Chapter 41: Chapter 41

Luckily, I was able to arrive on time. Leila seemed to have arrived first and was waiting for me.

“Let’s go quickly. At this rate, we’ll be late.”

“Don’t we have enough time?”

“It’s better to go and sit in the front row. You’ll be seen by the professor more easily.”

She’s really determined, huh? I heard that freshmen usually try to sit in the back.

“But where did you come from, Dane? The direction you came from wasn’t the 100th Anniversary Memorial Building.”

“You know that?”

“Yeah. As a freshman at the Academy, isn’t memorizing the map a given?”

In an instant, I became a student who didn’t even know the basics. I told her about the fact that I had passed through the Misty Garden.

“What? You went through there?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s already cloudy, how on earth did you get through?”

The Misty Garden was a place that would inevitably be covered in a fog when the weather turned cloudy. So, Leila’s question was reasonable. Of course, my answer wasn’t so reasonable.

“It just happened?”

“…Sometimes, you’re really annoying. Did you know that?”

I shrugged my shoulders as if I didn’t know.

“Really, you just happened to get through the Misty Garden, where they said you’d disappear if you went in…”

Funnily enough, Leila didn’t seem to be that curious.

“Well, since it’s you, there must be a way. Did your older sisters tell you? I’m jealous. If only the age gap between me and my older brothers wasn’t so big, we could hang out together.”

Anyway, Leila and I headed to Hangston Hall, one of the lecture halls.

It was named after Saul Hangston, a legendary mage from the Academy and the man who built the Hangston Magic Tower, one of the best magic towers on the continent. It was where lectures on magic were mainly held.

“So this is Hangston Hall. I’ve only heard about it. Dane, look at this!”

Even from its entrance, Hangston Hall was very unique. Because of its high wall, it required people to pass through an arched entrance, and uniquely, the entrance had a translucent, colorless curtain hanging down from it.

“This is the famous Mana Curtain.”

“Mana Curtain?”

“Yeah. It was made by Saul Hangston, and it’s only used once a year for one day, for new students who show talent for magic.”

Leila continued her explanation, “When you pass through, different colors appear depending on the quality or level of your magic power!”

I understood what she meant.

“It was originally created to filter out dark mages who secretly infiltrated the Academy, but it seems to have changed to this after dark mages became extinct.”

How interesting.

Dark mages.

It had probably been hundreds of years since they had last appeared.

“If you have no talent at all, there will be no color change. If you have decent talent, it appears yellow. If you have considerable talent, it appears blue. If you have overwhelming talent, it appears red,” Leila chattered excitedly.

I looked at Leila for a moment and then said, “You seem smarter than me.”

“Well, I studied. I want to know everything about the Academy.”

She was really determined.

Anyway, it was a really interesting curtain.

“By the way, your two older sisters were red.”

“Really?”

“You must be red too, right?”

Leila seemed secretly nervous. It seemed like her burden was greater than mine.

“What about you?”

“…It needs to be red.”

“So what if it’s not red?”

“It doesn’t comfort me at all when you say things like that. You do everything well!”

Well, that was true.

Anyway, what Leila was worried about didn’t happen.

“It’s red!”

Leila’s voice echoed through the curtain.

The moment Leila passed through the curtain, it turned red. It was also quite dark.

“That’s amazing.”

I was truly impressed. Leila wasn’t as untalented as she feared. The problem was that she tried to compare herself with me.

“You too, come over quickly!”

Leila waved at me, looking quite excited. Her expression was full of confidence.

Would mine be red? Or…a different color?

“Huh?”

The moment I stepped through the curtain, I realized that the energy source filled with Ancient Magic I had absorbed from the Misty Garden Fountain had powers far greater than I had imagined.

“Why are you always different…?”

I looked back at Leila, who had a dumbstruck look on her face, her confidence completely gone.

The color of the curtain was green.

