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Chapter 17
“He’s probably fine. The Empire wouldn’t let the Oracle’s savior die when they have a spy from the Holy Nation hidden inside the palace.”
Since I couldn’t exactly rush to the imperial palace right now, I had to think that way to feel at ease. Shaking off my worries about the male lead, I refocused on the lecture.
“…And so, at last, the imperial army triumphed in the extermination war and seized the dragon’s heart.”
Completely absorbed in glorifying the Empire, Professor Peferx didn’t even notice that my mind had wandered for a moment.
“The one who consumed the heart and awakened the dragon’s authority founded a new dynasty. And the dragon’s blood, seeping into the earth, allowed abundant mana to flow throughout the vast imperial lands.”
A dragon that gives without end!
That’s why Diego, who inherited such a great lineage, could also wield a special power. Still, it felt wasteful that such a cool ability—like manipulating gravity—had ended up in the hands of a jerk like him.
At least there was some comfort: the authority Rosinante would awaken as a royal in the future was said to be so much greater than Diego’s that it couldn’t even be compared.
Feeling pleased, I was listening when suddenly a chill crawled up my spine, and I curled my toes.
“And today, with the war against the Holy Nation dragging into a long campaign, we also face another trial—the demonic beasts of the Demon King.”
In focusing so much on the male lead, I had forgotten!
If the great archmage who once freely traversed time and space, saving the Empire from peril, had been erased from memory, then who would stop the Demon King’s invasion? Who would seek out the last dragon?
“…Don’t tell me it’s me?!”
Tears nearly welled up.
I glared at Zerodines with wide eyes, but he only leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, as if listening to someone else’s problem.
—You’ll have to grow up quickly.
Hearing Zerodines mutter that, I nearly fainted on the spot.
“No matter how poorly educated you may be, Lady Levieta, you must at least know the obvious fact that mana and divine power are opposites in nature.”
“Yes, I know.”
“Oh? So your head isn’t entirely filled with stones. Then surely you’re also aware that this is why imperial mages play such a crucial role in the war against the Holy Nation?”
“Sorry, but I come from the battlefield. I may not be able to solve complicated magical formulas, but I know full well that the survival of the nation rests in the hands of us mages.”
“Us?”
Peferx let out a disbelieving laugh. It sounded surprisingly cheerful for his appearance.
“Not ‘us,’ Lady Levieta. Me. One cannot become a mage simply because they want to. High-level knowledge, a vessel capable of containing mana, and a great teacher—of those three, the only one you have is a teacher.”
“I’m here to learn, so I don’t get why you keep trying to humiliate me.”
Should I just crush his pride right here?
I glanced at Zerodines for permission, and he waved his hand dismissively.
Well, that was as good as a green light.
The cheat button lit up red, and with a bright smile, I announced to Peferx:
“I’ll be taking the practical exam early.”
“You can’t just decide that yourself. What nonsense are you spouting? Sit down, Lady Levieta.”
If I sat down, he’d just keep nitpicking me anyway. And after class, he’d surely run off to Kaulen to whine that Levieta had been insubordinate.
I wasn’t about to play along. Relaxing my left hand, I uttered an unscheduled trigger word:
“[Zerodin.]”
Through my left hand, Zerodines cast the spell, and suddenly the lights in the classroom began flickering violently.
What a personality—always first-class when it comes to payback.
Judging from the shifting shadows across his face, Zerodines intended to crush Peferx using the very field he prided himself on most: optical magic.
Light fractured into colors between brightness and darkness. Space warped, time was swept into the flow of light.
When the boundaries collapsed with the dissolution of color, space itself was freed from being a fixed concept.
“Oh. Fascinating. What phenomenon is this?”
“Quantum superposition. Collapse of laws.”
In that bizarre state where past and future coexisted, I answered my own question.
This was the pinnacle of optical magic—an unknown realm never reached in a world without an archmage.
A transcendent magic that reconstructed perception with light, causing space-time collapse, shook common sense to its core before vanishing like smoke.
What remained was Zerodines, looking as calm as ever—as if he’d only given a taste—and Peferx, who stood gaping in utter shock.
“Wh-what in the world kind of magic was that?”
—A perceptual singularity that redefines the coefficients of space-time by collapsing the invariance of light speed and the phase superposition of electromagnetic waves.
“You know. A perceptual singularity.”
I shamelessly parroted Zerodines’ words. Peferx looked as if he might faint, rushing toward the table with wild eyes.
With his bulky robe tangling around him, he looked like someone flailing underwater.
But he didn’t care about his pitiful appearance, only babbled in excitement.
“Th-then how is the space-time coordinate system redefined? If we assume Lady Levieta’s optical magic isn’t merely an extreme extension of perceptual distortion, then could it be interpreted as a higher-dimensional phase transition beyond the fourth dimension…? Oh! And if the phase superposition of electromagnetic waves collapses, does the visible spectrum itself disappear…?”
Somehow, paper and pen had appeared in his hands. His desperate expression, as though he’d burst into tears like a child if I didn’t answer, was truly ridiculous.
—Hmph. Trying to freeload? I’ve shown enough. The rest he should figure out himself.
Seeing Zerodines sniff in disdain, I could faintly imagine what his disciples must have suffered in life.
“Sorry, I don’t know. I’m just a student.”
That was the truth, but Peferx seemed to hear it differently. Clever as he was, he immediately offered a deal.
“If you teach me, I’ll make sure to report in great detail to the lord about how brilliant and full of potential you are, Lady Levieta.”
Too tempting to refuse. I stole a glance at Zerodines with pleading eyes. With a sigh of resignation, he supplied the answer.
—The absoluteness of light and space-time collapses.
“The absoluteness collapses.”
“Unbelievable…!”
Peferx’s face contorted through awe, terror, fear, and delight all at once. I half-worried he’d end up with a facial muscle spasm.
What’s so shocking about that?
Having no way of knowing, I simply watched his frenzy with a flat expression.
“When transitioning into a higher dimension beyond human comprehension, the concept that time and space are absolute vanishes! That’s why the principles of electromagnetism and optics no longer apply!”
“As expected of you, Master Peferx. Your understanding is remarkable.”
“There’s no time to waste. I must go to the academy at once and proclaim Lady Levieta’s genius!”
“Huh? Wait, no, hold on… He’s already gone.”
In the blink of an eye, Peferx bolted from the classroom at the speed of light. Left alone, I stared at Zerodines with a bewildered face.
“Tell me too. Is it really so shocking that absoluteness collapses?”
—‘Zerodin’? What kind of ridiculous nickname is that supposed to be?
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who’d been holding back a question.
Completely ignoring mine, he latched onto the trigger word I’d made up earlier.
“Don’t worry, there wasn’t any affection in it. But since I’ll probably need to use proxy casting often, wouldn’t it be better if we agreed on some kind of code word we both understand?”
—Anyone hearing that would think we were lovers.
“Oh my. Did you have feelings for me? Sorry I didn’t notice. But I already like someone else. I know you’ll be jealous, but please don’t go challenging him to a duel.”
Naturally, he didn’t even pretend to hear my joke.
—Why Rosinante, not Diego?
“The reason’s simple.”
The chair scraped noisily against the floor as I stood. Tidying up the notes Peferx had left behind, I smiled at Zerodines.
“His looks are my type.”
Sometimes, illogic is the strongest logic.
—…
Zerodines, drained of will to argue, only gave me a look of silent exasperation.
Hmph. Did he think that would intimidate me? I wasn’t the same me who’d once lived crushed under the oppression of Eve Maria’s family.
