Almost the same time, in Class A.
"—and so, our performance has been decided as a magic duel between Class A and Class B!"
Class president Clyde's voice echoed from the podium as the academy festival program was announced.
Incidentally, this was something that should have been explained by Katia, as the class representative for the academy festival, but as a matter of course, he had seized that role from her.
Hearing his words, murmurs spread through the entire class.
Clyde nodded with satisfaction at his classmates' reactions and continued his explanation.
"Exactly as you're all imagining right now. We'll work out the details of the rules later, but — yes, on the grand stage of the academy festival, with many nobles watching, it's Class A versus Class B. In other words, you'll be able to showcase your Bloodline Magic on a grand scale!"
Clyde deliberately didn't mention it, but without needing to, most of the class had already realized.
That's right — in front of countless nobles, using their own magic to—
Completely
ruthlessly
toy with
Class B
.
What a pleasure that would be. What a magnificent opportunity he had given them. Thinking this, their classmates began to renew the trust in their class president that had been somewhat shaken during the joint magic exercise.
Sensing the flow of emotions, Clyde's smile deepened, though he then adopted a slightly serious expression.
"—However, there are concerns."
The class rustled once more.
"That is, this battle is a team fight. No matter how much weaker the opponents are, they're still users of Bloodline Magic. Even you, as capable as you are, might be defeated if surrounded by four or five of them and attacked simultaneously."
Looking around at classmates who nodded in agreement, he smiled reassuringly.
"But there's no need to fear. —That's exactly why I'm here. They'll likely try to compensate for their inferior strength with strategy. I'll counter that with my own strategy. Since I can't use Bloodline Magic, I need to be useful in that regard. I will lead you, who have been chosen. With an unshakable formation, this class will achieve victory!"
"Ohh," the class murmured in excitement.
"Come now, let's show them! Not the individual strength that His Highness Aster possessed, but the strength I envision — where we cooperate! It's time to show this country a new way of being nobles, where we all pool our strength together! We will be the ones to start it!"
(...How on earth does he manage to rattle off that kind of speech?)
Katia was listening from a corner of the classroom to that awful, amateurish grand speech.
Clyde kept saying things about leading the class and whatnot, but whether he had any experience with command was extremely questionable to begin with. He had been one of the former Second Prince's entourage, so all such opportunities had presumably been ceded to Aster.
Therefore, if one were to interpret his words with a touch of malice — it would amount to: "Since I can't use Bloodline Magic, put me in the commander's seat; that way, the lion's share of the credit will be mine." Given his personality, that probably wasn't far off.
As for him being so deft with words alone — that was just like him, and for the classmates to swallow it hook, line, and sinker — well, that was just like them.
How foolish. She sighed once more, and as if noticing Katia's demeanor, Clyde addressed her.
"—Lady Katia."
"...What is it?"
"What's wrong, sighing like that? It's a problem. Right now, the entire class needs to come together for the academy festival. Just because you're a duke's daughter doesn't mean you should act willfully — won't you cooperate properly? Otherwise, you're no different from His Highness Aster."
She felt that these things shouldn't be forced upon someone. She was about to say so, but before she could—
"Or what — could it be that you're still attached to your old Class B and can't bring yourself to give your all? Come to think of it, there was a servant in Class B whom you trusted excessively. Surely you wouldn't hold back for their sake, or worse, betray Class A—"
"There's no way I would do that."
Clyde was talking nonsense, so she shut him down with a single sentence.
"I have no objection to the competition itself. Since it's come to that, holding back would be an insult to Class B. Wouldn't you agree?"
Her true feelings matched her words exactly.
Class B would likely pull something. And since she had fired up Ermes, Katia couldn't deny that she too hoped for Class B's victory.
That was precisely why
she wouldn't hold back.
If, as she hoped, Class B managed to pull off an upset victory—
To leave absolutely no room for the pathetic excuse of "Class A lost because Katia didn't try"—
To crush Class A's defeat beyond any hope of recovery — Katia would not hold back. She couldn't.
