Hertlocker had been putting in a lot of effort to infiltrate the ‘Crow’ for a long time.
After failing to get into the Imperial University and being thwarted in his attempt to eliminate Roman, he had to succeed in infiltrating the Crow at all costs.
‘Is this the Crow’s mark?’
The result was a success.
It was the outcome of the Intelligence Agency’s perfect past cleaning and Hertlocker’s cautious approach.
Hertlocker stuffed the token with the Crow’s beak emblem into his pocket.
Now he had become a member of the Crow, which carried out all the dirty work of the Empire.
This meant he could now access the Empire’s underworld information much more easily and quickly.
“······.”
Hertlocker paused as he headed to his lodging.
A piece of paper was pinned to a notice board.
The paper had ‘Bounty’ written in large letters.
‘Are they looking for me?’
Although his name wasn’t mentioned, the bounty was for the assailant who attacked Schlus Hainkel during the Day of Magic Terror.
But there was something strange.
The section describing his physical characteristics was blank.
Looking closer, he found out that the sole witness had forgotten the assailant’s face due to the shock of the incident.
‘What the······.’
Schlus forgot my face?
Didn’t he recognize me immediately as soon as we crossed paths at the cafe?
Could it be that the injury I gave him damaged his memory?
I did hit his face pretty hard with my knee.
If not that······
‘No way.’
Did Schlus deliberately not report my features to the police······?
Now that I think about it, Schlus acted strangely even on the Day of Magic.
He could have killed me with just a bit of force in his grip but chose to let me go.
‘Could it be that he doesn’t want me to get caught?’
Hertlocker entertained a chilling hypothesis but soon dismissed it.
Why would Schlus Hainkel, who is on the elite course of the Empire, want to protect a mere terrorist?
He had no reason or need to do so.
But the lingering uneasy feeling was unavoidable.
“Hmm.”
Once back at his lodging, Hertlocker looked around while murmuring.
A letter was stuck in the crack of the door.
The recipient was Walter Bank.
One of the Intelligence Agency’s disguise bases.
Hertlocker swiftly tore open the envelope with a dagger that had appeared out of nowhere onto his palm.
It was his original technique of decomposing materials into mana and reassembling them when needed.
As he took out the letter, the dagger in his hand smoothly decomposed back into mana and disappeared.
Hertlocker began to read through the letter.
On the surface, it looked like a harmless flyer for a loan-related product, but applying the cipher revealed a message in Hertlocker’s mind.
‘Decided to maintain the cafe base. Cancel assassination target switch for Schlus Hainkel. Maintain surveillance target······’
It appeared to be a message conveying the Intelligence Agency’s decision based on the information collected by Eric.
But more importantly, what does it mean that they won’t switch Schlus to an assassination target?
It seems the Intelligence Agency deemed Schlus not a threat to the kingdom.
While hard to accept, Hertlocker continued reading with a furrowed brow.
‘Estimated mana amount for Schlus······ over 100,000?!’
Hertlocker’s eyes widened.
Although the detailed calculation was not included, given that it was the Intelligence Agency’s estimate, it must have been quite accurate.
But still, a figure over 100,000?
Now he understood why the Intelligence Agency didn’t switch Schlus to an assassination target.
It wasn’t that they chose not to, but rather that they couldn’t.
Trying to take down Schlus could cost the entire Intelligence Agency.
*
“Hmmm. How was class, my daughter?”
“Huh······. It was really hard. It was the first real class, and······”
Watching Erica stuff her face with cookies, Madam Lichtenburg smiled brightly.
Whenever Erica got stressed, her appetite exploded, and it was just too cute to see her munching on snacks like this.
“During the first class, they just measured mana and let us go, so I was caught off guard. But from the second class, they dove straight into the material.”
“Huh, I see.”
Erica could hardly remember the content of the second class.
She had been too busy jotting down notes to listen and understand all the extensive lecture material.
Despite not having turned many pages of the book, Professor Ludwig’s additional explanations were overwhelming.
