In a world where magic decides everything, the prestigious floating magic academy of Celestia is a battleground for gifted nobles and geniuses.
Lyra, 17, is a quiet girl who loves books more than people. She spends every day unnoticed in a corner of the library, reading. But Lyra hides an earth-shattering secret: she possesses a staggering magical talent no one at the academy knows about.
One day, Aiden, the academy's biggest troublemaker, accidentally witnesses Lyra's true power in the librar
The Invisible Throne of a Quiet Mage - The quiet library and the magic of floating books
The light of dusk dyed the spines of the books piled on the long table.
Lyra lifted her face and glanced out the window.
The ground below, seen from the school building floating in the sky, was already quite dark. That cluster of tiny lights was the town of Stellamund. Celestia Academy here sat on a floating island a full twelve hundred meters above the surface. You couldn't reach this place without taking the Gate Lift from that town—the transfer gate connecting the ground to the academy.
(...Even after what I did back then, the town still lights up just the same.)
Lyra adjusted her round glasses.
A small, delicate girl of seventeen, wrapped in a worn cardigan. Her long silver hair was loosely braided to one side, and she had a habit of occasionally fiddling with its end. From the oversized sleeves of her uniform, small bony hands peeked out. Her large, pale gray eyes were always downcast, and she could never settle unless she was reading a book.
This was the Biblio Arcana—the academy's largest library. Its collection numbered roughly one hundred twenty thousand volumes. Three floors above ground, two below. Lyra's usual spot was a window seat on the east wing of the third floor. A place where she could read quietly, without meeting anyone's eyes.
She turned a page.
What Lyra was reading now was an old book on magical history. About eight hundred years of history packed tightly within. The discovery of the Pillars of Ether had begun magical civilization, followed by roughly four hundred years of great upheaval, and now the age where nobles ruled. Ether magic—the power to convert ether particles in the atmosphere through the magic core within one's body—was the standard by which everything in this world was measured.
A single speck of dust fell onto the book.
Lyra brushed it away gently with her finger.
(Just being able to use magic lets people become that great.)
About seventy percent of Celestia Academy's students were children of nobles. This academy, too, had been founded by its first headmaster with the words "raise them by talent, not blood," but now it was all just for show. When the ranking duels—the Gladius Tournament—drew near, the nobles grew tense, trying to push their own children into the top ranks.
This year especially, Lyra thought.
Rumors she'd overheard in the dining hall. Who would place where, or that commoners weren't allowed into the upper ranks. Talk like that mixed into the air and flowed throughout the academy.
It had nothing to do with Lyra.
The Gate Lift's toll was one silver coin. A scholar's fee easily exceeded a hundred gold coins. Lyra, of common birth, had entered here through a scholarship slot. Keep a low profile, hold her breath, and get through three years. That was her only plan.
"...Hah."
Her fingers stopped when she reached the incantation pages.
Old incantation texts lined the page. Fire, water, wind, earth. Light, darkness. The foundation of all of it was drawing ether from the magic core and converting it. Overuse led to magic core exhaustion, and in the worst case, losing one's magic entirely.
(I don't use magic.)
Lyra repeated it in her heart.
When she was little, at a festival, she had unconsciously called forth a torrent of ether and blown away the stalls. The sound of that day's wind still clung to the depths of her ears. Scattering splinters of wood. Screams. Even though I didn't do anything.
"...It's okay."
Lyra fiddled with the end of her braid.
Like a spell to convince herself.
――――
The closing bell rang quietly.
Lyra stood up to return the book. The return desk was on the first floor, but if she was just putting the book she'd been reading back on its shelf, she didn't need to go all the way down. The head librarian, Mina Herzog, knew Lyra came every day and generally turned a blind eye.
She pushed the book into the topmost shelf.
She stretched on her tiptoes.
She couldn't reach.
Lyra gave a little hop, pushing the spine of the book.
At that moment, from her fingertips, the air wavered softly.
—Huh?
The books around her rose up without a sound.
Over a dozen of them simultaneously floated in the air, several centimeters away from the shelf.
Lyra's heart clenched with a thud.
(No, no no no no.)
She wasn't using it. There wasn't a single speck of intent. And yet, the books were floating.
Lyra froze. Forgetting how to breathe, she clenched both hands tightly.
(Go back, please, go back.)
The books slowly returned to the shelf.
Clunk.
The last one settled into place, and silence returned to the library.
Lyra crumpled to the floor on the spot.
It was the same as that festival day. Something inside her moved on its own. It was terrifying. She wanted to run away right now.
"...It's okay, it's okay."
Her voice was as faint as a breath.
――――
"Hey, you. Commoner."
A low voice came from beyond the bookshelf.
Lyra's face snapped up as if struck.
Standing there was a tall male student.
His glossy indigo-black hair was neatly parted to the side. His narrow golden eyes gave off a cold light.
Casper Valstein.
The scion of the great noble House Valstein, and a consistently top-ranked powerhouse in this academy. Saying he wielded the fire attribute sounded fine, but his flames were always dangerously close to scorching himself.
He approached with an expression that said he was checking the collection.
"What did you just do?"
"N-nothing... I didn't do anything..."
"Don't lie. The books were floating. What was that?"
Irritation seeped into Casper's voice.
Lyra couldn't meet his eyes.
Behind her round glasses, her pale gray eyes wavered. She stepped back.
