45. The Forgotten Thing (3)
“Did everyone have a good weekend?”
In the classroom welcoming Monday, five students had gathered in a row.
Lorenzo, who had entered the classroom and yawned loudly almost immediately, didn’t look like a very competent instructor at first glance.
Karla also thought that Lorenzo’s appearance wasn’t very appealing, but having greatly benefited from him, she couldn’t completely dislike him.
“Nothing much happened, right? If something had, you’d have contacted me. Since no one seems to be hurt, I don’t have much reason to ask. Anyway, there’s something I have to announce to you all.”
“An announcement?”
At Regina’s question, Lorenzo nodded.
He then picked up a marker and turned around to start scribbling on the large whiteboard fixed on the classroom wall.
– Exchange Battle.
“There’s no one here who can’t read, right? We’re planning to hold an Exchange Battle in two weeks.”
“What is meant by ‘Exchange Battle’?”
It was Ivan.
He politely raised his hand and asked, to which Lorenzo responded with a smirk.
“It’s literally an Exchange Battle. You all know that our Academy has classes up to the fourth year, right?”
The Academy is a four-year program. Students enroll in the first year and graduate in the fourth year. Each grade is divided into two classes, east and west, each consisting of five students, meaning a total of only ten students. Considering this, the Academy is a very small institution. Moreover, the fourth-year students are already assigned for practical experience as part of their field training, so, practically speaking, only the first to third-year students—thirty in total—are enrolled in the Academy.
“As the students are divided into East and West groups, these groups will engage in a mock battle against each other.”
“Mock battle…?”
“That’s right, a mock battle.”
Lorenzo clenched his fists and then slowly brought them together, making a loud “BOOM!” sound with his mouth.
“It’s a clash where both groups fight for the honor of their sides. A fight. Just a fight.”
“Exchange Battle…”
Liam stroked his chin as he spoke. His face clearly showed his excitement and belligerent nature.
“Southerners are generally quite laid back, but maybe this guy has some Northern blood in him,” Karla thought. Meanwhile, Lorenzo nodded.
“I find it interesting. This is my forte.”
Regina was slightly tense as she murmured to herself.
“Speaking of the West group… Miss Kiara will likely be there.”
Kiara di Servitore, a water manipulator.
Regina uses a similar type of magic but with a different texture.
Karla watched the two of them and silently clenched her fist.
‘In my current state… no. I need to play my role as well.’
Unaware of Karla’s inner thoughts, Lorenzo continued his explanation.
“You were all already experts in your respective fields when you entered the Academy. It’s been a month since you started. For the senior students, it’s also been a month since they moved up a grade. So, this is an opportunity to roughly estimate how much stronger everyone has become through battle.”
“Instructor.”
Karla raised her hand.
Lorenzo stopped mid-sentence, looked at her, and motioned her to speak. Karla cleared her throat and asked:
“Will the Exchange Battle have participants with similar types of magic face each other?”
For Karla, there was no intention of avoiding a fight. In fact, she, too, was quite aggressive, but she currently couldn’t properly utilize her magic. – Limb loss is particularly fatal for someone skilled in close-combat magic. To her knowledge, the only other close-combat magician like her was Wilhelm von Mittenburg of the West team.
“Yeah, yeah… Hmm…”
Lorenzo scratched the back of his head, looking a bit troubled. Regina at the front flinched slightly but thankfully Lorenzo didn’t notice.
“Well, not necessarily.”
“Excuse me?”
Everyone was silent, but internally, they all shared Ivan’s thoughts. How could such a thing suddenly appear without any notice in the academic schedule?
“In war, there’s no guarantee that you will face the same type of magician or formation. It will depend on how the matchups are arranged.”
“So… could we also face completely opposing types of magic?”
“That’s correct. Now, to elaborate further…”
Lorenzo used the marker again to write on the board.
Eastern Group.
Karla della Cascata.
Ivan Kontadino.
Liam Fuco.
Emil von Aufschtik.
Regina Parma.
Western Group.
Lucas von Scheiskel.
Wilhelm von Mittenburg.
Kiara di Servitore.
Michele Bricone.
Zofia von der Chauver.
“So, each group will consist of five people. The first round will be the Commander’s Battle.”
Matches will proceed in order, with the winner of each match facing the next opponent from the losing side.
This simple rule continues until there is a defeat.
“To clarify, the participants will be designated as First, Second, Mid, Captain, and Commander. The match will continue until someone loses.”
“I understand the format. But if the first round is the Commander’s Battle, will there be a second round?”
As always, Karla’s observation was keen. She pointed out what others had blindly overlooked, and Lorenzo smirked at her.
