Her Royal Highness Seems To Be Angry Volume 1 Chapter 2

Here's chapter 2 of angery princess. It's still Sunday night for me so I'm still on time (technically). I decided to leave my description of the ill.u.s.tration for Muge in so you guys can see how the masterpiece came to be. Anyway, nothing else to say beside the usual buy the book to support the author if you like it.

Editor: Muge

Proofreader: Muge, Marv

Art genius: Muge

Chapter 2: Magic and Magecraft

The sound of the bell echoed in the cla.s.sroom that was still in a commotion. Leticiel rubbed her eyes while lifting her head. She had been sleeping relatively soundly since she was tired from all the events from this morning. She then began to stretch without a single care to her surroundings.

"U-um… Good morning, Drossel."

The girl sitting next to Leticiel called out to her.

She had brown hair in loose braids and lovely orange eyes. Leticiel's mind wandered to the fact that although they had spoken multiple times during the lecture, she had never heard the girl's name.

"…Could you tell me your name?"

"Y-yes! It's Mirandalette Lulu Wald!"

Leticiel's question caused the girl… or rather, Mirandalette, to flinch. I didn't eat or drink anything weird this morning though, Leticiel wondered as she gazed at the clock on the wall.

"What is the next cla.s.s?"

"Eh… It should be Practical Magic Studies at the Magic Training Field."

"…I see."

When she heard the phrase 'Practical Magic Studies', Leticiel was reminded of the first thing she had seen in the previous cla.s.s, that wretched Magic Formula.

A cla.s.s about using Magic in a practical setting would most likely entail practice using that same Magic Formula. To Leticiel, the thing she had seen was nothing more than a failure of a formula, but perhaps studying it was common sense for this academy.

However, a pure sense of curiosity sprang forth from Leticiel's heart; she wanted to see the result of that artistically horrible formula.

"By 'Magic Training Field', you meant we will have to move elsewhere, right?"

"Huh…? U-um… Drossel… Are you attending the Practical Magic Studies cla.s.s…?"

"Oh my, of course I am. It's a cla.s.s after all, right?"

After neatly placing back her textbook and stationary into her bag, Leticiel stood up. At this, Mirandalette's round eyes got even rounder; however, as the word 'student' referred to one who took cla.s.ses, Leticiel thought that as a student, her partic.i.p.ation in cla.s.s was natural.

"What's wrong? Let's go together."

"Heh…? O-okay!"

Mirandalette chased after Leticiel out of the cla.s.sroom.

Getting out to the hallway was easy, but beyond that, Leticiel had no idea how to get to the Magic Training Field. While thinking about where she should go, Leticiel decided to just start walking first. But, she was stopped by someone pulling on sleeve.

When she looked over her shoulder, Leticiel saw Mirandalette making an indescribably complicated face. Why is she making that face?

[Leticel while still in her walking animation looked back at mirandalette grabbing her left sleeve with her thumb and index finger while slightly leaning forward making a baffled/annoyed face]

"Mirandalette, what is this hand?"

"…This is the 'Magic-Training-Field-is-not-that-way' hand…"

"…I just happened to forget, okay?"

"Alright…"

While having that sort of unproductive exchange, Leticiel walked along the hallway with Mirandalette.

Mirandalette was not as afraid of Leticiel as she was in the morning. Although she was still acting timidly, Mirandalette was able to answer and even smile when Leticiel spoke to her. On the other hand, Leticiel still acted like she had left her amiability in her previous life.

Eventually, the two arrived before one of the two buildings next to the school. The one on the left that they were facing was the Magic Training Field, which would be used for the next cla.s.s. The building across from it was the Swordplay Training Hall.

Everyone in Elementary 2 had already a.s.sembled inside the field. Naturally, Christa and Rochefort were among them.

The moment Leticiel's figure entered her sight, Christa flashed her usual flower-blooming smile. For the people who only knew this face of hers, even if they had seen the Hannya face she had shown during the second period, they would not think that it was the same girl.

On the other hand, when Rochefort noticed Leticiel, he stared daggers at her momentarily before looking away with a scoff. Unlike Christa, it doesn't seem like he's two-faced. While observing people she had no interest in, Leticiel set foot onto the Magic Training Field's soil.

Shortly after, the bell marking the start of cla.s.s rang and the teacher in charge of the cla.s.s entered with a large burlap sack in hand.

"Oka—y, the cla.s.s will now begi—n."

He then dropped the burlap onto the ground and gave a strange signal. His eyes opened wide when he saw that Leticiel was among the students.

"…Miss Drossel, are you attending this cla.s.s?"

"Oh my, is it such a problem for me to be attending this cla.s.s?"

"…No, if you put it like that, there's no problem."

Drossel's unusual response prevented the teacher from saying anything further. He then looked away from her and turned his attention back to the rest of the students.

"Oka—y, I want to measure the Elemental Ratings of everyone's Magic Power toda—y. Since you don't have any Magic Power, please have a seat over there and observe, Miss Drossel."

After hearing that statement, Leticiel finally realized the meaning behind the words from Mirandalette and the teacher.

These two people knew that Drossel had no Magic Power, so the fact that she was attending this cla.s.s in the first place was strange to them. Additionally, the fact that no one else was observing meant that the only person that was without Magic Power in the cla.s.s was Leticiel.

