[V9C1] The Starspear Witch

Professor Gideon Rutherford had a research lab in the Minerva Institute for Mages, and within, there was a girl diligently writing a paper with a quill pen.

The girl had messy braids and a thin figure, and her name was Monica Everett. Despite only turning fourteen this year, she was one of Minerva’s few scholarship students. This status made her exempt from regular classes, allowing her to pursue independent research in Rutherford’s lab.

“…Done.”

Having finished the paper, Monica returned the quill to its stand and glanced over the completed document. This thesis on the application of wide-area magical formulas was, even by her own standards, quite well down.

Content with her work, Monica put on the eerie smile often associated with sleep-deprived individuals.

However, this was interrupted by a growling sound from her stomach. It was then that Monica remembered forgetting to eat breakfast. She glanced at the clock and widened her eyes, as it was already late afternoon. No wonder she felt hungry.

(I should go to the cafeteria…)

While Monica understood this was the only way to fill her stomach, she couldn’t shake off the heavy feeling of it.

Ever since mastering chantless magic and becoming a scholarship student, she had been attracting loads of attention. Many whispered about the so-called girl prodigy, giving her prying or envious looks.

Just being stared at was frightening enough, but encountering Hubert Dee would be even worse. That would mean getting dragged by the collar to the magical battle training grounds.

(I don’t want to leave this room.)

Going to the cafeteria was out of the question when simply walking out into the corridor felt so daunting.

Monica pushed her paper to the side and rested her head on the desk. Perhaps sleeping would allow her to forget about her hunger. She glanced absentmindedly at the completed paper as she attempted to fall asleep.

“I wonder if Bernie will compliment me once he sees this…”

Monica had grown distant from her friend Bernie since becoming a scholarship student. She attempted to greet him when they crossed paths in the hallway, but always hesitated once she saw that Bernie was with other people.

While Bernie was Monica’s only friend, she was merely one of his many friends.

(Going to the cafeteria wouldn’t be so bad if I’m with Bernie.)

Monica always had trouble navigating the crowd, so Bernie would often order food for her, and even reserve her a seat. There were just so many simple things that Monica couldn’t do properly.

Would the other students give her a dirty look if she sat at their table? Perhaps they were all secretly thinking she should read the mood and move to a different table. Monica often fretted over such things, and in the meantime, all of the seats would be taken.

As Monica began feeling down about her inadequacies, she heard the sound of the door opening behind her. Had Professor Rutherford come back?

Whenever Professor Rutherford found Monica sleeping at her desk, he would always give her a noogie and send her back to her room. Thus, Monica slowly raised herself off the desk and turned around… only to be surprised at the unknown visitor.

“Oh, are you a student from Master’s lab?” The stranger asked.

Standing in the doorway was a woman of medium build and average height, who appeared to be in her mid-twenties. She lacked any makeup, and her reddish-brown hair, reaching down to her back, was casually tied at the nape of her neck.

Her clothes seemed to be very worn-out travel attire. Combined with her sturdy boots and the backpack slung over her shoulder, this gave her the appearance of a fieldwork researcher.

As Monica sat frozen in her chair, the woman glanced around the room and voiced another question.

“Do you know around what time Master——uh, Professor Rutherford will be back?”

Though still partially frozen, Monica managed to shake her head slightly as a response.

Meanwhile, the woman continued in a friendly tone, apparently not minding Monica’s lack of words.

“Hmm, then do you mind if I wait here until he comes back? I don’t want to bump into the other professors right now.”

Unsure if she should answer yes or no, Monica drooped her head and began fiddling with her fingers.

(W-What should I do? Maybe it’s better if I just leave the room?)

Half of her was concerned that her presence might make the woman uncomfortable, while the other half couldn’t bear the thought of being alone with a stranger.

Eventually, Monica decided to just leave. However, she got dizzy and tumbled to the ground immediately after rising from her seat.

“Hugyuh!?”

Following her peculiar scream, another pitiful rumbling sound came from her stomach.

Meanwhile, the woman approached Monica and offered her hand, asking if she was okay.

“S-S-Sorry… I… I j-just…”

The combination of embarrassment, panic, and hunger caused Monica to stammer even worse than usual. However, the woman didn’t mock her garbled words.

“You must be hungry, right? Wait just a moment.”

The woman retrieved a small pot from her backpack, poured water from a water bag into it, then lit the furnace with a shortened chant.

“Oh, this pot must have been used for experiments. No one is using it anymore, right?”

