Chapter 49 - The Magic Otaku Tries to Pester
"How much are five hundred gold coins worth, you ask?"
"Yeah, that's right."
It was evening in the cafeteria of the Talgum Magic Academy's male dormitory, commonly known as the Gold Dragon Hall, and as usual, the place was bustling with activity. Amid the crowd, three young students sat at a four-person table. It was me, of course, with Roche and Isak.
When I posed the question to Roche, he simply repeated it back to me with an indescribable expression. Isak, seated next to him, wore a similarly baffled look.
About a week had passed since "the incident with the destroyed spell laboratory." My and Ruria's suspension from classes was lifted, and we had returned to our normal academy lives. Not that I had any complaints; during our time off, Ruria and I had spent every moment in the Great Library, satisfying our hunger for knowledge by devouring every book we could find. Still, the lessons taught by the academy's professors, especially the morning lectures, were incredibly useful. I was nothing but grateful to be allowed back and to have our regular classes resume.
And so, after another energetic day of classes and finishing our afternoon practicals, we parted ways with Ruria and Lady Elisha in front of the dorm. The three of us then headed to the dorm's cafeteria for dinner, which led to me asking my friends the aforementioned question.
"I have a few questions of my own, but I'll start with just one. Why the sudden question?"
"Oh, right. You know how I broke the spell laboratory the other day?"
"Ah, that. I had a bad feeling you were going to do something, but you managed to pull off something even more ridiculous than I'd imagined."
"Y-Yeah. I saw the broken room the next day. It was incredible."
"I've heard that from both of you plenty of times already. Anyway, it turns out I have to pay for the repairs to the laboratory. The cost is five hundred gold coins."
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
"""Huh?"""
The moment they heard my answer, Roche and Isak froze, their faces contorted. Seeing their reaction, I couldn't help but let out a gasp of my own. Not only that, but for some reason, similar short murmurs echoed from the tables around us. It seemed my reply had been audible even over the dinnertime clamor. The cocktail party effect, maybe?
The three of us remained frozen in silence, and I could sense the area around our table had also fallen quiet as others watched us. An "island" of silence had somehow formed in the middle of the always-noisy dorm cafeteria. After a long dozen seconds of dead air, Roche and Isak finally came to their senses and started questioning me.
"Um, Saki, have you ever gone shopping yourself?"
"Eh? Hmm, I've saved up my allowance to buy some trinkets a few times, but I just placed an order with a familiar trading company and had it delivered. I can't really say I've 'gone shopping.'"
"D-Does that mean you've, uh, never been to the market?"
"Nope, never. I've only ever passed through the capital's commoner district in a carriage."
"You do know there are other coins besides gold, right?"
"What do you take me for, Roche? Silver and copper, right?"
I retorted with an exasperated air, yet I felt a faint chill creep over me. And my bad feeling was about to become a reality.
In the inquiry with me and Ruria and the subsequent discussions, it was decided that I would personally bear the cost of repairing the destroyed spell laboratory. Of course, a seven-year-old like me has no ability to pay, so my parents would cover it for now, and I would repay them in the future. Apparently, the estimate for the repair work had come in, and just last night, I received a [Sending] from my father informing me that the total was five hundred gold coins.
The currency in this kingdom consists of three types of coins: gold, silver, and copper. It's similar to the Edo period in Japan, but unlike in my previous life, the currency here doesn't have names like "ryo," "yen," or "dollar." They are simply called gold coins and silver coins. Even in transactions, people just say "X silver coins."
This is likely because there's almost no international trade. Between the Hanoku Kingdom and other nations lie vast, untamed spaces like the Central Plains to the north and a great sea to the south. These areas are prowled by everything from savage tribes like orcs to ferocious wild beasts and even powerful magical creatures, effectively blocking any path. It's hardly an environment conducive to trade, and in reality, travel between countries is exceedingly rare.
Since there's almost no opportunity to exchange foreign currency for our own, there's no need to give our currency a name to distinguish it. By the way, the exchange rate is one hundred copper coins to one silver coin, and ten silver coins to one gold coin.
