The Academy Regressor is Obsessed

Leticia’s room was located at the left end of the building. Ena walked silently to the front of her room, and Asel was engrossed in reading the fire magic book.

The most basic magic of the fire branch, Scorching Flame. From the magic that produces those flames, to magic formulas for creating seas of fire or shaping them into swords, everything was written in the book. Asel tried using some of the lower-level magics among them.

Fortunately, the magic activated without any particular problems. It moved according to his will, and it was possible to slightly change the shape to make elongated or round forms. Although the amount of magical power consumed was quite large due to adjusting the shape with only magical power manipulation ability without the help of magic formulas, it wasn’t a problem as the recovery speed was even faster.

‘It seems like it would be difficult from intermediate magic onwards.’

Various combat magics, including fire magic, consume as much magical power as their destructive power. Lower-level magic was manageable, but it seemed difficult from the intermediate level onwards. To begin with, because not only the nature change of magical power but also the form, characteristics, and effects are all different, it’s difficult to even manifest them by simply projecting magical power crudely.

Moreover, from intermediate magic onwards, some level of imagery is usually necessary.

In the end, this means that the magic he can currently use is limited to the lower ranks.

But Asel manifested only lower-level magic without any particular dissatisfaction. The rest was a problem that time would solve anyway. After learning from his master and continuing research on his own, it was a position he would reach before long. Asel was certain of this.

“We’ve arrived.”

Ena said not long after they started walking. She knocked on a door with ‘Leticia Berkias’ written in large letters and muttered:

“Leticia, it’s me.”

The response was immediate.

“…Ena?”

A clear voice was heard from beyond the door. Then the door swung open.

Leticia’s figure was visible through the opened door.

Gray hair reaching down to her waist. Dark circles are visible beneath the round glasses she’s wearing. The white gown she’s wearing was clearly high-quality at a glance, and her light black pupils were filled with intelligence.

Even at a rough glance, she looked like a scholar. Ena waved her hand lightly towards Leticia.

“Hello. We’re here for an aptitude test.”
“…Your way of getting straight to the point is still the same.”

Leticia said this with a deep sigh. Asel and Ena followed her suggestion to come in and entered the room.

Her room looked similar to a laboratory. All sorts of metals and magical conductors were scattered on the desk, and the internal organs and magical organs of unidentifiable magical beasts were packed in boxes. Various reagents were also hung on the wall as if on display. Asel gaped at this feast of mysteries.

“Have you been well?”

Leticia left Asel alone as he looked around the room and asked Ena as she sat down. Ena nodded while picking up and eating a cookie placed on the table.

“More or less.”
“That’s good. I thought you might have scorched a city because you didn’t like it or something.”
“…What do you think I am?”
“It’s not wrong, is it?”

Leticia smiled slightly and stuck her hands in her pockets.

“You know, back in the day. The incident where you went on a dispatch and tore the sky to burn down an entire city.”
“That was because the whole city was contaminated. Only demons and their remnants died, right?”
“I know. But the problem is that the king of that country wanted purification, not the annihilation of the city.”
“I don’t want to care about such things.”
“That’s so like you.”

Leticia turned her head. The sight of Asel poking at a wriggling magical beast’s heart with his finger was reflected in her eyes.

“Is that him? Your disciple. Bell was making a noisy fuss about it.”
“Yes. I came to do an aptitude test.”
“It’s the essential course that magicians who take in disciples always do. What’s the price? Gold coins? Or a favor?”
“Is ten gold coins enough?”
“That’s sufficient.”

Ena nodded and took out ten gold coins to hand to Leticia. Leticia checked the number of gold coins received and got up from her seat to bring out a crystal ball of appropriate size.

Blue magical power swirls inside the transparent crystal ball. Leticia suppressed the rampaging magical power and called Asel, who was lingering in front of the cage containing small magical beasts.

“Kid. Come here.”
“Ah, yes.”

Asel immediately turned around and approached Leticia. Only then could Leticia properly see Asel’s face.

“…He might be quite handsome when he grows up?”
“Pardon?”
“It’s nothing. Let’s do the test.”

