Well, this is a bit sudden, but here's a question!
Why is it that I, Lumina Stillus, at the hungriest time of the day at school,
"Mages, regardless of rank, need to recognise that we are all, in a sense, archaeologists. That's because to exercise magic, one must know the ancient language. Well, you are all students of the Magic Faculty, so some of you may have known this from before enrolling..."
under the murderous glares of the girls,
with a twinge of guilt over the reeking inferiority of some of the boys,
"... and so, in other words, most of the magic that exists today can be considered the great wisdom our predecessors left behind for us. When we take magic that has been preserved in one form or another, such as on stone tablets or in orbs, decipher it, and make various improvements, we call that Magic..."
Do I really have to sit through a lecture from my own brother?!
The prestigious Shestaclove Academy. The royal capital Grenol's finest educational institute. That said, in reality it's rather more of a social club for nobles. 70% of the student body consists of rich young masters and young ladies, and the remaining 30% are the genuinely capable who have passed the rigorous entrance exam. I am, of course, in the latter group. Impressive, right?
I suppose we could have come up with the amount of money that would make the Headmaster happily admit me, but my brother would never do that. Because he's Onii-chan. The day I so much as hinted at wanting backdoor admission, Onii-chan would surely issue Eleanor with a one-month risotto ban.
I got in with fairly good grades.
When it came time to choose my track in my third year, I didn't even glance at the many options like the Knight Faculty, Arts Faculty, General Faculty, and went for the Magic Faculty. I'm sure I was shining brighter than anyone else that day when I finished filling out the form!
I entered the Magic Faculty as a fourth year at fourteen, and now I'm fifteen, so I'm in my second year of the Magic Faculty.
And once you hit that second year, you have to start applying the fundamentals that got drilled into you in the first, and as part of that, they sometimes invite important people in.
Important people are, well, important. Authorities in some kind of magic, or pioneers who have invented a new kind of magic, that sort of person. Being told about the status of important people doesn't really land with us students.
So, anyway.
I knew that an important person in the field of magic was coming today for a special class.
Since Onii-chan had told me.
"Oh, by the way, tomorrow someone called the Chief's Assistant is going to the Academy, so listen to what he has to say."
He'd said. I didn't really know what the job of "Chief's Assistant" entailed, but for now I registered him as someone less important than Onii-chan. So I wasn't excited or anything.
After first period, I was being herded to the auditorium, blending in with the excited students who were wondering who was coming.
"Lumina-san, are you not feeling well...?"
"Not at all. I find this a bit of a hassle."
"Oh my."
The young lady laughing elegantly next to me is my friend from the Academy. Her wavy black hair was shoulder length, and glossy. On top of that she's cute and has a great personality. She's friendly even with a commoner like me.
I stepped into the auditorium while chatting with her. The thought of having to listen to a lecture for the next two hours all the way until lunch was daunting. I took my seat, longing for the packed lunch in my bag back at the classroom.
The auditorium is laid out like a theatre. The seats rise in tiers, and there was a single desk on the stage at the front.
What sort of person is coming? Someone kind? Hopefully it's someone who doesn't mind if I doze off.
I thought as I struggled to keep my eyelids from closing.
It was about time for it to start.
I felt that when all the lights in the hall went out.
I opened my eyes, focused on the wings of the stage, and waited. And that was when,
"... Huh?"
Around me, everyone rustled and lost their composure. My drowsiness vanished.
The auditorium that had been in front of us a moment ago was gone, and we were surrounded by a sky studded with twinkling stars.
The stage, the ceiling, and the walls had all vanished. Only the tiered seats where we students sat were floating in the night sky.
"What is this?"
"How beautiful..."
"Magic, or no, sorcery?"
Most of the other students were gazing at the stars in confusion, but there were some who were looking at the buzzing students in suspicion.
"Huh? What's up?"
"Did something happen?"
They were probably still seeing the ordinary auditorium.
--- Ah, could this be...
As if to confirm my suspicion, a voice suddenly rang out.
"If you can't see the starry sky, please raise your hands."
Even though he wasn't shouting, there was something familiar about his clear voice.
The few people who raised their hands as if drawn to do so were, for some reason, all staring blankly towards the stage. Their raised hands even looked as though they were shaking.
Thud.
Along with the sound of something hard striking the floor, the starry sky vanished.
Those around me, still in a dreamlike haze, gradually turned their gazes towards the stage. And then fell speechless.
The person standing there had a shoulder-length staff planted on the stage floor. That had been the source of the sound.
A familiar black robe, familiar golden hair, and a familiar face...
The air in the auditorium shuddered.
"And now, those of you who still see a starry sky, please raise your hands as well."
A few more hands went up.
They didn't seem to know what was going on, and looked around uneasily.
The guy on the stage tapped his staff once more.
The illusion seemed to dissolve for them as well. They caught him in their sight and dropped their mouths open in astonishment once again.
He observed our reactions with a smile and, without any voice amplification at all, began his greeting.
"As it happens, the Chief's Assistant was supposed to be speaking with you all today, but he collapsed on the way over, so we've had to change the lecturer last minute. My own poor management is partly to blame, but I'd be grateful if you could let it pass as the sort of thing that tends to happen with research-loving mages."
Everyone has surely worked out who he is. As proof, some of the students were already looking at me.
Being given "Is that really him?" faces... I'd like to know myself.
Because that guy, my own Onii-chan, nobody had told me he was coming!!!
"Pleased to make your acquaintance. I am the Chief Court Mage, Louis Stillus."
The room went into a frenzy.
"Uh, uhm... really?"
"The real one...?"
"Oh dear... how wonderful..."
"First time seeing him in person!"
"I thought they were lying about the Chief still being young..."
All of you who are amazed by the way he makes his staff vanish from his hand are clearly not used to magic. I can't do that either, but I am used to seeing it.
A boy in the seat behind me was muttering, "That face is cheating, c'mon." And he had a point. Even setting aside my family bias, Onii-chan has an incredible appearance and presence.
You can graduate from the Academy at seventeen, but becoming Chief at eighteen is absolutely unthinkable. Just the fact that he isn't much older than us is enough to crush us.
The Stillus household isn't a noble household, but there are plenty of nobles who'd like to take him in as a son-in-law for fresh blood. The man the young ladies go crazy over. A mage without peer. That's my Onii-chan.
"For Louis-sama to come to the Academy..."
"I feel as though I'm dreaming..."
It is impressive how Onii-chan accepts the heated gazes of the young ladies with a smile. I suppose student fawning is mere child's play compared to the women who approach him with their grown-up bodies as weapons.