Chapter 18 – It’s the Magic You Chose (6)

Witnessing the magic running amok, I tossed the popcorn aside and immediately rushed into the arena.

Since I had been with Darling just moments ago, I was on the second-year side, and the wave was surging from the opposite end.

Upon entering the arena, I saw Liv collapsed from exhaustion.

Hafen and the other teammates were flying about, swept up by the wave.

“Lady Baroness, are you alright?”

“M-Mr. Louis!? How did you get here…! Quickly, get away!!”

She didn’t look okay at all. For a brief moment, I considered whether I should stop the flood right then and there.

<End of Magic> isn’t exactly a convenient skill.

To cancel a spell, I must get close to the casting area.

Fortunately, Lehel, whose vacation I had cut short, wasn’t just observing from above. I scooped Liv up in my arms.

She felt as light as a feather, probably because she rarely ate anything besides the bread from my store.

“Let’s get out of here. Hold on tight, I’m going to run.”

“W-what? Kyaa!!!”

Climbing back up the arena wall we had just descended didn’t require magic.

After scaling the roughly 6-meter height, the wave crashing from behind bounced off the defensive magic.

Although the arena and the stands were flooded, the <Flood> spell itself didn’t have much killing power.

As the water slowly drained away, most of the mages quickly regained their composure.

Thank goodness there were no casualties.

I glanced at the waterlogged popcorn with a sense of futility before heading towards the arena’s passageway, where the water was receding.

I had to reprimand the culprit behind this mess.

Splash! Splash!

Priests and professors were also roaming around, looking for students swept away by the wave.

I waded through knee-deep water, scanning the surrounding passages.

It didn’t take long to find Adela slumped in a corner, her blue hair splayed out.

I immediately approached her and nudged her with my foot.

“Hey.”

“……”

“Didn’t I tell you not to use magic recklessly?”

“……”

No response. I pushed a bit harder.

“Stop playing dead and get up before I ban you from the store.”

“……”

“Hey.”

“……”

“Adela?”

“……”

I turned her over so her chest faced the sky.

She looked as if she were sleeping, her eyes peacefully closed.

Her face was pale. There was no sound of breathing.

“……”

Is she dead? What should I do if she’s dead?

Why am I even thinking? If she’s dead, there are three options.

Bury. Burn. Dump. I’ve done them in that order of preference.

If I had time to reminisce, I buried them.

If I was being chased, I burned them.

If I was on the verge of death myself, I dumped them.

There was only one time I hadn’t attempted any of the three.

Resurrect.

“There’s no magic that can bring back the dead, Louis.”

That’s what Terra said.

What did I reply back then——

“Damn it. This isn’t the time.”

I wound the spring of my thoughts further back into the past, to when I was on Earth long ago.

My mind cleared. I saw a priest approaching us from the other end.

Right, first things first, emergency response.

When you find a drowning victim, you need to perform chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

I placed my hands on Adela’s chest.

Carefully, I pressed near her heart with two fingers.

Crack!

Shit. I applied much less force, but it made an awful sound.

Was I too tense? I rarely lose control of my strength.

Well, even normal rescuers break a few ribs when doing chest compressions. Let’s try a bit more.

Snap!

As I pressed her chest again, she coughed up water with a splutter.

Her face regained some color.

“Oh, she’s alive.”

“Ahhh! Over here! We have a patient coughing up blood!”

“Blrgh……”

Damn. That wasn’t the kind of color I meant.

Fortunately, my worries were unfounded as Adela seemed to regain consciousness.

She looked at me with a dazed, imprinted duckling-like gaze.

“Te…acher.”

“Yeah. Troublemaker.”

“My chest really hurts……. Feels like I’m dying…….”

“That’s because you used too much mana.”

“I was fine a moment ago, but suddenly…….”

“You hit a rock that got swept in with the water.”

“Doesn’t seem like…… Ugh……”

Before Adela could babble any more nonsense, still not fully lucid, I quietly covered her mouth and closed her eyes.

When the priest began chanting a healing spell, she drifted back into sleep.

“Is she alive?”

“Yes. She almost died, but barely made it.”

“Floods are terrifying. To think they can do this to a person.”

“Actually, no. I was treating internal bleeding. If the impact had been any stronger, her heart would have burst.”

Alright. Let’s never do this again.

I pulled a cigarette out of my pocket.

It was too soaked to light.

So, I just chewed on it. It won’t kill me even if I swallow it.

As something not meant to be ingested went down my throat, memories of that time came flooding back.

I also remembered what I had said to Terra.

“I… don’t think so.”