Setting those calculations aside, the intent itself seemed to have come through.
"......F-fine. As long as you understand."
Despite shrinking slightly under Katia's gaze, Clyde answered with a sour expression.
(...Well then.)
Quickly losing interest in him, she turned her thoughts to the opposing class.
Things over here are like this. ...I wonder what Class B is talking about right now.
◆
"What must be considered is that this battle is a team fight."
By curious coincidence, almost at the same time.
Ermes, like Clyde, stood at the podium and was saying something very similar to what Clyde had said.
"Therefore, there is no need to be concerned with individual victories or defeats. Even if someone falls, someone else can take that person's place. As long as more of our people are standing on the battlefield at the end, that's all that matters. We should employ tactics, create numerical superiority, coordinate with one another, and at times sacrifice ourselves for the greater victory of the entire class—"
But there, Ermes paused.
"—Please discard that ridiculous notion immediately."
The entire class was enveloped in quiet shock.
"Let me be clear: I do not consider this battle to be a team fight — a group battle. It is not thirty versus thirty. It is one versus one happening to occur thirty times in the same place. That is how I see it, and I believe it would be best for all of you to see it that way as well."
"What... what do you mean?"
It was Sara who raised the question.
Perhaps because this way of thinking was diametrically opposed to her own philosophy, and it was only natural that she would be the most surprised. Accepting her question, Ermes answered:
"First of all, there are conditions under which a group battle becomes effective — conditions where coordination is viable.
—One of those is 'when the forces being wielded are the same.'"
"The forces... being wielded?"
"Yes. For example, in a fight with weapons, that means unified equipment; for magic users, unified magic. Under those conditions, individual differences are minimized, and optimal actions become somewhat fixed. Therefore, allies' actions are relatively predictable and easy to coordinate with. As a result, the effects of teamwork can be easily realized. However—"
"...Ah."
By this point, she must have realized it. Not just her — several voices rose from around the classroom as well.
"That's right. Bloodline Magic is nothing like that."
"......That's true."
"The power, range, attributes, and properties vary completely from person to person. When you gather magic users like that together, there's no way you can form high-level coordination on the spot. Of course, if you'd spent considerable time familiarizing yourselves with each other's magic and developing your coordination, that would be a different story — but I imagine that hasn't been done?"
Words that, in a sense, criticized their lack of training made the entire class hang their heads.
"Rest assured, I'm not here to blame you. Quite the opposite — it actually makes things easier going forward."
After tossing in a light word of reassurance, he continued:
"That is to say, in this situation — with only two weeks until the academy festival — it's far more efficient to prioritize improving individual ability over training coordination. Moreover, a mindset that depends on someone else's existence only breeds the complacency of 'it's fine if I lose personally.'"
"......"
"You already understand. —'Everyone together,' 'cooperating,' 'pooling our strength' — those are nothing but pleasant-sounding fantasies. At least in this battle, they are."
It was far too harsh.
But it was realistic — a grounded way of thinking, built on solid reasoning.
Having delivered an argument with vastly greater persuasiveness, he then stated his conclusion:
"Therefore, for the next two weeks, we will not prepare any strategies or tactics whatsoever. During this time, I will do nothing but push each of you to sharpen your individual abilities to their absolute limit. That is the sole thing I will focus on.
I'll explain the specifics later, but — if you've just witnessed Master Albert's magic, you should have some sense of how effective this will be."
The classmates felt a mix of conviction and anticipation in their hearts... but still carried a sliver of worry.
As if representing that very unease, this time it was Albert himself who spoke up.
"......Ermes."
"Yes?"
"I hate to admit it, but you've made my magic stronger through your methods. I'm grateful for that."
"It's my pleasure. Though the 'hate to admit it' part was unnecessary."
"But... even so. ...Will we really be able to win this way? Against Class A, with their overwhelmingly superior Bloodline Magic?"
"......That's a good question."
The anxiety of all of Class B — born from having their inferiority repeatedly demonstrated during the joint magic exercises.