With her head hanging, Leticiel followed the teacher's instruction and sat down on the bench at the end of the field.

The girl on the bench hugged herself as she started to tremble.

The teacher and the rest of the cla.s.s thought that Drossel was enduring the humiliation of being left out due to her own incompetence. While the teacher's eyes were filled with pity, the students looked at her with contempt and scorn, as usual.

The students firmly believed that what she had done earlier was simply a fluke. However, once again, they were very far from the truth.

"…Fufuu, fufufu… fufufufufu…"
Leticiel was trembling while hugging herself as she was trying her best to contain her laughter. The thing that was bubbling up from within her was neither humiliation nor sadness. It was a sense of excitement and joy to the point that she wanted to start dancing while laughing out loud right at this moment.

"Ahaha… It's no wonder that this body's Phenomenon Interference power and its function as a Medium were so horrifyingly high. Ufufufu…"

Because the bench she was sitting on was some distance away, Leticiel's muttering didn't reach the cla.s.s.

The declaration that she had no Magic Power had greatly moved Leticiel. For Magecraft, as long as there was Mana in the environment, its power could be invoked semipermanently. However, it still had one shortcoming, and that was Magic Power.

Almost everyone was born with Magic Power. However, it didn't have any special properties like allowing you to wield strange powers. It was simply a neutral force that circulated within the body like blood.

However, Magecraft pract.i.tioners needed to absorb Mana in order for their bodies to act as a medium for the process of transforming phenomena. Magic Power would hinder Mana absorption with the inhibition rate increasing alongside the pract.i.tioner's Magic Power. Back in her era, there were many people who focused on physical means of combat because their high Magic Power prevented them from using Magecraft in battle.

It was only natural. If they couldn't use Magecraft, their only option would have been to hone their skills in another way to fight.

'Magic Powerless' was the term used to refer to those who held no Magic Power at all. Back in Leticiel's old world, they were extremely scarce and were regarded as the greatest treasures.

In terms of how rare they were, there would be one in a hundred thousand. Even people with extremely low Magic Power were as rare as one in a few ten thousands.

Magic Powerless were the most desirable personnel for every country. Prominent powers would even go to the point of taking the loved ones of a Magic Powerless hostage in order to have them restrain or dominate other countries for them.

It was also only natural. The fact that they had no Magic Power also meant that there was nothing to hinder the invocation of Magecraft… in other words, they would be able to utilize Magecraft more freely than people with Magic Power.

When she was a princess, Leticiel had almost no Magic Power. It was why she was called the kingdom's greatest treasure, as well as why she was able to reach the t.i.tle of the Greatest Mage.

Now that she had been reborn, her current incarnation was a Magic Powerless. It was no exaggeration to say that her current body was born to use Magecraft. Drossel's body had an abnormal level of Phenomenon Interference power; as absorbing a vast amount of Mana hadn't strained it at all. Leticiel had wondered earlier why her current body's capability as a Mage was so high. In hindsight, being a Magic Powerless was the answer.

Without the Magic Power that would hinder the influx of Mana, her body could absorb as much Mana as she wished. In other words, this body could use whatever Magecraft it wanted to, whenever it wanted to. Because of this, whenever Leticiel's inner thoughts became unstable, this trigger-happy body would readily formulate a Magecraft based on her emotions. It was the reason that a Magic Powerless' Magecraft would run rampant until they consciously calmed themselves down. Leticiel decided to ignore this problem for now.

"…Haa, what a wondrous thing."

Leticiel fell back onto the bench and looked up at the sky as her expression loosened into a smile. Thinking about the fact that she would be able to use Magecraft freely from now on, she couldn't help but feel overjoyed. But she pulled herself together and returned to her original position, and began to observe the cla.s.s.

Leticiel remembered that the teacher had talked about measuring the Elemental Ratings of the students' Magic Power today. However, she had no idea what he would use to do that. Is it something to examine their Magecraft's apt.i.tude? Or is it something to ascertain which Elements they're strong or weak at?

"Oka—y, I want everyone to hold this to measure your Elemental Ratings."

It seemed the explanation had finished while Leticiel was doing her solo skit. The teacher then proceeded to call everyone's names one by one.

There were a ma.s.sive amount of palm-sized ice crystals in the burlap sack he had brought. Having that much must have meant that they were consumables.

Leticiel started to pay close attention to the cla.s.s. She observed a boy gripping an ice crystal with both hands after receiving it from the teacher.

The crystal immediately shone red for a few seconds before disappearing without a sound. Although she couldn't understand what had happened as she was seated far away, Leticiel noted that the boy was making a delighted face which revealed the result.

Leticiel kept watching attentively as the students' names got called one by one until the last student's measurement had concluded. Though to tell the truth, she didn't care about Christa and Rochefort's results, and chose to not pay attention during their measurement.

"Let's see—, it looks like the average Magic Power Rating is between 50 and 60. Unexpectedly, there were five people here with Ratings over 100 this yea—r. This is very promising."

There were four people, with Christa and Rochefort among them, standing side by side before the other students… although Christa was the only girl among them.

While the teacher praised the group as prodigies, their cla.s.smates started applauding to congratulate them with eyes full of envy and vexation.

The teacher's delighted face and the cla.s.smates' envious eyes left Leticiel's mouth wide open.

Unlike the other students, she wasn't envious of the group's Magic Power. But rather, Leticiel was puzzled as to why their cla.s.smates would be so envious of their high Magic Power.

