Having officially decided to team up with Sharl and hearing the high probability of battling Toko and the others, I relayed Mr. Jenny’s words to Sharl in the classroom after the Friday curses studies class ended.
“Hmm, indeed. What the teacher says makes sense. There’s nothing to gain from fighting an opponent too strong, and the same goes for the opposite.”
“So, apparently elite Sharl is going to fight the strong ones.”
“Am I an elite?”
Sharl points at her own face with a look of disapproval.
“Next in line for the prestigious Iver, capable of wielding high-tier magic, you’re a super elite alright.”
“Isn’t that what I am? Besides, I’ve completely revealed all my cards already, haven’t I?”
Because she used countless spells against Toko in the duel.
“Wielding high-tier magic alone means so much, even against Toko.”
“Others who can use it just don’t flaunt it like me…”
The finer points of that were beyond me.
“Anyway, the teacher did say something about trying things out while keeping the fact that Toko and I are siblings under wraps.”
“Jenny is a good person.”
Seems like she belongs to the liberal faction, contrary to Sharl.
“Yeah. Shall we head over and check?”
“I need a little more time. I need to prepare my mind”.
The list of matchups and the schedule were supposed to be posted on the bulletin board by three o’clock, as I was informed by the teacher before the morning class. The curses studies class ended at five, and it was now half past five. In other words, we had waited in the empty classroom for a whole half hour with Sharl.
“Still not ready?”
“Just a bit more…”
Could Sharl possibly have a severe case of Toko phobia?
“Sure, we’ve got some time so that’s fine, but…”
It was still two-thirty PM in Japan.
“Tsukasa, can you win against Toko and Yuika?”
“Don’t know. I don’t know what kind of serious mode Yuika might have, and I don’t know how Toko will combine her martial arts with magic”.
Toko definitely wouldn’t be using her previous style. She’s probably evolved from using either magic or martial arts exclusively into using both simultaneously.
“If I lose, it’s my fault.”
“Can’t say for certain… Moreover, losing isn’t that bad, right? It simply means a tie—win one, lose one”.
As of now, Sharl has won in their duel.
“True. Let’s take that as our comfort.”
That’s probably why Sharl isn’t suited for martial arts. What’s done before a fight by pondering over what happens after a loss? Does she not know the words of great professional wrestlers?
No, how could she know…
“Should we go?”
“Yes.”
Finally, Sharl stood up, so I followed suit. We exited the classroom, headed down to the first floor, and stepped out of the school building.
“There’s no one here”.
As Sharl observed, there was indeed no one by the bulletin board in front of Building A.
“Should be fine here”.
The match-up lists and schedules would be posted on the bulletin boards of the various school buildings. Thus, there would be no problem for us, being from another class, to view it here.
“That’s true…”
We approached the bulletin board.
“Let’s see it then”.
“Alright, Tsukasa. I’m closing my eyes, so you check first”.
Closing her eyes, Sharl requested.
“Here we go again with the odd requests”.
“Just do it”.
“Alright, alright… reminds me of waiting for exam results…”
Recalling something unpleasant.
“Sorry about that”.
Sharl apologized, having picked up on my unease.
“No worries. I’m attending school properly now, so let’s continue”.
I glanced at the bulletin board. Two sheets of paper were posted on it. One was the schedule.
The magic tournament was set to begin the coming Saturday and conclude the following Saturday, spanning a total of eight days. This had already been explained by the teacher, and it was understood that classes would be suspended during this period. The schedule meticulously contained the match-ups for each day.
“Looking for our matches is going to be a headache”.
“What is it? Found it?”
“Just hang on”.
Examining the other sheet of paper now. This was the list of match-ups, detailing the matchups and dates for each pair. With 40 pairs participating, it’s necessary to search sequentially from the top.
“Alright… Nagase, Nagase… Ah…”
The team of Sharl Iver and Tsukasa Nagase
• 7/22 (Mon) 9am vs Arthur Gee, Henry Smith team
• 7/24 (Wed) 1pm vs Ronald Elton, Yuki Shirakawa team
• 7/27 (Sat) 4pm vs Yuika Akaba, La Folle Toko team
“Uh? What? How did it go?”
Wow.
Perfectly matched.
“Sharl, it’s time to come back to reality”.
“Already figured it out from those words…”
Opening her eyes, Sharl began staring intently at the bulletin board.
“Hmm… This doesn’t feel random at all”.
Sharl had confirmed our opponents.
“What do you mean?”
“Toko and Yuika need no explanation. Arthur and Henry are from the same C class, both excelling in martial arts as wizards. Ronald is a spear-wielding wizard with quite the reputation. Not sure about Yuki, but isn’t she the one who often has her eyes closed? Feels pretty strong”.
Pretty impressive knowledge for the student council president.
“All of them are strong. Definitely intentional”.
“True. Moreover, it seems to be a round-robin tournament among the four of us”.
Upon checking the other teams based on Sharl’s comment, indeed, these four teams have the same set of opponents.
“There are other similar patterns visible as well”.
Throughout the list, there were several other groups that appeared in similar round-robin setups.
“Must be what Ms. Jenny was hinting at, balancing things somewhat”.
“Hmm… Oh, our first match and last match”.
“Our first and the final ones. Not the first day’s opening nor the final day’s closing”?
Is it because she’s the student council president?
“Toko and Yuika are in the final?”
“I preferred us going first”.
Would you rather get the unpleasant things out of the way first?
“Actually, last is better. Watching their matches will give us insight into their strategies”.
“But the same is true for us”.
“We’ve already revealed our cards—yours in the duel and mine being purely martial arts”.
“Hmm… You’re right. We benefit from this”.
“True. The problem is the opening match. We don’t know this duo”.
Who are they?
Are they men?
“Alright… Tsukasa, are you free on Sunday?”
“I am”.
“Let’s have a strategy meeting on Sunday then. Come over to my place”.
My house has enemies.
“Got it… What about tomorrow?”
Tomorrow is Saturday.
“Study. Can’t be neglected. The exams are coming up”.
“Understood…”
After snapping photos of the schedule and match-up lists with our phone cameras, we decided to head home.
Thank you very much for reading.
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