episode_0028

A week has passed.

Since that day in the square, I have been living busy days with no time to breathe.

The incident where Heidiera, Celdianne, and Senior Perzena were at odds with each other over training authority eventually resulted in an agreement where everyone gave up a little bit of time thanks to my mediation.

Although the three of them had some complaints, they decided to train me on equal days of the week.

The resulting schedule was as follows:

Monday and Thursday are Heidiera.

Tuesday and Friday are Seldianne’s.

Wednesday and Saturday are Senior Perjena’s days.

On Sunday, we decided to conduct comprehensive training under the supervision of all three.

So I began a forced march of special training from after school until late at night, without a single day off, seven days a week.

It was a harsh training that would have made me fall behind if it had been normal, but now that I was separated from Tirisia, I was able to push myself with a calm mind.

In the past, I was anxious to be worthy of being by her side, but now I was able to let go of distracting thoughts and focus solely on proving myself.

In addition, the time I devoted to Tirisia and the time I spent with her were all used up for myself, which helped me grow a lot.

Of course, that wasn’t the only difference from the past.

Unlike in the past when I only had Tirisia to support me, now there are more people who give me will and give me expectations.

People who support me, although their intentions are different.

I also understand very well why those three people want me to become strong.

So the only way to repay that heart was to silently devote myself to growth.

Not for Tirissia.

It’s not even about making her look at me again.

This is for myself.

People I trust. People who trust me. People who don’t trust me.

I pushed myself to my limit, savoring the pain I was currently feeling, because proving my qualifications in front of all of them was something I was not ashamed of.

The training to open a new future for the commoner Erto was progressing steadily.

One surprising thing was that there was one person watching the whole thing from the side.

The person who always follows me to my special training after school with others and gives me words of encouragement.

Tirissia Brewery.

For some reason, she kept watching my changes.

No, it seemed like he was watching not just me, but everyone.

Could it be because we haven’t had a single day of returning home together since we started training?

Perhaps thinking that it was a trade-off for the reduced time we had alone, she would accompany me to the podium where we did after-school training every day, briefly watch me, and then go back.

I couldn’t quite figure out what that action meant.

Is it my regret as an ex-lover who betrayed me in the worst way?

Or is it a friendship as childhood friends who decided to remain as they were before?

Or maybe I’m just curious about my friend’s growth as a wizard.

I don’t know what she was thinking, but she was always there next to me, making her presence felt.

The other people who were training me didn’t say anything about Tirisia’s behavior either, and they just watched her from a distance for 30 minutes to an hour before leaving.

Except for one time, when Heidiera spoke to Tirisia.

Heidiera asked Tirisia, who attended the podium as a spectator every day, if she would be willing to teach me too.

But Tirisia shook her head with a regretful expression.

The reason for my rejection is not because she cheated on me or because we broke up.

That’s because it was a story that had already been decided before I became lovers with Tirisia, even back when we were childhood friends.

Tirisia was too much of a genius to be entrusted with the role of teaching others.

The ability to handle magical power instinctively and the swordsmanship that was learned like flowing water were not talents that anyone could imitate.

Because the world she lives in and her perspective are so different, she cannot understand the level of an ordinary person.

How can someone who answers ‘by feel’ when asked how to use multiple castings of advanced magic teach someone?

That’s why Tirisia had half given up on teaching me, even during our childhood days and even after we became lovers.

So, bridging the huge gap between us was a burden I had to shoulder entirely.

It used to be like that.

Nowadays, there are people who hold your hand, lead you, and push you from behind.

The reason to target Tirissia has disappeared, but that statement rather seems to mean that there are no limits.

I’m trying to get stronger. Keep going, keep going.

To become a great person recognized by everyone.

I believed that only that path would lead to happiness that would fill the huge hole in my heart.

like that-

Another month passes by in the midst of continuous training without missing a single day.

The Academy’s academic evaluation, the Yeonmu Festival, has begun.

*

The Yeonmu Festival was, simply put, the largest duel tournament in which everyone in the Academy participated.

A single-elimination tournament-style match where the winner is determined solely by skill, regardless of grade.

The stage where the competition was held was filled with board members and professors as judges to evaluate academic ability, and the audience seats were filled with students who were not on their turn to watch, creating a lively atmosphere like a festival.

