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“Everyone, it’s been a while. Since I don’t see any unfamiliar faces, I take it that you all had a good break.”

The homeroom teacher spoke as he surveyed the students sitting in the classroom during the first roll call of the second semester after several months.

“Well, if anyone didn’t have a good time and needs to talk, feel free to come to me anytime. Since it’s the first day, let me give you a brief overview of the second semester.”

Ferrent, who held a pen in his hand, continued speaking while scratching something on the blackboard.

“One of the biggest changes from the second semester will be the interaction with other departments.”

“Does that mean we’ll be able to attend classes with the Saint?”

When a male student raised his hand to ask, the nearby female students began to whisper and look at him.

“No! I could just be curious, right? Am I the weird one here?”

Unfortunately for him, who suddenly became the enemy of the girls, there’s no one here willing to support him.

Of course, the other male students were waiting for Ferrent’s response instead of scolding him like the girls. However, they weren’t ready to sacrifice their own chances to face the wrath of the girls by defending him.

They were probably more pleased to get their curiosity satisfied at his expense.

How do I know this?

Because I’m just as curious.

“Haha! Bad news for you boys. The Theology Department is quite closed off, so there won’t be any joint classes. And since the Saint is in her second year, even if there were joint classes, you wouldn’t see her. So the departments you need to pay attention to are the students from the Magic Department and the Administrative Department.”

Ferrent wrote ‘Magic Department’ in large letters on the blackboard and emphasized it by tapping it several times with his pen.

“Especially the students from the Magic Department! Wizards are often quirky characters, so you should be careful. Back in my day, a Magic Department student once cast a curse on a knight student making everything taste bitter for him, no matter what he ate.”

Hmm… I suppose thanks to that incident, I lost about 10 kg.

Ferrent nodded to himself, obviously recalling something, and although it was amusing to see him talk about it as if it happened to someone else, no student had the guts to point that out.

“But don’t be too disappointed! As you all know, there’s the biggest event of the year in the second semester.”

Next to the words ‘Magic Department,’ he wrote the word ‘Celestial Festival’ even larger.

“Yes, just one day a year. On the day of the Celestial Festival, our Saint will pray to the Goddess. You’ll get to see her, even if it’s just from afar. Of course, you’ll likely be pushed back to the farthest away spot to see her.”

The Celestial Festival can be considered a kind of festival.

To be more precise, it’s one of many events dedicated to praying to the Goddess, but it’s also combined with a grand festival due to its scale.

The week-long celebration ending with the Celestial Festival is the biggest event at Griffin Academy.

With students who enjoy having fun, having the biggest event means the festival aspect is naturally amplified, but the part about praying to the Goddess inevitably remains unchanged.

Moreover, as I’ve mentioned before, the current Griffin Academy has the Church’s saint studying here.

Since she rarely comes out of the temple, very few have actually seen her face, but on the day of the Celestial Festival, you will be able to see the Saint’s face.

If the Saint weren’t here, the elderly head of the Theology Department would’ve been the one praying…

I guess I should be thankful that I’m attending the Academy at the same time as the Saint.

“By the way, Selian, have you ever met the Saint?”

Aren’t the Hero and the Saint a difficult combination to separate?

Even if she’s still a ‘Candidate’ for the Hero, I decided to ask Selian, who is practically the Hero herself.

“Of course, we met…no way, right?”

Isn’t it usually the other way around to say such things?

I had my hopes up just from hearing the first part, only for her to crush them like that. Truly, Selian has a knack for wordplay, just as much as she has for swordsmanship.

“Really? But when Selian gets chosen by the Holy Sword and the Goddess and officially becomes a Hero, all this will become meaningless.”

By that time, maybe I could ask her to use her connections to get a signed piece from the Saint.

*

After that, there wasn’t much noteworthy content.

Other than giving some introductions about a few major events in the second semester, there wasn’t much else to focus on in terms of academic matters except for what was mentioned about the joint classes.

And the classes continued from the first day.

“While you probably just learned theory in the first semester, starting from this semester, you’ll have to be capable of manifesting some basic magic. Learning basic magic is quite useful in many ways, so it’s best to learn it.”

A professor from the Magic Department, who I had never seen, came to teach from beyond the podium.

In fact, if it were any other student, it would’ve been all new to them, but for me, the person lecturing in front was hardly a stranger.

That’s because she is my boss.

