Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 354 A Night of Stars
What are you looking at?

"Look at the stars."

"Does it look good?"

"generally."

"Is this interesting?"

"You could say yes."

"What's interesting about it?"

"."

On the rooftop of the mansion, facing Cortelene's persistent attempts to engage her in conversation, not only did Ritas remain silent, but even the Bathing Goddess and Millie, who were observing from the sidelines, were rather speechless.

The conversation had turned into such an awkward atmosphere that both of them knew whether to say that Ritas was too unfriendly or that Cortriene was too "insensitive".

Even before they finished greeting each other and introducing themselves, when Cortrienne sat down next to Ritas, three or four feet away with her legs wrapped around her, Ritas already had a look on his face that said, "You're not going to turn around and leave?"

Despite Ritas's obvious unwelcoming attitude, Cortriñe did not back down at all.

It's unclear whether it was because she inherently carried an apologetic and somewhat ingratiating attitude, or because, having lived in an extremely privileged environment since birth, she was unaware that she was being rejected, that she could be rejected.

In short, Ritas, whose face was now almost expressionless, had written "leave me alone" on his face as best he could. But in the end, he still couldn't get rid of Cortriene.

Is this really interesting?

Looking up at the same starry sky as Ritas for a while, Cortriene, who had also simply lay down on the rooftop, asked in confusion.

Although the Milky Way and starry sky were incredibly beautiful in the quiet night, Cortrienne, who couldn't sit still, quickly grew bored with the unchanging scenery, aside from her initial awe.

"You said before that it was interesting. Well then tell me, just by looking at it from here, what exactly is interesting about it?"

"."

Faced with Cortriene's persistent questioning, Ritas seemed to enter a mystical state, completely absorbed in the distant starry sky.
Simply put, it's blatant disregard.

Seeing this, Cortrienne sighed softly and stood up.

Ritas, who had finally gotten rid of the troublesome person, was not at ease for long, as Cortriene returned.

"I'm a little hungry because I ate dinner early today~ I grabbed some things to have as a late-night snack."

Cortrienne returned with an apple that she could barely hold in one hand.

Clap!

Then, under Ritas's watchful eye, she crushed the apple in her hand with her bare hands.

"Would you like some too?"

Cortrienne put the remaining apple pieces on her hands into her mouth and chewed them, smiling "friendly"ly.

"."

Ritas turned his head and looked at the apple remains scattered on the ground for a while, his lifeless eyes gradually becoming clear.

Simply gazing at the stars can indeed be a bit boring. However, looking at them with a specific purpose in mind makes them much more interesting.

Soon after, Ritas began to "enthusiastically" introduce Cortriene to the starry sky as he saw it.

"The Bukhari Triangle Star... Oh! Found it, isn't that the three stars?"

Under the night sky, the girl pointed to three exceptionally bright stars in the sky and asked the boy beside her.

Ritas didn't actually know where Cortrienne was pointing, but he still echoed her, repeatedly saying "Yes."

"And that triangular star in the north"

"Which side is north?"

"."

Ritas then patiently taught Cortriene how to determine direction.

"Around the northern triangular star, are there a few slightly dimmer, but still very noticeable stars?"

"Hmm, is there?"

Cortrienne said, not entirely sure.

"Then try to imagine what shape it would be if you connected those stars together, starting from the Triangular Star, without them intersecting each other."

Ritas continued.

To be honest, Cortrienne couldn't imagine it. However, after gesturing roughly in the air with her fingers, she got a general idea.

"It feels like something's there."

"Like a spoon?"

"Yes! It's a spoon! Ah... why did you say it out loud! I could have figured it out right away!"

"."

Ritas, who felt that Cortriene was rather unreasonable, fell silent for a while.

Although Ritas's silences at his age seem understandable, the Goddess of Bath and Millie do perceive him as having a poor communication style.

Although Ritas had become a professor, he wasn't usually very talkative. But those around him could sense that he wasn't bad at expressing himself, but rather that he didn't want to.

