041

During the academy's vacation period, teachers usually started on facility maintenance and repairs.

They went around the school classrooms and other places, fixing what was broken.

Sometimes it was light objects, and sometimes it was the building itself.

The department that required a lot of labor was particularly the swordsmanship instructors.

“It means you have to take responsibility for what you break.”

At my words, Berlis laughed, ‘Ahaha—.’

“But why me~?”

“It’s true that a swordsmanship instructor broke it, but it’s far beyond the scope of what can be repaired.”

“My, my. It would be nice to have one more magic instructor~.”

I went around with Instructor Berlis in a team of two, repairing the buildings.

Most of the work was repairing natural objects or buildings that had been damaged during swordsmanship training.

And most of such repairs were resolved within a minute per case.

“Hyaap~!”

As the marionette doll on Berlis's hand swung its hand, a pile of dirt rose from the ground and began to fill the cracked wall.

When the wall was somewhat roughly filled, wind magic was applied to the outside.

The clean wall was transformed into a result that was no less than the skill of excellent stonemasons.

“……”

I didn't know much about magic, but I could tell that it was an amazing skill.

She didn't chant, nor did she make hand signs.

She didn't use a magic wand separately either; with just a few playful flicks of the marionette doll, two or more things were linked as smoothly as flowing water.

I glanced at the marionette doll.

When Berlis moved her finger above the doll, it made a gesture like a young child begging for praise.

“Well done~.”

I had been paying attention since I heard the story about the Morse code, but no more voices came from the doll.

As if it knew I was watching, the doll turned its face towards me.

Its glass pupils reflected me and sparkled, and then it disappeared.

“Fufufu~ Let's finish this quickly.”

“There are about three places left for today.”

The place we headed to was the old building, the space where Class C held its classes.

For the past two days, Berlis had heard from the other teachers in the faculty office about how the school had changed.

Perhaps because of that, her eyes looking at the old building were full of curiosity.

“They have classes here~ Did anything interesting come up? It must have been like a treasure hunt, wandering around. I love rummaging through old buildings like this~.”

“I tried it once with the students in a game format, but nothing special came up.”

“Aww. It might be different if I look for it~?”

As the old building was old, there were many places to fix.

As we went around the small places one by one, it was already late afternoon.

“It's finished.”

“Good work~.”

“What hard work did I do? You did all the hard work, Teacher.”

“What are you going to do now?”

“Probably…… I'll meet the students and teach them the sword again. And organize the theory.”

“Ahaha, haha, you still haven’t given up.”

She laughed, covering her mouth with her hand as if surprised.

“Or not? Well, it seems like there’s been some progress~.”

I felt her pupils quickly scan my body up and down from between her thin eyes.

Eyes that seemed to pierce through me.

“Can you see it?”

I rather calmly accepted those eyes and asked.

She was a person who boasted an extraordinary eye and knowledge of the human body.

My basic swordsmanship even included some of her body theory in addition to Freutche’s exercise theory.

It wasn't something to be ignored just because it was unsettling.

“Hmm. Fufufu. The kids must have put in some effort. This would have required a pretty excellent elixir~ Where did you get such a commendable thing?”

“It was called a Mandrake.”

“To change your body, Teacher, you would have had to bring a five-hundred-year-old? No, a thousand-year-old one, but it's amazing that such a thing still exists~ Truly amazing~.”

Berlis’s eyes curved slightly.

“But that’s not it~. That kind of thing won’t solve it~.”

“……Is that so?”

“That baby priestess doesn't seem to know either~ Ahahaha. Well, this might be too much for a baby bird with so little experience?”

Yuria had healed my body several times.

And yet, it was a story she couldn't figure out.

In the past, I would have just let it go, but this time, I deliberately dug a little deeper.

“My body, what’s the problem?”

“Oh my, you’ve become curious about that?”

“Being a homeroom teacher comes with some responsibility.”

“So that’s how it is~ Hmm.”

Berlis smiled with her eyes, as if amused.

“Teacher, do you know the theory of the mana path?”

Mana Road?

I blinked at the sudden story.

Pan and the other future students had said that I had created that theory, but was it that this theory already existed?

And the person who taught this theory…… was Berlis.

Maybe it was right to keep the students away and maintain the current situation.

“Mana is a very strange thing. It’s an energy that can become anything in the world, fire, wind, water, right?”

“That’s right.”

“That means there’s no reason for mana to be the exclusive property of magicians. So, there is a very faint amount of mana in a person's body, whether they know it or not!”

“That could be. But then, wouldn't the mana be measured?”

“Ahaha~ So, the Mana Road talks about various hypotheses. My favorite theory is the hypothesis that it is not measured because it flows out without accumulating in the body.”

“You mean it's not a significant amount to be measured.”

“Magicians accumulate mana in their bodies to create their own world~ So, conversely, a being that cannot accumulate it and just lets it all flow out is an ordinary person. And, the path that takes in and emits mana like that. That's what we call the Mana Road.”

It was a plausible explanation.

Without realizing it, I was slowly drawn into Berlis’s story.

Apart from liking or disliking mana, it was fun to accept and study a new discipline.

