Clang-
Elaine felt the familiar weight and chill of the armor she hadn’t worn in a while as she took a deep breath.
Today was finally the day of the inter-grade competition.
Normally held in May when it starts getting warm rather than in March, it was an event everyone enjoyed with a light-hearted vibe. But this year, the nature of the competition had completely changed.
‘I have to do well no matter what.’
Elaine resolved, thinking of Ryu, who always wore a light-hearted smile but never came across as silly or shallow.
This year’s competition wasn’t just a fun event that subtly fueled competitiveness – it was basically a test of Ryu’s abilities.
And Elaine didn’t want to see Ryu looked down upon in such a setting.
Honestly, she herself didn’t know why she was so excessively focused on Ryu or felt so inclined to look out for him.
It all started the day of the entrance exam when Ryu protected her and Maria from the ‘Black Crow’ that attacked them.
Elaine had immediately realized Ryu’s movements weren’t ordinary.
Not only did he appear out of nowhere silently, but while his techniques seemed sloppy and carefree, he had thoroughly and efficiently subdued the assailant.
Ryu didn’t just easily defeat the opponent – he made it look easy.
What’s more, Ryu was a completely different kind of strong compared to the many powerful individuals Elaine had seen growing up as a noble.
The biggest difference was his ‘freedom.’
Clearly strong, yet not bound by any rules – not even the restrictions between commoners and nobles – Ryu’s demeanor inspired Elaine greatly.
Plus, when talking to Ryu, Elaine felt a comfort she never experienced with others.
She didn’t know exactly why, but talking to Ryu always put her at ease, sometimes even making her laugh with his playful attitude.
Coming from a strict knight background since childhood, it was a completely new feeling for Elaine.
The fact that Ryu treated her just like anyone else, regardless of her title from one of the six great families, was very refreshing to her.
Because of that, Elaine could also interact with Ryu more casually herself.
Nod-
Checking her appearance unnecessarily in the mirror, Elaine gave a small nod and headed out of the dormitory toward the lecture building.
Though her thoughts had wandered, her goal was clear – to perform well in today’s inter-grade competition.
Split into three stages, this year’s competition was still a one-night, two-day event like in previous years.
However, the new rule was that finishing one stage quickly allowed immediate entry into the next, with the team finishing all three stages first declared the winner.
“Hoooo…”
As Elaine was psyching herself up with a big stretch and a deep breath of morning air…
“Hey, let’s go together!”
“KYAA!”
“WHAA!”
Elaine screamed and partially drew her sword, startled by the sudden voice from behind despite sensing nothing.
The person who had suddenly appeared was none other than Ryu.
As always, his black hair waved behind him as he gave a surprised shout and looked startled himself.
“Ah! You scared me… Where did you even come from?!”
“…Oh? Were you just speaking casually to me?”
“N-no sir! I was just startled.”
“Anyway, Elaine…”
“Y-yes sir?”
“You know, your scream was very, very girly. It was an absolutely perfect girl scream just now.”
Elaine felt her face heating up at Ryu’s words and quickly turned away.
Sheathing her partially drawn sword, she tried to hide her embarassment with a nervous cough and quickened her pace.
“Hey, I said let’s go together!”
“…Just hurry up and follow me then, sir.”
“Wow, never seen you in that outfit before. Is that a combat uniform? Really suits you, you look like a proper knight.”
Elaine, whose cheeks were heating up, gently pressed them with the back of her hand and started walking even faster to avoid showing her face to Ryu.
Somehow, Ryu had this ability to completely change the atmosphere just by being there.
Just moments before, she had been feeling tense and a bit heavy-hearted thinking about the competition, but after a few words with Ryu, all those feelings disappeared.
‘Does the knight uniform really suit me?’
“As if you’re going to walk that fast. Let’s go together!”
Elaine kept walking quickly, occasionally glancing down at her clinking armor, ignoring Ryu’s complaints from behind.
