Do you feel the difference? (1)

Early morning, Royal Frisian Academy fencing training grounds.

-Spot!

A blonde girl with her hair tied up was swinging a sharp sword.

-Spot!

With each swing of her sword, a sound of air being cut is heard, and the sliver of light traces a clean curve before being erased later.

“Sseuup… Phew!”

After swinging her sword like that for dozens of minutes, she found herself covered in sweat, slowly refilling her sword and turning towards her towel.

-Whew.

“Oops… “

“Ellis, that’s amazing. It looks like Aura is already wrapped around the sword?”

And the man who had been standing in front of the suitcase without her noticing, erasing his presence.

I instinctively grabbed the towel thrown to me by Raoul Edmont, a second-year student of the Academy’s fencing department with blond hair and red eyes, and quickly wiped my face.

“What is it, Raul? If you came, you should have talked to me. It’s embarrassing.”

“Haha. Actually, I was going to talk to you as soon as I got here. I felt bad for disturbing you when you were perfectly focused, so I was swinging around in the corner. You really didn’t know?”

“Yeah… I guess I was concentrating a little too deeply.”

“I see. By the way, that’s amazing. Isn’t Aura Level 2 already starting to be mastered?”

As he spoke, Raoul pulled out the sword that was on his waist and began swinging it lightly, filling it with aura and swinging it into the air.

What on earth is so great about me?

I have been able to put Aura into my sword since last month.

I guess I’m one of those people who are called geniuses in swordsmanship, but Raoul was a true genius who flew over my head.

“Hey, I’ve been taking lessons in swordsmanship and Auror from my family since I was little. Didn’t Ellis learn swordsmanship from her mother, but she first learned about Auror at the Academy? “

“Uh, yeah… That’s right.”

Feeling a little embarrassed by Raul’s story, he pretends to wipe his face with a towel and blocks his view.

Because of the current conversation, a man’s voice came to mind.

-Huh? You want me to do that magic trick again? Seriously, I hurt you so bad last time. Again?

-Well, I understand that you want to get used to the sword that handles Aura, so I’ll help you, but I won’t make you as good as before.

-I’m telling you clearly, it’s just an illusion. It briefly shows you the upper limit of your characteristics, but you can’t reach it unless you put in the effort yourself… Okay. I’ll stop nagging you, so don’t frown. I’ll hit people with my eyes.

The truth is that he had received far more ridiculous advance education and opportunity than others, but now he has no intention of getting it back, and he has no intention of getting any more help.

The black magician who saved him and his mother at that time had completely changed into a different person.

The past where I learned from him, who transformed into a person who hurts people while laughing and oppresses others with his authority, is now just a dark history.

It was such a dirty trick that I really didn’t want anyone, especially Raoul, to find out about it.

As I was wiping the voice of the man I once trusted with a towel, Raoul continued speaking in a light voice.

“The chairman sent a text message to our group chatroom last night. Didn’t you read it?”

“Huh? I went to bed early and didn’t check my phone until just now. I came out before the alarm went off.”

“Haha! You’re so sincere that you don’t read the texts, there really aren’t many people like Ellis.”

Then he said with a gentle smile that he thought it would be like that and that he came to tell me in person while I was training in the morning.

“They told us to come to the student council room alone during lunch today. Does Ellis know what’s going on?”

“Oh, I don’t know? But why is the president a swordsman? If you have something to say, can’t you just say it during break time?”

“Hmm, since it’s been a while since you called us, I wonder if it’s related to this ‘Demon’ incident… “

-Shock.

After wiping off all the sweat and packing up my luggage, Raul said that.

Demon.

Monsters who are enemies of humanity and for some reason only want to kill humans.

A heteromorphic being that resembles a human but has black horns or something similar.

They are such useless guys that it is said that because of them, even people like me and my mother were persecuted as aliens in the distant past.

And there are monsters that Raul and I each took care of in our first year of high school…

-Wow~! That was dangerous. I happened to have an incredibly good catalyst that I received from my teacher… Are you two not hurt?

A being that uses black magic of a higher level than a black magician.

I shook my head as I remembered the time when that guy chased away a guy who tried to kill ‘us’ with the same magic as them.

Because what I have to remember now is not those ‘old’ things.

“Come to think of it, I heard that Nora has been absent from the academy a lot since that incident. Is that why?”

“… That might be true. I can only count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen Nora’s face in the past two weeks. “

In the past, she used to see that man every day, but after he entered the academy, changed, and was expelled, her contact with Nora really disappeared.

In the first place, she is a member of the Black Magic Research Club and a disciple of the Black Magic Tower.

