Hum—
A small shuttle took off from the center of the capital.
As the ruler of the entire Empire, it was only natural for Setsuna to periodically inspect his territory.
Especially since he had brought back quite a few girls from other worlds this time, Setsuna hoped they could integrate into the Starsea Empire as quickly as possible.
"My husband!—"
His first stop was near the Magic Academy, where Mio enthusiastically ran over and gave him a hug.
"Did you come to see me?"
"Mm. Just looking around."
Setsuna rubbed her head.
Since the Crimson Demon girls and the Konosuba party had all continued the expedition with Elma, the Magic Academy had noticeably fewer people than before.
"I've already settled everyone you entrusted to me."
As though seeking praise, Mio puffed out her chest and proudly led Setsuna around.
"Of the mages brought back from Frieren's world earlier, Serie is serving as an instructor, while everyone else has been assigned to advanced study classes."
"We designed personalized courses for them to ensure everyone's talents can be developed to their fullest potential."
"As for Ariel and Shiro, whom you just brought back... they're already much stronger than ordinary people. They'd be perfectly qualified to teach those students."
They entered the castle-like main academy building, where uniformed little mages bustled everywhere alongside spellcasters brought back from various worlds.
Some were studying new magic, while others were organizing research materials.
When they saw Setsuna, they all came forward to greet him.
Whoosh—boom!!!—
Out on the training grounds, Übel and Sense were engaged in a one-on-one sparring match.
"Oh? Practical combat training?"
Setsuna found it interesting and stopped to watch for a while.
He remembered that the two were roughly equal in talent, but their specialties countered each other in different ways.
Crack, crack—
The girl with the green side ponytail waved her hand, unleashing one cutting spell after another. Trees and railings in the distance were severed on impact.
The ground looked as though it had been sliced apart by blades, leaving crisscrossing fissures everywhere.
Faced with a spell that functioned almost like the power of 'I think it works, therefore it does,' Sense could only grit her teeth and fight back with the hair magic she specialized in.
Her flaxen hair extended like spears and stabbed toward Übel.
However.
Whoosh—
Space trembled slightly, and the magically reinforced hair, harder than steel, shattered into short fragments.
Übel's spell could cut through anything she believed could be cut. For Sense, she was unquestionably a natural counter.
After only a couple of exchanges, Sense was forced into repeated evasions and could barely defend herself.
"Sense, don't restrict yourself to your original spells."
Serie watched lazily from the side and spoke up.
"You've learned other magic, haven't you? Use it."
"If you can't even beat her, this year's mage promotion exam is going to be difficult for you."
"Ah."
The extremely long-haired girl froze, then came to her senses.
With a whoosh, she used flight magic to pull back, chanted an incantation, and light gathered in her hands.
"Intermediate Self-Time Acceleration."
"Beginner Self-Agility Enhancement."
Whoosh—
Her movements instantly became so fast they left afterimages.
"Wall of Hell!"
Boom—
Blazing flames stretched into a curved wall of fire before her, surrounding her opponent.
Then she continued rapidly chanting even more spells.
"Slow Curse."
Übel's movement suddenly stiffened.
Bzzzt, bzzzt—
Terrifying lightning gathered in the sky.
"Chain Dragon Lightning."
Crackle!—
White lightning shaped like a dragon burst from her hand and instantly wrapped around Übel, triggering a massive explosion.
When the smoke cleared, the outcome had already been decided.
Übel was pulled to her feet, covered in soot and dust. She shook her head. If not for the protective magic, Sense could have blasted her into ash in a genuine deathmatch.
"Mm, not bad. Those are YGGDRASIL-system spells, right? You've learned them pretty quickly."
Setsuna nodded. Sense looked flattered and bowed toward him from a distance.
"Thank you for the praise. At present, I've only mastered seventh-tier magic. I still have some distance to go before becoming a true mage."
"Mage exams?"
Seeing Setsuna's confusion, Mio explained a little more.
"Doesn't the Imperial Valkyrie Academy have evaluation standards for Valkyrie ranks? Like S-rank, A-rank, B-rank, and so on, to assess performance and individual strength."
"There are more and more students at the Magic Academy now, so we modeled our own evaluation system after theirs."
"From highest to lowest, there are Imperial First-Class Mage, Second-Class Mage, Third-Class Mage, and Mage Apprentice. Every promotion requires passing the corresponding examination."
