‘I need to change locations first.’
An Imperial Princess visiting the dining hall, which was unprecedented.
And the lines she was spilling, full of misunderstandings.
Even before the Challenge began, a lot of students had gathered.
There were even upperclassmen creeping closer with curious eyes.
‘I’ll pass on being a monkey in a zoo.’
Having sorted out his thoughts, Kawin approached Frasel.
“By any chance, can you use movement magic?”
“Hm? No…… I can’t really use any magic other than Royal Arka……”
“Then let’s do this.”
Kawin swept Frasel up into his arms like a prince from a fairy tale.
“Ah!”
Flustered, Frasel raised her voice.
The reaction around them grew ever more spectacular, like scenery that only improves the deeper one goes.
Kawin’s gaze cut through all those stares and landed on Walther.
“Follow me, Walther.”
Leaving those words behind, Kawin used ‘Lightning Flash.’
Kawin shot out through the wide-open window of the dining hall.
Skinny Frasel’s weight was no hindrance at all.
And so Kawin and Frasel disappeared toward the back of the Academy’s main building.
And Walther……
“Rise!”
summoned his Skeleton Soldier in the dining hall.
CREEEAK!
Starting from a core floating in midair, hard bones fitted together this way and that.
And so it was complete. Walther’s companion.
“Ferguson! You saw that just now, right? That’s how we go!”
The Skeleton Soldier called Ferguson swiftly lifted Walther in its arms like a princess.
Then it leapt out the window exactly as Kawin had.
“Ah!”
“Damn it, we lost them!”
“It’s so absurd I don’t even feel like chasing them……”
Compared to Kawin’s ‘Lightning Flash,’ it was hopelessly slow.
But the movements of a Skeleton Soldier jumping down from the third-floor dining hall and running off, stomp, stomp, stomp, had something about them that a human would find hard to imitate.
“Well, well. What a noisy bunch of freshmen.”
Two men had already finished their meal and settled in a corner.
Of them, the one with pale skin and clear eyes spoke to the blond beside him.
“Looks like the Academy won’t be boring even after we graduate.”
“……I don’t like it.”
Unlike the man with the amused expression, the bronze-skinned blond man chewed on his lip.
“Looks like some guidance is in order. From an upperclassman.”
***
“Kawin. How did you think of this?”
An exclamation burst from inside the cat mask.
“There’s nobody at the Sparring Ground. Did you know it would be like this from the start?”
“Well……. Not even a dog gets bothered while it’s eating.”
“Hm? What does that mean?”
“How should I put it…… Anyway, it means that at mealtime, eating comes first. I figured nobody would be doing Challenges or training like us.”
And he was exactly right.
In the dozens of Sparring Grounds behind the main building, there was no one but the three of them.
“Um. Kawin.”
“Go ahead.”
“There’s something I want to ask you separately before Walther gets here.”
At her rather serious voice, Kawin also turned his head and looked at the cat mask.
“What do you want to know?”
“D-do you, by any chance…… How much do you know about Lightning magic?”
For a moment.
Kawin’s face stiffened slightly.
“How much do I know? What do you mean by that?”
“Well. Like, a mysterious power hidden in Lightning magic……”
Kawin’s expression turned a little sharper.
A mysterious power hidden in Lightning magic?
Could it be that she knew something about the ‘Stormlord’?
‘Imperial Family is Imperial Family, I guess……!’
Kawin concentrated and raised all his senses.
And he checked the sincerity of the Frasel behind the mask.
The mask made it hard to check her breathing, but at least one thing was certain.
‘There’s no particular malice.’
How should he put it?
Pure curiosity?
Nothing came across other than that feeling.
Of course, that didn’t mean he intended to tell her about the Grimoire.
Frasel Illuma.
Her status was Imperial Family.
If there was a power able to suppress Archmage Dharma and the Lightning line, it would have to be a group of at least that caliber.
“I don’t know about any mysterious power. I just used the magic passed down in my family.”
“Really? I see.”
The angle of the cat mask tilted downward for a moment.
Then she suddenly jerked her head up.
“Well! It doesn’t matter! There might be powers in the world that even the person who has them doesn’t know about.”
