“Ughhh!! That idiot!!”
Irina ran.
It was the fastest she had ever sprinted in her life.
Irina Harunsdel.
She never acted overly friendly toward anyone, but she liked taking care of people. You could say she was deeply considerate.
But as is often the case with considerate people, she was more easily hurt by the malice of others than most.
Her brash, tomboyish personality stemmed from that. To protect herself from being hurt by the careless words of others, she kept up a tough exterior.
Adel Bliss was the one who had seen through that self-defense mechanism in an instant.
Irina was confident in her ability to read people, but he was a type of person she had never encountered before.
Adel, she thought.
How should she put it? He didn’t act his age. Even when angry, he would turn around and ask if she was worried. If pushed, he’d give ground just enough, but he always said what needed to be said.
He responded to conversations with more maturity than others their age.
He was sociable, and often used First Circle magic Cooling to chill the water for the kids running with him. As a result, he quickly became friendly with the knight department students.
And when it was time to get serious, he had the tenacity to push himself to the brink of death.
He was a good person.
Though it had only been a short time, she had started to hope they’d grow closer.
That’s why she had to run.
Her thighs felt like they were about to tear, but she didn’t stop. Even though her breathing was ragged, she wasn’t done yet. Her legs were still moving properly.
At this rate, Adel’s going to get seriously hurt. I can’t let that happen.
It wasn’t Adel’s fault. He was the one being wronged.
The phrase “lowborn bloodline” was a tremendous insult to someone from the Bliss family, a once-renowned house of magic.
He was defending his family’s honor through a duel.
Adel had done nothing wrong in this.
And she wasn’t the only one from the knight department who had seen it; there were witnesses.
But what Irina was worried about was Adel’s safety.
It’s common sense that a swordsman can beat a mage when the mage is still unskilled, you idiot!
If swordsmanship is about first gaining strength and then pursuing skill, magic is the opposite.
Magic requires precision first, and destructive power follows.
So, if both are only around first-year academy level… of course the one with superior physical ability would have the upper hand.
Of course, there are always exceptions… but just before Irina had dashed out, Adel’s hand had been shredded in a single exchange and was gushing blood.
There wouldn’t be any miracles this time.
Even if he wasn’t magically disabled, there was no way Adel could win.
Just don’t get seriously hurt…! I’ll bring someone right away!
She had heard that permanent injuries from duels started on childish impulses were more common than people thought.
If something happened to Adel who was known to be magic-disabled, he really would end up being expelled from Tane.
“…Idiot! You honey badger of a person!”
She clenched her teeth and ran. The mana stored within her surged wildly, awakening every part of her body.
She passed the massive main building of the swordsmanship department.
Her destination was the Knight Department where the upperclassmen were.
Not here. Not here! Not here either!!
After running around for what felt like forever, Irina finally found her.
Silver hair. A well-known trait in the knight department, belonging to a certain prodigy.
Tall and slender. A name badge indicating she was a second-year in the Knight Department.
No doubt about it.
“Huff, huff… S-Senior!”
“Hmm? A first-year?”
“?”
“You’re Camilla Bliss, right?”
“What’s going on?”
“Ooh, Camilla~ So popular. Hey, first-year, don’t you know who I am?”
Irina caught her breath as quickly as she could and said,
“I do know. You’re Awen Damir, Senior Aaron’s younger brother, right?”
“Oh, that recognition’s kinda annoying, actually!”
“Wait. Isn’t this an urgent matter?”
Irina was a considerate person. Normally, she would have spoken only to Camilla out of respect.
After all, no matter how close Camilla and Awen were, family matters might not be something she wanted others to know.
But now was different. Every second counted.
“Adel….your younger brother is in danger!”
“”……!””
And that was more than enough to move not only Camilla but Awen as well.
***
Awen’s chatter, normally a constant background noise, wasn’t registering properly today.
Camilla simply answered with three standard patterns, “Hmm,” “Is that so?”, and “I see” while her thoughts were elsewhere.
Is he doing okay?
The Magic Department.
She had visited Class B, where Adel was, and then hurriedly left, but she couldn’t shake the worry.
It was only after she left the Magic Department that her thoughts finally caught up.
At a glance, it looked like he was doing fine but the fact that Awen had been worried still lingered.
Was there really something going on?
Did entering a year early cause some kind of issue? But I…
Camilla shook her head. The more she thought about Adel, the more strangely breathless she felt.
