“Is that truly all you want?”
“Ho ho. Yes. Conversely, however, that also means I will never tell you if you do not work hard enough to satisfy me. Therefore, it would be best for you to give it your all. After all, I am certain this is a story that will shock even you once you hear it.”
Sharan continued speaking with the same cheerful smile.
Jaes could only regard her suspiciously, but there was no further information he could glean from her expression.
“……You claimed that you were doing this entirely for your own amusement, yet you certainly know how to lure someone in.”
“Hee hee. Of course! Years of experience are not accumulated for nothing.”
“Considering that you said you taught students here in the early days as well, you must be much older than you appear…….”
WHOOSH
“The words that were about to follow are not something you should ever say to a woman, understood?”
Jaes smiled awkwardly at her cold expression, which was smiling without truly smiling, and at whatever had just passed directly beside his ear.
“Y-Yes. I will be careful.”
‘……I did not see it at all.’
Judging solely by Sharan’s appearance, she seemed to be in her twenties. With a slight exaggeration, one might even believe that she was still in her late teens.
Apparently, however, one could not judge a woman’s age by her appearance in this world either, especially when that woman was a Mage.
‘Phew. That startled me. Everything she has said so far sounds absurd, but for now…… I suppose I have no choice but to believe her?’
She had apparently watched him throughout the entire day without Jaes noticing her even once.
Whatever had just passed beside his ear also made it clear that Sharan was not merely boasting about her abilities.
Jaes also agreed that he did not wish to increase the number of people who knew his secret if he could avoid it, and he wanted to learn the truth about this world that remained unknown to him.
Even so, he could not shake the feeling that another unpredictable danger had been added to his life.
‘It is one obstacle after another. I thought I had finally gained the right to make my own choices, only to be placed in this situation immediately afterward. Should I at least consider myself fortunate that she did not charge at me with the intention of killing me, unlike the others?’
There was one other fortunate aspect to the situation.
Jaes had already been considering Damian’s proposal favorably.
Accepting it would significantly disrupt his original plan to live quietly. Nevertheless, it was not the worst possible outcome.
Jaes still did not know exactly how skilled Damian and Robert were, but judging from the rumors and their confidence, they were undoubtedly highly capable.
If Jaes joined Damian’s team as proposed, managed to compete for a high-ranking position, and satisfied Sharan in the process, he would be able to kill two birds with one stone.
“Haaaa. For now…… understood. It does not appear that you ever intended to give me a choice anyway.”
“Ho ho. Yes. You made a wise decision. Ah, I am already looking forward to this year’s Trelas matches.”
“…….”
However, an eccentric remained an eccentric until the very end, and life rarely unfolded as smoothly as one hoped.
“Oh, right. This is a deal I made specifically with you, Jaes. Naturally, I will not accept you joining someone else’s team, such as Damian’s. You must form your own team and participate in Trelas as its captain. Ho ho.”
‘Wait, the captain?’
Jaes’s eyes widened at her next words.
“Then my business here is finished. Please work hard, for your own sake♡”
“W-Wait! You cannot suddenly add a condition like that at the very end!”
“Hmm? When did I do that? If you truly want to team up with that boy Damian, I do not mind. As long as you participate in Trelas as the captain.”
“……There is no way Damian, the son of a ducal house, would agree to serve under me!!”
“Oh my, are you suddenly speaking casually to me? —Hee hee. I will forgive you because it is amusing. You will simply have to find other teammates. That is also a matter of your own ability, Jaes. I will eagerly look forward to seeing what you accomplish♡”
“Grr, you con artist!!”
“Ah. And asking Raiden for help with this particular matter will not do you much good. Though his official rank is higher than mine, even he cannot stop me.”
“…….”
“Rather, if people discover that you are a rare child who came from another world, you will be fortunate if they do not bundle you up and present you to Duke Ailin. Surely you have heard the rumors by now? He is an Eighth-Tier Archmage with a peculiar fetish for anything unusual.”
‘A-A fetish?!’
“Then do your best♡ If you satisfy me sufficiently, I might keep your secret even if you do not win.”
“And then you will threaten me again and use me for something else, just as you did now!”
“Ahaha!”
After saying only what she wanted to say,
Sharan vanished from the spot without a trace in an instant.
“Daaamn it! Please, just leave me alone and let me live quietly!!”
In the end, Jaes could no longer contain his frustration. His shout echoed hollowly throughout the empty space.
<Sigh. My poor Master.>
[Hey, Jaeseok. Our laboratory has to participate in this programming competition, so take the junior students with you.]
[What? But my project schedule…….]
[You are going, right?]
[……Yes.]
[Oh, and you know the professor will not be pleased if you fail to win an award, correct? Good luck.]
[…….]
‘As I thought, the only answer is to escape from graduate school and Mage Towers as soon as possible!!’
Memories of his days as a graduate student, which felt almost like déjà vu, resurfaced in his mind until he was thoroughly sick of them.
* * *
‘……Jaes seems upset for some reason. Well, of course he is. Something like that happened today. I cannot believe Instructor Grayker conspired with Bele and targeted Jaes. I-It must be because of what happened that day, right?’
That night, in the dormitory.
After experiencing an incident that still seemed unbelievable even in hindsight, Jaes’s roommate Ian fidgeted with his glasses and anxiously watched Jaes’s expression.
Jaes had told him that everything had been resolved and that there was no need to worry.
However, no matter how Ian considered it, today’s incident could only have been caused by what had happened that day, when Ian had surrendered to the threats of Bele’s group and led Jaes to where they were waiting.
Ian had already been feeling extremely guilty toward Jaes lately. Naturally, after something like this occurred, he could not help worrying even more.
