32. Aslan Seminar (5)
After Eizel finished her presentation and stepped down from the podium, a small commotion broke out.
“A singular-form magic circle…”
“This is a revolution in magic!”
“If people begin fully restructuring magic circles by matching their forms to the native patterns of each attribute, then the level of magic will surely advance by several stages at least.”
There were many magic scholars and magic warriors at the Aslan Seminar who had come specifically to analyze the magic of outstanding geniuses firsthand, so they understood very well just how tremendous the value of the paper Eizel had just presented really was.
Thanks to that, the only ones turning red in the face were the participants who had senselessly picked at Eizel.
The commotion did not die down for a while, and neither the moderator nor Chairman Aryu Moon tried to stop it.
A spell this extraordinary had just been unveiled, so it was only proper to give people time to get excited and talk.
Hong Biyeon disliked this atmosphere quite a bit, so she left her seat.
The Aslan Seminar did not have an officially designated break time, so people usually treated the brief interval when the presenter changed as a time to rest.
It looked like things would continue like this for around thirty minutes, so she thought she would step out and have a simple cup of coffee.
“Hey, you looked really off today. What’s wrong with you?”
“…Thank you.”
“No, that’s not the issue…”
As she walked quietly through the corridor, a familiar voice drifted over from the distance. When she quietly rounded the corner to take a look, she saw Eizel leaning back against the wall in a seated slump, with Baek Yuseol trying to comfort her.
‘What is this?’
Hiding herself behind the corner, Hong Biyeon slyly listened in on their conversation.
“It’s just that… there was something before where I ended up consuming a ridiculous amount of mana and mental force.”
“What happened?”
Eizel hesitated and watched Baek Yuseol’s expression. The fact that she had accessed the Library of Stars… would have to remain a secret for the time being. At any rate, it had also involved prying into someone else’s past without permission.
Besides, Principal Eltman had told her that ordinary people were highly unlikely to even understand the term ‘Library of Stars’ itself.
Unless one belonged to one of the Twelve Disciples’ families or possessed abilities tied to the Library of Stars, they would not be able to grasp it, so he had advised her not to talk about it unless absolutely necessary.
“…I can’t tell you that. Anyway, my mana recovered right away after I was hospitalized for one night, but this thing called mental force doesn’t seem to work like that.”
Her mana had come back just fine after one refreshing night’s sleep.
But mental force was the problem.
This aspect called ‘mental force’ served as a very important element for magic warriors. In any situation, they had to stay calm, think of the next move, and compute their magic. That was not easy if one’s mental force was low.
Eizel had prided herself on having fairly high mental force, and she had thought this time as well that she would have no trouble handling both the presentation and the refutations.
Who could have guessed that the aftereffects from then would still remain?
“Huh. Well, anyway, I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Yes. Thank you so much for today.”
“Yeah, sure. Buy me a meal sometime later.”
“I’ll be going now.”
Eizel brushed herself off, got to her feet, and hurried away with quick little steps, and Baek Yuseol likewise disappeared in the opposite direction.
‘Hmm… If it was something that consumed mana and mental force… could that possibly have been because of what happened then…?’
While Hong Biyeon was making guesses based on what Eizel had said, a familiar woman’s voice suddenly came from behind her.
“Oh my, little sister~! What are you doing in a place like this? Hm? Watching something fun? Where, where?”
The First Princess of Adolevit,
Hong Biyeon’s nemesis.
It was Princess Hong Si-hwa Adolevit.
She deliberately raised her voice in a bright and cheerful tone as she rounded the corner of the corridor. She had probably intended to tease Hong Biyeon for spying, but unfortunately for her, the people involved had already left.
“Aww, what? How boring~”
Ignoring her, Hong Biyeon turned around and tried to leave, but Hong Si-hwa suddenly popped in front of her and blocked her path.
“Little sister! Why are you being so cold~”
“Get to the point.”
“I’m juuust~ curious, that’s all~”
Walking around like a butterfly fluttering in the air, Hong Si-hwa spoke in a tone meant to needle the quietly standing Hong Biyeon.
“It’s my little sister’s first Aslan, after all, so I was just wondering if your paper prep was going weeeell~!”
“You haven’t still failed to complete your paper, have you? Surely not! There’s no way a Princess of Adolevit would do something like that!”
“Is that all you had to say?”
“No?”
Leaning in close, Hong Si-hwa spoke in a slightly drier voice.
