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　The cold weather is finally in full swing. The change of seasons must be described as abrupt.
　The days when the gradual changes in climate were manipulated and made possible by human hands are over.

　Ars, who wore a faint hint of magic to relieve the cold, felt himself cringing at the fury of nature. Instead of the tension of diving into deadly battles in the outside world, it was a burning cold.

'It's cold,'
--!

　Guffawed at Loki's face, Ars remembered his statement under pressure. It wasn't supposed to have said anything particularly strange, though.

'Oh, no, it's not really cold. It's just that the temperature is much lower, so I felt cold. In fact, it's cold when it's cold, but...

　I wasn't accusing him of anything, but the words were coming out of my mouth as an excuse.
　I'm only doing so because it's cold enough to be covered with magic power, and in fact, I'm not telling a lie.

''Well, how should I put it, it was a line that Al wouldn't say very often.
'Well, it certainly doesn't make you warmer just because you say it.
Maybe it's because I'm back at the Academy.
..........

　Ars let out a wry smile at that point.
　He hoped that he would give her a break if possible. It was unfortunate that the academy's peacefulness was applied to him and that he seemed to be loosening up.

　Ars and Loki returned to the house. A house on the academy grounds.
　I thought they had only returned not long ago, but they had taken Tesfia and Alice to the outside world with them, and in the process joined them in rescuing a mineral deposit mission.

　Not even half a month had passed in that time.
　Even after returning to Alpha, which was located to the south, there was no change in the temperature, and it felt like the cold wave was getting colder, if anything.


　On this day, both Ars and Loki chose to stay in their rooms instead of attending classes.
　They didn't feel like working hard on their schoolwork as soon as they got back. That may be a very student-like and inconvenient reason indeed.

　In fact, I'm sure I have things to do.

'Mr. Tesfia and Ms. Alice's on-the-job training, how do you critique it?　Maybe it's not my place to say, but what will you do with your future training as well?

　Loki, dressed even though he is indoors, has set up a simple table next to Ars's desk and is setting up a virtual LCD. The height of the table is a little low, making Loki look even smaller when he sits down.
　She has chosen to dress formally and tightly, which apparently means she is in her own work mode.

　She was wearing black-rimmed, formal glasses that she had bought from someplace, but she was rubbing her hands, probably because she wasn't used to it, and she made a lot of gestures of rubbing her hands.

　I felt like I was suddenly hit in a sore spot, but perhaps because Loki's seriousness was off, he opened his mouth without getting defensive.

'I don't want to say it in front of those guys,' he prefaced, 'but...'

'If you get past the preparedness and short-sightedness it's not too bad. I mean, it's too much to do.
''........I still think so, don't you? Al, what kind of training are you giving the two of you behind my back?
'I wouldn't do that. While I've been out of the academy for about six months that's not going to happen. And I'm looking at your abilities.
'So, you're saying that the training Al put on with his killing spree worked better than expected?
'There has to be some of that. Honestly, you two are growing way too fast.

　As a teacher, it's true that I've been neglecting them for quite some time. The two men who trained without fail during that time grew by leaps and bounds, and then trained their minds to be useful in actual combat by training to experience death.
　It is true that being aware of one's own death is necessary in a real battle.

　The two of them have outstanding strength, Ars thinks. The level of students will have long exceeded.

''........with the power of the two of them now.
What is this?

　Pushing Loki away from his thoughts for a moment to urge him to continue, Arus recalls the training manual he left for them before.
　It's a detailed schedule of training and achievement goals for each of them. It's not only the aptitude magic, but it also picks out the magic that suits the two of them and decides the order in which it's easy to learn.

　It's as thick as a dictionary. It draws several examples of magic that you want to remember in other strains, as well as tactics and patterns of behavior in the outside world.
　In terms of pure combat ability..........

''It's not good, this........''
How can I help you?
'Honestly, there are quite a few fewer items to teach you both. Or rather, it's being accomplished at an incredible rate.

　There's not much that Ars can do about desk studies such as knowledge, and the manual has become a kind of textbook.
　The two of them were achieving in that one point of "mages who can fight in the outside world" that they had originally envisioned.

　It's pretty rough and tumble, but they've reached a level where they can fight in real battles. After that, there are many things that you can acquire through actual battle experience.
　Acting in a unit and cooperation is something that is out of the question for Ars. Even if he has knowledge, it's difficult to teach him something he can't do well.

　He has already reached the point where he can call himself a magician on pure combat ability alone. It is difficult to make a full-fledged wizard without any real-world experience, which is impossible to do while still in school.
　And if that is the case, then so be it. The items to be taught are realistically few.

　How much more is there to teach the two of us?
　Suddenly, when you've settled your deliberation, Loki's voice is the only thing that flies in the air quietly. It was a good question, simple, and one that encompassed a lot.

'Al, how far have you two come now?'

　Loki says matter-of-factly as he returns to his work.
　In response, Ars was the one who had stopped working.

I'm not ready to say that I can't do it yet. But I've taught them the basics of repetition and review. But I've given them the basics so that they can practice and review, and I'm sure they'll learn them even if they're covered in scratches. And with the time I've spent getting them to the level I thought they were supposed to be at, that's roughly two years too soon.
"--!　I knew it was growing fast, but that's as far as it went...

　They are two people who have considerably overturned expectations at the time of the magic manipulation.
　To begin with, the training manual made by Ars is set up so that it cannot be achieved while in school from the beginning.

　This is the demon that the two of us defeated in the outside world that we took out the other day.
　If you're a general, widely accepted definition of normal, it's hard to believe that your first battle has a B-rate. If you join the military, you're immediately treated as an elite.

　After graduation, you can proudly put it in the defeat section of your resume.

　In other words, I was trying to reach my original plan of becoming a 'wizard who can fight in the outside world'.

However, I doubt very much that I can put them into actual battle right now.
But it's good enough for basic skills.

　Ars is made to nod - though I'm not convinced.
　There is no misunderstanding that his own guidance was good if he has come this far.

''I suppose it would be interesting to see how far you can go in the time it takes to graduate.
It seems to be something else. I don't know about that. It's just more trouble for me anyway. I don't like the idea of you getting off on a cheap shot.
'That said, it's not something I need to teach you from here on out. Do you want me to teach you how to fight?　.... a waste of time.

　Before he knew it, Ars checked his cheekbones to see that his plans for the future were fading into the dark clouds.

''Ilyce said we're short on strength, too, so let's think about that for a moment.
Excuse me, Al?
Hmm?
'It's possible, though, that we could end the training here.　Not that it would get you both off the hook, and I'm sure you'll be in the lab every day anyway.
Yeah.
'Al, maybe you don't want to tell me it's over in the middle?　No way, right?

　At times like this, I always ask in a questioning way, half in doubt.
　And yet, Loki's skeptical eyes were able to see right through his heart.

'No way.

　The intonation was strange.
　White eyes that deepened further.

'Loki, it's not so easy to become a mage. It takes a lot of bloody hard work and rich, rewarding experience.
'Another most unsuitable line..........you're kidding me, Al.