The gaze directed at Seila was so kind and warm that she almost felt flustered—hard to believe it came from someone who had just used the Gag of Silence.
Still, she hid all her emotions under a cloak of dignity and carefully asked,
“…I’m certain the course I registered for was a theory class. But when I actually attended, it felt much more like practice than theory.”
“Do you dislike that?”
“No. It’s just… I was wondering if there could be a clearer guideline for where I should head. I think I could devote myself more if I could clearly see the destination.”
At Seila’s reply, Professor Tritana let out a merry laugh.
“Well, think about it. If it’s you, Seila, you’ll realize it on your own soon enough. Ah, but I’ll tell you one thing: you don’t have to worry about mana fatigue. So practice as much as you like and hone your skills.”
“…Is that so?”
“It must be closely tied to your constitution. No matter how much you expend, the cold energy won’t stop flowing. So, try your best.”
At that moment, Professor Rhyno, who had just finished unbinding the restraints, muttered irritably.
“So all that flowery speech was just your way of saying ‘shut up and keep grinding!’”
A few days earlier.
Tritana steadied her breathing outside the principal’s office.
“One, two, three.”
It was a ritual she always did before entering. If she didn’t, she was afraid she might accidentally use a lethal spell inside.
When she entered, the Muscle Principal greeted her with a light smile.
“Looks like you’re in a good mood today. You only counted to three instead of ten before coming in.”
“Principal, do you remember the condition I asked for when I first accepted my professorship?”
“There are so many requests from professors, I can’t recall. What was yours again?”
“You promised to let me do whatever I wanted once. Just once, anything I wanted.”
The principal frowned.
“Let’s hear it then.”
“For this semester, I want to introduce a new teaching method. It’ll be a bit different from the syllabus. But I thought I should get your permission first. Also, I’ll need a lot of top-grade mana stones. The budget will be significant.”
“…Budget?”
The principal, who hadn’t flinched at “new teaching method” or “different syllabus,” twitched noticeably at the word budget.
“I want to weave a minimal amount of practical training into my theory lectures.”
“Practical training in a theory class? Why?”
“Because an interesting student has appeared.”
“What’s so interesting that it gets you this worked up?”
“She continuously exudes cold-attribute mana.”
“Is that even possible?”
“It is.”
“Oh, come on, no such person exists.”
Tritana’s gaze shifted to the Muscle Principal.
She knew one monster who endlessly emitted mana.
The principal shrugged.
“Ah, but I don’t count. I’m excessively gifted.”
“You’re like an ocean of mana, Principal. But that student is different. She has nine mana circuits that constantly spew out cold energy. In other words, her production rate is unbelievably fast.”
“Really?”
“Yes. The amount she generates surpasses what she consumes, so there’s no mana fatigue. It’s like her entire body is filled with winter.”
“Hmmm.”
The principal stroked his chin with an expression somewhere between knowing and not knowing. His arms were so thick that his hand barely reached his jaw.
“But the nature of that mana is so cold it’s harming her body. The Queibec family seems to be managing it with their special methods, but I think magical support would help too.”
“So you want to tailor an entire lecture to a single student? That’s overstepping, don’t you think?”
“Are you saying no?”
Tritana’s right hand tightened around her staff.
The principal noticed the faint trembling of the magic wand and burst into laughter.
“Haha! At Somarphi Academy, we even encourage overstepping. That too is part of society.”
“You should’ve said so sooner. I nearly cast a lethal spell.”
“Still, I don’t know why you’re using such a precious opportunity for something like this. I thought you’d use it for something grander. Care to explain?”
“I already told you. She’s interesting. I’m curious.”
“So you’re spending this valuable chance merely out of curiosity?”
Tritana tilted her head.
“‘Merely’ out of curiosity?”
“Am I wrong?”
“Do you know someone who, purely out of curiosity, once tried eating broccoli that sprouted in the Poison Swamp and nearly ended up paralyzed for life?”
Curiosity could indeed be terrifying.
The principal could only concede.
“Well, yes. There was also that Dark Elf who nearly burned to death sneaking into a wide-range destruction spell formation just because he wanted to know how one might survive inside it.”
That formation was called the Grave of Thunderbolts—a mass-killing spell devised for large-scale wars.
Tritana’s eyes sparkled.
“Professor Naiphin?”
“I didn’t say any names. Just as you didn’t name Professor Rhyno as the broccoli idiot.”
“How did Professor Naiphin survive?”