"These fixed stars, when connected, form the outline of a constellation. And all the stars within this outline are considered part of that constellation."

Ritas continued speaking.

Then, she guided Cortriñe to identify several constellation patterns.

While Cortriñe was initially enthusiastically searching for constellations, her interest began to wane as she found more and more. At that moment, Ritas began to tell her other stories.

"The concept of constellations existed long before, or rather, it likely existed even earlier. After all, these stars are probably things that have been hanging there since the beginning of the world. In short, people have created many myths, legends, and stories based on those patterns, whether similar or ambiguous. Take the 'Spoon Constellation' that was discovered first, for example."

Ritas began to slowly recount the bizarre stories surrounding the birth of the constellations, which piqued Cortriñe's interest once again.

After recounting several representative myths, Ritas briefly summarized their common characteristics. This homogeneity undoubtedly caused Cortriene's sense of mystery surrounding mythology, the stars, and other such things to begin to fade.

The story gradually shifts from the realm of "gods" to the realm of "humans".

"Ancient—no, modern—astronomy should also have originated from those three stars, the Buckra Triangle. Almost all star charts are expanded and extended from those three stars. And this pioneer of astronomy, Buckra, was originally a painter."

Ritas then began to slowly recount various anecdotes about the astronomical pioneer, Master Bukra.

In an era when the Church's ideology was widespread across the continent and people worshipped the stars as deities, the actions of the stargazer Bukra were undoubtedly a form of "blasphemy" and "offense" against the divine.

Thus, a painter who simply enjoyed gazing at the stars lived a remarkably eventful life. Even until he was burned at the stake by the church, he was still regarded as a "heretic" by the people of his time.

As for how he, once a heretic, was elevated to different "altars" by later generations, that is another story altogether.

Before we knew it, a considerable amount of time had passed in the long night.

Cortrienne, who initially kept asking "Is it interesting?" and "What's interesting about it?", gradually became quieter and quieter, listening intently to the fantastical "mythological world" depicted by people throughout history, a world built on imagination. She became immersed in the life of a stargazer, a life even more complex and fantastical than the stories of the gods.

Not just Cortrienne.

From a certain moment on, the "outside" goddess of the bath and Miriam also sat on the rooftop where only Ritas's voice flowed. Together with the two who existed in their memories, they searched the starry sky, searching for bright stars that seemed to hold countless stories within each one.

The scenes from their memories continue. Reflecting on whether Ritas was naturally gifted at teaching, the two spectators continue to observe the new developments on the "stage."

"I fully understand now. Just looking up at the stars in the sky can be quite interesting, provided there's the right approach. But that's for me. As for you... don't you already know everything? Why do you still keep coming out to look?"

After Ritas finished his "educational" session, Cortriñe asked with some curiosity.

Perhaps, Ritas could also find enjoyment in simply being a storyteller. But that's contingent on him being able to act as a "storyteller."

"How did you know I often come out to look at the stars?"

"Well"

Cortriene, who had been keeping watch over Ritas all this time, scratched her head somewhat awkwardly. She tried to abruptly change the subject.
Are you hungry? If you are.

"No need, I won't ask anymore."

Ritas, who clearly misunderstood Corteline's threat, immediately backed down.

"The vast starry sky will always be able to uncover new things. Moreover, I don't know everything. Compared to what I don't know, what I do know is perhaps even smaller than a speck of dust."

Ritas shook his head.

He seemed to have revealed some of his inner thoughts, but it was as if he hadn't said anything at all.

However, this was not strange to the goddess of bathing and Millie.

After all, it's one of Ritas's characteristics that he won't talk about things related to himself unless absolutely necessary. He treats those close to him with the same attitude. Not to mention that, in Ritas's eyes at this moment, Cortriene is a complete "stranger".

"Moreover, I actually have a specific purpose today."

"A specific purpose?"

"It feels like the time is about right."

Ritas seemed to be talking to himself as he pointed towards the sky.

