Chapter 5: To the Holy Empire of Maple Leaf
Military secrets. To gain advantages over other countries, each nation secretly conducts its own magical research. Meanwhile, they strive to investigate the magic being developed by neighboring countries in order to further advance their own country’s magic.
It’s unavoidable, but every country acts with the possibility of war with their neighbors in mind. It’s common sense in this world that magic capable of producing large-scale effects can influence the outcome of wars.
However, this common sense has one major drawback.
That is, it slows down the overall advancement of magic.
I believe each country places great importance on magical research, investing both budget and human resources. In fact, each country’s magical research seems to have its own characteristics, with unique magics being developed.
But that’s only from a national perspective. From the viewpoint of magical studies as a field, there are undeniably inefficient aspects.
According to information gathered by outlaws from various countries, the progress of magic has stagnated in recent years due to countries trying to outdo each other in magical research. This goes against my goal of raising the overall magical level of the entire world. In that case, it might be worth directly visiting each country and forcibly raising their magical standards. If there are more people with deep magical knowledge, the chances of new magic being created increase. Eventually, even transfer magic might be developed.
From what I could see, this magician called Crown-Windsor seemed to have an atmosphere that suggested he might cooperate with my intentions.
“Oh, this is great! We can use this for magical experiments!”
Crown exclaimed joyfully, spreading his arms wide. He stood at the entrance of the practice grounds, looking around.
After confirming this, I looked at the students gathered in the middle of the grounds.
“Indeed. Well then, let’s first get the students out of the grounds.”
“Hm? Why not have them participate in the experiment?”
“Eh?”
I tilted my head and turned back at Crown’s words.
“Won’t that mean revealing Maple Leaf’s magic publicly? Is that okay?”
I pointed this out just in case. It might be a good learning opportunity for the students, and it’s not really my concern, but from Crown’s position, it shouldn’t be a good thing.
“I don’t care about that. If I can see magic I don’t know, I’m willing to reveal anything!”
He said this with a face showing no hesitation at all. I was momentarily at a loss for words.
While this is exactly what I wanted, Crown is a court magician of Maple Leaf. Is it really okay to openly reveal top-class magic that’s considered a state secret?
I can’t help but worry about Crown’s position. If even I, an unrelated party, feel this way, someone from Crown’s homeland who was nearby might feel not just uneasy but even a sense of crisis.
“Crown!”
Just as I thought this, a large man appeared at the entrance of the grounds, shouting Crown’s name.
It was Alabaster, a knight of the Holy Empire of Maple Leaf. With a face like an oni mask, he ran over and moved next to Crown, placing a hand on his shoulder.
“You haven’t done anything yet, have you!?”
“Done what? We just arrived.”
Crown replied to Alabaster’s words, not hiding his irritation. Alabaster, ignoring Crown’s attitude, immediately turned to face me.
“When it comes to magic, Crown loses all sense of boundaries. I don’t know how far your conversation has progressed, but please stop it here for now. Surely, both sides have magic they want to keep secret?”
Alabaster said this with a stern face, but I unconsciously shook my head.
“No, not really.”
When I answered this way, Alabaster blinked and froze, then slapped his own forehead with one hand loud enough to make a sound.
“A, a kindred spirit…! What have we here…!”
He started lamenting, uttering incomprehensible words. I felt somewhat annoyed, but since Alabaster was visibly distressed, I decided to say nothing.
“Sir Alabaster. If Aoi Sensei is willing to demonstrate magic, shouldn’t we reciprocate to some extent?”
“That’s not something to be shown so casually! Besides, just because the other side shows theirs doesn’t mean we should show ours!”
As Crown made this suggestion lightly, veins popped up on Alabaster’s temples again. However, Crown snorted with laughter.
“Isn’t Sir Foar already at this academy, showing magic? In that case, it’s too late now…”
“Foar-Perno-Roses is a magician who primarily uses existing magic known in various countries and has independently conducted further research. He’s different from court magicians who come from research labs from the start. You, on the other hand, are a magician who primarily uses magic unique to the Holy Empire. Just you casually demonstrating a few spells would constitute a serious information leak…!”
To Alabaster’s rapid-fire speech, Crown shrugged his shoulders.
“If you want to keep the Holy Empire’s magic so secret, you shouldn’t have brought me along… Someone from the magician corps would have been sufficient in terms of ability…”
As Crown started complaining with a pout, Alabaster’s eyes widened in an angry expression.
“You…! You really weren’t listening, were you! We brought you along to show original magic to Aoi Sensei and spark interest in the Holy Empire…!”
Alabaster blurted this out, seemingly forgetting my presence, and started lecturing Crown. Then he suddenly realized and turned around.
Following suit, Crown also turned to look at me.
Being looked down upon by two large men with stern faces, I cleared my throat while holding one hand to my mouth.
“…I had anticipated that much from the beginning, so please don’t worry about it.”
Hearing this, Alabaster’s face showed relief, and he turned back to Crown.
“It’s fine to demonstrate magic with Aoi Sensei. I’ll also allow some discussion about magic to a certain extent. But make sure to do it when no one else is around. I told you this before we left the Holy Empire.”
He said this in a somewhat calmer tone than before. Crown nodded vaguely while letting out a shallow sigh.
“Ah, is that so? I don’t remember that.”
“You…”
Receiving such a sulky response, murderous intent flashed in Alabaster’s eyes.
