Chapter 70: 70

The Devil’s Temptation

While geography and theology could be memorized, ancient languages were quite difficult. It was difficult to memorize even a single word because the meaning changed depending on the grammar.

Even when Sheila saw a list of decorative letters, her brain won’t accept them as words. She was amazed to learn that children of nobles were taught this kind of thing from an early age.

“I’m getting better at speaking, but spelling is difficult…. this stuff is just like a spell….”

Jornwerner, who had been working on his own research on the side, responded to Sheila’s resentful mutterings.

“Speaking of spells, are you interested in magic?”

“What? Um…. Ahaha, did I say that?”

Even if Sheila misled him properly, she couldn’t remove his gaze off of her.

Sheila had previously complained that she wanted to be able to read magic-related books in the library. Now, she deeply regretted the choice she made in consulting him at that time. She felt uncomfortable as if she was being held in a vulnerable position.

Jornwerner closed the notebook he used to scribble in.

“…..”

Sheila felt the nape of her neck heat up.

She overlooked it because she was in a supplementary class, but now she felt like she had been completely targeted for capture.

Jornwerner approached her with the leisurely gait of a bird of prey.

“Even if you want to study, you can’t read it, and you’re at a loss to get your hands on it….. Then, shall I teach you? Of course, I’ll get paid accordingly.”

Smiling, he gently touched her shoulder. Rather than just touching, it might be a sign that he won’t let her go.

As Jornwerner tilted his face, his smooth blue-grey hair spilled over his shoulders.

“…. I’ve been curious about your ability for a long time, so I’d like to know what it is. This was a gift from Claushezade, wasn’t it?”

Long fingers traced the bracelet. Slowly, as if they were touching the stones one by one.

It was obvious. He knew it was a magical tool to seal magic power.

Sheila felt that any further resistance would be futile. He was asking knowingly. It was pointless to try to deceive him.

‘Besides, I want to know…. I can’t understand a class about magic at all if I don’t know the basics.”

She was taking extra classes for the time being, but all the scholarship students probably couldn’t keep up. Unlike the nobles, who had been given the minimum skills and knowledge since childhood, they were listening to classes with no background.

Moreover, scholarship students were exempted from even tests because of their lack of magical power. That was why Sheila hadn’t taken any supplementary lessons about magic until now, and even when she asked Clauschezade to teach her, he had always refused, saying it was pointless.

If Sheila couldn’t fool him anyway, she might as well take advantage of the temptation. This would also benefit her.

Immediately, Claushezade’s face came to mind. She wanted to consult him now on what to do. But there was no time for that.

“――Who are you? Why can you use magic? If you’re not a mutant, then one of your parents must be a noble.”

Sheila slowly lifted her face and firmly looked Jornwerner in the eyes. The distance was closer than she had expected. Sheila gulped as she stared into his azure eyes.

“Magic power.…I don’t have it.”

Immediately, his eyes turned cold. Sheila hurriedly continued her words to the ruthless eyes that seemed to even have a murderous intent elaborated in the center of them.

“I’m not trying to lie to you. I really don’t have magical power.”

Even without clearly stating the facts, Jornwerner was quick to understand.

“――Is it something other than magic?”

As his eyes widened in surprise, Sheila told him.

Although she had no magical powers, she had mastered the art of using the spirits that had been passed down in the village of Denan. It was a power that could be obtained by living in daily gratitude to the gods and spirits. The power was usually sealed up by Claushezade, but since she was no match with swordsmanship alone, it was released only during the competency test.

Jornwerner seemed to be thinking furiously in his head while gazing blankly to the side. Eventually, he slowly turned his gaze back to Sheila.

“Hmm…. I see. I knew you were interesting.”

Jornwerner licked his lips, and Sheila fell back in her chair. She felt a sense of danger.

After staring for a while at Sheila, who was on full alert, Jornwerner returned to his usual smile.

“In other words, now that you have Claushezade’s magical tools, you can’t even show them off.”

“…. Y-yes, that’s right.”

“So, the bracelet that seals magic power is also effective for spirit arts? That’s very interesting. I would love to study the principles of spirit arts.”

With his mood completely back to normal, Sheila was finally able to relax her shoulders.

If he was going to research, she would even have the luxury to ask him to tell her what he had found out. Since the power was so commonplace and familiar, Sheila herself was unaware of the theory.

“Um, what’s the difference between magic and spirit arts?”

“Magic can be activated by collecting magical elements in the atmosphere. Nobles can do this, but commoners cannot. Perhaps it is because of blood. There happened to be a bloodline that could easily collect magical elements. That bloodline came to unite the have-nots. Perhaps that is the origin of this country.”

Sheila felt like she heard the word “magical element” from Felix before she entered school, but she didn’t remember it very well.

