Helgium Outskirts
On a pleasant summer day in the suburbs of Helgium Capital, a particularly opulent carriage stood out due to its ornate embellishments and jewel-encrusted exterior and interior.
Suddenly, the carriage was violently shaken. The shrill whinny of a horse could be heard as the carriage came to a halt.
A bewildered, handsome young man with blonde hair and a plump physique alighted from the carriage, wondering what had occurred.
He found the coachman kneeling by the wheel in the muddy ditch beside the stone-paved road.
"What happened?"
"Ah, Master Rooks... Um, it appears that the wheel is broken."
The driver hesitated as he gave his response, appearing fearful of Rooks's reaction.
"In that case, let me take a look. "
Rooks gestured for the coachman to step back and inspected the damage to the wheel himself. The wooden wheel had a crack running through it.
"Elder brother Rooks? What happened?"
The carriage that had been traveling alongside Rooks's came to a stop, and his sister peered out the window with a curious expression.
"It's just a minor issue with the wheel, Mapua. I'll follow up as soon as it's fixed, so you can go ahead. "
"Is that so? Alright then, I'll wait for you at the academy."
Rooks looked at his sister, Mapua, worriedly, but ultimately gave a small nod and instructed her driver to continue. The sound of a whip cracking could be heard as Mapua's carriage began to depart.
"M-master! I will immediately return to the residence to contact... "
"That won't be necessary."
Rooks held his right hand over the damaged wheel and, with a snap of his fingers, a convergence of multicolored lights emerged in his palm, causing the coachman, who had begun to walk away, to pause in his tracks.
Shades of verdant, gold, and silver merged and penetrated the wheel. Then, a ripple of light spread throughout the carriage, even reaching the horse.
Once the light dissipated, the undamaged wheel replaced the damaged one.
"Ah?... huh?"
"There won't be any problems with this. Well then, can you head towards the academy?"
With these words, Rooks promptly returned to the carriage.
"Er, ah, yes, understood."
The coachman, left behind, could only stare back and forth between the wheel and the closed door in disbelief.
However, as he could not afford to have the first son of the family he served arrive late, he reluctantly returned to the box seat.
With a swing of the coachman's whip, the carriage began to move.
However, the wheels were turning remarkably faster than before.
This was natural, as while repairing the wheel, Rooks had also used strengthening magic spells on both the carriage and the horse. This was the reason for the multicolored lights seen earlier.
The magic-strengthened carriage gallantly sped through the main street. In an instant, it caught up to and passed Mapua's carriage, leaving it behind in the dust.
"... What? ... What?"
Mapua's coachman couldn't believe the sight of a carriage moving at twice the speed of a normal one. Dumbfounded, he rubbed his eyes until it was out of sight.
Entrance Gate, Helgium Royal Academy.
The carriage continued down the stone-paved road.
Eventually, it arrived at a vast field with grandiose buildings. An elegant main entrance, stately buildings, and a beautiful garden. This was the Helgium Royal Academy.
As he descended from the carriage, which had stopped in front of the entrance hall of the principal building, he couldn't help but make such a remark to himself.
"I'm late, huh..."
The entrance hall of the Helgium Royal Academy was adorned with chandeliers hanging from its high ceiling, a carpet covering its marble floor, and several beautiful flags with the emblems of each high-ranking noble family displayed on its walls.
Standing imposingly in this entrance hall was a plump man named Rooks, muttering to himself. To others, he appeared to be an unapproachable, perspiring, plump man standing there sweating, but in reality, he was simply gazing off into the distance. Then he simply walked, not paying attention to his surroundings.
Rooks entered the classroom without any hesitation.
Countless gazes inside the classroom focused on the door. However, once they saw Rooks's figure, they all instantly vanished, replaced by countless whispers and covered their nose when he got nearer to them.
"Hey... the Fat Pig is here."
"That appearance, that sweaty fatty fat... how disgusting."
Some looked away as if to avoid meeting his eyes. Some stared at him as if to insult and belittle him. Some glared at him as if he were the sworn enemy of their houses.
Rooks nonchalantly entered the classroom under all those hostile and nasty reactions.
"Good morning, everyone."