Magic Power consisted of something called Elements. There were a total of eight Elements: Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Lightning, Light, Dark, and Void.

The first seven Elements were also referred to as the Elemental System. Void wasn't included as it had the broadest definition out of all the Elements, encompa.s.sing Systems such as the Body Strengthening System or the s.p.a.ce System. The Magecraft Leticiel used earlier to fix the carriage was also from the Void Element.

Furthermore, Magic Power also had something called Magic Power Rating relating to the Elements. Just as its name implied, it was the basis of how strong a person's Magic Power was for an Element. For example, someone with a high Fire Element Rating would find it difficult to use Magecraft from the Fire Element.

For Mages, these values are better the lower they are. Why are they that happy about having Magic Power Ratings over 100?

It was no exaggeration to say that if any Elemental Rating was over 100, it would be impossible to use any Magecraft from that Element. With a Magic Power Rating that high, the resistance would be too great and Mana couldn't be absorbed at all.

Leticiel was only able to agree with the teacher that it was unusual. It was truly unusual. People with extremely low Magic Power and people with extremely high Magic Power were both in the minority. Because of that, both prodigies and incompetents were rare.

"It was truly surprising. These two students have over 100 in the Fire, Water and Wind Elements…"

Leticiel unconsciously pulled on her cheek as she couldn't find any words to describe the unfathomable scene unfolding before her.

The teacher continued talking, leaving behind an absentminded Leticiel who was already beyond the point of being surprised.

"Moreover, Miss Christa has almost 300 in the extremely rare Light Element, while His Highness Rochefort has over 100 in every Element. Everyone should know this already, but it's difficult to use High Rank Magic if your average Magic Power Rating is below 100. Not to mention you need your Rating to be over 300 to be able to use Superior Rank Magic on your own. I've never seen Magicians in the making with this much potential before…!"

Christa's and Rochefort's cases were certainly rare; however, it was in a bad way.

Having Magic Power Rating over 100 in every Element meant that he couldn't use Magecraft in any Element. Rather than calling him a Mage in the making, it was more fitting to call him the enemy of the G.o.d of Magecraft. Even Leticiel had never seen anyone like this until now.

In addition, the age Leticiel lived in was an age where Healing Magic… in other words, the Light Element, was useful to all. That was why people with high Light Elemental Rating… which meant they couldn't defend themselves, were rare.

(…Don't tell me, 'Magic' and 'Magecraft' are different things…?)

Leticiel arrived at that conclusion; it was the only way to explain the scene before her.

If 'Magecraft' was widespread in this country, rather than being this delighted, they would be in despair as their life as a Mage had ended.

In that case, what in the world is this 'Magic' technique they're learning? People with low Magic Power are looked down on while people with high Magic Power are praised. It's the complete opposite of 'Magecraft'. What in the world is this 'Magic'…

"Oka—y everyone, please spend the rest of the the cla.s.s trying to use Magi—c."

The teacher's usual slurred speech pulled Leticiel back to reality and she returned her gaze to the cla.s.s in a fl.u.s.ter. Letting her mind wander whenever she didn't understand something was one of her bad habits. If she didn't understand something, then it was better to just simply study it, and the students practicing Magic were the perfect opportunity.

A cheerful air enveloped the cla.s.s as the students responded enthusiastically to the teacher's instructions.

The teacher then distributed the stack of papers he was carrying. While staring at that scene, Leticiel suddenly stood up from the bench.

"Excuse me."

"…Miss Drossel? Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Can you give me one of those handouts too?"

"…Hah? Uh, what would a Magic Powerless like you do with a Formula?"

Just like Leticiel thought, Sorcery… or rather, the thing called Magic Formula in this country was written on that paper.

"Oh my. As a teacher, are you going to go as far as extinguishing a student's curiosity? What I would do with it would be for me to decide afterwards, right?"

"…Indeed. Here you go."

After receiving the handout from the teacher, Leticiel promptly returned to the bench. She unfolded it and traced her eyes across the letters and shapes written on it.

"…Ahh, it's the thing I saw earlier."

Written on the paper was a Basic Fire Formula. And of course, it was the one from the last cla.s.s before Leticiel had corrected it, that s.h.i.tty Formula.

However, there was some text written below the Formula that caught her eyes. It read, 'O Magical Flame that flows through my body. Become a h.e.l.lfire that burns everything to nothingness. Converge at this hand and engulf my enemy.' …What in the world is this embarra.s.sing sentence…?

"Oka—y, everyone please memorize this Basic Formula, then try using Magic by chanting the script written below i—t."

The teacher began to explain the details to the students. Apparently, that embarra.s.sing sentence was a chant for using Magic.

The concept of chanting was more or less present in Magecraft. Due to the fact that the effects of Magecraft were controlled by the pract.i.tioner's imagination, people who were bad at visualizing would use chants to a.s.sist them in forming a mental image.

Of course, their chants would not be as long and as embarra.s.sing. While the exact chant would differ slightly from person to person, it would generally be something short and concise like 'O Flame, gather.'

"Then let's try using Magic now. Does anyone want to go first?"

"Here! I'll go first!"

The person who raised his hand was Rochefort. After receiving the teacher's permission, he stepped forward and turned around to look at Christa, as if he wanted to show something cool to the girl he liked.

