He figured Myra wanted him to be careful around Leo, thinking his connections would prove troublesome.
"The Thorne family is way stronger! Just for suggesting that she is disrespecting you!"
Cyril ignored the impulse in the form of Rhamn's sweet voice. Though, he did find Myra's advice unnecessary.
Pretending nothing happened, they went back to the castle, to a particular auditorium on the second floor. Even though one of their classmates had their hand turned crispy, it didn't mean all of their lessons were canceled.
The next lesson was Demonology. It was a lesson he thought would be interesting.
"I don't know. Who cares about demons? Their glory days are in the past."
With the rapid development of magic, gone were the days when the Empire feared demonic attacks. Nowadays demons are destroyed long before they can reach the gates of the city.
This led to many people, especially younger ones, losing their reverence.
"Rightfully, I would say."
…You told me you wouldn't interfere.
"Sure, sure~"
Sitting in a random chair near the front rows, Cyril refocused on the professor of demonology. It was a comparatively young woman with a strict demeanor. Judging by the other students' admiring eyes, she was considered beautiful.
After quickly introducing herself, she grabbed a pointer and pointed towards a whiteboard. On its surface was an image frozen in time, seemingly projected from a peculiar box-shaped mechanism in the ceiling.
Even being from the city center, Cyril rarely saw anything like this.
The image was of a group of creatures. They were humanoids with reddish leathery skin and sharp claws on their hands. Some had feathers sticking out of their heads, and some had horns, tails, or other animal characteristics.
What they all shared was their repulsive appearance. Their features were vaguely human yet distorted.
"This is a ghoul, the most common demon that can be seen on the battlefield."
"Alone they don't pose much of a threat to a soldier of the Empire, but their kind always comes in great numbers. They can be a tricky enemy to deal with."
The professor waved her hand, and the image changed. It now showed a close-up of a ghoul's body on what looked like an operating table.
"Their claws are sharp enough to sever bone, and their skin's capable of enduring much damage. The best way of dealing with them is to use fire or ice elemental spells."
"Despite their humanoid appearance, they behave more like beasts, and you must approach them as such."
With a nonchalant face, she explained the ghouls' biology, tactics they like to use, and their weaknesses. Although the students didn't share her stoic demeanor.
The ghoul's body was quite ugly, and some of the more softhearted students struggled to look, their faces paling slightly.
The professor didn't seem to care as she continued her lecture as the students slowly lost their appetite.
"Blegh… Do you really have to fight them…?" Rhamn looked at the whiteboard, sticking out her tongue in disgust. She seemed absolutely repulsed at the idea of going anywhere near the demons.
If I want to become a knight, then yes.
"Give up, please."
"…"
"I am joking! Don't look at me like that."
As he was glancing at Rhamn in complaint, Cyril happened to notice Myra.
This auburn-haired girl sat next to him this lesson, and her behavior was somewhat strange.
There were generally two types of students attending lectures: those who paid attention to the professor while occasionally taking breaks to slack off, and those who slacked off while occasionally taking breaks to pay attention to the professor.
Myra, however, seemed to choose an unorthodox path. She would silently stare at him out of the corner of her eye while occasionally taking breaks to hatefully glare at the image of ghouls on the whiteboard.
Whatever the professor was speaking about, or her presence in general, didn't seem to bother her at all.
"…Why won't you tell her to get lost?"
I don't care.
"It's not because you enjoy it, right?"
No.
Rhamn stared at him with suspicion but in the end only 'hmph-ed' and didn't say anything else.
With his break done, Cyril refocused on the lecture, continuing his study.
Until the end of the lesson, the professor never reprimanded any lazy students. Despite her strict appearance, she was surprisingly lax in maintaining discipline.
When the bell rang, Cyril calmly gathered his things and went towards the last remaining lesson. Myra, as if it were the most natural thing to do, followed him a few steps behind. On her face was a somewhat happy smile.
...
The last lesson of the day was math. A source of grief for any young human of this age, and surely of ages to come.
Their professor was an old man who looked like he was half a step into the grave already, with ghostly white hair and an extremely wrinkled face. Despite that, he spoke energetically, almost marching back and forth between students.