“No idea. But since he lived, he’s probably still teaching survival techniques. I was so worried I’d have to replace him back then.”
“I’ll have to ask him someday. I even helped with the formulation of [Grave of Thunderbolts], and to think someone survived it—fascinating!”
Curiosity welled up inside her again.
With that, the meeting ended, and Tritana left the office.
The Muscle Principal shrugged and muttered to himself.
“Professor Tritana is brilliant and capable. But she’s no good at deception.”
He gazed out the window.
Far below, Tritana was walking with heavy yet strangely bouncy steps. Her massive frame moved with a strangely endearing sway.
“She’s really just hoping Seila will invent a self-made refrigerator or freezer.”
He already knew everything happening at the academy. Including how Seila had delighted two vegetarians with her special recipe.
No doubt Tritana simply wanted to taste Seila’s cooking in earnest.
Unlike Rhyno, a herbivore beastkin, Tritana was a half-ogre of a carnivorous line. Having long suppressed her instincts with willpower, Seila’s soy meat must have felt like a ray of light.
“If Seila really succeeds, she’ll be able to research recipes far more comfortably. She could even supply fresh vegetables to the dormitories.”
The principal chuckled to himself.
“But what I’m most curious about is how this professor’s lessons will affect Seila’s nine winters.”
In the present.
I kept practicing exactly as Professor Tritana instructed.
Dorphina, looking a little bored, whined as she sat beside me.
“Seila isn’t paying any attention to me, so I’m bored.”
“…”
“It’d be nice if you did. Hehe.”
She’d been holding back for a while.
Just then, I was about to take a short break anyway.
“How much did you practice?”
“I practiced a little earlier, but I couldn’t keep going. My breath got all tight and I felt dizzy.”
From what I heard, several students from the magic class had already fainted and been taken to the infirmary.
That’s mana fatigue. Left unchecked, it could even be fatal.
‘But why am I completely fine?’
Tritana’s words had been true. She must know something about me that I don’t.
“Seila, how can you look so perfectly fine and pretty?”
“Are you trying to say I look fine, or that I’m pretty?”
She grinned sheepishly.
“Pretty!”
Then she beamed again.
Becoming roommates with Dorphina had been a stroke of luck for me.
Just watching her filled me with energy. Like a living vitamin. No matter how I looked, I just couldn’t believe this adorable girl was actually a boy.
“Ugh… but tomorrow’s general mathematics theory class.”
Her sunshine-bright face clouded.
She could handle most things, but math was one subject she just couldn’t get along with.
To think she found math, of all things, difficult—it almost seemed tragic.
‘I wonder what kind of problem we’ll tackle tomorrow?’
The next day.
In general mathematics, I learned something I never expected.
Professor Number stood at the lectern, his face as gloomy as ever, and spoke slowly.
“…By applying Peraigos’ Theorem… one can inscribe a simple level of magical formula… with stability.”
He engraved several equations into a low-grade mana stone.
“As you can see… if you infuse it with darkness-attribute mana… this is the effect.”
The stone darkened, as though it were swallowing the light around it.
“So… to say mathematics is impractical… is utterly wrong. It can be applied like this!”
Seila felt an intense spark of interest.
‘This is different from modern math!’
Peraigos’ Theorem.
It didn’t exist in the modern world, but hearing it explained felt refreshing.
‘So you can construct magic formulas using math.’
In other words, “magical formulas” were an auxiliary discipline that let even the untalented use fragments of magic.
‘It’s a completely different domain from magic itself, which depends heavily on innate talent and perception.’
Magic was the act of visualizing a miracle and bringing it into reality. That required immense talent and effort.
‘But if one could write these formulas, then anyone could use magic!’
Seila, however, was slightly mistaken.
Not anyone could write or understand them.
The formula Number had just written covered half the chalkboard.
It was structured to change based on variables, making memorization nearly impossible.
So without solid mathematical knowledge, one couldn’t possibly understand or apply it.
‘Fascinating!’
Back at the dormitory, Seila sat at her desk, muttering like someone possessed while scribbling furiously across her paper.
Dorphina watched with wide eyes.
‘That’s… what we learned today, isn’t it?’
Of course, she didn’t understand the content.
But the lines of numbers looked vaguely similar, so she could tell it was connected.
Setting down her own pen, Dorphina simply watched as Seila filled the notebook with equations.
‘This is fun.’
Who knew watching someone could be so entertaining?
Her heart thumped for no reason.
