The youngest daughter.
Normally, she would be someone who received the love of the whole family.
But that did not apply to the imperial family of the Illumina Empire.
“Hey. Walk further away. You stink.”
“Frasel. Didn't your big sister tell you you'd get it if you came near? What if your filth rubs off on me?”
“If you're going to cry all day like that, go somewhere nobody is. Your mother's grave would suit you.”
From the time she could understand words until now.
Frasel Illuma had been treated by her family as a child cast off.
Her mother had been from a frontier foreign tribe.
The only one among the Emperor's consorts who was not a citizen of the Empire.
When her mother died young after giving birth to Frasel, there was no one in the vast Imperial Palace she could lean on.
If not for the Emperor's protection, she might have been banished long ago.
She was not particularly grateful.
After all, not a single grain of affection could be felt in her father's gaze toward her.
All the Emperor meant to protect was the dignity of the imperial house.
If his youngest daughter died somewhere far from home, it would be a problem for his own face as well.
A being with an ugly face and practically no maternal-side faction.
That was Frasel's position.
‘That's exactly why I came here on purpose, though.’
The Academy in the capital had her immediate older sister.
Someone who would throw a fit as if she had seen a bug if she was called ‘big sister.’
-Frasel. You're not thinking of coming to our Academy, are you? If you are, you'd better change your mind. I might just rip off your mask in front of every student.
The day hatred toward Frasel poured down like rain.
She decided her destination.
Let's go somewhere no one knows my true face.
Let's go somewhere there's no one who hates me.
Conditions that truly did not suit an Imperial Princess of the Empire.
And yet today.
Even that humble wish had nearly been smashed.
By a last-place freshman who had chosen her for his first Challenge.
Kawin, who had witnessed her shame, offered unexpected words.
“I need you.”
“!”
A breeze blew through Frasel's frozen heart.
A ticklish breeze seeping into a cold ice cave.
Did the words that she was needed feel that good?
‘No. That's not it.’
Frasel simply liked Kawin's attitude.
Even after seeing her bare face, his expression did not waver.
A gaze that even her family had avoided meeting reached straight toward her.
Even his tone had softened.
He was different from her family, who had openly shown their disgust.
Different, too, from the pretense of the palace maids who forced themselves to humor her.
An attitude that treated her not as a monster, but as an ordinary person.
It was what Frasel had wished for all her life.
“You said you…… want to Challenge me often?”
“Yeah.”
“If I refuse, will you go around talking about my face?”
“No. Whether you accept or not, that won't happen.”
“Why not?”
“Because I hate going on about other people.”
Could that be true?
He might say that, but if she refused, he could go blabbing all over town.
‘But…….’
It was the first time.
That anyone had suggested doing something ‘together’ with her.
Everyone had left her alone and wanted to keep their distance.
So she was happy.
That he suggested they do something together, even after seeing her true face.
Even if that something was trading blows in ‘battle.’
“Okay.”
Inside the cat mask, a bright smile bloomed on Frasel's face.
***
The last-place freshman who had breathed warmth into Frasel's heart.
Kawin smiled with utmost satisfaction.
‘Just as I thought.’
The battle had only just ended.
The amount of mana he had used and the magic power he had released were not small.
But the huge Orbis settled in his body,
WHIRRR!
had not subsided or weakened at all.
No, far from weakening…….
‘The energy's grown stronger. It's thicker, too.’
That meant his amount of mana and his magic power had grown simultaneously.
Kawin knew well how this had become possible.
[Passive : Current Devour]
One of the abilities he had gained after deciphering Dharma's grimoire.
When trading magic with someone, he could absorb the opponent's magic power.
Naturally, the more mana the opponent had, the better the effect.
In that sense, Frasel was a perfect fit for Kawin.
A trait of imperial mages.
They used magic power of high purity, and its amount gushed out without limit.
Their regeneration rate was good, so there was no need to worry about destroying the opponent's Circle.
To Kawin, the existence called Frasel was truly…….
‘A golden goblin.’
It was not the nicest way to put it, but to Kawin, she was no different from a treasure trove.
That was why Kawin had said it.
‘I need you.’
‘Should I call it luck? She agreed more readily than I expected.’
Kawin's proposal that they Challenge each other often from now on.
Frasel had accepted it without deliberating long.
Enough that even Kawin, who had brought it up, was a little surprised.
‘Did she not believe me when I said I wouldn't tell anyone?’
He pondered it for a moment, but no clear answer came.
Kawin set aside his questions about her for the time being.
In any case, it was a sure fact that he had gained a good sparring partner.
“Kawin Anper.”
When he moved to where the students were waiting, Oracle beckoned as if he had been waiting.
“Will you come here a moment?”
The unprecedented event of last place subduing first.
On top of that, the winner's magic was of the Lightning line, so attention naturally gathered.
So much so that even the students on the sparring grounds in the middle of their Challenges were looking away.
“Yes, Professor.”
Something he had expected to some degree.
Kawin's composed steps headed toward Oracle.
“Do not take offense. It is personal curiosity as a detection-type mage.”
With that, Oracle held out his right hand.
Soon, a red eye like the one on his forehead formed on his palm.
Kawin inwardly marveled a great deal.