'How could someone be so enthusiastic about mathematics?' was a question many students currently had in their minds. Though it was quickly wiped away by the difficulty of the lecture.
Most stared with despair at the increasing letters on the whiteboard. Some whispered, cursing whoever thought mages needed to learn this.
Cyril had a complex expression. He never had problems with this before, but today he finally felt threatened. His brain worked extra hard to make sense of it all, while his heart beat slightly faster.
"I can help you if you want."
Rhamn was on the desk in front of him, as seemed to be her habit already. Owing to her being imperceptible to others, she never hesitated to do whatever she wanted during lessons.
Right now she had her legs crossed on the desk as she peered into his notebook, her red eyes shining bright.
You'll help? How, peek at others' notebook?
Rhamn chuckled and shook her head.
"Of course not. I won't be able to do that anyways. I can only see what you see."
Is that so?
"I think I can help you solve this."
Rhamn narrowed her eyes as she pointed at the chaotic mass of letters in his notebook.
…Go ahead.
Incredibly smugly, Rhamn began explaining her thought process. It was somewhat hard to discern, but he discovered her ramblings had meaning.
He wrote down everything she said and looked at the result.
Not bad.It does look correct.
He nodded to himself and, getting a peculiar whim, turned to look at the side.
Of course, Myra continued to sit next to him this lesson.
But this time, her attention was taken by something else. As her notebook lay there completely empty, she stared at the whiteboard like she was seeing horrors beyond her comprehension.
"Ha!"
As he was feeling momentarily amused, the professor's aged voice called out his name, making him the center of attention.
It seems this professor, despite his kindly face, didn't take too kindly to others not paying attention.
Though Cyril was prepared and told 'his' solution to the given equation. The old man's face quickly changed from disapproving to overjoyed.
"Good, good. This was a hard one. Very impressive you got that. As you all have heard, this..."
In a visibly better mood, the old man continued with the lecture. This time he began writing an even harder equation, making the students' mood visibly worse.
Some of the students threw impressed glances his way, not expecting this young master to be a studious one.
Myra snapped from her stun, staring at him with stars sparkling in her eyes.
"How stupid can you be to not understand this? We might as well be a higher-order life form compared to you!"
With each impressed stare his way, Rhamn's head was raised higher and higher.
As if poured with cold water, Cyril immediately calmed down and let out an exhausted sigh.
Stop talking like this…
"…I thought you agreed with me."
An even more exhausted sigh almost escaped his lips, but he recovered in time. Again, he was troubled by the existence of such a nefarious ability like mind reading.
He indeed got a peculiar sense of satisfaction from succeeding where others seemed to struggle, but was it really this bad?
Anyways, thank you. I'll be asking for your help in the future.
"No problem! You can count on me." Rhamn raised a fist in the air with a reliable smile.
By the time the bell rang, Myra returned to her confused state. When other students began gathering their things, she still absentmindedly stared at her notebook.
Among the students present, none seemed to be in a similar state.
Even the other commoner, Cedric, seemed to handle it well.
Myra vaguely glanced in Cyril's direction, her lips parted, about to say something, but then she stopped herself.
As if thinking of some genius idea, her face lit up as she hastily looked in a particular direction.
On the other end of her gaze was a girl with brown hair and blue eyes. She was about to finish gathering her things, among which was her notebook. Despite it being their first day, it seemed to be written half-full already.
Myra, without any hesitation, directly blocked the girl's path, smiled, and showed her notebook. As if interacting with a close friend, she begged for help.
Rose first reacted with confusion. Who was this?
Then, she shot a brief glance to Cyril, who was observing them this whole time. In her eyes something similar to competitive spirit showed through before going away.
Rose looked back at Myra and slowly nodded, her face completely calm.
Myra smiled wider and began asking a barrage of questions. So many, in fact, Rose's confident demeanor took a slight crack.
I guess she really plans on befriending her.
Cyril turned around and began walking away from the auditorium, no longer paying them any attention.
"There is something not right with Myra. I can feel it."
You feel that way about everyone.
He easily dismissed her suspicious stare and stopped thinking about the auburn-haired girl.
Right now, another matter seemed more important to him.
Hopefully that healer is working today...
...
He reached his dorm and soon the familiar infirmary.
