Volume 1: Enrollment at Magias Academy of Magical Arts
Chapter 15: I Believe You Will Surely Understand
The Magias Academy Freshman Tournament.
It was a combat tournament held only in years when new students enrolled.
The winner received prize money under the title of special research funding, and their name became famous among the people of the royal capital.
Parts of the Magias campus opened to the public only on this day, drawing enormous crowds.
The temporary seating installed around the central training ground was already filling.
Though the bell announcing the opening had yet to ring, the arena carried the heat of a festival.
“I hear Meltzeria is in the first match.”
“The Sword Saint’s daughter? Right away?”
The spectators’ attention gathered there.
Mercedes Meltzeria.
The eldest daughter of the distinguished Meltzeria family and a magical swordswoman rumored to stand apart even among the Emperor Faculty’s assembled geniuses.
Rumors of the Sword Saint’s daughter, whose family held power in the kingdom’s west, had long reached the distant royal capital.
Despite her youth, she’d mastered the intermediate transmission of the Hinoe Single-Sword Style.
Apparently, her swordsmanship could already overwhelm regular soldiers of the royal army.
Even setting her aside, this year’s Emperor Faculty was full of talent.
Several students weren’t participating, yet the number of entrants from the faculty still exceeded the usual year.
Everyone expected a tournament worth watching.
One man moved within the crowd.
Holding a venue map, he walked leisurely without any visible hurry.
Nothing about his appearance stood out.
A grayish coat. An unremarkable face and ordinary build.
Only his eyes differed.
Cloudy black pupils slowly and carefully crawled over the venue.
◇
Unlike the heat throughout the arena, its center was quiet.
The referee assumed the appointed position.
Every spectator’s gaze converged.
The first match was Mercedes versus Brendan.
Beginning the tournament with a battle between Emperor Faculty students created considerable interest.
“Both competitors, step forward.”
Following the referee’s voice, Mercedes slowly closed the distance.
She stopped before the starting line and stared directly at Brendan opposite her.
His only weapon was the dagger at his waist.
It was the magic sword he’d used during the field lesson.
Did he intend to fight Mercedes with a weapon whose secret she already knew, or was there more to it?
“I’ll at least praise you for not running away.”
After their previous encounter, a coward might have withdrawn his application.
Brendan neither answered nor looked away.
He merely stared directly at Mercedes.
For some reason, that silence weighed more heavily than words.
“Do your best, Bren!”
“Don’t let your guard down!”
“Do your very best, both of you!”
Their classmates cheered from the stands.
No.
They were Brendan’s classmates.
Why would they support him?
Even if he won here, any of the entrants might face him later.
Mercedes couldn’t understand their feelings.
Not that Brendan defeating her was remotely possible.
“Begin!”
Mercedes kicked off the ground.
Her step was minimal.
She eliminated every preliminary motion and took the fastest step currently within her power.
In the spectators’ vision, the distance between them warped and contracted.
Brendan reacted with unexpected sharpness.
He shifted half a step right, lowered his body, and moved his axis from the path of Mercedes’s sword.
A simple evasion, but without waste.
Brendan retreated.
Mercedes advanced by the same distance and pursued him.
Her footwork and spatial awareness approached perfection.
No matter how much he moved, she wouldn’t allow him to escape her killing range.
Brendan’s neck always remained where her sword could transmit the greatest force.
Mercedes cut diagonally downward.
The point of his dagger immediately deflected it.
Using the redirected force, she reversed into a rising diagonal cut.
But as though he’d anticipated it, Brendan slapped the blade down and rejected its path.
Then the end of Brendan’s lowered dagger bent.
It flexed like a tentacle and extended sharply toward Mercedes.
“—!”
Mercedes twisted her neck and evaded the magic sword.
Taking advantage of that instant, Brendan opened a considerable distance.
The high-speed exchange had barely begun, yet it produced excitement beyond the spectators’ expectations.
