IWMHWD 88

Chapter 88 – What Do You Think of Me?
2024.01.27

“Don’t be too nervous. Just show what you’ve studied.”

The man sitting furthest to the left spoke in a leisurely tone, wearing a friendly smile.

“Alright, here’s the first question. Draw a magic circle and put a barrier on this egg.”

From the way he said “first,” it sounded like there would be more questions. The difficulty wasn’t high, so before anyone could blink a few times, Cordelia had already cast a barrier over the egg.

“I’m done.”

“…Already? That’s quick.”

Though he looked a bit surprised, the man promptly swept the egg from the desk and let it drop to the floor. Before it could hit, the egg floated gently and landed without a crack.

“Hm. Looks like you’ve studied hard. Second question.”

The woman seated beside him spoke next.

“Draw a double-layered magic circle and put it on that window over there.”

“Done.”

“What?”

Cordelia answered the moment the woman finished speaking. The female mage shot to her feet, hurried to the window, and tried to open it. It wouldn’t budge.

“You really did that in such a short time?”

A flicker of surprise passed through her eyes. Then, the man in the center—Kaynonn—spoke.

“Seems like showing up first wasn’t a coincidence. Hm. The third question is magic circle nullification.”

“Kaynonn, sir, that’s still too advanced for a low-tier mage to—”

“If she’s studied, she should know at least this much.”

Ignoring the protests of the others, Kaynonn looked Cordelia squarely in the eyes and drew a magic circle—visible only to her.

“Go on, try to nullify it.”

From his confident tone, Cordelia had expected something truly difficult, but it was only a triple-layered magic circle.

While her maximum layering ability was only up to fivefold for now, nullifying magic circles was one of her strongest skills.

She located the distortion in the circle and injected mana.

“Done.”

“Already? Kaynonn, sir, did she really nullify it?”

“…Well, well. Looks like you really have studied. Let’s try a quadruple-layer this time. This one’s—”

“Done.”

Cordelia was repeating the same phrase over and over. She barely finished speaking before Kaynonn shot to his feet, his eyes blazing with excitement.

“You—you!”

“Yes?”

“Try this one.”

He drew a quintuple-layer magic circle. Cordelia dismantled it with little trouble. Kaynonn’s excitement spiked—he immediately followed with sixfold, then sevenfold circles in succession.

Her “Done” took only slightly longer each time.

Kaynonn stared at her as if he’d just struck gold while plowing a field—so much so that his eyes might pop out.

“What did you say your name was again?”

“Cordelia Vasquez.”

“Kaynonn, sir, did she really nullify a quadruple-layer magic circle?”

“Quadruple? She did sevenfold.”

“What? A low-tier mage? That’s impossible—”

The other mages nearby didn’t seem willing to believe his words.

Kaynonn practically bounded over to Cordelia and grabbed her hand. His beaming face was so bright, it made him seem like an overjoyed child.

“Our Cordelia! Where on earth have you been until now?”

“…Excuse me?”

“Do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting for you? What school are you in? Never mind—whatever it is, transfer immediately to Diduacel!”

Cordelia had no idea when she’d become “our Cordelia.” Flustered, she stammered,

“My master would never allow that.”

“What school are you from? Whoever your master is, don’t worry. I can handle it. You do know Diduacel is one of the three great schools of the Mage Association, right? So, which is it?”

“Acheron.”

“Acheron? …Acheron! Don’t tell me you’re Atillay’s disciple?”

“Yes.”

“Aaaargh!”

Kaynonn clutched his head and screamed like a madman. Startled, Cordelia took a step back.

“Why him, of all people?! Out of all the schools, why Acheron?!”

By now, Cordelia was starting to think he was a little scary. Smiling one moment, yelling the next, suddenly angry—it didn’t seem like normal behavior.

She waited until he calmed down before carefully asking,

“Um… I have a question.”

“What is it? Ask anything.”

“…What kind of test is this, exactly?”

“…”

The room fell completely silent. The sudden drop in mood made Cordelia wonder if she’d said something wrong, so she quickly added,

“The truth is, I was just delivering a letter to you, Kaynonn, sir, and somehow ended up taking this test.”

“You took the test without even knowing what it was? Then you didn’t prepare?”

“Uh… But I’ve been studying hard on my own.”

“Haa… The heavens are cruel. To think such talent ended up in Acheron, with Atillay!”

Kaynonn wailed again. At that moment, the man who had given her the first question smiled and handed something to Cordelia.

