novelraw Chapter 31
Chapter 31
Chapter 31
Added Restrictions
“Ooh… the Ed Family’s magic tome.”
Hei didn’t show even a hint of hesitation, as if questioning whether he could really bring it.
It was probably because he truly meant to steel his mind and study.
“Should we take a look at this? It seems like a book that’d be really helpful for us.”
So to make sure, I tested him a little.
Hei nodded so hard his neck bones nearly cracked, answering with energy.
“Let’s do it!”
The two of us went deep into a corner of the library on purpose, just in case, and opened the book.
“It says the strongest magic in the 1st Circle is Fire Shroud? You use the fire element to manifest it like a curtain and block the opponent’s magic. Huh? Isn’t this the magic you used during the sparring match, Artel?”
That was exactly why I had used the Fire Curtain magic during the weekly spar.
Since I carried the identity of a Class 0 student, I couldn’t openly manifest higher-circle magic.
But using it through the gauntlet was simply because I was a Double Caster and the usage method differed—so it wasn’t an action restricted by circles.
“Ah, I think I’ve seen that in a book somewhere too. That magic being the strongest in the 1st Circle of the fire element.”
Of course, that ‘book’ was my own experience.
When I answered casually, Hei asked with curious eyes.
“What kind of book was it?”
“I don’t remember exactly. I’ve read so many.”
“Well, that’s true. Kiena also sometimes got confused about which book something came from when she remembered something.”
As expected, all that deliberate visiting of the library since Class 0 had proven useful.
He believed it easily like this.
“Oh, it says the easiest way to manifest Fire Shroud is to first burn something big like a curtain, watch how it burns, and keep that image in your mind. If you keep remembering it, later you’ll be able to manifest it easily even without burning anything.”
Hei read the contents aloud from the book.
‘He really wrote this at a level children could understand.’
I had never actually read this book myself.
Just as I had advised, there was no technical jargon—only simple and easy explanations.
‘You were like this… and yet now, 300 years later, how did you become someone so inscrutable, like that Tylant, Etar?’
But the nostalgia came with a bitter aftertaste.
The innocence Etar had when writing that book no longer existed.
“I want to practice, but if I burn the curtains in the dorm, I’ll get expelled, right?”
Unaware of my complicated thoughts, Hei asked full of curiosity.
“Probably. Why not just attach sheets of paper together to make something curtain-sized and practice with that?”
“Oooh? Genius?”
And so Hei became fully absorbed in the book.
It definitely seemed effective.
“We absolutely can’t let the others find this, right? Especially not Teacher Ever.”
Hei now asked about the worrying part.
Since it was a magic tome exclusive to the Ed Family, if they discovered two commoners like us had it, we’d face definite repercussions.
Thus, another secret to share between Hei and me was born.
“Of course. So let’s keep it hidden well.”
“Yeah, we should! I’m really starting to want to keep reading this.”
“You keep it. I’m fine.”
“Thanks, Artel.”
With that, Hei spent the entire weekend holed up in the dorm reading.
By Sunday evening, Kiena and Banshi returned from the Underworld.
Whatever had happened there, Banshi, looking extremely haggard, skipped even greeting me and went straight to rest in the dormitory.
Given her personality, she would normally report to me right away. Since she didn’t even greet me, I became curious about what on earth had happened in the Underworld.
At that moment, Kiena called Hei and me to her dorm.
“I went to visit the orphanage where we grew up.”
“Huh? Really?”
“……”
Hei asked, overly surprised.
But I had no such memories, so I simply stayed quiet.
“Yeah. The director said she had been waiting for us all this time and wondered why we never visited. She said she wanted to see Artel and Hei too, and asked if we could come down this break. She was sad that we hadn’t come even though she never told us not to.”
“Well of course… we had to leave the orphanage at nine years old. You can only stay there until eight.”
Hei said with a gloomy expression. Kiena nodded.
“Yeah, I explained that too. But the director said it’s fine for us to stay for a bit during vacation. We wouldn’t be living there permanently.”
Hei’s face lit up at Kiena’s words.
“Ah, really? We didn’t know… We really thought we weren’t allowed to go anymore.”
“They did tell us we could stay at the school too, so we assumed that was the case.”
Hei and Kiena continued exchanging nostalgic stories.
Since I had none of those memories, I simply listened silently.
“So how about we all go together this break?”
“I’m in!”
“Artel, you? You’ve been quiet.”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. Sure.”
I didn’t remember anything, but I had to act like I did, so I simply agreed.
“By the way, Kiena, did the book Banshi gave you help a lot?”
I deliberately changed the subject, and Kiena suddenly drew back her shoulders and chest proudly, planting both hands on her waist and nodding with confidence.
“I have something to show you! Look!”
In that cramped dorm room, Kiena suddenly began manifesting a summoning spell.
Hiiing…
The form hadn’t appeared yet, but from the light she manifested, I heard the cry of a foal.
‘No way…?’
But once I heard the cry, I understood immediately.
It wasn’t an ordinary foal.
That cry was far too similar to that of a divine beast—Pegasus.
“Mmgh!”
Kiena focused even harder on the light, pouring all her strength into the summoning spell.
The creatures she had summoned until now had been animals, not divine beasts.
