<87. Arcane Astra>
‘Still, it’s impressive that she used magic after only looking at the board for a short time…’
‘But isn’t that cheating? The reason Baroness Bulem called on her was probably because she wasn’t paying attention in class.’
‘Should I call her clever or sneaky…?’
‘At least she can’t be the Demon King’s vessel. She’s the daughter of the Hero and the Saintess.’
The students tried hard not to laugh at how openly Idnia had copied the blackboard.
Baroness Bulem noticed something strange in the classroom’s atmosphere. Even the teaching assistants seemed to be holding back laughter.
“…Hmm. W-well done. But your first attempt…”
“Yes. I tried using the original Cold Origin Magic because I thought I understood it, but I guess I wasn’t ready yet. So I changed the method.”
“It seems you were listening in class after all. Very well, Idnia Kache Betelgeuse. You did well.”
Baroness Bulem said no more, though she clearly felt uneasy.
Normally, she would award points for even small quiz answers, but she gave no bonus to Idnia even though she demonstrated actual magic.
‘Isn’t it obvious that Baroness Bulem dislikes Lady Idnia?’
‘But why?’
Students who were experienced in high society quickly noticed the baroness’s dislike toward Idnia.
“Alright, the rest of you, go ahead and practice. The assistants will help.”
Baroness Bulem turned her attention away from Idnia and moved on.
The assistants were cleaning up the lecture hall after class, chatting as they worked.
“How do this year’s students seem to you?”
“Maybe because there’s the crown prince and the archduke’s children, they all seem pretty talented.”
“Especially Lady Idnia. Did you see that?”
“You mean when she quickly looked at the board while the baroness wasn’t watching? Yeah, I saw it. Wow, she’s sharp.”
“She’s amazing. She hadn’t even pre-studied the magic, but did that well? Hard to believe.”
“But why didn’t anything happen when she used Cold Origin Magic? I heard the chant was perfect.”
“Maybe she just said the chant to fool the baroness, without actually channeling mana?”
“Saying the chant while cutting off mana? But still making the staff glow? That’s not easy at all… huh?”
One assistant, about to clean up a bowl of frozen water, noticed something strange.
“What is it?”
“The bowl… it got smaller. About 1%.”
Another assistant picked up a similar bowl and compared the two.
“They were supposed to be identical, but now they don’t fit exactly.”
“You’re right. What happened? Clarice, what do you think?”
The assistants all turned to Clarice, their leader. Clarice tilted her head.
“That was the bowl Lady Idnia used for her spell, right?”
“Yes, it was.”
“Have you ever heard the theory that all matter is just energy?”
“Sure, I’ve heard that.”
“What about the one saying even space and time come from energy?”
“Isn’t that a bit extreme?”
“Well, Cold Origin Magic controls negative motion. If you fine-tune it, it can even affect space.”
The assistants were stunned.
“Wait… so her magic actually worked?”
“More than that. It changed the bowl’s space!”
Clarice continued,
“The inside of the bowl slightly shrank. As a result, it doesn’t perfectly match the identical one anymore. That’s proof the space itself was compressed.”
The assistants were speechless.
Space-erasing magic…
Cold Origin Magic is already high-level magic, but space-erasing magic is legendary and terrifying.
It only existed in theory. No one had ever cast it. No one even tried.
“Haha… No way. So not only did she succeed, she even modified the spell? An academy freshman cast a mythical-level spell?”
“Isn’t that exactly how the Demon King’s awakening goes?”
The possibility crossed all their minds.
“…Or maybe that’s the worst-case theory,” Clarice added. “Most likely, the bowl just got worn out.”
“Y-yeah, that’s probably it. We’ll write it up as minor damage.”
They casually collected the bowl and moved on.
“Lady Idnia, that was amazing. I couldn’t use that cooling spell at all, even after the assistant explained it to me.”
Marie was shocked that Idnia had picked up the spell just by glancing at the board.
“The structure is pretty similar to the fire spirit summoning spell. Instead of summoning a spirit, you open a gate and call the icy winds. Still, I’m a bit embarrassed to be praised for this. I originally planned to succeed and earn 100 points, you know.”
“Oh, that? I don’t think Baroness Bulem expected you to succeed anyway. Even if you had, she might not have given you any points.”
“No way. If I had succeeded, she would have had to give me points.
Aww… I thought it would work. Oh well.
At least now I have a reliable cooling spell. That’s enough.
Now, Marie, shall we go to our clubhouse?”