The moment he entered it, Cyril was greeted with a kindly voice, "It's you again, young man."
The healer slowly walked up to him and looked him up and down.
"Did you drink the potion I gave you?"
I didn't.
"Because we don't need it, old hag. We aren't crazy."
"How is the progress with what you've told me?" Cyril replied after a delay.
The old woman glared at him, then walked back to her desk, taking a seat there.
"We came to a consensus that it's stress-related. No need to worry. It will go away once you acclimate."
Cyril calmly nodded, to which the old woman raised an eyebrow.
"You are taking this well. Last time I told you this, your face was quite scary."
Was it?
Cyril couldn't help but touch his face.
"Rude."
He shook his head and finally asked what he was curious about, "Thank you for your effort. Can you tell me which professors were present when you consulted about me?"
The woman waved her hand in dismissal. "Don't worry, I haven't told them it's you."
"But to answer your question, it was all of them. Everyone here cares about the students."
She said it proudly, with a warm smile.
Though it only made Cyril freeze.
…All of them?
Seeing his surprise, the healer smiled knowingly. "You must be thinking, 'How could it have been done?' right? There are so many professors here, surely it's impossible to gather all of them so effortlessly."
Her face was gradually becoming more passionate.
"This is all thanks to our principal, Margaret. With her illusion magic and a bit of preparation, people can communicate at long distances without any delay between the messages. It's like talking to someone face-to-face!"
She continued speaking with enthusiasm while Cyril listened on the surface.
Internally, however, he started thinking about the implication of her words.
Now what? Every professor in Ailanthus is a suspect.
"That's a lot…"
"We don't have the time to go through every one… I know!" Rhamn's face lit up.
"It would only be fitting that the most important mage here is the one paying us attention! My bet is on the principal, Margaret!"
Pretending to listen to the old healer's passionate speech, he subtly glared at Rhamn.
This is a serious issue. Don't joke… about…
As he thought about her words, the principal suddenly seemed like the most likely suspect.
"Right?!"
Not in that way!
The letter from yesterday. It must've been illusion magic, and according to this woman, the principal is the one using it.
"…So I am still right, aren't I?"
Enough.
Cyril refocused on the healer's speech, a new question now on his mind.
"...students are so fortunate to be able to learn-"
"The principal is indeed someone we should respect." Cyril interrupted the speech, "Is it possible for me to meet her?"
The old woman swallowed her next words, then coughed a few times, clearing her throat.
"I went on for a bit too long. Forgive me." She sighed and continued, "Unfortunately, you won't be able to meet her now. During the meeting she mentioned going somewhere far away."
Is it just a coincidence?
Cyril frowned, finding the timing of her departure suspicious. "When will she be back?"
"No one knows. Honestly, she is rarely in the academy. It could be months before I see her face-to-face again."
Really…? "What does a principal even do? Why can she just not be here?"
Cyril could do nothing else but accept this information with a sigh.
"I see… Thank you again. Hopefully I'll be able to meet her soon."
He turned around and, without waiting for a reply, walked out of the infirmary, lest the old healer start another passionate speech.
...
Back in his room, Cyril lay down on the bed, staring at the ceiling in thought.
"Seems like I can do nothing else but wait for her return," he mumbled out loud.
Rhamn appeared sitting on the bed near him, hugging her knees.
"Unless you go back home and ask your dad."
That's not happening. I just left that place, and I am not intent on returning so soon.
After his initial surprise, Cyril discovered that Rhamn's presence didn't actually bother him that much. In his head the idea of dropping his studies and returning to the city center seemed foolish.
Let's get along for now. It's not like you don't have your uses.
"Of course! With my genius and charisma at your disposal, you shall be ahead of any other student." Rhamn brushed her hair with a prideful smirk.
"Not even that. We will easily become the strongest in the world!"
...Even assuming you have it, how would your charisma help?
"Irrelevant."
Cyril gave her a long blank stare. He then got up from the bed and sat in front of his desk, about to begin his study.
Leave your delusions of grandeur for the future. Let's first deal with homework.
With a sheepish smile, Rhamn came over, taking a seat atop his desk.
"I am serious. I feel we can do that..."
I know you are serious.
In such a manner Cyril continued his student life.