Chapter 226 - About the Karvan Kingdom

After that, Jameson left Wintervalley accompanied by Ardbeg. As Jameson departed, hurling abuse that lacked even a shred of royal dignity, Glenn let out a weary sigh with a look of utter exasperation.

"Ahh... This is going to become a dispute with the most troublesome nation..."

Glenn murmured, gazing distantly at the sky visible through the window. I steeled myself and spoke.

"I'll go directly to the Karvan Kingdom and explain the full circumstances. That way, we might avoid the worst-case scenario."

When I said that, Glenn smiled wryly and shook his head.

"No, no, I can't let you, an instructor, do something like that. Unlike with the Elven Kingdom, you don't have any particular business in the Karvan Kingdom, do you? Come now, I may only be a marquis in name, but I'm still a noble of a great nation. I'll find a way through."

Glenn said that, putting up a brave front.

"...I see. But if anything happens, please tell me immediately. I will find a way to take responsibility."

"Hmm, when you say that, Aoi-kun, it's reassuring indeed."

At my words, Glenn laughed as he always did.

The next day, I held a lecture on General Magic Theory about the changes in matter that I had explained to Ardbeg.

"...And so, when a substance changes from solid to liquid to gas, its volume expands rapidly. When that force exceeds a certain threshold, it results in what we call an explosion. If you understand this and apply it to your magic, you will be able to achieve several times the effect with the same amount of magical power."

As I summarized, the instructors reacted first.

"I see, so that's why water and ice magic produce different effects."

"Ice magic has been classified as intermediate or higher because it consumes more magical power and requires more complex manipulation, but based on that explanation, water magic can actually produce greater effects depending on the situation."

"Depending on the situation... In that sense, we should reconsider how we use other types of magic as well."

The veteran instructors quickly grasped the implications of changes in matter. Those with experience or prior knowledge understood rapidly. Conversely, the students who had only recently begun learning magic seemed unable to fully visualize what "changes in matter" meant.

How could I make it easier to understand?

Looking at the students exchanging glances and tilting their heads, I searched for a clearer way to explain.

"...Very well. Let me show you an actual change in matter."

After saying that, I immediately activated ice magic.

I raised my hand, palm up, in front of my face. A block of ice floated just above it.

"This is the solid state. If I turn this substance into water directly..."

Huh?

I transformed the ice into water, creating a sphere of liquid. But the volume didn't increase. Everyone listening to the lecture blinked in confusion.

And then I finally realized.

"...Come to think of it, for water, the solid state actually has a larger volume. I completely overlooked that..."

As I muttered that, Speyside, who was attending the lecture, furrowed his brow and spoke.

"...Why is water different? And more importantly, what other substances change from solid to liquid to gas?"

He asked, clearly confused, and I held my head in my hands, wondering how to handle this.

"I apologize. I've caused confusion. Since I would need to explain down to the smallest unit—what we call molecules—I'll cover that another day. For now, the important thing is to understand the phenomenon that volume changes dramatically when a substance shifts from liquid or solid to gas. Let's try a demonstration."

Regaining my composure, I vaporized the sphere of water I had suspended in the air. The classroom was instantly filled with steam. The visibility turned completely white, and I couldn't even see my own hands, so I quickly returned it to liquid form.

"...There. As I just showed, when water becomes a gas, its density decreases and its volume increases. Using this phenomenon, I extinguished the flames of the mage from the Karvan Kingdom the other day. I forced water into the center of the flames and used the heat to expand it from within."

When I explained that, everyone finally seemed to understand. It was a fundamental concept, but understanding science required gradual progress. In a way, it might be worth introducing a Japanese-style educational curriculum alongside magic studies.

Mathematics, chemistry, and physics should be valid in this world as well. Of course, I also thought it would be good to include basic life skills and common knowledge as subjects.

However, to do that, we were severely understaffed. For a world developed through magic, those areas seemed to be lagging behind. There weren't enough instructors, and there were few facilities equivalent to schools.

With those thoughts in mind, I continued the lecture that day.

"Then, I'll conclude today's lecture. Please try experimenting with the changes in water. You can apply it to water magic, and as I demonstrated, it can also help you counter an opponent's magic."

"Yes!"

When I gave the closing announcement, the students from the lower division responded enthusiastically. Students who gave good responses left a very favorable impression. Given everything that had happened recently, even small things like that made me genuinely happy.

As I left the lecture hall and walked lightly down the corridor, I heard hurried footsteps approaching from behind.

"Professor Aoi."

I turned at the call and saw a slightly short, blond-haired boy. Barrel Black. He hadn't attended my lectures much before, but he was a curious student who occasionally approached me. However, his skill was genuine — though he was only fourteen and should have been in the middle division, he was already attending upper-division lectures. Rumors said he only used intermediate magic to avoid getting involved in trouble, but he had already mastered advanced-level magic in multiple attributes.

Personally, I found him an unpredictable boy whose thoughts were hard to read.

"Barrel-kun. What brings you here?"

I called his name and asked if something was wrong. Barrel looked up at me with an unusually serious expression.

"...I heard a rumor. Is it true you fought Prince Jameson?"

At that question, I remembered that Barrel was from the same Karvan Kingdom, a son of a ducal house.

"No, I simply used magic within the academy grounds, neutralized them, and sent them home. It wasn't anything worth calling a fight."

I answered with a wry smile, and Barrel's cheek twitched into an odd grin.

"H-Haha... I heard you defeated Ardbeg, the Royal Court Magician, but from your perspective, it wasn't even a fight, huh?"

Barrel muttered that and shook his head wearily.

"Before, I would have given you advice, Professor, but now that I know your true power, I'm actually worried about my homeland instead. Still, the Karvan Kingdom is one of the six great nations with a high level of military strength, so I think you should avoid a direct confrontation."

Barrel spoke as if he expected me to go to war with the Karvan Kingdom. I couldn't help but furrow my brow.

"...Why do you speak as if I'm about to go to war with the Karvan Kingdom? If it comes to a dispute, I'll go directly to explain the situation. If I present the reasons, they should understand well enough."

Barrel shrugged at my reply.

"You don't know the king of the Karvan Kingdom, do you? Well, he's my country's king, and he's... a bit of an eccentric."

Barrel said that with a laugh, then raised one hand with a wry smile.

"Well, I hope it all ends without incident. For both sides' sake."

Leaving those words behind, Barrel turned and walked back the way he came. Watching his retreating figure, I pondered the meaning of his words.

Barrel Black was the son of a ducal house in the Karvan Kingdom. I had met and spoken with the current head of the Black Duchy before, and he was an unpredictable person in a different way from Barrel. Still, he wasn't impossible to talk to—he had listened to what I had to say.

Considering that, I had assumed they would at least hear me out, but apparently it wouldn't be that simple.

"...The king of the Karvan Kingdom. What kind of person is he?"

Curious, I decided to ask around and find out.