Chapter 20
Silence fell over the students.
“…Stone Ants?”
Even those who didn’t know much about them could sense how serious the situation was from Briella’s and Eira’s reactions.
“Um, sir?”
“Speak.”
“So… when you say ‘exterminate,’ do you mean we’re going to subjugate monsters with just the people here?”
Tult asked carefully.
Sion nodded casually.
“That’s right.”
“But… there are only a handful of students here with real combat experience.”
“All the more reason to do it.”
The answer came without the slightest hesitation.
“It’s a chance to use magic in real combat in the most efficient way possible—without shedding blood.”
“…Ah.”
“It’s true that Stone Ants possess enough lethality to be classified as monsters. But that only applies to ‘beginners’ who lack basic knowledge.”
For someone experienced, there were few monsters easier to deal with than Stone Ants.
Their behavior was extremely predictable.
If you understood Stone Ants well, responding to them was never difficult.
And Sion possessed more than enough knowledge.
“I’m not a beginner.”
“No, but when did you ever—”
No matter how they thought about it, all the students remembered was Sion acting like a hooligan all day.
That Sion had actual experience subjugating Stone Ants?
“…Huh. That actually makes sense.”
But the students of the Blue Tower had already learned one important lesson about Sion.
Either way, he was anything but ordinary.
“And this isn’t just combat training. It’s also an operation to develop the mining area—and an opportunity to increase your proficiency with the magic tools you’re wearing on your wrists.”
“…Ah.”
“And let me tell you one more piece of good news.”
Sion grinned as he presented a reward the students couldn’t ignore.
“The magic tools I’ll teach you about don’t stop here.”
“…!”
“You’ll be using magic tools that are superior to this one and have far more functions. That was the purpose of my lectures from the beginning.”
And for that, they needed to raise their proficiency with their current tools as much as possible.
A simple, rational reason.
And one that worked perfectly on mages.
“So, who’s coming with me? Like I said, I’m not forcing anyone. Not forcing you.”
At Sion’s words, the students murmured among themselves, exchanging glances.
Akasha asked slyly,
[Isn’t that basically forcing them?]
‘That’s not a very elegant thing to say.’
The truth was never what mattered most.
‘Let’s call it a beautifully indirect request.’
[…]
Strictly speaking, Sion hadn’t lied about anything.
That they needed real combat experience.
And that there was hardly a better environment than this for gaining it.
All of it was true.
In the end, some students hesitated—but not a single one dropped out.
Everyone seemed to have made up their minds.
“We’ll go.”
Tult stepped forward as their representative.
Sion nodded and turned around.
“Good.”
And so, Sion led the students toward the Cross Magnetite Mine.
* * *
“Ugh… I really don’t want to…”
Eira followed along, but her face was still pale.
Briella, who had been quietly watching her, patted her shoulder.
The two had grown close quickly thanks to their shared experience with Sion.
“It’s fine. He said there’s nothing to worry about. His personality might be questionable, but lately he hasn’t really been wrong about anything…”
“That’s not it…”
Eira glanced toward Sion and spoke softly.
“I just… hate bugs.”
“Oh, so it’s not ‘Stone Ants’ specifically—it’s ‘ants’ in general?”
“Pretty much…”
Briella understood immediately.
If someone couldn’t stand bugs themselves, it made sense to react like this—even more than to a lethal monster.
‘Actually… that’s pretty normal.’
Most creatures classified as monsters were inherently disgusting, after all.
Briella was simply used to it.
She had grown up under a mercenary father and had seen all kinds of monsters.
She’d even watched her father cut them apart more than once.
But for ordinary students, being unfamiliar with this was only natural.
So, speaking from experience, Briella tried her best to reassure Eira.
“If you crush them, they stop moving.”
“…!”
“And after you stomp on enough of them, you get used to it. You know how maggots gather on corpses sometimes? Compared to that, these are kind of cute—”
“Kyaaah!”
Eira screamed before Briella could finish.
Briella nodded as if she understood.
“Yeah, I get it. It’s hard at first. But you’ll get used to it.”
“No, the way you explain it is way worse…”
Eira trembled as if she were about to collapse.
From the perspective of someone who grew up in a workshop, Briella’s explanation only amplified her disgust and fear.
Briella clicked her tongue as she looked at Eira, who seemed ready to throw up.
“If you hate it that much, why are you even coming? Professor Sion said he wouldn’t care if you stayed behind.”
“Well, that’s because…”
Eira hesitated for a long moment before answering in a barely audible voice.
