How to Survive at the Academy - Chapter 45

Chapter 45

 

Anyone Can be a Professor (3)

 

Late at night, the northern forest’s darkness wasn’t kind to intruders.

For those who called the forest their home, such as the wild animals that played around or Ed—who treated it like his front yard—it might be a familiar space. For Cleoh, however, it was too foreign.

Every time she accidentally stumbled or heard the occasional rustling sound from the grass, Cleoh would be frightened to death. However, she continued to patiently follow Ed.

Eventually, Ed’s camp appeared at the end of the trail.

No, the size of it was too large to be called a mere camp. At that point, you could even consider it a hideout.

“Wh-What the heck is all of this…?!”

Smoke was coming out of the cabin’s chimney, which really helped complete its look.

The campfire settled at the space in front of the cabin had a smoker, drying rack, workstation, toolbox, and other equipment laid out all around it. On the other side, there was a wooden shelter that looked quite durable.

On the right side of the cabin there was a tree with a hammock made of netting hung on it, as well as piled up firewood stored in a simple storage space made of nails and plywood. There were also pieces of timber, cut to the appropriate size, leaning against the wall of the cabin.

The smell of it all was reminiscent of normal daily life too much to call it… a hideout. Cleoh was in utter shock as she hid behind a tree.

Ed dropped off the baby deer’s body near the campfire before he then roughly tossed Lucy into the wooden shelter. He then fixed her rolled-up skirt and threw a leather bag containing some jerky near her as he sat down near the fire, trimming some pieces of wood.

‘Did she faint…?’ 

No matter how lazy Lucy might be, there’s no way that she would be sleeping in that kind of situation…!

Cleoh didn’t realize Lucy’s true ability to sleep, even in such a situation. 

On the surface, it looked as if she had been knocked out, kidnapped, and then dragged to his hideout.

‘He managed to defeat Lucy…?’

Completely unconscious, Lucy was laying in the corner of the shelter, not moving an inch.

“…Ah, come to think of it… I have plans early tomorrow morning.”

Suddenly Ed started talking to himself with a soft voice.

“… Uh, I have so much work to take care of. Still, I should go to bed early today for my health. Hm…”

Ed quickly muttered to himself as he finished what he was working on. Then he put out the fire.

All that was left was burning embers in the darkness of the front of his cabin.

Ed picked up pieces of cloth for a blanket and went into the cabin.

A subtle flame lit up the window, where there still wasn’t any glass. It wasn’t hard to imagine Ed laying down inside the cabin near the fire.

‘I need to save Lucy…!’

She didn’t know the exact circumstance, but after witnessing her being taken away like that, she couldn’t leave Lucy alone.

No matter how you looked at it, Cleoh was a member of the faculty. Practical combat magic wasn’t her major, but a mere student would be no match for her.

But she still couldn’t let her guard down. It wouldn’t make sense for someone who had a weak body like Cleoh to try to physically attack Ed. Aside from that… She didn’t know what kind of secret weapons he could be hiding that allowed him to defeat Lucy.

It was best to approach the camp as carefully as possible, and quickly escape carrying the unconscious Lucy.

You could tell just from her appearance that Lucy was light as a feather. Even without blatantly using magic power, Cleoh should still be able to drag her out of the camp by herself.

Cleoh slowly approached the camp, swallowing hard and bending down.

She was nervous, not knowing when the cabin door would open or when Ed would pop out.

In order to respond to any unexpected situations, she focused everything on her magic power resonance. 

Holding her breath and slowly moving towards the wooden shelter, she saw Lucy laying on her stomach exhaling like a baby.

‘Slowly… As quietly as possible…!’

The moment she crouched and placed her hand on Lucy…

 

Whoosh!

Thud!

 

It all happened in a blink of an eye.

Lucy suddenly opened her eyes, quickly gathering magic power as she blew away Cleoh’s hand.

“What?!”

Cleo let out a short scream in shock.

Lucy was also startled, holding onto her witch’s hat as she ran towards the fire.

She looked down at Cleo with cold eyes.

It was clear that day that it wasn’t a friendly look.

“L… Lucy…?”

“Who are you?”

