Swordsplay class. The very first session.
One after another, Magic Department students were being pummeled by Knight Department students.
Each time that happened, Rest tended to the injured students.
"Hey, Rest. Are you okay on mana?"
His friend Luido asked with a worried look.
"I'm fine. I've got plenty of mana, so don't worry about it."
He'd already treated over ten people, but with his infinite mana, Rest hadn't felt the slightest drain.
If anything, what was running dangerously low was his patience.
"Still, though… Those Knight Department guys really went all out, didn't they? What grudge could they possibly hold against the Magic Department?"
Watching classmate after classmate go down, Rest was nearing the end of his rope.
He was barely holding back from accidentally firing off magic in retaliation.
"Yeah… I'd heard the Knight Department students had some weird rivalry with the Magic Department, but I never imagined it was this bad."
Luido agreed, his face tight with anger.
Among the Knight Department students, there were those who harbored a complex toward the Magic Department.
The thing was, most people who aimed for frontline roles like knights or warriors had low mana and couldn't cut it as mages. People born with abundant mana almost always aspired to become mages.
Because of that, Knight Department students carried a lingering sense of being "those who couldn't become mages," and directed a resentment-fueled competitiveness toward the Magic Department.
Of course, not everyone was like that.
There were those who chose to become knights despite having high mana.
Plenty of them genuinely loved swinging swords and spears and held no complex toward mages whatsoever.
(But… this instructor Oddman doesn't seem to be like that.)
"All right, next up — Bedley from the Knight Department. Luido Gistal from the Magic Department. Step forward!"
"My turn… Just watch — I'm gonna get my revenge!"
Luido marched toward the field, flames of fighting spirit blazing in his eyes.
He took a wooden sword in hand and faced off against the Knight Department student.
From what Rest could see, Luido wasn't so scrawny that he'd be pitiable, but the way his limb muscles were developed was clearly inferior to the Knight Department student's.
(With the no-magic restriction, he's at a complete disadvantage… So, what's he planning?)
"Match start!"
"Oryaa!"
The moment the match began, Luido moved.
No one could have predicted what he did next — he hurled the wooden sword right out of his hand.
"What—?!"
Even the Knight Department student hadn't expected this.
He frantically raised his guard as the thrown wooden sword came hurtling toward his face.
"Body Reinforcement!"
And then Luido kicked off the ground and sprinted forward.
With the Knight Department student's vision obscured by his guard, Luido circled around behind him and locked him in a rear naked choke.
"Guh… the hell… let go…!"
"Like hell I'm letting go! Don't underestimate me!"
Luido reinforced his body with magic, held the neck lock in place, wrapped both legs around the other student's torso, and clung on tight.
The Knight Department student desperately tried to shake him off, but... the situation was hopeless.
No matter how much of an advantage he had in physique and strength, when it came to magic precision, the Magic Department student was superior.
Unable to shake off Luido, who had reinforced his body, the student eventually fell onto his back with his eyes rolled up and lost consciousness.
"...Match over."
Oddman announced the end of the match with a displeased look on his face.
Luido let out a "phew" and detached himself from his opponent's body.
"Whew, that was close. Barely squeaked out a win there."
"Come on, wasn't that pretty comfortable?"
"Not really, man. That bastard dug his nails into my arm... I was terrified he was gonna peel me off any second."
Sure enough, there were scratch marks on Luido's arm, with blood seeping from them.
Rest cast healing magic, and the wounds vanished without a trace.
"Thanks, you saved me."
"No problem... First win for a Magic Department student, huh."
Over a dozen classmates had already been defeated, and Luido was the first to claim victory.
"Yeah. Next up should be..."
"That's my turn."
Stepping forward with a firm stride was Yuri Cattleya, who had been tending to the wounded.
"They're calling us in attendance number order, so I'm next. Right?"
"Um... are you sure about this, Yuri?"
"Of course. No problem at all."
Surprisingly, Yuri was smiling.
He had assumed she must be burning with righteous fury after seeing her classmate get beaten down, but come to think of it, she hadn't reacted at all when the other student was pummeled.
"If I'm strong, I win. If I'm weak, I lose... that's all there is to it. It's not like our lives are on the line, so there's no need to worry."
Yuri spoke in a perfectly composed tone, then picked up the wooden sword.
Despite her bright, innocent demeanor, her way of thinking was surprisingly ruthless.
Come to think of it, she was the knight commander's daughter... she probably held quite a stern view when it came to competition.
She might even be thinking that since the Magic Department classmate lost, well, that's just how the game goes.
Rest watched her retreating back with the feeling that he'd just seen a new side of his friend.
"Hey, Lubeth..."
"Hmm...?"
Meanwhile, Oddman was beckoning over one of the Knight Department students and whispering something to them in a low voice.
What on earth were they talking about? Rest casually activated a spell, picking up their voices and straining to listen.
"You must win the next match."
"They told me not to let that person hold a sword, after all..."
"But no attacks that could cause injuries. Absolutely none, got it?"
"...?"
That was a strange instruction.
He understood the part about needing to win, but what was the intention behind not letting someone hold a sword and forbidding injuries?
Come to think of it, a lot of the Knight Department faculty were alumni of the knight order...
They had referred to "that person," so perhaps Cattleya the marquis and knight commander was somehow involved.
Could this somehow be related to Yuri running away from home...? Well, no amount of thinking would give me the answer.
It was a private family matter. There was no point dwelling on it.
Rather than that... I'd just sit back and watch how the match turned out.