“What is this, isn’t this a pretty high-class product?”
Hearing what the thugs said, I couldn’t help but sigh.
Even when I was a magician, people said I looked unimpressive, but this is just troublesome.
“hehehe! Looks like you’ve been raised like a delicate flower in a greenhouse. You’ll be sold off anyway, but if you behave, we won’t beat you.”
As usual, the same extra-tier looks and extra-tier lines.
“Well, whatever.”
This is a chance to see how far I can use this body.
“What’s with this lady? Gonna fight us? If you stay still, we won’t leave any marks.”
The thug bastard is running his mouth.
But as a man in a woman’s body, there’s no way I’ll just let that happen.
“Why do you guys talk so much?”
It’s not like I haven’t dealt with these kinds of scum before.
Taking down trash like this, who only form gangs in slums, is just a matter of moments.
In the end, it all leads back to that hero, Eugene.
It’s mostly that damned hero’s fault.
That bastard kept wandering into the slums.
If he got lucky, he might meet an informant, but most of the time, it was just trash trying to kidnap people.
Especially those targeting the saint and the archer.
There were a lot of scum after those two women.
I saved them every time.
But those women treated me like an errand boy.
“What kind of magician has such brute strength?”
“Why didn’t you just become a fighter? Hero~ Magicians are scary.”
“Hey, why are you throwing punches like that? You’re scaring them.”
Remembering this, my head starts to throb with heat.
“Suddenly, I’m getting angry.”
“If you quietly cooperate with us now—”
Cooperate, my ass.
If I wasn’t using this body, maybe.
But as long as I am, I won’t let it be defiled.
Especially not by some punks from the slums.
Losing to them would be ridiculous.
“Even in this body, dealing with mutts like you isn’t hard.”
I tried channeling mana into my fist.
Not bad.
It seems this body regularly trains with mana.
Controlling and adjusting it isn’t difficult.
To test how strong I am, I swung my fist at the nearby wall.
Crash! Crack!
The wall crumbled.
‘Hmm, not bad. My senses are coming back.’
“How does that small body have such strength?!”
“Everyone has a mana circuit, you know. Even if someone can’t use magic, if they know how to channel it, they can become strong.”
Even a fool who can’t use magic can wrap their body in mana and act like the local king of the hill.
“What are you talking about?”
“Just wrapping a little mana around your body can protect a mage’s body. The reverse is also true.”
If you use mana well, it can even enhance your metabolism.
Even a kid can become as strong as an adult with proper mana control.
“What kind of nonsense is that!”
“No matter how weak a body is from neglect, if you apply mana well, you can do quite a lot.”
The thugs instinctively sensed me as a threat and charged at me.
The bald guy standing right next to me swung his hand axe.
I easily dodged back and jabbed my fist into his solar plexus.
Crack!
His solar plexus caved in, and the bald guy collapsed on the spot.
‘I actually feel lighter than before.’
“By chance, this body has quite a vast amount of mana, and you guys seem perfect for a little experiment.”
“What… what is this? How is a woman this strong?”
Well, I’d think the same too.
A woman who looks like a greenhouse flower suddenly starts knocking people out with her fists—who wouldn’t be shocked?
But you guys are unlucky today.
“Hey, you guys made a bad move today. If slum rats like you die without a trace, no one’s going to care, right?”
I’ve been drifting away from magic lately, but I’m finally fighting again using magic.
Mana manipulation is, after all, the foundation of magic.
From the second fight onward, I went all out with no mercy.
So, I personally decided to take care of them.
Thud! Crack! Snap! Looks like one of them died because I misjudged my strength.
But who cares? It’s just one less piece of trash in the slums.
After beating up about three of them, the rest bowed their heads.
“P-Please spare us! We didn’t recognize who you were!”
“Just a moment ago, you were all over me, trying to pin me down and shake your hips, huh? You want to live?”
“Yes! We’ll do anything you ask!”
Anything I ask, huh? Typical slum dwellers.
“Fine. Do you have any informants?”
“Informants? If you mean…”
Every slum has at least one informant.
A merchant who deals in information.
They don’t always admit to it, but they do provide valuable intel.
Nobles often use them to get rid of their rivals, but the hero party only seeks information useful for traveling.
“I need information about the hero and the demon king.”
“Th-the hero and the demon king!?”
Why are they so shocked? The hero and the demon king are always hot topics.
Whenever corruption breaks out in the empire, they release stories about the hero and the demon king to calm public dissatisfaction.
“Can you get it?”
“Well… if you really want it, I can try.”
Then go get it.
I’m not just going to stay holed up in the academy.
“And find me a job in the capital.”
This semester, I think they covered my tuition, but if they don’t support me next semester, I’ll be in trouble.
Even if my scholarship covers the tuition, I still need money for living expenses.
“A job? For what kind of work?”
“A job suitable for a student at the Imperial Academy. I don’t care what it is, as long as it’s not weird. Understand?”
These thugs are surprisingly well-connected when it comes to stuff like this.
