Kadisha Allister.
She is a woman with a physique similar to Esta’s and is a descendant of the Grand Mage Allister.
And she is a heroine.
Alongside Esta, Kadisha is one of the heroines who fits the role of an ‘instructor’.
‘If Esta feels like the homeroom teacher, Kadisha feels like the school nurse.’
You could say she occupies the school nurse position you’d find in a typical Japanese romantic comedy.
Kadisha may not be very strong in terms of personal combat, but she is a versatile woman in many ways.
“Phoenix? What are you thinking about so deeply?”
“I was wondering if Instructor Kadisha also divides us into ‘groups’.”
“Oh my. Did Esta mention something like that?”
“That’s unlikely.”
Kadisha asked me in surprise, but I immediately denied it.
“I’m only making a guess. If there are 16 special admission students, and if each group requires a minimum of 4 members, then we’d end up with 4 groups.”
“Yes. Whether all 16 students are new or not, you’ll be split into groups of 4, each learning from different instructors. To say ‘dedicated instructor’… might lead to misunderstandings?”
“You mean the administrative instructor?”
“Exactly! You’d call them a guiding instructor.”
A guiding instructor.
In high school, it’s equivalent to a homeroom teacher, and in college, it’s like a supervising professor.
While teaching is done by various people, the administrative handling of the students is the responsibility of the guiding instructor in charge of their group.
If Kadisha is the guiding instructor, then using the infirmary might become a bit tricky.
“Is Instructor Kadisha the guiding instructor?”
“No. I’ve been dispatched to manage the health of the 16 students. If there are 4 groups, I’ll be responsible for the injuries, condition, and health of those 4 groups.”
That’s a relief. It seems unlikely that Kadisha will be taken away as the guiding instructor and only focus on those specific students.
“But if you need special attention, I can provide it here.”
Kadisha stopped in front of a room and grasped the doorknob.
“But after you enter, no one knows what will happen inside?”
“Are you saying it’s a place that might be very dangerous?”
“It might be dangerous, but at least you won’t die or anything like that. If by any chance you do actually die, I’ll take moral responsibility and walk the path to the afterlife with you!”
“That’s a comforting kind of reassurance.”
She is quite a peculiar person.
It’s surprising that she genuinely means what she says.
‘The difference between a 4th-dimensional character in a game and seeing one in real life is immense.’
In games, it could be dismissed as just ‘a game’, but facing her directly, there are many aspects that catch my attention.
‘She has a strong sense of responsibility about her skills.’
Just like a chef takes pride in their food, Kadisha is proud of her knowledge and skills in health and medicine.
So here we are.
“Welcome to the old school building infirmary!”
No matter what happens in the infirmary, Kadisha will be very attentive to everything that occurs due to the medicines she has prepared.
With a sense of responsibility.
“Have you already prepared everything?”
“The infirmary’s layout is quite simple.”
Kadisha pointed at the inside of the infirmary with a grin.
The layout did resemble the typical setup you’d see in a cliché romance drama where young couples have their moments, which made me chuckle, but that wasn’t Kadisha’s fault.
The infirmary at Esdinas Academy follows this standard design.
It really does seem like a place where various events might take place—
‘It’s the perfect place to do something like that.’
The thickness of the bedding and various aspects make it quite suitable for such activities.
“Would you like to lie down? We need to gather your magic pattern.”
“Is it necessary to lie down?”
“Yes, it’s quite essential. Oh, are you uncomfortable just lying down?”
Kadisha giggled and patted her thighs.
“Are you hoping for a lap pillow?”
“I would appreciate it if you could.”
“…Oh my, you’re serious?”
Kadisha chuckled and pointed to herself.
“Are you really thinking of creating a harem? Trying to woo every beautiful woman?”
“Yes.”
“Even me?”
“I can’t help but flirt with pretty girls.”
“Aha! That’s funny.”
She said it sincerely, but I just let it slide.
“Alright! Then go ahead and lie down.”
Because this woman, despite saying this, has no particular interest in romance—
‘It’s going to be tough to conquer her.’
She’s not the type who can be swayed by male charm or anything like that.
In terms of romance.
So what other approaches might be possible?
“How about your magic pattern? From what I’ve heard about the magic you use, it seems you have a particular talent for both fire and illusion magic.”
“That’s true.”
I lay down on the bed that Kadisha indicated, stretched out my hand, and conjured flames.
Red flames.
Kadisha observed the flames with a serious expression and reached out to caress them.
“Hmm… It doesn’t seem like a common fire attribute. It looks like it might be a mix of all…?”
She is indeed one of the heroine candidates. Just from observing the most basic fire magic, she immediately understood the foundation of my magic.