Leticia moved slightly to the side and brought the crystal ball in front of Asel. Asel smacked his lips, detecting the calmly settled magical power inside the crystal ball.

‘I think I could wake it up.’

He could make the magical power inside the crystal ball rampage just by simply interfering with it. But somehow, he felt like he shouldn’t do that, so he remained quiet.

“We’ll start the aptitude test now. What you need to do is simple. Place your hand on the crystal ball, and when you slightly insert your magical power into the crystal ball, your magical power and the magical power inside the crystal ball will connect on their own. Then you just need to tell me the scene that appears in your mind. Easy, right?”

Asel nodded. He looked at Ena once, and after confirming that she was smiling, he shifted his gaze back to Leticia.

“Should I do it right away?”
“Do as you wish.”
“Then I’ll do it now.”

There was no reason to hesitate. Asel immediately placed his palm on the crystal ball, then slowly drew out his magical power.

He separated a part of the instantly activated magical power. He inserted it into the crystal ball. At the same time as he heard the sound of a water droplet falling in his mind, the magical power inside the crystal ball roughly enveloped Asel’s magical power.

The swirling magical power gradually rises and reaches the spot where Asel placed his palm. At that moment, Asel realized that the crystal ball’s magical power was trying to interfere with his magical power system. He could block it if he wanted to, but Asel willingly accepted that neat magical power.

A sensation both hot and cool travels from his palm to his brain.

“Close your eyes.”

Leticia’s command. He accepted it without resistance.

His vision went dark.

“Tell me what you see first in the darkness, and what you hear first.”

Understood. Asel remained silent and concentrated on trying to feel something.

In less than a second in that state, he saw something flashing in the darkness. It was a dark blue flash. As soon as he recognized it, the flash became a huge thunderbolt and tore through the darkness. A belated thunder sound shook his consciousness.

“Lightning struck.”
“Already? That’s faster than I thought. Is he compatible with lightning magic? As expected of Ena’s disciple—”
“Sparks are spreading everywhere.”
“…Dual attribute? It’s been a while since I’ve seen—”
“Water is pouring over the fire. Uh… the water immediately froze and turned the sky and ground all into ice.”
“?”

Leticia’s face twisted grotesquely with each of Asel’s words.

“…Kid, what are you saying—”
“Wind is blowing strongly and all the ice has disappeared. Flowers bloomed amidst the wind and a flower field was created. Something that looks like spirits are playing on it, and when corpses rose, they all ran away.”
“……”
“Oh? Things are repeatedly decomposing and assembling on their own. Bombs are exploding and black waves and shadows are approaching from far away. An earthquake is occurring, and trees are uprooting themselves and flying around.”
“Stop, stop!”
“Huh? Strange things keep coming out. Should I stop?”
“Yes… I understand now, so stop.”
“Okay……”

Asel smacked his lips in disappointment as he opened his eyes and removed his hand from the crystal ball. When he turned his head, he saw Leticia sitting in a chair, pressing her brow. She looked tired even at a glance. Asel wondered if he had done something wrong, so he rolled his eyes and watched her expression.

“Asel.”

At that moment, Ena called his name. Asel turned his head in surprise.

“Y-Yes?”
“I’m so proud of you.”
“…? Thank you?”
“Yes, yes. I’m grateful too.”

Ena hugged Asel tightly while smiling happily. Not knowing what was going on, Asel tilted his head and surrendered himself to Ena’s embrace.

Despite her small body, her embrace was quite warm.

When they finished the test and came out, it was a time that barely touched lunchtime. Asel and Ena immediately went to the restaurant and finished their meal. As Ena had guaranteed, the steak at the restaurant was extremely delicious. Much better than the food Hailey made. It was natural, given that it was food made by a professionally trained chef.

After finishing the meal, they looked around the streets for a while before returning to the mansion. As soon as Ena passed through the main gate, lightning struck the lightning rod on the mansion’s roof as if welcoming its owner. Asel stiffened his face as he looked at the lightning strike.

‘I’ve confirmed that I have an aptitude for lightning magic.’