Even those who came only for Mercedes now understood that the boy opposing her was extraordinary.
A single clash had contained that much information.
“…………”
Ignoring the roaring crowd, Mercedes measured Brendan’s ability.
A combatant’s true level seeped most clearly through their opening movement.
His motion was obviously supported by deep combat experience.
Something more fundamental than a swordsmanship form held him up.
An ordinary fighter proud of their skill would’ve fallen to her first strike.
Judging by his work during the field lesson, his magical coefficient was probably considerable too.
Mercedes held the tip of her long sword at eye level and stopped.
Brendan answered by readying his dagger.
Its immaculate, polished blade reflected Mercedes like a mirror.
Only then did she notice her own frozen, expressionless face.
The image showed not her usual elegant self, but a little girl unable to hide the contents of her heart.
That magic sword.
It was driving Mercedes mad.
The Walker magic sword she’d desired so desperately now seemed hateful.
She would break it.
She had no other choice.
Breaking it would let her advance another step and approach sainthood with the sword.
“Walker. Do you remember what I told you the other day?”
Her voice was low and flat.
Perhaps this was the true Mercedes Meltzeria.
“I’ll break it with my next strike.”
◇
Today was a festival.
The girl didn’t know what kind, but many people had gathered, so it felt fun.
Even her usually strict father had been kind all day.
The candy he bought her had a beautiful shape unlike anything she’d seen.
Delighted, she naturally began to run.
There was nothing unusual about a small child disappearing beyond her parents’ sight in that way.
Festivals confused people.
A famous event like the Magias Freshman Tournament did so even more.
The girl wouldn’t learn that her frantic parents were searching for her until later.
Her adventure had only begun.
“Young lady.”
The voice was cheerful.
It blended into the venue’s commotion—a friendly tone that could’ve belonged to anyone.
“Could you help me for a moment?”
A man stood there.
He had long black hair and round glasses.
Roughly her father’s age, he wore a gentle smile.
“Would you give this to the person over there?
“They dropped it.”
He offered her a sphere.
A small black ball that fit within the girl’s palm.
She looked where he pointed.
“Everyone! The first match of the Freshman Tournament is now underway! Give our new students lots and lots of support!”
A young female teacher walked at the venue’s edge.
Her bright hair made her easy to find within the crowd.
Even a small child understood lost property.
Someone was in trouble.
Her parents taught her to help people in trouble.
“Yes, I can.”
The girl nodded politely, accepted the ball, and ran.
The man watched her small back, then quietly turned away.
◇
“Miss!”
At the girl’s cute voice, Yuriha immediately crouched to meet her eyes.
“What is it?”
She responded gently first.
Was the child lost?
Yuriha had been carefully patrolling the venue for situations like this.
Security for the tournament was outsourced to affiliated guilds, but Magias faculty divided responsibility for important positions.
They watched for suspicious people and helped lost children.
Yuriha was responsible for the classroom building.
“This is something you dropped.
“The man over there asked me to give it to you.”
“Something I dropped? Thank you! You did very well!
“By the way, which man?”
“He’s over—”
She pointed.
Before Yuriha’s gaze could follow the finger, she noticed the pitch-black sphere in the small palm.
It wasn’t a toy.
It emitted a faint pulse of mana.
The instant Yuriha understood what it was, goose bumps rose across her skin.
“—”
She tore the sphere from the girl’s hand, pushed the small body away, and sent her farther from herself.
Yuriha instantly enclosed the sphere in a barrier and pressed it against her abdomen.
That was all she had time to do.
“Everyone, run—”
Boom.
A heavy, muffled sound echoed.
The girl fell onto her bottom as Yuriha folded and sank toward the floor.
“What?”
The woman who’d been speaking moments ago lay amid black smoke.
Someone screamed.
The people around them scattered in response.
“…Miss?”
“…………”
“Miss?”
“Just kidding! Were you surprised?”
Yuriha sprang upright with the same beaming smile.
“I’m completely fine! Cough…!