Unlike Rooks, who was contemplating how to quiet his classmates, Mapua greeted her peers with a charming smile.
"Hey, Rooks Boa Whillistine."
Rooks was blankly staring at Mapua but directed his gaze to the unimpressed voice behind his younger sister.
The source of that voice was a youth with mint-colored hair and crimson eyes that seemed to be ablaze.
Those piercing eyes, tinged with contempt, exuded an aura of determination.
"Thank you for your politeness."
"Y-your Highness Mariel... "
Although she was slightly taken aback by her sudden appearance, Mapua addressed the girl.
The title "Your Highness" attached to her name must indicate that this presumptuous person is the princess of the overseas country known as the Alkatross Kingdom.
He then realized that several boys were standing behind Mariel. As they are also scowling in this direction, they are likely the princess's followers.
In other words, they must hold high status as well. It would be problematic to get involved with them, so he should endeavor to not...
"Hello, you! Are you listening? "
Since Mariel's fervent voice interrupted his train of thought, Rooks slightly furrowed his brows and looked at her.
" My apologies, Princess Mariel. I was not paying attention. "
"Wha...!? You, you dare act like that in front of me, your fiancée! "
Rooks was amazed from the depths of his heart that Mariel would be so incensed even though he had given a proper apology.
"Your Highness, please calm down!"
"... Mapua. I apologize for losing my temper. But when I hear your beautiful and gentle voice, even my anger dissipates. "
"Geez... Please don't say it like that, Your Highness. "
"Mapua..."
Before Rooks's very eyes, Mariel was gazing at his younger sister with enraptured eyes, while Mapua's cheeks were flushed with embarrassment.
She was clearly showing animosity towards him while showering Mapua with affection. And to make matters worse, Mapua didn't seem to dislike it.
She is flagrantly conducting an affair right in front of her fiancé and everyone find this a cute moment between two bestfriends.
Although he should address the fact that Mariel and Mapua were still lost in each other's eyes, Rooks ignored them and searched for an empty seat, eventually finding one in the very last row.
"Is this seat empty?"
"Yes, Lord Rooks"
Rooks's query made the black purplish-haired ponytail girl wearing a strange rounded eyeglasses, sitting next to the empty seat jump and respond in a low voice.
Hmm, is she the top passer of this year's entrance examination?
Rooks then sat down and faced the front of the room, but for some reason, Mariel and her followers were glaring directly at him.
He became very puzzled as he had the courtesy to ignore the fact that Mariel and Mapua were lost in their own world, but her group was still agitated for some reason.
However, even then, he quickly lost interest and looked away from Mariel's group.
Shortly after the sound of a bell echoed through the academy, the teacher for the first period entered the classroom. His abdomen jiggled as he walked into the room. The middle-aged teacher with a gleaming scalp stood before the podium.
"History class will now begin."
Rooks silently opened his textbook and began reading while ignoring the lecturer's lesson.
The girl sitting next to him was scrutinizing him with a dubious expression. Rooks felt a bit nervous as his seatmate was staring at him intently.
To think this person is an expert.
But Rooks, who was fervently flipping through the textbook, simply ignores her behavior.
"Then, please open the textbook to page 6...."
Ignoring the lecturer's voice and the sound of a pen from around him, Rooks was completely absorbed in his textbook.
After the break, the second period, which seemed to be about Magic Formulas, began.
The teacher standing before the podium was reviewing the previous lesson and reading the textbook out loud.
"...ooks, Mister Rooks."
Rooks, who had been reminiscing about his nighttime activities, was pulled back to reality by the voice calling his name.
"It seems you were not paying attention just now. Are you planning to answer my question by... "
The teacher was looking at Rooks with a sullen face. After staring blankly at that expression for a few moments, he realized that his name had been called.
"I'm very sorry. I did not hear the question. Could you please repeat it? "
"O-okay. Please rewrite the basic fire formula on this blackboard with the basic wind formula. "
Rooks understood that the formula was from the fire system.
However, the difference between the basic formula he developed and the one on the board was drastic.
To begin with, the formula's scope had been expanded excessively. Since basic formulas are the foundation of magic, they must keep the amount of waste to a minimum. However, a scope of this size would unnecessarily burden the information processing circuit.
