"I'm not feeling well, Professor, as it's been a long time since I've used magic. Can I come in now?"
Leon's face crumpled at those words.
'You're not feeling well?'
He's talking nonsense right now.
That weak magic was intentional. I didn't even send out 1/100th of the power I could send out.
If I had just stood there blankly without using any magic, I wouldn't have noticed, but now that I'd sent out a spell, I couldn't fool him. That natural talent wasn't something that could be hidden no matter how hard I tried.
'The professor would know, right?'
The professor, like the students, looked surprised and just nodded with a blank expression.
"…Okay. Come in."
"Thank you, professor."
'her.'
Leon let out a sharp breath as if he was very excited. Lucus greeted him with a faint smile and returned to his seat.
It was a situation that wasn't even funny.
In liberal arts classes like history, you step forward and answer the questions, but in magic classes, you deliberately suppress your strength?
'You're not joking, what is this?'
Leon glared at Lucus with cold eyes.
• * *
I greeted the professor and found my seat. Leon's warm gaze lingered on me until the very end.
After a while, when class was almost over, I glanced at Leon's seat. He was still looking at me with those menacing eyes.
'It was successful.'
Looks like you've already noticed.
Well, at Leon's level, he would be able to sense even the slightest magical energy flowing around his body.
Of course, you would have realized that I was hiding my power and telling lies.
Even so, I didn't know you could hide your anger like that.
I checked my favorability rating. The rating, which was -8, had already reached -9.
It was such an immediate reaction that I laughed out loud.
'It's easy.'
It is not easy for my brother to come running from the Papal States to here due to minor changes.
But if it's 'real' magic, meaning I'm not taking any medicine, then that's a different story.
The only time my brother will know that I'm not taking my medicine is after we find the antidote.
There's no need to do something stupid like revealing all your magic. All I want is to bring Leon to me. For now, Leon should be the only one who can see my magic in its entirety.
Now there's only one thing left.
Just wait for Leon to lose his temper and come find me.
I got up from my seat when the bell rang indicating the end of class.
• * *
The magic I saw ten years ago appeared before my eyes in the same form. It wasn't a dream, it was reality.
Leon returned to the dormitory, closed the door, and stood there blankly, leaning against it.
I had no idea how the day went by or what I was thinking about.
All that remained in my mind was the magic I had seen during the day.
'It's not that I can't use magic.'
It's no longer a guess.
But the shock and excitement I felt upon seeing his magic quickly disappeared.
It's not that he can't use magic, it's that he definitely 'doesn't' use it.
I couldn't figure out why at all.
Why, why on earth do you hide your magical powers so much when everyone looks up to you? Unless you enjoy living like a loser, this situation is inexplicable.
Lucus, now a sophomore, is completely different from last year. He couldn't even give a simple answer, and when our eyes met, he would hurriedly lower his head as if he was going to hurt me. Now, he stares at me with a mocking smile.
Why would someone who had changed so much still be the same when it came to magic? I couldn't understand why he would bother to use magic and then avoid the situation with the flimsy excuse of not feeling well.
Leon stared into the dark void.
Judging by his facial expressions and attitude before and after, it was definitely not a mistake. It was an intentional act.
First, if you don't want to reveal your intentions, there is only one way.
'I have to find out the reason myself.'
• * *
That day, the school was abuzz with my magic.
However, because its power was weak, it did not have the staying power to remain as a topic of conversation for long.
If you think about it, this level of magic was the most basic of the basics.
Even if you don't come from a great family, if you have a title, anyone can be born with this much talent.
Therefore, only reactions like, "He's from a wizard family too," and "He's trying to do well in school now," were received, and public opinion was not formed to erase the negative image of donation-based admissions.
Some people even started a conspiracy theory that I was actively trying to reveal that I belonged to the Pleroma, but this did not last long.
'It turned out exactly as I intended.'
The students' interest quickly wanes, and Leon becomes increasingly anxious.
Provoking Leon without letting his brother know.
That's my goal this time, so so far it's been a success.
'Status window.'
____________
Lucus Rein Astian
Title: Empire's Biggest Idiot
Stamina: -5
Mental Strength: -10
Horsepower: ?
Tech: +0.015 (+0.013)
Impression: -10
Luck: -9.985 (+0.013)
Trait: Dawn 777, Divine Power
_______________
Also.
Fortunately, this incident did not cause my impression score to go up.
The increase in impression score itself is not the problem.
A rising impression score means that people around you are evaluating you in a positive way, so it's clearly a good thing.
The question here is 'how' to improve the image.
If I were to make a bold attempt, like giving my full power in magic class or proving that the Pleroma rumors were false, my impression score would rise ridiculously quickly.
But that means I'll die by my brother's hands right now. My brother is the one who is more sensitive to my changes than anyone else.
'That doesn't mean I'm going to leave that -10 as is.'
If you can't change it openly, you can do it secretly.
After I recruit Leon and improve my skills, I plan to improve my impression score.
Slowly, under the water, without anyone knowing.
Today is Thursday.
This is only the fourth magic practice I've had so far.
For the past three days, he had been emitting only a faint light, but today he withdrew the magic to the tip of the wand and then returned it to his body.
It was as if nothing was sent out.
I opened my mouth and lowered the wand I had been holding into the air.
"Professor, I'm sorry, but I just don't have the energy today."
"Then come on in."
The professor's interest has also cooled rapidly since yesterday.
It was natural since there was no change.
Fortunately, he wasn't a passionate professor to begin with, nor was he a professor who liked Luca.
I returned to my seat and looked around.