I had heard rumors that for various reasons she hadn’t been taking classes, leaving her title of professor hanging, but for some reason, Frecia entered the class.

I was somewhat surprised since I hadn’t heard about this from her the last time we met, but I felt happy seeing her in the classroom.

And watching her lead the class from the podium, the fact that Frecia is a professor in the Magic Department really sank in this time.

“If you want to manifest one of the most fundamental magics, Light, using the magic circle, you would do it like this…”

Frecia began to draw the magic circle for the Light spell on the blackboard with her pen.

However, because Ferrent had adjusted the height of the blackboard to fit his own height earlier, the space available for Frecia to draw the magic circle was limited.

She was reaching as high as she could, trying to draw it as simply as possible, but given the height difference, it looked like even that was quite difficult.

She could lower the blackboard using the adjusting mechanism next to it, but Frecia, unfamiliar with stepping into the classroom, seemed unaware that such a mechanism existed.

Of course, one of the students could have mentioned that fact, but everyone was quietly watching, seemingly sharing the same thought.

Watching Frecia bouncing up and down desperately trying to complete the magic circle on the board was quite adorable.

In the end, perhaps giving up on drawing the magic circle with her pen, Frecia used her mana to draw the magic circle in the air and projected it onto the blackboard.

It might be a waste of mana, and perhaps magic, but for someone as talent-rich as Frecia, it wouldn’t be a big deal.

“Now, everyone try to draw the magic circle in your magic notebooks and infuse it with mana. If it’s not working or seems strange, speak up immediately.”

The students diligently tried to draw the magic circle on their notebooks while glancing back and forth between it and the blackboard.

I also tried to follow along and draw it, but since I wasn’t very familiar with magic, even the relatively simple Light magic circle took several checks against the board before I completed it.

As I subtly turned my head to look at Selian sitting next to me, she seemed so familiar with this kind of magic circle that she completed it almost instantly and produced light with an expression of boredom.

Realizing I couldn’t lose, I too completed the magic circle and tried to infuse mana into it.

However, instead of a sphere of light appearing, only a small puff of smoke came up with a soft pop sound.

I could hardly identify the differences between the magic circle drawn on the blackboard and the one in my notebook while trying to compare them.

Thinking that perhaps there was something off when infusing mana, I checked again, but I could only get more smoke rising.

As I sunk into contemplation, Selian, who had already manifested the Light spell beautifully, approached me closely and offered to help.

Perhaps she felt pity seeing me struggling with such simple magic.

Following her suggestion, I examined the magic circle, and indeed, I started seeing minor differences between my drawing and the one on the blackboard.

“Here, the line extends outward…”

“Chatting is prohibited during class.”

While Selian was pointing out the issues with my magic circle, Frecia approached us and gave a warning.

“The thing is, I was just helping because my friend here is having a tough time…”

“That’s the role of the professor, so let me handle it.”

It seems she wanted to look after me seeing that I was having difficulties with the content of the class, especially since I am learning magic from her.

“No, it’s just a simple issue, so you don’t need to go out of your way, Professor.”

“No. Even if it’s simple, if a student doesn’t understand, I can’t simply ignore it as a professor. Elisia, I’ll take care of teaching you.”

“You really don’t need to…”

“As the professor, I…”

For some reason, the two seemed to be at odds over who should teach me, and I wondered if that was a bit too self-conscious.

Meanwhile, noticing the attention of those around us shifting our way, I felt my face heat up and wished they would stop.

“Professor! I don’t understand this part!”

In the midst of this, a student from the front row raised their hand and asked a question.

And along with that, a snickering sound from Selian could be heard.

“You just said you couldn’t ignore students who don’t understand, right? It seems they’re calling for the professor over there?”

“Kugh…”

Why is Selian wearing such a triumphant expression while Frecia looks so annoyed? Let’s not delve into that.

For some reason, it seems that knowing wouldn’t contribute positively to my mental well-being.

“Alright, then I’ll finish teaching in place of the professor.”

Considering it was Frecia’s first class, as her assistant and student, I felt a bit worried, but fortunately, it seemed Frecia was quite popular among the students.

Perhaps it was because they found her youthful appearance even cute, making them feel comfortable enough to talk to her casually.

Thus, after all classes on the first day, including the basic magic class, were completed, Frecia, for some reason, taught her celestial magic with even more enthusiasm than usual.

 

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