Going off the metaphor that Lucy was like a stray cat, in that same aspect she was someone that didn’t take kindly to strangers.

Cats had a keen sense, which closely resembled that of a wild animal. No matter how deeply asleep they may be, they were quick to recognize contact with someone not granted permission to touch.

However, it was too much for her to not recognize the fact of the assistant professor Cleoh, who was one of the faculty members in charge of her year. That was because Lucy lived by the beat of her own drum.

“I’m… You’re… Lucy…!”

Before Cleoh could continue speaking, Lucy did as she always did and quick disappeared, taking the bag of jerky from the wooden shelter with her.

She was so quick that, by the time Cleoh came to her senses, all that was left was a few stray leaves in the place where Lucy disappeared from.

“…….” 

Once again silence fell over the entire camp.

‘… First, let’s get out of here.’

It didn’t seem like Ed had noticed Cleoh’s presence yet. She didn’t have any clue about what was going on, but it seemed clear enough that Ed was suspicious and that was all she needed to know.

‘I’m sure that I’ve found some sort of clue. The next thing to do is to question Ed once I’ve gathered some solid evidence.’

‘Until then, I need to slowly and carefully figure out the main point of all of this.’

Cleoh organized her thoughts, nodding her head.

‘Anyway… There’s not a single person that knows that I was here in this forest, other than Lucy! In the meantime, nobody will know!’

 

* * *

 

The morning of the following day.

“I heard that the assistant professor Cleoh entered the northern forest yesterday. Did you see her, Ed?”

“Hm? Really? I didn’t see her.”

“… Is that so?”

I met with Yennekar in front of the student square quite early.

The wooden benches placed around the magnificent looking fountain were completely empty. It was still early enough for the fog to be lingering around.

It was about the time where the other students would still be waking up, rubbing their eyes, and getting ready to start their day. 

“Why did she stop by the northern forest? Did you hear anything else about it, Yennekar?”

“Hmm… I’m not sure… I only heard it from someone else, so…”

I felt quite nervous hearing her name. Cleoh.

Although she wasn’t a super influential character, she did have a role in the storyline. And she was the type who wandered off because of her keen sense of curiosity.

From what I had seen of her during the second phase of the Glast Subjugation… It was certainly nothing more or less than absurd. Her difficulty as a boss was so easy that you could practically walk past her.

However, what was important… She had an active role in Professor’s Glast’s theft of the Sage’s Seal.

Assistant Professor Cleoh wasn’t a morally flawed professor, and in the first place she was just someone that was sick of Professor Glast.

That was why it was surprising that, without being blackmailed or tricked, she was willing to agree with Professor Glast’s plan.

According to the original timeline, it was explained that she had just followed the instructions of her advisor… But that reasoning seemed too weak.

“Well, maybe the school just sent her to take care of some random job? I was just worried that she might have gone to bother you about living in the forest.”

“In the first place, the forest is a bit too much for the school to manage on their own. It’s pretty much always left unattended… So long as I don’t do anything to stand out, I should be fine.”

 “Yeah, you’re right.”

Yennekar smiled as she nodded her head.

“I’m sorry I called you out so early in the morning, Ed. Clara and Anise have been telling me to stop staying out so late at night… I’ve been getting back to Dex Hall past curfew recently, so I’ve gotten scolded quite a bit.”

“I see… Well, the camp and Dex Hall are quite far away from each other. It must have been hard for you to keep visiting the forest.”

“Y-You know, Ed…”

Yennekar suddenly lowered her head in embarrassment, and her bangs started to cover her face as she spoke shyly.

“Y-You know how I visit you at the camp everyday…} Can you keep it as a secret from others as much as possible…?”

“Hm? Do I have to?”

“That… How should I say it…? It’s embarrassing for me to say this aloud… But I have a lot of friends.”

It was obvious she would be embarrassed to say that.

Yennekar was the hope of the second years, and the top of her class. It must have been tiring for her to keep greeting every single person she met, one by one, as she walked around campus.

“Since it’s your house and all, I would feel sorry for you if it started getting too crowded because of me. Heh.”

“Is that so?”

