Lilia's Tale: Freyja's Endeavor

Chapter 4: Magic Theory

His explanation was succinct yet complex. The study, experimentation and understanding of anything based on magic and its inner workings. While this definition did not scare me whatsoever, being used to such things due to my background, I could see and even hear from other students heavy confusion.

"Master..."

"Yes, Alice?"

"Do you have time to explain now?"

"Uh...What was I supposed to...Ah, right, reading the kid's behavior."

I looked around and properly listened to the teacher first. He seemed to be explaining in more details what exactly he meant with his definition, so I figured I had time, having understood it prior.

"Yeah, I do. So, did you properly see how he was acting?"

"He said something rude about Sayuri!" she shouted in anger.

"No. How he acted before and after that."

"Oh... Not really, he didn't seem important."

"Well those before and and after actions are what I used as basis to understand what kind of kid he is. Before, he was already not listening to the teacher and disturbing the class to a certain extent. After, he laughed like what he said was proper humor. A kid that wants to do what he wants and create havoc from it is what I understood."

"So Master took into account how he acted beyond what he did bad?"

"Yes. And that applies to everyone. This way, you can find out who is a good person, a bad person or even just someone who did one thing bad due to circumstances."

"That's amazing! As expected of Master. I'll do my best to learn it too so Master can rely on me!"

While denying it was a cute reaction would be futile, I found it slightly overwhelming. Her excitement made the situation turn awkward, quite like a young child being dead-set on doing something for her family not realising what she's saying. I was at a loss for words so simply decided to laugh awkwardly to try and give her a bit of positivity without encouraging her too much.

I went back to listening to the teacher from that point on, as his explanation barely finished as my conversation with Alice did. As such, he started class.

"Now, I know this may seem odd to ask considering the standing of this lecture's attendees, but I must ask. Does any one of you not feel confident in their magic casting ability? If so, I must ask that you raise your hand. There is no shame in not being confident enough, only in overconfidence, so please bear through with my question even despite embarrassment and other such emotions."

Some silence followed. It was to be expected considering this school's standing as prestigious, so admitting such a weakness or lack of confidence would be seen as negative by others.

"All of you feel sufficiently confident in their ability to cast spells? I can hardly believe that," Tanaka-san added.

Then, I started hearing whispers from all around me. I was confused at first until I started looking behind me. On the way, I caught a glimpse of what made people whisper. Sayuri had raised her hand. I was as surprised as others, but took the time to think it through first.

Could it be she wasn't confident enough, rather than not confident at all? That hypothesis was definitely worth entertaining. Another one would be that she was comparing herself to someone with far more experience than her, making it a single-sided beatdown. I could also be at fault, having pushed her to try and train her Light magic even before classes started but ending up not being able to. Regardless, I could think of reasons why she would raise her hand and thought it justified.