Porca was renowned as the stage of world diplomacy, but it was also the finest educational institution on the continent.
Its professors were living authorities — welcomed with open arms wherever they traveled.
"Pleased to meet you all. I am Kennedy Clover."
The professor of Applied Combat Magic, Kennedy Clover, was a high-ranking mage of the 7th Tier.
The higher a mage's Tier, the greater their power.
From the 1st Tier to the 9th.
Of these, the 8th Tier was the highest that actually existed.
The 9th Tier no longer existed in the present age.
Its lineage had been severed with the last Family Head of Moretti.
As the years passed and knowledge advanced, the overall level of magic had been gradually declining.
As a result, the 8th Tier was now considered the pinnacle a human being could reach.
Kennedy clasped his hands behind his back and swept his gaze across the cadets seated in the lecture hall.
Then he murmured, almost to himself.
"All so young and fresh. I find myself excited already…."
Lick….
Professor Kennedy ran his tongue across his lips like a serpent eyeing its prey.
"…W-what is wrong with that man."
Huana, seated beside Matyos, shuddered.
…It wasn't an unreasonable reaction.
A hunched back, a gaunt frame, matted hair. And eyes that had gone half-mad.
One glance was enough to tell he was not quite right.
…Looks aside, he was a Grand Mage.
"Before we begin the lesson, I shall measure your potential… heh heh, I wonder how promising this batch of chicks will be."
"…."
"Starting from the front-right seat, come up one by one!"
His method of measuring potential was nothing unusual.
"Place your palm on this specially crafted crystal orb. Display your potential with pride."
When a hand was placed on the translucent orb, it emitted light — and that light was used to gauge one's potential.
The students took turns placing their hands on the orb to have their potential assessed.
"Hmm. Ordinary."
"You'll need to work diligently."
"Tsk. I'm sorry to say, but you'd do well to consider a different path."
"Oh…! Excellent. Come find me after class. I have an assistant position open."
Despite his appearance, Professor Kennedy evaluated his students' potential with professional precision.
And he was ruthless. He delivered merciless words to those with below-average potential, and offered praise without hesitation to those who showed promise.
"Valentía…! Come, come. Right this way! Simply place your hand here."
Huana's turn arrived.
She looked at Professor Kennedy with barely concealed distaste and placed her hand on the orb.
FWOOOOM!!
The crystal orb blazed like an exploding sun.
A blinding radiance swallowed the entire lecture hall.
"Ohhh…!!!"
Professor Kennedy let out a strange, rapturous groan.
"Such talent… how is this possible…."
He even shed fat, rolling tears as he marveled.
Huana quickly withdrew her hand and turned away.
"…I'll be going now."
"Wait! Miss Valentía. Have you any interest in becoming my assistant? You're only a first-year, but I would make a special exception…!"
"I'll decline. I'd like to focus on my studies for now."
Huana refused him coolly.
"No need to worry about that. I'll personally guarantee your marks."
"Professor. I said no."
"Ah… forgive me. I suppose it can't be helped. But should you ever change your mind, my research office is always open."
Huana gave a brief bow and returned to Matyos's side.
"…He really is a strange professor."
Now it was my turn.
I stood before Professor Kennedy's crystal orb.
"…Matyos Binna Moretti. Moretti."
"Professor…?"
"Are you aware? Your sister also attended my lectures."
"Ah, yes…."
It was something I already knew.
Whenever Sister came home during the holidays, the retainers would make a great fuss over her marks.
"Your sister… even the word 'genius' fell short. In all my life, I had never seen a star shine so brilliantly."
"…Is that so?"
"And yet I never managed to take her on as my assistant. A great pity. I should have done whatever it took to bring her in…."
Professor Kennedy's gaze turned strangely wistful — like a man reminiscing about the one that got away.
"Ah. Moretti. Matyos Binna Moretti! May I dare to have expectations of you? I shall dare to have expectations!"
No.
"The Moretti bloodline — innately gifted in the magical arts. Come now, place your hand on it. Go on!"
Professor Kennedy urged me forward with a snort of anticipation.
Beneath his expectant gaze, I placed my hand on the crystal orb.
*
After class.
Walking in silence through the courtyard, Huana reached over and gently patted Matyos on the head.
"That orb must have been broken. No light at all — that's strange, isn't it?"
"…."
"Don't let it bother you. And besides, is magic everything? Of course not. So what if you're a little lacking in magic? Your fiancée is going to be a Grand Mage."
Pat, pat.
The difference in their heights was negligible. Huana quietly stroked his hair and studied his face.
He didn't look angry. He didn't look disappointed. His fine, delicate features were simply… blank.
But Huana knew.
'He's deflated…'
It was one of Matyos's defining traits.
He never showed his emotions. Whether angry, sad, or amused, he always tried not to let it show.
