Midterm Exams – 4

Max, who collided with my reckless tackle, flew far across the training ground with a thudding sound. The training ground floor shattered, sending fragments flying and raising a cloud of dust. I wouldn’t be surprised if the impact was equivalent to being hit by a truck.

Since the training ground used by the basic class was just an ordinary stone floor without any magical treatment, even this level of impact was enough to break the floor. After a very brief moment of silence, the students erupted into chaos. A student in the middle of a duel threatened another student using aura, and then another student intervened and sent the first one flying. It was impossible for things to remain quiet. Even a hornet flying into a classroom would cause less commotion than this.

Helford seemed stunned, gritting his teeth with his hand—as large as a pot lid—placed over his eyes. He appeared unable to believe what was happening. As I mentioned earlier, a student who couldn’t use mana suddenly drew upon it to harm another student, and that student was then attacked by yet another student, smashing the training ground. What’s more, all the other students witnessed the scene with their own eyes. This couldn’t possibly end with just a written explanation. Would it start with a pay cut?

But who could be blamed? It was a duel he assigned, with opponents he paired. A teacher’s profession requires taking responsibility. He’ll have to tough it out. He’ll probably walk around with a haggard face for a while.

Max coughed up a lump of blood. While his life probably wasn’t in danger, he would need quite an extended period of recovery. Before recovery, though, he’d have to face the disciplinary committee. No, for an incident of this magnitude, would he end up in a cell after being expelled?

I rushed to Cordelia, who was staggering while clutching her hand. Though she had merely clashed swords, the impact seemed to have been significant as her eyes remained dazed. Blood flowed from her torn grip.

“Are you alright?”

I took out a handkerchief from my pocket and tightly wrapped Cordelia’s hand. She quietly handed me her hand. She winced as her injured hand stung. Back on Earth, handkerchiefs were things people would throw away or use as rags even if given for free, but here I find myself using them quite effectively. Probably because there’s no tissue paper.

Cordelia, who had been blankly watching me wrap her hand, suddenly looked alarmed. As if responding to my questioning gaze, she pointed behind me and shouted:

“Behind you, behind you!”

I turned around.

“You son of a bitch!”

Max was charging with bloodshot eyes. Behind him, Helford was sitting on the ground with a dumbfounded expression. The guy who was thought to be down suddenly jumped up and exerted tremendous strength, catching Helford off guard. He’s looking exceptionally incompetent today.

Bloodshot red eyes, muscles bulging as if about to burst, carotid arteries visibly pulsating even from a distance. His skin had turned a dark red. Anyone could see he was going berserk under some influence. It’s common in manga and novels. And the best way to deal with something like this was clear. I scooped up Cordelia. She had been shouting just a moment ago, but seemed stunned by my sudden action and just opened and closed her mouth. Did someone press the mute button? She asked, a beat late:

“W-w-w-what are you doing?!”

“We’re running away!”

I fled at full speed with her in my arms. If everyone could maintain such an overflowing state of power permanently, everyone would be like that. Usually, such rampages follow the standard pattern: burn intensely but briefly, then collapse. I started running laps around the training ground. Max chased after me as if nothing else registered in his vision. Obviously, running while carrying someone is slower than running alone. His hand was just about to grab my nape.

“He’s catching up!”

Cordelia shrieked and buried her face in my chest. She was more scared than I thought. For all her talk about female knights, she was no different from a high school girl at heart.

She thought I would be caught, but it wasn’t me who was caught.

BOOM!

A sound incomparably louder than before. I had stepped in earlier because it was urgent, but dealing with that guy wasn’t originally my role.

“You little shit!”

Helford, who had somehow gotten up, rushed in with lightning speed, grabbed Max’s head, and slammed it into the training ground floor. Urgh! Blood droplets sprayed from his mouth from the tremendous impact. Fragments flew and the stone floor cracked with a splintering sound. Is he dead?

Helford, who seemed extremely angry, subdued him with a flushed face and heavy breathing. He turned the already unconscious Max face down, twisted both his arms behind his back, placed a knee on his back, and sighed deeply. Though his fists were clenched and trembling as if boiling with rage, he couldn’t bring himself to hit an unconscious student further.

Only then could I stop running. I patted Cordelia, who was still trembling. She finally opened her eyes, having been clinging to my neck with her eyes closed while shaking. She looked over my shoulder at the trace of Max embedded in the floor. She asked in a serious voice, as if she hadn’t been whimpering just moments ago:

“Is he… dead?”

It was quite a brutal scene.

“He shouldn’t be dead. When using mana, not only does physical ability increase, but durability becomes incredibly high as well.”

“So that was mana, right?”

Cordelia shuddered, probably recalling the blade that had been approaching her. I nodded. She fell silent, lost in thought.

After observing the situation for a while and judging it safe, I put her down on the ground.

“…Was I heavy?”

“……”

Honestly, she was a bit heavy. Cordelia was quite tall, and her body was firm from all the exercise she did. It’s well-known that muscle weighs more than fat. But if I honestly said she was a bit heavy, I’d have a hard time dealing with the aftermath. They say you should never discuss a woman’s age or weight. Seol-ah? These days she seems more like an enemy than a woman.

“You weren’t heavy at all.”

