Chapter 33. The Magic That Always Wins
What kind of wand gets thrown like a hidden weapon?
The freshmen who saw the wand stuck in the wall closed their mouths.
Professor Lilian was smiling brightly as she looked at the freshmen who had just been chatting.
“We’re sorry for chatting, Professor.”
The freshmen, sensing something was amiss, apologized.
Otherwise, it felt like the next thing the wand would be stuck in wouldn't be the wall, but their own mouths.
“Yes. Please be careful next time.”
When Professor Lilian gestured, the wand returned to her. Lilian flicked the tip of the wand as if nothing had happened.
As expected, the magic power detected earlier was definitely Professor Lilian's. Every time Radel concentrated, he could feel an immense magic power that couldn't be hidden from Professor Lilian.
'She's formidable.'
Now, everyone in the classroom was focused on the single professor standing on the podium.
Professor Lilian cleared her throat and began her self-introduction.
"Ahem, I am Lilian Merchent. The subject I will be teaching is Combat Magic."
Lilian looked around at the freshmen and asked.
"Does anyone know what Combat Magic is?"
Students who looked smart raised their hands.
Many of the freshmen who had entered the academy had already learned some magic. For them, it was too easy of a question.
When Professor Lilian allowed them to speak, answers poured out.
"Isn't it magic to subdue an enemy?"
“It’s magic to attack an opponent when a fight breaks out.”
However, after listening to the answers for a while, Lilian shook her head.
“You’re all wrong. Combat Magic is not that sloppy.”
At the same time, an immense aura poured out from Lilian.
The freshmen, who were directly hit by the energy she was emitting, felt a sensation as if their hair was standing on end.
No one could explain this chilling feeling.
It was the same for Radel and Gusto. Although they had encountered enemies many times while training their swords, it was completely different from the killing intent they felt then.
"I just thought that I wanted to crush all of you."
The aura emanating from Lilian's small body began to recede little by little. Only then did the freshmen escape from the terrible tension they had felt until a moment ago.
"Did I use magic?"
“N-no, you didn’t.”
At the freshman's tense answer, Lilian nodded.
"That's right. I didn't use magic, nor did I swing my wand. I just thought."
Professor Lilian's words continued.
“Magic is changing the will of the world. To do that, you must be able to break the enemy with your own strong will. That is the core of Combat Magic.”
Hearing those words, Radel could tell what an amazing magician Lilian was. Did that mean she had just tried to change the will of the world with just her thoughts?
“So think from now on. That you can win. What we will learn is the magic that always wins.”
Professor Lilian smiled shyly as she said that.
"Of course, that would include the certain death of the enemy, right?"
At the sight of Professor Lilian emphasizing the word death, Radel changed his opinion of her once again.
Professor Lilian Merchent was a great magician.
And a dangerous magician.
* * *
A short break.
The freshmen were chatting about Combat Magic.
“Wasn’t that cool just now? I think Combat Magic is pretty good.”
"This is completely crazy. Aren't we going to die every day if we take Combat Magic?"
After the freshman adaptation period ended and they officially became academy students through a re-evaluation, the choice of major was waiting for them.
As there were various kinds of magic that could be learned at the academy, they had a semester to explore their major by taking the subjects they wanted.
They were taking Combat Magic now because it was a required course during the freshman adaptation period, but it was clearly a subject that attracted the freshmen's interest.
"I don't really like it. To have to attack an opponent until they die……."
"Didn't she say there was no talk of attacking until they die?"
The freshmen were interested in Combat Magic, but they also felt fear.
“What about you, Your Highness? Are you interested?”
Radel pondered Gusto's question.
"It's not bad, but I'll have to listen more to know. What about you?"
"I'm interested. Actually, my goal is to become an Inquisitor."
……So that's how it was.
He wanted to become an Inquisitor.
But of all the jobs, an Inquisitor……?
Radel hid his flustered feelings and cheered for Gusto.
“You can do it, Gusto.”
“Thank you.”
Radel felt complicated as he watched Gusto smile.
Although the misunderstanding with the Supreme Deity Order had been cleared, he couldn't help but flinch reflexively at the word 'heretic'.
Creak!
As if the break was over, the front door opened and Professor Lilian entered again.
"Now, this time I've prepared illusion magic to help you understand."
When Lilian swung her wand, the classroom darkened and an illusion of a skeleton appeared in the middle of the classroom.
A representative undead and a skeleton monster that revives over and over again. It was difficult to deal with because it was usually summoned by necromancers or devils and moved in groups.
“We will also learn about our enemies. Devils, various monsters, and heretics.”
Along with Professor Lilian's voice, the illusion changed to show skeletons rushing towards people.
People fell helplessly before the attack of the suddenly appearing skeleton army.
It was a realistic illusion, to the point where the students clenched their fists and tensed up.
