Just like last week, this Friday's morning lecture was with Sera and Aria.
"Advanced Applications of Mana Circuits." I was being pestered by the two of them before this lecture, which was practically mandatory for students in the Dept. of Spellcraft like Sera and Aria.
"Urr, when are we starting the Study Group?"
Sera sat down on my right and linked her arm with mine. My body tilted halfway to the right, and Sera gently pulled me as if suggesting I should lean on her. Whether it was because of our weight difference or not, I was helplessly drawn toward her regardless of whether I resisted.
I tried to resist at first, but as my posture collapsed, I soon found myself leaning against Sera. Since it wasn't exactly unpleasant, I unconsciously surrendered to her comforting warmth.
While nestled against her, I rolled my eyes, but I had nothing to offer in response to Sera's question.
"...Good question?"
I didn't know anything. I had only asked if they wanted to join the Study Group I was forming, but since I wasn't going to be teaching systematically right away, there wasn't much I could decide.
Wouldn't the Professor match his schedule with the students when he had time? If some students could join and others couldn't, the Professor would have to see them in turns, which seemed troublesome.
After serious consideration, the right answer was to just go along with whatever the Professor suggested, so there was no need for me to add anything.
"When do you think... Urr will become independent?"
While I was awkwardly responding to Sera's question, Aria gently pulled me from the left. Just as I thought I might escape from Sera's embrace, I ended up in Aria's arms instead.
With a soft "poof," an even softer sensation than before enveloped me.
Maybe it was because the Professor hugged me often, but I was surprisingly accustomed to being held in someone's arms. And without realizing it, I even found it pleasant. Soft, gentle, and warm. I liked that feeling.
"What's this about independence?"
But separate from that, Aria's words caught my attention, so I slightly raised my eyes to look up at her. Aria met my gaze with her golden eyes and a contained smile.
"You need to be independent so you can go places with me."
I gave a wry smile at Aria's eye-smile.
"Um, is there a reason you're holding me like this?"
More importantly, I was concerned about Sera and Aria holding onto me like they were playing tug-of-war. At first, I thought I was just leaning against Sera, but now that Aria had joined in, I felt like my arms were going to stretch.
While getting taller would be nice for me, I was terrified that only my arms would end up longer at this rate.
"This is how girls normally play around."
Sera said that as she moved her chair closer. Since she couldn't pull me closer while holding my arm, she seemed to have chosen to approach me instead. I could definitely feel Sera pressing against my body more than before.
Girls all play like this...? Come to think of it, it did seem that way... I think I've seen girls walking arm-in-arm in school hallways before, so maybe this was normal.
As I hesitated and tilted my head wondering if that was the case, Aria gently pulled my arm.
"Don't lean on Urr too much. Urr needs to be hugged."
"N-no... I'm fine."
Sera was trying to lean on me, and Aria was trying to hug me. Because of this, our postures collapsed like dominoes. Starting with Sera, it was as if I was being passed to Aria.
Of course, Aria didn't fall over. She hugged me firmly while keeping her back straight. She held the back of my head and pressed it against her chest, which left me shocked.
"Whoa..."
"Comfortable, right?"
Aria asked in a flat voice.
I felt self-conscious about whether this was appropriate with people watching. Because of that, my first thought was to say it was uncomfortable when she asked if it was comfortable. I groaned as I felt Sera's weight.
Sera must have thought she was pressing on me too much, so she supported herself with her arm and stood up.
"Aren't you going too far?"
Aria shrugged off the complaint directed at her. Meanwhile, I managed to slip away as her arm strength loosened, feeling bewildered by the sensation against my cheek.
Whether this was how everyone normally played around or not, these actions were too shocking for me.
Isn't it normal for people of the same gender to avoid contact for more than three seconds? No, is that just for men...? Even so, this lack of hesitation in physical contact was just...
While I was at a loss amid these indescribable feelings, the Professor's arrival announcing the start of the lecture silenced everyone.
