episode_0021

The terrorist attack by black mages on the entrance ceremony day caused a significant stir both inside and outside the academy.

After all, what kind of place was Dandelion Academy? It was a place where countless nobles gathered to cultivate future talents and a facility that received direct support from the imperial family.

For that reason, it was equipped with numerous knights who had reached the Sword Master level and talented individuals from magic towers, ensuring thorough education, security, and safety.

This incident could be considered a major event where such an academy was attacked by wicked beings known as black mages.

Thanks to this, numerous opinions were exchanged among academy officials, various nobles, and the imperial family.

On the day the incident occurred, security and guarding were flawless, just like any other day.

Despite this, opinions arose that black mages were able to infiltrate possibly because there was an accomplice within the academy,

another opinion suggested that this incident occurred because the power of black mages had grown strong over time, and therefore an expedition to purge the black mages should begin before the academy’s opening,

and yet another opinion proposed that operating the academy in the current situation was dangerous and suggested having a temporary period of enhanced security and guarding.

As such, the impact caused by this terrorist incident was by no means small.

However, amidst those countless voices, the conclusion ultimately revolved around a freshman named Mark Visas.

This was because journalists and the media widely reported that a freshman of commoner origin, who hadn’t even received formal education, had personally eliminated the key figure of the terrorist group.

Of course, people were initially skeptical rather than taking this at face value.

Several students, faculty members, and security personnel testified that the individual who led the terror at the time was immensely skilled, suspected to be a black mage of the highest grade.

It was difficult to believe that a mere freshman, let alone a commoner who wasn’t even a noble, had personally dealt with such a person.

Furthermore, after the incident, the grand auditorium building ultimately collapsed unable to withstand the impact, destroying the evidence, which made people even less likely to believe it.

Hence, the public speculated.

Perhaps the black mage wearing a robe engraved with a red symbol, suspected to be the leader who orchestrated the incident, wasn’t as formidable as the testimonies suggested, or maybe the person Mark Visas defeated was an ordinary black mage, and in reality, someone else, not him, had defeated the leader of the black mage group.

However, when Lium Kitokal, the academy’s headmaster, spoke, those suspicions subsided.

He testified about the overwhelming strength shown by the black mage wearing the robe engraved with a red symbol, and the situation at that time when most of the puppets collapsed one by one after Mark Visas defeated the leader.

Crucially, he testified that along with the head of the black mage wearing the robe engraved with a red symbol falling to the floor, a loud explosion occurred somewhere, causing the magic circles engraved throughout the grand auditorium to lose their power.

However, despite such testimony, the public still did not particularly regard Mark Visas as being extraordinary.

Even if everything else was true, they accepted that at best, his defeat of the black mage leader was simply due to luck.

Of course, individuals of higher status, equal to or above ducal families, were different.

This was because they were eagerly searching for various talents to recruit from the academy at that very moment.

Although it was regrettable that he was not of noble origin, when considering only the outcome, wasn’t it a fact that he had eliminated the leader of the terrorist group?

Even if some kind of stroke of luck was involved, the fact itself doesn’t change.

Not only the prestigious knight family Serion, but also the high-ranking noble Tistina family looking for talent to supplement their lack of martial prowess, the scholar family Gremlina, and the Kshatri family eyeing the academy facility, and even the imperial family quietly began to pay attention to the single individual known as Mark Visas.

. . .

“R-Ropel..! Y-You were d-discharged…!”

“Yeah, the healers said I still needed rest, but now that the academy is starting, I couldn’t just keep resting.”

Eligio and Ropel met before the academy started to talk.

There were many controversies regarding the academy’s operation, but it was ultimately decided to commence normally.

Of course, security was also tightened accordingly, so the number of guards around the buildings seemed higher than usual.

“Eligio, you were in the Alchemy Department, right?”

“Y-Yeah… Th-That’s ri-right… Th-Then Ropel, y-you were in the M-Magic Department, right?”

“That’s right. Then that’s a bit disappointing. As far as I know, the building for that department and our building are quite far apart.

This… I finally made a friend as soon as I entered the academy, but it might be difficult to meet.”

“Oh… Th-That’s right…”

Hearing Ropel’s words, she thought that fact was truly regrettable.

Since the first lecture time was not far off, the two parted ways to their respective lecture halls.

Entering the Alchemy Department’s lecture hall, Eligio felt uncomfortable in this place full of strangers, but at the same time, she felt a sense of excitement.

Her failure to make friends until now was due to her terrible communication skills, not because she herself wanted it.

She, too, was secretly longing for the existence of friends.

