Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 248 Pioneer
"According to you, not only magical tools, but other items and magical things also evolve at a speed far exceeding that of humans. Does this mean that these things, as if possessing their own will, are actually using humans to help them complete their evolution?"

After a moment of thought, Ritas spoke again.

He didn't necessarily want to debate with the little boy to a conclusion, or rather, these kinds of ideological issues are impossible to resolve through debate.

Perhaps from his perspective, he found the other person's viewpoint very peculiar, even incomprehensible. But the other person probably felt the same way, believing that he was incorrigible, like rotten wood.

So he just didn't want this pointless conversation to go on and on, and was trying to think of a way to bring it to an end.

"If those things truly possess a will, then they are indeed fulfilling their desires through the hands of humans. After all, human improvements and creations are often not voluntary, but rather driven by various kinds of 'coercion'."

"In other words, in the eyes of those things, humans are also equivalent to a 'tool'?"

"Um"

"So, since humans are tools, is there no question of whether humans should adapt to tools or tools should adapt to humans? Because in the end, it's either tools adapting to tools or humans adapting to humans."

".?"

After he appeared, the little boy's expression finally changed.

He looked at Ritas, somewhat taken aback, as if wondering when he had gotten caught up in this mess.

He fell silent, his head slightly lowered, he hesitated several times as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he said nothing and smoke rose from his head.

This is different from Melsie's exaggerated description, which seems to be smoking. There really was a wisp of smoke coming from the little boy's ear, constantly filling the space.

"Eh? Eh? Eh? Eh?"

"Mr. Susola!"

Seeing that it was more like ending the debate than ending the other side's operation, Ritas hurriedly called out the little boy's name.

Susora, the "pioneer" and one of the Four Sages, is the father of magical artifacts.

Although Ritas didn't know why Susora had become like this, he was almost certain that he hadn't guessed the other party's identity wrong.

After his name was called, the little boy, or rather Susola, gradually regained his senses, and the smoke from his ears stopped.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Ritas Elson. I currently work at Erles Academy and am also a student of Dean Livis. I was entrusted by the Dean to give Mr. Susora the best hospitality."

"Oh, I know you."

Susora, who had largely recovered, looked at Ritas and spoke slowly.

It can only be said that even though he has the appearance of a little boy, Susora’s words and actions exude an air of old age, making it difficult for people to recognize him as a teenager from beginning to end.

"A very unique way of hospitality, very interesting—"

"It's not any of those before. Anyway, please come with me. The headmaster has arranged Mr. Susora's accommodation at the academy."

After clarifying the situation, Ritas gestured for people to proceed.

Susora hesitated for a long time before looking at Ritas with a complicated expression and saying...
"You've seen it yourself, that's how I am. So don't take me to that tavern where people might suddenly take off their clothes."

No, it won't.

Seeing Susora breathe a sigh of relief after hearing his reply, Ritas was almost certain that his teacher hadn't done anything good in the past.

Following behind Ritas, after only a few steps, Susora, seemingly reluctant to part, asked again.
"So, your magical tools really don't need improvement?"

"Thank you for your concern, but it's really not necessary."

Although it was a rare opportunity, Ritas made it clear that he would refuse.

"Your academy sometimes spawns some truly remarkable NPCs. But, this Susora, supposedly one of the 'Four Sages,' well, how should I put it? She seems pretty ordinary?"

In the afternoon, after taking Susola to the pre-arranged accommodation, Ritas's next activity was to accompany Elise, who was at the Magic Ball seminar, to participate in the follow-up matches of the singles tournament.

"I'm a little confused about the Bath Goddess's understanding of the word 'ordinary.' However, I can somewhat understand her thoughts. The Four Sages aren't always making a big fuss; there are always times when things tend to be peaceful. Moreover, among the Four Sages, the 'Pioneer' is indeed the one closest to ordinary people. His contributions have the most direct impact on people's daily lives. And many of his deeds are rather mild."

The other four sages research things that seem very impressive, such as alternate dimensions, world simulations, and temples of wisdom. However, most people's attitude towards these is basically "Oh, that's amazing." Only the increasingly diverse and widespread magical tools are things that almost everyone can access.