I've rarely had to pay for things myself. Looking back on my few experiences, my [Fire Short Sword] cost five silver coins, including the base dagger and the paint. Ruria's [Water Chalice] cost one gold and two silver coins all-inclusive. I don't know the first thing about prices or the market rates in this country, but based on that limited experience, I had a hunch that a bill for "five hundred gold coins" was quite a substantial amount.
That's why I decided to ask Roche, who seemed the most worldly of my friends, just how much it was actually worth. But judging by the reactions of my two friends and the upperclassmen who were still eavesdropping, it was likely an even larger sum than I had imagined. Hmm, is this going to be okay?
"Well, you see, a commoner living in the capital—a typical artisan in the commoner districts—earns a little less than one gold coin a month, I hear. Annually, that would be around ten gold coins."
The concrete numbers Roche gave me were far more severe than my worst fears.
"So, the five hundred gold coins I have to pay The Academy is..."
"Equivalent to fifty years of a commoner's income."
You've got to be kidding me.
And so, at the tender age of seven, I found myself saddled with a debt equal to a lifetime's wages.
"Oh, is that so? Still, for you, Saki-san, that seems like an amount you could repay almost immediately after graduating from The Academy."
The next day, our usual group of five was spending the afternoon practical in the spell laboratory as always. Since I'd destroyed the one we had been using last week, we were now in a different one.
The spell laboratories came in various types according to their purpose, from moderately sized personal labs to large-scale ones that could be used by multiple people. The one I destroyed was a large-scale lab, and apparently, the one we were using now was the only other one of the same size. I recall the professors repeatedly warning me, in no uncertain terms, not to break this one.
During a break in our practical, the conversation happened to turn to the subject of my debt. The comment from Lady Elisha was her reaction to hearing about it.
"I hope that's true. To make it so, I'll have to study hard and graduate from The Academy with excellent grades."
I said as much, but I didn't believe a word of what Lady Elisha said. Roche and Isak, listening nearby, had expressions that screamed, "No, no, no." After all, she was the daughter of one of the kingdom's only four marquis houses. There was no way her sense of money was the same as an ordinary person's.
A good example was the pancakes from The Honeyed Teapot. Lady Elisha often had them delivered and served them at tea parties in her dorm room to Ruria and other close female friends. It was only recently that I learned they cost gold coins to purchase. Frequently buying sweets that cost more than a commoner's monthly salary and even sharing them with friends was just not normal. It was far beyond the level of simply being generous.
I once relied on Lady Elisha to get two servings of those pancakes as an apology gift for Lug, the Head of the Gold Dragon Hall, and Mistress Idis, the Head of the Red Dragon Hall. In exchange, Ruria and I ended up being doted on and played with by her for an entire day, but we successfully obtained the pancakes and were able to apologize to both dorm heads. Even then, Lady Elisha never accepted any payment from me. There was no way I could take her "an amount you could repay almost immediately" at face value.
Lady Elisha doesn't act like the daughter of a high-ranking noble; she's friendly and a good person... no, a fine lady... or rather, she'd be an incredible beauty if she just kept her mouth shut. It's just that she has the incorrigible and unfortunate habit of fawning over young girls and toddlers. In fact, right now, she was trying to hug Ruria from behind, only to be met with fierce resistance.
Now, this sadly flawed beauty had revealed a new disappointing trait: a warped sense of money. As I stepped between the struggling Ruria and the determined Elisha, I couldn't help but wish I'd been blessed with slightly more sensible classmates.
"Well, hello everyone, it's been a while! You must have been so lonely without me, haven't you?"
The next morning. Perhaps because I had made such an impertinent wish the day before, the least sensible of all my classmates made his return. Yuli Adoni Katzir, also known as "the foolish son of the marquis," had returned to The Academy from his home country for the funeral of his older brother, Oz Adoni Katzir. Despite his long absence, he was his usual self, striking a pose and sweeping his hair back at the classroom entrance for no reason at all.
The Marquis Katzir House has three sons. With his next-eldest brother Oz now gone, the marquis's only children were the heir and Yuli. Some had speculated he might stay in his home country to assist his older brother, who was just over twenty, and not return to The Academy, but it seemed he was determined to pursue the path of magic. Tch.
