Chapter 80
Forbidden Brewing, Forbidden Love
The explosion caused by Idnia’s Meteorite spell was so powerful that it shook the entire academy. In the dorms, Cendia Aspinal was jolted out of her bed.
“Ahhh! What is going on in this school?! It’s been so noisy outside for a while now!”
“Miss Aspinal… just go back to sleep. Maybe monsters are roaming around again.”
“Monsters are outside my window, and you expect me to sleep peacefully?!”
“Well, what else can we do? At least the professors will protect us here.”
“I guess that’s true… Ugh. I swear, once I graduate, I’ll never look back at this place again.”
Grumbling, Cendia tried to go back to sleep. But the pillow in her dorm was nothing like the duck feather ones she had at home.
“Ugh! I miss my duck feather pillow! What is this thing filled with—wood chips?!”
“It’s made from cypress wood. I like it. It’s supposed to be good for your health.”
“Ugh!”
Cendia groaned and buried her face in the pillow, nearly in tears.
Elsewhere in the foggy night of the academy, Lorenzo and his attendants were moving cautiously. Lorenzo used a special compass unaffected by magic, which always pointed to true north. His attendants handled any approaching monsters or wild beasts.
Fiona was with him.
“I’m sure I buried some supplies—like sugar and food—around here yesterday. There was supposed to be a meeting point near that fountain with the child statue.”
“It seems like the academy’s layout changes every day according to some unknown rule. My compass says this place is completely different from yesterday.”
Using the compass, they mapped out the academy each night and found the supplies they’d hidden earlier in the day. But suddenly, Lorenzo stopped.
“Wait… Everyone be careful! Something big just moved!”
Moments later, Idnia’s Meteorite spell exploded again, sending a huge shockwave toward them.
“Ugh!”
Lorenzo’s guards—Rex, Breguet, Patek, and Philippe—quickly shielded him. The blast frightened nearby beasts, causing chaos.
“Wolves…!”
“Damn it. At least we saw them early.”
“What was that shockwave just now?!”
The Nothos dorm students grumbled as they got ready to fight.
In the center of the forest clearing, where the Meteorite had struck, the ground was red-hot.
It looked like a meteor had fallen. At the center of the crater stood Idnia.
“Whew… That was exhausting.”
The stones she’d placed had melted from the heat and cooled into a large glassy cauldron.
“My lava-glass pot is finished! Great!”
Idnia happily poured a sack of bread into her new cauldron.
“It was a bit noisy, but it should be fine. The thick fog helps block the sound, and the academy has weird barriers that mess with sound anyway.”
(If Cendia heard this, she would’ve been furious. Same with the Nothos students.)
Though the noise was dampened, it still disturbed the sleeping students. But noisy nights were normal at this school, so everyone just tolerated it.
“I need water… but the fountain and well are too far.”
Idnia aimed her wand at the fog.
“Extract!”
She pulled water from the fog and poured it into her cauldron.
Someone was watching her from afar.
Meanwhile, Principal Ludwig stood outside in the night, holding an umbrella to shield himself from falling debris caused by the Meteorite spell.
“I came out worried about students sneaking around, but it seems I was overthinking it.”
“I think we should be worried about the other students instead. It’s way too loud. Should we say something?”
Succubus Queen Sadia sat behind Ludwig, dusting herself off—she had been covered in ash.
“This academy always has weird things happening at night. The students will get used to it. And it seems like she only needs one pot.”
“My goodness. She did all this just to make a pot? Should we just secretly give her one?”
“That would stand out too much. A quiet warning should be enough. But seriously—what is she doing? Is she making pudding with bread? Or brewing alcohol?”
Even Ludwig was curious about Idnia’s strange activities.
In the middle of the monster-filled foggy forest, Idnia hummed a tune as she grabbed a tree, compressed it with her bare hands, and roasted it.
She made a large wooden spatula with her own strength.
Using the spatula, she stirred the water and bread mixture over a fire.
‘Let’s turn the bread’s starch into glucose by hydrolyzing it… Stir it well first…’
She lifted her wand.
‘If I had amylase enzymes, it would break down the starch faster. But I can’t just use my spit—it’s not enough, and it’s unhygienic. Besides, human saliva only has alpha-amylase.’
‘Luckily, I found some moldy bread. I can extract koji mold from it.’
The mold would produce enzymes to break down starch and help with fermentation.
Idnia added the moldy bread to the pot and reduced the heat. She chanted a spell to enhance the enzymes’ effects.
‘Let’s use an alchemy spell that boosts the strength and effectiveness of medicinal ingredients…’
Though she knew a spinning spell to stir automatically, the bread was too hard. So she relied on her own strength. Her muscles crushed the bread into mush.
“Nice. The enhanced enzyme spell works great. But I should make another pot to improve efficiency.”
Just then, Sadia appeared, holding a cauldron.
“Professor Sadia?”
“This pot’s old. I bought a new one. I guess I’ll dump this one here.”
“Wait… Are you really just throwing it away?”
“Don’t look at me like that. You want me to say I care about your sleep? Is it because you’re a noble from the Betelgeuse family? Do you not care about the lower class waking up because of you? Want me to show you the taste of revolution?”
“But I don’t know how to melt rocks with magic.”
“Then shut up and take this!”
Sadia used telekinesis to throw the pot at Idnia, who caught it easily.
“Th-thank you.”
“Don’t thank me! I’m just lending it. You’ll owe me a big favor.”
“With money?”
“With the red blood of revolution!”
Sadia disappeared with magic.
“Huh? She’s gone. I guess I should assume that professors are watching everywhere.”
Back near the academy building…
Principal Ludwig grumbled as Sadia returned.
“Giving a student something valuable like a pot is crossing the line.”
“She was being too noisy. And you didn’t stop me either. Plus, I only lent it. Teachers can lend things, right? I’m totally innocent.”
“Or maybe you just don’t feel shame.”
“Fine. I’d even take an oath with a spirit of truth!”
“Of course you would.”
Though he scolded her, Ludwig secretly thought it was a good idea.
“Emperor Yuric could melt stone between his hands. Idnia can only compress wood into pressed lumber. Still, impressive for her age.”
“She’s amazing, right?”
“More than that. And what she’s doing now…”
“What?”
“She’s making moonshine.”
“…What?!”
Sadia’s face turned red like someone falling in love.
“She’s what? That freshman is brewing illegal alcohol on her first night at school? That’s so cool! She’s like a revolutionary hero fighting against oppression!”
“……”
Ludwig, who was the oppressive system, was speechless.
“She’s royalty. A noble of the highest class. But still… the flames of revolution burn in everyone’s heart!”
“You really like this, don’t you? Well, I guess it makes sense. She’s your type.”
“What type?!”
“Someone who enjoys hard labor?”
“Wait… that’s true…”
Sadia realized Idnia was doing everything herself, with her own hands.
Manual labor—something the working class must do to survive. The act of resistance, the proof of a life that struggles under the weight of an imperfect world.
“Ugh… She’s a noble, but she works so hard! Damn it! She’s so sexy!”
“If she were a man, I’d fall for her.”
“Or maybe… love doesn’t care about gender?”
Ludwig sighed. Sadia was too far gone.
He was deeply worried about what would happen next.
