“Master…”
I shook my head, which had been resting on the desk, and looked around.
Hmm, what’s going on…
What I saw was a bunch of cadets sitting down, staring blankly ahead, and the professor passionately explaining something while receiving their attention.
“…Ah.”
I smacked my lips, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.
I was in class… I dozed off.
At least I was lucky the professor didn’t catch me sleeping, right?
Just noticing that it was Nameless who woke me up was enough to put the pieces together.
“Hmm…”
Letting out a deep sigh, I raised my head, and we locked eyes with the professor.
The professor squinted slightly but didn’t do anything else.
“…”
Hmm, or maybe they were just pretending not to notice?
Considering that reaction, it seems they knew I dozed off.
If not, there wouldn’t be a need for that expression.
At that realization, a smile crept onto my face.
“…Master?”
Then, maybe it’s okay if I sleep some more…?
No? I’m sure it’s definitely okay to sleep more.
Think about it carefully.
If the professor didn’t wake me up when I was sleeping, it’s almost as if they were tacitly agreeing, right?
Not to mention, the professor was humming a lullaby to keep me asleep.
As a decent person, how could I ignore someone else’s hard work?
No, I shouldn’t do something as cruel as ignoring others’ efforts.
Yeah, let’s sleep some more.
As I nodded to myself in silent agreement, Nameless, with a stern expression, shook my shoulder again and spoke.
“What are you thinking… You shouldn’t be sleeping.”
“Ugh…”
Feeling unreasonably grumpy, I took Nameless’s hand and started tickling it playfully, causing them to shiver and swallow nervously.
“…You shouldn’t.”
Tsk, I clicked my tongue and pouted sulkily.
Why are they so sharp with their awareness?
“Yawn…”
I do know I shouldn’t sleep in class, but it was so painfully boring that an unfortunate accident happened.
That’s the thing.
The lecture I’m listening to is about ‘mana’ and how to use it more efficiently, a sort of lesson on magic.
Forget about not understanding the words, what am I going to do with learning magic?
I rested my chin on my hand while watching the professor continue lecturing.
More than anything, I disliked the title of the lecture.
What’s this ‘About Mana’? Just ‘Mana’!
Absolutely fundamental issues.
As if it’s not mana, but ‘ki’ that circulates through the body.
“Tsk, tsk.”
I shook my head, clicking my tongue just loud enough for only myself to hear, while thinking about how foolish they were.
I felt a strong urge to jump up to the podium and confront the professor for teaching the students incorrect information.
But…
“…”
“Unlike knights, mages store mana in their hearts…”
I decided to endure the frightening appearance of the lecturing professor just one more time.
…Why do they look like that?
In my mind, a mage doesn’t look like that at all.
The professor continued the lecture with a display of muscles and a long scar across their face as if they were proud of their appearance.
Well, I suppose it’s none of my business.
“Ugh…”
As I stretched my arms upward toward the ceiling to snap myself awake…
“Oh, it seems there’s a cadet who wants to answer.”
“…Huh?”
I caught eyes with the professor, who was grinning widely.
…A cadet answering? About what?
Feeling puzzled, I quickly looked toward Nameless, who sighed deeply and quietly whispered to me.
“…The question is ‘How to use mana most efficiently?’”
No, that wasn’t what I wanted to know…
What I wanted to know was what the heck is going on right now.
I’ve been daydreaming and messing around, so how would I know?
“…”
But I couldn’t completely reject Nameless’s goodwill, so I pursed my lips and flipped through an innocent-looking book.
“…”
But even if I flipped through the pages, there’s no way a literacy-challenged person like me could read.
All I could do was keep my mouth shut and stare blankly at the professor.
“What’s wrong?”
Seeing my expression, the professor squinted their eyes, tilting their head.
“Um…”
I mumbled as I averted my gaze from the professor’s eyes.
…What do I do?
I shouldn’t draw unnecessary attention, and I’ve strayed far from my original goal.
If I can answer correctly now, that might be okay, but…
What if I mess it up? This situation could lead to that professor marking me!
