Lessons

"Spellcaster Rorschach, your imbalance in subjects is severe!"

Kano was incredibly serious when Rorschach entered. Wearing a monocle, he questioned Rorschach while scribbling notes.

All in all, thanks to the original owner's diligent studying, Master Kano failed to stump Rorschach on spell theory.

But the questions that followed revealed the severe educational divide between the Holy Kingdom's Magic Towers and the Imperial Royal Academy.

"How many times have you read the Compendium of Lunar Phases?"

"I've... heard of it."

"What about Analysis of Dreams and Sea of Consciousness?"

"I think... I've heard of it."

"The Twelve Chants of Crowley?"

"Never heard of it." Even Rorschach was starting to sweat.

"..."

Kano simply set down his pen and asked irritably, "Then what books do you people read at the academy?"

Rorschach took several precious, thick hardcovers from his storage ring:

Bang! Compendium of Elementary Spells

Bang! Standard Magic Circle Geometry Analysis

Bang! Human Magic Circuit Anatomy

"Stop! I said stop! There's no room left on the desk!" Kano was intimidated by the sheer forcefulness of it. Trembling, he opened one book and read a page.

He turned it over, then turned another page.

At last, the Archmage clutched his chest in anguish. "What a mistake. What the hell did Caroline recommend to me?!"

"Archmage Kano, a Chief Professor like you is actually resorting to personal attacks!"

"Can those raised by your Empire even be called mages? You're practically stonemasons and artillerymen! Where is the beauty of magic?"

Rorschach answered solemnly, "Great power is beauty. High energy efficiency is beauty."

Kano gritted his teeth. "You'd better perform well, or the Tower of Stars will stop accepting graduates from the Imperial Royal Magic Academy!"

After undergoing Master Kano's rigorous assessment, Spellcaster Rorschach finally received two schedules.

The schedule in Rorschach's hands was different from the others. It had two colors:

The dark green writing marked the courses he needed to attend, while the deep red writing marked the courses he had to teach in Kano's stead.

By this world's custom, a cycle of Ten Days consisted of five days of classes—both attending classes and teaching them—followed by four days assisting in Master Kano's laboratory, with the final day off.

Red with green—what an awful damn color scheme! Rorschach still had no idea what the laboratory would be like. Hopefully, it would not be like his previous life, clocking in at eight in the morning and getting off work at ten-thirty at night.

"Oh, and one more thing." Kano stopped Rorschach before he left.

"Valuana hasn't exactly been peaceful in recent years. Whatever you do, make absolutely sure you do not attend any gatherings of... well, radical young people. Even for the Tower of Stars, pulling someone out over something like that is a real headache."

"Understood." Rorschach did not fully understand, but he seemed to have guessed something.

"Hello, apprentices. I'm your substitute teacher, Rorschach. Starting today, I'll be teaching you 'General History of Magic' in Professor Kano's place."

Rorschach wrote his name on the slate.

All it took was infusing a specially made willow stick with aether—when in Rome, one did not call it "magic power" in the Holy Kingdom—to leave marks for writing. Turning the willow pen around let one erase them. Rorschach liked that feature very much—no more breathing in chalk dust.

At first, the apprentices were quite interested in their new teacher. The young man at the podium still looked somewhat youthful, and he appeared younger than quite a few people seated below.

The Magic Towers did not enforce a strict age for accepting apprentices. Graduation required earning enough credits and passing the mage examination organized by the Mage Guild. Under this demanding admission and graduation system, apprentices in their twenties were now listening to a sixteen-year-old teacher.

It was only natural that some people were unconvinced, and the people of the Holy Kingdom were inherently somewhat hostile toward Imperials.

Now I understand how university teachers felt when teaching filler classes. As Rorschach lectured, he watched the people below start doing their own things and sleeping. A slack, lazy atmosphere drifted through the circular classroom.

So one day, he too had ended up teaching a filler class. If General History were not a filler class, Professor Kano would not have asked Rorschach to substitute for him.

Having once been the kind of student who always skipped electives and chose electives to skip when compulsory classes were unavoidable, Rorschach felt too embarrassed to do much to the apprentices below. Looking around, he saw only two or three students in the front rows listening attentively.

"In Year 37 of the New Calendar, the Church of Light and Order launched the first Sacred Expedition, resisting the invasion of the Formless God's followers into the continent.

"This series of vast campaigns not only defended the continent, but also successfully established the rough borders of the Holy Kingdom and the southern nations after the collapse of the Old Empire.

"The Church's power and authority reached their peak, and Saint Pepin, the Holy Kingdom's first king, accepted the Pope's coronation.

"To resist the pressure of the Church, the Four Symbols Elemental Towers, the Tower of Light, and the Tower of Darkness formed the first cross-continental organization of mages. It was the precursor to today's Mage Guild."

It was irritating to talk himself hoarse with no one listening, so Rorschach thought of a tactic he had once hated. "Would any lady or gentleman like to discuss the historical significance of the first Sacred Expedition based on what I just taught?"

Sure enough, only the apprentices in the front rows began flipping through their books to formulate an answer.

"Hey, Teacher, could you please know your place? Why are you making things difficult for us with questions in a class like this?"

A burly apprentice spoke up from below. The others began whispering among themselves, and the classroom immediately fell into an uproar.

Rorschach noticed that everyone else wore apprentice robes, but this one alone wore his outer robe open like a cloak, revealing the luxurious garments beneath and flaunting his noble status.

"What kind of class does this student think 'General History of Magic' is?"

Before the troublemaker could reply, Rorschach answered for him. "Optional, right? After all, knowing history will not make your magic any more profound."

Bang. Rorschach closed the thick textbook, then held it up. "The material I just covered contained very little magic. From this podium, I first discussed the situation after the Old Empire collapsed, then how the Church launched the first Sacred Expedition, and only at the end did I explain how the Mage Guild was established under pressure from the circumstances.

"This shows that there is no isolated history of magic. We all exist within human history, and even within the history of the world.

"What does being a mage mean? Miracles, power, glory... Does being powerful automatically equal status?

"Some apprentices seem to think that once they become mages, they will have endless money, countless servants, and kings kissing their boots...

"You have never considered the role mages play in this world. You have never considered what circumstances mages faced in the past and face now. You have not noticed how Holy Kingdom mages differ from Imperial mages, even though one stands right before you—much less thought about why they are different.

"If you had thought about it, you would not consider this class unimportant.

"Perhaps most of you are like the apprentice I once was, longing for a beautiful future while never reflecting on that picture, never realizing it is an illusion—an illusion that will shatter once you pass or fail the mage examination.

"Many Spellcasters take everything this world gives us for granted. Just because we are bastards who can toy with aether? Why?

"I am not telling you to find a god and shower Them with thanks. Find the answers in history yourselves, instead of ignoring everything that has happened and is happening while sitting in this tower, then knowing and feeling nothing about what will happen in the future.

"Class dismissed."

Lecturing others felt damn good! Rorschach walked out of the classroom with the textbook tucked under his arm.

No backlog—freshly written. Typos and mistakes welcome.