Normally, she would suppress such feelings through training… but today, she had ended up visiting the Magic Department.
The emotions she had been forcibly suppressing kept rising to the surface.
I can’t go see him. It would be a disaster if anyone noticed.
Emotions don’t usually follow logic. They’re irrational and tend to paralyze rational thinking.
Because of that, once a thought laced with emotion takes hold, it’s hard to break free from it.
“…Phew.”
“Hmm? What’s wrong, Camilla?”
“Hmph.”
“No, listen. So there’s this merchant family, right? But isn’t this too much? The auction house was totally theirs and—”
“Hmph. Is that so? I see.”
“…What’s up with you today?”
She had to shake it off.
Camilla closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
But it was all for nothing.
News that shook her emotions even harder soon reached her.
“You’re Camilla Bliss, right?!”
Camilla looked at the one addressing her, keeping her expression neutral.
Judging by the badge, a first-year. It happened sometimes. First-years would approach her asking for autographs or declaring how much they admired her. But she wasn’t that kind of person.
What came out of the other’s mouth, however, was something completely unexpected.
“Adel….your younger brother is in danger!!”
Her wandering thoughts vanished completely.
She didn’t remember anything after that.
The next thing she knew, she was chasing after the first-year student.
“There was a fight… B-Blood…”
Only fragments of words echoed faintly in her mind.
***
At that moment.
The gym beside the Magic Department.
Threatening magical power coiled around my fingertips.
I stared down at the guy I had taken down, my eyes wide.
“P-Please… I’m sorry…”
“……”
Human bravado is so fragile. Just look at this guy who was full of confidence a moment ago now sobbing like a child.
It wasn’t hard to guess what had provoked him. There were lots of girls in the gym today, so he probably saw me as an easy target to boost his standing. A pawn in some dumb dominance game.
How annoying.
If we’d fought properly, I might’ve had a tougher time. The only reason I overwhelmed him this badly was because I caught him off guard with a sudden punch.
No way he expected a first-year to cast a Fourth Circle spell.
He probably picked the fight thinking I’d only be able to use low-tier spells, maybe something Third Circle or below, and that he could take me.
Or maybe he really was just a dumbass.
I canceled the spell I was about to fire.
“If you keep that up, you’re really gonna die. You think the world revolves around you, huh?”
“…I’m sorry. I’m sorry… P-Please, let me go, yeah?”
“I’ll let you live. But you still gotta pay for running your mouth, don’t you think?”
“W-What… Gahk!”
The dispersed mana scattered into the air.
I shook out my left hand. I’m right-handed, so hitting with my left wasn’t quite as satisfying, but I still managed to break a tooth.
“Go get that patched up at the infirmary. And until then, stop grinning and stay out of my sight.”
“Ugh… ngh… My tooth, my front tooth…”
“Quit whining. Want me to knock out the rest while I’m at it?”
“…….!”
That felt good.
I could honestly say I held back pretty well. If I had actually fired off the Aureus spell, he’d have lost more than a tooth. His entire upper body would be gone.
If I kill someone now, I’ll lose my chance to slowly grow at the Academy. Better to be satisfied with stopping at just the right line…
The problem’s my right hand.
Now that things had more or less settled down, the pain started to throb in full force. There was quite a bit of blood on the floor, too.
Even if I did reinforce my punch with a mana wave, I still smashed it into metal. No way my hand came out unscathed.
I turned around.
“Sorry. Caused a scene again.”
“……”
“……”
“……”
But something felt off.
Did I go too far? Still, most of the people here are from the Knight Department. They should be used to fights like this.
I tilted my head in confusion, then winced as the pain radiated through my right hand.
Maybe I hurt it worse than I thought.
This is bad.
That’s when it happened.
“…Adel.”
A familiar voice reached my ears.
By now, one I knew well.
Camilla. Adel’s sister.
Camilla Bliss.
“…Huh?”
“What do you think you’re doing.”
Silver hair. Blue eyes.
Two years older than Adel who was still only sixteen. So she was taller than me.
“Big si…”
I almost called her “sister” but stopped myself.
“Camilla. This is…”
“……”
Then Camilla’s expression changed.
She strode toward me and said,
“You were fighting?”
“…So, the thing is—”
“What were you trying to do? Were you hoping to brag that you could beat an Academy-level swordsman?”
“……”
“If so, that’s the worst possible mindset.”
Sounds of people swallowing filled the air.
Silence.
