Chapter 13: Chapter 13. Scroll Magic (2)

“That was me. I’m sorry for activating the spell without permission.”

Scroll magic had two stages.

The first was to write in a formula language on special paper. The second was to set that formula language in motion and actually activate the spell.

Professor Maia had told us to stop after the first stage.

She had said she would personally observe and check our work during the second stage, when we actually activated the magic.

“Did you just… activate your scroll?”

“Yes. That was my mistake.”

I had been fiddling with it, wondering whether it would work properly, when the formula language engaged and the spell activated in an instant.

“Seriously, what are you doing?”

“What a nuisance. A real nuisance.”

Nearby, Monark’s followers shot me dirty looks as they complained.

It was clearly my fault, so I had nothing to say.

But then…

“Excellent!”

Maia came over and picked up the scroll I had made.

The writing on the paper had already vanished, but she seemed able to analyze it in detail even in that state.

“You constructed the formula perfectly! How did you make such a polished scroll?”

“I just… copied the scroll you showed us earlier, Professor.”

“What? My scroll?”

“Yes. I used the one you showed us at the beginning as a reference.”

“…”

At the start, Maia had demonstrated how to produce light with a scroll.

I had made mine by recalling the scroll I had briefly glimpsed then.

I remembered roughly what it had felt like.

“Eriol Valencia, have you had any magical training outside the academy?”

“No. I only had the sort of basic knowledge you’d pick up from general reading.”

“Really? Professor Kaisel hasn’t taught you, either?”

“I’ve never studied magic under Uncle Kaisel.”

“Hmm…”

Maia studied my face with interest.

“Impressive.”

“Pardon?”

“You needn’t worry about activating the spell without permission. I only told you to do it in front of me so I could point out any mistakes.”

“Then…”

“When you make a perfect scroll like this, there’s nothing for me to correct. Well done.”

A murmur ran through the room.

Monark’s followers, who had been mocking me, now looked thoroughly sour.

“But this leaves you with nothing to do for the rest of the lesson. We still have quite a while to go.”

“In that case…”

While I debated whether to ask if I could quietly read a book for the remaining time, Maia smiled and spoke again.

“I know. Why don’t you look over the other students’ scrolls? I’d like you to give them some advice.”

“Of course.”

And so I ended up helping Kane and Senia, who sat beside me.

---

Lunch came after second period, and we ate at a student cafeteria near the First Student Building.

Then came third and fourth periods, and our classes were over for the day.

“Eriol, what do you want to do for dinner?”

Kane asked as though eating together went without saying.

“We can eat at the student cafeteria, like we did for lunch.”

“Oh, come on. The cafeteria for dinner, too? Let’s head down to the shopping district. See if we can find somewhere good.”

“I don’t know…”

I wasn’t particularly keen on the idea. As I hesitated, Senia spoke tentatively beside me.

“Oh, then would it be all right if we stopped at another shop while we’re there?”

“What kind of shop?”

“I’d like to visit a bookshop…”

A bookshop.

I gave a little start at that.

Right… Come to think of it, I haven’t been to one yet.

I had been so busy with one thing and another that I hadn’t visited a bookshop since arriving at the academy.

“Then we might as well look around while we’re there. What do you say, Eriol?”

“I’ll come.”

“Great. We can pick up anything we need, too.”

Kane also asked Karis and Milia, but the two of them apparently had other things to do.

In the end, I headed down to the shopping district with Kane and Senia.

The commercial area is pretty well developed, too.

People sometimes called the entire island “the academy” for convenience, but strictly speaking, the academy consisted only of the educational institution at the center of the island and its associated facilities.

The surrounding area, particularly the southern part near the docks, had developed into something like a city, with all sorts of businesses catering to the academy’s students and staff.

The larger shops clustered along the main road connecting the docks to the academy’s front gate, so “the shopping district” generally meant the area around that road.

“Oh, there’s a bookshop. Want to go there first?”

“It’s all right, Kane. We can eat first…”

“Let’s just go now.”

While Kane and Senia were still talking, I walked into the first bookshop I spotted.

As one would expect of a shop on the main road, it was fairly large.

This is quite nice.

I looked around the shop with satisfaction.

They have a good selection across all sorts of subjects. I’ll have to come here often.

I picked out some books to read in my dorm room and headed for the counter. Kane, who had been looking around, spoke up.

“Hey, are you buying all of those?”

“It’s only five books.”

“Only? Five books? Do you have money to burn?”

“I don’t spend much on anything besides books.”

“Even so…”

“And my scholarship money just came in.”

