Chapter 110…
After the fear of the world’s destruction had passed, the Black Robe continued his lecture on the relationship between magic and the end of the world.
“For the world to be destroyed, ordinary magic or mana wouldn’t even come close.”
“Then how strong would it have to be for it not to be ordinary magic?”
Clearis listened intently, asking questions with enthusiasm—perhaps driven by her determination to keep Ellie from being afraid.
“The kind of world-ending event Kong-al talked about is less ‘magic’ and more like a rampage. As long as you learn how to properly control mana beforehand, it won’t be a problem.”
“Ah…”
Ellie let out a sigh of relief once more.
“Destroying the world through magic means slowly leading it to ruin by distorting the balance of the world. For example, drying up a river, or making a mountain disappear.”
“…Ah!”
“Or turning summer into winter.”
“Ah!”
“But magic like creating an ice room in summer, or lighting a heater in winter, is fine.”
At last, there was a clear standard.
Finally able to relax, Ellie restarted her cooling magic.
Seeing her finish the spell as casually as if she were lighting a candle, the Black Robe clicked his tongue.
A child with such innate magical talent—and on top of that, a king.
If she ever made up her mind the wrong way, destroying the world wouldn’t be difficult at all.
That was precisely why it was so important to drill these rules into her.
“And there’s another important rule.”
“Yeah!”
“A mage must never do anything that would make people turn the Mage Tower into their enemy. Never.”
The Black Robe emphasized his words.
‘Huh?’
Ellie felt troubled.
The very reason she wanted to learn magic was…
“…Then I can’t threaten people either?”
“You can, as long as you don’t make them enemies. So you should also avoid harming people whenever possible.”
“But last time, didn’t you say you’d burn the people who attacked you to a crisp, Great Mage?”
“……”
The Black Robe silently turned his gaze toward Nilit.
“That was a threat spoken in the heat of the moment. I’m just rather good at threatening people.”
“Right! I want to threaten people coolly like the Great Mage someday too!”
“……”
The Black Robe’s silent stare deepened.
Just what have you been teaching this child…?
“…It’s an important means of surviving in this world.”
“…Fine. That may be true for you.”
The Black Robe gave up on his own disciple and turned back.
“But you could become an especially severe threat.”
“Me? Why?”
“You’re not just a mage—you’re a king who’s a mage. That’s far scarier than an ordinary person.”
“Ah…”
Ellie nodded vaguely, still not fully grasping it.
“Ending things at threats is fine, but if it escalates to the point where the entire Mage Tower has to step in, then no matter that you’re a king, you’ll be taken away and imprisoned.”
“Eek!”
“Even a king?”
“Yes, even a king. Before being a king, you’re a living being—an animal, a person—and above all, a mage.”
The Black Robe declared in a heavy voice.
“That’s why the one who used assassination magic is locked up.”
“Ah!”
Ellie recalled the mage who had been imprisoned for using assassination magic.
A mage who might be connected to the former king’s death—perhaps even to the deaths of Duke Berndt and his wife.
‘Right! I need to ask about this too!’
Beyond learning magic, Ellie had another purpose for coming to the Black Robe: information about assassination magic.
In fact, that was even more important than learning magic itself.
“Did you find out anything?”
Ellie asked in a lowered voice.
Clearis straightened up as well, her eyes tense.
“Hmm… I can’t really say I found anything definite.”
“Then there is something!”
“It’s too insignificant to call it a discovery… I’ll look into it more and tell you later.”
“No! Tell me anything!”
No matter how trivial a clue seemed, it could connect to the bigger picture—
Just like how the faint scent of Rofen flowers on a girl’s body had led to a factory.
At Ellie’s insistence, the Black Robe shrugged and spoke.
“He says he didn’t do it.”
“Uh…”
“I told you. It’s nothing much.”
From the start, that mage couldn’t have been the culprit.
The incident occurred while he was already imprisoned.
‘But…!’
A thought flashed through Ellie’s mind.
“Then couldn’t he have taught the magic to someone else before that?”
“!”
The Black Robe’s gaze sharpened.
Nilit also turned toward Ellie.
“By secretly finding someone with mana.”
“…That’s possible.”
The Black Robe muttered bitterly, nodding.
“…If that’s the case, the entire Mage Tower would have to get involved.”
The Mage Tower exists to protect mages.
As long as they don’t harm the Tower itself, it doesn’t interfere with individual actions.
