Acceleration

Free time ended, and the club members returned to their rooms. Aria and Kane had apparently worked up a sweat playing 2-on-2 table tennis with an unknown couple and had stopped by the hot springs again.

Rakar, who had used the fitness room, simply took a shower to wash away the signs of intense exercise, like us.

As we returned to our rooms, an employee knocked on the door, probably because Aria had told them in advance.

Aria told them to come in with a happy face, and as the door opened, a delicious smell wafted into the room.

On the employee’s tray was barbecue meat, prepared in a way that was easy for travelers to eat, piled up in a rice bowl format, along with a simple soup.

But after that, another employee brought tomato cheese gratin, herb-crusted lamb chops, and various other dishes.

As many dishes were placed on the table that had been set up in the room in advance, as if a buffet had been set up, Aria said in a lively voice.

,Eat whatever you want!

At Aria’s words, everyone said they would eat well and took the food they wanted.

What I took was the barbecue rice bowl. It tasted spicy, as if they had used hot peppers in the sweet barbecue sauce.

While I was busy moving my spoon, Kane, who was eating lamb chops, suddenly asked.

,Was there anything wrong with the club room during the vacation? Ah, is my alchemy table still there?

At Kane’s words, I thought of the alchemy table that had been out of my mind. I smiled and said.

,It’s still a mess.

,Please think of it as organized in my style.

Ignoring Kane’s cheeky words, I moved the meat from the rice bowl to Luna’s plate.

As I was smiling at Luna, who nodded slightly and thanked me, this time Rakar asked.

,When we return to the academy, the club president will be busy preparing for the triathlon, right?

,Huh?

It was a question I hadn’t expected at all, so I answered a little dumbly. The club members’ eyes gathered on my face.

I moved my spoon as if nothing was wrong, but I couldn’t ignore the blatant gaze.

,…I forgot.

It sounds like an excuse, but I really forgot. During the vacation, I learned the Breath of the Formless, solved the secrets of the lighthouse, and so on.

Because I had a lot of busy days, I didn’t even think about the triathlon.

Now that I think about it, Lycan seemed to often think about and look forward to the triathlon. I just laughed it off back then….

,You forgot the most important triathlon in the second semester?!

If Aria, who had sauce all over her mouth, was making such a fuss, it seemed like it was my fault.

I corrected my attitude, which I was trying to gloss over, and apologized.

,I forgot because I was focusing on training.

,As expected of the club president. To be so serious about training….

Ignoring Rakar, who was impressed by my excuse-like apology, I ate a salad to soothe my spicy tongue.

I felt Luna, who was sitting next to me, staring at me with her fork stopped in the air, so I turned my head.

For some reason, Luna had a slightly dissatisfied expression. Was forgetting the triathlon such a big deal? As I was wondering if I should apologize, Kane said.

,Still, our top and second place freshmen this year are reliable. I’m sure they’ll continue last year’s reputation.

At first, I didn’t understand what Kane was talking about. As the meaning of those words was slowly interpreted, I began to waver.

The conditions for participating in the triathlon are the top and second place students in each grade. And the top student in the first grade was… none other than Ellie.

I suddenly felt nauseous, so I drank the warm tea that was on the table.

Aria, who was scooping up cheese, said in a cheerful voice, unlike my mood.

,That’s right, Ellie is also a very talented magician, so if she’s with Ross, she’ll easily defeat the other academies! Ellie and Ross are the pride of the magic and combat departments!

Kane glanced at Luna and said in a cheeky voice.

,The alchemy and magic engineering departments should keep their mouths shut.

Luna gave a bitter smile to Kane, who was pretending to zip up his mouth. Luna glanced at me, leaned slightly towards me, and whispered.

,I believe Ross will do well too.

I stopped the hand that was about to hand her bread, smiled, and said thank you. Like a lie, the nausea disappeared with those short words.

I looked at Luna, who seemed to have something to say while pursing her lips, but she shook her head slightly, so I focused on my meal again.

***

After finishing our meal, we headed to the summit of Mount Bold to digest.

It was dangerous to enter the mountain late at night, but the resort’s mountain was densely installed with streetlights that pushed back the darkness.

I’ve heard that people often go missing after straying from the path, but that’s because they invited danger themselves.

From the beginning, the name itself is Snow Mountain. If you wander around carelessly and get lost, only a chilling death will await you.

My assessment was that it was like a promenade full of uphill roads. There were many people heading to the summit like us, and there were many things to see around us, so everyone’s pace was slow.

The pink snow mountain flowers, which spread out like fireworks when touched with a finger, and the beautiful Bold flowers, which seemed to gather moonlight and emit light, caught my eye.

After walking for about an hour, we finally reached our destination, the summit.

I said it was the summit, but it didn’t feel like the top of the mountain, but rather that this was as far as we could go.

There were also shops selling simple food and places to stay around. At Aria’s strong recommendation, we ate fresh fruit mochi with a whole strawberry inside.

Luna, who was eating deliciously, offered me a bite because I had refused, saying I was full, and I gladly accepted.

