Chapter 48: Practice Week Part 3

After the meal, which had more meat than expected, the campfire the students had made (under Ellie’s lead) lit up the night.

Since it was free time after dinner, the kids gathered in small groups to chat or play.

Some kids, feeling hungry again, grilled the remaining meat, while the kids from Group 1 shared hunting tips with the kids from Group 2, who were assigned to hunt tomorrow.

Ellie absentmindedly muttered “marshmallows…” and avoided answering when asked what that was, and so on.

Then, it was time to go back to the lodging and sleep.

Even though they were full and tired, excited teenagers don’t fall asleep easily.

Inside the rooms, where they had been divided by groups, the sounds of deciding to stay up all night, pillow fights, and chatting filled the air.

The professors left them alone for a while, then quietly went around telling them to be quiet at 10 o’clock, and again did the same around midnight.

Of course, many of the kids didn’t fall asleep until 1 or 2 a.m., but if they didn’t do this, most would stay up all night.

The children’s characteristic energy and the excitement from sleep deprivation kept them awake.

The four professors analyzed Ellie, and when Melrit joined the conversation and asked what they were talking about, they responded with “Ellie,” and said, “Ah, Ellie!” in admiration. This happened just after the midnight patrol.

“Well then, I’ll head in first~”

“Me too.”

“See you tomorrow.”

Blanc Malanya, Claude, and Nidpeak professors went to bed first.

“I’ll just check this and go to bed. You all go ahead.”

Melrit unfolded a piece of paper where she had written down the day’s practice situations.

Just then, Telerman, who had been the last to remain, spoke to her.

“Professor Shinseergrin.”

“Yes? What’s up?”

“Could you tell me about the time you brought Ellie here?”

“…Why do you ask all of a sudden?”

“It’s not sudden. Didn’t we all just marvel at her until just now?”

Telerman smiled naturally.

“…Hmm. You’re right. Have you heard that Ellie came from an orphanage?”

“Yes.”

From there, Melrit began to tell the story, carefully hiding some details.

The abuse by the orphanage director, how Ellie had dealt with that director and also killed the noble from the region who came to find her, and then how Dean Skaha had come to pick them up.

“That’s everything that happened before Ellie came to the academy.”

“I see. She must have been extraordinary even back then.”

Telerman nodded.

“My apologies for asking so late at night. I’ll head to bed now.”

“Good night.”

“Professor Shinseergrin, you should go to bed when you can too. There’s a lot to do tomorrow.”

***

After Telerman entered his room, it was some time before Melrit allowed her body to relax.

Her hands were trembling.

Her eyes and lips too.

‘Has he figured it out?’

It’s possible, but she wasn’t sure.

‘Should I tell Ellie?’

‘It’s right, but it’s wrong.’

She shouldn’t tell her now.

To do that, she would need to approach Ellie separately, but if Telerman saw that, he would think she was hiding something.

‘…Ellie.’

Melrit forced her wildly beating heart to calm down.

She didn’t know Telerman’s objective.

So, she couldn’t act rashly.

That meant Melrit had one role.

To keep watching.

As much as possible.

“Hoo.”

Melrit muttered the magic phrase, feeling helpless.

‘…Kosa Insomni.’

An unpleasant sensation of sleep leaving her body overtook her mind.

It was a spell that intentionally induced insomnia.

Melrit prepared herself for a hard five days.

For Ellie.

For her master.

“Ugh… yawn…”

She woke up feeling refreshed and went to fetch water from the nearby stream by the practice area.

Of course, she used magic to carry the water, not going bare-handed.

“Remember the magic to purify dirty water~?”

“Professor Malanya, it looks clean. Can’t we just drink it?”

“Even if it looks transparent, we don’t know what toxins could be in it~ Do you want to get infected with parasites and die, Fancy?”

It was a bit harsh but useful education, and after purifying the water herself, she washed her face and cleaned up.

“If we purify this, we can drink it, right? The magic works on worse contamination too.”

“Well, yes, but it’s not an emergency, is it?”

She discarded the water, then prepared breakfast.

“Yawn… Okay, there, make the stew… Toast on grill number five… Yawn…”

She was overseeing the cooking process while yawning, and the girl from Group 3, who had briefly spoken to her the day before, came over and glanced at her.

“Heh, aren’t you stupid? If you’re tired, you could just rest instead of forcing yourself like this.”

“I’m fine, I’m not that tired. Thanks for worrying.”

“W-who said I was worried about you! I-I just didn’t want to hear your yawning sound!”

