Book 13 Chapter 28

16th Episode

“Lynn, didn’t I tell you to always use honorifics with elders? You do it perfectly with me, so why don’t you do it with others?”

There’s a proverb called [Reading a Grimoire to a Cow’s Ear]. It literally refers to a phenomenon like explaining magic to a cow that doesn’t even know numbers.

I like this proverb.

When I enter the [Reading a Grimoire to a Cow’s Ear] state, I can convert unpleasant scolding into meaningless noise like “blah blah blah, mumble mumble, this and that” and listen to it.

“Lynn, you’ve entered the [Reading a Grimoire to a Cow’s Ear] state again, haven’t you? You’re thinking about math problems in your head, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I was thinking about ‘Ryuuken’s Conundrum,’ which I’ve been completely engrossed in lately.”

“I’m scolding you right now, Lynn! Not today, I won’t let you go until you reflect! Follow me to the Dean’s office!”

Blah blah blah, mumble mumble, this and that, blah blah blah, mumble mumble, this and that, blah blah blah… mumble mumble… this and that…

That day, the [Reading a Grimoire to a Cow’s Ear] state lasted quite a long time. It only ended after I devised 35 solutions to ‘Ryuuken’s Conundrum’ and actually mentally calculated and applied them.

To understand it in terms of time, it only ended after dawn the next day, having lasted from noon when that old geezer (Dean) launched into his tirade.

“You still don’t seem to have any sign of reflection, so I’ll have you recite the Osarius School creed.”

Huh?

Why?

“The Osarius School is a school that will become a great school. All right, begin! Our resolution, the Osarius School is…?”

Although I aim for a transcendent realm, [The Strongest Mage], I haven’t abandoned being human. I haven’t been able to cast aside my dignity as a person.

“Sorry, I’m reflecting.”

“It’s already too late.”

“I really am reflecting.”

“No, no, it doesn’t seem like you’re reflecting at all. The Osarius School is…?”

“Ugh… a great school… Ugh… my head… that will be a school…”

As I spat that out amidst bone-aching pain, the Dean burst into laughter and lightly tapped my forehead.

“…Actually, I could have somehow smoothed over Professor Kern’s absurd proposal before Lynn accepted it.”

The Dean, exhausted from his own efforts, was half-hoarse. I did feel a sliver of guilt.

As usual, the Dean took out the cookies he cherished in the cupboard and brewed black tea, which he said was popular in the South.

When I first came here, I tried the black tea and found it delicious, so he always made sure to get some and keep it in the cupboard, brewing it for me whenever I visited.

“The reason I knew but didn’t do it, the reason my body couldn’t move immediately… perhaps I also had a desire for the world to recognize Lynn.”

“The black tea is delicious.”

“I vowed to let Lynn go out into the world as Lynn wished, when Lynn was ready, but it seems I prioritized my own desires.”

The cookies were, as always, not very good.

That’s because the cookies weren’t bought from somewhere; most of them were baked in the magic tower.

This, which tastes of hellfire sulfur, must undoubtedly be Gisella’s work.

“When Lynn, who is always quiet and disinterested in everything, got so angry yesterday, I was surprised. Why would Lynn be like that? There’s only one answer: Lynn got angry because of how I was being scolded by Professor Kern.”

“…”

“You know what? Scolding Lynn for so long today was actually scolding myself. Seeing Lynn get angry… instead of feeling like I should reprimand you, I felt happy myself… and I thought, ‘I’m disqualified as a teacher.’”

In the newly rising sunlight of dawn, the teacher’s eyes, as they opened the window to ventilate the room, shimmered with a transparent, clear sparkle.

Seeing that, my goal changed.

Because I stubbornly aimed to be [The Strongest Mage], the Dean suffered the consequences.

It seems there’s a need to compromise, even a little.

I thought that if I dipped my toes, even just a little, into the realm of [The Greatest Mage], the Dean wouldn’t have to cry like this.

“You don’t have to worry. I can now use 4-star magic even while picking my nose, so there’s no chance you’ll be disqualified as a teacher. There’s no way I’ll become that old geezer’s disciple.”

A fool with no sense of tact.

An idiot who understood numbers well but couldn’t understand what was being said. That was me in my childhood.

But despite that, there was the Dean, who didn’t get annoyed at such dullness, but simply smiled warmly.

“Lynn, you haven’t reflected at all, have you? This won’t do. School creed, our resolution.”

In the summer of the year 1103 A.C., which began amidst the Dean’s tears and laughter, the magical world was turned upside down.