Dorphina explained what had happened earlier.
She was grateful to Sayla for helping her, but at the same time, she couldn’t help but feel a little heavy-hearted.
“……so Sayla stepped in. If she hadn’t helped me, I would’ve been in big trouble.”
Hamun nodded.
“……Ah, so that’s what happened.”
“Yeah. That’s why I’m worried that being close with Sayla might end up bothering her.”
“But then, why did you come to me?”
“Well, because you’re Sayla’s closest friend.”
“Then you came to the right person!”
Hamun beamed happily.
He was in such a good mood that he slapped Dorphina’s back, thump, thump!
“I’ll support your friendship. Who cares what the others say? You don’t need to bow down to something that isn’t just.”
“……”
Hearing Hamun’s words, Dorphina felt a little reassured.
In her mind, the person who knew Sayla best was Hamun. So his encouragement meant a great deal.
“Do you really think…… it’s okay for me to keep being friends with Sayla?”
“Of course. I hope Sayla has a lot of good friends. She’s like a racehorse that only knows how to charge straight ahead.”
“……”
“If she has more friends, maybe she’ll finally have the leisure to look around her.”
Hamun suddenly grabbed Dorphina’s hand.
“Don’t think such negative thoughts. Just be a good friend to Sayla.”
“I didn’t think you’d cheer me on this much.”
“No, I’ll cheer you on a lot. Well…… if you were a girl, that is.”
Dorphina flinched.
Looking at Hamun’s bright smile, she cautiously spoke, very slowly.
“That condition sounds a little strange……”
“Condition?”
“Yes. You said, if you were a girl. Why… why would you add such a condition?”
“Because I don’t believe in friendship between men and women.”
It hadn’t always been that way.
Once, Hamun firmly believed that men and women could be friends.
But not anymore.
“B-but men and women can be friends, right?”
“No. They can’t.”
But you are friends with Sayla, aren’t you?
Before Dorphina could ask, Hamun said firmly:
“When men and women say they’re friends, it means at least one of them is in love.”
“R-really?”
“Yeah.”
Hamun’s tone was so resolute that Dorphina couldn’t argue. She just gave a weak smile and carefully asked:
“Then what if… some boy tries to be friends with Sayla?”
“Hmm.”
Hamun thought for a while, then gave an even brighter smile.
“Then I’ll just turn him into a girl.”
“Th-there’s a way to do that?”
Actually, the reason Dorphina had enrolled in Somarfi Academy in the first place was to really become a woman.
If the Queibek family had such a secret technique, that would be exciting news.
She suddenly felt her heart race.
Truthfully, she was more comfortable around Hamun than around Jeremiel, her classmate.
Hamun replied:
“Well, I’d just have to cut it off, right?”
“……”
“If he survives, maybe he’ll become a woman?”
Dorphina’s face turned ashen.
Definitely not Queibek’s way.
The next day, Sayla headed off to class.
First period was Theoretical Understanding of Magic.
‘Ugh, I still can’t get used to Professor Tritana’s intimidating presence.’
The ogre half-blood professor stood proudly on the podium, holding an adorably small magic wand.
Professor Tritana waved the wand cheerfully in a singsong voice.
“Yally-yally, yalang-shyong, appear now, abracadabra!”
Every magic caster had their own distinct activation words, and Tritana’s sounded a bit like this.
The words sounded silly, but his skill was anything but laughable.
A small magic circle appeared in the air, and then—plop!—a silver-glowing orb dropped down.
Tritana placed the orb on his palm.
“Now, can you see this? This is the mana stone you’ll be practicing with this semester. By the end of today’s lecture, each of you will get one.”
Sayla almost doubted her own ears.
Practice? Mana stones?
Something was off. This was supposed to be a theory course.
In the original <That Novel>, there had never been any practical training in this class. Something had definitely changed.
Why?
Professor Tritana suddenly called her name.
“Student Sayla. Please come forward.”
“Yes, Professor.”
He handed her a mana stone.
“Hold it in your hand and close your eyes.”
“Yes.”
With a satisfied smile, Tritana said:
“Now, with your eyes closed, picture yourself pouring mana into the stone.”
“……”
“When the mana takes root, the stone will change color.”
Sayla frowned in confusion.
But he knows I can’t use magic, right?
To become a professor at Somarfi, you had to be considered a genius at minimum.
They even joked that the swordsmanship instructors here used magic better than most regular mages.
Anyone teaching here had to at least be on par with a royal court magician.
He must have some kind of plan in mind.
Sayla did as instructed, but nothing happened to the stone.
The magic students began snickering.
“Seems a lot of you are laughing at Student Sayla. It’s not very considerate of classmates to behave that way.”
“……”
“Then, is there anyone who’d like to try pouring mana into the stone instead of Sayla?”
But everyone knew: if they stepped forward and failed, they’d be humiliated. So no one volunteered.
Professor Tritana smiled faintly and changed his approach.
“Then let’s do it by recommendation.”
Several students quickly nominated Pnelldi.
“Good. Student Pnelldi, please come forward.”
The professor conjured another silver orb.
“Go ahead, Pnelldi.”
“Yes, Professor.”
Pnelldi stared at the orb for a long moment.
“Student Pnelldi?”
Pnelldi was torn.
If I succeed here……
She glanced sideways.
Sayla’s face was expressionless.
She doesn’t seem to care much……
Still, succeeding here might make Sayla uncomfortable.
But if she didn’t do her best, that would actually be more insulting to Sayla.
I have to be the representative of the magic class.
Truthfully, this year’s intake was weakest in magic.
The scholarly class was led directly by the crown prince, the swordsmanship class had Hamun, and the miscellaneous class had Jeremiel.
As the daughter of the vassal family of Dvernon, Pnelldi felt a heavy sense of duty.
I must do well. I must prove myself.
She closed her eyes and began to draw out her mana.
But she hesitated to go all out.
“Pnelldi. Do your best. I dislike students who hold back with mediocre effort.”
Her heart jolted. As expected, she couldn’t fool the professor.
No choice.
She poured her full strength into it.
Mana surged into the silver orb—yet nothing changed.
What’s happening?
Infusing mana should’ve been the easiest task of all.
But no matter how much she focused, the stone didn’t change color.
Thud!
Exhausted from the effort, Pnelldi collapsed to the floor.
Only then did Professor Tritana nod.
“Your goal is to change the color of this stone.”
A student wearing the red badge of the magic class raised a hand.
“Professor, didn’t Pnelldi succeed in infusing mana just now?”
“She did.”
“Then why didn’t the color change?”
“Because the amount was too little. To alter a mana stone, you need a sufficient level of mana.”
“……”
Faces went pale across the classroom.
But Pnelldi just poured out everything she had.
Even the first vassal family’s daughter gave it her all and still failed.
Any talented mage could infuse mana.
And most students at Somarfi’s magic class could do it.
But using that much power at once drained you dry—like Pnelldi, who was now unconscious.
When mana depletion struck, you were out for hours at the very least.
“These are high-capacity mana stones I specially crafted. It’s your semester-long assignment. If you can change its color on your own, you don’t need to attend my lectures anymore.”
Sayla blinked in disbelief.
If he made them himself… then no first-year could ever possibly fill them, no matter how hard they tried.
Professor Tritana was famed as the wisest and cleverest among all half-ogres across the continent.
He wouldn’t assign such a task without reason.
I don’t get it.
But one detail went unnoticed by almost everyone.
While Pnelldi lay nearly unconscious after her attempt, Sayla—who had tried before—was completely fine.
The mana stone in her hand had grown icy cold.
And Professor Tritana hadn’t taken his eyes off it for a single moment.
