Chapter 61

◈ Chapter 61: Coordinate Designation Magic (1)

"Yes, well, the teacher at Seorun managed to resolve it."

[Do you know who the teacher is?]

Erendil answered Terina's question without much thought.

"It's Teacher Rudger Chellis, a new teacher who was just appointed."

[New teacher, you say? Hmm. I see. I understand.]

"Was that helpful?"

[Yes. I should meet this Rudger Chellis teacher as soon as possible.]

"I hope your investigation, Sir Terina, progresses well."

[Thank you for your concern, Princess.]

"Yes, of course."

[Oh, by the way, Princess Erendil.]

Just as Erendil was about to end the call, Terina Lyonholt seemed to have just remembered something and called out to her.

[The First Princess wishes to contact you. She mentioned that she hasn't heard from you in a while and asked me to pass the message along.]

"…My sister? Yes, I understand."

[Very well.]

After the call ended, Erendil slumped her shoulders and sighed.

The mere thought of her sister, the First Princess, looking for her was quite uncomfortable.

But she couldn't really argue with it.

The fact that her sister had passed the message through Terina showed that she was trying to be considerate.

Yes, she could at least send a greeting.

'But is Sir Terina planning to visit Seorun?'

The werewolf incident seemed more serious than she had thought.

Otherwise, the Security Bureau, and even its Knight Commander, wouldn't have moved personally.

If he visits Seorun and gains something from it, that would be a good thing.

Erendil didn't think about it any further.

* * *

"How did it go?"

Lloyd, the adjutant, who had been waiting for Terina to finish the call, asked with a glint in his glasses.

"The werewolf situation in Seorun was resolved by a teacher, apparently."

"A teacher at Seorun?"

"It's said to be a new teacher who was just appointed. We should meet him and talk to him directly. Maybe he missed something unusual."

"Are you going right away?"

Terina shook her head.

"The investigation in Redvek hasn't concluded yet. Enya, do you have any special reports?"

"Yes!"

Enya, who had been waiting, stepped forward and answered firmly.

"It seems certain that the burned factory area was a secret laboratory for research or development."

"The important thing is who was there and what they were doing."

"That much… we haven't found out yet."

"Anything else?"

"Um. Apart from that, the underworld in Redvek has been unusually noisy recently."

"The underworld being noisy isn't something new."

Knights are public figures who receive everyone's attention, but the members of the Security Bureau are different.

They often operate in secrecy and have seen many dirty things, so they are more deeply connected to the underworld than through normal channels.

In fact, the underworld provided the most information in this situation.

Terina paused slightly before continuing her report.

"This time, something unusual happened."

"Unusual?"

"The Redvek underworld was dominated by a group called the Red Society, do you know about them?"

"I've heard of them. They're a bit annoying, but I didn't feel the need to eliminate them personally. I remember they were quite large, though."

"Yes. Recently, the Red Society was completely dismantled and disappeared in just one day."

"One day?"

The darkness that exists beneath the city is a place where various organizations vie for power, so news of someone's death isn't particularly surprising.

This is similar to when news of an organization's sudden disappearance is reported.

However, the Red Society isn't just any organization.

They dominated the underworld of Redvek.

Given that such a group disappeared overnight, even Terina couldn't help but be curious.

"That's quite intriguing. Is there any connection to the current incident?"

"Um, no, it doesn't seem to be related. However, it appears that a very powerful individual has emerged in the Redvek underworld, so it might be wise to keep an eye on them. They could potentially pose a threat to the empire."

It's hard to say how many, but the fact that the Red Society was dismantled overnight suggests that a very capable individual was involved.

Was it a knight, or perhaps a mage?

No one knows what they might do if they have such intentions.

Contrary to Enya's concerns, Terina shook her head.

"No, it's fine. We're already swamped, so there's no need to worry about that. It's their own business. We should focus more on the investigation we're currently handling."

"Ah, yes!"

"Once we confirm there's nothing more to find in Redvek, we'll head straight to Seorun."

"Understood."

As the adjutants left, Terina, left alone, crossed her arms and tapped her fingers on her arm.

'Seorun, huh.'

She hadn't mentioned it to her adjutants, but since her conversation with the princess, her interest had been focused on Seorun.

A vague certainty that a definite clue to this incident might be in Seorun.

It was just a hunch, so she hadn't mentioned it to her adjutant, but as a knight who had reached the rank of Knight Commander, that intuition was enough to be a valuable indicator.

'I'll have to go there and see for myself.'

There must be something.

Her instincts kept telling her so.

* * *

Even after the headmaster told me about the omnipotent stone, rumors about the stone that grants wishes continued to circulate in Seorun.

In fact, they had become even more intense than before.

'Someone must be spreading the rumors behind the scenes.'

It was difficult to pinpoint exactly who.

Seorun, with its vast grounds, is home to thousands of people.

Though named an academy, it is essentially a small city, making it impossible to verify everyone's identity.

