Chapter 2.1

Act 02: Intensive Training

Several days after the audience with the King, a Civil Official contacted me to have a brief discussion about my rewards .

And like that, I got permission to browse the forbidden texts .

With this, I could browse almost all of the prohibited books .

A portion of the records could only be viewed by His Majesty the King and the Prime Minister . So I couldn’t browse through them .

The only books I wanted to read were ones about medicinal herbs, so there weren’t any problems in that department .

There was more information about my other reward, the magic lecture .

The Civil Official told me, “If there’s anything else you want to learn, please don’t hesitate to tell me,” while we were talking, so I got carried away and asked him about various things .

Can I learn this? Can also take this? As a result of me asking about various things, the Civil Official made the smart move of giving me documents about what lectures I could take .

All lectures were briefly explained in the documents he handed me .

It was hard for me to decide on what to take on the spot, so we decided that I would take the documents home and choose which lectures I would like to attend, before contacting the Civil Official again .

I returned to the Research Institute from the royal palace, and looked over the documents after finishing my work .

The lectures weren’t only about magic; there were also lectures on: the history of Slantania Kingdom, the situations in the surrounding areas, the economy, manners and so on . There were a variety of subjects .

There were a lot of lectures I wanted to take, after thinking about the things that could happen afterwards .

Well, I thought that it would be better to know different things, rather than be ignorant, if I did plan to leave the royal palace in the future .

While I was choosing which lectures I would like, with a pen and note in one hand at the corner of the laboratory, the Director came up next to me .

“What are you doing?”

“I’m choosing my lectures . ”

“Lectures?”

“I’m talking about my reward . The Civil Official told me that there were other lectures I could take besides magic . ”

“Hoh . ”

He listened until there and took one of the sheets from my hand .

“These are like the lectures you could take at the academy . ”

“Really?”

According to the Director, the lectures on the documents that the Civil Official gave me could all be taken at the Royal Academy .

Aside from the compulsory lectures, there were also elective lectures at the academy, and you could pick whichever electives you liked .

To test him, I asked him what compulsory lectures were available, and it turned out that most the lectures I wanted to take were compulsory ones .

With the memo in one hand, I nodded, and then he softly took the memo from me .

“These are the lectures you’re thinking of taking?”

“Yes . ”

“Hmm . There’s quite a lot of lectures on here,” he said, startled .

I wrote down the lectures I wanted to take for the time being, but if I took all of them, how many hours a day would I need?

Even if I took them on different days, my Japanese intuition told me that most of my week would be filled with lectures .

“I can’t take them all, can I?”

“Why not?”

“If I take all those lectures then I can’t do my work……”

It was impossible to work and take all the lectures I wanted to take unless I had 36 hours per day .

There were only 24 hours in a day, even in this world .

While I was crestfallen from having to choose from the list I had written, the Director said something unexpected .

“Are you talking about your work at the Research Institute?”

“Yes . ”

“You can just do it when you’re not working . ”

“Excuse me?”

The Director explained to the stupefied me .

Originally, everyone at the Research Institute had graduated from the Royal Academy, and therefore held a certain amount of knowledge .

On the other hand, I knew more about natural sciences than they did, but because I wasn’t someone from this world, I didn’t know much about things unique to this world .

I was currently working as a researcher as a special case, but if I planned to continue working here in the future then it would be better for me to have the same foundation as the Academy graduates .

“Either way, your research has come to a halt recently, hasn’t it?”

“Yes, well……”

Yes .

As the Director said, the results of my research had not been good these days .

I was trying to create a potion with higher effects than is available now .

At the beginning I created potions with my 50% increase .

HP and MP potions had not been improved for a long time .

Advanced HP Potions were too expensive, and there was low demand, so research for improvement were on hold .

Then a highly effective potion appeared, using the same ingredients and formula as before, which lit the research spirit within the researchers .

At that exact time, monster subjugation had risen, and more people were demanding potions with greater effects .

All the researchers pulled their heads together and tried to find the reason behind my highly effective potion, but they came up with nothing .

They continued to make no progress, and the majority of the researchers returned to their own research .

However, some people were still determined to find the method behind developing a highly effective potion, and did not give up .

I was a part of that group .

The cause had always been a mystery, but finally I got a lead when I was appraised at the Court Mage Division .

My magic power seemed different from those of this world’s .

When I heard that, I thought that the potions were probably highly effective because of my magic power .

I felt my mind clear upon finding the cause, but felt disappointed that my research had returned back to the starting point .

My magic being the cause meant that when other people made the potion using the same ingredients and the same method, they would get the same result as they always did .

Which meant that in order to make a more effective potion, they would have to use different ingredients and find a different way to make it .

While we were researching the cause, our research came to a halt, so we started investigating new ingredients .

We collected information on medicinal herbs that were only distributed at a certain area, and drugs that were originally made in that area . We also read old documents .

