Volume 1 Chapter 9 Mean Villainess, Trapped In A Scheme
"Rejoice, Elena!"
The moment I stepped into the classroom, I was greeted by Rudger's loud voice.
Ms. Parsley and Ms. Percella looked a bit tense because he called me out so boldly, but Rudger didn't notice at all.
Ignorance is bliss, I guess.
"What's up?"
I gave Rudger a look to let him know everything was fine with Ms. Parsley and the others as I spoke to him.
"Look at this, it's a gift from me!"
What he pulled out was, surprisingly, the textbook he uses for Spell-ology class.
"Huh!?"
"Just kidding! Since it seemed like you were interested in Spell-ology, I talked to the teacher, and they said they had some extras, so I should bring one to you."
I had hinted that I was interested before asking to borrow the textbook, and it looks like he picked up on it.
Thanks, Rudger. Thanks, Spell-ology teacher.
When I asked if it was really okay to take it, I was told since the teacher said to bring it, I shouldn't hold back.
This is quite a gain, I thought, then the homeroom teacher entered the classroom, so I took the textbook from Rudger and sat down.
* * *
And after school.
I went to the library with Rolus.
To talk about Spell-ology with Rudger.
The 3 of us sat at a spot near the shelf with the books that can't be checked out, which is Rudger's favorite spot.
"By the way, Elena, it's kind of unusual for you to be interested in Spell-ology."
"I'm interested in Spell-ology──well, all magic really. I've already read all the Healing Magic textbooks I chose for myself, I'm almost done with the Divination Magic ones, and I've copied half of the Defense Magic textbook Leve showed me."
My words made Rudger's eyes widen.
"You really are quite eager to study, aren't you?"
I couldn't help but feel a bit put off.
"I don't see magic as just studying. But it really helped that you provided the textbook for Spell-ology, Rudger. I was struggling because I didn't know anyone who chose Spell-ology. Thank you."
"Well, I was the only one in my class. Even if I said that there weren't many in other classes, it wouldn't be entirely true."
Rudger chuckled as he stood up, grabbed a book from the no-loan shelf, and returned to his seat.
"I've heard it's unpopular because it doesn't really help in the future, but I didn't think it was that unpopular."
Upon hearing my words, Rudger let out a small "hmm."
"Certainly, if you're aiming to be a knight, you'd choose Attack Magic or Defense Magic, and a wider range of job opportunities comes with Divination Magic. I myself am also choosing the safe option of Divination Magic."
"Healing Magic feels like a part of training to be a bride, doesn't it? I chose Divination Magic too."
The future awaiting noble ladies mostly involves arranged marriages that connect families.
Of course, it's not that there are absolutely no romantic marriages.
And once married, producing heirs takes priority over employment.
Therefore, Healing Magic, which is useful in the household, naturally becomes a necessary subject for noble ladies.
Of course, there are those who learn Healing Magic to assist knights, too.
Divination Magic has a wide range, from the serious royal court diviners who predict the nation's future to familiar types of fortune-telling like astrology and even things like weather forecasting, which is also a type of Divination Magic since we don't have weather satellites.
There are also performance-based Divination Magics that entertain people, like gemstone stone divination and flower divination.
This is something that young ladies attending the academy are eager to learn, and I also want to try it.
"It's not practical, but it's interesting, isn't it? Spell-ology."
Rudger says as he flips through a book in his hands.
"Indeed, it does seem interesting."
I reply while flipping through the Spell-ology textbook that Rudger gave me.
From what I skimmed, it seems the spells were mostly magic used by people nearly a thousand years ago.
As time went on, the need to chant spells vanished, and this ancient magic faded away.
It's said that Spell-ology deciphers that.
I wonder if it's something archaeological.
"It seems there are magic types that are prohibited now, but those kinds of spells haven't been deciphered yet."
"Prohibited magic? Like resurrecting the dead?"
"I can't say for sure since it hasn't been deciphered, but maybe. Things like cloning or summoning demons."
Sounds super interesting.
As I glance at Rudger with sparkling eyes, he chuckles softly.
"Do you really have such an interested look? The Spell-ology teacher would be thrilled to see that face."
He says while laughing.
"It's fascinating."
Prohibited magic is like something straight out of a fantasy.
"The teacher gave you that textbook because they thought it might spark your interest and pull you into the world of Spell-ology."
"Is that so?"
"Well, partly it's that, but also they've ended up with a lot of leftover textbooks over the years."
Thinking about how they have too many textbooks and perhaps can't secure enough students makes me feel a bit sorry.
"They'd really appreciate it if you take an interest and research together. The more people researching, the better."
I mutter, "I see," while looking at the Spell-ology textbook.
However, it's hard to imagine that spells that even adults can't clarify would be too difficult for a child.
