CH 66

“Well then, Alice. Let’s have a nice chat.”

Smile Smile Smile~

“Ngh…You know, Headmistress… I’d like to ask of you to keep this matter private, please?”

“Yes, of course. I’ve made arrangements. Don’t worry, I’ll tell you everything.”

I couldn’t help but let out a tired sigh at the somewhat high-strung Ortensia-sama.

This place was the Headmistress’ office which was on the top floor of the palace section of the academy.

I came here in response to an after-school summons, but this was what I had been doing from the very beginning.

Brother Will and Johann, who were worried about me, also came along and were slightly taken aback by the Headmistress’ odd glint in her eye.

Apparently, the reason why I had become that strange light-emitting being that couldn’t be defeated by sunlight was…

…It was probably because of the Rouge incident.

The hint came from the condition that the headmaster mentioned at the time.

“Using your magic power all the time.”

That.

It was just a speculation, but I had a feeling that resistance to the curse equated to a constant use of magic power. In other words, it might have been like magic training.

Moreover, it had been a life-threatening event.

Constantly resisting the curse meant that my magic power was constantly moving in order to fight against it. If the magic circuit was strengthened the more you use it, then it made sense.

If we compare the magic circuit to a river, then at first it is a stream that flows in a trickle. But as the water continues to flow, the bed of the river is chipped away, the stones in the riverbed are rounded, and the volume of water increases and becomes smoother. It feels like that.

Now that I think about it, it’s no wonder that my magic circuitry, which had been continuously active, had released my magic power so smoothly.

And then it was also understandable, that I, who was not originally a nobleman, had a large magic power reserve.

If I had lost power to the curse, I would have died back then. Even if it was a small thing from a baronial family, it wouldn’t be surprising for my magic power to have continued to increase bit by bit in order to counter the magic that had cut down the life of Rouge, an adult.

I don’t know how the Alice of the original game survived and entered the academy, but surprisingly, it’s possible that her ever-increasing magical power burst out and was overcome for some reason.

I explained that reasoning to Headmistress Ortensia, including the speculation.

Of course, I didn’t tell her the details of my origins and reincarnation.

Even to my aides, I concealed the part about me coming from an orphanage, but still revealed that I, rather than being sick and mentally ill, had been debilitated by a curse. I told them and explained the same details.

Then Headmistress Ortensia nodded with a ‘hmm.’

“I see…you have a point. Or rather, that’s all I can think of…but Alice, I have a hunch that there is more to it than that. You are so powerful despite being a child…I don’t know about right now, but…I’m sure it will have an effect on you at some point in the future. It would be a good idea to face your own magical power well enough so that you don’t miss any changes.”

Unexpectedly, I received some serious face-to-face advice.

…Headmistress Ortensia was brimming with intellectual curiosity, but she was an educator, after all. It was a bit silly to be worried.

I nodded gravely to Ortensia-sama who had a satisfied look on her face, but this time, Brother Will interjected with trepidation.

“Headmistress, I did not witness the event, but did Alice really use that much power? Is there really some unknown reason other than Alice’s hypothesis that was just mentioned…?”

It seems that he was worried about the uncertainty. In response, Ortensia-sama also had a tight expression.

“That amount of magic power and the power to manipulate it…in other words, her magic output, has already reached the level of an adult who has mastered the training…Most likely, if you both used the same attack spell to strike at each other, you would be obliterated without a trace.”

Upon hearing that, both Brother Will and Johann uttered, “What!?” in a crazy voice.

Did I scare them…? As I turned around in fear, I saw that they both had panicked and flustered looks on their faces. They were saying the same thing.

“The master I’m supposed to protect is overwhelmingly more skilled in magic than I am…!?”

Oh. Somehow, they seemed to both feel that their roles as aides were at risk. I didn’t see that coming, did I? I’m sorry…

Headmistress Ortensia giggled at the scene and then handed me the four Yuda stones from that time.

“I will give these to you. The Yuda stone itself is still in its bare form, so it can’t be turned into a lamp. If this is the case, it will be a waste of energy, so you can use it as a learning tool.”

Ortensia-sama made a suggestion to me with a grin, and I thanked her for that while receiving the stones.

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T/N: Honestly, I kind of like how Alice’s magic ability is due to some legit reasons and not just some ‘isekai cheat’ like so many other novels (although, I like OP cheat magicians too, hehehe). She has a lot of potential because of the hardships she faced as a child.