“So, let’s just keep it to ourselves, hm? What’s the point of having more people show up at your camp?”

Thinking about it, for someone like Yennekar—who was born with a deep sense of sincerity—all the people constantly looking at her must be burdensome.

She was apologizing to me, but she actually just needed her own place to rest.

“I still don’t think people view me all that highly here in school in the first place… So, it shouldn’t be something that you need to worry about too much.”

“But these days there are less bad rumors about you. Since you’ve just been quietly taking care of your own work, and since you did all sorts of other things to help people, too.”

Yennekar pulled the shawl around her shoulder as she stumbled over her words, coming back to her senses.

“Anyway! The main point! Main Point! The reason we agreed to meet today!”

“Oh, okay.”

Yennekar put her oak wand off to one side of the bench as she opened her hands.

The magic power energy swirled around as small sparks burst from her hand.

The burning flame slowly changed its shape, resembling a bat.

It then flew from her hands, sitting on Yennekar’s shoulder as it folded its wings and took a stance.

“This is the low-ranking fire spirit, Mugg. Do you want to try focusing your magic power to communicate with him?”

“Sure.”

I gently closed my eyes. A moment later, I opened them once more, looking at that fire bat. Soon enough, I started to hear a voice in my ear.

[Nice to meet you, young master Ed! I am the low-ranking fire spirit, Mugg! It has already been four years since I grew from being a mere fluid spirit! The previous people I made contracts with include young master Roden of Schnen, young master Kuru of the Samal province, and it is now my honor to also be with Lady Yennekar!]

“……”

[At last week’s regular report meeting, we went over the election for young master Ed’s contract with a spirit. I passed the first round of screening, second and third round of interviews, and finally the fourth round of discussions with the other spirits. Thus, I have qualified to be the spirit that will make a contract with you! I am confident in the fact that I have the best efficiency when it comes to magic power in the northern forest, and I have the best communication skills amongst the other low-ranking spirits!]

After saying all of that, he lifted his head up 45 degrees to look at me, stiff as a rock and not moving a muscle.

Just what kind of military training did he go through to act like that…?

“Yennekar…. Uhm…”

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

I couldn’t seriously ask Yennekar, who was grinning like an idiot, if he always acted like that. 

Yennekar was someone who knew a ridiculous number of spirits. That was why I asked her to introduce me to a decent spirit, one that I could make a contract with. I knew that I wasn’t in a position to complain, but…

“Since you asked me to introduce you to a good spirit, I picked one of the spirits I previously made a contract with. He is also efficient when it comes to magic power. The process of picking them was… Well, it was quite the process, but Takan took care of it all.”

“……”

“Well, Takan said… He’d ‘deal with it’ himself…”

[It is an honor to be able to make a contract with you, young master Ed! My heart is burning with passion! Well, my body is already on fire, but I promise to burn with even more determination to support you fully!]

Was it the second or third time I played ‘Silvenia’s Failed Swordmaster’ that I leveled up my spirit-type skills?

Among the spirits I made a contract with that time, there was the water spirit Cleo and the wind spirit Pesci.

Back then, I’m sure there wasn’t this type of feeling though…?

Laughing together, exchanging jokes, giving each other support during battle, and manifesting them to fall asleep on top of their fur… It was definitely the feeling of having a close companion.

[Just give me the order!]

……

Well, I had nothing to say about the elite amongst the lower-ranking spirits.

 

 

[Magic Skills Details]

Grade: Proficient Magician

Specialized Field: Elements

 

Common Magic:

Fast Casting Lvl 8

Mana Sense Lvl 8

 

Fire Element Magic:

Ignite Lvl 14

 

Wind Element Magic:

Wind Blade Lvl 13

 

 

 

{Intermediate Magic can now be learned!}

 

 

 

Spirit-type Magic: 

Spiritual Resonance Lvl 12

Spiritual Understanding Lvl 12

Spirit Manifestation Lvl 1

Sense Sharing Lvl 1

 

 

 

{Spirit Slot: Lower-ranking Fire Spirit Mugg}

Resonance Level: 2

Spiritual Efficiency: Good

Innate Skills:

Blessing of Fire Fortune (Temporary immunity to fire)

Explosion (Low-level Explosion)

Increased fire-type magic ability 

{New Spirit Slot: Empty}

 

 

“…Oh? It’s warm?”

