The Teacher of Budding Villains Suffers Today, Too - Chapter 32

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 32
“Me? You mean me?”
“Only you can channel Mana here to suppress that Fire Spirit.”
“What?”
Rachel had no choice but to panic at Lucas’s firm declaration. He wanted her to channel Mana right here, right now?
“If you let go, the flames will only grow fiercer.”
Lucas was right. There were no fire engines here, no modern firefighting equipment. If no one extinguished the blaze, Brown’s Wheat Field would become nothing but ash.
‘But why does it have to be me…?’
She’d never been trained in it—there was no way she could channel Mana.
Besides, she’d only learned days ago that she might even possess Mana in the first place. Yet the grip of Lucas’s hands around hers was unyielding.
“Rachel, don’t doubt yourself.”
“I… I can’t do this.”
“No. You can. Because that’s what I believe.”
Lucas drove the point home in a voice pitched low. It was only a moment, but Rachel read an intense certainty in his eyes.
Mesmerized by that force, she gripped the Magical Stone tightly.
“Focus all your attention. Envision what you desire.”
Following Lucas’s guidance, Rachel squeezed the Magical Stone until her palms ached, conjuring an earnest prayer. Please. Let rain fall.
In that instant, was it mere coincidence? Or had Rachel’s Mana answered?
Moisture in the air coalesced, forming a couple of small clouds that soon unleashed torrents of rain.
“This… what is this…?”
Rain poured down over the burning Wheat Field, smothering the flames entirely.
Moments later, where the fire had raged, only steam rose into the air. Rachel clamped her mouth shut, unable to believe what she’d witnessed.
“Rachel!”
Lucas called her name aloud. Rachel, still dazed, finally looked back at him.
Through strands of dark hair plastered to his forehead by the rain, Lucas’s blue eyes gleamed with an almost trembling brilliance.
“You possess far greater Mana than anyone else. You must understand that now, surely?”
Lucas regarded her with a gaze mingling wonder and triumph.
Rachel could offer no answer. All she could do was grip the Magical Stone again, its warmth still lingering.
* * *
Rachel said she needed some time alone and boarded the carriage. Throughout the journey back to the School, she sat lost in thought as the carriage swayed and rattled.
‘You possess far greater Mana than anyone else. You must understand that now, surely?’
Lucas’s words kept echoing in her mind.
‘Surely? Does that mean Lucas knew all along that I could channel Mana of my own will?’
Just days ago, water in a cup had suddenly begun to boil at her mere touch, and the Magical Stone had gleamed at her fingertips.
She’d suspected she possessed some measure of Mana within her. But there was an enormous gulf between simply harboring Mana and being able to wield it at will.
‘Why would Rachel—nothing more than a minor extra character—possess this much power? It makes no sense that a throwaway girl sold off into marriage to pay a family debt would have such grandiose abilities.’
Rachel stared blankly out the window as the landscape drifted past, mulling it over intently.
‘Could it be that because I’m not native to this world—because I’m a Possessor—I’ve been given special abilities as compensation?’
No matter how much she thought about it, that seemed to be the only explanation.
Rachel let out a shallow sigh. Regardless, the fact that she’d become somewhat special hadn’t changed.
* * *
After a dizzying day passed, Henry came to her office the next morning.
“Young lady, is something troubling you?”
Henry, unaware of what had happened, asked with concern.
‘Should I tell him the truth?’
The thought came to her that Henry might offer useful counsel. Rachel carefully opened her mouth.
“Henry. I think… I can channel Mana.”
“Channel… Mana, you say?”
“Yes. I’m certain of it now—unless it was all pure coincidence.”
Rachel recounted what had happened in the Wheat Field yesterday. The sudden fire and Lucas’s proposal. The tremendous amount of Mana she’d channeled through a Magical Stone she’d seized on impulse.
As Henry listened, his expression grew visibly troubled.
“If what you say is true, young lady, this is no ordinary matter. Perhaps we should test it in my room first.”
“Test?”
“Yes. I keep a small Magical Stone in my possession. If you can channel Mana through that stone as well, then yesterday was no accident.”
Henry’s suggestion made sense. But Rachel’s mind was already turning in another direction.
‘You said people who can channel Mana are rare, right? Could I make money from this?’
With debts pressing on her mind, Rachel quickly calculated possibilities—paid magical services using Mana, scholarships to the Royal Academy—but no matter how hard she racked her brain, it seemed unlikely she could raise substantial funds quickly.
If anything, entering the Academy would only drain more money.
‘Abilities or not, they don’t help much.’
When reality crashed down on her, despair came flooding in. As Rachel pressed her forehead with a hopeless expression, Henry, watching quietly beside her, gently struck at the heart of the matter.
“Miss, were you thinking of making money off that?”
“…Did it show?”
Henry, with remarkable perceptiveness, caught the mercenary glint in her thoughts and let out a low chuckle.
“You are already someone special as you are, Miss. To have acquired such an extraordinary ability on top of that—how could you possibly reduce it to mere profit?”
Henry spoke his mind in his characteristic gentle tone, measured and deliberate. Rachel, embarrassed, pressed her lips together hard.
“Please don’t worry yourself too much. Let’s go and verify it first.”
So the two of them made their way to Henry’s private quarters. Stepping into his room for the first time, Rachel found it ruthlessly, meticulously ordered.
She’d never been inside before and had only imagined what it might look like—but it was organized with the same precise discipline as his unwavering character, sharp as a blade.
“This is a Magical Stone that Swan gave me in the past. He said he obtained it directly from a mine.”
Henry withdrew a Magical Stone from deep within a drawer—no larger than a pinky nail. Rachel gazed at the small stone with eyes full of curiosity.
“If you channel Mana into it, it should emit light. Would you like to try?”
At Henry’s words, Rachel swallowed hard and grasped the Magical Stone. Feeling its cool touch against her skin, she visualized a form of light in her mind, pushing with all her strength.
Rachel squeezed her eyes shut, channeling all her concentration.
“Uh…, Miss.”
Even with her eyes closed, she sensed the brightness beyond her eyelids. Startled, Rachel’s eyes flew open.
The small Magical Stone in her hand was radiating luminous light.
“…What?”
She had no idea how to express this bewilderment. Rachel’s mouth fell slightly open, as if she were stammering.
“So you truly are capable of Mana Channeling, Miss.”
Henry, too, seemed taken aback, his eyes wide with surprise.
“Miss, congratulations.”
Henry offered Rachel his congratulations.
“Uh…, yeah…, thanks.”
Rachel, unsure how to receive his congratulations, could only nod with a vacant expression.
‘But how did Lucas know I could use Mana Channeling?’
Rachel’s eyes narrowed slightly. This was something she’d have to ask Lucas directly.
“Henry, I’ll be back in a moment.”
Rachel excused herself from Henry and rose hastily. She meant to find Lucas at once and ask him.
As she walked down the corridor, Rachel’s mind churned with unease. She needed to figure out what to say to him.
Knock, knock.
Rachel knocked on Lucas’s door. Now it was her turn to ask what she wanted to know.
How had he known she could use Mana Channeling?
And was that the reason he’d taken some interest in her?

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