Magic Academy Bans Harem

Chapter 5, The Correct Way to Open a Lock
"Lock? Although it is true that the key and the lock are matched. But from the context, it can be felt that what is locked is the heart or something like that, right? Your AI is still not very good. It has no logical associative ability at all."

"Oh? Wait, maybe there is another way to stop it. If I remember correctly, whether it is normal or rampage, the power of the 'Star Mark' is stimulated by the 'Star Trace'. So, now as long as the manifested Star Trace can be calmed down, all problems will be solved naturally."

"Star Mark."

Ritas repeated this rather unfamiliar word in a low voice.

"Mercy's star mark should appear on her chest. I know you must be wondering how to heal the star mark. All I can say is that you just need to open Mercy's closed heart and guide her to control the power of the star mark. Well, the problem is back to square one!"

While speaking "Goddess", Ritas focused his attention on Merci.

Through the flame coat, one could see a large area of Merce's chest had turned a deep blue. It was as if even her skin had been stained with the blue.

The blue area is connected to the blue grid that covers almost the entire body. The blue grid should be used to transport the power from the core to other areas that have turned azure, such as the hands, feet, shoulders, etc., so that those areas will continuously emit flames.

As for the so-called "star mark", Ritas could only vaguely see some circular pattern on Merci's chest that was glowing faintly.

However, being able to confirm these is enough.

Ritas turned his gaze away, this time focusing on the interior of the mansion.

In addition to the nearly fifty protective barriers he prepared for himself, Ritas also set up many magic circles in his mansion. After all, if he really encountered an attack, he couldn't expect the opponent to crash into the protective wall on his body and die.

However, except for a few magic circles that intensified the fire after exploding, most of the magic circles lost their effects before they were activated because they were all destroyed by the blue flames.

This phenomenon gave Ritas inspiration.

"My Lady Goddess, is the essence of the 'Star Mark' very similar to that of a magic circle? Not only does it have the three essential elements of a magic circle: an energy source, an energy circuit, and an energy convergence point, but its pattern also conforms to the rune geometry of a magic circle."

".What? Is there such a setting? If you ask me, I can only tell you that you asked the wrong person!"

"."

Are there really such unreliable "gods" in this world?

No, after all, is this voice really the voice of the goddess?
Ritas began to have strong doubts about the hasty judgment he had made before.

"But even if the Star Mark is a variant of a magic circle, so what?"

"If it's a magic circle, then I might be able to 'contaminate' it."

Ritas took out a dark brown bottle from the bag at his waist.

“Wow—what the hell is this? Is it mud from the Ruin River? It must be really smelly. Are you sure you want to pour it on your hands? Ugh—does this game have such an element? Are your hands corroding?”

The noisy sound coming from the "goddess" made Ritas, who was already suffering, extremely annoyed.

What Ritas took out was one of his research products over the years, the "Universal Solution (tentative name)".

There are four things that are unavoidable when constructing a magic circle: "rune geometry", "magic materials", "rituals" and "magic energy".

The universal solution that Ritas studied was created to optimize the "magic material". He envisioned that in the future, all he needed was this universal solution to draw all kinds of magic arrays. Magicians no longer had to worry about the materials for drawing magic arrays.

However, things did not go as he wished, and Ritas's universal solution (tentative) did not play the role he had hoped for. But these solutions are not useless, because although they cannot be used to draw magic circles, they will have a "polluting" effect when sprinkled on the completed magic circle.

The magic circle is a more sophisticated and delicate thing than one might imagine.

Therefore, once its important part, the "magic material", is contaminated by external forces, it will be difficult for it to work.

As for why Ritas prepared the currently expensive "universal solution (tentative)", that was naturally his contingency plan.

If you want to kill a great wizard, it is best to be in an environment where conventional magic cannot be used. And this inability to use is also relative. Therefore, in the forbidden magic area, compared with pure power such as weapons and physical skills, the role and power of magic arrays are definitely greater.

So, assuming that the assassin has already thought of this level and prepared a magic circle, it is only natural that Tas prepared props to target the magic circle.
But now it seems that the assassination is easier than imagined, so a lot of Ritas's plans have to be used in strange places.

"Goddess, if we forcibly stop the operation of 'Star Mark', will it cause any harm to Merci herself?"

Ritas asked, gently shaking his right hand, which looked like a dead branch in both color and shape.

"Even if you ask me this question, it's still better than letting Merci burn out, right?"

"really."

For the first time since he was able to talk to the goddess, Ritas felt that the goddess said something that made sense.

After taking a deep breath, Ritas quickly ran to the place where the flames were the most intense and bluest.

“Eh? Are you going to rush into the fire? Seriously? Be careful, a beam has fallen. Ah! So there is a beam. Um, are you okay? You’re still strong. Where’s your health bar? There are only a few steps to Merci. Uh, what should I say now? Don’t touch me with your dirty hands. Ah no no, come on! Come on, we’re almost there——!”

Listening to the distracting and complicated voice of the goddess in his arms, Ritas came to Merci.

After standing in the fire, Ritas felt like he had entered a psychedelic world. Everything around him was completely different from common sense. The protective barrier on his body melted quickly, and in a blink of an eye, only seventeen layers were left.

Not a single minute or a second can be wasted, and Ritas stretched out his hand that had been completely soaked in the "universal solution (tentative name)".

At first, Ritas wanted to use his fingers to carefully draw the star marks, but after stretching out his hand, he realized that neither the environment he was in nor the condition of his body could support precise movements.

Fortunately, the star mark itself is very small.

