episode_0212

After the evaluation match of the Magic Department ended, Agnes and I were admitted to a two-person hospital room… I mean, hospitalized.

Normally, when the death prevention magic is activated, it is standard to use one room per person. Anyway, the death prevention magic is a miracle that brings back someone who was on the brink of death, so absolute stability was necessary during the recovery period.

However, even though absolute stability was important, it was impossible to demand an increase in the number of rooms in the Academy Church’s patient ward, as the number of rooms was limited. Therefore, the room prepared for Agnes and me was just a single room, so we had to recover in a two-person room with an additional bed hastily placed.

“How are you feeling, Agnes?”

“…In pain. It stings.”

“Who uses an explosive magic at such a close distance? If you use such a self-destruct technique, of course, Agnes would get caught in it.”

“It’s not my explosive magic, it’s the side where I was stabbed by Relis that hurts.”

“…”

What am I supposed to say to that? I just end up feeling sorry for no reason.

Well, neither Agnes nor I held back.

If I hadn’t fought so fiercely that day, I would probably have been lying alone in this room. Maybe even roasted alive by Agnes’ narrowing flame fortress.

If it’s just a momentary pain, an explosion is a bit better than full-body burns. …Even if it means a slightly longer recovery period.

“Still, maybe it’s better that we both went down in a double knockout.”

“What do you mean?”

“If I go to visit Agnes in her room at this time, won’t there be strange rumors circulating again? Like, after fighting as if we were going to kill each other, we ended up reconciling. We went to great lengths to avoid the eyes of Prince Machart and even participated in the evaluation match, but if we spread rumors and end it all, wouldn’t it be unfair to Agnes?”

In any case, I needed to meet with Agnes one more time to explain the plan to win over Machart, and by sharing the same room in a double knockout, that part was naturally resolved.

Furthermore, gathering Edan, Ketmujoshagwot, and Serista would be much easier in this room. Edan and Ketmujoshagwot could come in under the pretext of visiting Agnes and me, and Serista was originally a theology student, so it wouldn’t be strange for her to hang around in a patient’s room.

“I can’t agree with that opinion.”

“What?”

“If it weren’t for simultaneous death, would you have won?”

“Agnes was stabbed by my sword first. In a situation where she either fell or went for a double knockout, using the self-destruct magic, it was my judgment win. Let’s just admit what needs to be admitted.”

“No, by judgment, it’s my victory. Anyway, both of us died because of my explosive magic, so since Relis, who was closer to me, died first, I won.”

“So, it was my dagger that forced that choice…”

-Swish!

“Lilith! Agnes! I told you not to get excited and to stay calm!”

“…Sorry.”

“…”

Our heated discussion about the outcome was quickly subdued by Serista, who entered the room.

Even Agnes, who was so stubborn, seemed to calm down in front of the priest who was healing her own illness. It was clear that even in this fantasy world, the gods were still gods.

“Both of you were transferred to the church through death prevention magic. Especially in the case of Lillis, who was hit by an explosion magic at a closer range, it’s important to stabilize properly.”

“Yes, I will keep that in mind.”

“Look at that, Lillis, the fact that you are more severely injured means my victory….”

“What do you mean by Agnes also being hit by the explosion magic?! And Agnes has a mix of explosion injuries and burns, so the treatment is complicated, right?!”

“…I understand.”

Who would whine in front of a doctor? If you’ve made a mistake like me, you should just shut up and stay quiet.

After giving a slight smile mixed with amusement to Agnes, who had received a scolding for speaking out of turn, the familiar face entered the room once again as the door opened.

-Swish.

“Lillis, how are you feeling?”

“You’re here, Lord Edan.”

Edan, who entered the room with an air of urgency, despite his hurried entrance, was calm as he approached me and Agnes’ room.

Judging by the sweat dripping all over his body, it seemed like he had just finished a sparring match.

“You finished the sparring match, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“I apologize for not being able to attend, Lord Edan.”

“Don’t worry about it. Lillis is the patient here. I feel bad for asking you to come.”

“Still, I knew you would win. Congratulations, Lord Edan.”

“Yeah. Thank you, Lillis.”

With those words, Edan naturally approached my bedside and placed a fruit basket on it. He casually took out an apple from it and began to slice it with ease.

