In Cycelia's room, after the sunset…

Crrreaaaaak…

「Straf! What took you so long? I was getting worried!」

Cycelia says with her brows angrily furrowed, reading yet another magic tome by the lamp's soft orange light.

「Bold of you to assume that the ghosts just moved to the boys' bathroom, Lia…」

Straf nonchalantly replies, walking to his bed with his hands in his pockets.

「I'm not! I was worried that something happened along the way!… Like, you might have tripped on the stairs!」

Thump!

She exclaims, as Straf kicks his legs up, and noisily lands on his bed with his back.

「Lia, of all the things that could potentially kill me… Stairs? Really?」

Resting his head on his arms, he looks at Cycelia with a lightly amused, incredulous smirk. Her gaze escapes back into the pages of her book as she pouts a little.

「Like I said… I was getting worried, and I didn't know what happened. You were gone for quite a while… Maybe we could get you a potion to help you with your problems?」

「Lia, I'm not the type of person to medicate myself to cope with my life. It is what it is.」

Straf shrugs his shoulders and sighs, resigning himself to live with his problems.

「Huh?…」

Cycelia tilts her head, furrowing her brows in confusion back at him.

「…Watcha readin'?」

Straf abruptly changes the subject, glancing at her tome.

「Ah. It's for the classes tomorrow. It's a compendium of knowledge on magical implements, runes and chargewands.」

She explains, struggling to lift the thick tome in her small hands to show Straf its intricate runic cover in the lamplight.

「Chargewands?」

Confused, he narrows his eyes at the book.

「Mhm. Long ago, mages used to fight each other with these wands that had spells ready to cast within them. Now nobody knows how to make them anymore. It's one of the pieces of lost knowledge.」

Cycelia extends her index finger, smiling at Straf while she shares her knowledge.

「…You mean like those vampire lamps?」

His brows slowly rise as he asks.

「Exactly! It's for a different reason than vampire lamps, though. Despite most mages knowing the basics of how they work, the specifics were closely guarded secrets. So, when those mages died…」

「…They took their knowledge to the grave, right?」

「That's right!」

Cycelia proudly replies, and lets out a triumphant huff out of her nose, smiling at Straf.

「Though there are a few remaining examples that lost their charge, but everyone is too afraid to take them apart and learn how they work. Not even the Academy dares to try it.」

She adds, and turns her gaze back to her book.

「We'd be in real copyright trouble if everyone here would be still waggling chargewands right now.」

He shrugs, turning his eyes back to the dimly lit ceiling. A brief silence begins as Cycelia continues reading her tome.

「…Straf, will you come with me to the class tomorrow?」

She meekly asks, looking up from the book.

「Do I have to?… Did someone actually threaten you? Why wait, when I can just kill him right now?」

Straf casually asks, looking at Cycelia once again. She shakes her chestnut head, and closes her tome.

「No, it's not that… I just feel better when you're there with me.」

Thud!

She replies as she crawls over to the foot end of her bed, and drops the tome on top of the pile of books. Straf sighs.

「But it's really boring…」

He throws his arms up, and limply drops them above his head onto the pillow.

「Do you not want to, then?…」

Cycelia glumly asks, and lets out a quiet sigh as she sits up on her bed next to the table. Straf sighs again.

「Fine… But only one class」

Yielding, he shrugs with his hands and places them back underneath his head. A bright smile appears on Cycelia's face.

「You're going to like these classes, though! It's the one subject I can actually grasp a little!… Probably because my father forced me to learn about our magic, so I know a little this and that…」

She glances aside at the dark sky outside the window, awkwardly grinning.

「…Are you heading to sleep, then?」

Straf asks, and her emerald eyes snap to his.

「Yes, I was considering it… All that learning is kind of draining… You don't mind, do you?」

「Nope, go ahead. Goodnight, Lia.」

He shrugs in response, and Cycelia blows out the lamp, then wriggles underneath her blanket.

「Goodnight, Straf.」

She replies, and with a smiling face, closes her eyes. Straf sighs, and sits up, assuming his meditative position, then closes his eyes as well…

…

The next morning, right outside the girls' dormitories…

Tisha and Neela are waiting, holding books close to their chests and chatting by the wooden noticeboard on the wall, while other students head to their classes.

「Lia!」

Tisha calls out, raising her arm as she notices Straf and Cycelia emerge from the stairwell in the distance. Cycelia waves back, and they slowly make their way towards the noticeboard.

