“Yes, you.”
Grom stroked his messy beard, his originally gloomy face softening slightly.
“The question isn't difficult. This old man said just now that elements are never the servants of mages. So, when you attempt to cast an elemental spell you have never encountered before, what is the very first thing you need to do?”
“...”
Irene blinked blankly.
An elemental spell she had never encountered before? What to do first?
The girl furrowed her brows and lowered her head, trying hard to search her empty mind.
What did Grom say just a minute ago?
Something about... elements not being obedient?
And then you have to request them? And then, if the request fails, the person goes "bang" and explodes.
‘Hmm...’ Irene's expression instantly turned serious.
This was a matter of life and death! She had to answer seriously!
Under the gaze of over seventy pairs of eyes, the white-haired dumpling struggled for a full ten-odd seconds before finally, as if she had thought of an answer, timidly raising a finger.
“First... say hello to it?”
“...” The smile on Grom's face froze.
“Say hello?”
“Yes!”
Seeing that the professor didn't immediately shoot her down, Irene felt like she had found the right line of thinking.
She nodded her small head seriously and spoke with an air of absolute gravity.
“Because you said just now, Professor, that elements are not the servants of mages. Since we want someone to help us...”
“Then, then we definitely have to be polite first.”
“...”
As if shocked by this thunderous reasoning, the entire classroom fell dead silent.
The expressions of several freshmen sitting in the Regal Department section gradually became subtle.
A few of them looked somewhat familiar to Lynn.
Oh, right, among them were the ones who had surrounded Irene in the cafeteria yesterday, calling her “White Garden Representative” and “the future light of our Regal Department” with every breath.
Right now, one of the boys still had a look of ready admiration frozen on his face, but the words “So that's how it is!” were stuck in his throat, unable to be uttered.
Another hesitated and lowered his voice: “Is this... some kind of special elemental communication method?”
“Probably... right?”
“After all, she's the White Garden student.”
“But...”
The silly white-haired dumpling was completely oblivious to the awkward atmosphere. Instead, she felt like she had answered correctly, and her sapphire-like eyes sparkled slightly.
The old dwarf's eyes instantly widened like bronze bells.
Was... was this right?
No, no, no. No matter what, this child was from the White Garden, surely...
The old dwarf, who was still racking his brains to find an excuse for Irene, suddenly froze.
Because the white-haired dumpling had already smugly unleashed a two-hit combo.
“F-For example... ‘Hello? Pwease help me? Thank you?’”
She gestured wildly as she said those three phrases, and finally nodded politely to the empty air.
“...” Grom opened his mouth, wanting to speak but stopping, stopping but wanting to speak.
After a long silence, he squeezed out a sentence through his teeth with great difficulty: “...Very well.”
Irene's eyes lit up. “R-Really?”
“At least... you are very polite.”
“!” The white-haired dumpling cheered up visibly, her ahoge dancing a joyful tap dance.
Grom, however, silently averted his gaze.
What sin did this old man commit to deserve this?
No, Grom, calm down and think about it again.
How could a student who was the only exception to be admitted to the White Garden in thirty years not even be able to answer such a basic question?
He looked at Irene again.
The girl stood up straight with a serious expression. In those clear blue eyes, which one could almost see straight through to the bottom, there was not the slightest hint of playing dumb or being perfunctory.
‘Does she really believe this from the bottom of her heart?’
A extremely rare class of mages suddenly flashed through the old dwarf's mind.
[Intuitive Type]
To these people, elements were like their own limbs.
They had no need to understand complex spell models or memorize vast amounts of dry theory; they could accomplish many things purely by instinct.
Just like if you were to ask a monster who could walk from birth which muscles their body called upon when taking a step with their left foot, and in which direction their center of gravity should shift.
They would most likely just look at you in confusion.
Walking... requires thinking about that?
‘But the last widely-known Intuitive-type mage... would have to be traced back to the Arcane Sage four hundred years ago, right?’
Rate on N.U.