“Oh, I’ll do it, Lord Edan.”

“Lillis is the patient. Just rest.”

“You might hurt your hand. Besides, you can still slice an apple in this state….”

“Just stay quiet. I’ve been wielding a sword for years, so I might not even be able to handle cutting fruit with a knife.”

“…Understood.”

Even so, the weight of a sword I usually carry and that of an apple in hand would be different.

As I expected, Edan, who tried to slice the apple with the knife in his hand, seemed unfamiliar with the light weight of the fruit after years of wielding a sword.

-Slice, slice.

“….”

“Wait a moment, Lord Edan. Are you moving your hand too ‘straight’?”

“…I guess so. I didn’t intend to cut it ‘perpendicular’ like this.”

“It seems like the slice is too ‘flat,’ Lord Edan. If you slice it like this, the peel and flesh will separate and cause waste.”

“I thought I had been handling a sword for quite a long time, but I’m still a ‘novice’ when it comes to handling fruit. I’ll try again, so watch closely, Lillis.”

“Oh, wait. If you slice it ‘flat’ like this….”

“…Phew, it’s harder than I thought. It looked easy when I saw you do it, Lillis. I sliced too much, and the apple piece turned into a complete ‘mess.’”

“Thank you anyway. You sliced it with me in mind, Lord Edan. Even though the apple piece became a bit ‘chunky,’ the taste hasn’t changed.”

“…Are you two doing this on purpose?”

“What do you mean?”

For some reason, Agnes, who had been listening to our conversation, glared at Edan and me with a slightly irritated voice, and in the meantime, the door opened again as a new visitor entered.

-Swish.

“Agnes, how is Lillis feeling?”

Entering the hospital room with a fruit basket in hand, it was Serista, just like Edan. Well, if Edan’s duel was over, then it meant that Serista’s duel, which came before his, was also over.

“…Just like that. Serista said that Serishta will get better if she rests.”

“Agnus and Lillis both have serious injuries, but their recovery shouldn’t be too difficult. They both mainly got hurt in vital areas, so if we focus on treating that, it should be fine.”

“Is that so? That’s a relief. I thought Agnus would take a long time to recover after using an explosive spell.”

“When they were first sent to the church with a death prevention spell, the initial treatment was good. I heard that since you treated Luke, who flew after being hit by a mana bomb all over his body in last year’s final evaluation match, no one felt this injury was too serious.”

“…”

Suddenly hearing about me and Luke’s evaluation match from last year, I couldn’t help but avoid eye contact.

Back then, there was no way to win other than using Mana Blast, so I had to use it, but it seems like the injury was worse than I thought.

Mana Blast was indeed not a spell for killing people. It was for dealing with large monsters or monster extermination on a large scale.

“But why are you later than Blackwood? Didn’t we agree to have a meeting after your evaluation match with them? You should have finished your duel before Blackwood. Your rank is higher too.”

“That’s true, but I had something to check for a moment.”

“What do you need to check?”

“I heard that the results of Agnus and Lillis’ evaluation match duel came out. I wanted to confirm it and let you know because you might be curious.”

“I won?!”

“I won?!”

Almost simultaneously, Agnus and I blurted out, looking at Serista with a suspicious expression, but what was important to us now was the result of Agnus and my duel.

“Agnus won. Lillis’ death verdict was about 0.04 seconds faster.”

“See that? I won, right?”

“No, you shouldn’t judge it that way. Agnus didn’t inflict a fatal blow first, it was me…”

“It doesn’t matter if you judge me. And how are you going to judge who died first in a simultaneous death verdict? Lillis, you’re also a student at Luminor Academy, you know that.”

…Yes, I know. I know the evaluation system of Luminor Academy in a tie situation.

Still, it was an unavoidable injustice. If it had been a real battle instead of a duel with distance, I would have won.

“Let’s face off again next year, Agnus.”

“Huh? Why me? You’re weaker, Lillis.”

“If we face off again, I can win, right?!”

“Yes. I’ll nominate someone else now. If you feel unfairly treated, try taking the top spot.”

“Ugh!”

“L-Lillis! You need to rest for a while!”

…If the starting distance had been 5 meters closer, I would have definitely won.

It was a moment when I felt a fresh sense of injustice towards the unfair rules of the Magic Department’s final evaluation match.