Time with Frecia

Knock, knock.

Room 707 in the research building. As always, I entered without waiting for a response after knocking. After all, I wasn’t a newcomer and knew full well there wasn’t a need to wait for an answer.

Upon entering, I found the curtains drawn to block the sunlight, leaving the room dim with no lights on.

Heading to the similarly dark side room, I spotted Frecia sprawled out on the sofa.

Before waking her up, I decided to clear off some space on the nearby table.

“Boss, I’m here.”

I took out the books to study, preparing everything, and then woke the sleeping Frecia.

“Ugh… Elysia…?”

Rubbing her eyes, Frecia slowly rose from her spot. I slipped my hand under her armpit to help her sit up, then gently tidied her tousled hair.

“You promised to teach me the basics of magic today. Don’t you remember?”

“I remember.”

Frecia responded in a sleepy voice as she hopped off the sofa.

With each flick of her fingers, the lights in the room began to turn on one by one. A bear plushie she had been hugging got up and waddled out of the room, shaking its butt as it went.

After a moment, the bear returned from outside carrying a tea set. Somehow, the boiling water in the teapot didn’t spill, even as it waddled back.

However, with the tea set now on the table, it found itself in a predicament as the table was too high, leaving Frecia unable to set it down properly. So, she flicked her fingers again.

Suddenly, the teapot and teacups floated into the air, and the bear plushie holding onto them went along for the ride.

Once the bear landed on the table, it skillfully arranged the coasters and teacups, then tilted the teapot to pour the tea.

After placing the tea set in one corner of the table, the bear jumped down and returned to its original spot on the sofa.

It looked almost fake, lying there as if it hadn’t just been moving at all, but rather, this was normal.

Gulp.

Frecia sat at the table, lifted her teacup, took a sip, and placed it back down.

“Let’s have a quick cup of tea before we start the class.”

“Should we?”

I pulled out a chair opposite her and sat down at her words.

“Umm… your body is okay now, right?”

“Oh, I almost forgot to thank you. I heard the boss treated me.”

Given that Frecia had healed me using her own healing magic, it was impossible for her not to know my condition. Yet her saying that only meant she was genuinely worried about me.

Later, I would hear that Frecia’s healing magic surpassed that of a typical priest, giving me a glimpse into her magical abilities.

“No, I should be thanking you, Elysia. It’s only natural. If you need anything else, just let me know.”

“Hmm… then how about we agree not to say who should be more thankful? Let’s just leave it at being grateful to each other.”

For me, it was only normal to be thankful for Frecia, and it seemed she also felt grateful towards me. If we kept repeating who was more thankful, it could go on indefinitely.

“Of course, it’s best if incidents like this don’t occur again. But if something similar happens, I’d act the same way. The boss would too, right?”

“Yeah.”

Seeing Frecia nod her head, I continued.

“Since we both understand each other’s sincerity, isn’t one word of thanks enough?”

Expressing feelings is indeed important. But if we became too tied up in that, wouldn’t it feel burdensome instead? While we aren’t the kind of friends who can communicate without words, I believed that a simple word was enough between Frecia and me.

“…yeah.”

Thankfully, it seemed my meaning got through, as Frecia nodded and replied shortly.

“Then for today, I’ll be counting on you, boss.”

With that awkward conversation wrapped up, I moved on to the original purpose of today, which was to start the magic theory class.

“How much do you know about magic?”

“Well, I guess? It’s using mana to create some sort of phenomenon, right?”

Using fundamental energy is similar but distinctly different from a knight’s aura. While a knight’s aura is a technique to train and enhance oneself, a wizard’s magic is a skill to harness nature’s energy to express their will. Unlike aura, magic can create various phenomena. Since humans are part of nature, even if it’s in limited capacity, it’s possible to enhance the body like aura.

Historically, even the Great Wizards managed to perform miracles beyond what ordinary folks could imagine.

“So how does one create that phenomenon?”

“Through incantations and magic circles.”

Of course, utilizing nature’s energy is a challenge. But what enables it is precisely the spells and magic circles. People transformed what was once the realm of miracles into mere techniques by using these two as mediums.

“Yeah. But you need to understand the exact roles of incantations and magic circles. If Elysia is only after test scores, there’s no need to delve that deep. Just memorizing is enough. However, I believe understanding would definitely be helpful for you, Elysia.”

Even though I thought I wouldn’t use this knowledge since I was just going to wield a sword, Frecia’s insistence likely meant it would be useful somewhere. Who knows, it might help even a little when dealing with wizards in the future.

“Okay. So I’m counting on you.”

Therefore, I readily accepted Frecia’s goodwill.

