“Alright, let’s begin the next lecture.”
A man with slightly thinning hair stood at the lectern.
After a break following the lecture on Adventurer Healing Studies, the second lecture of the day began.
――Hmm…
Zenos, seated at the very back corner, felt a little uneasy. For some reason, the other students kept glancing at him.
――What on earth…?
Since the end of the previous lecture, the atmosphere in the auditorium had been a little strange. He thought he had responded cautiously, but perhaps he had made a mistake somewhere.
And, looking to his side, there was one person clearly glaring at him. It was Cresson, a classmate of Umin’s.
As soon as their eyes met, Cresson squared his shoulders and sneered.
“Hey, you, Zeno, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Listen, don’t go around saying random things just because you want to stand out.”
“No, I’d rather not stand out…”
“What do you mean, thirty ghosts at once? It’s obvious you’re lying.”
“R-Really…?”
Indeed, he could easily handle fifty at once, but he had lied and said thirty. Was this guy surprisingly sharp…?
“Once the practical program starts, your true skill level will be revealed immediately.”
“That’s the problem, you see…”
Zenos held his head lightly.
Could a back-alley healer from the slums really catch the eye of Professor Goldrun, who was rumored to be the next director of the Royal Healing Institute? Becker had said it was a simple request, and he felt like he had been taken for a ride.
Seeing Zenos’s gloomy expression, Cresson frowned and said.
“Anyway, don’t go around saying random things from now on.”
“Yeah… I’ll keep that in mind.”
While they were having this conversation, the lecturer at the podium began to speak.
“Now then. My specialty is the study of healing magic circles. As you all know, magic circles are geometric patterns drawn with magic power, and they have various effects depending on their shape. There are simple magic circles that can be used during adventures, as well as gigantic magic circles that take days, sometimes months, or even years to draw.”
The lecturer lit his fingertip with magic power and drew a magic circle on the blackboard.
“This is basic stuff. It should be easy for you elite healers. If anyone can’t do this much, they’ll have to leave the auditorium.”
Amidst the small laughter, Zenos secretly slumped his shoulders.
――That’s me…
He hadn’t received a proper education, so he didn’t understand even the basics. He had never really used magic circles in the first place. If he had the time to draw something like that, he thought he might as well heal the person quickly.
He was starting to feel increasingly depressed.
“This time, I will introduce applied research on magic circles.”
The lecturer said this and proceeded to modify the magic circle he had drawn. Then, the faint white light emitted by the magic circle changed to an even stronger light. A murmur of “Ooh” escaped from the student seats.
“By manipulating the structure in this way, it is possible to enhance the effect or add other effects. There is no need to redraw the magic circle each time.”
After explaining the somewhat complicated theoretical background, the lecturer looked around at the students.
“Now, I’d like one of you to draw your best magic circle. I will then correct it and make it more effective.”
A staff member sitting in the front row was nominated and drew a magic circle on the blackboard. Although it had a more complex shape than the basic magic circle, the lecturer added corrections one after another.
“Still not good enough. There’s a lot of structural waste and blank space. By doing this, you can enhance the effect and add a detoxification effect.”
“Yes, thank you very much!”
“Hmm. Then, next—”
“Let me do it.”
It was Cresson who raised his hand. Standing up, Cresson glanced triumphantly at Zenos, then went to the lecturer with enthusiasm.
And he proceeded to draw a magic circle that was even more complex than the previous one. The lecturer crossed his arms and nodded in admiration.
“…Excellent. To draw this in such a short time, and with almost no need for correction. You have applied the theory well. Would you like to come to my lab?”
“No, I’m working under Professor Goldrun.”
“Oh, Professor Goldrun’s… That makes sense. It’s a shame, but it can’t be helped. Everyone, please applaud.”
After a round of applause, Cresson pointed to Zenos at the back.
“Professor, the special trainee over there seems to want to do it too.”
“Eh?”
Zenos looked up again in surprise.
“I see. Then, you. Come here.”