I had to sit through the lecture wedged between Sera and Aria, who had moved their chairs close to me.
The Professor's voice rang out loudly.
"I'm sure you all know that spellcraft is quite difficult."
It was always amazing how the Professor's voice could be heard throughout the tiered lecture hall, whether because the space itself was specially designed or for some other reason.
The Professor took out an oil lighter from his pocket. With a "ting" sound, a flame appeared.
"Creating fire is this easy. However, when you try to make it with magic, it becomes difficult. With the advancement of the world, truly simple magic has become almost obsolete as convenient tools like this have increased."
Click. The sound of the lid covering the flame. The Professor showed the lighter to all the students and looked at it intently.
"But even so, we haven't abandoned the spellcraft for creating fire. The reason is that it's a basic formula that can definitely be used somewhere. Do you know where?"
As "Yes" echoed in response, the Professor moved on without further questions. It seemed he assumed everyone would know since it was something taught in the basics during freshman and sophomore years.
I don't know, though. But since magic looks fun, I'll just listen. I focused my ears with that thought. Honestly, watching and listening to this was now more interesting than studying texts.
I wonder if it's because my wish to come to a world like this occasionally has come true, making me interested in everything.
"It's included in the formulas for engine magic that go into cars right now. That's why we take this magic, disassemble it, break it down, examine it, and then put it back together. And clearly in a new form."
The Professor drew a diagram on the blackboard. It was a Magic Circle. I couldn't read what it was meant to create, but from the flow of the conversation, it was clearly a Magic Circle for creating fire.
The Professor tapped the chalk twice in different places and then turned to the students.
"Now, this is a Magic Circle needed to create fire. Is it easier to use the lighter we just saw? Or to draw this Magic Circle on a Magic Battery or engrave it on a tool? The answer is obvious to anyone. Yet we still believe we can do something with this fire, so we read and understand the Magic Circle, and then reassemble it. As I said in the previous lecture, in a form where everything can mesh together and function."
The Professor began to scatter the Magic Circle he had drawn. Leaving only the circle, the components were drawn in different areas as if they were strewn about.
It was different from Professor Yuria who accompanies me. I appreciated how this male professor's lectures were imbued with research on magic.
He slowly explained what the circle was, what meaning each polygon drawn inside had, and how they were used, before introducing something new and beginning to reassemble it.
It became a completely different shape from before, but the Professor still called it fire magic.
"It's a complex form, but this is also fire. How will you use the fire? Will you add more fuel and increase the firepower? Or will you just use it to boil water? And after that, how will you use it? You must provide answers to those questions."
The male professor unbuttoned his jacket and took out a Magic Battery from an inner pocket. As if he had prepared it in advance for this lecture, he showed it to the students.
And while they were concentrating on it, he channeled Mana into it.
"Using fire to boil water, create steam, break the water particles in the steam into fine pieces, and then cooling them to create a small cloud. This proves that magic doesn't have to be fire magic just because it involves fire."
A small dark cloud floated above the Professor's hand. It looked like it would continue to exist as long as the Professor supplied Mana to the Magic Battery.
It was a bit nerve-wracking because it looked like it might rain at any moment, but the Professor added, as if dismissing the concerns of the students including myself:
"This looks like a dark cloud because it's a shallow cloud with low reflectivity. Let's look at this Magic Circle again and think about how to create such an interesting phenomenon by making everything mesh together."
"Professor?"
Meanwhile, Sera slightly raised her hand. The Professor gestured with his chin as if to say he wouldn't refuse questions.
"Many things have already been created, so is creating something new a matter of creativity? Or is it about testing the limits of spellcraft?"
"Oh, that's an interesting approach. Unfortunately, at this point, I have to say it's both. Since so many things have already been created."
The Professor answered Sera's question with interest, then waved his hand in warning.
"But be careful not to create dangerous magic on your own in the name of creativity, or you could face sanctions."
It seemed that magic was much more complicated than I had thought.