Chapter 217 - Elf Instructor
From the Elven Kingdom of Aqua Vitae, the First Prince Langus had come to Fiddiq Academy as an instructor. Even having a student transfer from the insular Elven Kingdom was unprecedented, but having elven royalty employed as a teacher at Fiddiq Academy was a completely unimaginable situation.
There were complicated circumstances behind this, but the ordinary students knew nothing of such matters and only thought that an elven royal instructor had suddenly appeared at Fiddiq Academy.
Given these circumstances, Langus Ricard Travel—who, despite being elven royalty, had a surprisingly open personality—quickly settled into Fiddiq Academy.
Because he came as an instructor, Langus treated humans, beastmen, and dwarves with respect. Was this how popular a friendly, approachable elven young man could be? Even I found myself thinking that, so much so that Langus had won the favor of the female students.
At the same time, he did not forget to properly care for Solare and visited him regularly. I felt that his sincere attitude was very admirable. The headmaster, Glenn—who was also Solare's biological grandfather—seemed to feel the same way.
"Solare has gradually become able to converse with Langus as well. Well, it is still only returning greetings, but even that is unthinkable compared to before. I had various thoughts about the elven nation, but I feel that thanks to Lord Langus, my impression has begun to change."
Hearing Glenn's words, I felt that Langus was engaging with everyone with genuine sincerity. As a result, even when Langus nonchalantly joined my lectures, I chose to say nothing about it.
"A question."
"Yes, Instructor Langus."
In the middle of my lecture, Langus raised his hand and called out to me, so I paused the lecture and responded. When I directed my gaze at him, Langus stood up punctiliously.
It was hard to tell because he wore the Fiddiq Academy instructor's robe, but he had the slender, graceful build typical of an elf. Additionally, his translucent white skin and sparkling golden hair caught the eye. He was truly the embodiment of the elves that appeared in stories.
His appearance was exactly that of a beautiful elf, and in terms of magic, he was also well-versed in spirit magic—the hallmark of elves. Of course, as he was still young for an elf, he was likely far from being a top mage in the elven nation, but even so, he certainly possessed considerable ability compared to human mages.
Despite that, Langus was also a studious person who tried to attend as many lectures by senior instructors as possible. This time too, he attended my advanced applied magic theory lecture and listened with an intensity as if he were devouring every word.
"In elven magic—spirit magic—there are spirits of each element, and mages manifest magic by borrowing their power. Or rather, that is what I used to think. However, this academy teaches that mages do things differently. What is astonishing is that there are multiple ways of thinking beyond that spirit magic."
Hearing that, I pulled in my chin and gave a shallow nod.
"Would that be, for example, Mapleleaf's healing magic, or Bushmills' body enhancement magic?"
When I offered my personal opinion, Langus gave a vague nod.
"Yes, those two as well. However, the most mysterious to me personally is Aoi's magic. No matter how many times I hear about it, I cannot make sense of it."
Langus muttered that while tilting his head. At that, Shenley let out a surprised voice.
"Huh? I actually think Instructor Aoi's magic is easier to understand..."
When Shenley voiced her doubt at Langus's words, several dull glints shot toward her. They came from the female students who had positioned themselves around Langus in a formation.
"Excuse me, you're Miss Shenley, right? If Instructor Langus does not understand something, what could you possibly comprehend? People like us who are still studying can only grasp the surface level; what someone like Instructor Langus—a first-rate mage—does not understand is something closer to the deeper depths. Conversely, Instructor Aoi should not be able to understand the deeper aspects of Instructor Langus's magic either."
A spirited-looking female student standing beside Langus crossed her arms in front of her chest and said that as if angered. Langus, who had been defended, gave a wry smile and placed his hand on that student's shoulder.
"No, the frightening thing is that Aoi is gradually coming to understand spirit magic. This is likely thanks to the environment of Fiddiq Academy itself. This space, where diverse and distinctive magics from various nations mix together chaotically, unconsciously teaches one about the many forms magic can take. Precisely because of such an environment, even with a completely different magical system, one can quickly arrive at its core."
Langus stated his own thoughts. However, the female student whose shoulder he had touched was hardly in a state to care about any of that. Her face turned bright red and she froze, staring intently at Langus's profile so close to her. Without a doubt, his words were not reaching her ears.
"Inst-instructor! I-I think so too!"
"That's right! Conversely, if Instructor Langus stays at Fiddiq Academy for a long time, you should be able to understand Instructor Aoi's magic in no time!"
The surrounding female students all voiced their opinions at once, crowding around Langus. As I watched the scene with cool eyes, Langus laughed awkwardly and gave several small nods.
"...I hope so. No, but still, the students of Fiddiq Academy are kind."
At Langus, who laughed and said that, Speyside—who had recently become quite overshadowed—furrowed his brow and let out a sigh. It seemed he felt that his female fanbase had been stolen. Speyside was also popular among female students amidst the instructors, so he must be frustrated.
Thinking about it that way, the dynamic between Langus and Speyside was rather interesting.
Incidentally, although Langus came to Fiddiq Academy as an instructor, his purportedly difficult elven spirit magic had become extremely popular. From the very first day, the number of students attending his lectures had exceeded those attending mine.
I was quite dissatisfied with that, but complaining would not change anything.
"Now, we have strayed a bit from the topic, but let me give my answer. What is common to all magic is that it converts the invisible force known as mana into something else. I believe the same applies to elven spirit magic. I understand it as summoning a temporary existence called a spirit using mana as a medium. If that alone, it might seem like a wasteful act, but when actually materializing a spirit, I was able to produce phenomena that other magics could not achieve."
As I said that, I demonstrated spirit magic. It was a magical tool I had created over the course of about a week for using spirit magic, but it was still quite unstable. Fine adjustments remained a challenge, but I managed to at least perform a minimum level of spirit magic.
"...Water Dragon Mi-Radra."
As I murmured, a small water dragon appeared right beside me. The water dragon, with a form resembling a serpent, twisted its body as if swimming through water and flew around my body in circles.
Seeing that, Langus blinked his eyes in surprise.