“You can feel the heat, right? When you start to resonate with a spirit you are contracted with, even without manifesting them you can feel the physical or magic power of that spirit. If you resonate too strongly, you will start to get hot. So please make sure you control it well.”

It didn’t take much time to complete the contract with Mugg. With just a small magic circle, I was able to make a contract with the low-ranking spirit.

Mugg sat down on my shoulder, which ended up startling me because of the faint heat.

“Th-Then if I control my level of resonance… The ‘firepower’ will change, too…?”

“It’s sort of strange to be calling it ‘firepower’, as that’s more of a mechanical device…”

“This… This is…”

Only then did I lift up Mugg with a bright face.

[Hahaha. I’m embarrassed, young master Ed.]

 

* * *

Translator – Plumper

Proofreader – Harley

* * *

 

It was a portable stove…!

The long, long winter… He was something to stick onto my body that released warmth, whether I was inside or outside the cabin… A tool for survival. Something more important than I could put into words…!

Plus… He didn’t even use any firewood…!

Of course, he instead ate away at my magic power. But due to my spiritual resonance, the mana efficiency of the spirit’s flames compared to the amount of magic power I use to cast ‘Ignite’ was like heaven and earth.

Spiritual Resonance was the level of efficiency in terms of mana power when communicating with a spirit or manifesting them.

The higher level your Spiritual Resonance was, the less magic power you needed to deal with stronger or more spirits. No matter how inherently cursed you were when it came to the amount of mana you could store, if your resonance was high you could deal with a wider range of different spirits.

Due to its unique characteristic, mana efficiency was completely different from general magic. That was the greatest strength of Elementalists.

Of course, it wasn’t like it didn’t consume any magic power at all. You couldn’t keep it running all day long like a boiler. But I could still use it when I was working outdoors in the frigid winter, or when I needed to stay inside the cabin before it was heated.

When I was running low on firewood, I could use the fire bat with magic power instead… That meant that I could be flexible and constantly switch between firewood and magic power whenever needed.

 

“…Thank you, Yennekar! I love it so much! Let’s get along well from now on, heat—… No, Mugg.”

[Hahahahaha! I don’t know what to do with my body, seeing you act so happy!]

 

I put Mugg into my hands, turning around excitedly.

Making him fly into the air, I also checked the intensity of the heat by adjusting the level of resonance. Raising the resonance to the highest amount was enough to surpass the warmth of a campfire. Of course, doing so had a terrible level of magic power efficiency, but with my spirit-type skills’ proficiency, growing it would only get easier.

It’s so different to actually experience a contract with a spirit when compared to seeing it in the game. Was it always possible to share this sense with a spirit you made a contract with?

With half admiration and half pure excitement, I tested out all sorts of different things with Mugg.

“I’m glad you look so happy, Ed. You always look so down, like you’re going through a tough time. I’m so happy to see you like this. Hehe.”

Yennekar kept watching over us for a while, smiling bashfully.

“Let me know if you ever need anything else, Ed. Then, before my first class I’ll teach you more about resonance and sense. After all, it’ll be faster if you practice it with me. Also, so that you can quickly get up to a level where you can make a contract with a mid-ranking spirit, we should practice spiritual combat as well… I’ll make some time and rent out a practice room! And… Uhm… There are a lot of different accessories that can help increase resonance efficiency… They’re all in my room, so… the next time we meet, then. Hyug!”

Yennekar, who had been talking excitedly, suddenly choked. It seemed like she had just thought of something.

She quickly shut her mouth, before she let out a slow exhale and looked towards me.

“Uhm, Ed…”

“Yeah?”

“Actually… I’m busy! I’m a busy person!”

Yennekar straightened her back as she shut her eyes, clearing her throat.

“I’m also the top student in our grade. So, there are all sorts of people that are waiting in line for me to teach them, you know? So… It’ll be hard to make time! Hm!”

“I see. Well, I guess that’s true.”

