Chapter 9: Reception Party
In the evening, I was called to attend a reception with representatives from various countries at Glen’s request. Since I had interrupted Grants earlier in the day when he was trying to say something, I couldn’t easily refuse.
When I went to the central plaza to watch the senior faculty presentation, Glen and the others were already gathered there. Had they really been giving cultural festival tours all day long?
“Oh, Aoi-kun!”
Glen raised both hands and called out to me. Middleton and the others standing nearby also looked at me.
“The presentation is starting soon.”
As I said this and entered their circle, Middleton nodded and spoke.
“Ah. The one closing the first day is Foar-dono, wasn’t it? I’m looking forward to it.”
“He’s a senior teacher of water magic, isn’t he?”
“Oh, that’s right. He should also be a count of the Mapleleaf Holy Empire.”
And so began a conversation between royalty and high nobility. Watching this from the corner of my eye, Lea came to stand beside me.
“Aoi-sensei. I heard that Rocks will also be presenting.”
Lea asked quietly in a small voice, and I nodded lightly in response.
“Rocks-kun will be presenting with Shenley-san and the others on the final day in the afternoon at the northern plaza.”
“The final day, I see. I’m looking forward to it.”
As I was having what seemed like a normal mother-to-child conversation with Lea, the academy’s final bell of the day rang from the school building. Everyone’s gaze naturally turned toward the center of the plaza.
In the hushed venue, Foar slowly emerged into the plaza. He wore his usual black robe and had his usual sharp gaze.
Foar looked around at everyone briefly, then opened his mouth.
“I am senior teacher Foar-Perno-Roses. Now, I will present water magic.”
With a more polite tone and manner than usual, Foar held both hands palm-up in front of his chest. It resembled the posture of surgeons I’d seen on TV dramas.
Come to think of it, I hadn’t heard what kind of presentation Foar would give. He had been holed up in his research lab most of the time, but would he be demonstrating some original magic?
As I was thinking about this, Foar spoke as if he had seen through my thoughts.
“…What I will present today is magic I have only recently developed. Now, let me begin.”
With that declaration, Foar began his incantation.
“Ooh! Original magic!”
“As expected of a senior teacher!”
Surprised and admiring voices could be heard from the audience at Foar’s announcement. So original magic must be quite rare to see.
I suppose everyone is simply holding back on presenting original magic.
While I was thinking about various things, Foar used earth magic.
“Sand Wall”
What he activated was earth magic. As everyone watched to see what would happen, a wall that appeared to be over one meter thick formed in the center of the plaza.
Small sounds of surprise could be heard at this as well, but Foar silently touched the earth wall with his hand to confirm it, then looked around at the audience gathered in the plaza.
“Generally, water magic is blocked by thick earth or rock walls and changes its direction of travel. Also, as a characteristic of water magic, the narrower you make the range, the more difficult it becomes to control, making precise control impossible. Conversely, if you widen the range, it becomes easier to increase the water volume and control becomes easier… that is the general way of thinking.”
When Foar explained this, I could sense several people nearby nodding. Apparently, that was common knowledge about water magic. After checking everyone’s reactions by looking around, Foar spoke again.
“However, that common knowledge was wrong. My magic will now prove that.”
When he declared this boldly, the audience erupted in loud murmurs.
Then Foar finally began incanting water magic. Listening to the incantation content, it seemed to me that he was referencing what I had taught him.
When I returned from Mapleleaf and confirmed with Foar and Grenola about healing magic, Foar had asked me questions about other magic. At that time, I had told him about cutting through the research lab’s walls and ceiling with water magic, and it seemed he had grasped the essence just from that overview.
Getting it to the presentation stage in one month was quite impressive. As I watched with admiration, imagining Foar’s efforts, the incantation was finally completed.
A water sphere formed in front of Foar, who held both hands forward, gradually condensing into a small circle. Water magic typically had the image of overflowing vigorously, but this quiet beginning left the venue in complete silence.
Foar directed that small water sphere toward the wall.
“…Water Stream Flash – Naakitsudo”
Immediately after quietly speaking the magic’s name, a thin white light extended from Foar’s hand. The light penetrated the wall, moving from right to left.
The moment it passed through from one end of the wall to the other, the thick earth wall was cleanly split in two, and the upper half fell to the ground. Seeing the wall’s remains rolling on the ground with a thunderous crash, the audience cried out in astonishment.
“What…!”
“Before that magic, ordinary castle walls would be torn down in an instant!”
“No armor could defend against it!”
Such voices could be heard from everywhere. The representatives from various countries watching Foar’s presentation beside me also stared in amazement, unable to find words. However, only Diagio was looking at me with a meaningful gaze. He probably heard about my water magic story later.
That said, Foar’s magic was concentrated at about two meters from his hands, and the handling method seemed to involve manifesting it with one hand while using the other hand to manipulate magical power and adjust the water’s power and form, so it was similar but fundamentally different from my magic.
