Tane Academy.
At this prestigious institution attended by countless scions of noble families, clashes of pride are a daily occurrence, fueled by their backgrounds.
The main and branch lines of noble houses. Rival merchant guilds in the same trade. Children from neighboring territories. From heirs of the Empire’s largest media conglomerate to students whose parents head secretive organizations.
Because of the constant psychological warfare between students, there’s even an unspoken rule when placing first-year students into classes: don’t group together those with known rivalries.
That’s how fierce the pride of these distinguished families is.
And at the peak of this tension among freshly enrolled students comes the Cross-Department Exchange.
[Cross-Department Exchange].
An event disguised in composed words.
But in truth, it’s the competition to select the academy’s representative players.
Those chosen through the Cross-Department Exchange represent Tane Academy in friendly matches against its sister school, Damagen Academy.
In other words, the Cross-Department Exchange is really just the precursor to the Inter-Academy Exchange.
Tane vs. Damagen!
A battle of pride between two rival academies among the Empire’s top three.
Even powerful figures across the Empire and graduates from both schools gather to spectate.
After the dust settles, the winning side gets to mock the losers: “Your juniors seriously sucked this year.”
No matter how refined and aristocratic one may appear, the competitive spirit lurking at the bottom of human nature is unavoidable.
Nobles or commoners alike…. all temporarily drop their sense of dignity and unite as one. The countdown to this all-out clash has already begun.
To be selected as Tane’s representative in this exchange? A badge of immense honor.
Among the six academy-wide representatives, the number of students chosen from each department is a matter of pride in itself. A competition between departments.
It was well after the midterms of the first semester.
Professors from each department had begun searching for students who could uphold their department’s honor.
And among them, someone had already shone brightly enough to prove themselves worthy.
Ranked first among all first-years in the Magic Department.
Perfect scores across all midterm subjects.
Holder of two “Wand and Laurel” emblems. An honor rarely earned even once in a semester.
A wave of commotion already stirred in the magical community due to his groundbreaking ideas in submitted reports. Rumors say he utterly crushed two classmates in a fight and even defeated a student from the Knight Department.
The forgotten heir of a once-great magical noble house.
Adel Bliss.
“Head Professor, a letter just arrived from the Magic Tower. It’s an invitation for Adel to participate in an academic seminar.”
Grayton grinned.
“So it’s finally come to that. I’ll go myself as the escort.”
“Professor Sedin and Professor Topyren also expressed interest in joining you.”
“Can’t be helped.”
“And about the representative for the Exchange…”
“I’ll inform him myself.”
“Understood.”
Adel Bliss being nominated to participate in the Magic Tower’s academic seminar, and being considered as the freshman representative of the Magic Department—
All of this was being decided without Adel’s knowledge.
***
Sluurp… sluurrp…
“This coffee’s amazing.”
There’s something special about resting after everything’s been taken care of. Still lying down, I lifted only my neck to sip my drink through a straw.
This is it. Maybe this is why I’ve been running around like mad.
Lunchtime.
I turned my head slightly to glance at Camilla.
“……”
She was staring blankly at the coffee in front of her, not touching it.
“Sister. What are you doing? Aren’t you going to drink it?”
“……”
“It’s good. Really refreshing.”
“……”
She looked like she was sizing up some foreign object for the first time. Probably never had coffee before. That would explain the reaction.
“If you’re not gonna drink it, I will.”
“Mm? No, I am drinking it.”
“……”
Maybe when you’re a genius swordswoman, you can drink with your eyes or something. And yet, she doesn’t want to give it up either.
I turned my gaze away from Camilla, who was in a standoff with her coffee, and looked over at Sasha.
Just as we’d talked about yesterday, she was now sitting upright, sipping coffee with perfect posture.
“So, what’s the intention behind this ‘let’s eat together’ thing?”
“…Sasha…”
I let out a sigh and rubbed my throbbing forehead. Judging by her twitching fingers and the way she sipped her coffee, it was clearly burning hot.
She was trying hard to keep up a refined front.
“Sasha… You… Never mind.”
“?”
Steam was rising from her lips. Isn’t that hot enough to cook instant noodles? I don’t even want to think about the state of her mouth right now…
Guess she’s never had coffee before either.
