Episode 22
Looking at Millie’s face up close again, she really is unbelievably beautiful… especially her eyes.
Her light blue eyes, the same color as her hair, have a clear beauty that makes you feel like you’re being drawn into them.
It goes without saying that each of her other features is also well-proportioned, and the overall impression she gives is one of innocence or naivete. If such a girl were to exude an intense allure from her entire body… this is Bewitching Charisma. The boys sitting in the nearby seats probably can’t hear anything from the lesson anymore.
No wonder she has so many doujinshi drawn about her… or did she become like this because so many were drawn?
“Um, you’re Geld-kun, right?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Damn it, she’s already remembered my name. And as the idiot who couldn’t answer two simple, no, common-sense questions correctly. It would have been better if I hadn’t known Sanimura either… damn you, Sanimura…
Besides, isn’t it too much that even her voice is cute? If she had a voice like the groans of the dead in hell, I wouldn’t have to worry about my reason collapsing.
“Um, so, could you try using magic?”
“Mm.”
As told, I use “Pefu.”
As always, it’s not the tip of the Wand that’s glowing, but the hand holding the Wand. Isn’t this a really goofy sight?
“Ah… I see.”
It seems Millie has an idea why I can’t do it well. After making a somewhat convinced expression, she seemed to ponder a bit. She’s probably racking her brain on how to explain it in a way I can understand.
Even so, she has very expressive features. This was also in contrast to Shino.
“Geld-kun, you just suddenly remembered how to use magic one day and have been using it as is, right?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Not like those things that come out on their own, but using Mana yourself to activate it.”
“Hmm.”
“So, um, first, you can move Mana, right?”
“No, well… I can’t, or rather, I don’t even know what Mana is in the first place… but…”
At my statement, even the Archangel Millie lost her expression and froze. Apparently, I said something pretty bad.
“…Eh? But, eh? But just now… but there was Magic Studies in the entrance exam… eh? You took the entrance exam, right?”
“I took the entrance exam, but I submitted the Magic Studies part almost completely blank.”
“…Then how did you pass?”
“Probably because I got over ninety points on everything else.”
Judging from the reactions of those around me, I’ve probably done something on the level of a student who enrolled in the English department of a high school not knowing the alphabet.
“S-so, why did you come to Desroah Academy…?”
It’s because… I’m going to kidnap you! I’m driven by the urge to attack while saying something like that, like the wolf to Little Red Riding Hood, but I have to endure it here. I’ll just make up a plausible reason.
“Well… it’s because I don’t know anything about magic, so conversely, yeah, conversely, I wanted to come. I wanted to know what I didn’t know. The entrance exam… I decided to take it right before, so I couldn’t prepare at all.”
“I see… okay, I understand.”
She understands? Millie made a somewhat impressed expression, then started to get motivated. Was there any element in my flimsy cover story that would make her like that?
“Hmm, it might be faster to compare. Here, Geld-kun. Give me your hand?”
“My hand?”
As told, I extend my right hand, and Millie grabs it with her left hand. What’s this?
“Your other hand too.”
“Ah, okay.”
I extend my left hand, and Millie grabs it with her right hand. Facing each other up close, holding both hands… I’m driven by the urge to pull her closer, hug her, and push her down, but I grit my teeth and endure it. I can enjoy that to my heart’s content after I kidnap her. No, that’s not the purpose of the kidnapping.
“First, this is the magic Geld-kun is using. And this is the magic you activate yourself by moving Mana, how is it?”
“Ah… yeah. I can tell there’s something different.”
Millie, while holding my hands, activated magic with each hand. She held my hands so I could feel the difference directly on my skin, it seems. In reality, I received a flat and inorganic impression from one, and a sense of depth, or rather, something like richness in cooking, from the other.
“Right? And about the manipulation of Mana, from around here in your body to your whole body—”
“I see, I see.”
“Like this. Like this… that’s right. And then—”
“I understand, I understand.”
Millie is an angel. An Archangel. She teaches even trash like me with kindness and enthusiasm.
That’s why, well, I just feel bad. She probably doesn’t even dream that the person she’s teaching right now is planning to kidnap her. I’m filled with regret.
