episode_0078

“Ceresria will appear.”

At my words, Chartro drank his drink with a smile and looked at me.

“Was the answer too easy?”

“Ceresria originally wanted to compete with me, and I was refusing the match with various excuses, so I thought it might be possible, but this is already Araelia, and even if I were to compete with the winner of the martial arts competition, it would be amazing. This may not come out, so if it’s Ceresria… … ”

If it’s Ceresria, definitely. As you told me, you consider this to be propaganda. You’ll think this is an opportunity to show Araelia’s power. I thought she wouldn’t miss this moment so easily. He was someone who hid me even at banquets, and I had no intention of creating an opportunity to reveal myself like this easily.

“With so many people trying to take advantage of me, I’m getting more and more scared. The academy didn’t think I was this kind of person.”

“Because the Academy and Araelia are different. Isn’t it one of the rules of the academy? Here, status, gender, and age don’t matter. Only skill rules everything. If your skills are good, you will move up, and if your skills are bad, you will be kicked out of the academy.”

“Well, Prince Chartreau also graduated from the academy.”

“Although he graduated from the academy, he is not a very strong wizard. Even if I were to compete with you now, I don’t know how long I would last, and the same goes for Celestria.”

“Don’t lie.”

“It’s very difficult to fool a wizard.”

Isn’t it funny that people who try to read other people’s memories from the first meeting are weak? Above all, the magic of reading memories is one of the magics that not many people can use.

A smile slowly formed at the end of the words that were about to come out of my mouth. I felt like I was smiling more and more when I was here in Araelia. Slowly, I began to hide my emotions, hide my thoughts, and carefully hide what I wanted.

If you become a noble, wouldn’t you become more and more accustomed to these things? Therefore, the idea of becoming a noble did not seem right to me.

Because I wasn’t a person who was good at that. Even now, I felt slowly getting angry at the thought that he was going to use me. Isn’t it funny?

“Actually, I feel like I want to leave, but I have no intention of hiding my feelings of wanting to fight with Astan, who is said to be the powerhouse of the academy. And, didn’t you block my magic? I’m looking forward to it, no one has blocked my magic so far. I’m curious. I’m also a wizard, so I’m not the type to hold back questions.”

Saying that, Chartreau took something out of his pocket, put it down on the table, and smiled. Well, it felt like nothing was different from Ceresria. It would be true to say that Celestria resembles Chartreau, but she is indeed her brother’s younger sister.

“If you take care of it, nothing bad will happen. If you get a chance later, I hope you will pass this on to Erica.”

When I picked up a small object on the table with my right hand, I felt mana just by holding it.

“Is it a magic stone?”

“It is an item that is both a magic stone and not a magic stone. This is something Erica would really like.”

It was an item similar to something I had seen in Ignolia. Is it a collection of something like the core of the dead? With that in mind, Charteau said he would get up first and left my room, and I put my things in my pockets and looked at the stadium.

It seemed like we were already in the middle of the martial arts festival, and some talented players were appearing, but it definitely didn’t meet my expectations. Well, maybe it’s because I’ve seen so many wizards so far. Is it because I saw it from afar? I was curious.

With that thought in mind, I thought about the wizards I had encountered so far.

Ceresria, Leonard, Erica, Isabel, Yuria, Gerard, Abron.

If you look at their skills together, they were people on a different level from the martial arts emperor. Some of them were people who could destroy a city by themselves. If it’s Isabel senior… … Even if we face off against the Magic Knights, wouldn’t we be able to win? Maybe it was because the wizards around me were so strong, but I never really thought of myself as strong, and I never wanted to fight them.

So, it was natural for me to feel fear.

Before I knew it, I could see the winner being decided and the prize being handed out to the winner. That’s what I thought as I watched the wizard cheering as he received the noble title and prize money. Isn’t that person actually for propaganda purposes? If you have the skills, you can become a noble.

Well, it was a funny world. It’s an ironic world, where social status is divided from birth, but people say that we can overturn that with skill.

Therefore, I carefully got up from my seat and held the cane in my hand.

Then, as if waiting for me to get ready, someone knocked on the door, so I opened my mouth.

“Please come in.”

“Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

“Go.”

I slowly moved to the first floor, following the servant who came to pick me up. I went down to the first floor and stood at the entrance of the stadium, slowly inhaling and exhaling my breath and slowly moving mana throughout my body. If Ceresria appears, I’ll probably lose. I had no intention of losing easily. If you’re going to get hit anyway, and you can’t avoid it even if you keep avoiding it, you have to prepare. The opponent’s flame princess. I was trying hard to erase my identity as the princess of Araelia from my mind.

What was important in a wizard’s game? What mattered was whether he was stronger than me or weaker than me, that was all.

