A Teacher, But I’m Feared as a Witch Volume 1 Chapter 5 part 3

Aoi fell silent, sighed deeply, and then spoke.

“… Action Seal Freeze.”

Immediately after, magic was invoked and Rocks froze like a statue. Next to him, Felter, who had been observing silently, exhaled through his nose with his arms crossed.

Seeing the immobilized Rocks, Middleton gave instructions to the royal guards.

“Take him out.”

“Yes, sir!”

As the students and Speyside remained frozen, Rocks was solemnly escorted out by two royal guards.

Middleton raised his hand with a smile as if nothing had happened and addressed the classroom.

“Sorry for the disturbance. Now, let’s focus on the lesson again.”

Saying just that, he swiftly exited into the hallway, and a dull sound like something hard and heavy colliding echoed. After that, Lea bowed with a plastered-on smile and went out into the hallway.

Then, a sharp sound like hands clapping resonated.

As those left in the classroom were dumbfounded, the door opened and Lea poked her head in, looking at Aoi.

“Teacher Aoi. Could you come here for a moment?”

“Y-Yes… Then, Mr. Speyside…”

“Please, go ahead.”

When Aoi confirmed after being called out, Speyside nodded repeatedly in agreement.

Stepping outside, Aoi saw Middleton with a radiant smile grabbing Rocks’s hair with one hand, walking down the hallway while Rocks remained frozen.

As Aoi looked sympathetically at Rocks being dragged away, Lea asked with a smile.

“Is there a place nearby where no one comes? Preferably somewhere with good soundproofing. Oh, how about a torture chamber?”

“…It’s not a torture chamber, but the laboratory is relatively sturdy and soundproof, I think.”

“A laboratory! That sounds perfect. Now, could you guide us there?”

Lea said cheerfully, and Aoi nodded with a twitching cheek.

“…This way.”

As he started walking, Lea called out to Middleton.

“Aoi knows a good place. It’s a sturdy room, and the soundproofing is good too.”

“Oh, is that so? That’s excellent. Let’s have her guide us by all means. I’d like to have a heart-to-heart talk with my son after so long.”

“Yes, indeed.”

As the two conversed like this, the royal guards accompanying them turned pale.

Aoi looked at Rocks being dragged along and quietly clasped her hands together.

READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV

After leading them to my unused research lab behind the school building and providing it to Middleton and the others, I returned to the classroom for the time being.

I felt like he had been told they wanted to leave the education to me, but well, education should ideally be done directly by parents.

If things didn’t change even after that, I decided I would educate Rocks strictly herself.

With this resolution in mind, I opened the door leading to the classroom, and everyone’s eyes turned to me.

Feeling uncomfortable, I bowed my head to Speyside.

“I apologize for the disturbance. Please continue with the lesson.”

Upon saying this, Speyside nodded with a complicated expression and looked at the students.

“…In the case of omitting one incantation, I believe I told you in the intermediate course that each word in the incantation has its own meaning. You need to break down those words, maintain the content while reducing the number of characters. Also, as the amount of magical power to be infused changes, you need to try various patterns.”

As Speyside said this, the students each nodded and began to break down the incantations.

One might think it would be better to just teach the completed three-phrase incantation, but the difficulty of magic is that if there are ten people, there will be ten different ways. Because there isn’t just one answer, even a student who has finally managed to cast with four phrases might come up with an idea that even the principal couldn’t think of.

That’s why advanced students practice methods to abbreviate incantations on their own and learn how to research magic.

Even if they fail to shorten the incantation, they might end up creating magic with different effects. For this reason, there are many magic researchers in each country.

Also, those who find clues to create new magic will face many hardships and anguish until the new magic is completed. Some magic requires vast lands, and some challenge themselves with alchemy using minerals.

Now, they are given tasks that can definitely be solved with guidance from teachers, but those who become researchers themselves will step into an endless path of research.

I was able to learn various magic by cooperating with Owen’s research, and I was able to contribute to creating new ones.

However, as I’m not a researcher at heart, while I can understand the hardships, I can’t understand the feelings.

