48 – First Steps
“Monday morning has dawned once again. Now, let’s get started quickly.”
The senior professor standing at the podium smiled kindly and greeted the morning.
As expected, there was no response.
It was anticipated. One-sided greetings were a chronic issue for all professors.
Surprisingly, Professor No’s mood had been quite favorable lately.
[Understanding Literary Genres].
Among the subjects professors avoided, it ranked overwhelmingly high.
If it were a comprehensive university in another region, the situation might have been a bit better. However, students at the Federal Magic University, with nothing in their heads but theory and formulas, had no interest in listening carefully to literary nonsense.
Reciting content that no one wanted to hear was torture for both students and the professor.
If given the chance, he would have passed it on to a junior professor right away.
“Well, if not me, then who will carry on literature at the Federal Magic University?”
His literary pride wouldn’t allow it.
That was a few weeks before the midterm exam.
Since then, Professor No had pulled himself together and led a transformation.
Revision of test questions and easing of difficulty to abolish the harmful tradition.
Vocal exercises.
Even the latest jokes learned directly from his seven-year-old granddaughter.
With persistent effort, he could now proudly declare.
The concentration in the [Understanding Literary Genres] subunit, which I was in charge of, has improved significantly.
How could laughter not come when the fruits of one’s efforts have finally ripened? Nowadays, just opening the classroom door itself has become a great pleasure.
Professor Roh smiled even more contentedly and glanced around the audience.
“……Huh?”
Soon, he had to seriously contemplate the state of his eyesight.
No one.
No one was looking at the blackboard!
It would have been better if it was due to presbyopia. However, even after fixing his glasses and checking again, the scene in front of his eyes remained unchanged.
The gazes that should have been directed towards the efforts of the diligent professor and the carefully written notes were all focused on the corner of the classroom where a handsome young man and a beautiful young woman were.
“Uh, everyone?”
Still, there was no response.
Suddenly.
Professor Roh longed for the smiling face of his young granddaughter.
“If you don’t concentrate, you won’t be able to solve the final exam questions……”
A sad affair, but Professor Roh’s timid threat didn’t have the slightest effect.
In front of him, a much more exciting drama than any classical work was alive and breathing. Who has time to stare at mundane notes?
Yulia Muller.
And Eugene Oslo.
The names of the two spread throughout the entire campus in just three days.
#June 20. Clear.
The basic etiquette of conversation would be to look into the other person’s eyes while speaking, but it didn’t apply to me at the moment.
I can see their back.
Hair flowing down to the shoulders from under a neat hat. A slender waist. And below that, a wheelchair with wheels.
I direct my conversation towards the back of their head.
“Where should we go?”
“Hmm. Do you prefer the student cafeteria or a nearby restaurant?”
“The former.”
“Then let’s go to the student cafeteria.”
“Alright.”
Swoosh―
The wheelchair carrying a slightly hunched female student moves forward, and I push the wheelchair from behind.
I can feel the attention of the surrounding students and teachers focused on us.
It was around the time when I was starting to get used to this unusually high level of attention.
It had been ten days since I became Yulia Muller’s personal aide.
I could confidently say that those ten days were one of the most intense periods in my life.
– Hey, what’s your relationship?
From Noble mtl dot com
– Well, how does it look like?
– Kyaa, Kyaaah!
Suddenly, a group of female students rushes in and starts screaming uncontrollably.
– Who is that gray-haired guy anyway?
―You know, that person. The outsider senior.
―Ugh… I don’t like it. We should do something about it.
When I heard about it, a rather chilling threat seemed to loom in the air.
Just by meeting eyes with me, they shivered, quickly avoiding their seat. It seemed they lacked the courage to take any ‘action.’
However, the truth was, there were a few hostile glares mixed in as well.
And.
―Hmm.
―What?
―Ugh!
―What’s up? If you have something to say, just say it.
―…It’s the bathroom. Do I really have to say it out loud, Yujin?
―Ah.
There were times when strange, not-so-funny incidents occurred.
But now, after ten days of experience, when bright female students gathered and rumors spread, I would quietly increase my speed. I would smile at the gaze of the supervisor and promptly head to the restroom when Yulia cleared her throat. It meant that I had reached a level of expertise where I could handle such situations.
So lately, I started paying attention to other matters.
―Please, until the contract is over, help the young lady regain interest in magic. I promise an additional fee of two thousand pounds.
The request from Mr. Han.
Finding a way to rekindle Yulia’s interest in magic. I had actually considered a few methods.
Like pulling out a horn.
I decided to put the first method into practice.
Excerpt from the Student Cafeteria. After releasing my hands from the wheelchair, I pursed my lips and recited the activation phrase.
“[염동(move)].”
“…Huh?”
Swoosh.
Despite letting go of my hands, the wheelchair started moving forward on its own.
Uriah, who quickly grasped the situation, looked towards me.
“Is it magic?”
“Yeah. Type 1 magic [염동]. It would be much easier to move around in the wheelchair if I use magic. What do you think? Should I teach you?”