“No, I…”
“What, there’s no need to hesitate just because you’re a trainee. Take this opportunity to learn a lot.”
“…”
He would like to hesitate if possible, but he was receiving a mixture of expectation and suspicion from the entire auditorium. It seemed he was no longer in a position to refuse.
“Hehehe, go make a fool of yourself.”
Cresson, who had returned to his seat, said in a small voice.
“…”
Zenos reluctantly stood up and walked to the front of the blackboard with heavy steps.
“Come on, any magic circle will do. Since you’re a special trainee, you must be able to draw at least a little, right?”
“W-Well…”
――Zenos. Honestly, you don’t need magic circles. They’re basically just for support.
He remembered his master saying that, once upon a time, in a corner of the slum. He didn’t really understand why he didn’t need them.
――But, if you use them well, they can make things easier, and they can be useful, so it doesn’t hurt to know about them. For now, I’ll teach you the one I thought up when I had some free time.
His master laughed mischievously and drew a magic circle on the ground with his finger. It was an extremely complex magic circle that looked like ten fingers intertwined.
――You don’t just draw a magic circle as it is. You have to imbue it with the appropriate magic power for it to work. I think you can use it with your magic power.
At the time, he thought “Hmm…” and practiced it, just in case. As it turned out, it wasn’t that useful. His master had said with a grin.
――Well, it was a good way to kill time, right?
That damn guy…
“What’s wrong?”
“Oh, no. It’s nothing,”
He remembered his master for the first time in a long time. In the end, due to various circumstances, he never had the opportunity to learn more about magic circles from his master after that.
Zenos decided to draw the magic circle he had been taught at that time, since he had no other choice. It was embarrassing to show off something that a shady old man had thought up to kill time, but he had no other option.
“Hehehe… What the hell is that? I’ve never seen a magic circle like that. The show-off special trainee’s plating is already coming off.”
Cresson said, in a voice deliberately loud enough to be heard. A few people chuckled.
But there was one person who turned pale. It was none other than the lecturer.
“Y-You, t-that magic circle…”
“Ah, sorry. This is about all I can do.”
“I-It’s not just a healing magic circle! Amplification effects by infinite spirals are arranged in the east, west, south, and north. C-Could it be regeneration…? B-But something’s different.”
In an instant, the atmosphere in the auditorium tightened. Of course, Zenos didn’t know that regeneration magic circles were extremely advanced.
“Ah, it seems to be so, but it’s a strange one. When you lose multiple fingers, it randomly regenerates one of them.”
It was a useless piece, full of his master’s typical, pointless playfulness.
“W-What did you say?! Conditional branching, random extraction… Is it theoretically possible to do that with a single magic circle? But, this is certainly…”
The lecturer, as if he had completely forgotten about the students, began to mutter to himself towards the blackboard.
“B-But, the magic capacity would be enormous… It’s not something a human can operate.”
“I can operate it, though.”
“Whaaaaat?”
The lecturer tentatively touched the edge of the magic circle.
“I-I can certainly feel the waves of magic power. Y-You are—”
“Well, it’s true that it’s useless. You can just regrow fingers with magic.”
“R-Regrow fingers, with magic…?”
The confused lecturer grabbed Zenos’s shoulders with a terrifying expression.
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about. B-But, that’s fine. Anyway, please come to my lab.”
“Ah, no, that’s a little…”
The lecturer seemed to have lost all interest in the other students, and the lecture ended just like that. In the end, Zenos, who was left in the auditorium, spent another half an hour trying to refuse.
The students who had left the auditorium talked amongst themselves.
“What the hell is that special trainee?”
“I’ve never seen anyone draw a regeneration magic circle so fast.”
“More importantly, didn’t he say he could regrow fingers with magic?”
“That’s gotta be a lie. Even advanced healers can’t fully regenerate in a day.”
Cresson, who had been completely left out of the conversation, glared at the others and gritted his teeth.
“What the hell, who the hell is that guy…?”
Like a stone thrown into a quiet lake. Slowly, but surely, Zenos’s presence was spreading ripples.