If I say unnecessary things, I might not only dampen students’ motivation but also hurt them.

Thinking this, I decided not to give too much extra advice during class.

I decide to look at students who seem to be struggling to understand the magic Speyside is teaching.

The one struggling the most is a large boy with golden hair like a mane sitting by the wall.

It’s Felter Cain.

“Felter, are you not good with water?”

When I ask, Felter glances at me with a look of annoyance.

“…I don’t particularly have any subjects I’m bad at. But I’m not good at reducing incantations. I’m good at physical enhancement though.”

Although he speaks as if it’s a bother, Felter is seriously facing his desk. It’s just that his pen isn’t moving.

Thinking that he might be unexpectedly serious, I stand next to Felter.

“What part don’t you understand?”

“…I can’t break it down. Probably, this incantation is this…”

“Ah, I see. This part is for generating a water sphere, this is for compression, this is for rotation to maintain compression and spherical shape, and this part is for triggering the activation, and this part is for disappearing if not activated. Let’s try thinking about each effect separately, and if they seem like they can be combined, let’s try it.”

“…I see.”

With just a simple explanation from me, Felter immediately showed understanding of the structure. The magical language has a unique system, but if you can understand the rules, you can shorten any magic by at least one phrase.

Felter is smart, so if he takes it seriously, he’ll probably grasp the knack quickly.

As I was smiling at this thought, I heard whispering voices.

“Hey, the witch is smiling…”

“No way, has Felter been cursed…”

Hearing such disrespectful conversation, I turn to check. Multiple people turned their faces away so quickly it seemed their necks might snap.

As I stared at them, Speyside deliberately cleared his throat to draw attention.

“…We’ll continue the lesson, but before that, Teacher Konominato.”

“Yes?”

Tilting my head as my name was called, Speyside opened his mouth expressionlessly.

“What you just said… could you explain it in more detail, please?”

As a result, before I knew it, Speyside had become like a student too, and I was asked various questions for his own research.

Speyside’s questions were advanced content for the students, but it seems they still became good study material. By the end of the class, everyone had gained some kind of hint.

Some students were even able to shorten their incantations by two phrases at once, making the class a great success in a sense.

“…It’s frustrating, but your knowledge of magic is indeed unfathomable. For the sake of my research, I’d like to swallow my pride and ask for your teachings.”

“I must decline.”

“…How about two gold coins for an hour of lecture?”

“I must decline.”

For some reason, even after the class ended, Speyside kept rambling on beside me, so I hurriedly declined and left the scene.

As I walked down the corridor, I wondered how Rocks was doing and headed towards the research lab.

Then, I saw the sight of royal guards lined up around the research lab.

“Um, where is Rocks?”

When I asked, the royal guards silently pointed at the research lab.

“It’s been about an hour already, hasn’t it?”

I said this to confirm, but the royal guards just nodded silently.

As I was wondering what to do, the door of the research lab opened, and a figure staggered out.

It should be Rocks, but I couldn’t believe it was him.

That’s because in just an hour, his cheeks had become gaunt, his back was bent, and he was looking around with a frightened demeanor. And the moment he noticed my presence, he made a sound that could have been either a gasp or a scream, “Hyu,” and collapsed on the spot.

Surprised by such a dramatic change, I involuntarily reached out my hand and called out.

“…Are you alright? What on earth…”

“Hii, hiiaaa!?”

As I approached, Rocks screamed and flailed his limbs, retreating.

As I stood there dumbfounded, Lea with a satisfied smile and Middleton laughing heartily appeared from inside the research lab.

“Hm, sorry to keep you waiting.”

“Thank you, Aoi.”

As the two addressed me, I opened my mouth, glancing sideways at Rocks.

“…For some reason, Rocks seems abnormally frightened, but…”

When I asked this, Middleton nodded deeply.

“I told him the story of a ruler who made too many enemies, and what kind of future awaits if he doesn’t change from his tyrannical ways. I taught him thoroughly, down to the details.”

“I can heal injuries, so we even included some practical experience.”

As the two said this and laughed, Rocks began to tremble violently.