They should be able to find a job easily.
I’ve had to work odd jobs because of the hero party before, too.
Back then, I beat up a few thugs to find a job.
“Alright, got it. So, for contact…”
“Use this.”
I created a bird out of magic for communication. It’s a sparrow. Small and portable.
It also helps me track whether they’re running away or not.
“And if you’ve got any money, hand it over.”
“M-money… we don’t really…”
Oh, impressive. Even after all that beating, they still don’t want to give me any money.
“You’ve probably extorted quite a bit here, haven’t you? I need it for my academy tuition.”
So hand it over.
“Should’ve given it sooner.”
I jingled the pouch of money I was holding.
It’s not quite enough for tuition yet, but if I sell the dress, I should have enough.
The only thing left to work on is mana control.
In the end, I’m a mage.
My swordsmanship and archery have always relied on mana.
I don’t know how much I can do with this girl’s body, but I’ll give it my best.
“The mana circuits seem well-established.”
***
I returned to my dorm room, sat on the bed, and began controlling the mana.
It seems this girl was skilled at mana manipulation, as her circuits are intact.
In the past, I acquired a lot of knowledge to master magic. Mana manipulation must be as natural as breathing.
You must incorporate it into everything—eating, sleeping, living—so that it becomes one with your body.
At that stage, the mana circuits disappear, merging with the body.
This is why destroying a mage’s mana circuits, considered the worst possible fate for a magician, has no effect.
It’s already imprinted on the soul.
This girl’s body seems to have practiced a lot, so I reached the pinnacle of mana fusion without much difficulty.
When a mage’s mana fully fuses with their body, their hair turns white.
I’m starting to wonder if the blood of the duke’s family has a natural affinity for magic.
Normally, this level of mastery would take decades, and many mages are born with bodies that struggle to handle mana, preventing them from achieving fusion.
About 90% of mages never achieve it.
***
I should be able to finish by the start of the new term.
I was able to complete the mana fusion before the new term started.
It helped that this girl’s body is overpowered, and I was already familiar with the sensation of fusion.
I’ve also gotten used to wearing women’s clothes by now.
As I put on the school uniform, I looked at the reflection of Olivia in the mirror.
Pure white hair like snow.
Blue eyes, like the ocean.
Fair skin and a well-proportioned figure.
‘Yeah. Olivia still has perfect looks, as always.’
“The problem is, it’s me moving this body.”
After staring at my reflection for a while, I touched my hair.
‘It’s really white and quite long. Should I cut it? It doesn’t hinder my magic, but as someone who used to be a man, long hair feels oddly uncomfortable. Sitting on the toilet is strange, too.’
Maybe I’ll just leave it.
Cutting my hair would attract unnecessary attention.
I hate dealing with hassles.
I don’t need to get involved with the crown prince and Lily.
There’s no reason to.
Lily is a year younger than me anyway.
Judging by this girl’s diary, she seemed to harass Lily alone every time, but there’s no point in doing that now.
We won’t run into each other if I don’t seek her out.
I’ve met the crown prince before.
He seemed like a guy with a decent head on his shoulders.
He’ll probably succeed to the throne without much trouble.
But that’s about it. Since I’m now in the second year, I won’t need to deal with him anymore.
I’ll pretend not to know him if we meet.
***
Atelina Academy
Olivia belongs to the second-year A-class of the empire’s top academy.
The academy is a microcosm of the empire’s society.
The crown prince and his close aides probably see me as trash, but I need to change Olivia’s reputation among the prominent students in the class at the very least.
“Oh. Hello there.”
I was reading a book related to imperial magic when a girl next to me spoke up.
She gave off a gentle, innocent vibe.
She looks like someone who’d easily fall for a hero’s sweet talk.
I closed my book for a moment and smiled.
“Yes, hello. Nice to meet you.”
“Excuse me, but I’ve never seen you before…”
Never seen me? The Imperial Academy encourages social gatherings, so you’d at least see someone’s face once or twice.
Plus, the high school is fixed for years 1 to 3.
Though the academy now admits commoners, it was originally made for noble children.
Ah, I see. It’s probably because of my white hair. She thinks I’m someone different.
Surely a country as big as ours knows about hair dye.
Does a person’s entire personality change just because of their hair?
“Oh, my name is Olivia.”
When I answered politely, the girl’s face turned pale.
“O-Olivia? Olivia Rapha Ashtar?”
“Yes.”
Upon hearing my name, she immediately moved far away from me.
It seems this body’s original owner caused quite a lot of trouble last year.
Am I going to end up being bullied? This could get dangerous.
How bad were her actions for people to react like they’ve seen a dangerous monster?
After a while, without me doing anything, everyone in the classroom distanced themselves from me.
What the hell? Seriously, what’s going on?
The original owner of this body was tougher to handle than being in the hero party.
Damn it. But there’s no point in complaining now.
In that ice-cold atmosphere, finally, a man in a magician’s robe entered the room, and the absurd bullying stopped.