I wasn’t particularly concerned about this, but after completing his magic, Foar looked around at everyone and gave his final greeting.
“This magic was completed with hints received from senior teacher Aoi. On the final day, Aoi will present at the central plaza in place of the headmaster. I am also looking forward to it, so please, everyone, do come and observe.”
With those words, Foar bowed.
As I watched Foar receiving thunderous applause, I felt Diagio’s gaze piercing my profile.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
In a reception room within the academy. The spacious room that could comfortably accommodate twenty people was filled with representatives from various countries.
The three kings: Middleton, Diagio, and Grants. And two nobles: Marquis Ramsey and Duke Lorette.
Representing Fidic Academy were Glen and myself. Seated around a U-shaped table arrangement, from the back were royalty, then high nobility. I was the only one without a noble title. A luxurious chandelier hung from the ceiling, and thick carpets covered the floor. I had thought this during Rocks’ parent-teacher conference as well, but I felt quite out of place.
Incidentally, Lea was apparently having a girls’ gathering with Fiore. Since their two sons were friends, their conversation was probably lively.
As I was thinking about such things, there was a knock at the door from outside. A maid entered pushing a serving cart and moved into the empty section of the U-shaped table.
From there, she began arranging dishes on each table, and I was impressed by myself, understanding the setup. The U-shape was designed to facilitate easy serving of food.
Curious, I watched the maid’s serving intently. As expected, the maid’s movements and serving flow were very smooth and refined. However, were there even maids at this academy?
As I was thinking about this, Glen suddenly spoke.
“Well, Isaac-kun should be arriving soon, but it’s getting late, so…”
Glen began speaking as if wondering whether they should start the reception first. This Isaac person was probably the representative from the Court-Highland Federation.
If so, this one room would have the key figures from all six major nations gathered together.
In a way, it’s like a summit. I thought this while waiting for the continuation of Glen’s words.
Then came another knock at the door. The door opened from outside, and a different maid stepped one foot into the room.
“Excuse me. Congressman Isaac-Wolf-Butler from the Court-Highland Federation has arrived.”
She announced this with a deep bow, then opened the door and stood still. A man with vermillion hair appeared. He was a distinctively bearded man with a somewhat tired expression. He appeared to be in his forties or approaching fifty.
The man called Isaac bowed once toward everyone and entered the room.
“It’s been a while, everyone.”
Isaac smiled and gave a simple greeting, then sat in the empty seat directly across from me.
“Isaac-dono. It has been a while.”
“I feel like I haven’t seen your face in a long time.”
Middleton and Ramsey responded to Isaac’s greeting. He nodded with a wry smile and exchanged a word or two with each of them, finishing the initial greetings. Then Isaac’s gaze stopped on my face.
“You must be Aoi-Konominato-sensei.”
“Ah, yes. I’m Aoi.”
When I answered, Isaac smiled.
“My son and daughter are always in your care. I’m the father of Court-Hedge-Butler and Aile-Hedge-Butler.”
Seeing Isaac bow as he said this, I nodded, remembering.
“Ah, Court-kun and Aile-san’s… Thank you very much for your politeness. Both of them are very serious and good children.”
When I told him about their attitude toward learning at the academy, Isaac tilted his head with a wry smile.
“Really? Well, it’s an excuse, but I haven’t been able to look after them much due to work… When they returned home last year, they still lacked composure, so I was worried whether they might be causing trouble at the academy.”
“Not at all… Both of them are truly serious and excellent students. Court-kun especially is caring and has even stepped in to help junior female students who were being bullied. He comes up in discussions among faculty as an exemplary student.”
I responded politely to Isaac’s humble attitude. It felt like having a proper teacher-parent conversation for the first time, which made me a bit happy.
Then Middleton spoke with a self-deprecating laugh.
“That story must involve my foolish son as well, doesn’t it, Isaac-dono? I’d like to talk with you about it later, just the two of us.”
“Ah, no, no… It was probably just excess energy…”
Isaac humbly shook his head left and right at Middleton’s words. The others who couldn’t follow the conversation looked at each other, but it wasn’t content worth discussing in detail.
Glen cleared his throat once, bringing the flow of conversation to a pause.
“Ahem… There are many things to catch up on, but shall we start with a toast? We can take our time with conversation after that. What do you think?”
At Glen’s words, Middleton and the others nodded readily.
“No objections.”
“Indeed.”
“That’s a relief. I’ve been getting hungry for a while now.”
“Ramsey-kyou. You were eating quite a lot of meat from the stalls earlier.”
“That amount doesn’t even count as an appetizer.”
And so, triggered by Glen’s words, the atmosphere began to proceed warmly.
Now then, why was I called to this gathering?
As I thought about such things, the reception with dignitaries from various countries began.
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