Chapter 9 – Magic Battle (1)

“Whoa, whoa… ! Omg!”

Liv woke up, kicked off the chair and ran.
I heard Professor Glatos calling from behind, but I didn’t have time to pay attention.
His mind was all mixed up. I was confused by the overwhelming feeling of dizziness and nausea mixed together.

Crack, clap, clap!

Reeve realized that he had been greatly mistaken about Lewis.
In light of the facts revealed in his past, Lewis was not just a store owner, much less a warlock or a person who had connivance with demons.

Terra Ernesten. And Eris Prashhra.
The kingdom’s greatest wizard and the highest-ranking saint of the kingdom were with him.

And after the Demon King was subdued, the fate of the Saint was a major trigger that started a war between the Kingdom of Penheim and the Holy Kingdom of Monarch.

“Ah, there! Don’t run in the hallways! “It’s a violation of school rules!!”

Liv was so crazy that she ignored the shouts of the professor she encountered in the middle.
She was running towards her stall. She had to apologize to Lewis for what she did.
I made a hasty decision and ended up being extremely rude to him.

As my breathing became increasingly difficult, my steps slowed down. Beads of sweat formed on my forehead and neck.
Even though this damn academy had a large site, it was too large.

Thump, thump, thump.

When Liv finally arrived at the cafeteria, people were gathered like any other lunch time.
As she made her way through the crowd, her consciousness gradually became clearer.
And she, on the other hand, the threads of her memories from her dream were slipping away through the cracks of her hands one by one.

Widely–.

Suddenly, Professor Glatos’ warning flashed through my mind.
Liv stopped her steps and spread out her sweaty hands.

‘Doesn’t exist…’

Note paper. Didn’t bring it.
Canteen and laboratory. It was too far for either of them to turn back.
And–

“Huh? “Baron Greenwood?”

When she finally got to the checkout counter, ignoring all the lines, all that remained in Liv’s mind was the fragmentary fact that Louise had fought for humanity.

“What’s going on?”

A curious look at the chest that is out of breath.

Why did I come here?

Liv was confused. She stood blankly in front of Lewis for a long time.
She didn’t know what to say, she couldn’t remember anything and her heart was full of guilt.

“Louis… President.”

When the murmurings of her students had gradually died down due to Liv’s sudden action of interrupting her calculations, she opened her mouth.
Why did she call him uncle? Somehow, a youthful face appeared.

“Yes, please tell me.”
“If… “Do you know about Paris Greenwood?”

The question Liv asked Louis was neither an inquiry into his identity nor an apology for her own actions.
It was just a question about her father.
Liv’s only blood relative who died fighting the demons during the Great War.

The question is wrong. It was someone he couldn’t have known.
They were not the only ones buried under the embers of war that engulfed the entire continent.

“I know.”

However, Lewis answered with a slightly bitter expression.

“Awarded the Hereditary Knight…”

A hereditary baronetcy granted only to commoners who displayed outstanding performance in battle.

“I heard you were a great knight.”

From the beginning, he remembered Liv’s last name, which no one considered special.

***

The Parencia Academy had several long-standing traditions.
It has been less than ten years since it was built, and the paint on the exterior wall has not even dried yet. You may be wondering what kind of long-standing tradition it is, but the Academy always emphasized the word tradition, perhaps out of a desire not to be outdone by the Holy Kingdom.

Anyway, one of them was a magic competition held every beginning of the semester between freshmen and seniors one grade higher.
The winning team is awarded a commendation certificate along with a considerable amount of prize money.
It was no exaggeration to say that attention from all over Farenzia was focused as it was a large event where not only money, but also officials from the Magic Tower and knights from famous families watched the event.
Probably right now, the people selected as representatives of each grade are practicing their magic.
Unlike a one-on-one duel, there was no limit to the number of magics used, and even black magic could be used freely as long as it was level 3 or lower, so a quite fierce battle was expected.

Of course, store sales would increase slightly, but it didn’t really matter to me.
Rather, I felt like I could watch with a lighter heart because I received an apology from Liv a few days ago.

— I was really sorry about last time.

Probably, since she is the top of the second year students, she is almost guaranteed to participate.
I was willing to support them as it seemed like the huge misunderstanding that they were demons’ agents had somehow been resolved.
Unlike before, every time she saw the hand handing the bread, her face strangely blushed, but she didn’t really care.

“Uh, uh, uh, what should I do!? Teacher, what should I do!!”

On the other hand, there was another guy who was impatient.
Adella panicked when she learned that she would be representing the first grade in the competition.
I also couldn’t understand why she was selected out of so many strong candidates.
Did the professors collectively take medicine?

“Just abstain. “You can’t even use magic properly anyway.”
“You can’t do that!”
“Why?”
“It is a tremendous honor to be selected as a representative of the Magic Competition. “If you refuse it, you will become a laughing stock to other students!”

It’s already become a laughing stock enough.
Moreover, if you participate and hold on to the ankles of your fellow teammates, wouldn’t you be criticized?

“Who are the other two?”
“Hmm~. “It hasn’t been decided yet, but my friends say a boy named Carl is the most likely candidate.”
“What about Erzsebet?”
“The princess said she wouldn’t come out. She said other students should be able to seize the opportunity.”

