booktalesy Chapter 222 : A Strange Sense of Unease
Chapter 222 : A Strange Sense of Unease
The first time is always like that.It's exciting, yet nerve-racking. It fills you with anticipation, yet leaves you anxious for no reason at all.
The same was true for MacGrim and Hesti as they welcomed the first day of the new semester at Yggdrasil Academy.
Chirp, chirp...
A small bird landed by the sunlit window and lightly tapped against the glass.
MacGrim, who had been lying in bed, abruptly sat up.
“Hesti, are you awake?”
“Yeah...”
“I was so nervous I couldn't sleep properly.”
“Me too...”
This was the girls' dormitory, Speltz Hall.
It was nothing more than a double room with two personal desks and a bunk bed, but it was more than sufficient for the two of them.
“Let's get up now.”
They threw off their blankets and began getting ready for school.
They washed up, fixed their hair, and changed into their uniforms.
Finally, after putting on her white beret and finishing all her preparations, MacGrim grabbed the doorknob to leave...
She paused, took her hand off the doorknob, and turned to look at Hesti behind her.
“Hesti.”
“?”
Hesti blinked.
MacGrim curled the corners of her lips into a faint smile.
“Let's get along well from now on.”
“Yeah, let's get along well too...!”
The two smiled warmly as they clasped hands.
As they left the dormitory and approached the Central Wing, they saw countless students.
Seeing how excited everyone looked, they seemed to all be fellow freshmen.
By the time they arrived at the Central Wing, it was already packed with new students.
The entrance ceremony was to be held in the Grand Auditorium on the first floor of the Central Wing.
MacGrim and Hesti had already agreed to sit near the front of the Grand Auditorium together.
“MacGrim, sorry. Can I stop by the restroom first?”
“I'll save us seats up front. Take your time.”
“Okay, thanks!”
After parting ways with Hesti for a while, MacGrim headed toward the front of the Grand Auditorium.
There were so many people that from the entrance all the way through the hallway, there wasn't even enough room to place a foot.
As MacGrim was being pushed forward by the crowd...
“Ah.”
Her eyes widened.
She'd made a mistake.
Without realizing there were stairs leading downward, she stepped into empty air.
Her foot failed to find the ground.
Gravity pulled her upper body forward.
If she fell like this, it could turn into a serious accident.
...At that moment.
Grab!
Someone caught her arm.
Thanks to that, she didn't fall.
“Are you alright?”
She looked toward the voice.
A male student with a gentle appearance stood there.
“There are so many people that it's hard to see the stairs, isn't it? The stairs continue all the way down from here, so be careful.”
“...”
MacGrim nodded absentmindedly and regained her footing.
Then she opened her mouth to thank him.
“Um... thank yo...”
...MacGrim closed her mouth again.
The student had already disappeared into the crowd.
She had wanted to at least ask for his name.
Well, it wasn't that disappointing.
After all, they would be classmates seeing each other every day for the next year.
She could always ask him later.
...At least, that was what she thought.
Time passed, and Hesti returned to sit beside MacGrim.
The entrance ceremony came to an end.
After a short break, they moved to their classroom, where their first lesson began.
“It's nice to meet you all... I am Peria, the professor who will be guiding you throughout this year.”
The professor had dark circles under his eyes, as though he hadn't slept all night.
While the other students listened attentively to Peria, MacGrim quietly looked around the classroom.
There were all kinds of people here.
Students with different skin colors, noble-looking aristocrats, commoners, and exchange students from allied nations.
A place where all kinds of people had gathered.
...Among all these students, there was only one person MacGrim was searching for.
She was curious where that kind student from earlier was sitting.
'Ah, there he is.'
The male student with the warm eye-smile and gentle appearance...
...Wasn't he?
MacGrim blinked.
'Did I mistake him for someone else?'
No.
She checked again and again.
It was definitely the same student.
But something felt off.
'...He seems different.'
Resting his chin on one hand with the corners of his lips stretched into an unsettling smile.
Even the gentle eyes she'd seen before had become as sharp as icy daggers.
As she continued staring at him, Hesti, who was sitting beside her, quietly whispered.
“MacGrim, are you looking for someone? Do you know someone here?”
“N-No. It's nothing like that.”
MacGrim shook her head and turned her attention back to the professor.
...
After class ended, MacGrim gathered her courage and approached the mysterious male student.
“Um.”
“Hm?”
The male student looked at MacGrim and spoke with an indifferent expression.
“Who're you?”
He spoke casually.
...He had definitely used honorifics earlier.
“Thank you for helping me earlier.”
“Earlier?”
“Well... outside, when I...”
...MacGrim paused.
Her instincts kicked in, and she improvised.
“You found the book I lost.”
“...Ah.”
The student seemed to think for a moment before lightly slapping his forehead and nodding.
“Right. I found your book. So it was you? My memory's pretty bad.”
“...”
Seeing his unnatural smile, chills ran down MacGrim's spine.
She wanted to run away immediately, but instead she forced a bright smile.
“I didn't get the chance to thank you earlier, so I wanted to properly thank you. I'm MacGrim.”
“I'm Dion.”
“Yes, Dion. I look forward to getting along with you.”
“Yeah, sure.”
Only after hearing his response did MacGrim naturally turn around and walk away.
She barely managed to suppress her trembling breath.
She didn't let it show.
Dion didn't seem to notice anything strange either, nor did he stop her.
'...Something's definitely wrong.'
No.
It wasn't just strange.
The Dion she'd met in the Grand Auditorium earlier was clearly a different person.
Dion had helped her when she'd missed a step.
He had never found her lost book.
'I deliberately lied.'
Yet he had still agreed with her.
'He looks the same, but he's someone else. Definitely someone else.'
