The day after the first-term finals ended.
Now all that was left for the students was vacation.
At Atlas, unlike at Constel, vacation was a true vacation.
In other words, they could travel, hang out with friends, or spend comfortable rest at home—each student would enjoy a long stretch of free time.
Of course, there were a few who, like those in Constel, would devote themselves to tougher training or study, but they were an extreme minority.
Most students blended into the mood around them, so when everyone else was excited for rest and fun, it wasn’t easy to be the only one devoting oneself to the next round of training.
So while everyone in the classroom was buzzing with talk of their vacation plans—
There was one person who didn’t blend into the atmosphere.
In other words, one person who couldn’t read the room.
“This was definitely the formula, but the problem with manifestation must be closely related to the collision of mana circuits, and though there are several theories and hypotheses....... Hmm, still.......”
A male student muttered to himself, drawing something on paper at his desk.
It was Vasileo.
“No, wait, maybe it actually was manifestable? Everyone said they wrote the effects after manifestation. Ugh, was I wrong after all.......”
Vasileo was completely absorbed in reviewing the final exam’s last question.
The overwhelming majority of students had simply written the effects of the formula presented in the problem as they were. Vasileo, however, had clearly judged during the exam that the formula would not manifest as magic. But since most people had written that it would, his own conviction was beginning to waver.
After all, even the teachers hadn’t come up with a complete correct answer for that problem. It was natural that Vasileo, a student, would lean toward the majority’s answer.
“No. If I redraw the formula, I can tell. This one doesn’t manifest. Then why......?”
Vasileo had written down his own answer to that problem. Of course, it was so rushed he hadn’t even managed to complete the sentence.
But intuition is called intuition precisely because it comes without knowing why.
The results of the finals hadn’t yet come out, and naturally, the correct answers hadn’t been released either.
And even if they were released, that would only be for the regular problems.
The final problem that tormented Vasileo was a bonus question—and a written-response one at that. There was no way there could be a fixed correct answer.
Because he couldn’t see the correct answer, Vasileo couldn’t be sure of his own conclusion, and since he couldn’t be sure, he couldn’t verify it.
So he began to doubt himself, re-examined the problem from the start, convinced himself again he was right, but still couldn’t decide, and repeated that cycle endlessly.
“Vasileo, how long are you going to keep doing that?”
Sitting beside him, Jenita said with a wry smile.
“That problem was just a little joke from the teachers, you know? It said bonus question right there. They were just feeling playful before vacation.”
Vasileo wasn’t the only one who had noticed the trap in the last question.
Jenita had also realized that the formula didn’t manifest. But at that moment, she had simply assumed the teachers were playing a prank.
That was because nine-tenths of her realization had been intuition, not reasoning. Unlike Vasileo, she hadn’t reached the discomfort of “according to theory, this should manifest.”
“Even if it was a joke,”
Vasileo said, pressing a hand to his forehead,
“I can’t just let it go without interpreting the question mark hidden inside that joke.”
“Why not?”
“A mage is someone who, when it comes to magic, must never say ‘I don’t know.’”
At that, Jenita said nothing more. Resting her chin on her hand, she simply watched Vasileo. While he, with a concentrated expression, traced over the lines of the formula he had drawn, a small smile formed on Jenita’s lips.
“All right, everyone, take your seats.”
Soon after, Frondier entered the classroom.
The students quickly hurried back to their seats. They all knew by now how Frondier’s demeanor could change when a student made a mistake or caused trouble, even though his face usually looked relaxed and calm.
Still, since he hardly ever lost his temper, classes and homeroom were always conducted in a gentle atmosphere, and in the meantime, Frondier and his students had grown quite close.
“Good work on your finals.”
Frondier began with the customary greeting.
“How did you all do on the exam?”
At his question came a chorus of complaints: it was too hard, the range was too wide, there wasn’t enough time, and so on. Frondier listened to their grumbling with a smile.
Then he said,
“Hmm, sounds like you all did well.”
“Please listen to us, teacher~!”
The class groaned playfully in protest. Frondier changed the mood with a light tone.
“But now it’s vacation, isn’t it?”
“That’s right!”
The classroom erupted in cheerful noise, everyone returning to their pre-lesson excitement over vacation plans.
“Vacation means vacation homework.”
“Ah.......”
And in an instant, the mood withered.
Jenita watched the sight in disbelief.
'Teacher Frondier, are you enjoying this?'
Every time he said a single line, the students complained, booed, rejoiced, then deflated again. Somehow, it felt like Frondier was taming them.
Well, if he’s doing that deliberately, that’s quite impressive.
“Actually, since I came here, this is my first time assigning vacation homework, so I thought about it a lot.”
“......”
The students looked at him with tense faces.
Normally, vacation homework was something teachers announced well in advance, but Frondier hadn’t said a word until today.
What on earth would he assign?