Though she didn’t realize it, a small smile played on her lips hearing Ryu’s voice from behind.
“Fighting!”
“Excuse me asking but, please help!”
“I’ll… do my best as well!”
As I shouted “Fighting!”, Emily quietly nodded seeing the encouraging gazes from Elaine and Cynthia.
Today was the day the inter-grade competition was finally taking away my peaceful academy life.
I had expected the usual formalities like opening ceremonies, introductions, words from the Chancellor and guests etc. But surprisingly, there were none.
Professor Amillion simply gathered the four 1st year representatives and took us straight to the testing location, explaining that the test would start on signal.
Apparently starting with the second stage, the events would be broadcast live.
With a look that was half, no fully resigned, Professor Amillion simply said to do our best and disappeared.
His lack of enthusiasm was evident from the start, and now he seemed to have attained complete enlightenment.
<The first stage will begin shortly.>
“Hmph.”
“Oh, it’s starting!”
“That board will display the questions. Entering the correct answer moves you to the next question, while incorrect answers must be reattempted…”
Emily gave a small sigh so quiet no one probably heard it in response to the floating message, while Elaine repeated the instructions we all already knew.
As the short silence passed, a large board started glowing with magical writing appearing, signaling the start of the first stage – the ‘theory’ portion.
“Emily, go for it!”
While I had no intention of solving any questions and simply stepped back to encourage Emily, Elaine and Cynthia looked determinedly at the board as if trying to figure something out.
The first question should usually be easy, so it’d be good to help Emily out early on.
Flash!
As the writing finished appearing and the board flashed…
“Huh?”
“Um…”
While Emily’s eyes lit up staring at the board, Elaine and Cynthia took a few steps back with sighs, clearly surprised at how difficult even the first question was.
Seeing that, I almost let out a laugh but managed to suppress it.
“Well, that first question is tough.”
“I understand it’s a mana circuit problem but…”
“Ah!”
While Elaine and Cynthia had stepped back to near me, Emily simply stood there looking at the question before starting to manipulate mana with her hands.
Waving her hands in the air, visible flows of mana responded to her movements as something seemed to progress.
‘These mages are tough.’
When Emily finally stopped her movements and entered a mysterious-looking answer into the response field, the board flashed again.
“Oh, it was correct?!”
“It was… a little easier since it was the first question!”
“Is… is this what you call easy?!”
As Emily was responding to Elaine’s comment, the second question appeared. She stopped mid-reply and immediately focused again on the new problem, showing the most intense concentration I’d seen from her so far.
“…Ah. I see.”
After quickly scanning the question, Emily mumbled to herself and started manipulating mana again for the second question.
We watched silently.
“…”
Elaine, Cynthia and myself kept a respectful distance as Emily worked on the second problem.
It didn’t take her long to solve it either.
Flash!
Another correct answer.
“…Wow! Emily’s doing great!”
“Tha-that’s amazing!”
The third question appeared almost immediately. Emily gave us an awkward smile before her expression hardened again as she focused on the new problem.
From that point on, it was the Emily One Woman Show.
For every question she encountered, she never took more than 10 minutes to solve it.
“Could this actually be correct?”
Even Cynthia, watching quietly from behind, couldn’t help but comment on how impressive it was.
‘These mages are crazy.’
Watching Emily intently waving her hands and working the problems, that’s what came to mind.
Is this the level of speed expected to even qualify as a mage?
Just how many questions had Emily solved alone by now?
Noticing she was taking a bit longer on one problem, I couldn’t help but let out an encouraging “Fighting!”
“Ah!”
Instead of being encouraged, Emily shot me an irritated glance.
“Uh… sorry?”
“Hmph.”
With a short sigh, Emily turned back to her work.
‘What, what’s with the intimidation?’
Looking around, it seemed Elaine and Cynthia were thinking the same thing.
From then on, the three of us silently watched Emily work, careful not to disturb her.
How many questions are there in this thing anyway?