Rochefort then stretched out his right hand forward and started to loudly chant while glancing at the piece of paper in his left hand.

"O Magical Flame that flows through my body! Become a h.e.l.lfire that burns everything to nothingness. Converge at this hand and engulf my enemy!!"

A ball of fire appeared from Rochefort's hand after he finished the chant. The ball then flew straight toward the target standing before him and hit it dead-center.

Poof!

Leticiel wanted to praise herself for not falling onto the ground after hearing that weak and pathetic sound.

When she looked at the target, she could only see that the center had been slightly charred. Leticiel could only stare in amazement at that pathetic level of power. Even a Basic Formula for Magecraft would have resulted in an explosion twice as powerful.

"Phew…"

"How magnificent, Your Highness! Without any training, you were able to hit the center, and with exceptional power, to add!"

"No, no, it wasn't that amazing!"

Leticiel's confusion was further deepened when the teacher praised that level of Magic as 'exceptional', along with Rochefort's elated expression.

From Leticiel's point of view, the attack was gaudy, yet the result was plain. Worst yet was its power; she couldn't fathom why it would be praiseworthy. Wait, he did hit the center of the target. Maybe his control was worth praising.

The chant was more embarra.s.sing than she thought. She didn't have as much of a problem when reading it; however, when she heard it with her own two ears, it was embarra.s.sing to the point that she wanted to faint in agony.

(What did my late husband call this kind of thing again… oh right, 'chuunibyou'.)

While still agonizing over that point, Leticiel continued her a.n.a.lysis of 'Magic'.

It seemed that unlike 'Magecraft' which took in Mana from the environment, 'Magic' was a technique that used Magic Power within humans as the fuel to alter phenomenon.

If Magic didn't rely on Mana, then having high Magic Power wouldn't be a bad thing at all. Or rather, having high Magic Power would mean that the amount of fuel they could use would be greater. It was no wonder that they would rejoice over that fact.

However, from Leticiel's perspective, the poor efficiency of this technique still astonished her. Magic that relied on the Magic Power that was decided by birth, or Magecraft that used the endless supply of Mana in the atmosphere. It was clear as day which technique would be easier to use.

However, that formula's Magic Power efficiency was rather poor. If they were limited to their own power, the formula should have been simplified even further to lower the consumption of Magic Power. And yet, this country's Magic Formulas had somehow become so convoluted.

At the current level of consumption, highly-destructive Magic would just be a pipe dream. Leticiel had no idea how they would even apply Magic this weak for battle.

"Oka—y, well then, who wants to go ne—xt?"

"Here! I'll go!"

"No! I'm next!"

"Wait a moment! Give me your turn!"

And just like that, the students quickly took their turn. Naturally, each and every one of them boldly recited the embarra.s.sing speech that chipped away at Leticiel's sanity, bit by bit.

Back in the previous era, Leticiel and her husband had played around a few times by pretending to be chuunibyou. The scene before her was forcing Leticiel to recall her dark past, and she could only groan in anguish.

On the surface, Leticiel was showing her usual expressionless face. However, inside her head, she could only wish for this cla.s.s to quickly end.

After an unknown amount of time had pa.s.sed, the Practical Magic Studies cla.s.s finally came to an end and her cla.s.smates stopped firing their magic.

While staring somewhere beyond those cla.s.smates, a dry smile appeared on Leticiel's haggard face.

After trying out the Basic Fire Formula, the rest of the cla.s.s had been spent on trying out Magic from the other Elements. However, as each of the other Elements had an equally embarra.s.sing chant, Leticiel's mind had simply ceased to function halfway through the cla.s.s.

Sitting alone at the corner of the training field was the Ice Demon with a refreshing smile on her face, as if she had achieved enlightenment. Witnessing this scene caused the cla.s.s to whisper to each other that she had gone insane.

In reality, they weren't far off the mark in some ways.

"U-uum… Drossel…? Are you okay?"

As the students left the Magic Training Field one by one, only Mirandalette was worried about Leticiel.

With her head still in the clouds, Leticiel suddenly thought about becoming friends with Mirandalette, even though she had no interest in other people since her transmigration.

"Yes… I'm fine. But, it's really strange. Even though I couldn't use Magic Power at all, why am I feeling this worn out…?"

"That's… really strange, isn't it…?"

"Say, Mirandalette. Don't you feel embarra.s.sed having to chant those kinds of phrases when you use Magic?"

"The chants? Well, it's embarra.s.sing, but… No, it's really embarra.s.sing, but…! You can't use Magic without chanting them, so I can only try my best to endure it…"

"Right… I don't really get it but, my condolences?"

"Why did you just arbitrarily kill me off?

Leticiel's eyes unconsciously wandered as Mirandalette was staring at her reproachfully. It seemed that even if Leticiel's emotions didn't show on her face, they would come out through her eyes instead.

"…What's the next cla.s.s?"

"Next cla.s.s is…"

"Ah, you! The silver-haired girl over there!!"

While Mirandalette was still speaking, a voice appeared from somewhere. Leticiel had no idea who that person was calling, but she was sure that she had nothing to do with it.

"It's you, yes you! Please don't ignore me! Miss Drossel!"

Leticiel came to a stop when she heard her name. It seemed the voice was calling for her.

When she looked in the direction of the voice, there were two men running toward Leticiel. One of them was the short and plump middle-aged teacher with a shiny head… or rather, it was the first period History teacher, and the other person was the second period Magic Formula teacher.

