As more and more people tried the star-chart game inside the teapot, they soon discovered several rules.
First, the misplaced stars followed a pattern: every constellation had at least one. This was the first rule they found.
Second, the misplaced stars weren't fixed. One star might be wrong this time, but the next time they opened the chart, a different star in the same constellation might be out of place.
They also discovered that once they put the stars of a constellation back in place, the drink poured by the corresponding Filling Charm was always the same.
That discovery stunned everyone. It meant the teapot might hold eighty-eight Filling Charms!
Many insisted it was impossible. How could one teapot bear so many Filling Charms at once?
But after testing it themselves, they eventually poured eighty-eight different drinks...
After retrieving the teapot, Manus heard all about it from Bellows in their dormitory.
"They say they've found a new interpretation of what you said before."
"Oh? What interpretation?"
Manus was curious.
"Remember when you said, 'Exceptional intelligence is humanity's greatest treasure. What makes that treasure precious is that the knowledge it creates can be shared and passed down'?"
Manus thought back. Bellows had quoted him word for word, so he nodded.
"Didn't I explain that afterward? Is there another interpretation?"
"Which treasure is precious because 'the knowledge it creates can be shared and passed down'?"
"...Exceptional intelligence?"
"Bingo~"
Bellows shrugged.
"So if you don't have exceptional intelligence, don't embarrass yourself."
The gap Manus had shown before was so vast that, while it shocked everyone, it hadn't felt real. And with the school's exam grades topping out at O, they'd had no clear way to measure the distance between themselves and Manus.
They'd only known that Manus was brilliant.
But once that toy