Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 246 Solo Match

"Uh... Strictly speaking, we were taken in by the Goddess of Bath and His Holiness the Pope, so we have absolutely no right to say these things. But..."

“I know that a church is not a zoo, and it really shouldn’t bring everything back.”

On the fourth day of the academy exchange meeting, around noon, Ritas brought "Tree Lihar" to the Baptistery Cathedral.

Sister Mary's expression was complicated as she watched Olihar searching for a "good spot" in the backyard, striking various strange poses.

Previously, Mary hadn't said anything about the horse or the tin man. As the owner of the white cat (in her own opinion), she had plenty of experience communicating with "small" animals and felt that even creatures with slightly strange appearances could be communicated with.

But Olivia.
"Don't worry, she's much easier to take care of than the previous four. Just water her when the weather is dry."

"?"

At the breakfast table, Ritas looked at Melsie, who was going to "raise" Olivia, with an incredulous gaze, while Mary looked at Ritas with an equally incredulous gaze.

What else can I say at this point?

The black nun also complied.

It didn't take long to settle Olihar.

Even now, Ritas still can't understand what Olihar Latras is all about.

I don't know if she's just having a fleeting interest and will go home on her own in a few days, or if she'll stay and be a tree for a while.
However, considering his relatively good relationship with the other candidates for successor to Latras, it wouldn't be a big problem for him to look after Olihar.

However, it's not feasible to allow Olivia, who is completely unrelated to the Academy, to remain in the Bathing Seminar venue for an extended period. Furthermore, housing her in the mansion in Spring City wouldn't be appropriate either.

Previously, Ritas hadn't settled the four members, including the carrier pigeon, in the mansion because he was worried they would make a mess of it. As for not settling Olihar in the mansion, Ritas was afraid that this strange woman might actually be superstitious about "photosynthesis" and find her when she returned home after some time.
All I can say is that whether she learned photosynthesis or not, it's still quite frightening.

To put it optimistically, at least Olivia now wants to be a tree, instead of a flying squirrel like before. Otherwise, her daily jumps off the roof of the Baptistery would only worsen the church's already delicate reputation.

Just as Ritas, who had finally gotten rid of Olihar for the time being, was sighing and about to leave, the black nun, who seemed to have something to say, called him back.

"Your Holiness, Your Grace, regarding the matter of keeping watch on Sir Sim's mansion that you entrusted to us before..."

"Who is Him?"

"'Third wife'."

"Ah~"

Following Ritas's prompt, the goddess of bathing seemed to remember.

Ritas was actually a little afraid that the goddess of the bath would turn around and ask him who his third wife was.

In fact, Ritas was somewhat dazed when he heard the name. Perhaps it was because it was almost time for his rest period, or perhaps it was because the farce of last night was too memorable. Although it had happened less than a day ago, Ritas felt as if a long time had passed, to the point that he had almost forgotten it.

"Does the fact that I need to report this proactively mean something's happened to my third wife?!"

"Well, strictly speaking, nothing really happened. It's just that Ain noticed something that bothered her."

Since Mary was mainly "guarding" the Baptistery Cathedral, her outings were mostly handled by her former adventurer companions, Herlian and Einfield.

“Ian said that Sir Him has been having his students paint with magic.”

"Hmm, so? Is there more?"

Faced with the goddess's doubts, Mary slowly shook her head.

Ritas, on the other hand, fell into a brief state of contemplation.

Einfield's report wasn't some coded message only she and Ritas could understand. It was simply a reminder of something that most mages would be somewhat sensitive to.

The age at which one begins to study magic.

Because of the unique nature of magical particles, if one studies magic before the age of fourteen, one is very likely to encounter all sorts of problems in the future.

As for Sir Himm's disciple "Maud," although she would have the code name "Bishop of Mourning Colors" two years later, in Ritas's observation, she should be under fourteen years old.

Furthermore, painting with magic is actually a very complex matter, at least more difficult than intermediate-level magic in practice. Therefore, the fact that Elenfield's report described it as "painting" rather than "scribbling" or anything else suggests that Mord's work demonstrates a certain level of completion and proficiency. In other words, Mord may have been practicing magic for a considerable period of time.

"I understand. Please continue to keep an eye on Sir Sim and his student. In addition to their movements, please inform me immediately if any strange people appear around that mansion."

"Follow the Holy Orders."

Mary said with a gentle smile.

Lost in thought, Ritas paid no heed to Mary's growing veneration of him as the true "Pope," simply nodding in acknowledgment before leaving the Baptistery.

"Ah! I see, it's because in your world, it's generally not allowed to learn magic before the age of fourteen!"

Back in the carriage at Erles Academy, the Goddess of Bath belatedly realized what Ritas and Mary had been talking about earlier.

"As expected of the Goddess of Bathing. You are becoming more and more intelligent."

Ritas praised without emotion, then continued to ask,
"Does the Goddess of Bathing still remember whether the 'Mourning Bishop' could use magic in the 'Star Pattern' game world?"

"No! I don't remember her having a magic bar. But maybe I just missed it, so wait a minute, I'll go check."

Having provided too much "false information" in the past, the current goddess of bathing has begun to develop a rigorous spirit.

After a short while, the goddess of bathing returned and reaffirmed her previous answer.
"I checked! The third wife simply can't use magic at all. Although magic has a relatively low presence in the later stages of the game, characters like Melsie and Miriam can use magic but don't, preferring to use 'Star Mark' skills. But 'Mourning Bishop' has never had that ability."

"so."

"Shouldn't we go and rescue her now?" The Goddess of Bath suggested softly, looking at Ritas leaning against the wall, his face buried in his hand, seemingly lost in thought.