“When you all come back here after vacation,”
'Gulp...'
“Submit your medical examination report.”
“......?”
The students tilted their heads.
Frondier continued,
“During vacation, go to a hospital and get a health checkup, then hand in the results after the break. You don’t have to submit it on the very first day of the new term—just make sure you get the exam done during vacation.”
“......That’s all?”
Someone asked, and Frondier nodded.
“That none of you get hurt.”
“......!”
“That’s my only vacation homework.”
The students erupted in cheers. Some were even moved to tears.
But Jenita, who had seen another side of Frondier, narrowed her eyes and watched him closely.
'What’s he thinking......?'
She could no longer take his words at face value. She already assumed there was always something hidden behind them.
'There aren’t that many hospitals nearby. And even fewer that can do full checkups. Wait—could it be that Teacher Frondier is in cahoots with the hospitals? A plan to naturally raise their profits...... he really is a terrifying man!'
It was, of course, a rather far-fetched delusion.
“Ah, and Student Vasileo.”
In the meantime, Frondier called him.
“......”
“Student Vasileo?”
“Ha! Yes, sir!”
Vasileo finally came to his senses and looked at Frondier.
“Ah, you’re here, sir.”
At his response, laughter rippled through the students. Everyone assumed he had been dozing off.
Jenita looked at him with half admiration, half disbelief.
'Ever since he started thinking about that last problem, he didn’t even notice the teacher coming in, and he’s been working on it this whole time?'
Can a person even concentrate that much?
Of course, from the teacher’s desk, Frondier could see exactly what Vasileo was doing, so his expression was gentle. Even if the boy had been asleep, his face probably would’ve looked the same.
“Come to the staff room later. I have something to talk to you about.”
“Y-yes? Ah, yes, sir.”
Vasileo didn’t know why, but he answered anyway.
Having recently witnessed Frondier’s terrifying side more than once, he couldn’t help but tense up.
Nearby, the other students whispered.
“Why’s he calling him? Did Vasileo do something wrong?”
“Maybe he got in trouble for that magic mishap before?”
“Oh, come on. That was ages ago.”
“Or maybe he wrote some ridiculous answer on the final.”
They were doing a thorough job of amplifying his anxiety.
***
Vasileo made his way to the staff room, weighed down with every kind of worry.
The obvious guess was that it was about the final exam’s last question.
'Could he be angry?'
Maybe Frondier was upset because his answer had been too absurd.
Since Frondier handled the theory classes, perhaps he couldn’t tolerate something that strayed too far from theory.
—How strange. I was under the impression that thing atop your neck was a head. Are you rebelling against ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) the laws of biology that apply to all humans?
He could almost feel Frondier’s cold gaze piercing down on him already.
“E-excuse me......”
Vasileo entered the staff room, shuffling nervously toward Frondier.
“Ah, welcome.”
Frondier greeted him warmly.
Vasileo was relieved for a moment—but it wasn’t over yet. He’d seen before how Frondier’s atmosphere could shift in an instant. Maybe this warmth was just the calm before the storm.
“All right then. Let’s go.”
Frondier stood up.
“Teacher Elodie, he’s here—the student I mentioned.”
Out of nowhere, Frondier called for Elodie, and Vasileo blinked in surprise.
“Uh, y-yes?”
“I didn’t think you’d actually bring him.”
Elodie, wrapped in her usual composed air, approached the two of them.
Vasileo was now exactly twice as nervous as before.
'I heard the two of them don’t get along......'
He had heard the rumors about their relationship.
Nothing had exploded publicly yet, but it was said that whenever they crossed paths in the staff room, they exchanged sharp words.
You could call it a clash of values as mages—a philosophical opposition, so to speak.
'Why Teacher Elodie all of a sudden......'
Vasileo swallowed hard and looked at her.
Elodie’s beauty and skill naturally made her the object of many students’ admiration—and of course, Vasileo was one of them.
To have both his admired and his respected teachers standing together—and to know the two were at odds—left him with a complex feeling as he glanced back and forth between them.
“Let’s go. The sooner we finish, the better.”
“Agreed.”
Then both of them stood up, each putting something into their respective bags.
“Uh, where are we going?”
Naturally, Vasileo asked, and Frondier answered,
“Hmm, first, to the Magic–Combat Combined classroom.”
......Magic–Combat Combined?
'First?'
“Um, why are we going there all of a sudden......?”
“You’ll see when we get there.”
Unlike the kindly teacher persona he showed in class, Frondier was merciless with Vasileo here.
'No, maybe the problem isn’t the place—it’s me.'
Maybe he was kind to other students but not to him. Thinking that made Vasileo feel inexplicably gloomy.
“Let’s go. We don’t have much time.”
“Y-yes, sir.”
Vasileo followed behind Frondier.
No matter how tangled or uneasy his feelings were, he didn’t have a choice.