A power even the person who has it doesn’t know about.
Kawin swallowed hard.
Everything she said touched on the Stormlord.
‘Frasel Illuma. I shouldn’t let my guard down too much.’
As Kawin resolved himself, a dull sound came from far off.
“Kawin! Frasel! I’m here!”
For whatever reason, the Skeleton Soldier he had named ‘Ferguson’ was running toward them, carrying Walther.
A Necromancer being carried like a princess, waving his hand.
Kawin and Frasel watched that bizarre scene with blank eyes.
Then, as if they had agreed on it, they turned toward each other.
“Shall we start?”
“Okay.”
***
A man and a woman standing face to face.
Seen like this, it might have been a heartwarming scene, but the words that actually came out of their mouths were chilling.
“Kawin Anper. I request a Challenge with Frasel Illuma.”
“Frasel Illuma. I request a Challenge with Kawin Anper.”
The golden line embedded in the high collar around the neck.
They placed two fingers on it and declared the Challenge.
“Walther Franken. I will observe the Challenge between Kawin Anper and Frasel Illuma.”
Walther made the same gesture as well.
Two who wanted a Challenge.
And one Observer.
With this, all conditions were met.
WHOOSH!
A nimble wind wrapped around the three of them and spun several times.
Then a dry mechanical voice rang out across the entire Academy.
[Kawin Anper. Frasel Illuma. Challenge approved.]
Once the conditions were fulfilled, the Tesca Academy emblem rose above both their heads.
There was nothing particularly amazing about it.
There had been students who held Challenges as soon as the Entrance Ceremony ended.
“You’d better not use that ability. I have a bad feeling about it.”
“I-I know.”
A flustered voice came from beyond the cat mask.
Royal Arka, which symbolized the power of the Imperial Family.
Frasel possessed another power besides that.
The black whip of magic power that had activated unconsciously when danger struck.
Whatever it was, it didn’t feel at all befitting of the Imperial Family.
‘Does he know about Mother’s power too? He really is amazing.’
Inwardly marveling, Frasel awakened the Circle within her body.
HMMMMM!
Pure white magic power that allowed not a single speck of impurity.
Royal Arka spread from her body in every direction.
“Grrrgh……”
“Oops! Sorry, Ferguson!”
Walther, who had been watching in a daze, hurriedly stopped the summoning.
Undead like this apparently had an instinctive fear of holy power.
‘Right. Even looking at it again, it’s a monstrous power.’
Watching Royal Arka, Kawin activated his Orbis.
CRACKLE!
A Magic Array formed in front of Kawin’s chest, and a Divine Bolt the size of an Arrow was generated.
Of course, the Magic Array was fake.
It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Frasel and Walther, but it still paid to be careful.
‘The setup is the same as last time.’
In terms of sheer mana, Frasel had far more.
On top of that, hers constantly regenerated.
That was the reason he had called her a ‘Golden Goblin.’
So he had to pack in destructive power that could pierce through in one shot.
Just like in the last Challenge, when he had torn through Royal Arka with a small Divine Bolt.
“Be careful.”
With a word carrying a little concern instead of an activation word, the ‘Divine Bolt’ shot out swiftly.
CRUNCH!
Kawin’s eyes widened slightly.
Unlike the last Challenge, when it had split apart helplessly, the white sphere was holding out quite well.
‘I’m not just going to sit here and take it……!’
A spirited shout came from beyond the cat mask.
For Frasel, the point of the Challenge wasn’t winning.
But she, too, was a proper student of the Academy.
Her loss in the previous match had taught her a great lesson.
‘It’s not about blindly widening the area. Density is what matters.’
The Royal Arka she had condensed in this way was actually slowing the Divine Bolt’s advance.
Considering the first match, when it had crumbled like a boiled radish being split, it was tremendous progress.
However,
CRRRACK!
She had no way to overcome the density of the magic power packed inside the ‘Divine Bolt.’
Cracks gradually formed on the surface of Royal Arka, and the pointed head of the Divine Bolt was slowly working its way inside.
“Hup……!”
She had already released all her magic power.
Frasel bit her lip and condensed all her remaining strength in one spot.
