The next day, Professor Silva wrapped up her lecture.
"Excellent work today, my lovelies," she said with her usual soothing smile. "Now that we've gotten the principles of illusion magic out of the way, we will begin putting it into practice."
"P-putting it into practice?" Mia gulped. "Does that mean we'll be doing it to each other?"
"Goodness, no. You lot don't have a solid grasp of the material just yet, so if you were to experiment on each other, the results could vary tremendously. Perhaps nothing will happen, but more likely than not, your head will start to spin. You'll feel immense nausea. Maybe you'll vomit. Worse-case scenario..."
Despite her next choice of words, the professor slipped it out with an eerily lighthearted smile.
"...your mind will implode altogether!"
"Eh?!" Mia exclaimed.
"That... sounds a bit too extreme," Zed gulped from behind.
"Fufu~ Astute assumption, Zed," Silva giggled. "Yes, you are correct. So instead, I'll have you all try and put me under your spell! Isn't that so exciting? Now, give me a few minutes to prepare."
As Silva shuffled through paperwork and folders, Castorica slid down the bench seating and tapped shoulders with Caelus.
"Heya~" she greeted casually.
"...Hello, Castorica," Caelus mumbled. "You look a bit more tired than usual today."
"Of course. For me, just enough sleep never seems like enough. No matter how much I get, I always wake up tired."
"Is that so?"
"Mhm. Anyway, what do you think?"
"About what?"
"About the assignment. Professor Silva is an expert in Dark Magic, while we're just a bunch of no-named greenhorns. Try as we might, I doubt we'll be able to penetrate her mind."
"Perhaps, but it's not as if her mind is made of stone."
Castorica let out a slight scoff. She glanced at the front stage with a strange, dark glow dancing around her eyes.
"I doubt it. Dark Magic is quite volatile, not only to your opponent, but to you as well. The more you use it, the more you'll feel the aftereffects that the professor mentioned just then."
"What a scary thought," Caelus said.
"And yet, somehow, the professor was able to cast an illusion spell on all four of us without even breaking a sweat. Her mental fortitude must be through the roof."
"Hmm... I don't recall Dark Magic being a double-edged sword."
"Ah, I picked up on that myself. Learned a few tricks from a textbook that, honestly, should've been banned from the college library. I managed to get my hands on it, which may or may not have involved theft. But anyway, I tried to..."
While Castorica rambled on about this and that, Caelus's eyes remained fixed on the professor. Her words from last night had left a lasting impression on him, and he found it uncanny that she was acting as if nothing had happened.
"...Hey," Castorica muttered, pulling him from his thoughts. "Are you even listening to me?"
"Of course," he replied. "You said you tried to practice on your friends, but you ended up feeling more nauseous than they did."
That caught her off guard in more ways than one.
"O-oh. Huh. I wasn't expecting that."
"I may be a fallen noble, but I'm not an asshole," he sighed.
"Tch... Whoever said anything about you being a fallen noble?"
She turned sharply to Zed, who had been resting his head on the desk. The moment their eyes met, he shot upright, startled.
"Hey, you," she said with a slight hint of annoyance.
"Y-yes, Lady Castorica?"
"Drop the honorifics. I don't care for them. Just call me Castorica."
"As you say, Lady— I mean—! C-Castorica..."
"Oh, come on, Zed. We've been classmates for over a week now, and you're still stuck on meaningless formalities? Especially in a class of only four. Just relax. It's not like I'm gonna bite."
Even so, Zed hesitated. True, Rhodeia didn't place much emphasis on status, but it still felt wise to remain respectfully cautious — especially for someone from a lesser house.
"So... Castorica," he finally managed, stiffly. "How can I help you?"
She let out a soft, amused giggle.
"That's more like it. Now, take a good, long look at our friend over here."
"You mean Caelus?"
"Yeah. What's the first thing that pops in your head when you see him?"
Caelus sighed, not even bothering to turn around. Whatever Castorica was planning, he wanted no part of it.
Zed, on the other hand, looked just as confused as Caelus felt. All he had to go on was the back of his head, and even then, nothing specific came to mind.
"Uhh... His name is Caelus?" Zed said, uncertain.
Castorica nodded seriously, as if that weren't the most obvious observation in the world.
"Mhm, mhm. And?"
"A-and he's our classmate?"
"And?"
"...And—"
"And he's super mysterious!" Mia blurted out from the row in front.
Both Castorica and Zed jumped. They turned to see Mia's eyes wide and sparkling with unnecessary excitement. After a brief pause, she blinked in realization.