Ah, I think I understand most of it now. It’s thanks to her hard work in teaching me. As thanks, I’ll buy a cotton one that’s gentle on the skin instead of the rough, fuzzy burlap sack I prepared for when I kidnap you, so please forgive me.
“Like this? Is this okay?”
“That’s right, that’s right. Just activate it like you did before.”
“Just like that… like this!? Is it working!?”
“Yes! It’s working! Congratulations!”
Ohh. I’ve finally succeeded in manual activation instead of automatic activation. I’m honestly happy about this.
Millie is also as happy as if it were her own achievement, blessing me with a smile. Since she brought me this far from absolutely nothing, the sense of accomplishment must be exceptional.
“So, how do you get it to come out of this Wand?”
“…………”
Ah, her expression disappeared again.
“Hahaha, how’s this? Isn’t it beautiful?”
“Geez! You can’t do that with a Wand, Geld-kun!”
Thanks to Millie-sensei’s heart-pounding one-on-one lesson, I succeeded in making the Wand glow, and as a further development, I succeeded in developing the pointless technique of making both ends of the Wand glow. And I was absorbed in the game of rotating the Wand at super high speed to draw a circle with the trail of light.
Although I’m completely hopeless at magic, it’s a true display of the muscle-brained warrior who is one of the top in the kingdom in terms of physical ability and handling weapons.
“Don’t get lovey-dovey there~. Okay, that’s all for today~. Make sure you review properly~.”
While I was playing around, it seems class had ended. Has ninety minutes already passed? No, since I succeeded in manual activation and making the Wand glow, should I say that only ninety minutes had passed?
“Thanks to Millie, no, Millie-sensei, it looks like I’ll be able to keep up with the class somehow. Thank you so much.”
“Hmm, somehow, hmm~. But, yeah. You’re welcome!”
Millie had a complex expression that was hard to describe, perhaps because she thought I was teasing her by calling her “sensei,” or perhaps because I was playing around and causing her trouble at the end, but she accepted my thanks with a smile.
As I was chatting with Millie and turned my eyes to the exit to return to the classroom, I noticed for the first time that I, or rather Millie and I, were attracting attention from the entire class. Especially the gazes from the boys had a sharp bloodlust that made even a veteran like me shudder…
“O-ohh… I see…”
“What’s wrong?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
Millie, standing next to me, tilted her head cutely with a curious expression. It’s quite a calculated move, but it’s terrifying that she seems to be doing it naturally. She may have been born carrying the karma of making all the men around her fall in love.
However, Millie doesn’t seem to feel anything in particular about the gazes. She’s probably been glanced at and sometimes stared at too much on a daily basis, so her senses are numb.
If I think about it, it was natural for this to happen. If there’s Millie, who’s constantly receiving passionate gazes from the boys in the class, and a guy who’s been having a sticky one-on-one lesson with her for the entire ninety minutes of class, it’s no wonder they’d feel murderous intent. I understand their feelings well.
Normally, I should have been able to sense such naked bloodlust filled with so much hatred immediately, but I was apparently quite carried away by this situation.
After that, the remaining classes had nothing to do with magic, so I was able to avoid being called on by attendance number again and having Sanimura take advantage of me. I can’t let that guy keep acting so high and mighty forever.
After school, I returned to my room in the dormitory without stopping by the way and started studying on my own. I needed to learn the basics of Magic Studies by the seventh of next month.
I would need to understand not only the English equivalent of the alphabet, but at least the level of be verbs and interrogative forms.
And…
“Since she went out of her way to teach me…”
When I was being taught manual operation by Millie, I was also given some lectures on Magic Studies, as it was essential knowledge. Since she taught me so enthusiastically, I would feel bad if I forgot it right away.
I continued to sit at my desk, studying diligently while recalling what Millie had taught me, the sensation of her hand in mine, and her adorable smile.
By the time I finally reached a stopping point, the date had already changed. I wryly smiled, realizing I hadn’t studied this hard since right before the Royal Ukyak Academy entrance exam the first time around.
As I slipped into bed, I thought about what a hectic day it had been, but also how fulfilling it was.
Acquiring new skills and knowledge was significant, but more than anything… I became friends with that girl with the adorable smile.