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Chapter 49
Jaeyllin steadied herself and opened the classroom door.
As the door swung open, the noisy scene inside came into view. The lecture hall was packed wall to wall with students who had come to witness the investigation committee.
Jaeyllin froze. She hadn’t expected to explain herself in front of so many people.
As she stepped inside, dozens—hundreds—of eyes fixed on her all at once.
Her palms broke out in a cold sweat under the crushing weight of their stares.
Between the faces of the crowd, she caught brief glimpses of Stephan, Adrian, and Nathan.
Hesitantly, she made her way to the empty center of the lecture hall.
Moments later, five academy professors who made up the Investigation Committee entered and took their seats at the desk before her.
“Quiet, quiet! Students present, please remain silent so proceedings can continue smoothly.”
Today’s chairwoman, Ines—the Head of the Department of Magical Engineering—rose from her seat to call the noisy students to order.
Once the commotion had died down, she continued.
“We will now begin the investigation into the allegation of cheating by Miss Jaeyllin Britson during the Monster Defense mock midterm exam. The student who filed the petition for this inquiry, please step forward.”
At her signal, a male student emerged from the crowd and stood beside Jaeyllin.
He had sharp features and a neat, polished appearance.
As Ines sat back down, she smoothed her tightly bound hair, not a single strand out of place, and gestured for the student to begin.
Receiving the signal, the student straightened his shoulders confidently and addressed the hall.
“Greetings, respected professors and fellow students. I am Rowan Archfield, a third-year in the Department of Law. Concerns have been raised among the student body that Senior Jaeyllin Britson may have used dishonest methods during the fourth-year Monster Defense midterm exam.”
The audience began to buzz at Rowan’s words.
“All of you here study day and night, pushing yourselves to the limit, in order to receive even slightly better evaluations. To undermine such effort by acquiring grades through dishonest means is absolutely intolerable. Senior Jaeyllin Britson, I urge you to cease conduct that disrupts the Academy’s order and damages its fairness. I call on you to correct your wrongdoing through apology and reflection.”
His confident gaze and voice, brimming with conviction, carried more persuasion than expected.
The more he spoke, the more Jaeyllin’s shoulders hunched.
Her timid posture only made her look guiltier when compared to Rowan’s bold presence.
“Through this inquiry, I intend to expose the truth and uphold the founding principle of the Academy, declared by our founder Pelodian Winona: ‘Nothing is more important than justice.’ I ask for your support, fellow students, and for the professors’ fair judgment. Thank you.”
“Here, here!”
“That’s right!”
Thunderous applause broke out among the students.
When the cheers died down, Ines rose again.
“What the student says is true. However, suspicion alone is not enough to pursue charges. Concrete evidence is required. Please present the evidence that Miss Jaeyllin Britson cheated.”
“That part will be handled by my peer, Rozia Libelor, who is well-versed in magical design.”
Rowan stepped back, and another student took his place. She had bright, cotton-candy-pink hair and a sweet appearance.
“Hello, I’m Rozia Libelor. As evidence of Senior Jaeyllin Britson’s misconduct, I present the official exam records from the Monster Defense midterm. These are publicly available in the community archive, so I won’t be submitting them separately.”
As soon as Rozia finished, Professor Wallace—the instructor in charge of the Monster Defense course—spoke up.
“Is that all? Miss Rozia, please provide more detailed context. When I reviewed the records myself for grading, I found no major issues.”
Flustered, Rozia let out a nervous hum and glanced back at Rowan for support.
But Rowan had no intention of helping.
As a student from the general department, he knew little about the intricacies of magical design. He had stepped forward only because dozens of other students were already pushing to brand Jaeyllin as a cheater.
Truthfully, he didn’t care whether she had cheated or not.
After all, he wasn’t even enrolled in the Monster Defense course—it had nothing to do with him.
But if it turned out she had cheated, Rowan stood to gain prestige as the one who had initiated the inquiry.
If she was guilty, he won. If not, he lost nothing.
So Rowan merely gestured for Rozia to continue, as if to say, Don’t worry, I’ve set the stage. The rest is up to your department.
Resigned, Rozia turned back to the committee and began listing the suspicions that had circulated widely online.
“Um… Senior Jaeyllin Britson repeatedly cast spells during the exam that should have been impossible to realize with magical design alone. The first case is when she made the Silent Spell—a repeating spell circle that can only be drawn as a fixed array—move as though it were mobile. You can see this implementation early in the exam record.”
At her words, several professors on the committee accessed the community archive and pulled up the records.
Professor Köln, the Academy’s senior magical design specialist, pushed up his smudged glasses and asked Jaeyllin,
“Er… did you overlay a tracking spell onto the Silent Spell? Even so, since it’s a repeating spell, the circle should freeze in place once executed. Do you have the design you used at that time?”
Jaeyllin handed over the prepared schematics. The professor studied them silently for a long while, brows knitted.
Had she done something wrong? The longer he scrutinized the page, the more Jaeyllin’s anxiety grew, until she swallowed dryly.
“Er… why is this diagram so blurry? I can hardly read it.”
“Clean your glasses, professor,” Wallace suggested from beside him.
Köln wiped his lenses hastily on his shirt and slid them back on.
“Ha! Much better.”
Jaeyllin exhaled a small sigh of relief as he flipped through the schematics, examining the formulas.
“Explain why you designed it this way.”
“T-to move a fixed spell circle, I used… used a virtual space. I fixed the repeating spell inside the virtual space, and for the unstable links I applied Pelodian Winona’s stabilization method to resolve the issue.”
“Hooh… and your name is?”
“J-Jaeyllin Britson.”
With a curious expression, the professor adjusted his glasses again and asked something entirely unrelated to the case.
“Er… have you thought about enrolling in the advanced research program after graduation?”
“H-huh? No, I’ve never really thought about that…”
Jaeyllin had never allowed herself to think that far ahead. Just surviving each day to reach this point had been overwhelming enough.
She had no room to consider her future.
“You really should. Talents like you must continue in magical design. Too many people abandon it because they say it doesn’t make money—but this is the foundation of all magic! We need dedicated scholars to advance it for the good of the Empire. Copying old rune designs contributes nothing—we need innovators like you.”
“Professor, now isn’t really the time—”
Wallace tried to cut him off, but once Köln started, there was no stopping him.
“These days, everyone flocks to applied magic because it’s profitable and prestigious. Magic, magic, magic! But they ignore the truly important discipline! Tsk, tsk.”
The old professor, who had devoted his life to design, grew passionate as he lectured on the importance of creating new rune systems.
The applied magic professors looked uncomfortable, but said nothing.
When his tirade finally ended, he began rambling about the advantages of the research program—funding for independent studies, freedom from imperial oversight, and so on.
Thankfully, Chairwoman Ines intervened to stop him.
“Professor Köln, this committee was convened to investigate allegations of misconduct. Perhaps we should stay focused on determining the student’s innocence or guilt?”
“Eh? Ah—of course, of course. Forgive an old man his rambling.”
“So, to confirm, you find no problems with this diagram?”
“Indeed. None whatsoever.”
“Then let’s move on to the next suspicion. Miss Rozia, what is it?”
“…The second issue is that Senior Jaeyllin Britson managed to bring down a flying Kelastine in a single strike using just one design.”
Rozia’s voice faltered, as if drained. The professors had too easily dismissed the first accusation, leaving her momentum shaken.
But this second claim truly did seem implausible.
Most of the students gathered to watch were surely thinking the same.
