Tribios stared at the little girl before her, a bewildered expression on her face. "Are you... the Old Mage Friedrich Smith?"
She paused slightly before saying "old," remembering Jay had mentioned his teacher was quite elderly. But this child looked anything but old.
The little girl nodded gently, her voice still carrying a hint of childishness. "Indeed, I am Friedrich Smith, Jay's teacher. My previous body was simply too old, so I switched to a new one."
As she spoke, Friedrich threw back the covers and hopped off the bed. "What do you think? Isn't this form absolutely adorable?"
Tribios froze, a bewildered expression crossing her face. She could understand a powerful wizard crafting a new body for himself, but the problem was, Jay's teacher was supposed to be male. How had he ended up in the body of a young girl? Was this even right?
Sensing Tribios's confusion, Friedrich said, "What's wrong? I've lived as a man my entire life. Isn't it natural to want to try living as a woman now that I have the chance?"
"I was utterly sick of my old, crusty old man appearance. Now that I'm a cute, pretty little girl, my whole mood has lifted!"
Tribios stared blankly for a moment before mumbling, "Uh... yeah, that makes sense."
There was no denying it: the little girl was undeniably adorable. And what she said... probably made some sense?
Friedrich Smith was a Wizard specializing in the Necromancy School and Jay's first mentor. However, Jay hadn't studied under him for long before his family was persecuted by other Nobles, leading to Jay's exile abroad.
Friedrich continued, "So, what exactly did Jay send you to see me about? That guy might be a bit eccentric, but he's undoubtedly a magical prodigy. He should be able to handle most things himself."
Tribios pointed to Little Melly, who was standing obediently beside her. "It's about this child," she said. "She has remarkable talent—she learns magic effortlessly. But for some reason, she can't actually use it."
"Hmm?" Friedrich walked over to Melly, looking her over from left to right, then had her demonstrate her magic. As expected, nothing happened. After a moment's contemplation, he said with surprise, "This is... Insulation Disease?"
Insulation Disease is an extremely rare condition. In this world, all living beings possess magic power within their bodies, varying only in quantity. Yet there are always exceptions, such as Melly's case: her body contains not a trace of magic power.
Therefore, no matter how flawless Melly's spells and gestures might be, without magic power, she cannot perform magic. This condition is known among wizards as "Insulation Disease," meaning she is forever barred from using magic.
"How can this be?" Tribios said, her voice tinged with frustration. "But this child clearly has exceptional talent and is incredibly intelligent..."
Friedrich shook his head. "Even the greatest intellect is useless without Magic Power. It's a fatal flaw."
There was, of course, a potential solution: crafting a new body for Melly. But Friedrich quickly dismissed the idea. The spell was far too complex and costly. He himself had spent nearly half his life preparing to cast Reincarnation Magic only once. Asking her to prepare such a spell for a girl she'd just met was utterly impractical.
At that moment, Little Melly tugged at Tribios's sleeve, a bright smile on her face. "It's okay, Teacher," she said. "If I can't learn Magic, I won't. The Grand Duchy of Augustus is short on manpower anyway, right? If I learn other skills, I can help ease your burden."
"But..." Tribios still felt a pang of regret. A child as intelligent as Melly could surely achieve more than becoming a brewery owner or a paper mill manager. Wouldn't she be better off as a powerful Wizard?
"Is Insulation Disease really a disease?" she asked. "Can it be cured?"
Friedrich shook his head. "Though it's called Insulation Disease, it's not a disease at all, but a congenital defect. There's no cure."
Just as even the most skilled physician could never cure the inherent inability of humans to breathe underwater.
"Alright," Tribios sighed, then thanked Friedrich. "Thank you for your trouble. We'll take our leave now."
With a gesture, she summoned a Century Gate beside her. She and Little Melly stepped through, vanishing before Friedrich's eyes.
Watching the Century Gate slowly dissipate, Friedrich froze in place. "What... what the hell was that?"
She had been lazing in bed when she heard voices at the door. It was only when Tribios mentioned Jay's name that she ordered the guards to let them in. Thus, she had no idea how the two women had arrived.
Upon seeing the Century Gate, Friedrich was stunned. It was too late to call out to Tribios, as the gate had already shrunk to nothingness. As the faint divine aura lingered in the air, Friedrich murmured, "A teleportation portal created with divine power?! That red-haired woman can actually wield divine power?!"
Truth be told, Friedrich instantly regretted his earlier hesitation. Wait a minute... if you're this powerful, why didn't you just say so? Even if I had to work another half a lifetime and prepare another Reincarnation Magic spell, earning the favor of a god would be absolutely worth it!
Of course, Tribios had no idea that "Friedrich" had other options. She had already asked if the Insulation Disease could be cured, and Friedrich himself had insisted it was incurable.
Friedrich pondered, "That little girl mentioned the 'Grand Duchy of Augustus'? Is that where they're from? But what exactly is this 'Grand Duchy of Augustus'? I've never heard of it before."
Friedrich then hurried to the door and instructed the two guards outside, "Go! Gather information on the Grand Duchy of Augustus! Find its location immediately!"
The perspective shifted back to Tribios, who had just completed a "house call" spanning over a thousand kilometers in under half an hour, round trip. After mentally marveling at the convenience of the Century Gate for the umpteenth time, she turned to Little Melly beside her, initially intending to offer comfort.
