The AI Archmage - Chapter 11

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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AI Archmage Episode 11

‘…That scoundrel has changed?’

Briella sat quietly in the back row of the lecture hall, waiting for the class to begin.

‘Bullshit.’

Briella flatly denied that rumor.

She had also seen the Dispel and chantless magic that Sion had demonstrated, but she simply couldn’t believe it.

Perhaps he had deceived everyone’s eyes through some clever trick.

But the problem was that Lumia, the master of the Blue Tower, had been there and hadn’t denied it.

She was contemplating how to prove her distrust of Sion when it happened.

“Is this seat taken?”

“Hm?”

Briella turned her gaze toward where the voice came from.

There stood a girl with black hair and a somewhat gloomy impression.

“You are, well…”

She definitely seemed familiar… Briella frowned as she struggled to recall the girl’s name.

But she didn’t need to think any longer.

“It’s Eira.”

“Ah.”

Briella nodded at those words.

Right, that was the name.

“Right, Eira. Um, you’re a third-year like me, right?”

“…That’s right. And you don’t need to feel that sorry. I’ve heard plenty of times before that I have no presence.”

“Uh, no, that, sorry. Hey.”

Briella wasn’t shameless enough to just brush off hearing such words.

So she apologized while patting the seat next to her.

“Sit down. I was feeling awkward about attending class alone anyway.”

“…Okay.”

Eira answered quietly while sitting down with her books in her arms.

Then she placed her books on the desk and asked Briella a question.

“Did you come because you’re interested in the class? I know about you. You and Sion Rostery are…”

“The worst.”

Briella spoke bluntly without hiding her displeasure.

“Was I the only one who suffered in the first place? We all got caught up in the chaos that bastard caused, acting like some high noble.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Eira nodded.

At one time, she had quietly ‘observed’ Sion Rostery, so she knew well.

A scoundrel.

A typical scoundrel noble.

The type who judges everything by bloodline and puts only himself first.

The Sion Rostery she had observed would never teach students in such a manner.

Not only did he lack ability, but he also extremely despised sharing his knowledge with others.

“That’s why I’m curious. Whether I observed him wrong, or if what Sion Rostery showed a few days ago was a plausible deception.”

“Obviously it was deception… Tsk.”

Briella, who was about to give an immediate answer, couldn’t finish her sentence.

She was annoyed.

It would be nice if she could completely deny that Sion Rostery, but that wasn’t going well.

“…Chantless magic.”

Briella frowned as she recalled the magic Sion had shown.

Chantless magic was something any mage couldn’t help but yearn for.

Chantless casting was like the exclusive domain of ‘high-level mages’.

Even to use a mere 1st Circle basic magic chantlessly, one had to reach at least the 6th Circle level.

“Eira, did you come here because of that chantless magic too?”

The students currently filling the lecture hall one by one probably didn’t have magic engineering on their minds.

They must have all been drawn here by the chantless magic they saw that day.

“I am…”

Eira’s eyes trembled briefly as she answered.

But soon she nodded and answered slowly.

“Yes, that’s right… I came because of that, chant… less casting. Yes.”

“Huh?”

Her reaction was a bit strange, but it wasn’t something to probe further into.

“An interesting combination.”

“Ugh, damn.”

At that moment, Briella’s face contorted at Tult’s voice heard from behind.

“Hey, Sion Rostery’s lackey.”

“Lackey? Would you call me by the name pioneer instead?”

Tult shrugged his shoulders and continued speaking.

“And I already gave you ‘advice’. To buy when the price is low. It’s the basics of investment.”

“Cut the crap.”

As expected of someone from a merchant family background, it was annoying to see him spouting nonsense and showing off.

What was even more annoying was that she couldn’t even hit him since he was the one helping her with life at the Blue Tower.

“Hmm, I can see your fists whimpering. Why is that?”

“I’m contemplating whether to beat you up.”

“Oh, like a mercenary would?”

“Damn it, really.”

Briella clenched her fists tightly, then soon sighed and relaxed them.

Right, hadn’t she come here to put an end to that barbaric lifestyle?

She had done well for three whole years, so she couldn’t make it all for nothing.

“Well, that aside, among the students gathered here, at least half are thinking of screwing over the teacher.”

“There’s karma for that.”

“It won’t work on him…”

Tult clicked his tongue and offered his condolences to the students.

Meanwhile, someone’s footsteps could be heard approaching, and the door opened.

Creak.

The moment he stepped foot into the lecture hall, the students’ murmuring stopped.

His footsteps weren’t loud, but they were enough to bring silence to the lecture hall.

“Nice to meet you.”

Sion Rostery leisurely walked up to the podium and looked around at the students as he spoke.

“Starting today, I’m Sion Rostery, and I’ll be teaching you Magic Engineering.”

* * *

‘More than I expected.’

Sion thought as he looked at the students filling the lecture hall.

If you considered it a regular lecture, it wasn’t a large number.

But considering the karma that the owner of this body carried, it was more than expected.

That karma had spread throughout the Blue Tower over the course of three years.

Having accepted Sion’s memories and emotions, he could be certain of this.

Taking all of that into account, the current situation wasn’t bad at all.

[It was good that we prepared generously. How about it, human? Isn’t my advice quite useful?]

‘I won’t deny it.’

He chuckled inwardly and responded to Akasha’s words, then tapped the lectern.

