"Knock knock knock~"

Ira gently knocked on the classroom door. Before him was a classroom... or rather, a classroom that was not defined as a classroom by this world. It was a classroom with a structure very similar to classrooms in the ancient times.

There was a blackboard (a large white parchment) for writing lesson plans, a podium, and desks...

But to this world, it was just an ordinary room with some tables and chairs... This shows that Professor Tops was indeed having a hard time.

After Ira knocked on the door, a man's delighted voice came from inside the classroom, his voice tinged with eagerness, "Come in!"

Since the other party had agreed, Ira unceremoniously pushed open the door and entered...

"Squeak~"

With the sound of the old, dilapidated wooden door being pushed open, Ira entered and saw a man who looked to be in his thirties, with black hair and black eyes, and who appeared to be from the principality.

"Hello, Professor Tops."

Iraq greeted him politely.

Hello, hello!

Tops responded with great enthusiasm, wiping the table in front of the podium clean for Ira. He asked excitedly, "Are you here for class? Who was your previous tutor? What school of thought did you belong to?"

It seems they're treating Iraq like a student attending class.

Ira glanced at the patterns and words on the blackboard (white) and was immediately captivated... He stared at the ink drawings on the parchment, lost in thought for a while.

The drawing is really ugly. It seems that my previous drawings were considered good-looking. The people in this world have a pure impressionist level of painting, no... it's abstract!

However, this line of thinking...

Noticing Ira's annotation, Tops smiled and began to explain his ideas, saying, "You must have heard about my course... Mages don't need to memorize the original texts; they only need to make specific staves and rings to cast spells."

"Although it sounds strange, it is indeed feasible. My idea comes from the term 'self-created spells.' When we create our own spells, we can define the 'chanting' that the World Tree recognizes."

"The essence of spell chanting is to recite the original text once. It is said that in the age of gods, spellcasters needed to memorize tens of thousands of words of the original text in order to cast spells. Later, the term 'chanting' came into being... It is an act of summarizing the entire original text with specific sentences."

“Different races have different dialects, but can the original text be summarized in the same way using similar chants? This proves that chanting and the release of magic are not directly related, and different chants can also refer to the same spell.”

"However, you're probably a freshman, right? You're not very familiar with this, so I'll start from the very basics..."

It seemed that Tops really wanted to have a student, so he explained his ideas very enthusiastically. He was preparing to teach like a normal teacher, starting with things like "What is magic?" and "The difference between magic and mana."

"So, you thought of using the instantaneous vibrations that replace metal as a form of incantation, bypassing the existing incantation system and directly leading to the original text... Is your idea based on the recompilation of magic?"

Iraq said it bluntly.

"..."

Tops remained silent for a long time. He opened his mouth wide, partly marveling at how Ira had seen through the situation in just a few glances and words, and partly realizing that Ira wasn't a student who came to class.

Tops' expression immediately turned very disappointed.

However, not many people could understand his thoughts, and Ira's expression did not turn angry and confused like that of other mentors and professors, so they were finally able to have a proper chat.

Tops has never known who he could confide in.

"Yes, the entire original text is recorded by the medium, with the [record of the staff] replacing the [memory of the mage], and the [chantment of the staff] replacing the [chantment of the mage], and then the mage supplies it to the staff mana."

As Tops said this, he picked up the staff on the table, and with the infusion of his magic, a small flame appeared at the tip of the staff... Although it was very weak, it appeared silently.

Humans cannot hear the chanting of the staff. Ira is perhaps the one in this world who understands the underlying principles better than anyone else, though other races with wider vocal ranges may be able to perceive them.

"The staff is the primary agent for casting spells; the mage is merely a provider of mana..."

As Ira analyzed this, and then, seeing Tops's increasingly delighted expression of "I've found someone who understands me," she said, "All my pride has been shattered. You're a true genius..."

Tops laughed awkwardly at Ira's assessment, scratching his head as he said, "What genius... I have a very poor Mana aptitude and a terrible memory, which is why I resort to such underhanded methods."

crooked paths? When crooked paths replace the right path... it's really hard to say which one is crooked or evil.

“Nice to meet you, I am Ira Elkaras.”

As Ira said this, he extended his hand to Tops and said, "I am very interested in your research and hope to develop some long-term cooperation."

In response, Tops, whose clothes were somewhat unkempt, wiped his ink-stained hands on his clothes, shook hands with Ira, and introduced himself: "My name is Tops Watt. The cooperation you mentioned... wait, you are Ira? The Ira from the Empire?"

It seems that Tops only just realized who Ira was...

This is actually quite normal. People from the Empire can associate Ira's name with her appearance, but people from other countries mostly just see Ira as "Oh, the legend of the Empire."

They didn't have the concept that "the chief executive officer is cheating."

Therefore, they don't deliberately try to remember the connection between Ira's name and face... The number of legends isn't large, but it's not a handful either; they're not the kind that can be easily remembered.

"Yes, I am Ira, and I currently work in the Demon King's territory..."

As she said this, Ira quickly changed the subject and said, "The work I'm talking about is that I hope you can leave the Crimson Tower and come to the Demon King's Territory to continue your research."

Tops hesitated visibly. He first shook his head, then glanced around the empty classroom before saying hesitantly, "Let me think about it."

Tops might consider it, and Ira has enough patience... but the moment Tops refuses, Ira will kill him and then try to take his research data.

The future must be in his own hands.

"The Demon King's territory needs reform, Tops."

As Ira spoke, he felt that Tops was an easy person to understand, so he also gave targeted advice: "Compared to the Crimson Tower where no one needs you, you will gain a lot of... monster students in the Demon Lord's Domain."

"..."

"I...I'll join."