Of course, he was not an easy opponent. Flame melts ice. Even if you ask a child, the answer is the same. However, powerful ice could freeze flames.

Slowly, my heart was pounding. I thought that all the wizards and swordsmen who went up to the stadium were fighting in this mood, and in a way, I felt a little envious. In a way, it’s a very fun thing to do. Although you’re fighting for your life, your life is not in danger, and I also understand why people are so excited about it.

The most fun things to do in the world are fights, and magic. In this world where there wasn’t much to enjoy, a duel like this was bound to be fun. I heard that a certain country in Jingara, like Ignolia, maintains neutrality and holds duels all year round.

It was an understandable situation.

My heart was racing. As I was feeling the slow pounding of my heart with my whole body, like the moment I fought with Gerard and the moment I held onto Yuria, I heard a voice in my ear.

“Let’s get ready.”

“Preparations are already complete.”

Then, the cheers of the stadium rang in my ears, and I looked at the attendant next to me. The attendant bowed his head towards me, and I carefully opened the stadium door and stepped inside.

Tremendous cheers rang in my ears. I slowly looked at the audience while the cheers were so loud that I wanted to cover my ears. I saw children cheering and clapping their hands at me. With the thought that if they grew up seeing things like this from a young age, they might all dream of becoming wizards, I lightly waved my hand towards the audience, and cheers erupted once again.

As I slowly walked to the center of the stadium, the host was looking at me and smiling.

“Astan of the Academy, the hero of Ignolia and the disciple of the Frost Queen! That opponent!”

Then the door on the other side opened, and a familiar face was walking into the stadium. With familiar black hair and red eyes, she was also wearing the Academy uniform, just as I had come here wearing the Academy uniform.

I often thought that the academy uniform was cool. Of course, it would be funny if the uniform wasn’t cool. However, the academy uniform she wore felt different from others. Is it because he is an aristocrat that he gets that cuteness, or is there something else?

“Araelia’s youngest princess, the princess of flame! This is Araelia from Ceresria!”

Voices of panic rang out around me. Well, would a princess be someone who would appear in a place like this? Of course, it makes no sense. What a strange person.

He held a staff in his right hand. If I were to face Ceresria, all I could think of was a future where I would naturally lose. If Isabel-senpai had seen this stadium, she would have watched with a smile, and the same was true for Ekira-senpai.

“Ah, first of all, the originally scheduled match with the winner has been cancelled. Don’t you, the spectators in this stadium, really want to see great wizards play? What kind of people are the strongest in the Academy, and how strong are the so-called strongest wizards in the Academy? Therefore, I hope you enjoy this special match with applause and cheers!”

As the host spoke loudly, applause and cheers rang out around the two of us. The host bowed his head towards the two of us and moved his feet, and then the wizards approached and began casting protective spells on the two of us.

“Do you know the rules of this martial arts festival?”

“Isn’t there a big difference from Rune’s martial arts system? If one of the two’s shield breaks or their staff falls, then the winner is decided, isn’t it?”

“There is one other thing.”

Celestria carefully lifted the staff in her right hand. Her wand was different. It was not the kind of wand used at the academy, but something different.

The wand she used at the academy was a small, black wooden wand, but the wand she held in her hand now looked like a very high-end item, with a burnt gray-white wood decorated with scarlet magic stones.

Is that her original wand? Like she said.

‘If I were to use a wand now, at least seven people would be burned.’

At the thought that she was sincere, I slowly swallowed my saliva and my heart raced. She was so strong at the academy, but how strong is she in real life?

“In this match, there are no referee decisions or forfeitures.”

“… … Aren’t you saying you want to see blood? ”

“It means giving your all. I’m curious, how strong Astan’s power is.”

“I won’t be able to bring out Ceresria’s full power.”

“No, I will deal with him with all my heart and with all my might. Nobles and wizards from other countries are also here. This is Araelia’s sincerity, and I want to show it.”

And she smiled at me.

“If you attack hard enough, somewhere in your body might end up on fire?”

At her words, I also took the wand in my hand again.

“Mutual courtesy!”

Hearing the host’s words ringing in my ears, I bowed my head towards her and saluted her.

“Mutual preparation!”

Then I pointed my cane at her, and she also pointed her cane at me.

If Ceresria is serious about it, great magic will definitely come from the beginning. But, if it were her… … It was nearly impossible for me to keep up with her magic speed.

He was a person who could perform magic just by snapping his fingers or taking a step.

From the beginning, there was only one way I could do it.

“Start!”

At the same time as she shouted, flames bloomed around her and began to fly towards me quickly, and I waved my staff and shouted a spell.

“Ice, protect my body!”