A Death Row Convict Teaches at a School of Magic

For what was expected of a human being, they were creatures that would spread fabrications.

Irrespective of how genuine a person may be, the vast majority of people will tell at least a few falsehoods during their lives. In spite of this, Fina has for a long time been wondering why lying was regarded as an evil act in any country.

True to be admitted, deception was not a highly laudable practice. At the same time, though, lying was an indispensable element in facilitating interpersonal bonds. Whether it be a lie to encourage another person or a lie to accommodate a discourse, the lies that arose out of consideration for others should not be viewed as evil, and a community would not be born in the absence of lies.

In this respect, Kanaki Taiga may not be an unconditionally evil individual.

“―nity. Fina Trinity!”

“―! Yes.”

The stern cry of her name jolted Fina back to reality, and she rushed to stand up.

“Did you hear what I said?”

“…No.”

When she answered frankly, the man on the platform―Teacher Tupel―gave Karen a quick glance.

“We are in the middle of a lecture. Be attentive henceforth.”

“…I apologize.”

Her voice was nearly wavering with shame. As a knight and follower of Karen, she had inconvenienced her. While disappearing like this would be tempting, it was apparent that this would be a nuisance to her master, and she let the tip of her pen go over her own notes, in which nothing had been written since the first couple of lines.

However, within a few moments, her concentration drifted off again, bringing the pen she was using to write on the board to a halt. This has been the case ever since the disappearance of Kanaki. Even though it had been close to two weeks, the shock of his disappearance still haunted her.

Initially, Fina found it utterly implausible that Kanaki was a member of the group that aimed to wipe out Karen, and that he had stolen a forbidden book from Windell’s magical library. But with each passing day, the mounting credibility, the arrest of Eto and the death of Arti were steadily eroding her groundless conviction that Kanaki was not culpable.

In reality, it would be logical to say that Kanaki had fled because he was a culprit, and looking at his history, it was plain to understand that he was beyond suspicious. Even so, the lack of conclusive evidence still prevented Fina from giving up on him.

In the coming month, the finals of the SKT will finally be staged in the royal capital. Since she has recently been devoting so much effort to her training that it could be characterized as hard work to free herself of any thoughts, her body has undergone a great deal of growth that even she can recognize. On the other hand, her mind still remained at a standstill from two weeks ago.

An uncontrollable sigh was released, and when Fina raised her head, she noticed that Tupel was proceeding with his lecture as though nothing had happened. Being seated in the front row, it was unbelievable that he failed to hear her sigh, and he must have deliberately played it off as if he missed it. Without a doubt, Karen’s presence behind Fina was the reason for his behavior. She was on the verge of sighing once again at this teacher’s pettiness and self-centeredness. This teacher, who replaced Kanaki as the first year’s homeroom teacher of Class 4, has been consistently acting in this manner. His reputation among the other classmates was not favorable, and Luis and his classmates, all of whom originated from a commoner background, could say that he was the worst.

When thinking about it, the students in this class were all of different backgrounds, and all of them had their own unique characteristics. Perhaps it was not only Fina who was impressed by how well Kanaki was able to unite such a class. The suspicion that Kanaki was one of the outlaws who targeted the life of her master, Karen, was firm, but Fina still couldn’t bring herself to detest him.

She desired to hear the truth from her teacher. She couldn’t help but want to meet him.

Through the window, Fina observed the view of Seal. Overhead, the city was as vibrant as ever, and the clear, seemingly limitless sky stretched all the way to the back of the city.

Teacher Kanaki, where are you now?

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The sky was an azure hue that seemed to spread out infinitely.

“―It has been a long time since I have been here.”

Looking at the street, crammed with people far more crowded than in Seal, my lips curved into a strained smile and I jumped into the crowd determinedly.

In Erwin, the royal capital of the Kingdom of Ortesia, I was in search of a certain someone―