I'm seriously nervous.
Students at Marilyn Magic Academy are mostly noble kids. I just realized that yesterday. No, more precisely, I've known for a while but didn't pay attention to it because all the nobles I've met so far are good people. Two noble sisters from Tser-Nagara and a noble girl my age from Athamon. Could I have just been lucky all this time?
Class SM 1-D has a heavy atmosphere. When I looked at my classmates' faces, they're all flat and melancholic. Even when smiling their lips barely curve at all. Even when I tried chatting with them, they responded briefly without any effort to extend the topic.
There's no way an entire class is full of introverts, right?
If it were Martha, how would she handle this situation? She's outgoing, so I'm sure she's made one or two new friends by now.
I just sat in my seat waiting for a miracle to come brighten up this classroom atmosphere.
An adult man entered the class. Behind him was a girl with short hair.
"Thank you," she said to the adult man. Then she walked quickly to the empty desk right next to me.
I observed the adult man. Seems like he's our teacher. Or even homeroom teacher. He looked around, then said a greeting,
"Peace be with you."
I could tell his voice was deep and quite soft so it could be missed even in this classroom's silence. However, it echoed in my ears. Sitting there repeating over and over vibrating my eardrums.
But as soon as I answered, "And also with you." The strangeness vanished like magic nullified by a counter-spell. Seems the other students felt the same thing. Yes, all of them. Except one person.
"Unlike giving a greeting, answering a greeting is obligatory," the teacher said.
Then, the girl next to me answered quietly, "And also with you." Instantly, her body jolted as if freed from invisible shackles.
The teacher repeated his greeting, "Peace be with you."
This time, my breath caught. It felt like air disappeared from this room. So with the remaining air in my lungs, I answered his greeting. "And also with you."
The other students experienced the same difficulty. They struggled more until some were pounding their chests.
"Answer!"
The teacher's command was very clear. No matter how difficult your condition, answering his greeting is mandatory.
"And also with you!" they shouted in unison, and they breathed a sigh of relief afterwards.
"One more time," the teacher said.
This time with a warning. I'm sure this will be the heaviest greeting yet. I prepared myself for whatever abnormal conditions would occur. Whatever happens, answer the greeting!
"Peace be with you."
"And also with you—huh?"
I immediately answered his greeting to minimize interference when answering. However, when my answer was completely spoken, something strange happened.
What is this? I'm like hallucinating in a vast flower field. The aroma of petrichor on dew-covered ground, warmly greeted by the caress of sunlight. I lost control of my body and fell backwards into the allure of flowers.
Until the impact of my head on the lush low plants brought me back to the mortal realm. What my eyes caught was the view of the classroom ceiling. I corrected my sitting position and observed the teacher again. He stood motionless with his mouth shut tight.
I looked around. Some were face-down on desks, some were still looking up like I just was. One by one regained consciousness and it seems I was the first to break free from the illusion of the teacher's third greeting. For a moment, our eyes met. Then the teacher's eyeballs traveled around the entire class.
It took 30 seconds until the last person broke free from the third greeting's illusion. The teacher then said, "Thirty seconds. Even after I gave a warning, some of you didn't prepare mentally."
That last person wasn't fully conscious yet. Their face looked like someone forced to wake up at two in the morning. They weren't even aware the person the teacher was referring to was themself.
"Terrible! Oh, truly terrible!" He knocked on the teacher's desk with the ring stone on the ring finger of his right hand. "I hope the next meeting won't be this bad."
We were all silent. As the empire's leading magic academy, maybe this class's student quality is far below his expectations. However, that doesn't mean we're low so he can just trample us. We haven't even learned anything here yet. If your expectation is for all new students to be geniuses, just change this place's name to council, not academy!
"My name is Zosima Amber. Your homeroom teacher for the next year. I represent all instructors and academy administrators in saying welcome to Marilyn Magic Academy."
"I hope those of you in this major understand well the concept of spiritual magic. Then for those who don't understand at all, I hope you study further after this, because I will only explain simply so you get an initial picture of what spiritual magic is."
The teacher took chalk and wrote two distant phrases: "Magia Naturalis" and "Magia Sacra".
"The magical world—or Ars Magia—is divided into two branches, namely Magia Naturalis and Magia Sacra. With you being in this class, it means you have stepped into Magia Sacra, or what we commonly know as spiritual magic."
The teacher crossed out Magia Naturalis.
"In Magia Sacra, there are four derivative disciplines." He wrote four words under Magia Sacra. "Miraculorum (Miracles), Maledictionis (Curses), Orationis (Prayer), and Revelationis (Revelation)."
The teacher stretched his body after writing while bent over. "Of these four, which category does the greeting I said fall into?"
As I recall he said he'd convey it simply. This... simple? In what way?
Haaah.... Alright. Miracles, curses, prayer, revelation. Based on the unpleasant effects we experienced, the teacher's greeting could be categorized as a curse. Although the third one felt peaceful and pleasant to the soul, someone who's enchanted might not want their consciousness to return to the real world. This is like the demon king's temptation that deceives humans with the river in his left hand. So, the answer is Maledictionis.
Just as I was about to raise my hand, someone beat me to it. "Maledictionis, sir!" they said.
"Maledictionis. What makes you think so?"
"A curse usually comes with its antidote. So when you say a greeting that contains a spell, then answering the greeting is the antidote."
"Good thinking. What's your name?"
"Alberti Mikhail, sir."
"Mikhail, I'll follow your way of thinking. 'Every curse will come with its antidote'. If we take the Magia Naturalis perspective, your hypothesis can also mean 'every magic will have its counter', right?"
"Right."
"Then, if I say 'every miracle has its cancellation', wouldn't my greeting also be correct if called a miracle?"
"That's... true...."
The teacher smiled. "You might have the consideration that the unpleasant effect when delaying answering the greeting is a curse. However, curses aren't always something unpleasant. Didn't you feel it when answering the third greeting?
"Your way of thinking is correct if this is Magia Naturalis study. However, Magia Sacra has a different concept. In the context of the greeting I said, its characteristics can be identified at the semantic level. Try saying the greeting."
"Peace be with you."
"What does it mean?" the teacher asked.
All students were silent.
"The one giving the greeting hopes your life is filled with peace and prosperity. Hope, in other words, prayer."
Prayer. Orationis.
"Ooooohh!!!" All the students realized it.
Turns out it's that simple. That sentence is clearly a prayer. A greeting is a prayer. Why didn't I think of that from the start?
This... is fun!