I also updated a chapter at lunchtime!
Magic practice.
As the name suggests, it was a class designed to enhance magical power through practical exercises in a wide open area outside the classroom — but.
To begin with the most fundamental premise, this kingdom placed special importance on Bloodline Magic and tended not to prioritize the training of magic.
Moreover, the Bloodline Magic possessed by nobles varied enormously from person to person. Naturally, efficient training methods differed widely as well, making standardization difficult — and for that reason, there was barely any point in trying to build a curriculum in the first place.
And so.
"—Now then, based on your own abilities, form groups of two or more and conduct practical combat exercises. Make sure to choose opponents who will provide proper training for you."
Those were the instructions — which sounded fine enough on the surface, but in essence amounted to "pair up with whoever and fight," dumping the entire responsibility squarely on the students.
(...I see.)
Should he lament how sloppy it all was, or should he be glad that at least the bare form of a practice session was being maintained?
...Well, for him in his current situation, it was the latter. That was Ermes's analysis.
After all, in a sense, this was the single greatest benefit of attending the academy.
The students would engage in magical mock battles. In other words, the students would use magic — Bloodline Magic.
Which meant he could observe and analyze Bloodline Magic to his heart's content.
There would never be a better opportunity than this.
...And well, all things considered, when it came to fulfilling that purpose, it actually suited him better to have a partner who was fine with a casual, no-pressure fight.
When it came to someone who met those ideal conditions for him and also understood his circumstances...
(...Well, that would have to be Lady Sarah.)
In the end, he couldn't help but feel sorry for always relying on her.
While thinking that he should find some way to thank her eventually, he moved to call out to her, but—
"Lady Sarah!"
"Sarah, if you wouldn't mind, I'd love to be your partner—"
"Your magic is wonderful! I'd really love to see it again!"
(...Ah.)
She was incredibly popular.
Mainly the male students were enthusiastically extending invitations to her under the pretext of wanting to see her magic, though some ulterior motives were clearly mixed in.
He certainly had no intention of cutting in there. Now he had a pretty good idea of how she was treated within the class.
...But if that was the case.
It was entirely possible that no one would agree to team up with Ermes, who was currently being treated like a pariah.
(...Wait.)
Was this, in fact, a serious problem?
Well, it wouldn't be the end of the world if he simply didn't form a team, but at the same time, he felt it was probably best to avoid any more weird incidents at this point.
If that was so, then at the very least he should form a team. But if no one would agree to team up with him—just as a mysterious sense of anxiety began to creep in—
"Hmph. What's this, commoner? You've got no one to partner with?"
A voice he recognized, this time directed at him.
He turned around, and sure enough, walking toward him was the same male student who had launched a spell at Ermes on the first day. His name was—
"—Albert, sir."
"I don't recall granting you permission to address me by name."
The male student—Albert—twisted his lips in displeasure at his response.
"So? I noticed you seemed to be without a partner."
"...Yes. Don't tell me you're going to pair up with me?"
"Why would I do that? I already have a partner decided."
So then why had he gone out of his way to approach?—that question was made clear by his next words.
"I came to tell you who you should pair up with. See? There's still a student without a partner, right over there."
With that said, in the direction Albert was pointing—
"...Huh? Me?"
For some reason not participating in the class, sitting in the shade of a tree off in the corner.
The girl from earlier, Nina, answered with little enthusiasm.
Of course, he had noticed her observing from the corner, and had even asked her directly why she was doing so.
Her answer was—
"So that's the situation, Miss Nina. ...For that matter, I've always been irritated by the fact that you skip class like this."
"You say that, but you already know, don't you? —
I...
...have family...
...circumstances...
...where Bloodline Magic's...
...disclosure...
...is forbidden,...
...that's what I mean.'"
That's right.
Bloodline Magic is the foundational magic that upholds this nation's feudal system.
But at the same time — for any given house, Bloodline Magic is also the most closely guarded secret passed down through the family.
There are certainly houses that simply don't want their trump card seen by the eyes of other families.
To that end, they restrict — or outright prohibit — their heirs from using Bloodline Magic at academies and the like.
In other words, there exist a certain number of houses doing essentially the same thing Ermes is doing now.
Nina is one such example of a complete prohibition. That's why this exercise was, reluctantly — no, she was actually fairly eager to observe, or rather to slack off.
Looking thoroughly bothered, she makes a face at Albert's request.
"If I can't use Bloodline Magic, there's no point in me joining a magic exercise, is there? Besides, there's no way someone like me could fight El. He's probably really strong, right? In a magic duel, I'd just get one-shotted and that'd be it."
"That's not necessarily the case. —
a magic duel
that is
"
However.
Albert denied Nina's words with a peculiar turn of phrase.
At those words, Nina's eyes narrowed sharply — as if to say, 'Do you even understand what you just said?'
After meeting her gaze, Albert looked around and declared:
"Hey, wouldn't you all want to know too? Just how much strength this commoner who transferred in under the prestige of the Trottia house actually possesses!"
In response to his voice, murmurs of agreement begin to rise here and there. ……Mainly from the classmates who were still looking down on Ermes today.
……Not that it wouldn't have occurred to one to tell him to come prove it himself if he wanted to check — and besides, what's the point of throwing Nina, who's prohibited from using magic in a magic exercise, into the fray?
Everything about it was unclear — but one thing was certain: Albert was using this class as a pretense to pit Ermes and Nina against each other.
Ermes had absolutely no idea what he was trying to accomplish, but......
"So that's what's going on."
Nina seemed to have figured it out. She let out a sigh as though exasperated, hesitated for a moment —
"Fine, I'll play along with your little sales pitch. ...Besides, I'm personally a bit curious too."