To her surprise, Little Melly showed no signs of disappointment or sadness. For her, whether she could learn magic was utterly irrelevant; what truly mattered was that her teacher had rescued her from a life of mediocrity and despair. As long as she could stay by her teacher's side and assist her, that was enough.
Tribios patted Little Melly's head again and said, "Let's go to school now."
Daily life continued as usual. Within just two or three days, Little Melly began assisting Tribios with her classes as a Teaching Assistant. Sometimes, when Tribios was occupied with other matters, Little Melly could even teach the class alone.
Time flowed by, and five months passed in the blink of an eye. The school's first cohort of students was now "graduating." Having studied for half a year, learning an average of 10 words per day, they could now read and write at a sufficient level.
While the vocabulary wasn't extensive, it was sufficient for ordinary commoners to escape the realm of illiteracy and pursue more skilled occupations. After all, this was a crash course, so demanding too much would be unrealistic.
Tribios then presented the graduating students with three options: first, to remain at the school as foundational teachers, teaching literacy to incoming freshmen; second, to enter the workforce, as the Grand Duchy of Augustus's growing population made governance increasingly challenging, requiring a large number of literate individuals to assist Olivia and Tribios in managing the nation.
Furthermore, breweries, paper mills, and Jay's merchant caravans all desperately needed literate personnel.
As for the third option... it was to pursue further studies and delve into more advanced knowledge.
With the completion of the Grand Duchy of Augustus's first proper school, Tribios refined the educational policies.
The school was divided into the Literacy Department and the Elementary Department. The Literacy Department's teachers were primarily drawn from the first graduating class. The school then admitted new students widely, striving to liberate as many people as possible from illiteracy.
As for the Elementary Department, it's a continuation of education for those who graduate from the Literacy Department. Currently, Tribios is the sole teacher in this department. In the future, as more intelligent individuals emerge, we might see the establishment of Middle School and High School Departments as well. But those are matters for the future.
After all, learning knows no bounds. If one truly desires to learn, there will always be more to discover.
The Elementary Department's curriculum roughly consists of "More Advanced Writing," "Elementary Mathematics," and "Humanities History."
The first two need no further explanation. The third, Humanities History, focuses on the founding history of the Grand Duchy of Augustus. Thanks to Tribios's Century Gate, the population of the Grand Duchy has surpassed 400,000—more than doubling its previous size.
As a result, nine out of ten villages in the Kingdom of Ukel now stand deserted. The Kingdom of Ukel has noticed this situation, but the discovery has proven largely futile.
Whether due to indifference or sheer bewilderment, the Royal Family and Nobles of Ukel have shown no discernible reaction. Instead, rumors of "demons devouring people" have gradually spread among the common folk in towns and cities.
If the demons hadn't devoured everyone, how could an entire village vanish without a trace?
In any case, the original 200,000 residents all knew the founding history of the Grand Duchy of Augustus, but the newly arrived 200,000 did not. Therefore, Tribios believed that teaching history remained crucial. In the long run, as the number of elementary school students increased, it would foster a stronger sense of national identity and unity.
Around the time this batch of students graduated, the Grand Duchy of Augustus successfully held its first high-end art auction in the capital of the Kingdom of Ukel. Tribios took some time to attend.
Since it was the capital of the Kingdom of Ukel and she was a half-elf, she had to conceal herself in a black cloak. Otherwise, her striking beauty and half-elf heritage, especially when combined, would undoubtedly attract unwanted attention.
The Kingdom of Ukel's capital already had a large auction house, which Jay had rented entirely. Hired adventurers patrolled the surrounding area, and even the towering Tide had been specially fitted with full-body metal armor, standing majestically at the entrance.
Leaving aside everything else, just renting the Auction House, hiring so many adventurers, and commissioning this set of armor cost an astronomical sum. But these were all necessary expenses. Only by putting on a grand show could we lure the nobles into the game and... oh, I mean, sell the artwork at higher prices!
Tribios stood at the Auction House entrance, tapping the lower leg of Tide's Plate Armor with her index finger. A light clink echoed as she asked curiously, "You used to wear nothing but pants. How does it feel to wear this armor now?"
Tide's muffled voice, carrying a faint echo, replied, "My stomach's itchy, but I can't scratch it. It's driving me crazy."
Tribios chuckled softly. "Well, there's nothing we can do about that. Just bear with it a little longer. After all, this armor is such a pain to put on and take off."
This was no exaggeration. Tide's armor was massive, requiring at least seven or eight people to assemble it like a Gundam, piecing together the individual plates onto his body. The entire process took over twenty minutes.
After finishing her conversation with Tide, Tribios headed straight into the Auction House and went backstage. Here, all the items to be auctioned later were displayed: some mediocre paintings, a sword that looked vaguely antique, a few gemstones with decent color, and... three limited-edition, high-end art statues serving as the grand finale.
In reality, the total value of all these artworks combined didn't even amount to one-tenth of what it cost to hire the adventurers. The paintings were by peasants from the third or fourth wave of immigrants to the Grand Duchy of Augustus—one of them happened to be a landscape artist.
At first glance, they seemed quite pleasing, but when asked what exactly made them "art," Tribios couldn't articulate a convincing answer.
As for the sword, it was a brand-new product fresh from the Grand Duchy of Augustus's blacksmiths, deliberately given a slightly retro finish. The gemstones were even more absurd—ordinary gems Tribios had purchased from other countries and simply brought here to sell.
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PS: To date, Tribios has become the Protagonist's longest-running identity in terms of time.