“I’ve got no plans to join the delegation.”
That obnoxious brat, Cain Hover, seemingly read Elaine’s glare and deliberately voiced his intentions loud enough for everyone to hear, with an air of someone who just doesn’t care.
Cain, with his deep golden hair contrasting Elaine’s lighter shade, smirked devilishly, raising just one corner of his mouth while crossing his arms as he stared at us.
“I don’t need you either. Can’t even control your magic properly.”
“Wh-whatever! There were definitely distractions that time! You commoner brat!” Cain shot back, visibly riled up.
“Ooh, do we have an audience today? Trying to pick a fight again?” I teased.
“…Ugh. One day, I’ll—”
The moment Cain declared he wouldn’t join like some proud peacock, his pride wounded but still glaring daggers, he flinched a step back when I subtly flexed my fist as a reminder. Still feels the pain from last time, huh?
So, that leaves seven members down to six.
“Sorry, but I don’t think I can make it either…”
“M-me too!”
No sooner had Cain finished speaking than Anes and Marie, two female classmates sitting nearby, chimed in right away, almost as if they had rehearsed it. Catching Cain’s trademark smug grin pointed toward them, it was obvious he’d been scheming behind the scenes to secure their agreement beforehand.
So now, that makes six cut down to four.
“Haa…”
Elaine, already foreseeing this turn of events, sighed deeply while pressing her forehead, resigned.
Even though I hadn’t said a thing, the room seemed to have shifted focus onto finding representatives for the grade competition, and naturally landed on the last two undecided students: Cynthia with her violet hair seated just ahead of me, and Emily quietly observing near the corner by the window.
Out of curiosity rather than concern, I noticed five out of seven potential members were women—proof that Crescent Empire sure had its fair share of powerful female talent.
“Cynthia? What about you, not joining either?”
“Me? I…”
Deciding to save Emily for later, I turned to Cynthia first.
Cynthia glanced hesitantly between Elaine and me. Elaine, ever the passionate motivator, stared pleadingly across the bench at her.
“Hmph. If 1st-year’s representative begs so, of course I must participate. For the honor of our grade and the pride of Cohort 158.”
Upon Cynthia’s dramatic announcement, Elaine let out a relieved sigh, whereas Cain responded with a snide scoff.
“Hmph. Honor? What does a commoner like you know about it.”
Cain? Dude’s my absolute LEAST favorite type. If we weren’t in the Academy, I’d already have dropped him off in the Northern Snow Peaks for a ‘half-day retreat.’
“Alright, that’s three so far.”
“We haven’t asked her yet.”
Elaine, ever the optimist, scanned her gaze toward Emily, fidgeting nervously in the corner, twirling her blue locks awkwardly as her glasses sat crooked on her face—a clear tell of her discomfort under attention.
“Uh… Hey, did you hear us?” I called out casually.
“Yes! I mean…”
“Wanna join?”
At my simple query, all five pairs of eyes immediately swung toward Emily. She turned redder than her own hair color, clearly flustered by the sudden attention.
“Um… But I, well, see…”
‘I kinda figured she’d react like this…’
Seeing Emily squirm under the spotlight confirmed my suspicion: this girl and I share the same condition. She’s got a BAD case of “stage fright,” possibly even worse than mine. Sure, I’ve been in Arcania long enough to handle moderate scrutiny, even delivering speeches with over a hundred eyes on me during the opening ceremony. But from Emily’s behavior, it was clear she wasn’t prepared for this level of attention.
With every second the silence stretched, Emily’s face grew redder, adjusting her round glasses repeatedly while darting her gaze everywhere except us.
Someone who needs space before agreeing—I know exactly how to handle this.
“Come on, it’ll be fun! Join us, make some memories!”
“Uh… Wh…”
“Great, you’re in.”
“Wha…?!”
Deciding this girl needed a nudge, I remembered a trick from past experience: push through. People like her often can’t say ‘no’ outright when pressed like this, so a forceful acceptance was the best route forward.
