Imperial Academy Girl Magic Officer

I need to concentrate. I must infuse mana slowly. If my self-control wavers even a little, it’s a failure.

“Oh, I think I’m getting it… No!”
“Will we be able to go home today?”
“Why did the instructor give us such a difficult task?”

In the noisy classroom environment, I focused on lighting up the crystal ball while calmly controlling the flow of mana.

Unlike other cadets, I didn’t glance at the textbook even once. I operated mana solely with existing knowledge and skills.

And the result was,

Whoosh─!

A perfect success.

“Haa, haa.”

I wonder if anyone has succeeded this quickly since the founding of the military academy, I thought as I wiped my damp palms on my coat and looked at the crystal ball.

It’s bright.

Although the luminosity wasn’t high, perhaps due to the small amount of mana, the once transparent interior was now filled with a blue light resembling a galaxy in the universe, presenting a beautiful sight.

So this is the ice attribute.

I particularly noted the color of the mana. Unlike the previous rainbow colors, only blue light swirled around.

Of course, this was intentional.

To hide the fact that I could handle many attributes, I had to use only one attribute publicly.

So I chose the ice attribute, which was the most neutral and versatile compared to other types of magic. That’s why it was surrounded by blue light.

I’ll have to use this well in the future.

I made a grand plan to master other attributes one by one after perfecting the handling of ice abilities.

“Well… I guess I should submit it.”

I looked around, holding the crystal ball that had now cooled due to the characteristics of the ice ability.

It didn’t seem like the cadets had noticed my success. As mentioned earlier, the light formed wasn’t bright enough to attract the cadets’ attention due to my low mana grade.

If so, this is the perfect timing to leave without drawing the cadets’ attention.

“Hm?”
“Eh, ehhh?”

I had finished my deliberation and stood up from my seat, but immediately sat back down upon seeing a girl who caught my eye.

“Y-You just… that ball…!”

She pointed at the crystal ball in my arms with trembling fingers.

A child with sky-blue hair, eyes with a bright color like the sea, and an appearance that was freshness itself, stared at me while rubbing her eyes as if she had seen something she shouldn’t have.

So someone saw?

I thought no one would pay any attention to me, but perhaps because she was sitting right next to me, she seemed to have watched my mana operation.

“Would you like help?”
“Uh, um?”

I approached without hesitation, leaving behind her face filled with astonishment.

“It seems you haven’t solved it yet.”
“W-Well, that’s true…”
“We’re fellow cadet candidates after all, right? We should help each other. The instructor didn’t forbid collaboration, did he?”

I treated her with a gentle smile tinged with kindness.

It was an action I chose after realizing that she was showing great interest in me, whether positively or negatively.

I need to make allies for the future.

It wasn’t to silence her for discovering my genius mana utilization ability. Rather, the more widely known it became, the better, as superiors would take notice.

I simply moved because this timing seemed usable as a stepping stone to build a good relationship with this unknown girl.

Right now, I have no backing.

I desperately needed someone with talent or from a strong family. This was why I once tried to get along with Wolf and why I’m trying to draw Rina to my side.

The more comrades I have, the higher the probability of finding a gem, so helping the girl was a kind of investment.

“I-Is that so?”
“In fact, the instructor probably wanted this.”
“Really?”
“Cooperation, a virtue of cadets, he wanted to confirm this by giving such a test. He’s telling us to solve the task by helping each other.”

As time passed, she lowered her guard. She no longer refused my help.

“What’s your name?”
“Erika von Rosehilt…”
“Alright, Erika. Put your hands on the crystal ball.”
“Okay!”
“Imagine there’s a thin thread between your palms, and concentrate on moving mana along that thread.”

I stuck close to Erika’s side and continued speaking after placing my hand on top of hers on the crystal ball.

“Don’t be nervous, just try to concentrate mana in the center of your palm like you were doing before.”
“Ugh…”

Erika bit her lower lip and trembled her hands.

Whoosh─!

In sync with her efforts, the transparent ball gradually filled with undulating, unusual light beams.

Not bad talent?

Of course, I’m helping by flowing mana through the back of Erika’s hand, but even considering that, it’s not ordinary talent. It’s adaptability surpassing the average cadet.

This could really be a gem.

I glanced at Erika, who was sweating as she concentrated on mana movement, with unnecessarily warm eyes.

This child, like Wolf, was a cadet I hadn’t seen in the past.

From her bright eyes holding the color of the sea to her cool-colored hair. It’s unlikely that I wouldn’t remember such a unique appearance, so it was appropriate to see her as a new person.

And to show such excellent ability, I did well to help her.

“Let’s push a little more.”
“Hnnng!”

As if responding, Erika began to paint the entire crystal ball blue, characteristic of the ice attribute, with a groan.

Now she was doing well even after I removed my hand from her body.

“L-Look, I think she’s succeeding!”
“Who is that girl?”
“A-Amazing”

Naturally, the cadets’ attention was drawn.

In contrast to me with my pitiful mana quantity of Grade 7, Erika seemed to have mana at least on par with the average, as she emitted light waves bright enough to illuminate the surroundings.