But. After she graduates, she will not join the Magic Tower or the Knights.
The other side would also find it difficult to mess with the royal family, so if it were for the sake of a fair competition, there would be no reason to participate.

“Anyway, please help me!”
“I told you no last time.”
“Well, you can still give me some advice! “There’s not much left until the next class, so hurry up!”

Adela stands up and swings her cane.
Since each movement of her body causes a lot of movement, there are more than one part of her body that defies gravity.
Especially her blue hair that fell down her shoulders and her fleshy body that kept stealing her attention.

“Now, take a look? Lightning——!”
“Uh? This is crazy… “What if I use it inside the store?”

〈Baekmado: Lightning ⌜Lightning Bolt⌟〉

She had only heard of Adela’s reputation from the public, but she had never seen her magic with her own eyes.

Because her lightning-type magic has its roots in the sky, one of her three original sources, the shape of her djinn was round and the output was stable.
Within the ‘Prium Mobilee’ that forms the outermost band, ‘Luminary’, a light source that symbolizes the hierarchy of magic, is located in the very center.
And the magic equations for ‘speed’, ‘light’, and ‘heat’, which represent the characteristics of electricity, began to connect from three corners to one point.
12 strokes and 3 triangles. Geometric formulas are floating around all over the place.
When the magic circle was finally completed, the magic power from the tip of Adella’s staff was projected onto the circle drawn in the air.

“Ah, ah!”

The speed of development and completeness of the technique were acceptable, but the manifestation of magic was somewhat strange.
The magic power in her body became unstable for a moment, and Adela’s concentration was broken.
Then, parts of the magic circle that failed to build here and there melted, and the magic expression was not simply canceled but began to run wild.

Crackling, crackling——!

The electricity spread out in all directions, flowing through the walls and floor, and began to consume everything in the store as if it were on fire.
I immediately ran out and grabbed her wrist.
〈 The end of magic 〉 forcibly released all of Adela’s mana into the air, and when she ripped off her magic circle with her bare hands, the magic was also canceled along with a slight burn.

“How was it?”

Just as I was heaving a sigh of relief, Adela asked, gently lifting the wide-brimmed hat, the symbol of a magician worn tightly.
When I saw the triumphant look on his face that said, ‘I did well, didn’t I?’ I couldn’t hold back any longer.

“You wanna die?”
“Aya! It hurts! “It hurts!!”

***

The academy’s faculty gathered at the Akasha Pavilion were discussing the magic competition that would be held in a few weeks.
A team event with three wizards per team.
Traditionally, the representative first-year students were students who achieved good grades on the entrance exam or children from promising families.
However, there was a bit of a problem this year. Because of none other than one student——.

“Wouldn’t it be better to exclude Adela Sylvester from the list?”
“That is correct. “Her evaluations in practical classes so far are at the bottom.”
“If you compete in a competition and don’t show your true skills, the academy’s reputation will suffer.”

Most of her professors who saw her at least once spoke out against her. On the other hand, there was also a reason why Adela could not be easily excluded.

“It is impossible for another family to show restraint over the Ice and Snow Duke, the daughter of the Rochear family.”
“Even the princess has expressed her intention not to participate in this competition, so creating a team made up of only low-ranking nobles would undermine the kingdom’s status.”
“Anyway, she won’t decide her career path after graduation through her magic tower. Since we are a family with unique magic, I don’t think there is any reason to worry about the world’s evaluation or the results of competitions.”

The Magic Battle was an important annual event that announced the kingdom’s national status not only to the Holy Kingdom but also to neighboring countries such as Bahran in the south and Sakel in the east.
As her Ice and Snow Ball was her own blood, it was clear that if she was proceeded without her, a bad opinion would come out from her.
Since it was a match between students, winning or losing was not that important. So far, the winners of most magic competitions have been second-year students.

“Out of the second years, who decided to leave?”
“Liv Labre, Cristina Marina and Hafen Jahar.”
“Hmm… “Are you the eldest son of the valedictorian of your grade, a student from the Magic Tower, and Viscount Cloud?”

Students who decided to pursue a career at the Ministry of Magic conducted personal research at the Magic Tower after graduation, but conversely, there were cases where disciples selected by the Magic Tower themselves transferred to the academy.
Even excluding Christina, who started from the second year and whose skills were unclear, the strength of the second year was beyond imagination just by having Liv and Hafen.
Roylen felt a little unfair in this treatment. This was because it seemed unlikely that the students she was in charge of would win.

“If Adela is going to compete, how about adjusting the level of difficulty a little on the second year side as well? “If she had a chairman, she would have done that.”

A game that is too overwhelming reduces the viewer’s interest. Still, most professors seemed to disagree with Ilen’s ideas.

“It’s not like I’m rejecting it, but I don’t think the chairman will pay attention to such trivial matters. First, let’s select the most capable first year students. And the inspection of the protective magic in the stadium should be done as soon as possible…”

In the end, the meeting ended with Adela’s participation confirmed. It was Roylen who sensed something unsettling about her, but there was nothing she could change.