BSS 06

chapter 06

Three years later.

A full three years.

Unbelievably, I was still stuck with this dreadful studying.

Even at the age of ten, I was still trapped in this cursed academy. My attempt to slack off a little had backfired, resulting in a horrifying three years of one-on-one tutoring.

Being the only student in the Spirit Studies Department was a perfect condition for receiving concentrated guidance.

And Iel, being a meticulous and dedicated teacher, wanted to teach me as much as possible.

My cheeks, full of frustration, felt like they could burst at any moment.

“I hate theory!”

“Miss Jinny, expressing anger is not good for your body or mind. Please control your emotions. Calmly, and…”

“Why! You promised to teach me how to make contracts, so why theory again! Teacher, you’re a liar!”

Despite being gentle and laid-back, Iel had spent a full three years teaching me only theory.

From what a spirit is, to understanding the flow of mana and how it accumulates in the human body to create power in the material world, to the history of spirits, their individual characteristics, the conduct required of a spirit mage, and why it’s important—all of it, endlessly!

“That was my intention. But I think it’s still too early for you, Miss Jinny. Everything has its proper order.”

Based on my insight from a previous life, where I had spent around ten years in elementary to high school studying theory completely useless in real life, all these theory lessons were mostly useless for actually making contracts with spirits.

Studying was basically the same wherever you went.

I thought that this year would finally be the one where I’d make a contract with a spirit and escape these tedious theory lessons—but even that wasn’t easy.

Yes, it was all my own misjudgment.

I had underestimated spirit magic.

“I’ve told you ten times I’ll teach you next week!”

“Technically, it’s six times.”

“Whatever! Just teach me! I’m asking you to teach me!”

Me being this desperate to be taught was probably a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.

Even though I was hanging from his feet, throwing tantrums, occasionally pleading, Iel just kept saying “No.”

Despite his gentle appearance, Iel Roenin, a mid-level wind spirit mage, was rather stubborn.

He wasn’t as easy to deal with as I’d thought, which made me grumpy.

No matter how I felt inside, he casually avoided my ultimate tear-filled attack—me, the cute little girl.

“I told you I wanted to be taught today! You’re mean! Troll butt!”

Since he wouldn’t give in to my demands, I prepared to collapse onto the classroom floor.

To emphasize: I was only ten years old.

Sigh. “Miss Jinny? I did promise to teach you how to make a contract with a spirit, but that’s only if you attended classes diligently for a week.

A week… and of the five days that had classes, you skipped three! Does that make sense?”

Slamming a thick book shut with a loud thud, Iel’s eyes were ready to start lecturing me.

I quickly turned my head.

“Ugh! You say the same thing every day!”

“Miss Jinny! ‘Ugh’ is not proper! As a spirit mage and a noble, maintain your dignity!”

“What do you expect from a child!”

“At ten years old, I could be engaged! Why can’t you be more proper?”

“Proper doesn’t feed me. Old-fashioned nonsense. Though I guess this place is old-fashioned…”

I deliberately acted rebellious, and Iel grabbed the back of his neck.

His personality had soured somewhat since becoming my teacher. I was the only one who believed it wasn’t my fault.

“Why do you get more wayward every day! You weren’t like this at first, Miss Jinny, you’ve changed!”

“I didn’t know it would be this hard back then. And the one who changed was you, teacher. You were so patient at first.”

“…Miss Jinny, you smiled like an angel at first, and now…”

“Why? Am I a demon now? That’s a compliment! I prefer demons to angels anyway.”

“Oh my. How could you say such horrible things! If the priests knew, they’d be furious! It’s because of you that all the teachers ran away, leaving only me!”

Iel teased me as if he wanted to return to his parents’ house.

He had become the sole teacher of the Spirit Studies Department and my personal tutor, the only student there.

And only then did he realize why he had become a teacher at Drike Royal Academy at such an unusual pace—because no one else wanted to take me as a student.

I wasn’t the most notorious problem child, but I was among the most difficult students to handle.

In other words, Iel had been a bit tricked. Naive humans often get the short end of the stick.

“You were the one who wanted to learn spirit magic! Then you should attend classes properly!

I admit you practice mana training diligently, but you ignore almost every other class!”

“Mana training is just meditation sitting down, though…”

“Miss Jinny! To summon a spirit, mana alone isn’t enough!

You need a strong mind, theoretical knowledge of spirit magic, the habits of spirits, and knowledge of ancient spirit history…”

“Ugh.”

Even leaving aside how boring Iel’s lessons were, they were far too basic for my mental age.

Listening to middle school-level classes as someone with my intellect was ridiculous.

I knew my own level. I was a prodigy surviving among the gifted children of the Royal Academy’s nursery division.

Not exactly a genius, but smarter than average.

So when I asked to skip the theory and be taught about contracts, Iel went absolutely ballistic.

“You take contracts too lightly, Miss Jinny. Learning how to make a contract doesn’t mean you can do it. You’re only learning the method.

A spirit won’t appear unless the summoner’s mind, mental strength, and compatibility are aligned.”

“Yes, yes.”

“If summoning spirits were easy, everyone would be a spirit mage! You’re smart, but too young to make contracts. Your mental strength is lacking, so the spirits won’t respond…”

As usual, I tuned out his endless scolding and began to consider other methods.

Since Iel had no intention of teaching me, I’d have to solve it myself.

“A spirit is a pure entity of nature itself, like nature with consciousness.

They don’t obey humans easily. To handle them, strong affinity and mental strength are essential…”

“Wait a moment.”

“Yes?”

I muted Iel in my mind to focus on my own cunning plan.

Then I remembered the day I first decided I wanted to become a spirit mage. The book I saw that day was titled “Super Simple Spirit Contracting.”

And inside, the method to make a contract with a spirit was described in a simple, easy-to-follow way.

Exactly as the title suggested!

“Teacher! What materials are needed to make a contract with a spirit?”

“Excuse me?”

“Fairy dust and… yes, the contract circle! That’s the most important part, right? When drawing it, there was something important—what was it again?”

“Suddenly… I think that was something we covered two weeks ago in class.”

Was it? I couldn’t remember. Did they teach it without me?

Ah, I was the only student in the Spirit Studies Department.

And I was the kind of child who could handle anything on my own!