The second semester of my second year had arrived.
The weather was now fully spring.
The chill had eased quite a bit.
The comfortable temperature made it easy to get work done.
For now, as far as the academy is concerned, I’ll attend the necessary classes as usual and learn what I need to learn.
Managing the secret society remains the main focus, and I’ll keep my projects going.
Just business as usual—nothing’s changed.
“…So, what’s with this military drill?”
I waved the parchment I’d received lightly in the air.
“Boy, that’s the rust of your own making,” said the old hag, with a pipe in her mouth.
This was Angelene von Aqualonde, the headmistress of the academy.
“The rust of my own making, huh…?”
“Oh? Do you have any objections? But you were aware this would happen, weren’t you? Complaining about it now wouldn’t make any sense.”
…Yeah, she was right.
The parchment contained a royal order.
In summary, it was about “explaining the benefits of the new magic system and presenting its advantages” and “devising a way to use this new magic system on the battlefield.”
I have no obligation to comply. No obligation at all… but…
“It doesn’t matter if you hate the country, or if the country hates you. With results like these, the nation has no choice but to hear you out. There’s no avoiding it.”
Right, that’s exactly what it is.
The “new magic system”… the new world rules that I created.
This was about “M-Language” and its usage.
In this academy, where countless mages gathered, a full eighty percent of students were already using my new magic.
Of course they were. The paradigm shift was already complete.
The difference between the old chanting method based on Elemental Magic Theory and the new M-Language magic was vast.
No chanting required; spells could be saved and accessed freely anytime. Control could be pre-written into the spell.
It’s well-designed, with safety checks. Unlike the old elemental magic—with the Four Elements system, poor control… well, if an unintended loop or something occurs, the spell just keeps running on an infinite loop until the caster dies from mana exhaustion!
In contrast, with the new magic, an unintended loop triggers an error and stops the spell.
…Now that I think about it, was that whole “Don’t meddle with the sacred spells of magic!” nonsense actually just because a mistake could lead to a death loop or some other fatal error?
Anyway, the new magic is solid.
It’s safe, easy to control, with a list of available functions and help screens.
Other spell systems, like Material Creation Magic, can also be embedded within it.
Counter-spells, which can activate in response to other spells or physical phenomena rather than by choice, are also a major attraction.
Furthermore, any user-created spells are saved in a primary memory area to prevent planet-busting levels of disaster spells. No one wants someone trying “A fire at a quadrillion degrees!” or something stupid like that…
In short, it’s like going from a spear-and-shield era to the age of muskets.
Whether they like me or not, those without access to the new magic are guaranteed to fall behind.
Which is why the country, even though it would rather avoid involvement with an unsettling figure like me, has no choice but to ask for instruction on the new magic system.
This country’s main advantage is the number and quality of mages, which is nearly double that of other nations.
Thus, if there is a way to empower mages, the nation will jump on it. And I’ve been teaching this new magic freely even to the “lowly demi-humans,” which probably made them think, “If he defects to another nation, we’re finished.”
And, as I said before, this is a paradigm shift.
Young mages who’ve pledged allegiance to me, and my subordinates who’ve learned the new magic, can now easily overpower seasoned mages in combat, overwhelming them in an instant.
If that happens, the country’s system itself can no longer function.
In this kingdom, even the royal family produces mages—actually, even the king is expected to be a mage in this nation of magic.
In a country where magical strength equals power, if the young mages keep getting stronger and the veteran noble mages keep getting humiliated, the power structure itself will collapse.
At first, they tried to gloss over it with vague platitudes. “Isn’t it a good thing that the younger generation is becoming stronger?” and so on.
…But then, after the young people I trained returned home after their first-year third semester, things fell apart.
These youngsters ran rampant in their hometowns.
Youngest sons and daughters easily defeated the eldest sons, and even their mage-noble heads of families were beaten in seconds…
At that point, they could no longer worry about saving face.
Nobles across the kingdom petitioned the royal family, pleading for public access to the new magic… and that brings us here.
An official debut of the new magic system had become inevitable.
No noble could tolerate the current situation of being physically overpowered by their own children.
Even if they despise me for being arrogant and ignorant, if their power—which stems from their magical might—fails against these young mages, they will have no choice but to act.
So, even if I refuse, they will keep pressing indefinitely. It’s only natural; if they don’t obtain the new magic, the nation itself is destabilized.
I could keep refusing, but… I’m busy right now.
National collapse would just mean more work for me.
Until I graduate, national collapse is off the table.
Alright, then. As a little jab at the nation’s leadership, I’ll have the lowly half-beasts Alan and Betty take care of this.
