The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

Chapter 152: Second Pupil in Antiquity

Chapter 152: Second Pupil in Antiquity

“…What should we do now, Master Bright?”

“There’s no need to be concerned, Instructor. Alfred is tending to her at the reception room.”

“Then why are the both of you hiding under this bed? With me, you, and Master all down here, it’s getting pretty cramped!”

“Yes, and it’s sooo fluffy…”

“Heh heh~~”

Now she’s liking it…

“Instructor Poer, I dare say Ferris is trying to get you to be her magic instructor as well.”

“…Yes. The look in her eyes certainly suggested so. But wouldn’t that equal meddling with another household’s affairs? Master Bright, if you could say something to convince her-“

“I’m afraid that cannot be done. No matter what I say to that tomboy… Ah. Apologies for the language.”

Bright’s patience is thrown off this badly… That girl must be quite a pushy one.

That, and exceedingly stubborn. That would be a fitting resemblance to Hornel.

“So, Master… how about we try and keep Bright away from her?”

“I AM trying to keep him away… and look where it got us. Besides, who knows what Sir Alfred will say if we go into town just like this? It’s another story if we were dealing with a kidnapper, but it’s the Adams household. They’re on friendly terms, you know.”

“Well, for starters… let us make sure that the worst does not come to pass.”

“What do you propose we do, then?”

With me questioning young Bright’s statement, he quietly continued,

“We’ll have her return home within the day.”

??????????

“Little Fire!”

“Wha?!”

“Hup.”

Bright narrowly avoided the Little Fire spell that had come flying at him; I then caught it in my hand and crushed it.

And the lesson has just started… Things sure are escalating quickly.

I had agreed to teach both Bright and Ferris just for today, but it looks like I’ve ended up with a stereotypical bully-girl-and-bullied-boy combination.

“Lady Ferris, you have to stop shooting magic spells at people.”

“Oh, my hands only slipped.”

Not that I was one to talk, having done the same to Pochi for centuries.

Ah, yes, my hands sure would slip quite often when Pochi is in front of me…

The major difference was that Pochi would retaliate with tricks of her own, but Bright wouldn’t do that toward Ferris.

That might result in worsening the two families’ relationships, after all. That, and he probably didn’t want to cause unnecessary trouble for his sister.

“So what powerful spells will you be teaching me?”

“Powerful spells? Oh, you wish. Since your hands still slip while handling an elementary-level spell, we will work on amending that flaw first.”

“Little Fire!”

“Oof-“

That went straight at my face! What a dangerous kid…

“Do not worry. As you could see, I am very much capable of aiming.”

Yeah, AT ME!

I heaved a deep, deep sigh, with a greatly troubled expression on my face, but it seemed that young Ferris still failed to understand my message.

Bright conveyed to me with the look in his eyes that she was just this kind of person – a totally predictable tomboy princess.

“All right, then… I have heard that you have been taught magic by your father, Lady Ferris. How much have you learned?”

“…Well, I have mastered Little Fire and Cure!”

Young Ferris said, as if boasting.

“…Um, anything other than those?”

“What? Is that not enough?”

…I would like to assume that the Master of House Adams hadn’t taught young Ferris that much out of consideration of her character.

If that was true, would it be safe for me to go ahead and teach her?

And would it be all right to leave the final decision to young Bright?

“Well, no… that’s not what I meant.”

See how I stopped my face’s twitching and transitioned it smoothly to a smile? That’s worthy of praise, people. Praise me!

“Shiro, you can teach elementary-level magic, right?”

“Oh, I can teach up to the intermediate level, no problem! And when it comes to technical knowledge, I’m already beyond advanced, I say!”

Pochi certainly looked proud of herself while saying all that. When did she even learn all that stuff, though…?

“Then you oversee and support Master Bright’s invocation process. Prioritize his safety if it looks like things will get dangerous.”

“Leave it to me, sir!”

“Now then, Lady Ferris.”

“What is it?”