It seems Alabaster is higher in rank, but Crown doesn’t seem to care. I wonder how he managed to become a court magician with this attitude, but there’s no doubt he’s extremely skilled.
“Aoi Sensei, let’s meet just the two of us tomorrow. I’ll somehow shake off this man and come.”
“Go ahead and try. I’ll physically remove your head… Wait, who are you calling ‘this man’, you!?”
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t shout. It hurts my ears.”
“What’s with that attitude…!”
Before I knew it, the two of them were walking away with their backs turned to me, bickering.
Watching their retreating figures, I quietly tilted my head. They’re always arguing, but looking at them like this, they only seem like close friends, which is strange.
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The next day, when I was called to the headmaster’s office again, I found Alabaster and Crown already waiting there.
They seemed to have been talking about something, but when I entered the room, they all closed their mouths and turned towards me.
Alabaster was clearly in a good mood, while Crown, in contrast, had a disgruntled expression. For some reason, Glen had a similar atmosphere.
“Good morning,”
The three of them returned the greeting. As I responded, I looked at Glen’s face, and for some reason, he was looking at me with a subtle expression.
As I tilted my head, Glen opened his mouth with a difficult expression.
“…Aoi-kun, what do you think about the magic of the Holy Empire of Maple Leaf?”
“The magic of Maple Leaf? I don’t know enough about it to give an opinion yet, but I am interested.”
When I answered this way, Alabaster’s face broke into a smile.
“She’s interested, she says! Alright! Now, Glen-dono!? The next question!”
For some reason, Alabaster’s excitement increased at my response. Conversely, Crown’s face clearly showed increased dissatisfaction.
The three of them must have had some kind of discussion before I arrived, but I still couldn’t tell what it was about. At any rate, it was clear that my answer was heading in a good direction for Alabaster.
As I was thinking about this, Glen furrowed his brow and opened his mouth with a sigh.
“…By the way, what would you think if I told you that you could go to Maple Leaf for about a month to tour their research labs and academies? Well, I already know the answer, but…”
“I want to go. I’d like to see for myself how far each country has progressed in magical research.”
Upon hearing this answer, Alabaster twisted his body and made a fist pump, while Glen and Crown simultaneously let out sighs.
“Well, well… No, I thought you’d say that. It’d be tough to lose you now, Aoi. What should we do…”
Glen muttered, pouting like a child. Crown, on the other hand, dropped his shoulders dejectedly and looked at me resentfully.
“…If I could stay at this academy for a long time, I could see other countries’ magic with my own eyes…”
Hearing Crown’s mumbling, I nodded in understanding. Apparently, Crown had wanted to prolong my recruitment to stay at the academy and research magic for a while. Indeed, with magicians from various countries conducting research within the academy, staying here would make it easy to study magic from other nations. He must be feeling down because his plans fell through.
And Alabaster, on the contrary, seems happy because he thinks he can achieve his goal of taking me to Maple Leaf.
“Then, I’ll take responsibility for preparing the journey to the Holy Empire of Maple Leaf. Don’t worry, Glen. Aoi will stay for one month. I’ll arrange the itinerary so that it’s not too burdensome, taking one month each way. I’ll book the finest inns along the way…”
As Alabaster tried to proceed with the conversation in high spirits, Glen raised his hand with a frown. Everyone froze for a moment at Glen’s sudden gesture, but Alabaster quickly addressed him.
“W-what is it, Glen?”
Alabaster asked, confused. Glen looked at me with a wry smile.
“I’m sorry, but it’s up to Aoi to decide whether to go to Maple Leaf or not. I don’t have the final say.”
“W-what!? Who would believe such nonsense!? Glen, you’re a high-ranking nobleman of the Verted Kingdom and the headmaster of this academy. No matter how skilled a magician he is, if Glen orders…”
“It’s impossible.”
Glen interrupted Alabaster’s general argument with a denial. Even Crown raised his face and tilted his head at this. Glen looked back at their gazes and answered with a laugh.
“You see, Aoi is only teaching at the academy because I asked her to. It wouldn’t be strange if she left the academy if she got tired of it. The Verted Kingdom would be in trouble if a magician of Aoi’s caliber went to another country. So, in the end, it’s up to Aoi. That being said, I’d like her to further raise the magical standards of Fidic Academy if possible.”
Hearing this, both of them turned their eyes to me. I hesitated for a moment, but my answer was already decided, so I quickly opened my mouth.
“…For my own magical research, I’d like to see Maple Leaf’s unique magic. Also, since we have this opportunity, I’d like to bring along a few students.”
“Students?”
Asked in return, I nodded.
“If we can see Maple Leaf’s academy as well, I’d like to observe their teaching methods. I want the students to tell me what they notice from their perspective. As a teacher, I’ll observe Maple Leaf’s educational environment, and the students can find the good and bad points of the academy as students. This way, we can improve the systems and structures of both academies. It might be a bit unusual, but think of it as a kind of school trip.”
Hearing this answer, Glen stroked his chin and hummed.
“Hmm, I see. Every country has little exchange between academies for the sake of confidentiality. This gives our academy a reason to send Aoi.”
Seeing Glen’s apparent understanding, I turned to Alabaster next.
“So, in addition to myself, I’d like several others to accompany me to Maple Leaf. Also, to shorten the travel time, we’d like to take a different route to Maple Leaf.”
“…Even if you say a different route, ours should be the shortest…”
Alabaster replied vaguely, unable to hide his confusion. However, Crown raised his face with wide eyes, staring at me with apparent interest.
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