Early one morning, I arrived at the academy while it was still deserted.
I was there for the task Noah had requested of me—morning cleaning.
"Good grief, what's so 'important' about this Student Council job? Cleaning is just a menial chore. He's making light of you!"
"I am in complete agreement. To treat Master Lloyd like a mere cleaning boy is a folly that would frighten even the gods."
Grimo and Jiriel were remarkably indignant on my behalf, but I didn't particularly mind the work.
In fact, being given free rein over such a vast campus under the pretext of cleaning was a perfect opportunity for experimentation.
"So, here goes... ■"
Using a Spell Bundle, I wove together a modified version of the Double Casting Magic, Flame Whirlwind—a combination of fire and wind.
"I see. You're gonna use that to suck up the trash and incinerate it, eh?"
"And you can prune the overgrown grass at the same time. Truly, you are magnificent, Master Lloyd."
Grimo and Jiriel commented as they watched the flames and wind swirling at my fingertips.
Well, that wasn't all it did. There!
I unleashed the Flame Whirlwind into a patch of thicket. It glided smoothly to the center and then began scattering flames all around.
With a roar, the fire spread instantly and was swept up into the air.
"Whoa?! Isn't this just a normal Flame Whirlwind?!"
"The power is actually super-charged! The academy is going to be a sea of flames at this rate!"
"Don't worry, you two. Look closer."
The fire tornado continued to burn through the thicket, but true to the spell formula I had woven, it caused no damage to the surroundings.
Yeah, the effect was manifesting nicely.
"Hmm... is this a Barrier? I can feel a strange reaction at the tips of the flames."
"Hoh... not a single scratch on the academy buildings. Could it be that you are maintaining a Barrier at the leading edge of the Flame Whirlwind, Master Lloyd?"
"Exactly."
By manipulating the spell formula of the Flame Whirlwind, I was guarding the points that touched the buildings with a Barrier.
It was a technique I had devised to ensure a quiet school life; this way, I wouldn't accidentally break things by overdoing it. After all, causing actual damage would make me stand out. Good, good. It seemed to be incinerating nothing but the trash.
"You're generating a Barrier equivalent to your own Attack Magic at the same time, and even setting detailed conditions for it? That's an absurd waste of mana..."
"It is less about the total mana capacity and more about how the mana consumption is abnormally low despite the scale of the magic."
"Yeah, it's an application of Military Magic."
By deciphering the many books on Military Magic I had received previously, optimizing spell formulas had become second nature to me.
Thanks to that, I could manage mana-heavy tasks like multi-casting and shape-shifting Barriers with minimal energy consumption.
...Well, I already had a massive pool of mana and a high recovery rate to match, so unless I was constantly using an enormous amount, I rarely ran dry anyway.
"Still, Master Lloyd, isn't this a bit too conspicuous? From the outside, it looks like a massive fire."
"It's fine. I'm using Illusion Magic for camouflage. Besides, it's early morning and there are few people... hm?"
I suddenly felt a gaze and looked back.
Standing there was Noah. Come to think of it, he did mention he might come by to help.
He seemed surprised as he watched me...
"Is that... Flame Whirlwind? No, that’s impossible. Double Casting cannot be used unless one possesses a second 'mouth' like I do, and the mana consumption should be staggering. He is likely tampering with the spell formula of Fire Wave, a lower-tier magic, to use it for burning grass. The fact that the buildings are unharmed is proof of that. Even so, to be able to manipulate a formula to that extent is quite a feat. It seems we may have recruited a very promising newcomer."
He was muttering something, but he was too far away for me to hear clearly.
Well, since he didn't say anything to me, I suppose it wasn't that surprising after all. Yes, yes.
◇
On another day, after finishing my classes, I was running through the gaps between the school buildings.
"I'll wait for it over here! You circle around from the other side!"
"Understood. Let's go, Shiro."
"On!"
Following Gazel's instructions, I entered the passageway to the left.
