CH 82

Jornwerner’s Laboratory

The next day after school, Sheila went to Jornwerner’s laboratory as promised.

She was somewhat nervous, as this was the first time she had been in and out of the academic tower.

The academic tower was located further back than the staff building. You could say it was at the edge of the academy grounds. There was a rumor that it was isolated at the northern end because a certain magician had caused a huge explosion, but the truth was uncertain.

Sheila climbed up the spiral staircase of the spacious entrance. It was a long, endless staircase that seemed like it would take a lot of effort to walk to the upper floors. She heard that there were many magicians who stayed in their academic towers, but wasn’t it troublesome to go up and down the stairs?

She arrived at Jornwerner’s laboratory, which was located on the fifth floor, out of breath. She knocked on the wooden door.

“Excuse me.”

“――I’m a little tied up right now, so please come in. The door is unlocked.”

From inside, Jornwerner’s muffled voice responded. It seemed that he really had no intention of opening the door, and there was no sign of people approaching. Sheila hesitated for a moment but had no choice but to open the door as she was told.

“Well then, pardon me.”

When she fearfully stepped in, she found Jornwerner writing something on his desk. Sheila, thinking she would be interrupting if she spoke to him, tried to reduce her presence and looked around the room.

She was surprised to find that the room was much more spacious than she had imagined. There was a sleeping bunk in the adjacent room for napping, a toilet, and a simple shower, which was much different from the treatment in the staff wing.

But Sheila wondered if Jornwerner smelled something odd, or if all the doors were originally fully opened. Nevertheless, she had no intention of getting to know his private life.

After waiting for a while, Jornwerner finally put down his pen.

“I’m sorry to keep you waiting. Welcome to my laboratory, Sheila-kun. I’ve been waiting impatiently for the day when I could share this space with you.”

“I’d be honored. But I’d like to leave quickly, so why don’t we cut the nonsense?”

As he approached, she moved to the corner of the room to get away from him. Jornwerner saw Sheila’s curt reaction and he lowered his eyebrows so sadly that she felt like a bad person.

“It’s a pity. I’ve even neatly arranged my bedroom properly.”

“What are you talking about? I mean, it’s obvious that you’ve just woken up and the sheets are all messy.”

“You mean I was ‘heavily disturbed’ in bed by you, right?”

“I don’t want to be asked to agree.”

Dismayed, Sheila looked around the room again.

“… If this place is this luxurious, then of course, no one will use the staff building.”

Clauschezade, who was enlisted at the academy to train knights, wouldn’t be given a room in the academic tower. She felt a little pity for him, who would still be in that simple staff building.

Jornwerner, who had begun to calculate something, answered Sheila’s muttering without looking up.

“Oh, this is something I modified on my own.”

“Eh?”

“When you’re concentrating on research, even physiological phenomena become troublesome, don’t they?”

“Ah….”

It was easy to imagine Jornwerner so absorbed in his work that he never left this room. If you looked closely at the table cluttered with strange tools, you would find cookies and other emergency food substitutes.

“I’m surprised that they allowed such a modification. It must be a nuisance to the neighbors on both sides.”

“Originally, the rooms on both sides of this place were vacant. I don’t know why.”

“….”

Why? The reason was obvious. Sheila wisely kept her mouth shut, as she had dared to pretend she didn’t know anything about him.

“I wasn’t given permission to modify it, though. At the time, there was an explosion in the laboratory that blew out the walls on both sides. After that, the academy easily gave me permission. Looking back on it now, it was a very convenient turn of events for me.”

“…. That’s another great threat.”

“Threats? What are you talking about?”

He would continue to use force until he got permission.

That must be the kind of pressure the academy felt in Jornwerner’s smile after the explosion. He would surely cause another explosion. He would do it again and again until his permission was granted. In fact, the academy must have immediately changed its opinion, thinking that it would be better for their own safety to accept his request while the explosion was still contained to a level that would only blow down the walls.

Jornwerner’s smile deepened as if to reassure her that the rumors that she had thought were an exaggeration were real.

“Well, I don’t have time to waste time, so that’s enough chatting. Sheila-kun, please come over here.”

“….. Yes.”

She swallowed her thoughts that said it was Jornwerner who was prolonging the conversation, and approached the worktable where he was sitting. She smoothly pulled out the familiar magic-sealing bracelet on her.

“I see you were able to remove it without Clauschezard’s presence.”

“He improved it as soon as I got back from the training.”

The improved bracelet could also be released at will by Sheila. However, the bracelet couldn’t be removed carelessly, as Clauschezade would know where she was when it was released.

Since she had already told him about her plans today, he wouldn’t rush to the scene even if she disarmed it.

“Let’s do this. ――O Spirit of the Wind.”

Sheila chose the spirit art of the wind, which was harmless even indoors.