“Yes, there’s a second round. The second round will be a team battle, and the third round will be an Exploration Battle.”
“The team battle will, as expected, involve all five people battling simultaneously. What exactly is the Exploration Battle?”
“The Exploration Battle is simple. It’s basically a treasure hunt. You’ll search for designated items within the school-provided area.”
“…Is that so?”
Karla’s expression darkened.
With the midterm exam, which would determine her fate, just less than one and a half months away, it felt like the judgment day was arriving earlier.
If she failed the midterm, Enrico would surely pull strings to have her expelled from the Academy. At that point, she would inevitably be sent to live with the Scheiskels, and she would become Karla von Scheiskel.
Rather than face that, she would prefer to die. Despite her thoughts, her heart found no peace.
When she clenched her remaining arm into a fist, the power of her mana was enough to shake the ground. Although her mana was indeed abundant and unmatched, she couldn’t channel it outward due to her physical limitations. As a result, she was bound to her current state.
“…I shouldn’t be disheartened.”
Karla bit her lips and steadied her heart.
“Anyway, you still have some time, so practice a bit. The instructor is not allowed to interfere, so there’s not much I can do. Let’s start the class.”
Shaking off her wandering thoughts, Karla refocused on Lorenzo. There wasn’t much point in worrying now, especially since she could do nothing but attend the class.
*
Her heavy heart left her appetiteless.
When lunchtime came, Liam invited her to join him for lunch, but she shook her head.
“Not hungry. You guys go ahead.”
“But you need to eat something if you’re going to focus in the afternoon classes. Are you alright, Karla?”
Worried, Ivan spoke to her. Karla shot him a not-so-friendly glance.
After all, Ivan hadn’t done anything wrong—his concern was genuine and completely pure.
However, Karla noticed Regina nervously fidgeting behind him.
“…I’m fine. You should go and have lunch with Regina. I’d like to rest a bit in the dorm.”
“Oh, you will?”
Karla quietly stood up and passed Ivan.
As she moved past him, she briefly saw his worried gaze. She definitely noticed it, and Ivan, too, caught her glance, but she didn’t want to care.
Even though Ivan hadn’t done anything wrong. It was entirely her fault.
The distance from the lecture hall to the dormitory wasn’t far.
With a student cafeteria located on the first floor of the dormitory, many students were enjoying their meals. But now, no one paid any attention to Karla.
Like how Emil had done with her, she rolled up her sleeves. Now, they didn’t flutter in the wind as they previously had. Karla headed naturally to Ivan’s room, as though she’d lived there for three days. Thanks to the supplies she ordered last Saturday, which arrived yesterday, she had started feeling at peace, as if it were her own room.
Opening Ivan’s door without knocking, Karla casually threw herself onto the bed.
“Maybe I should have brought that journal with me. Even though it’s all in my head…”
The writer of the journal had insisted that a soft magician must always have an extra body to manipulate at all times. Furthermore, he mentioned a warehouse-like location where such bodies could be stored, even naming the area.
The problem was, the place names in the journal were unfamiliar to Karla, despite her best efforts to deduce their locations from the detailed descriptions.
“To ask Lorenzo, perhaps? Or maybe the principal…”
The Academy was conducting investigations, but with no results so far. Even if they caught the culprit, there was no guarantee her lost arm would ever return.
“What should I do…”
Lying there restlessly, Karla flailed around on the bed. In her toss and turn, her tied-up left-sleeve accidentally struck her face.
“Ai!…”
Yelping in pain, she sat up quickly, only to find Ivan standing there.
“…Karla?”
“…What are you doing here?”
Ivan stood awkwardly in the doorway holding a food tray, looking more like a guest than the resident in his own room.
“Anyway, I thought you should eat something, so I brought it.”
“You have quite the nerve…”
Yet, sniffing the air, it smelled like pasta—a meal that suddenly made Karla’s appetite reappear a bit.
“…Bring it here. I’ll eat it out of respect for your effort.”
“What about a thank you?”
“Just bring it over. Why should I thank you for attending to me?”
Despite her words, Karla was inwardly grateful. She had initially believed Ivan looked down on her, but now she realized it was merely his kind nature.
“You’re as consistent as ever… Here, come eat. We don’t want the bed to smell like food.”
“Do commoners care about that?”
“It’s for the noble young lady’s comfort.”
Ivan’s joke made Karla crack a faint smile as she stepped off the bed.
“Clang!”
A sharp metallic sound drew their attention to the door.
There stood Regina, frozen in place, her expression stark white, staring at the two of them through the door.
“…Regina?”