Ermes acknowledged that anxiety as entirely valid, and first delivered his conclusion:
"Let me be frank — it will be difficult. As you say, their Bloodline Magic — its capabilities are the real thing."
"Wh—! Then what's the—!"
"Please calm down. Make your judgment after you've heard me out."
He asked the restless classmates and the half-standing Albert to settle down first.
After confirming they had quieted down, he continued:
"First of all, 'difficult' does not mean impossible by any means. Their Bloodline Magic is powerful. But through openings in the user, through the compatibility of magic, the win rate can fluctuate considerably. ...And it is my job to maximize that win rate as much as possible. Specifically—"
And then, at last, Ermes revealed the most critical strategy for leading this class to victory:
"—I will have each of you specialize in defeating only one specific opponent."
A moment of confusion spread through the class.
"A specific... opponent?"
"Yes. For each of you, one person from Class A. Taking into account magic compatibility and such, I will match you against the opponent you have the highest chance of beating. On that premise, I want you to engage in nothing but focused training aimed solely at defeating that opponent."
...That would indeed raise their win rates.
But this strategy had a critical flaw — namely—
"Wait, how are you going to decide those matchups? You can't just determine compatibility and combinations between people so easily—"
"No, I'll just decide everything myself."
"What!? Wait, that's impossible no matter how you look at it! How could you possibly know everyone's compatibility on your own—"
"I do. Because—"
Interrupting Albert's somewhat flustered objection, Ermes tapped his temple with a finger:
"I've
seen
it all. Your Bloodline Magic, and the Bloodline Magic of everyone in Class A except for Clyde. Over the past few days, I've visually confirmed and completed analysis of all of it. Determining the compatibility between magics isn't particularly difficult."
An unbelievable statement.
And yet — for some reason, it carried an absolute conviction that left no doubt it was the truth. Every member of the class couldn't help but hold their breath.
That's right. Several days had already passed since that incident where Sara had stopped Ermes.
In that time, both Class A and Class B had each had one magic exercise.
Class B had participated personally and observed thoroughly. And as for Class A, fortunately that session's class had been self-study, so he had been able to observe carefully from the rooftop.
Using every available moment during class time, without fail — he had visually confirmed, analyzed, and input all of the Bloodline Magic into his own magical repertoire. He couldn't use them yet, but several of them could already be reproduced if necessary.
"I've already decided on the rough matchups. I'll explain in detail later, but I'll say one thing now: if, hypothetically, one of you were to face a particular member of Class A using a specific type of Bloodline Magic—"
After that peculiar phrasing, he drew a breath and said in one go:
"If
I
could use
the same
Bloodline Magic
— you would
absolutely
win."
Most of the class thought it was an impossible hypothesis.
But those few who knew it wasn't impossible held their breath all the same. And the rest of the classmates, struck by his words filled with terrifying conviction, found confusion — and yet hope.
"So yes, there is a sufficient chance of victory. Allow me to summarize."
And finally, having said everything that needed to be said—
He wove his last words to rally them:
"From now until the academy festival's two weeks are up, what you will do is specialized individual training focused on defeating a specific opponent. Don't even think about pooling your strength. The only one you can rely on is yourself; if you lose, that is your own responsibility. If you truly wish to contribute to the class, there is no path other than your own victory."
As always, harsh words.
But his classmates — no longer cowered from them.
Because everyone was thinking the same thing.
With their own strength alone — to defeat powerful wielders of Bloodline Magic, and prove their own worth.
That dream — one that everyone had once harbored, only to have it ground away over half a year at this academy.
The chance to make it a reality once more had now arrived right before their eyes.
"But — if you can achieve victory, it will without question be your accomplishment, a feat you can be proud of."
As if answering their expectations, he clearly stated the reward:
"If that is truly what you desire, then please, accompany me in training starting today. I imagine it will be hell, to put it mildly — but please, let me believe that there will be no dropouts."
And so, his lecture came to an end.
The members of Class B, moved by his words, began their intensive training for the defeat of Class A.
The special training arc begins! Look forward to the next chapter!