episode_0004

As the name suggests, the Academy is a place for students to learn, but to be exact, it is a place with a very different meaning from a typical school.

The common school is a place for the majority of commoners who are not born with magical powers, while the academy is a facility specially established to educate noble families and a small number of talented commoners who are born with magical powers.

Magic and magic are abilities that transcend the laws of physics, and they are the driving force that maintains this society and are essential powers used throughout the development of society.

The academy could be said to be an important national training institution that exists to nurture children with that power into talented individuals for the right positions.

But in fact, there was another reason for its existence hidden within it.

Instructions common to all academies within the country.

It was to teach students with magical powers how to fight with magic and swords.

Although it is said that new magical theories are often created in the process of developing combat techniques, the probability of this happening is high―

The implicit role of the barracks to train magical soldiers to be drafted in times of emergency was also an important factor that could not be ignored.

That is, the academy’s education could be broadly classified into two categories.

Academics and combat.

And today’s class was a mock duel between wizards using wooden swords.

*

“Hyaat!”

Kak! Kak!

My wooden longsword moved busily to match the two dagger attacks that poured down irregularly.

“Kyahahaha♡ Slow down~so slow~♡ I thought the turtle was a rock so I’ll rest and go~♡”

“Huh!”

Kagakak!

I continued to take steps backwards, barely able to block the attacks with my longsword.

The opponent’s weapon is a pair of daggers.

To take advantage of the longsword’s long reach, you first need to build some distance.

But my opponent quickly moved inside my gap as if to target that exact area.

“Slowpoke♡ It’s so easy to catch up♡”

“This is it!”

Cock!

The sword strike raised with both hands from Woo-Hyun was blocked by the crossed daggers.

“Clumsy♡”

“?!”

The opponent receives my power and uses it as momentum to spin his body into the air―

“eight♡”

Boom!

It left a cool footprint on my chest.

“Keuk!”

I was thrown backwards in shock and rolled over, staring into the blazing sun.

The match was decided.

“Ayaaya… ”

I got up and with a displeased expression on my face, I brushed off the footprints carved into the middle of my uniform.

“Ah, I can’t concentrate… ”

As I sat there like a man who had lost all his fortune at the gambling table, the owner of the shoe prints came towards me with hurried steps.

“Isn’t it so~sloppy today? Mr. Sloppy♡”

“Boshu, aren’t you being too serious? If you hadn’t defended yourself with magic, it would’ve broken somewhere.”

Even though I pout and throw out a sarcastic remark, the other person shrugs his shoulders and ignores me as if he doesn’t care about my feelings at all.

“But~ I get annoyed when I see your sloppy face, distracted by something else♡”

“Why are you getting so worked up over someone else’s face… ”

“I don’t know♡”

“Haa… Let’s stop talking, let’s stop talking.”

As I sighed and scratched my bangs, a giggling female student squatted down in front of me.

Every time she giggled, her cherry-colored eyes rolled back thinly, her twintails of the same color fluttered and danced.

“Lucy added another win today♡”

“Yes, yes, you are indeed a great talent.”

“Aha♡ Put more soul into it, even the compliments are sloppy♡”

“Ao… ”

The name of this guy who keeps poking my cheek and spitting out an angry slogan of “Yay, yay” is Lucica Lapisle.

She was the youngest daughter of the Lapisle family, a noble family in the frontier region, and a classmate. She was notorious for her frivolous words and actions that were not befitting of a noble family, and her mischievous side that liked to tease others.

At the Academy, he was a villain who would always find fault with my actions and would cause my skull temperature to rise, but he was also a guy who had some good points.

Perhaps it was because he was from a remote area, or perhaps it was his innate nature, but he was not particularly conscious of the concept of nobles and commoners, and treated everyone equally.

Because of this, some snobbish noble children looked down on her for her free-spiritedness, and some of the commoner students who fell for her pranks were scared because the other person was a noble, so she was a character that was liked and disliked by both sides.

Well, actually, that wasn’t really important to me.

To me, Lucica Lapisle was my second best friend after Tirisia, and she was an ordinary friend who kept calling me a slacker♡ and made me mad, but I didn’t really hate her.

“Eight, okay.”

When I slapped the back of my hand that kept poking my cheek, Lucica giggled and took my hand back. Then she squatted down and rested her chin on her hand and asked.

“So, what on earth were you thinking that made you lose your mind?”

“I guess I’m still half asleep.”

“Didn’t you sleep well for four days?”