"Lord Yuli! Welcome back!"
Oh, while everyone else was stunned by the marquis's son's sudden appearance, one person rushed forward to greet him with delight. It was, needless to say, his follower, a large, round boy. We've been classmates for nearly three months, yet I still haven't bothered to learn his name. Not that I feel any need to.
His other follower, the small and insidious one (I never learned his name either), had left The Academy and returned home with Yuli after being implicated in the attempt on my life. The remaining one had seemed quite lonely and out of place all by himself. Now that his boss was back, he would probably start acting high and mighty again.
"Ah, Saki, my apologies for the long absence. From today, I shall be your classmate once more. It's a pleasure to have your acquaintance."
Just as I was dreading the return of their annoying pestering, he came right over. I carefully schooled my expression to hide my irritation and responded with a superficial smile.
"It has been a while, Yuli-san. Is your business back home concluded?"
"Ah, yes, that has all been taken care of. My family pleaded with me to stay, you know. But I could not abandon my ambition to become a great magic user, acknowledged by all, and make the Katzir name as renowned for magic as the Arcalai. And so, I have returned to The Academy."
Yuli spoke of things I hadn't even asked about, running a hand through his hair with a "hmph." Yeah, yeah, sure. The guy talks a big game, and that's all he does. Talk.
"So, did anything of note happen while I was away? For instance, did you learn any new spells?"
"!! ...Lord Yuli, about that..."
Whoa there, Yuli. You're really going to ask that? Look next to you, your follower has a look on his face that says, "Don't go there." Well, fine. It's not like I wanted to bring it up, but since you asked, I might as well answer.
"As a matter of fact, I was testing some magic the other day and ended up destroying a spell laboratory."
"...Hmm? I'm afraid I didn't quite catch that. What did you say you destroyed?"
"A spell laboratory. I blew a huge hole in the wall and ceiling. It's embarrassing to admit, but I was confined to my room for about three days as a result."
"I-Is that so. Well, that is, what a... bold story."
Heh heh heh, he's flustered, he's flustered. I worked to keep my inner glee from showing, maintaining a neutral expression as I continued to speak as if it were nothing.
"Also, Ruria and I have each learned three new spells since then. We know eleven now. I imagine we'll be able to ascend to the Second Tier within another month."
"...Huh?"
This time, the son of the marquis froze completely, his mouth hanging open. Seeing this, his follower prompted him, "...Let's take our seats. Class is about to start," and led him away by the hand back to his desk.
"Poor thing. If I recall, during his introduction at the start of the year, he boasted that he would reach the Second Tier before graduating."
"A-And now, just over three months after enrolling, it's just his luck that a classmate is about to achieve it."
"Two of them, in fact. Ruria-chan truly is invincible and wonderful."
Once Yuli was gone, my friends on this side of the room began to mutter words that were a mix of pity and mockery. Ruria, of course, had been pointedly ignoring the marquis's son from the very beginning.
Putting me aside, it was just his bad luck to have enrolled in The Academy in the same year as Ruria. Hopefully, this would make him behave a little better for the rest of his time here. But probably not. That type is always ridiculously positive and gets cocky again if you leave them alone.
Still, for that day at least, Yuli attended his classes in utter silence. I thought his eyes looked a little unfocused, but I was probably just imagining it.
Well, despite taking on a debt I'd have to pay off later in life, my peaceful academy days had more or less returned, with only a few minor issues. When that happens, I honestly want to focus not just on spellcasting, but on ritual magic as well. However, Grandmother and Professor Azadh had desperately pleaded with me not to perform any rituals within The Academy. The deal to let me use the spell laboratory after hours had also fallen through, leaving me with a real headache about what to do next.
In times like these, it's more efficient to discuss things and borrow someone's wisdom than to think alone. So, after dinner, I decided to bring it up with a reliable consultant in my room. That consultant was, of course, Isis, who was supposed to be Ruria's familiar but was now living with me in my room at night.
"So, the long and short of it is, I have neither the time nor the place to seriously practice any rituals. What do you think I should do?"