I threw the bait like a fisherman. The moment she took the bait, I planned to proceed with the lesson to ride a 1,200-pound horse.
I casually waited for her reply, but Uriah’s answer was a clear refusal.
“It’s okay. I prefer Eugene pushing me personally.”
She replied without hesitation.
There was no need to be fooled by such pretentious dialogue at this point. Instead, I read the underlying meaning in her words.
Could it be that she can’t even use [염동]?
[염동]. One of the representative basic spells among Type 1 magic.
It was absurd to think that a student with such a high understanding of theory that they were admitted to the Federal Magic University couldn’t use [염동].
It wasn’t just a lack of interest in magic.
“….”
There must be some problem with her background.
Like me.
The student cafeteria was filled with hungry students, just like any other time.
After collecting my portion of pasta and Julia’s portion of bacon sandwich, I headed towards the table where Julia had already taken a seat.
Clank!
As I placed the plates down, Julia’s pumpkin-colored eyes unknowingly widened.
“It smells good.”
“Let’s eat.”
While I twirled my pasta with a fork, Julia nibbled on her sandwich.
Perhaps it was because she always used a wheelchair, or maybe she naturally ate less. Watching her eat so little made my chest feel tight.
Food is something that tastes better when you eat heartily, after all.
I was absentmindedly watching Julia eat when suddenly she paused eating her sandwich.
Her eyes gazed into the distance, as if she had a good idea.
In the next moment, Julia opened her small mouth wide.
“Ah-“
What is she doing?
Not understanding, I froze, but Julia pointed at my right hand with her finger.
On the fork in my hand, there was pasta wrapped around it.
“You want this?”
Nodding, she closed her eyes and opened her mouth, tilting her head.
It meant she wanted me to feed her.
This is a bit awkward.
There are too many eyes watching. I never had the guts to do something like this openly.
The gaze of the male student at the nearby table suddenly averted.
I wondered if doing as Yulia suggested would lead to an irreconcilable enmity between that student and me.
About three seconds passed.
Countless calculations ran through my mind, and finally, as I raised the fork.
I noticed ‘someone’ standing behind Yulia.
I immediately stopped my arm.
Yulia seemed to interpret it as some kind of shyness and briefly smiled, glancing at me.
“Hoho. How long are you going to make me wait?”
Right after.
“Yeah. How long are you going to make me wait?”
“―Eek!”
‘Someone’ popped out from behind the wheelchair.
Ignoring Yulia’s constant trembling, I chuckled and addressed the person in question.
“Werner. What the hell are you doing?”
“What am I doing? I had something to say to Eugene, but this wheelchair lady kept interrupting. If it was just her legs or arms that were uncomfortable, I would have patiently waited, but it didn’t seem like it.”
“Huh.”
He still had that shameless face.
I couldn’t help but admire it. Among the students, besides this guy, who else would dare to refer to Yulia Muller as a ‘wheelchair lady’?
There was a moment when I forgot about my meal, contemplating whether to deliver a blow.
“Just a moment. Something to say?”
“Yeah. How about going to the debate at the Magic University together?”
“A debate….”
“Seems like many upperclassmen participate.”
Upperclassmen.
That word made me uneasy.
Members of the Nocturne Club were generally knowledgeable, but due to their diverse fields of expertise, engaging in in-depth magical discussions was challenging.
A debate unfolded without distinction of grades.
Perhaps there, I could find clues about my direction.
It was when I was about to nod my head.
“Wheelchair girl….”
Yulia muttered quietly.
“Eugene, your friend seems a bit rude.”
Her pupils narrowed. It seemed like genuine anger.
I tried to casually ignore Yulia’s serious anger.
Werner, shamelessly smiling, responded in my place.
“I don’t call people by names they haven’t acknowledged. So, Wheelchair girl, are you coming to the debate too?”
I slapped my forehead.
*
Debate. The inception of the Federal Magic University’s debating society, commonly referred to as the Coffee Club, is attributed to none other than the father of magic studies, Jean-Pierre Ochrelemer.
Not long after the establishment of the Prussian Federal Magic University, students were coerced into grasping a cup of coffee each and thrust into the auditorium to initiate debates.
It was quite a well-known tale that, through this process, a considerable amount of innovative magical theories came into existence.
Consequently, besides the main auditoriums, designated spaces were arranged solely for the Coffee Club—a public circular debating arena.
“In classical magical studies, didn’t they emphasize human free will?”
“Exactly. However, times have changed, and with that, new theories have emerged. I believe it’s time to reassess the credibility of Ochrelemer’s classical magical studies in and of themselves.”
Even though we had just set foot into the auditorium, sharp and decisive language reached our ears.
I, Werner, and eventually, Yulia, who couldn’t resist following us to the debate arena, held our breaths.
The atmosphere inevitably led to such a state.
“What could be the debate topic that sparks such radical assertions?”
I quietly questioned.
Werner shrugged his shoulders.
“The essence of magic.”