...But who could she tell?
'Hesti? A professor? The Academy Knight Order that's supposedly in charge of campus security?'
Even if she told someone...
Would anyone actually believe her?
What proof did she have that he was a different person?
Wouldn't they simply dismiss it as her imagination?
To begin with, who exactly was the 'original Dion'?
They'd barely exchanged a single conversation.
No, not even that.
MacGrim had only listened to him.
She'd never even had the chance to answer him.
'If I say something, won't I just end up looking like the strange one...?'
Besides, if Dion somehow found out she'd noticed the change, he might retaliate.
'...What am I supposed to do?'
Who could she honestly talk to about this bizarre phenomenon...?
'Manager? No... I can't make Manager worry.'
...Then one person came to mind.
'If it's Senior Villed.'
Why was that?
He was the only person she could think of asking for advice right now.
“What are you going to do about your mentoring senior?”
“I heard most of the Second-year Students are nice people. Except for that tall senior with black hair.”
“Yeah. I heard he's been assigned punishment duty and has been working at the Upgraded Livestock Shed for a whole year.”
“A senior I know specifically warned me to stay away from him.”
Listening to the surrounding students, the rumors about Senior Villed were overwhelmingly negative.
But...
MacGrim felt reassured by him.
Perhaps it was because he reminded her so much of the Black Knight who had saved her life.
'Should I go talk to Senior Villed...?'
Maybe he'd actually take her concerns seriously.
After Professor Ruber finished explaining the Finders Department curriculum, he dismissed us.
“Lapin, let's get out of here.”
“Okay.”
Lapin and I immediately got up and left.
Kairin and Ren's group were obviously about to bombard us with questions.
Fortunately, we'd been sitting close to the exit, so our escape was a complete success.
...After that, the class orientation continued.
Although everyone had split into different departments as Second-year Students, there were still several classes that every second-year student was required to take.
One of them was 「Understanding Human Magical Energy Research - Advanced Course」.
As it was marked 'Common Required,' attendance was mandatory.
The classroom was filled with every Second-year Student.
The gazes of the students occupying every tiered seat were fixed on the center of the lecture hall.
Standing behind the podium was a middle-aged man with brown hair.
“It's good to meet you all. I am Pascal, and I will be teaching you Understanding Human Magical Energy for this semester.”
Pascal held his staff and snapped his fingers.
Snap!
At the same moment, a faint light spread through the air.
Threads of Magical Energy intertwined like fine strands and unfolded in midair, writhing as though they were alive.
“How much do you all know about Magical Energy?”
No one answered.
To begin with, Pascal didn't seem to be expecting an answer.
“If a staff is a gun, then Magical Energy is the bullet.”
The strands of Magical Energy floating in the air were drawn toward him with a single gesture.
They compressed into a single point, as though being 'loaded.'
At last, what appeared at Pascal's fingertip was nothing more than a tiny flame no larger than a fingernail.
“This is what you get when using ordinary Magical Energy.”
Pascal casually tilted his hand.
Once again, Magical Energy gathered in the same manner, but this time it swelled to a far greater size.
“This is the result of pouring a much larger amount of Magical Energy into the exact same spell structure.”
Craaack!
With the sound of the air tearing apart, the massive sphere of light burst apart and scattered in every direction.
“Even with the exact same spell structure, the result changes completely depending on the amount of Magical Energy.”
As he spoke, the Magical Energy that had just dispersed gathered together once again.
“If your available Magical Energy is low, you'll do nothing more than fire a slingshot.”
Bang!
With another snap of his fingers, a tiny projectile of light resembling a bullet struck the wall and disappeared.
“But if it's the opposite...”
Another light flew toward the exact same location.
Boom!
This time, it exploded on an entirely different scale, spreading brilliantly through the air.
Its destructive power had been intentionally nullified for the sake of the students attending the lecture, creating nothing more than a spectacular display.
“The only difference is the amount of Magical Energy.”
The greater your Magical Energy reserves, the more freely you could expend it.
The more Magical Energy you released, the greater the spell's power became.
Everyone sitting here already knew that.
“Circulate the Magical Energy within your body to maximize efficiency. Reduce unnecessary losses, and control it with greater precision.”
He slowly brushed his hand across the Magical Energy flowing over the back of his hand as if revealing it.
Tiny streams of light flowed across his skin before fading away.
“This is what you'll be learning throughout this semester.”
After finishing his explanation, he rested a hand on the podium.
If one wished to become an exceptional mage, understanding Magical Energy was more important than anything else.
The same held true in the game.
The very first skill the protagonist had to learn was 'Understanding Magical Energy.'
It was an incredibly efficient passive skill that allowed you to use more skills while increasing their power.
...But Pascal's argument didn't resonate with me very much.
'Because I'm the only one here who's different.'
As someone who didn't rely on magic as my primary means of combat, Magical Energy wasn't particularly important to me.
No matter how much I improved my Magical Energy efficiency, it didn't seem to affect my Spirit Creatures in any way.
“But you must understand one thing. If your Magical Energy is lacking, then as a mage, you have no value whatsoever.”
With the demonstration still fresh in everyone's minds, those words sounded even harsher to the students gathered here.
“Allow me to offer some sincere advice.”
His eyes narrowed.
“If you judge that you lack talent for Magical Energy, then I suggest finding another profession besides becoming a mage. You may never overcome the difference you just witnessed for your entire life.”
As if evaluating us.
As if separating us.
“Even so, if you still refuse to abandon the path of a mage, I won't stop you.”
While slowly surveying the students, his gaze eventually stopped at one point.
“However, there is no greater tragedy than clinging to something without talent.”
Professor Pascal.
For a long moment, our eyes met.