‘It’s been a while.’

When he first started the Workshop Alliance, he used to teach the basics of Magic Engineering to the alliance members in this way.

Thanks to that, the alliance’s power and scale grew rapidly.

But in the end, it couldn’t reach the level of the Magic Council.

The time remaining for Altair was far too short for that.

If he had more time left, he might have been able to grow the Workshop Alliance’s power to a level approaching the Magic Council.

Anyway.

“Today, I know well that most of you bastards who came here didn’t come because you were curious about Magic Engineering.”

Sion began his story.

“Some of you probably came because you want to prove how pathetic I am.”

Flinch.

Among the students, a red-haired girl flinched at Sion’s words.

“And someone else probably came because they were curious about the Chantless Magic I demonstrated.”

Tult, who was sitting behind that girl, quietly nodded his head.

“But still, someone might have really come because they were enchanted by the term ‘Magic Engineering.'”

This time, it was the girl sitting next to the red-haired girl who reacted.

Sion’s eyes turned toward that girl.

It was a face he’d never seen before, but somehow it felt strangely familiar.

He knew what the reason was.

‘…Casen.’

He could see the face of his former disciple overlapping with the girl.

– Ah, you can’t reveal what I said, okay? There are circumstances behind it all!

But remembering Lumia’s earnest plea, he shook his head slightly.

“Then let me ask one thing. Anyone who knows Magic Engineering well?”

“…Isn’t it a term that encompasses the entire process of creating and using magic tools?”

It was Tult who raised his hand and answered Sion’s question.

The representative of the students who were favorable toward him.

“A textbook answer.”

“If there’s a different definition, I’d like to hear it.”

“Simply put, it’s the ‘future.'”

At Sion’s confident declaration, Tult hesitantly asked.

“The future… you say?”

“That’s right.”

Sion slowly began reciting an ‘incantation’ in front of everyone’s eyes.

“O wind, please heed my earnest wish and lend me your hand, 【Wind】.”

As the incantation ended, wind began swirling around Sion’s hand.

“A 1st Circle spell that all mages know, 【Wind】. Then let me ask. Why is an ‘incantation’ necessary?”

“Because it’s the most efficient calculation formula. It’s a ‘formula’ prepared through countless magical histories, removing redundancies to enable the use of specific forms of magic in a short time.”

“Correct.”

Ultimately, magic manifests in reality through the power source called ‘mana’ and the calculation called ‘incantation.’

Neither can be omitted.

That’s why chantless casting is a mark of high-ranking mages.

Only high-ranking mages of 6th Circle or above can perform calculations at speeds unimaginable to ordinary mages.

“But what if there existed an ‘auxiliary magic tool’ that specializes in calculations?”

“Excuse me? Then….”

“What if that auxiliary magic tool’s calculation speed far exceeded human computational ability?”

For example, what if it could rival an archmage in terms of ‘calculation speed’ alone?

Then….

“…Isn’t that cheating?”

Tult said with his mouth agape.

A magic tool that performs calculations at speeds rivaling an archmage?

If such a thing existed, it would change the entire paradigm of magic.

And the moment they thought that far, the students listening to Sion could understand.

“…The future!”

“That’s right, a completely new generation of magic unlike anything before is approaching.”

Of course, what Sion ultimately desired was a world where magical opportunities were fairly distributed to everyone.

But he didn’t mention that.

What was important now was captivating the students attending his class.

[So you plan to lure them in with an enticing bait, then catch them and put them to proper use.]

‘That’s right.’

What mattered now was getting them to agree with and follow him.

And that plan seemed to be working quite well.

Interest could be seen in most of the students’ eyes.

“And if you utilize that…”

Sion used it to deliver a decisive blow in front of everyone.

“【Wind】.”

At that moment, magic manifested simply from Sion’s hand.

Naturally, there was no incantation either.

The students were busy staring at it blankly with their mouths agape.

“Then… T-Teacher, did you implement magic through chantless casting using something made with that ‘Magic Engineering’?”

“That’s right.”

He hadn’t lied.

[But actually, what you just did was simply using the human’s own calculation ability, wasn’t it?]

‘…’

[With the human’s calculation ability, wouldn’t chantless casting be possible for most magic anyway?]

Though Akasha objected, Sion picked his ear and brushed it off.

As she said, the true value of Sion utilizing Akasha wasn’t chantless casting.

[If you seriously utilized me, even Dual Magic would be possible, wouldn’t it?]

‘Would these kids believe that?’

[That’s true too.]

Who in the world would think it possible to use all magic chantlessly through pure brain calculation ability?

Originally, there were such things as white lies born of necessity in this world.

It wasn’t even a lie that chantless magic was possible through magic tools.

But then it happened.

“Excuse me.”

A girl raised her hand.

The girl who had been quietly listening to Sion’s words with a haggard expression—it was Eira Kobella.

She looked at Sion with sharp eyes and spoke.

“As far as I know, there is currently no one capable of producing magic tools with that level of calculation function. Even the master of the Workshop Alliance said so.”

“…”

“Even looking back through history, there was only one being capable of creating magic tools of that caliber.”

Eira continued.

“Altair the Omniscient.”

“…”

Silence descended upon the lecture hall.

The students held their breath and looked toward Sion.

“So I think you’re deceiving us.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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