Perhaps because he wasn't doing as much as he used to, Leon's gaze became even more harsh.
The bell rang, signaling the end of class.
The moment I was about to put my wand away and get up from my seat, a shadow appeared in my field of vision.
When I raised my head, Leon was looking down at me with a cold face.
"Hey, let me see."
'As expected.'
I thought it was time to take action, and it was.
In the novel, Leon was always like that.
Although his magical power was weak – even by the standards of the main characters – he was very stubborn about magic.
He was a person who did not take the easy way out and insisted on moderation.
There's no way Leon would just sit by and watch someone play tricks with magic.
All the more so if that is the action of the one who led me to the path of magic.
I'm a little sorry, but… there's nothing I can do about it.
I asked simply without changing my expression.
"why."
"Come to the training ground at midnight."
"Why? Answer first."
Leon snorted at those words.
He had an expression on his face as if to ask what I was doing.
"Okay. Even if you don't come, I'll drag you out. You can choose whether to come out yourself or be dragged out."
'Look at his temper… .'
Yeah, that's what I was like at that age.
Could things get any smoother than this?
Proposal: Make 'Leonnard Wittelsbach' your companion. (0/1) (20 hours 07 minutes 44 seconds)
'20 hours.'
That's enough.
I looked into Leon's cold eyes and smiled.
• * *
I left the dormitory at midnight.
There was no reason to delay the opportunity that had come.
If Leon's personality is like what I felt in the novel, he would really keep his word even if it meant tearing down the dormitory, so there's no need to make a fuss now that things are going as he wished.
'… It's a bit strange that he came out without saying anything when I told him to.'
Don't worry about it, he won't even notice it now. Instead, he'll get annoyed that I arrived at the training grounds after midnight.
I looked at the clock tower in the distance.
12:11.
We've roughly arrived at the training grounds used by the Department of Magic. Leon has his own training grounds, so we'll have to go there.
However….
'Come to think of it, did this guy think I would naturally know his training grounds…?'
Of course, Luca, who was stuck in the dorm, had no way of knowing that.
Advertisements
You ask me to come without even knowing what the other person knows or doesn't know? Is this because you have a big ego or because you didn't think that far?
Anyway, I said that I would come looking for you if you didn't come, so if you've come this far, you should know how to find it yourself.
I walked towards the exercise field located in the middle of the training ground, thinking of killing time.
Just then, someone grabbed me by the nape of my neck.
"Just standing there like an idiot. Of course you should come in, what are you doing?"
"Do you know where your training ground is? Even if you come here, it'll be chaos."
Leon didn't answer me, but dragged me in and locked the door.
Leon opened his mouth as he placed a series of locking spells on the door.
"Do we look like fools to you?"
"what?"
"Do you think I don't know? Are you acting like that because you think I don't know anything?"
"I don't know what you're saying."
At those words, Leon turned around with a cold look in his eyes.
"Do you think the professor and your friends don't know that you're using magic on purpose?"
There was silence.
When Leon showed no sign of taking his eyes off me, I shrugged my shoulders calmly.
"The professor definitely seemed to know. But… the kids didn't know?"
Leon burst into laughter at those words.
It was funny how he had just questioned her, but he didn't even hide the fact that he had controlled his power. Leon's face turned red at her calm remark.
"If you're going to act like this, get out of this school."
"Why me?"
"This is a place to learn magic, not a playground where you can just go around and do whatever you want. I should have known that when I came in through donation admission."
At those words, I nodded slowly.
"Am I ruining the study atmosphere?"
"I know. If you're not going to take class seriously, then just get out of here. This isn't a place you can go to with the kind of mindset you have."
"What's it to you?"
"what?"
Leon's face hardened even more.
I stared at Leon like that.
I really didn't want it to come out like this, but paradoxically, I have no choice but to avoid making Leon my enemy.
He continued to smoke as much as possible and fired.
"Why are you interfering with a problem that even the professor didn't say anything about?"
"The masters of the school are the students. Do you think the negligence of a professor who is just waiting for retirement is absolute? What's the point of the silence of a professor who knows everything but doesn't care whether the students participate in class or not?"
Leon answered clearly, his voice ringing with strength.
'hmm.'
This makes perfect sense to me.
The professor was irresponsible, which ended up being helpful to me, but he was not the type of professor I wanted.
'As expected of the main character's friend.'
You will hear that in this fantasy world, the students are the masters of the school.
But just because my values align with his doesn't mean it's absolutely right.
We have to do things differently now.
"Not only students, but also professors are the main players in the school. Is it right to ignore your professor without even trying to express your opinion? If you really don't like the professor's silence, you should directly suggest that he maintain the quality of the class."
"...."
"It seems much more reasonable than calling me out at midnight without even telling me why, right?"
Leon glared at me silently.
Although his face still looked like he had a lot to say, he didn't seem to want to continue the conversation at length.
'That's good, it's the same for me.'
Let's try to fan the flames of his impatience a little.
I sighed deeply and shook my head.
"I don't understand. You called me here just to say something like this? If you don't have anything to say, then leave."
"Put the wand in."
An ominous voice came from behind me.
I turned my head silently and looked at Leon. Leon pulled the wand from his waistband and looked straight into my eyes.
"If you win, I'll keep quiet no matter what you do. I'll accept it no matter what you do in class, whether it's pranks or whatever. But if I win, you get to leave this school right now."
"...."
"That's funny. You were always talking so well before, but now you have no confidence?"
At las.
The sea I had hoped for. The corners of my mouth slowly turned up.
"No way."