Of course, being marked by a professor during my field study at the Academy isn’t a matter of life and death.
But if that professor were a spy…
Then it’d become quite problematic.
As I was lost in thought, the professor spoke up, still wearing a frown.
“Hmm… Don’t you know?”
“…”
While I was sweating bullets, hesitating and unable to respond, Nameless, who was sitting right next to me, poked me in the side.
“…What is it?”
“Uh… I think I misspoke to the Master. It’s a question about ki, not mana.”
“Oh.”
If that’s the case…
I nodded slightly to Nameless and turned my attention back to the professor.
You know, ki differs according to everyone’s thoughts, and many paths lead to it, so it’s fundamentally a question without a right answer.
I could just throw out a casual opinion instead of a correct answer.
Grinning, I opened my mouth, full of confidence.
“It’s right-minded heart-technique-body unity (心技體).”
Similar terms like essence-qi-spirit (精氣神) have the same meaning, so it’s acceptable to view them as identical.
“…Heart-technique-body unity?”
The professor looked puzzled, raising an eyebrow, which made me nod and continued speaking.
“Yes, if the heart-technique-body aren’t united and scattered.”
If the appropriate amount isn’t conveyed in the correct position, then unnecessary losses increase.
As I answered, the professor nearly made a sound of agreement, and they wore a smile reminiscent of a bandit while asking another question.
“Then what is heart-technique-body?”
Glimpsing over at the professor, they merely smiled without blaming me for answering their query.
I could see that they likely grasped what heart-technique-body means through my words.
However, many cadets looked confused, so they probably asked me to clarify for them.
If that’s the case, I can teach them with a good heart, making me feel good about answering.
I smiled and opened my mouth.
My gaze shifted from the professor to the cadets staring at me.
What I’m about to say now is a teaching meant for the cadets, not the professor.
This will definitely become good teaching for them as well.
“The heart is the mind.”
When circulating ki (氣), there must be no hesitation in the mind.
“The technique is skill.”
It’s the force controlling the transmission of ki through bloodstreams, only allowing the correct amount to flow.
“The body is the state.”
To fully utilize the ki stored in the dantian, a well-trained body is essential.
“Oh…”
“…Where did you get this from? A thesis?”
“I don’t know either.”
I shot a grin at the cadets, who were diligently taking notes.
“If any one of these elements is lacking or overflowing, it prevents focus at one point, leading to a loss.”
In simpler terms, if I can perfectly control heart-technique-body unity, that means I can unleash my full power at all times.
“What do you think?”
As I crossed my arms and stared intently at the professor, they let out a hearty laugh and looked at me with bright eyes.
And as I looked back at the professor, I realized something wasn’t right.
…Wait, I shouldn’t stand out!
I felt cold sweat running down my back.
…Of course.
I was careful to skip over methods like balancing yin and yang or breathing exercises, keeping my answer at the most basic level.
Yet the intensity of the professor’s gaze felt like that of a predator hunting its prey.
“Cadet, may I ask your name?”
And my uncomfortable expectation proved correct; the professor blurted out a shocking question.
“…Why do you ask?”
I quickly regretted my slip of the tongue and answered, but the professor smiled and continued.
“I have many parts where I agree with your opinion, so could you stop by my office after the lecture?”
‘I’m sure we can have a high-level conversation befitting a cadet.’ The professor added that with a grin, and all I could do was sweat bullets.
I stood out dramatically from the beginning of the lecture…!
“Nameless…!”
I sent a pleading glance toward Nameless.
“….”
“Nameless…?”
Nameless only slightly avoided my gaze.
You traitor…!
I felt a wave of betrayal wash over me, trembling in disbelief as I looked at Nameless.
The professor then added, “You should come visit me after class; we can continue our discussion then.”
“…Alright.”
Frustrated but with no choice, I nodded my head, wanting to escape from this situation.
Soon, as the bell rang signaling the end of class, I stealthily concealed my energy and made a secret escape.
…With a professor so passionate, they couldn’t be a spy.
Hmm, that must be it.
This professor is out of the running as a spy contender.
One mystery solved!