But everyone around him could tell.
The way a mother knows her infant's mood — that was how well people could read Matyos.
He thought he was hiding it, but to anyone watching, it was plain as day.
The lesson just now.
The crystal orb Matyos had placed his hand on had emitted no light whatsoever.
No talent.
It meant he possessed not even a speck of aptitude for magic.
For a member of Moretti, the preeminent mage house of the empire, there could be no greater disgrace.
It was only natural that Matyos's spirit had sunk.
'…He might be cast out of the family.'
Huana had exchanged a few brief words with Servan, the Family Head of Moretti, at the engagement ceremony.
'He was an extraordinarily cold man.'
A man without warmth or sentiment — cold through and through, devoted solely to the family's interests.
'…Even so, it doesn't matter.'
Huana looked at Matyos's forlorn grey eyes, fixed on the ground as he walked lost in thought.
"Don't worry, Maty. At the very least, I won't abandon you."
At those words, Matyos turned to look at her, visibly startled.
His clear grey eyes met her vivid blue ones.
"Y-you don't have to be so grateful. I just don't particularly want to become a broken-off fiancée. That's all."
Matyos studied her quietly for a moment, then gave a small nod.
'Muksong's potential wouldn't register on a crystal orb.'
The mana of Ink Star (Muksong) was unusual. It was not ordinary mana, and so the orb could not measure it.
By the time the two three-hour classes were finished, evening had fallen.
The streetlamps flickered on. A soft amber glow spilled across the path.
"Um… shall we have dinner together?"
Huana ventured the suggestion carefully.
"My chef is exceptionally talented. This would be a good chance for me to treat you to traditional Hispanya cuisine."
"Where are you going, Maty?"
Someone called from behind.
A woman with beautiful grey hair came clicking toward them.
Her grey locks were arranged without a single strand out of place.
The air around her seemed to align itself to her presence.
At her side, like a shadow, stood Quistian — the loyal steward of Moretti.
"I've had dinner prepared for you as well. Let's go."
Ofilienne spoke as though the matter had already been decided.
She walked toward Matyos. Then she cast a brief glance at Huana.
"Hello, Huana. I heard — apparently Professor Kennedy has taken a liking to you?"
"…Sister. Maty and I had already agreed to dine together."
"How unfortunate for you. I made plans with him first."
Ofilienne shifted her weight to one hip and looked down at Huana from close range.
Her grey eyes were the same as Matyos's, yet entirely different. Cold. Devoid of feeling.
Huana met those eyes directly and held her gaze.
"Sister."
"Yes."
"Wouldn't a lovely dinner like tonight be better spent with His Highness the Crown Prince?"
"…."
"Between a future husband and wife, I mean. And on this side — also a future husband and wife."
Huana made a point of pulling Matyos's arm into hers.
At the sight of it, the right corner of Ofilienne's mouth gave the faintest twitch. Her expression remained otherwise unchanged.
Huana and Ofilienne faced each other.
Grey and blue clashed in fierce, silent contest.
Then Matyos took one step toward Ofilienne's side.
"I'll eat with Sister today. She asked first."
Only then did Ofilienne smile brightly.
"So it goes. I'm sorry, Huana. You two can eat together another time."
"You…."
Huana glared at Matyos like an angry cat.
*
After a suffocating dinner with my sister.
"Shall we make a habit of having dinner together regularly from now on?"
Sister said this as she retrieved a bottle of wine from the fine cabinet.
She poured it into a glass, then settled back into the plush sofa.
"I'm fine. I'll pass."
"Tonight was all right, though?"
"There was something I wanted to say."
It wasn't as though I'd wanted to turn down dinner with Huana.
And if the alternative was dinner with my sister, even less so.
"…So you went along with what I wanted simply because you had something to ask of me?"
"That's not it."
"Then what is it?"
Sister savored her wine.
"Professor Harsen."
"He's your Basic Mana Theory professor."
"Yes."
"What about him?"
"…He seemed a little off to me."
Sister straightened her posture.
She lifted herself from where she'd been half-reclining and crossed her legs.
"The way he looked at me… it was a little strange."
The most certain way to bring about Professor Harsen's downfall.
That was Sister.
Sister sat perfectly still, as though frozen.
After a long silence, she spoke.
"He was giving you strange looks."
"Yes…."
"That professor."
A nod.
I gave a small, timid nod.
A silence cold enough to raise goosebumps settled over the room.
It wasn't an exaggeration.
Harsen was a serial killer — but he was also a pedophile.
Clunk.
After the silence, Sister set her wine glass down on the table.
I watched her reaction. But her expression gave nothing away. It was perfectly, completely blank.
A moment later, Sister stroked my back and saw me to the door.
"Get some rest."
Sister waved and smiled.
Her eyes were not smiling.