“…It bothers me.”
“What does?”
“This.”
She raised her wrist, showing the magic tool she was wearing.
“This is probably a level of magic tool that even famous workshops in the capital couldn’t produce.”
“…That good?”
“Have you ever seen mages use magic tools like this?”
“Well, uh…”
Briella thought about it.
There were mages who worked with her father.
And those mages…
“…No. I don’t think so.”
Come to think of it, if magic tools this efficient existed, there would be no reason not to use them.
But no one did.
Which meant—
“Are you saying Professor Sion’s technical skill might surpass even the high-ranking masters in the capital?”
“I don’t know. But if he really developed this magic tool himself… then it’s very possible.”
No—probably more than that.
Sion treated this magic tool as if it were nothing special.
As if he could make something far more advanced.
And if that were true…
‘Could it be that he’s reached a level… even higher than my father?’
Eira shook her head, forcefully dismissing the thought.
A craftsman more skilled than her father, who stood at the pinnacle of modern magic tool artisans?
Unless he was Altair himself, that was impossible.
She didn’t particularly like her father—but she acknowledged his skill.
And yet… if, just maybe…
If Sion Rosterly really was a ‘genius’ who surpassed even her father…
‘Could I… be freed?’
Freed from her father’s obsession, which had long since rotted into fixation.
From the curse born of the tragic death of the great genius Altair.
‘No way.’
She gave a bitter smile and denied the thought.
Someone more talented than her father?
Haha.
‘That’s impossible.’
* * *
“We’re here.”
Sion stopped at the entrance of the mine.
Even from the entrance, raw magnetite was visible—proof of its rich deposits.
However—
“That also means there are a lot of ants.”
Clicking his tongue, Sion peeled a Stone Ant off the ore.
Kkik! Kik!
The Stone Ant flailed and screeched in his hand.
“Take a look. This is a Stone Ant.”
He held it up for everyone to see.
It was barely the size of a fingernail.
“If one bites you, it’ll just cause some swelling. But in large numbers, they can paralyze and kill living creatures. That’s why they’re classified as monsters.”
The students recoiled, grimacing.
“But despite that, Stone Ants are classified as the lowest-tier monsters because their behavior is overly predictable.”
As he spoke, Sion summoned a Magic Missile.
Then he lightly altered it, splitting it into dozens of small mana clusters.
He floated one of them near the mine entrance.
The moment he did—
Kik! Kikikik!
Stone Ants poured out of the darkness and swarmed toward the mana.
“As you can see, they instinctively rush toward even the most basic spell—Magic Missile.”
“Ooh…!”
“And if you use that properly…”
Sion snapped his fingers.
BOOM!
The altered Magic Missile exploded, wiping out the Stone Ants that had gathered there.
“They’re this easy to eliminate. Most people fall to Stone Ants because they panic at their numbers, spam spells, and get killed after running out of mana.”
“Then… if we use modified Magic Missiles like you did, we can easily hunt them?”
“Exactly.”
Sion nodded.
“And here’s something you’ll find even more tempting. The Stone Ants in this Cross Magnetite Mine are special.”
“Special how…?”
“Stone Ants eat ore. And depending on the ore they consume, they gain different traits. Magnetite contains mana.”
“…!”
“And what does that mean?”
Sion turned his gaze toward Eira.
“Miss Eira, care to answer?”
“…Me?”
She blinked, then slowly recalled what she knew.
“Um… when you kill them, you can absorb a small amount of mana?”
“That’s right.”
Sion nodded.
“The Stone Ants in this mine are basically walking tonics for mages.”
“…!”
“Each one only contains a tiny amount of mana—but if you gather enough, it adds up, doesn’t it?”
The students’ eyes widened.
Mana!
Students of the impoverished Blue Tower—far removed from luxury tonics.
[Very effective.]
‘Of course.’
The mana was insignificant for actual growth.
But that didn’t matter.
If it raised morale, it served its purpose.
“Alright, shall we begin?”
At Sion’s words, the students’ eyes lit up. Their earlier tension was gone.
‘Tonics!’
Tonics that increased mana with every kill… There was only one option now.
Extermination.
The students realized:
‘Ah… I was born to exterminate Stone Ants.’
All fear of Stone Ants vanished from the hearts of the Blue Tower students.
Only one thought remained.
‘Kill every last one we see.’
With the righteous purpose of exterminating vermin that threatened humanity.
And so, under Sion’s leadership, the development of the Cross Magnetite Mine began.
