Quit The Hero Party

EP.49 Enlightenment and Growth (5)

In the Dean’s office of Apuria Academy.

Among the wide office, one wall has no decorations at all. A lecture is being projected onto that pure white wall.

“·····.”

There are two middle-aged men watching the lecture.

They stand at the gap between middle age and old age. Although the age difference between them is almost negligible, there’s a significant difference in their appearances.

It’s not about looking old.

It’s a matter of their hair.

– That will be all.

The lecture that lasted for about an hour and a half comes to an end. Rosel takes off his glasses and presses his fingers gently around his eyes for a moment. Aaron puts his hand on his empty forehead.

Just for a moment.

Rosel, now wearing his glasses again, opens his mouth.

“What do you think, Aaron?”

“·····.”

“I made the other professors cancel their classes, but didn’t we get results commensurate with that? I thought it went well.”

Aaron looks at Rosel silently.

‘Is it really okay? That?’

He couldn’t think of any words to express the feeling he was experiencing right now. Aaron let out a long sigh.

“Ha···.”

A hollow laugh slipped through his slightly parted lips.

‘Was it worth canceling six professors’ classes for this?’

Aaron questions himself.

Originally, he didn’t particularly enjoy comparing professors. Each has their own subject; their teaching styles are different.

So, comparing them is a silly thing to do.

‘Yet, I thought that way···.’

Rania van Trias.

Aaron recalled the content lectured by that audacious girl. He organizes what he just witnessed with his own eyes.

‘Runes.’

The girl definitely dealt with that.

And, as far as Aaron remembers, runes are not a simple concept. They’ve included it in the curriculum for the third year, but that only touches upon the basic characters.

‘It’s too difficult. It’s an advanced course.’

Despite being foundational to everything, there are reasons that runes haven’t been taught.

The process transitioning from spell language to runes, and from runes back to the circuit is incredibly complex.

Only a very few individuals can teach it, and it’s not something that young mages, who have just begun learning magic, can understand.

‘If you teach it half-heartedly, it would only cause confusion. So, they just don’t teach it at all.’

To understand runes and handle them is something possible only for seasoned mages like Aaron or Rosel, who have dedicated decades to magic. Their complexity plays a significant role, but it also demands an extraordinary amount of time.

Thus, a question arises.

‘However, that girl addressed it.’

A girl of just over twenty dismantled advanced circuits into runes. She explained the composition and demonstrated the process to the students.

‘Did she say she had been immersed in magic for ten years?’

Rosel said that Rania had spent a decade holed up in the lab researching magic. Aaron didn’t know what that research entailed, but…

‘It was certainly not the ordinary way.’

That was all he could conclude.

“·····.”

Aaron closed his eyes. With his eyes shut, he imagined how that girl’s lesson must have sounded from the students’ perspective.

Shraaak.

Dozens of circuits are dismantled in thin air.

The students likely witnessed the process of circuits breaking down into runes, and runes turning back into language.

‘What impact will this have on the students?’

The answer came swiftly.

‘···Having faced a fragment of truth, they will be ignited in their studies. They’ll be able to approach magic from a completely new perspective.’

This would lead to growth.

The students saw.

The concepts that lay the foundation for everything.

The students understood.

What they had been using was ‘what.’

That realization they gained isn’t one-sided.

It isn’t simple either. Everything they had accumulated until now binds into one flow.

‘Stimulus.’

That flow will become a new stimulus for the students.

And that was…

‘The reason I forced the Mana Trading Studies class into the curriculum.’

Aaron opened his eyes.

“Hmm.”

A smile lingered at the corner of his mouth.

“Was it worth it, Rania…?”

It was a mischievous question.

Aaron looked at Rosel and spoke.

“Yeah.”

At least for now, Aaron couldn’t help but respond this way.

“It was indeed worth it.”

2.

In the middle of April, as the weather starts to get warmer.

Originally, Apuria should be busy preparing for midterm examinations, but instead, they found themselves in an unexpected vacation.

