Chapter 29

One week.

A full week had passed since the written exam.

And today!

Today was the day the results would be announced.

"Ah... please, Lord Uriel, Lord Raphael! Please look favorably upon this humble servant's grades...!"

Amecitia clasped her hands together and prayed fervently.

"Please, just let me pass...! I'm already a demonology major-if I fail this, the professor will kill me!"

"Isn't it enough that you did your best?"

Carmine tossed out a comment from beside the muttering, praying Amecitia.

"Doing your best doesn't guarantee results! You geniuses wouldn't understand!"

Amecitia glared at Carmine and Grimory.

Carmine, who could memorize everything with just a glance, and Grimory, who had naturally high comprehension. Compared to them, Amecitia was nothing but an ordinary person.

Her current position was the result of working several times harder than others.

"Professor...? So how did I... do?"

Amecitia forced a smile as she looked at Henrik holding her test paper.

"..."

Henrik silently looked down at Amecitia.

"Professor?"

"62 points. Barely passing."

He frowned in displeasure and handed over the test paper.

Not a failing grade.

But not exactly a score she could be proud of either.

"I taught you last time that Leviathan is classified as a demon, not a magic beast, yet you got it wrong again."

"Ah... I'm sorry."

"And you also got the adverse effects of divine power wrong. Well... if you don't use divine power, it's not something you need to worry much about, but it won't hurt to know, so make sure to memorize it properly."

"Yes..."

Amecitia trudged back to her seat with her test paper.

"Next."

At Henrik's word, Grimory hopped up from her seat and approached him.

"100 points. Excellent. As promised, I'll make you a new field guide."

"Thank you."

Grimory flashed her characteristically bright smile and returned to her seat.

Carmine, the last remaining student, tactfully stood up and approached Henrik.

"Carmine."

Henrik glanced down at Carmine.

The eldest son of an assassin family, the successor who would inherit the position of clan head. Knowing the future of this boy who had shouldered responsibility from a young age, Henrik let out a small laugh.

"There was one essay question you answered ambiguously."

"Which one?"

"The question about the effects of imp dust on the human body."

"Yes."

"You wrote that it has a similar effect to jack-in-the-pulpit. But that alone is too vague. Answer more specifically, right here and now."

"When ingested, it numbs the sensation in the tongue and oral cavity, and in severe cases, causes swelling that leads to respiratory distress."

"..."

Henrik pondered for a moment, then drew a red circle on the test paper with his pen.

"From now on, write out your full explanations. If it had been anyone else, they would have marked this wrong."

"Yes, thank you."

"100 points. As promised, I'll make you a potion."

Carmine returned to his seat.

Amecitia looked at the two of them enviously.

Of course, when they had all studied together, she'd been too distracted by eating alone to focus properly, but seeing them each receive gifts made her feel envious somehow.

"We'll end class early today."

Henrik spoke briefly and left the classroom.

* * *

While the students had been busy preparing for their exams, Henrik hadn't just been idle either.

Creating the exam questions, and one other thing.

"Ah, you're here? Professor!"

"How's it going today, Grayson?"

He'd been working with Grayson on weapon crafting.

Since the weapon he'd been using when subjugating the Sovereign of Sloth had been half-destroyed, Henrik wanted to create a new weapon that was both durable and effective.

And the key talent for crafting that weapon.

He'd been visiting Grayson's blacksmith's workshop daily to check on the progress.

"It's not going as well as I'd hoped, but I'm starting to get the hang of it..."

"You're doing well."

Grayson looked at the chunks of ore piled in one corner of the room. All of them had been brought by Henrik to support Grayson's skill development.

"So? Think you can process it?"

"To be honest, it's uncertain. I managed to expose the ore easily enough, but it requires delicate mana control, so I feel like I need to study it a bit more."

"I suppose so..."

Even if it took time, creating one perfect weapon was a worthwhile endeavor.

Henrik ran his hand over a chunk of ore.

Though strangely twisted, he could vaguely make out what Grayson had been trying to create.

A teapot from copper, a sword from iron.

A small ring from silver.

Though they'd failed, compared to his initial attempts, this was remarkable progress.

"How long do you think it'll take?"

"I've never done it before, so I'm not really sure. For now... I'll give it a try!"

"Good. How's the tutoring with Grimory on weekends? Is it helpful?"

"Yes! She teaches really well... more than I deserve..."

Grayson brought his hands together and condensed elemental mana.

Then, pop! A small star-shaped topaz formed.

Henrik received the topaz and examined it closely.

A perfectly split five-pointed star.

It was certainly far more stable and complete than the ore Grayson had created initially.

"Lately, she's been bringing me sandwiches and things like that. She said someone named Amecitia made them, so we've been eating together pretty often."

Grayson scratched his head repeatedly, looking embarrassed.

"Amecitia?"

"Yes, they were incredibly delicious. I heard she's a student in the same demonology class, so I'd like to thank her someday."

"......"

Amecitia and Grayson.

She would need a sword in the future too, so he made a mental note.

"......Professor, do you not use magic?"

Just then, Grayson glanced at him cautiously and asked.

"Why do you think that?"

"If you could use magic, I thought you'd teach me magic directly. At first, I thought it was because I was worthless and pathetic trash...... but I saw a newspaper article recently. I remembered the phrase saying you've never been seen using magic."

"......"

Henrik nodded quietly.

"That's right. I have no talent for magic."

"......"

"But that doesn't mean I lack mana. I'm simply poor at handling it."

"Is handling mana also a matter of talent?"

"You could say that. Magic and aura are similar yet different. Magic uses elemental mana, but aura uses pure mana. They're talents that are close yet distant from each other. I'm specialized in creating aura."

"I see......."

"So, Grayson, you're lucky. Don't forget that fact and always work hard."