Seeing me like that, Berlis smiled innocently.

“See, you like this kind of theoretical talk, Teacher~ Ahaha, in Akarind, you’re the only one I can share and talk about this with~.”

“But what about that Mana Road and my condition?”

At my question, Berlis’s eyes widened slightly.

I knew that expression well.

It was the expression that the guys who were crazy about studying at the Royal Academy showed when they encountered a new theory in their field.

It was the look that the seniors who went on to graduate school at the academy showed when they found a research topic.

That look of greedily obsessing over a topic they didn't know.

“A well-made knight’s sword follows the flow of the Mana Road~ But your body, Teacher, isn't just clumsy; your Mana Road is blocked~ So because of that imbalance, your body is being rejected by the world~.”

“Rejected, you say?”

“Sometimes, when I study people’s bodies~ there are friends like you, Teacher, whose Mana Road is blocked~ Should I say it's blocked by yin energy? And you have a lot of those spots~ About, eight? Nine places?”

She pointed to various parts of my body with her finger.

The top of my head. Below my navel. Arms, shoulders, spine, and so on.

It seemed to mean that my entire body was blocked and couldn't accept mana.

……Conversely, does that mean ordinary people circulate and move mana based on those spots?

I checked the swordsmanships that extended from the roads Berlis pointed out as points.

‘Advanced swordsmanships…… are included without exception.’

From that moment on, what was wrong with my body was no longer important.

I brought up all the sentences of my manual in my head.

And I organized the image of the swordsmanship that the sentences embodied, and within it, I rearranged the concept of mana into the form of a ‘path.’

This…….

“Oh my~ Teacher.”

At that moment, a voice with a strange aura awakened my mind.

It felt as if the thoughts that had filled my head were being forcibly torn away in an instant.

My body vibrated as if my soul were leaving it.

I knew instinctively.

Mana.

“No matter how insensitive I am, it’s a bit much to be thinking about other things even when you’re right in front of me~ Aww. Don't do that. We're working, aren't we?”

She was looking at me with a troubled expression.

I took a deep breath to calm my wavering heart.

And I bowed my head.

“Thank you.”

“Oh my?”

“……You saved me from my moment of realization.”

Since my body was a mess, excessive realization was a poison.

That’s why Yuria had also woken me up when I was swinging my sword before.

Since she was the one who knew the most about the body around me, Berlis, who understood the body even better, must have had a similar intention.

Though her method was more drastic.

‘But, there was a part that was helpful.’

Berlis had shaken me with mana and forcibly awakened my soul.

I felt like I clearly understood what that sensation was, what mana was, and what it meant to move the path using mana.

Whether she knew my thoughts or not, Berlis smiled brightly and said.

“Then shall we finish the repairs and go home quickly~ I used a lot of mana today, so I want to go home and sleep soundly with my teaching assistant~!”

“Understood.”

* * *

Before I went into my dormitory to organize what I had realized today, I called Yuria and Rozalin.

The two of them, who had heard everything that had happened with Berlis, had serious expressions.

“Mana Road. So that theory originally existed? Hmm…… but it’s strange. If it were a theory that originally existed, the magic-users would have said something after seeing Pan’s swordsmanship, but no one could imitate it.”

“Her understanding of the body was acquired through unconventional methods. It is right to ignore such a theory, as you could damage your internal mana or organs if you accept it wrongly.”

I understood Rozalin’s suspicion and Yuria’s concern.

But I didn't want to just throw away the hint I had gotten like this.

“In my previous life, it would have been almost impossible for me to meet a new magic teacher or gain a new realization about mana.”

“You never know. Maybe a new magic teacher will be appointed next semester?”

“Even Berlis only teaches one semester a year, so the magic classes are quite relaxed. In the first place, there aren't many students with magic talent in an academy like this.”

“Ugh. This is complicated.”

That was also why I had called the two of them.

“You two, you said you fought in the final battle of humanity. Then among the magicians who fought on humanity’s side, was there anyone who regressed?”

The moment I asked the question.

The two of them’s expressions became strange.

Both Yuria, who seemed to be filled with anger and hostility towards Berlis, and Rozalin, who had been lost in thought.

They both looked at each other with an awkward expression.

“Why?”

“Well…… there is one magician.”

“There is. What circle?”

“6th-circle.”

If it was a 6th-circle…… it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they were the strongest magician in humanity right now.

A 4th-circle is a person who has established their own magic system.

A 5th-circle is a person who can interfere with another's magic system.

And a 6th-circle is said to be a person who has a faint understanding of the world of non-human beings.

That being could be an angel, a demon, or…… a god.

Those who have reached the providence and laws of this world.

That was why they were indifferent to worldly affairs and were engrossed only in delving into the laws of the world, the truth.

“But it's a little difficult for us to contact that person……”

“?”

The two of them’s reaction was very different from how they treated other regressors.

Who on earth was that person?

“Hmm…… how about starting with a letter? They’ll probably answer the question.”

It’s not a romance, so why a letter all of a sudden……?

But the two of them just smiled awkwardly and avoided the answer.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.