She didn’t want to cause a gust of wind, so she adjusted the power. A soft breeze, like a spring breeze, blew in line with the image Sheila had created. A moment later, Jornwerner’s blue-gray hair swayed.

“――This is the spirit arts.”

His eyes sparkled with curiosity. The happy reaction made Sheila a little bit excited.

“Shall I show you something else?”

She created water in an empty teacup nearby and turned it into hot water with the help of a fire spirit. It was a power so commonplace that no one in the village couldn’t do it, but Jornwerner always showed a fresh reaction every time. He was surprised at how short the spell was and checked the temperature of the water. He was currently acting like a big child.

“Excellent. It’s wonderful, Sheila-kun.”

Jornwerner’s emotions were running high, and he hugged tightly by the waist. She was held in his arms as if she were a cute little animal, but Sheila didn’t get impatient.

Zzzap!

Suddenly, an electric shock ran through, and Jornwerner pulled back as if he was repelled. In his dazed state of mind, he didn’t seem to understand what had happened and was unusually stunned.

“….. What was that?”

Sheila smiled broadly.

“When I consulted Claushezade-sensei about the situation, he gave me this. He said it was a ‘Jornwerner Repellent.’”

“…. That’s terrible. It’s as if I’m being treated as a dangerous person.”

“Not ‘as if,’ it is a fact.”

“It’s very rare for someone to say so clearly about what they think. That’s what makes you so interesting.”

Jornwerner brushed his hair back and turned to Sheila.

“Anyway, thank you for showing me. It’s kind of frustrating because we haven’t been able to visualize the spirits, but this is the spirit arts, isn’t it? To the naked eye, it looks almost identical to magic.”

Hearing his words as a researcher, Sheila remembered something her brother had said.

“Someone once told me that spirit arts are easier to use than magic. People have different strengths and weaknesses when it comes to magic, and there is a limit to the amount of mana that people are born with. But since spirit arts are performed with the help of spirits, it is not dependent on the ability of the practitioner.”

Felix was able to use spirit arts earlier than Sheila. However, according to what she had recently heard, he was only practicing magic at that time. She was six years old when she took up the habit of praying, so she didn’t really learn how to use the spirit arts until much later in life.

“I see… I would love to get to know him better next time.”

She thought it would be difficult to achieve. Felix wanted to hide his relationship with Sheila, so she couldn’t easily introduce him to Jornwerner.

Jornwerner continued to ask a series of questions.

“Are you able to handle any of the attributes?”

“Only light and darkness are difficult for me. It seems that the number of spirits themselves is small.”

“I see. So that’s why you relied on others to heal you.”

“…. Please don’t observe me to that point, it’s creepy.”

Was he there when she was being healed by Clauschezade and Leidyrune? Honestly, it was too scary.

“The principle of spirit arts is also really interesting. We gather the magical elements in the atmosphere ourselves, but you are assisted by the spirits. There is also the matter of the bracelet that seals magical power, and from that point on, I suppose it is possible to have the same output as we do.”

“…? What do you mean?”

Suddenly he was saying something so difficult that her mind couldn’t keep up. When Sheila tilted her head, Jornwerner narrowed his eyes.

“The mechanism of the bracelet is that it does not allow the collected magical elements to be converted into magical power. If the bracelet is effective for you, it means that the method of converting magical elements in the spirit arts is most likely identical to magic.”

“Ah…. I see?”

Sheila nodded without really understanding, but Jornwerner didn’t seem to care.

“Yes, well, you don’t have to understand that much. In exchange, it’s enough if you let me do some research.”

“Isn’t it unreasonable to ask me to give myself up in exchange for something I don’t understand?”

Even if Sheila was a fool, she could see that the terms were as lucrative as a bad credit loan.

Jornwerner’s smile was unusually bright.

“By the way, are you going back to your parents’ house for the winter? It’s possible for you to stay at the academy.”

“Ah, you’re changing the subject.”

“For students who cannot return home for various reasons, there is an option to stay in the dormitory. If you work hard for three months, your academic ability may be on par with your classmates.”

“――Eh, really?”

Sheila was on board, even though she knew it was a blatant change of subject. Jornwerner’s smile deepened at his prey.

“If you want to stay, I can help you with your studies. You’ll have to make arrangements for meals, but I’ll take care of that too.”

Due to the exceptional treatment, Sheila shrank back. The offer was too good to be true, and it was all too suspicious.

“…. So, what do you want me to do?”

“I just need you to help me with a few experiments when you’re free.”

“That means it’s a human experimentation…..”

“I disagree, I don’t like it when people talk like that.”

Jornwerner was always smiling, but it didn’t seem like there was a way to refuse.

His ability to manipulate embarrassing language and teased others was troubling, but his insatiable curiosity as a researcher was also really hard to handle.

Overwhelmed by his inescapable passion, Sheila let out a weary sigh.