「You were waiting for me?」

Cycelia asks with a smile, approaching her new friends while Straf trails behind her with his hands in his pockets.

「Just for a little bit. Are you ready for Professor Reise's class?」

Tisha asks, as the three girls walk side by side to the classroom. Straf looms over them, towering over all three of them with a bored expression on his face.

「Yup. Do you have the notes from yesterday?」

Cycelia nods, smiling back at her.

「I do!」

Neela chimes in from the other side, and Cycelia nods towards her as well.

「…And I see you brought Straf. Hi.」

Tisha remarks, smiling over her shoulder at him. She receives nothing in return, except lightly raised brows.

「…He doesn't talk much, does he?」

She asks in a hushed tone, leaning into Cycelia's ear.

「Ah. No, I wouldn't say?… He's pretty talkative, but sometimes he's silent… I guess he's selective about when, and who he talks with.」

Cycelia furrows her brows, also glancing at Straf over her shoulder before returning her emerald eyes back to Tisha's ice-blue ones.

「I see…」

The blonde schoolgirl glances over her shoulder at him one more time, and turns her her gaze forward as they continue onward to the classroom…

…

Roughly ten minutes later, the four take their usual seats. Straf already appears bored out of his mind.

「Chin up, Straf. Yesterday's classes were kind of interesting.」

Cycelia says, smiling at Straf's bored face. He briefly glances at her, and sighs, looking at the blackboard coated in some haphazard runes of white chalk.

As a student enters. A short, nearly bald man with a graying head is shadowing him, and their paths diverge. The student heads up the classroom stairs, and the little old man approaches the teacher's desk.

「Hello again! Where was I yesterday?…」

The old man greets the students with a quick wave of his hand, and turns to the blackboard with his hands on his hips in a troubled manner. He peeks over his shoulder the moment Cycelia raises her arm, wiggling her hand a little.

「Yes, Lia?」

The old man asks, scratching his chin beneath his short goat-like beard.

「Lost technologies, professor! We were at chargewands, specifically!」

She proclaims, bearing a smug and contented smile on her face as she lowers her dainty hand.

「Ah!」

The old professor's tiny beady eyes open wide, and he shakes his index finger as he shambles back to the blackboard.

「Yes, yes, yesyesyesyes… I remember now, thank you… My memory isn't that good anymore… Such are the perks of getting old, heh.」

He adds, taking the white chalk into his wrinkled, bony fingers.

「…He says that, but he drew that entire mess from memory yesterday.」

Tisha cynically remarks with her mouth aslant, with her head propped up on her hand. The old man begins writing something down on the blackboard, every now and then sliding over his little step stool along using his foot.

「Now, just to conclude my point from yesterday… Ah, did I mention we have three chargewands at the Academy, but they're all non-functional?…」

He asks, looking behind himself in a little hunch. The front row students are slowly nodding their heads, with tight-lipped, annoyed grimaces on their faces.

「Right, right… Very well, then… Vampire lamps, chargewands… And to lesser extent, the magic elevators in the Federation's battle fortress are the prime examples of lost magic technology…」

Professor Reise says, pointing to his illegible handwriting on the blackboard. The students glance at each other, and mutter something amongst themselves, shrugging their shoulders with their brows furrowed.

「Hm?… Magic technology?」

Straf's head perks up, and his brows furrow.

「Elevators?…」

Cycelia's brows furrow as well, and the two look at each other. She looks at Straf with eyes of deep surprise bordering on awe.

「…The magic elevators are are a lost technology, but we know how to maintain them. They are kind of… Partway lost, I suppose you could say! If we lose one, it's gone for good!」

The balding professor adds, shrugging his arms as he spreads them, squinting heavily to see if his students are paying attention.

「That concludes our previous lesson… Now, new subject! Modern magic tools, and their uses! Note that down, if you wish!…」

Reise exclaims, and begins nonchalantly wiping his complex writings away, as if it were some non-attachment ritual. Neela and Tisha flip the pages in their notebooks, and scribble a few words in them.