‘He's already got fifteen floating, and he still has power to spare?’
Should he say it was just what one would expect of a Tesca Academy teacher?
Even after creating yet another eye, Oracle showed no sign of strain.
Hum.
The eye on his palm shot out thin red lines.
Those lines swept over Kawin's body here and there.
It seemed to dig through not only the Circle within his body, but each and every blood vessel and nerve.
A meticulous examination that would make even an innocent person's heart shrivel.
But Kawin grinned inwardly.
‘You won't find what you're looking for.’
He even turned his body toward Oracle, as if to say, go ahead and look closely.
It made no difference anyway.
One would have to be at least of the Archmage Dharma's caliber to unravel Kawin's secret.
Not his father Xymoron, not his friend Walther, not even Valeria, a professor, had recognized his Orbis.
The magic system they used was an abbreviated version made without understanding Braille.
How dare a fake see through the real thing?
“Hmm…….”
At last, a bead of sweat formed on Oracle's temple.
Kawin found the sight extremely satisfying.
It was a sign that the attempt to examine his insides was not going well.
“……It is embarrassing to ask such a question as a teacher, but I cannot help asking.”
The red eye on his palm vanished.
Roughly wiping the sweat from his temple, Oracle asked in a serious voice,
“Is there even a Circle inside your body? I cannot sense any energy at all.”
“If you think about my family, you might understand.”
“Hmm.”
Oracle understood Kawin's words at once.
Winter static electricity's rival.
The ‘Anper’ family, sought out only when there was no flint to be had.
With such feeble power, their magic power might not be easily sensed.
‘But…….’
Then how had he torn apart Frasel's Royal Arka?
When Oracle turned his head, Kawin had already, impudently, gone back and sat down.
But he did not call him over again.
He was in no position to get answers no matter what he asked.
‘Kawin Anper.’
Among students, there were plenty of good ones, and plenty of bad ones.
But by Oracle's standards, he had not seen many ‘weird ones.’
Kawin was the weirdest one Oracle had ever witnessed.
***
Walther Franken.
He was not one to favor fighting.
But if he absolutely had to fight someone, the one he ought to pick was clearly decided.
“Rise!”
Creak-crack-crack!
With Walther's command, hard bones assembled.
Bones gathered around a core floating in midair and soon took on a human form.
A skeleton soldier twice the size of the mages here.
If there was one slightly unusual point, it was that it held nothing like a sword in its hands.
“Wreck him!”
With a command that had nothing to do with an incantation, the skeleton soldier dashed forward.
Opposite it was a Druid covered in a thick mane.
“This pissant bastard……!”
A Druid who had borrowed the power of a lion.
But the might of a lion could not withstand the might of the dead.
Using the momentum of its charge, the skeleton soldier quickly tackled him, then, mounted on top of the Druid, swung both hands wildly.
THWACK! THWACK!
“Guaaagh!”
Holding his wand high in the sky, Walther sneered.
“Don't you know it's the universal rule not to hit someone while they're transforming? I took a beating yesterday, but not anymore.”
Walther, who had been surrounded and lynched by three of them.
Numbers aside, he had been beaten helplessly because he could not shout ‘Rise.’
But in a Challenge, there was plenty of time to summon a skeleton soldier, and this Necromancer had proven his worth in front of everyone.
[Aslan Valeon. Unconscious.]
[Challenge Winner - Walther Franken]
[Victory Points: 100P awarded]
[Bonus Points: 100P awarded]
“Yes!”
Walther threw his wand high into the sky.
Then he hurriedly put his mask back on.
His exposed gums and teeth were hidden once more behind the black film.
But the shade of the smile he wore remained unchanged.
His gaze passed over the Druid to one spot.
The friend who had saved him when these guys had lynched him.
Kawin Anper.
‘He's good.’
Kawin genuinely marveled.
He had not known before it was summoned, but the skeleton soldier's physique was much stronger and faster than he had expected.
Enough that he understood why the Academy's Druids had kept Walther in check.
What was particularly impressive was,
‘That skeleton soldier's just like a pro fighter, isn't it?’
Picturing scenes from sound was practically Kawin's specialty.
The UFCC commentary that used to play on NuTube seemed quite similar to the skeleton's movements.
‘Don't tell me that skeleton soldier's past life was in that line of work?’
Mounting and pounding, and wrenching joints; it really looked the part.
Kawin grinned and gave Walther a thumbs-up.
Upper ranks on the entrance exam, and he had solved Valeria's question relatively quickly.
More than Kawin had expected.
Walther seemed to be one of this Academy's outstanding talents.
However,
“Snoooore.”
Unfortunately, it seemed he had not impressed Oracle at all.
Oracle, whom he had thought was only pretending to sleep on the sofa, was actually sprawled out asleep.
Mouth open, snoring away.
But no one held it against Oracle.
Because even while he slept, the red eye on his forehead kept moving diligently.
‘That's some convenient magic.’
Magic that held even while the caster slept.
Well, that was probably what it took to become a professor.
Walther's face, as he returned triumphantly, crumpled like a piece of tissue.
He had only just noticed Oracle sprawled out asleep.
“That…… that fu…….”
Walther barely managed to hold back the curse,
and Kawin failed to hold back his laughter.