Following that, Frecia’s magic lecture began. The quality of her teaching was on a whole different level compared to the regular magic theory class. I wasn’t belittling the professors, but in the knight department classes, there were seldom students keen on practicing magic. With both talent and passion lacking, professors typically skimmed through the theory.

Because of that, Frecia’s dedicated magic lessons naturally stood out.

“I use a different system of magic than the conventional ones, so I haven’t explored deeper contents in the books yet, which might lead to some inaccuracies. But rest assured, I’ve recently mastered the basics of magic theory.”

As she wrapped up the lesson, Frecia said something I found hard to comprehend.

“Huh?”

“Hmm?”

At my startled reaction, Frecia tilted her head, confused by my response.

“You just said you mastered the basics of magic theory?”

If Frecia claimed to have mastered only the basics of magic theory, she would simply be a fledgling wizard. However, it seemed unlikely that Frecia, invited as a professor at the Academy, would be that inexperienced.

“Yeah. Before entering the Academy, I was using magic my way.”

As far as I knew, Frecia had entered the Academy around the same time I did. In other words, this semester. That meant she had supposedly mastered the magic theory basics within just this semester.

“The spells I tested on Elysia during the semester were all spells I developed while studying the basics of magic theory.”

What kind of talent is this!

“It was a bit confusing since it was different from the magic I used before… but it was fun.”

To be honest, anyone would find it confusing and entertaining, but it was hard to even imagine a totally different type of magic.

“Maybe if you want, Elysia… I could teach you my magic?”

Instead of me wanting to learn, Frecia looked excited to teach, filling with enthusiasm.

“Is that really okay?”

Seeing her face, it was hard to refuse. Of course, that wasn’t the only reason I accepted; I also had hopes that I might have some talent with the magic Frecia used, even if I struggled with conventional magic.

Thus, I became Frecia’s first assistant and first student. And—

“Ugh… Elysia, you really have no talent for magic.”

Once again, I felt the pang of my lack of talent. I had expected something, but this was normal. I already knew I wasn’t cut out for magic, so I wasn’t particularly discouraged. Besides, not having talent doesn’t mean I should give up entirely.

“But you’ll continue to teach me, right?”

“Yeah!”

In response to my request, Frecia eagerly agreed. I still held a glimmer of hope that if I kept learning her magic, perhaps someday the stars would grant my wishes like she mentioned.

Furthermore, I imagined that in the future, Frecia’s magic would be recognized as a unique system within the study of magic. By that time, I hoped I could at least have my name written next to hers as her first student.

Just a little bit.

*

“Thank you so much for today. I’m heading out now.”

With the roll call time approaching, I expressed my gratitude while tidying up the table. After all, we had wrapped up the basics of magic theory, and Frecia’s magic could be learned any time.

“Uh…”

However, just as I was packing up to leave, Frecia grabbed my clothing.

“Yeah?”

For some reason, Frecia held onto my sleeve, glancing between my face and the sofa. How many times did she nod like that? After a moment of silence, she released my clothing.

“No, be careful coming back.”

“Sure. See you next time. Have a good night.”

I waved at Frecia as I stepped out of the lab. The sky had darkened considerably, the stars twinkling above. I hurried back to the dorm to avoid being late for roll call.

Fortunately, as soon as I returned, the evening roll call had begun. After safely finishing the roll call, I lightly washed up and changed into my pajamas to get ready for bed.

Clap, clap.

Just as I was about to lie down on my bed after turning off the light, I heard a noise. I looked around the room, but I couldn’t find the source. Wondering if I imagined it, just as I was about to return to bed, the sound came again.

Scratch scratch.

This time it was an unpleasant sound, like something scratching. It sounded as if something sharp was scraping against the glass. Aware of the noise, I turned my head in the direction it came from.

My gaze landed on the window, where moonlight streamed in. And peering in from the other side was a pair of bright, round eyes.

“Meow?”

I jumped up and opened the window, and the cat bounced inside my room. I had only seen it during the bright midday before; this was my first encounter at night. I knew cats liked high places, but my room was on the third floor of the dormitory. I had doubts if cats could actually make it up this high, yet here was this one standing in my room.

Was it knocking on the window thinking it was mine? Or did it simply want to come in and happened to find my room by chance?

As I stood in the middle of my room, consumed by curiosity, the cat leapt onto my bed, curling up comfortably.

The sight of the cat meowing at me looked as if it was claiming ownership of the room.

Since I had no intention of kicking it out, and if I could sleep with the cat, I welcomed it. As I slid under the covers, the cat finally seemed satisfied, closing its eyes to sleep.

I, too, looked at the scene and chuckled, drifting off into dreamland.