The Tale of Gerald Vader, the Heretic Knight’s Rampage Through Another World
“—That covers the basics of magic circle construction. Does anyone have any questions so far?”
Standing on the podium in the grand auditorium, Professor Lilia looked around the room.
Her course was Applied Magic.
To be more precise, it was a course on the fundamental theories used in her specialty: magical artifact research.
Of course, she didn’t dive straight into the main content. According to the syllabus distributed beforehand, the first few sessions were structured to provide a broad overview of the subject before delving into specific topics.
The first lecture began with an explanation of the magical language used in magic circles.
Well, since magical language is the absolute foundation of magic, this was essentially a review of what we’d learned before the entrance exams.
However, the number of students attending the lecture is enough to fill the rather spacious auditorium.
While part of the reason is that this lecture is open to all students—from Special Class down to the lower grades—magic-related courses seem to be surprisingly popular.
“Are there any questions? If not, let’s begin—”
“Yes.”
Amid the dead silence, a single hand went up.
It was Veronica, a beautiful girl with curly twin tails sitting in the third row from the front.
She stood up and continued in a clear, resonant voice.
“Lilia sensei, I have a question. It might fall under the category of advanced applications, but is that okay?”
“Veronica, is it? That’s fine. Though I’ll only be able to answer to the best of my knowledge.”
Lilia sensei gave a wry smile but urged Veronica to continue.
“Thank you.”
Veronica bowed and continued with her question.
“I’ve been interested in barrier magic since I was a child, and even before enrolling, I taught myself barrier magic up to the intermediate level. However, even with the same barrier magic, I’ve noticed that the results differ depending on whether I cast it directly or use a magic circle to activate it—even when using the same spell and the same amount of magical energy. Where does this difference come from?”
“I see. That’s a very good question.”
Professor Lilia nodded and began writing the differences between barrier magic and magic circles on the blackboard.
“First, let me explain general magic. I assume all of you attending this academy have already mastered ‘Physical Enhancement Magic.’ To perform these spells, you must channel the magical energy within your body and activate them through the power of your will. Assuming you have some knowledge of magic, the method of mastering it likely involved physical training, much like swinging a sword or thrusting a spear. Of course, the ‘Barrier Magic’ that Veronica-san has mastered is probably the same. However, in the case of magic circles, you can activate them by first inscribing the spell formula and then channeling magical power into it. That is the crucial difference.”
Up to this point, this is all knowledge I already possess.
People in this world can master magic through training.
However, generally speaking, those who become knights can’t use much besides body-enhancing magic.
To be more precise, they don’t feel the need to learn magic.
Even if they can use it, they’ll know at most one or two basic spells.
This is because knights and nobles have been granted ‘blessings’ from their family’s dungeon.
Rather than struggling to learn basic magic for which they have no aptitude, it’s far more beneficial to use that time to diligently improve their proficiency with their blessings.
I remember this clearly because Bernard, the butler who served as my tutor at my family home, drilled it into me repeatedly before I even began studying magic.
To begin with, knights and nobles have plenty to master beyond the “blessings” bestowed by the dungeons—martial arts like swordsmanship, the proper conduct of a gentleman or lady, and the know-how of managing their estates.
Therefore, unless there’s a compelling reason, there’s simply no time to learn magic that they might never even use.
However, there are those like Veronica who independently master magic out of personal interest.
After all, magic is the very essence of romance.
I, for one, am one of those people.
Or rather…
“The more I learn about magic circles, the more I realize they’d make perfect traps…”
“Hm? Did you say something?”
Twina, sitting next to me, overheard my mutter and turned her face toward me.
“Sorry, nothing.”
I said, and shut my mouth.
Twina seems to enjoy studying magic; she’s listening intently to the lecture right now.
I can’t very well disturb her like that.
That said, ideas based on the basic knowledge of magic circles I just learned keep popping into my head nonstop.
Just like the “Soundproofing” magic circle I found in my room the other day, these have the wonderful advantage of allowing you to cast spells as long as you have magical power.
Of course, constructing the spell requires specialized knowledge and precise formulae, so it’s not as if you can easily achieve the exact effect you want… but even so, magic circles hold infinite possibilities.
That’s right.
Infinite possibilities for crushing the looming death flags heading my way.
For example, a magic circle that reacts to the miasma emitted by demons and demonic beings.
If I apply this and use a basic wind spell to scatter the massive number of nail-sized daggers I’ve generated in a specific direction, I’ll have created a fantasy-world version of directional landmines.
Heh heh heh… Once this is finished, I’ll mass-produce them and scatter them all over the front lines…!
Of course, this idea can also be used to identify the demons lurking within the academy.
Since they’re probably disguised as humans most of the time, I can’t exactly set up “magic vs. demon” landmines inside the academy, but it would be enough if the magic circle’s color changed in response to the miasma.
If we set those up in various places around the academy and gradually narrow down the search area every time there’s a reaction… we should be able to narrow it down to at least a few people.
Heh heh heh heh heh…!!
Just wait and see, demons—and death flags!!
“Hey, Gerald. I’ve been hearing that creepy laughter coming from you for a while now…”
“Oh, sorry. I’ll be more careful from now on.”
Twina peered at my face with a puzzled expression.
I thought I was just thinking things over in my head, but apparently, the laughter had slipped out.
I cleared my throat lightly, put on a serious face, and listened intently, determined not to miss a single word of Lilia sensei’s passionate lecture.