「Now… Does anyone know an example of magic technology in use in our times? One example should be obvious to you, if you were in Kreisfeld for the tournament recently!…」

He loudly says, hinting at the answer. The professor paces around, shaking his wrinkly finger as he talks. Cycelia raises her dainty hand again with a broad smile, wiggling her hand for his attention.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

「Yes, Lia?」

「The magic wall thing at the arena! It glows and shows names!」

She replies, smiling ear to ear. Professor Reise shrugs, spreading his hands as he nods and turns back to the blackboard.

「The magic sorter… But yes, you are correct, Lia. That is likely the most prominent usage of magic technology that most of you know, even if you are not aware of it… Of course, there's our magic lamps, too…」

He quickly peeks over his shoulder, gesturing with his hands as he explain, and writes down a few unreadable words on the blackboard. Presumably, they are supposed to say 「The magic sorter」.

「Magitech?…」

Straf mutters out, staring down at the desk.

「Hm? Did you say something, Straf?」

Cycelia tilts her head, smiling at him.

「I just discovered something kickass.」

He replies, with his brows raised in apparent awe.

「Huh?」

「Magitech.」

He repeats, staring down at the desk.

「What? I don't-」

「Magitech magitech magitech magitech magitech…」

Straf under his breath while Cycelia's awkward grin slowly grows, and she remains unsure what to say.

「Sorry, Lia, I gotta go do something. You'll be alright, though, right?」

He asks, standing up from the desk.

「Huh!? Well, yes, but… I was hoping-」

「Right. I'll join you some other time, Lia.」

Straf snaps his fingers, and points at Cycelia as he descends the stairs amidst the desks.

「Okay…」

Cycelia lets out a disappointed little sigh with her head glumly lowered.

「Eh? Where are you going, young man? Can't you see the class is still-」

Professor Reise notices Straf is heading for the door.

「Yeah, but I've gotta go. Right now. It's kind of urgent.」

He shrugs, spreading his arms.

「And for what reason, young man?」

The old professor asks, scratching his eyebrow. His tone is questioning, but lacks any accusatory tone. It sounds like a simple question, from a curious old man.

「I need to do magic research. It's vital.」

Straf nonchalantly replies, placing his hand in his pocket as the other one reaches for the door.

「Hm… I see… Well, if it's knowledge calling, then I wish you luck in your endeavors, young man.」

Professor Reise nods, and turns away from Straf, waddling back to the blackboard. Straf opens the door, and takes one step out, but then stops in his tracks.

「You know what? Lia was right about you. You're alright.」

He points behind his back at the professor, whose brows rise gently in surprise. Straf then leaves without elaborating, and the old man glances up at Cycelia in her desk above, before carrying on with his lecture.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the classroom…

「Hey, pants-shitter! Is magic research the kind of excuse you use when you need to go, too?」

A student leans over his desk, and asks with a snide grin from behind Damian. He looks over his shoulder at him, rather nonplussed.

「Is it supposed to be my fault that the ghost stole all the paper?」

Damian nonchalantly asks, and turns back to his notes.

「Yeah, right. A ghost made you shit your pants! Hehehe!」「Hahahaha!」

The heckler's friend joins in, and they both laugh at the handsome student's expense.

「Tsk… Did you two tangle my shoes up yesterday, too?」

Damian clicks his tongue, and once again turns around, showing visible signs of frustration on his well-shaped face this time.

「…Huh?」 「The fuck are you talking about, pants-shitter?」

The heckler and his friends ask, furrowing their brows, before giving each other a side-glance.

「…Maybe the ghost made him shit himself, and tied his shoes!」「Ahahahaha!」

The heckler nudges his friend with his elbow, and he cackles like a hyena in response. The professor looks over his shoulder at the two, squinting.

「Is there something funny that you'd like to share with the class?」

He asks, in a rather cold and aloof tone.

「No, professor.」 「…No, professor.」

The heckler and his friend respond, shooting each other knowing looks, before returning to their notes with snide grins on their faces. Damian sighs, and continues staring out the window…

…

A few moments later, in the empty Academy halls…

「…Magitech magitech magitech…」

With his hands in his pockets, Straf is about to turn a corner when he notices the brim of a gigantic hat emerging from beyond it. He stops, and the woman wearing it almost absentmindedly bumps into him.

「Ah!… Straf Katastrof.」

Aria enunciates, crossing her arms with a displeased grimace on her face. Straf snaps his fingers, and points at her.

「…Big hat professor.」

He says, after a very extended silence.

「Yes… Good thing I've ran into you. You are scheduled for a duel, remember?」

She asks, lightly tilting her hatted head. Straf scratches his chin, and shrugs his hand.

