The character of Rotsard would almost stop appearing, or at least stop being relevant to the story for the rest of 2nd volume, with the exception of the mention of the life and death duel that would kind of set up his deofolization at the beginning of the third volume.
That meant that the actual Rotasard could basically do whatever he wanted for the time being... as long as he would not interact with anyone involved with the main events.
Events such as, for example, one of the teachers getting the idea to make a presentation about the different types of magic systems, showing off their differences and what would be their equivalency amongst each other.
The event would include Amelia Edemsworth as the representative of the most widespread magic system, the commoner student Justin would represent the peculiar but not unheard of anomaly of only being able to use internal spells, Saria Vallhall would be showing off Essence of Winter, while Oliver Berdon was asked to present how swordsmanship magic system could be the only one that could be used together with the most of magic systems without interfering with them.
The presentation was something that basically every student and most teachers of the Royal Academy wouldn't want to miss, and therefore gathered en masse on the training grounds after the normal lectures.
Everyone besides Rotsard, who had no place to be there. His presence alone would interfere with the event if fire spells were going to be used, which, honestly, they definitely would.
After all, this was one of the events that was properly mentioned as the mishap that would occur there would put Saria in a very bad light for the rest of the student body and eventually push her into Justin's arms.
That said, since someone like Syon would definitely want Rotsard to participate just to see the interaction of his perfect mana unity against other test subjects… that is, other students… so Rotsard preemptively expressed his definite objection to getting involved in it in any shape or form.
To sweeten the deal, since Syon got really dispirited and sulky after receiving the news, Rotsard promised him to participate in a similar presentation as long as it was kept private.
That's why he and Syon were now in the empty classroom on the highest floor with the perfect view on the training grounds, standing by the open window and gazing down at the gathering below.
"..."
"..."
Rotsard was leaning forward, supporting himself on his elbows while Syon was gazing up at him, crouched down and with his hands on the windowsill and his chin resting on his knuckles.
"...what are you doing, exactly…?"
In the end, Rotsard was the one unable to bear the silence of the ridiculous setup and asked, furrowing his brows as he glanced at the crouching vice headmaster.
"With the evidence provided, I have concluded that you would be much nicer to me if I acted more age-appropriate."
Syon responded, tilting his head so now his cheek was resting on his hands while he kept looking up at the bleached-blond-haired youth, with the most innocent expression he could muster.
"Normal twenty-five-year-olds don't act this way."
"I just thought that since you know I was put into this body seven years prior you wouldn't really see the difference as long as I acted like a seven-year-old."
Rotsard pointed out, to which Syon just shrugged his shoulders and explained.
"...I see the difference, though. Mainly because whatever you have in here is certainly at least comparable to the developed adult human being."
Rotsard rolled his eyes as he pointed at Syon's forehead, turning away from the vice headmaster and focusing on the presentation that was just about to start on the training ground below.
"...buuu… I'm not asking for you to treat me like a newborn fae, I simply want to provide you with the most agreeable conditions for cooperation!"
Syon ended up pouting and grumbling, his cheeks puffed out like those of a very gluttonous hamster.
"I do not have any issue with our cooperation so far, so you don't have to get out of your way to act adorable."
"...!"
Rotsard snorted, shaking his head and almost subconsciously reaching to the side and… patting Syon's head that was at just the right height for that, causing Syon's eyes to widen as he certainly did not expect any of that.
Because in the end, Syon's strategy turned out to be working great.
Maybe even too great…
"..."
"...oh, shit…! Sorry, sorry for that. You… your acting is certainly convincing!"
Syon didn't stand up, swat the hand off, or back off, but he did turn his head the other way without a word, which caused Rotsard to realize what he was doing, so he took back his hand and hurriedly apologized while attempting to explain himself.
"Once again, I'm sorry for doing something like that. Oh, hey, look, they started!"
"..."
Rotsard hurriedly and awkwardly changed the subject, and Syon did end up turning his head slightly and looking at the training ground, but he didn't spare a glance at Rotsard.
…that is, not when the bleached-blond-haired youth was paying attention to him…
The presentation itself wasn't something that happened on a whim and was properly organized.
"As you can see, all of the participants were provided pages with the simplest pattern in which to circulate their mana. Most of you should recognize it from your earliest magic lessons. Those are the interactive ones, which anyone born with a magic system can activate and turn into a spell, complete amateur or not, while the teacher is overseeing it all. The thing is, it is something that people with special magic systems cannot recreate."
The teacher in charge of the presentation spoke up before stepping to the side, showcasing all four participants raising the pages holding patterns towards the audience.
All four concentrated, and the pattern on their respective pages began to glow all the same, only that, at the moment of completion, an orb looking like an apple-sized ball of concentrated mist appeared in front of two of them.
Only the pages belonging to Amelia Edemsworth and Oliver Berdon activated the spell on them.
"As you can see, this is the processed mana without an element affinity that is the basis of the classic magic system. Student Vallhall and student Justin didn't make any mistakes. They are simply born with magic systems that aren't adjusted to that type of processed mana."
The teacher explained while the participants put aside the pages and picked up ones with a different pattern.
"Using the same technique required for creating the previous pattern, I've inscribed those pages with the most basic internal spell of the classic magic system."
The teacher said, and once again the four participants concentrated, and before long the three out of four pages began to glow with the characteristic light of enchantment.
Amelia's, Justin's, and Oliver's.
"As you can see, even this time, student Justin could use the spell without an issue! That's because the core of his magic system is the same as the classic one, only that the mana he's processing is fully contained within his body and cannot directly interfere with the outside world. As for student Vallhall, the magic system she uses, Essence of Winter, doesn't have internal-type enchantments! Instead, one of the spells in the magic system she uses augments items like weapons, armor, and even clothing, but never interferes with the body directly."
"Huh…? What bullshit is this?"
The teacher was speaking on the subject, but for some reason, something she said caused Rotsard to lean back and scoff with a disgusted expression.