"Good afternoon. What do you…"

"You! The Duke's daughter, Drossel Noa Filiaregis! Please come with us for a moment!!"

The plump out-of-breath teacher grabbed Leticiel's arm and began to run with dreadful vigor. It seemed that she had no say in the matter. Mirandalette, who was left behind, stood dumbfounded at the sudden turn of events.

The students in the hallway were taken aback at the sight of the two teachers pa.s.sing by with the Ice Demon in tow. Thinking that she was to finally receive the educational guidance she deserved, the students once again came to their own conclusions and sneered at her.

As for Leticiel, she was forcefully dragged through the school by the two teachers until they stood before a single door.

There was a plate hanging on the door, which had the words 'Large Conference Room' written on it. Leticiel had a pa.s.sing thought that if there was a large conference room, then there would also be a small conference room as well.

"Huff… huff…W-we, we're here…!"

"Indeed we are. I don't think you had to be in such a hurry though."

"You're… thinking like that, right now…! Why are you putting on such a nonchalant air!!"

"…Difference in experience?"

"Difference in experience between a sheltered, 16-year-old n.o.ble daughter and a man in his thirties!?"

The plump teacher shouted with his head in his hands. The Magic Formula teacher was also looking at Leticiel with mixed feelings.

While they were running, Leticiel suspected that she didn't have the stamina for it and secretly invoked a Body Strengthening Magecraft. That was why even though she had been led by the two teachers who were running with all they had, she was neither tired nor out of breath.

Back in that age of war, stories about a ten-year-old girl being stronger than an old man in his forties was a normal thing. Leticiel had no idea why he would be that surprised.

"Anyway, are we going to go inside? Um… Mister Sparkly."

"Who are you calling Mister Sparkly! It's Valtorana. Mister Valtorana!!"

The plump middle-aged teacher yelled at the top of his lungs. Leticiel didn't know the teacher's name, so she just said what was on her mind, but it seemed to have angered him.

While Leticiel was at a loss as to what face she should be making, Valtorana opened the door and entered with a crestfallen and disheartened look, as if he had suppressed his anger.

"…Could you tell me your name too?"

Leticiel asked the remaining Formula Studies teacher.

"…Miss Drossel, you don't remember it?"

"I don't."

"Is that so… My name is Raven."

"I got it, Mister Raven."

Going through the opened door by Sparkly… or rather, Valtorana, Leticiel entered the Large Conference Room.

A large amount of people were gathered inside the conference room. Male and female, young and old, it was a diverse group of people. Perhaps they were all teachers of this academy.

"…Finally."

The man sitting on the innermost seat calmly opened his mouth. He had dark golden hair and deep blue eyes overflowing with vitality. His rugged face and firm muscles gave the appearance of an athletic person.

"…Um, you're the person from this morning."

That man was certainly the person who Leticiel asked about where she should go this morning. Those frank words unintentionally escaped her mouth.

"Oh… You're talking like that to me, the head of Lucrezia Academy."

"Oh my, I wasn't aware of that. My apologies."

"Didn't we meet during the entrance ceremony? Are you saying you've already forgotten?"

"That's right, I probably forgot about it right away since I had no interest in it."

Leticiel's aloof manner caused laughter to burst out within the conference room. Unlike the laughter from the other students that was filled with scorn, this one was a gentle laugh filled with relief.

"Kukuku… Your behavior is different, but it's still the usual my-way-or-the-highway att.i.tude."

"Oh, thank you."

"That was not a compliment… Well, fine. I'm Lucas Do Horacio. Remember it this time."

"I'll try my best."

While all the teachers were quietly keeping an eye on her, Leticiel responded to the Dean… Lucas' words appropriately. Although she had no interest in the Dean and the other teachers, she was interested in why she had been called here.

"Now then, let's move on to the reason you were called here."

"Okay."

"You, it seems that you rewrote a Magic Formula during cla.s.s. In that case, can you rewrite this Formula for me?"

After saying that, Lucas presented a small-scoped, yet complicated Formula with a large expression.

However, even if the scope had been increased, that complex Magic Formula would not change due to the fundamentals of the expression's calculation methods. Leticiel then received a quill pen from a teacher, and slashed through the Formula without any hesitation as if she was wielding a hatchet.

Leticiel simplified the expression while reducing the number of polynomials, ignoring the teachers who were not able to keep up. In the blink of an eye, she had finished rewriting the Formula.”

"…This is…"

Even Lucas was amazed by the Formula that only took Leticiel a moment to rewrite. He carefully went through through it once before raising his head to stare at Leticel once again.

"The Formula you just saw was a standard Magic Formula in this kingdom. What are your thoughts on it?"

"…Hah?"

Leticiel, who had been slightly on guard while antic.i.p.ating what Lucas would say, was so taken by surprise that she ended up with a foolish reply.

"It's fine for you to be frank. Unrelated people have been dismissed."

"Okay…"

Leticiel blinked. She couldn't understand why the Dean and the teachers would want to hear her opinion, but she felt that it might be a good opportunity.

While Magecraft and Magic were different fundamentally, the Formula they used were the same. If they said it was fine, then there was no reason to hold back. And she could just push all the responsibilities on the academy afterwards.

Leticiel made a gentle smile. It was finally her chance to correct their faulty knowledge.

