Transferred to Another World and Became a Teacher

I glanced at Jameson and Ardbeg in turn, then firmly and clearly spoke my refusal.

"...I apologize, but I have absolutely no interest in becoming the queen of the Karvan Kingdom. In the first place, people who do not follow the academy's rules are not fit to be students here. I will let this slide as if you were merely visiting Fiddiq Academy for a tour, so I recommend you go to a magic academy within the Karvan Kingdom where you can behave as freely as you like."

Perhaps because I was irritated, I rejected Jameson in a somewhat sharp tone. I regretted it a little after saying it, but I had no intention of taking it back. Jameson was around twenty years old, and someone needed to call out his selfish behavior.

I thought that and gave him a stern reprimand, but Jameson stood frozen with a shocked expression. A woman who wasn't even a noble had clearly rejected him—perhaps that was truly surprising to him.

And then Ardbeg laughed out loud and covered his face with one hand.

"Wahahaha! ...My, my, the youth of today... No matter how exceptional a mage you may be, do you truly delude yourself into thinking you can single-handedly take on a great nation? Or do you simply wish to flaunt your arrogant sense of justice?"

After saying that while shaking with laughter, Ardbeg lowered his hand from his face.

Beneath his hand appeared Ardbeg's face, now colored with fury.

"You commoner... Don't toy with me."

He muttered in a low voice that seemed to rise from the depths of the earth, and Ardbeg began his incantation. He finished in just one measure and activated an intermediate-level fire spell.

"Firefly—Fire Fly."

The moment Ardbeg spoke the spell name, over ten fire masses shaped like butterflies shot toward me all at once. Though they looked like butterflies, their speed was like the wind. However, it was clear at a glance that they lacked power. This was purely a spell for surprise attack. His goal was surely to make the opponent panic at the flashiness and number of flames, draw their attention, and then make his next move while they were distracted.

As I predicted, Ardbeg had already begun chanting another spell the moment the fire butterflies left his hand.

"...Ice Castle—Ice Château."

I must not give him an opening. Deciding that, I remained in place, kept my eyes fixed on Ardbeg, and activated my ice spell. The moment I spoke the spell name, thick walls of ice burst through the ground one after another.

The ice walls appeared to surround us on all sides, and a ceiling formed instantly. Though it was small to call a castle, it became a two-story ice castle with towers on both sides. Considering the courtyard's layout, it ended up somewhat semicircular, but it was more than enough to block the enemy's attack.

The fire butterflies struck the ice castle and instantly froze, becoming carvings on the wall. Glancing at them, I checked Ardbeg's next move.

Just as his incantation seemed to finish, Ardbeg's eyes widened and he opened his mouth.

"...Flame Demon—Ifrit!!"

When Ardbeg spoke the spell name, sparks danced in the air before him. Those sparks gradually grew into fierce, roaring flames, and eventually all the flames gathered into one and took shape.

"O-Oh...!"

"Amazing...!"

Shouts of astonishment rose from the students at the sight of Ardbeg's magic. And no wonder—what he had summoned was no ordinary spell. It was a giant formed of flame that moved as if alive. The flame demon raised its log-like arms and charged toward me.

"Now, while I'm curious whether the ice castle can hold it off, but if anything happened and the students got hurt, that would be a problem. I have no choice."

After murmuring that, I raised one hand. This was clearly a special-class spell. I would have no choice but to use a special magical tool.

"...Trident of the Water God—Trident."

I activated the magical tool using the spell name as the trigger. The ice castle from earlier could be activated with a magic circle drawn inside a small ring, but this Trident of the Water God was different. After all, it combined nearly ten incantations into one with multiple layered magic circles, all somehow compressed into a single bracelet.

As magical power flowed into the bracelet, it emitted a faint glow while shaping the energy. It gathered moisture from the air to create water, applied pressure to increase its power, and further concentrated the water while accelerating its flow. In water magic, volume was one measure of ability. Increasing the water volume was one of the core challenges of water magic and reflected the mage's skill.

That was perfectly logical and a concept I could readily accept. So this spell included a process of suspending a massive humanoid water tank in the air. The humanoid water tank, modeled after Poseidon, the king of the sea, took a stance with its spear—the water jet nozzle—pointed forward.

With the ice castle behind it, the colossal Sea King aimed its spear at the Flame Demon. The scene created a fantastical atmosphere, like something out of a mythological battle.

But in reality, it was simply a clash between a mass of flames exceeding a thousand degrees and a massive amount of water. Just as the Flame Demon drew near, the Water God released water from its spear. A high-pressure stream, fired as thin as a laser beam, sliced the Flame Demon apart in an instant. Immediately after, the shattered Flame Demon swelled up and exploded, sending a shockwave that shook the ground.

At the explosion of the Flame Demon, which sent a cloud of white smoke billowing up to the sky, even Ardbeg—who had manifested it—stared in astonishment.

"Wh-What... What just happened..."

Seeing Ardbeg frozen in confusion, unable to take his next action, the Water God lowered its spear tip toward the ground.

"The water, compressed all at once, was heated and turned into steam. Its volume expanded rapidly, and the fire mass could no longer maintain its form."

I thought I'd offer an explanation and gave a brief summary, but Ardbeg only furrowed his brow and groaned. Well, even if I told him that water rapidly expands when it turns to steam, without prior knowledge, it might be difficult to understand.

The same seemed to apply to the Fiddiq Academy instructors, as Speyside let out a dry laugh and murmured in surprise.

"To think she could neutralize such a massive spell in an instant... And that explosion... the sheer power is terrifying...!"

As Speyside muttered that, the gathered instructors and students reacted in agreement. Well, I suppose I could teach them about these principles in my General Magic Theory lectures later.

"...Now then, I apologize, but I will have to restrain both of you, Jameson-*san and Ardbeg-san. Understood?"

[*"San" (さん) is a Japanese honorific suffix, similar to "Mr./Ms./Mrs." in English. It's a neutral and polite way to address someone.]

I intended to settle this commotion first and foremost. But Jameson, once again driven by rage, opened his mouth.

"Y-You...! After all that, you say re-restrain...?! Do you know who I am...?!"

"Bind."

A conversation would be pointless. Deciding that, I bound both of them without further argument. Suddenly unable to move, the two toppled to the ground. Using wind magic, I lifted their bodies into the air, then looked around and bowed my head.

"Everyone, I apologize for the disturbance. I will ensure these people cause no more trouble, so please rest assured."

With that, I took the two with me and activated flight magic.