A student's duty is to study. Thus, even during her free periods, Anna continued to ponder 'elliptical orbits' in her dormitory. 'It would be difficult to directly verify how celestial mana works...
Where should I even begin to refute this?' Just then, the door to her dormitory room flew open. It was Anna’s roommate, Stephanie.
She said, “Anna!”
“No.” “... I haven’t even said what I wanted to do yet.”
“You’re going to ask me to hang out.”
“How did you know? Can you read minds, too?” ...
What was she talking about, after asking to hang out every time they met for the past few days? Stephanie was about the same age as Anna, but she was different in that she came from a noble family. ... That was probably why she always wanted to hang out.
'Nobles are all like that.' Of course, now that Anna was a mage, she was a semi-noble herself. Anna replied, “I don’t have time.
I’m busy.”
“Oh, come on! Let’s go see the flowers in the garden by the lake! The weather is so nice today! You’ll get moldy if you just stay in your room.”
“... This room gets plenty of light and isn’t humid. I won’t get moldy.” ...
Stephanie shut her mouth.
“Tsk. No fun.”
“Yeah, that’s right. I’m a boring person.”
“I bet Sir Isaac wouldn’t want you to do nothing but study like this.” …
At those words, Anna’s heart wavered. … Stephanie's gaze was burdensome. 'I need to stay calm at times like this.
Let’s recall what my brother said.' -‘Anna. It’s okay to have fun in college.’ That's not it.
This is a trap. I have to remember the next part. -‘Because once you get to graduate school, you’ll be studying for the rest of your life anyway.’ Isaac often described Anna coming to his lab as if it were a great misfortune.
But Anna knew he didn’t really mean it. Her brother’s senior, his master, and even the people around him like Hans were all smiling when they were with him. Anna wanted to join their circle as soon as possible.
To do that, she had to graduate early in two years with the best grades. Anna steeled her resolve and glared at the parchment again. Just then, Stephanie said, “As expected of the Ice Princess.
This isn’t enough to sway you.”
“…!”
She somehow managed to hold back the curse that was about to escape her lips. But goosebumps had already risen on the back of Anna’s hand.
Among the new students at the Magic Academy this semester, the most famous was Anna Upperhills. She was famous enough for the title of top entrant, but there was another reason she had become truly famous. It was during a basic fire magic practical class.
Anna was floating awkwardly between the group of older commoners and the group of young nobles. This was because she was young but not a noble, and a commoner but not old. As the practical began, a kind-hearted boy from a noble family approached Anna.
“If you don’t have a partner…”
But at that moment, a man with a stern expression blocked the noble student.
“…”
“... Is there a problem?”
The man was a late-blooming student who had once been a part of Hans’s mercenary corps. Naturally, he knew of Anna's connection to Isaac. He said, “Hey, young master.
Do you have any idea who you’re talking to so casually?” The noble student shrank back, thoroughly intimidated by the man’s fierce demeanor.
“Wh-who is she?”
“She is none other than the hero’s sister…!”
“…!”
Anna hastily covered her ears and fled the scene. But whether Anna covered her ears or not, the rumor spread like wildfire. The day after becoming the 'hero's sister,' Anna earned a new nickname due to her cold behavior the day before.
“As expected of the Ice Princess. This isn’t enough to sway you.” …
That was the Ice Princess. Of course, Anna did not like that nickname. Just thinking about it made her cringe.
Anna wanted to erase this infamous reputation somehow. 'If I just stay here, am I really going to become the Ice Princess...?' She couldn’t let that happen.
And so, Anna ended up going along to see the flowers. On a hill overlooking the Magic Academy’s lake. Stephanie and the other children of nobles were playing catch on the lawn or chatting amongst themselves.
Anna sat a little away from the group, leaning her back against an apple tree. A parchment and quill were still in her hands. ... She had come out to play, but her conscience wouldn’t let her put down the assignment she was pondering.
A ball thrown into the air by a student flew in a parabola. In the blue sky, a faint moon was visible even though it was broad daylight. 'Where do the heavens end and the earth begin?
Is the moon the standard?
Why?' Just then.
“Watch out!”
The ball the students were tossing flew toward Anna. The ball grazed a branch of the apple tree above her head, scattering white petals. Anna instinctively used a floating spell.
It was a brutish method, skipping the magic circle and incantation, instead using an immense amount of mana to suppress the rebound.
“How did she do that?”
“Whoa…”
Starting with Stephanie's gasp of admiration, all the students’ eyes turned to Anna. White apple blossoms fluttered down from the empty air, the thrown ball had stopped, and far away, the moon still hung in the sky.
Thump.
The magic was released, and the catch ball fell into Anna's hand.
“Anna! You’re amazing!”
“As expected of the top student! We believed in you!”
The students shouted as they rushed toward Anna. But Anna simply looked at the ball in her hand, thinking. 'Why does the moon stay up, while the ball falls?'