Apart from that, however, Ian was still unable to contain his excitement after witnessing Raiden appear as though from nowhere at the moment of crisis and subdue Instructor Grayker in an instant.
‘He was incredible! Just as the rumors said—no, he was even more amazing! How did Lord Raiden know to appear at that exact moment and save Jaes?’
Ian was too shy to display it openly and secretly admired Raiden on his own, but he was, in truth, an ardent fan of the Mage from the Mage Tower.
—To Ian, a commoner and merely a first-year student at the Magic Academy, Raiden, the Chief Mage of the Mage Tower, was like an unreachable star in the heavens.
The moment Raiden had appeared in their hour of need and rescued Jaes and Ian had been so moving that it overshadowed every dangerous memory leading up to it.
Despite the unpleasant incident that had caused everything, Ian had even begun to envy Jaes, who appeared to have been summoned separately to speak with Lord Raiden because he had been directly involved.
‘I should ask Jaes for more details when he returns.’
Just as Ian had that thought, Jaes flung the door open and entered.
“……I am back.”
“Huh? Y-Yes! Y-You are back? Um, a-are you all right?”
“……Yeah. Perfectly.”
“Uh, but, um…….”
However, Jaes had returned to the room later than expected, and it was evident at a glance that he was in an extremely foul mood.
‘I-I knew it! It is because of me! What was I getting so excited about?! Jaes nearly died today because of me!’
“I-I am sorry, Jaes! This is all because of me!!”
“Hmm? Why are you apologizing, Ian?”
“W-What? Because Bele was responsible for what happened today, so if we consider the original cause, it was because I…….”
“He is the one who should apologize. Why would you need to? I heard that you even stepped forward to stop him from attacking me from behind. I am grateful to you, Ian. I do not blame you in the slightest.”
“O-Okay.”
“……Ah. Was I making that grim a face? Phew. This is because of something else. You do not need to worry about it.”
“Something else?”
“Yes. ……Ian, do you happen to know much about the Trelas Magic Tournament?”
“Trelas? Yes, of course. It is probably the biggest event at our academy. To be honest, I have been looking forward to watching the matches in person.”
“Really? That is perfect. Could you explain it to me? I mean information such as its history and the people expected to participate. I genuinely know nothing beyond the absolute basics.”
“Hmm? Y-Yes. That is not difficult, but why are you asking all of a sudden?”
“……Something came up. I will explain it to you later.”
After experiencing what he had that day, Ian thought he would have been too shaken to consider anything else.
Although he was bewildered by Jaes suddenly and persistently asking about Trelas, he diligently answered his questions.
“So, you see…….”
—NOD.
After learning far more than he had expected from Ian, Jaes’s expression twisted once again, and he could only curse Sharan inwardly.
The Trelas Magic Tournament was a far larger event than he had imagined.
‘Ha. And she ordered me to do my best and even aim for victory in something like that? Simply because she thought it would be entertaining? That lunatic…….’
Jaes had heard that it was an annual tournament held within the academy, so he had assumed it would be something like a school sports festival from his former world, albeit a more serious and advanced version.
Ian’s explanation, however, far exceeded that level, unless he was exaggerating.
‘More importantly…… the participants alone make this seem hopeless.’
“The undisputed favorite to win this year is His Highness Prince Lecephim. I heard that he nearly won last year despite only being a second-year student. Now that he is a third-year, there is hardly any need to explain further.”
“……Are you saying that even royalty attends this academy?”
“Of course! I am more surprised that you did not know that until now.”
“Nobles are troublesome enough, and now there is royalty too…… Can a proper competition even take place under those circumstances? Would someone be accused of lèse-majesté or something merely for fighting him seriously?”
“N-No. I heard that could never happen in the Trelas Magic Tournament. Duke Ailin declared in the academy regulations that everyone is equal within the tournament, regardless of whether they are royalty, nobility, or commoners. Even the royal and noble students enrolled here after agreeing to accept that condition without exception.”
“Ha. Judging from what Bele did, I am sure that rule is followed wonderfully.”
“Of course, it would be unreasonable to expect everyone to behave that way in their everyday lives. However, since everyone eagerly anticipates the Trelas Magic Tournament, I heard that not only the entire academy but also influential people from outside take an interest and watch it. Duke Ailin naturally does so as well. Since even the royal family of the Leman Kingdom has a strong interest in magic, Duke Ailin possesses tremendous influence as an Eighth-Tier Archmage. At least within this academy, even His Highness the prince will receive no special treatment.”
“Hmm.”
“I also heard that the tournament attracts more attention every year because it provides an opportunity to compare everyone’s abilities fairly. No one knows when another extraordinarily talented commoner like Lord Raiden might appear.”
“Hmm? Oh? He was also born a commoner?”
“Of course he was!”
That was rather interesting information, but it was not the problem Jaes needed to consider at present.
‘What is this? According to Ian’s explanation, this is less like an academy event and more like a professional sports tryout.’
If that was the case, doing his utmost to rise through the tournament would inevitably attract far more attention than Jaes had anticipated, whether he liked it or not.
‘If I end up facing and defeating a member of the royal family, I will probably be dragged into another mire of troublesome relationships, regardless of what I want. ……Haa. What should I do?’
However, the results were a matter for later.
What mattered now was his decision.
Should he ignore the female Mage Sharan and prioritize maintaining his current life?
Or should he enter the Trelas Magic Tournament and give it his all in order to protect his secret and obtain information about it?
There were also Raiden’s and Damian’s proposals, which could not be considered entirely unrelated.
After listening attentively to Ian’s explanation until late at night and personally investigating the Trelas Magic Tournament as well,
‘……Phew. Very well. The more important the matter, the better it is to decide quickly.’
Jaes soon made his decision.