Chapter 43

◈ Chapter 43: Framework

"Flora Lumos. What are you doing here? Sneaking around like a thief near the door, I mean."

At Rudger's reprimand, Flora jumped up from her spot, cleared her throat, and brushed off the dust from her school skirt.

Rudger's forehead, which he had bumped when opening the door, was still red, but she tried to act as if nothing was wrong and spoke.

"Ahem. Hello, Mr. Rudger. I just came to ask you something."

Proudly. Gracefully.

Though she repeated these words to herself, she couldn't hide the subtle tremor in her voice.

Rudger decided to let it pass without pointing it out.

"If your question is related to the class content, you can come anytime, but there was no need to wait outside like this."

"No, it's not that. First, I wanted to thank you, Mr. Rudger."

"Thank me?"

"For saving me when I almost lost control of my magic."

So that's why she came.

But to come just to express gratitude?

Rudger looked at her with a surprised expression, and Flora flared up.

"Why? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"It's nothing."

"Tch."

Perhaps because she had never expressed gratitude to anyone, Flora felt very awkward.

Even speaking like this made her skin tingle, but she was determined to say what she had to.

"Thanks to you, I didn't get hurt."

"I just did what I had to as a teacher."

Rudger's voice, which was too matter-of-fact, seemed to suggest that he felt no personal attachment to her.

Flora felt both relieved and strangely hurt by this.

Even if it's not much, shouldn't he at least ask if I'm okay?

He seems like the kind of man who wouldn't find sensitivity even if he washed his eyes.

Still, since she had come to apologize, she decided not to complain.

"And also, I think what you said wasn't entirely wrong."

She fiddled with her side hair as she spoke.

Rudger pondered her words for a moment.

Not entirely wrong?

He soon realized what she was referring to.

When she was using the triple-overlapped elemental magic, he had nagged about it.

-Use meaningful magic. Don't lower your value.

That's what he had said.

"Alright, then."

"More than that, are you okay, Mr. Rudger?"

At Flora's question, Rudger raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"You must have used a lot of mana. I was exhausted just suppressing my mana, so you must have been even more tired, right? Usually, the person helping bears several times the burden."

"I'm fine."

Rudger said that, but in fact, he had almost fainted from mana depletion.

Fortunately, he had prepared a mana recovery potion in advance for any unforeseen circumstances, or he might have collapsed in front of the students in a rather undignified manner.

It was fortunate that he had stocked up on potions for when his mana was low.

Of course, he had almost used all of them to stop Flora's失控.

'Well, I can just make more.'

This was Seoln.

There were classes that taught alchemy, and the alchemy lab in the research building was accessible to teachers.

The alchemy lab, equipped with almost all the necessary materials, allowed teachers to conduct experiments whenever they wanted, just by signing the entry log.

Flora fidgeted with her fingers and asked.

"Mr. Rudger, how many elements can you handle?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Just curious. You handled five during class. Isn't that quite a lot?"

Rudger was puzzled by why Flora was suddenly asking him so many questions.

Geniuses, who often act on their own and have strong egos, usually don't engage in such conversations with others.

Rudger thought Flora was one of those types. Her attempt to use a triple-overlapped elemental attribute during this class was a prime example.

But perhaps she was still a student.

She probably wanted to gauge the level of her teacher's skills.

Rudger pondered how to respond.

'Actually, I can handle almost all elements.'

The ten major elements that people often talk about.

Rudger could use them all.

He was the complete opposite of a single-attribute mage, who can only use one element but has mastered it to the extreme.

A multi-attribute user.

However, because of this, he hadn't achieved a certain level in any one element.

To others, he might seem to have a truly remarkable talent and be a jack-of-all-trades, but Rudger himself considered himself a jack-of-all-trades and master of none.

Still, he was aware of the seriousness of being able to use all ten elements, so he hadn't told anyone.

So, Rudger decided to stick with the five elements he had shown in class.

"Those five are all."

"Five... That's more than I expected."

"Is that all your questions?"

"Ah, there's one more about the source code. Do you teach the source code to all the students in the class?"

During the first class, Rudger had deliberately shown the source code to pique the students' interest.

It wasn't just for show. He actually intended to teach the source code to the students.

However, he hadn't explained who, how much, and when he would teach it.

"No. I realized I hadn't announced it yet. I don't teach it to everyone. This magic is like my foundation, so there are conditions."

"What are the conditions?"