“Once the official semester starts, you’ll learn about this, but do you know there are seven attributes of mana?”
“Yes.”
In the game, these are expressed as the seven attributes.
Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Darkness, Light, and Illusion.
There are other attributes like plants or lightning, but humans tend to have a natural affinity for one of these seven types of mana.
“Your mana… seems to be a blend of all seven types. Among them, fire seems to be particularly pronounced.”
“However, I’m not very skilled with offensive magic.”
“Yes, it shows. Rather than maintaining the destructive power of flames, your pattern seems specialized in using fire for other forms of magic, especially illusion magic.”
Kadisha continued to examine the flames before turning her gaze back to me.
“Are you perhaps a hypnotist? Are you good at using fire for things like ‘Red Sun!’?”
“That is also my specialty.”
I did not deny it.
It’s a talent that would be revealed anyway.
“In the profile….”
“I didn’t specifically mention it to Instructor Esta. Hypnosis does have a bit of an unusual feel to it, doesn’t it?”
I changed the color of the flames that Kadisha was observing to a subtle hue.
“Oh my.”
“There’s something called ‘fire-gazing,’ where you watch the flames rising from a campfire endlessly or listen to the crackling wood until you fall asleep. My hypnosis is specialized in that kind of approach.”
“…Ah, I see. What would be the best way to define your abilities?”
Kadisha cautiously extended her hand toward the flames.
“Stabilizing the magic wavelength.”
“That’s correct.”
As expected.
Just like Esta, being an academy instructor is not something that’s acquired by chance.
“Many people consider mana to be just a mysterious power, but in reality, it’s a force with a specific wavelength. Some think of mana as a living entity, while others call it very tiny particles that we control through brainwaves.”
“…You.”
“Nice to meet you, [Professor Allister].”
While lying down, I extended my hand towards Kadisha.
“I keep a close watch on the papers you write. Thanks to them, I’ve figured out how to use this power effectively.”
This is not a mere compliment.
Kadisha is known in [Esdinas of Heaven] as a person classified as an ‘explanation specialist’, who provides insights into various settings and studies related to mana in the game.
Fans who like Kadisha refer to themselves as ‘graduate students’ because they admire her so much that they consider themselves like graduate students who have taken an interest in her work.
There’s even a story about a gamer who, intrigued by the indirect experiences from Kadisha’s route, went to apply to a graduate school where she was a professor.
“…Interesting. Have you read [The Seven Great Mana Sources]? What about [Reflections on Mana Attributes Given to Humans]? Or the paper [Can Humanity Control Lightning]?”
“I’ve seen the previous ones in a special issue of the Magic Engineering Journal about six months ago, but I haven’t seen the last one.”
Kadisha’s face began to redden at my response.
“You….”
“Did you just publish a new paper?”
“…No. I haven’t.”
Kadisha placed her hand on my chest with the look of someone who had found a treasure.
“I haven’t written it yet. I was just asking out of curiosity, but you’re really something.”
Her hand was not a seductive gesture but rather a researcher’s instinctive gesture to keep me from getting up from the bed.
“Do you enjoy studying magic?”
How to conquer Kadisha.
– You’re going to get a master’s degree, right?
That would mean becoming a graduate student myself.
“I do enjoy research. I like analyzing the fundamentals of magic and using my power to help others.”
Rather than actually enrolling in graduate school, it means behaving like a graduate student while still being an undergraduate.
“And if this theory is established and reported in the academic world, it could greatly help many people. It might provide new hope to those lacking mana.”
I grasped Kadisha’s wrist as she pressed down on my chest.
“In a method that is distinctly different from Mana Drain, it’s a healthy, stable, and definitive approach.”
“…Ah, I see. You’re someone who can control an unstable mana of others. Truly, optimization.”
“That’s the idea.”
I tried to slightly lift my body.
“Then about the research….”
“Let’s talk about that later.”
Kadisha smiled and began to slowly lower her hand towards my abdomen.
“Should I take one step back?”
“…”
“Don’t worry. We can do plenty even while lying down. It’s quite natural. Because….”
Kadisha continued.
“This is something you can easily shoot while lying down!”
She pulled out a magic-engineered handgun made from translucent magic stones from under the bed.
“One shot, shoot it toward the ceiling!”
The barrel of the pistol was adorned with seven types of magic stones smoothly attached like a barrel cover.
“Just like using a magic missile, firing the magic bullet will allow this ‘detector’ to accurately analyze your magic pattern!”
All new students at the Academy are required to fire a magic pistol at least once.
This is to check their magic output, mana attributes, and their ability to handle the trigger.
