"That's a relief."
Grubel let out a breath of relief and used magic to incinerate the parchment that had fallen to the ground.
"Dak-sensei, I still need to check the library for any records of this. I want to handle this properly to prevent anyone else from seeing it in the future."
"Of course, go ahead. I'll just take a walk around campus."
"Then, I'll take my leave."
Grubel hurried off, disappearing down the corridor.
Dak stretched lazily before stepping out of the dormitory building.
For a school, Tristain Academy of Magic had rather simplistic facilities.
Aside from the classical Western-style buildings, the vast grassy fields, and the quaint courtyard for afternoon tea, there were only a cafeteria, storage rooms, dormitories for the academy's commoner staff, and work areas.
That was it.
However, given the era and world setting, this was understandable.
The people of this world had little to no leisure time—most of them struggled just to survive.
So, it was only natural that entertainment and recreational activities were lacking.
As a result, student and faculty life was dreadfully dull.
They had no phones, computers, or even proper board games or card games.
The only means of communication with the outside world was through slow-moving letters.
Just imagining such a lifestyle was exhausting.
Because of this, even the smallest gossip could keep them entertained for days or even weeks.
For instance, if a baron's son started dating a viscount's daughter, the entire school would gossip about it for at least seven or eight days.
They would analyze everything, from the couple's grades in magic classes to their family backgrounds and achievements.
Naturally, the arrival of a new teacher—Dak—had already spread across the entire campus within an hour.
The moment he stepped out of the teacher's dormitory, he noticed a massive gathering of students in a grassy field not far from the entrance.
At a glance, there were at least seventy or eighty of them.
Considering that Tristain Academy only had around two hundred students across all three years, this was a significant portion of the entire student body.
The academy was home to the noble children of the entire Tristain Kingdom.
The moment Dak emerged from the dormitory, a wave of murmurs and exclamations spread through the crowd.
Even from twenty to thirty meters away, his sharp hearing allowed him to catch every word.
"Wow, he's really young!"
"And so handsome! Which country's noble is he? He can't be from Tristain—I've never seen him before."
"The academy hasn't hired a new teacher in ten years! I can't believe we got lucky to witness this moment!"
"He's so young... can he really be a teacher?"
"By the way, does anyone know what subject he teaches?"
"I'm doomed... I think I just fell in love."
If Dak wanted to, he could hear every single word as if they were whispering directly into his ear.
Unsurprisingly, several female students were already fantasizing about a forbidden student-teacher romance.
In this dull, isolated academy, a group of 15-to-19-year-olds was bound to develop romantic feelings easily.
Not only was it an excellent way to pass the time, but it was also a means of strengthening noble family ties.
Rather than waiting until graduation to be forced into arranged marriages, students preferred to find partners of their own choosing while still in school.
Dak glanced at the students and smiled, waving at them briefly before disappearing in an instant.
"He just smiled at me!"
"You wish! He was smiling at me!"
"You girls need to stop swooning. More importantly—what kind of magic was that? How did he just disappear?!"
"Does that magic attribute even exist?!"
A new wave of speculation erupted among the students, but Dak was already too far away to hear them.
He now wandered through the back courtyard of the academy, a tranquil spot where students and teachers could relax and enjoy afternoon tea.
The lighting was excellent.
"Let's test it out."
Glancing around to ensure no one was watching, Dak raised his right hand.
He was curious whether he could combine different energies in a new way to generate magical energy.
He adjusted the ratios of mental energy, physical energy, and natural energy to merge them into—
BOOM!
Explosion.
"…As expected, it failed."
Dak gazed at the dissipating energy in his hand without any hint of disappointment.
The incorrect ratio of energy distribution had likely caused the fusion to result in a violent reaction.
Although Dak was proficient in controlling all three types of energy individually, merging them from scratch into a new type of energy was far more complicated.
If he knew the correct ratio, the process might have been easy.
For the first time, Dak truly grasped the magnitude of Founder Brimir's genius.
He highly doubted that Brimir's control over the three energy types was superior to his own.
This meant that Brimir must have first learned how to manipulate each energy type separately before gradually attempting to merge them.
That might sound simple, but the risks were immense.
Just now, Dak had used telekinesis to contain the explosion, preventing it from causing any actual damage.