Honestly, it feels like whether this will be useful in the future is not the point.
I got interested because my brain is in fantasy mode, but for the kids around here, things like forbidden magic, resurrection, and demon summoning probably don't resonate at all and won't catch their interest.
While I was pondering this, resting my chin on my hand, Rudger slid over the history book that was marked as not for lending.
"If you're interested in the story of Spell-ology, how about checking this out too?"
He said this while tapping the book with his finger.
"This country's history?"
What Rudger was pointing at was a timeline of this country's history.
It seemed to be a detailed timeline that wasn't included in the history textbooks we studied in class.
"That's right, the history of this country. It lists all the kings from the first to the current one, but doesn't it feel off?"
In Japan, we were taught to memorize years using wordplay, but come to think of it, it seemed this country didn't provide such detailed history lessons.
The textbooks only listed the names of the kings from the first to the current one.
On the day the textbooks were distributed, I had thought it would be easy to pass the test if I didn't need to memorize the years, so I had memorized it casually.
However, this history book that Rudger had contained detailed years.
"At a glance... hmm? Wait, this 6th king lived an incredibly long time, didn't he?"
The letters were very small, and I might have overlooked it if I hadn't been careful, but it was definitely strange.
The 6th king lived for 160 years.
"You noticed!"
Rudger looked at me with gleeful eyes.
"Of course I would notice 160 years."
The average lifespan of people in this world was around 80 years.
Very few lived to be a hundred, and 160 years was pretty much impossible.
No matter how much magic there was.
"I never thought I'd meet someone who noticed before I could explain how to read the timeline!"
"Ah... you don't really learn this, right? It wasn't in the textbooks."
I wondered what I would say if he asked how I knew, but it seemed like that was the last thing on Rudger's mind, so I didn't need to come up with an excuse.
I was relieved.
"During the time of this 6th king, a lot of historical events were happening."
"What does that mean?"
When I asked, Rudger started to excitedly explain.
It seemed that no one had shown interest in this story before.
He looked just like a geek who had finally found a kindred spirit.
"As it says here, during this era, exactly when the 6th king was crowned, there were actually more countries than now, and wars were never-ending. But during this king's reign, the number of nations is reduced to 6."
I guess there must have been mergers.
"After that, there are no more wars. It seems the 6th king established a peaceful era."
"Right, according to history books, it became peaceful. However, around that time, something called the Six Magic Knights was suddenly created to protect the king."
The Six Magic Knights, now referred to as the Royal Magic Division, known for forcibly conscripting those with high levels of magic.
"Even though it got peaceful, what are they protecting against? I mean, why didn't they create them before it became peaceful?"
The timing seems off.
Well, just because it was peaceful doesn't mean the country was unified, so there might still have been a threat of war.
"It's clear they are trying to protect the king from something, but that remains unexplained for now."
"Oh really?"
The Six Magic Knights protecting the king, huh.
It's kind of confusing, but it has a strong fantasy vibe that gets me excited.
It feels like an RPG.
"And this is also when the era of spells is coming to an end."
Suddenly, I noticed Rudger's smug face as he said this.
I had been listening earnestly, but it turned out to be a trap.
Somewhere along the line, I had been completely drawn into Spell-ology.
I had unknowingly fallen into Rudger's plan to drag me into Spell-ology.
It was fun, so it was fine with me.
"I just got caught up in listening. Rudger, you tell stories really well."
When I said that, Rudger smiled a bit shyly.
"It's because Elena was listening happily."
"It was fun. I thought I should have chosen Spell-ology."
As we said this, we laughed together.
"Lady, it's about time for the carriage to arrive."
I realized that we had been talking for quite a while because of Rolus's voice.
"Oh, is it already that time? Well then, Rudger, we're heading home."
"Yeah, see you tomorrow!"
We waved goodbye, and I took Rolus out of the library.
"I'm sorry, Rolus. Just ignore it."
"It's fine, I'm a Servant, so it's no problem."
"Oh, but Rudger isn't the type to care about things like nobility or being a Servant, so it would have been okay for you to join the conversation."
I thought it would be more fun to talk as 3 people instead of just 2, but when I murmured this, Rolus shook his head slightly.
"...Forgive me, Lady, but even if I weren't a Servant, I still wouldn't feel like I could join in on that conversation."
"Why not?"
"It felt like a conversation between adults."
Now that I thought about it, I didn't feel like I was talking to a classmate.
"That's true. Rudger seems to be quite smart."
"You are too, Lady."
I'm just someone with a fantasy mindset.
The next day, I caught the Spell-ology teacher's eye in the hallway, and they looked at them expectantly.
They probably heard from Rudger that I was interested in Spell-ology.
I should find a time to ask for an extracurricular lesson next.
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