"I only teach it directly to the top five students."

Flora smiled, intrigued.

"Top five. That's a small number. Still, the class has a total of 80 students."

"It's a special magic, after all."

"Evaluation? Do you decide based on the final evaluation of the semester? Seoln divides the semester into four parts for evaluation, and the rankings change with each evaluation, making it hard to decide."

"I anticipated that and came up with a method. This is it."

Rudger immediately conjured a magic formula on his palm.

It was made entirely of white mana lines, which could seem monotonous, but its complex structure made it impossible to underestimate this magic.

Flora also let out a low sigh at the sense of color she felt from the magic itself.

"That's... part of it, right? The part of the source code magic you showed us."

"Exactly."

Rudger nodded.

As Flora said, the magic formula he had just demonstrated was one of the main components of the source code.

"I call this a <Framework>."

"Framework..."

"My source code magic consists of four frameworks."

"So, you plan to give these frameworks to the top five students each quarter?"

"Exactly. I divide the semester into four parts and teach one framework to each of the top five students. In other words, if a student doesn't consistently rank in the top five, they won't receive the complete magic."

Just ranking in the top five once wouldn't be enough to receive the complete source code.

Ultimately, to properly learn the source code magic, a student would have to attend classes diligently, submit assignments consistently, and perform well on exams throughout the semester.

Realizing this, Flora looked at Rudger with a slightly bewildered expression.

"...You're really calculating, aren't you?"

"Does this answer your questions?"

"But is it okay to show me this?"

"What do you mean?"

"The framework. What if I analyze it?"

Flora pointed at the framework formula still floating above Rudger's palm.

Even if he didn't have a discerning eye, exposing a magic formula like this wasn't something a mage should do.

Such a level of trust was impossible unless he really trusted her.

'Ah.'

Rudger belatedly realized his mistake.

Mages generally don't show their developed formulas to others for long.

Unless they publish a paper or file a patent, someone might copy the formula and claim it as their own, causing headaches.

Such incidents actually occur frequently.

Mages keep their unique magic formulas secret for this very reason.

Rudger recognized his mistake but didn't think it was a big problem.

"It's fine."

"Huh?"

"It doesn't matter if I show it to you."

Especially if the person is Flora Lumos.

Flora Lumos is a genius.

Rudger had only heard rumors about her genius, but after today's class, where she completed a triple-overlapped elemental attribute with just a little help, he was convinced.

-Ah, this girl will definitely be number one in my class.

Even if she doesn't get first place, she will consistently rank in the top five. So, showing her one framework won't be a problem.

She has the potential to learn the entire source code magic.

"Wh-what?!"

But Flora interpreted Rudger's words differently.

Her face turned red, and she began to stammer, losing her usual pride.

"W-what do you mean by that!"

"Why are you so flustered? It's not a lie. You're going to take first place in my class and receive the framework, aren't you?"

"Well, that's true, but..."

But saying it like that is cheating.

Flora muttered to herself, trying to hide her reaction.

Saying it's fine to show it to me.

It feels like you're treating me specially.

But despite her thoughts, her heart was pounding uncontrollably.

Even if she acted tough on the outside, Flora's lips twitched and kept trying to curl upward, feeling that Rudger was finally seeing her for who she was.

"Then I'll be going now."

As Rudger turned to leave, Flora involuntarily called out to him.

"Ah, Mr. Rudger!"

"What is it? Do you have more questions?"

"No, it's nothing. I, I mean, nothing."

Seeing Rudger's unwavering gaze, Flora's face turned as red as if it were about to explode.

After hearing those words, she couldn't bring herself to look at Rudger's face directly.

Just meeting his eyes made her skin tingle and her hair stand on end.

Strange. This has never happened before.

Rudger watched Flora, who was flustered and at a loss, with a bland expression before turning and leaving.

Flora, who had been staring at Rudger's retreating back, finally calmed herself down and regained her composure.

'Right. Calm down, Flora Lumos. You're not usually like this.'

She was always proud and confident, easily manipulating others with her abilities.

Although she had been defeated by Rudger on the first day and again today, her will hadn't been broken.

She had vowed to surpass him next time.

She shouldn't be weakening like this already.

Flora steadied her wavering heart.

'Ah, by the way, I wanted to ask what he was talking about with that commoner girl, but I forgot.'

Even though she pretended not to care, she was strangely curious about why Rudger had called Rine separately.