Ritas's entire palm can completely cover it.

The blue flames that continuously gushed out from Merci's body not only quickly dissolved Ritas's protective barrier, but its impact force also tried to blow Ritas closer and closer like a strong wind.

Gritting my teeth, I went against the wind with all my strength.

When there were only three layers of protective barrier left, Ritas took a heavy step and finally touched Merci.

First, touch with the fingertips, then touch with the fingertips, and finally press with the entire palm.

The thrust of the flames gradually weakened and faded, and the surrounding light changed from a dizzying endless deep blue to normal brightness.

Mercy's rampage came to a halt.

As the flames died down, Merci's long hair turned into ashes from the ends, and even her eyebrows were reduced to a dot. The grid and deep blue on her body also quickly receded, and the posture that had been maintained before, like a roar to the sky, also drooped due to the loss of strength to support it. And her eyes, which were previously only white, had returned to the purple pupils that were as crystal as gems. Merci's eyes, which were still out of focus for the time being, were full of confusion.

She stared at Ritas in front of her for a long time, and finally she saw his figure in the reflection of her eyes.

Then she lowered her head again and looked at her chest.

"!"

At this moment, Ritas suddenly realized that his hand was still in the previous position, and he quickly retracted his hand.

Although everything happened for a reason, his hand did appear in an inappropriate place, and it left a particularly obvious handprint that should not be removed in a short time.
"Hey, hey, how long are you going to touch me?"

Ritas's hearing, which had been blocked due to tension and concentration, slowly recovered, and the goddess's teasing voice came in.

Merci was at a loss as to the rest of the situation, but she only realized that her clothes had long been buried in the sea of fire. She instinctively shrank her body, hugged her chest with both hands, and turned sideways with her shoulder towards Ritas.

"Listen to my explanation."

At this time, Ritas, who was panting and sweating profusely, and was so exhausted that he was not sure where his facial features were flying to, spoke tentatively.

He didn't know what he should explain, nor did he know whether he really needed to explain.

However, he was well aware that most people in this world were not as rational as he was.

"Don't pass by"

Merci seemed to be rejecting Ritas's approach.

Ritas, who was anxious to prove his innocence, did not notice a hint of blue on Merci's pale face, and still approached Merci.

It was not until then that Ritas realized that Merci's refusal was not because she regarded him as someone who was trying to harm her.

Merci first had a condition that was like both burping and retching, then she coughed lightly and spit out a little blue spark.

Shouldn't it be.
This time it was Ritas' turn to turn pale.

The next moment, the blue flame that suddenly came out of Merci's mouth completely engulfed Ritas.

The operation of the Star Mark had indeed stopped, but the last bit of the blue flame still remained in Merci's body.

three, two, one
laugh--

The protective barrier was completely broken, and Ritas was blown away by the fire breath. Hearing Merci's cry of "Professor Ritas——", she only thought so in her heart before she lost consciousness.

I just put forty-seven layers of protective barriers on myself.
Next time, I must not be so radical.
Three days later.

Open your eyes.

What Ritas saw was a familiar ceiling.

Sometimes, déjà vu is worse than strangeness.
"Ugh"

"Hey, beloved disciple, isn't it impolite to sigh just because you saw my ceiling?"

A leisurely voice came from the side. Ritas, whose whole body felt as if it was being torn apart, turned his neck with difficulty and looked in the direction where the voice came from.

It was a woman with very long white hair. She was wearing a burgundy evening dress. She was sitting on a chair beside the bed with her legs crossed, her waist bent, her chin in her hand, looking at Ritas with interest.

Levis Windseeker.

Judging from her slightly strange surname and her long pointed ears, she is an elf.

And precisely because Levis is an elf, no matter how young and beautiful her face is, her age is a number that humans cannot reach.

"Dean"

"Hehe, didn't you tell me to call me 'teacher' during non-working hours? Of course, you can also call me 'little Livy' or 'dear' in private when there's no one around."

Levis said with a smile.

Although there are many ways to hide the traces of time in appearance and other things, it is difficult to hide things like atmosphere and temperament.

For example, now, even though Livis speaks in a frivolous tone and youthful intonation, she still gives people an extremely mature feeling.

"Since the dean has returned, does that mean I have been unconscious for a long time?"

Completely ignoring Levis' teasing, Ritas asked in a hoarse voice.

"Although you were indeed unconscious for three whole days, what does 'since the dean is back' mean? There was a fire in my backyard, so of course I rushed back as soon as possible."

"The dean is supposed to be a hired administrator of the academy. So, strictly speaking, Earls College is neither your home nor your backyard."

"Tsk, he is still as stubborn as ever."

Levis sighed and shook her head, looking like she really couldn't do anything about Ritas.

"It seems that you don't have the leisure to reminisce about the past with me. Well, since you have grown up so much, let's talk about 'adult things'."

Levis straightened up and adjusted her posture elegantly in her seat.
"First, let's deal with the aftermath. Although the fire has spread a bit, it's not a big problem for me to stop it. As for the injured, besides you, there are only a few unlucky guys who were accidentally burned. I have already cured them, and I won't give them the opportunity to make trouble."

Levis said lightly.

In addition to being the dean of Earls Higher School of Magic, Ritas' former mentor, and a member of the royal family of the Elf Kingdom, Livis is most famous for being one of the only four "sages" on the continent.

So, for her, many things are really not "big problems".

"As for Mercy Finn, the new student of Yewwood School."

Livisi paused with a meaningful smile.
"Where her future leads depends largely on you."

(End of this chapter)