The Academy Regressor is Obsessed

Asel burst into laughter.

[I heard you’ve recovered now, but just in case, I sent you some medicine. So take that and regain your strength! Make sure to come down during the break! I have a gift for you too, so look forward to it!]

Was the exclamation mark at the end of each sentence for emphasis, or just a habit? Whatever it was, it was just cute and not particularly bothersome.

[Chirp!]

When Asel raised his head and made eye contact with the sparrow, it opened its abdomen and poured out various types of pills. They were all high-quality items. Probably made by a famous pharmacist in Weiheim. He saw a few familiar items as well.

“Thank you.”

Asel said that while stroking the sparrow’s hard head. The sparrow seemed pleased, tilting its head to adjust the angle for easier petting. It meant that the formation of its ego was quite well developed. Though he had wondered because of its unusual form, it seemed there were no issues.

‘It’s not a new prototype… Could it be something my sister made herself?’

He already knew that Evelyn was learning magical engineering. However, he thought she had only just started properly and couldn’t make complex things yet, but could she have already grown enough to make a messenger bird?

Asel asked the sparrow about this on a hunch, and the sparrow affirmed it by nodding its head vigorously.

Then Asel burst out laughing.

The siblings were exceptionally talented as a pair. What kind of people were the parents who tried to sacrifice such children? Could they have known about their outstanding talent and tried to offer them as sacrifices?

‘That can’t be.’

Asel recalled his parents, vaguely remaining in his memories, and shook his head. They were a man and woman without a single bit of knowledge in magic or engineering. They couldn’t have recognized talent. They were just bastards.

“Have you finished reading the letter?”

Ena asked, watching Asel neatly fold the letter. Asel nodded while putting one of the awakening pills from the sparrow into his mouth.

“Yes. I’ll just send a reply right away.”
“Okay. Take your time.”

Ena answered while tying her hair back tightly. Asel took out a suitable piece of stationery and quickly wrote on it right there.

Soon the letter was complete. Asel folded it twice and put it into the sparrow’s abdomen. Despite its small size, it had quite a large capacity, and the letter went in with a plop. He tapped the sparrow’s small head to replenish its depleted magic power and smiled gently.

“I’m counting on you.”

[Chirp chirp!!]

The sparrow answered loudly and immediately flew towards the sky. Its trajectory was carved out as it disappeared at subsonic speed. Asel, who had been looking down at the now empty training ground, closed the window. Ena approached him.

“Are you done?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s start right away.”

There was no need to ask what she meant by starting.

Asel nodded once, then tightly closed his eyes and slowly opened them again. His pupils were now colored similar to the sky.

Eyes of a color quite different from his usually pitch-black ones. Magic power swirled in a spiral inside them.

A flow so intense it could be clearly seen from the outside. This was a common characteristic of successfully awakened magic eyes.

This was the result of filtering through dozens, hundreds of possibilities for magic eyes and finally selecting one.

Magic Eyes of Nullification.

Magic eyes with the insane ability to ignore all spell damage pouring in from the outside and instead use it as their own power from the moment of activation. With this, Asel could gain an overwhelming advantage in battle against spell casters.

These were magic eyes with such excellent performance that they could be considered an undesignatable ability. From the moment of activation, it was possible to nullify not only magic, but also curses, blood techniques, and even psychic abilities.

Of course, there was a price. Not only the short time limit of 5 minutes, but also continuous headaches, and if the opponent was a high-level spell caster who had awakened mental imagery, the magic eyes would shut off just from taking one magic hit.

Even when he tested it with Ena, his magic eyes were forcibly deactivated by just one low-level spell she wielded with mental imagery.

But even so, there was no doubt that it was an insane ability. Being able to nullify a great magician’s attack once without any cost was bound to be a significant advantage in battle.

There was a time limit, but he had no choice because if he used it any longer, his eyeballs would start to burn, followed by his brain and magical core.

So for the past few days, he had been continuously researching with Ena to somehow extend this time.

“How much magic power did you reduce?”
“…About half.”

Ena asked while staring directly at Asel’s pupils, and Asel answered with a slightly frowning face.

They were close enough that their lips would touch if one of them accidentally leaned forward, but both of them were in a state where their curiosity as magicians burned more fiercely than personal emotions, so there was no embarrassment in their actions.

Thump thump thump thump!!

For some reason, Ena’s heart seemed to be beating wildly, but Asel had no room to realize this.

It was now over 5 minutes and 2 minutes since activating the magic eyes. The research to reduce the amount of magic power consumed for activating the magic eyes, drastically cutting their performance in exchange for increasing the duration, was showing considerable results.

When he first tried reducing it by 10% or 20%, the increase was at most a few seconds, but when he reduced it further, the time increased by minutes.

