35 - not bad
The main body, Shiva, is gone.
That means I, Hurt C., was left behind.
Before I knew it, Schneidal had left, and the welcome party had begun.
Professor Tia is having a good time with Iris. They seem to be discussing about ancient magic.
And what about me?
"I used to be a tutor at the Countess Ruthaynell's house. I tutored the doctor when he was a little boy."
Mr. Porcos was regaling me with tales of the old days. As usual, his tone was sneering at me, his student.
"She was a true genius. Her talent for magic is one thing, but her brain is one of the greatest treasures of our country. When I taught her the first, she understood the tenth. I have become a mere listener to her reasoning."
Mr. Porcos talks in a small voice with a glass of wine in his hand.
"I was the third son of a failed baron, and I worked very hard to get a teaching position at the institute," he says. But she skipped a grade and graduated at the top of her class in less than five years, and two years later she had her own lab. It all happened in the blink of an eye.
This information gives us an idea of Professor Tia's age, but it is rather unimportant.
But why ancient magic? With cutting-edge magical research, you are more than capable of developing any number of new magic methods. <
Hmm. This dish is surprisingly good. It looks good. So it's true that you are good at cooking.
"Well, he has that personality. Can't be helped? I don't know what a genius thinks."
I'll stop drinking ....... I never drank in my previous life, and I'm underage now by modern Japanese standards. I don't know if I'd get drunk in a copy.
"Speaking of personality, I'm not very good with people. He's had trouble with his parents, and now he's almost disinherited. Still, I'm sure his parents are worried about him. They asked me to watch over him. In the form of an assistant. But I'm also employed by the institute, so I can't really be a constant companion.
Hey, Iris, your face is red. He's been drinking. Is it okay to be fifteen in this country?
"...... Um, are you listening?"
"Yes, I'm listening."
I'm not even going to let it slide.
"Anyway, there is no doubt that I am the leading expert on ancient magic both at home and abroad, so you can rest assured of that."
In other words, you are advised not to feel at ease at all except for ancient magic.
"Please don't give up on him. I know I'm not a good judge of character, but ............guh......."
Mr. Porcos fell asleep with his glass of wine.
Didn't he say something about being glad to get rid of the lab? Well, okay.
I take the wine glass from his hand (being careful not to get sweat on it) and put it on the table. And I munch. It's not nourishing, and what goes into my stomach is sent back to a mysterious space-time. But I can taste it. Thank you, my body.
"Hey, Halut!"
Who? Me?
Iris wandered up to me. He's so drunk.
"Olly?"
I stumbled. I can't avoid it in time and have no choice but to catch it. It's soft. And it reeks of alcohol.
Iris rests her chin on my shoulder and exhales,
"This is a great lab. I can be ...... strong here, maybe ....... Soooo ......"
He's asleep, too.
Iris is placed on the sofa in my arms. Then a voice called out to me from behind.
"Do you know why she is so obsessed with ancient magic?"
When I turned around, I saw Professor Tia. He was holding a bottle of wine in his hand and his cheeks were slightly red.
"No, I have no idea."
"You two don't actually get along, do you?"
Professor Tia, in a dazed voice, starts talking without even asking.
"Her maximum magic level is [35]. Her maximum magic level is [35]. And what's more, she has the four basic elements, plus [Light], [Darkness], and even [Chaos]. It's like the main character in a story about a commoner who rises to the top."
I knew that. I knew that because I had used the measuring wards to check Iris's strength when I first saw her.
But...
"He's at magic level 5, right?"
"Yes! It stops at a range that anyone entering this academy would reach at a single digit age (・・・・・・). That's why I don't have a clue about practical skills.
"How did you manage to get in?"
"It is difficult to judge whether the magic level is completely "closed" or not when you are a teenager. I have the top grades in the written exam, and I'm just barely getting into the school with the expected level."
The phenomenon in which the magic level stops increasing before it reaches its maximum value is described as <
But what does this have to do with ancient magic?
"I took a chance. At the very least, modern magic has not found a way to "open" what is "closed". Not even a clue. But this was a mythical time when ancient magic was at its height, when level 100 was a dime a dozen. It's not surprising to expect that there might be a way to pry it open by force.
"Is there?"
I can't say for sure that there is. I haven't even started my research until now.
"But he said something like, 'Maybe I can be strong here.
"I told Iris not to get her hopes up, but I guess she got her hopes up in her own way. But if I find a way to 'open' it, I'll get a medal. And I'll be in the king's debt. Yeah, great. And a lot of money for my research!"
"But you might be expelled from school if you don't make it to the next level, right?"
"Well, that's more likely."
Professor Tiah swallowed a bottle of sake in one gulp." After taking a breath, he said, "Phew~,
"Some may laugh at the idea of clinging to the slightest possibility of escape. But I can see the beauty in the way they desperately try to hold on as long as there is a possibility.
He looked lovingly at Iris lying on the sofa.
"Hmm. I think I'm getting a little drunk. I said something out of character. Well, I'm going to bed. Good night."
Whether she was embarrassed or not, Professor Tia rolled onto the floor and began to breathe heavily.
When I looked in the direction she had come from, I saw countless liquor bottles lying on the floor where they had been talking.
If everyone is asleep, can we go home? I want to sleep in my bed.
But my feet go to the window, not the door.
When I opened the window, it was already dark outside. The moon is beautiful.
"But they're a strange bunch, aren't they?"
A girl who, for reasons unknown, is struggling to rise in the world, but her level has reached a ceiling prematurely.
A little doctor who is regarded as a genius, but who is shunned by those around him due to conflicts with others, but who goes his own way.
The uncle who follows the genius while being bound by a rotten relationship with an ordinary person.
Each is a different kind of clumsy person.
"Well, I guess I'm pretty much the same."
Maybe that's why.
I think, "It's not so bad. What about you?"
As I asked, I looked to the side and saw a black man floating with his back against the wall.
"You are me, and I feel the same way," he said.
I quickly moved away from the wall.
"It's long past curfew at the dormitory. If I go back now, I'll get a lecture from the headmistress. Maybe Professor Tia will follow up tomorrow.
What do we do? You know what I mean, don't you? I responded.
"Well, I guess I'll take the bed. I'll come back in the morning to change. Don't wander out of the building, okay?"
He snapped his fingers and flew away.
"Just like me, huh?"
I feel that the copy of me and the original have slightly different personalities. I have not experienced a previous life. It's just a record, so in a way, I'm a stranger.
I take a spoonful of the huge pudding on the table.
As I put it in my mouth, a rich sweetness spreads in my mouth. I don't like sweets, but this...
"Yeah, it's not bad."
Why didn't you just eat his body too? It's much better to have experienced it than to know it only as a record.
Anyway, this laboratory will be our daytime base until the mission is completed.
They're all clumsy like me.
"Not bad, huh?"
I was kind of looking forward to it--.