CH 60

Chapter 60 – Training

“Magic Skill Training?”

It happened one day during lunch break.

After completing the heftiest challenge menu in a restaurant in the royal capital, I had returned to the Royal Magicians Headquarters in a wonderful mood, when I was suddenly called by Ms. Leticia.

“Yes. Instructors will be invited from outside to help with training. And I wanted to know what you wish to do.”

It was training that you could volunteer to undergo.

This was conducted regularly as a way of polishing the skills of the royal magicians.

“The contents are very technical and advanced. But probably won’t be that useful in your daily tasks, and so not many people volunteer for it. However, it might be worth accepting if you are interested.”

Lengthy practical training.

And it was difficult, which made it rather unpopular.

“What will we be doing?”

“Well, the lessons will be taught by Professor Frederick Ross of the Royal Magic University, and last year’s winner of the Welner Award. It has to do with the study of magic structures, I believe. Expect lectures on elliptic curves and complex analytical functions in anti-stable magic formulas.”

“I would love to attend!”

I said, leaning forward eagerly. Ms. Leticia looked surprised.

“You are that interested? In that?”

“I love the study of magic structures. It’s the subject where I beat Luke for the first time. But more than anything, the words used are so intellectual and cool! Like ‘Goldbach’s method of undetermined multipliers’ or ‘Gasyumite’s last theorem.’ Just listening to such words makes me feel like I’m getting smarter.”

“You really are an odd one.”

Ms. Leticia said with a chuckle.

“But that is part of your charm.”

She was so kind.

Back when I was a student, people would mock me and say, ‘that girl is smiling while studying. What a weirdo. Shork freak.’ Of course, I quickly silenced them with my super magic punch(physical).

But Ms. Leticia said that there was beauty in being different from other people.

I wanted to be like that.

Be able to say that it’s okay to be strange. And that it’s a wonderful thing.

She really was an adult. As I admired her, Ms. Leticia continued.

“By the way, this isn’t related to work, but…”

Private talk!

As Ms. Leticia was always so busy with work, this was very rare indeed.

It made me happy, thinking that perhaps she was being friendly towards me.

“Yes, what is it?”

“You… Are you interested in those royal operas?”

“Operas…?”

Oh, music. That’s what she was talking about.

Fancy art forms that were enjoyed by the upper class. It was all so beyond a commoner like me.

And so I told her as much.

“But it would be good to allow yourself to see a new world. And so should the opportunity arise, I think you should go.”

That was what she wanted to say.

To be honest, I was not very interested. But if that’s what Ms. Leticia said, then I might just go.

Perhaps I will be surprised by how enjoyable it is.

In any case, several days passed, and then came the day of the training.

What would this university professor’s lessons be like?

I felt that I would become much smarter by just listening.

With a feeling of excitement, I opened the door to the lecture hall and settled in one of the empty seats.

The first thing I heard was the voices of my co-workers.

“Did you see them? Last year’s meaningless documents.”

“Apparently, it’s known to be the most difficult to understand lecture in the Royal Magic University.”

“On top of that, but I heard that the lessons are made especially difficult here, to show that they are superior to Royal Magicians. He enjoyed seeing how we are unable to answer his questions.”

“What a snooty bastard. I’ll answer them all correctly and show him!”

“All of you. Calm down. I’ve prepared all year for this day. I am fully ready for this.”

…Huh?

I-is it really that hard?

I felt a chill run down my spine after I heard their words.

I had participated just thinking that it sounded fun, but now that I thought about it, I had never taken lessons at the university level.

The Royal Magic University was the highest seat of learning in the kingdom, and therefore had the greatest hurdles for entering.

And the professor known for giving the most difficult lessons was going to make things worse for us out of spite…

There was no way that I would be able to keep up with the others…

But as I held my head and worried over it, I heard the voices of the other Royal Magicians.

“Hey, is that Noelle Springfield?”

“The newcomer with a dazzling record. A monster who rose to Silver Rank in such a short amount of time. But what is she doing here?”

“Perhaps she heard of the professor’s reputation, and has come here to save us.”

“What a relief… We can win. We can beat the professor now…!”

Th-they had high expectations for me!?

Damn it.

I have to set things straight before I end up disappointing them.

“I, um…”

“Don’t worry. I will explain it to them.”

Said a coworker who was sitting nearby.

We were in the same unit and on very friendly terms.

“I doubt you want to go and talk to the other units and explain while everyone is watching. And that’s fine. I know that it would be awkward for you.”

“Thank you…!”

What a nice person!

Thank goodness.

I let out a sigh of relief, and then he turned to the others.

“All of you. Ms. Noelle wants you to know that she will handle everything, so you must not worry! The burden is fully on her shoulders! Even if we cannot do anything, Ms. Noelle will have our backs!”

“What!?”

No!

That is not what I meant! Not in the least!

But as I looked mortified, the others all cheered.

“We’ll be counting on you then!”

“Thank you, Ms. Noelle! Knock this evil professor off of his feet for us!”

Oh, what am I going to do…

As I heard their cheers, I held my head in despair.