Lucas and the teachers waited intently for Drossel's answer.

Compared to the old Basic Formula, the one rewritten by Drossel had superior Magic Power consumption and conversion efficiency, while lessening load on the processing circuit.

These Magic Formulas had been perfected since the founding of the Platina Kingdom and hadn't been modified once until now. Those very Formulas were easily rewritten by Drossel, who was supposed to be a poor student.

She had been given up on by her family, ignored by her surroundings, hated and shunned by everyone. The faculty was at a loss for words on how such a girl could have obtained that unknown knowledge. As people who taught others, there was no way they wouldn't be interested in that reason.

However, they would come to regret their curiosity before long.

"What I want to say, right…? Fufufufu… I can go on and on about that… thing."

A freezing wind silently whirled through the conference room. The faces of everyone in the room turned pale as an ominous chill crawled up their backs. However, as only Leticiel knew of Magecraft's existence, n.o.body realized she was the cause of that phenomenon.

Leticiel was angry. However, even though she was angry about the extremely inefficient Magic Formula, unlike what had happened during second period, her anger didn't erupt indiscriminately.

Although she was properly controlling her emotions by suppressing her anger, she invoked her Magecraft to restrain the surroundings. Leticiel had no intention of letting anyone escape from the conference room.

"I can start, right? First things first, this kingdom… well, it's probably the entire world, but I'll talk in terms of country first. This kingdom's Magic Formulas are a complete and utter joke. First, their appearance isn't beautiful at all. What's with those pointless mess of words and numbers? The point is not to make them complicated. The most important thing is the content of the formula. It's important to keep it as short as possible by only including the essential pieces. And then, Magic Power…? The conversion efficiency is the absolute worst. I was baffled time and time again that n.o.body questioned why the Formulas were so inefficient. In the first place…

(Omitted)

…To sum it up, you said this kingdom's Sorcery… no, Magic Formulas right? In any case, they're a blasphemy against Formulas themselves. Do you understand it now? Well then… that's all I have to say, but… Oh my? What happened, everyone?"

Leticiel, feeling refreshed after getting everything off her chest, looked around her. She was standing before the conference room's blackboard as she had decided to incorporate some demonstrations during her explanation.

Reflected in Leticiel's eyes was the aftermath of the chilling wind; those who had fainted, those whose eyes had lost focus, and those whose souls had left their bodies collapsed on their desks.Perhaps her Phenomenon Interference power had run amok again during her explanation.

(As I thought, it's hard to control a Magic Powerless' body…)

Amidst the disastrous state of the conference room that was comparable to the term 'scene of carnage', an indifferent Leticiel was thinking about something else entirely.

Aboard the sinking ship of teachers, only Lucas had been able to stay fully conscious. He was deep in thought with his chin rested on his hand. Looking at Leticiel with intense curiosity, he opened his mouth.

"…Hey, do you want to do Formulas research in a laboratory? I don't mind even if you do it as a club."

It seemed that even though she had spoken at length on the topic of 'What makes a Magic (Sorcery) Formula' until just now, her points hadn't reach him at all. And because of that, he tried to forcefully change the topic.

Incidentally, she didn't talk about Magecraft. To be more precise, she didn't have any spare time to talk about it. Leticiel had devoted herself in researching Formulas, furthermore, she had perfected them. When a research maniac who could talk about Formulas for an entire day was asked to talk about them, it was impossible for them to do something skillfully like weaving in another issue.

"…Um, were you listening to what I was saying? If you want, I could repeat it…"

"Wait. Wait wait wait, I'm not telling you to repeat it, I've heard more than enough! I'm saying this because I heard what you said!"

The sight of Leticiel ready to start talking again was enough for Lucas forcefully stop her without bothering to hide his impatience. As she was cut off, Leticiel backed down with a vexed face.

"I understand your points for the most part, but they're still views and theories that we've never even heard of before. Accepting them through your explanations alone would be impossible. That's why we must first do research and verify these claims."

"You're right…"

"No matter how many times you say it, we won't be able to understand your views. After all, it's impossible to believe what you've come up with on your own. But I'm interested in what you said. So I'm asking for your cooperation in this matter."

"Cooperation…"

In short, Lucas was saying that he was interested in what Leticiel said and wanted her to research it in detail.

When Leticiel thought about it, since her awakening as Drossel, she hadn't been able to immerse herself in her past life's hobby of researching Magecraft. If the academy would be willing to provide her the funding and equipment, then it would be a considerably tempting offer.

However, before giving Lucas her answer, there was something Leticiel had to ask him.

"Can I ask you a question first?"

"What is it?"

"What is a laboratory…? And what is a club…?"

Of course, Leticiel knew what the words laboratory and club meant. However, she didn't know what they would entail at Lucrezia Academy.

Lucas, with his mouth opened wide, silently exchanged a mute stare with Leticiel. As this was already her third experience with this awkward silence today, she paid it no heed.

"…I'll ask this just in case, but you really are a student of Lucrezia Academy, right?"

"Yes, it would seem so."

"…Both laboratory and club were also explained during orientation, did you pay any attention?"

"I don't really remember."

"…It was explained just over a week ago, you know? Or rather, why didn't you remember it?"

"Right… Maybe because I had no interest in it."

"You've only been talking in vague terms like that since earlier. "

After all, it was not Leticiel who had attended the orientation.