Had it been an ordinary person, they would have been severely injured.
"Try merging the three energies again. Let me see."
Just as Dak was considering whether he should find a book on basic magic theory, a cold female voice suddenly spoke from beside him.
Upon hearing the voice, Dak immediately pictured a mature, commanding woman.
But when he turned to look—
Oh.
The "commanding" part was accurate, but the "mature" part? Not so much.
She was flat as a board.
A very flat, very small loli.
The newcomer was none other than Louise, the pink-haired tsundere loli and protagonist of Zero no Tsukaima.
At this moment, Louise was holding a black-and-blue egg in her arms, her expression calm as she looked at Dak, seemingly ready to give him some pointers on magic.
Just a moment ago, she had gone to the classroom to retrieve some books for self-study in her dormitory. However, upon hearing an explosion coming from the back courtyard, she couldn't resist coming over to investigate.
Louise had no idea who Dak was.
Since this was the start of a new school term, she instinctively assumed that Dak was a first-year student who had only recently enrolled.
Moreover, she hadn't heard about the arrival of a new teacher.
Louise rarely got involved in student gossip or large social gatherings.
Her strong sense of pride made her avoid crowded places—she hated hearing people call her "Zero no Louise." It was simply her personality. She had little interest in anything unrelated to her studies.
Even in her free time, Louise spent most of her days in the library or classroom, studying magic.
Even though none of her spells had ever succeeded, she had never once considered giving up.
As the third daughter of Duke Vallière and the childhood friend of Princess Henrietta, heir to the Tristain Kingdom, she couldn't afford to be a failure.
If she couldn't master magic, she would bring disgrace upon both her family and the queen.
"...Alright."
Dak didn't respond immediately.
Instead, his gaze fell upon the egg in Louise's arms.
When he saw the inscriptions on the eggshell, his pupils shrank slightly.
However, he quickly turned back to Louise, smiling without saying a word, and proceeded to retry his magic as she instructed.
Dak repeated the same process as before—
BOOM!
Another explosion echoed through the courtyard.
However, just like before, Dak used telekinesis to contain the blast, preventing it from causing any real damage.
"...How did you do that?"
Louise had already braced herself for the explosion, but when nothing happened, her eyes widened in shock.
"I used mental power to suppress the energy outburst."
Dak smiled as he truthfully explained.
"Mental power... You mean you can actively control that kind of energy? That's impressive."
Louise calmed down upon hearing his explanation.
This world did have a concept of mental energy, but it was considered similar to physical stamina.
It could only be passively consumed, and people couldn't actively extract it from their bodies to influence external targets.
However, different worlds had different specializations.
For example, in the world of sailing and adventure, people could actively extract physical energy and transform it into Armament Haki.
Likewise, in the world of magic, where mental and natural energy were more developed, some mages and magical species were capable of actively manipulating those energies.
For instance, elves were particularly skilled at directly utilizing natural energy instead of converting it into magic power.
Thus, while Louise found Dak's ability remarkable, it wasn't earth-shattering.
"Since your control over mental energy is so strong, fusing three types of energy should be easy for you. Follow the ratio I give you."
"Understood."
Hearing Louise's confident instructions, Dak couldn't help but chuckle to himself.
He was pretty sure that she thought he was a junior student.
This time, he succeeded effortlessly.
A small flame flickered into existence in midair.
This surprised Dak.
He had expected another explosion.
After all, Louise was known as "Zero no Louise," the girl who could only produce explosive failures.
Yet, this time, it had worked.
However, Dak had misunderstood something.
Louise's theoretical knowledge was always perfect.
She was a top student in written exams, only failing when it came to practical application.
"Junior, keep working hard."
Louise smiled in satisfaction at Dak's success.
Then, she walked up to him and placed her "Familiar Egg" into his arms.
After that, she reached out to adjust his standing shirt collar—but as she did, she suddenly noticed something.
"Where's your cloak?"
"I left it in my dormitory."
As Louise stood on her tiptoes to adjust his collar, her delicate scent filled Dak's nose.
He casually answered her question.
"Don't forget it next time. The teachers will scold you—cloaks and staves are the marks of a mage."
Louise spoke with the authority of a senior student, giving Dak a strict reminder before taking back her Familiar Egg and walking away with a flourish.
(End of Chapter)
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