“That’s why, don’t you think it’s too much for me to be teaching you spiritual magic…? Hm?”

She kept on grinning while saying that, though her lips were clearly trembling.

It was… a kind of push and pull. I wondered if she was acting so differently from her normal self in an attempt to imitate Lortel… But then I realized that all of what she was saying was the truth.

It was easy to forget, as she was spending her time back in the camp with me every day, but normally it would be fairly expensive and valuable to have an opportunity to have one-on-one lessons from an elementalist like Yennekar.

‘It’s so great having a valuable personal connection~’ is what I had thought, all while giving nothing back to her… I was sure that I had crossed the line.

“I didn’t think of that, Yennekar… Though, it’s so obvious. I’m really sorry. I took your goodwill for granted.”

“Uh, hm? No, I didn’t mean for you to apologize like that… It’s just that Clara keeps telling me… To try pushing you… No, never mind. That’s not it…”

“Then… What should I do…? Isn’t it only right for me to pay you back with money, for your time and sincerity? Though, I probably can’t give you a suitable amount…”

Even then, I was sure that it would be possible for her to give me a discount, since we were friends… Right? After all, Yennekar knew all about my situation.

I had no choice but to whip out the calculator and check how much I could spend, while also considering my survival activities.

“What? Money?”

Hearing that word, Yennekar was taken by surprise.

“Money! What money?! Ed! You’re in an urgent state, one where you must worry about surviving! How can you think of just wasting your money like that?! You need to save it all! Don’t waste it! Don’t even think about paying me, either! I’ll get mad!”

“……?”

“I can’t believe that you brought up paying for this… That’s too cold of you! We’re closer than that! Seriously, you make me so upset!”

“Didn’t you bring up the cost of it all in the first place?”

Yennekar gasped, stunned by those words. Though it looked like she had realized that, thinking back on it… I was right.

I had no idea how to guess the rhythm she wanted me to dance at.

“… What’s wrong with you all of a sudden?”

That was when Yennekar started to confess everything.

“It was because Clara gave me some advice… I’m someone that tends to be a bit too nice to others, giving things out too much… No, that’s not! Hm… Uh… It’s more like, I must work on raising the price for helping others, is what she said…! Sort of like negotiating? Maybe a bit more chic? I need to know how to say ‘no’ when I mean it… I need to be a bit colder that way.”

“Nothing she said is wrong. I’m also quite scared that one day you might get scammed by someone somewhere. You made quite a great friend.”

“Right, I guess that’s true…? But… I… I just don’t treat anyone like that…”

Wriggling her fingers and glancing at me from the side, she was surprised the moment our eyes met.

“Anyway! I’ll go into more detail next time! Next time, I’ll see you at the combat practice room! I’ll make the reservation, then let you know! I’ll bring a nice accessory, too! Also, let me know if you need a resonance textbook to practice! Since I have morning class soon, I’ll get going…! Bye, Ed! See you later!”

And with that, she jumped off the bench and ran away.

I didn’t have time to say anything back to her, so I was left with no choice but to watch as Yennekar ran away.

 

* * *

 

Rumor had it that the school’s finances were in quite a tight spot.

Professor Glast was quietly sitting in his laboratory, flipping through the pages of his academic books. Research regarding Celestial Magic was extremely limited, so barely any progress had been made at all.

Regarding the study of Celestial Magic, which twisted and broke the rules and challenged the perceived truth… Barely any progress had been made since the work of the great sage Silvenia.

It was hopeless for any scholar to try and study the Sage’s Seal in the first place.

If academic research was a field where only a few chosen geniuses could contribute, then was the role of a scholar such as himself only to remember and systemize the knowledge of his predecessor to pass onto future generations?

Professor Glast let out a sly laugh, troubled over his old-fashioned way of thinking. He had realized that his life had become comfortable enough that his worries were nothing serious.

In any case, Glast’s role had become clear.

In a world full of trash, he was going to be someone that would find a gem of a talent that would shine, changing the world forever.

Such a brilliant talent would be capable of speeding up the progress of research, regardless of the field.

 

Thud!

 

Assistant professor Cleoh Elpin broke the silence, bursting into the laboratory.

