"You... the one from the canteen yesterday, right?" she said.
"Correct, Your Highness Vladilena."
Vladilena immediately circled around the bookshelf and stopped in front of me.
"What's your name? Are you friends with that white-haired girl?"
Without realizing it my feet backed up just from being stared at.
"M-my name is Martha. If you mean Gloria, we just met three days ago at the station."
Vladilena stayed silent for a few seconds. Suddenly, she gave a bland smile.
"Can I leave a message for her?"
"...Of course."
"Tell her not to get close to Alex. I don't care if that girl approaches other men as long as it's not Alex."
"Whispers of the Enchantress" is a reverse harem comic, where Gloria is loved by many men at once. However, as a reader, I can be sure the man who wins Gloria's heart in the end is Prince Alex. So it's natural for Vladilena to be worried.
"I'll pass it on," I said. However, who Gloria chooses in the end depends on her.
"Thank you."
Vladilena turned to the bookshelf. She looked at title after title printed on the book spines. She pulled one title right next to the book I pulled: "Special Rituals of Soverus Emperors".
So far, Vladilena's actions always lead to one goal, which is her future position. If Gloria doesn't become empress but Vladilena does, it's actually good for Vladilena to read a book like that.
"...."
Vladilena glanced over. Seems like I unconsciously stood still long enough while watching her.
When I thought about saying goodbye, Vladilena broke this awkward atmosphere. "Hey, what do you think when reading this book's title?"
"Special Rituals of Soverus Emperors. Hmmm...," I read, while thinking hard. "Does it include the hobby of keeping birds?"
An eyebrow raised on Vladilena's face, followed by crisp laughter I could never have imagined before.
"You thought hard and that's your answer?"
I couldn't think of anything else.
"What's actually in it?"
She walked beside me, opened the first chapter page, then told me to read.
All text.
Seems like it's still a long way off before I can read books without pictures.
"I-I think it'd be faster if you told me what's in it."
Vladilena immediately pouted. "You're ordering me?"
Oops!
"N-not like that! Actually it'd be rude if I took up a lot of your valuable time," I dodged. "Ah! If Your Highness doesn't mind, allow me to borrow that book for one day. Tomorrow I'll share my impressions."
Vladilena closed the book with a loud "Thud!"
"No need."
She put the book back on the shelf. Then left, just leaving me like that.
I made her mad.
I better borrow that book.
***
I returned to Nadisa and Vera. Books were already piled up in their laps. I also matched the books I'd borrow with theirs plus the book "Special Rituals of Soverus Emperors".
"You're interested in the emperor's life?" Nadisa asked.
"Not really," I answered. There's no way I'd tell the real reason. "This is like... preparation in case I meet the emperor someday. You never know, right?"
Vera interrupted our conversation, "Even us natives here have never met him face to face. Besides, is it polite to discuss something like rituals?"
"It doesn't matter if it doesn't happen. I always believe even the most trivial knowledge has its own value."
"Cool!" Nadisa praised.
"Right? I've always wanted to say something like that."
Vera shook her head after that.
"Oh yeah, do you guys know where books about magic fundamentals are?" I asked.
"Fundamental Magic? Try the pure magic shelf," Vera answered.
"Magic fundamentals! Already did, and didn't find anything really 'basic'."
"Anyway, what for? You're always looking for weird books. Did you check the journal section?"
"Journal?"
"Yeah, academic journals. The social sciences and law journal shelf is over there. Try looking for the pure magic journal shelf. Maybe it's across from the social studies journal shelf."
Oh, the ones shaped like magazines, right?
"Okay. I'm going first."
***
As the saying goes, maintaining relationships opens doors to fortune. I wouldn't have found clues about the basics of magic use if I hadn't asked those two.
We borrowed supplementary books with the maximum period—six months. While other books just a week. I hope the time's enough.
We returned to class. I immediately sat in my seat, grabbed the journal and looked for article titles related to magic activation.
"Error Patterns in Children Learning Levitation Magic," I read quietly.
Hmm, if it's 'errors', that means their magic failed, right? I hope the researcher also wrote solutions for these kids.
...In many cases, words are spoken in the correct order and intonation, yet without adequate semantic mastery, the magic structure never forms completely. This indicates that such failures are not caused by lack of effort or readiness, but by a learning approach that places memorization at the center of practice. Levitation magic, as a linguistic art, demands harmony between vocabulary, understanding of meaning, and the internal structure of the caster....
Uhh... this writing makes my head hurt!
"Class Prez," someone called. The girl stood beside my desk.
"Oh, Liva Grevin. I already told the homeroom teacher about your name."
"Thanks." She glanced at the journal I was reading. "What are you reading?"
"Experiments on young wizards."
"Huh?!"
She snatched the journal from my desk.
"Don't scare me like that! I thought it was a child torture case."
"How could you think that?"
"You're the one making people misunderstand! You could've used the word 'research'."
"What's the difference?"
She looked shaken. "Our class is led by someone like this...?"
So harsh!
Liva continued while pointing her finger at a sentence in the same article, "'without adequate semantic mastery, the magic structure never forms completely.' That means, every word spoken has nuance. We might often call it connotation. Wrong word choice can result in a defective spell."
"I see."
"Haven't you ever experienced a deviation from expectation in the magic you cast?"
"Not yet."
I haven't even activated magic yet.
"Hey, can you explain that paragraph earlier? Err, the whole paragraph. In baby language. Hehe...."
Liva sighed. However, she still complied with my request. She read the article again.
"Basically, these children's mistakes are mainly because they don't understand what they're saying as spells. Magic appears after the spell is cast, right? If what they say has no meaning in their minds, the magic won't form."
"Hmm... I see."
"Yeah. So, basically, we have to understand what we're casting, including the meaning attached to those words." Liva's gaze returned to the article. She pondered for a moment. "Hmm... indirectly, this article is actually relevant to us who struggle casting classical spells."
"Because the language used is archaic?"
"See, that's what I mean!" She said cheerfully. "Thank you. I'm a bit enlightened. You really deserve to be class president, Martha."
What does that have to do with being class president?
"Well, whatever. Me too, thanks for the explanation, Liva."