“Oh, that’s right.  Looks like I still haven’t introduced myself!”

That night, to my astonishment, I realized I could internally communicate with that person through my heart.  While I was surprised, that person gave me a wry smile.

“Of course you can.  My situation is one where I am being allowed a space inside your heart.”

That wasn’t the only surprising thing…

After all, that incident at the staircase wasn’t the only thing that happened today.

Cecily, with her neck still injured, tried going to class, was stopped by a male student so famous at the academy that even my speaking his name would be presumptuous of me, and ended up becoming acquainted with him.  That male student possessed beauty claimed to be at the level of a god descending and was also an ultra-genius-class magician.  He was a handsome young man of the highest specs possible.

He is so, so, so beyond someone like me.  To even enter his field of vision…

Regardless, Cecily attended class after all.

Her magic power was completely drained though, so there should have been no way for her to participate in class…

“Ara, let me do this too.  Say, could you lend me your hand for a bit?”

Unbelievably, through the hand of that beautiful young man whose name I can’t even bring myself to say, a flame more overwhelming than anyone else’s was made to blossom.

…Ah, just remembering that makes my stomach ache. Though, as I’m only a consciousness now, so I might not even have a stomach.

Then, the person possessing me let out a sigh.

“Really, this is a problem that comes before courage… Magic power does dwell within the body, but magic itself is ultimately imagination.  In other words, it’s a matter of having an, ‘I’ll do it’ nerve.  Until you get used to it, just borrow the magical power of that obvious narcissist and breeze through class.”
“Narcissist!?”

He is someone I’ve shared the same class with for three years, and I still can’t even bring myself to say his name!?  Moreover, that person whose name I can’t even utter is already a super-elite who entered the longed-for Royal Capital Magician Research Institute at the age of ten.  I heard that at present, he’s been ordered by the director to prioritize his school life.

The Royal Capital Magician Research Institute is a place admired by everyone, from nobles to commoners alike.  Magic, after all, is the foundation of this world.  It is indispensable.  Even though I can’t use magic myself, just reading books discussing theory makes my heart flutter with excitement…

Well, entering the Magician Research Institute for someone whose magical power has withered away like me is nothing more than a dream within a dream, though.

Anyway, there was an incident where, by while borrowing the hand of that famous student, a result that left both the teachers and classmates speechless ended up occurring.

What’s worse, that beautiful young man whose name I can’t bring myself to utter went on to say, “How interesting,” giving his personal mark of approval.

…It’s over.  My life, it’s over…

My elder sister is a massive fan of that person whose name I can’t bring myself to say…

Now that I’ve gotten this close to him, who knows what kind of harassment will come starting tomorrow…

However, the very person using my body was completely nonchalant about it.

“Once again—my name is Nora Noz. I look forward to being with you for the year.”
“Hee?”

That was a name I had heard before.  More than that, it was an incredibly famous name…

“Is that… a pseudonym?”
“Nope, it’s the truth.  I’m the infamous wicked woman who was sealed away eight hundred years ago. Feel free to just call me Nora.”

…That name is one even a three-year-old would recognize, not just a bookworm like me.

Nora Noz, “The Wicked Woman of the Era,” is the name of the witch who destroyed the previous civilization.  Though gifted with magical talent from a young age and accomplishing many great deeds, she lost herself in her own power and is said to have plotted to assassinate her fiancé the Crown Prince and overthrow the nation. 

However, through the appeal of the strong-willed Crown Prince, she was captured just before the world’s destruction and was sealed away for eternity, haven been given the heaviest punishment in this world, one that forbade even reincarnation—or so it was believed.  Incidentally, even now, no magician said to surpass her has ever appeared.

Yet, the woman who gave that name smiled.

“My seal seems to have half unraveled in its eight-hundredth year.  My body, however can’t move, and before long… perhaps in a year or so, I’ll die.  So, until then, I figured I should experience that which I always longed for, ‘youth’!”
“By the way, earlier in the day, you were injured but looked happy…?”
“I just hadn’t felt pain in eight hundred years and was having a blissful reintroduction♡.”
“Noooooooo!”

Even as a being of pure consciousness, I clutched my head and screamed.

Well… if she’s truly that “Wicked Woman of the Era”-sama, then her behavior in class and everything else somehow makes sense.  Of course, the Wicked Woman-sama paid no heed whatsoever to my desperate protests.

“Also, you don’t have to push yourself yet, but I recommend standing beside me instead of just watching from above. It’s better to see with your own eyes the kind of sights I’m seeing.”
“Stoooooooop it!”

While I shrieked within the dream, the legendary wicked woman, Nora Noz, smiled from delight.

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