“Clubhouse?”
“Well, the Wizard Ball club room. It’s finished now.
I also have a turnip garden nearby.
There’s some work I want to finish before the others come.”
Idnia pushed a wooden cart full of turnips toward the Buremhyde professor building.
Marie tried to take the cart, but she couldn’t overpower Idnia at all.
‘Wha…? I thought I had strong arms from helping in the fields and convent… but Lady Idnia didn’t even budge. She’s like a rooted tree.
She really must have trained in martial arts as the daughter of the hero family.’
Idnia felt a little regretful about her magic’s “failure” and headed for the garden.
The garden was still in good shape.
Because the Buremhyde professor building sat above a cave, wild animals and monsters didn’t dare come close.
Half the turnips left behind were still safe and untouched.
“Wow. These are the turnips? They’re huge and perfect. Not even a single worm bite…”
Marie, who was from a farming family, was amazed.
These plump turnips were unlike anything she had seen. Even the ones in the pots looked stunning.
“That’s because they finished growing before pests could get to them.”
“Huh? What do you mean by—”
“Anyway, let’s harvest the rest. We’ll need to grow something else soon.”
Idnia used psychokinesis magic to lift and clean the turnips.
Marie was shocked and quickly helped.
“Alright, Marie. I’ll borrow you for a moment.”
Idnia left Marie to harvest and approached the water pump beside the garden.
“Oh?”
Someone had installed a hand pump to draw water.
It was likely one of the professors—maybe Buremhyde, Lachias, or Ludwig.
‘Or maybe Professor Sadia.’
Idnia pumped water and used her cooling spell to freeze it into large ice blocks.
She stored them in the clubroom’s storage room, filled the bottom with sawdust, and kept the harvested turnips inside.
She had made a simple ice refrigerator.
“The turnips taste fine, but eating only turnips would get boring.
I should grow something else. I’ll ask Heukrang for seeds.
Maybe corn?”
She closed the ice room, thinking about the next crop.
Then…
“Lady Idnia.”
Someone called her name.
She turned and saw students from the Notos dorm, along with Prince Lorenzo.
“Ah, Prince Lorenzo and friends from Notos.
Forgive me for looking messy.”
Idnia brushed off the dirt and politely greeted them.
Even covered in soil, she greeted her guests with elegance and pride.
She looked noble and confident.
“Lady Idnia. So this is the Wizard Ball clubroom and your garden?
I thought it would just be a dirt patch, but this is like a greenhouse.
And this building… there’s no plaster on the walls, yet there aren’t any seams.
Incredible.
The academy’s construction technology really goes beyond human understanding.”
Lorenzo was amazed by how perfect everything was.
Then Fiona, standing beside him, bowed and spoke.
“Prince, may I speak now?
As an envoy from the Papal Court.”
“Now? In this place?”
“Yes. Please forgive the rudeness. This is the perfect chance.”
Fiona bowed to Lorenzo and stepped forward.
“Then, saintess candidates. Let me introduce myself again.
I am Fiona of Marcel.
Lady Idnia Betelgeuse, and Marie of Astraea. It is an honor to meet the two saintess candidates.
It was hard to speak with you earlier with so many students around. But now we have the chance.”
“Oh. Nice to meet you too. I heard Marcel is the jewel of the southern sea.”
Marie wasn’t sure why Fiona was saying this, so she just shared a compliment she’d heard about Fiona’s hometown.
“I have a message from the Papal Court.
While training in magic at Dynaise Academy,
your duty is to develop your qualities as saintesses and
to find the ancient artifact said to be hidden beneath the academy: Arcane Astra.
If possible, retrieve it for the glory of the Trinity Church.
Lady Idnia, you may already know, but let me say it again.”
“Huh? Arcane what?”
Marie had never heard of this before.
But Idnia knew all about it.
This was an event from the original game.
‘Hmm. In the game, this event happened later in the first year.
Something must have changed.
Maybe because there are two saintess candidates this time?’
She waited for Fiona to continue.
“You didn’t know, Marie?
There is a prophecy that the next Demon King will be the end of the world.
Faced with this, the academy refused to work with humanity and stayed separate.
You’ve seen how powerful the professors here are, right?
If they used their strength to help the Church and humanity, it would be amazing.
But instead, they stand back and let the world burn.
Even when the Betelgeuse duchy was destroyed, they didn’t help.
They didn’t fight in the war against the demons either.
That’s why many people are angry at the Dynaise Academy.”
It was a convincing reason.