But if they were all meaningless stories, she would have simply let them pass.
Yet, every one of them pierced through the essence of magic, making them indispensable explanations to memorize.
Is this what being the best professor at the Imperial University means?
It’s a mystery why he hasn’t become the chairwoman, despite serving for 20 years still in the position of a senior professor.
“Um······ and I think I had something else I wanted to tell you······.”
“What is it? What is it?”
“Mother.”
“Yes, yes.”
“Are you planning to remarry?”
“Wh-what?!”
That definitely wasn’t what she meant to ask.
But it was a question she had long wanted to ask.
“Why are you asking something like that all of a sudden?”
“Just because. It’s been a while since dad passed away. I was wondering how you felt about it.”
“W-well, what do you want me to do about it?”
“I hope you do what you want.”
“Hmph, I see······.”
Seeing the lady blush slightly and look away, Erica clicked her tongue.
It seemed Madam Lichtenburg had someone in mind.
She didn’t seem inclined to share it with her daughter just yet.
But Erica decided to wait patiently for the right moment for her mother to tell her.
“Oh.”
Then, the question she really intended to ask popped into her mind.
“Mother, do you know Schlus Hainkel?”
“I know······. The top commoner at your school.”
“I invited him to our dinner.”
“What?!”
The lady’s previously cheerful expression warped into one of genuine disgust, leaving Erica quite astonished.
She hadn’t expected her mother to dislike him this much.
“No way. I absolutely refuse.”
“But he’s also a benefactor who saved you. Don’t you think we should at least repay this kindness?”
“······.”
“Mother, no matter how much you dislike commoners—”
“It’s not because he’s a commoner.”
“Then why? Mother! Are you really going to ignore your benefactor?”
“Sigh······. Alright, I’ll allow it. But only on the condition that Schlus Hainkel does not meet with Yulia.”
“Huh? Why’s that?”
“······.”
Are you saying it’s okay as long as he doesn’t meet my younger sister?
What kind of nonsense is that? Erica tilted her head in confusion.
Meanwhile, Madam Lichtenburg rubbed her throbbing head and sighed deeply.
She began to struggle with whether or not to tell Erica about this, and if so, how much detail to include.
Eventually, the lady made up her mind. If she was going to say anything, she should just explain everything.
“Schlus Hainkel. That man knows Yulia.”
“······!”
Erica’s eyes widened as she understood her mother’s implications.
*
“May 14th······.”
I regretted glancing at the calendar.
May 14th.
That day reminded me of him, making me feel a little gloomy.
“Should I go visit his grave?”
Of course, I knew full well that he wouldn’t be in this world.
But does that mean humans wouldn’t feel the need to visit even if they knew?
Searching for something that doesn’t exist is for fools like me.
“Emilia.”
“Yes, Hainkel.”
“Could you buy me a single white rose before class ends?”
“Sure. What color would you like?”
“······White.”
After much deliberation, I chose the white rose.
The reason? Well······ I really can’t say.
It just felt like the right choice, I guess.
Today was the day for Battle Magic class.
By the way, I’m starting to understand why the double major is so tough.
Just yesterday’s second class on Elemental Magic…
I couldn’t follow a single thing for the entire three hours.
I really need to get my act together for the next exam.
If I’m not careful, I might lose my top position and get expelled.
“Greetings, everyone! It’s been a while! Hahaha!”
As soon as I walked into the lecture room, Sergey was laughing heartily.
A week isn’t really that long though.
By the way, what’s with Sergey waving around a piece of rebar?
Where on earth did he get that?
Looks like he took it from somewhere after breaking some pipes and is now using it as a backscratcher.
It looks pretty rusty—I hope he doesn’t catch tetanus from it.
Wait, why am I worrying about him?
One of the strongest in the Empire wouldn’t hurt himself with such a thing.
“What do you all think is the essence of Battle Magic?”
“Lots of mana!”
“The precision of spells!”
“Tsk, tsk. You’re all wrong.”