But this was serious enough to create the misunderstanding that the Mage Tower equals an assassin organization.
“Where would we even start looking…?”
The Black Robe sighed.
Months had already passed. Just finding a lead would be difficult.
If the entire Mage Tower mobilized, they could probably find the culprit—but the hardship was obvious.
“You know…”
“Hm?”
“If it really is connected to the assassination guild, wouldn’t they show up again in something related to Nerendis?”
“Hmm…? But considering how quiet things have been so far, maybe not…”
“That’s because I haven’t done anything yet!”
So far, nothing big enough to make Duke Wheaton move had happened.
Since replacing Ellie on the throne wasn’t the goal, there’d been no need for him to act directly.
‘Duke Wheaton likes money!’
But what if the money he coveted started to shake?
Rofen flowers were one of Duke Wheaton’s key sources of income.
“But now that I’m starting to move, they might start moving too!”
Ellie had already begun acting.
She’d blown up a factory and planted informants.
At the academy, they had begun uncovering the secret of Rofen incense.
Duke Wheaton’s side would soon start to notice.
“You sound like you already know who the culprit is and are pushing them.”
“Uh, um?”
Ellie flinched, stumbling over her words.
Strictly speaking, Duke Wheaton wasn’t confirmed as the culprit.
The book hadn’t stated it outright either.
But judging by the circumstances, if everything was connected, then Duke Wheaton would be at the top—at least, that was her conclusion.
“I’m not completely sure yet.”
“So you’ve got a rough idea.”
“Mm…”
Ellie exchanged glances with Clearis.
Seeing that, the Black Robe and Nilit felt an inexplicable sense of exclusion—and even hurt.
‘We’re the teachers here, and they’ve got something they’re keeping to themselves!’
Completely unaware that their thoughts mirrored exactly what Lady Rabal had once thought.
“This is a matter of Nerendis, not magic.”
“…Ah, right.”
“Yeah. You said the Mage Tower doesn’t get involved in politics.”
“…That’s true, but we can get involved in a disciple’s affairs.”
Without realizing it, the teachers were clinging on.
But Ellie took it as excessive kindness and firmly declined.
“Thanks, at least for saying that. But the Mage Tower only needs to provide information about the assassinations.”
At Ellie’s clean-cut attitude, the Black Robe clicked his tongue.
He’d thought he might help a little if she whined.
But Ellie seemed like the type to say No thanks! even if help was offered.
There was no place for teachers to step in.
It felt strangely lonely.
‘Tell me too… me too…’
Nilit beside him seemed to be thinking the same thing.
Ellie devoted herself wholeheartedly to learning magic.
“Ah…! Heating it up here turns it into clouds! So that’s how it works!”
Once the principle was explained, Ellie had no trouble applying it on her own.
Among mages, those with poor aptitude simply memorize incantations and spend their entire lives able to cast only one spell.
Understanding the principles behind an incantation is difficult enough—creating new magic by applying them is even harder.
Mana isn’t visible, after all.
But for Ellie, it all seemed remarkably easy.
“Is this how you do it?!”
Beside her, Clearis burned with enthusiasm.
“Ah! I think I can do this too!”
“I can manage at least this much!”
Nearby, Juruna and Bavian were also focusing with no less passion.
“Alright, everyone, calm down… one step at a time.”
Before he knew it, Nilit—now the teacher of the Sparkly Magic Classroom—jingled his bracelet as he tried to settle the children.
He’d worried that seeing Ellie’s brilliance might discourage them, but the children reacted in the opposite way.
‘We have to work even harder to become mages worthy of serving Her Majesty!’
Instead of inferiority, motivation surged.
As a result, the ones being overworked were the mage teachers.
When disciples are too enthusiastic, it’s the teachers who suffer.
‘The mages at the Tower aren’t like this!’
Mages who come to the Tower usually arrive brimming with pride, convinced that merely having mana makes them world-shaking genius archmages.
So even if they cling to a master begging for instruction, a single “you can’t do it” is often enough to crush them.
But Ellie’s group of mages was different.
‘If it doesn’t work, I’ll keep trying until it does!’
‘If I keep at it, it’ll work someday!’
‘Nothing works from the start anyway!’
Why do these kids have the ferocity of generals marching into battle…?
“Please teach us just one more step from here!”
“Yes, yes, my disciple…”
Unable to argue with his disciples’ demands, Nilit had no choice but to approach and teach them again.
