Imperial Rankings. (1)

-Boo-woong.

“… … “

-Boohoo!

“Huh.”

-Boosh. Chaenggrang!

“Ah… !”

I stretched out my hand and let out a faint exclamation as I watched the lump of iron I had been swinging roughly fly away helplessly and be swept away to the ground, but unfortunately it did not return to the girl in black’s hand.

That’s a given.

That black magic sword is not mine, and I am not a sword master who can freely control the aura, so there is no way that the sword can fly and return.

But the girl’s expression darkens and she frowns violently as if she is about to cry at any moment.

The problem wasn’t that the sword didn’t return to his hand, but it was just that he swung it according to his own will, and the current situation where it flew away so powerlessly was terrible.

“Ugh… !”

After forcibly chewing and swallowing the knot that seemed ready to burst at any moment, the girl, Ellis Portward, approached the sword… and picked it up again with her trembling right hand.

-Keep going.

“Ellis… “

“Raul… “

And as she was about to re-hold the sword with both hands, a man, Raoul Edmont, appeared out of nowhere from beside her and grabbed her wrist, shaking his head and moving his mouth with an expression that looked as if he was about to cry even more than she did.

“You still need to rest… The doctor said that too.”

“But…!”

It’s been two weeks since Ellis, who was diagnosed as never being able to hold a sword again after being stabbed in the right hand by Viola Violet about a month ago, came to light.

The first black magician born in the Kingdom of Frisia.

The Black Tower’s Magic Tower Master, Piana Stone, said that it would take three years to rise to the rank of a wizard who could heal her hand. For some reason, she rose to the rank of wizard in just one week, went straight to the hospital, healed Ellis’ hand, and left without saying anything.

However, according to the doctor, the disappearance of aftereffects and recovery were two different stories.

Ellis’ right hand, which had already been treated once with low-grade healing magic and had to live with lifelong aftereffects, was treated again by the black magician Piana. However, according to the doctor, the hand, which had been slowly recovering with aftereffects, returned to its previous state without aftereffects, so her hand had to go through the recovery period once again.

“Ellis, it’s hard, but just hold on for a little while, okay? This ranking match isn’t everything in your life. If it’s a ranking match, there’s another next year… “

“Raul, I told you that the ranking match isn’t the problem? If I… want to undo what we did to Rudis, I absolutely have to win first place in this ranking match… !!”

So, Ellis was diagnosed that she would recover completely without any aftereffects after receiving outpatient treatment for about two months and was able to be discharged from the hospital, but she could not bear it and began training with a sword again in the meantime.

The reason is because of Rudis, as she just said.

Ellis, who had heard from Nora that he had some secrets that we didn’t know about and that maybe the punishment he had been given was excessive or wrong, began to feel even more guilty after meeting the Lord of the Black Tower, and was aiming to have his punishment lifted with the reward he received for winning the ranking battle.

-Keep going.

“What?!”

“How are you going to get first place with these hands? Please stop, Ellis. Why don’t I just win and bring Rudis back as a reward? Then, you can ask me again if I was really hiding something from us.”

But her hands were still too young to hold the sword.

Although his appearance has completely recovered, his insides still seem to be in pain, and his face becomes distorted even when he lightly grabs his wrist.

It’s impossible for Ellis to win the ranking competition of the Kingdom of Frisia, which is less than a week away, so I’m saying that I will do whatever it takes to get first place in her place.

“No way…! No way! I, I won’t do it…!! Ugh, ugh!!”

“… Ellis.”

She is pathologically insistent that she must do something and always refuses to do so.

Of course, I could hear the reason from him.

In fact, it is said that Rudis had done a favor to her and her mother, former Knight Commander Yuria Fortward, when they were young.

“I, I have to do it… Help me, please… Raul, what should I do… !”

Suin is a race that repays kindness with all their heart to those who have shown them kindness.

However, Ellis was a half-human and half-beast, and although she knew that she owed something to Rudis when she was young, she didn’t seem to remember what it was, so she didn’t seem to care much about it until now.

However, she was now a ‘suin’ who ‘stabbed her benefactor in the back’ and was crushed by a sense of guilt to an extreme degree.

“Don’t worry, Ellis. I’ll do it. You’re not the only one who owes Rudis. I’ll pay your share too, so… “

Looking at Ellis, who is crushed by guilt towards Rudis, I feel pity and a slightly dark feeling.

I feel jealous.

If I had met her before Rudis, if I had been her benefactor, she wouldn’t have suffered like this.

She would never have had to live so separated from her mother.