“Congratulations, Vasquez.”

“…Sorry? For what?”

“You just passed the promotion test for intermediate mage.”

What he handed her was a blue ribbon. Cordelia stared at the ribbon in her palm, then back at his face.

“…Eh?”

“You only need to solve three out of five questions to pass, and you solved all three. The last part—the third stage—is just an interview, so unless you’re a mass murderer who’s killed a dozen people, you’ll pass.”

Rather than being overjoyed, Cordelia felt bewildered. Could becoming an intermediate mage really be this easy?

“Intermediate mage? But I’ve only been at the Association for one day.”

“One day? When did you start learning magic?”

“A little over a year ago.”

“…Good grief.”

The woman who had been the most composed of the group sighed deeply.

“So Atillay really did take a disciple just like himself. Intermediate level after only a year of learning magic.”

“Uh… If I’ve done something wrong, I can retake the test.”

“With that skill? Don’t. You’ll just crush the others’ confidence.”

Kaynonn cut in, still looking at her with regret in his eyes.

“Do you enjoy studying magic circles?”

“Yes. It’s… pretty fun.”

“Ha ha! ‘Pretty fun,’ she says. Alright, I’ve seen your nullification skill—how far can you layer?”

“Hmm… I can do fivefold now.”

“…Aaaargh! Why did you have to meet Atillay first?! Fivefold in just a year!”

Kaynonn screamed toward the ceiling again. Cordelia bit back the truth—it had only been three months. If he knew, he might never leave her alone.

Just then, she felt a strong surge of mana near the door. She turned her head just as it swung open.

“There you are.”

“Ah, Master.”

“You said you were running an errand—do you know how long I’ve been looking for you?”

Grumbling, her master strode over. The moment Kaynonn saw Leonard, he rushed toward him.

“Atillay!”

“What do you want?”

“Your disciple—our Cordelia—”

“Our Cordelia?”

Leonard’s eyebrow twitched at the phrase, but Kaynonn didn’t relent.

“How about sending our Cordelia to Diduacel? A genius who can layer fivefold magic circles after just a year of study—I could raise her with such care! She’d make history there!”

Leonard stared at him for a moment, then suddenly raised his hand and wiggled his fourth finger right in front of Kaynonn’s face.

“I already engraved my name on her finger, knowing leeches like you would swarm my disciple.”

“You—you’ve already chosen your successor?!”

Kaynonn’s eyes widened as he glared at Leonard’s fourth finger. Leonard smirked triumphantly and lightly pulled Cordelia to his side.

“History should be written by the person themselves, not by someone else’s disciple. Let’s go, Cordelia.”

“Ah—yes. Goodbye.”

“Co–Cordelia! If you ever have trouble at the Association, come to me anytime, alright? You know where my lab is? Top floor, last room—come anytime!”

Kaynonn’s desperate voice trailed behind them. Leonard wasted no time leaving, as if afraid Kaynonn might follow.

“What exactly were you doing in there?”

“Well… I somehow ended up taking the intermediate mage promotion test.”

“…What?”

“But I passed.”

She showed him the blue ribbon she’d received. Though she’d taken the test by accident, passing still made her feel proud.

Leonard gave a dry laugh.

“I send you on an errand and you come back promoted.”

“I did well, right? I even solved the first-stage test in first place.”

(It had been under five minutes due to a misunderstanding, but still—first was first.) She puffed up a little.

“And the proctor even asked if I was some kind of genius—”

“More than me?”

“…Of course not, Master.”

Her voice shrank instantly. Leonard snatched the ribbon from her hand.

“Ah! That’s mine!”

“Hold still.”

He stepped behind her, awkwardly gathering her hair and tying it up with the ribbon.

Each time his fingers brushed her hair, Cordelia squirmed a little from the strange feeling.

“There. Hm.”

He stepped back to face her again.

The hairstyle was lopsided, messy, and strands stuck out everywhere—hardly something anyone would call pretty out of politeness. But through Leonard’s love-struck eyes, it looked quite nice. No—beautiful.

“You look pretty.”

“P–Pretty?”

“Yeah. Let’s go. I had your desk and things moved into the lab.”

He said it casually and started walking ahead. Cordelia fiddled with her hair for no reason before quickly following him.

Normally, she would’ve brushed off his words without a second thought, but somehow, that single word—pretty—lodged itself deep in her chest. She couldn’t stop thinking about it.