Ena tried her best not to be conscious of her pounding heart as she asked Asel.

“Shall I go?”
“Yes.”

As soon as she heard Asel’s answer, Ena manifested a shock spell on her finger. A simple low-level magic without mental imagery or uniqueness. The moment it touched Asel’s body, it disappeared as if combusting and Asel’s magic power increased. Asel nodded while exhaling a long breath.

“This time it’s mid-level magic. Tell me right away if it’s difficult.”

Ena created a white flash at her fingertips. Then she carefully tapped Asel’s chest. Again, the magic disappeared and Asel’s magic power increased. But at that moment, Asel closed his eyes tightly and placed his hand on Ena’s side, who was sitting on his lap.

“Hic!”

Ena hiccupped at the sudden touch, and Asel spoke through gritted teeth while enduring the burning sensation.

“I don’t think I should use it for more than 8 minutes. Otherwise my eyes will melt.”
“Ah, okay. Just a moment.”

Ena hurriedly collected herself and placed her hand over Asel’s eyes. Then the magic power that had been raging like a wild horse suddenly subsided, and the burning sensation gradually faded. Asel slowly opened his eyes while exhaling a long breath.

His pupils, which had been dyed blue, had now returned to their usual black color. Ena couldn’t meet his eyes and turned her head away as she spoke.

“Even with magic power consumption reduced by half, it can still block up to mid-level magic. Probably high-level magic…”
“Would be difficult. Unless the rank increases, this seems to be the best for now.”

Asel smiled with a fairly satisfied expression and released his grip on Ena. A sound of disappointment escaped Ena’s lips, and he thought as he stroked his lips with his hand.

‘At full power, I can defend against everything except attacks imbued with mental imagery for 5 minutes. If I reduce magic power consumption by half, it extends by 3 minutes but can only defend against attacks up to mid-level magic.’

It was a somewhat disappointing result, but Asel was fairly satisfied. There was still plenty of room to delve into details, and since the magic eyes themselves had the characteristic of growing according to the user’s level, they hadn’t reached their peak yet.

Even so, this was the performance.

Except for great magicians, Asel would be invincible against spell casters for the next 5 minutes.

There was no doubt that this ability belonged to the highest class among magic eyes. He smiled gently and whispered to Ena, who had helped with his research.

“Thank you, Master. I received a lot of help thanks to you.”
“Oh, y-yes. I’m glad.”

Ena answered like that, then clumsily got off Asel’s lap and smoothed out her crumpled shirt.

Asel’s shirt, which now felt like everyday clothing to her. His clothes, which would have been filled only with Asel’s scent originally, had now started to mix with Ena’s scent.

Even the shirt Asel was wearing now had been worn by Ena a few days ago.

She would clean the clothes she had worn with magic, but she didn’t erase her body scent from them, so currently Asel’s body was clearly imbued with a half-and-half mixture of his scent and Ena’s scent.

Ena felt a small sense of perversion and satisfaction at this fact.

What was the reason? Where did the cause of this emotion come from?

It was a question that was now becoming quite clear. An emotion Ena had never felt in her entire life. She had been realizing fragments of it for some time now. She just didn’t show it.

‘…What should I do, really.’

She couldn’t keep denying her feelings forever. It might be better to face her inner self and gain complete enlightenment. Then it would be much easier to deal with Asel than before. For some reason, Irina’s words about considering age echoed in her mind… but honestly, she didn’t care about that.

‘Yes, let’s focus on the inner self rather than magic for the next week. The teacher also told me to manage my emotions well.’

Ena thought like that, and nodded her head as if she had made up her mind. As Asel tilted his head at her cute appearance, something flew in through the window and landed.

“…?”

It was a messenger bird. Unlike the sparrow that had come before, this one took the form of a peregrine falcon. It pecked at the glass with its beak as if asking for the window to be opened. Asel glanced at Ena, who was fidgeting in place, then got up himself and let the messenger bird into the room.

[…..]

The falcon, without making any sound, simply took out a piece of paper from its breast and placed it on the floor. Then, as if it had no lingering attachment, it flew vigorously out through the open window.

It was ridiculous considering that messenger birds usually wait until the recipient has finished reading the letter. Asel let out a hollow laugh as he watched the falcon flying away in the sky, then picked up the letter that had fallen on the floor.

On top of the luxurious envelope, someone’s name was written in clear letters.

[To Ena Renatus]

It was a letter for Ena. Asel immediately took the letter and handed it to Ena.

“Master. A letter has come from Weiheim.”
“…From Weiheim?”

Ena, who had been making a silly face, immediately stiffened upon hearing the word Weiheim. She clicked her tongue and opened the envelope Asel had handed her, then read the contents inside.

“…Ha.”

The corners of her mouth rose crookedly.