It was only natural that there would be no chance for me, an ordinary commoner who was only a student council member and whose mother was the commander of the knights, to meet them.

“I said everything I wanted to say… Ellis, shall we go have breakfast together?”

“Okay. Let’s go!”

I want to live in the present rather than the past.

-Ellis, I’m saying this out of concern.

-No matter what happens in your life from now on… it’s never your fault. So, don’t get caught up in the meaningless past.

-People, even if you live only looking forward, there won’t be enough time? Well, since it’s something said by a child like me who isn’t even a parent, it might not make much of an impression. Anyway, when that situation comes, what I’m saying is to cut off any regrets from the past with that sharp sword on your waist.

-Even if you don’t understand, just remember. You have a good memory, right?

Because there wasn’t enough time to cherish the present with the precious relationships that remained before my eyes, rather than the man’s voice that only brought back painful memories.

*

Before lunch at the Freesia Academy.

-Ah, Student Council member Ellis. I’m sorry, but I need you to organize the training materials. The third-year students who attended the lecture earlier left without organizing them…

I was sweating as I cleaned up the training swords and scarecrows that my seniors had left behind.

‘It’ll take a long time… If you’re just going to leave saying you have a meeting, why don’t you at least organize it a little during the break before that?’

In the first place, I resented the professor who called me aside while I was cleaning up and made me look after the third-year students without asking me to do so when all the second-year students were present.

However, as a responsible student council member, I couldn’t just leave this situation alone, so I sent a text message to the president and Raul saying I would be a little late and continued cleaning.

-Wow!

“?”

“Ah~ Don’t you smell like an animal~?”

“Seriously, it really stinks.”

“Sniff sniff~ Uwaaa~! The smell of an animal and the smell of a commoner who doesn’t wash up are mixed together, I think I’m going to throw up. “

-Kang!

As the cleaning was almost over, three women appeared, destroying the scarecrows and training swords that had been put away.

I frowned at the sight.

Those people who knocked over the training materials and deliberately threw the fallen protective gear in front of me were the children of the kingdom’s nobles who had been picking on me ever since I entered school.

“Oh, what the heck!! What if I roll my protective gear on the floor? What if I hurt my feet! A second-year!!”

“It seems like you don’t know how to organize things that people use since you’re a beast year?”

“Puhhihihi! That could be possible~”

“Haa… Seniors, what are you doing right now?”

Ellis let out a deep sigh as all the stuff she had been organizing for over twenty minutes rolled back onto the floor, and the purple-haired woman in front, who seemed to enjoy her reaction, crossed her arms and spoke in a mean voice.

“What the heck. I cleaned it up because I thought I’d throw up when I thought about going to class in the afternoon wearing gear that smelled like a horny beast.”

“Is this what your senior’s room looks like when it’s tidy?”

“Oh my, I wonder if someone would call me a beast. Hey! If you meet your senior, isn’t it polite to say hello first?”

“Do people who know manners throw away things that other people have cleaned?”

“Are you an idiot? Where in the world is there anyone who is polite to animals?”

“”Puhhh!””

“… … “

I let out another deep sigh as I watched them laughing among themselves, wondering what the heck was so funny. I picked up the protective gear that had rolled in front of me and started cleaning again.

I don’t know why he’s acting up all of a sudden, but I know from experience that if I don’t just ignore him, he’ll keep nagging and picking on me.

“… Huh? Are you ignoring us right now?”

-Kaang!

“Ugh… !”

But when I tried to ignore them as usual, one of them grabbed the protective gear that had fallen off and threw the object directly at me.

I was sure that if I hadn’t reacted quickly and caught it, they would have hit their heads, but they were busy giggling at my reaction.

I felt something odd about their behavior, which was more seriously twisted than usual, and glared at them, but they just laughed at my reaction and started pulling out the training swords on their waists.

“Hey, 2nd grade. I told you clearly last year. “

“… Do you think I would remember what we talked about?”

“I knew it wouldn’t fit in the beast’s head, but it’s still so shameless?”

“Haa, this is a crime now. Seniors, can you handle this?”

“Are you really an idiot? Hey, don’t you know why you’re left here alone?”

“… … “

It seems like the professor who assigned me to clean up was also in on it.

Feeling slightly annoyed, I pulled out my training sword as well, and they started laughing at me and talking.

“As expected, a young beast needs to be beaten to come to its senses.”

“Really~ Look at her pointing a knife at her senior. Who would call her a fatherless beast of a bitch?”

“Are you normal for pointing a knife at your juniors?”