Except for normal casting, where you can only recite the spell, this formula is similar to manipulating the magic foundation, such as adjusting the mana output or blast output.
In addition, there were too many unnecessary variables for Target Control.
It was unimaginable that anyone would use a formula with these variables as a basis to create others for practical use.
The variables would cancel each other out, and the desired result would not be achieved by manipulating magic.
As Rooks was staring blankly at the blackboard, his teacher and classmates assumed that his silence was due to his lack of understanding.
Snickering started to fill the classroom, with Mariel and her followers among them.
The teacher let out a sigh while staring at Rooks after seeing the state of the class.
"So you do not understand it, as I suspected. Well then... "
His words were cut off by the loud sound of Rooks kicking his chair as he stood up.
He started walking down to the podium.
As the students stared at Rooks, who was significantly overweight, wondering what he was doing, the classroom began to quiet down. Once he reached the podium, he snatched the piece of chalk from the lecturer's hand and began writing a new formula next to the one on the blackboard.
The snickering ceased immediately as the classroom fell into complete silence.
Everyone in the room was shocked by Rooks's unexpected behavior, except for the ponytailed black-haired girl.
They wondered what was happening as they held their breath, staring at him. On the other hand, the girl who was seated next to Rooks simply smiled.
Rooks was furious. If there was anyone in the room who was a magical genius like him, they would surely agree with his reaction.
Well, except for the one mentioned.
Rooks had not been called Heather's number one mage without a reason. Those who knew his prowess would recognize this.
He was a Magic Formula Maniac through and through. While he prioritized people and his family, outside of the time spent on the battlefield against the imperials, he would invest the rest of it into formula research.
Rooks had dedicated himself to minimizing the complexity and burden on mages while maintaining the power of magic through his work with Magic Formulas.
He had succeeded in doing so, and had even reached the limits of magic formalaic before attending the academy. He was well-known for his proficiency in creating the most efficient and aesthetically pleasing formulas.
From his perspective, the formula previously written on the blackboard was nothing more than a disgrace to magic itself. After revising the formula, Rooks beamed with pride at his own creation.
His passion for Magic Formulas had only grown stronger, and he even harbored a desire to explore the realm of sorcery, a type of magic that surpasses formulaic magic. However, he was briefly distracted by a series of flickering lights and his seatmate's actions.
Regardless, he confidently presented the corrected formula to the teacher, who was stunned by his smile and the quality of the formula.
Rooks found himself at the center of attention as the other students in the classroom turned to look at him. Some of them glared at him with criticism, while others nervously peered at him with fear.
"I apologize for causing any trouble or inconvenience. Please forgive me."
"What a shame, so clueless."
The ponytailed girl next to Rooks mumbled with a melancholic expression, seemingly disappointed in something. Rooks wondered if he had said something to upset her.
"Are you feeling well?" he asked, concerned. "If you're not feeling well, you should rest."
"Hehe, don't misunderstand me, Lord Rooks." The girl let out a high-pitched, forced laugh. "I don't have anything to say."
Rooks slowly opened his eyes as he thought to himself that it would be a good idea to write down and organize what he had learned so far to prevent confusion in the future.
Meanwhile, the ponytailed girl watched in amazement as the commotion in the classroom continued. The teacher of Formula Studies, who had been staring at the formula written on the blackboard in shock, suddenly snapped out of it and pulled out a notepad.
"Everyone, the rest of today's class will be self-study."
With that brief announcement, the teacher quickly left the classroom, still holding the notepad.
Several hours passed.
The sound of the bell echoed through the classroom, which was still in an uproar. Rooks, who had been sleeping deeply due to the events of the morning, stretched as he woke up without paying attention to his surroundings.
"Good morning, Lord Rooks."
The girl sitting next to Rooks greeted him.
The girl with the charming ponytail and alluring purple eyes caught Rooks's attention as he realized that, despite conversing with her multiple times during their lecture, he had not learned her name.
She truly is a unique individual.
"Might you divulge your name to me?"
"I am Xylma, Lord Rooks. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, hehe."
Xylma's response was accompanied by a playful giggle.
From that day on, their relationship began to flourish and develop indefinitely.
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