Cordelia seemed relieved at my well-intentioned lie and exhaled a small “phew.” She seems to care quite a bit about her weight. I was about to do some knight-lighting by saying knights don’t care about such things as weight, but decided against it.

Cordelia was silent for a moment, then looked at my face. She nodded as if she had made some decision and asked me:

“Why… did you help me?”

Cordelia’s voice was moist. It feels like it’s been an incredibly long time since we’ve talked like this. I felt glad. When I didn’t say anything and just smiled, she got impatient and shouted:

“I asked why you helped me!”

Just when I was trying to enjoy a nice moment, she starts yelling.

“Geez, you scared me. Why are you shouting?”

Why did I help her? Is she really asking? I stated the reason as if it was the most obvious thing in the world:

“We’re friends, aren’t we? Does a friend need another reason when a friend is about to get hurt?”

Though it wasn’t a long time, we got along quite well. The way she falls for my pranks, her pure nature that borders on silly, and yet she’s not completely thoughtless. Sometimes she shows surprisingly deep thoughts.

You don’t need to spend a long time together to call someone a friend. I don’t know how she thought of it, but I considered her a friend.

“Friends…”

Cordelia laughed weakly at the word “friend.”

“Later, let’s talk. Us.”

With just those words, she gulp, fainted.

Cordelia regained consciousness that afternoon. According to the doctor, apart from her torn grip and a few bruises from falling, she was completely fine. He said she had just fainted from shock. I was worried it might have been something serious, but thankfully it wasn’t.

“The doctor said she fainted because she received too much mental shock in a short period. In other words, she fainted from fear.”

Cordelia, who had been lying in the infirmary bed quietly listening to me, suddenly contorted her face.

“That’s not true!”

“Miss Cordelia, it’s not good for a patient’s recovery to get so angry.”

“I’m not a patient…”

Hestia and I had come to visit her. It’s called a hospital visit, but it feels more like skipping class to follow a friend who’s lying in the infirmary claiming to be sick. Though Hestia seemed genuinely concerned.

Cordelia, who had been snapping at me, surrendered meekly to Hestia’s worried words. All she could do was grumble quietly that she wasn’t a patient. Of course, it had no effect on Hestia.

“That’s not for us to decide, but for the nurse to determine.”

Hestia pushed Cordelia’s shoulders, who had raised her upper body, back down onto the bed.

“What happened to him?”

Cordelia, buried in the bed unable to resist Hestia’s touch, asked with her lips poked out. She was probably asking about Max.

“He still hasn’t woken up.”

Helford’s handling might have been a bit excessive, as Max was still unconscious. Despite being enhanced with mana, having his head slammed into the training ground floor hard enough to crack it would make it difficult for anyone to wake up right away.

I answered her question while peeling an apple that Seol-ah had brought as a get-well gift. Upon hearing that Cordelia had collapsed, she went to the shopping district during lunch and brought a bunch of apples. Despite her complaints about being bothered, she seems to have grown quite fond of Cordelia without my knowing. Of course, that didn’t stop me from sending Seol-ah a message to meet later.

A suspicious incident where someone who originally couldn’t use mana suddenly gained the ability had occurred around us. It couldn’t possibly be completely unrelated to the original story. Seol-ah also seemed to have some ideas, as she just nodded without saying anything.

Cordelia put the apple I peeled into her mouth and munched with a happy expression. She looked extremely touched when she heard that Seol-ah had left the apples.

“Isn’t it a successful life if you have three friends who help you when you’re sick?”

“Isn’t that standard too low?”

Three friends who help when you’re sick as the criteria for a successful life? And actually, it’s not even three. Hestia added with a smile:

“It’s not three. People from your class also came to check on you earlier.”

“Really?!”

Cordelia was on the verge of tears. I decided to change the topic of conversation before she soaked her pillowcase with tears.

“So, why were you ignoring me?”

I stabbed right at the part she had been trying to ignore. While it was natural to start talking again earlier given the urgent situation, we couldn’t just pretend nothing happened. And I wouldn’t let it be that way. Cordelia’s expression, which had been happily smiling while chewing the apple just a moment ago, froze awkwardly. She smiled with that awkward expression.

“Didn’t I say we’d talk later?”

She seemed to think she could smooth things over with a smile, but that won’t work. Seeing my firm attitude, Cordelia glanced at Hestia. The corners of Hestia’s mouth, which had been smiling brightly, gradually turned downward.

“Are you asking me to leave?”

“Sorry…”

“Is this a conversation I shouldn’t hear?”

Cordelia nodded. The two women’s gazes met. Hestia’s natural smile gradually transformed into something artificial. Only her eyes were smiling; her mouth wasn’t smiling at all. What’s going on? Why is the atmosphere like this? The room temperature seems to have dropped by at least 5 degrees.

After the standoff between the two, Hestia was the first to back down. She rose from her seat with an expression that clearly showed her displeasure.

“Fine, I understand. It’s between you two, so you two should resolve it. I’ll step out for a bit.”

Hestia slammed the door shut as she left. Honestly, I’m a bit worried about the aftermath, but I can’t just ignore Cordelia’s story. Only Cordelia and I remained in the room.

“So, what’s this conversation that we need to have just between us, excluding even Hestia?”

“You said we were friends.”

“Yes. I consider you, Cordelia, my friend.”

“Do you really think of me only as a friend?”

Cordelia’s eyes gleamed mischievously.