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「Hmm, like this? No, this? Arghh! It’s too complicated!!」
「Hey, teacher. What are you doing?」
「Practicing, just like you.」

Ever since then, I’ve continued practicing while I oversee Adan’s training. This magic shell is an awfully delicate technique. Use too much magic power and it won’t be any different from the usual defensive use of magic. Use too little and it’ll break and unravel itself, making it useless. Controlling magic power to only an adequate amount is necessary.

Honestly, the complicated part is maintaining this adequate amount. In any regular magic, having roughly more or less than necessary isn’t a problem, but this magic shell is first and foremost used to save magic power, so not doing that would defeat its purpose. Now for why I’m having such a hard time with this, it’s all because I have a lot of magic power to begin with.

The usual magic casting process is to first temporarily accumulate the needed magic power from inside the body, give it meaning, and then activate it. However, since the magic shell isn’t magic, it skips the accumulation part. To put it simply, instead of using a bucket to scoop up water from the fountain that is my magic power, this time it’s more like I’m tilting the whole fountain to directly spill out the water I need.

Not spilling enough is still fine, but spilling too much is the problem here. If I was in Succubus form, I might be able to do it better, but that’s because I’m practically leaking out magic power in that state, so it’s easier to coat myself in magic power. If I can master this technique, I might be able to fight for much longer in that form.

「…… You’re already good enough if you ask me. Are you really going away this spring?」
「Wh~at? Were you always like this, Adan?」
「Don’t joke around!」

Urania and I will go to the academy this spring. Rather, since the academy is already halfway through their curriculum, we will be required to retake the first year anyway, even if we enroll right now.¹ With this being the case, it’s been decided that we will be under the care of the Iglesio household throughout the winter and will enroll together with the other students this spring enrollment season.

Incidentally, winter is what’s ‌considered as the social gathering season. Plenty of nobles will stay at the royal capital during this. Adan’s father Ces isn’t any exception, and it’s already decided that he’ll be leaving for the capital.

Though with that said, the people in this country have their debut at 18 years old. While 15 is the age of adulthood and people can marry at that age, that’s only with the common folk.² Daughters of nobility are to study etiquette and so on until they reach the age of 18 and will thereafter debut as a full-fledged lady. This happens just after the academy’s graduation season, so the students graduating this winter would have their debut in high society as a mage or sorcerer of their faction.

So, well‌, Urania and I, and the much younger Adan, will be left to watch the house since we’re still 15 years old. Us coming along and staying at their villa at the capital was considered at first, but we eventually concluded that training on our magic here in the mansion, with its wider training space, would be much more worthwhile instead.

「What about you, Adan? Are you sure you don’t want to go with Ces during winter?」
「Even if I go, we still won’t have any time to spend together. Compared to that, staying here is still better.」

While it is the social gathering season, it’s not like Ces won’t have any work to do anymore. Rather, since lords eyeing on other territories are gathering in the capital, those who are scheming increase in numbers as this is a perfect opportunity to strike. Ces himself, as the head of the Iglesio household, has many events he can’t afford to miss, so he’s ‌busy in this period.

Naturally, Ces basically only rests when he’s home, or rather, I guess the fact that he still goes home is already good enough. So since Adan has seen Ces’ situation from an early age, she behaves in the winter ‌to not cause Ces any trouble. Though as a result, she ended up growing selfish because of this, so you can’t really win every battle.

「But you know, I won’t be lonely this year, ‘cause you two are here, teacher.」
「Adan…… Alright! Then how about a mock battle to warm things up!」
「Eh? No? I’d rather not do that and all……³」

While this might be Adan’s case, we’re ‌packed on things to do throughout this winter. We must master at least the bare minimum of etiquette and learn several subjects other than magic to some extent. And then the clothes. The clothes Urania and I have are for commoners. These won’t even reach the minimum requirements for an academy where nobles come to learn.⁴

While I hear that there is an academy uniform, it’s still necessary to prepare individual clothes for training and field lessons. Naturally, clothes will be also necessary for holidays and after-class activities, and for the tea parties the pre-debut students would hold.

There are many more things we need to prepare other than that, and currently, the Iglesio household is paying for our expenses. We could earn enough money just by doing our work as adventurers, but we barely have any free time to do so. I presented various magical tools to somehow pay for our expenses, but old man Kent stopped me from trying to sell them.

According to him, 「It’s too efficient with magic power and too powerful compared to the existing competition. Moreover, it’s high in utility. Are you planning on getting abducted?」 or so he said. I never intended to make something that powerful, but he said that if these ever get circulated in the market, magical tool manufacturers all over the place are going to go bankrupt.⁵

With that said, we have no choice but to pay this debt after our graduation. It’d be nice if I can find a way to get money before that somehow.

1. Lyly: Yeah, better not go in that case
   Fire: Agreed
2. Lyly: Living fast cuz we need more hands for working
3. Lyly: Lol. “Umm, how about no?”
4. Silva: So uh… remind me again, what does Urania ranking up in the Adventurer’s Guild has anything to do with enrolling into the “magic” academy again? It’s not like she can use magic just cuz she ranked up
   Lyly: I think Urania just took the rank up test since they’re already there. How they enroll Urania, it still doesn’t say, lol. Also, she can at least use spells now (with assistance from the grimoire), so that’s another thing
5. Lyly: Kek, it’s gonna be a monopoly then