"Oh? You seem to think highly of him?"

"I should say that I only have a low opinion of one particular person."

Although Ritas could not agree with Susora's philosophy, this did not affect his opinion of the father of magical tools.

If he had to pinpoint what he cared about, it was the old rumor that Susora had transformed himself into a magical artifact. After this meeting, he was pretty sure it wasn't just a rumor.

As the only one of the Four Sages who is not of a long-lived race, Ritas could both understand and question Susora's choice.

The still young Ritas doesn't know whether, as he ages and faces death, he will also do everything in his power to prolong his life.

After making a detour to his dormitory and putting away the magic umbrella, Ritas went to the arena for the Magic Ball competition.

As it was the final round of the competition, the area around the venue was packed with spectators that day.

After reuniting with the group from the Magic Ball seminar, Ritas also saw the other students from the Purplewood Class, who had gathered to cheer on Elise, as well as Anne, who was in charge of leading the team, not far away.

This should have been Adeline's job as the tutor's assistant. However, it was somewhat inappropriate for the third princess, who was publicly known, to be in such a crowded place. Therefore, it was reasonable for Anne to take her place.

"Tsk, it's been more than half a semester, why does that kid Kraft still get all excited whenever he sees you? It's like he's a fanboy who's seen the real deal."

"I can't exactly go out of my way to remind him to stop doing that."

Ritas was also at a loss. Fortunately, aside from being excited, Kraft usually behaved relatively restrained.

In fact, encouraged by Ritas, the other students in the Yewwood Class also tried their best to participate in some student exchange activities. However, in terms of results, it was basically a complete failure.

Aside from Elise and Miriam, who advanced through Life Magic, Kraft, who wasn't eliminated in the first round, probably had the best result.

And there's nothing we can do about it.

After all, even though Crafoord was only the "second-in-command" in the elementary school at Earls, the students from other colleges who had traveled all the way to Earls for the exchange were almost all at the level of the top students in the higher school.

That is why it is so surprising that Elise was able to advance to the finals in both the team and individual events of the Magic Ball event.

"An is here too."

"Ah."

At this moment, Ann seemed to be discussing with Grenville whether to flip a coin to decide, if they couldn't see the other side of the field when the match started, whether she would stand on Grenville's feet to watch the game, or Grenville would stand on hers. Perhaps "discussing" wasn't quite accurate, because Grenville looked utterly bewildered.

"I don't even know if it was Ann or Adeline who was left in the end in the 'Star Pattern' game. When Ann wasn't disguised, she looked about the same as Adeline, right? So I really can't tell them apart."

"Logically, An should have stayed."

If, in the game, Anne and Adeline also commissioned "Grand Closing Company" to carry out that assassination, then the Third Princess's survival might not have been a miracle, but rather something that was truly achieved through the death of her substitute.

Regardless of her fate, the original Adeline disappeared without a trace after that, and Anne resumed her original identity and sat in a wheelchair.

This outcome, to some extent, can explain the change in Adeline's attitude before and after the assassination attempt.

She didn't just seem like a different person; she truly became a different person.

"but"

In reality, An was quite certain that she would "die".

So, if in that assassination attempt, it was actually "An" who died, does that make logical sense?

It seems there are too many far-fetched parts.

Assassinating a maidservant of the Third Princess is utterly meaningless. Therefore, the only possibility is that on that particular day, Anne, who knew everything, reverted to her true identity and willingly chose to die as the Third Princess.

But what's the point of doing this?

Moreover, even if Anne and Adeline look alike, once the matter escalates and the Third Princess can no longer hide in the academy in a similar secluded manner, others will not be able to tell that the Third Princess is fake, thus allowing the original substitute to firmly hold the position of princess.

Ritas scratched his head, unable to figure it out.

Perhaps some key information is missing from this incident.

Of course, there's a possibility that Ann is lying, and quite a possibility at that. But Ritas hasn't given this possibility much thought.

It wasn't for any clear reason, but more of a feeling, a subjective judgment he made based on his interactions with An.

"Stop daydreaming, the match is about to start! Go get a towel for Elise!"