Sergey shook his head as if he found it ridiculous.
That was a little irritating.
Should I try to show I know something?
“It’s speed.”
“Oh! Who was that?”
“Schlus Hainkel.”
“······.”
An awkward silence descended upon the lecture room.
Once again, all eyes were on me.
“Speed! Correct. In battle, magic must be faster than anything else. Imagine facing a swordsman. Do you think he’ll wait for you to deploy those beautiful and intricate spells, pouring thousands of mana into them?”
“······.”
“No! If that were the case, you’d be done for. The beauty and complexity of spells mean nothing after you’ve met your end. Therefore, sometimes, the simplest and most rudimentary magic shines brightest in combat. For example······.”
Sergey stretched out an open palm towards the front.
The students looked clueless about what he was about to do, but I thought I could guess.
The simplest spell in this world.
*Paan!*
“·····Like this.”
The mana projection.
A deafening sound exploded, and a gust of wind swept through the room.
Sergey had simply shot out his mana.
“Professor! That’s not magic, is it?!”
Aintz raised his hand and questioned.
It was more of a rebuttal than a question.
“Good question. Then let me ask again: why do you think this isn’t magic?”
“Well, that’s just shooting mana out.”
“Is that really a valid reason for it not being magic? Let’s rephrase the question: what is magic?”
“To qualify as magic, it needs a name and must be written in a magic book, right? I’ve never seen any magic book introduce that as a spell.”
“If it’s not in the magic book and has no name, does that mean it’s not magic? Then what about newly invented magic? If it doesn’t have a name and isn’t in the magic book, is that not magic?”
“······.”
Aintz fell silent.
Indeed, he was powerless against such fundamental inquiries about magic.
He had likely never considered this, having spent a lifetime being drilled on spell-scaling techniques and combinations.
“Your point is partially correct. Core magicians don’t classify things like this as magic. Why? Because it’s too simple. It’s neither cool nor beautiful. But if it can be expressed in a proper spell format, it is undoubtedly magic. By scientific classification, that is.”
“Professor, is it right to scrutinize magic scientifically? I thought science is a dismissed discipline that can’t explain the workings of the world.”
“That’s also right but wrong at the same time. Science and magic are complementary. Science can clearly express what is ambiguous in magic, while magic explores aspects that science can’t explain. In my class, I am planning to incorporate science as part of the teaching. Specifically, it refers to scientific thinking.”
“Professor! But isn’t that—”
“Does that go against the oath of a magician? Then how about using magic to harm others? Is that keeping a magician’s oath?”
“······.”
“In Battle Magic, we will learn anything related to battle magic. It directly relates to your survival, so we can’t be picky. Do we want to die while being all high and mighty about purity, or do we want to just learn and survive? If you’re unsatisfied with my class, you can leave right now.”
“······.”
The students fell silent once more.
But naturally, no one got up to leave.
Sergey’s classes were always like this.
He brought up topics that clashed with existing sentiments, confronting the students and shattering their preconceptions.
That’s why his Battle Magic class was considered highly enlightening.
After all, when teaching battle magic that revolves around life and death, the class would naturally have to mix a lot of different elements.
Just like how mixed martial arts are seen as the most practical form of fighting.
“Alright! I think I’ve given you enough hints. Now, I shall test the speed of your magic casting.”
“What?!”
“Use any magic you feel confident in and cast it as quickly as possible. The speed will be measured and reflected in your grade.”
…And Sergey’s class was also known for these surprise tests.
Not before or after class, but right in the middle of it.
I hadn’t noticed it while writing, but facing the experience firsthand was absurd.
“Then let’s start with······ Schlus Hainkel! The top student of your year!”
“Yes.”
I’m always first.
With a sigh, I stepped forward.
I have confidence in the speed of my spellcasting.
My computational power stat is already at 48, which is five times that of an average person.
The effects of the Forbidden Elixir have all been channeled into computational power······ Damn, thinking about it makes me mad again.
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