Overpowered Archmage Doesn’t Hide His Talent

Chapter 7: Orientation

I followed Becky’s lead and moved to a large lecture hall.

In front of us was the podium, and facing it was a wide, fan-shaped lecture hall.

The design itself was nothing special.

Although it was a very spacious place, once filled with students, it felt a bit cramped.

I didn’t like having someone on either side of me, so I sat with the wall to my left.

I didn’t care who sat on my right, but Becky came over and sat beside me.

It was only now that I noticed that Becky’s perfume was quite strong.

She opened her mouth to speak.

“Phew~ It’s a relief that today is just orientation. I feel a bit more at ease.”

“Orientation?”

“Yeah. They’ll just tell us what we’ll be learning, how the evaluations will be conducted, and stuff like that. That’s it. That’s why I like the first day!”

Having a lot of free time isn’t bad.

Especially since I hadn’t yet had the chance to fully explore the academy.

Becky stretched her arms out.

“Tomorrow, they’ll divide us into classes based on our grades… So, I should really get some rest today.”

“Divide us into classes based on grades?”

That comment bothered me a little.

I didn’t have any issue with grouping people of similar ability together for education.

However, the problem was that this boy had been assigned an F grade.

If possible, I wanted to spend time with the highest-level students.

It was only natural.

To understand the standard of a group, one must observe their representatives.

I was curious about the skill level of the academy’s top students. What do they pursue?

I wasn’t interested in spending time with unmotivated individuals.

“They’re going to divide us based on the grades we’ve been assigned?”

“No, they’re doing a new test tomorrow.”

That was fine. A slight smile tugged at the corners of my mouth.

Becky tilted her head.

“Isn’t it annoying? Right?”

“What is?”

“Wouldn’t it be easier and better if they just divided us based on our current assigned grades? We’re both A’s anyway.”

“You’re an A?”

“It was close, but I got an A. But wait, what’s with that reaction? You’re an A too, right?”

Becky looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“No, I’m not.”

I shook my head. I had received an F, and I had no reason to lie.

Becky’s eyes widened, and her lips moved as if to say something, but I ignored her.

I was more interested in the conversations around me.

“How did you pass?”

“Enchantment.”

“Enchantment? Wow, that’s a tough one.”

“Don’t even get me started. I was so nervous I thought I was going to die. I failed twice and barely succeeded on the last attempt…”

The lecture hall was lively. I didn’t particularly dislike the noise, which I hadn’t experienced in a while.

“What are you going to do after the orientation?”

“Think for yourself.”

“What are you going to do after the orientation?”

“……”

These kinds of conversations were especially welcome. It was typical of their age, innocent and refreshing.

“What grade did you get when you entered?”

“Just average. How about you?”

“Me too. Just as usual. And you?”

However, the lively and welcoming atmosphere soon cooled.

As expected, there were more students engaged in exploration and mind games rather than enjoying the amicable atmosphere.

I couldn’t say it was bad. In fact, that’s probably normal.

Then suddenly, Becky poked me with her index finger.

She smiled mischievously and tapped her ear as if telling me to listen.

Come to think of it, there was a conversation that stood out particularly clearly.

“Oh, right. Did you see that?”

“What? Oh, I think I know what you’re talking about.”

“Yeah! The Agora Board!”

The Agora Board.

A spark lit by someone quickly spread like wildfire.

The entire lecture hall began buzzing with talk about the Agora Board.

“Who figured it out?”

“I heard even the professors are competing over it.”

“It’s kind of intimidating.”

“Everyone, please take your seats.”

Just then, a calm female voice suddenly caught my ear.

A woman appeared at the front of the lecture hall.

The fire that seemed impossible to extinguish was suddenly put out by her presence.

It was sudden. She appeared in a blink of an eye.

‘Projection?’

It looked like teleportation, but she probably hadn’t come in person.

It seemed she had projected her image to the front of the lecture hall.

In other words, this female professor’s image was projected in front of the new students in every lecture hall.

A professor is still a professor, I suppose.

She had sharp eyes with dark circles under them.

Long white hair, a hat larger than her head, and a loose robe.

Honestly, she looked more like a witch than a professor at first glance.

She appeared to be quite strict.

“I’m Violet. I’ll be conducting the orientation today.”

There was a slight hint of annoyance in her tone.

Then, she suddenly tilted her head and pointed her index finger in a certain direction.

“…Are you not going to take off your hats?”

The students wearing hats hurriedly removed them and placed them down.

“Wow, what a strict…”

Becky muttered very softly.

Violet sighed deeply and continued with the orientation.

“Let’s set aside the evaluation scheduled for tomorrow and focus on a few basics today.”

The previous commotion had completely disappeared.

All the students’ eyes sparkled as they focused on her words.

No, to be precise, it felt like they were focusing because they feared getting into serious trouble if they didn’t.

Her clear and concise explanation continued.

“As you can see, the greater achievement in magic comes from a balanced focus across various branches. But how many branches of magic are there in total… That’s too basic, isn’t it? I suppose there’s no need to explain.”

The students nodded in unison at every word from the professor.

The professor calmly carried out her duties.

