CH 61

Chapter 61 – A Difficult Problem

Professor Frederick Ross entered exactly one minute before the start of the training session. He was a tall, impressive middle-aged man.

Three of his assistants then swiftly distributed the writing materials.

There was a magic formula depicted as an example problem.

And I shuddered when I saw how difficult it was.

What is this! It is shockingly advanced and complicated.

“What…is…”

“Hey, this year is bad. It’s clearly worse than last year.”

“That’s ridiculous… And I prepared a whole year for this…”

I could hear the others murmuring.

Apparently, they all felt the same way.

“Don’t worry. Even if we can’t do it, our Noelle will manage just fine.”

“That’s right! We’re counting on you, our savior!”

They whispered to me. As my stomach began to hurt, the lesson began.

However, I was stunned to realize how little I was able to follow.

And people had such high expectations for me.

I wanted to answer them. But I could do nothing.

Magic formulas were something I loved, and yet it all sounded like a foreign language to me now.

I don’t understand this at all!

It’s no use!

I’m sorry, all of you. I cannot do it!

But just as I started to wallow in despair, a certain memory of my student days flashed in my mind.

It was during my third year at the magic academy. I had come against a wall for the first time.

A ‘Magic Enchantment Study’ exam, which I had never liked.

I could not keep up.

I had no idea what I was supposed to do, and the time just passed by.

And so as a last resort, I had gone to someone who I absolutely hated.

‘Sorry, you were the last person I wanted to ask. But there is something I just don’t understand…’

And then he taught me in a way that was much easier to understand compared to the teachers.

What left the biggest impression on me was how he told me to deal with things that I didn’t know.

‘Don’t try to solve everything all at once. Think about the problems after separating them. Go through it slowly, and organize the parts you do understand. And then you will be able to get closer to the solution, no matter how hard the problem is.’

Calm down.

I took a deep breath to ease my mind.

Dissect the problem carefully.

Start with what you know, and go slowly, one by one.

And little by little, I began to understand what was being asked.

Words that seemed foreign a moment ago began to change into something I knew.

In fact, on close inspection this was something I was good at.

A magic formula I always used with Spell Boost.

I had drawn this formula so many times that I could do it with my eyes closed.

In terms of experience and understanding, I should not lose to anyone.

Once I found that thread, the rest was simple.

“…I finished.”

I raised my hand, and then the professor looked at me with suspicion.

One of his assistants approached me and said,

“May I have a look?”

He took the sheet of paper and carried it over to the professor.

And then began to talk over the professor’s desk.

A few minutes later, the assistant returned and said,

“In terms of the formula, you have fulfilled the brief.”

“Yes!”

I made a small fist.

“Well done! Our saviour!”

“That was amazing, Ms. Noelle!”

I smiled as I heard the others whisper to me.

Next to me, the other person from my unit whispered back.

“Hehe. Isn’t she? Our newcomer really is amazing.”

Well, it was no thanks to you.

I thought with slight annoyance before moving on to face the next problem.

“Get this one too, ace!”

But since they would say such supportive things to me…

“Leave it to me! Let’s all get these right and give that professor something to be surprised about!”

I answered, feeling very much like an ace now.

This whole thing was starting to feel like a battle between the professor and the Royal Magicians team.