And to show off one’s magic and swordsmanship skills in a place where all of them gathered was the most honorable thing for an Academy student.

Since the evaluation received at the Yeonmu Festival has a great influence on one’s future career path, it was also a place where one had to prove oneself by pouring one’s all into it as a magician.

As the biggest event held by the academy every year, the students’ attention towards the Yeonmu Festival goes without saying, but this year in particular, the entire city was focused on it to the point that it was receiving heated articles even outside the academy.

The reason, of course, was that the most powerful genius magician of all time was produced by the noble family of Brood.

Tirisia’s strength is already so strong that even the professors who teach her are astonished.

And the Yeonmu Festival was the opportunity to see if there was a talent in the current Academy generation that could defeat her.

Although Tirisia was relatively unrivaled, the Academy was currently filled with more talented students than ever before, and was referred to as the so-called golden generation.

Seldianne of the Elkonja family, a great noble family comparable to the Brood family.

Senior Perjena, who has surpassed the limits of a commoner to the point of being called a mutant.

Although his exact skills are unknown due to his secretive nature, Kelg Durakal, the only son of the chairman, was also a student at this academy.

In addition, many noble and commoner students were evaluated as the raw materials that would lead the next generation of wizarding society and participated in the Yeonmu Festival, making their resolutions as the starting point for opening up a bright future.

And my goal in this tournament, a commoner named Erto, was to break through those talented wizards and make it into the final five.

Although it was Senior Perzena who ordered the specific number, it was just the right level to set as an audacious goal.

“Tsasha, do well so that I can brag about how I taught you.”

My senior, who was not participating in this competition due to the aftereffects of the accident, patted me on the back and encouraged me.

“So, I don’t really want to stand out, so I’ll just fight and stop… But, Le, Leto, show off all the skills you’ve accumulated so far without holding back… I’ll continue to watch over you and cheer you on!”

Heidi, who didn’t seem to care much about academic performance, seemed more interested in my grades than her own.

“Oh-hohohoho! This is the extent of the favors that the lady can bestow on a loser commoner! It is true that you are different now than you used to be, but if we ever meet in a match with this Elkonza, I will crush you with all my might! Then, rest in peace!”

Seldianne, who had taught me with the wicked intention of helping the pitiful commoner who had lost his heart, returned to the nobles’ camp with a hearty laugh and no regrets.

And Tirisia―

“… I’ll be waiting. Erto.”

He indicated that he would welcome me from the highest position.

“Yeah, I’ll definitely go up.”

I also hope to see her face to face at this competition.

The first step in the fight for proof has been taken.

*

After several preliminary rounds, the number of students who survived the performance was narrowed down to around 40.

From now on, the winner will be recognized as a top-tier powerhouse in the academy and will receive high evaluations that will give them great merit in their career path after graduation.

Now that the top 10 percent of students are competing, the real fight is starting now, and there was a consensus among all those watching the competition.

And they still looked at me standing on the podium with questioning eyes.

“What the heck? That guy… How did he survive?”

“The atmosphere is very different from before?”

“Did you become venomous after breaking up with Miss Brewery?”

“How can you take up a seat without any sense as a commoner… ”

Most of the looks coming from the audience were ones of confusion, discontent, and question.

An expression that said I didn’t know why I was still there.

How did a commoner like Naburangi, who was clearly in the three digits of the rankings until recently, end up in the top 10 percent?

Even those who watched me fight in the preliminaries still had questions.

Because the match was decided in just one bland match.

It would have been easier for people to believe that I was winning by luck rather than that I had suddenly become stronger.

A lowly commoner whose skills have already been exposed to the world is now stuck among powerful people who are not suited to the position.

Maybe that’s what you’re thinking.

“Well, it’s over now.”

“This time, we’ve got a real opponent.”

“I saw that guy lose every single mock match.”

“Now it’s time for the lucky weaklings to leave and the real ones to remain.”

Just before the match, such words were heard among the students who filled the podium seats.

The reason they were so confident was simple.

The girl with cherry-colored twintails standing on the other side of me now, facing each other on the wide stage.

Because the youngest daughter of the Lapis family, Lucica Lapis, was the opponent in this round.