“Could you invoke Little Fire again? This time, aim it right at me.”

“Heh, of course! …Little Fire!”

Good drawing speed – it’s apparent that she’s been using the same spell often.

Though on the contrary, it IS a problem that she hasn’t been playing with anything else…

I put my index finger in the path of the Little Fire. Seeing that, young Ferris’ face twitched in surprise.

She had probably expected me to at least defend, not take the full brunt of it. I mean, it is NOT good to do that, but this was for the sake of the lesson.

“W-what?! You could have easily deflected it! Why did you-?!”

“Owowowow… Well… I took it on purpose.”

“Anyone can clearly see that!”

I held up the index finger I had used for young Ferris to see.

She tried to look away from the fresh burning wound, but I harshened my voice to keep her attention.

“…So, what now?”

“Could you cast Cure for me?”

“…That’s your idea of a test? All right, fine… Cure!”

Her drawing speed for the recovery spell was below average. Can’t blame her, though, since it’s not necessarily often that one would find themselves needing to use it.

The wound on my finger started to heal, but then the effect ended halfway through the process.

“W-what?! But why?”

“The Cure spell can be used to heal wounds, but not burns. You will need a separate recovery-type spell for the latter.”

“…T-then hurry up and teach me!”

Ferris seemed slightly embarrassed to ask that, what with her frowning and turning away.

…Then she looked straight up pissed when I handed her a copy of the magic textbook. She did proceed to read it, though.

All the while, Ferris kept glancing at Bright; she probably felt a sense of rivalry, and also some sort of affection, towards him.

Quite proactive for someone so young.

Now, all things considered… teaching young Ferris a variety of attack spells is a scary prospect.

I suppose it’d be better to have her focus on recovery and support for now.

She wouldn’t necessarily be against it, and some elementary-level support spells should be easy enough to learn within the day.

“So, Lady Ferris, what kind of mage would you like to be?”

“I want to slay the Blazing Dragon!”

“…Come again?”

“Do you not know? It’s more commonly called the Lord Dragon; think of it as an oversized lizard.”

“I do know what it is, but why the Blazing Dragon specifically?”

“…Does that matter? I thought wanting to is what’s important here!”

Seeing how she was ticked off at that last part, she must have some sort of hidden agenda. But still, a Blazing Dragon, huh…

I proceeded to teach young Ferris how to cast Speed Up and Title Up, while young Bright worked on the formula-less methods of elementary-level spells and improving its construction stability.

Then in the evening, at just about the time for today’s lessons to end, Alfred came up to us.

While Ferris struggled with her magic textbook, Alfred downed deeply to her, and then brought about ‘the end’ by stating the following:

“Lady Ferris, an escort has arrived for you.”

“All right, I’ll go now.”

Oh, I had expected her to put up more… resistance.

Young Bright heaved a sigh and clenched his fists, while also taking care that Ferris didn’t notice him doing so.

Young Ferris, on the other hand, said nothing as she stood up then walked away.

“…She just left without a word.”

“You know what they say about storms, sir… it’s always peaceful before they come and after they go.”

“Right. Anyway, once Master Bright is done with his prayers, let’s tidy the place up.”

“Yes, sir.”

I lightly patted Pochi on her head, and proceeded to turn around.

But then, behind me… I heard footsteps getting louder and louder, even though they were supposed to have gone away.

Pochi and I turned immediately around, and sure enough, we saw the young lady standing there, looking high and mighty.

Young Bright was already at his limit, too… Is she trying to pull something again?

“Lady Ferris, is something the matter?”

“Nothing, nothing at all. Come on, let’s pick up from where we left off.”

“Hmm? …Um, are you not supposed to head back home?”

“Who even told you that? I had only sent my escort back to get me a change of clothes. I have decided to stay right here for the time being, after all.”

Upon hearing that, young Bright face-planted onto the backyard lawn, while holding his prayer pose.

Really makes me wonder… what in the blazes have I come to the past for, anyway?