Although Collette might have seemed unreliable at first,
once the classes actually began, that feeling disappeared.
“Before we officially start the lesson, I’d like to ask—are there any students here who have already mastered magic?”
As Collette asked her question, the students began to murmur among themselves.
“Is there anyone among us who can use magic?”
“Hey, Ander, haven’t you already learned magic?”
“That’s right, Ander, show everyone!”
After a bit of chatter, a boy with chestnut-colored hair stepped forward—his name was Ander.
“Teacher Collette, I can use magic.”
“Oh~, your name is Ander, right? What kind of magic can you do? Could you show us?”
“Sure, Teacher Collette.”
Ander nodded, then turned to face everyone.
“My parents are both C-rank adventurers, so they taught me magic from a young age. I’ve already learned First-Tier Fire Magic. Everyone, watch—”
Ander took a firm stance and extended his right hand.
“Flame!”
Whoosh!
A small ball of fire appeared in his palm.
“Nice one!”
His friends cheered for him at once, and many others joined in with applause. Even if it was just First-Tier Magic, Ander was still far ahead of those who hadn’t mastered magic yet.
Collette smiled in satisfaction. “Very good, Ander. Thank you for your demonstration, you may return.”
“Thank you, Teacher Collette.”
As Ander returned to the group, Collette continued, “Is there anyone else who has already mastered magic?”
“Teacher, I can too!”
A small hand shot up in the crowd.
“Alright, please come to the front.”
With that, Fran, a blonde girl with twin ponytails, walked to the front of the group.
Collette smiled as she asked, “What is your name?”
Fran gave a graceful curtsey and introduced herself. “I am Fran Bandon. My father is Baron Bandon, who manages Ment Town. Because he values education highly, I’ve had the privilege of already learning magic.”
“Oh, so you’re the daughter of Baron Bandon. No wonder you can use magic. Fran, what kind of magic do you know?”
Collette inquired further.
“Teacher Collette, I have affinity for the wind element, and I’ve mastered First-Tier Wind Magic.”
Fran answered politely.
“Wind magic, is it? That’s wonderful. Can you show us?”
“It would be my honor.”
Fran bowed again and began to chant.
“[ ΧΡΤΑΟΝΡΤΜ*ΑΤΡΙΟΝΦΥ ]”
“Wind, heed me!”
Whoosh!
A whirlwind burst from Fran’s palm, sending a flurry of dust swirling across the training ground.
Clap! Clap! Clap… The crowd erupted into applause; compared to Ander’s demonstration, Fran’s magic was clearly more dazzling.
“Excellent, Fran. Thank you for your wonderful demonstration. You may return to your place.”
Collette praised her with a smile.
“Excuse me.”
Fran curtsied again before turning to rejoin the group.
As she passed by Huelim, she shot her a provocative glance and whispered, “This time, I win~!”
“Hmph~!”
She strutted off proudly.
Huelim: “?”
Huelim had no idea why Fran suddenly huffed at her, or what contest she supposedly won. She couldn’t remember ever competing with her about anything. After thinking it over, Huelim decided not to bother about it. At the front of the group, Collette was still asking if anyone else could use magic.
Huelim actually did know magic—and not just a little, she’d already mastered a lot of Second-Tier spells—but since she’d decided to keep a low profile from yesterday on, she had no intention of stepping forward to show off.
“No one else knows magic~?”
Collette’s gaze swept back and forth across the crowd.
The students looked around at each other.
“Come to think of it… isn’t Huelim a noble, too?”
“That’s right, Huelim should know magic, shouldn’t she?”
Huelim: “…”
Feeling more and more eyes land on her, and even Collette starting to stare, Huelim had no choice but to raise her hand.
“Teacher Collette, I can as well…”
“Alright, please come to the front!” Collette beckoned her forward with a bright smile.
Huelim made her way through the crowd and soon stood at the front.
“Now then, could you tell us your name?”
Collette still wore her friendly smile.
“Huelim… Huelim Hyerlar.”
“I see~, Huelim Hy… Hyerlar?!”
Collette’s smile suddenly froze, her voice rising a few pitches.
“Um, Teacher Collette, is there a problem with my name?”
“Ah, no, nothing at all… Anyway, Huelim, what kind of magic do you know?”
Collette asked with a slightly awkward smile.
“When it comes to magic, I can do things like ignition, illumination, and cleaning.”
Huelim answered according to her prepared plan. “Oh~, Huelim, you can do quite a few things! Ignition and illumina… Wait, what did you just say?!”
Collette swore she’d prepared thoroughly for today—she’d even rehearsed answers for potential problems, confident she’d make a dependable impression as a teacher.
Yet now, because of the same person, she nearly lost her composure twice in a row.
Collette tried to steady her expression and pressed further:
“No, wait! Huelim, didn’t you just say something strange? Did you mean to say you can use three different kinds of magic?!”
Huelim silently nodded.
Honestly, she hadn’t wanted to reveal her triple affinity right away, but after discussing with Semilis before, she realized using only one kind of magic in public would actually be more suspicious. It was better to let others know she had multiple affinities from the start. Three attributes might be surprising, but it wasn’t unheard of, and she had a perfectly reasonable explanation.
The Hyerlar family had always had many members with no attribute, and her mother, Lilia, was a dual-element light and fire mage. From a genetic standpoint, possessing three attributes would not raise anyone’s suspicion.
And by having the setting of multiple affinities, she’d lower the risk of being exposed as an all-attribute mage in the future. After all, even if she occasionally used other elements in public, people who already knew she was multi-attributed would subconsciously overlook her using magic she supposedly didn’t possess.
If a single-attribute mage did the same, it would be exposed immediately.
For a moment, the training ground fell silent.
Not just Collette—even the students, who’d been studying for two years, knew that having multiple attributes was extremely rare.
“Um… Huelim, could you show us?”
…. Collette asked gingerly, not even knowing herself why she felt so nervous.
“Of course, Teacher Collette.”
Huelim nodded, then extended her right hand and chanted quickly.
“【ドPタ+