Someone who would approach her not looking only at her family or abilities, but someone who would see Eligio Gremlina as an individual.

Therefore, her heart was full of excitement from having her first friend, Ropel.

And just as she made her first friend, she also harbored expectations that perhaps she might make many other friends as well.

“Y-Yes..! M-Maybe… On the chance I got to the academy… I mi-might make lots of fr-friends…!”

But her expectations were quickly and coldly extinguished.

“Hey! There’s a restaurant I saw on the way, let’s go together!”

“There’s a good place to eat in the park over there.”

“I packed a lunchbox, let’s eat together.”

Students were laughing and enjoying their lunch break.

Except for Eligio Gremlina.

She was sadly unpacking her lunchbox alone behind a secluded building.

Trying to talk to the child sitting next to her, as well as trying to approach a slow-learning student by teaching them what she had studied, both failed.

At least, she had intended to try asking if someone wanted to eat lunch together.

But she ended up not talking to anyone.

“H-Hehehet… Th-That’s how I am from the start, I guess… In the end… b-being alone is comfortable…”

She buried her head and chuckled hysterically.

In her hands was a lunchbox with far too much food to eat alone.

From the beginning, she had cooked it with the assumption that she would eat with someone.

Just as she sighed heavily at that moment.

“Eligio? What are you doing here?”

Her first friend in life, Ropel, had somehow approached right beside her.

“Eek! R-Ropel?! Wh-What brings you here..?”

“Ah… Today was the first lecture, but it seemed I didn’t quite get along well with the other students. Maybe it’s because I’m from a provincial noble family?

Anyway, I didn’t feel like eating alone at the restaurant, so I was looking for you to eat together.”

“Y-You were looking…? F-For me…?”

“Yeah. And, well… I managed to find you by chance.”

“Ho-How did you know… that… I was here…?”

“Huh? Well, that’s… like… a gut feeling…?”

He tilted his head as if even he wasn’t sure.

Actually, how he found her wasn’t that important to Eligio.

She was simply happy that he came right beside her just when she was feeling lonely by herself.

“So, about that… Can I eat with you?”

“O-Of course! A-Actually, I… I packed quite a lot of l-lunch… It would be g-great if you would e-eat with me…!”

“Really? I’m the one who should be grateful!”

Ropel smiled and sat down beside her.

“Wow. Did you make all of this yourself?”

Her lunchbox was certainly enough to make Ropel exclaim in admiration.

Perfectly cooked rice, fresh salad, and meat that smelled like it was grilled over an open flame, stimulating the appetite.

Just by looking at it, one could tell that it was not only nutritious but also incredibly delicious.

“Hehehe… C-Cooking and alchemy have a lot of si-similarities..! Th-That’s why I… I’m quite confident in c-cooking…!”

She replied while scratching her head shyly.

Her lunchbox, which she initially regretted trying to handle alone, was quickly emptied.

As they talked and enjoyed their time together, it was finished in no time.

Even after that day, Eligio and Ropel often met at this spot behind the secluded building during lunchtime.

Although the buildings were far apart, making frequent meetings difficult.

Strangely, whenever she thought she wanted to see Ropel during lunchtime, he would always somehow find her where she was, as if he knew.

Each time, they would eat together, and also share trivial stories like what the content or atmosphere of the lectures they heard were like, or things that happened in their respective families.

Ropel gradually gave Eligio a nickname, ‘Elli’, would laugh along whenever she laughed, and listen intently to every story without missing anything.

She truly enjoyed the time spent with him.

So much so that she couldn’t even recognize what kind of feelings were budding within her.

Then came one day.

“Ah…! It-It’s already… This late…!”

“Yeah, we should go back now… Huh? Elli? Just a moment…”

“Huh…? Why… Why…?”

Suddenly, Ropel’s face approached hers.

His face, which she had always thought was handsome, was even more devastating up close.

“R-Ropel…?”

Ropel gently lifted Eligio’s chin with one hand.

She felt a pleasant shiver from the touch.

Her face and ears turned bright red.

Her heart pounded like crazy, and her breath became increasingly sweet yet hot.

What was happening now was very embarrassing, but at the same time, she didn’t want to resist.

“Stay still…”

And Ropel…

Wiped the corner of her mouth with his other hand.

“There, some sauce from earlier got on you, haha.”

He replied with an innocent laugh.

“Oops! It’s really almost the end of lunch break now! Sorry, I’m going back first!”

Ropel glanced at his watch in a hurry and ran off.

Behind the secluded building.

The place where the two young people met.

Now, only one girl remained there, having realized the new feelings budding within her.