“Professor Glast!”

“You’re not going to knock?”

“I’m sorry, but it’s urgent!”

Cleoh went outside again, closing the door and knocking. Professor Glast let out a deep sigh.

“It’s fine, just come in.”

“Yes!”

Cleoh strode in, holding a bunch of files and a crystal ball. She dropped it all over Professor Glast’s desk.

“I have something to report! This is a really big deal! Get ready to be surprised!”

“……”

“Ed Rothstaylor! Do you know that student—Ed, the one who was excommunicated?!?”

“I don’t bother remembering the names of every piece of trash that doesn’t have a drop of talent.”

“There you go again saying such a thing! Just hear me out first!”

Cleoh kept on making a fuss, slamming on his desk.

“You know Lucy, right?! Lucy! The one that you really adore, Lucy Mayreel!”

“……”

“Lucy was defeated by Ed. To the point where she couldn’t do anything?! No, what I’m trying to say is… I was suspicious about the Occupation of Ophelis Hall incident, so I went to do some further investigating… No, even before that, I need to explain why I even went to the northern forest…”

“There’s no point for you to keep rambling on, Assistant Professor Cleoh.”

She had a lot of things that she wanted to say, but since she was so excited, she couldn’t organize the story at all. Professor Glast let out a sigh, thinking that she must act the same way in front of her students.

“So, what I mean is… I went around and ended up using the thoughtography recording magic back on the first floor of Ophelis Hall!”

“Thoughtography recording magic? Did you get permission from the school?”

“Of course I didn’t! I just went up to the department in charge of the magically engineered thoughtography equipment, made up an excuse, and I got my hands on it! Really, it’s so great being a professor! They weren’t even a bit suspicious of me when I did it! I couldn’t even dream of doing this before I got my degree!” 

“……”

Thoughtography Recording magic was a reenacting magic that allowed you to replay what happened in the past at a certain location.

As it was magic that dealt with time, it consumed a great deal of magic power unless you used knowledge from Celestial Magic theory, which didn’t have much research on it.

Most of it was created by archmages that could create magically engineered items. Though, the price of just one of those items would be equivalent to the price of a building.

The price was quite expensive, and the method to use it is complicated, so permission from the school was needed to officially use it. However, Cleoh used her authority as a teacher to exploit the equipment to her heart’s content.

It wasn’t something that got worn out the more you used it. Though, it was a blatant abuse of power.

“Just get ready to write an apology.”

“I already knew you would say that, so I filed it out in advance!”

“Is that something to brag about?”

“Even then, you’ll take it into consideration with this! Here, take a look!”

Cleoh filled the crystal ball with the thoughtography record.

“The school’s investigation department didn’t even use Thoughtography recording magic at all during the investigation! I started to wonder why, but I guess that since the head maid Elris’ confession was so clear, and the testimonies at the scene were all consistent, it just happened… In the first place, the Thoughtography recording magic doesn’t record all that much!”

Cleoh‘s mouth didn’t stop moving as she pushed magic power into the crystal ball.

“Since it’s a magically engineered piece of equipment that is complicated and difficult to set up and use, it would be too inefficient to set it up across Ophelis Hall. That’s why I chose to not extend the investigation out that far! There was no need to! It was more valuable for me to just use it in one place, rather than the whole building!”

“So, what are you saying?”

“Just in case… Following Taylee’s testimony that he met Ed on the first floor, I only used it in the main hall on the first floor! The method to set it up was too complicated, so I just slapped it together!”

Regardless of if you were a faculty member, there was a limit to how much you could do. He was starting to get tired of Assistant Professor Cleoh’s straightforward behavior every time she had a gut feeling.

If Professor Glast had agreed that there might have been an issue, it would have been sent over to the disciplinary committee right away, but… Glast wasn’t that type of person. There was also a shortage of people in the academy.

“So?”

“Look at this! It caught Ed! I brought it over to you quickly since the image won’t last long.”

The scene was the moment Ed sat alone in the main hall of the first floor, greeting Taylee. At first glance, it seemed like a still picture, but you could tell it was clearly moving by the raindrops hitting the window.