“Yeah, yeah. Yawn… thanks…”

The girl turned bright red and walked away, awkwardly explaining that she wasn’t really worried.

By this point, it was a familiar scene.

‘By the way…’

From above, Melrit’s face looked especially tired compared to the other professors.

‘She must be on alert.’

That target was also clearly within my sight.

‘What should I do?’

So far, the other side hadn’t moved, and neither had I.

But then.

‘Are they slowly going to take action?’

I’ll have to leave just one warning later.

To stay still during the practice period.

Because I wanted to enjoy this time.

***

Tuesday.

Group 1, under the guidance of Professor Blanc Malanya, directly gathered magical plants growing in the wild.

“Wow~ Ellie, you’re really skilled at picking only the necessary parts~ Everyone, can you see the cross-section here?”

Ellie thought about mentioning that she was once involved in harvesting narcotic plants at an orphanage, but she decided against it.

It would ruin the mood.

Group 2 went hunting.

It wasn’t as successful as Group 1, but they had learned some know-how, so it was still a success.

***

Wednesday.

Group 1, under the guidance of Professor Nidpeak, met a wild group of griffons.

“What? You want me to ride? Really?”

The leader Griffon gave Ellie a ride on its back, making Professor Nidpeak shout, “I-I’ve never ridden before…!”

Group 3 did the hunting, and it was successful as well.

***

And then Thursday came.

“Phenomenological practice doesn’t involve you students doing anything. You’re just observing.”

Professor Claude explained as he led the children deep into the forest.

“You’ve studied many cases of magical phenomena during the semester. I’ve even brought in small examples to the classroom… But the bigger ones, you can only come here to see them firsthand.”

Professor Claude stopped his feet in front of an open space.

“Here it is.”

But the ground was…

…Glass.

“That’s right, Ellie. It’s glass. The thing floating in the center is also suspected to be glass.”

It was a strange and fascinating sight.

“Don’t go inside. You never know what could happen. Just remember this.”

Professor Claude’s voice clearly reached the children’s ears, who were wide-eyed with surprise.

“We still know nothing about this world, and we know nothing about magic either.”

The group that went hunting on Thursday, Group 4, had the worst failure so far, but since they’d eaten so much meat in the past three days, no one complained.

“Shall we stir-fry it with some vegetables and spices?”

“That sounds good. I’m starting to get tired of meat.”

In fact, Group 4’s failure wasn’t as bad compared to other groups, and if you compared it to last year’s practice at this time, it was a very successful hunt.

***

And the final day, Friday.

“Well, Once the cleanup is done, we’ll head back~”

“Yes~”

“Don’t copy me~”

After walking for about three hours, just like when they came, and crossing the mountain path surrounding the academy,

“…Ah.”

The whole academy came into view.

The central administration building.

The dormitory, the dining hall, the lecture halls, and various annex buildings.

In that moment, Ellie thought to herself.

I really like this place.

The academy was home to her.

She had friends, and it was a warm place.

Of course, just like you can’t love every corner of your home, there were aspects and people in the academy she didn’t like.

Even so, Ellie truly liked this place.

She really did.

And since they were back, there were two people she needed to see.

“Louis Teleman. Would you like to talk with me for a moment?”

“Of course, Ellie. I’ve been waiting for you all this time. Shall we move to a more private place?”

They moved to a spot where no one else could hear.

“Ellie, would you like to rise to a higher position?”

Teleman made an offer that shouldn’t be heard by anyone else.

“I believe you understand what I’m trying to say.”

“Yes, I understand well.”

He nodded.

“Ellie, you’re exceptional. You have high intelligence and the ability to attract people.”

“…”

“And, you’re a powerful magician. Even if I tried to kill you with all my allies, I wouldn’t be confident. That alone gives you the right to trace the bloodline of royalty.”

Ellie stayed silent.

She neither agreed nor disagreed, waiting for Teleman to continue speaking.

“However, if you truly want to establish a royal or ducal family, the existing noble families won’t just stand by.”

It was the truth.

“Even if they have no choice but to accept you, they’ll try to lower the original titles—turning a royal title into a duke’s, or a duke’s title into a marquis’s.”

In the end, the range of influence one could wield was limited.

No one would let someone threatening their position just rise without doing anything about it.

You couldn’t blame them for being selfish.

Each noble family was made up of numerous members and their affiliates.

If the leader of a group allowed their own influence to shrink, it would be neglecting their duty as the head of the group.

“So.”

Teleman spread his hands wide.

“We, I, would like to offer you the highest and most noble position in this empire.”

In other words.

“The throne.”

The imperial throne.

“It’s time for the ruler of the world to change.”