Of course, Leticiel didn't voice it out loud, but instead simply tilted her head, as if to ask him, 'What are you grumbling about?'.

Lucas ma.s.saged his temples. The sight of the girl practicing the saying of 'if nothing goes right, go left' made him realize that he had delved into something bothersome.

After that, Lucas taught Leticiel about the academy's laboratory and club system.

Every teacher belonging to the academy had their own laboratory to serve as their research facility as well as their private s.p.a.ce. Teachers would put something like a sign outside their laboratory to indicate their research objective and they would often be found in their own laboratory when not in cla.s.s.

As they could learn things not included in textbooks at a laboratory that matched their interests, it was not unusual for students who wanted to obtain more advanced knowledge and information to join a teacher's laboratory.

Incidentally, Lucas's laboratory's topic was 'Independent Research'. While it seemed like a sloppy topic at first, it was meant to urge students to study on their own and satisfy their own curiosity.

As for clubs, each of them were an organization formed by a group of students with the same goal. A club's purpose was to help each other improve while aiming for that goal.

In addition, unlike laboratories, there weren't many clubs at the moment. As this Lucrezia Academy was full of n.o.bles, many of the students would leave for parlors or tea parties and evening parties after school.

"…Even if you said that, you've been acting really strange, you know? Did you eat something weird? Or did you hit your head or something?"

"I just forgot for some reason."

"Hah? Even if you…"

"I just forgot for some reason."

"No, like I was saying…"

"I just forgot for some reason."

"It's impossible for…"

"I, just, forgot, for, some, reason. Do you understand?"

"Alright. You just forgot it for some reason."

In the end, Leticiel interfered with the Mana in the room for a little bit and caused a blizzard to form around only Lucas. When she pressured him with a wide smile, Lucas immediately swung his neck downward. She had already said that she had forgotten for some reason, she didn't want him to delve too deeply into it.

(Just now, it seems like I'm just answering all his questions with ‘I just forgot for some reason', doesn't it…)

Oblivious to the fact that she had been using the same excuse for everything so far, Leticiel once again employed the same tactic. She then started to put together her answer to Lucas's offer.

"Dean, I have a question about joining a laboratory. Will the academy provide all the research funds and equipment?"

"Ah, naturally. If it's just that, then there won't be any problems. I'm in charge of handling budgets and facilities after all."

"I got it. If it's under those conditions, then I'll accept the offer."

"Very well. Then I'll make the arrangements for the laboratory, so wait a bit."

"Thank you very much."

Hearing Leticiel's answer, Lucas nodded.

"Also, I would like to put the club on hold for now. I don't have any friends I can invite at the moment."

"Got it. You can do whatever you want. If you want, you could just make one. If you don't, that's fine as well."

"Okay, I'll do so."

At that moment, the sound of a bell could be heard from outside the room. Puzzled, Leticiel turned her head towards the entrance of the conference room and looked up at the clock.

"…Eh?"

The clock hanging on the wall was pointing at exactly one o'clock. Leticiel blinked repeatedly as she looked back in her memory.

Lucrezia Academy's first period started at nine in the morning. A cla.s.s was fifty minutes long, and there were ten minute breaks in between cla.s.ses. There were three cla.s.ses in the morning which ended ten minutes before noon. Between noon and one o'clock was lunch break and fourth period would start afterwards.

Leticiel had run to this room at the end of the third period, or in other words, ten minutes before noon. Even discounting the time taken to reach the conference room, Leticiel had been talking for an hour straight.

(Oh my… I had too much fun.)

Although n.o.body would be able to understand why she thought that frozen h.e.l.l was 'fun', there was no one in her mind to retort .

"…It looks like fourth period has started."

"That seems to be the case. You would be late regardless if you go to cla.s.s now, so let's just go to the cafeteria. I'm hungry."

After saying that, Lucas stood up from his seat and quickly headed out of the conference room. Leticiel was confused for a moment, but quickly followed after.

It was  then that Leticiel noticed that she hadn't had lunch either. Having been made aware of that fact, her stomach suddenly made a rumbling noise. Lucas, who was walking ahead of her, turned his head to look back at her with one eye. His eyes seemed to be smirking.

"Oh…? That was quite an admirable sound. So even the Ice Demon can act like a human."

"Oh my, even the Ice Demon is still a human inside. Getting hungry is simply natural."

"Hahaha… You're right."

"In that case Dean, with a muscular body like that, you must sound like the beats of a large drum when you're hungry."

"You… You're really not cute at all."

"Well, if you're looking for someone cute, then please find someone else. I've already left the thing called friendliness behind in my previous life."

"…You're talking about yourself, you know…"

While they were exchanging that sort of empty conversation, she earnestly crammed the locations of school facilities as well as the routes into her head. This was Leticiel's goal for going to the cafeteria with Lucas.

Meanwhile in the Large Conference Room…

"…O-ooow… My head, hurts… What just happened…"

"Aargh… I'm covered in sweat. What was that blizzard? Where did it come from?"

"A supernatural phenomenon? None of us used Magic, right?"

"Is it possible that… Miss Drossel is the cause of this?"

"…If I'm not mistaken, I heard Miss Drossel caused something to happen during second period as well."

"…But she's a Magic Powerless, you know? If you think about it logically… Wouldn't it be impossible?"