If we were to name the department with the highest status in the academy, it would naturally be the Magic Department. Many legendary mages, including Saul Hangston, and many of the greatest figures in the empire had come out of that department.

Thanks to this, the competition rate for the Magic Department was at least twice that of other departments. It was why the students of the Magic Department had such great pride, but on the other hand, that pride often led to them looking down on students from other departments.

Like right now.

“Did you see that guy’s badge? He’s from the finance department.”

“What? Finance? Why is a guy who handles money taking this class?”

“Who knows? Our undergraduate classes have always been so popular. There must be so much riffraff coming to take them.”

Though not everyone was like that, there was a sense of so-called ‘elitism’. Due to the nature of the department, rather than one’s family background, your ability and who taught you magic were more important and caused you to stand out even more.

In reality, there were frequent rumors of children from noble families who believed in the power of their houses and got into fights with students of the magic department, only to end up losing.

“He’s going to disappear after the orientation anyway. If not? Then he’s definitely going to get an F.”

And among the students in the magic department, the fifth-year student, Altur, was the one with the worst tendency toward that.

Although his House, House Diomet, was a barony and not a very high-ranking one, Altur’s status within the academy was comparable to that of students from ducal or marquis house.

It was all thanks to talent.

Perhaps that was why Altur was so proud of being in the Magic Department and looked down on students from other departments.

“I think that those from other departments just shouldn’t be allowed to take classes in the Magic Department.”

“Altur is right. How dare they be so arrogant when they’re not even from the Magic Department…”

“There are too many people who think magic is easy.”

The fact that there were no students who objected to such extreme claims and instead there were those who actively agreed with him showed that Altur had overwhelming talent. This might be a natural phenomenon, given the nature of the academy, where various powers existed based on house, talent, and wealth.

“But Altur, have you heard the rumor about Dane Sogres, who passed the autonomous major exam?”

“Oh. I heard. I was sad he didn’t come to the Magic Department, but I heard he’s joining this class.”

Altur smiled brightly.

“Since he passed the dean’s test, that means he has some talent. Bring him to me when he comes in later. He’s Senior Arabella’s younger brother, so I have to take special care of him,” Altur said matter-of-factly.

Arabella was the senior in the Magic Department who Altur respected the most, so he naturally thought that Dane, Arabella’s younger brother, was his responsibility to take care of.

That was also the reason why a fifth-year student like him was in a second-year class. He had told the professor that he would attend the class because he had something to tell the students of the Magic Department, but he had other intentions.

“Oh, is that him over there?”

Just then, a beautiful silver-haired student who caught everyone’s attention walked in.

Dane Sogres.

His appearance was truly eye-catching.

“Oh my, he’s really handsome.”

“Oh! Look at those eyes. I’ve never seen such a bright emerald color before.”

“Isn’t that Leila Thermion next to him?”

Leila, who came in with Dane, exuded elegant beauty. Even her rosy hair, unique to House Thermion, seemed to exude such an air.

It was as if the space around the two had become a ballroom, and everyone’s eyes were focused on them.

At that moment, Altur was struck dumb as he recalled Arabella, whom he admired, and then came to his senses.

“He’s here. Go tell them I have something to say.”

At Altur’s words, Grun, a third-year Magic student, quickly ran over. Then, he approached Dane, who had just sat down.

“Are you Dane Sogres?”

“Yes, and?”

Grun’s eyebrows twitched for a moment. However, soon Grun continued with why he had come over.

“Our fifth-year Magic student representative, Altur, wants to see you.”

Dane tilted his head at those words.

“Why?”

“You’ll find out when you get there. By the way, I’m very close with your eldest sister, Senior Arabella Sogres.”

Dane reacted when his eldest sister’s name was mentioned, but it was only for a moment.

“I haven’t heard anything from my sister.”

It wasn’t easy.

Grun, embarrassed, said, “If a senior is talking to you, shouldn’t you first say you understand and then get up? There are rules and manners in the academy.”