***

Farencia Academy’s long-standing tradition, the Magic Tournament at the start of the semester where freshmen compete against upperclassmen, ended unusually with a victory for the first-years.

And no, it wasn’t because Adela’s magic played a huge role.

As everyone was swept out of the arena by the wave, there was one student who, with quick thinking, planted his sword in the ground and held on until the end.

“Congratulations on your victory, Carl.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

Erzebet looked at Carl, who performed the knight’s salute, with a pleased smile.

Except for the headmaster, who looked as if he was chewing on something foul at the thought of repairing the damaged arena, the other professors seemed generally satisfied.

After Carl, who had shown the most outstanding performance, received his certificate and the award ceremony ended, Erzebet personally invited him to a tea party.

Since the store incident, the student council had been reorganized.

As the representative of Farencia Academy’s Royal Magic University, she asked Carl if there was anything he wanted.

“Since you achieved the best results in this tournament, you deserve a reward. What do you wish for?”

“Ah, I…”

“This is the land registry of properties available for transfer. This list contains the magic books in the library. While I can’t grant you a title, I can offer extra points if you wish to join the Royal Knights.”

“No, that’s not necessary!”

Carl hesitated for a moment before looking directly at Erzebet.

An indescribable atmosphere flowed between them.

Only the mountain, carrying leisurely drifting clouds, indicated the passage of time.

“Your Highness, I, I…!”

“I’m sorry, Carl. I’m not the prize for winning, and besides, I’m already betrothed…”

Erzebet thought it best to turn him down gently, so she made up an excuse.

She had mentioned an ex-fiancé before, though it wasn’t confirmed information and she hadn’t acknowledged it, but it served as a convenient excuse.

However, Carl awkwardly scratched his cheek and said,

“That’s not it, Your Highness. I was hoping to receive some swordsmanship guidance from one of your guards…”

“Oh…”

Another awkward silence ensued.

How embarrassing.

Erzebet, who had made a foolish assumption, couldn’t control her flushed cheeks.

“Of course, that… shouldn’t be difficult…”

“Haha, thank you. By the way, you mentioned you’re engaged? Who might that be…?”

“Forget you heard that! It’s nothing! Right, Phi?”

“Phi—.”

“Don’t say anything ridiculous. Have you been bribed with a few pieces of popcorn?? What could you possibly know about that man…”

Reaching that question, Erzebet had a clever idea.

A way to learn about Louis without messing with the store.

“Carl, listen.”

Halting her familiar’s squabbling, she smiled benevolently at Carl and asked,

“I’ll arrange the swordsmanship lessons with Sir Everett. As a former member of the Hook’s Claw Knights, he’ll be a great help.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

“But actually, this is more of a personal favor to you, Carl. There’s no way my guard could be officially assigned as a reward for the Magic Tournament.”

After handing a cookie from the tray to Phi and having it keep watch, she lowered her voice.

“So, can I ask you to use that reward for me?”

***

Meg, originally from Alios Tower and currently working as the librarian at Farencia Academy, was having a peaceful night shift in the library duty room.

It wasn’t exam season yet, so the 24-hour study room was empty, and there were no book loan requests.

Yawning and reading an article about the recently concluded Magic Tournament, he heard someone knocking at the door and got up, groggy.

“Who’s there at this late hour, yawn~”

With a portable lantern and in slippers, he opened the door to find a somewhat familiar face.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Carl, a first-year student.”

“Ah~ a freshman? Sorry, but the night study room is only for second-years and up. Come back tomorrow.”

“No, I’m not here to study.”

“Then?”

“I’m here to claim my reward from the Magic Tournament.”

Ah. Now I remembered.

I recognized him as the student I had seen in the newspaper earlier.

I didn’t know he carried such a peculiar bird on his shoulder. Nodding, Meg let him in.

“Coming to the library, you must be looking for a magic book?”

Meg, who had been a tower member from the start since there wasn’t an academy when he was young, was also a mage and admired students with strong academic fervor.

Coming to claim a reward right after the match showed exceptional enthusiasm, so Meg kindly added his own advice.

“Books rewarded for this tournament go up to security level A. Books on dark magic are restricted. Personally, I recommend Duke Baltera’s ‘Introduction to Aesthetics.’ It’s well-organized with various levels of magic and contains passages you can’t see without joining a tower.”

“I apologize, but I’m not here for a magic book either.”

“Then what?”

Thud.

Carl stopped, nodding as if getting final approval from the bird on his shoulder, and slowly spoke.

“I want to access the original version of this book.”

In his hand was the history textbook all first-years must study, “The End of the Great War and the Beginning of the Little Wars.”