"That was, um... you must have been seeing things. I can't use magic at all..."
"Hah. A mere commoner using flashy magic in the library is a serious violation. Don't think you can claim ignorance."
Casper took a step forward.
Lyra's small body shrank even further.
Looking down at her, Casper felt something sizzle deep in his chest.
(Why am I so irritated?)
He himself couldn't fully control his fire attribute.
Just the other day in class, during practical training, he'd scorched the area around the target. The professor said nothing, but he felt the eyes around him saying, "This is the heir to a great noble house?"
He had to be perfect.
And yet, this commoner before him—so quiet it was infuriating—had unconsciously lifted the books around her.
Such delicate control. He couldn't imitate it.
Casper bit his lip.
"Don't play dumb. Show me your incantation right now. What's your attribute?"
"P-please stop... I really didn't do anything..."
Tears faintly welled in Lyra's eyes.
She repeated in a voice that seemed about to vanish.
"I don't use magic. So... please, just pretend you didn't see..."
"Don't use it? Then what do you call what just happened?!"
Lyra's shoulders flinched.
"...It moved on its own. It's not my fault. But even when I'm scared, no one forgives me..."
Casper's brow twitched.
(Moves on its own?)
For an instant, some calm part of his mind analyzed that.
But more than that, the irritation inside him won out.
"Your excuses don't matter. A scholarship student like you activating magic without permission in the library is disrupting the academy's order."
"I-I'm sorry..."
"If apologizing were enough, we wouldn't need the council."
Lyra gripped the end of her braid.
It was no use. She might be caught like this and expelled.
Just as she thought that, a yawn came from the shadow of the bookshelf.
"—Ahh, you're so loud. What are you doing in the library?"
――――
It was a voice utterly devoid of motivation.
Lyra and Casper both turned toward it at the same time.
Leaning against a bookshelf was Professor Vane.
His long platinum-blond hair was loosely tied back into a single tail. A few strands had come loose and fallen over his shoulders. His drooping violet eyes were only half open, looking sleepy. Depending on the light, that purple seemed to shift ever so slightly.
The tall professor was languid as always, looking utterly uninterested in anything.
"Casper. She's scared, you know. Keep it down a little."
"Professor Vane... why are you here?"
"I came to borrow a book. Then I heard some young voices."
Vane looked at Lyra.
Something seemed to glint deep within those sleepy eyes.
"Are you all right?"
"...Yes."
Lyra answered in a voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz.
(Did this person see it too?)
The thought made her legs tremble.
Vane looked back and forth between Lyra and Casper, then stifled another big yawn.
"Well, if you're done checking the collection, that's enough. From what I can see, all the books are back on the shelves."
"But that commoner—"
"Casper."
Vane's voice dropped just slightly.
"Rather than making a scene here, why don't you go home and practice controlling your fire attribute? It's been unstable again lately, hasn't it?"
Casper's expression changed.
"...Tch."
"I'm not blaming you. Just make sure your father doesn't scold you."
Vane narrowed only his eyes.
Casper looked like he wanted to say something, but he held it back and glared at Lyra once.
"...Remember this. There won't be a next time."
Leaving those parting words behind, he strode quickly out of the library.
――――
Casper's footsteps faded into the quiet library.
Lyra finally let out her breath.
"Th-thank you very much..."
"No, it's nothing. What's your name?"
"...Lyra."
"Lyra, then."
Vane, still leaning against the wall, gazed at Lyra with a bored expression.
But somewhere in those eyes, there was a faint glimmer.
(This girl—can she really not control her magic core? Or is it—)
Inwardly, he thought: Interesting.
"You're a third-year, right? Not entering the tournament?"
"I-I... can't enter. I can't fight..."
"I see. Better not to push yourself."
Vane hid a yawn behind his hand like a box, waving the other hand lazily.
"Get home safely. It's already dark."
"...Yes."
Lyra hurriedly left the library.
Her heart was still pounding painfully.
She descended the stairs as if fleeing and stepped outside onto the first floor.
Her hands were shaking, and she wrapped her arms around her own body.
(I was seen. By Casper. And by the professor too.)
She crossed the academy's main gate plaza, Lux Plaza.
The bronze statue of the founder, Fiorence, floated white in the dark night.
Lyra glanced at the statue and headed for the dormitory.
Behind her, there was the presence of someone muffling their footsteps as they departed.
――――
Back in her room in the girls' dormitory, Lyra collapsed onto her bed.
On her small desk, several old books were stacked.
She pulled a small notebook from the drawer.
She tried to write, holding her pen.
Her hand trembled.
"...It's not my fault."
Saying it aloud almost made her cry.
She had sworn not to use magic.
And yet, some part of her body moved on its own.
If someone had seen what happened in the library—then next time, I won't be able to stay here, Lyra thought.
(Please. Just forget it.)
She traced the page of the notebook with her fingertip.
"...Tomorrow, I'll go to the library again."
Lyra murmured.
As long as she was reading, she wouldn't have to think about anything.
But what happened today wouldn't disappear even after dawn.
Outside the library doors, someone might have been listening.
That rumor, with the Gladius Tournament approaching, was beginning to spread little by little through the tense academy.
――――
That night, Lyra closed her notebook.
A small but certain thorn was lodged in her chest.
(If someone sees me again...)
She gripped the end of her braid tightly.
Outside the window, the distant light of Linden Tower flickered, just once.
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