“I’m not from the Magic Department.”

Grun’s eyebrows were twisted into a slightly more peculiar angle.

‘Fuu, I have to hold back.’

As Altur himself said, it was important to bring him over without any problems.

But then Dane added, “If you don’t plan on telling me who you are, can you just go?”

“What?”

“Look. Class is about to start.”

Leila, who was next to Dane, also gave him a cold look.

Leila was also from the Swordsmanship Department and had no connection to the Magic Department. Anyone could apply for classes, so there was no reason to be unconditionally polite to seniors from other departments just because you were taking classes at the Magic Department.

But for Grun, who had never received such treatment before because he was always in Altur’s group, this was absurd.

“How arrogant of a freshman…”

He had just said when一

“Did you just call me arrogant?”

Leila stood up. The whole room’s attention was focused on them in an instant, and Leila spoke.

“I am Leila Thermion, the only daughter of the great hero Bout Thermion of the great Thermion Duchy and the winner of the Dantère Cup.”

Grun was embarrassed.

Leila asked in a cold voice, “Who are you and where are you from?”

A duchy.

Looking at her, Dane realized that Leila was indeed the daughter of a duke.

The Empire’s greatest family, Thermion. For Leila, that dignity existed.

“F-family lineage doesn’t matter at the Academy! Especially not in the Magic Department!”

“I am not from the Magic Department.” Leila tilted her head. “I simply asked about your affiliation and origin, so why are you saying such things?”

Grun was so flustered that he barely managed to introduce his family.

“I-I’m Grun Ortega…C-Count Ortega’s…”

“Count Ortega is the one who visited our family not long ago. He was a truly wonderful man. He was kind to me even when I was young.”

There was a bite to her words. She seemed to be asking why he was so different when his father was such a wonderful person.

Thanks to that, Grun’s face turned bright red.

This was a classroom where everyone was gathered. The majority were students of the Magic Department. Even Altur, whom he followed, was watching this situation.

‘What the hell is this?!’

At the Academy, being a senior in the Magic Department was more magical than magic. Everyone bowed their heads first, and although some seemed to rebel a little and disagree, they never spoke up when they thought about how Altur’s group was treated within the Magic Department.

However, his opponent was from House Thermion.

It was at that moment when reality bit him, who had been living buried in the academy.

“S-so, what do you want me to do? I just wanted to talk as a senior…”

At that moment, Grun spoke hurriedly.

“I remember what my sister said.” Dane slowly got up and looked at Grun. “The Arabella Sogres you just mentioned said this…”

For a moment, Grun could see how the eyes of the boy he had looked down on seemed deep and distant, like the eyes of a predator. That was thanks to the magic power that Dane had quietly gathered.

Dane’s magic power began to overwhelm and pressure Grun without anyone noticing.

“If someone at the academy starts a fight for no reason, don’t think about the consequences and just do what I think is right.”

Was it an illusion or did his knees start to tingle for a moment?

However, Grun soon realized that it was not an illusion, but fact.

“She said she would clean up after me.”

Arabella Sogres.

The greatest genius and talent in the history of the Magic Department, already a great inventor and an incredible mage that all magic towers aspired to get.

He had just been acting cocky towards such a person’s younger brother.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“So, what should we do now?”

Grun couldn’t answer.

“Oh, there was another person who said the same thing. Clare Sogres. My second sister.”

Arabella Sogres.

Clare Sogres.

One was a genius from the Magic Department and the greatest inventor, one whose name was known to everyone in the Academy.

The other was the most talented summoner of all time from the Summoning Department, recognized by everyone in the Academy as a terrifying assistant professor.

At the mention of their names, fear began to creep in where confusion had settled.

And one more thing…

“But I don’t think I need to tell my sisters about you.”

There was Dane Sogres.

The youngest son of Count Sogres, who might be a greater genius than Arabella and Clare.