The ring finger of your right hand, the finger said to be directly connected to the heart is also the base of the magic line (...). The root of it was somehow held back in her case.
Yeah, no, but we looked into that possibility and didn't find anything like that.
"Look at her magic

　I pointed at Xiaomei.
　She is awaiting to see the magic coming out of her body.

Do you know about the bat's ultrasound?　I can't see it unless it's as magical as that one.
"My God!　So that means--
Yeah, she seems to have the most magic in this school, including the teachers.
"I see. ...... It's great to see that you are the Vice-Emperor. I'm impressed that you could see it through.
"More than that, Xiaomei
"Ha, ha!
Try again in that state.

　I handed him a cup.
　It was the magic check cup that Xiaomei had been working on all this time.

But ...... I wouldn't do that to ......
Xiao Mei can do it now.
"But ......
"I guarantee it, you believe me?

　Xiaomei huffed and then cautiously reached out and took the cup from my hand.
　Then he held his hand over the cup and put some magic in it.

"--What?
I knew it.
"What does this mean, Your Highness?

　Xiaomei, surprised, asked me to explain.
　The water had completely disappeared from the cup she was holding.

"Xiaomei's true magic is too strong to be measured in a cup.
"--Ha!

　It was the principal of the school of magic.
　I didn't understand right away because I wasn't expecting it, but when I was told I understood the phenomenon.

　I further told Xiaomei.

You can't do that in a cup, try the river over there.
"Yes, yes ......

　Xiaomei slowly approached the river and held out her hand.
　As a result of the magical power he sent in, the river froze.

　Just before, the surface of the water reflected the sun and shimmered, but in an instant, the river froze solidly.

"Yes, Xiaomei seems to be good at the ice attribute.
"......

　Xiaomei looked alternately at me and the frozen river with an incredulous look on her face.

That's good, Xiaomei.
Yes, yes!

　Xiao Mei nodded widely and cried happy tears of joy at the back of her mind.

　　　　　☆

"Oh!　You're my brother-in-law!

　The next day, when I woke up in the morning with Angel and came to the living room to get ready, the owner of the house, Mr. Hossen, came quickly and tapped me on the shoulder.

"What's wrong, Mr. Hossen?
I heard about what happened at the wizarding school yesterday. I heard that you awakened the potential of a wizard with the equivalent of A...... or S-rank.
"Xiao Mei thing?　I knew we had the equivalent of an S-rank.

　As of yesterday, I somehow thought so.
　It instantly wiped out the glass of water and completely froze the river.
　Considering that I've blotted out cups and ponds before, and that I'm a little weaker than that, I thought an S rating would be appropriate.

"There are already rumors that the vice emperor and honorary principal has great leadership skills.

　Hossen still used the same youthful language, but it was easier to understand.

'Great, Mr. Alec, that's great!
"I was asked to do a favor for you, so I'm not going to get my face wet by doing something bad.


"Yes!
Well, that's why I'm in a bit of a pickle, though.
"Trouble?　...... Why would that make Mr. Hosen grin?
Of course. I don't have anything to do with witchcraft school, so no matter how much trouble you're in, just be honest and say your brother-in-law is awesome!　You can just say, "I'm not going to do it.
"I have a bad feeling about this: ...... What the hell is this all about?

　Hossen grinned even more when he heard this.

Rumors of your leadership skills spread fast, and I hear you're inundated with applicants for next year's class.
"Oh, yeah.
"The multiplier was over 10,000 as of this morning.
"...... Yeah!

　Magnification, that magnification?
　Those exams and passing exams.

What do you mean, Mr. Hosen?

　When Angier asked, not understanding, Hossen further explained: "There are too many applicants, and usually only one in ten thousand gets in this morning.

There are so many applicants, usually you can get in if you want, but since this morning, only one in 10,000 people can get in.
"Wow!　Amazing!　That's amazing, Mr. Alec!
Isn't it great?　That's my brother-in-law.
"Yes!　That's what I'm talking about, Alec!

　A grinning Hossen and a beaming Angel.
　The two of them had a great rapport.