That means someday he too will be able to use such magic.

It won’t be far off. Asel reaffirmed this as he followed Ena into the mansion.

“Asel! You’re back!”

As they entered the hall, Evelyn, dressed in a neat maid outfit, welcomed them. It was a cute outfit with lots of frills. Evelyn, seemingly pleased with the clothes she was wearing, grabbed the hem of her skirt and twirled around once.

“How is it, how is it? Cute, right? Does it suit me?”
“It suits you well. Is learning the mansion work manageable?”
“No problem! It’s much easier than handling animal or magical beast entrails!”

Evelyn exclaimed, giving a thumbs up. Asel smiled slightly and told her that was good. Evelyn nodded vigorously, then greeted Ena standing next to Asel.

“Ah, welcome back, Lady Ena.”
“Yes. Are you receiving your education well?”
“Yes! Lady Hailey teaches me well. Thanks to that, there’s nothing difficult yet!”
“I see. I’ll give you this month’s salary tomorrow.”
“Salary?”

Evelyn’s eyes lit up. She waved both hands and exclaimed with an astonished expression:

“I don’t need money! It’s enough that you let me live here!”
“I’ll give it to you anyway. It’s no use even if you say you don’t want it.”
“Lady Ena…!”
“Live doing what you want with it. I won’t interfere as long as you don’t stray down a strange path.”
“…Can I call you mom?”
“Go away.”

Ena gestured towards Evelyn. Evelyn flew away beyond the stairs following that gesture. Asel burst into laughter at the sight of her flying away while screaming with a voice mixed with laughter. Although it had only been a day since they came to the mansion, it seems she had adapted to some extent while staying with Hailey.

It was a good thing. Asel turned to look at Ena while holding the fire magic book he had brought from the Witch Association’s library.

“Master, what should I do now?”
“First, rest. We’ll start full-fledged magic education from tomorrow. Ah, before that.”

Ena smiled slightly and snapped her fingers. Then lightning flashed on her palm, and a blue book appeared. Ena handed that book to Asel. Asel’s eyes widened as he confirmed the title of the book he received.

“As the title says, it’s an introduction to lightning magic. It’s fine to read it, but don’t use the magic. Lightning magic is focused on destructive power even among unusual magics, so if you use it wrongly, your body will split apart in the shape of your nervous system.”

A chilling statement. Asel nodded with a bitter smile.

“I understand. I’ll do as you say.”
“Good. And from tomorrow, I plan to teach you the meaning of the characters used in magic formulas, so if you want to preview, feel free to take books from the library and read them. You can enter and exit as you please.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“Mm. Then rest.”

Ena stroked Asel’s head once before going up to her room. Asel also returned to his room and stretched widely.

Entering the room, he felt a satisfying comfort. Although it hadn’t even been a day since he came to this mansion, it seems he already thought of this place as home.

Not a bad feeling. Asel drank the water from the water bottle that seemed to have been brought by Hailey, and sat at the desk to arrange the books he had brought.

There were two books in total. The fire magic book brought from the Witch Association and the lightning magic book given by Ena. Asel pondered for a moment, then slowly immersed himself in the fire magic book he had been reading first.

He understood the characteristics of fire magic and the features that changed when it was revised into unusual magic.

He gained a feel for the basic magic, Scorching Flame, by using it several times. He went through the process of getting used to magic by repeatedly using other magics classified as lower-level magic as well.

When his magical power was almost depleted, Asel yawned and closed the book.

‘How many hours have passed?’

When he checked the clock while pressing his throbbing brow, the hour hand had long since entered the early morning hours. It was the price of concentrating on the book without realizing the passage of time.

Fatigue weighed down his body.

Asel got up from his seat, stretched his body fully, and took out the membership certificate from his bosom to place it on the desk. Seeing that ashen rectangle, he felt that he had formally entered the magical society. He smiled faintly as he tidied up the desk and lay down on the bed.

The night sky visible just before closing the curtains was full of stars. Asel appreciated those clusters of stars for a moment before closing the curtains and lying down on the bed.

Thus, a day passed.