“Look at this! He’s just like a black curtain, right?”

“……”

“Can’t you see the way he’s sitting? He looks just like he’s saying, ‘I’m the black curtain behind all of this…’, right?”

“……”

Professor Glast ran his hand over his face as he looked straight at Assistant Professor Cleoh.

“… Is this everything?”

“Excuse me?”

“I asked if this was all you brought in, seeing as you stomped in here and slammed the door.”

“No, uhm… I also told you how Ed was carrying around Lucy, who was completely knocked out…”

“Lucy Mayreel is the type that is extremely lazy. She will fall asleep whenever there is time, and the moment she does, she won’t wake up easily. Are you sure he wasn’t just moving her somewhere else while she was sleeping?

Unfortunately for her, that was what actually happened.

“But when I approached her, she definitely had a big reaction…!”

“It isn’t just you. That’s Lucy’s usual reaction when somebody touches her while she’s sleeping. Ironically, you just ended up proving that she was, in fact, asleep.”

“…Ah! Not only that, but Ed also built some sort of hideout to live in up in the northern forest…”

“And can you explain just what, exactly, that has to do with the Occupation of Ophelis Hall?”

“Uhm… That’s…  I…”

Professor Glast let out a deep sigh.

“… Cleoh. As I told you before, you tend to rely too heavily on your intuition, pushing ahead with things without enough thought.”

She had nothing else to say.

Ed was certainly a suspicious student, but there was no physical evidence to speak of.

Ed had already finished giving his testimony regarding the occupation. The file itself was a little sketchy, but given the circumstances it made enough sense.

The reason Ed had visited Ophelis Hall was because he had a personal appointment with Yennekar. They had agreed to meet out in the rose garden in front of the building. Yennekar had also affirmed that fact.

But then, realizing that something had happened inside Ophelis Hall, he went into the building to see what was going on. He later decided that the building was dangerous.

Therefore, he had tried to block Taylee and his party from forcing their way into the building. Of course, Ed eventually ended up failing.

He was just a respectable upperclassman that was trying to stop his underclassmen from entering such a dangerous place. Well, at least that’s what the testimony said.

Aside from Ed’s strange behavior, there was nothing to prove his testimony false. Even though she might feel completely heartbroken about it all, that was a completely different matter.

“Think of the difference between your emotions and the physical evidence, Cleoh.”

“Uhh… I apologize…”

In the end, completely speechless, Cleoh lowered her head.

“Just bring your apology over.”

“Yes…”

Her excitement was gone as she left the laboratory with a heavy sigh.

Professor Glast sat back down, gathering all the files.

Finally, when he grabbed the crystal ball that Cleoh had brought, there was an image of Ed standing up. It looked as if he was in combat.

Previously known as Ed Rothstaylor, but now just Ed.

Given that Professor Glast didn’t remember much about him, it must have meant that he was someone born with little talent.

The total amount of magic power he had seemed small, and the level of magic that he used wasn’t all that high.

He was someone that you could find anywhere. Someone without talent.

Standing in the way of Taylee, Elvira, and Ayla, it was more reckless behavior rather than courageous.

This was also all written down in the files. Ed had tried to stop Taylee and his party, but they had broken through in no time.

That was just the way things were in the world. Nothing could be solved alone.

Professor Glast was a professor that oversaw the magic department students. Though, he had also seen the students from the Combat and Alchemy department before.

While he didn’t have the authority to directly appraise any of those students, he had certainly identified a few talented individuals amongst them.

Taylee, who was born to the way of the sword. Elvira, who was born with the natural insight to be an alchemist.

Those two weren’t people that just any normal person could stop.

Considering that, Professor Glast continued to look into the crystal ball.

He wanted to reaffirm the talents of both Taylee and Elvira.

Glast was someone who liked to identify talents, much like a jeweler who appraised shiny gemstones, to determine their value.

“Ohhh….”

Professor Glast continued to watch the battle between Ed and Taylee’s party for a long while.

 

“……”

After a while, Professor Glast held his chin as he got lost in thought.

Stuck in such deep thoughts, he continued to stay still for a long time.

 

____