“No matter what… you don’t want to embarrass yourself at your first Aslan, do you, little sister? If you’re in a hurry… how about taking a little help from your big sister? You’re still my little sister, after all. I could peel off a paper or two for you, you know. Hmm?”
So that had been her aim.
For some reason, Hong Biyeon almost laughed at how absurd it was.
She had thought that the reason Hong Si-hwa had intentionally sabotaged her paper into rejection had been to destroy her completely at the Aslan Seminar and lower her value as a rival…
‘So she wants to make me into a toy altogether.’
Then again, maybe that would suit her better.
There were still three whole years left before the succession to the throne. If her rival retired ahead of time, then Hong Si-hwa would not be able to stage a ‘dramatic succession to the throne.’
After secretly subordinating the Second Princess, Hong Biyeon, she would preserve the rivalry structure until…
the moment all eyes turned toward them!
‘Ta-da, in the end the First Princess inherited the throne!’
She was planning a perfect clown show complete with sheer showmanship.
Truly vicious beyond vicious.
Hong Biyeon slowly lifted one corner of her mouth and said,
“I have no intention of accepting some magic paper that is inferior to mine, so I’ll decline that useless kindness.”
At that, Hong Si-hwa tilted her head.
“Hm…? Are you sure you should keep talking like that? If you stubbornly cling to your pride, you might regret it later.”
“Think whatever you like.”
With that, Hong Biyeon coolly left.
“Hmm…”
Hong Si-hwa still looked as though she could not understand at all.
The turns passed quickly, and countless magic cadets and magic warriors presented their papers.
The papers that were presented were all remarkable enough that it was hard to believe they had come from people in their teens or twenties, but because Eizel’s magic, which had been presented first, was so revolutionary, there was no helping the fact that everything else looked comparatively shabby.
They had sent out the eldest daughter of the Morf family first in hopes of taking her down, only for everyone to end up suffering together because of it.
“Uwaaaah… I’m ruined…”
Watching some young magician in his twenties, who had prepared for years for today, walk off behind the podium in tears because the earlier order had ruined everything, Hong Biyeon drew a deep breath.
Finally, it was her turn.
Standing in front of a podium was not frightening in itself. However… for Hong Biyeon as well, this was the first time in her life that she would reveal a magic spell she herself had created, so she could not help but feel tense.
—…Next is Stella Academy first-year cadet Hong Biyeon Adolevit.
Since she was standing here as a magician, not as a princess, no royal title was attached to her name.
That only made her more satisfied.
Because it meant she could crush Hong Si-hwa, who was smiling smugly and glaring at her from a distance, purely with her own strength.
—Then please begin your presentation.
The moment the moderator finished speaking, Hong Biyeon displayed her magic first, without even bothering with any long explanation.
Fwoosh!
When two red flames appeared in midair, people reacted with curiosity, but then wore puzzled expressions as soon as they realized they were ordinary flames.
“That’s just the 1-Class spell Fire Lighter, isn’t it?”
“Why would she use a basic spell…?”
“Hm?”
Thinking that some lengthy explanation would start now, the magicians crossed their arms and settled into neutral postures.
But Hong Biyeon had no intention of explaining her magic at great length.
Pointing to one of the two flames floating in midair, she said,
“This is the existing Fire Lighter.”
Fwoosh! Bang!
When she sent the flame flying toward the anti-magic barrier installed at the center of the podium, tiny sparks flew and it immediately died out.
“And this is the new Fire Lighter.”
She lightly sent another flame out just as before.
…Shoo!
Thud-boom—!!
A heavy explosion rang out.
“W-What was that?”
“That was Fire Lighter…?”
Several magicians shot to their feet instantly, and some adjusted the magnifying glasses they wore.
Of course, not everyone understood. Only a very small number of flame-element specialists and mana analysis scholars managed to barely grasp it.
“Why are they so shocked?”
“Isn’t that just what happens if you pour in a bit more mana?”
“…No.”
Cheongparam, who had been quietly observing Hong Biyeon’s magic, shook his head.
“She used the same mana, and the same formula. In other words… she added only one special factor to exactly the same magic, and yet the explosive force became that much greater.”
“What…?”
“You changed one thing, and the destructive power changed that much?”
The amount of mana used in the first spell and the second spell had been the same.
But the first spell had gone out the moment it hit the experimental anti-magic barrier like a candle flame before a storm, while the second had displayed explosive force at the level of a 2-Class or 3-Class spell.