If Luna gives it to me, I can eat it even if my stomach is full. The taste of the strawberry was strong, so it was even more delicious.

Aria, who had disappeared for a moment while I was distracted by Luna, held fireworks in her arms and smiled brightly.

,Let’s set off fireworks!

Setting off fireworks was also on the plan that Aria had written. If I refused even this, Aria would raise her thorns and puff up her cheeks like a pufferfish, so I quickly nodded.

,I want the biggest one.

,Huh?! No way! The biggest one is mine!

Kane, who I thought would be annoyed, surprisingly stepped forward actively. Leaving the two of them fighting over the biggest firework, I took the fireworks and handed them to Rakar and Luna.

There was a separate space for setting off fireworks, so we headed to a vacant lot in front of the fireworks shop.

Seeing that Aria was holding the biggest firework in her hand, I could tell that Kane had lost after all.

Was he letting her win, or was he really losing? Looking at Kane, who was grumbling while holding a small firework, I thought it was the latter.

,We’re going to set off fireworks one by one and say what we want to say! Then, things will go smoothly!

I don’t know if there’s really such a superstition, but we nodded.

The first was Rakar, who was holding the smallest firework.

He lit the fuse with a match attached to the side of the firework’s body and placed it on the ground, and something was shot into the sky.

With a bang- sound, the lights twinkled and decorated the sky, as if a galaxy was unfolding in the night sky. Rakar put his hands together as if in prayer and said.

,I hope everyone is healthy and doesn’t get sick in the second semester.

Isn’t Rakar more suitable to be the club president than me?

Rakar will surely become a good knight as he wishes. Maybe he’ll even become the commander of the Imperial Knights.

The next turn was Kane’s. Kane’s fireworks were shot into the sky in succession. Kane followed Rakar and shouted while putting his hands together.

,Let’s have a boring and ordinary life without any incidents!

It was a Kane-like remark. Aria, who was wriggling her chubby cheeks next to me, hurriedly jumped forward and lit the firework, even though it wasn’t her turn.

Bang-!

As expected of a huge firework, even the reverberation was different. Everyone on the snow mountain looked up at the sky and applauded the beauty of the fireworks.

The huge and beautiful light decorated the sky, giving the illusion that it had momentarily turned night into day.

,Please make Kane’s words the opposite!

,Hey! Cancel it!

That’s why she didn’t keep her turn. As expected, she was a prankster, Aria.

Leaving Kane, who was jumping up and down, telling her to cancel it right away, I scratched my head and looked at Luna.

The fireworks set off after Aria’s fireworks will definitely be compared.

It was originally Luna’s turn, but I thought about that and decided to set them off first.

My fireworks were the type that I held in my hand and set off, so I lit them and aimed them at the sky.

The fireworks, which flew into the sky with the sound of cutting through the air, began to disappear, emitting pretty flower-shaped lights.

Before the lights completely disappeared, I said whatever came to my mind.

,I hope all of our precious club members are happy.

When I turned around, I felt embarrassed to see the club members smiling at me, so I put my hands in my pockets.

When I returned, Luna, who was the last in line, walked forward. The fireworks that went high into the sky disappeared, dropping pretty lights like rain.

,I hope we continue to be happy like this.

I smiled at Luna’s voice, who said that as if praying. There will be no incidents this second semester.

Because in the novel, Roel was spending sweet time with the heroine and enjoying his academy life. At least the second semester will be spent without any incidents, as Kane said.

I can leisurely prepare for the fight with the clergy next year. With a satisfied smile, I grabbed Luna’s hand as she returned.

***

The man rolled on the floor. It was because he had lost his balance due to his severed left arm.

,To, to a young man attending the academy…!

The man, whose blood vessels protruded prominently on his face as he drew up his magic power, said as if spitting out in an angry voice.

,You have no skills, but you have pride? You’re a strange person.

At Flavia’s contemptuous voice, the man raised his body and shouted like an epileptic fit.

,Shut up! Do you know who you guys have touched! I am Confession. Confession No. 8, the direct subordinate of the Pope…! This body is Nerda of Despair!!!

Magic power surged from Ner’s fingertips as if boiling, and a black flash split the ground and headed towards Flavia with terrifying momentum.

Flavia didn’t react at all to the sudden attack.

Kuuuuung-!

It was Ner’s last struggle, gathering the magic power left in his body and firing it, but Roel simply swung his greatsword lightly and blocked it.

Ner screamed desperately at the sight of Roel looking down at him with an arrogant face, without any signs of being tired from the fight with him. He wanted to vehemently deny the Roel in front of him.

,What, what the hell are you!!! Why, why doesn’t my attack work…!!!

Roel answered with a cold face at Ner’s cry of vomiting blood.

,I’m the brother of the younger sibling you guys bullied.

As Roel moved his hand, Ner’s head, which had been screaming desperately, rolled on the floor.

Without even giving a glance at Ner’s head rolling on the floor, Roel reached out to Flavia.

,Let’s go, to the academy.