“Oh, right. You came first in the entrance exam.”

When I checked at the bank counter on campus, I found that quite a substantial sum had been deposited.

It looked like I could pay my first-semester tuition and use the rest for living expenses.

Without the scholarship, I would have had to apply for a student loan and scrape by for a while.

“But couldn’t you just borrow them from the library?”

“It’s not quite the same.”

With that, I paid for my books.

Senia, meanwhile, bought another novel, and Kane left the shop empty-handed.

“I don’t really read much.”

“You don’t have to.”

I couldn’t live without books, but I thought everyone else was free to read or not as they pleased.

So I didn’t think much of Kane’s lack of interest in reading.

“Oh, Eriol. If you know any good books, give me some recommendations.”

“…Really?”

But when someone asked for recommendations, that was another matter.

“All right. Over dinner, I’ll give you my recommendations for each subject.”

“Uh, I’m starting to feel like I’ve made a mistake…”

After that…

Kane endured over an hour of my lecture on recommended reading and emerged from the restaurant utterly exhausted.

---

That night.

I was getting ready to read in my dorm room, which was now clean, unlike yesterday.

“Today I can take my time with a book.”

Placing the five books I had bought on the nearly empty bookshelf made it look a little more respectable.

Kane and Senia had bought various everyday necessities today, but I had bought nothing except books.

I could pick up other things as I needed them. For now, books came first.

“I feel like reading some history tonight.”

One of today’s purchases, Poleius’s General History, was an old favorite I had returned to often.

Written by the great historian Poleius, it was a history book I had read more than ten times.

It was an essential addition to my bookshelf, so it had been the first book I picked up at the shop.

“Now, then…”

I reached for Poleius’s General History.

But my hand stopped almost at once.

“No.”

I sighed and shook my head.

“I should go over what I learned today first.”

During today’s classes, I had realized something.

Quite a few students had received magical training before enrolling.

It was true that I had excelled in certain areas so far, but watching the others in class, I had noticed quite a few students knew more than I did.

Some even seemed to have had practical training before coming here.

I’ve never studied magic systematically.

I had read plenty of introductory books about magic for general readers.

But I had read almost no specialized texts from which I could seriously study the subject.

Even if I had wanted to, they weren’t available on the open market.

Not just anyone is allowed to learn magic.

Magic had traditionally been passed down through apprenticeships.

A master took on a pupil and imparted their knowledge and skills.

Much had changed with the academy’s founding, but mages still believed magical knowledge shouldn’t be shared indiscriminately.

That was why specialized books on magic weren’t sold to the public.

That was also why I subscribed to Ars Magazine. It was one of the few ways to get access to specialized information about magic.

Published by the academy, Ars Magazine also served to convey the latest findings in magic to mages scattered across the world.

As a result, it included technical material that couldn’t be found in books for general readers.

I did learn about magic by reading things like that… but it’s hardly enough.

In that respect, I was behind my classmates who had hired mages as private tutors to get a head start.

The only way to catch up was to study more.

This… is still reading, after all.

I set the textbook I had received today on my desk.

We had each been given a copy during third period, Fundamentals of Elemental Studies. It was a hefty volume, over five hundred pages long.

They said the Elemental Department had produced it specially and was handing it out for free to encourage new students to take an interest in elemental magic.

It was even bound like a proper hardcover. I almost felt guilty getting it for nothing.

Tonight, I’ll read this textbook and prepare for my next elemental studies class.

Elemental studies covered elemental magic, which had developed from the ancient theory of the four elements: earth, water, fire, and air.

Elemental magic included subdivisions such as fire magic and ice magic. With its long history, it was both the most basic and the most representative form of magic.

Well, then… let’s have a read.

I began reading the textbook.

It was so well put together that it felt more like reading for pleasure than studying.

Even Professor Horizon’s preface… is quite impressive.

Before I knew it, I was absorbed in the book.

Usually, when I concentrated on reading, my awareness of my surroundings faded and I lost myself in the book. That was happening again now.

And so… I set about reading all five hundred-plus pages in one sitting.

---

“Whew…”

I closed the book after the final page and stretched.

At the same time, I realized I had made a mistake.

“Oh, no. What time is it?”

Back at the manor, I had always kept to a regular routine.

I had made sure never to stay up late reading, but perhaps because of the change in surroundings, this time it had completely slipped my mind.

Rubbing my dry eyes, I turned my head.

I meant to check the wall clock I had wound the night before.

“Huh…?”

At that moment, I realized.

While I had been absorbed in my book, oblivious to my surroundings… something strange had been happening in my room.