"You've got a point…"

"Anyway, my legs are trembling…"

"…Wait, everyone…! This is not the time to take it easy! Fourth period has already started!!"

""""Whaaaat!?""""

The teachers' screams resounded.

The first day at the academy since her transmigration had ended somewhat peacefully.

When the last cla.s.s ended, Leticiel hurriedly packed everything back into her bag and joined the stream of students leaving the cla.s.sroom.

When she reached the entrance dyed by the color of the evening sun, Leticiel was greeted with the sight of many carriages lined up next to each other. Among the carriages that were to take their n.o.ble masters home, there was one that stood out conspicuously with its family crest and gaudy exterior. It was the carriage of the Filiaregis Duke household.

She boarded the same carriage she had taken this morning and returned to the Duke's residence. Leticiel paid no heed to Christa, who had returned at the same time, as she headed straight for her room and dove into bed.

The fact that she had been thrown into an entirely unknown new world right after her death had mentally exhausted Leticiel beyond her wildest dreams. She rolled around on the soft and fluffy bed.

"Welcome back, my lady… Are you feeling alright?"

Ruvik, who had just entered the room, was greeted by the sight of his master lazing around and raised a worried voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just feeling a little tired."

After replying to Ruvik, Leticiel reflected on the events that had happened today.

Although she had learned many things about this world all day, it was merely a drop in the ocean. The state of affairs outside of the kingdom, the current political system, there were still many things Leticiel wanted to learn about.

"Hey, Ruvik. Besides reading books, what's the quickest way to obtain information about the kingdom?"

Without knowing why herself, Leticiel asked Ruvik that question.

Of course she would be able to obtain information from reading books; however, the information recorded in books wouldn't tell her much about the current state of society.

"Huh? Um, right… In that case, you can just read the newspaper, right?"

"…Newspaper?"

The unknown word made Leticiel tilt her head. Ruvik maintained an unconcerned face and continued on, as if overlooking why she didn't know what newspapers were.

"Y-yes… Newspapers inform you about events as well as special sales for the day. They're a valuable source of information for lower-cla.s.s people like us. However, the newspapers for n.o.bles and the newspapers for the ma.s.ses are two completely different things."

"Oh my, I have no interest in n.o.bles' newspapers. Ruvik…? Do you read the newspapers as well?"

"Yes. To tell the truth, reading up on the current events from the newspaper delivered every morning is a simple hobby of mine…"

While saying that, Ruvik seemed to be embarra.s.sed and scratched his head while smiling. It appeared that the fact that the ma.s.ses had little entertainment didn't change, even in a thousand years.

"I see. In that case, could you bring that newspaper thing to me tomorrow? I'm very interested in it."

"Hah… I understand. If you don't mind it being my copy, I'll bring it tomorrow."

Even after all that had happened, Ruvik still listened to Leticiel and earnestly offered his thoughts. Although Ruvik was the first person to have gotten involved with her following her transmigration, without any of Drossel's memories, Leticiel wasn't confident enough to be frank about her situation.

"Also… How about trying to talk to the townspeople? I have to live at this residence as part of my job so I couldn't tell you anything regarding this matter…"

But looking at the figure of Ruvik, who was contemplating Leticiel's question as if it was his own, Leticiel thought just for a moment that he might be someone worth trusting.

"I see. But I shouldn't be outside at this time of the day."

By the time Leticiel had returned home, the sky was completely dyed a scarlet hue. She had no intention to do something as reckless as going to the town just before nightfall.

"Say, Ruvik. Do you happen to know anyone who's well-informed about the state of the town?"

"Let me see… I do have a friend who commutes from the town, and if it's around this time then he hasn't gone home yet…"

"Well, that's good to hear. Where might your friend be right now?"

"Huh… My lady, you want to meet him right now…?"

"Oh my, it's fine, right? If your friend has yet to go home, then he should be somewhere around the residence, shouldn't he?"

After deciding that, Leticiel promptly left the room with Ruvik in tow. She heard from Ruvik that his friend worked as the residence's head gardener, and that he'd be conducting the final check on the plants in the garden around this time.

"…Ah. My lady, there he is."

When they got to the garden, Ruvik raised his voice. His eyes were pointed to the back of a rough-looking muscular man squatting before the flower bed.

"Cloud!"

Hearing Ruvik's voice, the man called Cloud stopped moving his pruning shears and turned around.

After locating Ruvik's figure, the man was about to raise his hand, but caught himself when he noticed Leticiel standing behind Ruvik, and immediately stood up while putting his hand down.

"O-oh! Lady Drossel, it's rare to see you at such a place, what can I do for you?"

"Cloud, my lady is interested in the current state of the town, so she wants to hear about it from you.

"Huh? F-from me…?"

Cloud's eyes opened wide, having heard a request he would never have expected to come from a Duke's daughter.

"Yes. I wanted to go there myself, but it's already this late."

"I see, so that's the reason… However, I can only tell you about the area where I live."

"Oh my, that's more than enough."

In the orange-dyed garden, Leticiel and Ruvik had a lively conversation with Cloud.

Both Ruvik and Cloud held no prejudice towards Leticiel at all. Without being patronizing, they seriously answered any question she had, no matter how trivial they were, to satisfy her curiosity.

As she spoke with the two servants who didn't shun her like the others of this residence in a completely unknown world, Leticiel felt it was the first time she had a peace of mind.