“It’s a new idea that even if you’re not of the bloodline, you can use magic with the help of spirits. This way, even commoners can use magic as long as they can gather the magical elements. This is more revolutionary than magic, which is biased according to each person’s background. There would be no reason for the powerful aristocrats to control the commoners. I see, it is indeed a very dangerous secret. I can understand why Clauschezade would want to keep it hidden….”

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Jornwerner might’ve been so overexcited that he forgot Sheila’s question.

Moreover, he casually called out Claushezade. The relationship between those two was still a mystery.

He calmed his excitement a little and turned to Sheila again.

“However, in terms of the principle alone, I feel that it is closer to divine arts[1] than magic. The divine arts are also a miraculous power obtained through prayer to God.”

The divine arts were a popular technique in the Faril Divine Kingdom. Sheila didn’t know the details of this art, except that it could produce amulets with divine blessings.

“So, what we are talking about as spirit arts, is it actually divine arts?”

“I can’t say that for sure. The only thing that can be done with the divine arts is to make defensive shields and to heal injuries. The rest is about making amulets.”

“What? You mean you can’t make fire or water?”

It seemed to be very different from what she had imagined.

Healing and creating barriers were difficult, even with magic, but it wasn’t impossible. In comparison, the divine arts seemed a bit inconvenient.

“That’s right. Even though the method is the same, the effects are different, so there must be a completely different element somewhere. I don’t know much about the divine arts, but―”

Jornwerner unexpectedly broke off his speech. He looked up into the air with stunned eyes.

“…. I see, it might be a resistance to latent magical power.”

“Eh?”

“Basically, the people of the Faril Kingdom don’t have a predisposition for magic. I thought they simply had the same constitution as the commoners of the Steitz Kingdom, but they may be a different species. You may be able to gather a small amount of magical elements, just not expressing it as power.”

Spirit arts had already proven that magic could be used as long as you could gather magical elements.

“When you think about it, the fact that Denan Village is located in the northeast of the country also makes a lot of sense. Perhaps your ancestors were citizens of the Faril and Steitz Kingdoms. Maybe that’s why the spirit arts combine the best of both divine arts and magic.”

Jornwerner’s eyes lit up at the idea.

“Anyway if my hypothesis is correct, even the nobles should be able to use the spirit arts. I’m not sure how much we need to pray to the gods and spirits, though.”

“We are made to pray even before we can remember.”

“I hear that even in the Faril Kingdom, there are various things like a baptism from childhood, among other things…”

Seemingly frustrated at not being able to verify the hypothesis immediately, Jornwerner showed an unusually sulky expression. He was quite childish and a little cute.

“By the way, why do you want to study magic so much, even though you have powers that are superior to magic?”

“It’s to become stronger. If I know the enemy’s hand, I might be able to come up with a way to break through.”

“…. I’m amazed that all you can think about is fighting. Even though it’s a great power with immeasurable potential….”

Even if you couldn’t use magic, you could avoid it if you understood it. Being able to predict what they were going to do next was pretty important in battle.

“It changes the way you fight someone with magic, you know? I wish I could teach it to Zechs and Bert.”

“In that case, it would be better to make the books in the library accessible to commoners than to have me teach more classes.”

Sheila blinked at Jornwerner’s suggestion.

“Why?”

“I don’t want to give extra lessons to other kids, and it’s also for the sake of future generations. Shouldn’t it be better if scholarship students who enter this academy in the future can browse freely?”

“I see…”

For a moment, Sheila thought it would be nice to start teaching the basics of magic to the scholarship students, but if she started making such a claim, it would likely invite unnecessary friction again. Sheila didn’t intend to fight against the way the academy existed.

“You can increase the number of friends who agree with your ideas and encourage them to read it. It’s a skeleton system[2] to begin with, so permission may be granted sooner than expected.”

“I understand. Thank you very much.”

Just as Sheila thanked him, the bell rang to announce that it was already five o’clock. In one hour, the school building would be closed.

“――Oh, sorry. In the end, you didn’t get any supplementary lessons.”

“No, I learned a lot.”

Jornwerner scratched his head. Sheila clenched her fist victoriously in her mind.

But when he suddenly pulled out a thick stack of papers, her eyes turned into dots[3].

“But don’t worry. I’ve prepared an ancient language dictation book just in case something like this happens. You have three days to finish it.”

Jornwerner smiled and pushed the book to her.

Sheila was utterly defeated by his handling skills and was devastated.

Translator Notes:

1. Previously, I translated it as “legal arts”, but as I read this chapter, I feel that it’s more appropriate to use the word “divine arts”. I’ve edited the previous chapter, sorry everyone! ↵

2. The term “skeleton” refers to a state in which “only the form remains, having lost content and significance. In general, it is a situation in which a rule has been established, but its original purpose has been lost, and the purpose of the rule is simply to maintain it. ↵

3. It’s an expression from a comic strip where the eyes are drawn like dots to express surprise. ↵ 

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