I also went to the royal palace library often, and read books on medicinal herbs .

It was to the point that I thought I read all the books related to medicinal herbs, even the ones that the other researchers were reading .

Even so, I couldn’t find any hints .

No, well, I did find some, but most of them turned out to be false leads .

That’s why it’s exactly like the Director said, my research had been halted .

This time, I got permission to browse the prohibited books, so I was hoping to find what I’d been looking for .

“The new things you learn might give you ideas for research . Isn’t it a good opportunity for you?”

“You’re right . ”

The Director had a point .

The reason he said this was because it turned out that the cause was my magic this time .

The researchers had also tried very hard to find the cause of the potions, and they sometimes questioned whether magic power was the cause .

However, concentrating magic into potion-making was more difficult for people to wrap their heads around compared to just using magic .

Even those who were trained probably didn’t know if it was dependant upon magic power or not .

Because of that, they could only confirm a little about magic power, and immediately judged that magic power made no difference .

Since this was the Medicinal Herb Research Institute, the researchers here were more interested in medicinal herbs and recipes than magic power . I also didn’t know more about magic than those around me, so if they told me something, I didn’t dig any further .

If I had more knowledge, I would have noticed the matter and would probably have gotten to the bottom of it sooner .

Knowledge was important, after all .

My research has returned to the starting point, but by learning more about this world, I might be able to find something that I overlooked before .

If I thought like that, then taking lectures was also a part of my job .

“Just take the lectures you want to take; they’re your hard-earned reward after all,” the Director said while smiling, and I nodded and smiled back at him .

◊♦◊♦◊♦◊

My lectures began a few days after I submitted the list of lectures I wanted to take to the Civil Official .

Some of the lectures didn’t take long to prepare, so I started with the ones that were available .

The first lecture was a lecture about magic .

My tutors and I would be meeting in a room prepared in the royal palace .

When I first heard this, I thought that it would be troublesome to go to the royal palace every morning, but they had prepared a carriage for me to use .

I entered the room that the maid guided me to, prepared and waited for my tutor, and after a while, there was a knock on the door .

I was surprised at who had entered .

“Good morning . ”

“Good morning . Mhm……”

The person who smiled and entered the room was the Court Mage Division’s Head Magician .

Today’s lecture was about magic, so I had heard that the tutor was someone from the Court Mage Division, but I wasn’t told that it would the Head Mage himself .

“I’m the tutor in charge of the mage lecture, Yuuri Dreves . ”

“Mhm…… You’re the Court Mage Division’s Head Magician, aren’t you?”

“Yes . ”

I inadvertently confirmed that he was, without a doubt, the Head Magician that I had met the other day .

“You’ll be in charge of this lecture, Head Magician? Aren’t you busy with work?”

“It’s fine . ”

The Head Magician was smiling, but was it really alright?

When I was watching the Captain of the 3rd Knight Order work, I got the feeling that there was a lot of paperwork involved .

The Captain also said that unlike the other knights, he had more paperwork to fill out so it was hard for him to find time to train .

Did that mean that the Court Mage Division had less paperwork than the Knight Order?

“Are you not satisfied with me?” the Head Magician asked me with a sad look on his face while I was worrying .

“No, that wasn’t what I meant……”

No, I wasn’t dissatisfied or anything .

Rather, I was feeling apologetic .

This lecture was catered to me, who was a complete amateur at magic . The contents of the lecture would be the basics of basics . I didn’t think it was something that the Head Magician should teach me .

It was the same content taught to the first years at the academy . If I had to compare it, this was like a university professor teaching a middle school child .

That’s why it was better for me to be taught by a normal Court Mage, who had more spare time, than the Head Magician, who was busy .

I immediately gave my reply to the Head Magician, who was waiting sadly, and he looked relieved .

“If it’s something like that then there’s no problem . And also, this situation isn’t something that I can entrust to someone else . ”

“This situation?”

“Yes . About that, I have a favour to ask you . ”

“Yes?”

“I want to examine your magic, Sei-sama . ”

He nodded when I repeated his question back to him, and gave me an explanation .

First, my magic power was different from the magic of those in this world, so he wanted to study it in detail at the Court Mage Division .

Besides demon subjugation, the Court Mage Division also conducted magic research, and the Head Magician was also involved in this .

The Head Magician found my magic to be an extremely interesting thing .

The story about my potions having a higher effect than the ones made by others had reached his ears, and he thought that my magic was the cause of this .

Therefore, he wanted to investigate whether my magic was the cause, or if it was something else .

I also wanted to know if my magic influenced my potion-making, so I didn’t mind that a specialist wanted to study it .

Another reason was because the Head Magician was personally interested in my magic, so he didn’t want to leave this matter to other people .