For some reason, she ultimately nodded and walked over to where Ermes stood, turning to face him.
"Sorry, El, for dragging you into something weird. So anyway, would you mind having a mock battle with me?"
"I honestly have no clue what's going on, but... this is about a spar, right? If that's the case, then sure."
Despite his bewilderment, Ermes had always enjoyed fighting in a competitive format. He agreed for the time being and turned to face Nina.
...He did want to confirm a few things — like what their reasons were for setting this up, among other things.
Before he knew it, the surrounding students had stopped their own mock battles and come over to watch. Wait, that couldn't be good — what were the instructors doing — only to realize they were already gone. They'd completely left everything to the students. Was this school okay?
Just then, Albert called out to him with a smug grin.
"Hey, commoner. As you know, Lady Nina can't use Bloodline Magic. And there's no way I'd stand by and let someone pull the shameless trick of using Bloodline Magic against a lady —"
"Albert. Would you mind keeping quiet from here on?"
He'd been gleefully trying to restrict even Ermes's options, but this time it was Nina's voice that cut him off.
Her tone was different from the impression she'd given so far — tinged with a cold edge. Albert was caught off guard despite himself and fell silent.
"Sorry again, El. ...It's not exactly an apology, but let me give you one piece of advice?"
In the center of the now-silent courtyard, Nina spoke to Ermes.
"You're free to use magic. In fact, I'd recommend it. Otherwise — I'll win, no matter what."
"...Huh?"
At those words, Ermes's eyes flew wide open.
Nina pulled a foldable piece of metal from inside her coat, channeled magic power into it, and cast a simple earth-attribute general-purpose magic.
"You know, I'm fully aware that I'm pretty careless about most things, and I've been living pretty casually, cutting corners wherever I can…"
The metal block deformed. And what ended up gripped in her hand was something everyone knew well —
"—
A sword.
That's the one thing I absolutely refuse to cut corners on."
A swordswoman.
It was the moment her true nature became clear.
"Well then, here I go?"
She settled into a fluid stance, then tilted her body forward gently —
— and vanished.
A step so impossibly swift it looked like she'd disappeared. In the blink of an eye, Nina had slipped inside Ermes's guard, storing the force of her lunge and converting it into upward momentum.
She unleashed a rising diagonal slash — one that could cleave sound itself.
"—!?"
Ermes reacted at the very last possible instant.
Evasion was no longer an option. In that fraction of a second he made the call, leaping in the opposite direction of the blade flash while placing his right hand along the sword's trajectory. Simultaneously, he deployed a wall of light with Enhanced universal magic, compressing it to its absolute limit and placing it on the back of his right hand to receive the lightning-fast sword strike with perfect timing.
Even so, the shock was so immense it felt like his arm might be torn clean off.
A parry at the absolute
limit.
Of course, there was no escaping the impact. Ermes was flung violently backward. He deliberately yielded, launching himself back to create distance, spinning once before landing on his feet. He had somehow managed to reset his stance.
(—So that's it.)
He understood Albert and the others' strategy now.
They had known, of course — that she was the furthest thing from a mage in this magic academy, that she was instead an unparalleled swordswoman.
They had banked on him being unable to handle her at first glance and had intended for her to be the one to defeat him. Then, once that happened, they would claim something along the lines of "He lost to someone who doesn't even use Bloodline Magic" and drag Ermes' reputation through the mud.
…The fact that these kinds of thoughts came to him so readily was perhaps proof that Ermes had grown accustomed to this country in his own way.
But.
None of that
anymore
,
mattered
.
Because.
"—Amazing."
He was captivated. By her sword.
A single overwhelming emotion filled Ermes' chest — the exhilaration of witnessing true mastery, a feeling as piercing as the night he had first met Rose.
He knew enough about close-quarters combat himself to appreciate it.
That blade flashed with a beauty beyond words — every movement honed to absolute perfection, utterly devoid of waste, making his own hard-earned hand-to-hand skills look like child's play.
How many years of grueling training had she put in to achieve this? And how much discipline did she still pour into her practice every single day?
As a mage, he could only grasp a fraction of what she was capable of — but even that fraction was enough to completely overwhelm him.
He didn't harbor even a sliver of hesitation in showing his respect to the girl before him.
And it seemed the feeling was mutual.
"...Incredible."
Nina murmured, her face alight with the utmost astonishment—and a fierce excitement that surpassed even that.
"That's the first time at the academy anyone's failed to take me out with a single opening strike. And against a mage, at this range, no less. ...Hehe, sorry about that. I totally underestimated you.
— You're ridiculously strong, you know that?"
"I was underestimating you as well. I honestly doubted your claim that 'without magic, you could never beat me,' and I apologize for that.
Allow me to take those words back—without magic, there's absolutely no winning this one."
But things were different now.
As if two masters could gauge each other's strength with a single exchange, the two acknowledged one another and squared off.
Their petty, worthless scheming had been completely undone, and Hermès's hope of watching them grovel in the dust had been thoroughly betrayed.
Albert, standing there with a dumbfounded look on his face, no longer even registered in either of their minds.
The mock battle still hadn't reached its conclusion, so there was only one thing left to do.
The two of them—both coincidentally attending the academy with their powers restricted—felt the pure joy of having finally found an opponent they could face at full strength.
And in perfect unison, they kicked off the ground.
And so, with that said, allow me to formally introduce—
The new heroine! A silver-haired, tomboyish close-combat specialist—the strongest in melee range—that's Nina! And her elemental affinities will only keep growing from here!
She'll be making her debut in the second arc as well, so I'd love it if you could come to like her...!