Tribios pondered for a moment before saying, "However, if it involves changing bodies, we should first consult with Little Melly. After all, it directly concerns her."
The Old Loli Mage chuckled, "Of course, of course!"
Tribios's words clearly indicated her agreement to the deal. As for whether Melly, the little girl, would consent? That was a foregone conclusion! With the opportunity to learn magic right before her, she would undoubtedly seize it.
A few minutes later, at Augustus School, Melly, fresh from class, declared with firm conviction, "I refuse!"
The Old Loli Mage's smile froze instantly. "Ah... ah!?"
Melly had grown noticeably taller and more beautiful since their last encounter. With one hand on her hip, she retorted, "The body exchange spell can't be simple or easy, right? Otherwise, you would have agreed last time. If I agree now, who knows what favors you'll demand from Teacher Tribios?"
The Old Loli Mage was stunned. "But... but... your teacher is a Demigod! What's incredibly important to mortals might be nothing more than a trivial trinket to Her!"
Tribios hadn't expected Melly to consider things from her perspective. "Don't worry about me," she said. "Follow your own heart. Do you want a new body, to learn and use magic?"
But Melly shook her head. "No way! I love my body just the way it is."
The Old Loli Mage panicked. "But... I could create a new body for you that's exactly like your current one!"
"No means no!" Melly retorted.
The Old Loli Mage stammered, her voice frantic. "But... but...!"
Just then, Jay happened to pass by and caught sight of the group. "Hmm? What's going on here?" he asked. "And Melly, are you teasing the other kids again?"
Melly immediately pouted. "I'm not!"
It's worth noting that Melly always behaved with exceptional obedience and cuteness around Tribios. For instance, if Tribios simply extended her hand, Melly would nuzzle her little head forward, begging for a pat like an affectionate kitten.
Beyond that, Melly routinely offered tea and water, massaged legs and shoulders, and was both intelligent and diligent in her studies—the epitome of "the perfect child."
Yet when Tribios wasn't present, Melly transformed completely in front of others. She became the polar opposite of obedient and adorable, embodying the image of a mischievous little demon!
She reveled in pranks and tormenting others. Her antics included, but weren't limited to: spiking the worst-performing student's water with chili peppers, shaving the fur off Beastman students' tails, assigning nicknames to every classmate, and deliberately loosening the legs of Jay's chair, then watching with glee as it collapsed the moment he sat down, sending him sprawling to the ground in utter bewilderment.
And as for the nickname "Ghost Uncle," which had originated from a misunderstanding, Melly still used it to address Jay to this day.
Given so many past lessons, Jay naturally couldn't believe Melly's words. Instead, he moved to comfort the pranked little girl, only for her to suddenly kick him hard in the knee. "I'm your Teacher, you bastard!"
Jay immediately crouched down, clutching his knee and sucking in a sharp breath, staring at the girl in bewildered disbelief. "What the hell?"
Tribios nodded in confirmation. "Yes, she is your Teacher, Friedrich Smith."
Jay was utterly stunned, staring blankly at the young girl. "Teacher Friedrich!? Uh... you've certainly... changed a lot."
The Old Loli Mage ignored Jay, turning back to Melly and sighing helplessly. "Ah, you really won't reconsider?"
Melly nodded firmly. Seeing her unwavering resolve, the Old Loli Mage had no choice but to turn to Jay. "Well, since we're already here, let's see how your magic training is progressing. What's the highest circle spell you can cast now?"
Jay scratched his head. "Uh... can I not answer that?"
"Hey, what's so embarrassing about that?" the Old Loli Mage said. "It's perfectly normal for a Wizard to hit a bottleneck and make no progress for a long time. I'm not going to beat you up over it, am I?"
Studying Magic is like tackling math problems. Sometimes, getting stuck on one concept can stall your progress for ages.
"Then that's your word," Jay said. "No take-backs!"
"What's there to take back?" the Old Loli Mage asked, puzzled.
"First-Level," Jay said.
The Old Loli Mage stared blankly. "???"
Then she chased after Jay, kicking him. "What did you just say?! Say it again!"
Jay turned and ran. "Ouch, stop kicking! Didn't you say you wouldn't hit me?!"
The commotion must have been too loud. Another teacher emerged from a nearby classroom, sternly saying, "No playing or roughhousing in the school hallways... Hm? Mr. Jay?"
The teacher froze. Two students chasing each other playfully was normal, but a student chasing after the "Great Mage," renowned throughout the Grand Duchy of Augustus, was beyond absurd.
Soon, the two figures vanished from Tribios and Melly's sight. After a moment's thought, Tribios asked again, "With such an opportunity right in front of you, you really don't want to learn magic?"
Melly shook her head. "Actually, I've realized that even without magic power in my body or the Old Mage's help, I might still be able to use magic."
Tribios: "???"
Melly explained, "It's simple! I don't have magic power in my body, but I can use external objects that store it. By channeling the magic power from these objects, I can cast spells, right?"
Melly then rattled off a torrent of magical theories, covering everything from magic power's consumption rate and flow patterns to the principles of spell weaving and formulae for spell release. It all sounded incredibly impressive, but Tribios didn't understand a single word.
Melly continued, "In other words, if my theory holds true, we could create specific tools that would give everyone the opportunity to use magic!"
Unlike the excited Melly, Tribios was utterly bewildered, her head swimming with confusion. She recognized every word Melly spoke, but when strung together into sentences, they made no sense to her at all.
