Chapter 61 - Liberation

Fran was standing at the podium.

　Breathing Techniques, concentration, and visualizing ――― everything was practiced.

　The foundations of magic were described in Magical Studies I, and the next step was Relaxation.

　To begin with, the heart = soul of magic was invoked while concentrating and visualizing.

　The more advanced the magic, the greater the load on the soul.

　Magic could be activated even if the state of the soul wasn’t in equilibrium.

　But a wizard who could keep himself in equilibrium at all times had the advantage of being able to easily switch between different spells in rapid succession.

　Relaxation was the practice of loosening the tension of the soul and maintaining equilibrium.

　There were many ways to relax, but here at the Valentine Girls Magical Academy, they used two main methods.

　One was imagery training.

　This method was to stabilize the mind by picturing the attribute scenery of individual aptitudes.

　If it was difficult to visualize, an assistant would be provided.

　The assistants should be able to detail natural scenery.

　The other was bathing or ablution.

　Even if you have no aptitude for Water Magic, you can relax by entrusting your body to Undine, the Water Spirit, as the buoyancy of the water reduces the load on your body and the hot water in the bath moderately raises your body’s temperature.

　This was the same in the modern age on Earth.

　If you don’t have a large-scale device, you can just soak your feet in boiled water at the right temperature. This was called a footbath.

　In the basement of the Girls Magical Academy dormitory, there was a large hot spring-style bath that could accommodate about 30 people at a time.

　The bathtub was large enough for 15 people to soak simultaneously.

　The baths were popular among non-dormitory students, as they could be used only during scheduled class hours in the presence of the teacher.

　It was called ‘hot spring style’ because most of the baths in this world were what they call Western-style baths on Earth, where you could wash yourself in a bathtub.

　Today, the students wouldn’t be using the baths, but rather would be doing some imagery training and footbaths to remind themselves of the natural scenery.

　However, these girls, the students, rarely had direct contact with the great natural landscapes.

　Most of their knowledge came only from books and hearsays.

　It was because this world was full of dangers.

　There was a lot of damage caused by bandits and brigands, not to mention demons and magical beasts.

　Relatively wealthy people like the students of the Girls Magical Academy were easy prey for the money-grubbers, so they rarely left the capital.

　The students immediately began to prepare.

　They prepared tubs for their footbaths and poured hot water into them.

　Each of the students had a book from the school’s library at hand, and were looking at the illustrations, picturing beautiful natural scenery.

　In the midst of all this, Ollery Bou was imagining the world outside the royal capital, a place she had never been to since she was born.

　She was a commoner, living alone with mother.

　Her mother was too sickly to work and life was difficult.

　One day, Ollery discovered that she possessed more magic power than most people, and she had the option to become a wizard.　

　She wanted to become a wizard and get out of poverty…

　Ollery did some research and found out about the special student program at the Girls Magical Academy.

　First of all, wizards were precious beings in this world.

　People aimed to learn life magic first.

　Life Magic was literally simple magic that could be used to start a fire for cooking or produce water for drinking.

　It was said that almost anyone with magic power could do it.

　The question was, as a wizard, further that…

　Your fate depended on whether or not you could advance to the intermediate or higher class.

　The reason being, this country, as well as in other countries, highly talented attack, defense, and recovery magicians were sought after.

　There were also special types of magic, such as summoning, alchemy, divination, and the creation of magical artifacts, which, if one’s talents blossomed, could earn an unimaginable fortune compared to ordinary professions.

　Ollery was a student who dreamed of such a future and made extraordinary efforts to enter this school as a scholar student. She was exempted from the entrance fee and tuition.

　However, after entering the school, Ollery felt the difference in the living environment from where she had been raised.

　The elegance and glamour of the children of the nobility.

　The generous and sagacious attitude of the children of merchant families.

　All of these were things that she, a commoner, never had.

　She could at least say hello to them, but their topic of conversation didn’t match at all.

　She naturally spent more time alone.

　She was the so-called ‘botch’.

　Ollery also realized that she didn’t have any ‘glamour’ as a girl.

　She was also a girl of age.

　How could she not be concerned about how men see her?

　However, she wasn’t so dreamy as to believe that one day a Prince on a white horse would appear before her.

　She believed that her face was average.

　But compared to other ‘gorgeous’ girls, she wasn’t particularly ‘beautiful’.

　That being the case, all that was left of her was magic!

　Ever since she entered the school, she’d been quietly polishing herself.

　It was at this time that Lou suddenly appeared.

　According to the rumors coming from various quarters, not to mention the students…

　He was highly talented in magic, and after helping Francisca, the acting principal of the Girls Magical Academy, he was invited to the school as a temporary teacher.

　Say what!

　Lou was a commoner like her…

　And he hadn’t even gone to school properly.

　This is it! This is the man! 　

　Ollery thought to herself.

　He was the person who embodied her dream.

　However, Ollery’s first impression of Lou wasn’t a good one.

　During the class, he had warned her when she was studying at her own pace

　At first, she was uncomfortable, to say the least…

　But after Lou had warned her, he had also lectured that snooty Josephine.

　So, no matter what their status was, she could be sure that they would be treated in the same way…

　It was for this reason that Ollery took the liberty of talking to Lou during the exercise afterwards.

　As expected…he smiled at her and asked her to join them.

　Ollery was very excited.

　It was also the first time she had enjoyed a class.

　It was something that had never happened before.

　Hence, she was looking forward to attending the class.

　But…Ollery concluded.

　I know it.

　…Francesca-sensei…likes Lou-sensei.

　It’s plain to see in her attitude…No doubt about it.

　But I don’t mind…

　That’s not the right word…

　For me, Lou-sensei…is as unattainable as the moon.

　Let me just be content with watching him from afar…

　While Ollery was vaguely having such thoughts…

　A voice suddenly rained down on her.

“Ollery…I believe you have a water-attribute magic, am I right?”

“Ye-yeaaah! T-That’s right.”

　Ollery was surprised when she found Lou smiling at her.

“If you want, we can try it together.”

“H-huh?! With me?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

　Ollery couldn’t help feeling shocked when Lou was staring at her while smiling.

“O-Okay…”

　Ollery swallowed her spit with a gulp and nodded, replying in a hushed voice.

　Thus…

　Ollery’s training with Relaxation began with Lou’s assistance.

　Lou instructed Ollery to close her eyes…

　She did as she was told and closed her eyes quietly.

“I grew up in the village of Arlvs…There’s a small spring in the woods nearby…”

　As Ollery closed her eyes, Lou’s voice echoed gently in her ears.

“You can see all the way to the bottom… It’s a very clear and beautiful spring. An abundance of water is gushing out of the ground. It’s not a very big spring, but it’s … a very quiet and relaxing place with a solemn atmosphere.”

　Ollery pictured the beautiful spring in the woods, just as Lou had described.

“There… various animals come to drink the water. But no conflicts arise there, partly because Undine, the Water Spirit, forbids it.”

“…”

“The Arlvs, demons, and animals…they all drink from the spring in harmony.”

　A beautiful spring in a quiet forest…

　An ideal world where there is no conflict, ruled by Undine, the Water Spirit…

　Ollery murmured to herself as she fell into a light trance.

　At that moment.

　For the first time in Ollery’s life…

　She was freed from all her fences.

T/L Note: I’ve been using Magical Girls Academy…Should be Girls Magical Academy. I’ll be using this henceforth..