So she could usually summon them quickly, but this time it took a bit more time.
That was actually a very positive sign.
It meant she was channeling her mana to the utmost, and that the summon emerging from her mana had a far higher chance of being a divine beast, not just an animal.
I wasn’t a master of summoning magic, but I at least knew roughly what circle a summoner needed to be in to summon a divine beast.
‘If I remember correctly, it started from the 3rd Circle.’
The light grew brighter and brighter until it finally revealed the form of the summoned creature.
“Wow! The horse has wings!”
‘Pegasus…’
Even back in Class 0, using the teacher’s book, Kiena had immediately proven her summoned creature.
Of course, this was a newborn Pegasus.
Small, unable to even open its eyes properly—but without a doubt, a divine beast.
As expected, Kiena was a genius at understanding.
“This is called a divine beast! Everything I’ve summoned until now was just an animal.”
“What’s the difference between the two?”
“Divine beasts are at the level of a 3rd Circle Mage! And it’s proof that I’ve become a complete summoner!”
Kiena, who had been depressed after her negative point balance from the weekly spar, now seemed entirely freed from that gloom.
At this rate, she looked certain she would be first place in the summoning class.
“Congratulations, Kiena.”
“Hehehehe!”
Fully savoring the joy, Kiena let out a strange laugh she’d never shown before.
And like that, the final day of the weekend came to a warm and pleasant close.
The next morning.
I was on my way to the dining hall to fill my empty stomach.
While walking, I noticed something strange.
‘What’s with everyone’s mood?’
Especially the students in the hallway—each of them stared at the mob with a different expression.
Some simply tilted their heads in confusion, while others looked serious.
But overall, the atmosphere was gloomy.
Right before I entered the dining hall, someone poked my shoulder.
“Banshi?”
“Did you check the mob? Something weird suddenly got posted.”
After confirming there were many students around us, Banshi spoke to me in casual speech.
“The mob?”
“The mood’s a bit weird.”
“I’m hungry. Let’s just check it while we eat.”
“You should check it now.”
Banshi’s expression was serious.
And within that seriousness, I could clearly see worry.
Following her words, I immediately checked the mob.
[Announcement]
-Among the 1st Class regulations, some rules have been changed. All students must check them carefully to avoid confusion.
Writer: Nide
[Rule Changes]
A new bulletin board has been created. This board lists the point balance of every student in the 1st Class. The bulletin board is located next to the auditorium.
A chill crept up my neck at the sudden public release of every student’s point information.
The top five students in point balance will receive a penalty: all facility usage fees will be multiplied by ten.
(Targets: Artel, Hei, Soller, Nohill Hapert, Kudin)
If you fall out of the top five, your usage fees will return to normal.
This is to prevent certain students from monopolizing the top ranks.
Because of this, mid- and low-tier students had lost the will to take classes and had been unable to fully demonstrate their abilities—an old recurring problem.
“This is ridiculous.”
I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.
Promotion from the 1st Class onward was determined by point balance.
And now they intended to force excessive point consumption, making rankings fluctuate frequently.
And it was natural for talented students to dominate the upper ranks.
But how many such talented students appeared each year?
Excluding cases like me and Banshi, students like that could be counted on one hand across the 250-year history of the Ed Branch School.
‘It looks like this rule change is aimed at me.’
It seemed the quiet Former and Etar had finally begun to move.
The weekly common class—Sparring—has been changed to a monthly common class. Point rewards remain the same.
One of the major ways to earn a large number of points had disappeared.
Sparring had gone from four times a month to once, yet the points remained the same—something worth deep consideration.
Due to rule 2 above, the top five students would be subject to penalties and forced to pay ten times the usage fees.
Maintaining top-tier performance would, in the long run, become a factor that would drain points.
There was nearly one full year left of the 1st Class.
If I kept paying ten times the normal rate, even my balance of over a hundred thousand points wouldn’t last.
Since I used the dining hall three times a day, that meant a fixed expense of 3,000 points.
In one week, that was 21,000 points—a significant blow.
Until now, the frequency of discretionary evaluations by subject teachers had no limit. But considering potential issues such as family corruption, requests, or preferential treatment, teacher discretionary evaluations are now also limited to once per month.
They placed restrictions on every method of earning points.
Outwardly, it looked like a clean effort to prevent family influence—but this, too, was clearly aimed at me.
Think about it: why suddenly change a system of teacher evaluations that had worked without issue for 250 years?
If there had truly been a problem, they would have changed it long ago.
If you consider the special event in the 250-year history of the Ed Branch School, the answer is simple.
It was the appearance of me, the Double Caster.
And then came the final clause that nailed everything down.
As of the day before winter break begins, any student with a negative point balance will be expelled.
Originally, expulsion was only given to students who failed to get promoted over five years or who read forbidden books. Now another condition had been added.
“School life is going to get rough. Not that it was ever smooth before.”
“Why would they make this decision?”
“Well, I guess I was that much of an eyesore. Anyway, they said the bulletin board is next to the auditorium, right? Let’s check that first.”
“Okay.”
My appetite had evaporated anyway.
For now, I had to check the point standings of the 1st Class students and think about my next actions.
While heading to the auditorium with Banshi, we happened to run into Hei, who wore a hopeless expression.