Inside and outside the memory scene, the four people focused intently on the direction Ritas was pointing.

And it is unknown how much time passed, perhaps a few minutes or perhaps longer.

Suddenly, a comet streaked across the sky with a slightly bluish tail, leaving a long, slender trail in the air.

"That one!?"

Upon seeing the comet, Cortrienne was clearly more excited than Ritas.

"Yes, it's been recorded in many books. So, it must be a comet that passes through the sky every seventy-seven years. Although seeing it won't bring any special meaning, if you miss it, you might never witness it again in your lifetime."

"Seventy-seven years!"

Cortrienne felt incredibly lucky.

A sudden inspiration led her to seize an opportunity that would likely only come once in her life.

Although it seems that even if you manage to seize the opportunity, you won't gain anything.

Just as Cortrienne completely forgot her original intention to apologize to Ritas and, incidentally, to strengthen the bond between relatives, she was instead excitedly and enthusiastically pulling on the arm of the sullen-looking Ritas, shaking it back and forth.

Suddenly, another beam of light flashed across the sky.

"Another seventy-seven years?"

Cortrienne, keenly observing this moment, asked in surprise.

"No, this isn't a comet, it's a shooting star."

Before Ritas could finish speaking, another meteor, trailing a long tail, streaked across the sky.

"Rain! How could this be?"

Ritas couldn't help but show a look of surprise as he watched a large number of shooting stars begin to flash across the sky rapidly.

"Normal meteor showers aren't like this."

As Ritas said, a typical meteor shower, though called a "rain," is actually just a symbolic streak of light that appears only after a long interval.

But at the moment.

Countless shooting stars streaked across the night sky like a sudden rainstorm.

Besides displaying numerous silver streaks, some meteors also have tails that sway with golden, green, or even bursting purplish-red colors.

The swarms of meteors seemed to briefly light up the night sky, shining with a fleeting yet magnificent light.

"Was this also within your expectations?"

Gazing up at the most beautiful scene of her life, she looked around repeatedly, trying to chase every ray of dazzling light. Cortriñe, her face illuminated by starlight, radiated a joyful smile that seemed to have swept away all the gloom in her heart.

"No"

At this moment, Ritas seemed to have temporarily put aside his inner doubts, focusing intently on memorizing this unusual beauty.

"This is a miracle."

"Miracle."

Cortriene, chasing after the meteor shower, turned around and looked at Ritas right beside her.
Unconsciously, she imprinted the boy's gentle face, clear eyes, and the words he uttered against the backdrop of countless shooting stars into the depths of her heart.

Cortrienne's memories began to shift once again.

The Bathing Goddess and Millie, who were equally stunned by the sudden "meteor shower," took a long time to exchange their opinions.

They were also somewhat unsure whether such a thing had actually happened, or whether it appeared so glamorous only because of Cortriene's memory filter.

But without a doubt
"A miracle? Now that you're a young girl, you should understand, right, Millie! Just how terrible that scene was!"

"what"

Millie scratched her face and gave a perfunctory reply.

"Let alone the people in that scene, I almost fell for her! For Cortrienne!"

The goddess of the bath made a somewhat exaggerated gesture of pressing down on her pounding "girlish" heart.

"So this is Professor Cortriene's place?"

"Huh? If it's not Kurt's side, then which side is it? Millie~ you'd better tell me quickly, which side are you on?"

"."

Millie, who had fallen silent, dealt with the bath goddess, who had started acting out, in the same way as Ritas.

Perhaps the memories she saw weren't as distorted or heavy as she had imagined. In fact, after Corténe met Charlotte, she even felt a sense of warmth.

So, having somewhat forgotten what the scene looked like outside of their memories, the two of them had some leeway to make jokes.

However, at the same time, they also began to feel puzzled.

Since Cortrienne has not yet seen any particularly decisive scene in her memory.

So what exactly was it about the "Tin Man" that tainted her heart, causing her to become so wicked?

It can't really be because of relationship problems, right?
(End of this chapter)