🔊 TTS Settings
chapter 69
In the suddenly quiet room, Professor Bernoua spoke, sounding incredulous.
“No, no matter how you look at it, does that even make sense? If someone studied harder than anyone else, there’s no way their grades could be at the very bottom.”
At that, Professor Terris, who taught Principles of Magical Engineering to third-year students, interjected.
“Professor Bernoua, you are overlooking one crucial fact.”
“What do you mean?”
Bernoua bristled, and Terris calmly began to explain.
“Professor Bernoua, are you familiar with any cases of non-magicians studying magic?”
“Excuse me?”
The odd question left Bernoua confused.
Terris explained in a matter-of-fact tone.
“My older brother was always very envious of me, having awakened as a mage from a young age. Not only that, but to have conversations with me, who spent every day immersed in magical studies, he himself started studying magic. What do you think the result was?”
“Well… that would be…”
Bernoua trailed off.
Terris nodded.
“Yes. Even after dedicating over twenty hours a day for five whole years, he was unable to achieve any scholarly success.”
“But that’s…”
Bernoua wondered if it was simply a matter of his brother lacking talent.
Terris, reading the unspoken but slightly rude question, gave a bitter smile.
“My brother’s name is Dior Ascart.”
“…!”
Dior Ascart—he was the empire’s sole prime minister, a man renowned for his genius financial sense and terrifyingly fast learning ability.
The professors were silent.
“Surely the prime minister dabbled in magical studies as a child…”
“It’s not a great secret,” Terris replied. “It simply wasn’t something to flaunt. In any case, this experience led me to a proposition I have committed to memory.”
Magically precise, Terris said:
“Magic is the study of the chosen. Those without talent, no matter how hard they try, cannot achieve anything.”
“-”
“Even if that person is a prodigy capable of becoming the empire’s singular prime minister.”
The professors fell silent at this brutally honest reality.
Magic is a study for the chosen few.
Although this was tacitly accepted as a given, none of them had imagined that even in academic study—far removed from combat—some would be unable to grasp it.
All of them were ‘chosen,’ and thus could not understand those who were not.
In the heavy silence, Professor Nikolai cautiously spoke.
“So, are you saying that student Escliff is… not a natural genius?”
“No, she’s certainly a genius.”
Selina Remembral shook her head in disagreement.
“Otherwise, we couldn’t explain her past grades and match results. But—”
“You mean it wasn’t without effort.”
“Yes.”
At Kiriel’s words, Selina nodded.
By this point, the professors had begun to suspect that Kiriel was proposing a hypothesis.
“If the young lady had dedicated herself to magical studies from an early age but failed to awaken magic and achieved nothing… then, conversely, isn’t it possible that the moment she awakened her power, all that effort suddenly blossomed?”
Tick. Tick.
As the clock’s second hand moved, he finished speaking.
The professors fell into contemplative silence, each pondering the idea.
“Could it really be true?”
“If so—”
“Then the treatment she received all this time may have been extremely unfair.”
One of them raised a hand to speak.
“But how do we explain her poor attitude during lectures if she was studying so hard?”
“Perhaps pride,” said Professor Yedi of Magical Circuits.
“She may not have wanted to show that she was putting in effort. Even if she did, her grades were always at the bottom.”
“Hmm.”
Some professors quietly nodded in agreement.
Those who nodded were generally the type who, no matter how hard they tried to earn a degree, could never achieve results beyond a certain level.
The higher one climbs, the more rigid the wall of talent becomes.
Brutal, but true.
Of course, the wall Kanis Escliff faced in the past was far ahead of where they had struggled, but it was not impossible to empathize.
“She’s truly remarkable!”
When everyone remained silent, Professor Nikolai suddenly stood up and exclaimed,
“To be capable of such effort despite achieving nothing! I respect that!”
His amber eyes sparkled.
“Well… yes, but—”
“Heh heh.”
Professors, knowing the bright naivety of the foreign, first-year Professor Nikolai, avoided his gaze.
Yet, at the same time, some silently agreed with him.
‘…He’s right,’ thought Selina Remembral, one of them.
‘Thinking back, she spent so much time alone in her room at the duke’s residence… Kiriel’s hypothesis makes sense. In fact, it’s almost certain.’
Indeed, Kiriel’s hypothesis sounded plausible to everyone.
Without this hypothesis, it would have been impossible to reasonably explain the astonishing academic performance the young lady now displayed.
“…Truly an extraordinary student,” someone muttered in exasperation, and everyone nodded.
“Then, can we predict the tournament results?”
“No, not really.”
However, opinions diverged regarding the winner of the tournament.
“Academically, her achievements reflect the fruition of her past effort. But in actual combat, experience matters, doesn’t it?”
“True, she struggled somewhat in her last match against Gongja.”
“Moreover, her body hasn’t yet been fully reconstructed as a mage. That will take time.”
The professors exchanged glances.
In the end, it was Kiriel who drew a conclusion.
“There’s no use speculating among ourselves.”
Indeed.
Even if professors debated, it would only be conjecture—essentially no different from students gossiping.
“Right, that’s true.”
“Haha. I suppose all these interesting developments have me excited.”
“That’s understandable. Student Escliff has caused quite a stir since her admission. Although it was initially a case of wrongful admission…”
Professor Edward of Practical Survival recalled the massive amount of magical beasts submitted for group assignments by Kanis’ team and smiled.
“Now, it’s fortunate we didn’t lose such talent. I shudder to think of the consequences had we missed her.”
Terris, agreeing with Edward, clapped his hands and summarized the situation.
“Then, let’s simply wait for the tournament results. That will conclude today’s gathering.”
<Tournament Finals>
Kanis Escliff vs. Daeon Grace
The finals scheduled for Friday were generating immense excitement.
Since Claude’s admission, the usual contenders for the Academy finals had been Claude and Daeon.
Yet after two years, a completely new name had emerged.
Students, professors, and even some socialites focused intensely on this upheaval.
Who would emerge victorious?
Discussions grew heated, with gambling even occurring behind the scenes.
However, the participants themselves remained remarkably calm, even up to match day.
Daeon, in particular, seemed unfazed.
“I won’t win.”
A male student, hearing this seemingly certain statement, asked,
“Still, couldn’t you win? Last time you faced Claude…”
“Maybe.”
Daeon shrugged.
“I just don’t know how she’ll treat me.”
What he meant was, “I don’t know how much Kanis will go easy on me.”
The student, failing to catch the nuance, tilted his head. Daeon smirked and walked away.
Kanis’ side, on the other hand, reacted differently.
“Sister, aren’t you nervous?”
Just before entering the waiting room, Mei grabbed Kanis’ sleeve.
“You were injured last time… and the Crown Prince might use tactics even more cunning than… Claude.”
“Hm.”
Kanis paused briefly at her sister’s oddly harsh, yet reasonable warning.
“To be honest,” she said, then admitted,
“I have no confidence.”
An uncharacteristically weak response.
“Huh?”
Seeing Mei’s astonished eyes, Kanis patted her shoulder and smiled.
“I said I’m not confident I’ll win.”
