Cynthia was beginning to wonder if her eyes had betrayed her that fateful day.
On the very first day of school, there had been some friction between Ryu and Cain Hover. Cynthia distinctly remembered Cain launching a firebird at Ryu with the intent to k*ll, only for Ryu to somehow effortlessly nullify it.
However, upon reflection, there were no signs that the firebird Hover summoned that day had dispersed due to poor mana control, as Ryu had later suggested.
“Did Cain Hover really mess up his mana control…?”
“Ugh… How does he make it all look so easy?”
“…I think knights are more about speaking with their swords.”
“No, that’s not it! It’s like this circuit design is all wrong here…”
Cynthia watched as Ryu struggled to keep up, seriously questioning if her memory of that day might be flawed.
If Ryu was truly pretending to not control mana properly, it was a convincing act, she thought, seeing as he’d been stuck on the same part for days now.
“Seriously though, I’m getting curious…”
“Hm?”
“How did you even score over 300 on the entrance exam..?”
“Hey, that’s totally different. I’m a practical guy.”
“But c’mon, even if that’s true, shouldn’t you at least be able to manage basic magic?”
“…Argh.”
Cynthia sighed softly as Ryu, despite her teasing questions, closed his eyes and refocused, his lips pouting.
The magic Ryu was striving so hard to cast wasn’t anything groundbreaking. It was simply a protective charm — the kind that even non-mages could learn with just a little effort if they had the basics of mana handling down.
Even Cynthia, who wasn’t naturally inclined towards magic or theory-based subjects, managed to master the protection charm within a few days. Sure, it was “simple” compared to other spells, but for it to consistently elude Ryu…
“Ah! Is this the feeling?”
“Yes, but you still need to expand the circuit further and solidify it from bottom-up for stability…”
“Ugh.”
Another try, another failure. This time, the shield materialized only around Ryu’s upper body, shimmering faintly before petering out mid-cast.
Cynthia, still pondering her observation from before, slumped into a corner of the training grounds after glancing at Ryu and Emily, who was patiently explaining spells to him.
It had been a whole week since the official announcement for the grade rivalry tournament. Every day since then, Cynthia and the rest of the first-year representative team had been through an unrelenting schedule. Between regular classes in the morning and one-on-one training sessions in the afternoon led by Professor Amillion, the grind was relentless.
Amillion, despite having only two aspiring wizards under her tutelage, had decided everyone should master at least fundamental magic. Surprisingly enough, the protective charm she had initially taught proved unexpectedly useful to non-magic users like Cynthia as well. It allowed her to focus entirely on drawing her bowstring while ignoring minor external shocks.
“Mr. Ryu seems more suited to being a knight than a mage,” Elaine said, taking a seat beside Cynthia, who was observing Ryu.
“Hmm… I agree wholeheartedly.”
“Still trying to learn magic though…”
Cynthia, who had been sharing similar observations, couldn’t help but wonder why Elaine trusted Ryu so much despite no firsthand experience with his Golem-Hit performance during the entrance exam.
“Hey, Elaine…”
“Yes?”
“Why do you… trust Ryu so much? You didn’t see him ace that Golem-Hit test yourself, right?”
Cynthia knew logically they had little in common — Ryu being a commoner and Elaine part of one of the six great St. Claire families. Yet, Elaine’s trust in Ryu felt oddly unconditional.
“Oh, Mr. Ryu saved me that day,” Elaine answered, flashing a small smile. “Some assailants attacked me during the entrance exam. Ryu took them down before I could even react.”
“Huh? There were people who actually attacked a St. Claire? I never heard about this.”
“They must have sealed the information. But yes, it happened.”
“Did you… find out who they were?”
“No.” Elaine shook her head but added with a tinge of sadness in her eyes, “But from what I saw that day, even if just for a brief moment, Mr. Ryu is leagues ahead of me in combat skills.”
“Hmm…”
Cynthia nodded absently, processing Elaine’s words. That seemed to confirm her suspicions that what she’d witnessed earlier wasn’t a fluke.
Meanwhile:
“Ugh, Addy…”
“Yes, sir?”
“It looks like I really lack talent for magic.”
“Honestly, why the surprise, sir? I already told you countless times. You’re not cut out for magic.”
“… Hey, could you be a bit nicer when you say that?”
Addy’s blunt response didn’t help Ryu’s growing frustration with the grueling Academy life. Contrary to what Ryu had naively expected—carefree student days—the reality was anything but. After being roped into the grade rivalry tournament, which seemed to double as his personal aptitude test, one-on-one sessions with the professor became the norm.
Instead of enjoying his time, Ryu found himself bogged down in repetitive lessons and exhausting training. To make matters worse, Professor Amillion handed him dense sheets of magical formulas, expecting him to make sense of it all. Ryu was beginning to regret choosing the mage class to begin with.
“By the way, didn’t I tell you to stay under the radar? Looks like you’re getting way too famous anyway.”
“Yeah, sure, whatever.”
“You should really tone it down a notch.”
“Hey, cut it out, Em— I already got enough flak for being useless today.”
Addy’s words brought back Emily’s earlier comment: “How does anyone manage to be this bad,” she’d whispered in awe, not realizing the hidden depth in Ryu’s apparent inability.
“Anyway, I have an update from your extended absence. First off, fifty million gold. It’s here.”
“Whoa!”
Finally, some good news! Apparently, his latest mission with Erica had paid off handsomely. Addy even seemed cheerful.
“And Erica has returned. She said she’s taking a break after the last big job.”
“That’s only fair.”
“And Jacqueline should be back soon too.”
“Huh? Really?”
“Yes. She sent a message saying her training was sufficient and she’ll be back soon…”
“Cool. Assign her a job when she gets here.”
“As for anything else… I don’t think there’s much more.”
Jacqueline’s early return was surprising. The leader of the third division had left for the northern continent with her team to hone her skills. Ryu had intended to check in on her during a school-organized monster extermination trip but never expected her back so soon.
“I see my operation runs smoothly without me.”
“Didn’t I already tell you that? And while we’re at it, how about that raise you owe me? My workload is no joke.”
“…You seem unusually disgruntled today, Addy.”
“Me? After bringing you fifty million gold, you act like a penny-pincher.”
“Well… if there’s any leftover money, you can take it.”
“Ah, you mean it?”
“Sure, sure. Consider it a bonus.”
Addy grinned even wider, pulling out a neatly folded piece of paper from inside her coat.
“This is for you. As a reward for your hard work. With the grade rivalry starting next week…”
“What is it?”
“You’ll see. It’s kind of confidential stuff so don’t let it leak out.”
“If you say so…”
“Alright then, I’ll leave you to it.”
As Addy left the office with a rare bright smile, Ryu unfolded the paper.
“Hmm, where on earth did she get this?”