Moreover, the place where the rumors spread, the Akashic Records, is accessible only to students, and its anonymity is strictly protected, making it hard to trace the source.

'In this situation, it might be better to quickly deal with the omnipotent stone and resolve the matter.'

Students are starting to talk about looking for the stone themselves.

Whether they didn't learn from the werewolf incident or think they are different, the trend is that more students are focusing on strange rumors rather than their studies.

'For now, no one has crossed the line, so I'm letting them be, but this won't last long.'

During the werewolf incident, I told them to stay inside, and it was easy to catch those who ventured out.

However, I'm not in a position to say anything about the omnipotent stone.

No one is getting hurt by looking for it.

In fact, if I tried to stop them, the students might start to doubt the existence of the omnipotent stone even more.

'Well, the headmaster will handle this part.'

Just as students have their duties, I, as a teacher, have mine.

And a teacher's duty is ultimately to teach well.

"Pay attention."

When I emphasized this during my usual class, the students' attention was drawn to me.

However, the enthusiasm I saw at the beginning of the semester was lacking.

I had a pretty good idea why.

I had raised their initial expectations too high with the Source Code magic.

Since then, I've only been summarizing the content in the textbook.

Even though I taught <Elemental Sensation>, it wasn't enough for students who are in the prime of their learning years.

Some students' dissatisfaction with the class was starting to build.

Thud.

I finally had to put down the textbook I was holding.

"Since many of you seem bored, I'll show you something interesting today to change the mood."

"…?"

The students, who were about to rest their heads on their desks, suddenly perked up at my words.

They're finally showing interest.

'This brings back memories.'

When I was a student on Earth, I used to wake up at 6:30 AM, attend the 0th period class, and study until 10 PM.

I spent 15 hours a day studying.

I was desperate, but there were times when I found continuous classes unbearably boring.

At such times, teachers would often tell unrelated stories to alleviate the students' boredom. Now that I'm a teacher myself, I understand why they did that.

"Mages always cast spells centered around themselves."

When I started, the students looked confused.

Their expressions, rather than their words, conveyed their confusion.

I ignored it and continued.

"For example, elemental magic. It always occurs centered around the user."

I demonstrated this by casting the 1st Tier Fire Magic, [Pyro].

A small flame appeared at the tip of my finger.

Any student in this class could cast this basic magic with their eyes closed.

It's a simple spell that doesn't require any complex incantations and isn't particularly impressive.

But.

"If you modify this spell a bit, you can do something like this."

I extinguished the flame at my fingertips and immediately cast the spell again.

This time, it was the same 1st Tier Fire Magic, [Pyro].

The only difference was that the flame appeared not on my hand but at a considerable distance away.

"Whoa?!"

A male student who was almost asleep was startled by the flame right in front of his nose and let out a scream.

No one laughed at him.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on the floating flame.

Their reactions were all the same.

"What is that?"

"The flame appeared from a distance of at least 10 meters?"

"How did you do that?"

"Is this a trick?"

I knew they would say something like that, so I immediately dispelled Pyro and cast another spell.

Small sparks of electricity, droplets of water, and tiny whirlwinds appeared in various parts of the lecture hall.

Different locations, different positions.

But I was the one who cast all of them.

Only then did the students realize that something was really happening.

Silence fell over the lecture hall, and the stillness was so profound that the sound of someone swallowing could be heard.

"Any questions?"

Most students raised their hands.

A complete reversal from their bored reactions just a moment ago.

I smiled inwardly and pointed to one student.

"Sure. What do you want to know?"

"Exactly, how did you cast that spell just now?"

"The question is a bit vague."

The student collected his thoughts and spoke again.

"Usually, spells are cast centered around the caster because the mana that serves as the raw material for the spell comes from the caster."

I nodded.

That was the basic principle and common knowledge.

"Yes."

"But your spell was cast from a distance beyond the usual limit."

Most students were curious about this.

So I decided to show them again.

"Watch this spell."

I made a flame float above my palm.

"Even though spells are usually cast centered around the caster, this flame didn't touch my skin. It formed in the air, about 5 cm above my palm."

"But there's a limit, right?"

Another female student interjected.

I didn't criticize or scold her.

I just nodded quietly.

"Yes. Usually, the limit is about 1 meter. What I just did, casting from the front of the podium to the back of the lecture hall, is practically impossible."

"But Teacher Rudger…"

You did it, didn't you?

I understand what the students are trying to say.

An unbelievable feat.

A mystery that defies logic.

The magic I showed them was exactly that.

"Ultimately, the principle is similar to what I just demonstrated."

I extinguished the flame floating above my palm.

"Although the limit is said to be 1 meter, it's not impossible to cast beyond that. It just consumes a lot of mana. But if you change the principle, it's entirely possible, as I just showed."

Instead of casting spells centered around the caster.

The method involves initiating the incantation at a specific coordinate to manifest the spell at a distance.

"This is called coordinate designation incantation."