“I-Impressive.”
“Let’s hurry up too!”
“I must succeed before going back…”
“I think I’m almost there?”

It served as a catalyst to ignite the motivation of the cadets.

“Huff, huff… I, I did it!”
“Yes, well done.”

Erika, who had finally filled the crystal ball with mana, raised both hands.

“Th-Thank you! Um…”
“Yena.”
“Ye-Yena!”

Smack─!

Immediately, she ran towards me at a speed that made her peaked cap fly off, and hugged my chest.

Success.

It was the moment I cleanly accomplished the task of forming intimacy with Erika.

In a classroom one afternoon after all the cadets had left.

“Hmm…”

Gartel picked up and examined the crystal balls in the wooden box one by one.

‘This isn’t bad.’

The balls collected in the morning had the cadets’ names written on them. It was possible to instantly grasp whose performance was good and who was relatively poor.

The overall assessment drawn from this was: not bad.

‘As expected of the most promising batch.’

There wasn’t a single crystal ball without any color in it. This meant that the candidates he was in charge of this time had at least basic knowledge of mana operation.

“Ho ho…”

Isn’t this better than expected, Gartel thought as he fiddled with the smooth-textured balls and twitched his mustache.

‘Even the child evaluated as the best cadet in history showed qualities befitting that title.’

At the same time, he suddenly looked down at the ball held in one hand.

Whoosh─!

The sight of pure white mana floating, reminiscent of an angel’s wingbeat, always evoked admiration. It was a result worthy of Rina, who had set the record of Grade 2.

I didn’t know her application skills would be this good. Rich in mana and excellent in handling ability, isn’t she already complete!

He looked forward to when she would be formally commissioned as an officer.

It wasn’t just Rina. He felt the same about the cadet named Wolf, who had shown thick friendship with this girl.

Zing─!

Although the purity and intensity of mana in the crystal ball didn’t surpass Rina’s, it still produced results that couldn’t be ignored compared to the overall average of the cadets.

“Was he the eldest son of the Streman family?”

Gartel recalled Wolf’s personal information he had read in past records.

The son of the Streman family, who maintained their influence by continuing connections with politicians even as the nobility’s power weakened with the end of the war – a royal among nobles.

For such a great family, it was natural in a way that they had connections with Rina’s family, who were once the imperial family.

‘Is that why he’s arrogant?’

Gartel’s eyes glowed coldly.

He already knew from the insight gained through years of military life. That he was trying to dominate the class and bully Yena, who was of commoner origin.

However, he didn’t intervene.

Isn’t it excellent performance, second only to Rina’s? He simply possessed authority befitting that. Therefore, he overlooked his actions.

The magic officers who must lead the Empire in the future mustn’t be weak. They should think about overcoming, not yielding to the pressure of a mere novice candidate.

It was neglect based thoroughly on the ecology of survival of the fittest.

And who knows? Maybe Wolf’s characteristic attitude of looking down on others would stimulate motivation among the cadets and have a positive effect?

“Rina Wilhelm Victor Hohenzollern, excellent. Wolf von Streman, very good. Hervin von Gehr, average. Erika von Rosehilt, very good…”

Finishing his thoughts, Gartel began assigning scores in order following the cadet names written on the crystal balls.

Scratch, scratch─

“Hm?”

And not long after, he stopped his hand over an object he discovered.

【Yena Freud】

Two words captured his gaze.

“This is…!”

Then the appearance of the crystal ball brought additional surprise.

‘It’s, it’s perfect.’

This isn’t candidate level. Even a third-year student about to graduate? No, beyond that. It’s a precision that doesn’t pale in comparison even to active magic officers.

‘How on earth?’

Gartel frowned, looking at the inscription 【Yena Freud】 on the crystal ball with a suspicious expression.

Her mana quantity is, it’s embarrassing to say, trash no different from an ordinary person. But her application, that is, her utilization of mana, is at a level far surpassing the military academy.

‘Was it ice attribute?’

Thanks to the color of the crystal ball, he unintentionally learned the type of mana that was unknown during the Awakened ability test, but,

‘But what is this evenly and densely arranged mana?’

He had no way to understand Yena’s outstanding technique.

Did she learn from her father, a hero of the Great War? Or is it innate quality, or perhaps the result of realizing her small mana quantity from a young age and obtaining results through various efforts?

Whatever the case, it wasn’t a typical example.

“…You’ve been surprising me every single day in this short span of two days, Yena Freud.”

Gartel swallowed dry saliva while looking at Yena’s crystal ball. As the situation unfolded like this, he suddenly became curious.

If he were to group Rina and Wolf, who were naturally gifted with mana, with Yena as team members for the group assignments to be held from the next class onwards, what kind of synergy would be displayed?

Hiss─!

He closed his eyes as he took out the pipe he had kept in his breast pocket and lit it.

‘In terms of skill, it would be the creation of a top-tier team.’

The curiosity about the students’ potential that he had as an instructor soon led to a decision.

“Phew──.”

Gartel took a deep puff and exhaled deeply, finally opening his eyes.

“Indeed…”

On his lips, a crescent-shaped line appeared.

“I want to see it for myself.”