Today marks one year since I started this serialization.
This year has been full of ups and downs, but I’ve been able to keep going entirely thanks to the support of all of you.
Thank you so much!
A few days after the audience, I received a message from the civil official, and we discussed various details about the rewards.
And so, I obtained a permit to access the forbidden library. With this, I can read almost all the books in the forbidden library. It seems there are a very small number of records that only His Majesty the King and the prime minister can view, and those are off-limits to me. Since the books I want to read right now are only about medicinal herbs, that’s not really an issue for me.
Then there’s the lectures. The contents of this reward ended up expanding. While we were talking, the civil official said, “Please feel free to tell me if there’s anything else you’d like to learn,” and I got a bit carried away, asking about all sorts of things. I checked off the top of my head whether this or that could be studied, and it turned out everything I wanted to learn was possible. I was shocked that they agreed to all of it…
The additions include the history of the Kingdom of Slantania, the situation in surrounding regions, economics, and even manners, quite a wide range. These were things I figured it’d be better to know than not if I ever left the palace in the future, so I just threw them out there. Apparently, the lectures I chose are all things you can study at the Royal Academy too. Maybe that’s why the threshold was lower than I’d thought.
I got a bit greedy and ended up with more lectures than I’d planned, but then I noticed a problem. How many hours a day would it take to attend all these lectures? I’ve got my work at the research institute too, and unless a day here had thirty-six hours, it’d be impossible. Even in this world, a day is only twenty-four hours.
I was feeling a bit disappointed, thinking I’d have to pick and choose from the lectures I’d selected, when the issue was resolved surprisingly easily. The director, who’d been watching me pick out lectures, gave me permission to focus on them. He said I could do my work whenever I had spare time.
Huh? That’s okay? My confusion must’ve shown on my face because the director explained why.
The research I’d been working on had hit a wall, and he said learning new things might give me hints for it, so I should go ahead and study as much as I want. That does make sense, doesn’t it? I decided to take advantage of the director’s kind words.
And so, after sorting everything out, my life of attending lectures at the palace began.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning. Shall we continue learning about magic manipulation from yesterday?”
The magic lessons I’d requested during the audience were, surprisingly, being taught by none other than the commander of the Court Mage Corps himself. I’d asked if someone as high-ranking as the commander would be too busy for this, but apparently, it’s not a problem. Even though he says it’s fine, I can’t help but feel guilty about it. Teaching magic to someone like me, a complete beginner, involves the most basic of basics. Hardly something worthy of the commander’s time. It’s apparently the kind of stuff first-year students at the academy learn. If I had to compare it, it’s like a university professor teaching a middle school class. So I figured a regular court mage with more free time would’ve been plenty instead of the busy commander. When I honestly told him what I thought, he explained why he was the one teaching me.
First, he asked if they could formally investigate my magic, which differs from that of people in this world, through the Court Mage Corps. Besides subjugating monsters, the corps also conducts magic research, and the commander is involved in that too. From his perspective, my magic is apparently very intriguing. He’d heard that the effects of the potions I make are stronger than those made by others, and he suspects my magic might be related to that phenomenon. He wanted to investigate whether magic is indeed involved and if there’s anything else unusual. I’d been curious about the influence of my magic too, so I welcomed the idea of an expert looking into it.
If it were just the investigation, I think someone other than the commander could handle it. But there was a reason it had to be him. According to him, anything related to the [Saint]’s abilities is considered a state secret, and there are hardly any detailed records left about past saints. Even the reason why those records are missing is unknown. For even the reason to be unknown, it seems like information control was incredibly strict. My magic falls under the same category, and for this investigation, the higher-ups decided that the fewer people who know the results, the better. That’s one reason why the commander is conducting it himself. Plus, since he’s the most knowledgeable about magic in the kingdom, they figured he’s the perfect fit.
For the investigation, I don’t have to do anything special—just let him observe my magic use during these lessons. I figured that was fine and agreed, and he thanked me with an incredibly bright smile. And so, the lessons began.
The first few days were lectures on the basics of magic—what magic power is, how it’s used in the body when casting spells, and so on. Taking these lessons, I realized the commander’s teaching is really easy to understand. It’s not for nothing that he’s more knowledgeable about magic than anyone else in the Court Mage Corps. Though, beyond his knowledge, I think he’s just naturally smart too. I mean, he’s really good at teaching.
“Is there anything you don’t understand?”
“No, I’m fine.”
After the explanation, he asked if I had any questions, but I didn’t. I might just be fooling myself into thinking I get it, but I’d find out soon enough. During the practical part, that is. The lessons are split into theory in the first half and practice in the second. Of course, the commander handles the practical part too. We do the practice at the training grounds in the Court Mage Corps’ barracks. It’s a bit of a walk from the lecture room, but since I chat with the commander on the way, the distance doesn’t bother me much.
If I were alone, I’d probably give up. And not just because of the distance. At first, I thought it was luxurious to have the commander teach the practical sessions too, but that feeling vanished after a few days. Despite his gentle demeanor, the commander’s training was downright Spartan.
“Let’s get started. We’ll proceed the same way as last time.”
“Yes.”
We arrived at the training grounds, took a short break, and then began the practical session. What we’d been learning in the last session and this one was magic manipulation. Mastering this supposedly shortens the time it takes to cast a spell. When using magic, you need to concentrate magic power in your palm or something, and this reduces the time it takes to do that.
By the way, if it were just practicing magic manipulation, we wouldn’t need to come to the training grounds. You can train by moving the magic power in your body to different spots like your arms or legs, in sequence. But under the commander’s policy that just manipulating magic power isn’t enough, we were tasked with quickly casting spells while doing so. If it were just holy attribute magic, I think casting it back at the lecture room wouldn’t be an issue, but there’s another magic user here. Right next to me, someone’s firing off other attribute spells like it’s nothing, almost tauntingly. And who else could it be but the commander?
As the leader of the Court Mage Corps, his abilities must be top-notch. The attribute spells he’s casting beside me aren’t just one type, he’s alternating between about three different attributes. His magic manipulation must be smooth too. Maybe because he gathers magic power even faster than I do, while I cast once, he casts twice. He says I should aim to cast at the same speed as him, but isn’t that asking too much? For someone like me, who’s just started studying magic, this demand feels pretty Spartan. When I focus on speed, my magic manipulation gets sloppy, and sometimes the spell doesn’t even activate. Doing both at once…
“Could you go a bit faster?”
“This is about my limit… Going at your speed right off the bat is tough.”
“I’m still holding back, you know.”
He said that with a laugh, looking completely at ease. Meanwhile, I’m at my wits’ end. He says if I manipulate magic power according to the theory we learned, I should be able to cast at his speed, but putting it into practice is hard. Since making potions also requires delicate magic manipulation, and I can make decently high-ranking ones, I thought I was okay at it, but I was wrong. Casting spells seems to demand even finer control. I’m still nowhere near the level he’s asking for, and it’s frustrating. At this point, it’s just relentless practice. With that in mind, I kept casting spells mindlessly.