“…Still, I must say, you picked quite a nice spot. I had no idea a place like this existed.”
“The knight department building isn’t exactly great at security.”
“I have to admit, I didn’t expect the two Bliss siblings rumored to be on bad terms to be hanging out together.”
“Me and Sister?”
So there was a rumor.
I glanced over at Camilla, who was ever-so-slowly raising her hand toward her coffee.
She seemed so focused, it was like she couldn’t even hear our conversation.
Come to think of it, we really hadn’t spent much time together until recently.
The students in the Robine dorm probably knew that Camilla and I weren’t on bad terms, but among the students in the Knight Department, where information spread painfully slow…
“It’s understandable, I guess.”
“…So is it a bluff? A kind of performance to showcase the strength of the Bliss family. Two talented siblings supposedly on bad terms, now united?”
“Nothing that complicated. We even spent a night out together recently, so that rumor’s bound to die down soon anyway.”
Sip.
Sasha took a drink of her coffee, now looking a little glum.
“A night out… I heard most siblings fight a lot… You two must be really close.”
“It just happened.”
“…I’m jealous, honestly. That unconditional loyalty you get from family…”
She set her cup down with a clink and continued.
“I think I’ll pass on eating together after all. I don’t mind, but… it just doesn’t sit right with me, intruding between you two.”
“That’s not happening.”
“I don’t mind either.”
I was still a bit startled to find Camilla suddenly right beside me.
She jumped into the conversation without missing a beat, her voice calm and natural.
“Sasha, was it? If you’re okay with it, I’d like to keep eating together.”
“…But I might ruin your reputation, senior.”
“Reputation? Not sure I even have one of those. If it’s the number of people that’s bothering you, I could bring someone else along too.”
“That’s not really the issue…”
“Hmph.”
Camilla pulled me up from where I was lying down and dusted me off.
Straightening my clothes… convincing Sasha on my behalf…
What the hell is going on?
Is this… really my sister?
“Did you know? Adel and I used to fight like we wanted to kill each other. But he was the one who opened up first. That’s how we became close. Same applies here, Sasha. Hiding your real feelings behind ‘consideration’…”
“What? When did I ever—? Gahk!”
My tie suddenly tightened around my neck.
I caught a glimpse of Camilla’s ear completely red.
“Anyway, I don’t mind, so join us without feeling pressured. That’s all.”
Classic Camilla. Her words were the epitome of a noble knight.
Even if some of them were made up…
At the very least, Sasha seemed pretty moved.
“…Alright. I’ll come.”
“I’m glad you understand.”
“…You two really are alike.”
“We are?”
Sasha smiled.
“…Yes. Very much so.”
***
After class, I returned to the dorm to find a package had arrived.
Snowfield Subjugation Log.
“……”
It was the arrival of the book I’d been waiting for.
Since there were supposed to be several volumes, I thought they’d be delivered all at once, but it seems someone managed to send this one ahead of the rest.
I flipped the book open. The pages, worn to the point of crumbling, looked like they’d fall apart at the slightest touch. The text inside was so faded it was nearly illegible.
Not that it mattered to me. Honestly, having to learn magic by reading through a bunch of half-insane journal entries would just be more exhausting.
All I needed was the structure of the spell formulas.
Ding–
◆ A modifiable spell structure has been detected.
– Modifiable Spell Structure: Extreme Rotation Magic
“Oh.”
As I continued flipping through the pages, I stumbled upon one. Originally, it was a spell designed to add rotational force to a massive spear in order to immobilize magical beasts.
If used on a person, it would grind them to pieces. It was a lethal magic. But when paired with Thorn Magic, it could produce a fairly effective result. It was a spell I had planned to acquire anyway, so getting it now would be useful in more ways than one.
Classified as a Fifth Circle spell, huh.
Since circle classification was meaningless for a Shifter like me, there was no problem learning it.
The only real concern was my available NP and mana capacity.
◆ Total NP: [322,190] ◆ Available Mana: [25,590]
322,000 NP with 25,000 mana… huh.