The woman pointed at a ceramic pot placed at the edge of the furnace, which had been used for an experiment and neglected to be cleaned, so it was still covered in grime.

“N-No one is using it…”

“Cool, then I might as well clean it up real quick with some hot water.”

The woman ignited another fire with a shortened chant, so the furnace now had two flames. These controlled flame spells were fixed in the air, allowing them to burn quietly without the need for any firewood.

(She’s really good at magic.)

The ability to use shortened chants was already a sign of high proficiency, but the woman went even further. Her flawless mana manipulation meant she didn’t waste even the slightest bit of mana.

As Monica stared absentmindedly at the beautiful display of magecraft, the woman uttered another shortened chant.

(…Huh?)

Monica couldn’t help but look back at the furnace, which still contained two flames. These had been created by two separate chants——meaning the woman was currently maintaining two different spells.

In this state, she would need to cancel one of the flames to cast another spell.

However, once the woman finished her shortened chant, a ball of water appeared above the dirty ceramic pot. It promptly flowed down into the pot like a gentle river.

(Did she just cast three spells at the same time? Huh?)

“I’m just using this water to clean the pot. It’s okay to use magically created water as long as we don’t drink it.”

The woman pointed at the dirty pot, and the water inside began to swirl into a vortex. Once the water eventually warmed up, the grime in the pot came off easily enough.

Meanwhile, the woman was taking dried herbs, mushrooms, and other ingredients from her bag and tossing them into the already clean pot, despite maintaining three spells at the same time.

Finally, she took out what looked like a white rod-like object wrapped in tree bark. It seemed to be a dough made from kneaded wheat, shaped into rods, then dried.

The woman shaved off a few pieces with her knife and tossed it into the pot.

(S-She’s cooking while using magic…)

The woman made it look effortless, but maintaining even basic spells required a certain level of concentration. And yet, she did it naturally while multi-tasking her cooking.

As the pot began to simmer, the pleasant aroma of herbs filled the air.

“Man, this takes me back. I often cooked for myself here during my student days… Oops, let’s not overdo the salt. It’ll probably get a little too salty for you if I put in the usual amount.”

Judging by how she mentioned her student days, she must be a graduate of Minerva. However, Monica couldn’t help but think that the woman didn’t seem like a typical Minerva student.

Most of Minerva’s students were either the prideful children of noble families, or the stubborn researcher types. Of course, there were exceptions, as Monica herself wasn’t of noble descent.

The woman’s slight accent and casualness suggested that she was not a noble.

“And… done. Here, it’s just whatever I had available though.”

After taking some utensils from her bag, the woman ladled Monica a bowl of soup.

“T-T-Thank… v-very much.”

Monica’s stammered thanks was nearly incomprehensible, but the woman just smiled and said, “Be careful; it’s hot.”

Monica blew on the soup and took a sip.

Though the only seasoning was salt, the soup had a rich flavor thanks to the dried mushrooms. The shaved wheat lumps had a chewy texture, making them unexpectedly satisfying.

While drinking the soup, Monica glanced at the pot from the corner of her eye.

Judging by the two fire spells and the swirling water spell, the woman seemed to be casting three spells at once. However, even the most advanced mages could manage two at best.

(There’s only one person in this country who can do that…)

It was then that Monica finally remembered. The woman had referred to Rutherford as her master.

Gideon Rutherford’s most prominent disciple was Louis Miller, the young captain of the Magic Corps who was renowned as the Barrier Mage. But his other disciple was…

A former member of the Seven Sages, famed as the prodigy who could control seven magics simultaneously.

“…Starspear Witch-sama?”

“Carla Maxwell. Just call me Carla. I’m not a big fan of titles and stuff.”

Carla took out a thin cigarette, lit it with magic, then inhaled with relish. After exhaling, she manipulated the wind with a shortened chant to divert the smoke away from Monica.


According to Professor Rutherford, Carla was a stout traveler who rarely stayed in the same place for over a week. Even on the day of their first encounter, Carla set out immediately after cooking for Monica and speaking to Professor Rutherford.

However, she did reappear at Rutherford’s lab a few times during Monica’s enrollment at Minerva. And whenever she saw Monica, she always left gifts of foreign fruits, or shared the stories of her travels. At times, she even offered advice on Monica’s research.

Carla Maxwell was a true genius, clearly one of the most talented mages in the country. But at the same time, she was also an approachable and friendly older sister figure.

That was the impression Monica had of the Starspear Witch, Carla Maxwell.

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