And she succeeded in slightly ‘adjusting’ the Divine Bolt’s direction.
To the exact spot Frasel wanted.
Her cat mask.
CRASH!
Frasel’s body flew away like a kite with its string cut.
The Royal Arka that had wrapped her body had now vanished without a trace.
A one-sided victory that needed no second thought.
[Frasel Illuma. Magic power depleted.]
[Challenge Winner : Kawin Anper]
[100P Victory Points awarded]
[100P Bonus Points awarded]
As if it had been waiting, news of Kawin’s victory rang out throughout the Academy.
Perhaps because it wasn’t a Regular Challenge, there were no ranking-related bonus points.
But Kawin’s interest wasn’t in the points.
“Are you okay?”
Kawin rushed over in one breath and checked Frasel’s condition.
It wasn’t as though there were no safety measures.
The magic dwelling in the Service Uniform always protected the body, and though he didn’t know the principle, the cat mask seemed to act as a shield as well.
But watching a ‘friend’ go flying from his own magic wasn’t a pleasant feeling.
‘What on earth is she thinking? Why would she steer the Divine Bolt’s trajectory toward her face……’
Frasel had changed the attack’s trajectory toward her cat mask herself.
Come to think of it, she seemed to have said something similar in the dining hall.
“Ngh.”
Frasel raised her upper body with difficulty.
A resentful voice burst out of her mouth.
“Why did you do that?!”
“Sorry. Was my control of power clumsy? I didn’t think you’d go flying like that……”
“I mean, why did you hold back your power?!”
“……Huh?”
“I need a more definite stimulus, you know.”
Kawin’s gaze turned toward Walther.
Walther’s brow was deeply furrowed, and he was baring his gums as if he had eaten something like deep-fried melon from the underworld.
Kawin couldn’t be sure, but his own expression probably wasn’t much different.
“Remember this, Kawin. A hit like this doesn’t even tickle. Next time, give it your all and strike my mask harder.”
With an “Eh,” Frasel smacked her lips behind the mask.
Kawin sensed her breathing and the smell of her sweat.
Then he stopped breathing for a moment.
‘Completely flawless…… sincerity……!’
Watching Frasel turn her back and stagger off, Kawin swallowed dryly.
***
Tap-tap-tap!
Hurried footsteps echoed through a corridor of Tesca Academy.
The owner of the sound was Kawin.
He was hurrying to the lecture room for his first class.
‘I zoned out completely. When was the last time that happened?’
There was no helping it, given the situation.
It was a somewhat vulgar expression, but an Imperial Princess had asked him to ‘sock her in the face’ even harder.
She had even gotten angry because he had hit her too weakly.
Somewhat dazed while getting ready, he had ended up leaving behind one of his major textbooks.
‘I’d like to use Lightning Flash, but……’
He couldn’t boost his speed with magic in a corridor like this.
If he collided with someone moving slowly, it would feel to them like getting hit by a truck.
Unless one had no consideration for others whatsoever.
As for someone who would use magic in a place like this to cause harm,
WHOOSH!
there was one.
Someone was approaching Kawin at an absurd speed.
“……!”
Reflexively using ‘Lightning Flash,’ Kawin quickly made a half turn.
Someone’s upper body lunged into the empty space where he had been standing, as if to crush it.
“Yo.”
The man who had nearly collided with Kawin.
A bronze-skinned man with golden hair raised a hand toward Kawin.
“Sorry. I almost bumped into you there.”
Four golden lines were clearly embedded in his high collar.
That was the mark of a student about to graduate.
‘Almost? Not a chance.’
Kawin turned narrowed eyes on the graduate in front of him.
It wasn’t that he had almost bumped into him by accident.
The blond man’s path had clearly been aimed at him.
He had pulled a so-called ‘shoulder check.’
It might be called a shoulder check, but if they had collided, a bone or two would have been smashed.
“You’re Kawin, right?”
Tesca Academy, where graduating was said to be hard as hell.
His class, which had numbered 300 at admission, was now down to only ten.
That meant they were the top class among the students.
That honorable graduate asked Kawin,
“Looks like you could use some education. You’re going to be in my Graduation Challenge.”