"Hmm, well, given your current living situation, Saki, trying any large-scale rituals is probably impossible," Isis replied in a carefree tone, lounging on top of my head with her chin in her hands. I was used to it by now, and I continued the conversation without being distracted by the tangible sensation of her limbs against my scalp, even though I couldn't see her.
"At this rate, the Book of Spirits (Liber Spirituum) we worked so hard to get will just be collecting dust. Isn't there something we can do?"
Isis shot back a sharp retort.
"It's true you probably can't try any Evocation rituals like the ones in that book, but that's not the only kind of ritual magic, is it?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
When I asked, I heard and felt her let out a great sigh.
"The Ritual of the Cross and the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram you perform during Evocations. Those are proper rituals, aren't they? In fact, they're the absolute basics of the basics, so you should be doing them every single day."
Oh, right. The Ritual of the Cross is performed before any other ritual to purify the caster's mind and body. It's the first step to ensuring the success of the main ritual, but purifying oneself spiritually is an effective ritual in its own right.
And the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram is for banishing. It involves drawing a pentagram in the air to purify the space where the ritual will be performed. Doing that here in my room, for example, would protect my private space from negative spiritual influences, so there's no harm in it. And since it's called the "Lesser" ritual, there's a greater one, too.
Basically, it's like a school club. When you can't use the field or the court, you hole up in the clubroom and drill the fundamentals. And since they are the fundamentals, practicing them every day is the key to improvement. I see. Getting my hands on those scrolls and the Book of Spirits so unexpectedly had made me focus on the flashy stuff, and I'd been neglecting the basics. That was a blind spot.
"You're right, Teacher. From now on, in addition to my daily image training and mana forging, I'll add the Ritual of the Cross and the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram to my routine."
"That's a good idea. By the way, under my guidance, Ruri-chan's already been doing them every day for a while now."
What?! I can't let that slide. Ruria already has me beat when it comes to spellcasting. If she surpasses me in ritual magic too, I'll have no ground left to stand on!
I reached both hands above my head, gently lifted Isis, and set her on the bed. Then I stood in the center of the room and began to practice, starting with the Ritual of the Cross. Isis seemed to be watching me perform the ritual without a word, but I could sense she was somehow satisfied.
I followed up with the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram, then did my image training with the Dice Method and the Lesser Heavenly Cycle to forge my magic power. Finally, I sat down on the bed to catch my breath. All of these require immense concentration, so even without much physical movement, they're quite draining. Wiping the sweat from my brow, I found myself speaking to Isis again.
"Man. It's good to practice the basics over and over, but I still want to try something new. Teacher, isn't there anything else I could try?"
Isis's reply was clearly tinged with exasperation.
"Hey, now. I just warned you not to forget the basics, and you're already forgetting and wanting to do something else? You really are fickle, Saki."
"What do you mean, 'really'? And don't call me fickle. There are other ways to put it, like 'insatiably curious' or 'brimming with a spirit of challenge.' So, is there really nothing?"
When I pressed on undeterred, Isis flopped onto her back on the bed and let out a dramatic sigh. She opened one eye, glanced at me, and spoke with a reluctant air.
"...Well, it's not like there's nothing. Though I don't really recommend it."
Yes! I'd been thinking it for a while, but this girl, Isis, is a pushover. I took off my shoes, climbed onto the bed, and went from a formal sitting position into a perfect, flowing bow with my forehead to the floor.
"Teacher! Please, could you teach it to me? I'll follow you for life!"
Peeking up from my bowed position, I saw Isis staring down at me with a deadpan look. I guess familiars don't necessarily take after their summoners, but that glare was just like Ruria's.
"You really have no shame when it comes to things like this, Saki. Ruri-chan has her work cut out for her."
I didn't answer, simply maintaining my prostrate position. After a moment, I heard another sigh, the third or fourth one today.
"Fine, fine. But I'm warning you now, don't get carried away and overdo it, okay? First—"
Thanks to my powers of persuasion, that night I was able to learn a completely new application of ritual magic.
The next day, during the first class at The Academy, Professor Azadh made an announcement about an off-campus activity a month from now. And that announcement would drastically change my life at The Academy.
This is my first post since consolidating to Midnight Novels. I will continue to do my best, so I appreciate your continued support.