"Oh, so it's like the Continental Magic Association in Frieren's world."
Setsuna understood. Having formal titles and standards really did make it easier to assess personal ability while also giving students some motivation.
"What are the requirements?"
"A Third-Class Mage must be proficient in city-level magic. A Second-Class Mage must possess continent-level combat capability. A First-Class Mage must be able to cast planetary-level spells or above."
"That's for the offensive magic most people study. Those specializing in support or medical magic have corresponding evaluation standards of their own."
Mio answered.
In the Starsea Empire, these standards were several orders of magnitude harsher than before. A mage without city-level capability could only be considered an apprentice.
That was because magic from numerous different worlds had been gathered here, so the requirements were naturally much higher.
Even great mages like Frieren and Flamme, who had once dominated their respective eras, now had to begin again as apprentices.
"In addition, we'd like to establish the title of Imperial Special-Class Mage for exceptionally outstanding spellcasters."
"As for the standard... I think an honor like that should require the Commander's personal recognition."
Mio spoke seriously.
"I'll personally interview them? Sure."
Setsuna smiled.
He was rather looking forward to seeing who would be the first to reach First-Class Mage and stand before him one day.
...
After finishing his inspection of the Magic Academy, he continued onward and paid a visit to the Research Department.
The catgirl Herta brought back earlier had been immediately dragged away by The Herta and examined from head to toe.
"Commander, Haruhi Suzumiya didn't just turn her into an organic life-form. There's also a bug..."
The Herta spoke with an extremely serious expression.
"What is it?"
"The original Herta puppets are a kind of mechanical life-form I created. They have a certain degree of personality, but I can also remotely control them at any time. You understand, right?"
"Mm."
Setsuna remembered the little Herta puppets aboard Herta Space Station. Normally they possessed a certain degree of autonomous personality, but The Herta could also log into them remotely or simply leave them idle on the spot.
"But Herta No. 42, or rather, this catgirl Herta, disconnected from the Herta network after becoming a carbon-based life-form. I can still sense a connection to her, but in practice, she's now an independent individual."
"—An independent individual based on the personality template of the standard Herta puppet I designed."
"???"
Asta looked utterly astonished. Curious, she went over to stroke the catgirl Herta's ears and touch her tail.
Setsuna was not particularly surprised.
"She became a person. You're not a hive mind. Isn't it normal for her to become independent from you?"
"No, no, no. If you look at it that way, then there'll be two of me in the Starsea Empire from now on. That's a major problem! Uh... also a very interesting problem."
As though conducting an experiment, the original Herta snapped her fingers.
The little Herta puppets acting as her assistants immediately spoke in perfectly synchronized tones, praising their creator:
"Madam Herta is unparalleled beneath heaven. Madam Herta possesses supreme intelligence. Madam Herta's beauty could shame the fish and make the geese fall from the sky!"
"???"
The other research girls did not quite understand.
She had puppets specifically programmed to praise herself?! A genius' thought process really was different from ordinary people's.
Only the catgirl Herta crossed her arms and tilted her head.
"What's this? Madam Herta, do you truly need to obtain praise in this manner? I believe these compliments are inaccurate."
"What's wrong with them?"
Setsuna and Asta asked curiously.
"From an objective analysis, I believe Madam Herta's intelligence is above the Starsea Empire's average, but calling her beauty enough to shame fish and geese would still be inaccurate. By Starsea Empire standards, her physique has significant deficiencies."
"Therefore, the compliments you programmed into them are inaccurate and exaggerated."
As she spoke, the catgirl Herta swept her gaze over The Herta's body.
"Among the various races of port shipgirls, Chaldean Heroic Spirits, Spirits, and others, your physique is approximately equivalent to that of an undeveloped young girl, which is severely inconsistent with your age."
"This contradicts your claim of being perfect. If necessary, I recommend consulting Dr. Mobius or Ruan Mei and using genetic methods to raise your figure to the average level of the port's shipgirls."
"That would help attract the Commander's gaze and gain more of his attention."
"Huh?"
The Herta was left completely stunned by the little Herta's words and even glanced down at herself.
Admittedly, there was a slight gap between her and the shipgirls. The Herta was only willing to admit it was "slight."
"See? Not only does she refuse to praise me, she's actually launching personal attacks against me. Can this really count as an ordinary Herta?!"
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