‘If I had been Ellis’s first…’

When I first saw Ellis with Rudis, I thought she had feelings for him. So I approached her, promising myself that I would have no feelings for her beyond a friend, but only as a talented rival and classmate from the swordsmanship department.

As if mocking my determination, Rudis acted like a total bastard at the academy and caused harm to many people. Seeing Ellis drift away from him because of his actions, and then naturally, after spending a year with her at the academy, they became very close.

Now, I’m at the point where I can clearly recognize my feelings.

“Raoul… !”

“It’s okay. Leave it to me. I’ll win. When I win, I’ll bring back Rudis as a reward. So don’t cry, okay?”

If I think that her tears are Rudis’ fault, I honestly don’t feel good about it.

But when I think that I am the only one who is protecting her when she is weak, I feel so disgusted that I even feel a little disgusted with myself.

So, when we are upset because of the guy who shakes our hearts even though he disappeared from the Academy and the Kingdom.

“… They are arguing well.”

“Huh… ?”

“Whew! No, Nora?”

At the training ground where we were, a black-haired magician who had not been attending the academy at all recently, usually with messy hair and wearing unkempt black witch clothes, appeared before us in a neat and tidy appearance.

“Lu… This is a message from our master. If you regret your current situation and are still blaming yourself, he said that you should either make it to the top 4 of this Kingdom Ranking Tournament or participate in the Empire Ranking Tournament.”

“What? What is that… “

“Wait a minute! That’s not Rudy…!!”

-Swish!

She made the sound of her shoes as if trying to drown out the voice of Ellis who was crying in my arms, and continued speaking while looking at me and Ellis with her emotionless, stone-faced eyes.

“Forgiveness is something the victim does. No matter how much the perpetrator regrets it alone, it is meaningless. Furthermore, don’t even try to judge whether the opportunity given by the ‘victim’ is really an opportunity or not. Just… do what you are told. Then, I’ll go.”

Seeing Nora’s eyes and her back turned, which were completely different from when we first met, Ellis and I were curious, but we couldn’t catch her.

*

In the Kingdom of Frisia, when the heroines and protagonists are wandering in the footsteps left behind by someone.

“… No, this is a scam.”

Piana, the lord of the Black Tower, could not understand the growth of the disciple before her eyes. Because.

“How did you learn all the level 3 magic in just three days? Disciple, answer correctly. Did you really study magic separately?”

“What are you talking about? You saw for yourself that it couldn’t even start on the first day, right?”

“No, that’s true, but… “

“And you knew that I was originally good at controlling my magical powers, right?”

Even so, I couldn’t understand this growth rate.

Even for Nora, who had several times more magical power than others, it took her three weeks to become capable of handling level 3 magic through a barrage of magic.

Moreover, I was self-taught, but anyway, it took me more than two weeks.

However, the disciple in front of me completely mastered level 3 magic in just 3 days.

Even if the trait level had increased first and reached level 4, the growth rate is simply incomprehensible.

“Then, will I pat your head today too, Master?”

“… Damn it. Do whatever you want.”

Following last time, they offered another prize, and this time I was supposed to receive a wish if my prediction was correct, but somehow I ended up losing again.

-Slurp, slurp.

“Haha, it’s really soft.”

“You crazy bastard, you’re the only one who likes to stroke your master’s head.”

Of course, I am the only teacher who likes to be stroked by his students.

I never dislike the feeling of his big hands stroking my hair.

I just pretend to tickle him a little and enjoy the reward, and my disciple enjoys it because he thinks he’s really getting the reward, since I make a face like I don’t like it.

While maintaining that win-win relationship, I finished my disciple’s magic lesson today.

“… Sinister gum.”

“What the hell is this, you’re already here? There’s still 30 minutes left.”

The wet nipple approached me, moving her lips so that only I could see it, as if she was telling me to hear it.

When I saw Yuria Fortward and grimaced with all my might, the disciple who reacted to my words and face was startled and took his hand away from my head and looked at Yuria.

Wash. My reward time is over.

“What’s already happened? Of course you have to hurry up to do the next training. And what are you doing here? There are a lot of students who haven’t passed the target-hitting training you suggested to the students. Can a responsible instructor be here like this?”

“You have a great assistant because you have a responsibility.”

“Do you know that that great assistant teacher’s face gets pale when he teaches over 100 students by himself? After Rudis’s class, go and teach the students. Rudis, was the training hard? Let’s take a short break and then practice swordsmanship? “

“Hey! It’s still my time…!!”

In contrast to the gloomy atmosphere of the kingdom, the Imperial Academy training grounds were prepared for the ranking battle with a cheerful and lively atmosphere.