Overpowered Archmage Doesn’t Hide His Talent

Chapter 35: Can You Be a Maid?

Chapter 35 – Can You Be a Maid?

I stepped on one of the black cotton gloves with my heel.

“Agghh?!”

It was not an ordinary glove, but Hera.

Hera, who was crushed under my shoe, made a strange noise. In fact, she had been making weird noises all along.

I was so angry at her attitude that I tampered with the mana circuits all over her.

Anyway, that was the result of my action.

It was not worth spending time on such trivial things as venting. I was not that lowly.

But a spirit artifact had to be tamed very well to make it easier to use in the future. That’s why I was putting myself through this trouble.

“Ma, master…! Please stop looking at me…!”

Hera whimpered in a pitiful voice. I asked quietly.

“Master? Who?”

“You are my true master! Hah?! No, no, don’t step on that!”

I sighed deeply. Why was the spirit inside this artifact like this?

“Except for your abilities, you have no use anywhere. Remember that.”

It was literally true. If Hera’s abilities were not decent, I would have… completely dismantled her and scattered her in the lake.

“It’s hard to say it myself, but do you know how amazing I am? I can do any magic calculation for you!”

“That’s the most useless ability. You pathetic thing.”

Squish, I pressed Hera harder with my heel.

“Hyaaah?!”

“Why do you need assistance for calculation in the first place. Isn’t that right?”

“Wow, cool! Please let me serve you as your master!”

The ability to assist with magic calculation was not a big merit for me. However, she had other abilities that were quite excellent.

“You mentioned that you were a spirit of the night.”

“Yes. That’s right! I’m Hera, the spirit of the night! That’s me!”

The moment I made a contract with her and became her master, I would get a great boost for using mana in the dark.

Output, speed, mana consumption rate, number… All those factors would be enhanced by the trait of being a spirit of the night.

It was undoubtedly a great effect.

“If you make a contract, you can use my mana as much as you want. No, please use it. I’ll serve you as your master! Okay?”

This part was also a huge merit.

Being able to use Hera’s mana as my own meant, in other words, that my total mana would increase.

Moreover, spirits (英靈) grow along with their masters by nature. If I made a contract, the efficiency of mana growth would also improve.

As I was thinking about these things, Hera added hastily.

“Don’t you like short-distance teleportation? It’s only twice a day, but most spirits can’t do it… Ah, I don’t care! Please let me serve you as your master!”

I liked Hera’s ability itself. But there were a few conditions that we had to agree on before we made a contract.

“There are conditions.”

“Conditions? What conditions? I’ll follow them unconditionally!”

“First, don’t question any of my actions.”

“I’ll do that! I’ll do that!”

The answer came back right away, which was a passing score. But there was still the most important condition left.

“Second, don’t open your mouth without my permission.”

“Is that all you need to become my master? Huh?”

“I haven’t given you permission to open your mouth yet.”

“…”

Then Hera shut her mouth immediately.

“I like that.”

I nodded and picked her up.

Now I had a spirit artifact. It was the biggest achievement I had gained since I was reborn in this body.

If I used Hera and worked hard, I would be able to prepare for the knight academy and the duel without any trouble.

I turned around and headed to the dormitory. I had done everything I needed to do.

◈

Three days later, the A-class students finally gathered in one classroom.

The week of free time provided by Violet was finally over. The students who met each other after a long time spilled out their stories.

Where they went… What they did with whom… They were the usual topics for students of that age.

Of course, there were some stories that bothered me a bit.

“Did you hear that rumor? Two people went missing.” “Of course I did. They disappeared without a trace.” “It’s creepy… Could it be the villains again?” “It must be. I’m scared to death because of them these days.”

As I listened to that story more and more, someone hugged my left arm tightly.

“Flan, I’m glad you’re safe!”

It was Yushia. Her distinctive clean cotton scent tickled my nose, and her voluminous chest pressed my arm hard.

I didn’t miss the sign of her approaching, but I didn’t feel like avoiding her hug. It was a strange thing.

‘I’ll have to research it.’

Why was I so lenient towards Yushia? I added it as one of the problems I had to prove in a corner of my mind.

And I pulled my hand out for now. I didn’t care about the eyes of others, but I hated long contact with others.

