VCAM 09

Chapter 9 

“The Empty Seat, the Knight’s Provocation, and the Anomaly in the Magic Circle

Kai’s lecture was proceeding peacefully, as always.

On the blackboard were the “rotational symmetry equations” of magic circles, along with their mathematical simplifications.
The students listened with shining eyes. But among them—

Rutia von Valenstein was nowhere to be seen.

…Strictly speaking, it wasn’t that she was absent.

She stood just outside the classroom door, hiding behind a hallway pillar, quietly watching the scene.

(He’s… smiling again.)

On the podium, Kai casually handed out candy while carrying on his lesson at his own pace.

“Look here, you mistook this variable ‘r’ for magical distance, didn’t you? Nope, nope, this is ‘radius.’ The radius of the world.”

(…What even is that, the radius of the world…)

Suppressing the urge to retort, Rutia pressed a hand to her chest.

(…It’s already over. The contract. The relationship. And yet…)

(Why can’t I take my eyes off him?)

◆◇◆

After school.
Kai was in the experiment wing, helping students who had asked for supplementary lessons.

Then he was approached by none other than—Gilbert Volcrane, heir of a noble house, and the ace of the combat-magic knight course.

“So, you are Kai Cross.”

“…Whoa, that’s a mighty strong-sounding name. What brings you here?”

Gilbert sneered.

“When I first heard you were a ‘teacher,’ I thought it was a joke. A commoner lecturing on noble magical theory? Laughable.”

(This is straight out of a cliché…)

Kai rubbed his forehead.

“Being a commoner has nothing to do with it. Math doesn’t have ranks, y’know?”

“I don’t like your insolent tone…!”

The moment Gilbert reached for the sword at his hip,
the air in the room grew taut and tense.

(Ah, yep. This is about to go bad.)

Drawn by the commotion, Rutia happened to pass by.

(…Seriously? He’s gotten dragged into something again…!)

She rushed the door open.

“What are you doing, Gilbert!”

“Oh, Lady Rutia. We were merely discussing a little ‘practice match’ with the teacher.”

“Don’t lie! You were about to draw your sword.”

Kai raised his hand to stop her.

“It’s fine. Stuff like this happens a lot.”

“No, it doesn’t! Teachers don’t usually get into ‘duels’ with students…!”

“Well, I’m a teacher, but I ain’t ‘normal.’”

“…Huh?”

“…Want me to show you? What it is I actually teach?”

Gilbert took a stance, magic flooding into his sword.

“Here I come, Kai Cross! Take my ‘Lightning Slash’!”

(Idiot… didn’t they say not to swing weapons in the halls, it’s against the rules…)

Kai sighed once.
With chalk, he scrawled a quick equation into a makeshift magic circle on the floor.

“√3n + θ / λ = 0.”

Kyuuuun! The air vibrated.

Just before Gilbert’s sword could strike down,
the gravity beneath his feet inverted.

“Wha—!?”

His body floated up, lost balance, and toppled.

The magic within his blade shot free, ricocheting upward, sucked into the ceiling.

“Wh-what was that just now…!? Inverse-phase gravity…!? How is that even possible!?”

“That’s what I’ve been sayin’. Magic is about structure, not brute force.”

The room fell silent.
Kai set down the chalk.

“This is the way of a ‘math teacher.’”

Gilbert couldn’t speak, lying on the floor, staring up at the ceiling.

Beside him, Rutia muttered softly:

“…Really. You… I just don’t get you.”

◆◇◆

That night.

Rutia sat alone in her room, gazing out the window.

(Again… I couldn’t take my eyes off him.)

(The contract ended. I was supposed to keep my distance. It was what I wanted…)

(So why, after seeing that… is my heart racing again?)

She gently pressed her chest.
But the heartbeat refused to calm down.

Meanwhile, in his own quarters in the teachers’ dormitory, Kai stared at his candy jar with a heavy sigh.

“…I’ve gone and done it again. I really don’t need that kind of trouble…”

(But that girl…)

He recalled Rutia’s serious gaze during the commotion.

(Even during the contract, I never saw her look at me like that…)

Kai’s hand slowly touched the jar.

(…It should’ve been over. And yet… why?)

◆◇◆

The next morning.
Several cloaked figures appeared at the academy’s main gate.

On their chests gleamed the insignia of the Ministry of Magic.

“For the teacher Kai Cross, summoned from another world and hired under special exception—we are here to conduct an official ‘investigation.’”

The story, now tinged with the scent of war, was about to enter a new stage.