「Honestly, no. Do you think I remember every single fucking thing that wants me hurt, or dead? That list grows faster than I can shrink it.」

He nonchalantly explains, shrugging his shoulders again. The big hat professor's mouth slants.

「…It's called personality issues… But never mind that, your duel can wait. There are more pressing matters at hand…」

She says, shrugging her gloved hands with a little smirk.

「Such as?…」

「…The headmaster wants to see you in his office.」

Aria announces with a smug smile, staring directly into Straf's eyes.

「Tsk. Shit…」

He clicks his tongue, and his eyes roll as he cringes.

「Mhmmm…」

She humms as she slowly nods her hat, and Straf sighs.

「…Did he say why?」

「Nhuh-uh.」

Aria utters out as she slowly shakes her head, her face bearing a very obviously fake expression of pity.

「Tsk… Fuck.」

Straf once again rolls his eyes, cringing.

「Mhm…」

Aria nods her head with a broad, smug smile, very obviously pleased by Straf's troubles.

「Do you know where it is?」

「Yeah yeah yeah… Top floor up the dormitories. Ominous hall… I get it.」

Straf dismissively waves Aria away as he turns towards the girls' dormitories, placing his hands back in his pockets. She lets out an amused scoff, and continues on the way she was heading…

…

Up on the headmaster's floor, in the empty hallway…

Straf climbs up the stairs, and looks around. The magic lamps hovering above are placed very scarcely, and the hallway is mostly dim. The doors which would normally be students' quarters are unnumbered, suggesting they're serving some other purpose. Straf notices a lone door at the end of the hall. A plaque hanging upon it states, headmaster Corvus Aureus Umbrus. He shrugs, and begins making his way towards it. It doesn't take long for Straf to feel a familiar feeling, the feeling of being in trouble with an institution.

「Man, no shit… This hallway really does make you feel like you're in trouble…」

Straf remarks, and soon reaches the door. He opens it, and peeks inside. Another hallway, albeit very, very short. It appears to be a T-junction, and Straf has just entered from its side. He shrugs again, and enters.

「…If I'm coming from the girls' dormitories, I imagine that one leads to the boys'?…」

He thinks out loud, looking at the door opposite of the one he just walked in through. He walks to the center of the junction, and looks at the ominous door remaining.

「…And this must be the old guy's office. Whatever, let's just get it over with.」

Straf sighs, and opens the door, nonchalantly walking in as if it were his own bedroom. Corvus is standing with his hands held behind his back, looking outside a tall window in the back of his office. He looks over his shoulder at Straf, and smiles softly, turning around and taking the few steps down from the elevated part of the office by the window, behind his desk.

「I was expecting you. Have a seat. Please.」

Corvus says with a warm tone, pointing his hand at the chair opposite of the large chair upholstered with leather belonging to him. He swivels it around, much like a standard office chair, and sits down with a soft creak of its leather.

「So, uh… If this is about the swirlie, I can explain…」

Straf says, sitting down in the guest chair.

「Swirlie?…」

Corvus lightly tilts his head, brushing through his beard with his fingers.

「…It's not?」

Straf blinks, gently furrowing his brows as his eyes briefly glance aside to think.

「No.」

The headmaster bluntly replies with a quick shake of his head. He places his elbows on his large, heavy oaken desk, and locks his fingers together.

「I've been reluctant to call you here, Mr. Vindict, but I've run out of ideas.」

The headmaster confesses with a deeply troubled face.

「Okay, and?- Wait, what did you call me? Don't just assume my martial status!-」

Straf angrily points at the old mage's wrinkly face, but he responds by holding his palm up to silence him. Straf furrows his brows, and crosses his arms.

「Minister Vindict, please… May we put an end to this farce already?」

Corvus asks, and pulls a drawer out of his desk, taking two of the new drakes from within.

「…How often do you think I handle money as a headmaster of the Academy of Magic, minister?」

He slides them towards Straf, portrait side up. Straf looks at them, and throws his hands up when he sees Cycelia and his own face staring back at him. He sighs, and crosses his arms again.

「…So, Lia is getting expelled?」

Straf asks, with his mouth heavily scrunched in frustration.

「No. The situation is a little more complicated than that, minister…」

Corvus declares, looking at Straf with a gravely serious face…