“How can… that make any sense?”
The muttered question spoken by one student was, at the same time, the question everyone here was asking.
And this atmosphere was exactly what Hong Biyeon had wanted.
After Eizel had presented first, the heightened atmosphere had not managed to satisfy anyone who came after.
‘But my magic is different.’
She dared to take pride in the fact that her work was something that could stand alongside Eizel’s astonishing paper, which had given attributes their own shapes within the magic circle itself.
Just as questions about the magic began blooming in everyone’s minds, Hong Biyeon finally began, very slowly, to explain it.
“Since long ago, humans have struggled to control fire, and in the end they carved and refined flames according to their own methods, creating forms for them.”
Those forms were astonishingly diverse. Arrows of flame, spears, crosses, shields, hammers, and more… so many that one could not even count them all.
“But every one of those forms is false. Today… I will show you the true form of flame.”
“Oh…”
As Hong Biyeon began presenting some kind of revolutionary magic, Hong Si-hwa narrowed her eyes.
“What in the world is that…?”
She had already known well enough about the paper Hong Biyeon had originally prepared.
Just like the families that regularly attended the Aslan Seminar, including the families of the Twelve Disciples, Hong Biyeon’s paper too had been nothing more than a patchwork cobbled together by bringing in brilliant scholars from all over.
It was a kind of convention.
‘You do it, I do it, so let’s all pretend not to notice.’
But Hong Si-hwa had intended to prod exactly that sore point. She had already attended the Aslan Seminar for ten years straight, had retired after showing brilliant performances, and now had nothing left to hesitate over.
On top of that, if Hong Biyeon bit the bait, there would be no need to stir up some loud fuss. She could simply place her completely underfoot.
But…
her younger sister, Hong Biyeon, had not taken the bait. On the contrary, the way she was standing there so confidently made her seem full of assurance.
That should not have been possible.
‘Hmm, impressive really.’
Even Hong Si-hwa, who viewed things negatively, found herself oddly drawn in by the fire show Hong Biyeon was putting on.
If Eizel’s magic had been chillingly cold, artistic, and beautiful, then Hong Biyeon’s magic possessed an explosive charm that set the heart ablaze.
It was worthy of admiration.
If Hong Biyeon had truly come here after preparing a paper of that caliber, then even Hong Si-hwa would have had the confidence to leap to her feet and applaud on the spot.
‘…That is, if it really is your magic.’
Hong Si-hwa smiled faintly.
She knew that Hong Biyeon’s worst flaw was creativity.
That was why it had looked as though she had recently been training and studying in parallel to improve that creativity…
but even so.
Was she seriously supposed to believe Hong Biyeon could prepare magic like that in such a short time?
Ridiculous.
“Thus, while maintaining the form of flame in its natural state…”
Hong Biyeon’s presentation had nearly reached its end, and the faces of the observers were colored with excitement.
Even more astonishing was the fact that, unlike earlier, not a single person was using a chance to criticize and instead was merely listening as if they had been swept away.
A second revolutionary spell had already appeared at this Aslan Seminar.
This momentum could be described as atmosphere that rivaled—even surpassed—Hong Si-hwa’s own first presentation.
But that was all right. This kind of atmosphere was, for Hong Si-hwa, a very fine stage indeed.
Because the moment that momentum reached its peak—
that would be exactly when it would be easiest to bring Hong Biyeon crashing down all at once.
“That concludes my prese—”
And just as Hong Biyeon was about to end her presentation to great acclaim,
Beep!
Hong Si-hwa pressed her button and used her chance to criticize.
“…I have one question.”
The moment she opened her mouth, the hall fell silent.
After all, the one who had used the criticism right was Hong Si-hwa, Hong Biyeon’s archnemesis in the battle over the throne.
The atmosphere turned strange.
“Cadet Hong Biyeon?”
“…Yes.”
Wiping away her usual bright and lively demeanor, Hong Si-hwa opened her mouth with a faint smile and perfect elegance.
“I heard in advance that your previous paper was dropped. If I recall correctly… the reason was that it was nothing more than a ragged patchwork of other scholars’ papers, wasn’t it? Isn’t that right?”
When she threw the question toward the paper review and judging committee, several members nodded.
People under Hong Si-hwa’s influence.
“So, that’s what makes me wonder.”
She asked:
“That magic… is it really yours?”