“Are you kidding me? Didn’t we talk about it clearly?”

“Don’t approach Albert and Raoul, you little b*tch who has been ignoring them and waggling your tail for over a year, are you talking about normality to us?”

A self-proclaimed student council fan club.

In reality, they were nothing more than ardent followers of the handsome Raoul and Albert, and it seemed that they had decided to show off their skills by not listening to what they had told me a year ago.

Seriously, there has never been a rash like this one.

I started to look at their postures, trying to get the three swords to drop properly.

‘… What the. All the details…’

“Let’s get this right now!”

-Kaang!!

“Ugh?!”

I was taken aback by the swordsmanship, which was more refined than I had expected, and quickly blocked it before stepping back.

Even if they rot, by the time they are in their third year, everyone is probably learning swordsmanship at level 3 or equivalent.

The sword that the purple hair swung sharply was quite heavy and neat.

And the stabbing and slashing of the other two people who rush in after them are also quite skilled.

Even if it was 1:1, I couldn’t help but know that these were opponents that wouldn’t be easy to beat.

-Kaaaang!

“Ugh… !”

“Pfft! You’re a level 3 swordsman in your second year, so you really thought you were the strongest in the world?”

“That’s what the year of the beast thinks.”

“What, you said there’s an aura trait? You don’t put it on a sword? Oh~ Is it a trash trait that isn’t even level 2 yet?”

“… Don’t regret it.”

I wrapped my sword around my aura, thinking that I wouldn’t be able to finish them off unless I ‘slashed’ all of their swords, and they looked at me with slightly surprised eyes.

An aura that can kill a person just by wrapping it around a tree branch.

I hope they get scared and turn back now that it’s not a wooden sword but a training iron sword.

If you think like that and try to live a little more sincerely towards them.

-Kaaaang!!

“Ugh?!!”

“Wow~ I really want to gouge out my eyes. What the heck, did you really think only you knew how to use Auror?”

“Phew! Hey. We’re third-years. We’re the ones who made it to the quarterfinals and round of 16 in last year’s Imperial Ranking Tournament.”

“Aren’t you ignoring your senior too much~?”

All three of them had an aura surrounding their swords and swung them more naturally than I did.

When on earth did you grow like this…!

It wasn’t like this until last year!

“You idiot, when you were doing whatever you wanted with that crazy dog you had hooked on us, it was like your world was all yours, right?”

“Your mother also quit being the commander of the knights and ran away?”

“You were abandoned by both sets of parents, and you couldn’t even manage the fishing grounds, so you even abandoned the bastard who was protecting you. Did you think that your life at the academy would continue to be easy?”

-Crunch!

“Ugh!!”

Eventually, my mock sword was cut down by their consecutive strikes, and I hastily grabbed another mock sword, but since it wasn’t a sword I was used to, it didn’t even budge.

And I have no idea what they’re talking about.

Rumors started to circulate a few days ago that my mother had resigned from her position as commander of the knights.

Fishery?

“””Poohahahahaha!!”””

“Look at him. His acting is killer. I would believe him even if he said he was an actor!”

“Okay. Just get beaten up by humans today and learn some human language.”

“Hehehe~ Viola did it~!”

“… !”

Without even answering this question, the other two just laughed while carrying their bags on their backs and even carrying swords.

So I finally got to have a 1:1 fight with the purple-haired third-year who seemed to be the leader, but it was a one-sided fight that only gave rise to strange questions and showed no way to win, so I was pushed back and ended up with my back against the wall.

“Viola~ If you come around and hit him, he’ll die, so control your strength well~”

“Don’t hit me in the face~ If you show it, that empty-headed beast of a bitch will stab me and we’ll get in trouble too~”

“That’s right. Let’s get hit on the shoulder first. Well, if you get hit badly and never lift a sword again, don’t be too upset~”

I lightly struck my sword, which was gradually slowing down due to exhaustion, and judged that the sword would fall as if it were truly going to cut off my shoulder.

The power of a swift downfall, the aura that does not disappear.

If you get hit by that sword, it won’t just end with a sore shoulder.

I gritted my teeth and twisted my body to avoid the falling sword, and barely managed to use the mock sword I had as a shield, but the blunt lump of iron without any aura couldn’t stop the sword that was covered in aura, and just like that…

-Kaaaang!!

“Huh… ?”

“I thought it was too late to come to the student council room, what’s going on? Ellis.”

Raoul Edmont, a solid young man, stopped the sword that was falling so fast it seemed like it would slice my shoulder.

He frowned at the seniors surrounding me while asking me the question.