“For someone in training, that’s the absolute worst attitude to have. Are you getting arrogant just because you got in as an early admission student? Did you think using brute force would somehow solidify your position?”
“……”
“Adel Bliss. I never imagined that someone bearing the Bliss name… would be doing something like this at a time when they should be focusing on their studies.”
“That’s…”
It was strange. I felt like I was about to cry. Maybe it was a memory ingrained in my body.
Camilla’s voice felt like it was fading into the distance.
“—I’m disappointed. Truly disappointed.”
Her cold words pierced through my ears.
My head was spinning.
“……”
That was enough.
I turned my back and slowly walked out of the gym.
Now I knew.
Reconciling with my sister was impossible.
It was time to move on to the next plan.
***
Awen turned her blazing eyes on Camilla.
“…Are you done? Camilla.”
“…What are you talking about?”
“Do you even realize what you just said?”
“Well…”
“—Do you even know?!”
Tears welled in Awen’s eyes.
“You… and you still call yourself his sister?”
“…Awen.”
“What do you know? No…do you know anything at all?”
“……”
“Do you even know what that kid has been going through, how hard he’s been trying?”
“…Trying?”
“Adel can’t use magic. As his sister… don’t tell me, you didn’t know?”
“……”
It felt like her heart had stopped.
Camilla, her expression contorted in confusion, asked,
“What do you mean… right now?”
“He’s magic-disabled. Adel Bliss…your little brother was born without the ability to use magic.”
“That… That can’t be. He got in early…”
“Unbelievable. Camilla.”
Awen was shouting, tears streaming down her face.
In her mind, she saw a boy who never gave up, who bowed his head and kept pushing forward.
She’d heard he even lowered his head to Aaron.
And when she’d gone to the gym out of concern, she found that small boy training like his life depended on it.
Yeah. Hidden behind his handsome face, he was still just a boy.
A boy, small in stature, who threw himself with everything he had against the absurdity surrounding him.
“An early admit, and he can’t use magic. And you think he was just living a normal academy life?”
“What… are you saying? What do you mean, Awen?”
“Oh. You didn’t know. Fine. I’ll tell you. I will tell you! Your brother’s been bullied. From the moment he entered the academy nonstop!”
Camilla slowly took a step back.
But Awen wouldn’t let her. For every step Camilla retreated, Awen stepped forward.
“Your brother’s uniform was soaked with mop water every single day. His silver hair turned dull and gray unlike your shiny hair! They tormented him so badly he couldn’t eat properly, so now he hides in the bathroom to eat. They even threw him into the river! That’s why he collapsed two weeks ago!!”
Camilla didn’t answer. She couldn’t.
“What? You don’t even remember that he collapsed?”
“……He said he was fine… I was sure…”
“He probably didn’t want to worry his big sister.”
“Why… Why…?”
“Because his sister’s some kind of genius swordswoman. He must’ve felt like a burden!!!”
Awen wiped her tears away.
“He still feels that way. Haven’t you seen his right hand? No? Then open your eyes and look!
Where do you think all this blood came from?”
Splat.
A thick pool of blood soaked the floor.
Camilla’s gaze turned toward the boy trembling in the corner.
…There was no visible wound that could’ve caused so much bleeding.
“I’ll ask you again, Camilla.”
“……”
“After all this… do you still think you deserve to call yourself his sister?”
“……”
“…I see. I get it now.”
There was no answer.
Awen bit her lip hard, then ran out of the gym.
“…I’m ashamed I ever called you a friend, Camilla.”
And once again, silence fell over the gym.
Camilla stood there for a long time.
Frozen, unable to move. Like she’d turned to stone.
“Senior Camilla.”
It was Irina, who had been watching, who finally spoke.
“I used to admire you.”
“They said there was a genius who rose to the top of the knight department in such a short time after picking up a sword.”
“…But now, all those stories mean nothing to me. From now on, they’re just lies.”
“Do you even know why Adel fought?”
At the mention of Adel’s name, Camilla finally managed to look at Irina.
“That bastard lying over there insulted the Bliss family.”
“Said he was a magic-disabled, lowborn. That no one relying on magical tools could ever be a real mage.”
“Adel’s actions were justified. But you without even listening to what happened blamed him outright.”
“How could you do that to someone who was defending his family’s honor…”
Irina bit her lip, her face filled with betrayal, then gave a slight bow.
“I’ll be going now. I don’t think we can leave Adel’s hand like that any longer.”
“……”
“Sorry for calling you out.”
And that was the end of it.
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