This synchronized movement was somewhat comforting yet unfamiliar at the same time.

“Just as reading must precede writing, understanding the formula must precede using magic…”

Since I already knew this, I didn’t pay much attention to her words.

Instead, I focused on more advanced thoughts.

The students in uniform, the sound of writing formulas on the chalkboard, the synchronized responses of the students.

The sound of students taking notes, small exclamations from those who had an epiphany, and sighs and groans from those who hadn’t…

There was no real order, but it felt as though there was some kind of hidden rule.

Could something like this be expressed as a formula? It seemed like it could be interesting.

The attribute would be nothingness.

The strokes of the formula would match the number of people.

Would the branch be harmony?

Then mix in a bit of the destruction branch.

I became absorbed in my thoughts, riding the endless waves of imagination.

And at the end of that—

*Snap.*

Before I knew it, I had snapped my fingers.

“…!”

At that moment, the image of the professor in front of me disappeared, and all the students were startled.

It was a mistake.

I had been too engrossed. I hadn’t intended to interfere, but I had inadvertently severed Violet’s projection link.

I quickly drew a formula in my mind and reconnected the link.

“What happened? Where did the professor go?”

“Oh, that scared me!”

“Is the orientation over?”

Shortly after, the professor’s image reappeared.

With a slightly odd expression, she glanced around at the students.

And then, suddenly.

“……”

She fixed her gaze on me and stared intently.

Just as I was about to say something out of embarrassment.

“…To continue with the explanation.”

She resumed the orientation.

◈

After the orientation ended, the students flooded out of the lecture hall like the tide.

Wasn’t this the first day after the freshman welcome event?

Even so, they quickly formed groups, chatted among themselves, and left the lecture hall.

In any case, they sure know how to have fun.

Flan still lacked social skills, even if he were thrown into another world.

Of course, he had no intention of developing them.

He remained seated, reflecting on what had just happened.

“Hmm.”

He had accidentally severed the professor’s projection magic; he would have to be more careful in the future.

This wasn’t Flan’s personal space. It was a space shared with many other magicians.

Now then, what should he do?

Just as he thought about exploring the academy a bit.

“Aren’t you going to leave the lecture hall?”

Becky’s voice suddenly came, surprising him.

It was actually Flan who wanted to ask the question.

“Why didn’t you leave?”

“Um… I still had something to ask.”

Flan quietly looked at her, urging her to speak.

“Nothing happened at home?”

“Nothing?”

“Yeah. I was wondering if you didn’t get scolded much. You know, they seemed to have misunderstood a bit.”

“Nothing happened.”

“Oh, really?”

Since nothing happened, Becky didn’t have much else to say and felt a bit awkward.

It looked like a strict family, so how could nothing have happened?

A moment of silence fell. This time, Flan broke it.

“Aren’t you going to leave?”

“Oh, I should. I’m going to get lunch.”

“Eating alone?”

“Who else would I eat with but myself? Enjoy your meal too. See you.”

Becky quickly said her goodbyes and left the lecture hall.

Perhaps because her movements were a bit dramatic.

Some of the girls, who had been chatting in groups, glanced over at Flan.

Flan didn’t particularly avoid their gaze.

After a moment of staring, one of the girls approached him.

“Hey, what’s your relationship with her?”

“No relationship. Why?”

Instead of answering, the girl exchanged glances with her group and then burst out laughing.

“She’s a commoner.”

“A commoner?”

“You didn’t know? She’s totally poor.”

I didn’t really care.

But maybe Flan’s indifferent expression frustrated her even more. The girl plopped down beside him and continued.

“She wore tons of perfume at the freshman welcome event too, didn’t she? Just to hide that she’s poor.”

“She only talks to boys. Her intentions are so obvious.”

“Everyone hates her. She doesn’t know her place.”

“Hmm.”

It seemed that a strict social hierarchy was deeply rooted in this world as well.

On the contrary, I found it more interesting. After all, Flan was also born in poverty and had proven himself.

“There doesn’t seem to be a problem. From what I’ve heard, she was admitted with a good grade.”

“The boys probably helped her out. She’s a queen bee. That kind of thing.”

She didn’t seem like that type, though.

With serious expressions, the girls continued to gossip about Becky.

“Don’t hang out with commoners. When something happens, and you look into it later, it’s always a commoner.”

“Yeah, your family probably wouldn’t like it either.”

As I was listening to their words, I suddenly remembered my promise with Scarlet.

“…I’m not a noble either.”

Flan said with a slight smile.

The girls’ expressions immediately hardened.

“Ugh…”

They looked at him as if they had seen something disgusting, as if they had wasted their time.

Around then, one of the girls whispered to another.

“Hey, isn’t this the guy… the one who confessed to Hayley and got rejected…”

“What? Oh~ so it’s him? That makes sense.”

“Let’s go.”

As the girls quickly distanced themselves, Flan shrugged.

He never really cared about rumors.

After the girls had all left and Flan was alone in the lecture hall.

“Guess I’ll take a look around.”

He got up from his seat.

Or rather, he had just stood up and was about to pass through the back door of the lecture hall when—

“Student.”

Someone called out to him in the hallway.

It was Violet, the professor from earlier.