Yushia opened her eyes wide and looked over my body.

“I was worried… I was afraid that the missing student might be Flan, and I couldn’t sleep well, but I’m glad you’re safe!”

“Was there a student missing?”

I didn’t know anything about this topic that the other students were talking about excitedly.

I had been devoted to training and reading for the past three days.

Thanks to that, my mana became more refined, and my total mana was also increasing smoothly.

Meanwhile, Yushia nodded.

“Yes. Two second-year students disappeared without a trace… It seems to be the work of the villains.”

“Villains (惡人)?”

“Yes. They are the ones who sold their souls and gained power unfairly.”

I already knew that from Sephia. But what I wanted was more detailed information.

“How strong are the villains?”

“They are very strong! They sacrificed their souls for that. They easily surpass the skills of ordinary magicians!”

Yushia waved her arms wildly to emphasize the strength of the villains.

She drew the largest circle she could with her own arm, which was rather cute.

“The problem is the contagion. The villains are very good at exploiting the human’s weak heart… If the two missing people became villains, there is a high chance that they will spread to the surroundings.”

“The key is to find and deal with them as soon as possible.”

“Oh! That’s right! You’re amazing, Flan!”

Yushia looked at me with sparkling eyes.

On the other hand, I was speechless. To be precise, Sephia was outrageous.

‘…She compared me to those lowlifes.’

She was looking down on me a lot.

“Flan, I’ll stay by your side from now on! I’ll protect you from the villains!”

Yushia pounded her chest with a loud bang, bang.

The male students’ eyes naturally drifted to Yushia’s chest. Especially Martin, who was staring blatantly.

“I don’t need it.”

I brushed her off. I didn’t need anyone’s protection.

Yushia puffed up her cheeks and tried to argue, but then I smelled roses from the right.

“Hey, Flan.”

It was Becky. As soon as I saw her face, I handed her a trivia.

“What’s this all of a sudden? Oh, it’s my trivia. Right.”

Becky put the trivia in her pocket nervously, then whispered to me.

“Flan, what are you doing? Why are you chatting with another girl…?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I don’t even say hello to other boys. You shouldn’t hang out with girls either…”

“Becky.”

I called her name. We had something important to talk about.

“『Destruction and Prejudice』. Did you summarize it?”

“Huh? Oh…”

Becky’s expression turned sour. She rummaged through her bag and handed me a few papers.

“Here… But we’re really going shopping, right?”

“I don’t break my promises.”

Just as Becky’s face brightened up.

“Listen up.”

Someone suddenly shoved a white paper at me. It was Hailey.

I unconsciously furrowed my brows. In my previous world, I had a student who handed me a report like this and I hung him upside down.

The world has become a better place. Or should I say, I came to a better world.

“You guys write too. Everyone else did.”

Hailey’s words made me, Becky, and Yushia look at the paper.

ㅡGo Louis! ㅡYou’re handsome and good at magic, what can’t you do… ㅡGive me some love ㅡDo well in the duel!

The paper was filled with the students’ handwriting. Becky parted her lips and tilted her head.

“What is this? A rolling paper?”

Hailey swept her hair back behind her ears and nodded.

“Yeah. Louis is going to compete as the first-year representative. We have to cheer him up at least this much.”

“Sure… Well, it seems like everyone else wrote something too…”

Becky agreed easily and picked up a pen. Then she asked.

“Who’s competing from the knight academy?”

“Ivan.”

Those three letters made Becky’s hand stop.

“Wh, what? Ivan? Ivan is competing?”

Becky asked again as if she doubted her own ears.

“Is Ivan really competing? Then what’s the point of cheering? We’re doomed anyway!”

“We still have to cheer him up for participating. It’s better than not doing anything, right?”

“Sure… But Ivan is competing…”

Becky shook her head incredulously.

“Louis could have done well in the combat category, too bad. If only his opponent wasn’t Ivan, it would have been a close call.”

“I know. Of all people…”

“How can the magic academy win against the knight academy? I told Louis to just relax.”

“That’s true.”

Becky stuck out her tongue. That’s when I opened my mouth.

“Can you be a maid?”

At that, Becky’s hand stopped again. The eyes of the three women widened and turned to me.