"Skeletons may seem easy to deal with, but they are definitely not."
Soon, an army appeared to stop the skeletons, formed a formation, and finished them off.
At that sight, the students breathed a sigh of relief.
"It's too early to be relieved. What is the biggest characteristic of skeletons? It's their regenerative power."
Soon, with a sound of the air tearing, a necromancer appeared in the illusion.
When he chanted a spell, the skeleton bones that had fallen to the ground rose up. And in an instant, a skeleton army was completed again.
“As long as there is evil magic power, skeletons can fight as much as they want.”
As soon as Lilian's words ended, the revived skeletons charged again. The soldiers tried to fight back, but they fell helplessly before the continuously rising skeletons.
The necromancer's cackling laughter filled the air above them.
"Oh my god……!"
The freshmen gasped in fear.
Although it was just an illusion, the necromancer's appearance was threatening enough.
Blue veins stood out on the pale face that was faintly visible between the black robes.
The necromancer cackled and walked around the classroom.
When the illusion passed in front of the freshmen, some were so surprised that they knocked over their chairs.
An army defeated by the undead.
The necromancer's laughter.
The situation was desperate.
"But, what would happen if there was a magician here."
Lilian snapped her fingers.
The illusion showed a single magician blocking the path of the skeletons.
Although the skeletons poured out endlessly, the magician was not afraid. He calmly raised his wand and chanted a spell.
When the necromancer gave an order, the skeleton army rushed towards the magician.
At the same time, the spell was completed!
A huge bolt of lightning fell from the sky and the ground became a sea of fire.
The freshmen let out a sigh of relief as they watched the magical flames that surged and burned away the evil.
"See? A single proper combat magician is like an entire legion."
The illusion ended with Professor Lilian's words.
“This is why we must learn Combat Magic.”
When the illusion ended, unlike during the break, the freshmen's eyes sparkled.
They had never seen a magician play an active role in a large-scale battle before. They couldn't help but feel their hearts pound at the sight of a single magician wiping out a skeleton army with magic.
However, there was also a freshman who was thinking differently.
Radel, worried that he would be hit by Professor Lilian's wand, wrote what he wanted to say on a note and showed it to Gusto.
'A necromancer is also a heretic, right?'
'Yes.'
It was as Radel had expected.
However, just because his prediction was correct, it didn't make him feel good.
The fact that he had once been suspected of being the same kind of being was not pleasant. It was even more so when he saw the pale and bizarre appearance of the necromancer.
'I need to change my image.'
No matter how much it was because Kirio didn't know Radel well, it was a fact that he had been suspected of being a heretic.
This was all because of the gloomy rumors.
Radel resolved to be kinder to his classmates in the future in order to make friends smoothly.
Just then, someone raised their hand.
“Professor, I have a question.”
It was Leon.
Professor Lilian nodded.
“What is it?”
"In my opinion, in a situation like that, it would be faster and more efficient to attack the necromancer rather than the skeletons……. Is that not so?"
Professor Lilian's eyes lit up when she heard Leon's question.
“That’s a good approach. But you’d have to be prepared to kill him in one go, right? You also have to consider that he’s already given an order to the skeletons. They’ll continue to attack people until the necromancer’s magic power runs out.”
Lilian thought for a moment and then added.
“Hmm, I can’t really recommend it. It can be dangerous if you’re not used to personal combat. You’re not at that level yet.”
Professor Lilian, looking around at the freshmen who had not yet experienced proper Combat Magic, clapped her hands as if she had a good idea.
"That's right! Since practical practice is important in Combat Magic anyway, it would be even better if there was a goal, right? You can also get used to personal combat!"
Her eyes sparkled with life.
“You all know that you’ll be choosing your major next semester, right? I’ll properly show you the charm of Combat Magic so that you can choose well then.”
Radel had a somehow ominous feeling at her following words.
“Think about who you want to fight in your class until the next class. It would be good to spend a month thinking about that person and practicing how to defeat them.”
Is Combat Magic really a good thing?
In Radel's opinion, it seemed like it would be a perfect way to start a fight, rather than getting along harmoniously with their classmates.
It also seemed like an unknown tension was spreading among the freshmen after hearing Professor Lilian's words.
Lilian said with a smile.
“You all have one, right? An opponent you really want to win against. Because I also have someone like that.”
Radel didn't know who the opponent the professor wanted to win against was, but he sincerely felt sorry for them.
"Or someone you want to kill?"
Professor Lilian's face, as she said that, was somehow chilly. As expected of a Combat Magic major professor, it seemed she was always thinking about combat with all her heart.
However, Radel had no opponent he wanted to win against, nor an opponent he wanted to kill.
He just wanted to survive well and live comfortably.
Radel somehow felt that Combat Magic did not suit him.