“Isn’t lying down in pain not considered sleep?”

“Aha♡ Did you lose sleep because you didn’t get any care from Lucy? Was our little rascal lonely?♡”

“If I had been cared for by you, I would have been out for another week. With high blood pressure.”

“You still feel sick, don’t you? You said you had a cold, right?”

“Oh, don’t worry about it now. If you were sick, you would have forfeited the match as soon as you got caught and rested in the corner.”

“Well~Okay then~But where should I look♡”

A hand decorated with fancy nail art was placed on my forehead.

“What are you doing?”

“Umm―Measuring sloppy energy.”

Lucica placed one hand on her forehead and the other on mine, feeling the temperature quietly.

“Does it seem a little hot? Are you aroused by being kicked by God?”

That means blood pressure plus 1.

“That won’t work.”

Lucica let go of my hand, grabbed both of my wrists, and stood up forcefully, placing her toes against mine.

My wrist was pulled, and I also stood up straight.

She said with a giggle, swinging my wrist from side to side like a swing.

“Just in case, let’s stop the mock battle here and go hide in a dark corner over there♡ Erto is my favorite, so his lifespan has to be very long♡”

“It’s nice to hear that, but there’s still a lot of time left. What are you going to do?”

“Let’s find someone who has some energy left and beat them up a bit~Let’s see, who’s there~♡”

Kaang―!

At that moment, a loud, cracking sound and high-pitched laughter could be heard from far away on the stage.

“Oh―hohohoho! This is the lady’s victory―!”

Lucica heard the voice and snorted.

“Ah~ It seems like I have just the right partner.”

“Timing note… ”

“Then I’ll go over there, so you can just sit in the corner and look at your girlfriend’s body with your perverted eyes♡”

“Is it perverted to look at your girlfriend’s body? Even though she’s your girlfriend…?”

No, but since she’s not my girlfriend anymore, does that work?

Anyway.

“Then I’ll be considerate and take a rest. Thank you.”

“Kyahang♡ Consideration! It’s an order, you sloppy♡”

“Yes, yes… ”

I waved my hand to Lucica, who was still twisting her body, and then moved to the rest area at the edge of the stage.

There was always bottled drinking water available for free next to the shaded bench, so I grabbed one and plopped myself down on the bench.

After basic physical training and then the mock battle, my whole body was drenched in sweat. It was to the point where I wondered how Lucica could put her hands on someone else’s damp body.

Gulp—gulp—

“Phha… ”

I looked at the stage with my body slumped, my throat parched.

The space, which was built with a wide area so that three-digit number of students can practice at the same time, is covered with lush green grass.

The podium had tiered seating arranged around the perimeter to accommodate outsiders during Academy events, giving the impression of a grassy stadium rather than a large sports field.

My gaze, which was scanning the students practicing swordsmanship and magic here and there, stopped at a female student in the center of the podium.

A beauty with silver hair and blue eyes, with one hand hidden behind her waist and a thin straight sword pointed forward.

The official Academy Ranking #1, Tirisia Brouard of ‘Silver Lake’. She was my ex-girlfriend.

Standing on the other side are just ordinary students, somewhere in the middle of the rankings.

If their skills were right, this match would have been decided a long time ago, but the reason why the two were still standing was obvious.

Tyrisia had no desire to beat her opponent, so she simply focused on defending herself until her opponent gave it his all and admitted defeat.

“―”

Tyrisia was seen saying something to her opponent who had fallen to one knee in exhaustion from repeated attacks.

Although it was a distance where I couldn’t hear her, I could tell what she was saying.

‘Cheer up, I don’t think your skills are up to that level.’

Upon hearing those words, the opponent stood up again, gathered his magical power, and struck Tirisia.

Of course, it didn’t work, but the opponent didn’t give up and continued to attack.

“It’s beautiful.”

“Wow?”

“Heeheet?!”

Suddenly, a voice whispered in my ear, and I jumped up like a startled cat.

What was ridiculous was that the other person was equally surprised by my reaction.

“No, don’t startle me!”

“Who would say that!”

I got angry and glared at the person who approached me silently.

There sat a girl with long, black hair and half her face hidden by her bangs, all dressed in dark clothing.

“Wow… Heidiera, you’re not really a ghost, are you?”

“The cow, the cow is a living human being… ”

As I sighed and sat back down on the bench, a girl with a gloomy aura came up to me and sat down next to me.

Her name was Heidiera Isidel. She was a classmate whose appearance was hardly that of a noble.