Even so, I went ahead and learned it. It was sad to see all that carefully saved NP drain away, but there was no helping it.
– Modifiable Spell Structure: Morphing Shield
This one’s a bit ambiguous.
– Modifiable Spell Structure: Anti-Slip
What the hell is this? Was it because the North had a lot of ice?
I set it aside and kept turning the pages. But that wasn’t the only strange spell. One after another, spells clearly made for snowball fights appeared. Like straight-line snowball launch or circular snowball condensation.
And so it went on.
– Modifiable Spell Structure: Cannon Enhancement Engraving
– Modifiable Spell Structure: Object Manipulation Boost
Enhancement types are a waste. Don’t need them.
– Modifiable Spell Structure: Hyper Shot
Hyper Shot? That one’s actually…?
As I kept flipping, I suddenly froze. Something felt strangely familiar.
“Wait a second. This is showing up?”
Rotational magic, Hyper Shot, and enhancement-type manipulation magic…
This was clearly the kind of spell combo those freaks in the game used when they dumped everything into one-shot firepower builds.
“…Tempting, though.”
Still, this combination was way too extreme. Sure, the goal was increased firepower. But this went beyond reason.
A setup clearly designed to blow someone up with full intent to kill. Well, it made sense, considering these spells were originally modified for use against magical beasts…
The real question is whether the target just stands there and takes it.
First, it was the kind of spell combination worth considering after mastering a proper binding spell.
I guess there’s no helping it.
In the end, I left the acquisition window open but decided to hold off for now.
Still… Why do I keep ending up with nothing but one-shot reversal-type spells?
Being a Shifter-type really comes with a lot of limitations.
The fact that NP is consumed just to learn a spell, for one thing, and all the other inconveniences that come with it.
Even the spells I can learn don’t contribute to an overall stat boost. They’re all limited to one specific concept.
What’s the point in having enough firepower to bring down buildings?
This is the kind of character that could freeze to death in a cold region just because they can’t even control the temperature.
“……”
But there’s no point complaining. Now that it’s come to this, I just have to be thoroughly prepared…
They’ll probably offer me the Cross-Department Exchange representative role soon.
Now that midterms are over, classes will shift to focus more on practical skills.
Whether I accept the position as class representative or pretend I know nothing…
I’ll have to weigh which option benefits me more.
***
“Adel Bliss. You’ll be representing the first-years of our Magic Department.”
“?”
“I’m talking about the Cross-Department Exchange. The faculty has already discussed and decided this, so I trust there’ll be no objections.”
It happened a few days later. During Professor Quinoron’s class on magical tools, a different professor came in to substitute.
It was the face of Professor Grayton, a senior professor who didn’t normally teach first-years.
“……?”
“…….”
“…….”
Normally, each class would select a representative, and from those, the year representative would be chosen through competition.
And yet, this announcement poured cold water on what everyone had been looking forward to.
The entire Class 1-B fell into stunned silence.
But only for a moment. Then someone abruptly stood up.
“This is unacceptable!!”
“And Adel, you’ve been invited to the Mage Tower academic seminar as a speaker. You’ll need to accompany me for one day this weekend, so make sure to submit an off-campus request… Did someone say something?”
“I-I said I can’t accept this!”
“The Countess… Ah, yes. You. Do you have a complaint? The vice-representative position is still open. You’re free to apply for that.”
“Traditionally, the year representative is chosen through competition. This isn’t right!”
“…Competition? You can still say that after seeing this?”
What Professor Grayton pulled out was the midterm report from the first semester.
At the very top, graced with two brilliant emblems and sitting in the most honored spot was none other than Adel Bliss.
“Th-That only applies to written exams! Most of our classes will be focused on practicals soon, and at the very least, you should be observing how students perform in class—!”
“Haah… Countess… Haven’t you heard the story about Adel Bliss dismantling a high-level barrier? If there’s another student capable of doing something like that, I’ll consider them… but hmm.”
Grayton let out a short laugh.
“From where I’m standing, there’s no one.”
His blatant mockery pushed her to the edge, her frustration building to the point of near explosion.
And then—
“I don’t want the position, Professor.”
The very subject of the conversation, who had been quietly listening all along, raised his hand.
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