According to the Head Magician, everything concerning the abilities of the【Saint】was a national secret, and there were hardly any detailed records on the past Saints .

The reason why there was hardly any record of them was also unknown .

That meant that the control of information was very strict when it came to the Saint .

The same was also true for my magic power . The upper stratums concluded that the fewer people who knew about this investigation, the better .

Thus, the Head Magician would personally be investigating my magic .

Besides, they concluded that it was only right because in this Kingdom, the Head Magician was the person with the most magic knowledge .

There was nothing special about the investigation; he was just going to observe my magic-use during the lecture .

If it was just that much then I guess it was fine .

He thanked me with a wonderful smile when I consented .

After the Head Magician explained the reasons why he was teaching me, the lecture began .

The first few days were about the foundations of magic; he taught me what magic power was and how magic power in the body was used .

The Head Magician’s lectures were very easy to understand .

Him having more knowledge in magic than anyone in the Court Mage Division wasn’t just for show .

He understood a lot about magic, but he was probably smart to begin with .

Because he’s so good at teaching .

“Do you have anything you don’t understand?”

“No, it’s fine . ”

He asked if I had any questions after his explanation, but I didn’t have any .

“Now then, you’re probably sick of listening to lectures, so should we practice a little?”

“Okay . ”

“Sei-sama, since you can already use magic, I think that you should also be able to feel the magic from within your body . However, understanding the magic inside of your body is the basics of magic, so let’s start from there . ”

The Head Magician continued to explain practical skills .

When I heard his explanation, I realised that it was the same method that I had learnt from Jude when I was making potions: sending magic power to someone else .

“Um, this……”

“What’s wrong?”

“Is this the skill that allows you to send magic power to someone?”

“Ah, so you know about it . Yes it is . ”

I was right .

When I told him that someone had taught me to do this at the Research Institute, he nodded .

“Someone has sent you their magic before, haven’t they? Then have you ever sent magic power to someone?”

“No . He only helped me feel the magic power . ”

“Really? Then, let’s try sending your magic power today . ”

Jude was the one who did this at the Research Institute, but now I was the one performing it . My partner for this was, of course, the Head Magician .

There was only me and him in this room .

We faced each other and put our palms together .

Huh? Isn’t this a bit close?

I felt the distance between us was slightly closer when we faced each other .

I was right . When I looked up from our palms, I was surprised that a beautiful face was closer to me than I had expected .

The Head Magician also looked up .

He’d noticed that I was staring at him .

Ah, this is hopeless .

Just having his beautiful face there is highly destructive .

Needless to say, when it came to the heads of divisions……

I was getting nervous and my chest hurt .

“What’s wrong?”

The Head Magician smiled and tilted his head . I shook my head and answered .

“Nothing……”

Calm down .

Let’s only think about sending magic for now .

I returned my eyes to our palms and distanced myself a little from the Head Magician while pretending to adjust my posture .

I took a deep breath and concentrated my magic power into my right hand .

After that, I released magic power from my palm the same way I did while making potions .

The magic power should have been flowing to the Head Magician .

“Can you feel it?”

“Yes . It’s a little bit weak but it’s flowing to me . Can you send a little more?”

“I’ll try . ”

It seemed that the amount I used for making potions wasn’t enough .

I imagined pushing magic out of my body, and this time I released more magic power than usual .

“Oh . ”

I heard the Head Magician’s mutter and raised my eyes . He had a broad smile on his face, different from his usual gentle smile .

“Head Magician?”

“Ah, I’m sorry . It’s a bit interesting . ”

“Interesting……?”

“Yes . Your magic is definitely different from ours . ”

When I called out to him in a voice different from my usual one, the Head Magician’s expression returned to normal .

Maybe because of his well-featured face and the fact that I saw the smile just now, his smile looked like it was a mask pasted on his face,

Was that the cause?

I looked at him dubiously, but he responded by explaining magic power to me .

Although I also heard this during the lecture, magic was different between individuals .

It wasn’t just the attributes .

It was hard to describe, but there was something that was intrinsically different .

However, the difference was so small that only half the people in the Mage Division could feel it .

Of course, the Head Magician could feel it .

On the other hand, my magic power was so different that it was obvious .

I’d thought so .

I had holy magic, but he also felt something different about it . The Head Magician said, “This might be something unique to those who come from a different world . ”

“Is my magic also the reason for higher efficiency in things like potions?”

“Well…… It’s unclear at this stage . ”

“I see . ”

I’d tried asking the question I wanted to know the most, but it seemed that I wouldn’t get the answer I wanted so easily .

That’s too bad .

Well, the investigation only started today with the practical lesson, so it couldn’t be helped .

It’ll probably become clear sooner or later, so let’s take our time investigating .

After that, the Head Magician told me various things, such as how to feel magic power while sending it to other people .

Translator: Blushy
Editor: Polar Bear