"A-ah! Sorry!" she quickly exclaimed with a bow. "I didn't mean to butt in, but I couldn't help myself!"
"It's fine, Mia," Castorica scoffed. "With our small numbers, it's difficult not to eavesdrop. Please, continue. Caelus is mysterious?"
"Oh! Yeah! He's not just mysterious. He's very mysterious. You can't really see his eyes under those glasses, so you never know what he's thinking. He could be judging us. Or planning his next big, secret move. Or... Or!"
Castorica leaned in.
"Or?"
"He could be sleeping!"
In unison, they all turned to look at Caelus, who still hadn't moved an inch. Mia took the chance to wave a hand in front of his face.
"Knock it off," he muttered.
All three of them gasped.
"He's awake!" Castorica exclaimed.
Behind them, Zed struggled to hold back laughter. Meanwhile, Caelus simply sat there, arms crossed and silently questioning what great sin he had committed in life to deserve this level of torment.
"Pfft... Hehe~ We're not getting under your skin, are we, Caelus?" Castorica giggled.
"I've dealt with monsters far worse than you in the last five years," he replied flatly. "This much is nothing."
"Yeah? Well— Hey, wait! Did you just insinuate that I'm a monster?!"
"No. I said that there are monsters far worse than you."
"...Meaning that I'm being categorized as a monster, just not on the same level that you're used to."
He didn't reply, which increasingly annoyed Castorica. Before she could retort, Professor Silva let out a gentle laugh from the front stage.
"You kids are too funny," she said. "It brings me joy to see that you're finally breaking the mold and interacting like real classmates."
"Kids?" Castorica mumbled. "Wasn't it the first day of class when you said we were all adults here?"
"Fufu~ That is true. But in my eyes, until they graduate, the students of Rhodeia will always be kids. And you lot are my kids. Isn't that so cute?"
"It... kinda depends on what you would consider cute," Zed mumbled. "Cuz if anything, it's more creepy than—!"
He was knocked out cold by a chunk of mana crystal that suddenly came from nowhere.
The rest of them watched as he fell back on the seat, his head limping on top of the backrest. Slowly, they turned to see the professor with an arm out and her fingers extended... almost as if she threw something.
"Oh my~ I wonder how that could've happened."
"U-um... Professor?" Mia gulped, raising her hand. "If I'm not mistaken, didn't you—"
"I'm sorry, Mia," Silva mused, her angelic smile somehow resembling that of a demon. "I couldn't quite catch that first bit. Could you repeat yourself?"
"Eek! N-no! I didn't say anything!"
"Oh? Is that so? I could've sworn you had said something just then."
W-well... You see... W-what I was trying to say was..."
Before she could finish — and not like she was going to anyway — Professor Silva cut in with a restrained giggle.
There she was again, the professor whose face charmed an entire class, enough for more than half of them to fail.
"I merely jest, darling," she smiled. "Zed, darling. There's no need to keep pretending you're unconscious. Arise. We must continue with the lesson."
Groaning, Zed pulled himself off the backrest.
"Ow, ow... I-I'm fine, guys. I just—"
He stopped when he noticed the other students staring at him with wide eyes. They weren't looking at him directly, but rather... his forehead.
"Huh? W-what's wrong?" he asked. "Why are you guys looking at me like that?"
"Uh... Z-Zed..." Mia gulped.
"Yeah?"
"Your... forehead..." Castorica said, her face having gone pale.
"Eh?"
He reached a finger and tapped his forehead, the area where the mana crystal had struck. Sure enough, there was a blot of red.
"Huh," he mumbled. "Now I wonder how that happened."
"M-Mia!" Castorica exclaimed. "You were good at Holy Magic, right?! Quick heal him!"
"Oh! O-okay!"
Without warning, Mia pulled herself onto the desk right in front of Caelus and jumped over his shoulder. On the other hand, Caelus kept his head forward, listening to the pandemonium going on right behind him.
"Ow, ow!" Zed shouted. "Mia!"
"H-hold still, Zed!" she squeaked. "I got you!"
"Okay, I get that, but is it really necessary to pull on my hair?!"
"It's the only way to keep you still! Castorica! Quick! Hold him down!"
"Ah! I'm coming!"
And the chaos ensued. While Zed was desperately crying out in pain, Mia was trying her version of 'helping out'. Meanwhile, Castorica was on the sideline, pushing Zed's shoulder down onto the bench seat.
Caelus let out a deep sigh, leaning his chin on his hand.
I suppose the cycle of strife isn't exclusive to war.