Hailey asked me.

“A maid…?”

“Yeah. Are you proud of your master who is facing defeat? Why do you have to beg for something like this?”

“Ma, master? Beg? Did you just say beg?”

Hailey’s expression hardened. I nodded at her.

I have had many experiences of encouraging others in my life. But they were all worthy of encouragement.

I always emphasize.

A magician lives by intuition and self-confidence. Those who take failure or defeat for granted are not magicians.

They value participation. They can’t win against the knight academy anyway…

This kind of talk is too much for encouragement. It’s a waste of even a bathtub.

Ha, Hailey snorted.

“Flan… Aren’t you just jealous?”

As if she couldn’t believe it, Hailey fanned her face with her hand and said.

“Just admit it if Louis is better than you. Do you have to say that? Forget it. Don’t write anything.”

With that, Hailey turned her back on me.

“Hey, Flan…!”

“Flan!”

Becky and Yushia opened their mouths at the same time.

“Attention, everyone.”

But their words were cut off. Violet showed up as she passed the front door of the classroom.

“We’re going to take a quiz as a substitute for the postponed exploration evaluation.”

There were sighs from all over the place.

Taking a paper test was a common thing, but it was enough to make them sigh when they faced it unexpectedly.

“Qu, qu, qu, quiz?”

Becky shivered. Yushia, who was sitting next to her, also scratched her cheek in confusion.

“Quiet, everyone. The test starts as soon as you get the paper. When you finish, leave the classroom as quietly as possible.”

Violet snapped her fingers with a thud, and the test papers flew up like pigeons.

They soon landed on each student’s desk. I looked at the questions.

Question 1. Assuming that you use the materials in the example to make a connection, describe the best number you can think of.

Question 2. Describe the difference between enhancement by ‘auxiliary’ magic and enhancement by ‘harmony’ magic with examples.

Question 3…

There were eight questions on the test paper. Judging by the sighs from here and there, they were having a hard time.

Tsk, I clicked my tongue and got up.

I started walking towards Violet, writing down the answers.

“Flan student.”

I heard Violet call me, but I didn’t stop. I walked up to her nose.

“Flan student. You have to stop, right? What are you doing?”

Violet asked with a slightly angry expression.

“You have to raise your hand and ask if you have any questions. Everyone is working on their answers, and walking around like that is no different from cheating…”

“I’m done.”

I quietly put down the test paper.

There was no need to wait for the grading results. The answers I wrote were unquestionable.

The situation itself was ridiculous. I could make the test, not take it…

“What? Done…?”

I left Violet behind, who looked flustered.

◈

After returning to the dormitory, I took a bath right away.

I would have gone straight to the training ground, but there were a few things I had to do first.

As I was about to do them, Hera shouted.

[ Master, isn’t it too much to keep me in the trash can? ]

“That’s your home.”

[ The trash can is my home? No… ]

“No?”

[ You’re the first magician to treat me like this! Awesome! ]

Did I ever give Hera permission to speak? I don’t remember that.

I decided to postpone the punishment for later. It was right to deal with the urgent matters first.

‘How can the magic academy win against the knight academy?’

Hailey’s words kept bothering me.

If a low-ranked student had muttered something like that, I wouldn’t have cared. I would have said that there was a reason for their low rank.

But the problem was, Hailey was an A-ranked student.

The ones who were recognized as prodigies in this academy had such a mindset… It was frustrating.

Of course, I didn’t understand.

They must have seen only the defeat of magicians since they were born.

They always saw the magicians losing and bowing to the knights, and they took it for granted.

‘Who the hell chose the representatives?’

I had to find out who and how they selected the representatives, and how they prepared them.

The first thing was to understand the current situation, and the next thing was to fix it.

Fortunately, I had one thing that I could call an information network.

I opened the trivia and contacted Sephia right away.

[ ▷ Let’s meet for a bit. ]

Maybe it was because she was a reporter. The reply came quickly.

[ ▶ Why? I’m very busy right now. ] [ ▷ Then it’s a pity, you’ll miss the scoop. ]

There was no more reply after that. But maybe after a few minutes.

Bang bang bang!

Someone started knocking on the door urgently.