A holiday lasting about ten days.

Students cheered, but the administrative staff of Apuria were left in tears.

This was the third short vacation in just a month. Once for a public lecture, the second for a terror incident, and now for a collective cancellation of classes by the professors.

The curriculum is thrown into chaos, and the exam schedules are also disturbed. With the planned event dates pushed back, the staff are overwhelmed with busy days.

– Work, paperwork, deadlines…

– Meetings… Uh? There’s more?

The assistant professors are the ones pulling all-nighters in place of those professors who canceled suddenly. Unlike the students who are excited over the holidays, most of the assistant professors are having days that could be likened to being undead.

Of course, not everyone is like that.

Somehow, there are those who finished all their work on the first day of the holiday and are enjoying it with the students.

There’s one assistant professor’s name that no one is unaware of.

Rania van Trias.

The girl at the center of the professors’ collective cancellation incident.

The assistant professors gnash their teeth as they chew on her name.

*

On a lazy spring day at noon.

Rosel is checking the academic schedule.

However, he isn’t particularly concentrated.

“Ugh, heh···.”

Laughter seeps into his ears.

“·····.”

Rosel subtly shifts his gaze.

A disciple, who should be hustling during an unexpected holiday, is rolling around on the sofa. With a trembling mouth and fidgeting feet, she clutches a book in her hands.

‘···The Wandering Swordsman’s Epic Tale.’

He’s familiar with those books.

Rosel knows exactly how that book came to be in her hands.

– What? You said it was fun to read?

– Right! Someone who understands this resonance between Muwah and Hyok has appeared too…!

– I’ll lend you more!

All those books were borrowed from Aaron.

“···Is it really that fun?”

“Heh, yes, Master, would you like to read it too? It’s really enjoyable.”

“That kind of book doesn’t suit my taste.”

“It was fun, though…”

Murmuring like that, Raniael closed the book.

It seems she has read the borrowed book in its entirety.

“Heh···.”

She stretches her body lazily and gets up from her seat. Her ashen hair sways in tune with her movements.

“Oh, right.”

Raniael, who was sitting on the sofa with a dazed expression, suddenly turned her head.

“Master.”

“What is it, Raniael?”

“Why do we have a vacation this time? Didn’t we just rest because of that terror incident?”

‘···Is she really asking because she doesn’t know?’

Rosel pondered for a moment, but judging by her cluelessness, he figured she might genuinely not know.

“···The professors collectively canceled their classes.”

“Really? What on earth happened···?”

It’s because of you, actually.

Rosel murmurs inwardly as he closes the calendar.

“Raniael, don’t you have anything to do today?”

“Um, no. I don’t think I have anything. I finished reading the borrowed books and…”

“Then go change your clothes.”

“What? Why change clothes?”

Rosel stands from his seat.

“It’s been a while since we’ve eaten out together. Let’s go out for a meal.”

“Oh…”

“Is there anything you want to eat? Since your class was successfully completed, let’s go to the place you want.”

Raniael ponders while stroking her chin.

“Hmm…”

After a moment of thought, she finally speaks.

“Oh, actually, I have one.”

3.

In a café somewhere in the royal capital.

A seat by the window where sunlight pours in.

“Hmm…”

Rosel looked at the food laid out before him with a slightly grim expression. The menu isn’t strange. On the contrary, it is very ordinary.

‘Isn’t it just soup and bread…?’

There are a few cakes placed as well…

For now, it’s a brunch café that’s as plain as can be.

It’s more of a place to enjoy a light breakfast while chatting rather than a place for a proper meal.

“…Is this really okay?”

“Yeah? I came here because I wanted to eat. Are you alright, Master?”

“No, it’s not that I have a problem with it, but…”

Isn’t this a rare opportunity for dining out?

As far as Rosel remembers, when Raniael asked to go out for a meal five years ago, she always chose expensive places.

– You’re treating, right?