"What pretext should we use to 'save' them? Although the magical academic community abhors the practice of forcing children under the age of 18 to study magic, this act itself does not violate any laws. There have been calls for a bill to classify the forced early magical training of children as abuse."

"Does that mean it didn't pass? What a pity! If it had passed, things would be much simpler now!"

"."

Once we pass through the kingdom, something big will happen.

It is estimated that only nobles, wealthy people, and families with magical heritage could patiently wait until their children turned fourteen and became "adults" in ancient times, and then have the financial means to send them to magic academies to study.

"The impact of learning magic at a young age on the future is uncertain. Moreover, we cannot discern whether Sir Him's teaching of magic was malicious or benevolent. The Goddess of Bath also saw that Sir Him is terminally ill and probably doesn't have much time left. So, perhaps he wanted to pass on everything he had to his only disciple before he died."

"Um, you keep spouting these irrefutable arguments, we're going to run out of things to talk about! But it does make sense, though I just don't think that old man is a good person."

I agree with that.

Ritas recalled Mord's thin body and her future as a member of the "Darkin".

Moreover, logically speaking, a selfish person who would rather use all of their wealth to seek a "grand finale" for themselves would not harbor any noble intention of sharing and passing on everything they have.

"Since Mord has most likely been studying magic for a long time, a few more days of delay won't have much of an impact. So, let's wait until after the 'Mograine Art Appraisal Meeting'. Since Sir Him asked Mord to paint with magic at this time, the work is most likely related to the appraisal meeting. And based on what he does at the appraisal meeting, we might be able to determine whether he is a human or a ghost."

"Hmm, it seems like this is the only way. Anyway, with Ain and Helian keeping an eye on things, leaving Mord with the old man for a few more days just doesn't seem like you'll have even more things to deal with."

"It's alright as it is now, but if we add any more things, the schedule might get a bit messed up."

Ritas remained silent for a moment.

He's currently entangled in many matters, and while some of it is indeed due to the goddess of bathing, the real issue is mostly his own.

He is still hesitant about whether or not to actively get involved in the major event that is bound to happen at the end of this academic exchange meeting.

At first, he thought this big incident was just a "Third Princess assassination" incident orchestrated by Adeline and Anne.

But all indications suggest that the incident will escalate to a scale that he could not predict.

Hesitation implies that he still has the possibility of participating. Therefore, he needs to make many corresponding preparations for this possibility.

"Goddess of Bathing, could our contact with that student 'Meimei' be postponed until the last day of the academy's exchange meeting? On the last day, as is customary, a grand banquet will be held for the winners of the exchange meeting. It will be more natural and convenient to make contact then."

"Meimei, you actually still remember her? I had almost forgotten about her."

"Of course I remember. Didn't they say that if we didn't recruit her, she would die in battle in two years?"

Ritas generally wouldn't bring up the "future" of the "Star Pattern" game world, which is completely unverifiable and uncertain. Unless, of course, the actual reason is even harder to articulate. For example, he would always remember what the Goddess of Bath asked of him.

"Hey, I don't know why, but I feel like 'forced choice' is a minor issue now. It's okay, it's okay, let's deal with more important things first. Or, is there anything I can help you with?"

"There is indeed one."

After hesitating for a moment, Ritas finally spoke.

"Could the Goddess of Bathing be in the world of the 'Star Pattern' game?"

"Looking for An's whereabouts?"

"."

Ritas sometimes wondered if his thoughts were really so easy to read.

"Hmph~ Looks like I guessed right. Although you didn't show it at the time, you actually care about our maid quite a bit, don't you? Oh? You seem to be trying to be stubborn about something, there's no need for that. Anyway, I've actually been investigating An's matter for a long time. Unlike your situation, Adeline, the substitute mentor, appears very rarely in the 'game,' so it's really not easy to find her, and the 'cake' is involved in all the storylines~"

Can you give me the conclusion?

"From now on, just live with this 'conclusion' in mind! Fine, the conclusion is: Ann did appear before the princess's assassination attempt. But after that incident, regardless of the timeline, setting, or plot..."

"An has never appeared again."

In the afternoon.

Led by Ritas, the "Ears Academy Magic Ball Team" once again stepped onto the field and began their journey in the Magic Ball individual competition.

Unlike during the team competition, where he merely stood by with an air of authority, occasionally offering encouragement, handing out water, and handing out towels, Ritas, who had been cramming on Modric ball knowledge over the past two days, was already able to offer the players some advice in a surprisingly professional manner during the individual competition.

"Honestly, although I was pretty carefree before, even though I knew the world was going to end in a few years, I was still incredibly calm. But compared to you, I'm still a bit lacking. You'll probably actually drag Miriam back to class when he saves the world, and warn him not to skip class again."

Seeing that Ritas had a lot of things to do but still came to the Magic Ball venue as scheduled, the Goddess of Bath couldn't help but complain.

"Your primary responsibility is still very important, Elise! Focus! Don't let your mind wander just because you're in the lead!"

Similar to the team competition, the magic team from Erles Academy, which was composed entirely of elementary school students, only had Elise still competing; the other members had been eliminated long ago.

Ritas originally wanted to catch Charlotte, the lazy bum, while he was at it, but Charlotte probably anticipated Ritas's prediction and simply skipped the Magic Ball seminar that day, citing other seminar activities as the reason.

"It's over over there, right? Xia Luoluo seems to have lost. She's only in seventh grade, and she at least made it to the finals in the team competition, but she's out in the individual competition? Tsk tsk. Speaking of which, why was she glaring at you through gritted teeth?"

"There's no reason why. When she's in a bad mood, even if she has trouble breathing, it's my fault."

Ritas pretended not to see Charlotte not far away, and then applauded Elise, who had also successfully advanced to the finals of the individual competition.

(End of this chapter)