After riding Shiro for a short while, a large shadow passed overhead.
Looking up, I saw a giant chicken. Scales were packed between its feathers, and a snake grew from its tail.
A Cockatrice—that’s what this Magical Beast was called.
A certain student had let the Cockatrice they kept as a Tamed Beast escape and had come crying to Gazel for help.
"Still, it's a surprise. I didn't think a roughneck like Gazel would take on favors."
"The others also seemed surprisingly helpful. They truly are like a student help group."
It was true. Despite Gazel's group being made up of such intimidating-looking people, their reputation among the general students wasn't bad.
Gazel, the leader, was caring, and his subordinates looked up to him, so they followed his lead and didn't cause trouble. Because of that, the other students weren't afraid of them, and at some point, they had started receiving requests from students in trouble.
Well, for me, I couldn't ask for anything better than such interesting requests coming my way.
"Master Lloyd, what are you spacing out for? It'll get away again if you don't catch it soon!"
Oh, right.
The Cockatrice was a rare Magical Beast; opportunities to interact with one up close were few and far between. If I left the capture entirely to Gazel, I'd miss out on a great chance.
"It's supposed to have a powerful poison, right?"
"Indeed. The Cockatrice's poison causes the skin to stiffen and the blood to clot; it's a deadly toxin often compared to petrification! Furthermore, just like Ren-tan's poison, it cannot be cured with standard magic. We should quickly trap it in a Barrier for a safe capture—"
Just as he was speaking, the snake at the Cockatrice's tail lunged and bit the hand I had reached out toward it.
"Master Lloyd—!! What are you doing?!"
As the two of them screamed, the Cockatrice's poison began to numb my arm.
Hoh, it was true that standard Healing Magic didn't work on this, just like Ren's poison. ...Except for mine, that is.
Spell Formula Conversion. As the Healing Light changed to a dull color, the numbness in my arm vanished.
Yoshi, the experiment was a success.
"What... what did you just do?"
"Before, when the poison Ren produced couldn't be cured by Healing Magic, I spent a lot of time thinking about how to fix that."
Healing Magic only works on actual, physical poisons; it has no effect on poisons generated from mana. That's because the cells that make up the body don't carry mana, leaving them defenseless against Magic Poison.
So, I thought, why not just apply an Enchantment of mana directly to the cells?
Naturally, the effect would disappear once the cells died, but it seemed I could neutralize the poison effectively before then.
"Hmm... the poison has vanished completely."
"Hey, you damn Angel, stop spacing out and help! It's gonna get away!"
"On!"
Taking advantage of the moment the Cockatrice was biting me, Grimo and the others lunged at it and pinned it down.
"Hey."
As we were taking a break after finishing the capture, Gazel called out. It seemed he had caught up to us.
"Ah, Gazel. We caught the Cockatrice."
Without changing his expression at my words, he walked over.
Then, he grabbed me by the collar and yanked me up.
"What do you think you're doin', acting on your own? I told you to drive it toward me, didn't I?"
"I know, but..."
We caught it, so it was fine, wasn't it? Or did he want to catch it himself? If so, I might have done something wrong.
"...Tch. It's fine since you're safe, but you had me worried. Good grief, don't go doin' anything reckless."
Gazel clicked his tongue as he set me down, then shouldered the cage containing the Cockatrice and started walking.
"The Cockatrice has a deadly poison, so I only intended to have him chase it, but to think he'd catch it with ease. Plus, he's perfectly fine despite having bite marks. If he has a way to neutralize that dangerous poison, he might be more impressive than I imagined."
He was muttering something... surely he wasn't talking to the Cockatrice, was he? He seemed to be talking to Shiro before too; does he just like talking to animals?
"He doesn't seem like such a bad guy after all."
"Hmph. Grabbing Master Lloyd by the collar is a crime punishable by death."
And so, I spent my days assisting both Noah and Gazel with their tasks.