“Alright, that makes four of us. Sounds nice?”
“…Haa. L-Lord Ryu, I appreciate the enthusiasm, but even four members feel like… not nearly enough. Ideally, we should find more participants, possibly from other classes…”
SLIDE.
Just as Elaine launched into another suggestion, the door creaked open, and Professor Amillion shuffled into the room looking visibly exhausted. The usually polished professor’s neatly tied hair had a few loose strands, and one side of his collared faculty robe was slightly folded at the corner—a stark difference from his usual impeccable appearance.
“…I assume everyone’s heard the updates.”
Upon entering, Professor Amillion surveyed the room with a solemn expression before speaking. All eyes turned to him.
“For the important notice: only students from the S Class can join the grade competition. This rule has been newly added.”
“Huh?”
“Phew!”
Cue Elaine’s incredulous exclamation, accompanied by Cain’s satisfied laugh.
Cain, you’re next on my Northern Peaks ‘holiday’ list.
*
“…If there’s any chance, I’ll try reaching out to either Anes or Marie again.”
“No matter how you spin it, it won’t happen. They’ve clearly been bought out by Cain already.”
“…Haa.”
Lunchtime.
The four of us—me, Elaine, Cynthia, and Emily—were seated together, sharing the student cafeteria’s typical fare. While Elaine and Cynthia usually shared meals regularly, Emily, having been somewhat coerced into joining us, mostly stayed fixed on her food tray, barely saying a word. Or rather, unable to.
“Hmm, this is actually really good. The student canteen does an amazing job with chicken dishes.”
“…Haa. Lord Ryu.”
“Right?Emily? Agree?”
“Wha?! Oh! Yeah, it’s great! Ha ha…”
“…”
Elaine briefly glanced at Emily and me before shaking her head dismissively, poking at her food with her fork like it offended her somehow.
“So, with that, we’ll confirm the four of us will proceed in the grade competition. Shall I inform Professor Amillion after class today?”
“…Suuuuure.”
“Can’t help it, I guess.”
In response to my suggestion, Elaine let out another long sigh, while Cynthia nodded slightly in resignation. Meanwhile, Emily’s head remained bowed, unsure if she’d even fully grasped the situation.
‘Hmm. Perfect.’
Four members. Sure, the exact details of this year’s grade competition haven’t been released, but knowing last year’s was a dungeon crawl, this seems like a pretty balanced group. With Elaine up front as our knight shield, Cynthia covering the rear with her bow, and two mages in the center—plus me stepping up as a mage this time—things might work out nicely.
‘Hmm…’
“Oh yeah, Emily, what’s your specialty?”
“Wh-what?”
Thinking about it, while we’ve heard bits and pieces about her magical research, none of us had asked specifically what she excels in. Seemed like a good time to fill that gap now that we’re a team.
“Just curious. We need to know strengths, right? You’ve been studying magic, right?”
“Wha…? Uh… Um, well…”
Surprisingly, Emily launched into words faster than usual.
“Well, um, last night I tested how temperature differences impact fresh plant preservation… Using herb leaves, one sample stored at 23 degrees for three hours and another under the exact same conditions but at slightly fluctuating temperatures between 0 to 1 degrees Celsius…”
“…Uh?”
Clearly stunned, not just me but both Elaine and Cynthia sat baffled, staring at her wide-eyed as Emily, having hit her stride, proceeded with no sign of stopping.
“…And before that, I tested on animal samples, commonly known as meat. The freshness definitely held longer in colder environments, so I applied similar logic to plants! Oh, we measured the freshness by…”
“Alright, hold on.”
“Wh-what? Oh! Was that… irrelevant?”
“So… what magic exactly are you casting, again?”
A few quick nudges and questions later, we realized Emily wasn’t just any mage—she specialized in preservation techniques through precise temperature manipulation. Definitely unexpected, but a pretty solid advantage if the event demanded quick thinking under unusual conditions.
And that, friends, is how we officially solidified our four-person team.