Urged on by the goddess of bathing, Ritas snapped out of his thoughts and turned his gaze away from the teacher who was trying to watch the game by stepping on the students' shoulders not far away.

It was nearing dusk.

At the Magic Academy Exchange Conference, the final of the individual competition for the Magic Ball event officially began.

The contestants from the Royal Magic Academy of Blasche continued to demonstrate their dominance, with the winner advancing to the finals after an internal battle in the semifinals.

On the other hand...
"What should we do, Xiao Li? Elise is going to play in the finals."

"yes."

Unlike the high-spirited atmosphere on Blasche's side, the players and supporters on Erles' side were more like, "Huh? It's the finals already?"

Elise's journey to the finals was actually quite bumpy. Each victory was a close call, and in one semi-final game she was down 10-0, at which point everyone thought it was over. But regardless, she has now reached the finals.

Although the "plan changed" caught Ritas completely off guard, seeing Elise about to step onto the field and also casting a somewhat uneasy glance at him, Ritas immediately put on his usual calm and serious expression.

“Student Elise, if I remember correctly, you and the opponent have actually faced off once before.”

In the final moments before the match began, the half-baked coach Ritas started giving Elise advice.

"Yeah! We were eliminated by them a few days ago!"

"Alright, now you should completely forget about ever fighting him."

"Eh?"

Because of her enormous size, Iris had to crouch down to look up at Ritas, and her raised eyes were full of clear confusion.

"The opponent's special skill is to temporarily make the magic ball invisible. While this ability seems powerful, it has many weaknesses in individual matches compared to team matches."

"Seriously? In ball sports, the ability to make a ball invisible is just something that seems impressive? And you actually used that term for some kind of special skill?"

Ignoring the goddess of bathing's complaints, Ritas continued to explain,
"Unlike team matches, where there are players on the outside to receive and retrieve the ball, in individual matches, if you don't want to hand over possession of the ball to your opponent without hitting them, you need a process to make the magic ball spin back. In other words, even if the ball is invisible, its trajectory can still be predicted to some extent."

Ritas used the white disc as a flat surface and drew a few simple routes on it with magic lines.

"Furthermore, his special technique has a flaw. Simply put, when the ball is moving very fast, even if it becomes invisible, the fluctuations in the air will still be very obvious. But once the ball slows down, the buzzing sound of the Ellinga Ball itself allows one to roughly determine its location. Therefore, Elise, you can stand close to the sidelines, with your back against the sidelines, carefully observe the direction from which the opponent's attack comes, and then, after catching the trajectory of the ball, decisively intercept it when the ball is in the opponent's return process!"

"it is good!"

Elise nodded vigorously.

In fact, many of the things Ritas explained were very basic, and she might not have been unaware of them.

However, when athletes are on the field, they often feel like they are on an isolated island. The more their energy is focused on the competition and their opponents, the more they lose their ability to think and overlook some very simple things.

At this point, it is the coach's job to point the way for the athletes.

It doesn't matter if what you say is right or wrong, the key is that you must say something.

Seeing the looseness on Elise's face gradually tighten, Ritas gave her some more instructions.

"Regarding the first round, Elise, you can observe for a while. If you feel you can't win, you can choose to give up this round. On one hand, you need time to recover your stamina, and on the other hand, you can get used to the invisible magic ball. The invisible magic ball is basically a circus trick, so as long as you can track the ball, the opponent's attack is not much of a threat."

In reality, playing "Moneyball" doesn't require much physical exertion. That's why there are schedules with several matches played in a single day.

Unfortunately, Elise's playing style in the "Modular" game was rather unique. As a result, she was already out of breath in the latter part of the semi-final.

"Ok!"

Despite Ritas's absurd suggestion to concede the first game in a best-of-three format, Elise nodded with complete trust. Then, amidst the cheers of her supporters, she strode resolutely onto the final stage.

"So, when did this art style start to go astray?"

"Who knows"

Shaking his head and taking a deep breath, Ritasto, who was adept at everything he did, stood at the edge of the playing field, waving a towel, holding the white disc like a seasoned coach.

(End of this chapter)