Tribios rubbed her temples. "Where did you learn all this?"
"From books, of course!" Melly replied. "It started with Mr. Jay's Magic Book, and then the Kingdom of Ukel sent over a whole bunch of magic books recently. They're all pretty simple, so I just skimmed through them in my spare time."
Tribios didn't know what to say. Is this child... too much of a genius?
Still, she cautioned, "On the path of magic, you're still a junior, no matter how skilled you are. You should be more careful. If you encounter anything you don't understand, ask Jay or that Friedrich... Smith... woman. It's best to avoid accidents that could harm you."
But then Tribios paused, remembering that children who worked hard often craved praise from their parents, not excessive concern. She ruffled Melly's hair and said, "Still, Little Melly, you're truly amazing!"
If what Melly said could truly come to pass, then with the aid of certain Magic Items, everyone could potentially gain the ability to cast magic. It was almost unimaginable how absurd such a prospect was.
Little Melly beamed with delight and even rushed into Tribios's arms, rubbing her cheek against her. "Mmm-hmm! I'll keep trying my best! And of course, I'll be very careful!"
After their conversation, Tribios left the school to attend to her own affairs, while Melly pinched her cheeks to calm down. She then sought out the teacher who had witnessed the "Old Loli Mage chasing Jay" earlier, the man still utterly bewildered.
Melly sighed dramatically, wearing an expression of mock pity. "Ah, who would have thought Mr. Jay had a thing for little kids?"
The teacher, still reeling from the earlier shock, blinked in confusion. "What the...?"
"It's because Mr. Jay was flirting with her!" Melly insisted. "That's what made her so furious she chased him down! Mr. Jay is a big shot across the Grand Duchy of Augustus, you know. If he hadn't messed up himself, who would dare lay a finger on him?"
The teacher nodded thoughtfully, finding her explanation surprisingly logical. Melly, meanwhile, smirked inwardly. Hmph~ Serves that Ghost Uncle right for slandering me in front of Teacher Tribios earlier!
She, Melly, never lets grudges fester overnight, okay?!
Time flowed steadily, and another year passed in a blur. The Grand Duchy of Augustus continued its steady development.
The second and third Augustus Schools were successively completed, and ordinary citizens began spontaneously starting their own businesses, leading to a surge in bakeries, clothing shops, and taverns.
Before this, virtually all factories and shops in the Grand Duchy of Augustus had been state-owned, with Tribios as the proprietor. The emergence of these private enterprises signified that the people were indeed growing wealthier, possessing the capital to start their own businesses.
The standing army, originally only two thousand strong, had expanded to ten thousand soldiers, and the overall population of the Grand Duchy of Augustus had soared to one million.
To put this in perspective, consider the Grand Duchy of Kandela three centuries later, which had a total population of only five hundred thousand. Under Tribios's leadership, the Grand Duchy of Augustus had already doubled Kandela's population!
Yet while Kandela was a sovereign nation with numerous cities, towns, and villages, the entire population of the Grand Duchy of Augustus was crammed into a single city!
This was only possible because Tribios had meticulously planned the city's layout, dividing it into residential, commercial, and industrial zones. The surrounding forests had also been extensively cleared, creating ample open space to accommodate the massive influx of people. Even so, the land's carrying capacity was nearing its limit; it simply couldn't accommodate any more!
Despite not even having decided on the location for the next city, Olivia had already approached Tribios to discuss potential names for it.
Olivia exclaimed excitedly, "I'm terrible at naming things, Little Trib, Little Trib! Do you have any suggestions? What do you think we should call the second city?"
Tribios sighed in exasperation. "We haven't even settled on a location yet, so naming it can wait, right? Besides, we haven't even named the first city yet!"
For some inexplicable reason, Olivia gave Tribios the same "cringe" vibe as someone who's just met a girl they like—they're not even dating yet, but they're already pondering what to name their second child.
Moreover, the first city in the Grand Duchy of Augustus genuinely had no name. Was its official name simply "Grand Duchy of Augustus"?
Tribios wondered what Olivia and her grandfather and great-grandfather had been thinking. Were they completely oblivious to the issue, or did they feel naming their only city was unnecessary?
Olivia's expression shifted to surprise. "Huh? This city doesn't have a name?" After a pause, she added, "You're right, it really doesn't."
Tribios was speechless, but Olivia pressed on, "That's not important! So, Little Trib, do you have any name suggestions?"
Tribios thought for a moment. "If it's the Grand Duchy of Augustus... O... Okhema?"
For some reason, that name suddenly popped into her head, and she blurted them out.
Olivia's eyes lit up at the suggestion. "That name sounds amazing!"
Tribios waved her hand dismissively. "Uh... I just blurted it out."
Olivia nodded enthusiastically. "Mm-hmm! Just as expected of Little Trib! Even your offhand remarks produce such excellent names!"
As the two were chatting, Jay suddenly burst in, his face flushed with urgency. "Disaster! The Kingdom of Ukel and the Kingdom of Green Eagle have declared war!"
Olivia and Tribios exchanged puzzled glances. Wars weren't exactly rare occurrences—what was so strange about this one?
But Jay continued, "The war erupted because of some strange phenomena at the border. Rumor has it that a uniquely shaped longsword fell from the sky, crashing into a mountain peak. The Kingdom of Ukel and the Kingdom of Green Eagle are fighting over this sword!"
"The Hero hasn't appeared yet, but... a Divine Artifact may have already surfaced!"