“But it’s a little dangerous here, so go somewhere safe for now!”
The girl nodded while trembling and ran into the crowd.
After confirming she’d left, Yuriha coughed up blood.
She hadn’t had time to reinforce her body or fully deploy the barrier.
Fortunately, she’d reduced the damage to everyone around her to zero.
“Cough…!”
She needed to use medical magic on herself.
She wouldn’t be able to move for a while.
Before that, she tried to share the information with the staff.
Then she thought she saw something flash beyond the window.
◇
The scream reached the arena.
Most people didn’t know what had happened, but anyone could see smoke rising from the classroom building.
“Stop! The match is suspended!”
The referee immediately halted the match and ordered Mercedes and Brendan to withdraw.
Confusion spread like a wave.
Some stood to investigate.
Some froze in their seats.
Others rushed for the exits.
The uncontrollable flow transformed the venue’s excitement into chaos.
“Everyone, remain calm! Don’t panic!”
A magically amplified male voice attempted to control the crowd.
“I’ll explain the situation! First, please listen!”
A man stood in the spectator seats.
Round glasses and an unremarkable face.
A middle-aged man who might have been found anywhere.
It was understandable that spectators mistook him for a security officer and listened.
In these circumstances and at this exact moment, expecting an explanation was reasonable.
“…Who is that?”
Mercedes narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
He wore no security uniform.
Nor did he appear to be a member of the Magias staff.
An unknown man stood before them.
“My name is Wilhelm!
“I’m a patriot who worries for this country’s future and devoted all my research to national development!”
“Wilhelm?”
Brendan repeated the name.
Yes.
Professor Blanchard had mentioned an expelled student by that name.
“Today, I have something to tell you all.
“It concerns an incident between Magias and myself.”
His voice was calm.
It was a natural tone, like someone addressing students in a lecture hall.
“I was once a researcher enrolled in this academy.
“I can state with certainty that I devoted myself each day to creating a society in which you could live safely.”
Faculty members watching from the school building frowned.
They couldn’t see clearly from that distance, but the man was plainly suspicious.
Yet no security personnel moved.
More importantly, why hadn’t an alarm sounded after the explosion?
Magias’s defense systems were operating at full capacity for the event.
Any abnormality should’ve been detected immediately.
Something was wrong.
“But one day, Magias suddenly banished me by smearing me with baseless accusations!
“They did so for one purpose: to monopolize my research!”
No one listened seriously, but the man continued.
“The false accusation orchestrated by Magias was clearly illegal and utterly unforgivable.
“But I don’t hate Magias!
“I desire no such ugly cycle of resentment!”
The man sprayed saliva as he shouted.
His emotional performance surpassed an actor’s.
Or perhaps, in that moment, he truly felt unbearable indignation.
“Should both parties not approach one another and strive for mutual understanding?
“Is that not the noble duty of truly intelligent human beings?”
Mercedes watched the theatrical speech with profound unease.
“Walker.”
“I know.”
She called the name of the opponent she’d been crossing blades with moments ago.
He understood her intention.
For now, they would watch the same threat and turn their awareness toward vigilance.
“That is why I extend my hand to Magias!
“I’ll settle our sorrowful past and return us to the days when we joined hands!”
How many people in the arena understood his story?
No one could tell whom the message targeted or what it meant.
“Some may question what I’m about to do.
“But I believe that as citizens of Griefia, you will surely understand.”
He bowed deeply and politely toward the venue.
Only then did his speech end.
“…What? What is he talking about?”
The instant someone asked the natural question, an explosion incomparably louder than the last thundered across the grounds.
“What?”
Every gaze on campus snapped toward the source.
The Central Tower, symbol of Magias.
Its middle section burst from within and spewed a writhing plume of explosive flame.
“Whaaaaaat!?”
One scream drew another.
The arena fell instantly into a vortex of confusion.
Only the man who’d called himself Wilhelm watched with a horribly distorted smile.
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