I started to worry if the four young women had returned safely, so I sent them a message. Soon, I received replies from all four of them, thanking me and suggesting we go drinking again. Even if it was just a polite gesture, their replies made me happy.
In the end, it took until evening for the alcohol to completely wear off, so my Saturday ended up being spent lounging around all day. That night, I made and ate egg zosui, which was delicious and soothing to my stomach, still recovering from the alcohol.
The next day, the alcohol was gone, but I still had nothing in particular to do, so I decided to reread my school magic textbook. I had already memorized all the beginner magic incantations. All that remained were intermediate and advanced levels, but the higher the rank, the longer the incantation, and the more it felt like something out of a fantasy. It seems that unlike beginner magic, intermediate and above require a certain degree of occupational aptitude to activate. This means I won't know which magic I can use until I actually try chanting it. I've been excluded from practical training for now, but I'll have to try and ask for a chance while I'm still at school. I understand that my own 'Fire' spell caused unusual damage, so I can't bring myself to try activating an intermediate magic spell by myself. If the beginner spell was like that, I can only imagine what the intermediate one would be like...
I never disliked studying, and this is magic I've only dreamed of. On this day, I managed to perfectly memorize an intermediate magic incantation.
School started again the next day, but I was still made to observe practical training from the sidelines. I really hope it won't be like this until graduation. Seeing the other students happily casting magic made me anxious.
"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell? Are you alright?" someone asked.
"Huh? Ah, no, it's not that... And you?"
"Ah, I'm... well, I'm sort of like the odd-jobs person at this school," he said.
A small man spoke to me. At first glance, he looked over sixty, and since he introduced himself as an odd-jobs worker, he might be working on a re-employment basis after retirement.
"To be honest, it's a bit embarrassing, but I've been removed from practical training. Hahaha."
"Did you do something you shouldn't have? It's not normal to be removed from practical training at this school."
"Ah, well, I might have done something a bit bad."
"If you don't mind, may I ask what it was?"
"Well, I broke the targets. Two of them. Do you know? Each target costs over a million yen. I broke two, so they told me to just watch from the sidelines like this."
"You broke them with magic?"
"Yes. They broke from 'Fire'."
"That's strange. Those targets are supposed to withstand even advanced magic."
"You're quite knowledgeable. It seems I have a bit too much magic power, and that's what happened."
"Just having a bit too much magic power shouldn't cause that... Ah, so you're..."
"Is something wrong?"
"No, I haven't even introduced myself. I'm Kitaoji," he said.
"Thank you for the introduction. I'm Hanaoka. Nice to meet you."
"Hanaoka-san. Well then, perhaps we'll meet again."
"Ah, maybe we'll see each other at school."
After our conversation ended, the man named Kitaoji left. Still, Kitaoji-san seemed like a kind person. It was the first time I'd heard the name, but it sounded distinguished.
Notes:
• Kitaoji - Older, small man. School’s odd‑jobs/handyman. Kind, surprised by Hanaoka’s power.