"Yes!"

Grayson nodded in response to Henrik's words.

In his previous life, he had been 5th rank.

Having pushed his aura to its limits, he sometimes had this thought.

If he had used magic, wouldn't he have reached 5th rank faster, or perhaps even surpassed it to reach 6th rank, the Singularity domain?

Back then, he was too overwhelmed just handling aura, so he cleanly gave up and focused on aura alone, but not now.

Since he already knew how to handle aura, he had room to spare.

His body training had reached a certain stage of completion, so he needed to understand magic a bit more deeply.

Unlike the old days when he was a commoner, he was now an academy professor.

He had been given a position and environment where he could learn sufficiently.

Then wouldn't it be worth learning? The thought suddenly occurred to him.

Couldn't he make real the 6th rank, the Singularity domain he had imagined?

"Magic...... magic, huh......."

On his way out of the blacksmith's workshop, Henrik muttered quietly.

He thought it might not be bad to learn proper magical knowledge.

He had seen enough of the sorcery used by devils to be sick of it, but he didn't know much about the magic used by humans.

And the answer wasn't far away.

Since Ted was the academy's dean, he just needed to ask him.

"......"

Henrik tried concentrating magic in his hand.

But only rippling aura emanated from his hand, not elemental mana like Grimory or Amecitia.

* * *

"Maaagic?"

Ted, facing Henrik who had suddenly visited the dean's office, opened his mouth.

"You want to learn magic? All of a sudden?"

"Yes."

Henrik nodded with an indifferent expression.

Henrik had come saying he had something to ask, and what he brought up was that he wanted to try learning magic.

"No, what about the aura you've been refining, and suddenly you want to learn magic? What wind blew your way......."

"I've gotten enough of a feel for aura. I want to try learning a bit of the magic I couldn't learn before even when I wanted to."

"Hmm...... It's not that you lack mana, but the method of handling elemental mana with a commoner's body......."

Ted tilted his head.

"Are you really, truly planning to learn magic?"

"Yes."

"If you say so, then I suppose...... Well, Grimory is quite a special case......."

"Grimory?"

"No, it's nothing."

Ted plopped down in his chair.

Whatever the reason, Ted had no right to stop Henrik's learning.

Sefira Academy's motto was 'freedom of learning.'

If there was someone who desired to learn, it had to be provided. Even if that person was a professor.

A professor attending another professor's class was unprecedented even at Sefira Academy.

Unless it was an open lecture, attending a class privately was a matter of a professor's honor.

But Henrik had little interest in such formalities or honor.

He was practical and someone who sought learning wherever necessary.

However, Ted was worried.

"The factional fighting within the academy is already intense these days. You don't belong to either side and have no intention of belonging-"

"If I had to say, I'm on your side."

"Fat chance. You just go around causing trouble, and that's being on our side? Anyway, I'm saying be careful. No matter how much I'm a person of the ducal house, the clan head is my older brother and the lord of the duchy is my younger sibling. I'm just an academy dean. There's a limit to what I can overlook."

"I know."

"I doubt you properly know, but...... fine...... alright."

Ted nodded.

"Bena Aspera. I was hoping you'd attend her lectures...... but actually, there's one problem."

"Aspera......."

Henrik perked up at the name Aspera.

The Aspera family that held hegemony over the Northern Continent.

The family of Margrave Aspera Gus, who was skilled in magic and wielded a greatsword. She was the only daughter of a comrade-in-arms who had fought back-to-back with him in war during his previous life.

Henrik had been keeping an eye on her ever since learning through the Margrave's stories that she had passed away in her twenties, unable to overcome a chronic illness.

"You probably know her since she's famous. She takes great pride in her professorship and has excellent passion for teaching."

"That's true."

"I'm not sure if your personalities will mesh well, but since many first-year students take her classes, they're great for understanding the fundamentals of magic."

"If she's that good, what's the problem?"

Henrik quietly sipped his tea. Ted let out a deep sigh and grabbed Henrik's hand.

"Professor Bena's health hasn't been good lately. Right now she's found a substitute professor to handle her lectures, but since they're just a part-time instructor, the reviews aren't very positive."

"......."

"If you want to take her class, would you mind checking on Professor Bena's condition? You have deep knowledge of pharmacology too. If your medicine can improve her health, that would be ideal."

Ted's expression showed his concern for Bena.

Her condition must be quite serious.

"Why not just call a medical professor or alchemy professor instead?"

"Of course I called them. They said they have no idea. That's why I'm asking you."

Even medical and alchemy professors don't know?

Henrik carefully recalled the Margrave's words.

[I was hoping to find her a reliable husband. But she suddenly left me before she even turned thirty.]

He wasn't one to enjoy talking about his daughter.

Losing his daughter to illness must have been a wound. But when they drank together occasionally, he would talk about his daughter.

He grieved deeply that she had died young in the flower of her youth.

Henrik had assumed she died in an accident or combat, as befitting the Margrave's daughter.

"Ted, how old is she now?"

"Her age? Right now she's... twenty-three. Same age as you, Henrik."

Twenty-three years old. Contrary to his expectations, she seemed to have died young much earlier than he thought.

But this was an opportunity. If he could treat and save the Margrave's daughter, he could establish ties with the Margrave-that reliable comrade-in-arms-much earlier than in his previous life.

"Let me hear the symptoms first."

When Henrik spoke, Ted rattled off the symptoms.

"She's burning up with fever and breaking out in cold sweats. Her chest and head are bloodshot and she's in terrible pain. It's already been three days, so dehydration is a concern, and most of all, she can't seem to sleep. The doctors and alchemists can't figure out what's causing it."

"......."

Henrik tilted his head as he quietly listened to Bena's symptoms.

They felt familiar somehow.

"I'll take a look at her."