Suddenly, a scene flashed through Anna’s mind. Her brother’s iron ball, fired at an invisible speed, turning a massive orc into chunks of flesh. 'If I throw this catch ball at that speed, will it not fall, just like the moon?'
Struck by a flash of inspiration, Anna stood up.
“I think I’m onto something…”
Anna handed the ball to Stephanie and said, “Sorry! I’m heading back first!” And with that, she ran toward the dormitory.
The children left behind were silent. All eyes turned to the friend who had thrown the ball poorly. Stephanie shouted, “Anna ran away because of you!
Do you have any idea how hard it was to convince her to come…!” The other students began to speak up, one by one.
“Suddenly, I feel like practicing some magic.”
“You scoundrel! How dare you insult Anna Upperhills, the top student of the Magic Academy, the hero’s sister, and the Ice Princess?!”
“Hey! Surround him!”
For the past few days, I just can't seem to muster any energy. All prospective applicants were eliminated. I tried to change the problem late in the game, but it was already approved by the administrative office, so modification was impossible.
This year's recruitment of new students is over. I had to accept it. I’m alone again this year.
I spun my happy-thought circuits into overdrive. Still, it's not so bad. I have the best senior and the strongest school head.
I never needed anyone else in the first place.
That's right.
And, this incident gave me a chance to reflect on my own arrogance. 'I never thought the price of ignoring history would come back to haunt me like this...' Hundreds of years ago, there was said to be a conflict between the theological and magical factions over the reasons for planetary motion.
It escalated to a physical clash, and naturally, the mages won a landslide victory. How could prayer-mongers ever defeat monsters who shoot fire from their hands? However, because the mages committed excessive slaughter in the process, the study of planetary orbits was considered taboo until about a hundred years ago.
If the previous emperor hadn't taken an interest in astronomy and established a royal observatory, it would probably still be taboo. There’s even a children’s story about the persecuted theologians of that time escaping beyond the northern magical beast front, lying in wait for their chance to strike at the mages.
With circumstances like these, it was only natural for the progress of research to be slow. To think I messed up because I didn't know that! If only I had studied some history myself while teaching Anna, this never would have happened.
The words of the wise are never wrong. A people who forget their history have no future. Just then, I heard Doloren's voice from behind me.
“Isaac, it’s about time we go.”
“Yes? Where to?”
“To get your gift for earning your master's degree!”
“Ah.”
Is he talking about the ancient artifact in the vault? Unfortunately, now was not the time for me to be receiving gifts. I said to Doloren, “I am not a great enough person to receive such a thing.
The artifact should go to the superman on a white horse who will arrive in the distant future, rather than to me…”
“What nonsense. Just hurry up and follow me before I have to drag you there by force.”
“Yes, sir.”
The place I arrived at, following Doloren, was the underground vault of the capital’s central bank. As we entered the vault exclusively for mages, Doloren stood before a massive safe and grinned at me.
“Go on, take a good look around. I’ll give you one thing you like from in here.” … …
The inside of the vault felt like a dragon’s nest. In that it was full of gold, silver, and jewels. I asked Doloren, “By any chance…
Professor, are you something like a dragon out for a stroll?”
“If I were, I wouldn’t have subjugated the Dragon of Ruin when I was ten.”
“Right?”
“But it’s true that the treasures here were taken from the dragon I killed back then.”
“Wow…”
I looked at the mountain of gold again and continued, “Taking this stuff out carelessly would cause a huge problem, wouldn’t it?”
“Oh. You seem to know a thing or two about economics. I don’t know much about it. As it happens, the president of this bank pleaded with me to contact him first whenever I plan to use the gold here.”
I gave up on thinking any further.
“If you look closely, you’ll find artifacts among the gold coins.”
At Doloren’s words, I cast a detection spell. Most of the treasures showed similar mana reactions, but one in particular stood out. There was one item where I could feel an enormous discrepancy between its apparent size and its actual mass. ...
Could it be that it contains something like degenerate matter? As my gaze fell upon it, Doloren grinned.
“That thing, it’s a pouch with a different outer and inner area. It’s enchanted with space-warping magic.”
“Wow.”
I let out a gasp of admiration. Until now, I had been carrying my main weapon, the iron balls, in my robe pocket. There were ten of them.
This meant that if eleven Malakai-level mages were to attack me, I would be in danger.
Unbelievable.
Such a terrifying thought. But that anxiety ends today. With that pouch, even a hundred Malakais would be no problem!
I pointed to the pouch and said, “I’ll take that for my gift.” At my decision, Doloren’s expression became a little troubled.
“... Is this item too precious?”
“No, it’s not that. The thing is, there are some gold coins inside it.”
“Should I take them all out?”
“No. It’s a pain to take them out, so just take it and use it all.”
“How many gold coins are in there?”
“I don’t really know either. Just use it. It’ll probably be fine.” …
It seemed I would have to inform the bank president about this matter as well.