That’s what she said, smiling mischievously. Rosel remembers her pointing at restaurants where nobles would only go for events, a much different look from now.

‘…But why suddenly like this?’

Rosel rubbed his chin and asked.

“Didn’t you always insist on going to an expensive place whenever I offered to treat you? Like, the Infront Steakhouse…”

In response to that question, Raniael smiled bitterly.

“Well, I just kind of miss this sort of thing.”

“Miss it?”

“Back in the magic tower, we used to sometimes come to places like this brunch café after staying up all night, right?”

“…That’s true.”

“Thinking back on those times made me nostalgic.”

Rosel looked at his disciple.

For some reason, she seemed slightly worn out.

“I was on the battlefield for five years, right?”

“…That’s right.”

“On the frontlines, you find yourself busy drawing circuits and slaying demons until you don’t even have time to rest.”

Raniael tears off a corner of bread.

She dips it into the not-so-hot soup.

“Fighting in such a frenzy, before you know it, the morning sun rises. As the sun rises, the demons start to retreat.”

“·····.”

“The sun rises beyond the horizon, but there’s still a mess to clean. I have to get rid of the corpses so the annoying sorcerers don’t cause a ruckus, and fix the mess in the barriers. The knights help out, but they can’t just play around while doing it.”

She pops the soggy bread into her mouth.

“So as we help the knights with the clean-up, time passes on its own… and we have to prepare for the next fight as well. There’s no time to enjoy soup. We used to shove emergency rations in our mouths and stand on the battlefield again. Our party had been pretty busy.”

Two years passed just like that.

She mutters so.

“Then, I thought to myself?”

With a small mouth chewed, Raniael smiled.

“Oh, I want to eat some lukewarm soup with soft bread. I often find myself thinking of that.”

“·····.”

“It would be even better with a cup of coffee.”

With exaggerated gestures, she lifts her coffee cup, and Rosel bitterly smiled.

“Did you really?”

“Yeah, well, it just reminded me of the royal capital.”

A moment’s leisure with a cup of coffee.

Rosel began to understand why his disciple kept being obsessed with such things and visiting cafes.

‘It’s fine, nothing serious happened… but still.’

Those five years on the battlefield must have made him miss even these trivial things.

“…Let’s come here more often in the future.”

“Really?”

“Professors can come in a little late anyway. Since both you and I wake up early, it wouldn’t hurt to come here once or twice a week.”

“That sounds nice.”

Raniael, pleased, smiled.

“Uh-huh.”

After watching his disciple diligently chewing on her bread for a while, Rosel suddenly spoke.

“Oh, by the way, I didn’t assign any assignments this time. Is there a particular reason for that?”

“Yeah? Oh, during the previous class observation, I attended Professor Charlotte’s class.”

“I know. She’s quite popular among the students.”

“Yeah, she said that professors who assign a lot of tasks are bad ones. Assignments should be minimized.”

“Hmmm.”

Rosel rubbed his chin.

Then he replied briefly.

“That’s all nonsense.”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s entirely fine to assign some tasks.”

Raniael tilted her head.

“..Students dislike assignments, don’t they?”

“Even if they hate it, isn’t it the professor’s duty to teach them even one more thing?”

“Well… that’s true?”

“The more assignments there are, the more students can keep themselves on their toes. Besides, they’ll be reviewing without needing a separate review if they work on the assignments, so it’ll benefit them as well.”

“Oh, uhm…”

Rosel firmly stated to Raniael, who was making a puzzled expression.

“Assignments are necessary.”

And added,

“The more, the better.”

“Is that so?”

“Indeed.”

‘If Master says so, then it must be true.’

Raniael nodded her head.

Author’s Note

This is a brief interlude before the new episode. I was supposed to update yesterday, but… it seems I burned that previous episode white-hot too much.

Whatever I wrote seemed to lack spirit…

So, I took a break yesterday.

I apologize!

But, I’ll keep to my once a week update!

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